journal program is available online at c-span .org. we will leave it here to continue our long-time commitment to live congressional coverage of the u.s. senate. they are about to gavel in to begin work on president biden's first judicial nomination on the floor, district judge for new jersey. live senate coverage now here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.

eternal god, teach us how to live our lives with wisdom, refusing to deviate from the path of integrity. give our lawmakers the wisdom to trust in you and do good, enabling them to help our nation become safe and secure. as our senators commit their plans and work to you, bless their efforts with radiant success. help them to remember the power of godliness and may they use it to discern the difference between right and wrong.

remind us all that your sacred word continues to be a lamp of wisdom, providing light for our feet and illumination for the road ahead. we pray in your righteous name. amane. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., june 7, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable mazie k. hirono, a senator from the state of hawaii, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore.

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, the senate returns to session with a busy and consequential work period healed of it. we will consider -- ahead of it. we will consider landmark legislation to establish paycheck fairness, legislation to boost american innovation in the 21st century, and legislation to protect voting rights and american democracy the final week of june. the senate will consider all three of these issues this month. we'll start we finishing the u.s. innovation and competitive act now known as usica. the bipartisan legislation will be the largest investment in scientific research and technological innovation in generations setting the united states on a path to lead the world in the industries of the future. it includes the input of virtually everyone in this

chamber, a product of over six committees and dozens of amendments from our republican colleagues. tomorrow the senate will consider a couple of final amendments before passing this historic legislation. it will be one of the most important things we've done in a very long time. it is the largest investment in sign tsk research and -- scientific research and technological innovation in generations, decades. on judges, in addition today and tomorrow the senate will confirm the first of president biden's nominees to the federal bench. julien xavier neals of new jersey and regina rodriguez of colorado. i also look forward to confirminger highly qualified jurists later during this work period, including brown jackson-akiwumi. these are the first of many jurists that the democratic

senate will consider to restore the balance to the federal jiesh. under president trump and leader mcconnell, the senate became a conveyor belt for nearly 200 judges. many were woefully inexperienced and far outside the judicial mainstream. some were so extreme on issues of race and voting rights, that even some of our republican colleagues joined democrats in rejecting those nominations. on the flip side, president obama nominated three -- appointed, rather, 320 judges and prish now has the opportunity to fill more than 80, 80 vacancies. under this democratic majority, the senate will swiftly and consistently confirm president biden's appointments to the term bench, bringing balance, experience, and diversity back to the judiciary. mr. neals and ms. rodriguez are two great examples along with ms. brown jackson.

in the same vein today, i also announced two judicial recommendations to president biden. mira perez, the director of voting rights at the brennan center for justice to serve on the prestigious second sirp cut court of appeals, and dale hope, the leader of the voting rights project as the aclu to serve on the -- on the southern district of new york. ms. perez and mr. hoe are to of the foremost voting rights experts in the country with the national focus on voting rights now, their elevation is timely. their prospect -- perspective will be invaluable. ms. perez will also be the first latino to serve on the second circuit court since now justice sonia sotomayor. diversity on the federal bench is very important to me. both demographic diversity and diverse if i of -- diversity of experience. the courts have long been packed

with former prosecutors and corporate lawyers. it's about time that civil rights attorneys, voting rights attorneys and federal defenders start getting the nod. my recommendation of ms. perez and mr. hoe are part of that effort. last month i also recommended iew niece lee, an appellate attorney with the federal defenders of new york to serve as a judge on the second circuit. lee could become just the second black woman to sit on this prestigious appeals court, a court that has never, never had a former federal defender on its roster. just like ms. perez and mr. ho, eunir cre lee will bring diverse if i to the federal bench. they'll bring dynamism, brilliance and a diversity of experience to courts in new york. as the senator from new york and as majority leader, i'm intent on restoring balance to a judiciary that has been thrown out of whack by four years of

president trump's selections. finally, on paycheck fairness, tomorrow the senate will decide whether to take up legislation toll address the gender pay gap. right now in america, women earn roughly 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. the cap is even wider for women of color. even when you account for educational attainment, black and latino women earn only 65% to 70% of what a white man makes with the same degree, whether it's a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree. many women with advanced degrees actually make less than mayor male counterparts who don't have them. so looking at the facts, women with the same jobs, same degrees, sometimes better degrees than their male colleagues are making less money. that is the very definition of gender discrimination, and it's holding back women in every

industry and area of the country. the pandemic has only made matters worse. faced with impossible choices between careers and child care, women have fallen out of the workforce at an alarming rate. by one measure the covid-19 pandemic has set women's labor force participation back by more than 30 years leading some economists to describe the 2020 year not as a recession but as a she-cession. there's a lot of work to do to not only recover from a devastating year in the workplace, but also establish an equal playing field where women are paid for what they deserve -- are paid what they deserve. senate democrats have put forward a bill that would make it much easier for women to petition for pay equity. it doesn't mandate that employers set wages at a certain level. it doesn't have the government reach into the private sector. it merely makes it easier for women to overcome pay

discrimination. in my view, this straightforward, unobjectionable piece of legislation should merit bipartisan support and should not require changes. all 50 democratic senators are cosponsors of the bill, all 50. will our republican colleagues step up to the plate and join us tomorrow to advance this commonsense legislation? madam president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: on friday, the u.s. job market got another monthly checkup. hiring in may was up from the previous month, but still fell short of the level experts and american employers had hoped for. of course, the highest expectations of our economic recovery under democratic control were set by none other than the democrats themselves. back in february, the biden administration pointed to projections that its so-called american rescue plan would boost job creation in 2021 by four million over existing expectations. meeting that new hire goal meant

the economy would have to grow by over 900,000 new jobs a month. needless to say, the job market is nowhere close, nowhere close to meeting this target. in fact, hiring is falling short of where nonpartisan experts forecasted it would be, even if, even if democrats hadn't rammed through a multitrillion-dollar liberal wish list this spring. so i have been clear on the dangers of that bill from the beginning, and the data is now spelling it out very clearly. democrats' bloated additions to unemployment insurance haven't just failed to help our recovery. they've actually hurt it. and the consequences on main street are now in full focus. as hiring lags, employers are struggling to entice workers to rejoin and keep their facilities

staffed. after a year that already tested budgets to the breaking point, small business owners are having to dig even deeper to attract staff, offering bigger bonuses and flexible hours. but even that hasn't been enough. for the fourth straight month, one survey of small businesses came back with record high reports of unfilled job openings. as one small business owner in london, kentucky, reported to me, quote, the current labor shortage is by far the worst he's ever seen. in fact, his short staff has had such a hard time keeping up with orders that, quote, customers are already considering moving business from this facility to other states. unfortunately, this situation isn't unique. as i traveled the state last week, i heard the same story from employers of all sizes. kentucky's labor force is still

90,000 workers below prepandemic levels. nationwide, foreign workforce participation has remained stagnant for nearly a year. and all the while, prices for consumers are continuing to creep up. this is exactly what republicans and nonpartisan experts had warned against months ago. we urged democrats not to force our country's promising early recovery into a permanent defensive crouch. now as states and business owners grapple with the consequences, i hope democrats in washington are paying attention and learning from this costly mistake. now, madam president, on another matter, after a week of work with our constituents, the senate reconvenes with a chance to refocus on the most important issues facing our folks back home. already on multiple occasions this year, we have demonstrated that even a narrowly divided

chamber is capable of taking productive bipartisan steps on serious issues. wide majorities have come together to extend access to the critical p.p.p. loans, invest in drinking party infrastructure, and equip the justice system to better combat hate crimes against asian america. this week, the senate is set to do the same on legislation regarding competition with china, and many of our colleagues are working hard to make further consensus possible on issues that have historically enjoyed bipartisan support like transportation infrastructure. remember, this sort of collaboration on serious priorities is what the american people insisted upon just last november. they elected a 50-50 senate, shrunk democrats' majority in the house, and took president biden up on a promise to unite the country. so the question at the outset of this work period is how democrats will use their razor,

razor-thin majority over the next few weeks. unfortunately, the democratic leader already signaled his answer a week ago by laying out a june agenda that is transparently designed to fail. as i understand it, senate democrats intend to focus this month on the demands of their radical base. exploiting the cause of pay fairness to send a windfall to trial lawyers, saddling hospitals, schools, and small businesses with crippling new legal burdens if they fail to keep pace with woke social norms. and opening an unprecedented new front in the left's war on the second amendment. as written, these are not proposals aimed at earning bipartisan support. they're not designed to clear the senate's necessarily high bar for enduring -- for ending debate. bizarrely, it appears they are being floated in order to

illustrate that the bar is too high. after a spring in which the senate has repeatedly, repeatedly passed mainstream legislation by wide margins, democrats have decided that now, now is the time to argue the legislative process is somehow broken. let's not forget democrats' poster child for why the senate should change its rules is a bill that would forcibly change the rules for elections in every state in america. let me say that again. democrats' poster child for why the senate should change its rule is a bill that would forcibly change the rules for elections in every state in america. their marquee bill s. 1 is such a brazen political power grab that the question isn't whether it could earn bipartisan support. the question is how wide the bipartisan opposition will be. this is the bill the democratic leader has placed at the

