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watching live senate coverage on c-span2 area. >> the question occurs on the nomination. >>

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 60, the nays are 34. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president

will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. mr. cardin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognized. mr. cardin: mr. president, 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. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, i take this time as the chair of the commission for security and cooperation in europe, better known as the helsinki commission, as we celebrate our 45th anniversary. the helsinki commission is the vehicle for the united states' participation in the organization for security and cooperation in europe representing 57 states that have come together under the osce. all the countries of europe, all the countries of the former soviet union, including those located in central asia, the united states, and canada.

mr. president, this is a unique body in that it represents both the executive and legislative branches of government. the executive branch have representatives on the helsinki commission and both the house and senate have senators and representatives that serve on the helsinki commission. i'm very pleased to have as my coleader senator wicker from mississippi as the republican leader in the senate on the helsinki commission. the helsinki commission has been responsible for elevating our moral dimension to u.s. foreign policy. its principles point out very clearly that you cannot have security without dealing with good governance and human rights. you cannot have economic progress unless you have governance that respects the rights of all its citizens. and that's why i was so pleased when president biden announced

that his foreign policy would be value-based; that as we participate in our foreign policy challenges, it will always be wrapped in our values. in his recent trip to europe -- and his recent trip to europe underscored that important lesson. and then he issued two weeks ago the statement that corruption is a core national security threat and that we have a responsibility to fight corruption in order to protect our national security. i am so pleased of the accomplishments of the helsinki commission particularly on human rights. i go back to my early days in the house of representatives when the soviet union still existed, the challenges of soviet jews trying to immigrate from the soviet union, it was the helsinki commission that was one of the leading voices to

help deal with soviet jews. i think of trafficking persons, modern day slavery and what the united states did in leading that effort, including passing landmark legislation in trafficking persons and establishing a rating system where every country in the world is rated on how they are dealing with human trafficking. it was the u.s. helsinki commission for what led to the international efforts in order to fight trafficking persons. i think of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide and realized it was the helsinki commission that pushed to hold those responsible for these atrocities accountable, particularly as related to the balkan conflict and the legislation that deals with sanctions against human rights

violators, first the mick mick in his can i standards. it is the adoption in europe, canada and other countries to make it clear human rights violators will not be able to hide their illicit funds in our banking system or visit our country. perhaps our strongest contribution is the oversight hearings that we hold. we also passed the atrocities prevention act, but just two weeks ago -- last week we had a hearing in the helsinki commission on how we can prevent atrocities from occurring in the first place. so i'm very proud of the accomplishments of the commission. part of the responsibility of every member of the state of the osce, is that we have the right to challenge any state's compliance with the helsinki final act accords. so it is ourle responsibility to

challenge when russia violates those provisions or we see violations in turkey, any member state we can challenge. but we also have to do our own self-evaluation, and as chairman of the commission i have been using that opportunity to question conduct in our own country when it does not match the responsibilities that we should have. we saw that in the past with respect to torture issues in guatemala bay. this goes back to my early days, and some of my proudest moments of representing our country on the international stage. let me give you a few examples. in february 1991, i joined a fact-finding mission to liewth wana. that was when the soviet tanks were there and that's when the oppression that the soviet union was demonstrating against the

people in the baltic states. it was a very sad moment on oppression and we went there to stand up for the people of the region to let them know that the united states never recognized the soviet's occupation of the baltic states and that we stood with the people independence. it was very interesting. we went from there to moscow, and gosh -- gorbachev didn't acknowledge us, but we had a meeting with boris yeltsin and we had great visibility and yeltsin supported our effort to condemn the russian use of force. i've been to germany several times. my first trip on behalf of the helsinki commission was when it was a divided country and we went to east berlin and we were

the voice for the oppressed people whose voices could not otherwise be heard, and we gave them hope that they would see freedom. we returned when we were literally taking down the berlin wall and i joined in taking down part of the berlin wall and i have part of that as a prize possession in my home. i returned to germany as a united country and see what it means and the work of our commission to bring down the iron curtain. germany is now a leaning democratic state and a great ally of the united states. i've been to kiev, ukraine, i was there during the protest where people demanded democracy and then i had a chance to return and monitor the elections in ukraine with senator portman. again, a country that has been able to rid itself of the oppression of the -- of the soviet union.

