governor tate reeves in my state of mississippi is one example. i commend the governor for opting out of the extra insurance benefits to help our state in the recovery. nearly half of all our governors now share that state of mind and are saying no to the unnecessary funds. madam president, the american people do not want drastic changes or dramatic growth of government, they simply want to put this pandemic behind them and get back to providing for their families. americans need government to get out of the way and republicans stand with the american people and on the side of a full recovery. thank you, madam president. mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i would like to associate myself with the fine remarks of the senator from mississippi who sees when he travels his state

the same thing i'm seeing in my state, help wanted signs, as people are looking for people to hire and government incentives are making it harder to find workers. the job openings are at a record high. there are eight million jobs available going into april, but only a quarter million people were hired and the unemployment rate actually went up. we lost manufacturing, we lost retail, we lost health care jobs last month, construction jobs were flat. ten million people are unemployed right now even though there are eight million job openings. every senator i talked to says that there are help wanted signs all around their home state. nearly every american who wants a job should be able to find one. yet, it's really not happening. you know, the question has been asked and answered on this floor

by various members of the republican party, why can't small businesses find workers? why are so many of these jobs unfilled? because something like this doesn't just happen on its own. oh, no. this happened as a direct result of the president's policies. president biden and democrats are paying people to stay home. that's why so many people are staying home, they are being paid more to not work than to work. according to one analysis, nearly half of all people on unemployment benefits with the unemployment benefit bonus payment, the extra check, are making more money by staying at home than they would make if they go to work. these people aren't lazy, oh, no. when the president and democrats offer people free money to stay home, it's perfectly logical people take them up on the offer, and i believe the american people want to work.

that's what i see at home in wyoming, that's who we are. that's the fiber of the american people. we are the hardest-working people in the world. american businesses want to hire. yet joe biden and big government are getting in the way. president biden has actually extended bonus payments until september. we're now in may -- may, june, july, august, september. month after month after month after month of more of this. look, this is a grave danger to small businesses across america. if they can't find workers, they might have to close again, then those job openings will no longer be there and they will be gone forever. now, president biden appears to be, in my opinion, in denial on this. he held a press conference recently and this is what he said. he said, it's all loose talk. madam president, this is not loose talk.

this is basic arithmetic. job openings are going up, hiring is slowing down and nearly half of workers make more money by staying at home. loose talk is when the president of the united states tells us everything is just fine when it's not. april was the most disappointing jobs report in are more than 20 years, two decades, yet president biden says the jobs report shows we're on the right track. no it doesn't. hiring has slowed down. some say people aren't returning to work because of coronavirus. well, madam president, let me tell you, it's very unlikely. we are vaccinating two million people a day. one in three americans has now -- adults is fully vaccinated already. we're getting the virus behind us. we've been very successful with operation warp speed. we should be filling the eight million jobs available right now.

yet, what are president biden and the democrats doing to fix the problem? nothing. nothing at all. i believe they are making it worse by extending these bonus payments. it's time the president and democrats worked for a solution. you know, i'm proud the people of wyoming and the governor of wyoming has done just that. wyoming has taken a leadership role, along with approximately 20 other states in ending these bonus payments. it's going to give our economy a boost. it's going to lead to more hiring. it's time for president biden and the democrats to follow the successful lead of the people of wyoming. stop paying people a bonus to stay home. we regard the hard -- reward the hard work that is part of america and america's d.n.a. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: thank you, madam president. earlier this month, the department of labor's job report

showed an uptick of the unemployment rate to 6.1% and 266,000 jobs were added despite estimation of one million jobs in april. mr. marshall: it was the worst jobs miss since 1998, yet, it's not surprising considering the many conversations i had with kansans throughout my travels. i heard how people are -- largely because folks are staying at home due to the increased unemployment dollars and the stimulus checks that democrats continue to push. earlier this year, democrats forced through legislation without any republican support that provided $300 more per week in federal unemployment benefits. this additional benefit, when coupled with the extended unemployment benefits by states already, means the average

recipient is making $15 to $20 to stay home. democrats have made it more profitable for many to stay home. this is intended to reform our american system and create more dependency on the government. this leaps towards socialism comes at a time when our nation is on its way to reaching herd immunity. now, president biden has delivered them a government-funded labor shortage. i recently heard from a wonderful small business in my hometown of great ben, kansas, that are short staffed by some 70 employees. that's 70 employees that are short staffed. they are unable to match the strong incentive to stay at home by the federal unemployment benefits. the company's mission is to provide educational and work opportunities for people with developmental disabilities, giving nearly 200 individuals in the area the independence,

inclusion, and training that they need to achieve success. this labor shortage directly affects their ability to meet the needs of the people they serve. i heard stories from mr. presidenters across kansas struggling to recall workers, despite generous benefits or high-wage jobs or restaurants remaining close because they don't have enough employees for their basic operations. hoamtion aren't being built because of lack of labor and hotels are turning away businesses because they don't have employees. one told a story of a high-skilled position, only to be turned down because they were comfortable with unemployment and the hours clashed with the bowling league. a lack of truck drivers means that building materials and common household goods can't reach their destination or food processing staffs are short staffed and turning out less product than usual.

coupled with the trillions of federal dollars that have gone out the door so far, we're beginning to see inflation. in fact the department of labor's recently released consumer price index for april showed the largest spike in inflation since 2008. madam president, there's a record eight million jobs, that's eight million opportunities waiting to be filled across this country. in my home state of kansas, we have 57,000 job openings and the march labor report shows over 58,000 kansans received unemployment insurance. well, there are certainly people who need access to increased unemployment access, unemployment insurance was never meant to be a permanent salary replacement. rather the benefit is meant to provide temporary assistance while folks get back on their feet. the government should not be in the business of creating lucrative dependency that makes it more beneficial to stay at home than work. that is called socialism.

i called for the democratic governor from my home state to do the same. unfortunately, no state in the union with the democratic executive has stepped up and dropped the benefits despite many of these states having the highest unemployment rates in the country. instead democrats in congress are moving to make the enhanced benefits permanent. for all these reasons, last week 15 of my colleagues joined me in introducing the get americans back to work act, which increased federal unemployment benefits to $150 a week at the end of may. no not only will this help get people back to work, but the savings generated could be used to pay for roads and bridges. work is not a four-letter dirty word. a job brings dignity and purpose. we made great strives to get vaccines, covid cases declined

to nearly a quarter of where they were in january. now it's time to get folks back to work, get our kids back in schools and get our economy back to pre-pandemic levels. thank you, madam president, and i yield the floor. mr. wicker: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: madam president, the pending business before the senate is the endless frontier act, and i ask that these remarks be inserted into the record immediately after the recent remarks of the chair of the commerce committee. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you, madam president. the 21st century will be shaped by the outcome of the strategic competition between the united states and china. like our nation's previous contest with the soviet union, the outcome of this great contest will help determine the world that our children and our grandchildren will live in. there are only two real

pobilities, -- possibilities, either the united states will remain the prele eminent global superpower or we will be replaced by china. this truth is recognized on both sides of the aisle in this body. the contest between our two countries will involve every aspect of national life, including military might, diplomatic skill, economic strength, and the deepest values that shape our societies. the scope and complexity of this challenge calls for bold action and that is what the endless frontier act is about. this week the senate has an opportunity to come together on a bipartisan basis and move forward on legislation now known as the united states innovation and competition act. this will make our nation more economically competitive, improve protections for u.s. intellectual property and research and keep us a step

ahead of china in this area of high-stakes competition. this bill does so by increasing research at the national science foundation and dramatically increasing r&d at a new national science foundation directate. other federal agencies will see dramatic increases in the important research they perform. the endless frontier act as reported by the commerce committee is a part of this legislative effort. other committees have been important partners in this legislation. in particular i congratulate chairman menendez and ranking member risch of the foreign relations committee for producing the strategic competition act. which was reported out of their committee on a 21-1 vote. i also commend homeland security and government affairs chairman peters and ranking member

portman, committee chairman brown and ranking member toomey, the health, education, labor and pension, and judiciary chair durbin and grassley for their contributions to the substitute product. i will focus my remarks on the commerce committee's contributions to the endless frontier act. last week the commerce committee held a markup to consider this legislation. we considered hundreds of amendments and adopted over 100 of them into the reported bill, including over 20 bipartisan separately introduced bills, a markup -- the markup at times was challenging, but in the end the bill passed the committee on a bipartisan 24-4 vote. the endless frontier act will enhance u.s. science and technology leadership through

key investments in r&d, regional economic development and manufacturing. the bill will accomplish these goals in the following ways. first, madam president, it will preserve the core basic research mission of the national science foundation. the n.s.f. is the world ace gold standard for funding basic research, a sector that fuels new waves of innovation across our society. basic research answers the fundamental questions of scientific inquiry needed to develop major innovations. the internet, g.p.s., cell phones and many other breakthrough technologies have their origins in national science foundation funded research. the endless frontiers act will have funding and increases the science portfolio to support the

