vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 47, the nays are 30. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. linda lopez of california to be united states district judge for the southern district of california.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, are we fla quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. coons: mr. president, i rise today to join with my colleague, the senator from alaska, in celebrating some good news. every now and then something really good happens here in the congress of the united states. many of us know the story of a.l.a., a particularly cruel and brutal disease, a disease that attacks the body but not the mind and whose victims, while they steadily lose their ability to control their muscles and their movement, suffer a sort of living death that until you have seen it up close, it is hard to appreciate just how cruel this disease is. and, mr. president, last week

423 of our house colleagues, members of the house of representatives, voted to send the act for a.l.s. act here to this senate. and last night we here in the senate unanimously sent that bill to president biden's desk for his signature. i have to start, i want to start by thanking my dear friend and colleague, the senator from alaska. she has been a tireless, passionate, capable advocate. and without her, this would not have happened. for those who question whether bipartisanship can still deliver results that matter, this senator, this bill, this moment proves that it can and it does. we're grateful to our lead cosponsors over in the house, congressman quigley and congressman fortenberry.

but frankly the story behind this moment is the advocacy of the a.l.s. community. they are the reason that the bill got drafted, the bill got introduced, the bill got marked up, the bill passed the house, and then here in the senate some obstructionists were overcome with remarkable force and swiftness. i'm going to mention the capability of some of the folks who have been my role models and i will yield to my friend from alaska and she will also speak about it. i also want to say act for a.l.s. is not just some resolution. it's not just some commemorative act. this will deliver $100 million through a newly authorized f.d.a. rare neurodegenerative disease. it will help to bring together

the academic and private sector researchers and more than anything else it will give people hope. when i think of this work, dan tate is the fist who comes to mind. dan, like me is a graduate of the same college i went to and a soulful person and one of washington's most skilled lobbyists, someone who worked in the clinton administration and worked for a member of the house and his personal advocacy has meant a huge amount it to me, as has the engagement by brian wallock and so many others. i have a half dozen other folks i want to speak to, but simple decency tells me i should yield to my friend from alaska.

ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, as my friend from alaska has pointed out -- oh, my goodness. mr. president, may i strike that erroneous introduction. the presiding officer: stricken. ms. murkowski: to thank my dear friend from delaware, always delaware, but truly a friend on many different issues but a man i have come to know is motivated not by the politics that goes on in this body but his passion and his interest in doing good policy and doing good things for people. and what we are speaking to today, recognizing the significant passage of the act for a.l.s. act that happened

last evening, unanimously, as he has pointed out, that this is -- this is not only -- this is not only good for -- for the body, if you will, to say we were able to move good legislation forward, good policy legislation forward, but this is -- this is a gift -- this is a gift of hope for those who live with a.l.s., for those families who are part of that journey of those who live with a.l.s. a.l.s., as senator coons has noted, is an awful, awful disease. some would suggest, and i certainly would, that it is probably the worst -- the worst disease to be afflicted with, when your body literally closes

in on you while your mind is still active and vibrant. i have a very personal connection to a.l.s. i think many of us have very personal connections to a.l.s. i don't like the fact -- the presiding officer: will the senator suspend? can we have it a little quiter? maybe the discussion -- quieter? maybe the discussion can leave the well. murkowski thank you, mr. president -- ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i wish we didn't have a connection to this hideous disease, but we do. and that connection helps us to understand and learn a little bit more about it. and i think the most heartbreaking thing that i realized when my family member

was diagnosed with a.l.s., my cousin's husband, was that there was no treatment. there was no hope. there was no hope. i'm not suggesting that the act for a.l.s. is the end end-all, be-all. i wish we could stand here and say that. it is not. but what it is is a glimmer of hope. i -- i want to read just a couple of sentences from an e-mail that i received last evening when i was able to share this good news that this bill was passing unanimously through this body, and my cousin jen says, the passage of this bill will bring real, tangible hope to people living with a.l.s. and those to be diagnosed. in this a.l.s. world right now, there are no effective treatments. all we have is hope.

this bill changes everything. it will bring real, tangible hope and treatments to people living with a.l.s. we've never had that in this disease. we haven't found the cure. we haven't found the treatment. but what we are providing today is that first step forward, a tangible step forward to the hope. because every day -- every day those who are living with a.l.s. and their loved ones who lived through this disease with them have to hope and pray every single day that today is going to be the day, today is going to be the day that we can slow this, that we can halt this. mr. president, there are some extraordinary heroes that have been involved with this fight over the years.