i've been very active in the helsinki commission in regards to the parliamentary assembly. i chaired one of their three standing committees. i had a chance to become vice president of the parliamentary assembly and today i acknowledged senator wicker, who is vice president. it turns out that -- points out the work of the helsinki commission and our work on the international platform. we couldn't have accomplished these achievements without an incredible staff to the missions of the helsinki commission and i want to just acknowledge one individual who recently announced that she is retiring, erica slager, after 34 years of service to the commission and to the global community. erica received her bachelor's degree from the university of north carolina in greensboro where she graduated magnum cum laude and was in phi beta kappa

and had a george doctorate degree. she studied at warsaw university as a and received a diploma for international rights in france. quite a record. she used that academic preparation to make a difference in the world and what a difference she said. erica has been unfailing professional in her dedication to doing what ever is necessary to ensure that the commission meets its mandate and defends human rights abroad. her deep expertise is renowned both among policy professionals in the united states and the countries of central europe which she followed for the commission. erica is one of our nation's top experts on europe's most vulnerable communities. she is a leading voice on roma rights, europe's largest

sorority. i have joined erica to speak up for the roma population, which has been denied citizenship in so much of europe. she has made a difference for their lives and she has addressed issues -- from the enslavement of roma and dedicated to the rorch ma victims of the nazi regime to -- she has brought to my attention the candidacy of ethel brooks, she will give perspective and history on the holocaust to further tolerance and education of the human rights of the museum. i was a member of the holocaust museum board and erica is so deeply respected by the

professionals at that museum for the work she has done in furthering the goal of that institution to prevent atrocities against any group of people. erica has long been one of my top visors on the -- advisors on the holocaust restitution and the jewish community and work with me over the years to raise concerns about the rise of holocaust revisionism. further -- assets measures to rights the economic wrongs that accompanied the holocaust and to hold accountable a french railway that transported thousands of holocaust victims to their deaths. she worked on all of these issues and made significant progress. erica has been instrumental in ensuring that the helsinki commission works to hold the united states accountable for our own human rights records, examining u.s. policies and conduct concerning guatemala bay

detention camp and u.s. policies regarding torture. erica's counsel assisted me in my role as the parliamentary, on anti-semitism, racism and tolerance where i focused on human rights at home and across the expanse of 67 participation states of the off osce, the plight of african americans, muslims and migrants, she has been integral to the helsinki commission's mandate of upholding human rights commissions to find in the final act and osce agreements. in addition to the many professional milestones, erica retires from the commission having left a deeply personal mark on those she worked with, from diplomats to staff of the helsinki commission. she has a gift for taking a complex issue and destilling it

in a way that makes it relevant and accessible. she has taught our diplomats at the foreign service institute and spoke at international meetings and around the world many she displayed her exceptional teaching ability at the department of state program on roma rights and ensured that roma civil rights groups could participate. she has sought out dialogue and collaboration with new colleagues to help deepen their understanding of the helsinki commission role of the challenges the commission could usefully seek to address abroad and the unique tools at its disposal to do that. she is always quick to ask about a colleague's well-being or inquire after a family member's well-being. she has fostered collegiality throughout the staff with her kindness and good nature. in so doing she has demonstrated how deeply she case not just for the work she dedicated her

career to but also the people whose great privilege it is to call her a colleague and friend. on a personal basis, i have benefited so much from her friendship, from her understanding, from her strategic thinking, from where we could make a difference. we know there's a lot of problems around the world. we know can't settle all the issues, but erica's helped us to focus on areas where we can make a difference and thanks to her input, we have made a difference. i know i speak on behalf of all helsinki commission members and staff and scores of other individuals, many who may not know her name and groups concerned about advancing human rights around the globe and here at home when i say how we will miss erica. henry david thoreau said, aim above morality, be not simply good, be good for something. erica has embodied that maxim in her professional career and in

her life. she has made an enormous difference and will continue to do so. i wish her all the best with her future endeavors. i know we will continue to hear from her. thank you, erica for the way you served the global community. with that, mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a he'll quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. cassidy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana is recognized. mr. cassidy: i ask unanimous consent that parker lloyd, an intern in my office be granted floor privileges. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. cassidy: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that parker lloyd intern in my office be granted floor privileges for today, june 17, 2021. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, june marks the start of the atlantic hurricane season. 2021 is on us. but my constituents are still suffering from the storms of 2020. there's a lot of folks in louisiana who are still hurting. if you were to fly over lake charles, louisiana, you would still see blue tarps on roofs of

homes damaged a year ago. i took to the senate floor last month stressing the need for disaster supplemental while lake charles and baton rouge at that time were getting hit by heavy rains and severe flooding. at the time lake charles ended up with 8 to 15 inches of rain in less than 12 hours. heartbreaking to see them affected once more by a natural disaster. baton rouge got more than 13 inches of rain overnight with 15,000 homes and business without power the next morning. now all this comes on the heels of hurricanes laura and delta and winter storms which had catastrophic damage to livestock, crops, and structures for louisiana farmers. so for those that need a refresher, 2020 set a record for the most named storms, 30 in one season, five of those

