>> the u.s. senate about to gavel in working today on more nominations including for the federal trade commission and the office of personnel management. first votes are expected at 11:30 a.m. eastern time. lawmakers will recess to attend party caucus lunches. you're watching live senate coverage 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. holy god, known to us in countless ways, we seek to magnify your glorious name.

lord, you are worthy of our praise, for you have been our help in ages past. you are our hope for all of our tomorrows. remind us all that we are temporary creatures who long for a sense of permanence. inspire our senators with the knowledge that you are changeless, and that they can trust that your mercies will endure. may our lawmakers continue to depend on you for the vindication of every just cause and for the forgiveness of every sin.

we pray in your merciful name. amen. 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 15, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we're not. mr. schumer: mr. president, a few weeks ago toward the end of the legislative session in texas, the texas democrats in the statehouse staged a dramatic walkout denying a quorum and preventing the texas republican majority from passing one of the

most restrictive voting laws in this country. texas republicans could come back and reconsider t a special session but extraordinary measures taken by the state democrats reflects the extraordinary damage of the voting law. texas republicans were on the verge of passing several alarming restrictions, reducing polling hours, eliminating drive-through voting and 24-hour voting centers. the proposed law would have made it easier for a judge to overturn an election and push back the start of sunday voting, a measure that seemed designed to interfere with voting drives held by black churches. texas already has some of the strictest voting procedures in the country. the additional effort in the wake of donald trump's big lie directly targets all the ways poor, younger, non-white and typically democratic voters cast

their ballots. of course texas is only the most recent flash point in the nationwide effort by republican legislators to contact -- to contract americans' right to vote as you well know, mr. president. the tide of republican voter suppression laws is a direct assault on our democracy and could disenfranchise tens of millions of americans. today, i'm proud to say the democratic caucus lunch, we will host a group of texas democrats who bravely fought the voter suppression law in their state. the topic of our discussion will be about how to come together to protect voting rights, not just in texas but across the country. next week, the senate will consider major voting rights legislation. congress must take action to defend our democracy. now, on the president's foreign trip, president biden's first

foreign trip has projected a welcome sight to the world, an american president embracing our allies and bringing them together to confront our common adversaries. already, the president's visit to g-7 has yielded results, a commitment to counter china's rapacious economic policies and unwinding a long-standing dispute over tariffs and trade with the european union. now, after meeting with our allies at both the g-7 and at the nato summit in brussels, the president will meet tomorrow with vladimir putin. from the occupation in crimea to violating political and human rights within its own borders to interfering in democratic elections across the western world to imprisoning those that expose his brutal undemocratic regime, vladimir putin has spent the past decade interfering in de-- and destabilizing the world order. for four years, former president trump turned a blind eye and gave putin a free pass.

in the history of our country, americans have never seen a president of the united states support an adversary the way trump supported president putin on that stage in helsinki nearly three years ago. we all remember president trump standing next to vladimir putin and taking the word of a russian intelligence officer over america's intelligence agencies. trump not only defended putin repeatedly from accusations of election interference, he actually announced, if you can believe this, stranger than fiction, that the u.s. and russia would set up a joint cybersecurity unit. even senator graham said that, quote, it wasn't -- that it wasn't the dumbest idea he ever heard, but it was close, unquote. now president biden must take the act opposite approach. the u.s. must approach vladimir putin with a firm hand and demand accountability in a way

that president trump never did. i expect president biden will do exactly that. one issue i'm particularly concerned about is cybersecurity and the rise of ransomware attacks on the critical infrastructure in the united states. many of those cyber criminals, unsurprisingly, may be hiding out in putin's russia or potentially connected to putin's intelligence agencies. here at home, i have called on congress to significantly boost funding for our cyber-fighting agencies and asked our senate committees to study if we need new legislation to help counter the threat of cyberattacks. abroad, president biden has an opportunity to pressure putin directly to put an end to russian-supported cyber crime. i expect he will. the president has smartly made these issues a priority among our nato allies, announcing a host of joint actions to combat cyber crime, harden our cybersecurity, and condemn russian aggression in