they are every day people. they got into it not because they were paid lobbyists. most of them got into it because they had lived through a.l.s. they had lost a loved one to this disease, and rather than to give up and give in and be too tired to carry on, they said, i'm going to commit so that -- no -- no other families have to feel this helplessness. and so you've got some -- you've got some amazing people. you've got -- you've got a group out there, the im a.l.s. team. extraordinary advocates. senator coons mentioned brian wallock and dan tate, they lead the organization, there is sandy

morris, nicole sammboro, m -- and so many more who were part of that effort. the im.-a.l.s. association, working with the muscular dystrophy association, so many others critical in moving this forward. think about what happened. this was introduced over here in the senate, we looked this up, it was may 25 -- may 25, and to get over 60 cosponsors in the united states senate on any kind of a measure, i wish that the senator from delaware and i can say we single-handedly got every one of these cosponsors, it was these advocates, it was these grassroots individuals, it was

everybody i named, dan, megan, and deb and jen, who were relentless and when the politics did intervene, they were unleashed and passionate in their advocacy. and i think this is a good lesson to us that -- that when -- when those who are intimately and passionately involved that you can make a difference. you can -- you can move legislation, you can move mountains. the last thing i want to say before i turn back to my colleague here, there's a lot of people who are not part of an organization but who have just felt compelled to speak up. we heard voices from around my state, marcelle is from sitka, a

gentleman by the name of mike, also from anchorage. the calls, the e-mails we got, i know my colleagues received the same as well. this, again, was an effort that was so personal to so many. but the leadership that i think we saw come together with brian wallock, his wife sandra, they were the founders of i am a.l.s. brian was only 37 years old when he was diagnosed with a.l.s. 37, so super young. and he was told six months -- you've got six months to live. he is a father to two little girls and he just said we've got to keep fighting. we've got to keep fighting for a cure, a cure that will allow him to raise his daughters with his wife. and i think it's fair to say four years later now brian is

just as determined, just as tireless an advocate for a.l.s. and the a.l.s. community. so, again, i think about people like brian and dan, my cousin jenny, who lost pat to this awful disease in 2013. he lived with a.l.s. for eight years. our family lived with a.l.s. for those eight years, and so the advocacy continues because -- because of the passion for so many who have lived -- lived through a -- lived through a life that is almost difficult for us to imagine. and as they have -- as they have come out of losing a loved one

to a disease like this to know that they are willing to carry that flag, that they are willing to commit their time, their resources and everything that they have so that others don't go through this, we honor them. we honor that commitment. i am -- i am just to pleased to be able to work with my partner on this and to know that this was a good success but we're going to need to be doing more and i'll be doing it with him. with that, mr. president, i yield to my friend from delaware. mr. coons: thank you, mr. president. i want to express my gratitude to my friend and colleague from alaska. it is, indeed, a deep well of darkness into which a family is cast when they receive a diagnosis of a.l.s. and my own awareness of this disease and its dread consequences is rooted in a number of cases that came

to me and my extended family now quite a few years ago. my brother is with us here in the chamber today and his dear friend dan laftus passed it through a.l.s. and i remember the pain this caused him and the depth of that loss. a friend of mine from delaware, alex mclure, shared with me his father's diagnosis with a.l.s., and year after year and we knew we could do a 5k or some other money raiser, his father slowly slipped away. this means so much for the families who have come through this, max walton, a dear friend of mine in the bar in delaware and his father is an unbelievable character, a great,

funny, capable man who built a family business and then slipped from us through a.l.s. a.l.s. was first known to america when lou gehrig, an outstanding baseball player got it and he is still famous for his luckiest man in the world speech when he announced his retirement from baseball. but 80 years later it is still a mystery to science and a death sentence to those who get this dread diagnosis, often told they have just a few short years to live. this bill in their name and honor confronts this stark reality and makes progress. i cannot close without thanking two other people, megan tyra, who is tireless here on the floor helping to move and prioritize things working for leader schumer, who lost her own mother ellen to a.l.s. and last if i could, for someone

who i am not -- i'm not worthy of, i somewhere a legislative director, brian winsic who is a spectacular human being whose skill and persistence and diligence and dedication for my side of this kept us at it every day. his father, joseph, was a high school civics teacher, and the loss of his life through a.l.s. is something of of which brian has made so much good for others through his role in helping shepherd this through my office. what senator murkowski and i are showing for a moment here today is an answer to a question so many families, so many people living with a.l.s., so many who have lost a loved one to a.l.s. wonder in the dark moments does anyone care?