named storms hitting louisiana, also a record. hurricane laura, a category 4 hurricane, hit lake charles, devastated it. and then almost the exact same place that laura hit, delta hit, category 2, six weeks later. unprecedented to have one hurricane followed by another. no one calculates the damage from hurricane laura at about $19 billion and delta at $2.9 billion. laura wreaked havoc through devastating winds, 150 miles per hour windfall. the strongest hurricane to hit my state since 1856. delta was just rain. in the settlement northeast of lake charles, they received almost 18 inches. i may sound like a broken record, but i need to play this broken record once more. we cannot allow the impact of an

entire year's worth of natural disasters to go unaddressed. just a few weeks ago i was in lake charles. i heard incredible frustration about rebuilding in the aftermath of these storms. a church still with its roof ripped off. homes, as i mentioned, covered with tarps. stories from members of the community who are not back in their homes and, frankly, may not even be back in their city because there is no home and there is no housing for them to return to. now i don't want to give the people in lake charles have incredible resilience. an incredible we can do spirit. you go there and people are laferg and they're smiling -- laughing and they're smiling, but then you see that blue tarp and you know that this community will not recover at the way things are going. i would argue the weather events were tragic, but the lack of

action upon recovery is making that tragedy worse. in march, my colleague from oregon, senator jeff merkley, and i urged the biden administration to support a supplemental disaster appropriation to urgently address to direct federal resources to communities throughout america struggling to recover from hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other 2020 natural disasters. president biden came to louisiana once more. he heard from mayor nick hunter, governor about edwards, myself, that we could hopefully have some relief. we need programs like community development block grants, disaster recover, mitigation funding, and u.s. army corps of engineer funding for the southwest coastal louisiana hurricane and storm damage risk reduction. emergency solutions grants, social services block grants to provide assistance to the thousands of families who lost their home due to hurricanes

like those i've been describing. now we're past due moving quickly. if it happened tomorrow, it still would have not happened quickly. and we're going into another year which could have similar storms. we need to help the people of southwest louisiana. the region has been pounded. my job is to do all that i can to help them get back on their feet. once more i call alone my colleagues in the house and senate with a simple message. let's get a disaster supplemental done. with that, sir, i yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: ms. stabenow: mr. president, i ask for suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from michigan is recognized. ms. stabenow: thank you very much, mr. president. i'm here today, and soon on the floor, my good friend, senator roy blunt of missouri, will be here as well to talk about an issue that we both care very, very passionately about. in fact, on october 31, 2013, which is, -- i guess it's

amazing how time flies, mr. president, but in 2013, senator blunt and i stood here on the senate floor together to mark a very important anniversary. it was 50 years to the day after president kennedy signed into law the community mental health act. 50 years to the day. and tragically, it was the last piece of legislation he ever signed. and it was one of the most important. the community mental health act was ground breaking. its goal -- to provide full funding for comprehensive mental health services in the community. how important. unfortunately, that has yet to fully happen. instead, behavioral health is funded primarily through grants that start and then the grants stop. you'd never say to someone who is having a heart attack we'd

love to help you, but we're so sorry the grant ran out. can you come back in six months? and yet, that's what we say to people with mental illness or a substance use disorder, every day, multiple times a day, that's what people hear. these people who need help aren't abstractions. they are moms and dads and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters and friends, and in fact us. i'm so grateful to members who have shared their own mental health stories. that includes my friend, senator tina smith who bravely shared her own struggle with depression that so, so many of us have had throughout our lives. we know that with the right support, people who live with some kind of a mental health challenge can thrive. they do. i have often told the story of growing up in clare, michigan, a

little rural town where my dad had struggles and was misdiagnosed for years. finally, finally, finally correctly diagnosed as being bifloor and getting the -- bipolar and getting the support and medication he needed, and he was able to thrive after that. that's what i want to have for every person in michigan, every family in michigan, every family across the country. unfortunately, far too many people still struggle to get the support that they need. we have certainly seen that during the covid-19 pandemic, and it's gotten much, much worse, unfortunately, with everything everybody has had to go through. one c.d.c. report found that last june, twice as many people as usual said they were experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression. not surprising. and 11% of americans had reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days.

in the past 30 days. and tragically, 200 americans are dying every day due to opioid overdoses, according to the c.d.c., and that's up 34% since the pandemic started. 34%. clearly, we need to do more to get people the mental health care and substance abuse treatment that they need and that they deserve. the good news is we're well on our way to ensuring that health care above the neck will be treated like health care below the neck, and that is an effort that senator blunt and i have now been working on since that day we came to the floor in 2013. we are well on the way to finally seeing president kennedy's vision become a reality. not long ago, senator blunt and

i, as i mentioned before after that floor speech, introduced something called the excellence in mental health act. it was signed into law in 2014. it created certified community behavioral health clinics which are funded just like federally qualified health centers. you have high standards, the clinic meets the standards, and then they get fully funded through the health care system. it requires these clinics to provide a comprehensive set of services to everyone who walks through the door, including 24/7, 365 days a year crisis services. outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, and immediate screenings, risk assessments, and diagnosis. and just as important, it requires care coordination