research. this bill will establish a new directorate of technology and innovation at the n.s.f. to drive faster innovation and key technology-focused areas, such as artificial intelligence, a.i., and robotics. we included strong coordination measures to ensure programs at the in you technology directorate do not duplicate r&d programs at other federal agencies, such as the department of energy. these provisions are designed to ensure the wise expenditure of taxpayer dollars by preventing bureaucratic turf wars which can slow down innovation. third, this legislation will protect intellectual property and research from foreign governments, most notably china. the frontiers act will fund an

office at the n.s.f. and correct a clearing house to share information about security risks. it also puts forward policies to protect controlled information, including a plan for background checks on researchers. in addition, it will take critical steps to guard against chinese intellectual property theft by prohibiting n.s.f. funds from going to researchers who are part of a chinese talent program or an institution with formal ties to a confucius institute. this is a new and important step, madam president. fourth, this bill will reduce the geographic concentration of r&d in a handful of states and universities. put simply, this bill will be a game changer for the r&d geographic diversity many of us have sought for years if not decades. america can maintain our

leadership over china only with a sustained effort that is national in scope. we should tap into the wide ranging talents, expertise, and capabilities of americans across this land, including nevada and mississippi. the endless frontier act will help address these long-standing disparities by increasing funding for the established program to stimulate competitive research, which we've all come to know as epscor. participation in epscor helps institutions in many states and territories to improve their research capacities and therefore compete more effectively for fortunately r&d funding. the legislation also invests in minority-serving institutions and builds up research capacity in emerging institutions, which have traditionally received a

relatively small share of federal research dollars. number five, this bill will boost regional economic development through the regional technology hub program. number six, it will support manufacturing programs in part by quadrupling the manufacturing extension partnership program which already exists. number seven, it will help america win the new space race against china by including the nasa authorization act which the senate passed unanimously last year. the nasa bill allows congress to set priorities and gu guardrails for the space agency's expiration and research programs. eight, this bill will authorize a number of telecommunication programs to improve our telecom work force and help get all americans connected to high speed and reliable broadband.

this bill also includes several bills that i have championed, including the rural stem education act, the advanced technological manufacturing act, the improving minority participation and careers in telecommunications act, and the telecommunications supply chain diversity promotion act. significant legislation and a mouthful, too, madam president. overall, this is a strong bill. although the bill reported out of committee makes important changes to the underlying bill, i regret the rushed process that was followed. the underlying bill was introduced on april 20, just under a month ago. only yesterday senate majority leader schumer laid down a 1,400-page substitute that not only includes the endless frontier act but major legislation from foreign

relations, homeland security, banking, help, and judiciary committees. now known as the u.s. innovation and competition act, usica, i suppose, this legislation will make significant changes to our innovation ecosystem and the missions of our federal agencies. a bill of this magnitude would normally take a year to write and involve soliciting input from members and stakeholders across our country to craft a consensus package. clearly the senate should consider this bill with an open amendment process. prematurely shutting down debate and amendments without this open process would send a false signal to china and the american people that we are divided in an area where actually we are united and together.

and then when all is said and done, madam president, the effort will have to be paid for and will be subject to appropriations. i hope the majority's determination to rush this legislation through the senate is not designed to use a partisan reconciliation bill to appropriate funding for these important initiatives. science has always been debated in a bipartisan way in this body. leaving one party on the sidelines in the appropriation process which i hope will not happen would have a detrimental -- would have detrimental consequences for the long-term stability of this legislation. so on the whole, madam president, i am positive and optimistic about this bill and about the process that will get us to the end that both parties desire. i thank my colleague, senator cantwell, for her work as chair of the commerce committee, get this bill on the floor today,

and i look forward to working with her to improve the bill in the next step in the process, an open amendment process. thank you, madam president. ms. cantwell: madam president, if i could just say for a second while the senator from mississippi is here, it has been one of the great joys to collaborate with senator wicker on so many important policies. last year working on everything from aviation to maritime and port issues and now working on this legislation and infrastructure and many things that we want to do, privacy for the future. so i thank him for his collaborative work on this process. no one probably relished the speed at which we moved through on this bill from our committee perspective but nonetheless, you know what? i think the committee actually had a lot of joy in the fact that we were at regular order and could process so many

amendments and have that diverse of a conversation. and the subject matter in and of itself is so important. it really is to get this right. when i think about our attempts at america competes in 2007 and 2010, that we were enthusiastic but we didn't convince the rest of everybody to put the money behind it. it makes me think that i'm glad we're creating more of a robust debate about why this competitive issue is so important. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments be called up and reported by number, the tillis-hirono number 1517 and the scott-johnson s.a. number 1547. further, that at 4:00 p.m. today, the senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed with no amendments in order prior to those votes in relation to the amendments with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption and two minutes of debate equally divided between the two votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. wicker: observe be the right to object. i will certainly not object.

i simply want to say that this is the beginning of what i hope is an open amendment process, and i want to thank the chair of the commerce committee for working with us to get these first two amendment votes scheduled this afternoon. and i certainly withdraw my reservation. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report the amendments by number. the clerk: the senator from north carolina, mr. tillis for himself and others proposes an amendment numbered 1517. the senator from flrd mr. scott and others proposes amendment number 1547. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: madam president, in a moment i'm going to propound a unanimous consent request.

before i do, i want to make some brief remarks. right now gas stations all over the eastern seaboard are suffering if a week long gas shortage that has left thousands of stations completely out of gas. what we've seen is reminiscent of the 1970's when americans had to sit in long lines to fill their cars with gas. and why are we experiencing this crisis? because russian hackers attacked the colonial pipeline which had to shut down operations on may 67. -- may 7. what is the reward russia gets for attacking our infrastructure? well, on the topic of russia, just yesterday president biden doubled down on what is becoming a consistent soft on russia position from the biden administration. making the decision to disregard

bipartisan legislation that passed through this body seeking to shut down the nord stream 2 pipeline that putin is disas separately trying to -- is desperately trying to complete between russia and germany, that pipeline had been shut down. we had succeeded in a bipartisan victory stopping that pipeline, but sadly putin resumed building the pipeline shortly after joe biden was elected. and yesterday president biden made the decision to refuse to enforce the bipartisan sanctions on the company building the pipeline for putin. if that wasn't enough, it's clear the biden administration does know how to shut down pipelines. the keystone pipeline, his first day in office joe biden signed an executive order shutting down the keystone pipeline destroying

11,000 jobs, including 8,000 union jobs, all destroyed by the biden-harris administration. for whatever reason the biden-harris administration seems to have a philosophy that american pipelines and american jobs are bad but russian pipelines and russian jobs are apparently good. and russian hackers should get rewarded with putin getting billions of dollars because joe biden refuses to stand up to putin. the impact here at home of the russian hacking, colonial pipeline transports 100 million gallons of fuel all over the east coast every day. it's responsible for transporting 45% of the fuel on the east coast running from texas to new jersey. the colonial pipeline is a critical piece of infras

infrastructure. and when it shut down, it gravely disrupted the daily lives of millions of americans. fuel for cars, for aviation fuel, for heating homes, all completely shut down. i'm standing here today because one thing that crisis has shown us is that we need to diversify how we transport rg in this -- transport energy in this country. is a that if our critical infrastructure is attacked again, and we know it is going to be attacked again, that we have other reliable ways to transport energy. one way to strengthen redundancy, to strengthen our ability to make it through another attack is to allow liquefied natural gas or l.n.g. to be transported by rail. last year the pipeline and hazardous materials administration finalized a rule allowing the safe transportation of l.n.g. by rail. what this rule does is enable

natural gas that is used for traps, that is used for -- transportation, that is used for generating electricity, for heating homes, for manufacturing to be transported by railroad which helps americans in hard-to-reach areas access the fuel that they need. it also takes pressure off of other critical infrastructure to meet our energy needs. but now that joe biden is president and he has empowered officials in his administration that have a repeated and demonstrated hostility to american pipelines and american jobs and american energy independence, this rule is in jeopardy. when the secretary of transportation was before the senate for confirmation, i repeatedly asked the secretary to commit to maintaining the existing rule allowing the safe transport of l.n.g. by rail and

repeatedly the secretary refused to make that commitment. well, the foolishness of that position is now evident to everyone as we have gas lines and skyrocketed prices on the east coast and throughout the country. therefore, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on commerce be discharged from further consideration of s. 1012 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. markey: madam president, reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, madam president. madam president, i appreciate the points that my colleague from texas is making, but the bill that he is proposing to pass by unanimous consent has not been considered by the

commerce committee, and it would drastically and unilaterally tie the hands of the department of transportation from protecting communities from having massive amounts of dangerous, explosive liquefied natural gas shipped right through their towns and cities. i understand that republicans and natural gas companies want to railroad through the senate a bill that would undermine the safety of the railroads in our communities, but we just can't allow this to happen. in 2020, the trump administration moved to allow trains of 100 or more cars to begin transporting liquefied natural gas with no additional safety regulations. they did this over the objections of the attorneys general of 15 states and the district of columbia.