does anyone see this? does anyone know what's happening? is anyone going to do something about this? the families and those who are living today with a.l.s. and those who have lost someone to a.l.s. need to know that your advocacy is heard, that it moved a mountain here in the congress, and it will begin moving resources and energy and dedication. we are at the beginning of the next step of this journey. but as my dear friend under whom i served many, many years ago in a very dark time in the history of south africa said, hope, hope is being able to see that despite all the darkness, there is still light. bishop tutu spoke to the people in africa during a dark time and

place. to the families, the survivors, and those living with a.l.s., my dear friend from alaska and i and the folks and our families and in our staff and in the many countless teams of advocates around this country hope that this holiday season that this christmas, that this year we have brought you some glimmer of the light that you have brought to us. thank you. and with that i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

ms. murkowski: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, questioning proceeding under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i think we here in the senate, so many of us have the privilege to occasionally host military

fellows, congressional military fellows. and i would like to take just a minute here to recognize the great work of a former member of my staff now, air force lieutenant colonel randy ludington. she spent the last year working in my personal office as part of the u.s. air force congressional fellowship program. she just concluded that fellowship program just last week and has moved on to her next assignment. but i think it's important to be able to publicly express my appreciation for the work that she did over the last year and really for her service to the nation overall. for 17 years now randy has served in the u.s. air force. she was first an enlisted financial technician before she

earned her commission and worked her way up to the rank of lieutenant colonel. but she had a level of exposure before coming to my office certainly. these experiences being in different places around the world, leading airmen, advising commanders, really proved invaluable when she came to provide her expertise in my office. not only has she spearheaded efforts legislativelily, prepped me for the meetings and hearings, she really became a key member of our team working with alaskans, working with counterparts back here, but really serving them just as she would serve her own troops. when we were faced with the very chaotic withdrawal from

afghanistan, randy was one of those that was really burning the midnight oil. she was putting in long days, long nights, answering calls from constituents and veterans that were seeking help. she was -- she was doing just that. she was there around the clock, sometimes just listening, offering words of support. other times just really helping to synchronize the efforts between people on the ground and in kabul, lining them up with departments, agencies here in washington, doing everything that she could to try to help take sill tight -- facilitate the needs of so many who were so desperate to get out. in the end randy was honored by an alaska native corporation the gold belt corporation. they had been engaged in an airlift, significant airlift,

and she was recognized by gold belt for her dedicated efforts assisting them throughout that whole ordeal. so it's nice to know that she had received not only the recognition and thanks from those here, fellows back in alaska, but also the broader international recognition. so i take this moment to just express my thanks to randy. it was a pleasure having her in my office. she has a fabulous family. it was a great pleasure to be able to get to meet her husband, brad, an air force veteran himself. they've got three super great little kid, charlie, ryan, and graham. but i wish randy and her family nothing but the best as she moves forward with her military career. i feel very fortunate that we get some of our nation's best who are able to take kind of a

little bit of a detour through their professional trajectory in the military, to come here, work with us, share their level of expertise, and also educate themselves on the internal process as we have here. i was again very fortunate to have her as part of my team. i think we should all be proud to know that it is leaders like her that comprise our military. so again thank you, randy, for what you have done for our country and what you have done to help alaskans. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. sasse: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. the presiding officer: we are. mr. sasse: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection,so ordered. the senator is recognized. mr. sasse: thank you, sir. according to propublicly cal

reporting, student from china who goes by the nickname moody wrote an open letter condemning the chinese communist party for killing dis did dents in tiananmen square in 1979. we know the image of a man who stood most courageously not in front of one tank. if you just look at that image, you could assume that the tank commander, some nut job, who decided he was going to torment this kid. but p if you actually look at the image as you can through u.s. photo archives and you pan back out, that first tank is one tank in a long, long, long, long line of tanks coming that this man stands courageously in front of. it's not one nut job tank commander looking at this guy in tiananmen square. it's an autocratic government scared of the courage of free

people and that man stood there courageously in tiananmen square. the purdue graduate student moody decided to write an open letter about that reminding students in america and around the world of what happened in tiananmen square. guess what happened next. after moody published his essay, china's secret police decided to go visit his family and intimidate them so that they might put pressure on him, asking him, commanding him, coercing him, twisting the arms of his parents and loved ones, to stop talking about the truth about what happened in tiananmen square in june of 1989. when mr. kong refused to back down, other chinese students at purdue, not chinese students in beijing, decided it was their obligation to harass him. they pursued him around campus and threatened to report him to