including partnerships with emergency rooms and law enforcement and veterans' organizations. ten states, including missouri and michigan, have been selected for full participation in the program. and start-up grants have been extended now to a number of clinics across the country. 40 states plus the district of columbia. 300 community clinics being funded to get things started so far, and we have more coming because of the american rescue plan. these clinics are already making a huge difference, and we just had a hearing in the finance committee this week from those speaking strongly about this model -- this being the model for care in the community, just as community health centers are

the model of care for physical health care, certified community behavioral health clinics are now the model for mental health and addiction services. more than half of these clinics provide same-day services. now, that may not seem like much, but the truth of the matter is -- and this has been true for years in michigan because of lack of funding -- they only are able to help people with the most severe problems. so if you want to walk in and connect with somebody and express a concern, you are probably not going to get any services, certainly not that day, under the old system. now more than half of these clinics provide same-day services. nearly all of them provide treatment within a week. think about someone with a substance abuse issue as well as a mental illness. time is everything.

if someone is reaching out for help, they need to get that help right away. 95% of these clinics have been engaged in one or more innovative practices with law enforcement. it's actually been incredible to hear what is being done with local law enforcement. so when the police officers are called to the scene and it's clearly an issue that may involve mental illness or substance abuse, they are able to immediately connect up with those that can provide those services instead of having to take somebody to jail when they shouldn't be in jail, and we know that many, many people, in many cases around the country, the majority of the people that are in the jail are people that actually need mental health help or substance abuse help. and so this wonderful collaboration now through these clinics going on. statistics from the department

of health and human services show that people who have received services at clinics, it's amazing numbers. i will just mention three. 63% fewer emergency room visits. i've heard from so many police officers talking about they are called to the scene, they take someone into custody who really just needs help, and then they go to the emergency room for other services, and the officer then sits there all day or longer with them or family members, waiting, waiting, waiting because there is not the services that they need. so with the certified behavioral health centers, we have 63% fewer visits to emergency rooms with people who have a substance abuse problem or mental illness. 60% less time in jail. we are debating a lot these days about the role of law

enforcement and more calls, as we definitely need to have support services in the community. through the work of certified community behavioral health clinics in the communities where they exist, there is a 60% reduction in folks going to jail. instead, they are getting the help they need. and we have seen almost a 41% decrease in homelessness. another major way that people end up on the street or in a shelter when what they need is help. currently, about 1.5 million people are accessing these services, and it's a start. we did it originally as a demonstration to show that this could actually work and make a significant difference and actually save community resources, in addition to providing people the help that

they need and deserve, but we need to do more, and that's why we are speaking today. president kennedy believed that these services should be available to everyone who needs them, and senator blunt and i agree. that's why this week, we introduced our excellence in mental health and addiction treatment act of 2021. this legislation will expand these high-quality mental health and addiction treatment services across the country. this is the next step for states and communities across the country to be able to have the health care funding to provide high-quality services that we know work. this is going to give every state the opportunity to create certified community behavioral health clinics in their communities. just imagine what that could mean for a veteran who's living with post-traumatic stress, or a

young mom who recently had a baby and is struggling with postpartum depression. or a college student who's working to overcome his substance use disorder, stay in school and earn a degree, but just needs some help and support to be able to make that happen. right now, only about 11% of people with substance use disorders get help in any given year. think about that. 11%. about 11% of those struggling with an addiction are able to get help in any given year. well, senator blunt and i aren't going to stop until 100% of people with substance abuse disorders and other mental illnesses are able to access the care that they need to thrive. this is really an important moment because we over the last several years have designed working with the various

administrations now, designed quality standards. we have demonstrated that providing these services makes a difference. we have strong support from law enforcement. we have strong support from the health care community, from mental health and substance abuse community in a broadway. it's exciting to see this be something that really is bipartisan. i'm so thrilled we have colleagues on both sides of the aisle that are supporting this effort, signing on. we have more people signing on every day. that's because we believe in these clinics. we believe in the services and this way of providing services. we have seen it for ourselves, how it can change people's lives and give people the opportunity to be able to thrive. when we introduced our original legislation, i spoke with makiah newman, who i have known for

many years. she lived for over 30 years with undiagnosed and untreated bipolar disorder. she finally got the treatment she needed through the community mental health system. and what she has done is truly amazing. we had makiah come and speak as a witness for our health care subcommittee hearing in finance that senator daines and i did a few weeks ago, and she was amazing. makiah is team supervisor for the c.n.s. health care antistigma program in waterford, michigan. she is a peer educator. she is developing and leading programming in michigan and sharing her expertise all across the country. she is an ordained minister, and she is a board member of the oakland community health network where she has served several

