vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 94. the nays are 1. the 60-vote threshold having been achieved, the bill as amended is passed. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 59. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of homeland security, deanne bennett chris women of new york to be administrator of the federal emergency management agency. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 nomination of executive calendar 59, d. eanne bennett chris we will of new york to be administrator of the federal emergency management agency, signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. mr. schumer: i move to proceed -- the presiding officer: the yeas do have it the the motion is agree agreed to.

mr. schumer: i move to consider calendar number 54. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, environmental protection agency, janet garvin mccain to be deputy administrator. mr. schumer: i send a motion to the desks. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 54, janet garvin mccabe of indiana to be depend city administrator of the epidemic epidemic environmental protection agency. the presiding officer: mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider

calendar number 68. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, colin hackett kahl of california to be under secretary of defense to be policy. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination off executive calendar 68, colin hackett kahl of california to be under secretary of defense for policy, signed by 18 senatorsals follows -- the presiding mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed

to executive session to consider calendar 58. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, executive office of the president, jason scott miller of maryland to be deputy director for management. surely schumer i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 -- clot: 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 jason scott miller of maryland to be deputy director for management, office of management budget. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislate hive session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar 34, s. 914. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion.

the clerk: motion to proceed to s. 914, a bill to amend the safe drinking water act and federal water pollution control act, to reauthorize programs under those acts and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i move -- i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 34, s. 914, a bill to amend the safe drinking water act and the federal water pollution control act, to reauthorize programs under those acts and for for other purposes. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from washington is recognized. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i come to the floor to talk about the rise of hate crimes in the pacific northwest and to thank my colleague, the senator from hawaii, for her tremendous leadership in guiding us through this process to get this legislation passed in the united states senate. i want to thank her for her incredible work as a member of the judiciary committee and for getting this out and moved to the floor and to thank senator schumer and senator mcconnell for both helping us get to this point today and for our colleagues for passing this incredible legislation. but again thanks to senator hirono for knowing -- knowing and understanding and be a great member of the judiciary committee that we needed to get this legislation done now. asian americans and pacific

islanders have a long history in our one and their contributions c.b.p. significant, both in cultural vibrancy to our economy and to our way of life. but, unfortunately, that has also been marked by periods of history of hate and damaging stereotypes and design phobia and we saw this again with covid-19. that is why we needed to act today to pass hate crimes legislation to protect asian americans in the united states of america and to make sure that they have tools to protect them. our a.p.i. communities are facing the same challenges we face in the pandemic and, trust me, we lost some incredible asian americans who ran markets, who ran restaurants, who were small business leaders and continued to work during this crisis and ultimately paid the price with their life. but they've also, in i guess to facing the pandemic, have had to face a rage of hate and racism

against them during this time period. according to stop ap.i. hate, nearly 3,000 incidents against a.p.i. individuals were recorded nationwide over the year since the pandemic. and sadly, women made up over half of this, nearly 68% of the reported incidents of violence against asian americans were against asian american women. this must stop. it's very important that we think about how the fraction of these statistics that are reported information, how many more are out there that go unreported. my state, the state of washington, has the seventh largest asian american population and the third-largest pacific islander population in the nation. like the rest of the united states, we've seen an increase in these incidence. in 2020, the state had the third-highest rate of hate crimes targeted against aapi community members. that's why i am for getting a

full slate of people over at the department of justice, including kristen clarke to deal with hate crimes. why? because my state is plagued by these issues and we're not going to tolerate it. we are going to fight back and make sure that we have the infrastructure in place to recognize these things. just this past february, a teacher driving in the seattle international district was assaulted with a sock containing a rock. the attacker was called with felony assault but in the a hate crime. we are told there are widespread reports of aapi elders and women throughout western washington who have been verbally harassed and randomly physically assaulted. in king county coalition against hate and bias is collected information about these attacks. but we no that they have been -- but we know that there have been many, throughout many communities in our state. just a few months ago a woman in king count kind and her two children were acausted by a man

screaming at them just to get out. get out, get out, get out of the and a man was recorded spitting on them and yelling at them, it's your fault. so we know these incidences are happening. just a week or so ago i participated in a roundtable of the asian american pacific islander community from my state to talk about the need for this national legislation and why it's so important we have community-based solutions which include more cultural education to teach our children the history of the asian american community in the united states, mental health support, and multiple language investing in community groups, and this legislation that was passed today, that will give us better tools to prosecute those individuals who participate in hate crimes. this bill would design a point person within the u.s. department of justice to expedite the review of hate crimes and continue to work with all of us.

it requires attorneys general to issue guidance to states, locals, and tribal enforcement -- law enforcement to establish an online hate crime reporting and data collection system. these are all important tools, and so i again want to thank our colleagues and i want to also thank senator blumenthal. his bipartisan amendment would authorize the attorney general to provide grants to states and localities to better train law enforcement on identifying, investigating, and reporting hate crimes to operate state-run hate crime reporting hotlines. so this legislation will help us in shining a very bright light on an alarming rise in violence against the asian american pacific islander community and help us with new tools to combat that crime. i again thank my colleagues and we all must work together to stop this kind of violence. i thank the president. and i yield the floor. mr. kennedy: mr. president?

the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana is recognize the. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i want to go on with my -- join with my colleague, senator cantwell, in congratulating senator hirono and all of us for almost unanimously passing this bill that would try to stop discrimination against asian americans. and i'm happy it passed a. you think -- there was only one vote against it. i just don't think it goes far enough. i think it is ludicrous, it is odious to me that in the year 2021 we have major universities in the united states of america that are setting quotas on their admissions for asian americans. not quotas to have enough asian americans, quotas to keep asian americans out. they are. and everybody in this body knows they're doing that a -- that.

harvard is in litigation over it. harvard officials have already stated that but for their quotas, there would be twice as many asian americans at harvard as there are now. if they based the decision solely on academic achievement. and that's wrong. there's no way to discriminate in the right way. discrimination is discrimination. judge people on the basis of their academic achievements. and president biden has talked an awful lot about the error of discriminating against asian americans, and he's absolutely right. but what's the first thing he did? he pulled his justice department off of filing litigation to try to stop these quotas on asian americans in universities. i mean, if there weren't double standards around here, there would be no standards at all. so i strongly -- senator cruz and i offered an amendment to

senator hirono's bill to try to fix this. unfortunately, we couldn't get 60 votes. in fact, i don't think a single -- maybe i'm belong saying this, but not very many of my democratic friends voted for it. but i'd say to president biden now, if you're serious about ending discrimination against asian americans, tell your justice department to get off its ice-cold, lazy rear end and do something about it and stop the quotas in higher education. but, anyway, that's not really what i came up to talk about, mr. president. mr. president, you're aware, as we all are, of the scourge of opioid abuse in this country. it's horrible, it's terrible. we sometimes lose as many as 50,000 people a year. as you also know, mr. president, many people who become addicted to opioids don't -- they don't necessarily buy the opioids obstruction of justice the street. they get it from -- on the street. they get the opioids from family and friends.

so one one of the best ucla do to try to stop the -- so one of the best things you can do to try to stop the scourge of opioid abuse is to clean out your medicine cabinet so people aren't tempted to use the drugs. turn them in if they've been prescribed to you and you don't need them any longer. to make this easier, our d.e.a. hosts pretty regular what we call takeback days. 10en a takeback day, any person can go into his or her medicine cabinet, find drugs, including opioids, that they're not using anymore that could be dangerous if abused and they can take those unused medications and drop them off at a previously announced d.e.a. drop site. and i'm hoping -- takeback day is this saturday, april 24. i want to encourage all americans and louisianans to do

this. go through your medicine cabinet. if you have opioids that have been prescribed to you -- legally, of course -- and you don't need them any longer, don't just leave them hanging appeared. turn them in, please. but not every day is takeback day. last year congress in its wisdom passed a law, a very good law instructing the department of veterans affairs to ask -- well, actually to require v.a. medical centers to have these drop boxes permanently so that american veterans can throw away medications, including but not limited to opioids that they don't need, and it's worked out really well. and the question that occurred to me after we passed the bill was why limit that kind of access only to our veterans. so i have a bill, mr. president, to basically open up the veterans administration drop boxes for unused drugs, including but not

limited to opioids, at v.a. medical centers to anybody who wants to go get rid of these unused drugs at any time. you don't have to wait until takeback day. this will be a permanent program. the name of the bill is the dispose unused medications and prescription opioids act. and before i offer this bill up, let me just give one more plug, mr. president. i would remind everyone that this saturday, april 24, is takeback day. if you have unused medications, including opioids, that you want to get rid of, it will have been publicized in your community by the d.e.a. you can go drop them off. and i hope people will do that. toward that end, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee on veterans' affairs be discharged