cyberspace. it's time to take the issue directly to vladimir putin himself. for four years, president trump berated our allies while emboldening and sometimes embracing the world's dictators and autocrats, vladimir putin above all. already president biden's first foreign trip is a welcome turn of the page in america's relationship with the world. finally, one final matter, qanon. last december, i joined with senator heinrich and other democrats to ask the f.b.i. and d.h.s. to provide a written assessment on the dangers posed by the online conspiracy group q-anon. they recently responded to our threat with a sobering assessment. the threat of q-anon is likely to persist. the current environment will likely spur adherence to a legitimate course of action. the assessment also expresses this q-anon adherence and

domestic violence extremists will likely shift from acting digitally to engaging in real-world violence. that is a shot across our bow. that's a warning signal. q-anon today is perhaps best known for the role it played in inspiring many of the rioters who assaulted the u.s. capitol on january 6. according to the f.b.i.'s assessment, they identified 20 -- they arrested 20 self-identified adherents who participated in the insurrection. but even before the horrific events on january 6, q-anon supporters spread disinformation that amplified hatred and violence and threatened our democratic institutions. the past four years have seen a notable increase in violent domestic terrorism fed by a host of lies and conspiracies that flourished under the trump era. this assessment by the f.b.i. is a stark reminder that we have a lot of work to do to tamp down conspiracy theories and

disinformation as well as monitoring and thwarting violent domestic extremists. and to my republican senate colleagues, i would add that this report further strengthens the argument for an independent january 6 commission. i yield the floor. .

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: one week ago today the personal financial information of several prominent americans was made public in only the latest leak of sensitive data from the internal revenue service or put another way, it appears that an anonymous source committed a felony by releasing the confidential information of american citizens, which a media outlet then published. now, the way this leak has been covered in the press may not suggest it, but the most alarming part isn't whose information was involved.

it was how it was allowed to happen at all, at all. the american people know that having the personal information they give to the i.r.s. made public isn't just reserve for the highest earners. individuals and organizations alike have had to watch as their filing details wander far from the i.r.s. databases. and it goes beyond pay stubs. the i.r.s. holds massive stores of sensitive details from health care expenses to retirement savings to charitable contributions. they hold addresses, information about departments, -- depends and associations. needless to say, there are good arguments for paring back the scope this agency is allowed to

collect in the first place. but here's the bottom line. american taxpayers are required by law to comply with invasive disclosure requirements, and they're doing it with less and less confidence that the federal government will honor their trust. a fundamental piece of our nation's social contract is fraying. but just how worried you should be about it apparently depends on your personal politics. the precise circumstances of this latest leak have not yet been made clear but the recent history of i.r.s. negligence and outright political targeting tells conservatives to be especially worried. as our colleagues remember all too well, years ago the state of california database of private donor data were over 1,000

private organizations was made public illegally. and a few years later confidential i.r.s. donor information from a conservative organization's tax filings were published. to no one's surprise that information made its way into the hands of liberal groups with opposite views on key issues. of course we're talking about the same i.r.s. that made slow walking requests and filings from conservative organizations a matter of internal policy under the last democratic administration. so, mr. president, these situations all have two things in common, two things in common. first a blatant political agenda aimed at advancing the cause of the political left and, second, the utter absence of criminal charges against the leakers. no charges against the leakers. so lelts be clear. -- so let's be clear. as soon as sensitive personal information is leaked, the damage is already done.

the jeannie can't be put back -- geni can't be put back in the bottle and it is at best and incapable and worst unwilling to protect taxpayers' data for misuse by the political left. that's why i've been outspoken in efforts to expose -- to i.r.s. collection in the first place. but every time a leak goes without serious investigation and criminal prosecution, basic public trust in our tax system suffers. and that fray in trust may eventually be irreparable. that's why i join ranking member grassley that the department of justice and f.b.i. immediately investigate last week's leak and aggressively pursue criminal charges against those who are responsible. actual consequences as a matter of justice and as a practical

