will make the challenge of climate change while building clean energy future with good jobs here in washington. we will restore our children's opportunity and make necessary revisions for our accountability measures. we will protect salmon and bring back our orca and we will house those impacted by homelessness and behavior health conditions and provide more affordable housing options for everyone. this is our charge, we can do this if we act together or if there's no time to lose. we can start now by taking action this day. thank you. [applause] >> live map to the u.s. capitol building for the senate is about

to gavel and for legislative business. this week lawmakers are considering several of president biden's judicial and executive nominees at 5:30 p.m. eastern today, we expect the senate to vote on the nomination of bridget brennan, the district court judge from northern iowa. live coverage of the senate is 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. eternal god, answer us in our trouble and protect us with your mercies. we celebrate your triumphs in our history, believing that victory belongs to you alone. lord, we have relied on you since the birth of this nation, and you

will always be our god. we have trusted in your power through the seasons of our lives, so do not abandon us. lord, when our lawmakers stumble and fall, help them to rise and stand firm. continue to rule the nations of your world. we pray in your powerful 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. and 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. bridget meehan brennan of ohio to be united states district judge for the northern district of ohio.

ms. hirono: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i note the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. officer without objection. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, i couldn't help but think today the distinguished presiding officer and i both had the opportunity to be prosecutors, and i thought as prosecutors i

listened to what our former president donald trump said, i listened to it with horror and disbelief, especially when i saw it on television and he was obviously reading his words off a teleprompter and knew exactly what he was saying. he basically said if he was reelected, he'd be inclined to have presidential pardons for the people who stormed the united states capitol last -- a year ago january 6. the people who came in here as insurrectionists. the people came in here doing enormous damage and injuries. the people that caused many to die, the people who set up a gallos outside -- gallows outside the capitol with a noose

on it with vice president pence's name in it saying that if he's not willing to ignore the law and suddenly give the presidency to donald trump, a man who had lost it by millions of votes, whats this is what he deserved, this gallows. it is the sort of thing, if you saw is it in a b-rated horror movie, you'd say, this is owe unbelievable. but here it's real. and you had people committing terrible crimes, destruction of property, injuries of people, trying to kill and eventually did police officers. i remember that day, as i'm sure the presiding officer does, because we were all on the floor of the senate as the vice president was rushed off the

podium where the presiding officer is right now and where i open the u.s. senate just minutes ago. and then according to what was going on, we suddenly saw several other plain-clothes police officers i am l. -- plain-clothes police officers come in here and one with wearing a vest saying police. we were escorted out by armed police officers. we had some who if it wasn't for the brave operation of these officers, we had members from both parties who could have been victims of the mob. and just minutes after we were escorted from here, this place was stormed by some who thought was the house of representatives. i mean, they just obviously had

been inspired to come up here and storm the capitol. they wanted the election turned over at the request of donald trump, to griff it to him, even though -- to give it to him, even though he had lost. i never thought i'd see something like this. i remember when i was a young law student at georgetown law school, i'd come up here and say the in the gallery and -- and sit in the gallery and watch this place and see both republicans and democrats debating everything from the civil rights to voting rights, routine matters, and i thought, what a place to be. these extraordinary senators from both parties from all over the country speaking about the laws of the constitution of our country. i remember even after i went

back to vermont and started practicing law and became a prosecutor, i thought of the days i was here. my parents and others just watching this body and how thrilled i was when i came here thinking the u.s. senate can and should be the conscience of the nation. and then i look on television and see a man who was decisively defeated for reelection to the presidency saying to followers, if i'm elected president again, i can pardon all these criminals. they came in here, these insurrectionists, people actually many of whom it's very clear were encouraged to come here and storm the capitol at his request. madam president, we're a nation of laws.

we're not a nation of individuals. we're a nation of laws. and we survive as a nation and we excel as nation if we follow the law. on the senate floor we can debate, both parties, we can disagree on things, and we do often. and i think we all believe that you must follow the law. when i was a prosecutor, i felt if somebody broke the law, there were consequences for it. i cannot imagine what it would have been like as a young prosecutor if i heard somebody running for high office in my state -- in this case, governor of the state -- go ahead and break every law you can to help me get elected because i'll pardon you as soon as i get in there. i think i'd be before a grand jury pretty quickly talking

about that candidate. and yet that's what we see. i mean, how could anybody be so blinded to what this nation is, to ignore what this nation is? how can anybody be so blinded to the laws of this country that they can ignore those laws? how can anybody be so blinded to our constitution they could ask people to violate the constitution, commit crimes in my name, and don't worry ... i'll take care of you. i'll make sure you're pardoned. madam president, this country is going to get back -- republicans and democrats alike -- believing in the rule of law. disagree if we want, disagree at the ballot box, but follow the law and stop giving the impression to the rest of the

world that we're some kind of pending dictatorship where the law and the constitution are set aside to the whim of whomever is elected. i'll speak more on this at another time, madam president. i know the distinguished presiding officer has spoken out on this matter before. i greatly admire what she has said, and i will continue to speak out. with that, madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quoru.

quorum call:

quorum call:

