i'm right behind you. >> presidential recordings. download the c-span now app. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> we take you live now for the u.s. capitol for the senate is about to gambling for legislative business.

today senate lawmakers are considering several judicial nominations including lucy go to be u.s. court of appeals judge for ninth circuit. although this week, we expect the senate to vote on a debt limit increase at the 2022 different programs and policy fell. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, our gracious king, you are the one clear power of love in the midst of lesser powers. lord, thank you for giving us the confidence to know that you hear and answer prayer. we pray for those who seek to recover and rebuild after the

tornadoes in many states. have mercy upon them, as they deal with the ravages of nature. lord, teach our senators how to discover your love in each other and to see your magnificent image in all creation. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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 president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. samantha d. elliott of new hampshire to be united states district judge for the district of new hampshire. ms. hirono: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings on the qiewrm call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the tornadoes that hit kentucky this past weekend were some of the most widespread, severe, and devastating in our state's history.

it's still difficult to comprehend the vast scope of this storm. nearly 40 tornadoes touched down across six states. one tornado in kentucky stayed on the ground for over 200 miles. 200 miles. this was potentially the longest continued path of any tornado in u.s. history. towns have been reduced to rubble. families are picking up pieces of their shattered lives. most tragically, our governor announced today that more than 60 kentuckians are confirmed to have lost their lives. many more remain unaccounted for. this is the worst storm to hit kentucky in my lifetime. the tornadoes caused considerable damage in 15 counties all across the commonwealth.

thousands lost their homes. tens of thousands are still without power. this was, in the words of one meteorologist, the worst-case scenario for destruction, and it came during the christmas season. families are supposed to be gathering soon for rest, relaxation, and reunion. now so many kentuckians are facing exactly the opposite. the whole country is becoming acquainted with mayfield, kentucky, likely our hardest hit city. mayfield is a town of 10,000 in the jackson purchase. it's been known for the beautiful greek revival facade of the mayfield first united methodist church. now first united is completely gone, and the town is literally leveled to the ground. mayfield's candle factory was

operating in full swing this weekend to keep up with the christmas demand. it was once a mainstay of the community, employing hundreds. on friday night the factory was turned into a scene of absolute horror. many of the employees who were working that evening are feared dead. rescue operations are ongoing. at least 40 employees were rescued initially. one was saved after being trapped under five feet of rubble for hours. the devastation there is absolute. the tornado was so powerful that it ripped 27 train cars off their tracks in earlington and scattered them across a field. a family photograph that was picked up by the storm in dawson springs, kentucky, was carried nearly 130 miles by the wend --

wind and discovered in indiana. across kentucky residents spent saturday and sunday clearing debris and collecting clothes and possessions that had been scattered. families were left to inspect the cinder blocks where their houses once stood. the cheery lights of christmastime have been replaced by absolute destruction. kentucky has been devastated, but we have not been defeated. kentuckians are resilient people, but we'll stay strong and united through the crisis. i'm incredibly grateful to the first responders who have been on the ground since the out set. kentucky national guard, kentucky state police, sheriffs departments, city and local law enforcement, e.m.s. responders, firefighters, doctors, and nurses, quick-thinking and selfless action saved lives. hard-hit communities are

receiving an outpouring of support from across the commonwealth as well as around the country. americans near and far are coming together to donate food, blood, resources, and shelter to those in need. businesses and individuals have helped fund relief efforts and donating to assist the storm's victims. like many of my coelho kentuckians -- like many of my fellow kentuckians i was touched by university of kentucky basketball team this weekend. while visiting the university of notre dame they led a deeply emotional moment of silence before their game on saturday night. the team visited the school's grotto to light candles for storm victims and to pray for recovery. we're all praying alongside them. so, madam president, kentucky's state motto is united we stand, divided we fall. and in this time of crisis, kentuckians are standing

shoulder to shoulder, and we will not fail. at every level of local, state, and federal government across both political parties, kentucky's leaders have come together to coordinate and to provide aid. toward the end of the week i'll travel back to kentucky to meet with my constituents and visit the areas affected by the storm. my team has been working nonstop to ensure kentuckians receive the help that they need. i worked closely with president biden and governor beshear to ensure every federal resource possible is deployed to our state. kentucky's congressional delegations come together to send multiple letters to the president in support of disaster relief. in response, president biden cut through the red tape to approve our request at an accelerated pace. providing the rapid support we need to recover. i'm especially grateful for the work of d.h.s. secretary mayorkas and fema administrator

chriswell who visited kentucky yesterday to survey damage and help relief efforts. fema has already sent two is incident management teams, urban search and rescue team and an army corps temporary power team. they turned kentucky's fort campbell into a staging ground for vital relief and supplies. i could not be more grateful for their swift and decisive response to this crisis. even in the face of such tragedy, we can be confident that kentucky will bounce back. we are strong, we are united, and we will come back bigger and better than ever before.

the presiding officer: mr. major ity leader. mr. schumer: madam president, today the prayers of the senate extend to all of those impacted by the deadly tornadoes that broke out across the south and midwest over the weekend. we pray and mourn especially for the people of kentucky, where far too many lives have been lost, and the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined. over the weekend president biden declared a state of emergency in kentucky, authorizing fema to coordinate disaster relief and emergency is it assistance. he an announced he'll travel this week to kentucky to assess the damage and receive briefings

of recovery efforts. it's likely that the storms from this weekend will go down as some of the worst tornado outbreaks on record. and with heavy hearts, we'll continue to monitor the rescue and first response efforts in the coming days. now on another matter, this week the senate has a lot to get done as we approach the end of the year. over the course of the week, we expect to hold a number of votes to confirm more of president biden's nominees to serve lifetime appointments to the federal bench. on that front, we will later vote this afternoon on the confirmation of judge lucy haeran koh to serve as a circuit judge for the ninth district of the court of appeals. her nomination was favorably reported out of the committee with bipartisan support. if confirmed, judge koh would be the first ever korean american woman to sit on any circuit court in the country. the daughter of immigrants, her background is an inspiring testament to the american dream.

lucy's mom escaped as a child on foot from the oppression of north korea, even whale coming to the -- eventually coming to the state. lucy spent the majority of her own upbringing in rural mississippi, graduating from both harvard and harvard law school. for the last 11 years, lucy koh served for the district of california. she offered opinions presiding over 270 cases, everything from the rights of criminal defendants and seeking legal representation to the protection of online consumer data in the hands of companies, to ensuring that the trump administration did not prematurely end its completion of the 2020 census. she did all those things. she wrote on all of those things and offered opinions. all the while she has conducted herself with impartiality, is excellence, and above all with

fidelity to the constitution and the rule of law. i have no doubt she will continue building on her excellent judicial record as an appellate judge on the ninth circuit, and i look forward to voting in favor of her confirmation later today. later this week we'll hold votes on other nominees as well including samantha elliott to serve as judge for the district of new hampshire and jennifer sung to serve as circuit judge for the ninth circuit. once we confirm all three judges, koh, elliott and sung, the senate will have confirmed a total of 31 judges to the federal bench, 11 to the circuit courts, 20 to the district courts. i'm proud to say, madam president, over half of them are women. over half of them are people of color. all of them are outstanding, highly-qualified and they bring sorely needed diversity to the bench. not just personal diversity, but professional diversity as well. decades past it would have been hard imagining mg -- many of these nominees getting a serious

look in this chamber but one by one senate democrats are working with president biden to is expand the possibilities of who can and who should serve as a judge in this country, and we will keep working. now on other senate business, in build back better, in addition to making progress on nominees, the senate has been doing the hard work of putting ourselves in position to finish our other high-level priorities for the rest of the year. last week we advanced bipartisan legislation that will enable the chamber to address the debt ceiling on a fast-track basis. for the information of all, the senate will act tomorrow to prevent default. the senate will act tomorrow to prevent default. the senate could also begin processing the annual defense authorization bill, negotiated on a bipartisan, bicameral basis as early as tomorrow. between now and the end of the year members should also expect we'll hold votes to confirm even more of the president's nominees. and on a parallel track, the senate is moving forward on the

reconciliation process so we can vote on president biden's build back better act before the christmas holiday. committees that receive reconciliation instructions have been submitting their final text to the parliamentarian, the congressional budget office, and to our republican counterparts. throughout the week both republicans and democrats will hold bipartisan byrd bath meetings with the parliamentarian. meanwhile i will also continue to meet with my colleagues, and i know the president will also continue discussions with them as we hammer out the final details of build back better. this remains a la bore yus process requiring a lot of precision and a lot of pieces moving together. i want to thank my colleagues and their staff, and especially the parliamentarian and her team for their dedication and focus as we approach a vote on the floor. the work is not yet finished, but we're working hard to put the senate in a position to get the legislation across the finish line before christmas. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: madam president, a powerful tornado stretched across 200 miles never leaving the land perhaps the strongest destruction streak we have seen in america. and my heart goes out to all

those who have been impacted, all those who are lost, all of those without a home, all those whose lives have been turned upside. we, as a senate, must act to be supportive of fellow americans who have faced such incredible destruction. i come to the floor today to address another tragedy, a tragedy unfolding in china where the olympic games are scheduled to begin on february 4. i come to the floor to applaud president biden for speaking out and announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 february beijing olympic games. this is absolutely the right thing to do. and as beijing's response has shown, it sends a clear signal to the world, that the world will not silently stand by as human rights are so dramatically

abused. for two weeks in february, the world will join together in the bask of the spectacle of the winter games. we will experience the highs and lows as athletes from around the globe will experience themselves the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. athletes heading to the games, they dream of thrilling the world and winning meldals, but will he -- medals but they also dream of contributing to the olympic spirit, a spirit working to build a better world through sports, which is why it is so offensive that these games are set to take place in the shadow of so many of the world's most egregious assaults on human rights and human dignity. it's mind-boggling to me that

the international olympic committee chose just this past march to characterize their strategic road map for the five years using such lofty goals as the games will, quote, contribute to more inclusive society and to peace. and, yet, allowing the games to go on in a nation where genocide is taking place at this very moment. it's mind-boggling because it's not some small abuse that's taking place, but one of the worst the world has ever seen. the chinese government has been committing and is continuing to commit genocide against a religious minority, and they are stripping away the political rights of hong kong's citizens.

