treasury department nomination and also a bill on policy and programs for the school year 2022. new live from the senate floor. 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. almighty and everlasting god, you are the fountain of every blessing. thank you for this good land, with her hills and valleys, her fertile soil, her trees, plains, and mountains. we're grateful for the brilliant colors of the changing seasons.

inspire us to strive to become a great nation full of truth and righteousness. lord, give our leaders the wisdom to honor your name by living with integrity and humility. teach them to express in words and deeds a spirit of justice for the glory of your name. we pray in your sacred 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, november 17, 2021. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable elizabeth warren, a senator from the commonwealth of massachusetts, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. 123450 l

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 and resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of treasury, brian eddie nelson of california to be under secretary for terrorism and financial.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, later today, the senate is scheduled to take the first procedural step to begin consideration of the annual defense bill. our republican colleagues have said for weeks that we need to move quickly to take up the ndaa and pass it through the chamber. this morning, we're continuing to work with our republican colleagues to strengthen the substitute with as many amendments from senators as possible. we're making really good progress, and so we'll give the armed services committee more time this morning to review the text and come to a final agreement, but the senate needs to move forward on this bill and quickly. with so much bipartisan interest in getting ndaa done soon, i see no reason why we can't finish

this legislation or come to an agreement to finish this bill quickly. i thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, especially our committee chairs, i thank them because they are propelling this important legislation forward. now on build back better. i want to return to a comment made recently by the other side that crystallizes the difference between how the two parties see today's challenges. a gold mine, a gold mine, those three words were used by my colleague, the junior senator from florida, when talking about americans struggling with rising costs. a gold palestine -- a gold mine for them. if you want to know why americans can get frustrated with washington, look no further than comments like the one of the gentleman from florida. republicans who voted for a violent tax break for millionaires and billionaires don't have any solutions for working families, but they see political goals in exploiting their struggles. families are still struggling to pull themselves out of a once in

a century economic crisis brought about by covid. they want to pay less for things like groceries, health care, prescription drugs, and child care. they want us to find ways to make that happen, and that's just what democrats are doing in build back better. but unfortunately, republicans appear more interested in politics than progress. it's simple. if we want to fight inflation, if we want to create more jobs, so many businesses are short of workers, and if we want to lower costs and make sure families have more money in their pockets, the best thing, the best thing we can do is pass build back better. 17 nobel prize-winning economists and more from both sides of the political spectrum have said that this bill will help relieve inflationary pressures over the long term. and this morning, an exclusive by reuters confirmed that for all the republicans howling at the moon about inflation, build back better will not, will not

increase inflation. and here's what the leading economist at moody's said. quote, the bills do not add to inflation pressures as the policies help to lift long-term economic growth via stronger productivity and labor force growth, and thus take the edge off inflation. stronger growth, less inflation. i'll say it again. if you want to fight inflation, if you want to lower costs and grow the economy, support build back better. if you want to fight inflation, support build back better. build back better is going to help families save money by making child care more affordable. it's going to give parents a tax break so they can pay for diapers and groceries and gas. it's going to lower the costs of prescription drugs like insulin and cancer treatments. and it's going to put more americans to work, help our economy grow in the long term. the american people want these things. why won't a single republican come out and vote for them, a single republican? why do republicans seem so

intent on opposing lowering the price of insulin or giving parents a middle-class tax break? given the choice between helping families afford child care and leaving them to fend for themselves, republicans are telling families you're on your own. listen to the list of things i just mentioned. middle-class tax breaks, lowering prescription drug costs, child care. these aren't handouts. these aren't luxury items. to so many families, they are daily essentials, and they are just the beginning of what the b.b.b. would offer. while democrats are fighting to pass legislation to lower costs, republicans who have spent years under donald trump trying to repeal health care and give tax breaks to the ultrarich are opposing tax cuts to the middle class while rooting for prices to go up and up, a gold mine. americans won't forget who in washington is fighting for them and who is spending time -- their time trying to exploit

