"wait." but when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your 20 million negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your 6-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told

that funtown is closed to colored children and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a 5-year-old son who is asking: "daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy"

(however old you are) and your last name becomes "john," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. there comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.

the presiding officer: the senator from nevada. a senator: i will continue to read the letter. i hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. you express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. this is certainly a legitimate concern. since we so diligently urge people to obey the supreme court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. one may well ask: "how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" the answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. ms. cortez masto: i would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. one has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey

just laws. conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. i would agree with st. augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." now, what is the difference between the two? how does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of god. an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. to put it in the terms of st. thomas aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. any law that uplifts human personality is just. any law that degrades human personality is unjust. all segregation statutes are unjust because segregation

distorts the soul and damages the personality. it gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. segregation, to use the terminology of the jewish philosopher martin buber, substitutes an "i it" relationship for an "i thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. hence, segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. paul tillich has said that sin is separation. is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? thus it is that i can urge men

to obey the 1954 decision of the supreme court, for it is morally right; and i can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong. let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. an unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. this is difference made legal. by the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compelsa minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. this is sameness made legal. let me give another explanation. a law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, s a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in

enacting or devising the law. who can say that the legislature of alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? throughout alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single negro is registered. can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured? sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. for instance, i have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. but such an ordinance becomes

unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the first amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest. i hope you are able to see the distinction i am trying to point out. in no sense do i advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. that would lead to anarchy. one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. i submit that an individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is, in reality, expressing the highest respect for law. of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience.

it was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of shadrach, meshach, and abednego to obey the laws of nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. it was practiced superbly by the early christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the roman empire. to a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because socrates practiced civil disobedience. in our own nation, the boston tea party represented a massive act of civil disobedience. we should never forget that everything adolf hitler did in germany was "legal" and everything that the hungarian freedom fighters did in hungary was "illegal."

it was "illegal" to aid and comfort a jew in hitler's germany. even so, i am sure that, had i lived in germany at the time, i would have aided and comforted my jewish brothers. if today i lived in a communist country where certain principles dear to the christian faith are suppressed, i would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws. mr. brown: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: continuing the reading of the letter from the birmingham jail. i must make two honest confessions to you, my christian

and jewish brothers. first, i must confess that over the past few years, i have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. i have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the white citizen's counselor or the ku klux klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "i agree with you in the goal you seek, but i cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the negro to wait for a "more convenient season." shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.

lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. i had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. i had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the south is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. we merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. we bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with.

like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness for the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured. in your statement, you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. but is this a logical assertion? isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? isn't this like condemning socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? isn't this like condemning jesus because his unique god consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to god's will

precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? we must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. i had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. i have just received a letter from a white brother in texas. he writes: "all christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. it has taken christianity almost 2,000 years to accomplish what it has. the teachings of christ take time to come to earth." such an attitude stems from a

tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. more and more i feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. we will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. human progress never rolls in n wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with god, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. we must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. now is the time to make real the

promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity. you speak of our activity in birmingham as extreme. at first i was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. i began thinking about the fact that i stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the negro community. one is a force of complacency, made up in part of negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect in the sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle-class negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some

ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. the other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. it is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best known being elijah muhammad's muslim movement. nourished by the negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in america, who have absolutely repudiated christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil." i have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. for there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. i am grateful to god that,

through the influence of the negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle. if this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the south would, i am convinced, be flowing with blood. and i am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble-rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies -- a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: oppressed people cannot remain

oppressed forever. the yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the american negro. something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of africa and his brown and yellow brothers of asia, south america and the caribbean, the united states negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. if one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. the negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. so let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -- and try to understand why he must do so.

if his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. so i have not said to my people, "get rid of your discontent." rather, i have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled through into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. and now this approach is being termed extremist. but though i was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as i continued to think about the matter, i gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. was not jesus an extremist for love -- "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." was not amos an extremist for justice -- "let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." was not paul an extremist for the christian gospel -- "i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus." was not martin luther an

extremist -- "here i stand; i cannot do otherwise, so help me god." and john bunyan -- "i will stay in jail to the end of my days before i make a butchery of my conscience." and abraham lincoln -- "this nation cannot survive half slave and half free." and thomas jefferson -- "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created. equal ..." so the question is not whether we will be extremists but what kind of extremists we will be. will we be extremists for hate or for love? will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? in that dramatic scene on calvary's hill three men were crucified. we must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime -- the crime of extremism. two were extremists for immorality and, thus, fell below their environment. the other, jesus christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness and, thereby, rose above his environment. perhaps the south, the nation,

and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. i had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. perhaps i was too optimistic; perhaps i expected too much. i suppose i should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed rac, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined action. i am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the south have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. they are still all too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. some -- such as ralph mcgill, lillian smith, harry golden, james mcbride dabbs, ann braden, and sarah patton boyle -- have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. others have marched with us down nameless streets of the south. they have languished in filthy,

roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger-lovers." unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. let me take note of my other major disappointment. i have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. of course, there are some notable exceptions. i am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. i commend you, reverend stallings, for your christian stand on this past sunday, in welcoming negroes to your worship service on a nonsegregated basis. i commend the catholic leaders of this state for integrating spring hill college several years ago. but despite these notable exceptions, i must honestly reiterate that i have been disappointed with the church. i do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with

the church. i say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: i want to thank senator brown for including me in this reading. it's a tremendous honor. i will continue. when i was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in montgomery, alabama, a few years ago, i felt we would be supported by the white church. i felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the south would be among our strongest allies.

instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows. in spite of my shattered dreams, i came to birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. i had hoped that each of you would understand. but again i have been disappointed.

i have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshippers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but i have longed to hear white ministers declare "follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the negro is your brother." in the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the negro, i have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. in the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, i have heard many ministers say, "those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern."

and i have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, unbiblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular. i have traveled the length and breadth of alabama, mississippi, and all the other southern states. on sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings, i have looked at the south's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. i have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. over and over i have found myself asking, "what kind of people worship here? who is their god? where were their voices when the lips of governor barnett dripped

with words of interposition and nullification? where were they when governor wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? where were their voices of support when bruised and weary negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?" yes, these questions are still in my mind. in deep disappointment i have wept over the laxity of the church. but be assured that my tears have been tears of love. there can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. yes, i love the church. how could i do otherwise? i am in the rather unique position of being the son, the

grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers. yes, i see the church as the body of christ. but, oh! how we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists. there was a time when the church was very powerful -- in the time when the early christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. in those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. whenever the early christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the christians for being

"disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." but the christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey god rather than man. small in number, they were big in commitment. they were too god-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." by their effort and example, they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. things are different now. so often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. so often it is an archdefender of the status quo.

far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent -- and often even vocal -- sanction of things as they are. but the judgment of god is upon the church as never before. if today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century. every day i meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust. perhaps i have once again been too optimistic.

is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? perhaps i must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. but again i am thankful to god that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom. they have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of albany, georgia, with us. they have gone down the highways of the south on tortuous rides for freedom. yes, they have gone to jail with us.