embassies. what do we think about embassies? when you're traveling or have a lost passport or suffer a petty crime or have a family member that has a medical emergency at home. you call up your embassy for help because you think these are people who love you. you're in a foreign place and don't maik -- maybe speak the language and the embassy is there to help you where you might not know the language and customs. the united states, freedom-loving place, is that these chinese students, chinese nationals here in school at purdue decided that they thought it might be their job to contact the chinese embassy to tattle on mr. kong because the man had the courage to tell the truth. he had spoken on line, written on line, been involved in dissident events. what happened then besides his parents being harassed by the chinese secret police and besides graduate students following him around campus to intimidate him and threaten to report him to the embassy, we chat decided they needed to

block and suspend his account to cut off his communications with the outside world. a few days before he was scheduled to speak at a zoom commemoration of the tiananmen square miskerr, the secret police -- massacre, the secret police went to visit his parents again reminding them that they needed to make sure he put an end to his activism, truth telling. it's convenient for americans to look the other way and stay silent in the face of this. we've seen many american professional sports leagues, we've seen hollywood companies lusting after chinese middle-class markets. we've seen the marriott hotel chain agreeing to intimidate their own employees so that their employees didn't acknowledge what's happened in hong kong and the threats currently against taiwan. we've seen this comprehensive sonship using economic statecraft from beijing to intimidate americans and american companies and american institutions to do their bidding to suppress people who might tell the truth. it's convenient to stay silent.

and many of our institutions have pathetically agreed with beijing that they would self-censor at beijing and chairman xi's bidding. guess who didn't do that? purdue university decided they were not going to to do that. there's a lot of bad stuff happening in the world because of the expansionistic desires of the c.c.p. and we have a lot of americans and institutions willing to be complicit in the c. c.p.'s desired exangsism. but purdue didn't and we should celebrate that good news. we should celebrate that courage. mitch daniels, former governor of indiana, current president of purdue, decided that this was not okay and it was important to tell the truth about this fact, what had happened and that this wasn't okay. so i'd like to read into the "congressional record" today president daniels' letter to the purdue campus 36 hours ago because we need a hell of a lot more truth-telling like this in american life. here's mitch daniels and the

purdue leadership on behalf of not just purdue but american values. dear purdue students, faculty and staff, purdue has learned from a national news account last week that one of our students after speaking out on behalf of freedom and others martyred for advocating for freedom was h harassed and threat bind students from his home country, in this country. worse still, the student's family back home, in this case the home being china, was visited and threatened by agents of that nation's secret police. we regret that we were unaware at the time of these events and we had to learn of them from national sources. that reflects the atmosphere of intimidation that we have discovered surrounding this specific sort of speech. any such intimidation is unacceptable and it is unwelcome on our campus. purdue has punished less personal, direct and threatening conduct. anyone taking exception to the speech in question had their own right to express their disagreement but not to engage in the actions of harassment which occurred here.

if those students who issued the threats can be identified, they will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action. likewise, any student found to have reported another student to any foreign entity for exercising their freedom of speech or belief will be subject to significant action. international students are nothing new at purdue university which welcomed its first asian admitees over a century ago. we are proud nearly 200 students from china enrolled in purdue again this fall. but joining the purdue community requires acceptance of our rules and values, and no value is more central to our institution or to higher education generally than the freedom of inquiry and expression. those seeking to deny those rights to others, let alone to collude with foreign governments in repressing them, will need to pursue their education elsewhere. sincerely, mitch. mr. president, chairman xi is a coward and he sends his goons to

intimidate people for telling the truth. that is who chairman xi is. he doesn't believe in the dignity of people. he doesn't believe there are image bearers of god. he doesn't believe they have the rights of free speech, religion, press, assembly, and protest. he believes that you must intimidate college students for telling the truth if they're saying something to a small group of people 6,000 miles away, chairman xi is intimidated and he is scared. that student told the truth. we should celebrate that student. mitch daniels and purdue university stood up to that that kind of intimidation. we should celebrate that because that's what american courage looks like and we need a whole hell of a lot more of it. we need a lot more people to look like the he women's tennis association, not to look like the nba. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. reed: i rise to pay tribute to chairman odierno, one of the great commanders of his or any other generation of american military leaders. gracing the army and the nation with great distinction, he attended west point and following graduation he went on to serve nearly 40 years in the army, retiring as a four-star general. wray's service took him around the world from germany, albania , kuwait and iraq. he reached the highest of his career of all coalition forces in iraq and as a tenure as the 38th chief of staff of the united states army. throughout his distinguished career, ray was an inspirational force to the men and women he commanded and the leaders he advised. his character, professional skills, and abiding love and respect for those around him made him a preeminent soldier. his steadfast loyalty and commitment to his fellow soldiers and veterans was unwavering.