vanguard of his campaign to destroy the filibuster. even though multiple members of his own majority are now on the record objecting to it. so, madam president, make no mistake, failing to sell reckless wholesale changes to our democracy isn't prove that the guardrails should be removed. it's a reminder that they are there for a reason. the american people rightly expect a 50-50 senate to spend its time finding common ground, but our democratic colleagues seem to believe that the most important expectations are those of their far-left fringe. they have put forward an agenda that is designed to fail and fail it will. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive

session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, julian xavier neals of new jersey to be united states district judge for the district of new jersey. mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: madam president, imagine this. in one of the great nations of the world, there is a controversy over the transition of power, the peaceful transfer of power, and in this country, those who are about to lose power are concerned, so concerned that their backers are turning to the streets. they plan on demonstrations against the supposed new leadership in their country, and people fear violence. it was against this background

that nadav argaman, the director of israel's internal security service, made a rare public intervention on saturday night warning of discourse that is, quote, liable to be interpreted by certain groups or by individuals as one that permits violent and illegal activity that is liable, heaven forbid, to reach marty injury, end of quote. without mentioning any politicians directly, mr. argaman added, quote, it's our duty to come out with a clear and decisive call to stop immediately the inciting and violent discourse. the responsibility for calming spirits and reining in the discourse rests on all of our shoulders. i bring this matter to the senate because it parallels what we endured and experienced just a few months ago. i'm sure you remember it well, madam president. i do. the election last november which was won by joseph biden over donald trump, the incumbent

president, by some seven million votes, one of the largest turnouts, if not the largest turnout, in the history of the united states. a decisive electoral college victory, the same margin that trump had triumphed over hillary clinton just a few years before. and yet, because of the big lie and the denial by donald trump, he inspired his followers to come to washington, d.c., and participate in a rally to protest. and not to come just any day, but to come on january 6 of 2021, this year, because that's when the electoral college votes were going to be counted. retiree know what followed -- we know what followed. we know that mob was turned loose on the streets of washington and turned loose on the capitol building, and those of us who were here that day will never forget it. i can recall the vice president of the united states sitting in the chair you're sitting in,

taken out that door at be 2:15 in the afternoon. that is the capitol police warned us stay in your seats. we're going to gather staff around the walls here. just sit tight. ten minutes there was a change of plans. the mob is advancing on this chamber as we speak. leave immediately, and everyone picked up as fast as they could and left. it was a scene that seemed so unrealistic, you wouldn't imagine it could happen in the capitol of the united states of america. but the insurrectionist mob inspired by president donald trump was here for business. they were here to stop the ordinary course of business in the senate and the house, which would announce at the end of the day the selection of joseph biden as our new president. now a parallel is taking place in israel and a new coalition to replace bebe netanyahu is being protested by those who are going

to march in the streets, and israeli leaders, at least those in security services, are begging people not to do it. i put that in context to think that that idea in the united states somehow has taken root in israel. i pray that nothing happens. i want nothing to happen there. but we should be forewarned to take this seriously. if there are forces at work in the united states and israel and other countries to stop the orderly transfer of power in a democratic nation, we ought to take that seriously. we ought to take it so seriously that we appoint a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened here on january 6, 2021. just a few weeks ago republican members of the house of representatives were dismissing the january 6 events, the mob action here in the capitol, and saying that they were somehow orderly tourists. that's what one of the congressmen said, the congressman from georgia. those were orderly tourists.

look at those video. imagine under any circumstance that you would describe them as orderly tourists. they weren't orderly tourists when we see five people losing their lives as a result of their actions and 140 of our law enforcement officials being personally attacked, many of them still bearing the scars of that day. i bring this to the ■attention f the senate and the american people because i think the answer is obvious. israel is taken seriously. they don't want a trump-like mob to take control of their country. we shouldn't be allowing this to happen, nor should we stop with what we've done and say no more will be said. this was a direct attack on our democracy. we cannot find, unfortunately, in republican leadership one republican leader who will support this idea of a bipartisan commission. when it comes to january 6, the job isn't finished. the last point i'll make is we received a letter, an anonymous

letter from the capitol hill police asking us to form this commission and get to the bottom of it. to think that we walk through this capitol every day and those men and women are risking their lives for us, and we would not even allow a bipartisan commission to look into that day and the threats to the lives of those policemen on that day is shameful. it's disgraceful. it's unacceptable. senator schumer said we'll vote on it again. i hope we do and frequently so we can remind the american people who is taking that event very seriously and who is not. madam president, on another issue, another topic, when the pandemic was first declared in march of last year, we entered a world of uncertainty. we were confronted with the reality that our schools and our workplaces were going to be shut down in the foreseeable future. family gatherings and get-togethers were going to be restrained, and our favorite places for relaxing and funs,

restaurants and stores were basically closed. but amid all these uncertainties, one thing remained constant and dependabld supply. despite the disruptions, panic buying and supply chain our food supply remained intact. when we stopped at the grocery store there was plenty of food for our family, and when grocery store shelves started to run empty we could always know that more was on the way. it goes to show that thanks to american agriculture we're blessed by abundance. and as we come together to commend the courageous doctors, nurses, and other frontline workers who have cared for our loved ones, there is another group of essential workers who have toiled alongside our farmers and ranchers to keep our

families fed -- farm workers. i'm sure most americans know very little about the farm workers who supply the food we eat every day. in illinois, we have 20,000 of these farm workers. they plant, harvest, pick our state's most lucrative crops. and across the country we have 2.5 million farm workers. roughly half of these 2.5 million are undocumented. these undocumented farm workers are part of our communities and many are parents of american children. but despite the is essential he work they do to keep our families if he had their second class status in america means they are often subject to harassment, untenable working conditions, substandard housing, and they live under constant threat of deportation. earlier this month the guardian news service published a piece on the working and living conditions for farm workers in southern texas. i want to share a few passages about one worker in particular. her name is linda.

nina lakony writes that linda works six days a week, sometimes seven putting food on american tables but earns barely enough to cover bills and food stamps for her family. after long days in the field linda sleeps in on an old couch in a part of a house, a house found inhabit because of fire and hurricane but she calls it home. her 11-year-old son who has learning disorders sleeps on the other side of the house. two daughters sleep in the bedroom, one with a look in the molding room. the other with a six-year-old and her six-month-old baby sleep in a room with cinder walls. last summer linda and her daughter caught covid-19. rather than go to the emergency room, her friends and family crossed from winosa and brought back an oxygen tank for linda.

linda has lived in the united states of america for more than 25 years, one of the undocumented workers who keeps my family fed but she herself can barely feed her own. i want to share one last passage from the article in the guardian. quote, even before the pandemic, farms were among the most dangerous workplaces in the country. low-paid workers have little protection, long hours, repetitive strain injuries, exposures to pesticides, dangerous machinery, extreme heat and animal waste. now add this contagious virus that these workers face too. according to the environmental working group, more than a dozen states don't provide any form of p.p.e. or covid testing for farm workers, and there are no social distancing guidelines in place on these farms. in some cases workers arrive to the fields in tightly packed

trucks and their crews reportedly share cups of water from the same cup during the day. i think it would be accurate to classify these working conditions as dangerous. but these essential workers don't have the luxury of being able toking advocate for themselves -- being able to advocate for themselves because they are always under the shadow and risk of deportation. we in the senate can change that. we can pass a piece of bipartisan legislation that has already passed the house. it's called the farm workforce modernization act. this legislation would fundamentally change the lives of hundreds of thousands of these farm workers who came to our rescue during the darkest days of the pandemic, who kept working despite the threat of covid-19 and the fact that they had few creature comforts of their own. this is legislation that has been in the making for years. it would provide a path to lawful, permanent residency for undocumented farm workers and their family members. that means they would be able to

do the essential work they have already been doing without living in fear of being deported and losing their kids. it also means these workers could advocate for higher wages, safer working conditions which would make our nation's workforce more stable and strengthen the durability of our food supply chain. offering them a path to permanent residency is the least we can do to acknowledge their tireless backbreaking work during this pandemic. over the past year we've heard a lot of praise for the essential workers of america. i've joined in the chorus. in our time of need they did their jobs, and sometimes at great personal cost. now it's time to do our job and pass the farm workforce modernization act. enacting this legislation is not just about doing the right thing for the workers. it's about doing the right thing for our economy and doing the right thing, period. when the pandemic first hit last year it caused the worst economic crisis since the great

depression. 22 million jobs vanished in america. millions of working families lost their source of income and some for the first time in their lives struggled to put food on the table. can you imagine how much worse this crisis would have been if our nation was saddled with a food scarcity crisis as well? thanks to our farmers and these farm workers i'm speaking for today, we never faced it. it's one of the many examples of how immigrants make america stronger. we take them for granted. they go to work every day and do the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs in america. now we have to do something for them. according to last year's census, america's population grew at the slowest rate since the 1930's. that's a warning sign for the future of our economy. if our population growth continues to slow, our nation's tax base will shrink, it means we'll have fewer working-age adults who can help support elderly americans, a population that is expected to double over the next few decades.