from further consideration of my bill, s. 597, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 957, a bill to direct the secretary of veterans affairs to ensure that certain medical facilities of the department of veterans affairs have physical locations for the disposable -- disposal of controlled substances medications. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. i further ask that the kennedy substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from louisiana is recognized. mr. cassidy: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cassidy: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: thank you. mr. president, the year 2020 was a year filled with sadness and grief for many. but unfortunately that sadness and grief struck again in the year 2021. last tuesday 100 miles per hour winds capsized a lift boat with a crew of 19 off the coast of grand islu, louisiana, south of sport fuchon. good samaritan boats rescued six crew members as winds continued between 80 to 90 miles per hour and waves were seven to nine feet high. the coast guard credits those good samaritans with saving four of the six rescued crew members. so fortunately, in the midst of a terrible tragedy, it turns out a crew of coast guards men and women were on a boat doing a trial run when the s.o.s. went out. and although technically not

coast guard, they were coast guards men and they aided in the rescue. we are eternally grateful for their efforts, hard work and the risk they took to themselves to bring those members back and were returned safely. this not only affects we in louisiana but in a sense affects us all. any loss of life is heartbreaking, but there are some who may not be found, and we pray their family finds closure. to date six have been confirmed dead, including anthony har ford of new orleans, james tracy wallinsfer of gilbert. earnest williams of arnoldville. lawrence warren of tarry town. seven are still missing. each day that passes, the prognosis, the chance of finding them obviously decreases. i'd like to take a moment to recognize those still missing. jay garava, dylan duspit.

jason krell, darrin oncloty and chris rosans. our thoughts and prayers are with the crew members of the capsized vessels, loved ones and communities. while we mourn this loss we rise to recognize the heroic efforts of the coast guard, good samaritans and all involved in the search and rescue efforts that continued for six straight days. in just 40 hours the coast guard covered morning -- more than 1,000 hours in the gulf of mexico searching for crew members. that's an area larger than the state of rhode island. by friday this size grew to a size larger than hawaii searching through sea and air. last week the national transportation safety board an announced they will open an investigation. the team arrived in new orleans on thursday and a preliminary report will be released within the next two weeks.

we deeply appreciate the volunteers who assisted the men and women from the coast guard and many others in the search and rescue, particularly during the terrible weather. in the light of this tragedy, this team effort demonstrates the defendant of humanity -- the best of humanity. we grieve with the families and shall always remember the lives of those we lost. may god watch over their souls. may they find eternal peace. thank you, mr. president. i yield, and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. lankford: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. lankford: are we currently in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. lankford: i ask unanimous consent to end the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lankford: mr. president, i bring news back from oklahoma to this body and a request for dialogue. the covid bill that was passed a little over a month ago, that bill provided all kinds of relief. as this body knows we were deeply divided on that bill and some of the issues within it. one of the issues stretched out the debate all the way to the last moment and it was the additional unemployment assistance.

the conversation about the unemployment assistance is, the economy is reopening. is this the time to extend additional money above and beyond state unemployment assistance, what we normally do? with unemployment rates going down, should we add more money on top of it? no one knew what would happen when that occurred but we had some suspicions. the two weeks i sphent traveling around the state before easter an after easter, town after town after town i heard the same thing from employees an employers. employees would tell me someone who used to work next to them is now at home because they are making as much money at moment on unemployment assistance as they would be working. so the person standing there working at the factory, the person standing there working at the restaurant is ticked off at the person who is at home watching tv making as much money as them. the employer is just as frustrated or more. because they've got all kinds of

orders coming into their business saying, can you send us more of this, and they could except they don't have enough labor. an additional $300 a week was added on -- on top of the unemployment assistance and extended out to the first week of september. at the same time checks were sent out to every individual and they were told they would get a $10,000 tax break. the combination of those three things together has caused people to do what they do in a free market. they look to see where they are going to work based on where they can make the most money at the moment. that's what a free market is a -- is like. that's why employees mire to get -- more to get employees. the problem is in oklahoma where there's a low cost of living many employers are struggling to find work because they are competing against this body. and the employees are ticked

because they are at work, working, paying taxes, and the person who used to work next to them and probably will return this october, got several months off and is making the same except for the person working is paying for the person not working and they are a little tick ofd about it. i bring this to you because this is not hypothetical. in oklahoma, our unemployment rate dropped again to 4.2%, but we still have 100,000 people. our rates continued to rise for people filing first-time claims, but i promise there's not a town you can go to in oklahoma that doesn't have help wanted signs all over town. i heard it from every single town i went to from employers in every single place that they cannot compete with what the government is mailing to people for staying at home. the very first day i was out a

couple of weeks ago, it was in tulsa in a business there that does manufacturing. he told me for the first time ever -- and he's owned the business for a long time -- for the first time ever, one of his managers came to him and said, you're not going to believe what happened. an employee came to him and said, i would like you to fire me. he said, why would i do that? i figured out with the tax break and what i get on unemployment assistance, i could make as much staying at home rather than working. but i need you to fire me. and he literally said to them, i'm not going to do that. go back to work. the next day the guy showed up 30 minutes late to work and took a half-hour off for lunch. the third day, they called him, talked to him, wrote it up. the fourth day they did the same thing, called him, wrote it up, by the fifth day they fired him and his exact words were to his manager on the floor, what took you so long?

there's a restaurant in oklahoma city that told us they were preparing to reopen. finally the pandemic is over. we have a very high percentage of folks in oklahoma that received vaccines, we're one of the top ten states for distributing the vaccines out. our states, our counties, our local hochts, our tribal areas have done a fantastic job getting the vaccine out. we're open. one of the restaurants trying to reopen applies to the district of oklahoma city, that beautiful cultural district, couldn't reopen because they couldn't hire people because they got larger unemployment benefits, and they remain closed. the mayor of muskogee told me most employees -- employers in their town are struggling to be able to get employees to be able to come back to work. in northern oklahoma, in perry, there is a restaurant that was talking to one of my staff this week that said they are having

to close early because they can't get enough business, and i would tell you a couple of sundays ago, my wife and i drove to go eat lunch after church, and we went to two restaurants before we had to go to a third to find a restaurant that was open. the second restaurant literally had a sign on their door, closed due to labor shortage. this is a real issue that was created in this room that is impacting my state trying to reopen. i have no idea if my democratic colleagues will acknowledge this as a real problem or just say that's a hypothetical issue, it's not real, but this is going to continue all the way through september, and my state's not going to be able to reopen. this will get even worse in the days ahead when additional money will start being shipped out to families and a change in the

child tax credit when people will literally start getting checks in august on top of the other checks they receive. i bring this to this body because i'd like for us to have a conversation about it, and for somebody in this body to acknowledge a mistake was made and we need to fix this. we all agreed last year to be able to help during the time of the pandemic. people needed help. everyone was out of work, and there were no options for work. that is not true anymore, yet these larger benefits are still coming out. this needs to be addressed. for the sake of getting our economy going again, this needs to be addressed. and i would hope we could have a reasonable, rational, fact-based conversation about it. madam president, i'd like to speak on a second topic, and i would like to ask unanimous consent it be listed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. lankford: for most of the history of the united states, we've had nine supreme court justices, nine. now, we started out originally with six, and then it dropped for just a little while to five, and then right back to six again. when we added a seventh circuit court in 1807, it popped from six to be seven. there was some discussion about whether it would just continue based on the number of circuit courts. it was determined, no, it was a bad idea. so then it went to nine in 1837. lincoln actually added one to ten, and then they determined that's really too many and brought it back down to seven, actually. in 1869, we went back to nine again, where we were most of the time before that and where we have remained, nine supreme court justices. that's not just a random number.