some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers. but they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. they have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment. i hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. but even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, i have no despair about the future. i have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. we will reach the goal of freedom in birmingham and all

over the nation because the goal of america is freedom. mr. toomey: continuing the reading of a letter from a birmingham jail. abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with america's destiny. before the pilgrims landed at plymouth, we were here. before the pen of jefferson etched the majestic words of the declaration of independence across the pages of history, we were here. for more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and

shameful humiliation -- and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. if the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. we will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of god are embodied in our echoing demands. before closing, i feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. you warmly commended the birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." i doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent negroes. i doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of negroes here in the city jail;

if you were to watch them push and curse old negro women and young negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. i cannot join you in your praise of the birmingham police department. it is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the demonstrators. in this sense, they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in public. but for what purpose? to preserve the evil system of segregation. over the past few years i have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. i have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means

to attain moral ends. but now i must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. perhaps mr. connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was chief pritchett in albany, georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. as t.s. eliot has said, "the last temptation is the greatest treason -- to do the right deed for the wrong reason." i wish you had commended the negro sit-inners and demonstrators of birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. one day the south will recognize its real heroes. they will be the james merediths, with the noble sense

of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. they will be old, oppressed, battered negro women, symbolized in a 72-year-old woman in montgomery, alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness, "my feets is tired, but my soul is at rest." they will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. one day the south will know that when these disinherited children of god sat down at lunch

counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the american dream and for the most sacred values in our judeo-christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the constitution and the declaration of independence. never before have i written so long a letter. i'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. i can assure you that it would have been much shorter if i had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers? if i have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, i beg you to forgive me. if i have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood,

i beg god to forgive me. i hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. i also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a christian brother. let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not-too-distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. yours for the cause of peace and brotherhood, martin luther king jr.

mr. brown: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from ohio. mr. brown: i thank my colleague from the neighboring state, senator toomey, for joining us. i want to thank all of my colleagues who were here today, senators warnock and murkowski, toomey, cassidy, cortez masto, and padilla. a group of senators who really reflect our country today. a reverend in a black church, the son of a union electrical worker, a doctor from the deep south, an independent born in the alaska country, a son of mexican immigrants, a daughter of mexican americans who made this country home for a century, and a son of the midwest whose father came from mansfield, ohio, and mother came from mansfield, georgia. we come from different backgrounds.

we disagree on many things. but we love this country, all seven of us. we know we can do better for the people who make it work. dr. king did more than just about anyone to push this country to live up to our founds ideals and make dream of america real for everyone, protesting, woking for change, organizing, demanding our country do better. those are some of the most patriotic things all of us can do. that's dr. king's charge in this letter -- progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. that is our charge. i think about the campaign dr. king was waging when he was assassinated. we can't forget he was murdered in memphis when fighting for some of the most ex-exploited workers in this country -- sanitation workers. he understood the deep connection between workers' rights and civil rights. as he put it, what does it profit a man to be able to work in an integrated lunch counter

if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee. that means paying all workers a living wage, giving them power over their schedules, and giving them good benefits and safety on the job, letting them, if they choose, organize in a union. that means all workers should get a fair share of the wealth they create. it means recognizing the dignity of communities that black americans have built over generations. they were denied wealth and investment. the schools were underfunded. banks wouldn't lend. highways tore down businesses and tore apart neighborhoods. the presiding officer's largest city of milwaukee and the cities in my state, columbus and cincinnati. in the face of all that, black americans built churches and businesses and loving families. but they should not have to do it on their own. as we emerge from this pandemic, we work together to build a

stronger country out of this crisis, we can't make the mistakes of the past. we learned in the banking, housing committee this week that president roosevelt's collective bargaining laws and investment in housing with the creation of housing agencies created a middle class for americans who look like me but didn't create a middle class for a whole lot of o.e.f. americans. think about the infrastructure investments we made in the 1930's and in the years after world war ii. think how created millions of new homeowners and grew the middle class. think the of how we expanded economic security with overtime and workers' compensation and medicare and social security. there's no reason we can't do that again. the same thing again. but this time we bring along everyone. we invest in all communities. we bring us closer to the society dr. king envisioned where all labor, as he would say, where all labor has dignity. i note the absence of a quorum.

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

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: madam president, on march 29, vil was walking --. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. ms. hirono: i'm sorry. i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator is recognized. ms. hirono: madam president, on march 29, velma mccallly was walking to church on times square in manhattan when a man pushed her to the ground and violently assaulted her in broad daylight. a violate video of the -- a silent video captured the incident inside a luxury apartment building showed the attack in vivid detail. in it we can clearly see the assailant pushing her to the ground and kicking her repeatedly in the head rand torso -- in the head and torso before leaving the scene. this video which has gone viral is disturbing enough to watch but it doesn't capture the full picture of what happened.

witnesses to the attack recounted the assailant repeatedly yelling, you don't belong here, to ms. khari, an immigrant from the philippines who has lived in our country for decades, now recovering from multiple injuries including a broken pelvis, she has become one of the latest victims in a surging warfare of hate crimes -- surging wave of hate crimes targeting the pacific islander community during the covid-19 pandemic. over the last year we've seen businesses defaced with anti-asian graffiti, elders verbally accosted on the street, women assaulted and eight people murdered in cold blood at asian-owned businesses in georgia during an unprovoked attack. all told, people of asian descent is reported more than 3,800 hate incidents across all 50 states and the district of columbia.

these attacks are disturbing and horrifying, but they are in many ways a predictable and foreseeable outgrowth of the use of racist and inflammatory language like chinese virus, wuhan virus, and kung flu to describe the covid-19 pandemic. last year, as some political leaders, including the former president, started using this language, the f.b.i. warned of a potential surge in hate crime incidents targeting people of asian descent. at the same time public health experts warned of the danger of singling out the asian american community as being responsible for the virus. these warnings proved prophetic. a study recently published by the american journal of public health found there was a dramatic increase in tweets using anti-asian phrases after the first time the former president tweeted using the

hashtag china virus on march 16, 2020. this rise, the rise in hate crimes targeting a.p.i.'s over the past year has shown the extent to which this inflammatory rhetoric has normalized racist attitudes toward and stigmatizeation of asian americans with devastating consequences. the center for the study of hate and extremism, for example, assessed that in 16 of the nation's largest cities, hate crimes targeting aapi's spiked nearly 150% during the pandemic. the current dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting asian americans might be a recent development but we all know that racism is never far below the surface in our country, sadly. asian americans have always been targeted as the other in our country, considered the perpetual foreigner. it's what drove the passage of the chinese exclusion act in

1882 and it's what led to the incarceration of 120,000 japanese americans during world war ii. it's also what drove two detroit auto workers during the height of hysteria about japan's growing economic strength to murder a chinese american man named vincent chen in 1982 because they thought he was japanese. outrageously neither of vincent's killers received prison time. nearly 40 years later we can see clear parallels between the racism that motivated vincent cen's murder and the ongoing surge in antiracism and hate crimes. we can also see the parallels in the wave of activism both unleashed. today the aapi community is uniting once again to confront this epidemic of racism, discrimination, and hate. we're marching, speaking out, and demanding action in cities

and states across the country. as part of our activism we're working to dispes the model minority myth that all asians are successful and integrated in society. this racist and discriminatory stereotype devalues the struggles and experiences of an extraordinarily diverse community. the aapi community is comprised of people from more than 48 distinct ethnic groups who speak over 300 languages. some of these groups have been in the country for over 100 years. others have grown in size through waves of immigration in recent decades. like other communities of color, elements of the aapi community have traditionally suffered from a variety of health, economic and other disparities for years, and the covid-19 pandemic has only made them worse.