to grow our economy, we need to bring people out of the shadows so they can continue to contribute to america for years to come. so when we vote on on legislatin like the farm workforce modernization act we're really voting for our economic future. i'd like to remind my colleagues that america didn't build the world's greatest economy by closing our doors, crossing our fingers and doing one another's laundry. we did it by welcoming the workers of the world by offering them a home where they can earn an honest living and pay their fair share. many people say we want to get those ph.d.'s from india, china and asia. we want them living here, they'll create businesses. that's all true. i stand behind that as well. but there are also many workers who don't have that level of education but have a determination and a work ethic that has always been part of success in the american economy. this unique american promise

built a brighter future for their children as well as ours is the bedrock of our nation. no other country in the world can deprive us of it. we can only deprive ourselves by refusing to fix a broken immigration system that leaves millions of hardworking families in the shadows of our society. if we want to continue leading in the 21st century, we want america to be in first place and not in second place, we need to keep the american promise alive. and we need to do it by passing the farm workforce modernization act. joining together in support of comprehensive immigration reform. madam president, the issue of immigration, as you probably know, has become a passion of mine. i know it's one of yours. you mentioned to me the other day in passing that you are the only true immigrant in the senate. it's, i guess, historic that i would give this speech and you would be presiding over the senate. i'm sure you feel as i do, these people go to work every

single day day. they do the dirtiest, hardest most dangerous work in america and they do it without any hope of a great future because they're undocumented. they have no future. the person they're working for this week may decide on friday not to pay them anything. are they going to go to qort -- court to fight for their rights as workers? probably not. they don't feel they have rights being undocumented. a good thing happened here years ago when a coalition of senators put together a farm worker provision, and now the house has done it for us again. they have led the way with the farm workforce modernization act, passed it and sent it here. it's time for us to take this measure up. i talked to a number of republican friends, many of them are from agricultural states. they understand it and they support it and they want to be part of it. you'd be surprised if i told their names on the floor but i'll be careful not to. they're worried because of this issue of immigration and its controversy. but they understand the fairness of it all. i want to salute michael

bennet, the senator from colorado, who has been a leader on the subject from the start. years ago with our coalition effort, gang of eight effort, he was the person who put together the farm worker provision. i think dianne feinstein was a great contributor in that effort as well. michael bennet is back again working for this bill. we ought to pass it out of the senate. the bill that passed the house, and in so doing, we'd be doing a favor for essential workers, some of the lowest paid, hardest working people in america. it's only right and i hope we do it soon. madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the junior senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. tuberville: thank you. madam president, i spoke recently about a serious crisis facing our economy, the workforce shortage. this has been brought on by many things that my colleagues from the left have spent and asked questions and brought about policies. today i want to discuss another looming challenge to our economy, one where democrat policies are adding fuel to the fire if not starting the fire itself. i'm talking about inflation. inflation is not an abstract idea thrown around by finance gurus. inflation is a real threat to the pocketbooks of hardworking americans throughout our great country. we haven't hit the inflation levels of jimmy carter's days yet, but the warning signs are here. i recently spoke with a group of home builders from across my home state of alabama. they told me how they're seeing

prices increase that are even higher than the ballooning national average. as an example, in alabama and across much of the south, home building materials such as brick are up 10%. insulation prices are up 15%. sheetrock prices are up nearly 50%. lumber prices are up 300%. and particle board prices which are used in most homes across the country, the price is up almost 600%. although demand for houses went up during the height of the pandemic, the commerce department reported that u.s. home building actually declined in april of this year. with the demand for housing so high right now, you'd think new construction would be taking place everywhere you turn. but that's not the case.

builders are actually delaying construction projects because materials prices have hit record highs. prices are rising so rapidly that a project costing $300,000 at the beginning ends up costing more than $350,000 at the time of completion. this eats into builder's margins and discourages them from starting new projects. therefore, putting people out of work. folks back home can rest assured that i'll be monitoring this closely. i'll be listening to my constituents and other companies about their cost and supply chain experiences. but i shouldn't be the only one taking on these concerns into account. these price jumps should be concerning to all of us in this building. because the national numbers don't paint a rosy picture.

in april consumer prices jumped by 4.2%, the highest rise in over a decade. energy prices went up 25% overall with gas prices increasing nearly 50%. according to the philadelphia federal reserve, price increases by one metric were the highest since 1980. this level of inflation doesn't just affect a select few. it affects all american families. for many folks a 4% hike on grocery bills takes a serious toll. rising prices like these are the definition of a kitchen table issue. paying 50% more for gas or having a costly electric bill forces families to make a hard choice on what they can and cannot afford for that month.

we must get our physical house in order before inflation gets totally out of control and reverses the economic progress we made under president trump's leadership. you know there are different ways to combat inflation, a lot of different ways, but we know what makes inflation worse. massive government spending. and that's exactly what we're getting as we speak. president biden and congressional democrats spent $1.9 trillion on a stimulus bill that flooded the economy with cash just two months ago. think about that. $1.9 trillion. now we want to spend trillions on a package in disguise of an infrastructure. and they're following this up by trillions more to fund items on the progressive priority list in the future.

well, they're being confronted by the old truth. there's no such thing as a free lunch. simple economics shows when the supply of something goes up, the value goes down. money is no different. president biden's policies are pumping our economy with money we simply don't have to spend. that's the definition of inflation. making money, lose its value. it's the natural result of the policies that we passed in this chamber in the last few months. that's why larry sumners, a former treasury secretary and an adviser to president clinton and obama warned that the biden stimulus would be, quote, the least responsible microeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years.

remember, he worked for two democratic presidents. i couldn't agree more with mr mr. sumners. democrats learned the wrong lesson from the financial crisis in 2008. they thought the recovery was slow because the government spent too little. they have been determined to spend much more this time around. the economic recovery from the pandemic was already well under way when the democrats passed their massive stimulus in march, $1.9 trillion. thanks to the bipartisan emergency relief bill passed under president trump, the economy had stabilized by year end. we were in the middle of the most rapid economic recovery on record, but the democrats out of control spending is putting the recovery at risk and it's the american families who will pay the price in the end. in addition to a reckless

monetary policy, they want to raise taxes on all of us, including small businesses and family farms to fund this spending spree. they want to undo the tax and jobs cuts passed by congress and signed by president trump. it helped create the best economy in a generation. they created countless opportunities for hardworking americans. unemployment was at historic lows. blue-collar wages rose faster than white-collar wages for the first time in history. if they repeal the republican tax cuts, democrats will be encouraging american companies to move overseas. job creators will have to pay more taxes at the same time as they are recovering from the pandemic. and the tax increases being proposed will be passed on to

working americans. in the form of high prices and lower wages. in fact, the only people democrats want to lower taxes for are the people that are high earners in new york, california, and new jersey. higher taxes combined with the democrats' inflation would be a one-two knockout punch of our nation's economic recovery. it only takes one match to start a brush fire. rather than taking commonsense steps to fight inflation, democrats are proposing for it by dumping lighter fluid on the entire field. president biden styles himself as the second coming to f.d.r., but he's looking more like jimmy carter every day. americans may age -- americans my age remember carter's presidency and how tough those times were for working families.

i hope we can avoid repeating history, but that means we need to take action and we need to take action now. i urge my democratic colleagues to reexamine their misplaced priorities and keep pro-worker tax-spending policies in place. let's work together on practical ways to get our economy and our country back to work. madam president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, during the first four months of 2021, more than 500,000 migrants have crossed our southern border. a half a million, including more than 50,000 unaccompanied children. now nobody really believes that those children got there all by themselves. the truth is they have been smuggled to the border and across the border only to be picked up by border patrol, taken care of, as we would all hope they would be, and ultimately be placed with u.s. sponsors. i'll have more to say about that in a moment. in the same period of time last year, there were fewer than 125 migrants that crossed our border, including just over 10,000 children. half a million so far this

year, 125,000 last year. 50,000 children so far this year, 10,000 last year during the same period of time. put simply, this is not normal, nor should it be the standard operating procedure for the united states government. the truth is our country lacks the facilities, the personnel, the resources, and the policies to handle this sort of influx of humanity in a humane way. back in march the president tapped vice president harris to handle the border crisis, but we've seen no progress to date. in fact, the vice president, i believe, is in guatamala today, and she has not even been to our southern border. she hasn't visited the facilities where tens of thousands of migrant children have been cared for, and she hasn't listened to the migrants' horrifying stories of how they were treated by the human

smugglers that brought them to the border. we do know the vice president is finally hitting the trail this week to talk about the border crisis, but that seems to be all it is, is talk. the only problem is she's not visiting the border. she's not even in her home state of california, which has a border with mexico. she's in guatamala. as law enforcement, nongovernmental organizations and l border communities are being overwhelmed by this surge of migration, the vice president is meeting with foreign leaders. there's nothing inherently wrong about meeting with foreign leaders, but surely she can't think that a conversation with the president of guatamala is going to solve the human crisis at our border. the border patrol will tell you, as they've told me, mass migration like this is a product of two different actions. one is the so-called push