it seems to be a pretty good number, nine to be able to open up debate. i don't just think it's a pretty good number. there's a rather famous and some would say notorious justice named ruth bader ginsburg. she made this statement in 2019. when asked about court packing and asked about increasing the size of the court. in 2019, ruth bader ginsburg said nine seems to be a good number. it's been that way for a long time. i think it was a bad idea when the president franklin roosevelt tried to pack the court. if anything, you would make the court look partisan. that's not just one justice. early in august of this year, justice breyer, was speaking at the harvard law school, and he addressed this issue of court packing. while this body is in the middle of a conversation about court packing. extremely rare for that to occur. justice breyer stated i'm an

optimist. the rule of law has weathered many threats, but it remains sturdy. i hope and expect the court will retain its authority, an authority that my stories have shown were hard won, but that authority like the rule of law relies on trust, a trust that the court is guided by legal principle, not politics. structural alteration motivated by the perception of political influence can only feed that matter of perception, further eroding that trust. there is no short cut. trust in the courts without which our system cannot function requires knowledge, it requires understanding, it requires engagement. in a word, it requires work. work on the part of all citizens, and we must undertake that work together. what i'm trying to do is to make those whose initial instincts may favor important structural change or other similar institutional changes such as court packing think long and hard before they embody those

changes in law. that was so well received by justice breyer that progressive activists started calling for him to take early retirement. court packing. it's not new in a conversation in this body, but it's not been well received in the past. now, the court has always ebbed and flowed in its liberal or conservative events. president obama spoke openly about the court in the 1960's. that was a very progressive court in the 1960's that drove conservatives crazy with some of the decisions they made. there was no packing of the court to try to change the direction of the court in the 1960's and 1970's. it was a frustration but a realization nine was the right number. and over time, the court, as it does, as it ebbs and flows over the decades, it's flowed to be more conservative. in the days ahead at some point, it will flow to be more liberal.

it just will. but the rule of law is important. it's not a new concept that's being addressed, but it's one this body should think long and hard about. quite frankly, i agreed with joe biden on this concept. not the president joe biden. the senator joe biden. of this body's -- with this body's permission, let me just read joe biden's speeches when he was in the united states senate and he stood right over there and spoke on this floor or spoke in committee hearings when he was in the judiciary committee, speaking often about this issue. joe biden once speaking made this statement. he said president roosevelt clearly had the right to send to the united states senate and united states congress a proposal to pack the court. it totally was within his rights to do that. he violated no law.

he was legalistically, absolutely correct, but it was a bone-head idea, senator biden said. it was a terrible, terrible mistake to make it and to put it into question for an entire decade the independence of the most significant body, including the congress, in my view, the most significant body in this country, the supreme court of the united states of america. the president has the right to do that. he was totally within his power, and his objective was clearly seen. while the president clearly has the right to do what he is doing, in my view. but he also called it bone head. joe biden as senator also continued with this statement. he was discussing this same issue. he said the senate again stood -- by the way, this was two decades later after joe biden made that statement i just read. two decades later, joe biden still has the same passion. he stated this.

the senate again stood firm in the 1937 court-packing plan by president franklin roosevelt. this particular example of senate resolve is instructive for today's debates, so let me describe it in some detail. it was the summer of 1937, and president roosevelt had just come off a landslide victory over alf landon, and he had a congress made up of some solid new dealers, but the old nine men of the supreme court were thwarting his economic agenda, overturning law after law overwhelmingly passed by the congress and from the state houses across the country. in this environment, president roosevelt unveiled his court-packing plan. he wanted to increase the number of justices on the court to 15, allowing himself to nominate these additional judges. in an act of great courage, roosevelt's own party stood up against his institutional power grab. they did not agree with the judicial activism of the supreme court, but they believed that roosevelt was wrong to seek to

defy established traditions as a way of stopping that activism. in may, 1937, the senate judiciary committee, a committee controlled by the democrats and supporting those political ends, issued a stinging rebutte. they put out a report condemning roosevelt's plan arguing it was an effort to punish the justices that executive branch attempts to dominate the judiciary lead inevitably to an autocratic dominance, the very thing against which the american colonies revolted and to prevent which the constitution was in every particular frame. our predecessors in the senate showed courage that day and stood up to their president as a colloquial institution, and they did so not to thwart the agenda of the president which, in fact, many agreed with. they did it to preserve our system's checks and balances. they did it to ensure the integrity of the system. when the founders created a different kind of legislative body in the senate, they envisioned a bulwark against unilateral power. it worked back then, and i hope

it works now, said joe biden during that time. the noted historian, arthur schlesinger, jr. -- this is joe biden continuing as senator. the noted historian arthur schlesinger jr. has argued in a parliament system, president roosevelt's efforts to pack the court would have succeeded. schlesinger writes the court bill couldn't have failed if we had a parliament system in 1937. a parliament legislature would have gone ahead with their president. that's what they do. but the founders envisioned a different kind of legislature, an independent institution that would think for itself. in the end, roosevelt's plan failed because democrats in congress thought court packing was dangerous, even if they would have supported the newly constituted court's rulings. the institution acted as an institution. in summary then, what do the senate's action of 1795, 1805,

and 1937 share in common? i believe they are an example of this body acting at its finest, demonstrating its constitutional role as an independent check on the president, even popularly elected presidents of the same party, end quote, from senator joe biden. this challenge to this body to think long and hard before they destroy an institution of our government was right there. it's right now. and a final statement from joe biden. he spoke about the filibuster. often, actually, about the filibuster. senator biden stated this -- the framers created the senate as a unique legislative body designed to protect against the excesses of temporary majority. including with respect to

judicial nominations, and they left us all the responsibility of guaranteeing an independent federal judiciary, one price of which is that it sometimes reaches results senators don't like. it's up to us to preserve these precarious guarantees. our history, our american sense of fair play, and our constitution demand it. joe biden continued as senator. he said i would ask my colleagues who are considering supporting the nuclear option, those who promised to jump off a precipice, whether they believe that history will judge them favorably. in so many instances throughout this esteemed body's past, our forefathers came together and stepped back from the cliff. in each case, the actions of those statesmen preserved and strengthened the senate to the betterment of the health of our constitutional republic and to all of our advantage. our careers in the senate will one day end, as we are only senators temporarily, but the senate itself will go on.

will historians studying the actions taken in the spring of 2005, when joe biden stated this in the senate, will they look upon the current members of the senate as statesmen who placed the institution of the united states senate above party and politics or will historians see us as politicians bending to the will of the executive and to political emergency? i, for one, am comfortable with the role i will play in this upcoming historic moment, he stated. and then he stated this, from senator joe biden -- i hope my colleagues will feel the same. so do i. less than the days ahead, history will look at the unwinding of the judiciary based on a season in the supreme court, as we have had seasons and cycles before.

don't unwind the judiciary for a season. i yield the floor. mr. portman: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. portman: madam president, i appreciated the thoughtful comments of my colleague from oklahoma regarding the need for us to have an imed judiciary -- independent judiciary. i'm on the floor today to talk about a different issue, and it's the latest, very troubling information that we are

receiving regarding the addiction epidemic and specifically drug overdose deaths in the united states. and i'm also going to talk about some of the steps we can take right now to address that reality. one of the top pray yorlts i've had -- priorities i've had in this body and the house is drug addiction and it's a moment of frustration because we were making progress and then covid-19 hit. unfortunately, this drug epidemic has hit my state of ohio particularly hard. the latest data from the centers for disease control, the c.d.c., shows that it's a pretty grim picture right now and it should be a wake-up call to all of us. overdose deaths rose nearly 30% nationwide from september 2019 to september 2020. so during this time period. you can see the overdose deaths numbers going up dramatically. this is heartbreaking for me because we were making progress.

after literally decades of increases in drug overdose deaths, every single year, decades, going ■backtoth 1990's, we finally here in the 2017, 2018, 2019 period began to make progress in reducing overdose deaths. in fact, in ohio we had a 24% decrease in overdose deaths during one year, 2018. but right now the numbers are getting higher and higher. and it's everywhere. as you can see from this chart, if something is in any of these colors, this means that there is an increase in overdose deaths. if it's in blue, this means there's a decrease. and this is just during this period of september 2019 to september 2020, the latest data for which we have good

information. and it doesn't even include all of 2020. and as we know, the pandemic unfortunately went all the way through 2020 and into 2021. all the data shows that as you get further into the pandemic, we had higher rates and so we expect when the final data comes out for 2020, it will be even higher. but here's where we are now. look at this. other than the state of south dakota, every single state has seen an increase and a substantial increase in many cases of overdose deaths. 49 of 50 states. in my own state of ohio there's about a 25% increase in overdose deaths during this period. only a few years ago again we were making progress and one reason that we had begun to turn the tide was because of work that's been done here in the united states congress. so we passed right around this time period legislation called the comprehensive addiction and

recovery act. we also passed legislation called the 21st century cures act. both were signed into law in 2016. so it would have been in this period. it became effective in this period. and actually helped to reduce overdose deaths for the first time in decades. i commend my colleagues for that legislation. it was the first time we'd ever funded recovery as an example. we also funded prevention and treatment and provided our law enforcement with more naloxone, this miracle drug that reverses the effects of an overdose. many of my colleagues have had the opportunity to speak with their local addiction boards or been with law enforcement or other first responders, firefighters who have used this naloxone effectively to save lives. so things were getting better until we saw this big increase in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. the stresses of this