and they are suppressing the free-right speeches of chinese activists and bullying china's abroad. we cannot allow china to use the shine of the olympic to blind the world to these facts. we have seen that before and philosophers say those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. so let's return to 1936, the olympic stadium, the olympic flag flying proudly, not just in the stadium, but in berlin for the summer games next to nazi swastikas. this is a stadium filled with men and women giving the nazi salute as adolf hitler watched

on. the nazi regime had started carrying out the racist genocide policies, they had persecuted jewish communities, and lgbtk and had nondesirables, who just weeks before the start of the games were locked away in a camp outside the city. but the world chose to look away from that unfolding horror. for two weeks during the games, the nazis took down their anti-semitic signs, the propaganda ministry eased up on hateful rhetoric and the world praised the german government

with disarming -- put germany back in the fold of nations. the world allowed itself to be beguiled by the nazi facade. behind that facade stood a violent, racist regime. behind that facade was a government controlled that the people living within its power could do and what they could say. behind that facade was a regime that had no belief in anyone's basic human rights and that within three years was seeking to conquer the world while simultaneously murdering six million jewish individuals and millions of other nonjewish men, women, and children. what if instead of being taken in by the spectacle of the games, what if instead of allowing the nazis to use those games for propaganda, the

leaders of the world had stood up and pushed back? how much death and destruction might have been prevented? we'll never know. but what we do know is that we have the opportunity right now to learn from that past mistake and to do better. el le vizal said there are times we might be powerless to stop injustice but we should never fail to protest. we cannot fail to protest the chinese government's action that stain the mission and purpose of the olympic games. because there's absolutely no question about the kinds of crimes and atrocities being committed by the chinese government at this very moment, atrocities like the

enslavelement an genocide -- enslavement and genocide against the uighur minority majority. that genocide has been documented. it has been recognized. it has been publicly announced by two different presidential administrations. that genocide completely reflects the united nations official definition of a crime committed with an intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in whole or in part. at the direction of president xi, of china, at least a million uighurs are being detained in camps. they are forced to work for the chinese government forced to -- where they are forced to renounce their faith and pledge loyalty to the chinese communist party. this is a process described in

one official government as, quote, washing brains, cleansing hearts, and eliminating evil. it's certainly -- it certainly is one of the most dramatic forms of evil taking place at this moment, that is what the chinese government is doing to the uighur people. the crimes against these individuals include torture, sleep deprivation, sexual abuse, rape, forced sterilizations and abortions, one woman who escaped recounted stories of women being taken from their cells every night, brought to another room to be tortured and raped by one or more masked men. she and another woman was forced to help facilitate these assaults have spoke about police officers paying good money to

have their pick of imprisoned women and girls. those who are returned to their cells are threatened with even more pain and more torture if they say anything. and these crimes and this repression aren't contained just to the camps. millions in shing -- many are restricted from traveling or going to school or freely speaking or freely worshiping. meanwhile the chinese government is ripping children from parents' arms and forced them to redock trinature their culture to view their parents as china's enemies and to praise the communist party. all of that has been going on for years, at least since 2017, and all of it will still be going on as the international olympic committee and athletes from around the world gather in

beijing on february 4 for the opening ceremonies. and if the world is silent, if there are no protests or consequences, all of that will serve simply to emboldened the chinese government and their genocidal efforts. beijing's egregious actions don't stop with crimes against the uighur people. we see those crimes in hong kong where the chinese government is stripping the rights of hong kongers one day after another. back in 1998, china promised to adhere to the one country, two-systems model. they signed a contract with great britain to do so. they guaranteed freedom and rights to the citizens of hong kong. but we have watched in 2019 and 2020 as the chinese government has systematically dismantled

those political rights of those in hong kong. working to silence any form of dissent, to silence any voice of opinion that might disagree with that of the chinese government, demonstrators beaten with batons and tear gas and pepper sprayed for asserting basic human rights, rights they were guaranteed when hong kong was reclaimed by china. it fills me with dismay and rage at what the citizens of hong kong have lost under this oppression. this time last year the hong kong people were still protesting and fighting for their freedom. hundreds of thousands gathered watching as messages of support for their cause came in from around the world and played out on giant screens. there was a feeling of hope. but that hope lies shattered in the streets of hong kong today. today china has used a heavy hand of the national security law to ensure that only patriots

loyal to beijing can hold positions of power. they have crushed the hope, they have destroyeded freedom, they have destroyed the political rights of the 7.5 million citizens of hong kong. rarely in the history of the world have so many people been together celebrating their elections, celebrating their free speech and seen it crushed in such order -- short order. it's in this context that china is hosting the february winter olympic games of 2022. and we, the free world, standing up for the rights of every individual to have fundamental freemedzs and -- freedoms and equal rights of the u.n. rights that we are all born with, must speak out against these actions. none of what china's doing is a

major surprise because it has unfolded in such a systematic way. china engaged in a campaign of controlling its citizens and silencing dissent, -- human rights organizations have long and well documented the abuses. this picture is of chang, a chinese lawyer who the government says was detained for allegedly inciting subversion of state power because he participated in a project, in a protest. after he was released on bail, chang released a video statement describing the physical and psychological torture he experienced while he was detained. so authorities arrested him again and charged him with

subverting state power. he is now one of those heroes who has stood up for the freedom of all the people of hong kong. and he is being held by the chinese government for standing up and speaking out for what's right. it's not only lawyers and advocates who are detained when they speak out against the government of china. it's also three-time chinese olympic tennis star who disappeared from the public eye after accusing a party official of sexual assault. where is tennis star peng shuai? the international olympic committee says that she is safe and well after two video calls with the olympian. critics call these calls and e-mails supposedly from her and videos of her dining at a restaurant as obviously staged by the chinese government to counter criticism. where is she really? is she okay?

nobody but the chinese government can say for sure. the international olympic committee is an organization whose mission, according to its own president thomas bach, is to put sport at the service of humanity that goes hand in hand with human rights, the very words of the president of the i.o.c. an organization that puts forth the service of humanity and goes hand in hand with human rights should be like the world's women's tennis association be refusing to hold events in china until human rights are honored. and i give great, great compliments to the w.t.o. for standing up for this abuse of one of their own and more broadly the abuse we see throughout china. i'm thrilled with the administration's announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 winter olympics. i'm thrilled that great britain and canada and australia and

lithuania have joined in this effort. but i say to you right now where is the rest of the world? where is france? where is germany? where is spain? where are all the governments of the world who believe in the rights of free speech and free assembly? the chorus must be broader. the free world must join together, stand up for the vision of what it means to be in the free world and how horrific abuse is when it involves genocide or the obliteration of democratic rights. the international olympic committee says, well, there are -- the games are all about athletes so we don't get involved in politics. it's all about the athletes.

well, i tell you today that staging the games in the shadow of genocide and the stripping of political rights from those in hong kong is putting the athletes in the position of helping build the facade that disguises those assaults on human dignity and human rights. that is a horrific thing to do to the athletes of the world. it is an unacceptable thing to do to the athletes of the world. you cannot force the athletes of the world to be complicit in covering up these crimes. it is wrong. and the olympic committee needs to stand up and call out these crimes and know that they are not in keeping with the olympic spirit. they are not in keeping with human rights. although the president of the i.o.c. has said that is their mission. it is quite clear the olympic committee could have done far more to avert this situation because when the games were

awarded, they received promises on human rights, promises that were not honored. they could have moved the games years ago. they could have clarified that that would happen. but they did nothing. they did nothing except help cover up the genocide in china by leaving the games as they are and failing to note or criticize or observe the horror that has been unfolding. business as usual is unacceptable in the face of genocide. business as usual is immoral in the face of genocide. business as usual in any dimension in a country committing crimes against humanity is just wrong. i say to the i. ompleghts c. today -- i.o.c. today stand up, call out this crime, and say never again will you ever stage an olympic games in a country committing gross violations of human rights. that statement would be in

keeping with the olympic spirit. it would be keeping in the olympic spirit to say that they will defend the freedom of every single athlete at the olympic games, to stand up and speak their mind in defense of the oppressed people of tibet, in defense of the enslaved people of xinjiang prove advice, lay out clearly before the world that the olympic games will not be a place where freedom of speech is crushed as it is being crushed across china. colleagues, i think that this viewpoint that i'm expressing today of the world standing up to the horrors of chinese atrocities is shared by every member of this chamber and every member of the house of representatives down the hall. not a one of us would rise to defend these horrific acts which

is why every one of us should stand together today to condemn chinese genocide and chinese destruction of political liberties and make sure that these games are not ones where the world leaders are silenced, that these games are not one where the sponsors look the other way, that these games are not ones where the athletes are not free to express how tragic they consider it to be that these terrible things are happening and need to end. let us not repeat the mistakes of 1936 and look the other way. thank you, madam speaker. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: the words i just heard from the senator from oregon is very refreshing, and i thank him for making those statements. thank you very much.

madam president, today i come to the floor to once again talk about the tragic shooting that occurred at marjorie stoneham douglas high school, parkland, florida, not a long time back, february 14, 2018, and the justice department's response to it. part of my oversight work to see that the laws are faithfully executed, but before i get to that, i want to express, as we all have done i'm sure many times, our condolences to those victims and families of the school shooting in michigan last month. the shooting was an act of evil, and we ought to pray for the affected victims. recently the justice department reached a settlement with the

families involved in the parkland shooting for a reported $130 million. the school shooting was another evil act. it took the lives of 17 innocent students and teachers. based on reports the justice department settled because the f.b.i. failed to properly investigate tips warning federal law enforcement personnel about the coming attack that happened on that february 18. this was a concern of mine from the beginning, even though the justice department has settled the matter, the department hasn't fully been transparent with the congress on this issue. and they ought to be because this taxpayers' money, however

it's used, the public ought to know it. the public's business ought to be public. i'm going to highlight some of the oversight steps that will i've taken and how the f.b.i. still hasn't done what they said they need to do. two days after the shooting while i was chairman of the judiciary committee, i wrote to the f.b.i. asking about its failure to act on tips that they had received about the dangers that this shooter might cause against the public at large. i also wrote to google about the threats made in youtube comment that the shooter apparently m made. after that, i brought the f.b.i. in to brief the full judiciary committee on february 23, 2018.

that's just five days after the accident happened -- the shooting happened. not an accident. it was intended. i'm sorry i used the word accident. and i did the same thing with google and facebook staff to discuss their cooperation with law enforcement. on march 14, 2018, i led a full committee oversight hearing to hold the justice department and the f.b.i. accountable for their failures. in the f.b.i. briefing and at the committee's march 14, 2018, hearing, then-f.b.i. deputy direct oofer david -- director david baudich said they had begun a review of the internal process failures. those failures related to the intake procedure for call-in tips and what transpired in the

parkland case in regard to those tipoff -- call-in tipoffs. for months after the hearing, my staff asked for updates regarding the f.b.i.'s investigation report. in may 2018 they were told, my staff was told it would be final by approximately mid-june, 2018. on august 27, 2018, i wrote to f.b.i. director wray noting that up to this point, quote from my letter, committee staff have requested a copy of the report seven times from the f.b.i. here we are now three years later, 2021, and the f.b.i. still hasn't produced the report to congress. time and again the justice

department, the f.b.i. have failed to live up to the standards of transparency required of them. the parkland shooting and the department's response to it is another example from a growing list of shortcomings. simply put, there is no basis for the department of the f.b.i. to hold the parkland report from congress and by holding it from congress, they're withholding it from the american people. that's especially true for those families that suffered the tragic loss. transparency brings accountability, and the more the department fights that principle, the brighter light will be shining upon them. going forward while we can't take back the terrible events of

that day, we can and we must take steps to make sure such horrific acts don't ever happen again. that's why earlier this year along with a bipartisan group of senators i introduced a bill that i call the eagle's act. the eagle's act because that's the mascot of the parkland high school. the eagle's act will help fund and reauthorize the u.s. secret service's national threat assessment center. that's where the u.s. secret service study targeted violence and proactively identify and manage threats before they result in more tragedies. it would also establish a safe school initiative to look at school violence prevention and expand research on school

violence. the eagle's act is a commonsense bill supported by over 40 state attorneys general and representatives from both sides. in other words, for decades the secret service has been instructing people how to recognize people that may be a threat to the public at large or a threat to themselves so that there can be intervention. so if we do the same thing for people in education, the school teachers, the administrators, other support staff, they can have the same training that the secret service gives to other people but not to school people. then maybe we can have interventions on future school shootings so that they don't happen again. i ask and encourage all of my senate colleagues to help pass this bill. and then on a shorter version of

another subject, i'd like to say to my colleagues last week all republican members of the senate judiciary committee sent attorney general garland a letter. we said he should withdraw his memo from october 4 that made parents feel like domestic terrorists for going to local school board meetings to express their views on anything that they have a constitutional right to have their expressed views on, and there's no limit in the constitution. also the members of this senate republican minority agreed that true criminal acts should be prosecuted. now, unfortunately, the attorney general is going in the wrong direction.