>> i think they are all excellent names with a lot of qualifications and it's just the time has come. i think it's great to have this many qualified, extremely qualified people that canserve and i think serve justice . >> what do you make about president biden's committee from republicans that he made the pledge to criticize the process. >> i don't look at it as being politicized, i look at it as basically being a balance that needs to be done to represent who we are as a nation and the united states

is very diversified and we have a lot of great people in all different segments and to be able to hear from their voice and have someone basically they can represent who they believe understands who they are. that's the reason you want a balanced justice department and i'm hopeful that will be done . >> can ask about billback better, we know your position on it but democrats are putting it all in your court, have you had any further? >> there's not been any formal shutdown meetings and i always have been. i want to make sure we find a balance and something we can afford and do it right. the bottom line is to be able to be honest with the american people. we've talked about the different a lot of different categories about things that could be done later on or things that should go through thecommittee . bypassing the committee process is always a difficult situation because then there's no transparency and

when you go into reconciliation there's not a committee hearing, not a committee markup. there's no eyes on it other than it's a democratic reconciliation and you're in control. if it's republican that's what you'll see that's not what we are as a senate . >> you're the chair of the energy committee booktv.org. >> ... >> we believe we can do something and we can do something that's balanced. we can't forget that basically we need reliability on energy and that means building pipelines and where having a difficult time. i'm not going to sit back knowing our company is just in limbo not having the reliability by 2030 and not have knowing that we have storage for renewables. we need that. we need transmission for the new renewables coming on but we also have to make sure we take care of what we have and that means you're going to use all the fossil industry

in the best possible versions you can that will clean up the climate and the world. if the united states as the innovation we can do that and foisted around the world but if you take the united states of america out of the fossil industry the climate will get more challenged and dirty no one's going to put the money that we will put into it . >> do you think you'll get republican support? >> whatever but we have to have a balanced approach. i'd love to have republicans involved and i'd love to have these bills go through the committee so it would be great to see these of legislation that had everyone's participation. you won't have republicans that will vote for it but when you have a participation where democrats or republicans participate you will get a better outcome . [inaudible] i'm almostcertain we will have a bipartisan bill . the insurrections stop that from ever happening again. ithink that's going to be quick, that's on the hot

track for right now. thank you .

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, madam president, last thursday, associate judge stephen breyer announced that after 27 years of service he will retire from the

supreme court at the conclusion of this term. shortly after his nomination was first announced in 1994, then judge breyer mused publicly about what he expected his time on the high court would bring. he told reporters it was hoped to, quote, make the average person's ordinary life better, unquote. nearly three decades later we can safely say that judge breyer has met that mark and then some. throughout american history only 115 individuals have sat on the nation's high court, and few have served as long and as effectively as judge breyer. from his opinion on voting rights, environmental protections, women's reproductive freedom, and protecting access to affordable healthcare, justice breyer's impact upon our nation will last for generations. america is a more perfect union today because of chief -- because of justice stephen breyer. and of course, judge breyer's

legacy of service extends beyond even his remarkable time on the court, on the supreme court. for 13 years, he also sat on the u.s. court of appeals for the first circuit. before that, he served for eightees as am be of the army reserves. and of course, members of this chamber cannot forget that he was once part of the senate itself, serving as an aide on the judiciary committee in the 1970's where he worked closely with our dear friend, the late senator ted kennedy. every step of the way he remained his essential self -- decent, brilliant, and dead caded to our democracy. with his new vacancy on the court, president biden will have an opportunity to make history by nominating the first ever black woman to serve on the supreme court. i am confident that the president will select an outstanding individual to fill justice breyer's seat, and we intend to move quickly on our constitutional duty to act on his nominee when announced. i can assure all senators that

the senate will have a fair process that proves quickly so we can confirm president biden's nominee to fill justice breyer's seat as soon as possible. today the members of this chamber say thank you to justice breyer for his lifetime of public service. now, madam president, as our country continues to recover from the darkest days of the covid-19 pandemic, last week we received a remarkable bit of news -- the u.s. economy grew 5. 7%, 5.7% in 2021. let me say it again. last year, the u.s. economy grew by 5.7%, the largest single-year growth rate in about 40 years. last year's economic growth did not happen on its own. faced with a historic crisis, democrats took unprecedented steps in 2021 to give american

families and businesses the support they needed to make ends meet and stay healthy. though we have more work to do to lower costs and expand opportunity, we are undeniably better off today than we were a year ago when we first took office. it is frightening when we -- when we first took office as a majority senate. it is frightening to merely remember how bad things were at the start of 2021. we were entering the very worst of the pandemic, the economy had its worst year since world war ii, and 11 million people were out of work. more than 3,000 americans were dying each day from covid-19. but democrats responded by passing the american rusk yu plan two -- rescue plan two months into the president's term. we later passed the historic infrastructure package that is putting people to work fixing our roads, bridges and laws. thanks to the heroism of health

workers, the legislatures of the biden administration and action taken by congressional democrats, over 200 million americans have now been vaccinated. because of these steps that democrats took last year, unemployment has plummeted faster than many forecasts predicted a year ago, to below 4%. the economy added the largest number of manufacturing jobs in three decades, and as wages keep climbing layoffs are near record lows. madam president, make no mistake, this economy is in the midst of a historic turnaround, thanks in large part to swift action by democrats, in the congress and in the white house. but of course, the work is far from over. we must keep working to lower costs for american families, we need to help businesses struggling with strained supply chains, particularly the chip shortage affecting everything from auto manufacturing to household appliances.