unprecedented time clearly have contributed to the spike in drug abuse. people have felt lonier. people have felt more isolated. specifically people have not been able to get access to recovery programs. being in person with a recovery coach is a whole lot different than being on a zoom call. that's what i hear from recovering addicts and it makes sense. i will say people have turned to drugs to cope during this tough period, but also many of those who are in recovery have been stalled in their progress because of their inability to be with other recovering addicts. so part of this best practices and best scientific evidence we have is that an effective way to help people overcome their addiction is to be with other people who also have that addiction. we've known this for years in terms of alcohol treatment programs, a.a. and so on. but this has been one of the problems. another issue i'm going to raise

which apparently is somewhat controversy but i hear it from the experts, and that's the people on the ground, in the field dealing with this issue, is when we here in congress provided lump sums to all americans under a certain income -- you remember the individual payments -- they didn't go out right away because our state offices couldn't process it quickly enough, particularly with regard to unemployment insurance where our workers comps and unemployment offices could not get the money out the door on a weekly basis but could retroactively provide those funds. individuals instead of getting $300 a week or $600 a week, $10,000 a week because it was an accumulation of many weeks. people were owed that but getting these big lump sums was not helpful in the context of many people who were in recovery. because it led to them purchasing drugs and it led to what we're finding out again, back home talking to the

experts, were some of the reasons you had the spike. so there are a lot of reasons here. i guess what we need to focus on now is how do we get beyond t this? these deaths are happening away from the national headlines because coronavirus is taking the national headlines. understandably. a story just last week from a news station in dayton, ohio, summed it up perfectly with a quote from lori earion, the founding president of families of addicts who said during the pandemic, addiction and families struggling with it haven't gone anywhere. we've been here the whole time. end quote. but they haven't gotten much notice. 87,000 people have died from overdoses in the september 2019 to september 2020 period we talked about. 87,000 americans died. and if not for the covid-19 pandemic, i don't think we would

have seen this increase from everything we're hearing. the correlation is almost precise. but also we would be hearing a lot more about the addiction crisis and doing more about it here. we did put some funding into the cares act and into the two most recent covid-19 packages to help with behavioral health, people's mental health, and also with addiction. and that's a been helpful. but we need to go much broader and do something much more comprehensive, to take this moment to recommit ourselves to fighting addiction and ensuring that more americans don't continue to lose their lives to overdoses. we have bipartisan legislation that has been introduced that we have been working with a lot of people on the outside to try to come up with some new ideas, some ways to address this problem. in the five years since this comprehensive addiction and recovery legislation became law, which was in part the reason you saw this reduction, also a lot

of great work done at the local level and the state level, but the substantial several billion dollar commitment we made here in this chamber for more prevention treatment, longer term recovery, naloxone and so on, it made a difference but it's been five years. during that time i have visited with literally hundreds of different organizations in my home state. i've also just talked to a lot of experts about this. i've been to a lot of nonprofits from cleveland to cincinnati, from portsmouth to toledo. i have talked to literally hundreds of recovering addicts about what works, what doesn't work for them. and the legislation that we are introducing now which we call cara 3301 because we had -- 3.1 because we had the first recovery act and a smaller one in 2018, now we have in new bipartisan cara 3.0 legislation. senator whitehouse is my

coauthor but we have a number of members who have joined up to help. and it addresses three major areas. one is research and education. we still need to find out more and we still need to get better research and better alternatives to opioids to deal with pain. because much of this is being driven, as you know, from opioids. both heroin and prescription drugs but also these new synthetic opioids that are the deadliest of all. second, we focus on education. getting the prevention message out there is incredibly important to keep people from coming into the funnel of addiction in the first place is incredibly powerful and effective. third, of course treatment programs. fourth, recovery. again, congress had never funded recovery before but yet all the best science shows that these recovery programs when done properly can be incredibly helpful and longer-term

recovery, unfortunately, is needed which is costly. but the alternative is worse. and finally, criminal justice reform which i'll talk about in a moment. it will bolster our work to prevent drug abuse before it happens through funding for research and education, a new national drug awareness campaign is part of this legislation. and research and development of alternative pain treatment methods that don't lead to addiction is part of it. cara 3.0 will also take the important step of addressing the disproportionate effect the addiction crisis has had on people in poverty and communities of color. unfortunately, during this increase we have seen a higher percentage of overdoses in communities of color. a national commission is formed to look at this issue to better develop treatments and best practices to avoid overdoses. second, our bill will build on what works and how we treat addiction. it will double down on proven

evidence-based addiction treatment methods while expanding treatment options for groups particularly vulnerable to addiction, including young people, new and expectant mothers, rural community residents, and communities of color, individuals who live in those communities. one of the things that we have learned through again evidence-based research into what works and doesn't work is that medication assisted treatment when done properly can be very effective. it will also make permanent the current expanded telehealth options for addiction treatment that were created temporarily in response to the social distancing required by the covid-19 pandemic. this is really important. telehealth is one of the few silver linings in an otherwise very dark cloud of the coronavirus pandemic. for many individuals, telehealth was effective and particularly in regard to behavioral health and addiction services. so we want to be sure that the temporary ability to pay for

those telehealth visits for an example through medicaid, as an example, or medicare can continue past the pandemic. cara 3.0 will also bolster the recovery options for individuals working to put addiction behind them through funding to support recovery, support services and networks. it will enable physicians to provide medication-assisted addiction treatments like methadone to a greater number of patients and to change the law to allow these to be prescribed for telehealth for greater accession. this requires a change for legislation to allow people to provide these kinds of treatment. the bill will destigmatize recovery in the workplace by ensuring that taking one of these medication, again medications to get people over their addiction will not count as a drug free work plaition violation. -- workplace violation.

it may seem like an obvious change but unfortunately it will take a change of law to make that happen. it reforms our criminal justice system to ensure those struggling with addiction including our veterans are treated with fairness and compassion by the law, putting them on a path to recovery instead of a downward spiral of drug abuse. importantly, cara 3.0 funds of justice grant program to help incarcerated individuals struggling with addiction to receive medicated-assisted treatment while they are still in the criminal justice system. that may seem like a pretty obvious system but the people who come into the system addicted, come out addicted, they are not given the treatment options when they are incarcerated and simply go back to a life of addiction. those people have high rates of recidivism clearly. most are rearrested and are back in the system within a relatively short period of time. so this will reduce recidivism, repeat offenses. and it makes sense for the

person addicted and certainly makes sense for the community with fewer crimes being committed. it also makes a lot of sense for the taxpayer because that treatment, although there's an additional expense while in the criminal justice system, will have a much better chance of getting that person back to a life where they can go back to work, back to their family, be in recovery, and not be back in the expensive criminal justice system. so it is a wane-win-win. cara and cara 2.0 gave states and local communities authority to make a real difference in my state and others. cara 2.0 reus in and strengthens those programs. we see here in provides a significant boost in funding as well. when added with the existing cara programs, we will be investing well over $1 billion

per year to address this epidemic, putting us on the path to a brighter future. another part of cara 3.0 is our bipartisan legislation to build on this expanded telehealth option for addiction services. it was necessary during the pandemic to have it because of social distancing. we found out that although there's no substitute for face-to-face interaction, telehealth has kept patients in touch with their doctors and allowed physicians to prescribe treatment remotely. it doesn't make sense to get rid of these options once the pandemic goes away. so again cara includes legislation called the treats act to bolster telehealth options. it does a couple of things. first it allows for a patient to be prescribed these lower-scheduled drugs like

suboxone. you can't do that now. the current law requires you to go in person when needing an initial prescription for controlled substances. but this has been a deterrent to patients in need of treatments when schedule 3 or schedule 4 drugs like suboxone or other drugs for co-occurring mental health conditions. it also limits abusive practices by limiting telehealth visits to be able to interact with the treatment providers to reduce fraud and abuse when it is your first visit. it would also keep the existing requirements for in-person visits when prescribing schedule 2 drugs. these are the harder drugs like opioids and stimulants, which are much more prone to being abused through these telehealth visits. so we have a provision to avoid abuse. but it is also important to continue this tellly health when other options aren't there. it is a balanced approach that makes sense. second, our bill will allow for medicare to bill for audio-only

or telephone telehealth visits for mental health and substance abuse if not the patient's first visit. due to access to broadband or video appointments aren't always possible, particularly for seniors. we need to focus on safety and robust treatment options but in order to balance the need of patients, we have proposed to allow our nation's seniors under medicare to use phones for subsequent mental health or behavioral health visits when they don't have access to the internet and where face-to-face interaction isn't possible and isn't as necessary. i believe the treats act will make a difference and will help us prevent more untimely overdoses. the legislation i have laid out so far cover important aspects of the addiction crisis. the addiction treatment efforts that help lessen the demand for drugs, which is the single most important thing, reducing that

demand. but there's also more we have to do on the supply side because as drugs are pouring into our country, they are at a lower price on the streets of cincinnati or columbus or cleveland or dayton, toledo. so we do need to do more to cur shall the supply of these -- to curb the supply of these dangerous substances a. this is especially true now because there is such a critical crisis ongoing and there is a looming deadline to keep one class of very dangerous drugs illegal and off the streets. i'm talking about the kinds of opioids that are like fentanyl that are sympathetic opioids -- that are synthetic opioids. unless we arctic they will no longer -- unless we act, they will no longer be scheduled, be illegal. the biggest drive to the surge in overdose deaths that we see here comes from fentanyl, comes from the synthetic opioids.