aapi's are contracting and dying from covid-19 at much higher rates than white americans, and at comparable rates with black and hispanic americans. our community has suffered too much over the past year from the two epidemics of racism and covid. confronting both will continue to present challenges. but it has been a relief to have a president capable of demonstrating care and empathy and one who shares our sense of urgency in confronting this wave of hate. in his first week as president, joe biden issued an executive memorandum that condemned racism , xenophobe i can't and intolerance targeting the aapi community and directed the federal government to actively combat it. in recent weeks following the brutal murder of eight people, including six asian women in georgia, president biden took additional action. he announced new investments for

research into anti-asian xenophobe i through the national science foundation, directed $50,000 in support for victims of hate crimes and established an equity task force to combat anti-asian hate. members of president biden's administration have followed his lead. attorney general merrick garland, for example, pledged to prioritize hate crimes enforcement during his confirmation hearing, and has taken additional steps to help local law enforcement agencies investigate bias crimes. under president biden's leadership, the executive branch is doing its part. now it's time for us. it's time for congress to act. i am encouraged that in just a few minutes, the senate will vote to proceed to the covid-19 hate crimes act on a strong bipartisan vote. this is not a controversial bill. it would focus federal leadership to investigate and

report hateful acts of violence and provide resources for our communities to come together to take a stand against intolerance and hate. the covid-19 hate crimes act directs the attorney general to designate a person whose responsibility will be to expedite review of anti-asian hate crimes and report them. it also instucts d.o.j. to issue guidance to state and local law enforcement on culturally appropriate public education campaigns and on the collection of data on hate crimes or incidents. such culturally sensitive in language outreach is an important element for strengthening trust and awareness in impacted communities, and it will help overcome established hesitancy to report hate crimes or incidents to law enforcement. at a time when the aapi community is under siege, this bill is an important signal that

congress is taking anti-asian racism and hatred seriously. significantly, democrats and republicans are working together in good faith to come to consensus to pass this bill. for example, i wholeheartedly support a bipartisan amendment from senators blumenthal and moran to attach their no-hate act to this bill. their amendment improves the data collection and reporting of all hate crimes so that we can better understand their prevalence and implement effective policies to prevent them. senator collins and i are also working on additional language to broaden support for the bill. madam president, the ongoing wave of anti-asian violence and hate crimes has touched virtually every single men and women of the aapi community. we are talking about millions of

people in the aapi community. many of us are changing our daily routines. until recently, i usually have my earbuds in listening to an audio book whenever i leave my apartment to go for a walk. i don't do that now. an attack on one group in our country is truly an attack on all of us. by passing the covid-19 hate crimes act, we can come together on a bipartisan basis to show that the united states senate will not be a bystander to the wave of racist anti-asian violence in our country. so let's get it done together. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, all postcloture time has expired. the question is on the

nomination. ms. hirono: madam president, i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas 53 votes, the nays 45. the snogs confirmed. -- nomination is confirmed. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediate lay notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. 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 on the motion to proceed to calendar number 13, s. 937, a bill to facilitate the expedited review of the covid-19 hate crimes, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.

the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the motion to proceed to s. 937, a bill to facilitate the expedited review of covid-19 hate crimes, and for other purposes, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

were

vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change his or her vote? on this vote, the yeas are 92. the nays are 6. three-fifths of the senators duly sworn and voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. cloture having been invoked, the senate will proceed to legislative session to consider the motion to proceed to s. 937 which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 937 a bill to facilitate the expedited bill for hate crimes and other purposes.

the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. americans were horrified to witness a recent series of mass shootings involved the asian american and pacific islander community. on march 16, 2021, mass shootings occurred at three spas and massage parlors in the atlantic metropolitan area. eight people were killed. six of whom were asian american women and one other person was wounded. the suspect was taken into custody that day and has been charged with multiple counts of murder. the investigation is continuing as to whether the suspect should be additionally charged with hate crimes. if he deliberately targeted asian americans with this senseless violence. unfortunately, this mass shooting is not an isolated incident in the united states. in terms of hate crimes, and

violence. sadly some political figures have used the ongoing covid-19 pandemic to fan the flames of hate by promoting stereotypes, fear, a, irrationally blaming asian and asian american neighbors for the pandemic is simply wrong and reprehensible and can have deadly consequences. let us remember that our asian american brothers and sisters are an integral part of the united states on so many levels. our immigrant story and our diversity are some of our unique strengths, not weaknesses of the united states of america. there are about 23 million asian american and pacific islanders in the united states constituting 7% of the population of our country. there are approximately two million asian american-owned businesses that generate over $700 billion in annual revenues and employ millions of workers. two million asian americans and pacific islanders are working on the front lines of the covid-19

pandemic as first responders and in health care, law enforcement, transportation, supermarkets and other service industries. our asian american brothers and sisters are putting their lives on the line every day to help protect our communities during the pandemic. that is why it's so despicable to see the rise of anti-asian rhetoric and hate speech by political leaders and others which gives exjon to extremist groups and individuals. it gives license to individuals who commit hate crimes and acts of violence. the use of anty-asian terminology and rhetoric related to covid-19 such as the chinese virus, wuhan virus, kong flu, phrases used often by former president trump and his followers have perpetrated anti-asia stigma. it has resulted in asian americans being harassed, soughted, and scapegoated for

the covid-19 pandemic. since january 2020, there have been a dramatic increase in reports of hate crimes and instances against those of asian descent throughout the nation. according to a recent report, there were nearly 3,800 reported cases of anti-asian discrimination related to covid-19 between march 2020 and february 2021. on april 3, 2021, "the new york times" ran analysis article on the rising tide of anti-asian american violence entitled swelling anti-asian violence. who is being attacked where? the article stated over the last year in an unrelenting series of episode, people of asian descent have been pushed, beaten, kicked, spit on and called slurs. homes and businesses have been vandalized. the violence has no boundaries spanning generations, income brackets and regions. those cases include the fatal

attack of a thai man in january as well as the assault on 91-year-old man in oakland's chinatown, an 89-year-old woman in brooklyn. those episodes and others have terrified the asian community. the article continues. but there's no ambiguity about the cases. the times collected these are assaults in which the say sail -- assailants expressed racial hostility with the language or included a reference to the coronavirus. it pointed out sobering tactics when it comes to hate crimes. over the last year hate crimes as classified and recorded by the police rose at a faster pace against people of asian descent than hate crimes overall. in new york city and boston, hate crimes overall fell while anti-asian hate crimes spiked. in new york city alone, the number of hate crimes with asian american victims reported to new york police department jumped to

28 last year, up from three in 2019. so far this year, the department has actively investigated or solved 35 anti-asian bias crimes. congresswoman grace may of new york said we've gone from being invisible to being seen as subhuman. we just want to be seen as american like everyone else. on april 9, 2021, "the washington post" ran an article examining the effects of mass shootings on marginalized groups and how trauma ripples through those communities. the article stated march 19 marked a turning point for many asian americans. it was day their community was stricken by a mass shooting, becoming the latest minority group to suffer an attack that killed several of its own. there is a specific kind of grief that arises when being targeted, one that more and more marginalized people in the united states know too well. the shooting survivors of victim

family members span geographical, racial, and religious areas but they are bounded by the sheer trauma they have experienced. the article continues, these tragedies often leave many in those communities who weren't directly affected feeling unsafe and traumatized. after a shooting, many members of these communities say they felt hyperaware of their race and escalated sense of fear that the same could happen to them or those they love. a mass shooting seems less senseless or inexplicable when it is directed at one of your own. i recall with sorrow the 2018 gunman that killed 11 jewish worshippers at the tree of life building in pittsburgh. the article continues, tree of life rabbi meyer said his synagogue practices the ministry of presence after shootings. they reach out to the affected communities and let them know that their presence and their -- their present and they're listening.