factors, which means that people who lack economic opportunity, maybe they're fleeing violence, maybe they just want to come to america to be reunited with some other relatives. and certainly the human smugglers are more than happy at $5,000 and more a head to help them. but these smugglers, as i intimated a moment ago, are part of transnational criminal organizations that care nothing for these migrants. they just care about the money. and what they do is they flood the border with unaccompanied children, for example, taking as many as 40% of the border patrol off the front lines in the war against illegal drugs coming across the border. and when the border patrol is not there, surprise and surprise. the very drugs that contributed to the loss of about 80,000 lives last year in america alone come flowing across, whether it's heroin or cocaine or

artificial opioids. you name it, it's coming across the border by the same people that are moving the migrants across the border. again, they are commodity agnostic. they'll do anything for a buck, and they care nothing about the migrants at all. well, imagine calling 911 when your home is on fire and watching as they hose down your neighbor's house instead. that's what it feels like watching the vice president down in central america. for years the united states has tried to address the crime and corruption in central america with very limited success. do they have some modest role in the crisis? well, yes. but that's hardly where the vice president's attention should be fowbsed right now -- focused right now. particularly she should be focus and the president focused with

us object policies that congress would pass that would mitigate this humanitarian crisis. former senator harris' list of legislative accomplishments and her experience solving complex policy problems is not particularly deep, but rather than be critical, i'd like to offer a suggestion. in april, senator sinema, the senator from arizona, and i introduced the bipartisan border solutions act to address this unfettered flow of migration. she's concerned about arizona. i'm concerned about texas. but the truth is i'm concerned about america at large. we've been proud to work in a bicameral way too with two of our friends on the other side of the capitol, congressman henry cuellar, democrat from laredo texas and tony gonzalez from the 24rd district.

the four of us spent time, a lot of time listening to the men and women who are committed to safeguarding our border and those who care for the migrants and those who live in these border communities. there are a lot of people out there who will talk about what's happening at the border, who have never actually been there. so how in the world would they possibly know? they inaccurately characterize border communities as unsafe, lawless places. that's not true. they vil niez the border patrol and other law enforcement agencies like i.c.e., immigrations and customs enforcement. remember the abolish i.c.e. slogans? they're criticizing these public servants for actually enforcing the laws that congress has passed. congress passed those laws. these brave men and women are simply executing the laws that congress itself has passed. well, unfortunately, there's a lot of talk here in washington by people who offer blanket solutions that have nothing to

do or very little with solving the complex problems that exist. the fact of the matter is my state of 29 million people is a beautiful, safe -- has a beautiful, safe, and vibrant border region. i was there wednesday last. the men and women who lead and protect these communities are doing everything they can to fairly and humanely respond to the crisis, but they're being overwhelmed and they're not getting much help by the federal government. the same is true across our entire southern border. at her invasion, i visit -- invitation, visited in tucson last tuesday, a very different border region we visited on wednesday where senator sinema came to mcallen at my request in the re -- rio grande valley. i appreciate her and her staff taking the time to learn more about the differences in the border in my state from her

state. and i certainly learned a lot by traveling to tucson and meeting with her constituents. in arizona, we visited a soft-sided customs and border protection facility where migrants are processed and the tucson sector chief talked about the broad responsibilities his agents have in these facilities. as i suggested a moment ago, normally the border patrol is responsible for patrolling the border. that's why they call them border patrol. but now they're encountering unaccompanied children and have to leave those front lines, about 40% of them, just to take care of them at these c.p.b., customs and border protection facilities. we need the border patrol on the border patrolling the border so they can deal from encountering a child abandoned by human smugglers to a tractor full of human trafficking victims. they might and will and do

interdict drugs, weapons, money, or any of a number of contraband being smuggled across the border. again, as some wise person coined the phrase commodity agnostic, these transnational criminal organizations that really bring people into the united states from worldwide locations, but principally from mexico and central america, all they care about is the money. in tucson sector alone, 103 agents were pulled from the field because somebody needed to take care of the migrants. now they're doing everything from changing diapers to serving meals to supervising play time for the children. 103 law enforcement officers in the tucson sector alone that should be stopping dangerous people and dangerous substances from entering our country, instead of acting as caretakers and creating -- not creating serious gaps in our bored --

border security. the cartels, these criminal organizations, they're pretty smart. this is actually part of their business model. they know if they flood the border with unaccompanied children, for example, that the border patrol is going to leave huge gaps that are going to be exploited by drug smugglers. they know about the vulnerabilities that exist on our border. they know about our laws and policies and are actively exploiting them and we're basically letting them. shame on us. in the rio grande valley last week, we spoke with a number of law enforcement and community leaders including national border patrol council president brandon judd. brandon told us this year individuals from 151 different countries were processed at the donna processing facility. this is one processing facility in donna, texas, in the rio grande valley. last year they processed people from 151 different countries.

a couple weeks ago customs and border protection at the laredo border entry made a seizure of hard narcotics. this wasn't from an entire week's worth of drug interdictions. this came from two vehicles they stopped. one had 20 pounds of cocaine in it. the other had 167 pounds of the methamphetamine. this strain on law enforcement poses serious risks to our entire country. the criminals, the drugs, the weapons, and other illegal goods that cross our border are heading to every corner of the united states. and if you think they're stopping at the border, think again. they're traveling to all 50 of the united states. and while unaccompanied children have become the face of this crisis, there's a ripple effect that extends far and wide. border patrol ultimately doesn't have the capacity to provide

safe and thorough care for these children and patrol our borders and interdict dangerous substances and enforce our laws. agents are spread a mile wide and an inch deep, and something's got to change. this is where the bipartisan border solutions act comes in. we provide for two major changes in the way that migrants are processed to alleviate the strain on law enforcement and improve the way we process and care for migrants when they're in our custody. one, the bill establishes at least four regional processing centers in high-traffic areas. it's in effect a one-stop shop for the various government agencies involved in processing migrants. v.b.p. -- c.b.p., immigration and customs enforcement, fema, the uscis, u.s. customs and immigration service, and the office of refugee settlement

will all be housed under a single roof. migrants can receive medical screenings, have their identities verified, and go through a criminal history check all in one place. and then them begin the legal process seeking asylum if in fact that is what they are doing. they'll complete their asylum interviews, go through legal orientation so they know their rights, and receive the documents and information they need to appear for their future court date in front of an immigration judge. our bill also addresses the staffing shortages that have made this situation much more challenging. it requires the hiring of hundreds of c.b.p. officers and processing coordinating officers so agents can get back on the front lines. in other words, these processing coordinators, we want them back on the front line. but if it comes to processing the migrants and preparing the

paperwork, we believe these processing coordinators can help. our legislation also calls for 150 new immigration judge teams, 300 asylum officers and other personnel to help adjudicate asylum claims. right now the system is overwhelmed and that's exactly the way the smugglers, what we call the coyotes, are planning on. everybody in texas, along the border, everybody in arizona and everybody who lives or works along the border understands what's happening. that's why it would be so instructive for vice president harris to actually go to the border. in order to gain a handle on the mass movement of migrants, we need to make these commonsense changes. when it comes to children, it's not enough to ensure they are safely processed by border patrol and then transferred to

health and human services custody. we need to make sure these children are safe after they've been placed with sponsors in the united states and told to appear before a future court hearing. in most cases children are released to parents or other relatives, but not always. h.h.s. reports that in 2021 more than 1,000 children have been placed with distant individuals they don't know. while they could be legitimate caretakers, it could open the door for these children to be exploited or trafficked. in 2014, the office resettlement placed eight million children with a trafficking ring that posed as families or friends. these children were forced to work on an egg farm in ohio. they lived in deplorable conditions and they were threatened with violence if they didn't comply.

these distant relatives, unbeknownst to these children, these unrelated individuals, are a big cause for concern, but not the only one. before a child is released into the custody of anyone, a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, that person must be vetted by the government. we can't send a child -- hand a child to somebody who could be a danger to them. there is no vetting requirement for other people who live in the same home and those of us who have dealt with the scourge of child abuse know that anybody living in the same home with a minor child, particularly an unaccompanied child who has undergone the trauma of moving from central america to the united states is going to be a potential victim. you could have a trustworthy individual identified as taking care of the child, but abuse could be hafg under the roof -- happening under the roof by

another person who lives there. why do we say that? because sadly it happens all the time. or, heaven forbid, their parent or relative is the one who decides to exploit the child themselves. so what's being done to prevent this abuse? as it turns out, not a lot by the federal government. the health and human services requires safety and well-being check-in calls to be made to sponsors within 30 days after a child has been released. but in 2021 alone, the data show that 18%, nearly one in five children, could not be reached after 30 days. phone calls were not answered, door knocks were not responded to. and that means that hundreds of children released into the care of these adults in the united states on our watch are lost to the system. we don't know if they are in a safe home or they are being a victim of trafficking or abuse

or whether they've simply disappeared or recruited into a gang. the united states government simply does not know where they are and what is happening to them. this is a national scandal. senator sinema and i are committed to passing this legislation that provides these critical protections for these children who have already endured a lot of pain and suffering, more than any child should. our bill would require criminal background checks not only for the child's sponsor but for any adult living in the household. it would bar children from being placed in the custody of anyone convicted of sexual offense, human trafficking or other serious crimes and the united states government cannot just check a box once they place a child with a sponsor in the united states. after the initial 30-day checkup, we require another