and workers need protections to ensure they share in our continued economic recovery. that's why congress must keep working on legislation, like the u.s. innovation and competition act, which the senate passed last year, with strong bipartisan support. this year, this week, the house will hold a vote to pass their counterpart to this bill, the america competes act. i'm glad the house is taking this important step in the right direction, and when the america competes act passes the house and senate can begin the bicameral process of resolving the differences in each bill and send a final product to the president's desk. with historic investments in science, technology and american manufacturing, the policies that you see represent the boldest steps in decades to secure america's economic future. by bringing manufacturing back to the u.s. from overseas, it would strengthen domestic supply

chains, help address our country's dangerous semiconductor shortage that has driven up prices in everything from cars to microwaves. all this would not only relieve rising costs by making us less reliant on foreign manufacturing, it would also advance our national security. this legislation would help fix our nation's dangerous semiconductor shortage that has driven prices up on everything from cars to mike waves, by strengthening domestic supply chains and increasing production. it would not only relieve rising costs, it would also advance our national security. for months, months i've spoken with both my republican and democratic colleagues about finding a way to get this bill to the president's desk. now i am glad that the house will take action later this week on their version of this legislation, and i look forward to working through this bill so that president biden can finally sign this landmark manufacturing

and innovation bill into law. now on other senate business, madam president, over the next few weeks there are other crucial priorities that the senate must also attend to. as we return to this work period, discussions among senate democrats on b.b.b. will continue. we'll also work on nominations. at the end of the last work period i filed cloture on 20 nominees to serve in both the biden administration and on our federal courts. later today we'll hold a cloture vote on the first of these nominees, ms. bridget brennan to serve as district judge for the northern district of ohio. over the course of this week we'll work to get these men and women confirmed. among the 20 individuals i filed cloture on include one nominee for the u.s. court of appeals, several federal district judges, several judges to serve in washington, d.c. superior court, the nominee to serve as u.s. ambassador to germany and

other highly qualified men and women to serve in the department of defense, the export-import bank and the u.s. international development finance corporation. we're going to work until we confirm all of these crucial nominees. and i look forward to working in good faith with the other side to get them done. finally, madam president, this work period begins -- this work period, in this work period the senate will also work on the vital task of passing an omnibus package to fund the federal government, prevent a shutdown and make sure the federal government is well equipped to serve the american people. i will sit down with a number of democratic appropriators tomorrow to discuss the state of negotiations, and i want to thank all the appropriators for their hard work in bringing a funding package together. we're going to work day and night to bring a funding package together, avoid a shutdown, and make sure congress fulfills this basic duty to the american

people. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: republica n leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: senators spent last week in our home states. we got to hear firsthand updates about the real issues facing real families that we all represent. i was especially glad to return to western kentucky to keep working on our recovery from the

catastrophic tornadoes that hammered our state in mid-december. kentuckians are tough, they're resilient, but many are still reeling from the impact of these storms. they've lost homes, businesses, even loved ones. i spent last week meeting with local leaders, small business owners, and kentuckians in the hardest-areas. we talked about our work here in washington and the help they can expect to receive from us. kentuckians in the affected areas have been grateful for the quick and efficient way that knee ma has begun -- that fema has begun distributing recovery aid. we know recovery will be a very long process, but my office and i will be standing with our people every step of the way. the entire state is expected to

improve our roads, bridges, railways, and broadband, thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure deal that congress struck last year. but like working people across america, kentuckians also have serious concerns about significant headwinds. kentucky families are feeling the pain of the worst inflation in 40 years. our country has been hammered by 7% inflation over just the past year. employers are trying hard to keep up, even as they face inflation across all their expenses. businesses across our region have significantly upped their spending on wages and benefits, but many workers -- many workers have gotten raises, but actually it's only on paper because the historic inflation on the democrats' watch has more than canceled the average increase in wages. inflation is turning pay raises into pay cuts. this is just one of the many

significant problems we confront, after a year of shedding bloodshed in america's streets violent crime is forcing too many to live in fear. the humanitarian cries that unfolded on our southern border on democrats' watch has actually gotten only worse. the biden's war on affordable energy put consumers in a bind. a half a world away growing storm clouds are darkening the international stage with major implications for america and for our allies. across the middle east, from proxy terrorist attacks to nuclear and missile development, iran keeps reminding us it has no intention of playing by the rules. in eastern europe, vladimir putin himself is spelling out the reality of russia's threat to the international order, one

armored vehicle at a time. i'm encouraged that president biden finally appears inclined to enforce peace treaty allies with u.s. forces. other nato allies should join us inning defending our eastern flank allies. likewise, americans' efforts to deploy ukraine's ability to defend itself must occur not at the speed of bureaucracy but at the speed of relevance. unfortunately, washington democrats have spent months focused on one distraction after another from these pressing challenges. months before russia began massing forces for an invasion of ukraine, our colleagues on the armed services committee produced a bipartisan defense authorization bill that would reassure our commitments to our allies and partners in eastern europe as well as asia. and help our own forces stay on the cutting edge of competition