the georgia massacre increases the fear level now of all asian americans who prayed, am i next? and i know how that feels to have their community wondering, am i next? sid meyers, a survivor of the deadliest attack on american soil. in recent weeks, flyers have recirculated that asian american restaurants posted in synagogue squirrel hill neighborhood. one read, many of our business members have thrived in this city, particularly in squirrel hill, and if we shared in this good fortune, then we bear the burdens. it was a reminder that asian americans and jews shared a similar status as minority communities in the united states and now communities affected by mass shootings. i was pleased that shortly after taking office, president biden issued a presidential memorandum condemning and combating racial

citizen phobia and intolerance against asian americans and pacific islanders in the united states. mr. president, we need to stop the hate. referring to this global pandemic by anything other than its appropriate medical names have inflamed the worst stereotypes, fear, and xenophobia. irrationally blaming asians or asian american neighbors or random strangers is un-american. the senate and every person in this country needs to call out hate, bullying and scapegoating whenever we see it and work together as one community to overcome covid-19. in my home state of maryland, i was pleased to see last week governor hogan announce the formation of a statewide hate group charged with recommendations to address this. governor hogan named the former district attorney general robert herr to spearhead the effort.

mr. herr was the first asian american to serve as attorney general in maryland's history. i had the pleasure to work with him on many issues and civil rights matters. i also want to commend the works of our current working attorney general in maryland jennifer c. boon. they put out a recent statement which condemned bigotry and hatred against the asian american and pacific islander community. and it encourages members of the public to report to law enforcement incidents of violence, threat, and harassment. shortly before the shootings in atlanta, the united states attorney general office in maryland or march 10, 2021 launch add civil rights unit to ensure shah the full spectrum of statutes are employed in addressing hate crimes and discrimination, to conduct outreach to government, non-for profit entities in maryland and to help provide training and resources to local and state law enforcement in maryland. today i rise in support of

senate s. 937, the covid-19 hate crimes act introduced by senator hirono of hawaii. i am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation. i urge the senate to pass this legislation without further delay. this legislation would direct u.s. department of justice to designate d.o.j. employees to assist with expedited review of covid-19 hate crimes reported to federal, state, and/or local law enforcement. the legislation would provide guidance for state and local law enforcement agencies to establish online reporting of hate crimes or up substances and to have online reporting available in multiple longs, expand cultural, appropriate education and collect data and public reporting of hate crimes, issue guidance detailing the best practices to mitigate racial discriminatory language in describing the covid-19 pandemic in coordination with the secretary of health and human services. the covid-19 health equity task

force and community-based organizations. madam president, in the 117th congress i was privileged to be named as the chairman of the helsinki commission. i additionally served as the special representative on anti-semitism, racism and intolerance for the parliamentary assembly. over the past year, the world has suffered the crippling impact of covid-19, which has disproportionately affected our most vulnerable citizens. racist violence has once again reared its ugly head and many in many of the o.s.c.-participating states including our own. i pledge to continue working to shine a spotlight on discrimination, racism, and anti-asian violence both at home and abroad as we work together with our partners at home around the world to combat the courage scourge against democracy and freedoms we hold so dear.

at the annual meeting of the assembly in lux manyberg, i shared a sheiks dealing with anti-semitism. one of the key findings that came out of that section is that we all, every community needs to work together. we're all in this together. an attack on one community is an attack on all of us and the freedom of all of us. and we must join in unity to speak with a clear, strong voice against any of these hate activities. we now need all hands on deck approach to combat anti-asian bias, prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes and violence. working together, all communities, with our local, state, national, international partners along with our allies in the private sector and faith community we can stem this dangerous trend and give a sense of peace and security back to our asian american brothers and sisters. it starts with us taking up the

legislation before us and passing it promptly. with that, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: without objection. you were should schumer madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: we're very pleased that the senate just took an overwhelming vote, 92-6, to move forward with legislation to fight the surge of consent asian violence across our country in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. anti-asian bigotry and violence is a very serious issue that has deep roots in our country's history. regrettably, it has grown far worse over the last year. it's something that affects constituents of all our states and has proud asian american

citizens fearing for their safety. i've been told stories that make me ache. an older asian gentleman frayed to go outside because he'd be cursed at, berated, even spat upon. the young lady told me she would no longer take the subway to work because the stares at her were so angry and intense that it was unnerving. then it's worse, with assaults and violence sand even a death. so we need to do something and i'm so glad that our republican colleagues have voted with us to proceed with this legislation. this was never intended as gotcha legislation. it was always intended as bipartisan legislation. and for the information of the senate, we're making good progress on reaching a bipartisan agreement -- sensible, germane, and constructive amendments coming from republican colleagues.

the senator from kansas, the senator from maine -- that i believe make the bill even stronger. so we want to continue in this bipartisan process. i intend the first amendment to the bill to be an amendment offered by senators moran and blumenthal. we're working with the republican leader to determine if and how many other amendments to the bill there will be so that we can consider them and vote on final passage without any gotcha or not-germane amendments but moving this bill forward because it does need to go forward with a sense of urgency. the legislation will send a loud and clear message that racism and violence against asian americans have no place -- no place -- in american society. we should endeavor to finish our work as quickly as possible and without delay. i yield the floor.

mr. scott: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, the united states is a beacon of democracy in the world, and our nation was founded on free and fair elections. but if the american people don't have confidence in our elections, we don't have a sustainable democracy. what we saw this past election was confusion and chaos us coulded by inconsistent standards and last-minute changes. it's not just the chaos from this past election that troubles americans across the country. for more than a decade, a growing number of americans have become less confident that their votes were accurately cast and counted. if we want to continue as a thriving democracy, we have to reverse this trend and take actions so americans trust in free and fair elections. ness no other option. that's why i've joined my colleagues in introducing the save democracy act to restore faith in our federal elections

and guarantee that voters decide the outcomes of elections, not the courts. that's why i'm here today to ask my colleagues to join me in passing one specific section of the save democracy act -- the promoting election integrity by proving voter identity act to ritter voter i.d. it's nathan a. nathan a. siming. if you want to vote in -- its it's pretty simple. if you want to vote by mail, you'll need to mail a copy of your i.d. we want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. voter i.d. helps us meet that goal. of course the democrats will do anything to fight against these commonsense reforms. it's absurd you have to have san i.d. to drive a car, board a plane, open a bank account, and pick up a prescription. do they object to that? of course not. these are much-needed, commonsense reforms to our election systems. just look at what's happening in georgia. two recent news articles show

that president biden and the democrats spread lies to pressure companies to boycott georgia over commonsense voting laws. even "the washington post" gave president biden four pinocchios for his lies about the georgia law. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the two articles i have with me today be placed in the record, which outline how much the democrats have been grossly misleading the public about election reform. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. scott: is it just goes show you how out of touch the democrats are. we want to see more americans vote. i'm thankful senators barrasso and kramer are joining me. with want a vibrant democracy where citizens participate in government. democrats refuse to work with us to protect our votes systems. democrats want to make it easier to cheat and harder to stop election fraud. that's why the democrats are pushing h.r. 1 which will perpetuate distrust in our elections and imposed mandates that further erode our country's institutions. h.r. 1 is the most radical piece

of legislation this nation also every seenality a time when restoring confidence has never been more important. h.r. 1 we moves the most basic basic safeguards. it is a completely big-government apostcloture that fails at every level. before continuing, i woul -- i would like to yield to my colleague from wyoming and thank him for leadership on this effort. mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i come to join my colleague from florida, former governor, now u.s. senator, and talk about the save democracy act and the issues that are facing our nation today. and i want to do that because over the past several weeks, democrats, the media, their corporate allies have been misleading the american people about our voting laws. democrats have been pushing a false narrative all around the country, trying to scare americans into pushing and pressuring congress into passing a federal election takeover.