60-day checkup. in fact every 60 days, stream line processes, more personnel, these are common reforms that will address the most current issues currently on our southern border. madam president, bipartisanship is in short supply these days, especially when it comes to the debate surrounding immigration and border security. we have folks in both parties and both chambers of congress lined up behind this particular bill and i hope we can add more bipartisan cosponsors. our bill has been endorsed by a long range of law enforcement and business groups. the national border patrol council, national immigration forum, national immigration chamber of commerce. i could go on. as i said before, if anybody has a better idea, i'm all ears. right now all we hear is crickets. no one offering any bipartisan, bicameral solutions, anything

close to what we have described here. this isn't meant to be comprehensive immigration reform. it's a targeted solution at the most urgent -- targeted at the most urgent problems at hand. i'd be happy to offer this legislation to vice president harris or president biden as a solution to the crisis on our southern border. i'm happy to meet with them. senator sinema i'm sure the same. congressman cuellar, congressman gonzalez. we can't afford to wait years or maybe even decades to see the circumstances in central america change. after all, then-vice president biden was tapped to solve this identical problem by president obama. let me say that again. vice president biden was tapped to solve this identical problem by president obama. not only was he unsuccessful as we know it's gotten worse since

that time. so we need urgent action to address the crisis we're experiencing today at our nation's border and the bipartisan border solutions act is an important first step. the presiding officer: the senior senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you, madam president. when i was first elected to congress in the 1970's, i ran as grassley, the inflation fighter. inflation was about 12% or 13% at that time when i ran for the senate, it was 1213 ors 13 -- 12% or 13% again. and it hasn't been a major problem since then. those who remember that time of high inflation, it's a time

period that inflation was a real problem. it kneecaps middle class prosperity, causes severe hardships for those already struggling. inflation is nothing short of a redressive tax -- regressive tax as it hurts americans more, the less money that they have. it's a stealth tax. with the income tax you can see how much the government is taking out of your paycheck. with sales tax, you can see on your receipt what the government took for its cut. with inflation, the value of your -- of the dollar in your pocket is reduced without even leaving your billfold. when americans suddenly notice

that it costs more to buy the same groceries, it can be hard to know who to blame. did the store just decide to raise prices or is inflation caused by mysterious economic forces beyond anyone's control? in reality, the federal government can directly cause inflation by printing too much money to feed its spending habits. politicians like to promise free bies that someone else will pay for, maybe the rich will pay. who's the rich, you might ask? well, don't worry, it's not you, the big spenders assure us. well, don't be so sure. president biden suggested that if rich people pay their fair share of taxes, we can afford to spend another $4 trillion to

$6 trillion. now, in reality, if the government confiscated all the wealth of all the u.s. billionaires, it wouldn't cover that bill. just asking them to pay a little bit more, as the president suggests, will barely make a dent. so who is going to pay the bill? don't be fooled. each american's going to pay that bill. hardworking americans will be shouldering the costs of biden's spending plans in the form of lower wages or higher prices at the gas pump or the checkout line in cedar falls, iowa. remember, require to the pandemic, the tax reform and a more predictable regulatory environment contributed to the

best economy america had seen in decades. yes, prior to the pandemic, as a result of the policies of regulatory reform and of the tax bill of 2017, we did end up with the best economy america had seen in 50 years. unemployment reached a 50-year low, family incomes and workers' wages experienced robust gains. in fact, wage growth was strongest for low-wage workers. as a result income inequality actually declined. my colleagues across the aisle like to repeat the falsehood that tax reform was just tax cuts for the rich. not true. we eliminated loopholes that

allowed some favored corporations to avoid millions in taxes. by having more corporations paying their fair share, we were able to lower the overall corporate rate to be more in line with other countries like sweden or denmark. tax reform meant more investment in america, creating good-paying jobs for hardworking americans. the pre-pandemic thriving economy is poised now to come to a roaring -- roaring back if the government just gets out of the way. raising tax rates while adding new giveaways for democrats' favorite corporations that sign on to a green new deal will kill the goose that laid the golden egg. while president biden talks about a good game, about

everyone paying their fair share, he's proposing an unprecedented spending binge. this will only fuel inflation. the burden will fall hard on the middle class and be devastating to low-income americans. there are already signs that inflation is starting to kick in. have you ordered a hamburger at a restaurant lately? i heard from an iowan in sioux city that one furniture store, a particular recliner that sold for $199 last year now sells for $249. a leather reclining sofa sold for $899 last year, today costs $2,599, price increases of 25% to 30% are impacting the

lifestyle of iowa families and doing it right now. many home building supplies have doubled or even trimmed in -- tripled in price. this is partly due to the shortage of lumber. i have called on taking action to address this, but the price increases are not limited to wood products. president biden's economic advisors assure us that this inflation iowans are seeing with their own eyes is just temporary and really nothing to worry about. but it is real and it is happening. economists from across the political spectrum are starting to raise alarms. larry summers, you know is the former president of harvard, former outstanding economic professor at harvard, was

president obama's chief economist and treasury of secretary under president clinton. larry summers warned that the $2 trillion biden stimulus that was rammed through congress on a partisan basis was way too big. larry summers is quoted as saying, quote, i think this is the least responsible macroeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years, end of quote. and more recently in a "time" magazine interview conducted after the release of the president's budget, he expressed concerns this way. quote, that we're injecting more demand into the economy that the potential supply -- i'm going to start that quote over. that we are injecting more demand into the economy than the potential supply and that will

generate overheating. end of quote. when a long-time democrat economist of the stature of larry summers sounds the inflation alarm, the president would be well advised to listen to that alarm. the president's spending plans would dump fuel on inflation fires that the fed has ignored in favor of easy money policies geared towards propping up wall street. in the end, the poor and the middle class will pay. income inequality will rise. for all their lip service about taking from the rich and giving to the poor, the democrats' big spending policies may stimulate stock prices for the wealthiest americans while everyone else

pays more for less. i suggested in a speech about the excess unemployment benefits that politicians should emulate doctors and you know what doctors are taught. first do no harm. that applies to big spending plans when there are signs of inflation. once inflation starts to run away, it's difficult to stamp out. remember the decades of the 1970's. the feds would have no choice but to aggressively hike interest rates which could trigger a recession. coming out of a pandemic that's caused so many hardships for american families, the last thing they need is more economic hardship caused by either inflation or a recession. that should give congress pause.

first, do no harm. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. m.a senator: it appears the whie house had good reason to wait until the friday before memorial day to release their budget proposal. they couldn't afford a full week's news cycle any more than the american people can afford to fulfill the wish list items president biden is asking them to pay for. mrs. blackburn: it is a very long list. and i think it's safe to say my democratic colleagues are trying to make the most of the next year and a half. they know that time is not on their side, nor are the american

people. there really is something for every faction of the left. here are a few of the items that are contained in this biden boondoggle of a budget. the environmental lobby did a great job these past few months. they're more than taken care of with more electric car subsidies and a $936 million payout towards environmental justice initiatives. we also have more funding to expand the department of education. if you think that more government is what your child's educational experience has been missing, well this is the budget for you. but if you are fed up with the way teachers unions have treated children in the classroom, if you are fed up with schools that

have been in locked down, you want to pay close attention to what i'm talking about today. apparently the good people over at the department of health and human services have time on their hands. bear in mind it is your money that is paying them to do the job where they have time on their hands. now they'll be switching gears from pandemic response to a new focus on environmental extremism, reparations, and gutting the second amendment. what's in? what's in this budget? bigger government, a higher deficit, and runaway inflation. what's out? according to this budget, national defense is no longer a

priority of the biden administration or of the department of defense. border security is also on the back burner along with the family friendly tax policies we implemented under president trump. president biden and the democrats are doubling down on every mistake they've made so far. instead of doing their job, they're paying lip service to struggling businesses, to struggling stores on main street in your hometown, to crumbling bridges like memphis, tennessee and road weas and -- roadways and future generations that will come into this world owning their own personal chunk of our skyrocketing national debt. that is right, madam president. if you have a child or a grandchild born this year,

therapy share of the national debt is going to be about $80,000. think about that. and think about what has happened to this debt. from president washington to president george bush, it was about $10.6 trillion. during the obama-biden years, that debt doubled. then it was added to through the pandemic and now one would be led to believe that in administration has decided they're going to take the credit cards and swipe them so many times, they run the numbers off of them. yes, this is the biden surcharge at work. forcing the american people to pay a premium just to live, cradle to grave, daylight to

dark. they've got a list of tax hikes and increased fees for you. you hardworking americans, you cannot escape it. and what a world they have decided they want to leave for future generations. i think it's awful. i'll tell you what. this budget is such a terrible representation of what america actually needs, that back home in tennessee, people are asking me, as i was home last week. they would come up to me and they would ask me if this was really a serious budget. it is so extreme. it is so huge. they would say surely your democratic colleagues are not serious about this. surely president biden is not serious about this budget.