a whistleblower revealed f.b.i.'s counterterrorism division is involved in the department of justice effort of intimidation and is keeping track of what goes on at local school board levels, whether it's criminal or not. this flies in the face of what attorney general garland testified to the judiciary committee. the attorney general has insisted to the committee that his instructions to law enforcement have nothing to do with stopping parents from criticizing school boards and that a. doesn't think parents are -- and that he doesn't think parents are domestic terrorists. but his own f.b.i. doesn't see it that way. last week one of my colleagues on the judiciary committee defended the attorney general and his memo. that member talked about school

board members getting angry e-mails and being threatened if the facts discussed by my colleague rise to being crimes, they sound like the sort of things local law enforcement can handle just fine on their own. there's no need for f.b.i. involvement. or national security division involvement, which ought to be involved with strictly terrorism. but we should all agree that the f.b.i.'s counterterrorism division should have nothing to do with it. if you're a parent who's upset with how your child's school is being run, you should be able to say so to the very school board making decisions on how that school should be run. but will the f.b.i.'s

counterterrorism division keep a record of what you say at the school board meetings? if so, that ought to concern all of us. i've gotten many letters from constituents worried about this sort of thing. mr. attorney general, parents are not terrorists, not domestic terrorists. you said so yourself. now prove that you mean it. so the simple way to prove it is, call off the f.b.i.'s counterterrorism division. withdraw your october 4 memo. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: thank you, madam president. i rise today to the once again call for every senator to have the opportunity to cast their vote on the military justice improvement and increasing

prevention act, which was unceremoniously and undemocratically removed from the ndaa behind closed doors. i started calling for an up-or-down vote on may 24 because i neared this would happen and that the ndaa would foot do no to address serious crimes in the u.s. military. now that we've seen the text, it is clear that those fears were well founded. committee leadership has overridden the will of a filibuster-proof majority in the senate and a majority of the house who called for real reform that would have moved serious crimes to independent military prosecutors. instead, committee leadership has codified status quo, leaving commanders as the convening authority even in sex crimes cases. that is the same system that everyone supposedly agreed is failing our servicemembers. unfortunately, this does not fix the issue of convening

authority, which was the singular ask from the survivor community. the ndaa does not make the necessary changes to the military justice system. the change we must make, the change that survivors and veterans have asked for, is to remove all serious nonmilitary crimes from the chain of command. commanders are not lawyers or judges, and they don't have training or expertise necessary to make those complex legal decisions. and our servicemembers have told us that they do not trust commanders to be unbiased or to deliver real justice in cases where they know the survivor or the accused. though i've heard from my colleagues saying otherwise, the ndaa does not remove sex crimes or any other serious crimes from the chain of command, and i want to be clear about this because the american people and our servicemembers deserve to know the truth. the ndaa keeps the commander as

the convening authority. every single court-martial will still begin with the words, this court-martial was convened by order of the commander. it tells you everything you need to know. the ndaa also continues to offer commanders the ability to choose the members of the jury panel. i want to address this point specifically because i've heard a few misleading statements about jury selection. the ndaa allows the commander to pick other members of this command to be the jury pool from which the jury will be formed. our bill, on the other hand, would put this responsibility in the hands of an independent attorney without a stake in the outcome. unlike what some who lack an understanding of the ucmj have said, under our bill, the independent prosecutor is not the same person as the independent convening authority. those are two separate military attorneys.

doc christianscenario said about the ndaa that, quote, because commanders retain commanding authority and associated powers such as equity having jury court members, commanders still will way wield significant influence over the court-martial proceeding. such influence erodes the independence of the special victims prosecutor and fails to address the concerns of the survivor community that conflicted commanders still have too much influence over the military justice process, end of quote. the command influence does not stop with jury selection. the ndaa also allows commanders to oversee preliminary inquiry. it retains commanders' ability to order dependations and to order warrants of attachment. it continues a how commanders to grant immunity and to prove delays. it retains commander's power to determine the incapacity of the accused and to select witnesses. it allows the commanders to approve of findings and

sentences and to order the reconsideration of ambiguous sentence. it also allows the commanders to grant clemency and a how the accused to separate from the service stead of face -- instead of facing a court-martial, fully alluding the justice system. anyone who looks at the system sees a system where the commander is still in charge, where their influence cannot be overlooked. there's no way for the prosecutors to be or to be seen to be independent under that system. there's -- there will be no improvement in trust or necessarily in the results. today just one-third of survivors of sexual assault in the military are willing to come out of the shadows to report their crime, showing a clear lack of trust in the current system. but 44% of survivors indicate that they would have been more likely to come forward if the prosecutor were in charge of the decision over whether to move forward with their case. the military justice improvement

increasing prevention act is the only provision that would empower impartial, independent prosecutors to make the vital decisions necessary for criminal justice system shielded from systemic command influence while allowing commanders to on what they do best -- war fighting, training troops. i want to share the words of retired navy lieutenant paula coughlin, a survivor who brought the tailhook symposium to light 30 years ago. she said, quote, the efforts to gull reform are unacceptable to the survivor community and must be rejected. if this effort succeeds, it will be a slap in the face to those who have put it all you on the line this past decade. those survivors and the majority of my colleagues here in the senate who support real reform deserve to have their voices heard. mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that hat a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the

senate, committee on armed commd services be discharged from further consideration of s. 5120 and the senate proceed to its consideration, there be two hours of debate equally divided in the usual form, upon the use or yielding back of such time, the senate vote on the bill with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reed: madam president, reserving my right to object -- the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you. i'm pleased that the ndaa, that we will consider this week, enacted sweeping and historic reforms that change how sexual assault and other owe phones are investigated and prosecuted in the armed forces. this bipartisan, bicameral compromise was achieved after tough negotiations with the house and also with the administration. and the house voted last week 363-70 to pass this bill with

these reforms. an overwhelming endorsement of the work that we do. i look forward to a similar strong vote in the senate this week, sending these reforms to the president of the united states. as you know, there have been many proposals for improving how the military prosecutes sexual assault and other crimes. senators, representatives from the administration, and from other organizations -- all of them with their unique merits. bringing all this was difficult and complicated. but i believe we have done so effectively. our bill removes all meaningful prosecutorial authority from the military chain of command for the series of sexual assault offenses under the usmj as well as for other offenses willing the wrongful distribution of images, domestic violence, stalking, retaliation, murder,

manslaughter, kidnapping, and child pornography. our bill creates a special trial counsel who are highly specialized independent prosecutors who are outside the chain of command of the victims and the accused. they will have exclusive, binding, and final decision decision-making authority over whether to prosecutor n the commander. under our bill, no commander will be able to overrule the binding decision of a trial prosecutor to prosecute or not prosecute a case. similarly, our bill ensures that the special trial counsel have the exclusive authority to withdraw or dismiss charges or specifications, removing that power from commanders. and finally, our bill will make a large number of necessary and conforming amendments to the ucmj to effectuate this reform. i'm sure there will be need for more of this during the two-year

implementation period. the bottom line is that the reforms contained in this bill represent a sea change in military justice. at the end of the day, this ndaa will enact the most sweeping reform to the ucmj in decades, and that's why protect our defenders, probably one of the most effective and vocal organizations founded on a premise of defending victims of sexual assault said, and i quote, the provisions included in this year's ndaa are the most transformative military justice reforms in our nation's history. madam president, having made that statement, i would object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mrs. gillibrand: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mrs. gillibrand: i'd like to thank the chairman for his steadfast work on trying to find common ground here. but i disagree that all

meaningful -- quote, all meaningful prosecutorial actions, end of quotes, having taken away from the commander. these are the actions that still rest with the commander hand these are meaningful -- grant of clemency, highly meaningful, grant sentencing witnesses, highly meaningful, order depositions, highly meaningful. preliminary inquiry -- highly meaningful. separation authority, highly meaningful. these are things that are essential to the prosecution of any case and so if the prosecutor doesn't have the right to do these things, it means the prosecutor has to go ask the commander, may i do these things, may i call this witness, may i have approval for a witness at sentencing, may i have approval for this preliminary inquiry. that request alone sends the signal to survivors and to servicemembers that the chain of commander command is still in charge p. that that independent prosecutor while the language of the bill sunday sounds really good, that you are decision is binding,

wonderful, the perception of servicemembers who understand the weight of convening authority, they know what the words convening authority mean, they know what the command ability and importance is. they may not receive these changes and these reforms in the way that the chairman believes them to be seen. they may not see them as the most transformative reforms, end of quote, that ever happened, because if they still perceive the chain of command in charge it may not dent their willingness to report these crimes. they may not have now the ability to report and to have a belief that they can have faith in this system. and so my question to the chairman is, why didn't we take the extra step to do the one thing that we've been trying to do for eight years, was to make these prosecutors, these independent specialized prosecutors, which is what we have been fighting for for eight years, truly independent and

give them all the authority, the convening authority had? .only change they would have had to make is the designation of convening authority would go from the commander to these new, independent, trained prosecutors. it's a simple change. it is a change we have begged for from the survivor community, from the veterans organizations, from protect our defenders, the best and most effective vocal organization per the chairman. we have asked for that one change. to be denied by this conference committee of four men in a closed room making the decision themselves. and for the chairman to get up and say that having such an overwhelming vote by the house of representatives just shows how right they are, well, then why does 220 cosponsors in the house mean nothing? why does 66 sponsors in the senate mean nothing? why does the endorsement of every veterans group in america mean nothing? why does the support of 29

attorneys general mean nothing? that's my question. and it's such a small thing. so, yes, having an independent, trained military prosecutor outside the chain of command, whose decision is binding, sounds amazing. that's what we've been fighting for. why not make it really independent? why not take the convening authority and give it to the independent trained military prosecutor? and sadly, the answer is the d.o.d. do not want to change the status quo. they don't want to make these changes, and so what they're willing to do, mr. chairman, is they're willing to put a great label on it. they're willing to pretend they're doing the thing we've asked them to do. they're willing to create the impression that they're doing the thing we asked them to do. but they know what convening authority means, and they retained it. and when asked, please, take the con veepg authority, give it to the trained military prosecutor, please make a truly independent system, like all these people are asking you to do, they said

no. they said no, over and over and over again. and unfortunately, if our chairman did not want to disregard the views of the department of defense. and unfortunately, that is my job, to oversee, to provide oversight and accountability over the department of defense, over the executive branch. that is what the constitution requires this chamber, this body, this senate to do. we are not supposed to take our marching orders from the department of defense. we are not supposed to do what the generals ask us to do. we are supposed to look hard and fast at a problem that has plagued our servicemembers, who give their lives for this country. we are asked to solve the problem, and we have put forward legislation that has the blessing of 66 senators and 220 house members, and every veterans organization that we know of, and every single of the