with china and russia. but instead of moving this legislation forward to prompt passage, the democratic leader left the ndaa in limbo until almost the last minute. in the meantime senate democrats spent months trying to assemble a massive reckless taxing-and-spending spree packed with policies that nobody was asking for outside of the radical left. our citizens were fighting for their economic lives, trying to fight off gas prices, grocery prices, car prices, housing prices, and here democrats were claiming the way out of inflation was to spend trillions on wind fields, windmills and welfare. and of course a multitrillion-dollar debt explosion wasn't even the most radical thing democrats have tried to ram through. earlier this month the vast majority of senate democrats tried to break, break this chamber's most fundamental rule for the sake of appointing themselves the entire country's

board of elections on steroids. well, i hope our friends across the aisle can spend 2022 recommitting themselves to the actual problems that families are facing on their watch. this razor-thin senate majority owes the american people at least that much. now on a final matter, last week justice steven breyer announced his plans to retire from the supreme court at the conclusion of this term. justice stephen breyer deserves our country's hard deacon graduate layingses. by the summer he will have dedicated 28 years on our highest court. during this time the justice has won respect and admiration from across the legal profession. one does not have to agree with the subassistance of justice

breyer's legal philosophy or conclusions he has reached in many cases to appreciate the service he has rendered to the court and to our country. he is universally regarded as a careful and committed jurist. he is a top-shelf legal expert and intellectual heavyweight. in fact, justice breyer has published prolifically even beyond his caseload. over the decades, the justice has spent many hundreds of published pages transparently laying out his legal philosophy and thinking through scholarly questions in public view. most of all, i admire justice breyer's staunch defense of the institution of the supreme court itself in the face of increasingly reckless rhetoric from loud voices on the political left who would like to consider themselves intellectually aligned with justice breyer. the justice proved that in fact they are not. he has been a loud and

consistent opponent of disastrous ideas such as modern democrats' court-packing proposals that would destroy public trust and deal a permanent blow to the rule of law. so my warm best wishes are with justice breyer, his wife jo ann in a and the breyer family as the justice concludes his term and his truly remarkable tenure. naturally the country's focus now turns to the next chapter for the court which president biden and the senate will author together. for now, madam president, i'll simply note a basic fact. president biden was elected on the be specific promise to govern from the middle, steward our governing institutions and unite a divided country. underscoring that point, the american people handed president biden a dead-even senate, 50-50. i suggest that president biden bear this in mind as he

considers whom to nominate to our highest court. the american people deserve a nominee who has demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and our great constitution. durbin madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from -- senator. mr. durbin: madam president, in keeping with the remarks of the republican leader, i'd like to start with the recognition of supreme court justice stephen breyer's contribution to america. on july 12, 1944, a court of appeals judge named stephen breyer appeared about the senate judiciary committee. it was the first day of his supreme court confirmation hearing. as he began speaking, judge breyer laid out his view of the

law and its role in maintaining the fabric of american life, and he said, quote, i believe the law must work for people. he argued that our nation's vast web of, quote, constitution, statutes, rules, regulations, practices and procedures has a single basic purpose. that purpose, is to help the many different individuals who make up america, from so many different backgrounds and circumstances, with so many different needs and hopings, live together -- hopes, live together harmoniously in freedom. in his nearly three decades on the supreme court, justice stephen breyer has lived by those words. he has made sure it was a force for good, unity and a force for freedom and equality. so, for me, i have mixed feelings and look back on the legacy of justice breyer who announced he will retire at the

end of this term. he was born in san francisco, he attended harvard law and three years after graduating from harvard, he returned to the school as a professor, a role where he inspired jurists, public servants. he served our country as a corporal in the united states army and army reserve. he was a clerk for supreme court justice goldberg, a member of the -- and chief counsel of the senate judiciary committee, which i'm honored to chair. from there he was appointed to the u.s. court of appeals for the first circuit where he served 14 years before his confirmation to the united states supreme court. and i might add for the record, his vote on confirmation to the court was 89-7. it was a remarkable showing of

strength and support whose politics were clear as he served with ted kennedy on the senate judiciary committee as his lead counsel for many years. justice breyer's record when he came to the supreme court was awe inspiring, from criminal justice to consumer protection, from campaign finance to immigration, justice breyer's voice has been powerful, pragmatic, thoughtful and enduring whether in the majority or in dissent. consider, for instance, justice breyer's dissenting opinion in the 1995 case, united states v. lopez. in that case the court's conservative majority overturned the gun-free school zone's act, citing the power under the commerce clause.

in his disenter, he -- dissent he melded the constitution. citing the facts and the law he methodically explained how the widespread gun violence threatened commerce. he concluded, i quote, holding the particular statute before us fails within the commerce power would not expand the scope of the clause, rather it would simply apply reexisting law to changing economic circumstances. it would recognize that in today's economic world gun-related violence near the classroom makes a significant difference in our economic as well as social well-being. that was one of the many opinions that captured breyer's vision of the law as a force for productivity, harmony and the well-being of the american people. fast forward 20 years.