madam president, federal election laws and state election laws, as guided by our constitution, say that it is states that should be making the decisions about how we run our elections at home. but what you see coming out of the democrats and their h.r. 1, then called s. 1 is a law that changes things dramatically and takes decisions out of the folks at home in wyoming and puts them in the hands of folks in washington, d.c. people in wyoming, as i talked to them the last two weeks, don't want anything to do with that. democrats have this listed as their number-one priority bill for the year. otherwise why would they have listed it as number one? not coronavirus, not pandemic, not infrastructure. no. taking over elections away from the states and putting it in the hands of washington. and the bill is over 800 pages long.

virtually every page, would i believe make it easier to cheat. that's not what the american people want. they want to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. the bill, h.r. 1, now s. 1, expands ballot harvesting which is where paid political operatives unsupervised can go door to door, nursing home bed to nursing home bed picking up people's ballots deciding which ballots to turn in and which ballots to destroy. the bill would register people automatically when they sign up for medicaid, assistance and other forms from the government, force taxpayers to fund political campaigns and political operatives. paying for campaign ads, your tax dollars would go for that and things that candidates you're not for, and iewd be paying for their ads, computer time and yard signs. people in wyoming don't want that. when i describe each one of these to the people in wyoming, they say don't let that happen to america.

i think many democrats haven't read the 800 pages, and i know if the american people read the 800 pages, they would be just as upset as the people are in wyoming who have heard what is in the bill. the american people want security in elections. we want integrity, accountability, transparency in how it all works. that's why i'm so proud to be here and supporting senator scott and cosponsoring along with senator hyde-smith and senator lummis a bill that gives confidence in elections. our bill bans voter harvesting, says no to ought mattic registration -- automatic registration. under our bill you could still vote by mail as people have done year after year in wyoming, done it very successful. you just need to request a ballot so your information is up to date and then you get the ballot in the mail. basic commonsense measures to protect against fraud and against error.

so the differences between what we propose and what the democrats propose could not be more clear. i believe the democrat bill makes it easier to commit fraud. the republican bill makes it harder to commit fraud. the democrat bill, if it was good they wouldn't need to use scare tactics which they have been using all across the country, wouldn't need to spread false information. madam president, people in wyoming tell me they want elections to be fair, they want it to be free from voter fraud. they want it to be easier to vote, as i said, harder to cheat. and just basically using an identification card or a means to identify yourself when you go to vote would make common sense. it's what we do in wyoming, and it should be continued to be allowed. so when someone shows up to vote , they can just confirm that they are who they say they are. and that's why i'm proud to stand here today with senator

scott and support him on the floor. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. scott: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: we can and must pass commonsense reforms to restore confidence in our elections. the easiest thing we can do right now is require voter i.d. americans agree this is a necessary step. if we're serious about working together to move our country forward, restore public trust and protect the democracy our nation cherishes, we need to pass my bill today. i look forward to all my colleagues joining me to protect our democracy. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of senate 1130, introduced earlier today. i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: madam president, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: my colleagues have talked about free and fair elections, but i'm quite concerned that this bill does

quite the opposite. and i am really quite stunned that one would think that a bill that dictates exactly how every state has to use an i.d. law affects the access the ballot box for every single american, that it would be requested, that it would be passed with no process, no possibility of a committee to examine the fact that every single american voter is impacted by this effort to erect a barricade between the voter and the ballot box. thinking about how when we were here on january 6, the boxes that had the electoral college votes, gorgeous, ornate, old wooden boxes were here on the counter, and they're just like

the symbol of the pulsating heart of a republic, the ability of every citizen to participate in the vision for their country, how their country will operate, how their children will have an opportunity to thrive. that ballot box. and so here's a bill designed to make it harder to get your voice heard, harder to get your ballot counted. being asked to be considered by this chamber with absolutely no process of committee deliberation. if we had such a process, it would be pointed out that currently millions of americans don't have the i.d.'s required in this measure. well, that makes it a lot harder for millions of americans to vote. it would also be pointed out in the committee process that of those who don't have those i.d.'s, about three times as many black americans don't have those i.d.'s as white

americans, even though black americans are a much smaller percentage of the american population, which means that this measure is hugely discriminate -- discriminatory against black americans, and that is just wrong to engage in that type of discrimination in an effort to manipulate the outcome of elections. now it would be quite a different conversation if we had evidence that there was an actual, real problem being addressed. but fortunately this has been studied time and time and time again. we had the governor of michigan testifying here on capitol hill just a few days ago, and we asked when they did the study, the investigation because of the lawsuits that were filed related to the last election, how many people voted illegally in vote

by mail. and that effort to find the evidence of fraud turned up, she said, zero. zero. and i asked her a question because i was stunned that it was zero. certainly one person who thought they were a citizen but wasn't a citizen voted and was found? zero. zero. and there's study after study after study. so we understand what this is, and that's what would be explored in committee. it's an effort to make it harder for americans to vote. it's not about security because there's not a security problem. it's about the fact that this disproportionally affects low-income americans and black americans. so, madam president, i stand here today considering whether to object because i believe in that vision of americans having a full, free, fair chance to be involved in their elections, defending the ballot box for every single american.

and this bill does the opposite. i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. scott: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: my goal is 100% participation and zero percent fraud. it's not voter suppression or racist to prove your identity for in-person voting. it's not voter suppression or racist to prove your identity for mail in voting. it's not voter suppression or racist to require ballot boxes. it's not voter suppression or racist to make sure your vote is in on time. my colleague wants to fight any attempt to fight fraud in elections voter suppression. my colleague wants to call any feament to fight fraud in voter election racist. that's not accurate. voter i.d. should not be controversial. you need an i.d. to get on a plane, even to tour the white house. americans believe in voter i.d.

it's a logical step to make our elections more secure and it's a simple change we can pass today. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: first, i have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. stabenow: thank you. first let me say i want to thank the senator from oregon for objecting to the previous motion, and i share his concerns. i rise today to speak, madam president, about some big choices our nation has to make. will we continue to limp along with an economy that works for only a few wealthy people, or will we invest in making things

in america and in our infrastructure? and most importantly, in our people. will we continue to allow other countries to outpace us on technology while remaining dependent on critical parts made on the other side of the globe? or will we seize a future that's made in america? and will we continue to ignore the climate crisis and leave it for the next generation to deal with, and leave an even bigger catastrophe? or will we take action right now, right now, to put our nation on a path to a future of good-paying jobs fueled by clean energy? i've often said that in michigan, we don't have an economy unless someone makes something and somebody grows something. that's what we do in michigan. we make things and grow things.