firefighters oppose it. railroad unions that represent the railroad employees object to it. environmental community objected to it. and the national transportation safety board. listen to this. a train of 110 tank cars filled with liquefied natural gas would have more than five times the equivalent energy of the hiroshima atomic bomb. we cannot put our firefighters, our railway workers and our homes and families at risk from loose regulations on what could be catastrophically dangerous trains. too many lives are at stake and the department of transportation should have the ability to review this rule. what this bill -- this bill that we're being propounded right now would blind our safety watchdog

when we should be putting these threats under a microscope. madam president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. cruz: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: madam president, as the senator from massachusetts knows, there is an existing rule that went through the ordinary process of finalizing a rule -- the ordinary notice process -- that has been pipelined by the administration. the senator from massachusetts also knows the reality that accidents by rail are very rare. we surely don't want to see any accidents occur or disruptions of l.n.g. by rail, what we've seen is that nothing is certain. there are risks to everything. but by taking precautions and diversifying our transportation methods for fuel, we make our

energy industry more resilient to attacks and accidents when they predictably do happen in the future. furthermore, l.n.g. is already transport the by tanker tax reduction and vessel for -- by tanker trucks and by vessel for decades. accidents on railroads are rare, and if we can transport l.n.g. by sea and in tanker trucks on the road, we should also be able to transport it by rail where it is safer and more efficient and pour effective. lastly, to cope with the shutdown, the department of transportation granted waivers for hour-of-service waivers to transport fuel and try to alleviate the shortage. that just underscores the need for l.n.g. by rail as well.

unfortunately, as americans are standing in gas lines, the answer they are being given by washington democrats is, the challenges you are facing don't matter to the democrats. what we've seen from this objection is that joe biden and kamala harris support higher gas prices, much higher gas prices that you have to pay at the pumps. and they understand that much higher gas prices fall disproportionately on low-income americans, that they fall disproportionately on african americans and hispanics. but the biden-harris democrats are willing to jack up your gas prices to make you wait in line and to say, essentially, tough

luck. they got no answers, but they're going to block getting energy for your home, for your vehicle, for your life, for your family. so we stand here today with a crisis at our southern border, as we stand here today with a gas crisis and gasolines, as we stand here today with an inflation crisis on the verge of erupting, and as we stand here today with war in the middle east, sadly, we are seeing a reprise of the 1970's, the same failed policies producing the same disastrous results. except in the rerun, joe biden is jimmy carter 2.0, and kamala

harris is walter mondale, and the country, sadly, is paying the price for the extreme and failed policies, and we're just four months into it. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma p sri lanka madam president, there is a lot going on right now. mr. lankford: madam president, there is a lot going on right now. we're talking about the economic issues, inflation that is happening. the number of jobs that are opening in my state. therethere are a record number . there is unrest in the middle east. there's all kind of things happening in the world. i can't help just for a moment to pause and to be able to reflect on a friend of mine that in a few days will be sitting and hanging out with his 12 grandchildren, enjoying aempt mo of retirement. -- enjoying a moment of retirement. his name is roger beverage. he is not the big banker guy. he is the community banker guy.

for 30 years he has led our state in banking and engaged in issues from the smallest of the small bank in rural oklahoma to family-owned community banks that are scattered around our state. he's worked tirelessly to be able to help individuals get access to banking that were blocked out and to be able to make sure that everyone had a shot. he's been a remarkable leader, but he is just a great grandpa. in the days ahead, i celebrate him getting time with his 12 grandchildren because he's given so much to so many others. he spends time with his five kids, who are just the five kid whose care around the 12 grandchildren at this point, he spends time with his bride of 43 years, paula, i want to thank him. he was born in nebraska. if you know the oklahoma and

nebraska rivalry in football. roger went to law school and when he finished up in 1971 he enlisted ins united states army, right in the middle of the vietnam era. served two years working with the army serving as a lawyer. then served six more years in the reserves after that. he retired as captain beverage. he's also a person that was never shy to walk away from a challenge, and one that was constantly focused on service. in the middle of times that people up here in washington, d.c. wanted to equate big banks and community banks the same and say let's put the pressure on the big barches and leave -- banks and leave the little banks alone often the little banks got caught up in the fight and he was one of the ones who said let the little banks serve communities. and many of those like mine in oklahoma, that bank was essential to the economic development of what's happening

in farming and ranching, what's happening in every single person getting access to a car loan or home loan or just being that friend that they can get a chance to talk to financial advice about. roger is a leader, and you can imagine with bankers, that all have lots of opinions and lots of great leaders. he didn't agree with everybody all the time, but i would tell you something i know of roger. he always listened. always. people would ask me about roger and what i think of him and i would say he's a servant leader. he's a hard worker. he's a person that listens. he has strong opinions, but his strong opinions are based on his own experience and the facts of the day. but he's also a humble worker that's actually working for the best of everyone. he'll be missed in my state. 21 years in serving on the state chamber, leadership in so many areas in our state. but i am grateful today and in the days ahead he's going to

finally get a chance to just be grandpa and to hang out with those 12 grandchildren. enjoy those days, roger. thank you for what you have done to be able to help lead our state in this area and to be able to serve so many communities bankers all across the nation. with that, i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. --. mr. cotton: one might be called the tail of three pipe lines. three separate pipelines, three challenges united by one consistent theme. in each case the foolishness and weakness of the biden administration has led to the disaster. first, president biden began his administration by killing the keystone x.l. pipeline on day one.

this decision was a gift to the radical environmental environmes nonprofit industry in washington, d.c. and destroyed thousands of good, high-paying high-paying, blue collar american jobs including many jobs in my home state of arkansas. second, last week russian affiliated hackers attacked the colonial pipeline, an artery that supplies nearly half the fuel for the east coast, causing widespread gas shortages across the southeast. instead of making the hackers feel the full wrath of the united states government, the biden administration called the attack a private-sector concern. colonial then paid the hackers over $4 million in ransom, presumably with biden administration foreknowledge and acquiescence, if not explicit support. this payment of course will only encourage further such tax on american companies.

third, and finally, yesterday the biden administration announced it will waive major legally mandated sanctions against the russian nord stream 2 pipeline into germany. this refusal to implement sanctions be approved by congress directly benefits, by design, the russian company building nord stream 2 and its c.e.o. who, you won't believe it, is a former communist east german officer and longtime crony of vladimir putin. president biden's decision to cave on nord stream 2 is the latest show of weakness towards russia by this administration which is strange coming from a party that spent the last four years all chesty and boastful pretending they are jack ryan in a tom clancy novel. nord stream 2 will serve as a

noose around the neck of the energy supply. it will allow it to squeeze eastern europe into submission. you may think i'm exaggerating but resolution has used it sass a weapon of foreign policy in the past. in 2009 russia shut off the flow to europe during a dispute with ukraine causing increase shortages in the dead of winter. russia reduced or shut off gas to russia, poland, lithuania and slovakia whenever those countries refused those demands or displeased the kremlin. it will deepen its addiction to russian gas and make it evermore dependent on the dealer. all of europe could suffer, but ukraine would be hurt the most of all. if the nord stream 2 pipeline comes on line, russia could bypass ukraine entirely. this would not only cost

ukraine's economy billions of dollars in transit fee, it would also give russia the ability to isolate and starve this proud nation. it's hard to imagine a worse time for this to happen with russian troops massed on the ukrainian border while russia's dictator salivates sal over conquering this country. italians no wonder -- it's no wonder the vast country of europe sees the danger of this. the european country voted against it on three separate occasions including just last month. the united kingdom, france, and eastern europe firmly oppose its construction as well. it is only a small but influential group of german elites that support this misguided plan. it's ironic that these men and women of power and privilege would doubtlessly claim to support the so-called liberal

international order, as is the fashion in such circles. but their actions are directly empowering a dictator who poses the greatest threat to their dreams. a m -- a man who rose to power and has maintained it through extortion, murder, and brutality. putin's most recent political rival, alexi negatival any, was poisoned with a nerve agent and today is rotting in a russian penal colony. navalny's only crime was exposing the corruption depravity of the russian state. president biden wants to enrich and reward this very regime. ultimately, the nord stream 2 pipeline is emblematic of the biden administration's america-last foreign policy, but there is still time to stop it. i'm urging the president to reverse course immediately. there is little room for error left at this late, perilous stage. nord stream 2 is 95% completed.

like an outstretched arm, russia's pipeline extends ominously within reach of germany's shore. we have to move quickly and in concert with our allies to make sure it extends no further. this russian pipeline is bad for america and bad for europe. the president wishes to take the reins of international leadership, this is his opportunity. kill nord stream 2 now and let it rest beneath the waves of the baltic. madam president, i yield the floor.

ms. collins: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise today to introduce the helping american victims afflicted by neurological attacks act, the havana act. our bill would provide assistance to employees of the intelligence community and other federal agencies who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries at the hands of our foreign adversaries. i'm joined today, madam president, by a bipartisan group of cosponsors, including senators warner and rubio, the

chairman and vice chair of the senate intelligence committee, senators shaheen, cornyn, bennet, burr, gillibrand, blunt, heinrich, sasse, feinstein, cotton, king, and risch. most of those are members of the intelligence committee and they share my deep concern and my determination to get to the bottom of what has happened to these grave men and women who have been attacked. madam president, for many years, american personnel serving in cuba, china, and elsewhere have experienced the unexplained serious medical harm, including in some cases permanent brain injuries.