the case was glosup v. gross, he -- the court's conservative majority rejected the challenge, but once again, justice stephen breyer responded with conscience and clarity. with his keen analysis and pragmatic reasoning, he explained the constitutional infirmities of the death penalty. he wrote and i quote, nearly 40 years ago this court upheld the death penalty under statutes that in the court's view were safeguard sufficient to be assured that the penalty would be reliably. the death penalty has changed. given the changes i believe it's time to reopen the question. let me say pair parenthetically,

it is surprising how many supreme court justices late in their term reflected on the death penalty. justice blackman was another. they decided, once with an eye towards consistency weighed on their consciences, and they came to conclude the death penalty truly needed to be questioned under our constitutional values. justice breyer recognized that our system of justice, purmt must not only be firm but fair. during his 28 years on the court, stephen breyer has been a stalwart defender of america's constitutional rights. as i mentioned years before he was confirmed to the supreme court, justice breyer sat on the court of appeals for the first circuit located in boston. today on the banks of the boston harbor stands a building that

reflects his lifetime service, the john mokely courthouse, i knew him. judge breyer helped design the courthouse and still has an office there. it has a curved glass wall so passersby can peer into the courthouse during the day. it's designed to provide a clear view into the administration of justice. engraved on the wall of the building are the names of the workers who had a hand in building, alongside the names of bringing layers -- brick layers and carpetters is -- carpenters, next to them, stephen breyer, he has made contribution to america.

he understands that the legal system is stronger when the american people understand how the law works for them. soon president biden will announce his successor for justice breyer. i'm sure he will nominate someone who has justice breyer's intellect. we have a chance to confirm another outstanding justice, one who will indeed champion the freedoms and liberties we hold so dear. one who will also remain faithful to the rule of law and who will approach her work on the court with the same thoughtful dedication displayed by justice breyer. we don't yet know who the nominee will be, but here's what we do know. no matter the nominee, we will undertake a process in the senate judiciary committee that is both fair and timely. this process will afford senators an opportunity to

review the nominee's record and question the nominee thoroughly while at the same time ensuring the nominee is treated respectfully and receives a prompt confirmation vote. we owe that not just to this nominee but to the american people. let me close by trowrng justice breyer's opening statement before the -- by turning to justice breyer's opening statement to the judiciary committee in 1994, america was with a watching when justice breyer said, you are now considering my appointment to the united states supreme court, that court works in a grand tradition that has the guarantees of fairness and freedom that the constitution provides. he said, i promise you, and i promise the american people, if i'm confirmed to be a member of the court i will try to be worthy of that great tradition. there is no doubt in my mind or the mind of any objective analyst, stephen breyer has

proven himself worthy of that great tradition. whoever his successor may be, i'm confident she will do the same. i want to personally thank justice breyer as a member of the senate but as an american citizen first for his thoughtfulness, his spirit of collegiality and consensus building and for always working to advance the constitution's guarantees of fairness and freedom. madam president, i ask that the following statement i'm about to make be placed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, two years ago mark frarus, a veteran of the united states navy from illinois, was abducted by the taliban, two years. at the time mark was working as a civil engineer, for a decade he led construction projects to benefit the people of afghanistan, but on january 21,

2020, mark was invited to a meating to -- to a meeting to discuss his next project. when he arrived, he was kidnapped and taken to the mountains of afghanistan. for two agonizing years, mark's family has prayed for his return. last week mark's sister wrote an op-ed in "the washington post" urging the biden administration to help finally bring mark home. my colleague, senator duckworth and i, have made the same appeal to the president many times over to push every possible lever to secure the safe and urgent release of mark. it seems that the administration is committed to do so and i thank the president for his recent statement. he said in that statement, the taliban must immediately release mark before it can, quote, expect any consideration of the aspirations for him.

we all pray that mark is still alive. as the administration continues to hold talk on the taliban on everything from women's rights to combating starvation and famine, i hope and pray that mark's release will remain on the forefront of those negotiations. i look forward to continuing to work with them on that case, senator duckworth and i have worked over the years to bring him home. let's make sure that mark does not spend another year in captivity. let's bring him home to lombard, illinois, so he can turn 60 in the loving arms of family and friends. madam 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:

we need some for the justices in our country. i think you're all excellent. the time has come. great to have as many extremely qualified people can serve and serve justice. >> [inaudible question] >> i don't look at it is being political, it's just a balance that needs to be done. the u.s. is very diversified we have a lot of great people society to be able to hear -- million ohioans in the northern district of ohio, ohio on the federal bench. each of these nominees brings with them not only impressive

legal credentials but diverse life experiences, empathy and a deep commitment to justice that will make them excellent district judges. it's why senator portman and i together recommended these nominees to president biden. it's why each of them was voted out of the senate judiciary committee with bipartisan support. i urge my colleagues on the floor to support them. tonight we'll vote to advance the nomination of bridget brennan. bridget brennan is a current u.s. attorney. she served ohioans as an assistant u.s. attorney for over a decade. she's taken on complex and difficult issues. she's focused on cases that help make our community safer and more just. ms. brennan's dedicated her career to making the northern district of ohio a safer place for victims of human trafficking, including children. she served as the lead prosecutor in the largest juvenile sex trafficking case in the history of the northern district. a horrific case that included