terms as board chair and vice chair. last month, when she testified at our senate finance health and subcommittee hearing, she said i'm living proof, i am living proof. i'm an advocate and i'm proud to speak on behalf of those who have not yet found their voice. makiah found her voice. it's time to make sure that everyone in our communities has the support they need to do the same. i'm looking forward to working with my friend senator blunt and all of our colleagues that have already signed on as original cosponsors, and we welcome everyone in this body to join us in moving forward legislation that we have demonstrated makes a difference, saving money,

saving lives. and it's now time to make these services available across the country. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

ms. stabenow: madam president, i would ask suspension of the quorum call. the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call. ms. stabenow: i just wanted to let my friend, senator blunt, who i've been talking about now on the floor, i just wanted to say with him here -- i knew he was going to be here shortly, but i just want to say again what a real pleasure and honor it has been to partner with my friend, senator blunt, in this really major movement, i consider, to transform the way we fund community mental health

and addiction services. our presiding officer has also been a leader in this in nevada, and i want to thank you for that as well. i just want to thank my partner. as i was indicating before, we came down on the 50th anniversary of president kennedy's signing his last bill. i'm pleased we've been able to pick up the torch, and we're going to get it over the finish line and make sure these wonderful services are available across the country. mr. blunt: thank you. madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: our time got changed a little bit and i was trying to finish another thing to get over here and hear in person what senator stabenow had to say. she has been an incredible leader in this effort, a great partner. as she mentioned, we came to the floor the last day of october, 2013, which was the 50th anniversary of president kennedy's signing the community mental health act.

well-intended but an awful lot of it just didn't get done. facilities were closed that maybe were well overdue to be closed, but the opportunities weren't put in place to replace them as that act had hoped they would be. i think we've been in the process of making big strides toward doing that. that was 2013. in 2014, we were able to get the first pilot project for excellence in mental health put into place, an eight-state pilot, an eight-state pilot project where we're looking not only at the impact of those individuals and families that needed to have their behavioral health issue treated like all other health issues, but also, frankly, looking to see at all their other health issues, when your behavioral health issue is being treated as it should be. one of the great costs in health care is missed appointments. you've got to believe that almost 20% of the population

that has a behavioral health issue is more likely to miss an appointment that everybody else. of course that costs the whole system. it particularly costs them. if you're going to doctor when you need to, taking the medicine you're supposed to take for any kind of health issue, eating better, sleeping better, feeling better about yourself, your health issues are dealt with in a different way. nearly one in five americans, according to n.i.h., has a behavioral health problem, but only a fraction of those americans get the care they need. they say, n.i.h. says they have a diagnosable one out of five americans, almost one out of five americans has a diagnosable and almost always treatable behavioral health problem. but certainly one out of five americans who have that problem don't get the care they need to deal with that problem.

the covid pandemic added to many of those challenges, and realistically it would if you think about it. if you've got a behavioral health issue that's normally not going to be helped by isolation, by worrying about health care for yourself or somebody you care about, wondering whether you're going to lose your job or someone in your family is going to lose their job. none of those things are going to be helpful. the other area that comes into play there is addiction issue of any kind. if you don't have a behavioral health issue before you have opioid dependency or some other addiction issue, you certainly have one after that addiction takes over. and so all of those things were exacerbated by the pandemic. the percentage of americans with symptoms of anxiety or depression grew by more than 40%. drug overdose deaths increased

by 20% between october of 2019 and 2020. and it was 30%, i think i may have said. 30%. and that was after three years of having drug overdose deaths headed in a dramatically different direction, but suddenly 2020 was the highest year ever for drug overdose deaths. the challenges of that are great. we now have ten states, including both missouri and michigan, who went through a competitive process and became part of the original excellence in mental health state. in all of those states we have certified community behavioral health clinics that have to meet standards. they have to meet standards of who staff set clinic that has to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with crisis

management as a possibility. they can do preventive screenings. they can determine appropriate care coordination with other providers like emergency room departments or veterans services. all of those things make a dramatic difference, madam president, in people's lives. people getting help through the clinics often have access to primary care treatment as well. i visited a lot of those clinics in our state. i've seen what happens with these demonstration projects. they're enabling more people to get the complete health care they need and, again, including mental health care and addictive treatment quicker, closer to home, in a new -- new data from the national council on mental well-being, 84% of those clinics, the ccchb's, 84% of them were able to see clients within the first

week. i think 100% of them were able to see a client that needed to be seen that day. that day. i certainly hope that's the goal. i hope nobody goes to a clinic that professionals believe you need help right now that doesn't get help right now. but 84% of the people that show up get an appointment within the first week. that definitely was not the case ten years ago and is not the case now in states that haven't become part of this program. 95% of those clinics are involved with law enforcement activities, nursing, and criminal justice centers. in my hometown of springfield, missouri, every patrol officer that's been trained in crisis intervention has an ipad with him that they can connect anybody they're talking to with a 24/7 burough community health, and they do.