and i know that my friend, the presiding officer from minnesota, feels the same. making things, growing things, that's how we have an economy. it's been the secret to our success in michigan and in so many other places around the country. we need to make things and we need to grow things. unfortunately, while we've been talking about making things for a long time, the rest of the world has actually been acting. it's estimated that the chinese government has invested at least $100 billion to support its electric vehicle industry. that might be why they have hundreds of companies making electric vehicles. you can't build a competitive auto industry without electric vehicles, and you can't build electric vehicles without a whole lot of batteries and a whole lot of other component parts. they could all be made here,

but most of them aren't. right now none of the major electric vehicle battery providers are american companies. they could be if we helped partner with them to make that happen. and we've seen what happens when our auto makers depend on semiconductors made overseas. over the past fuel months a shortage of computer chips no bigger than a kellog's corn flake have idled multiple plants and led to layoffs in michigan. and across the country. in fact, the alliance for auto innovation estimates that u.s. auto makers will produce a million fewer cars this year because of this shortage of this little chip. it's not enough to say we need to build things in america. we all know that. but we can't build things here without first investing in our

capacity and having a national strategy to build things here in america. thankfully we have a president of the united states who understands that. he understands the moment we are in and is ready to meet the moment. now -- now it's time for congress to step up. senate democrats are excited and ready to take action working with the president of the united states and hopefully working with our colleagues across the aisle in this moment for america and america's future. it's important to note that it won't be the first time that actions we have taken here have had lasting consequences. more than 100 years ago, henry ford and thomas edison partnered to build an affordable electric

car. that's the first kind of car they wanted to make, an electric car. they even built several prototypes in dearborn, michigan, the challenge ford told "the new york times" in 1914 was to build a storage battery of lightweight which would operate for long distances without recharging. sound familiar? that's a challenge that most of our automakers are very, very familiar with. now, interestingly around the same time in 1916, congress passed a change to the tax laws that, in effect, provided oil and gas companies interest-free loans, interest-free loans. it was america's first fossil fuel subsidy. perhaps it's no surprise then that given the various issues

and struggles and costs that ford chose to focus on the internal combustion engine. just thinking about it, more than 100 years later we're still lighting prehistoric plants and animals on fire to get to the grocery store and to get to work. now, it's true that my home state of michigan benefited from these choices. we put the world on wheels. we're extremely proud of our place in history. extremely proud of the wonderful hard work and skill and ability of our workers. but i also understand that we would have been better off today if the issues of carbon pollution had been addressed at the very beginning. the good news is that we have the opportunity now to fulfill

ford and edison's electric vision. just last week i toured g.m.'s new factory zero which soon will be building electric hummers and electric chevy silverado trucks, these are big vehicles and they will be electric. solatis has plans to build electric jeeps in detroit and henry ford's company is investing more than $22 billion to introduce electric versions of its vehicles, including mustangs, f-ford 150 trucks and federal advance, all very -- and commercial vans. these companies can't do it

without a partnership with us, with the federal government. just as companies around the world have not been able to do it alone, we need to be sure we are partnering with them to actualize this vision for the future. you know, the oil companies like to say that whenever we talked about various incentives for wind or solar or electric vehicles or battery -- batteries they say, we shouldn't pick winners and losers in our country. but i would argue with the first fossil fuel subsidy, our country picked a winner and they have been subsidized over and over again and winning the energy race ever since. and, in fact, that subsidy is to the tune of at least $20 billion every year, and even in the tax

cut in 2017, the republican tax cut for the wealthiest and most well-connected people in the country, there was even another new foreign oil tax break in there. i would argue it's time to give equal opportunity to competing technologies and level the playing field. and at the same time we can create good-paying jobs here at home, revitalize american manufacturing and put america in the driver's seat of the clean energy future that we can do that's so exciting to do if we work with our president to get this done. if we're going to build back better, it's time to start building. first thing we can do is to pass the american jobs plan which invests in american manufacturing, creates an american supply chain for products and technologies and

strengthens my american laws. this plan is frankly long overdue, i can tell you. and it's just the start of what we need to do. my bipartisan american jobs energy manufacturing act, which i introduced with senator manchin and senator daines, would have to rebuild existing manufacturing plants and retool for electric vehicle facilities. it builds on the successful 48-c advanced manufacturing tax credit which i authored in 2009. this helped boost u.s. manufacturing and create good jobs then and we can do it again. on the finance committee we're also working on legislation that would provide an investment tax credit for building american battery and semiconductor and

solar cell plants and a corresponding tax credit for producing these key components. i'm so pleased that president biden's american jobs plan including electric charging areas. and consumer incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. we also need to make sure that american taxpayer dollars are spent on american products. you know, that sounds simple, but that's actually not what's being done in every case right now even though we've had laws on the books for decades and decades and decades. my bipartisan make it in america act with senator braun, makes it harder for federal agencies to use waivers to get around, buy american rules right now there's

not been enough accountability and structure to make sure that waivers are not being given so that purchases can be made of foreign products. that needs to stop. i also want to thank senator tammy baldwin for her leadership on these buy american issues as well. the federal government is an enormous consumer. we are set to make big infrastructure investments and buy american rules mean that american dollars flow into local economies when we purchase american-made p.p.e., american-made iron and steel and great american electric vehicles. these rules also create good jobs and will need highly trained workers to fill them. my invest -- by investing -- my investing in our workforce, which is an important part of this plan, will help the 18 million americans currently

on unemployment find opportunities, and others as well have new opportunities for great jobs. and we'll ensure that our young people are on a path to good-paying jobs, including the skilled trades after high school. i'm laser focused on supporting our community colleges, on uplifting and expanding registered apprenticeship programs, because these institutions and programs help build our middle class and ensure working people have the skills they need to thrive, not just survive. these are great-paying jobs, professional jobs, licensed, highly skilled jobs, and we need to be encouraging more and more young people to be able to choose these jobs. henry ford once said this, one of my favorite quotes. what's right about america is that although we have a

massive -- a mess of problems, we have great capacity, intellect and resources to do something about them. there's no doubt that we face big challenges, but henry ford was right. we do have great capacity, intellect and resources to do something about them. now is the time to do that, to act. people of michigan have been waiting long enough. waiting way too long. and people across the country have waited way too long for us to act on what we know we can do to make things in america, to rebuild america, to build back better. we can make this an american moment or we can sit back and wait for the future to happen to us. this is the moment to invest in

our workers, rebuild our country's infrastructure, including those things we need today that they didn't need 100 years ago, like high-speed internet and electric charging stations and the things that we will need to make us successful and global leaders moving forward. and we need to to rebuild our supply chains in america so we're not being held up because a really important part made it by only one company halfway around the world, which is absurd. we can do that. we can do that by deciding we're going to invest in america, and we need to use the power of american ingenuity to ensure a livable and prosperous future for everyone. this is the moment to act. madam president, i am excited about that.