i was privileged to work with ray. his courageous leadership in so many demanding jobs leaves me with great admiration and gratitude. we remember both west pointers and both had the privilege of serving in the army, so we shared many things in common. i recall first meeting ray in iraq when he commanded the fourth infantry division. i was immediately struck by his presence, his keen insight and the mutual and profound respect he shared with his troops. his example of selfless service, dedication to his mission and his soldiers together with his personal integrity and decency sustained and inspired all who served with him. i also had the privilege of working closely with him while he served as chief of staff of the army. he proved an innovative and resourceful leader who continued to focus on soldiers and their families as he maintained an

army on the most robust deployment schedule in our lifetime. ray's love for his country was surpassed only by his love of family. his wonderful wife linda and their three children -- tony, katie, and mike -- and their beautiful grandchildren. i offer the odierno family my deepest condolences on his passing and thank them for sharing ray with us for so many years. the odierno family's military tradition runs deep and strong. ray's father was an army sergeant in world war ii and his son retired army captain, tony odierno, also graduated from west point. tony served with distinction in iraq before he was wounded there and came home and found other ways to serve. i know that legacy of service will continue and manifest itself in many different ways. ray odierno was a powerful, inspiring person. he dedicated his life's work to

serving others and his was a life well lived. he will be missed by all who have had the privilege to know him and to serve with him. mr. president, i'm proud to honor the legacy of general ray odierno, and i know the members of the senate will join me in recognizing the incredible contributions he made for our nation. and in words familiar to all west pointers -- and when our work is done, our course on earth is run, may it be said well done, be thou at peace. general raymond odierno, well done. be thou at peace. mr. president, i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. murphy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. murphy: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: thank you, madam president. madam president, news from this morning that 50 so-called battalion tactical groups have been sent to the ukraine border by russian president vladimir putin. reports in russian newspapers suggests that over the last several days there has been an increased number sent to the ukrainian border. this is a crisis that is deepening. there remains a diplomatic offramp, but that offramp only

exists if vladimir putin sees the united states and its allies, especially those in europe, united in our desire to support ukraine in its time of need with the kind of of assets they will need to defend themselves, but also with a commitment to levy unprecedented sanctions on russia, long-lasting, deep sanctions if they go forward with an incursion deeper into ukraine than russia already is. but right now as we speak on the senate floor, a small handful of senate republicans are blocking the key diplomatic personnel that would be able to unite u.s. policy with europe around russia's threatened invasion of ukraine. and so i hear a lot of really strong-sounding press statements from many of my republican colleagues, often the same republican nominees who are

blocking these nominees, who joe biden needs to stand strong with ukraine, yet they are continuing president biden the personnel that he needs in order to enact a policy that can save ukraine from disaster. the assistant secretary for international organizations, the u.s. representative to the e.u., the u.s. representative to oecd, numerous ambassadors to european countries, including our ambassador to france, france being one of the key nations that will help orchestrate a policy of cohesion amongst european nations with respect to the crisis in ukraine. and so everybody sees what's going on here. not all of my republican colleagues, but a small handful of my republican colleagues are setting the president up, raising expectations about what he should be able to do to save

ukraine but then denying him the personnel to get it done and i understand the refrain from my republican colleagues is, well, senator schumer should just file cloture. they know how this works. cloture, because of our current rules, the whose process takes days. we have pages full of nominees that we have to do. we wouldn't be able to conduct any other business. the senate has never run like this. when the senate has had qualified nominees like jack markell, denise bauer in front of it, it it has never required days of debate, cloture motions in order to get key personnel, especially at times of need right now. i hope we get an agreement to move nominees, but, frankly, time is running short for ukraine. time is running short for the ukrainian people and my republican colleagues, the handful that are blocking if

these nominees, need to decide wher they are interested in score -- whether they are interesting in scoring political points or standing up for the ukrainian people. madam president, i have a separate set of remarks and i ask that they be in a different part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: madam president, when they made either it pra -- either it pragg, they broke the mold. i have never ever met another person like her. i knew edith in the connecticut senate. she modeled a form of public service for me that i will be eternally grateful for. there was no one in connecticut public life as persistent, as