i've seen that happen. i've traveled with officers that have done that. and, by the way, i'm sure they didn't have me with an officer that wasn't really good. but you could see no matter how good that officer was, the individual, when they were talking to somebody at the clinic that was a professional dealing with this all the time, you could see that conversation took on a totally different tone. we've seen more and more efforts to try to help with substance abuse. we've been able to fund the federally qualified clinics in new ways because of that. so ten states totally in this program, 40 states under an amendment we made a couple of years after we got started, have been able to take county units or other units that they

could qualify into the excellence in mental health program. so what we're working on now with our colleagues is an effort to once again make this available to the entire country. i think we've had enough proof in the last seven years or so to show it makes a big difference. again, let me say, madam president, everybody has always known that this is the right thing to do. and thefer always known it's the thing that was financially smart in the long run. i think we're also showing here how in the immediate health care context it makes a financially smart investment to get, help somebody with their behavioral health challenges as you're working with all their other health challenges. behavioral health, mental health needs to be treated like all other health. this congress this year, hopefully starting in this

senate has the ability to say okay, we're ready to open the door now to every state that wants to participate in a program that would treat mental health like all other health. i know senator stabenow and i are going to be working hard together, and you're going to be helping us as we work to get this done. thank you for the time today. i look forward to further debate of these issues. i think we've come a long way within the last eight years. we can see the full opportunity here right on the horizon. the congressional budget office, every time they look at this thinks it costs less than they thought the time before because they're seeing the overall impact in ways we thought these pilots would prove but haven't. so let's get this done this year. i look forward to working hard to do it and look forward to a full debate and vote on this issue on the senate floor. and i would yield back.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma is recognized. mr. lankford: madam president, next week looks like a busy week. that's fine. we have a lot of things we need to be able to cover and to walk through as the senate. next week is particularly divisive, though, in some of the issues that are coming up. let me give you two examples that i hear are on the docket for next week. one of them deals with how we vote in america. now, in oklahoma, we know how we vote. each state determines its own structure of how they vote. and in oklahoma, you can do absentee mail-in voting with no executives. if for any reason you want to be able to mail in a ballot, you can do that. you can do in-person voting early. in fact, this year our state legislature met, they added another day of in-person voting. there are lots of days of in-person voting in oklahoma. or you can actually go to the polls the day of the election and be able to vote then. it's up to you. we have very straightforward

voter i.d. laws. we have a system that sets up that if you do early voting or absentee voting, all the disputes on those are handled before election day itself. so that on election day, when the polls close at 7:00 p.m., we then finish all the voting -- or the counting, i should say, on early absentee, on early in-person, and then we're counting the day of. usually by about 10:30 at night on election day, we're done voting and everyone is done watching all the final results in from the entire state. it's a straightforward, clean process that we have seen that is exceptionally reliable. in fact, it's so tough in 2016 when the russians were probing different systems to try to get into it, our state was one of the states the russians tried to get into, couldn't get into our system, and they moved on to other states to try to get into those. we have a secure system, we have a reliable system. but that's apparently not enough. because senate bill 1 that's coming to the floor next week

would say oklahoma, we're going to completely change your system. people in washington, d.c., don't like how you vote, don't like your clean reliability efficiency, regardless of complaints, we think we want to change it here in washington, d.c. interestingly enough, we have a system that can also verify if someone voted twice. in fact in this past election, 57 people in oklahoma voted twice. we could verify that after the fact based on all the records, and we could go back and be able to prosecute those individuals that chose to vote twice because that's not legal. here is what happens when s. 1 comes to the floor. the debit here -- debate here on s. 1 will begin with no voter i.d. take away your voter i.d. in oklahoma. change the way that you do early voting. in fact, change the way the ballots are actually collected entirely. no longer in oklahoma will we know the winner of our election at 10:30 on -- election night.

s. 1 clangs that and says ballots have to be allowed to trickle in for ten more days after the election is over. so we won't know at 10:30 at night on election night. we'll know two weeks later who actually won the elections. and as far as a reliable system that we can all verify and check, oh, no, it changes that dramatically. it now opens up what's called ballot harvesting. ballot harvesting would allow political operatives to go door to door to be able to engage with people that had mail-in ballots and to say to them have you mailed your ballot in? if they say no, they can say well, let's just fill it out right here on the porch. then you can hand it to me and i'll take it in. so on election day, what happens is political operatives show up with boxes full of ballots and turn in boxes full of ballots with the words trust me, these are all good. i would tell you in oklahoma, we like it better when the postman carries that ballot or when you