these conditions are believed to be connected to a mysterious direct energy weapon used by those who are our adversaries. as we investigate the source of previous attacks and seek to prevent future ones, the bill that i'm introducing today would provide additional financial assistance to americans who were injured and who continue to experience debilitateing symptoms. too many of the victims have had to fight to get the medical care that they need for their injuries. this is completely unacceptable. last year, the national academy of sciences, engineering, and medicine released a report on

the more than 40 american diplomats at the u.s. embassy in havana, cuba, and at least a dozen american diplomats at the u.s. consulate in guanjo, china, who suffered symptoms, quote, consistent with the effects of directed pulse radio frequency energy, end quote. and just this month, madam president, "the new york times" reported that the number of american personnel who have fallen ill under these mystifying circumstances is much higher, possibly more than 130 cases. now we are even hearing reports of cases occurring within the united states. madam president, the injuries

that many of these victims have endured are significant and life altering. these attacks have left americans serving our country with damage that ranges in severity but can include reduced balance, eyesight, and hearing. some have severe permanent headaches. others have brain injuries that have resulted in reduced cognitive function. many of them can no longer perform their jobs and have been forced to medically retire. to make matters worse, some of the victims did not receive the financial and medical support they should have expect interested their government when they first reported their injuries. this is an outrageous failure on

the part of our government to care for those who serve. madam president, our bill would give additional authority to the c.i.a. director and to the secretary of state to provide financial support to these americans who experience traumatic brain injuries from attacks that occur while serving our country. due to limitations in the current law, several victims suffering from cognitive impairment are not receiving all of the medical care and other assistance that they need to cope with the impacts of their injuries. the authorities provided in the havana act will help to rectify this problem.

madam president, i have spoken personally with some of the victims of these heinous attacks. this is a group that unfortunately is growing in number. to those victims, i want to pledge to them today that along with the cosponsors of our bill, i am totally committed to making sure that our government finds out who is responsible for these devastating attacks, and i further pledge to the victims that you will receive the financial support and medical care that you deserve. i have spoken several times to

the c.i.a. director byrnes about these attacks, and i am heartened by his commitment and his attitude. he has made commitments to the senate intelligence committee, as has the director of national intelligence, to care for these victims and to get to the bottom of these attacks. we need a whole of government approach to identify the heartless adversary who is targeting, deliberately targeting american personnel. madam president, the public servants who work in our embassies and consulates and in other locations overseas make many personal sacrifices to

represent america's interests. they deserve our strong support when they are harmed in the line of duty, just as we care for soldiers who are injured on the battlefield. i hope all of my colleagues will join us in supporting this vital legislation. thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. one of the benefits of vaccine rates going up is that school

districts will no longer have an excuse to keep kids and teachers at home for virtual learning. but if i know kids, and as a mom and a grandmom, i can assure you i understand the kiddos. getting them back in the classroom won't get them away from the screens. these big-tech companies in china and the silicon valley have done their jobs well. for many american kids, devices are integrated into their everyday lives. there is no escaping that four-inch plate of glass in their pockets. it has become a part of their culture. now, this addiction to tech doesn't sit well with many parents and watchdogs. we have all heard arguments that in order to break this addiction, we need to somehow

change the culture and persuade young people to break their own ties with big tech. i have a different argument. it's big tech that needs to change its culture. as we all know, many of these companies are little more than glorified ad agencies, facebook, twitter, google, and tiktok have all been successful because of their advertising strategies. their job is to get eyeballs on content and keep fingers strolling up and down the screen. this means that with every shiny new update, their advertising algorithms have also gotten an update. the more complex and pervasive these tracking figures become, the harder it is for users to understand what data these companies are collecting and how

that data is going to be used. not even tech-savvy adults can keep up with the legalese in those updated privacy policies. madam president, i think if i want to run this chamber, and i would ask when is the last time you read the terms of service of an app update? i am willing to bet the answer for most of us will be, well, it was a long time ago or it could be maybe even never. big-tech companies have taken advantage of that, and they have created within their sphere a culture of pushing boundaries. it's do first, apologize later, and never, ever respond to questions about their policies with a straight answer. this congress, i reintroduced the browser act as a way of pushing that culture toward a

more consumer-friendly consent model. it would require tech companies to add opt-in and opt-out features to their data collection policies and inject some transparency into the relationship between user and service provider. it is a great place to start and a key element of my virtual you protection agenda. regulation hasn't kept up with innovation. that much is clear, but neither has demand for corporate responsibility and transparency. it's time to change that, and i encourage all my colleagues on each side of the aisle to take a look at the browser act. but what about those kids? tech companies are increasingly catering to young demographics, which means that kids are exposed to more of the online

world every day, which, depending on what corner you find yourself in, is a productive educational experience or it could be a life-and-death situation. now the science tells us that physically children do not have the cognitive ability to understand the time. s and -- advertisements and data collection scenarios that they are being thrown into. their brains are simply not developed enough. but the security moms out there are keeping an eye on all of this, and they will tell you they do not need an anatomy lesson to know when their child is in over their head. they see their children following trails left for them by predators, and they are bored. they -- bothered.

they see their daughters falling apart by photo-shopped images. they see the violence and sexual content in movies that is created for adults, but children are being exposed to this. they have a really bad feeling about the expanding role of technology in their child's life. the stats and the scandals we are seeing every day back up their concerns. according to commonsense research, 98% of children in this country -- 98% of children in this country under the age of 8 have access to a mobile device at home. in 2011, just over half of the children had that kind of access. this means that 98% of children

aged -- under age 8 are subjected to unprecedented levels of surveillance, data collection, and advertising attacks even in supposedly kid-friendly appears. alphabet, google's parent company got caught tracking children on their school-provided devices outside of school hours. amazon got caught recording echo kids devices, they have been raked over the coals for pushing products to children that would increase social media addiction. in 2020, the national center for missing and exploited children received a record-breaking 21.7 million reports of

suspected child sexual exploitation. 21.4 million of those reports came from electronic service providers. if you're looking for the danger, there it is. during yesterday's meeting of the commerce committee's consumer protection subcommittee, ms. kidran had it right when she said facebook has not earned our trust and i would encourage my colleagues working with me on this issue to apply this fact to big tech in general. these companies are entangled in our daily lives and in the lives of our chish and they have no -- children and they have no incentive to loosen their group on our intention to make things easier to understand, therefore we have no incentive they are acting with the interest of their customers in mind.

remember that terms of service agreement we talked about earlier, madam president? well, imagine standing by and asking a child to read, understand, and make an informed choice about whether or not to click the accept button. this is preposterous. we need to bring parents back into the conversation and inject accountability and transparency into the process. last congress i introduced the safe data act with my colleagues, senators wicker, thune, and fischer. this bill contained a requirement that companies not transfer data collected from children between the ages of 13 and 16 without the explicit content of their parent or guardian. this congress i hope my colleagues, democrat and

republican, will be willing to work with me on similar legislation that truly targets this problem of child exploitation online. we will never change the culture of big tech. the culture big tech has created for itself if we don't take steps right now to deincentiveize this montization of children's attention and browsing habits. this is a bipartisan issue, and the zuckerbergs and the dorseys of the world who have come to testify before the commerce committee, they understand this. it wasn't a pleasant experience for them, but i do believe that they have gotten the point. they need to understand that when it comes to privacy and safety mistakes, there is no safe harbor to be found here in

the u.s. senate, especially when it concerns the exploitation of our precious children. what we have going on is going to be even more unpleasant when the security moms when they start upping the anti-and start cutting off the flow of all that valuable underaged data that is produced by their children online that is being data mined by these big tech companies and then sold to advertisers sold to the highest bidder. that is a breaking point that we are rapidly approaching. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: first i ask consent

to finish my remarks before the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i'm fortunate enough to live in baltimore and i say that because i can community every night to home which -- commute every night to my home which is a real pleasure to be with my family, and my wife and i will take morning walks before i start the day and i can get the morning report from my neighbors as to what's on their mind. so this morning you might be surprised to learn that the major topic of discussion was the broad ten, also known as thecy sc icatas. this became our subject because they were -- we were trying to avoid stepping on them as we were walking. most would describe the past calendar year as unprecedented and this is not wrong, for the

public health, for our democracy, 2021 has brought us challenges unimaginable. 2021 marks the emergence of what is known as the 17-yearcy kates. every 17 years they insecretaries emerge -- insects emerge in droves. people welcome them with an equal amount of scorn and excitement. i hope we can use the 17-year marker to mark this and reflect on the relationship between humans and the natural environment in the mid atlantic, especially the chesapeake bay. maryland sees the highest concentration of cicadas on the east coast. science estimates that we have

more than 25 to 30 per square foot or more than one million per acre. male cic adas will perform a mating song that will reach the same decimal as a lawn mower, they meet for the purpose of mating and laying eggs to burrow into the ground and resurface in 17 years. if their lives are short, they are merry, noting they continue on singing until they die. benjamin banikar, describing the cicadas in 1800 is at the museum in baltimore, he actively predicted the 17-year cycles.