dogged, as forceful as edith. she woke up every day thinking about the plight of workers, the poor, and the elderly. she had an acute sense of the injustice done to those who labored in difficult jobs and those living on fixed incomes and when she believed that a cause was right, she would not back down. in 1991, the governor hired her to be the commissioner of aging and then a year later he fired her because when he told her she needed to followed her agency into a bigger department to save money, she refused. when she was elected to the state senate, she was a tireless worker, a fighterring for workplace safety laws, for raising the minimum wage and elderly nutrition programs. when she believed a cause was just, nothing could stop her. she was relentless. i remember sitting in the closed-door democratic caucus meetings and she would introduce

a bill, usually ahead of its time, expanding workers' rights and increasing support for the elderly and every week she would argue the case and she would not stop speaking until she persuaded at least one additional state senator in the room to support her bill. they would say, no, we are not doing the bill this year or can't afford it and she wouldn't listen. she never saw a stop sign. i've never seen anybody like this. she never saw a stop sign when there was something worthwhile for the vulnerable sment she would brit bill up over and over again and eventually she would wear everybody down and get it done. she was in her 70's when i met her and she had twice as much energy and stamina as i did. the last bill she passed, she was 86, it was granting homecare workers to collectively bargain. she fought for the bill's

uncertain passage all year and stood on her feet for six hours defending it in a marathon senate debate. she did all of this with her trademark whied-grin -- wide-grin smile. she was a consummate pain in the ass, but everybody loved her, though she worked on issues with controversy, she brought outward joy to her work. she knew she was a pain and chuckled when people tried to push her aside. she knew she would outlast them. she took me under her wing and treated me kindly when i came to the senate as a naive 29-year-old. she believed in me and the causes for what she worked on gave me enthusiasm for the things that mattered to me. i think about her a lot when i work on the issues of gun violence. sometimes it's hard to keep going on an issue like this when so little progress is being made

but then i think of edith who never ever gave up when the thing was the right thing to do in her mind. and her memory will keep me going. i know it will keep a lot of other people going in connecticut who knew her. long time political reporter pazzios wrote a beautiful story about edith this week. i'll close with what he wrote. edith prague did not go gentle anywhere. she lived dill la thomas' poetry, his belief that, quote, old age should burn and rave at close of day. she fought governors, fellow lawmakers, and most consistently the notion of retirement, a status finally imposed on her by a confluence of strokes and concerns of family and physician. quote, my only choice is to retire or drop dead. i have to retire. believe me, i don't like it, prague said, when she finally left state employment as the 88-year-old commissioner of aging in 2014.

lots of people look forward to retirement, she said. but i'm not one of them. edith was one of a kind and the impact she left on people who knew her like me and the people who never met her like those she fought are is indelible. i yield back. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: madam president, as we're in december and the year is winding down, i'm reflecting on one of the first actions, one of the first decisions i made when i joined the senate back in january. and that was a decision to establish a judicial evaluation commission with folks back in california, professionals who would help me find, vet, and

recommend candidates to president biden to serve on california's federal courts. usually when the general public thinks about federal courts, they tend to only think about the supreme court. but as those who work in this body know that the vast majority of federal cases, indeed more than 99% of all federal cases, are decided at the district court or circuit court level. so as we go about our work to strengthen the justice system in america, i think it's important that we give proper attention and support to district and circuit courts. flash forward to today and the items that we're working on literally as we speak. the nominees to every level of the federal judiciary by the prior administration, let me put

it mildly here, were far from diverse, far from representative of our nation. and as a result, the federal courts and those who sit on the federal bench do not reflect the diverse, vibrant america that it serves. and i'm not just talking about gender. i'm not just talking about race and ethnicity. for too long the bench of our federal courts has been dominated by corporate lawyers and former prosecutors. now, prosecutors and corporate lawyers do contribute valuable and important expertise to the federal judiciary. that's why i supported the nomination of some this year. but the judiciary also needs the knowledge and perspective of legal professionals who have

taken different paths. talking about public defenders who uphold our constitutional commitment that every person deserves fair representation and due process. talk about public interest lawyers who defend fundamental rights and the rule of law. i'm talking about consumer and voting rights lawyers, labor and immigration lawyers and local government lawyers who serve diverse clients and advocate for different interests and bring critical insights on how working class americans interact with the law. we need all these perspectives in order to rebalance our federal courts and hopefully in the process rebuild and reaffirm public confidence in the fairness of their rulings.