actually turn it in to that county or precinct official so we know where it's been, there has been an accurate chain of custody, not someone showing up with a box full of ballots saying trust me, i collected all these. because when that happens and someone is just collecting ballots, you have no idea if the person voting voted for one person and left the rest of them blank and the person carrying them just filled out the rest of the ballot for them, you have no chain of custody at all on it. that's why i say s. 1 makes voting easy, cheating easy, and verifying elections impossible. this is not the direction that we should go. if we want to build trust in our election system in america, let's let each state build trust in their election system for each state like we do in oklahoma. where we work together to make sure we can make it as easy as possible for every person to be able to vote and to encourage

every person to vote, but when it's over, to verify that election. and to be able to know that we can check it all off and to go, regardless of the outcome, we can trust the outcome because we know we can verify it. let's make it easy to vote, hard to cheat, and easy to verify. not having washington, d.c., folks here say d.c. is righteous and states are wrong. i think there is lots of great people all over the country that want to do their elections right, and that aren't republicans or democrats. they are just people protecting democracy in the states. let's keep that system. that's the first of two divisive bills that are coming up next week which will absolutely fail in this body and should fail in this body. there's a second bill that i understand is coming up next week as well.

it's called the equality act. now, i would tell you it's a great name, and i don't know of anyone on my side of the aisle or the other side of the aisle that opposes equality. and i will state frankly, no person should be discriminated against in america -- no person. it is a basic constitutional principle. we are all equal under the law, all of us. we have different ideas about music and food. we have different ideas about sexual assault. we have different idea -- about sexuality. we have different ideas. we are a pennsylvania tapestry. that's one of the things that makes us strong in such a perfect way to build a more perfect union. i believe that every person should be protected from discrimination in america, but that does mean every person. today the supreme court ruled 9-0 -- 9-0 in the supreme court

-- that catholic social services in philadelphia was being discriminated against by the city of philadelphia because the city of philadelphia said to catholic social services, you cannot practice your catholic faith in foster services. now, what's the story? there have been catholic services in philadelphia since the 1700's. this particular organization has served the neediest organization in that area providing foster services and placement for them. they're a religious organization, a faith-based organization, a catholic organization, and they believe that god created man and woman and that's god's design for marriage. so in their placement of foster children, they place children in a home where there's a man and a woman that are present for marriage, because of their profound belief. now, there are 20 other foster

services in philadelphia that place foster children in any family situation -- husband and wife or two men and two women. 20 of those services in philadelphia. but the city of philadelphia went to catholic social services and said, you have to be like the other 20. you cannot practice your faith. even though literally catholic social services had never had a gay family reach out to them for an adoption placement. they had go to gone to other places. the city of philadelphia said, no, you have to change the your practice. unfortunately, catholic social services had to argue for their religious freedom all the way to the supreme court, and today they ruled 9-0 that a faith-based institution cannot be discriminated against because of their faith. they should be able to live out the tenets of their faith and be able to practice that a now, to me that's a great decision to be able to make, to say why can't

we coexist? why can't we honor everyone in their inner city dids of opinion? -- in their differences of opinion? there was no work for catholic social services to stop gay marriages in philadelphia or to stop couples from fostering children that are gay couples there. they just chose not to do it based on their faith. so they weren't working against individuals. they were practicing their faith. then comes the equality act vote next week. the equality act would for the first time ever in this congress, would take away the religious freedom restoration act in statute, would remove it, and to say there could be no protection for religious institutions, directly a shot against the supreme court in a 9-0 decision today to say no to religious institutions -- that religious institutions have to be protected in their

institutions. why do we have to get into the had a situation as the equality act does saying if you don't agree with one particular expression, then you have to be canceled, you have to be silenced? why has it come to this in america? the way the equality act is written is that any faith-based institution, if they did any public outward facing work at all, if they fed the homeless, which many do; if they provided clothing, if they took care of individuals with food that needed it, if they did any outward facing work at all, they were considered a public accommodation, their labor laws, even if they're a religious institution, had to be exactly like large corporate labor rules as well. literally imposing on religious institutions. you can be a private entity and be inward-facing, but if you're going to do your mission to actually serve the needy, then you've got to actually shift to be like corporate america.