still, my colleagues across the aisle are so eager to get this done that they're prepared to once again throw regular order out the window. my democratic colleagues are living in an alternate reality. it's the only explanation for why they continue to insist that this country will be better off under a government that strips away your freedoms rather than guaranteeing them. it tries to tell you how to live your life every minute of every day. from the time your feet hit the floor in the morning to the time you brush your teeth and get in bed at night. no, when it comes to the biden administration, big government is their theme, not only of the day but of every day. it is the theme when it comes to

spending, to regulation, and even intrusions into constitutionally mandated state authority. before the state work period, the majority leader indicated that he intends to use this month to shove through yet another wish list item. my democratic colleagues have tried several times to skip debate and sneak through various provisions of their s1 election takeover bill. they tried to do this for the same reason president biden released his disastrous budget on a friday after everyone had already left town. it's because the bill could not survive a fair news cycle once the american people knew what was in it. and to my democratic colleagues, remember the american people know after we went through obamacare and the affordable

care act that the current speaker of the house then had said well, we have to pass this bill so we can read it and find out what is in it. they note that that is the way you like to operate. i'm sure many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would dispute my characterization of the bill. so far the benefit of the record -- let's go through a few of the provisions they're absolutely convinced will somehow expand freedom and secure our elections. so this is what you will find in their s1 election takeover bill. it would require states to allow ballot harvesting and no excuse mail-in balloting which we know from experience will open the door to fraud. we know this.

so are they intentionally trying to open the door for fraud? you're right, people are correct in asking that question. it would also overrule state-level voter i.d. laws, another way to guarantee rampant fraud. so, yes, you heard me correctly. they want the federal government to tell your state that you cannot require someone to prove their identity, to show an i.d. in order to do what? vote in an election. how about that? it would weapon ietz the f.e.c. against minority parties mandate donor disclosure and require the federal government to match private contributions. you heard me right.

they want your tax dollars to go fund people that are running for office, even if you don't agree with their opinions. your money would be going to them to match the contributions that they are raising. and by the way, it's a 6-1 match. pretty convenient, isn't it? well, i call it insanity. anyone who has ever staffed a polling place or helped count ballots knows this. and yet here we are staring down yet another attempt to put this bill on the fast-track, taking away the states' authority to run elections in their state. well here's what i say to my

democratic colleagues. you're not going to get the benefit of a quiet news cycle on this. america is watching and listening, and they are paying attention. your attempts to whip the senate into a state of partisan warfare over a bill you don't have the votes to pass will not go unnoticed. your attempts to make another run at the filibuster and invent a mandate the voters refuse to give you will not go unnoticed. your attempt to sneak through this unconstitutional partisan power grab is not going to go unnoticed. people are paying attention. and my republican colleagues and i are growing to stand up against it. members of your own caucus have said they will not stand for it. but most importantly, the american people, they're

watching, they're listening, they're paying attention, and they do not stand for what you are seeking to do. i yield the floor. mr. booker: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you, madam president. i rise today with a lot of joy. i get a chance to speak about someone i've known for decades. i'm rising to speak about julien neals. my hope he gets to serve on the u.s. district court of the great state of new jersey. i have spoken to many of my colleagues on the senate judiciary committee about julien neals. he is someone that i have not

just known for a long time, but even though he is not quite my height, i look up to him. we worked together when i was mayor of the city of newark. and so today what i really want to speak about is not his -- simply his impressive career, his distinguished resume, but i really want to talk a bit about who he is. i'm not sure how many of my colleagues know this about the city of newark, new jersey, but when i became mayor in 2006, we inherited a lot of very complex, very serious challenges, and for the sake of our residents, we needed to make change quickly and very urgently. so i brought in this guy named julien neals who i didn't quite know that well, but he was so well highly recommended. he moved from the private sector where he was with a very prestigious new jersey law firm and decided to lead the transformation in new jersey's largest municipal court. he knew that it was the court

system that had to change, and he stepped up. he changed it. he changed the way our court operated. he centered it in common community values, and made sure that everyone who came before that court was treated in a way that affirmed their dignity, no matter what the matter was. and he pioneered innovations that the whole state, -- in fact, many places in our nation took notice of. he created the first community court in new jersey, the first youth court, and the first veterans court. he realized that citizens all have often different needs, and especially folks like our young people or our veterans, that there is a different way to achieve a larger standard and a larger ideal of justice. the problem is when you do so well in one job, you get pushed to another opportunity because i quickly moved him from being my chief judge of new jersey's largest municipal court to come in and be my corporation counsel

in my mayoral administration. and in the wake of a recession in 2008, he became the business manager, the person that runs the city day to day, and made under the most difficult circumstances, made challenging changes that helped us get through this very difficult period. cities all over new jersey were being crushed financially, making massive amounts of layoffs, and he was able to end end -- in these financial times, to get our city to be dramatically more efficient, to bring in new ideas that helped us to create everything from environmental sustainability to expand access to the public of municipal services. he brought in innovation that became really par for the course all over new jersey, but newark did them first. today now julien serves as the counsel for the largest county

in new jersey, a county that's bigger than some of our states. i have had the privilege of knowing julien, as i have said now, for the past couple decades, and i have watched him handle challenge after challenge from a global recession to hurricane sandy. he has stood in the saddle and helped with calmness, with coolness, with a equipose that is enviable to all, including me. i have watched him lead. i've watched him care. i've watched his love of others be made reflected in the decisions he made under the most difficult of circumstances. i have seen him in crisis after crisis rise, not just to meet the challenge, but to in most circumstances have us come out better off than we were before. he in so many ways is one of the great leaders i've had the

privilege of working with in my life. julien neals is brilliant. he is thoughtful. he is deliberate in his decision-making. he has all of the ideals that i think we want in a federal judge. i have to tell you. most importantly to me, i know him, i know his parents, i know his family, i know his kids. he is one of those people that would make you proud, not just in knowing but in ascending to a position like a judge, i know he will make us proud in the way that he leads from the bench. i want to thank president biden for nominating him. i want to encourage all of my colleagues in a bipartisan way as i said in the judiciary

committee to consider supporting him. i've had many privileges as united states senator. god, this is one of those jobs where you have got to like give glory to god every day for just having the privilege of standing on this floor and getting to be a part of some things as much as we rancor back and forth we should all be proud of, whether it is a global pandemic or just making sure we're funding critical parts of the government where public servants serve. but all the privileges i have, i have to say this is one of the great ones, the chance to make a man who i look up to in every way, make him a federal judge to try to encourage my colleagues to make him a federal judge. i see that my senior senator, my friend, another guy i look up to, even though i have got him by an inch or two, has come to the floor, and if the president would allow me, i'd like to

yield to the senior senator of the state of new jersey, more handsome than i am, but i think we're an equal tag team when it comes to serving our state. madam president, i yield the floor with the fear that he does have the microphone last. mr. menendez: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: it is a fear that once you have as to who gets tho gets the microphone last. but nonetheless, no need to fear. i think that statement about better looking is a pinocchio on your part. in any event, but i will stop before i get called out of order. madam president, it's with great urgency that i come to the floor to urge support for the confirmation of julien xavier neals to be the u.s. district court judge in new jersey. my distinguished colleague who knows mr. neals extraordinarily well can speak to all the elements of him as a human

being, as a lawyer, as someone who was a judge at one level and, in fact, can be and will be an extraordinary district court judge. we are known in new jersey as having one of the busiest courts in the entire country. as of last year, more than 46,000 cases were pending before it. many of them among the most complex and challenging cases in the nation. yet multiple judiciary vacancies on the court have led the judicial conference of the united states to declare a judicial emergency. the court is short staffed by a third, leaving each of our seated judges with a mind-boggling caseload of 2,700 pending cases. that's a caseload more than three times higher than the national average. fortunately, this week the senate has an opportunity to begin alleviating this judicial emergency by confirming julien

neals to the u.s. district court in new jersey. mr. neals is an outstanding nominee who has devoted his entire career to the practice of law in his home state of new jersey. throughout his three decades in the legal profession, he has served in many diverse roles. every step of the way, he has impressed those around him with his integrity, sound judgment, and commitment to equal justice and fair administration of the law. he clerked on the superior court of new jersey, practiced civil rights, employment discrimination, intellectual property, laws and associate partner at a see caucus-based -- secaucus-based term. he served as the mayor of newark and since 2016 as worked as counsel for bergen contribute, the most populous county in all of new jersey. as you heard, my colleague still

speaks glowingly of mr. neals' achievements during his time as chief judge of the newark municipal court. how he i am proved the -- improved the efficiency and culture of the institution, created the first community court in the state of new jersey and in less than two years, presided over 6,000 cases while supervising 11 full-time judges. there is no doubt in my mind that mr. neals would be an asset to the u.s. district court in new jersey as it emerges from this pandemic and works to reduce its backlog of pending cases. he's qualified and he was qualified to serve on the federal bench back in 2015 when president obama first nominated him to the u.s. district court in new jersey. unfortunately, the politics of the time didn't get him a vote. he is even more qualified today. mr. neals already commands enormous respect in our legal community from serving on the supreme court of new jersey's commitment on character and fitness to serving as chairman

for the volunteers lawyers for justice. he personifies the meaning of public service. his tremendous breadth of experience, even temperament, and sound judgment make him a superb candidate to serve on the federal bench. and clearly, our colleagues on the judiciary committee here in the senate came to the same conclusion when they reported him out of committee by a large bipartisan margin. new jerseyans have waited too long for the senate to fill this vacancy, and i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm mr. julien neals without further delay. i am thrilled to join my colleague from new jersey in advocating for him and especially thankful to the junior senator from new jersey for advancing his name so that justice can be realized in the state of new jersey. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. and observe the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: is there a pending vote now on the cloture vote? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. booker: i request permission to vitiate the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. and the vote is to occur in three minutes. mr. booker: i appreciate the 180 seconds. i will be patient and wait. mr. booker: i'm sorry. there is a quorum call, correct? the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: i ask unanimous consent to waive all existing time and move towards the vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. booker: reserving the right to object. i would just like to say that's why he is the senior senator. the presiding officer: duly noted.