29 attorneys general who have written a letter. we have this breadth of support, but it doesn't matter, because it's not what the d.o.d. wants to do. so, yes, mr. chairman, having independent, trained military prosecutors who make decisions outside the chain of command, that cannot be changed, is definitely a step in the right direction. but it is not the independent review that we asked for, because without convening authority, the perception of servicemembers, of survivors, of the men and women this justice system is designed to protect, will be that all these rights and privileges sit with the commander, and that these are rights and privileges that have value, that have, quote, meaningful prosecutorial value. they're not meaningless.

and if they were so meaningless, then you would have given it to the independent prosecutors. that is why, mr. chairman, i will keep fighting on behalf of survivors. it's why we do not just say we're excited and we go home. it's why we haven't decided this is the moment to celebrate, because for us it's not, because i worry that that percentage of sexual assault, rapes and unwanted sexual contact, the 20,000 estimated every year, that the percentage of those that will be willing to come forward will not go up, that the rate of cases will not go down, and that the rate of cases and the conviction will not go up. so, that is my concern. it is why i stand here, gravely concerned and very dismayed and very disappointed that we did not take this moment in time to do the right thing on behalf of our servicemembers, to have a

military justice system that is worthy of their sacrifice. madam president, i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: thank you, madam president. madam president, this week the senate is going to take up three 9th circuit judges, three federal judges for the u.s. court of appeals for the 9th circuits. and in the process, the biden administration is going to smash an institutional and constitutional norm between the executive and legislative branch, particularly the executive branch, the white house, and the u.s. senate that

every u.s. senator, all 100 of us, should be concerned about. let me explain, madam president. this is a really important issue. article 2, section 2 of the u.s. constitution says the following: the president shall have power, by and with the advice and concept of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur, and he shall nominate and by and with the advice and consent of the senate shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and counsels, judges of the supreme court and all other officers of the united states. now, madam president, that includes federal circuit court judges. throughout this article 2, section 2 provision of the constitution, it says with the

advice and consent of the senate. we are of the senate. right here. and this week, we will be voting on three u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. now, this provision in the constitution, like so many, which gives the u.s. senate the exclusive right for the advice and consent power, was the result of compromise. if you look at the history in federalist number 375 and 7 -- 75 and 76, alexander hamilton argued that this provision afforded a necessary means of checks and balances against the executive branch, against the president. the constitution, according to the u.s. senate history that i'm quoting from, also provides that

the senate shall have this power to accept or reject presidential appointees to the executive and judicial branches. this was born of compromise, as i mentioned, and in debating the issues the framers expressed concerns that entrusting the appointment power exclusively to the president would encourage monarchical tendencies. additionally, as the senate was to represent each state separately, its role, the advice-and-consent role in the constitution, offered security to smaller states, whose delegates at the time feared they would be overwhelmed by appointees sympathetic to larger states. for these reasons, madam president, since i've been in the u.s. senate, i've taken this advice-and-consent role very

seriously. for all nominees -- during the obama administration when i was here for the last two years of that administration, all of the trump administration, and now the biden administration. and as you can imagine, whenever i have asked for a meeting of any nominee, so i could meet with them, under this constitutional provision for a senate-confirmed position, every single administration i've dealt with, the three i just named, have said, of course, senator. that's your constitutional role. of course you should meet with them. why is that? why has every white house said yes? because, as i just mentioned, they know that that's literally our constitutional role, as i just mentioned. so, every time i have asked for one of these meetings, for a

senate-confirmed nominee of any administration, it's always been granted. until today, madam president. until today. as i said, the senate's business, a lot of the business this week, is actually going to be focused on the advice-and- consent constitutional role that we have. especially as it relates to judges. but i've been told by this white house, specifically the white house counsel, i guess, to be honest, it's often difficult to figure out who's in charge over there, that i can't meet with any of these ninth circuit judges that we're going to vote on this week before the vote. this is a shocking breach of stiewn norms -- institutional norms between the white house and the senate, that every senator here, every senator regardless of party, should be concerned about.

why? as i mentioned, the advice-and-consent role is really important for every senate-confirmed position. it's mandated by the u.s. constitution, but madam president, it is particularly important for judges. judges who will get life tenure. by the end of this week, it's likely that these three ninth circuit judges will be on the bench for the rest of their lives. and right now, i can't get a one-hour meeting with them. they have enormous power over american citizens, and i'm going to talk about the ninth circuit and the power it has over my citizens. so, my experience as a senator is that i meet with as many judges as possible. and whenever i've requested a meeting of any administration to meet with a judge, it's always

been granted. but i always, always, always meet with the ninth circuit judges. as i mentioned, madam president, until now, i've interviewed every single ninth circuit judge that this body has voted on for the last almost seven years. every single one during my entire time in the senate. why is this so important to me? why is this so important to everybody? well, specifically as it relates to the ninth circuit, if you can look at this map, as many americans know, most of our federal court systems are divided into what are called circuits. the ninth circuit, which is this dark brown, is the biggest federal court of appeals in the country. it's huge. look at all the states that are under the jurisdiction of the ninth circuit -- california,

idaho, arizona, washington, oregon, montana, alaska, hawaii. it's enormous. almost one in five americans are under the jurisdiction of the ninth circuit. it has enormous power, especially over my constituents in the great state of alaska. but here's the thing, madam president. if you look at the number of judges that each circuit court gets -- another reason why the ninth circuit is so important and so powerful is it gets an enormous number of judges. the ninth circuit is listed here on the far left. 29 active judges. one judge comes from the great state of alaska. one judge comes from the great state of alaska. so as you can imagine, discussing legal issues with any judge from the ninth circuit is very important to me and more

important to the people i represent. here's something else about the ninth circuit, madam president. on so many issues that matter to my constituents, the court gets the legal issues wrong. the court gets the legal issues wrong. now i've seen this firsthand. almost 25 years ago i had the honor of being a ninth circuit law clerk for the only ninth circuit judge we have in alaska -- judge andrew kleinfeld, a phenomenal judge. i watched panel after panel in the ninth circuit get cases related to the great state of alaska wrong. now look, in some ways it's not their fault. yeah, they had different views and legal outlooks. but if you're a judge and you grew up in l.a. and all you know

is l.a., california, laws and now you're a ninth circuit judge and you're supposed to rule on all these very alaska-specific federal laws, you don't really know what you're doing. you don't really know what you're doing. and i saw that as a young lawyer. but don't take my word for it, madam president. in the last four years the u.s. supreme court has taken up three specific alaska cases, two of which were from the ninth circuit, one of which was in d.c. circuit. these big, important circuits all got them wrong. cases that would have changed the history and future of my state. so, when i meet with nominees for the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit, it's usually always very cordial. i walk them through a lot of

issues, legal issues of which they know very little about. again, not their fault. and to explain why these are so important to the people i represent. again, if you're an l.a. lawyer, a lawyer from phoenix, you don't know about native alaskan law. you don't know about the alaskan national interests lands conservation act called anilca, federal law, 1,000 pages that the u.s. supreme court in the last three years twice smacked down the ninth circuit 9-0. 9-0 because the ninth circuit continually gets these alaska-focused statutes wrong. so i walk them through these issues. it's all i do. it's not a big deal. it's actually trying to help the judges. i think every ninth circuit judge i met with appreciates it. so let me give you a couple of

examples of what i would do if i could meet with these judges. like i said, madam president, anilca, the alaska national interest lands conservation act, hugely important federal law, passed in 1980. we didn't want it, by the way. it federalized almost 100 million acres of land in alaska. imagine that. most states aren't even as big as 100 million acres. the u.s. supreme court 9-0 ruled in favor of a moose hunter who wanted access to federal lands, named john sturgeon, very famous alaskan right now. went back to the ninth circuit, they misinterpreted it, went back up to the u.s. supreme court 9-0, they smacked him down again. justice kagan who wrote the second opinion said if john sturgeon lived in any other state, his lawsuit would not have had a prayer of success, except that sturgeon lives in alaska.

and as we, the u.s. supreme court, have said before, quote, alaska is often the exception, not the rule when it comes to these kind of federal laws and federal parks. you think it would be good to have a ninth circuit judge getting ready to get on the deport understand the sturgeon case? it wouldn't. so that's what i do. i have the judges read sturgeon. i have them read other cases. it's all advice and consent. it's our constitutional role. until today i've done it with every ninth circuit judge. like i said, i was over at the white house on friday, really kind of banging the table on the biden administration's war on alaska. some of you may have seen a speech i gave last week. 20 executive orders and executive actions singularly focused on my great state. 20. crushing working families. and i said, you know one thing i'd like to do is continue my

record of meeting with every ninth circuit judge. i'm available sunday, sunday night, all day monday. give me a call. i haven't heard anything back. something else i do with these judges when they come before me is i talk about indian law. a lot of lawyers think, hey, i really know indian law well. my advice and counsel in the advice and consent process, when it comes to indian law in alaska, you think you're an expert. throw out everything you know about lower 48 indian law when it doms alaska indian law -- when it comes to alaska indian law. the native law in alaska, the federal law is 100% different than the lower 48 states. this is advice i give to judges in the ninth circuit. they don't know this. an l.a. lawyer doesn't know this. this week, madam president, we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of congress' passage

of the alaska native claims settlement act, what we call in alaska, ancsa, the largest settlement of indigenous land claims certainly in america, probably in the world. really successful act. not perfect. very innovative. but it's been litigated like crazy. we had a case from the ninth circuit several years ago that essentially said ancsa created reservation land throughout the entire state of alaska. that would have changed the history of alaska forever. of course the ninth circuit got it wrong. that case went up to the supreme court, 9-0, the supreme court smacked down the ninth circuit. ancsa didn't do that. that's not what congress intended. you think it would be good for these judges this week if i could sit down with this to help them understand that? it would be really good, really important. it would help them for their

jobs. just this year the d.c. circuit on another ancsa related case, the chialas case got ancsa wrong again. the supreme court ruled on it four months ago, a huge victory for my state again. we wrote an amicus brief, senator murkowski, congressman young and i. but it was enormously important. this wrong case at the d.c. circuit would have changed the history of alaska forever. the supreme court 6-3 said you guys are misinterpreting alaska. do you think these judges on the nineth circuit who we're debating to confirm this week would learn a little bit about that if i could meet with them? they would. finally, madam president, the other thing i always do with ninth circuit judges, i talk about the second amendment. the second amendment, it's really, really important to people i represent.