their hard ships. finally, mr. president, the cagali amendment. yesterday the senate received a message from the white house calling us for an amendment to curb our use of dangerous h.f.c.'s. 120 countries have agreed to the amendment. even china is on the list. we should join, too. h.f.c.'s are dangerous greenhouse chemicals found in everyday appliances from air conditioners to refrigerators. they are thousands of times more damaging to our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. we have made progress in eliminateing these chemicals for the -- before the trump administration characteristically, unfortunately took us backwards. phasing out h.f.c.'s is very important and will go a long way in fighting climate change and protecting the environment for future generations, and it's supported by the business community, too, as it will open up companies to markets for

h.f.c. alternatives overseas, promoting investment, innovation, and greater economic activity. approving this amendment will require two-thirds of the senate. reducing our country's use of h.f.c.'s has been a bipartisan priority in the past. in fact, last december, the senate approved the first-ever agreement to phase down h.f.c.'s, a significant win for fighting the climate crisis. it should be a bipartisan priority right now. in the wake of the president's visit to glasgow, approving this amendment, which much of the world already embraces, is essential for telling the world we are committed to fighting the climate crisis. if we want to lead the world on this issue, it must, it must get done. now, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to h.r. 4350 occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.

mr. schumer: i yield the floor. mr. schumer: i 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 minority leader. comoimed i ask unanimous consent the proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: a lot has gone wrong since this unified democratic government took the reins back in january. let's look at product liability. the biden administration's clumsy retreat from afghanistan left americans behind who wanted out and handed the country to a government staffed with terrorists that used to be locked up at guantanamo bay. look at energy independence or, should i say, energy dependence. president biden canceled our own keystone x.l. pipeline but cleared the path for a new pipeline for vladimir putin.

the amount of russian oil that america has to import has already nearly doubled on the democrats' watch. look at the border. illegal crossings are flooding across our southern border at an all-time high. the democrats have interior enforcement arrests down to a decade low. but there is no question what crisis is at the top of the minds of middle-class americans. there is no question what is keeping working americans awake at night. it's inflation, inflation. runaway prices and unpredictability that democrats' policies have fueled. 90% of americans told one recent survey that they are somewhat or extremely concerned with inflation. we are a huge and diverse country. it's hard to get nine in ten

americans to agree on almost anything. with 90% of america is worried about inflation. it's no wonder year on year, consumer prices have risen faster than they have in over three decades. last month marked the fifth month in a row that inflation has topped 5%. these across-the-board numbers can sound a little abstract, so let's make it very tangible. in the past year, buying meat, fish, and eggs has gotten 12% more expensive. a gallon of gas costs the average american $1.31 more than it did a year ago. and heaven forbid anyone having to replace a family car this year. used auto prices are up 26%. even getting family and friends together for thanksgiving is a much pricier prospect than it was last year. turkey alone is an extra 25 cents per pound.

factor in all the fixings and some estimates project a feast next week will run families up to 15% more than it did last year. for a while, the white house tried to dunn play the problem. president biden and his team told american families that costs weren't really rising as much as it seemed or that, okay, costs were rising but it would only last a few months. or as some liberals argued, that if you remove food costs, housing costs, and transportation costs from the equation, inflation really wasn't all that bad. some have tried to argue that rampant inflation is actually a high-class problem to have because at least we aren't in a recession. i'm not kidding. i guess they think working americans should stop complaining and be grateful things aren't even worse. but a sad irony is that inflation is exactly the opposite of a high-class problem. inflation is likely a huge regressive tax that hits the

middle class, the working class, and the poor far more than it hurts wealthy people. the three biggest drivers of a staggering 6.2% inflation rate we logged last month were housing, transportation, and food. these are not luxuries. they are essentials and take up a bigger share of a family's budget from the middle class on down. the democrats' budget is exactly the opposite of a high-class problem. it didn't have to be this way. the inflation spike wasn't just predictable. it was, in fact, predicted. this past spring i warned my democratic colleagues here on the floor that they are unbelievably expensive and poorly targeted spending bill that masked as covid relief would turn our strong economic recovery into an inflationary