the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 130, julien xavier neals of new jersey to be united states district judge for the district of new jersey, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of julien xavier neals of new jersey to be united states district court judge for the district of new jersey shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

he is. the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 66. the nays are 28. the motion is agreed to. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: mr. president, i rise to ask that the senate be given the chance to consider and

vote on the military justice improvement and increasing prevention act. before i discuss the bill, i'd like to first acknowledge that we've just returned from memorial day recess and to recognize the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and to protect our freedom. they got on a plane or they got on a ship, they went to countries they may never have been to before, they fought for our country, and they didn't come home. we ask so much of our service members and their families, and we owe it to them to take action when they are in danger. that is why i want to talk about this bill right now. sexual assault of the military is an epidemic. year after year reports of sexual assault have gone up, but conviction rates and

prosecution rates have actually come down. this stems from a fundamental problem which has to be addressed. there is bias in our military justice system. right now if you are a victim of sexual assault or another serious crime, the decision to prosecute go to a commander -- goes to a commander, not to a trained military prosecutor. and while our commanders are exceptional leaders and exceptional war fighters, they are not legal experts, nor should they be asked to be. nor can commanders be truly independent when considering charges against a subordinate or charges made by a subordinate. this bill removes the decision of whether to prosecute sexual assault or any other serious crime out of the chain of command and given to trained

military prosecutors where it belongs. this would establish something fundamental to our justice system -- blind justice. it's a simple change. it's a change that's supported by legal experts, by jags, by commanders, by generals, by admirals, by veterans. opponents of this bill -- and their numbers are dwindling -- claim that this one change would somehow undermine good order and discipline. i tell you, i've heard that one before. it's the same weak argument they've made time and time again. many people stood on this floor and said that we could not repeal don't ask, don't tell because it would undermine good order and discipline. when we wanted to intergrate the

military and have black service members serve, we were told we couldn't possibly do that, it would undermine good order and discipline. we made the case that p lgbtq members should be able to serve openly, that trans members should be able to serve openly. we were told we can't possibly do that, it would undermine good order and discipline. when we asked for women to be able to serve in combat, something they have been doing for a very long time but not necessarily getting credit for it, we were told you can't possibly do that. it will undermine good order and discipline. but each of those times congress rose to the occasion and did the right thing, and did the thing that was necessary to make our military stronger, and each time our military became

stronger. further undermining this argument is the fact that this system or versions very similar to it are being used today by our allies that we fight side by side, allies like the u.k. or israel or germany or netherlands or australia or canada. they did not see a degradation of good order and discipline. they told us so. finally, in addition to the opposition to this bill being a weak argument, the support for this bill is strong, and that support continues to grow. how many bills have you heard of in this congress or the last or the last or the last has 66 cosponsors?

widely bipartisan. how many bills have liz warren and ted cruz on them or mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer in support of? it doesn't happen very often. but this is something that i and many senators in this chamber have been working on for eight years, holding hearings on for eight years, making amendments in the ndaa for eight years, making the case that this change is needed for eight years. and through all that work and through all that advocacy, we now have 66 cosponsors. a majority of the senate, a majority of the armed services committee. this bill deserves a vote. this bill deserves to have the senate vote on it now. it's time to pass this law and

it's time to do our jobs. as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the senate armed services committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 1520 and the senate proceed to its consideration. that there be two hours for debate equally divided in the usual form and that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the senate vote on the bill with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: reserving my right to

object. let me commend senator gillibrand. i agree, these crimes involving sexual assault can be properly moved out, done so in a way that does not impede good order and discipline in the united states military. the issue that is emerging is an issue of the scope. crimes like felonies, burglary, larceny that do not involve assault. she has pointed out and i think correctly that this congress has risen to the occasion. in fact, i was with people who wanted to repeal the don't ask, don't tell rules. i was fighting for those things, along with other provisions that she's cited. but congress has done the right

thing only after careful consideration, and we have that opportunity in the committee. that's the way we've done every piece of major legislation since i've been here a couple of decades. there will be an opportunity to vote on all these issues in the committee involving men and women who have great insights and knowledge, combat veterans, others who have been serving for a very long time and they can, as well as i know the senator has invested time and effort here, perhaps improve the bill, perhaps point out areas of the bill that have not been thoroughly analyzed. and so i think it is incumbent upon us move forward to consider this bill in committee, as we will, and then to bring it to the floor of the senate, there

will be opportunities for amendment, and at the end of the day we will have, i think, one, a better bill perhaps, but, two, we'll have a bill that people can embrace because it has been thoroughly vetted by the committee of jurisdiction. and for those reasons i would object to the unanimous consent. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: while the chairman does agree that the serious crime of sexual assault should be taken out of the chain of command, our bill requests and requires that all serious crimes be taken out of the chain of command because of the existence of bias. and we have two data points that prove that bias. one is the poor results we've seen for survivors of sexual assaults over the last ten years that data has been collected and the second data point that we

have that has been developed over the last three years is the existence of racial bias, protect our defenders did a serious report in 2017, and it determined that across all services looking at all punishments that black and brown service members were punished approximately two times more often than white service members, looking at both nonjudicial punishment and court-martials and that show of bias means that the military justice system isn't working for many people. it's not working for plaintiffs and it's not working for defendants. and, in fact, when our allies look at this same issue, particularly defendants' rights over the last 40 years, they determined that bias in the system was incombattible with their -- incompatible with their views of justice and they

decided for defendants' rights, specifically, that all serious crimes should be decided by trained military prosecutors. so this solution is one we have been debating in the committee for eight years. and, in fact, we have used compromises and smaller steps and small-ball measures over the last eight years to address this problem. unfortunately, despite putting in place approximately 250 new measures over the last eight years, the rate of conviction and the rate of prosecution is still going down, but the rate of sexual assault has stayed persistent at approximately 20,000 incidents a year. and so while i appreciate that my colleague is coming to the conclusion that one serious crime should be taken out of the chain of command, military

experts disagree that a line should be drawn around only one crime because they believe that that will result in unfair systems of justice, two systems of justice and one that does not meet the needs of bias that we see in the current system. second, we have many combat veterans on this legislation. joany ernst is one of our lead sponsors who is the only female combat veteran who has also experienced sexual assault. mark kelly is on our bill, tammy duckworth is on our bill, gary peters is on our bill, josh hawley is on our bill, and we also have many of our attorneys general on this bill, people who have looked at this law from a perspective of civil rights an civil liberties, such as richard

blumenthal. this matters, and i believe we have given the committee eight years to solve this problem. third, when we have given the opportunity to the committee to solve this problem and pass meaningful -- meaningful reforms, if the d.o.d. disagreed with those reforms, despite passing in the house and in the senate, they have seen fit to make sure those reforms have been taken out in conference. one such example was legislation we passed in 2019 creating a safe to report provision which would have allowed survivors of sexual assault to come forward to report the crime but not be prosecuted for related smaller crimes, such as drinking or being off base. that language passed the senate, it passed the house, and miraculously because the d.o.d.

didn't approve, it was taken out in conference. in 2020, the senators that worked on that provision, senator ernst and i, made very clear that we did not appreciate staff members taking out work and provisions that had been considered and voted on by senators as part of their responsibility, and we were able to pass it the second time. so, unfortunately, mr. president, i don't have faith that if we allow the committee to look at this bill and pass it in the senate and the house, that it will not be watered down or taken out in conference without the consent of all the senators that voted for it. therefore, i urge this body to allow for an up-or-down vote on this senate floor. that is a privilege that was given don't ask, don't tell repeal because of similar filibusters by members of the

armed services committee. when we voted on don't ask, don't tell, it was an up or down senate vote. this deserves the same opportunity. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. portman: madam chair. i would like to ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i'm here on the floor of the senate this evening to commemorate the 77th anniversary of d-day. this was a huge turning point in world war ii, of course.