we use firearms for food, for self-defense in the wild. well over 60% of all the homes in my state have firearms for these reasons. if you're an l.a. lawyer, you don't know this stuff. but all of a sudden you're going to be ruling on cases that deal with alaska or idaho or montana. and here's the thing, madam president -- they might not know these issues, these judges. i've looked at their background. i've wanted to interview them. again, remarkably, i can't get an interview with them. and here's the thing, as soon as they get confirmed, they're going to get these cases before them, dealing with my state and other states to rule on these kind of issues. you think a meeting would help them? boy, i should really think about that. i remember senator sullivan talked about anilca and the

sturgeon case. i'm really glad i read the sturgeon case. this is why these advice and consent constitutional meetings are so important. and as i mentioned, madam president, i've been doing this my entire time in the senate. i've never not had a meeting with a ninth circuit judge. it doesn't matter where they're from -- montana, arizona, washington state. they're going to rule on issues that relate to my state and my constituents. and these judges don't mind that. they actually, i think, enjoy it. they learn. but this white house says you can't meet with them. this is absurd. here's the question -- what are they hiding? what are they worried about? are they hiding something? are the judges hiding something? again, this is a precedent, madam president, that democrats and republicans should all be against. we know what goes around comes

around in this body. and it just doesn't make sense. all three of these ninth circuit judges will have life tenure and enormous, enormous power over everybody in the ninth circuit, that's 20% of all americans. and certainly enormous power over the people in alaska, whom i'm privileged to serve and represent. and these judges are very likely to know very little about these issues that i just talked about. so i believe i have a constitutional role to help them understand these issues better, and that's the way it's always been. nobody's complained. absurdly the white house has said, well, senator sullivan, you can meet with the ninth circuit judge if they're from alaska. what? we have one judge, and she's

not going to be retiring any time soon. that's it. now here's the thing, i just talked to the previous administration's white house counsel this morning. when i called the biden administration's white house counsel this morning -- still waiting for that phone call, by the way. i asked, i said, look, if the white house counsel is saying no to a u.s. senator to do his constitutional duty, i'd like to hear it directly from her. she hasn't called me back yet. but i talked to the previous administration's white house counsel, and i said, by the way, did you guys do this? i'm just double checking. i got to meet with all the ninth circuit judges president trump put forward. did you blackball democrats? did you do that? and they said absolutely not. made a few phone calls to other people in the white house counsel's office. to the contrary, when any senator wanted to meet with any circuit judge, we always made it happen. so this is a new precedent. again, it doesn't matter if

you're a republican or democrat, this is just a bad precedent. in the notion that, well, senator, you get to meet with a ninth circuit judge from alaska when, by the way, california, they get -- i think they have close to 20 ninth circuit judges. but the notion that you can only meet with the one who's from your state is actually moronic. the people who need to be educated are the ones who aren't from your state because they're all going to rule on issues from your state. so i'm still waiting for the white house counsel to call me back, or whoever's in charge in the white house. but i'm going to conclude with this, madam president. i'm going to go around them. i'm going to go around them. here's what i'm going to do, and i hope someone's watching from the white house. but more importantly, i hope someone's watching from the judge's chambers.

judge koh, we're getting ready to vote on your nomination tonight. judge sung, we're -- of oregon, we're getting ready to vote on your nomination tomorrow. j judge sanchez, judge thomas, holly thomas, of california, you might get voted on this week too. four. here's my ask. give me a call. give me a call. give my office a call. i'll meet with you tonight. you want to learn about anilca? you want to learn about the sturgeon case? 202-224-1026. give my office a call. i'm ready to meet any time. here's the thing for the judges, one hour of your time, you have

lifetime tenure, one hour to talk to a u.s. senator doing his constitutional duty for the people he represents. shouldn't be that hard. as a matter of fact, this is probably your first test of judicial independence. a u.s. senator, of the senate -- of the senate -- read the constitution -- wants to undertake his advice and consent, constitution role with you. okay. you guys have read the constitution, those four judges i just mentioned. but an unelected bureaucrat in the white house, i guess a white house counsel, who knows? it's hard to tell who's in charge there. she's blocking this. give my office a call, 202-224-1026. i'm ready to meet and talk to you any time before the vote. don't worry. i don't think president biden is going to yank your nomination if

you call me. heck, he probably doesn't even know this is going on. but you know this is the right thing to do, judges. you've read the constitution. heck, if our meeting goes well, i might even vote for you. but here's the thing, you will learn more about the issues that you're going to have to deal with very soon in your tenure, which you probably don't know anything about, no offense to you. but i read your back growbdz. you don't know -- backgrounds. you don't know about native alaskan laws, you don't know about anilca, but you need to hear these issues because you're going to be life tenured on the ninth circuit and you don't have time to talk to me, a u.s. senator, who's a u.s. senator representing a state from the ninth circuit. you know it's wrong. by the way, my colleagues on the senate -- in the senate know it's wrong. so i hope my democrat and

republican colleagues realize that this is not a good precedent. this is not a good precedent. it's never happened as far as i've been here. and, madam president, you know, from big things to small things, this administration is really focused in many ways on smashing political and institutional norms that have enjoyed strong bipartisan support. and it's not good for this body. it's not good for the government. the "wall street journal" today had an article about biden federal regulators staging a cue against the director of the fdic on bank mergers. one doesn't have power over it and now is trying to be in charge. i have served on the board. it's a huge honor. president biden comes in and fires everybody on the service

academies that served under president trump. no other person has done that before. everyone is furious. the democrats, the republicans, the number one thing they are saying is this president is the first one to politicize the service academies. and, by the way, he hasn't appointed anyone yet to replace the people he fired so we didn't have a quorum for our meeting last week. just smashing institutional norms. but this institutional norm, advice and consent, when it comes to circuit court judges with life tenure is something that we've all agreed upon. and the previous administration certainly allowed for it and right now i can't meet with a ninth circuit judge who's going to have enormous power for their entire lives over my constituents. so to my colleagues, we shouldn't allow this.

you guys know it's wrong. and to the judges, like i said, judge sanchez, judge koh, judge sung, thomas, give my office a call. do the right thing. your first test of judicial independence is before you. of the senate, the u.s. senate, of the senate of which i am a part, wants to do our constitutional role. give us a call so we can do it. ignore the very bad advice you're getting from the white house counsel or whoever's in charge over there. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that ed prich ard, a department of defense fellow, who is a member of my time be granted floor privileges for the remainder of

this congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you. the time has come once again to say fayewell to -- farewell. we have been working with captain edward prichard who served as our first department of defense fellow. it was a strange year to be a fellow here in the senate but ed rose to the occasion and impressed us. he impressed every one of us with his work ethic, hiewrm humor -- humor and his strength and integrity of the u.s. military. it has been an honor having ed on our team and i think i speak for each and every one of us when i say we will miss him. captain pritchard, i chang thank you for your -- i thank you for your service to tennessee and our nation, and i wish you the

best as you head across the river to the pentagon to start the next exciting chapter in your already distinguished career. madam president, i ask that the remainder of my remarks be placed separately into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: last friday the bureau of statistics released numbers that -- the american people are in for even more economic pain. why? because their paychecks just can't keep up with the skyrocketing prices. on top of everything else, they get to look forward to a pay cut every month for the foreseeable future, and all of this is happening just in time for christmas. it's insult added to injury. now, it would be bad enough if this economic nosedive would

have happened no matter what the white house chose to do, but it would not have happened. it was totally preventible. no, this is the direct result of the democrats' reckless taxing-and spending spree that started in march and last all year long. american families have struggled to stretch their paycheck ps through 6-point -- paychecks through 6.8% inflation through november, which was the highest we have seen in almost 40 years. we are looking at the largest 12-month increase since 1982. think about this. all of this happened just as the experts predicted, and just as tennesseans kept saying they feared this is what would happen.

and now despite a mountain of evidence proving their recovery strategy has failed, democrats are ready to lean into the past year's insanity and pump not millions, not billions, but trillions -- trillions of dollars into the economy that they've already destroyed. what's worse? they are trying to leverage this economic pain against their republican colleagues by refusing to raise the debt ceiling to accommodate their own reckless spending. madam president, you can't make this stuff up. this is biden economics. it is intentional, and it is painful. because what the democrats are doing is showing they are willing to spend taxpayer money

on things that taxpayers don't want which is this destructive economic agenda. so i ask my democratic colleagues, what is it about these numbers that are staring you in the face that you do not understand? are you so eager to force president biden's build back broke agenda on the american people that you're willing to throw reason and accountability and basic economics out the window? is it really worth watching your fellow countrymen suffer? is it worth watching people that you represent, people that elected you? is it worth watching them suffer? if you all bothered to pay attention, what you would see is

just how bad it has gotten out here in the real world. the policies that you are so convinced will lead us into a socialist eutopia, as some on the left like to say, has dragged the people into a constant, constant state of fear and worry. as one tennessee mom told me last week, this stuff scarce me. it just scarce -- scares me. it just scares me. this not only makes for an extremely -- the new axis of evil, as i like to call them, they are watching, communist iran, china, and they are watching us. if the past few weeks have taught us anything, so has their

counterpart in the axis of evil, russia. on sunday we saw a flood of so-called strong signals coming from the g-7 following a meeting to discuss russia's aggression toward ukraine. now, i don't discount the importance of these statements. i do hope vladimir putin heard us loud and clear, but i also know that statements mean nothing unless they come from a position of strength and unless they are accompanied by action. and right now that's not what the biden administration is projecting or doing. president biden's refusal to lead by example is putting us in danger and it's putting our partners in kiev in danger. his administration has spent

time throwing policy spaghetti against the wall and trying to get it to stick. he persists pivoting when he needs to recapture the mainstream media's attention. over in russia, putin is enjoying every single minute of this. he's probably laughing. he knows he can be as belligerent as he pleases, because his most powerful and lethal adversary is totally distracted. today i sent a letter to the white house asking them to clarify the spin they've been putting out on our posture concerning ukraine. here's the problem i'm trying to get to the bottom of. on december 9, the associated press reported on a diplomatic phone call between biden the ukrainian president. during the call, the white house allegedly made it clear that we support ukrainian sovereignty. that's good.