benjamin banacor may have been the first scientist to record cicadas, he was born in 1731, his father was a formerly enslaved black man, his mother was of mixed racial heritage. banacor was interested in science and continued his education at a quaker schoolhouse in baltimore county. he quickly excelled in mathematics and is considered one of the first african americans to gain widespread acclaim. he has commercially successful familiarer almanacs that predicted weather and tidal patterns. he also contributed to surveying the land for the united states capitol in washington, d.c., and reportedly built the first

domestically produced wooden clock. banocor advocated for abolition in letters he exchanged with thomas jefferson. he was largely excluded from banacor as a prominent intellect. as we consider the enormous interest of cicadas, we need to acknowledge banacor's role. forthly, we -- fortunately we have benjamin banocor park which baltimore county administers. the park tells the story of his life and the impact that the chesapeake bay has had in sparking his intellectual

curiosity. larry hogan declared may june as magical cida months to generate public awareness about this phenomenon. fortunately cicada's buzz is worse than their bite. they do not bite or sting, so they are not a threat to pets, humans, animals or most plants. the arrival of -- is a useful interval to observe how the local environment has changed over time. two years after the last emergence of cicadas in 2006 was the first year the university maryland's environmental report card was released. there was a dramatic reduction in grasses, in 2019, the score

of the chesapeake bay was a c minus, this means the bay is in moderate health and slightly improving over time. for its first ever score, the chesapeake bay scored b minus, that means the larger watershed is in good health, the path to the success of the chesapeake bay's restoration is steep and is only worse due to the effects of climate change. warmer weather creates habitats conductive to population regrowth. the chesapeake bay green water blueprints sets a timeline for the jurisdictions that ends in 2025. now more than ever we need state, local, and federal partners working in tandem to meet these goals. the chesapeake bay program will bring various federal agencies, state and local governments and

nonprofit organizations together to meet the goals. a 17-year review of the progress of the chesapeake bay should energize the community to work hard to meet our goals. in order to do so we need the u.s. environmental protection agency to play a role as referee, and it depends on the statewide reduction pollution plans, as we expect the next arrival of the cicadas in 2028, we need to look ahead to -- by 2020, president biden pledged that the united states will have reduced economy-wide net greenhouse gas by 50% to 52%. this is the nationally contributed -- president biden made this announcement during the leader's summit on climate which serves to demonstrate that

the u.s. returned to leadership on climate issues. the natural environment is often one of the most obvious markers of the passage of time and provides an appropriate moment of reflection, seasonal changes, growing trees an crops and the arrival of cicadas can push us to acknowledge where we have met our objectives and fallen short. in terms of local and global restoration goals, we have a lot of work do. as we reflect on change, i would like to congratulate a member of my staff, louise foster, on her me trick laition at the international school of public affairs. she has spent the last three years providing outstanding public service in my washington, d.c., office, staff assistant on the front lines of constituent service and applying science to environmental policy. while we will miss her, we wish

her the best of luck and cicada magic in academic pursuits. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will now be up to two minutes of debate equally divided on amendment 1517. the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i ask unanimous consent to speak for two minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hirono: madam president, i'd like to thank senator tillis for working with me on this amendment, amendment number 1517 to the u.s. innovation and competition act which comes from our work on the idea act, a bill that passed the judiciary committee last month with bipartisan support. promoting innovation is key to ensuring the united states remains competitive in an increasingly competitive global economy. unfortunately, the limited data

that is available suggests large segments of america society are not engaging with a key component of the innovation economy, the u.s. patent system. women make up only 13% of inventors. black and hispanic college graduates patent at approximately half the rate of their white counterparts. closing these patent gaps would turbo charge the u.s. economy. one study found that including more women and black americans in the early stages of innovation could grow our economy by 3.3%. hold that thought. another found that eliminating the patent gap for women with science and engineering degrees alone would grow the economy by another 2.7%. we are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of growth to our economy. but if we have any hope of closing these patent gaps, we

must first get a firm grasp on who is and who is not using the patent system. unfortunately, the p.t.o., patent and trademark office, does not collect demographic data on applicants. as a result, researchers are forced to guess an applicant's gender based on his or her name, determine an applicant's race by cross-referencing census data, or explore other options that are time consuming, unreliable, or both. our amendment solves this problem. it would enable the p.t.o. to collect demographic data from patent applicants on a volunteer basis. i want to repeat that. this is a volunteer basis. nobody is forcing anyone to provide this kind of information. this data could then be analyzed by the p.t. orchlts and outside -- p.t.o. and outside researchers to identify where patent gaps exist and how to address them. let me be clear.

simply providing researchers more data will not solve the patent gaps facing women, racial minorities, and so many others. but it is a critical first step. we need to have data in which to make decisions. i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. thank you, mr. president. i yield. mr. tillis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. there are inventors in colorado, hawaii and across this nation that we don't even know about. because the fact of the matter is we missed the opportunity to engage more people and have more diverse inventors. we have to look at this from several different perspectives. let's look at it from a national security perspective. i chair the intellectual property subcommittee for the last two congresses. we heard endless reports of how china is churning out pat tents and more and more patents

breaking records every day. this commonsense amendment does nothing more than allowing people to submit information that we can use to get a better beat on communities that we need to get into to create more, create more intellectual property, create more patents, get more people engaged in the patents and intellectual property system. and with this bill i believe we'll make great strides. thank you. i hope everybody will vote for this amendment. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: all right. on this vote, the yeas are 71, the nays are 27. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, there will now be up to two minutes of debate equally divided on amendment 1547. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: order, please. the senator from florida. mr. scott: the covid-19 pandemic was devastating to our nation and congress came together in a bipartisan fashion to provide unprecedented relief in 2020. unfortunately, democrats ditched

that bipartisan approach in their so-called covid bill, the american rescue plan, which was full of wasteful spending that has nothing to do with the crisis. it didn't receive a single republican vote. only 10% of the funds in the american rescue plan are related to covid-19, and spending for vaccines is less than 1%. with our nation nearly $30 trillion in debt and rising inflation, this spending is irresponsible and reckless. one of the more ridiculous examples of waste was $350 billion included for state and local bailouts, even though our states are doing just fine. in fact, california just announced it will have a $75 billion budget surplus. reckless spending has consequences, and we need to be fiscally responsible in every use of taxpayer dollars. this amendment would simply pay for the u.s. innovation and competition act and all provisions in this bill by using unobligated, unnecessary funding for the american rescue plan. i ask for your support.

ms. cantwell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i enjoy working with my colleague from florida on many issues, but on this particular issue, i disagree. this amendment arms both our -- my state and our nation. it literally is saying take the money that went to local governments in the rescue plan and repeal it to pay for the endless frontiers act. it said by the date of the enactment of this, if that money isn't repealed, they can go and take other money that was part of the recovery plan that isn't spent and start taking money from it. so i think this is the wrong way to do that. this would take money immediately away from tribes, it would take money away from health care, it would take money away from broadband, and eventually it could take money away from things like aerospace manufacturing and money that is there for the people who have been impacted by the downturn who no longer have jobs and need to be retrained in skills.

so i think we should pay for the endless frontier act as our appropriator colleagues will get the chance. please don't ruin this bill by basically trying to pay for it with repealing state dollars. thank you. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote: the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 47, the nays are 50. under the previous order, requiring 60 votes for the adoption, this is not agreed to.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, i am proud to stand today in support of our great ally, israel. israel is a vibrant democracy that supports capitalism, champions human rights, and holds free and open elections. since its reestablishment in 1948, the united states has been israel's most fervent supporter. and my home state of florida has maintained a advantage to -- maintained a strong relationship with israel. i took a stance against discrimination and prohibited state agencies and local governments from contracting with companies boycotting israel. i also signed legislation to ensure that the state of florida will not support those participating in the b.d.s. movement. i traveled three times as governor of the florida to support our strong economic

partnership and celebrated the opening of the new embassy in jerusalem. last congress i was proud to cosponsor a bill recognizing israel's sovereignty over the golan heights and also supported the eastern mediterranean security and energy partnership act to promote security and energy partnerships in the eastern mediterranean. while i visited israel numerous times, my most recent trip as senator gave me a clear sense of hamas, hezbollah, isis in iran. for decades, the people of israel have endured terrorist attacks from groups like hamas, who with iran's support and funding wish to destroy the jewish state and its people. now, as thousands of rockets rein down, i want to be clear. israel has every right to defend and protect its people from

terrorist attacks and to do whatever is necessary to stop the murder of its citizens and foreign nationals residing in israel. no country -- certainly not the united states -- would allow the murder of its citizens. the terrorists blasting these rockets into israel are the same terrorists that chant "death to america." they don't believe in democracy and they want israel wiped off the face of the earth. as our great ally and the only shining example of democracy in the middle east, israel deserves is our full support. today and every day, the united states must align with those fighting for freedom and democracy. clearly denounce terrorism and stand up against those who do not respect human rights. the trump administration made tremendous efforts to facilitate peace and prosperity between our ally israel and neighboring arab nations. we see the biden administration trying to unravel this and appease i will legitimate palestinian leaders.