the invasion of normandy occurred 77 years ago yesterday historian douglas brinkley wrote that d-day was the single most important moment in the 20th century and one of the most tragic, too, in terms of loss of life. i think he was right. 160,000 soldiers crossedded the channel that day to begin the campaign to recapture europe from hitler's rule. on their backs were rubbing sacks with 8 -- were ruck sacks with 80 pounds of gear. so too were the fate of all of us, our allies of europe and the free world. many of our best and fright americans did fall that -- brightest americans did fall that day. we lost more than 10,000 men in one day. the nazis spent two years fortifying the wall. the beautiful wall was covered in land mines and bunkers. at the end of the largest amphibious invasion in history

we stood victorious, battered but not broken. on we marched through france, through belgium and finally into germany itself. but even today amid the flowers and fields of normandy, i've been there. many of you have been there, listening tonight, you can feel even today the lingering presence of those who died that day in the service of liberating europe and you can see it in the stark orderly u.s. military cemeteries where row after row of white crosses and stars of david commemorate those brave souls who were lost, representing lives lost in a noble cause. and though much has happened in the following 77 years, we can never lose sight of the valor and the sacrifice by our armed forces on that one day. on memorial day, about a week ago, i spoke at the national veterans memorial and museum in columbus, ohio. it was a hopeful day for me not

just to have so many people together after covid-19, but also to see the veterans and family members there to honor the fallen. world war ii veterans, gulf war veterans, korean war veterans and veterans from afghanistan and iraq. they represented the living embodiment of the stories we ought to be remembering from a war that recedes further into the past with every passing year. stories of valor like that displayed by jim pee wee martin in dayton ohio, on that day he parachuted behind german lines in the dark of pre-dawn. jim was wounded but fought bravely earning the purple heart and bronze star for his efforts. stories and sacrifice like that of the napier brothers in warren county in southwest ohio. all five of the brothers served in the war and two of the five brothers landed at d-day. one died on the beaches never to return to his ohio home.

there are stories to be preserved for generations to come, the memory of d-day and all of world war ii must never be lost. since i've been here in the united states senate, i've often come to the floor on d-day to recite the special prayer that was given that day by franklin dell another roosevelt. it was -- franklin roosevelt. it was expected f.d.r. would give a speech when the invasion took place. but for some reason f.d.r. was moved to prayer. the famous prayer that he gave that day has become known as the d-day prayer. it is a powerful statement, my favorite presidential statement and one that deserves to be remembered for generations to come. in 2013, i introduced legislation called the world war ii memorial prayer act which directs the secretary of the interior to install a plaque to be placed at the world war ii memorial on the national mall with the words of the d-day prayer. it's a beautiful memorial, but

frankly, more interpretation wouldn't be a bad thing, and having that prayer there as you'll see in a moment when we recite it, would be an appropriate way to pay tribute to those who lost their lives that day. it was ohio christian alliance president chris long who came to me with the idea of a plaque displaying this historic prayer. that legislation was actually signed into law with the help of senator joe lieberman on a bipartisan basis we got it passed in 2014. the friends of national world war ii memorial and the national park service have since that time worked with us to develop and refine the final permanent plaque design. most recently they received design approvals from the commission of fine arts and national capitol planning commission. it takes awhile to get things done on the mall. there is quite a process. it has now been seven years, longer than woodward 2 itself. -- longer than world war ii itself. despite the hurdles we have yet

to see the final plaque installed. it will be done. by the way, not at any cost to the taxpayers, meaning private fund-raising, not taxpayer dollars, will be used. we had hoped to have the final plaque in place for the 75th anniversary. in the meantime, in 2019, we were able to have a temporary plaque in place with the words of the prayer at the permanent location for the permanent plaque, which is at the circle of remembrance next to the world war ii memorial. if you're on the mall and you're coming from the capitol, it will be on your right. so it is north of the world war ii memorial but right next to it. and in this very beautiful place, the circle of remembrance, a good place to sit and reflect, you will see right now the plaque is there and you can read the prayer. the permanent plaque will be even bigger and will allow even more people to have access to it. i encourage people to go see that plaque. by the way, i think it's the only prayer on display on our national mall.

the temporary plaque, by the way, was generously donated to the friends of the national -- by the friends of the national world war ii memorial, we're very hopeful that the permanent plaque will be placed at the circle next year. i want to thank the lily endowment for generous support. last october they provided a $2 million grant for the construction and installation of the permanent plaque, and this financial support will be critical to finally bringing the project across the line. the fact that a prayer was offered that day by our commander in chief is historic in and of itself. but it's the content of the prayer that makes it so worthy of remembrance. i'd now like to read this world war ii d-day prayer, if i may. my fellow americans, f.d.r. began, last night when i spoke with you about the fall of rome, i knew at that moment that troops of the united states and our allies were crossing the channel in another and greater operation.

it has come to pass with success thus far. and so in this poignant hour i ask you to join me in prayer. almighty god, our sons, pride of our nation, this day has set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion and civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. lead them straight and true, give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. they will need thy blessings. the road will be long and hard for the enemy is strong. he may hurl back our forces. success may not come with rushing speed but we shall return again and again, and we know that by thy grace and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will prevail. they will be so sore tired by night and by day without rest until victory is run. the dark necessary will be met

by swords and flames. men's souls will be shaken by the violences of war. these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. they fight not for the lust of conquest. they fight to end conquest. they fight to liberate. they fight to let justice arise and tolerance and goodwill among all thy people. they yearn, but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. some will never return. embrace these, father, and receive them, thy heroic servants into thy kingdom. and for us at home, fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters and brothers of brave men overseas whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them, help us, almighty god to rededicate our ses in renewed faith and need in this hour of great sacrifice. many people have urged that i call the nation into a single day of special prayer, but the road is long and the desire is

great. i ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer, as we rise to each new day and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking thy help to our efforts. give us strength too, strength in our daily tasks to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and material support of our armed forces. and let our hearts be stout to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, impart our courage unto our sons where so ever they may be. and o lord, give us faith. give us faith in thee, faith in our sons, faith in each other, faith in our united crusade. let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. let not the impacts of temporal events, of temporal matters but a fleeting moment, let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

with thy blessing we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. help us to conquer greed. lead us to the saving of our country and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men and the peace that will let all men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. thy will be done, almighty god. amen. powerful prayer. i love the part about they come not to conquer. they come to liberate. the same can be said for our armed forces throughout the ages. i look forward to seeing these words of prayer permanently displayed on the national mall to help us memorialize such a noble day we must never forget. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar 67, s. 229. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 67, s. res. 2929 resolution recognizing the attack on a girls school in kabul, afghanistan, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all those in favor say aye.

all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on homeland security and governmental affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 1828 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1828, a bill to amend the central intelligence agency act of 1929 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous

consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 1502 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1502, a bill to make federal law enforcement peer support communication confidential and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the cortez masto substitute amendment be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the help committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. res. 253. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 253, supporting the designation of may 2021 as national cancer research month.

the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and finally, madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., june 8, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the neals nomination, at 11:30 all postcloture time be -- until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meeting.

that the postcloture time for the rodriguez nomination. following the disposition of the rodriguez nomination, that the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to h.r. 7 ripen following the disposition of s. 1260, and finally, that if any of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. the senator voted today to limit debate on president biden's first judicial nomination to go before the senate spirit a u.s. district court judge for new jersey. that sets up a confirmation

vote for tomorrow. later this week senators will take up a bill passed by the house that expands technology and science research for the u.s. can better compete with china. live coverage and centers returned here on cspan2. >> 's d.c. spanish unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> broadbent is a force for empowerment that is why charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, upper to it he and could produce big and small. charter is connecting us. >> charter communications support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> originally i thought of technology as mutual. something that, it was just a

tool and we use it as a chill when i was working at cia and nsa and the pentagon at eight naval special warfare commands. yet when i saw it visited upon people of certain ideologies in the flow of information constricted, viable information constricted. when i saw a really the profession of people in these big tech companies to stand up for free expression. when i saw that ceos and these companies really turn their back on that after saying explicitly that was something that they wanted to do. that is why they created these platforms. to me and became a conservative issue. >> the future of tech policy and has some conservatives view big tech censorship with a research fellow at the heritage foundation center for technology policy rewatch the community caters tonight at on cspan2.

c-span's landmark cases explores the stories and constitutional drama find significant supreme court decisions prefer the next several weeks work key episodes sunday 945 eastern on c-span for the "new york times", the united states that are known the pentagon papers were present nature rich and further your times from documents the court's ruling for tech at the time for freedom of the press. on c-span online at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. >> the problem solvers caucus of the u.s. house works toward bipartisan cooperation on key policies with the cultures talked with their priorities with the "washington post" including infrastructure, immigration, and the

investigation into the generally sixth attack on the u.s. capitol. >> this 1117th congress. [inaudible] >> it gives me great pride to serve as speaker and the history of our country. ♪ ♪ >> hi i am jacking the author of the "washington post" early-morning lose letter and congressional correspondent. welcome to another one of our series 1117th congress. i guessed him of the problem solvers caucus. congressman a democrat from new jersey congressman brian fitzpatrick a republican from pennsylvania. welcome so much to "washington post" live gentlemen, thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having us. select thanks jaclyn. >> wiki. bipartisanship is dead in