victims as young as 12. she achieved the country's first conviction for a sex trafficker's use of heroin to control his victims, convincing the court to recognize heroin withdrawal as a threat, quote, threat to serious bodily harm for the purpose, -- unquote, for the purpose of proving coercion. she's been a champion for liberty. she successfully prosecuted 16 defendants in a single case. under hate crimes statutes for their roles in religious motivating assaults after she viciously attacked members of ohio's amish community. she successfully prosecuted a man for arson and the destruction of religious property after he drove hours just to set fire to a mosque in northern ohio. ms. brennan received glowing recommendations in those she's worked with and those whom she's prosecuted. people who she has prosecuted

write to her from jail seeking advice and guidance. this is someone whose commitments to justice is obvious to all those who deal with her. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting ms. brennan's nomination. tomorrow in addition to confirming ms. brennan, the senate will consider the nominations of charles fleming and federal magistrate judge david ruiz both of whom are nominated to serve the northern district. mr. fleming is an assistant public defender, not always the route to being a federal judge but a key, key, key part of our judicial system. he's an assistant public defender in the northern district serving his trial team leader in the northern district's largest public defender branch. a career public servant, mr. fleming has extensive trial experience in federal court serving a a -- federal public defender for 30 years. if confirmed he would be the only black man currently serving as an active duty federal

district court judge for the northern district. mr. fleming has received uniformly enthusiastic reviews from judges he has appeared before and from attorneys he's tried cases against. as lead public defender he takes on what his supervisor described as the most difficult and challenging cases, as you can imagine. in his cases he's always displayed exceptional empathy not only towards clients but also the victims of crime. one story illustrates his character well. he was representing an individual charged with committing a violent crime. according to the judge when making his arguments for what he believed was a fair sentence for his client, mr. fleming turned and faced the victim and her family. the judge said mr. fleming didn't alter his arguments but he wanted to accord the victim and her family the dignity of hearing directly from him. the public defender. that's the kind of empathy and respect we need on the bench.

i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting his nomination. third, judge david ruiz has served as federal magistrate judge in the northern district for five years. for that he served for 16 years as an assistant u.s. attorney in the northern district in a private practitioner. as an assistant u.s. attorney and -- in private practice, he took on a wide spectrum of cases. those who worked with him praised his temperament and intellect and described him as unflappable. however perhaps judge ruiz's most powerful endorsement came from the judges already seated in the northern district who selected him to serve as one of their magistrate judges. they selected judge ruiz to oversee groundbreaking multimillion dollar, multidistrict litigation involving the manufacturing and distributors of opioids which have done huge damage to families in communities across our state. also poised to make history as the first latino district judge ever to sit in the northern

district. he will become ohio's if this body concurs as the committee did, judiciary committee did, he will become ohio's first ever latino federal judge. he's the brandson of immigrants. he's a descendant of migrant farm workers who picked fruit in the fields of texas and michigan to provide a better life for their family. judge ruiz' success embodies the american dream of generation of immigrants. finally, i want to thank publicly in this forum all the members of the bipartisan commission that recommended these nomes to senator portman and me. when he first came to the senate, senator voinovich and i established this bipartisan commission process to help identify the best candidates for these important jobs. i'm proud of the work that we've done with senator portman to continue that tradition. through president, of both parties. the members took considerable time out of busy schedules to identify and interview potential

candidates. they undertook this task to ensure that people living in the northern district had access to justice in a bench that looks like the people they serve. this is by far the most diverse set of u.s. attorneys, u.s. marshalls -- marshal, u.s. official judges we've had in our state. i thank the members for their work. i would like to mention my representatives on this commission. mohammad madani, paul demarco, dennis, kayla griffin, jacqueline johnson, barbara lumm, carol rundone, carter stewart, margaret wong. i want to especially thank the chair of our commission, joyce goldstein who put so much effort and time into this, who dedicated -- put so much energy ensuring this effort was a success. the northern district of ohio is better off because of their work. dr. king wrote progress never rolls in on wheels of

inevitability. each of these nomes will serve as wheels of progress for our state, for our country. i am certain -- i don't make predictions in politic, often, but i'm certain that every member of this body, republican and democrat who vote for these three judges will always be glad that they did. i urge my colleagues to vote yes so they can get to work immediately serving the people of my great state. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

i want to show her story looking at something you describe in the headline and what it means for those on capitol hill as they are debating going back and forth on funding the government, what you mean by this. >> e word, a used to be called earmarks back in the day, very narrow individually tailored projects members of congress would insert into the annual funding bills. they would sometimes be for something as small as local

interchange, highway stop area, basically looking for sometimes as little as $100,000 $75000, sometimes more or sometimes in the millions these projects that were the bread-and-butter they be able to say they delivered for their constituents back home. the problem was in the late 90s, it became an explosion of earmarks and earmarks became a politicized thing where national leadership those members of congress racists and steer the money for them it was about who raised the money slowly but surely lobbing community caught on and realized one way they could get more clients was higher people, staffers for specific numbers particularly