the palestinian leadership, which has been operating as a dictatorship for 15 years, had their last election for president in 2005. biden has restored u.s. aid to the palestinians who openly support terrorism, wage war against israel, and do not recognize its existence. i'm disgusted to see the anti-israel agenda being pushed by the radical left. the biden administration can't go down this path. they need to stop trying to rejoin the horrible iran deal. biden needs to stop his weak and misguided strategy and keep maximum pressure on the ayatollah until iran is no longer a threat to u.s. national security. israel deserves our full support. israel deserves the right to peace and security. israel deserves the right to protect its people from reprehensible terrorist attacks. and israel deserves the right to take whatever means are necessary to stop the murder of

its citizens and foreign nationals residing in israel. because we have no greater ally in reference to preserve peace and secure interests in the middle east, i am proud to lead 29 of my colleagues today to condemn the escalating attacks by hamas against israel and thank them for joining me on this effort the resolution rao affirms the united states' unwavering commitment to israel and its right to take whatever means necessary to stop the murder of its citizens and foreign nationals residing in israel. it's time for the u.s. senate to say that enough is enough and unanimously adopt this resolution to make it clear that the u.s. stands with israel. these terrorists needs to know that acts of aggression toward israel will never be tolerated. president biden should take immediate action to remind these terrorists the united states' strong and juan wavering support of the people of israel. and we should stop cowing to the

radical left. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 226 submitted earlier today. i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sanders: reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: madam president, reserving the right to object -- and i will object to the unanimous consent request by senator scott and offer my own resolution. unlike scott h. senator scott's resolution -- unlike senator scott's resolution, mine is short and to the point, and i think it expresses the feelings of the overwhelming majority of people in our country and in fact throughout the world. and this is what our resolution says -- quote, whereas every palestinian

life matters and whereas every israeli life matters. now therefore be it resolved that the senate urges an immediate cease-fire to prevent any further loss of life and further escalation of conflict in israel and the palestinian terrorists and supports diplomatic efforts to resolve the israeli-palestinian conflict to uphold international law and to protect the human rights of israelis and palestinians. i'd like to thank my colleagues, senator warren, senator van hollen, senator kaine, senator carper, senator heinrich 00, senator murphy, senator ossoff and senator markey for cosponsoring this resolution. i would also like to point out that those of us who are supporting an immediate

cease-fire are certainly not alone we join with nearly a unanimous call from the european union, with the united nations secretary-general antonio guterres, with pope francis and with many others -- in other words, all over the world people are seeing the terrible tragedy that is taking place in the region and they want an end to it as quickly as possible through a cease-fire. now, i happen to have read senator scott's resolution, and i was particularly struck by one sentence in it on page two, and what it says -- airbeds quote -- the senate -- and i quote -- the senate mourns the loss of innocent life causes by hamas' rocket attacks. end of quote. that's on page two. now, i certainly agree with that. and i think every member of

congress agrees with that. the loss of 12 innocent israeli lives is in fact a tragedy. but what about the loss of 227 palestinian lives, including 64 children and 38 women? does senator scott not believe that the loss of those palestinian lives -- 64 children and 38 women, among others -- is not a tragedy? i believe that we should be mourning the loss of israeli life, but we should also be mourning the loss of palestinian lives. or perhaps some people think that palestinian lives don't matter. i would hope not.

and let us be very clear that when we talk about the tragedy that is now taking place in gaza, what we are talking about is not only the terrible loss of life. as i hope most people know, gaza, before this war, was an extremely poor and desperate community, and the latest israeli bombardment has only made a bad situation much, much worse. let us remember, gaza has been under a blockade since 2007 imposed by israel and egypt. most people are unable to leave. basic necessities are extremely hard to obtain.

gaza is the home to about two million inhabitants. its population density is among the highest in the world, just a huge amount of people squeezed into a very small area. more than half of the population of gaza, some 56%, live below the poverty line. 70% of the population is receiving aid, according to estimates by the united nations. food rations constitute most of that aid. unemployment in gaza is around 45%. 48% of the population is under the age of 18, and 70% -- let me repeat, 70% of the young people in gaza are unemployed, with no

hope for the future. and because of this war, the bombardment from israeli planes, the situation has gotten even worse. today's "new york times" reports that the israeli bombardment has, and i quote -- this is from "the new york times" -- damaged 17 hospitals and clinics in gaza. got that? 17 hospitals and clinics have been damaged. the bombardment has wrecked its only coronavirus test laboratory, sent fettered waste water into the streets and broke water pipes serving at least 800,000 people. sewage systems inside gaza has been destroyed.

the desal nation plant that helped provide fresh water to a quarter of a million people in the territory is off-line. dozens of schools have been damaged or closed, forcing some 600,000 students to miss classes. some 72,000 gazans has been forced to flee their homes -- end quote. that's from "the new york times" this morning. perhaps the situation has gotten even worse. i don't know. and i want everybody to think for a moment what it means for living in a very small territory with dozens and dozens of planes attacking and bombing. what does it mean it particular to the children of gaza? jess gonum, a professor of psychiatry in san francisco who speckizes in the psychological

effects of armed conflict on children told "usa today" -- and i quote -- quote, what children in gaza are exposed to on a regular basis exceeds anything, anything that any children anywhere else in the world experience. there's basically no place to go for these children. they are unable to escape. end of quote. when you put people under this sort of continued intense pressure, with no hope for a better future, you cannot be surprised when violence erupts. indeed, three years ago in may of 2018, i wrote a letter with 12 of my colleagues urging the trump administration to do more to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in gaza. in that letter, we cited israeli defense officials -- israeli

defense officials -- who were warning that if the crisis was not addressed, it could lead to yet another eruption of violence. why didn't we take notice then? and when this latest war ends, will the united states once again turn away? will we consign those children once again to the horrible conditions they are forced to live under today? and i would hope that my colleagues appreciate that we must not do that. senator scott's resolution says a lot about hamas terrorists in gaza. and let us be clear, hamas is a terrorist organization. it is a corrupt organization and it is a repressive organization.

but here is the irony, it is resolutions like senator scott's that help hamas. hamas would be overjoyed if senator scott's resolution were to pass. now why is that? let us understand that one of hamas' goals is to show palestinians that they represent the real resistance to the occupation. senator scott's resolution would help them do just that. by making this all about hamas, hamas, hamas, senator scott is effectively echoing hamas' own argument that hamas is the true face of palestinians' struggle, and i reject that.

because, my friends, day after day, year after year, decade after decade, nonviolent palestinian activists struggle against the daily violence and harassment of occupation. violence and harassment subsidized, by the way, with billions of u.s. taxpayer dollars. let us be very clear, no one is arguing that israel or any government does not have the right to self-defense and the responsibility to protect its people. we should understand that while hamas firing rockets into israeli communities is absolutely unacceptable, today's conflict did not begin with those rockets. it goes much, much deeper. for years we have seen a deepening israeli occupation in

the west bank and east jerusalem and a perpetual blockade on gaza, all of which makes life increasingly unbearable for the palestinian people. the truth is these policies, like this current war, will continue to strengthen, to strengthen extremists on both sides, including hamas. you want to strengthen hamas, support this war. we, congress, must understand that in more than a decade of his right-wing rule in israel, benjamin national -- benjamin national -- netanyu, in his frantic effort to stay in power and avoid prosecution for

corruption. netanyahu has sanctioned extremist forces. moreover we should understand these dangerous trends are not unique to israel. what is going on, what is going on in israel, in my view, is a political tragedy but it is part of a trend that is going on around the world, including here in the united states. where we are seeing the rise of authoritarian nationalist movements. these movements exploit ethnic and racial hatreds in order to build power for a corrupt few rather than prosperity, justice, and peace for the many. for the last four years, these movements have had a friend in the trump white house.

and on january 6, those forces attacked this very chamber. madam president, it is no accident that the only european union country that did not join the nearly unanimous statement yesterday calling for a cease-fire was hungary. hungary did not join the rest of the european union, and hungary, of course, is led by the ethno nationalist authoritarian, viktor orban, a strong ally of both netanyahu and donald trump. some may choose to be on that side, but that is not the side i choose to be on. we must be on the side of those who want to build a society based on real security and

political equality, based upon the principles of economic justice, racial justice, political justice, social justice, and environmental justice. i believe we must stand in solidarity with those palestinians and israelis working to build a future of equality and peaceful coexistence, and not with the intolerant extremists on either side who wish to destroy their future. in this moment of crisis, the united states should be urging an immediate cease-fire. my colleagues, i strongly believe that the united states has a major role to play in helping the world build a more peaceful and prosperous future, one in which human rights are

upheld and the life of every human being is valued. we should be leading the world in combatting the existential threat of climate change. we should be leading the world in making sure that every person on earth, no matter what country he or she lives in, receives a vaccine to protect them from the covid-19 virus. and, yes, we should lead the world in attempting to bring the israeli people and the palestinian people together. if the united states is going to be a credible voice on human rights on the global stage, we must recognize that palestinian rights matter, palestinian lives matter. madam president, i object to the scott resolution. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. scott: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida.