however, that report also revealed a supposed plan concocted by the white house to persuade ukraine to cede their territory to russia. because it's currently controlled by russian separatists. white house press secretary jen psaki has denied the latter. i still have questions about what is going on behind-the-scenes. history tells us that awd accurates and -- add accurates and thugs see weakness, they pounce. strength is the only thing that deters them. have my colleagues across the aisle ever heard peace through strength? have they looked at that as a policy? president biden must summon the

strength to stop playing political games for the cameras and couldn't -- confront this direct challenge to ukraine's sovereignty. my democratic colleagues must join him. this will require more than strong words. it does require action. this year's yet-to-be passed ndaa authorizes $75 million in lethal assistance to ukraine. it is time to pass this bill, madam president. and i would add that the fiscal year 2022 ndaa is the most bipartisan thing that has come out of this senate all year. it's a no-brainer. let's get this done and not just for ukraine. also the future of western europe. that is also at stake. the biden administration must

stand firm and reimpose meaningful sanctions on nord stream 2. this one pipeline will double the total capacity of russian gas export and hand even more economic leverage to the kre kremlin. why would we want to do that? ukraine on the other hand will lose an estimated $3 billion each year in transit fees. putin is weaponizing energy in europe. our partners in ukraine are living under the constant threat of invasion, and the biden administration is just sitting there and letting it happen. so here we are at the 11th hour. christmas is coming. and we're still waiting for biden and the democrats to do the job the american people

elected them to do. they have squandered an entire year trying to conjure up support for their disastrous, socialist ageneral today we are never going to get this time back and the american people who are suffering are not going to get this year back. but now is not the moment to just let things go. we cannot afford weakness and spend, not when it comes to the economy, not when it comes to foreign policy, and certainly not when it comes to proving to the american people that there is someone in washington watching out for them. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to speak for up to 15 minutes, that senator tuberville for up to ten

minutes and senator padilla up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. carper: madam president, i come to the floor this afternoon to talk about a friend bob dole who was laid to rest last week. before i do that, i want to just take a moment to express our heartfelt thoughts, sorrow at the loss of so many lives in more than a half dozen states, including kentucky where my sister and her family live, including arkansas where other friends live. but we just want to know the folks who are going through a tough patch, when we talk about you in our thoughts and prayers, you literally are and it's not just words that we're saying. we hope in promise we'll be there to help you going forward to deal with all of this. having said that, madam president, i just want to talk a

bit about bob dole. as our nation continues to mourn his loss and celebrate the life of one of the greatest of the great -- greatest generation. i rise today to add to the countless tributes benefiting the late great senator from kansas, and that's bob dole. born robert joseph dole on july 22, 1922, in russell, kansas, bob dole grew up during a period known as the dustbowl in the american heartland where his family, like so many others, struggled to pay rent and put food on their table. bob dole was a star athlete in high school. he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. he began his studies at the university of kansas but like many young americans at the time, including my dad and uncles from west virginia, like them he began -- his plans were interrupted by the attack on pearl harbor and hitler's army

marching across europe. bob dole enlisted in the army reserve and was called up to active duty in 1943. two years later at the age of 21, as part of the tenth mountain division, bob dole was severely injured on the battlefield in italy after bravely pulling a fellow soldier to safety. he sustained grave injuries to his spine, to his shoulder, to one of his hands, and buy all accounts was left for dead on the battlefield. but bob dole like the united states and our allies didn't give up. he persevered. despite long odds to recovery, bob never gave up and wouldn't take no for an answer. he spent 39 months -- let me repeat that. he spent 39 months recovering in a hospital bed undergoing numerous surgeries. when doctors told him that he

was partially paralyzed, he built a device, he built a device to help him regrain his strength and was able not only to stand upright but eventually to walk again and to run for office many, many times. bob dole knew he was lucky to make it home. in the decade he spent in public service after sustaining his injuries, he dedicated much of his life to ensuring that our veterans, especially our fallen veterans during world war ii like my uncle bob, were honored and remembered for their sacrifices. my uncle bob was my mom's youngest brother, one of those sailors who wasn't lucky enough to make it home. he died at the age of 19 in 1944 -- -- during an attack on the western pacific on his aircraft carrier the u.s.s. one. his body was never recovered. his memory lives on thanks in no small part to senator bob dole's

work to establish the world war ii memorial on the national mall. for that my family, the patton family on my mother's side are forever grateful. though they never met bob dole like so many americans of the greatest generation, he understood that my uncle bob made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation and for the preservation of our democracy. and that's why senator bob dole spent so much of his time raising money for the world war ii memorial and why he spent so many saturdays there greeting veterans and thanking them for their service. this meant the world to those families like mine who lost a loved one during the war. when bob dole was finally able to stand on his own two feet again, the town of russell, russell kansas, rallied around him and encouraged him to run for office. and he did. after a short stint in local kansas politics, bob served in the u.s. house of representatives for four terms

before being elected to the senate in 1968, same year i was commissioned ensign in the navy. for 35 years bob dole proudly served the people of kansas in washington, here. his time in congress especially as a senator is really where his legacy in public service started to take shape. he was a proud republican who ran three times for his party's nomination for the presidency. but i believe that bob dole will be remembered most fondly for his ability to find common ground. and i believe he said it best himself and i'm going to quote him. he said when we prioritize principle and principles over party and humanity over personal legacy, we accomplish far more as a nation. i'll read that again. this is worth repeating. when we prioritize principles over party and humanity over

personal legacy, we accomplish far more as a nation. he was right. we can accomplish far more when we work together as one nation rather than as members of different political parties. bob himself said his proudest political accomplishments were passing the bipartisan americans with disabilities act and working to find a principle compromise to save social security, a compromise i was privileged to support as a newly elected freshman in the house of representatives in 1983. and i believe bob dole embodied the admonition of matthew 25, care for the least of these among us. he worked alongside the south dakota senator george mcgovern, a liberal democrat, who also ran for president, to improve the supplemental nutrition assistance program formerly -- formally known as the food stamps program to

ensure struggling families could feed themselves and their children. bob dole took matthew 25 and matthew 25 goes something like this. for i was hungry and you gave me something to eat and he turned it into the law that to this day helps lift americans out of poverty and on to longer, healthier lives. because ultimately bob followed his moral compass, even when it wasn't politically convenient, he wasn't afraid to buck his party when he felt doing so was the right thing to do. he was a fiscal conservative but supported tax reforms to raise revenue. he also supported -- get this -- he also supported the passage of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. landmark civil rights bills that sought to eliminate racial discrimination from our laws and sought to ensure equal access to the ballot box for all amer

americans. madam president, these accomplishes -- accomplishments required hard-fought negotiations and courageous votes but bob dole never let that interfere with his commitment to doing what was right and i might add to an incredible sense of humor. when bob's wonderful wife, our former colleague here in the senate, elizabeth dole was in front of the senate labor committee in 1989 having been nominated by then-president george herbert walker bush, he -- bob accompanied her to her confirmation hearing and introduced her there, as many of us introduce our own constituents when they're nominated for a particular position. by a president. one of the things he said as he sat there next to his wife, elizabeth, he quipped -- he was

great for quips. he said to his colleagues, i regret that i have but one wife to give for my country. i regret that i have but one wife to give for my country. and he -- following his defeat in 1988, the republican president primary, he opened his remarks by saying not only do i regret that i have a one wife to give to my country, he wanted to add, if he had this much coverage in my primary, i wouldn't be writing my -- i would be writing my inaugural address. he then continued to say i once dreamed making a name of myself in washington but i never thought it would be as the husband of the secretary of labor but i'll take what comes these days. the truth is, madam president, as much as bob dole probably learned while serving here in the senate, the senate could learn a lot more from the life and example of bob dole. and we could use more bob doles in this body today on both sides of the aisle.

while bob dole was a serious man, he didn't take himself too seriously. he didn't care for politicians who divided just for the sake of division. he also didn't care for big egos or folks who wanted to do something just so they could take credit for it. he believed the words of abraham lincoln, one of his personal heroes that ours is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. that's why he fought and nearly gave his life in defense of our nation and our democracy. that's why he continued to serve our nation also, always striving to improve the lives of kansans and all of us. we owe it to senator dole, to my uncle bob, and to the entire greatest generation who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice for us to live in a free and democratic country. to uphold the ideals of our democracy and to work together to create a brighter, better tomorrow for our children and our grandchildren. so as we mourn the passing of

bob dole, i would challenge all of us to prioritize principles over party and humanity over personal legacy. we can all work better together to address the challenges today and confront the challenges of tomorrow. mr. president, some of us may recall the famous film the wizard of oz. took place in bob dole's proud home state of kansas. and throughout the film, dorothy is reminded that there is no place like home, no place like home. mr. president, senator dole entered these halls one last time last week to lie in state in the capitol rotunda just down the hall over my right shoulder. i like many of my colleagues had the chance to pay my respects, our respects to a man of integrity, passion, and wit. now it's time to send bob home back to russell, kansas, as we

have one last time because there is truly no place like home. as the presiding officer knows, i like to -- if we're not in session when somebody has a birthday, i call them, i track them down or send a text message. i've done that with elizabeth dole who served in this chamber in more recent years. and i still call her on her birthday. and her birthday is july 29, july 29. i called her on july 29 this year. to wish her happy birthday and see how she and bob were doing. i got to talk with him as well as with her. and they both said to me, they said, why don't you and martha -- my wife martha -- come down here sometime when we have some free time and you do as well and we'll just go out to dinner together. and, sadly, we never got to do that. but -- but, we're going to take a raincheck, and i promise you,

if you're listening up there, bob, we plan to take full advantage of that raincheck and come and see you and elizabeth. with that, i yield the floor. mr.mr. tuberville: mr. presiden? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: i'd like to add on to what the other people have said. i grew up in arkansas, now live in alabama, and there hasn't been a year gone by that we didn't have devastated communities, towns, cities across the south. it seems like it's an every-year occurrence. there's been many people lost, many people injured. the tv trucks and news people will leave in the next couple of days, leaving the destruction behind for the people of these

cities and towns to rebuild. and it's a tough time. it's going to be a tough time all around, not just for a few days but for years. and our prayers go out to them and all the families that have to go through one of the toughest times of their lives. mr. president, on the list of people that my democratic colleagues are claiming to help on this build back better act, there's a huge blank. i worked in education all my life. i worked around people all my life. what's missing from this list is american families, american families all over this country. for example, the child care program in this tax-and-spend spree is really only about helping certain families. and that's fine -- certain families. but we should help all families. but my colleagues want to help

the ones that are structured toward the democrats that they deem favorable. and that's not the american way. if you're in a two-parent working household, my colleagues' plan would cost mom and dad thousands more each year to pay for their child care. think about that, thousands more. this means tax many and give to a few. well, that's not what we do here. additionally, a once bipartisan initiative, the child tax credit, is being reworked. the cost of that dramatic expansion will be paid for by joint filers, meaning, in other words, couples or families will pay the cost. i want to take a moment to contrast this attack on the family. it's an attack on a family

approach with actual american families around the country that are -- we're looking at and that we're speaking about. this antifamily bill is not only coming at a time when families have to pay more for groceries and pay for more gas and higher prices at the gas pump, but also when families are silently fighting other unnamed pandemic and problems. and those are the worsening problems of mental health and drug addiction issues in our country today. which they are abundant. so i ask my colleagues, why this bill? it doesn't build families back better. it builds them broke. it helps a few, not all. it doesn't create jobs or

support working families. it creates more reliance on big government socialism. and why now? when inflation is so high and when so many of our friends and families are suffering to find the help that they need. it goes without saying that the covid pandemic has played and is playing a large role in the staggering rise in drug overdoses and increase in mental health crisis and homelessness in the past couple of years. americans were locked down unnecessarily for long periods of time. jobs were lost and the economic engine of our nation was brought to a screeching halt. children lost out on valuable education opportunities and

wondered when they were going to be able to see their friends again. student college experiences were changed for every. and parents had to juggle working and full-time child care in addition to holding down their jobs. americans felt lonelier and more detached than ever before, especially in my lifetime. it is a dream too often turned into a nightmare for an increasing number of americans. a promising future robbed by deadly drug addiction. and, sadly, it is more common now than ever before. according to the latest data from the national center from health statistics, we lost over 100,000 american lives due to drug overdoses from april 20 to april 21. that's not including the last

eight months. this is an increase of 30% from the year before. think of all the open seats that will be at the dinner table for christmas lunch or dinner, the futures that will never be fully realized, the families forever mourning the loss of a loved one. it's happening every day. we have these known issues made worse by a pandemic. there's no doubt. and yet the democrats' response has been to open our borders and allow cartels to profit off of fentanyl and other deadly substances into our country. it's hard to imagine. through the first nine months of this year, the monthly average of fentanyl seize is 839 pounds -- a month. 830 pounds. compare that to a monthly average of 321 pounds in 2018 to 2020.