good at the earmarks they would work to get clients who have connections to the lawmaker more earmarks and pretty soon you have this earmark explosion and many of them were still very good helping communities get through key issues they needed funding for and bureaucracy sometimes takes so long community help and a member of congress to do that. there were some bad earmarks i got in with bills in some cases downright corruption lobbyists would raise money and they would give gifts to the members and more than a dozen lobbyists and federal agency representatives and lawmakers went to prison 15

years ago and it led to the banning of earmarks and it was at this tasteful thing closely led by republicans and john weiner and republicans they took over the majority in 2011 but democrats like barack obama didn't like the fact that it was corrupt so that's why it ended ten years ago but what people realized over the decade was it devalued a member of congress was doing and reached where the average rank-and-file member of the house of representatives struggled to explain what they were doing in washington from nothing to deliver their constituents and it created this environment in which the members who used to think the government funding bills, the most basic

duty of congress every year is to fund the government and keep it open and keep the budget they needed. that became a secondary task for people, patient care about as much, they have skin in that game and not in part, you have a bipartisan special committee in the house 2019 and 20, they concluded one reason there were so many of these government shutdowns would experience, 17 or 18 days in 2013, 35 days across 2018, 19, is that part of the reason we are having these bound, members themselves have the input into the budget and didn't see good coming out of it so now the democratic led majorities in the house and senate bring that practice. >> with that as ade set up if yu

want to ask guests questions about this process and earmarks -- mr. cornyn: madam president, last week when the senate was in recess, justice stephen breyer announced he will soon retire from the united states supreme court. i want to first thank justice breyer for his service, more than four decades including nearly three decades on the supreme court itself. though i have disagreed with his rulings from time to time, i maintain deep respect for justice breyer's commitment to the rule of law and the integrity of our judicial system. last year when some of our democratic colleagues renewed their threats to expand the supreme court and pack it with partisans, justice breyer, to his credit, spoke up. he echoed the comments of the

late-ruth bader ginsburg and warned about the potentially dangerous consequences of democrats' court-packing threats. as i said, i have great respect for justice breyer's defense of the court and for the rule of law, and protecting the court as an institution, especially at a moment when sound, principled leadership was needed. once again, i want to make it justice breyer for his service and wish him a well-deserved retirement. mr. president, all eyes are now on the white house as we await news of president biden's nominee to succeed justice breyer. though this is the president's first opportunity to nominate a supreme court justice, he's standing at a very familiar fork in the road, outlining two separate and distinct paths. one those paths involves convention and virtuous

leadership. president biden could select an individual whose stellar credentials and experience are matched by a deep respect for the rule of law and the constitution. he could nominate someone who agrees that supreme court justices are meant to act as umpires not as players in the game. they're supposed to call balls and strikes, not to help their preferred team score runs. of course, there is another path, one that was cleared and paved by the radical left. the president could listen to the liberal activist whose want to select somebody who will deliver partisan wins regardless of the facts. he could nominate someone who would attempt to use the position on the supreme court to rule based on personal policies or preferences rather than what the law commands that a justice do. as i've said, president biden has found himself looking down

these two diverging paths a number of times. the first -- when i first took office he could have worked with republicans to build on congress' perfect record of bipartisan pandemic relief. with the border crisis he could have endorsed bipartisan efforts to address the virtually uninhibited flow of migrants across our southern border during this last year. with a 50-50 senate he could have embraced the opportunity to work across the aisle to make progress on our shared priorities. but at every single decision point, the president basically ignored the opportunity to build consensus, even when he supported the infrastructure bill, it was only as a last resort, after his attempt, along of that of speaker pelosi, to join the infrastructure bill to the build back better bill, which he knew he had -- did not

have the support that it needed, even among members of his own party. the president has repeatedly bowed to the radical left's demands and the results speak for themselves. last spring the american people were stuck with a nearly $2 trillion bill for unnecessary partisan spending. illegal border crossings remain at historic highs with more than two million apprehensions since january last year when he took office. many of our democratic colleagues abandoned their long-standing support for the filibuster or the bipartisan consensus-building requirement of our cloture rules and tried to blow up the foundation of the senate in order to clear a path for even more partisan legislation. and now we find ourselves one year into a democratic-controlled government with a short list of legislative accomplishments. time and time again president

biden has abandon odd bipartisanship and tradition in order to appease the progressive base in his political party. and the american people are the ones who have suffered the consequences. once again i would hope he would remember his inspiring words at his inauguration on january 20, just about a year ago, where he called for a healing of the divisions in our country and working together in a shared desire to improve the quality of life for americans and to make their place in the world one of leadership and peace. the left has already begun its campaign to replace justice breyer with a judicial activist. in fact, the very fact that justice breyer decided to retire is an indication that the radical left is successful in