that's not providing opportunities for people of faith to live their faith. i have to tell you, i honor people of faith. people of different faiths, people of faiths i disagree with. that's the nature of religious liberty in our country, is to be able to honor people of different faiths. that's also what the supreme court reaffirmed today, directly in contradiction to the equality act, which clearly, if this were to pass -- and i do not believe it will -- the supreme court would hear immediately, would align with this case from today, and would say, we've already ruled on these issues 9-0, that is not allowing people to live their faith. unfortunately, there are some in this body that not only vehemently disagree with the supreme court with the opportunity for people to be able to live their faith, they're able to do it in the most pejorative of terms. when i spoke governance the

equality act in the -- when i spoke against the equality act in the committee weeks ago and also did a challenge on religious liberty issues and said, here are the obvious issues of religious liberty where i think it is unconstitutional, the response i got from a member of the judiciary committee was, this reminds me of the cue crux klan, who burned crosses and used religious symbols to hide behind their bigotry. the supreme court disagreed with that today. they said we are the united states of america. we honor people of faith to be able to live their faith, we honor people that don't have faith or have differences in their faith and choose to be able to live that out. and this body should not try to cancel out every group in the country of faith that disagrees

with people in this body and to say, you cannot practice your faith if we tell you no. that's not who we are. the equality act is not about equality. it's about imposing and prohibiting disagreement. we're americans. we can respect each other and disagree. we can live next door to each other and disagree. let's prove it in this body by not passing the poorly named equality act but actually demonstrating what this act says it wants to demonstrate, let's treat each other with respect in our differences and honor us in that. with that, i'd yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 149. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, office of the director of national intelligence, christopher

charles fonzone of pennsylvania to be general counsel. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 149, christopher charles fonzone of pennsylvania to be general counsel of the office of the director of national intelligence, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 107. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, office of personnel management, kiran ahuja of massachusetts to be director. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on nomination of executive calendar number 107, kiran ahuja of massachusetts to be director of the office of personnel management for a term of four years, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent it be in order to make a motion to proceed to calendar number 77, s. 203. -- 2093. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar number 77, s. 2093. officer the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 77, s. 20 the 3, a bill to expand americans' access to the ballot box and so forth and for other purposes. officer. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 77, s. 2093, a bill to expand americans' access to the ballot box and so forth and for other purposes. signed by 17 senators as follows -- surely schumer i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: finally hurricanes i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate -- for e cloture motions filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc, 180, 1893, 153, 155, 177. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask consent -- the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nominations en bloc. the clerk: nominations, national aeronautics and space administration, pamela a.mulroy of new york to be depend century administrator. department ofdepartment of commd w. spinrad of oregon to be under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. department of veterans affairs, matthew t. quinn of montana to be under secretary of veterans affairs for memorial affairs.

department of the interior, tanya trujillo of new mexico to be an assistant secretary. executive office of the president, chris inglis of maryland to be national cyber director. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that -- i ask consent the senate vote en bloc on the nominations without intervening action for debate and if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate, no further motions be in order to the nominations, any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is on the notions en bloc. -- is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. those opposed, say no.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. -- the nominations are agreed to. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consider the fog nominations, 178, 179, 185a that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 1340 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1340, a bill to amend title 28 united states code and so forth. 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 bill be considered read add third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 276 submitted earlier today. the presiding the clerk: senate resolution 276, congratulating the university of florida gators for winning the 2021 national college division i, men's tennis championship. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. 277 -- s. res. 277, submitted earlier today.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 277, congratulating the university of mississippi rebels women's golf team on winning the 2021 national collegiate athletic association division i women's golf championship. the presiding officer: without objection, 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 with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate res. 278, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 37 -- 278, recognizing the 75th anniversary of the united spinal association. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i know of no

further debate on the measure. the presiding officer: if there's no further debate, the question is on the adoption of the resolution. all in favor say aye. those opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. schumer: had you nawm -- i ask unanimous consent, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: al bill to amend the internal revenue code to provide tax incentives for clean energy and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill

legislative the second reading on the next legislative day. mr. schumer: and finally, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. monday, june 21, 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the fonzone nomination. finally the cloture motions filed during today's session of the senate ripen at 5:30 p.m. on monday. 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 is adjourned until senate is adjourned until >> pacific continues for today and nominations which the focus this week. the approved to be deputy

interior secretary and also deputy homeland security secretaries in the senate recess earlier this afternoon to democrats the chance to meet and strategize on how to proceed with elections and voting legislations. republicans yesterday and today, several have spoken out against the proposed bill. you can find lives senate coverage here on "c-span2". book tv on "c-span2" has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend, saturday at 10:0, and breaking the news exposing the establishment medias reveals in secret corruption, editor-in-chief alex morris explores mainstream media and ability. is interviewed by magazine editor large. and on sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern, intermarket, the second race and guns in a stably

unequal america and university professor carol anderson, examines the second amendment and argues that is designed in a way that denies rights to african-americans. sunday at 11:00 p.m. eastern, look at the impact of john clinton's earth orbit mission in 1962 on space race between the u.s. and soviet union. in the book mercury rising, watchful tv this weekend on "c-span2". >> american history tv on c-span three, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend, saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, on lectures in history. northeastern university professor william fowler on early atlantic exploration it, christopher columbus and the discovery of the caribbean and the americas europeans. sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern,

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