now, that's way too many. but 830 pounds a month. two,000 -- 2,000 pounds can kill millions. instead, we need to look at how we can address mental health and -- mental health and break the cycle of drug addiction and homelessness. it should be about priorities in this building. there are solutions if we approach the problem the right way. it's clear that the money we're spendinged and the programs -- spending and the programs that we have in place are not working. we need to open our eyes. we should be strengthening the family. we know strong families are the backbone of a strong community, and right now democrats are too focused on sneaking past these progressive wish list items like climate police, taxes that puts us on par with communist countries into a bill under the

guise that will help all americans. i'm here to help americans but the right way. all americans. last year congress got to work on passing bills to help with covid relief. well, some relief funds were certainly necessary for those who needed it the most. of the government's role quickly went from providing targeted stimulus to unchecked spending month by month. and this year my democratic colleagues assumed a predictable response to every problem they faced -- just throw money at it. folks, money is not the answer. people are the answer. and the money they want top use will be paid for, yes, by the american people. it's not government money. i.t. it's -- it's the american people, and it's the taxpayers'

money. but pumping money is not the solution. it did not work earlier this year when what was passed was a $1.9 trillion spending package that was passed off as covid relief. it caused prices to rise, inflation to spike. it didn't address most of the issues that families still face today. we've spent all this money, and we got worse problems. we throw money around in the name of solving problems. and if we do it this time, it won't work this time either. we're putting the country more in debt, and we're making problems worse. people are starting to figure it out. you know, as a football coach for 40 years, i know a little bit about strategy. i was a defensive guy. i like strategy. that's part of playing defense. a good defensive player must make a decision based on what is

learned in practice and what their experience tells them. then they have the confidence to commit to that decision. but the key to winning with the match-up is to always watch where the ball is if you're on defense. we always taught our players, play the game with your eyes. if you go to any practice, you'll hear this. defensive players, play with your eyes and trust your eyes. offenses will throw motion across formation. they'll run a trick play. they try to get your eye off the ball. you have the chance to go out there and stop the play if you trust your eyes. that's the same thing happening and is happening right now, we're playing defense, and we cannot take our eye off -- not the ball, but this bill. we've got to trust our eyes. the american people have to trust their eyes.

democratic colleagues are trying all sorts of tricks, political spin, to convince americans that their build back better bill is a championship-caliber win. they're banking on americans to be too busy and to be caught up in the holidays to understand what is really in this bill. but here's the thing -- americans should know that the democrats' reckless african american-and-spend spree is nothing more than a gimmick, a trick designed to fool the defense and the american people, to help a few, not everybody. the american people should trust their eyes. this bill is not thoughtfully -- thoughtful policy that will change american lives. it is a way to increase big government socialism and pay for it by increasing taxes on not a

few, in the the one percent, but everybody in this country. because of the way they're doing this bill, using an obscure procedure tool that's called reconciliation, everything in this bill has to be budgetary, as in related to the budget. sometimes this is useful. when you're trying to create a fairer, simpler tax code or make tax cuts. it's also a tool to used to bipartisan the minority. but the reconciliation process actually limits what congress can do to address most problems facing americans because everything in this bill has to be budget related. reconciliation does not allow congress to be thoughtfully -- to thoughtfully construct policy or make improvements. simply send something out checks is not the same as making

meaningful change. so when my democratic colleagues say that their bill will help americans, it will -- a few but not very many. all it does is throw money at problems, which is, as we've seen, not what our country needs. this reckless tax-and-spend spree creates a cradle-to-grave entitlement society but does not actually help people in that society. if we really wanted to help american families, we'd start with a bipartisan effort, meaning that we would discuss the needs of all americans, not just a few. in this very tough time, all citizens need help. everybody needs help. it's been a tough time. it's been a tough couple of years. but this has just been a one-way

street. we have folks who represent urban and rural areas talking with each other about what american families actually need. and what actually works. we could create targeted, thoughtful bills that didn't rely on targets, gimmicks or party lines to pass. so we can't let our democratic colleagues fool americans. their build back better bill isn't making american families better. it's not helping americans who are suffering from mental health issues. it's not helping our country's drug addiction problem. it's an anti-family bill that will make our country more dependent on big government and is spending money the wrong way. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: mr. president, i rise today in support of the nomination of judge lucy koh to the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. judge koh is an outstanding legal thinker and a trail-blazing public servant. her commitment to equal justice for all has earned her support on both sides of the aisle, from her first judicial appointment by former california governor arnold schwarzenegger, a republican, to her unanimous senate confirmation to serve as a federal district judge in california, to her strong bipartisan advancement recently from the senate judiciary committee for this appointment, judge koh has a reputation for

excellence that stretches far and wide. she built this reputation over the course of a stellar legal career that started right here in this senate as a woman's law and public policy fellow with the senate judiciary committee. she then spent seven years with the united states department of justice, earning numerous accolades for her work, including an f.b.i. award for excellence in prosecuting major fraud. from the department of justice, judge koh made her way to california, to silicon valley specifically, where she made a name for herself as an expert litigator on intellectual property cases. in 2008 governor schwarzenegger appointed her to the california superior court. two years later president obama

appointed koh to the district court. she has gone on to distinguish herself as a jurist, well known not only in her district but across the country as talented, thoughtful, smart, and fair. this nomination is actually her second nomination to the ninth circuit. in 2016 she was nominated and advanced out of the senate judiciary committee at that time on a bipartisan basis, but unfortunately never received a floor vote in this senate. but now that we have this vote scheduled, i hope that my colleagues will join me in voting to confirm judge koh on a strong bipartisan vote once again. i know the people of california, the ninth circuit, and the country at large will benefit from her dedication,

her integrity, and compassion as a circuit court judge. in many ways the story of judge koh brings to the bench the epitome of the american dream. the daughter of korean immigrants who fled communism and dictatorship in search of a better life. judge koh was born in washington, d.c. and raised in viksburg, mississippi, and growing up, judge koh studied at public schools and was no stranger to poverty and discrimination. she spent weekends and summers working in her father's small business, and she was surrounded by the love and lessons of her immigrant family. now these experiences all helped to shape the unique and needed perspectives that she now brings as a federal judge. if confirmed, judge koh will become the first korean american woman to serve on a federal circuit court.

now as the first latino to represent california here in this senate, i know the importance of diversity at all levels of government, and that includes the judiciary. our country is stronger and fairer when we are guided by the voices and experiences of all of our people. and while we have a lot of work to do to remake our justice system to better reflect the country that it serves, based on judge koh's record, her skill, intellect --. the presiding officer: senators will please take their conversations off the floor. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. based on judge koh's record, skill, intellect and respect for the rule of law, her confirmation is a big step in helping us achieve that goal. i urge my colleagues to join me in voting to confirm her to the ninth circuit. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the koh

nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. lucy koh of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 50. the nays are 45. 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 action. a senator: mr. president? ever. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i am here on the floor to ask for some courtesy for a pair of

nominees. these are nominees to the court of federal claims which is the court to which citizens can come with claims against the federal government, in the court of federal claims, the federal government is the defendant. and these two individuals are in an enormous traffic jam that our colleagues have created for nominees. at the moment i'm told we have 159 nominees. out of committee on the executive calendar backed up on the senate floor. 159. i'm on the judiciary committee. these two are judges. they're for the court of federal claims. this is not a partisan thing. this is about letting the court

of federal claims do its work. both of them are extremely well qualified. neither is partisan. both were voice voted out of the judiciary committee. and i would hope just as a matter of courtesy and common decency we could agree tonight to move them forward. one of them is named armando bonilla. he served as the counsel to the marshals service. he served as counsel to the deputy attorney general. he served actually as associate deputy attorney general. the department of justice is not an easy thing to move up from being counsel to the marshal service, to being counsel to the

da, to be associate dag. that's a pretty impressive record. before that, as a trial attorney, he had served in the public integrity section of the department, in the asset forfeit chur and money lawnd laundering laundering -- laundering section, bringing those cases. and in the civil side, in the commercial litigation division. so he's got the trial qualifications you would want. he's got the experience from the government side that you would want. he's got a voice vote out of committee. and if that's not enough, he's a graduate of west virginia university. so, he's a i think very well-rounded individual, who would serve well in the court of

federal claims. also, i'll be asking to confirm carolyn lerner, who brings her own superb quality ficks to this position -- qualifications to this position as well. she's right now the chief circuit mediator for if the court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. so she deals with litigation conflicts all the time. she's obviously viewed with considerable regardpy the court -- regard by the court to have made her their chief circuit mediator. she served many years in private practice. she'd be very familiar with the private packets of the individuals that -- private practice of the individuals that come before the court of federal claims. again, private person versus federal government is what that court's business is. and she even taught law.