our country is stronger and fairer when every level of our government reflects the voices and the experiences of all americans, not just the privileged, not just the powerful. and a federal bench that includes more voices can better provide justice for all. that's why over the course of the past year, i've worked with my commission that i established back in january which, by the way, is 70% attorneys of color and majority women. i've proud to share that along with senator feinstein and president biden to find, to nominate, and to support a new generation of qualified, outstanding, and professionally diverse federal judges. a federal bench that is diverse in every sense of the word. and as a result of these efforts

and pending confirmation votes that i hope will soon occur, i'm so proud that california's district court bench will soon include judge frimpong who used her law degree to fight for consumers and strengthen global democracy. it will soon include judge jennifer thurston who earned her law degree as a night student while raising a family and spent a decade serving in county government. it will soon include judge ohta, an immigrant from south korea who spend ten years of her career helping to prosecute unfair business practices and to protect consumers from fraud. it will soon include judge linda lopez who spent more than ten

years as a public defender in san diego and it will soon include judge -- the son of immigrants who spent a decade fighting for the disadvantaged and leading the largest probono law firm. the ninth circuit court of appeals now includes judge lo loosey ko who we recently confirmed. an excellent litigator and first korean american woman to serve on a federal circuit court. the ninth circuit will also soon include justice gabriel sanchez, the proud son of a single mother from mexico who has earned wide recognition as a public servant and an appellate judge on california's court of appeal. and it will soon include judge holly thomas, the granddaughter

of share croppers who has made a career of fighting for the civil rights of all americans. madam president, i celebrate each of these outstanding nominees and i thank them for their service to this country and i urge their swift confirmation. now, of course we'll still have a long way to go and much more work to do, but these confirmations, colleagues, represent a big step in the right direction. i'm proud of the work we've done so far to diversify the federal bench and i'm committed to keeping up the momentum that we've started and that critical mission in 2022. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: all postcloture time is expired. the question now occurs on the lopez nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 48. the nays are 25 and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. the president shall be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 579, jinsook ohta, of california, to be united states district judge for california. the presiding officer: the question is is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the

nomination of jinsook ohta, of california, to be u.s. district judge for the southern district of california, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on that question, the yeas are 47, the nays are 25, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination.

the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. jinsook ohta of california to be united states district judge for the southern district of california.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to talk about some nominees and how important this is to keep advancing nominees. a president should be able to

have his ambassadors in place so we can deal with the rest of the world. and we have keep people that are still missing from agencies, many of whom got through committees with strong bipartisan support and let me start with one of them. today i rise to discuss the importance of the senate swiftly confirming alan davidson, one of president biden's very important nominees to the department of commerce. if confirmed, he will play a crucial role in the coming months and years in making sure every american has access to reliable, affordable internet. mr. davidson has been nominated to be the assistant secretary for communications and information at the department of commerce's national telecommunications and information administration, ntia. okay, that sounds like a lot of words. what does it really mean? as head of the ntia, mr. davidson will oversee the

distribution of the $40 billion for broadband infrastructure funding coming out of our bipartisan infrastructure bill. so his job couldn't be more important as we look at providing high-speed internet to every corner of this country. he will also play an important role in expanding wireless internet networks promoting fair competition in the digital sector and ensuring every american has access to affordable and fast internet. as you know, after months of negotiation between democrats and republicans, this senate came together to pass the president's bipartisan infrastructure law, making a once-in-a-generation investment to improve roads, rail system, and public transit, address climate change by updating our power grid, and, yes, invest in high-speed internet. it's the largest investment our country has ever made in high-speed internet, and i was

proud to lead in the senate the base bill representative clyburn led it in the house to make this happen when it comes to broadband. affordable and reliable internet access is more important now than ever. as students and families rely on the internet to learn or work from home, access telehealth services, stay connected to loved ones. as 42 million americans, including 16% of households in rural minnesota, lack reliable broadband access, the need to make the promises of this law a reality could not be more urgent. as head of the ntia, mr. davidson will be responsible for overseeing the rollout of funding for broadband grants across the country. we don't want to wait. we need someone that knows what he's doing in place now. with more than two decades of experience in the public and private sector as an executive, someone who worked in