mess. many of my republican colleagues said the same thing. democrats didn't have to take our word for it. even their favorite economists like president clinton's economic secretary larry summers and jason furman warned that a liberal bill might supercharge inflation. now our democratic colleagues want to ram through an even bigger tax-and-spending spree that would make inflation worse. many support this new tax-and-spending spree because of all the left-wing goodies packed into it. but even they who support this left-wing proposal, even they believe it would make it worse next year. steven ratner, a senior expect advisor to -- executive advisor to president obama wrote the

original sin was the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan. that has contributed materially to today's inflation levels. he goes on to say that the new tax-and-spending spree can be, quote, deemed paid for only if one embraces budget gimmicks like assuming some of the most important initiatives will be allowed to expire in a few years. the result is where taxes are front loaded. mr. rat entire cites -- ratner cites that it would add $8 billion or more to the deficit over the next five years exacerbating inflationary pressures. end quote. this, the person i just quoted, is a former top advisor to former president obama, by definition a liberal democrat, explaining that the democrats'

new proposal as currently constituted would make inflation worse -- worse. he says the democrats' proposal itself that needs to be built back better. president biden and his party have already brought needless pain on american families with their reckless spending, ramming through another multitrillion-dollar partisan wish list would only compound the damage. the hardworking men and women of this country cannot afford to be ginny pigs in a social experiment where democrats try to inflate their way out of inflation. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture.

the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 4363, brian eddie nelson, of california, to be under secretary of terrorism and financial crimes, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of brian eddie nelson, of california, to be under secretary for terrorism and financial crimes, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the vice president: on this vietnam, the yeas are 50, the nays are 50. the senate being evenly divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: thank you,

ms. vice president. now, mr. president, i ask to resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to h.r. 4350, the national defense authorization act. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. mr. schumer: mr. president, i note -- the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 144, h.r. 4350, an act to authorize's a appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for military activities of the department of defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the department of energy and so forth and for other purposes. mr. schumer: mr. president, i note the absence of absence of . the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

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mr. wicker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. wic wicker mr. president, this saturday the international criminal police organization, better known as inepol, will

begin its annual general assembly in istanbul. it is a vital law enforcement network that let's police from different countries to cooperate with each other to control crime. unfortunately it has also become a tool in the hands of despots and crooks who seek to punish political opponents in order to turn other countries against the rule of law. rooting out this sort of abuse should be the top of priority going into the innerpol general assembly. it is threatening its continued existence. inerpol cites the declaration of human rights as the basis for police cooperation.

article 3 of that declaration forbids inerpol, from engaging in any religious or racial character. all 194 member nations have committed to uphold article 3 and the entire interpol constitution. so it's troubling -- it's worse than troubling, it's egregious, that interpol to choose to have this meeting in turkey, who is opposed to the red notice and blue notice systems. they have persecuted and arrested government critics on politically motivated charges. journalists dundar is an example. he is a prominent media percent

and has received international awards for defending freedom of the press. in 2019, turkey demanded interpol that he be arrested. what had he done? he criticized his government. he reported on the turkish government supplying arms to an islamic group in syria. he was charged by turkish court with espionage and aiding a terrorist group. the group was never named. and sentenced to 27 and a half years in prison. thankfully germany has refused to extradite mr. dundar, but this is what we see from this year's host of the conference. in june turkish reports showed

that they had rejected 800 red notices. a swedish human rights group reported in 2016 after the failed coup in turkey, that the turkish government file tens of thousands of interpol notifications targeting persons who were critics and political opponents of the government. some of these people were stranded in international airports, detained and handed over to turkey where they ended up in prison. there are alarming signs they are trying to leverage this year's general assembly to further its own goals. this past june the turkish foreign minister al-karan, quote, will be an important opportunity to explain in detail our rightful position regarding our fight against terrorists