carolyn lerner and armando bonilla are both very well qualified, and both came out of, the judiciary committee with voice votes, which means they both had bipartisan support. and this is an important court to proceed with. now, what's happened here, and the reason we're now up to 159 backed up nominees for executive and jude i recall positions -- judicial positions is that our colleagues on the other side are insisting on cloture for essentially almost every individual who comes through, and that eats up time on the senate floor and slows things down and creates the traffic

jam. it's like you're driving on highway 95, and you pull into the middle lane at drive at 25 miles an hour. you are going to jam up traffic behind you. and that's what our friends are doing. they're jamming up traffic. i think there are certainly members of the other party who would like to see the biden administration not be able to get its team in place, just for partisan reasons. so, when donald trump came in, in his first year, he was obviously not popular with us on our side, and he had some pretty appalling appointments, but even in that very hostile environment the republican leader only had to file cloture for 65 appointees. 65 in that first year. we're in president biden's first year, we're already 127. so, the cloture rate has doubled

from even that very difficult challenging year when trump first came in, and i see my friend from alaska here, so i'll just review the bidding. we've got 159 nom nominees backed up on the senate floor, all out of committee, all ready for votes, many had whom are come you the out -- coming out with voice votes or big bipartisan majorities. two are the individuals i'm going to be asking unanimous consent to confirm tonight, armando bonilla and carolyn lerner. my friend from alaska served in the department of justice. so, he knows that it ain't nothing to be counsel to the marshal service, then to the dag, then associate dag. that's a really impressive climb through the top ranks of the department. and to have served as a trial attorney in the public integrity section and in the fraud and

money laundering, asset forfeiture, money laundering section. and in the civil side, on complex had commercial litigation, that's a very impressive resume. ditto ms. lerner, who has been chosen to be the chief circuit mediator for the d.c. circuit court of appeals. that's a pretty impressive credential all on its own. what i would like to do in order to get these two through the traffic jam and onto the court of federal claims, where their presence is needed, is to ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider their nominations, which are executive calendar numbers 489 and 490. and further, that the nominations be confirmed, that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervention action or debate, that that no further motions be in order on the nomination, that any related

statements be printed in the record, and the president be immediately notified on these actions and that the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: reserving the right to object. mr. president, i've worked very closely with my colleague from rhode island on many, many issues, and there's a pretty simple solution for my objection here, and it's related to judges, and it's related to the senate working with the white house to get judges confirmed. i gave a speech on the senate floor just about an hour ago, mr. president, talking about a remarkable breach of senate protocol where the white house won't let certain senators from the court of appeals of the ninth circuit states to meet

with the nominees for the court of appeals for the ninth circuit. mr. president, that's an outrage. in my entire time in the u.s. senate, every time i've requested to meet with a judge who's going for confirmation to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit, i've had the opportunity to meet with that judge. and it's really important. i'm not going to repeat the arguments i made just an hour ago, but there's a simple solution here: we get to meet with the nominees that we're debating on the senate floor this week, and i certainly will lift the objection that i'm about to make on these two nominees for the court of federal claims. but i do want to just push back on my good friend from rhode island a little bit. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle forced votes on the

court of federal claims nominees during the trump administration, including judge solomon, who literally wrote the book on the court of federal claims. so, here's the thing -- what often happens in the senate, what goes around comes around. but what has happened today, mr. president, when i was requesting what i've always been requesting, what my constituents in alaska expect me to do, is to interview, meet, discuss issues with the judge who's going to get life tenure that's going to have enormous power over my constituents. ninth circuit court of appeals judges. i don't know anybody who has heard that the white house counsel says no, you're a senator doing advice and consent, constitutional duty and we are forbidding you to meet with the judge going through the

confirmation process, who's going to have enormous power over your constituents. that's unheard of since i've been here. and by the way, i talked to the trump administration white house counsel. they said they never did that. but here's the point, this could be easily solved. i'm sure mr. bean owa -- mr. bone eo, ms. lerner are qualified. all i need is a call from the white house counsel office saying you know what, senator -- you can meet with the nominees for the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. we're going to let you do your constitutional duty. why, thank you. pretty simple. and i think working closely with my colleague from rhode island, as i've done throughout my career, and he's on the judiciary committee, so maybe he can help convince the white house to take a bit of a different stand when a senator

wants to meet with a judge who's going to have enormous power over his constituents and have lifetime tenure, and they can't take an hour out of their time? heck, in my speech just an hour ago i put out my office's phone number and said to these judges, look, you don't have to get permission from the white house counsel. just call me. let's have a discussion. i'm trying to do my constitutional duty here. so, with that, mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: in the spirit of what goes around comes around, let me just say that the first circuit is a great deal smaller than the ninth circuit. my state, rhode island, is in the first circuit. we didn't have many vacancies

during the trump administration on the first circuit. the only one we had was not filled. but i'm not aware of any member on our side being offered to meet with any trump judicial nominee for the circuit court level. and indeed, indeed, those of us who are on the judiciary committee didn't even get our five or seven minutes of time in the hearing with trump circuit court nominees, because the trump administration worked out some kind of a deal that their nominees would be put on the same panel, something that had only been done before with the agreement of both parties. so they would bring in their

circuit court nominees, and you still got your five minutes, or your seven minutes, but now there are two or three on the panel. you get like one minute each. so i just have to say i like my friend from alaska and we do work well together, but when i couldn't get five or seven minutes in the committee, in the hearing with the circuit court nominee, it's hard for me to feel a great sense of outrage that somebody not on the committee doesn't get a special private meeting with judges. we never got special private meetings with judges. we didn't even get our time with the judges in the hearing because they san witched a -- sandwiched a bunch of them onto the same panel in our same five to seven minutes. what i would like to do is propose, since the objection has been made to confirming them tonight, that at least we might

consider moving through the cloture step, so that a vote can be scheduled and then everybody can have their vote, one way or the other. so, my first unanimous consent request would have confirmed them, and a call could have gone out to them and to their families tonight saying, the holds are off, your life is back in order, you can go to the job you've been nominated for, and all would have been well. there's been objection to that. so, what i would like to do is simply ask that they be allowed to tee up for a vote when scheduled, without having to pursue the cloture path. and so, i i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22 if applicable, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, in consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations,

again, it's executive clearn numbers 489 and 490 and that there be ten minutes for debate equally i did vited -- divided in the usual form on the nominations en bloc, that upon the use or yielding of time, the senate proceed to vote without intervening action or debate on the nominations in the order listed. if cirmd, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order on the nomination, and and the president be immediately notified on these actions. again, this would not confirm them tonight. their families will not get this call that they are freed from our little executive calendar traffic jam, but it would at least but put them on a pathway towards confirmation. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: reserving the right to object. mr. president, i have a simpler solution here, as i already mentioned it.

the white house has denied my ability to meet with one ninth circuit judge who just got confirmed. but let me meet with the next two and then we'll u.c. these nominees that senator whitehouse has been trying move -- been trying to move forward tonight. and i also want to mention to my colleague from rhode island that i'm certainly more than amenable to work with him on a principle that i think all senators should agree on, all of us, to strengthen this institution, whether you're a democrat or republican, and that's this simple idea, that i thought existed here because i've been able to do it. if a judge is up for confirmation, a circuit judge, and you are a senator representing one of the states in the circuit and that judge is

going to have enormous power over your constituents for life, that we should, as a general rule, a general principle, say always you get to meet with that judge, of course you can do your constitutional advice-and consent duty. i would do it. i talked to some folks from the trump administration today, they said they always offered that. maybe there was a misunderstanding. i don't want to say my senate colleague from rhode island is not right, but that's what they mentioned to me. but i just think as a principle, every senator here should agree with that. why wouldn't you want to do that? like i said, until today, i met with every single ninth circuit judge that we voted on in my entire career here. now it's been a relatively short career, but this is really

important to the people i represent. because that court is really important to the people i represent in the ninth circuit -- and the ninth circuit so frequently gets the law wrong as it relates to alaska and negatively impacts my constituents. so this is important. so i object to this date certain request, but, as i nexted, if i can meet with these two more ninth circuit judges, senator whitehouse can come down here and u.c. these federal court of claims judges and i think he can move us. it's a real simple ask. the fact that the white house counsel doesn't call me back, a u.s. senator trying to do our constitutional duty, advice and consent of the senate, the senator from rhode island and i -- let's say if there is a circuit court nominee and a

senator from a state in that circuit wants to meet with that nominee to do his constitutional duty, that we should all agree to do that no matter who's in the white house. i would agree to that prince enemy a heartbeat. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i think we've concluded this matter for the evening and i'm very sorry that it has ended this way because mr. bonilla and ms. lerner are essentially collateral damage in a fight that doesn't involve the court of federal claims at all. this is a dispute between the senator from alaska and the white house who i do not direct and who i do not speak for. and instead of keeping it within the confines of the ninth circuit, it has now spilled over to the court of federal claims and these two completely

unrelated individuals are continuing to have their lives interfered with by being kept in the traffic jam for a principle that, in my view, was never followed in the previous administration. i mean, for pete's sake, if they are not even going to let us have our official time with a circuit court judge, the idea that we're going to get private meetings is, i think imaginative in the extreme and i just regret that it has come to this pass. i regret that we're up to 159 obstructed nominees backed up. i regret we've been forced to file cloture twice as much as that first group of trump nominees in his first year and there were some real beauties there, i've got to tell you. so, with that, i will just yield the floor and pardon me while i go to the front to get the script to close out senate.

the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative -- i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 854 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 854, a bill to designate methamphetamine as an emerging threat and for other

purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there's no further debate, the question is on passage of the bill. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on health, education, labor and pensions be discharged from further consideration of s. 2959 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2959, a bill to provide that due to the disruptions caused by covid-19, applications for impact aid funding for fiscal year 2023 may

use certain data submitted if the fiscal year 2022 application. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and 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 immediate consideration of s. 3377 which was introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3377 a bill to empower the chief of the united states capitol police to unilaterally request the assistance of the d.c. national guard or federal law enforcement agencies in emergencies without prior approval of the capitol police board. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask further that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, 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: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 477 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res, supporting designation for september 21 as sickle cell disease awareness month and so forth. 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 motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and finally, i ask unanimous concept that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tuesday, december 14, that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders reserved for use later in the day and morning business closed. upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the elliott

nomination. further, that the cloture motion on the elliott nomination ripen at 11:00 a.m. and notwithstanding rule 22 of cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time be considered expired and the senate vote on confirmation of the nomination at time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader. further, that following cloture vote on the elliott nomination, the senate vote on cloture to concur and the house message to accompany the bill. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: there will be three roll call votes starting at 11:00 am on the cloture of elliott nomination, the house message and the joint resolution to raips the debt limit. if no further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until u.s. senate had gaveled out

for the day. lawmakers confirm lucy coach of the u.s. court of appeals judge of the ninth circuit. with that she becomes a first korean american woman to serve in the federal appeals court judge for this week the senate is scheduled to vote on the 2022 defense program and policy bill. it could also consider the climate and spending plan. as always you can follow the senate live here on cspan2, online at c-span.org, or on the go with c-span now, our new video app. ♪ ♪ >> c-span's "washington journal", every day we take your call life on the air on the news of the day. we discussed policy issues that impact you. coming up tuesday morning foreign policy in the biden administration with brian clark of the hudson institute and max of the center of american progress. also, business journalist john hopkins lecture kathleen day on the history of the debt limit and how it's used as a

political and economic tool. watch "washington journal" live at seven eastern tuesday morning on c-span or on c-span now our new mobile app. during the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text and tweets. ♪ ♪ >> tuesday morning, doctor robert, president biden's nominee for fda commissioner and his confirmation before the senate health committee watch live beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three online@c-span.org or watch full coverage on c-span now, our new video app. >> is with us he is chief medical advisor for the bipartisan policy center's joint is a number of times throughout the colored pandemic. welcome back to "washington journal". >> thanks it's good to be on with you. >> we will dive into the latest news or the latest of what we know, you know about the omicron variant in just a