mr. scott: madam president, today is a sad day for the united states senate and one we'll not forget. no one in this body supports the loss of innocent life. no one. but let me be very clear what we just witnessed. we just saw the democrat party completely abandon the sovereign state of israel in support of a terrorist organization. the radical left is fully embracing the lie of false equivalence and refused to plainly state israel has the right to defend itself, period. the resolution i offer today simply reaffirms our support of israel, one of our greatest allies and our most important ally in the middle east. and it condemns the escalating terrorist attacks against israel. this isn't controversial. in fact, it's in line with everything america has stood for for generations. it's actually in line with what my colleague wrote in his op-ed in "the new york times." he said no one is griewg that israel or -- arguing that

israel or any government does not have the right to self-defense or its people. why is he saying this today? does he agree with the radical left as it continues to face attacks? it was not long ago, madam president, that the senate, including my colleague, stood with israel on a bipartisan basis. in fact, in 2014, when israel was again subject to a barrage of rockets targeting innocent israelis, then-majority leader reid offered a resolution supporting israel's right to defend itself against hamas. the 2014 resolution even acknowledged the simple truth that hamas refuses to recognize israel's right to exist. it also said hamas refuses to recognize israel's right to exist. it recognized -- it says hamas uses trocts -- rockets to target those in israel and human

shields and results to condemn hamas' terrorist actions. the senate including my colleague unanimously supported then-majority leader reid's resolution supporting israel's right to defend itself against hamas. it never said at that time that the resolution would embolden hamas. yet today something has changed for my colleague. we are seeing a growing and dangerous anti-israel agenda permeate the halls of congress. israel is a country surrounded by nations and terrorist groups that want it wiped off the face of the earth. and as rockets rain down in israel, my colleague refuses to stand with our ally. i'll say it again, today is a sad day for the united states senate and one we will not forget. i will never accept a weakened position on israel. never. i will never stop fighting to support israel and ensure the biden administration upholds the long-standing and special partnership between the united states and israel. i yield the floor.

mr. sanders: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. res. 225 submitted earlier today. further that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. scott: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: reserving the right to object. my colleague is wrong for trying to boil this down to attempt to distract from the reality today. the radical left refuses to plainly state israel has the right to defend itself, period. my colleague's resolution offers nothing supporting israel's rightful efforts to stop this repeated cycle of violence. no one in this body welcomes the loss of innocent life. no one. but we cannot, and i will not accept the left's ignorance of the evil and devastating role iran plays in funding and

supporting hamas. the terrorist organization responsible for taking innocent lives. my colleague's resolution offers nothing to condemn iran. the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. my colleague's resolution offers nothing to condemn hamas. here's the difference between israel and hamas. hamas uses its rockets to kill innocent israelis. israel uses its rockets to defend its people. it should not be difficult for the senate to reaffirm our support of israel, one of our greatest allies and our most important ally in the middle east, and condemn the escalating terrorist attacks against israel. it wasn't difficult to get that done in 2014 when my colleague and every other member of the senate unanimously supported then-majority leader reid's resolution supporting israel's right to defend itself against hamas. the same resolution also said hamas refuses to recognize israel's right to exist. it says hamas uses rockets to in

discriminately target civilians in israel and hamas uses rockets as human shields and condemn hamas terrorist actions. what does my colleague believe has changed about the facts on the ground since then? here's what's changed. the democrats now a powerful and growing anti-israel caucus in the party who defend terrorism against israel. the democrat party has abandoned american values and now they are abandoning american allies. as i said earlier, we can't allow this dangerous anti-israel agenda to permeate the halls of congress. we cannot allow a blatant blind eye to be turned to israel. israel is a country surrounded by nations and terrorist groups that want it wiped off the face of the earth. i will never accept a weakened position on israel. never. and i'm not going to stop fighting to support israel and ensure the biden administration upholds the long-standing and special partnership between the united states and israel. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, the situation in the middle east is a stark contrast from that of just nienl -- nine months ago. last summer the united states helped broker the abraham accords, a historic step in the relationship between israel and the united arab emirates. the u.a.e. became the third arab country, the first gulf state to recognize and normalize relations with israel and bahrain, morocco and sudan will follow suit shortly thereafter. these agreements mark historic progress toward peace in decades and appear to open a new era of

diplomacy in the middle east. today, though, the optimism we felt just, a little less than a year ago has been replaced with more violence. more violence and more destruction than we've seen in years, and civilian casualties that continue to climb every day. hamas has fired thousands of rockets into civilian populations in israel and if not for the iron dome, anti-rocket defense system and the u.s. support and funding that made it possible, the death toll would be significantly higher than it is. just as any sovereign state under attack by terrorist forces would do, israel has defended its citizens, given the way hamas uses palestinian civilians as human shields, a war crime, by the way, for which hamas alone is responsible, the counterstrikes have carried a

human cost. as the conflict has intensified, some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have called into question israel's right to defend itself. they've acted as though there is some moral equivalency between the terrorist acts of hamas and israel's right to defend itself. they've called the president -- they called on the president to speak out against the conduct of israel but not hamas. it's as though they think that israel is somehow a terrorist group, not the other way around. as i said, hamas has launched thousands of rockets specifically headed toward civilian targets in israel. the moral equivalency argument between hamas's attack and israel's response is clearly divorce from any reality.

let's be clear, though, this conflict is not a welcomed development for anyone. the israeli and the palestinian people are bearing the cost of the conflict that they had no hand in creating. it's important to remember that two things can be true. first, that israel has a right to defend itself. if hamas or any other terrorist gowp or state launches -- group or state launches an attack on israel, its government has the right and responsibility to respond and protect its citizens. and secondly, the number of civilian casualties on both sides, particularly the number of children, is heartbreaking. both of those things are true. the violence and destruction we're seeing is devastating, made even more upsetting by the progress we made just last year. but this is not a conflict between two governments. this is a sovereign state defending itself against a

terrorist attack. i'm afraid that message has been lost on president biden. when asked about the conflict earlier this week, white house press secretary, jen pasaki said, the administration is using quiet and intense diplomacy. close quote. eye it and in -- quiet and intense diplomacy. the only democracy in the middle east being attacked by a terrorist organization and the diplomatic strategy of the free world includes remaining quiet. i'm reminded of president biden's statement, bizarre now in retrospect, talking about leading from behind, an oxy moronic doctrine which gave way to disastrous albeit predictable consequences in libya. we see the dire costs of poor american leadership in yemen,

iraq, syria, ukraine. leading from behind has done nothing but harmed the cause of peace. i hope this serves as a wakeup call to president biden of the dangers of a similar quest. quiet diplomacy is not the best course when one of our closest allies is not the best when one of our closest allies is attacked by a terrorist organization. but we can't lose sight of the country behind the curtain, the silent financier of this conflict, which is iran. this is, in fact, a proxy war waged against a jewish state. iran is a prolific state sponsor of terrorism and has felt growing pressure from the u.s. and its allies in recent years.

the trump administration withdrew from the iran nuclear deal and placed sanctions on hundreds of businesses and individuals who helped finance iran's illicit activities. and there's no question that iran stood to lose the most from the peace agreements brokered last year. they were largely responsible, the threat of iran was largely responsible for these countries to come together and to lay down their arms and to work together. the biden administration has made clear it intends to recklessly revive the iran deal while loosening the sanctions that would provide the u.s. leverage to negotiate better terms. these important sanctions target iran's support for terrorist groups like hamas as well as its ballistic missile development and human rights violations. removing them now essentially unilaterally is a grave mistake.

simply by signaling their intent, the biden administration has emboldened and encouraged iran's maligned activities through its proxy hamas, hezbollah, and others. this current loss of life and destruction demonstrates that iran is capable of wielding deadly force even with leading -- lean resources. fewer sanctions, though, have meant less cash flowing to their terrorist proxies. this week we're reminded of the saying that's been around for years that if hamas laid down its weapons today, there would be no more violence. if israel laid down its weapons, there would be no more israel. america must remain steadfast in our commitment to support israel as as well as our responsibility to counter threats posed by

terrorist organizations like hamas and maligned nation state actors like iran. i hope for a day in the future when the middle east can be a place of peace, stability, and democracy, but we simply will not reach that point without a strong and secure israel. i stand in full support of israel appeared will continue to -- and will continue to fight for a strong u.s.-israel relationship. the united states does not bow down to terrorist organizations and we will not allow our allies to be bullied and beaten by hamas or any other terrorist group. mr. president, on one final matter. we know the endless futures legislation, which is on the floor today, is part of our response to the competition caused by an increasingly belligerent and aggressive china

and i'm glad the senate has taken up its consideration of this legislation. in coming days, i expect both sides to offer amendments to strengthen this legislation and to assure that it addresses a broad range of strategic threats. as leader mcconnell has said, a robust amendment process is critical to the success of this legislation. one of the most pressing needs, though, is to bolster our domestic semiconductor manufacturing which is addressed by the underlying bill. we rely on these microelectronic circuits or semiconductors for everything from our telephones that we have in our pockets to the cars in our driveways to the missile defense systems that are right now knocking down hamas rockets raining down over israel. over the past couple of decades, as our need for semiconductors

has increased as we've become more technology centric, so has the countries that produce those semiconductors. here is a graphic reminder of our dependcy on foreign -- dependcy in order to supply this to our economy and to our national security. as you can see, mr. president, 63% of the global market of supply of semiconductors comes from taiwan and 18% from south korea. but nearly 13% are sourced from southeast asia. vulnerable supply chains are something we need to be aware of and to fight against.