technology, and as an attorney, it's clear mr. davidson is ready for this job. he served in the department of commerce during the obama administration where he was the department's first director of digital economy. his background in privacy and internet policy will be invaluable. i'm confident he will protect consumers, promote competition, and make this historic law meaningful for everyday americans. his nomination has earned support from a broad array of organizations, including the chamber of commerce, the national consumers league, the open technology institute, and more than 80 others. i should also point out that eight former heads of the ntia, republicans and democrats alike, have urged the senate to confirm mr. davidson and that he did very well in the committee, came out of the committee with bipartisan support. to me, this should just be done like this. we should just get it done through this chamber, but we

wade through this morass of rules instead of making the rules easier so we can restore the senate so we can actually debate issues, we literally spend hours and hours and hours on nominees who received republican support in the committee, because one person decides, well, i want to hold that one up. we need fo get this done now, because while we wait students, parents, and workers without high-speed internet are falling behind. i've heard too many stories, as i know every senator in this chamber have heard, about people from our states who have jumped through hoops just to get on line. one high school student in otter tail county, minnesota, had such weak internet in her house that she always had to drive to the parking lot of a liquor store to take her online biology quizzes. i met her mom. she told me the story herself. i've also heard from rural doctors who rely on the wi-fi at

mcdonald's parking lots to read their patients' x-rays when they're outside the office on weekends. that's just unacceptable, so we need to make sure this historic broadband funding gets out the door and that we have someone in place to administer it. in addition to this hugely important work, mr. davidson will also be responsible for implementing upgrades to our 911 systems. in a crisis, no one should be put in danger because of outdated 911 systems and first responders, public safety officials, and law enforcement must be able to communicate seamlessly. as a member of the senate commerce committee and as one of the chairs of the congressional next generation 911 caucus, i know that these upgrades are urgently needed to help move the country's largely outdated 911 call centers and related technology into the digital age. we need to enable 911 call centers to handle text messages, pictures, videos and

other information set by smart phones, tablets and other devices when faced with an emergency. mr. davidson, with his vast array of experience, will help to bring our 911 systems into the 21st century by providing state and local governments with the resources they need to update our emergency response networks and keep our communities safe. i urge my colleagues to support mr. davidson's nomination today to move our country and our economy forward. the stakes are too high to wait. i also come to the floor today to speak on the many ambassador nominees that are ready for a vote but are being held up by some of our colleagues on the other side. i emphasize some because many of these nominees got strong bipartisan support. while i appreciate the progress we are now making on some of the nominees as we speak, many have been waiting months for a vote. and when we finish today, at

least tonight, or when we finish in the next few days, more we know will still be waiting because we have well over 100 people who have been waiting for votes. over 150 people waiting for votes. this unnecessary delay is sabotaging our diplomatic efforts around the world. the state department is made up of some of the best, the brightest and most patriotic citizens. by failing to confirm ambassadors, whether to iraq -- we know how important that is -- equitorial guinea or japan, we are hurting not only the nominees and our foreign service officers, but also all those who look to america as a beacon of democracy. first let's look at elizabeth moore aubin, nominated to be ambassador to algeria in april

and reported out of the committee in june. june, the beginning of summer. we are now in the middle of winter. algeria is an important partner in northern africa when it comes to economic and strategic security issues. aubin is up to the task. she previously served as the acting principal deputy assistant secretary for the bureau of near eastern affairs and served as the deputy chief of mission in algeria during a 2013 terrorist attack. aubin knows from her years at the state department and from her firsthand experience what it takes to keep americans safe overseas and yet she has been held up for six months. americans and americans in algeria deserve better. angola -- another ambassador who had been waiting since june is mashinke who has been nominated to serve as ambassador to angola and several other islands off the coast of eastern

africa. she has already served as an ambassador and deputy chief of mission to our embassy in ethiopia. so he will be ready to take on this role on day one. through our country's partnership with the angolan government, we have made significant progress in removing thousands of land mines and advancing economic growth in the region. the u.s. and angola will be better served with an experienced ambassador, and he should be confirmed promptly. and yet that's not all. we also must move forward with claire d. cronin who president biden nominated to be the ambassador to ireland. cronin was the first woman to serve as a massachusetts house majority leader and the first woman to share the massachusetts housing judiciary committee. president biden nominated her in june, six months ago, and she

advanced from committee nearly two months ago in mid-october. ireland is an economic partner, a security partner, and of course the u.s. is home to many proud irish americans. we need ambassador cronin to move forward. i know we need progress, but i think of a country like japan where emanuel was nominated. i remember how proud they were when he was voted through and went to japen. they were so proud the united states of america sent an ambassador to their country, someone of great experience. this is the case of all of these ambassador nominees. our country deserves to have people over there representing our nation. you think they don't