i know that we have this moment right now to be able to jump-start the future, to be able to build our economy back better, to make things in america. and i will we will seize this moment. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you, madam president. today i express my concern over the rise of violent crime, in particular the hate crimes against asian americans and pacific islanders. every single one of us ought to be and are horrified to see our fellow americans attacked because of their race or

ethnicity. we're united in our opposition to this hateful violence. we're united in seeing it investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. i introduced a resolution to this effect and i will welcome all my senate colleagues to join me. i'm very happy to see that attorney general garland has turned his attention to this problem. on march 30, he directed the department of justice to engage in a 30-day review in response to hate crimes. i hope the senate will benefit from the results of that review. however, our responses to the problems of hate crimes must be guided by the facts and a pursuit of sound policy. i'm not sure we've done the leg work to arrive at a legislative

solution that will make a difference to preventing, deterring and punishing these crimes. along with my colleague, senator cotton, the ranking member of the subcommittee of criminal justice and counterterrorism, we are requesting a full or subcommittee hearing on the issue and we should do that after the attorney general's review has been completed. we now have before the senate, senate 937, the covid-19 hate crimes act being introduced before the attorney general's review began and appears to be duplicative with some of the d.o.j.'s existing effects. this does not to me seem to be the best path, but that's the path the senate's on now and i voted to proceed a few hours ago

to s. 937. i'm thankful that it's coming up. i know that members of the republican caucus have amendments that will hopefully improve the bill and make it a very useful piece of legislation. we hope these amendments will be listened to and fairly considered by our democratic colleagues. this is too important of an issue to get wrong. now, on another point, between democrats who believe russia rigged the vote to elect trump in 2016 and republicans who believe various theories questioning biden's elected victory, they all add up to what seems to be a bipartisan supermajority of americans

casting doubts about our elections. in fact, one prominent claim by some trump supporters that a particular brand of voting machine switched trump votes to biden appears to have been plaguerized from the democrat party's playbook from the election of 2004. i heard from many left-leaning iowans at the time who questioned president bush's victory based on claims that a particular brand of voting machine switched votes in iowa. that was 2004. it seems kind of similar, doesn't it today? those totally unsubstantiated claims ultimately led democrats to force a vote in a joint session of congress in 2005 to

reject iowa's electoral votes cast for president bush. there are still democrat members of congress in both chambers who voted to overturn iowa's state certified election in 2004. now, after the 2018 gubernatorial election in georgia, the losing democratic candidate refused to concede claiming without evidence that would stand up in court that she as that democratic candidate for governor in georgia would have won but for voting irregularities. now, rather than distance itself from questioning a certified election in 2018, the democratic party invited her to speak at

their convention 2020. two years later the tables are now turned. trump lost georgia by a far smaller margin than that democratic candidate for governor in georgia in 2018 did, but we're now told that to suggest that there was flaws in the 2020 georgia election is somehow unacceptable and undermining democracy. it's pretty obvious after this history that we need to break the cycle of partisans questioning elections when their side lost or it's okay to complain when their side lost, but if the other side does the same thing, there's something wrong with it. so there's a lesson for both republicans and democrats.

both parties must stop finger pointing, stop blaming, and stop the partisan accusations. we all need to work together to restore americans' faith in the elections. so that brings me to something very current because it's passed the house of representatives. so that brings me to the democrats' so-called for the people's act. incidentally, do you find that name a little creepy? so often in history when people claim to speak for the people, they were just seeking power. for the people's act was introduced after the 2018 ea legislations -- 2018 elections as a clear political statement to build a hyper partisan

narrative that democrats de-- defeats were due to widespread voter suppression. now, we always hear about voter suppression before and since 2020 election. but just think of the historic turnout. not only the historic turnout that the losing candidate had, but the historic turnout that the winning candidate had. and yet we have voter suppression. h.r. 1 was then and remains a hastily cobbled together collection of every democrat proposal for new election mandates. no care was taken to make it cohesive or workable. it is evident that state and local election officials were not consulted in its drafting.

you know, just to consider the size of the bill, the voting rights act of 1965 i think was only two pages. for the people's act, the bill introduced or heard before the senate rules committee is 800 pages. now, that bill that i just talked about had actually passed the house in 2019 on party lines and was placed directly on the senate calendar at senator schumer's request. now, this is very typical of political messaging bills so the minority leader can force a vote to proceed. i assume in 2019 of that senator schumer did not force the senate vote to tawp the bill -- to take

up the bill because partisan activists got more traction out of blaming leader mcconnell for not bringing it up. regardless in 2019 it was clearly designed as a messaging bill and not one designed to ever get to the president's desk. now in 2021 we're back at it again. considering a totally partisan messaging bill that would radically rework all states' elections systems where it's been? the constitution, the primary concern of the state legislatures. and congress seldomly intervening. i suppose the most obvious is that on a certain date in

november, we all have presidential elections and congressional elections on the same date in all 50 states. but beyond that, it's pretty much up to each state how they want to conduct their elections. so how does this bill passing the house once again over in the senate, how does that jive with the message from democrats just a couple of months ago that state-run elections are beyond reproach? don't you remember because all 50 states had state certified elections, that gave biden his win. now, it's pretty common sense either state-run elections are fundamentally flawed and unfair requiring massive federal intervention and americans that

question the outcome are taking a moral stand or state-run elections are by and large very fair and americans can have confidence in the outcomes. either way the same principle should apply to the last several elections. whether republicans or democrats were relatively more successful in each case. i get it. i get it that having unleashed this partisan tiger, the bill that came from the house of representatives is -- it's very hard to get that partisan tiger back in the cage. but when this bill fails as it must, we need to tamp down the partisan accusations and work

across party lines to restore faith in american elections. now, the way the environment here is in washington and in congress, it isn't going to be easy, but the alternative is unthinkable. i yield. mr. barrasso: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor to oppose the democrats' latest liberal spending spree. just over a month ago democrats put $2 trillion on to america's credit card. they said it was for coronavirus. that was false advertising, and that's because only one out of

every $11 in the $2 trillion being spent was actually going to public health. the bill turned out to be a big payoff to the people who run the democrat party, the union bosses, the d.c. bureaucrats, and the bankrupt blue states. democrats crammed the bill through the senate with just 50 votes. democrats haven't even finished their victory lap. yet at this time they want another $2 toy 3 trillion -- $2.3 trillion. they already told us they're going to cram it through with just 50 votes once again and once again they're using more false advertising. president biden calls this an infrastructure bill. well, that's a new definition of the word infrastructure. only about one out of every $20 would go to roads and bridges. now here are just a few other items that the democrats call

infrastructure. $100 billion for so-called workforce development. over $300 billion on housing and upgrading of federal buildings, federal buildings, the ones we work in. it includes $100 billion for something called the greening of schools which when you go through you and see what is that included, it includes making greener lunches. it includes eliminating paper products in the cafeterias and making the cafeteria trays that people use to carry their food, makes each one of those into trays that can be recycled. madam president, call it what you will. this is not infrastructure. the bill -- the largest spending part of the bill is $400 billion to expand medicaid. the list goes on and on. that's just the tim of the iceberg. -- tip of the iceberg. now some of the spending in the overall bill pay have merit.

that spending should go through regular order, go through committees and coming to the floor of the senate for amendments and then votes. but it's still not infrastructure. this isn't an infrastructure bill. even the white house press secretary admitted it. she said this. she said it is partly infrastructure, partly infrastructure. now, the bill includes another big payoff to the union bosses because it forces long-term health care facilities to unionize if they want to receive the funding in the bill, this medicaid expansion. that would hurt states like wyoming and others that protect and believe in the right to work. the bill would also hurt wyoming because of its attack on american energy. representative alexander ocasio-cortez has compared the bill to the green new deal. one democrat senator admitted it. he said it's a way of accomplishing many of the goals of the green new deal.