they're often far more deadly than traditional opioids like heroin. in fact, fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin. a pound of fentanyl is lethal enough to kill a half a million people. and fentanyl, as you will find out in talking to your law enforcement folks and others in the treatment space, it is often now being laced with other drugs like cocaine, like crystal meth, or hen. most of this synthetic heroin is being manufactured in china and then smuggled across our borders either going through the mail system or going to mexico and smuggled across. there is also evidence it is being produced in mexico, with is a change and a major concern. in order a void prosecution, prior to 2018, scientists in china, evil scientists in china, and drug traffickers started making slight modifications to fentanyl, sometimes adjusting a single molecule and creating what are essentially fentanyl

copycats. while they have the same properties as fentanyl, they are able to be evaded by prosecution. but often these similar substances, like carfentanil, are even deadlier than fentanyl itself. to address this the drug enforcement agency in 2018 used its authority to temporarily classify all fentanyl-related drugs. unfortunately, this designation was only temporary. that's all d.e.a. could do. so in 2019 congress extended that designation until may 6, 2021. so a two-year extension until 14 days from now. if that deadline lapses 14 days from now, criminals who run labs in china and mexico will be able to avoid law enforcement as they flood the law enforcement with

unlimited, slight variants of fentanyl that are just as deadly. we can't let that happen. at a time when we are experiencing an alarming rise in overdose deaths that we see here and fentanyl is the major culprit, the number-one killer, we may face a situation where law enforcement will lose the ability to aggressively stop these fentanyl copycats in the united states unless congress acts in the next 14 days. fortunately, we have legislation to do that. our bipartisan fight fentanyl act, which i introduced with senator joe manchin, will fix this problem by permanently classifying fentanyl-related drugs as schedule 1 drugs. it would give our law enforcement certainty to go after synthetic opioid in all their forms. our proposal is the -- one bipartisan approach in the senate. we structured it to address concerns from the criminal justice community and made sure it does not impose mandatory

minimum sentencing under criminal charges brought under our bill. that's been one of the concerns expressed, particularly by some on the other side of the aisle. so we took that out. i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come to the table and support this urgent legislation. partisan house just passed add five-month extension. this week. that's, to me, very sad. let's make this permanent. there is no reason to do an extension and create the uncertainty with law enforcement and tell the evil scientists in places like china, in five months you're going to be able to potentially sell this substance again without worrying about the law. this makes no sense. let's give the d.e.a. the authority to do what they need to do. and by doing so, let's reduce the amount coming in, which increases the cost on the street, which is an important step toward rededicating our efforts to stop these drugs from stealing thousands of lives and causing so much pain.

in conclusion, i urge my colleagues, our nation faces a crisis. it's the coronavirus pandemic that is finally winding down. but it's also the addiction crisis that's been happening underneath the coronavirus. as was said by my constituent, this woman who unfortunately has faced addiction in her own family, we've been here the whole time, and it hasn't gotten better. it's gotten worse. many of its victims are suffering in silence. we know a lot about what's going on with covid. we don't know a lot about what's going on with this pandemic, this epidemic of drugs. so let's act now, without delay. we have 14 days until d.e.a. loses the authority to go after dangerous fentanyl copycats, but we can do something about it. we can pass legislation right now that will help people at their point of pain as well as provide law enforcement the tools to cut off the source of their suffering. both the cara 3.0 legislation to

deal with the demand side and the legislation to be sure this poison can't come in our communities freely. as the c.d.c. data shows, this is an issue that affects every single one of us. 49 states have seen a big increase. we know we need to do it. let's not wait any longer to get to work and once again turning the tide on our addiction crisis. i yield back my time.

mr. sullivan: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska is recognized. mr. sullivan: madam president, it's thursday, and by now many know -- particularly our members of our press corps -- that it's time for what i feel is probably one of the best moments in the senate each week. it's time for the alaskan of the week. i get to talk about alaska, talk about somebody who's doing extraordinary things for our state, for our country a lot of times, and i'd like to give an update when i give my alaska of the week speech about what's going on in alaska.

it's spring, of course. the sun is high in most parts of the state -- actually in all parts of the state. spring -- we call it breakup actually, relating to the ice on the rivers. it is upon us. now, of course, it can still snow and it still gets pretty cold in a lot of places in alaska. but winter is on the run. the promise of summer is in the air. what a glorious summer it's going to be. we aren't out of the woods yet on the pandemic in alaska, but we have managed -- we're proud of it; i'm proud of my fellow alaskans -- the pandemic, the virus as well as possible. one of the things that's happening now -- our vaccination rates have been almost from the beginning when we got the vaccine, the highest per capita in the country. despite our huge challenges in terms of size, limited population, it's really kind of a mini- miracle.

number-one vaccination rates in america in alaska. we did it by dogsled, snow machine, small airplanes to make that happen. so if you're watching, america, please come on up to alaska. it's safe. it's open for tourism. this summer we want you to come on up. by the way, not only will you have an amazing experience, our state just's a nnounced a few days ago -- our state just announced a few days ago, you will get at vaccine if you come to alaska. if your state is too inefficient or bureaucratic to actually get a vaccine, come on up to alaska. you can have the trip of a lifetime. you and your family can get vaccinate. we want you up there. we are open for business. we want to see americans come on up and enjoy our great state, as we are getting through this pandemic. it's a naturally beautiful

space, you'll see, but the people in my state work hard to keep it pristine and are real lay what makes it -- are really what makes it such a great place. so today, madam president, in honor of earth day, i wanted to honor homar, alaska, resident beth tremendousbridge, who has spent her -- trowbridge, who has spent her career working to keep our beaches clean and pristine. let me tell you a little bit about beth. originally from st. louis, beth came to alaska in 1981 as a college student to work on the youth conservation corps in fairbanks, alaska. she only intended to stay a year -- by the way, this is a very common story -- only intended to stay a year or so, but as so many do, she got to alaska and fell in love with the state.

so she transferred to the university of alaska-fairbanks where she got her degree in northern alaska and native american studies. she loved living off the land, studying the plants, studying the animals. she sated, quote, there are beautiful and amazing people and amazing resources in alaska. she said she always loved the sense that while we cannot live there, nature in alaska is always in control. the earthquakes, the volcanoes, the extreme weather, the coldness, they are a constant reminder that, in her words, in alaska, there are bigger forces out there. a lot bigger. and she wants to keep it that way, so she became a steward of her environment and dedicated her life to educating others so that they too could become stewards.

madam president, with all the talk about climate change, i fear that not nearly enough attention is given to those outside of politics, like in this town, who work day in and day out to care for the environment in the place they call home, in their communities, in their states every day, on the ground, at home, making a difference. that's what beth has done. after college, she got a job as the education coordinator for the prince william sound science center, where she authored the alaska oil spill curriculum. then in 2000, she began her work, really in many ways her life's work for the center for alaskan coastal studies, or cacs. in the drop-dead gorgeous community of homer, alaska,

surrounded by the beautiful catch net bay. some people call homer the place where the land ends and the sea begins. others, a cosmic hamlet by the sea. others, the halibut capital of the world. but if you haven't visited homer, america, you've got to go to homer. my goodness, it is beautiful. in k i can't, we just call -- in alaska, we just call it awesome, in part because of people like beth and organizations like her that keep it that way. in 2012, beth became the organization's executive director and helped expand the good work that cacs has been doing since 1982. now this organization is primarily an education organization and offers people of all ages, really from across the globe, not just alaska, not just america -- everywhere everywhere -- opportunities to connect with the outdoors,

learn about coastal environments through guided walks, tours, educational programs, overnight school programs, and so much more. so think about this impact. homer, where cacs is located, is a town of about 6,000 people. cacs educates roughly 16,000 people through these science-based programs every year. that's a big impact. they have camps for everyone, and i would encourage anyone who is listening, is going to go to homer, to sign up for one of these camps, explore the unique green e-- ecology, abundant sea life, watch whales, swim against the backdrop of the mountains, then go to the forest and learn more about forest wildlife, adaptation in

the forest. so much to do. one of the big initiatives of this important organization deals with marine debris. so today, on earth day, let me just put a plug in for the marine debris programs in my state and across the country. this is an issue i have personally been very focused on since my time as a u.s. senator senator, working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and we've gotten a lot done to pass our save our seas act a couple of congresses ago, and to pass the save our seas act 2.0 which the congressional research service called it the most comprehensive ocean cleanup legislation ever, in the history of congress. just passed and signed into law in december. so we're making progress. i do want to give a shoutout to one of my good friends, senator sheldon whitehouse.