deterrent. the federal government owes taxpayers nothing less. unfortunately, thus far the biden administration hasn't just neglected to aggressively prosecute overdiscrimination. in some cases it's actually trying to promote it. take the massive spending package democrats rammed through in the name of covid relief. the spending was billed as urgent but its authors apparently had time to bake in a provision directing relief funds to restaurants on the basis of race and sex. and another directing funds to farmers on the basis of race. so, mr. president, we're talking about blatantly unconstitutional discrimination. fortunately, the independent judiciary has stepped in to stop it. over the last few weeks multiple federal courts have struck down these provisions, including an appeals panel led by judge apar from my home state of kentucky. but these are hardly the only instances in which washington

democrats have tried to impose their own radical preferences on ordinary americans. later today the senate will vote on the nomination of kiran ah ahuja, president biden's choice to head the office of personnel management. this is the position responsible for making hiring, payroll, and training decisions that affect literally millions of federal employees. the president's nominee has made statements expressing sympathy for the discredited a historical claims about our nation's origins that form the backbone of so-called critical race theory. one major organization of federal employees expressed its concern about the nominee's capacity for, quote, neutrality, fairness, and impartiality. i share those concerns and i'll be voting against his nomination. still elsewhere in the biden administration efforts to

subvert the basic understanding of our founding principles are already well under way. the department of education's latest proposed -- run -- in order to push critical race theory on public school students and keep pace with woke sensibilities. american students deserve a rock solid civics education grounded in actual fact, not divisive propaganda that tells them they're a little more than a product of their racial background. that's the basis of new legislation i was proud to help introduce this week. schools that choose to trade in fact-based curricula for activists propaganda like the 1619 project forfeit their right to receive federal education grant funding for those teachings. so, mr. president, the current administration came to power on a promise to unify a divided

nation. it will be judged closely and carefully on how that power is used. the presiding officer: 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, federal trade commission, lina m. khan of new york to be a federal trade commissioner. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: quorum call:

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, unfortunately, predictions about the economic effects of the so-called american rescue plan seem to be coming true. in march, democrats pushed through this massive partisan spending bill. they claimed it was urgently needed covid-19 funding. in reality, the bill was filled with unnecessary spending from a staggering $350 billion slush fund for states, a majority of whom didn't need any more government money to weather the rest of the pandemic to almost $129 billion for schools even though schools had spent just a tiny fraction of the tens of billions of dollars congress had already given them. at the time, republicans warned about the bill's level of

spending. more than just one liberal economist warned about the size of democrats' spending plan with former obama advisor larry summers noting that the bill could, quote, set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, end quote. well, it turns out he was right to be worried. last week, the bureau of labor statistics released its report on may's consumer prices, and the news was not good. inflation reached its highest level in nearly 13 years, with consumer prices up 5% from a year ago. core inflation, a measure of inflation that excludes food and energy prices, soared to its highest level in nearly three decades. and what does that mean? well, higher prices for americans. the price of everything from bikes to bacon has shot up.

auto insurance costs 17% more than it did a year ago. used cars cost 30% more. shoes and whole milk cost 7% more. inflation is starting to look like it could become nontransitory or what most americans call a serious problem. and democrats' government spending spree is contributing. but of course that's not causing democrats to hit pause on the economic overstimulation. democrats are looking at more trillion-dollar-plus spending bills. the president just released a budget proposing to hike government spending by trillions of dollars over the next ten years. under the president's plan, the federal budget would be $6 trillion for fiscal year 2022, rising to $8.2 trillion for fiscal year 2031.

now, to put those numbers in perspective, mr. president, the entire federal budget for 2019 came to $4.4 trillion. the president is proposing to nearly double that by 2031. mr. president, it's disturbing that the overspending in the american rescue plan hasn't made democrats think twice about future government sprees. but it's not all that surprising because in the democratic party these days, dogma tends to triumph over reality or practicality. democrats are evermore fanatically committed to expanding government and taxing americans, and they are not slowed down by little details like damaging the economy. take the increased unemployment benefits situation. congress provided a federal increase in unemployment benefits early in the pandemic when small businesses were closed and workers had few alternatives to keep their families afloat. but as early as last fall, there