out of all the payoffs in the bill, one of the biggest goes to the electric car industry. the bill would spend more money on electric cars than it does on roads, bridges, ports, airports, and waterways combined. an astonishing amount of money. president biden announced the bill in one of america's greatest energy-producing regions which is western pennsylvania. yet energy-producing states like pennsylvania and wyoming have a lot to lose from this bill. the bill would spend $10 billion on something called the civilian climate corps. these are taxpayer-funded activists who would advance environmental justice. that's what it says. $10 billion to civilian climate corps to advance environmental justice. and then another $35 billion on climate innovation. $27 billion on clean energy and

sustainability accelerator. it just seems that they're throwing money and names on to things. these are slush funds. they're going to give government bureaucrats more power to pick winners and losers in our economy. we all remember the disaster called sol linda. it was a silicon valley start-up. the last time that joe biden was in the white house, his administration, along with barack obama, gave them $500 million, taxpayer dollars, for so-called clean energy. we later found out that solyndra lied on their loan application form. the company went bankrupt $500 million company dollars, gone forever. president biden is bringing back this kind of central planning. it's all in the name, he says, of green energy. if we pass this bill, we're going to see another sol lynn --

solyndra after that and another after that. the democrats are going to cram through the largest tax increase of the century. they're going to use 15 years' worth of tax increases to pay for eight years of spending. so the spending is temporary, but the tax increases will be permanent. if the bill becomes law, it will be harder for american companies to compete with companies in other countries. and the concern is this means more companies are going to move overseas because taxes there will be lower. when they do, they're going to take good american jobs with them. you know, the republican tax cuts that we did in 2017, we saw $1 trillion flow back into this country in just two years. president biden is ready to send all of that money back overseas. the official name of the bill is the american jobs plan, yet it

is not much of a jobs bill. the jobs this bill would allegedly create would cost $508,000 each -- $800,000 each job. when communities all across the country have out their businesses help-wanted signs. i saw one in afton, wyoming, last week, small communities in western wyoming. a convenience store. the sign said, your father called. he said you need a job. we're hiring. there are signs like that all over the country. small businesses and small business owners i talk to continue to say we cannot find people to hire. and yet the administration has a jobs plan, they say, where they're going to cost taxpayers $800,000 for each job. -- for each job created. at the same time the bill is going to eliminate many good-paying energy jobs.

that's a real concern. democrats are cramming this through at that time a time when our economy is already recovering. the pandemic is coming to an end. the experts say we're going to create 11 million more jobs over the next four years, even if we don't pass the bill. and there are jobs available today. one analysis from the wharton business school said the bill would actually slow down the economy. that's because the bill would discourage businesses from investing. it's not an infrastructure bill, not p of a jobs bill. it is a slush fund for more liberal spending. that's what is on the minds of the democrats who are pushing this bill forward. it's not what the white house needs right -- it's not what the united states needs right now. we need a real infrastructure improvement, a real infrastructure bill, one that will build roads, bridges, waterways, and allow us to do things faster, better, cheaper and smarter. democrats want to do that republicans are ready to support

it. last congress i worked with senator tom carper of delaware on a infrastructure bill. i chaired it last conference. our bill was so bipartisan that senator bernie sanders voted for it and so did i. it passed the committee unanimously 21-0. when we went to work with democrats in the house on the legislation, they ignored it and replaced it with the green new deal. that's what president biden is doing right now as well. he's ignoring the bill we passed and trying to sneak the green new deal into law. so i'd urge my democratic colleagues to reverse course, to throw out this liberal wish list, this slush fund of liberal spending and start over working in a bipartisan way with republicans. we should start with a bipartisan bill that the senate committee on e.p.w. passed last year. instead of paying off the unions

and the climate activists, let's rebuild our roads and our bridges and do it in a way that works for all americans. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: i rise today to pay tribute to the life of a gentleman named alvin sykes, who passed away on march 19, 2021, in kansas city, missouri.

mr. burr: teddy roosevelt once said, the credit belongs to the man who actually's in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, but does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions, who spends himself on a worthy cause. alvin sykes was the man in the arena. he was a man who knew great devotion, who dedicated himself to a worthy cause and who helped move our nation even closer to our founding promise of liberty and justice for all. alvin was born to a teenaged mother. he ended his public school enrollment after the eighth

grade, but he never ended his education. in his own words, alvin transferred from public school to the public library. in the coming decades, alvin emersed himself in learning about civil rights crimes, cold cases, and becoming an expert on and often overlooked issue. he researched the history of these tragic crimes, the relevant laws and the statutes of jurisdiction. alvin was so well versed when he testified about such cases before congress. in 2007, one member mistakenly assumed he was an attorney. alvin replied that he was not an attorney, but it was evident the knowledge and -- he possessed on these issues surpassed the best educated lawyers in this tune. what made al -- town. what made alvin so remarkable

was not the knowledge he acquired, but what he did with it. as he learned more about unsolved civil rights crimes, the ones no one talked about, the ones no one looked into, alvin realized we needed a system in place to investigate those cold cases and uncover the truth. i met alvin sykes in 2016 through senator tom coburn, a great and missed friend today. dr. coburn ran into alvin sykes and heard this story and built a relationship that wasn't just personal, it was professional because he wanted to help alvin fix these wrongs. through alvin's advocacy and guidance, i joined john lewis, a civil rights icon, who also sadly passed away this year, to

introduce the emmett till unsolved rights crimes reauthorization act. the legislation was named for 14-year-old emmett till who was brutally murdered in mississippi in 1955 and whose killers were acquitted. after we introduced the bill, alvin did what he had done -- what he had been doing for years, he went to work. he got in the arena. he did not stop until there was legislation authorizing the department of justice unit dedicated to investigating and prosecuting cold cases that remained unsolved from the civil rights era. to date, the justice department has investigated 152 cases under this program. and while many others were dedicated to making this reality as well, alvin's expertise, his

passion and his persistence were second to none. last year, alvin reached out to me again, seeking to post posthumously honor emmett till's mother. his advocacy led me to introduce legislation with senator booker to award emmett till and mammie, the nation's highest honor. this bill is also worthy for alvin sykes life and his legacy. you see, alvin was born only a year after emmett till's mother, and when he first became involved in that case, he heard emit's his mother saying that he

was fighting to get just justice since 1956. alvin said, i was born in 1956. that means she was trying to do one thing my entire life. now alvin is no longer with us. but the pursuit of justice for the till family continues. my hope is that congress will soon pass this legislation to recognize and honor their legacy. today, though, i want to give alvin the credit and the honor he deserves, his passion, his advocacy and high achievements made our nation a better place. personally, i learned from alvin sykes. i admire alvin sykes. i mourn his passing and i pay tribute to him today and thank god that he created alvin sykes. i suggest the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged and the senate now proceed to s. res. 148. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 148, recognizing the importance of paying tribute to those

individuals who have faithfully served and retired from the armed forces of the united states and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 114, s. 400. the clerk: calendar number 14, s. 400, located at 1200 new jersey as the william j. coleman federal building. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the

senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., thursday, april 15, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. upon conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar number 13, s. 937, at 12 noon all postcloture time be expired and the motion to proceed to s. 937 be proceeded to -- greed to. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: if there's 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 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.