you know, some of us miss his weekly wake-up speeches. i think mine is the only weekly speech anymore. senator whitehouse, not sure what happened. but senator whitehouse and i have worked very closely on this kind of legislation, ocean debris, ocean cleanup, into help organizations like cacs with marine debris dleenup and to -- cleanup and to call attention to this issue that is solvable. we can solve this. marine debris, ocean plastics, and it's bringing a lot of people in america and across the world together. one of cacs's biggest annual events is the annual catchamac bay coast walk. it involves more than 200 volunteers who adopt a session of catchamac bay shoreline. you've got to visit catchamac bay, one of the most beautiful places on the planet earth, trust me.

surveying changes, collect data on human impacts and cleaning up beach litter and marine debris is what people do every year with the catchamac bay coast law. it's the kind of great local work that really makes a difference, that brings people from all across alaska together, people who know how special and beautiful catchamac bay is, and it creates community. it creates community. and that's so important not just for our state, but for our oceans, coastlines. so that's one of the many things beth has done. beth and her husband charlie, who is a retired shellfish biologist with the alaska department of fish and game, have four children. the youngest finishing eighth grade, the oldest 33. beth develops environmental curriculums for schools, she is a rotarian, girl scout leader

and keeps cacs running seamlessly. she says she does all of this because she has a passion for sharing the outdoors with people, alaskans, americans, people from all over the world, but especially the next generation. and she hopes that her work not only will have an immediate impact on the environment, but helps people to understand the challenges of our oceans and to focus more on cleanup, because who doesn't want to clean up our oceans? local businesses, she's noting, are using more recyclable material. people are leaving less trash behind. people are talking more about cleanup, ownership, and that's how you make a difference at the local level. it spreads out all over the state and the country. beth said, i hope that through my work, we can provide the

opportunities to understand and appreciate nature. i'm proud of where i live. i love homer, and i want to take care of it. and i hope others in the community feel that way too. beth, that is a great sentiment, and it's also one of the many reasons we are proud to honor you today with this very prestigious award, our alaskan of the week. congratulations. i yield the floor.

mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cornyn: madam president, over the last few months we've been spending a lot of time talking about the surge of migrants at our southern border. as the presiding officer knows, we are having bipartisan meetings here to try to figure out how to address that and other challenges of our broken immigration system. we know the spike in migration is not a new phenomenon, and

sadly, neither is a dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied children. but the current surge is unlike anything we've experienced in the past. we're breaking all the wrong kinds of records, including the numbers of unaccompanied children, total monthly border crossings, and capacity levels at care facilities. and of course all of this is happening during a pandemic, which creates serious risks for our law enforcement and for those caring for these migrants and for the migrants themselves. unfortunately, the administration has not yet figured out how to stop this flow of illegal immigration. the president and his team are telling migrants, don't come. but when it comes to his policies, all of his policies say come while you can. they haven't figured out how to

replace trump-era policies, and so what they've done is they've left a void that's being exploited by everybody from the coyotes, the human smugglers, the people who smuggle illegal drugs into the united states, as well as the people who understandably want a better life. maybe they're fleeing poverty or violence. we all understand why people want to come to the united states, but we also believe that the safest and the fairest sort of immigration policy is legal immigration into our country. we're the most generous country in the world. we naturalize about a million people a year. it's one of our comparative advantages, compared to the rest of the world that restricts migration. over the last few months, like many of us, i've spent a lot of time listening and learning from the folks on the ground in texas who know the ins and outs of this topic better than anybody else. i visited border communities and

heard from border patrol officers, mayors, county judges, nongovernmental organizations that try to help these migrants once they make their way to the united states and whose experience precedes this current surge. i visited five of the facilities in texas that are helping take care of the record number of migrant children. in carrizo springs, donna, houston, midland, and in dallas, i heard about the heartbreaking circumstances under which many of these children have arrived on our doorsteps. i've seen the incredible ways that our nongovernmental organizations like catholic charities are trying to ease the burden of this crisis, even after a year of supporting their communities through a global pandemic. the reality of this situation is we are quickly nearing a breaking point. we lack the facilities, the

personnel, the resources, and the policies needed to manage this crisis. law enforcement and border communities are being overwhelmed by the sharp increase in migration, and unless something changes, the entire system could collapse. the light is flashing red, and the time for action is now. that's why today i'm proud to introduce the bipartisan border solutions act along with senator sinema, to address this crisis. it's no accident that most of us represent border states and that both of us have heard from our communities and stakeholders on the ground about how important it is for congress to step up and provide some way to mitigate the current crisis. on the house side, we've got two of my friends in the texas delegation, congressman hen ray cuellar from laredo and tony gonzalez who represents one of

the largest border districts in the country. so we truly have a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation. our knowledge of this crisis doesn't just come from the news or political talking points, but as i suggested, real conversations with the real people who are dealing with this and have dealt with previous surges. we've heard from state and local leaders, law enforcement, n.g.o.'s, as i said, and a range of property owners whose property is being overrun by the coyotes and those who are involved in this illegal immigration process. so their input has been the driving force behind the bill which includes, i believe, commonsense measures to address this crisis. it is not admittedly a comprehensive immigration bill. but we need to put the fire out first and then build on our success once we pass that legislation to do the other

things that i think we can probably agree on on a consensus basis such as we discussed with the majority leader and others last evening. the bipartisan borders solution act is not about scoring political points, it's about solving a problem, and that problem is getting bigger every day. the most immediate problem is our inability to properly process the sheer number of people crossing our border. our border patrol and health and human services, the office of refugee relocation are simply overwhelmed. in march we saw the highest number of border crossings on record, 172,000 individuals. that was a dramatic increase from the eye popping numbers in february, which totaled 100,000. as i said, we've seen these surges before, but never a surge

like this magnitude. now, the busiest months for people to cross the border typically are april, may, and june, but not february and not march. so we know that this is only going to get worse based on our historical experience. if our facilities and people are already overwhelmed, imagine how the strain will intensify if we do nothing. we already know that in processing these migrants important steps are being skipped in an order to expedite the process. normally if someone comes across the border seeking asylum, for example, they will be processed and released for a notice to appear for a future court hearing. that document contains important information like when and where their court date is set. in many cases right now it just isn't happening. many migrants are being released to the interior of the united

states with incomplete paperwork and not given any notice to appear for a court date. if they don't show up in court, a default order of deportation will be ordered even if they have a meritorious claim for asylum. so it has real consequences. but what will else can our government officials and our local communities do? unfortunately, they do not want us to continue releasing people to the interior without a court date or information on what's needed in order to assert your claim. and, as and said, without appearing in court, a migrant with a valid asylum claim won't be able to receive the relief that u.s. provides for them. at one point the situation was so bad the biden administration considered flying migrants to less busy locations on the

northern border to be proved. so there's -- processed, so there's really no question we need to improve our capacity and process to handle these migrants more thoroughly and efficiently. our bipartisan bill here in the senate and in the house will establish four regional processing centers in high-traffic areas along the border to streamline the intake of migrants. one reason that's so important, just beyond capacity issues, is that the smugglers who smuggle people in the united states for a price, part of transnational criminal organizations, they make a lot of money doing this, and they are smart. they know if they flood the zone with unaccompanied children, that the border patrol will go offline in order to take care of those children, which we want those children taken care of. but what the smugglers know, what the transnational criminal organizations know, is once the

border patrol comes off the front line, they can exploit the loophole by running drugs into the united states or more migrants. last year alone -- or the last 12 months alone, 88,000 americans have died from drug overdoses. 92% of the heroin that comes into the united states comes from mexico, along with fentanyl, cocaine, and you name it. we're dealing with incredibly shrewd and crafty people who understand the border perhaps better than most of us do. one of the worst parts of the current crisis is the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children are making the dangerous trip from central america or mexico without their parents. many of us have seen the heartbreaking video of a young boy abandoned by smugglers in

the rio grande valley and asked for directions because he was lost. smugglers left him behind. i don't know why. maybe he was injure or ill or slowing them down. but these muglers -- smugglers don't care about this young boy or any other human being. all they care about is the money. and we've also read the story about a young girl who drowned trying to cross the river. and who can forget the young girls age 3 and 5, who were literally dropped over the border wall by human smugglers. the truth is migrant children endure unimaginable abuse and trauma in the hands of these criminal organizations. we need to try better -- we need to do better to provide protections to these children to ensure that they will not continue to be traumatized or abused once they cross our borders.