i'm reminded of what president jimmy carter said in 1980 in the state of the union message when he spoke about the persian gulf and soviet threats to the movement of essential energy supplies through the strait of hormuz. president carter at that time articulated the carter doctrine, as it became to be known. he said any attempt by any outside force attempting to gain control of that area will be regarded as an assault on the vital interest of the united states of america. in other words, it would be an act of war because of the dramatic dependence that the united states had at that time on oil flowing through the strait of hormuz. i think you could consider today semiconductors are the new oil. instead of the strait of hormuz, we are dependent on a supply

chain from parts of the world we can no longer depend upon, just as a blockade would have left the world with devastating consequences, a blockade of the semiconductor supply chain would have far-reaching consequences to our national security and economy. in fact, we're getting a glimpse of what that might look like right now. there's a global semiconductor shortage largely related to covid-19 and has led to far-reaching consequences across virtually every industry. in texas, a couple of weeks ago, i met with executives from companies across a range of industries that have been impacted by the shortage of semiconductors, including automotive, consumer electronics and defense. so we need a strong response to restore domestic semiconductor manufacturing, which is why last year, senator warner, the senator from virginia and i introduced what we called the

chips for america act. thanks to the leadership of then-chairman jim inhofe on the senate armed services committee, that became law and it will help restore american semiconductor manufacturing by creating a -- an incentive to create semiconductor chips in the u.s.a. even though the amendment that passed 96-4, the one thing that was missing was the money and the finances in order to make this happen. mr. president, my preference is always to fund things through the regular order whenever possible. we simply cannot get into the habit of cutting the appropriations committee out of the appropriations process. but there's clearly broad support for the chips for america act, as i said, 96 senators voted to include it in the defense authorization act. and i'm committed to securing

funding for the program created by the bill and there have been many conversations about the alternatives available to us on how to do so. orangely we introduced -- originally we introduced a tax credit provision, but unfortunately that did not seem to gain the traction that we needed. when we tried to get the funding in december, we came up empty handed, but today i'm glad to say there is a significant emergency appropriation included in the underlying bill. but, unfortunately, politics being what it is and washington being a political city, there are unnecessary and purely political provisions related to the payment of preveiling wage, which u.s. semiconductors already pay their employees and they've created a problem for funding this noncontroversial measure to bring chip production

back to american soil. i've reached out to our friends on the other side of the aisle to reach a compromise that allows us funding to pass with a large bipartisan majority. there's a clear and urgent need to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing and to secure one of our most, if not the most, critical supply chain. here's what a recent report in the national security commission on artificial intelligence said. they said the united states is almost -- entirely reliant on cutting edge semiconductors critical for defense systems and industry more broadly, leaving the u.s. supply chain vulnerable to disruption by foreign government action or natural disaster. it's clear, mr. president, that other countries, notably china, are steadily investing in their own semiconductor manufacturing. today, as i speak, china is

building 17 fabs or manufacturing facilities in the people's republic of china. the united states needs to compete and in order to do so, we need to pass this essential funding, but we should not be bogged down by partisan or political points to be scored when in fact they really don't make any difference to the semiconductor industry because they already pay high wages. the only reason to do this is to try to advance the interests of organized labor and impose additional costs on the construction of these advanced fabrication of facilities. and the fact is this actually expands the role of prevailing wage requirements because this is essentially private construction funded in part -- in a modest part by u.s. federal tax dollars. so now is not the time to let

politics get in the way of our progress. it's just simply too important to our country. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. inhofe: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i -- before the senator from texas leaves the floor, i want to acknowledge that in oklahoma last sunday, i was with a group of people and independent of each other they asked the same question, where is america and what's happening over there right now with our best friend, most loyal ally in that part of the world, israel, is being hit by terrorists. and we're sitting back and not doing anything. it's just not thinkable that

that could happen. you think one of the most meaningful things that i had not heard before was stated this way, that the senator from texas stated, was if hamas were to stop the attack on israel, israel would do nothing. but if israel were to stop responding, there would be no israel left. and that's the situation we have there. it's something that is not understandable. it's something that we're going to do everything we can to reverse. that's not why i'm here on the floor. i just want to mention this legislation that we're working on right now. we have an amendment, senator shelby and i jointly have an amendment. now, we did this initially because i chair the senate armed services committee. he the appropriations committee. and this was an agreement we had, ten years ago we agreed on parity that anything we do is

going to be defense related is going to be equaled by nondefense. now, that's been our pattern, democrats and republicans, for ten years. but now the situation has changed. the way it's structured now in this bill, that there's nothing in there for defense. here we have the most -- we're in the most threatened position we've everren in with china -- ever been in with china and there's a china bill doing all these things with china but is not doing anything in terms of the military that we are suffering under right now. we have to remember, a lot of people have forgotten this. two administrations ago in the obama administration, we had a situation where during the last five years -- that would have been from 2010 to 2015 -- that the president at that time, president obama, had reduced the budget for defense by 25%.

during the same time frame china had increased theirs by 83%. now, just look at that. that is what was happening. that was back in 2015. and now the situation is really getting worse because since that time, china has increased its capabilities, hyper sonics, and other areas so that they are actually ahead of us in many areas. so what we want to do is just be sure that whatever product we come out with, that we end up having parity between defense spending and nondefense spending. it's something we've been doing for a long period of time. so the threat has not improved over the last three years, has only gotten worse. i think any bill that really seeks to address the threat from china, the whole threat from china, this also addresses china's very real military and its broader military civil fusion that's taking place right

now. and that's why any response can't separate out military and economic competition. it must be a whole of government and this bill is only focused on economic competition, not military. our amendment, shelby's amendment and mine, will make sure that any increase in nondefense discretionary spending will be matched by the same level of increase to the defense spending. now, this is not something that's just republican. this is something that was agreed upon some ten years ago by democrats and republicans, and yet that's not what we're looking at with this. so this would merely -- going back and agreeing with what we all agreed, democrats and republicans. in fact, in this document right here, and we often refer to this government, this is the n.d.a. government that's put together to remind my fellow members here, this was six democrats and

six republicans all recognized in their skills and military planning coming up with this document. this was 19 -- 2018 and yet today it's just as applicable as it was back then. and that's what they talk about, what is necessary this year to spend on military to try to keep some type of a p -- type of a parity with china. now, this has to be our top priority. security underwrites everything we do as a nation. that's why america is viewed as the leader of the free world. it can't be either one or the other. it has to be both. chinese are competing against us in every area. and this bill currently does nothing to bolster our national defense, to confront this threat, or to leverage our military and intelligence communities, research and development expertise in this area. it doesn't establish the sort of cooperation between our defense

and our commercial sectors on technology and technological development that we need. china isn't just investing in technology, manufacturing, and research. they're also investigating -- investing in military. they're putting more money into modernizing their military than ever before. china is on a modernization sprint. they've been channeling money into building weapons that we don't even have yet, like hypersonics. i was embarrassed about a year ago when china came out -- in china in their parade, they were displaying hypersonics, things we don't even have yet. it doesn't used to be that way. following the second world war, we always kept ahead at that type. we had -- we recognize there's a risk there and the risk was something we had to meet. so they're on track to dominate in new capabilities like

artificial intelligence, in hypersonics and other areas. so meanwhile we're calling for -- because we're not giving our military the resources to stay competitive with china. we know what that looks like. it's at least 3% to 5% in real growth. now, that's actually what's in this document right now. and they've updated this to show that right now we should in order to stay even with china, be upgrading somewhere between 3% and 5%. this year in this budget. and we're reducing the amount. it doesn't even meet the cost of living. so the military advantage, that's what we used to deter china from moving from economic to aggression, to military aggression. but we've already lost our edge in some areas. so to maintain our military advantage is going to take investment, but president biden is not willing to make the

investment we need. he is proposing to cut our defense budget, and that doesn't even keep pace with inflation. so meanwhile, he's proposing to increase all other spending almost 20% and this bill here, it spends as much on microchips for the auto industry as it does on microelectronics for our national defense. can you believe that? if we don't invest in our military deterrent, it's hard to see how any of the other efforts, whether diplomacy, innovation, economic growth, will succeed either. so we continue -- we'll continue to work on a bipartisan -- in a bipartisan fashion to address these needs. i really believe that this should be the first amendment to come up. i don't know. i i'm not in charge of that. it should be. it's one that should be easy to pass because it was agreed to ten years ago that we didn't need to be in a position --

we're not keeping up with china. so our amendment does one simple thing. it's parity. it says any change that you make in the nondefense spending, you've got to have in defense spending at the same time. i believe that should have happen and it should take place. i'm hoping that we will have an opportunity to vote on that tomorrow. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.