were signs that our economy was rebounding. with the arrival of the covid vaccines, it became clear that america would be able to get fully back to work sooner rather than later. but democrats insisted on continuing the increased unemployment benefits until september of 2021. and the effect has been predictable. despite record high job openings, many people are declining to return to work because they can make more money staying home and drawing unemployment benefits. businesses hit hard by the pandemic are desperate to return to full operating capacity, but they are being slowed down by the fact that they can't find workers. in response to the worker shortage, a number of governors around the country decided to stop accepting the federal increase in unemployment benefits. they wanted to help businesses in their states and get their residents back to work. and how did democrats respond to

that? well, more than one democrat responded by suggesting that the federal government step in to make sure these payments continue. that's right. despite evidence that the increased unemployment benefits were discouraging workers from going back to work, some democrats wanted to prevent governors from halting these payments. mr. president, nowhere is democrats' devotion to dogma over reality more notable than in their proposed capital gains tax hike. i don't need to tell anyone that tax the rich has become the rallying cry of the democratic party. one of the ways that the president plans to tax well-off americans is by doubling the top capital gains rate to almost 40%. the problem, mr. president, is that a 40% capital gains rate

substantially exceeds the revenue maximizing rate. in nonaccountant speak, what that means is that democrats could collect more government revenue if they raise the capital gains tax less. let me repeat that. democrats could collect more government revenue if they raise the capital gains tax less. now, you would think that the president would want to maximize the revenue the government could collect, especially with his plans for ten years of massive government spending which i alluded to earlier, but in today's democrat party, taxing the rich is more important than maximizing government revenue. just like tax hikes on corporations are more important than making sure our economy grows and american companies can compete on the global stage.

or raising taxes is more important than passing legislation to boost american infrastructure. that's right. the president would have reached an agreement with republicans on a substantial infrastructure bill, but he tanked negotiations because he was insistent that any bill repeal parts of the 2017 tax reform legislation. the same legislation that had driven up wages and boosted our economy before the pandemic hit. democrats are so committed to taxation that they included a provision, the bloated covid legislation that they passed specifically prohibiting state governments from using covid relief money to cut taxes. apparently democrats are fine with government payments to americans, but allowing them to keep more of their own money is off the table.

mr. president, democrats have long been interested in higher taxes to pay for more government spending, but today's democrats, taxation is rapidly becoming a good in itself. democrats are no longer just interested in raising taxes to raise revenue. if they were, they wouldn't be planning to jack up the capital gains tax rate to over 40%. they are interested in raising taxes because they believe that success should be punished. in the increasingly socialist democrat party, it doesn't matter how hard you work to get where you are, how many people you created jobs for or how much good you are doing with your money. if you have been successful, you should be heavily taxed for your efforts. even, even if those heavy taxes actually cost the government money or hamstring the american

economy. mr. president, the growing commitment in the democrat party to an increasingly rigid socialist dogma is deeply disturbing, and it's certainly not limited to a fanatical commitment to taxation or spending. it embraces everything from a social agenda that is increasing from freedom of religion to free speech to a fundamental belief that government knows best when it comes to how americans run their lives. but for today, i'm just going to limit myself to taxes and spending, and let's hope, mr. president, the democrats rethink their planned government spending sprees before inflation really gets out of control and hardworking americans end up paying the price. mr. 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:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 69. the nays are 28. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions.

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: we have two of our members who couldn't be here because of serious illnesses in their families. therefore, we're going to delay the vote on kiran ahuja. so i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the nomination of kiran ahuja to be director of the office of personnel management be withdrawn. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: we will return to that vote as soon as these members can return. now, also i ask unanimous consent that 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 now ask the senate recess until 2:15 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate stands in recess the senate stands in recess

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>> president biden provide for the eu-u.s. summit in brussels, belgium, earlier today. he was greeted by the president of european union and the european commission before making brief remarks. [inaudible] >> [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[background sounds] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> well, mr. president, dear joe, we are so pleased to welcome you in brussels. you are back in brussels, and america is back on the global scene. it's great news. it's great news for our alliance. it's also great news for the world. and we're really delighted to work with you in order to tackle, together, some important global challenges. >> well, i think we have a great opportunity to work both with the eu, as well as nato. we are feeling very good about it. we found the reception to be good, and america is back. we