for example, our bill also provides that children cannot be released into the custody of a relative or sponsor who could potentially inflict even more harm upon them. no sex offender, no child abuser, no other dangerous criminal should be given the responsibility to care for one of these children. we also need to remove some of the poll factors that encourage migrants to make this dangerous journey to our border in the first place. many smugglers known as coyotes know our immigration laws better than most americans and they know how to exploit them, as i said. there's no doubt that our backlog legal system is one of the -- one of the poll factors for these migrants. one of the biggest selling points for the smugglers is the immigration court backlog, which is currently 1.3 million cases.

on average it take two and a half years to get from the border to an immigration judge. a person or family can come here illegally and present weak or virtually nonexistent asylum claims with an almost certain guarantee that they'll be able to stay in the united states for years while their claims are being adjudicated. that needs to change. our legislation takes a number of steps to reduce the wait times and eliminate the backlog as a braw for -- as a draw for even more illegal immigration and assure that more meritorious claims are recognized in a more timely manner. the first part of this is we need to hire more people. we need more immigration judges, we need more asylum officials, we need litigation teams and other staff who play a role in these legal proceedings. the only way to eliminate this backlog is to work through it and this bill allows us to hire

hundreds of people to do just that. our legislation includes another important change, to remove this backlog as a pull factor. during surge events like we're experiencing now, the cases of those arriving will be prioritized. in other words we'll put them at the at the front of the line not at the back of the line where we'll never get to them. for those with legitimate asylum claims, that should be good news. about 10% or 12% of the people who show up on our front doormat have legitimate asylum claims that are upheld by immigration judges and we should provide them a timely hearing in front of a judge so they can receive the benefit of u.s. law. but this will also serve as a deterrent for those who know their asylum claims are weak. why pay smugglers thousands of dollars to reach the united states if your case will quickly

be heard and dismissed for lack of merit resulting in your return? that's the -- one of the pull factors that we can establish -- we can improve to deter people from wasting their hard-earned money with nonexistent or weak asylum claims. and, finally, the bill will ensure that migrants are treated fairly and humanly so we can be confident that our asylum system is working as we intended. this legislation includes a large number of other commonsense measures to alleviate staffing shortages, improve coordination between federal, state, and local officials, expand language translation and legal orientation services for migrants, and the list goes on. former border patrol chief carla provo, once described a surge of immigration like holding a bucket under the faucet. it doesn't matter how many

buckets you have if you can't turn off the water. in the short term we do need a bigger bucket, that includes facilities to process these migrants and personnel to adjudicate their asylum claims. but it won't matter how big that bucket is if we don't stop the flow or at least reduce it. we need to eliminate the pull factors that encourage migrants who do not qualify under our law for asylum from even attempting the dangerous journey to our border in the first place. that's exactly why the bipartisan border solutions act is the answer, or an answer, to the crisis at hand. this bill will deter illegal immigration without interfering with legitimate claims. it will ensure that migrants' claims are processed efficiently without skipping important steps and it will provide critical protections for children who come here alone. the fact we have a bill that is

bipartisan and bicameral is a testament to the commonsense reforms included in this legislation. and i've been proud to work with senator sinema, congressman cuellar and congressman gonzalez on this bill. we would invite our colleagues to look at the bill and join us in cosponsoring it on a bipartisan basis. one thing i can guarantee you, mr. president, this is not the end all be all, or the silver bullet that will solve all of our problems. but i think what it will do is show public confidence that we are serious about enforcing our laws and providing legal claims, the benefit of a hearing and validation. we are the most generous nation in the world when it comes to legal immigration, naturalizing roughly a million people a year. but the truth is my state, our states, those of us on this bill currently have borne the brunt

of the crisis because of the failures of the federal government to deal with it. we developed a list of bipartisan cosponsors i hope the judiciary committee will resolve this crisis in a fair and humane way. the last thing i will say, mr. president is, we're all ears if somebody has a better idea. bur so far we haven't seen anybody step up and say, i've got -- i've got an answer or at least a partial answer or response that has bipartisan and bicameral support. i hope our colleagues will take a look at this, will work with us, and if they've got a better idea, as i've said, we're all ears. mr. president, i yield the floor.

ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine is recognized. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, today is earth day and there are many issues, environmental challenges that each of us could be discussing here on the senate floor. i have chosen to speak on a bill that i'm introducing today that is called the comprehensive national mercury monitoring act. i'm pleased to be partnering once again with my colleague from delaware, senator carper, who serves as the chairman of the senate environment and public works committee. our bipartisan bill would help ensure that we have accurate information about the extent of mercury pollution in our country.

mr. president, mercury is a potent neurotoxin. it poses significant ecological and public health concerns, especially for children and pregnant women. mercury exposure has gone down as u.s. mercury emissions have declined. however, the levels remain unacceptably high. it is estimated that nearly 200,000 children born in the united states have been exposed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high enough to impair their neurological development. this exposure can impose a life-long disability. in addition, the societal cost of neurocognitive deficits

associated with mercury exposure are estimated to be approximately $4.8 billion per year. in maine, some of our lands and bodies of water face higher mercury pollution compared to the national average. maine had been called the tailpipe of the nation as the winds carrying pollution, including mercury, from the west drift into the state of maine. a system for collecting information such as we have for acid rain and other forms of pollution does not currently exist for mercury, which ironically is the more toxic pollutant. a comprehensive national mercury monitoring network is needed to

protect human health, safeguard our fisheries, and track the effect of a -- of emission reductions. this monitoring network would also help policymakers, scientists, and the public better understand the sources, consequences, and trends of mercury pollution in our country. specifically, our legislation would do the following -- first, it would direct the e.p.a. in conjunction with the fish and wildlife service, the u.s. geological survey, the national park service, and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and other federal agencies to establish a national mercury monitoring program to measure and monitor mercury

levels in the air and watersheds, water and soil chemistry, and in marine freshwater and terrestrial organisms at multiple sites across the nation. second, it would establish a scientific advisory committee to advise on the establishment, site selection, measurement, reporting protocols, and operations of this monitoring program. third, our bill would establish a centralized database for existing and newly collected environmental mercury data that can be freely accessed on the internet and that is compatible with similar international efforts. fourth, our bill would require report to congress every two years on the program, including trend data and an assessment

every four years of the reduction in mercury deposition rates that need to be achieved in order to prevent adverse human and effects on our environment. and fifth, our bill would authorize $95 million over three years for these purposes. mr. president, we must establish a comprehensive, robust national mercury monitoring network. otherwise we will lack the data that we need to help make informed decisions that can help protect the people of maine and the nation, particularly our children and pregnant women. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan

bill, the comprehensive national mercury monitoring act. thank you, mr. president, and i would yield the floor. mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. carper: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: we have been here for three months or so. i call you mr. president. it's really good. it took me a little longer. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. carper: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: mr. president, today is a special day. it's earth day. and i was -- i had the privilege of being the at the first earth day, golden gate mark a million years ago. the speaker that day was ralph nader. they're -- there was a huge crowd, hundred, of thousand, of people. ralph nader made fame and fortune by writing a book about

my first car. he was there speaking that day. i couldn't help thinking about how i loved my car. i couldn't believe he wrote that book about it. he actual will i made a lot of sense and certainly rallying point foses people in this -- points for people in this country realizing we're going in the wrong way regarding the cleanness of our air and water. i remember being in southeast asia on one of our deployments up the road from cleveland state, ohio. caught on fire. there were too many people drinking dirty water. i like to run outside and i know our presiding officer, a big athlete as well. i know there are days i would run outside in the 60's, -- 1960's, 1970's. even some places around the world. would be doing more damage than good by breathing the air in those places. an amazing thing happened in --

right around 1970. and we saw the creation of the environmental protection agency. i don't think it was done initially as a bill. i think it was done sort of as an executive order. richard nixon was the president then. the congress came along a few years later and sort of passed legislation to implement the executive order. the clean air act was signed into law, clean water act was passed. i think richard nixon originally vetoed the clean water act but it had huge support, democrat and republican, for both measures. we didn't give a whole lot of concern in those days to the climate change. nobody really talked in 1960's, 1970's or 1980's about climate change. but something started happening on our planet. people said i think it's getting warmer. the weather seems a bit more extreme as time goes by and then scientists reported that a hole was being formed in the ozone layer around the north pole.