organizations and our rejected notices, unquote. translation, turkey plans to use this high-level event to mislead and lie to the international community. they will no doubt try to explain why president erdogan should be able to hunt, hunt down his critics in foreign countries using foreign law enforcement through interpol. this will be a travesty, one that indeed threatens the legitimacy and future viability of interpol. and of course turkey is not the only offender we could talk about. russia, china, and venezuela have routinely misused interpol to oppress their critics. the case of bill browder, a free critic of the putin regime and advocate for the magnitsky act is probably the most well known example of such abuse. vladimir putin has issued no

fewer than eight interpol diffusions seeking to have bill browder extradited, none of which, thankfully, have been obeyed. these abuses should not be allowed to go on. interpol needs protection on behalf of countries that actually believe in human rights, that believe in open dissent, and the rule of law, providing that protection is why i have introduced the transnational repression accountability and prevention act or trap act. this is a bipartisan effort, mr. president, with four republican cosponsors and four democratic cosponsors. this bipartisan legislation would fortify u.s. systems against interpol abuse and would require that we use our influence to push for due process and transparent reforms

-- transparency reforms. american law enforcement should never be doing the work of foreign crooks and dictators. i hope that i can count on my colleagues in this chamber to support this much-needed legislation and i invite my colleagues to be added to the cosponsor list. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you very much. later this afternoon i will be introducing with senator scott, my colleague from south carolina, tim scott, a statement for the record honoring the life of senator hugh k. leatherman, senior. we just lost one of the most distinguished members of the state senate in the history of south carolina, senator

leatherman was a 40-year member of the south carolina state senate. he was the finance chairman and his leadership is legendary. with his help and assistance, the port of charleston is on track to become one of the premiere ports on the east coast. he was indispensable in recruiting boeing, honda and volvo to south carolina. he was a dear friend of both myself and senator scott. i've never known a more effective voice for south carolina. he loved the p.d. where he represented -- when it came to helping south carolina, senator leatherman was always there. you could count on him to lead from the front. trying to solve problems was his life's work rather than creating problems. i could -- i want to let the people of south carolina know we've lost a giant. there will be a big vacuum and all of us in our state are going to have to up our game to replace the vacuum created by senator leatherman. his legacy is just

extraordinary. he touched so many lives. he led the effort to put $300 million upfront to deepen the port of charleston at a critical time. could i go on and on and on about how he helped every corner of the state from the mountains to the sea. he was a giant of the south carolina senate. his voice will be missed. he has a record of accomplishment that is just again legendary and to his family and legions of friends, we mourn senator leatherman's loss but you have a lot to be proud of. now is the time to celebrate this great statesman's life and senator leatherman truly was a statesman. he could work across the aisle. he knew how to get things done. he used the power given to him by his constituents and fellow colleagues in the south carolina senate for the greater good and there's no better legacy or no better statement about a politician than to say that he

used his power for the greater good. the statement will be forthcoming from myself and senator scott and to his family and friends, we stand with you. you will not go through this journey alone. and to my many friends in south carolina from the p.d., you've lost a great champion and i will do everything i can to help fill that vacuum and void. with that i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: mr. president, i'd like to have unanimous consent

that my military fellow sean mcdonald have floor privileges during the consideration of the f.y. 2022 national defense authorization act and any matters pertaining to national security. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. king: thank you, mr. president.

mr. king: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: mr. president, i rise to discuss the national defense authorization act for fiscal

year 2022. i want to make two basic points at the beginning and then discuss some of the specifics of the bill. the first is the word deterrence. the cornerstone of our defense policy is deterrence. the best battle is the one that doesn't occur. the best war is the one that doesn't occur. and there are those who will say that this bill authorizes a very large amount of expenditures. mr. president, i can assure you that war would dwarf the expenditures in this bill. and deterrence is the whole idea of having a force which will convince any potential adversary that attacking the united states is a losing proposition, that it will cost them more than they would ever gain. that has been our strategy for many years. it is our strategy going forward. and i will talk about it in some specific terms with rd