it started off small and got bigger and bigger and bigger. people said -- a people a lot smarter than me said this is not good and we have to figure out what's going on here. they said color row -- carbons found in our freezers, refrigerators, they did a really good job of keeping us cool, including us but it led to the hole in the ozone. some smart scientists up with hfc's. they did a good job on keeping us cool. they also did a good job in terms of the hole in the ozone going away but the bad thing about hydrofluorocarbons is it's worse for climate change. the warming of our climate has been carbon dioxide. some good and bad as well. we passed legislation signed i think unbeknownst to him last december. legislation that phases down hfc's. now we're going to have american

made products that will keep us cool and be good with respect -- positive respect to climate change. create a lot of jobs, american jobs with american technology and strengthening our economy and a variety of different ways. on this earth day, there's a lot to be concerned about. the phasedown i just talked about was signed into law in a much bigger package in december. scientists will tell you we need to be careful not to see the earth temperature go up by more than 2 or 3 degrees celsius. if we do, it becomes sort of irreversible and we're in real trouble on this planet. there is one thing we did, voted on here in this chamber, phasing out h.f.c.'s. there's still more to do. but that's a good start. the greatest source of carbon dioxide on our planet is not

h.f.c.'s but it's the emissions from our cars, trucks, and vans. about 28% of carbon emissions comes from our cars, trucks, and vans. another 25% comes from utility, power plants that provide electricity for us. a lot are powered by coal or natural gas. mostly coal. and the -- another large source of carbon emissions is from the industry. think of cement plants, if you will. you add those three together, it's about 75% of the carbon emissions in our country, just those three sources. so we -- there used to be a guy, mr. president, used to be a bank -- his name is willie sutton. he lived during the depression before either of us but he loved -- robbed a lot of banks and finally got caught. he ended up on trial before the judge. the judge said mr. sutton, why did you rob all those banks. he replied famously, that's where the money is, your honor. one of the reasons we focus on

carbon emissions, global warming emissions coming from mobile sources, that's 28% of the emissions. that's not where the money is but that's the emissions, a lot of them are coming from. we're getting really exciting announcements from american companies, auto companies. g.m. has announced this year that they will -- starting in 2035 they will not be presenting manufacturing cars, trucks, or vans, burning gasoline or diesel fuel. they're just going to be electric, using hygiene fuel cells. that's only like 14 years away. ford is making similar kinds of pledges. i think voc wagon and a -- volkswagen and a number of other companies have made pledges. we're talking about right down the road, right down the road. that's great news because the threat of climate change is imminent and we don't have a lot of time to meet it.

i was at a hearing this morning, mr. president. i'm on the -- serve on the committee. one of the committees i serve on is homeland security and government affairs. one of the issues that we have -- we're someone for is the postal service. and i think maybe for reasons that goes back to my time in the vietnam war, being overseas in a war and every week when we get the mail over there, it was like the best part of the week. loved one, friends, newspapers, magazines, care packages. it was a great day. so i had this great affection for the postal service, even today. i love the idea of mail-in voting. i know my friend from georgia has some affection for people being able to participate and exercise their constitutional rights through the mail-in. hopefully we'll do more of that in smart ways like that in the future. the postal service still provides a valuable service. we're reminded of that during

the election last year, but the postal service, the men and women that drive around and deliver our mail, they drive around in vehicles on average 25 years and older. almost all of them are diesel or gasoline powered. and the postal service realizes that they need to upgrade their fleet and they need to do that sooner than later. it is not cheap. it is not cheap thing to do. 165,000 mail trucks that need to be replaced in the next several years. there's a ten-year plan that the postal service has put out, how they plan to sort of return to if not to profitability, at least to improve over time to a break-even situation. one of the things that's in their plan is to buy and replace their existing fleet of cars, trucks, and vans. mostly trucks and vans. the -- they're contracting and -- preparing a contract with a company up in oshkosh, wisconsin called oshkosh.

ideas to build a bunch of vehicles, tens of thousands of them over the next decade or so. we had three nominees today, mr. president, before us who are -- been nominated to be members of the board of governors of the postal service. there are nine member, of the board of governors nominated by the president, confirmed by the senate. they have three vacancies and we had the three nominees to fill those vacancies before us. i wish them all happy earth day. then i talked to them about the -- what lies ahead in terms of replacing 165,000 vehicles. and the -- apparently originally the first couple thousand vehicles take will be produced will be -- that will be produced will be gas and diesel. after that the vehicles could be gas, diesel, or electric or hydrogen for that matter. there's an extra cost when they switch to electric, extra cost when you switch over to, say, hydrogen, if that's the technology that's chosen because

you need electric charges stations. you need hiewd general fueling station -- hygiene fueling stations. it's easy to take your diseasele or gas -- diesel or gas car. but if you need the hydrogen or electric, that costs some money. it can't all be on the postal service. as we put together this next infrastructure package for our country and we're going to be debating here legislation, senator capito and i and the environmental works committee have been working on, next week a big package on wastewater treatment and clean drinking water, we will be -- that will be the first big infrastructure bill that we pass, i think, in the senate hopefully next week. but there will be hopefully a lot more. and part of that will be roads, highways, and bridges coming down the road. part of that will be charging stations and densely populated corridors all over the country, charging stations for electric vehicles, charging -- fueling stations for hydrogen vehicles

which have a lot of potential too. i just want us to keep in mind when that day comes, i want the postal service to keep in mind that we need for them to set an example. the postal service to set an example. if they buy two-thirds of the new vehicles they buy are gaz lien and -- gasoline and diesel power, shame on them and frankly shame on us. the postal service is fighting for its life and we need to be there and be helpful in terms of helping to pay for the infrastructure that they will need when they buy these new vehicles. i'll close with this. mr. president, i'm not sure where home depot is headquartered. they're not headquartered in georgia. if they are, nod your head. i think they are. i love to talk about home depot. whenever i go down to central america, places like honduras, guatemala, and el salvador, the northern triangle countries, we have something in place called

-- an alliance. it's an alliance program designed to help to end corruption, crime there, violence there, lack of economic opportunity there. and we provide money -- taxpayer money to help these countries down there. people stop, feel like they have to come up here, to escape the violence, the corruption, the crime and lack of economic opportunity. so we provide some money and we expect them for every dollar we provide to provide $4 or $5 on their own. we want foundations to put up money. we want businesses to put up money to help produce as well. i say to the people of honduras, guatemala, and el salvador who live in some terrible situation, when i talk to them about the alliance for prosperity which has been in place now for several years, you can do it, those three countries, you can do it. we can help. and i think we have a moral obligation to help. i think the postal service, they can do it. they can update their fleet. they can do so in a way that's sustainable and actually good for this planet. this is the only planet we're

going to have. we have to take care of it. we face huge challenges. on this earth day, mr. president, to my colleagues, say the anniversary lies opportunity. the postal service is going through its share of adversity as well but there's real opportunity as well, to help the postal service and the men and women who work there to do a better job, reliable job of delivering the mail to us but also to do it in a way that is good for our planet. that would be a very, very good thing and make this earth day especially memorable. with that, mr. president, i bid you adieu, a great weekend to you and the staff. god bless you. thank you so much. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: ms. baldwin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, calendar number 59, deanne bennett criswell of new york to be administrator of the federal emergency management agency, that the cloture motion be

withdrawn, the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to the nomination, and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: as if in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions presented earlier be considered to have been presented in the following order -- miller, mccabe and kahl. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: 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.

ms. baldwin: mr. president, 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. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 177, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 177, designating april 2021 as financial literacy month. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. baldwin: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate the question is on the adoption of the resolution. ing all in faye say aye. all -- all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the resolution is adopted.

ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 178 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 178, honoring the life and legacy of award winning children's author beverly clear clearly. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 179 introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk

will report. the clerk: senate resolution 179 to make temporary appointments to the select committee on ethics. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 3:00 p.m., monday, april 26, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to

resume consideration of the miller nomination. finally, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on monday. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. baldwin: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. monday.