bro-beating a sit -- in browbeating a sitting supreme court justice into retiring rather than finishing his term of office. but clearly, these folks on the left don't want him to be succeeded by another principled jurist who evaluates cases based on the law and the facts. they want a partisan who will deliver sure political wins. our nation does not need a radical ideologue serving on the highest court in the land. we all know that the supreme court is a third and coequal branch of government. we also know that the role of a judge is far different from that of a legislator. legislators are elected in order to represent their constituents and make public policy proposals that hopefully will become law, which will improve their lot in life and their future. a supreme court, or any judge for that matter, is not supposed

to start with a desired result and work backward from there. the supreme court is not a substitute for working together to pass legislation in the executive branch with the sign-off -- excuse me, legislative branch with the signoff by the executive branch. the supreme court or any court is not a fail safe that can be utilized to deliver particular results that can't be secured through the legislative process. judges should not be legislators in black robes. they shouldn't advocate for any particular policy outcome or promote a specific agenda. our democracy and the rule of law depends on justices embracing, not personal politics, not personal beliefs, and not a preference for a particular result in a case. the key to our constitutional republic is a judge that calls

balls and strikes, who decides each case based on the facts and the law. it's important because every time a judge acts as an activist and takes away an issue that should be decided by the political branches, he shrinks the capacity of the american people to make their own choices at the ballot box when they elect members of the legislature and executive branch. in fact, that's the reason why our constitution gives judges lifetime tenure, so they will be ibs lated -- insulated from politics, not so they can use that tenure in order to impose their political preferences without retribution by the voters. conversely those of us in congress are precisely elected in political elections for

policy purposes, and the fact is we either listen to our constituents and are guided by their desires, or they hold the power to replace us and retire us at the ballot box. that's why our founders gave courts jurisdiction to apply and interpret the law, no the to make the law up as they go along. we need dedicated public servants who follow the statutes passed by congress and signed by the president into law, and the constitution representing the fundamentally law of the land, and we need judges to make decisions based on what that law says, not again on what their preferred outcome may be. so as the president approaches these two paths, i hope he will ignore the clamor on the left and make a choice that serves the best interests of the american people, and send us a nominee who respects the law and the limited role of a judge in our political system, because a

judge is not supposed to subtuity his or her opinion -- substitute his or her opinion for that of the elected representatives of the people. surely, the constitution is the fundamental law of the land. as chief justice marshal said in marbury vs. madison, the decisions of the court interpreting that constitution are the last word. but what we need is what chief justice roberts called humility, that judges understand their important but limited role under our form of government, not to supersede the policy judgments of the elected officials just because they can, because they are the last word. we need judges who will demonstrate that sort of humility, that understand that yes, they have a tough and important job to do, but it is within certain guardrails and limitations about what that role should be. as the president looks down

these two divergent paths i hope he will ignore the clamor on the left and make a choice that serves the best interests of the american people, and he would do that by choosing a mainstream nominee. the president promised during his campaign to nominate an african american woman to the supreme court, making that a historic first. as the president weighs his decision i want to remind him and our senate colleagues that diversity extends far beyond just gender and skin color. we need a diversity of education, background, and experience. for example, all of the current justices on the court but one were educated at ivy league colleges and universities. in fact, when justice barrett was confirmed she became the first sitting justice to attend a law school other than harvard or yale. it's true that the current justices largely hail from

coastal metropolitan areas, and a third, one-third of the sitting justices had previously served on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. so i agree that diversity on the highest court in the land is a valuable asset, and i encourage the president to consider nominees that can bring unique experiences, education, viewpoints for all types to the supreme court -- of all types to the supreme court. whoever the president chooses will be evaluated based on their qualifications, experience, and abilities to separate politics from the rule of rule of law. that's the job of the senate judiciary committee on which i am proud to serve. i presume we would treat any nominee, regardless of ethnicity, race, or gender exactly the same in extending to them a respectful and dignified process. certainly, no nominee is going to get points, so to speak, for

their confirmation vote because they are of a particular race, ethnicity or gender. each nominee will be thofl vetted and -- thoroughly vetted and questioned, just as prior nominees have been. unlike some of the mudslinging we saw during the confirmation of justice cavanaugh, i expect this process to be fair and dignified. we must be careful, thorough, and comprehensive, because, madam president, the american people and the institution of the supreme court deserve nothing less. madam president, i yield the floor, and i would note the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

at the conclusion of this term. shortly after his nomination was first announced in 1994, then judge breyer publicly what he expected the high court. he told reporters it was hoped to quote make the average person's ordinary life better, unquote. nearly three decades later, we can safely say judge breyer has met that mark and then some. throughout american history, 115 individuals have sat on the nation high court. if you have served as long and effectively as judge breyer. his opinion on voting rights environmental protections from women's reproductive freedoms in protecting access to affordable healthcare, justice breyer's impact upon our nation will last for generations. america is a more perfect union today because of justice stephen breyer. of course judge breyer's legacy

of service extends beyond even his remarkable term of the court. on the supreme court. thirteen years he sat on the u.s. court of appeals for first circuit. he served eight years before that member of the army reserves and of course members office chamber cannot forget he was once part of the senate itself serving as an eight on the judiciary committee where he worked closely with our dear friend from a late senator ted kennedy. every step of the way he remained is essential self, decent, brilliant and dedicated to our democracy. with his new vacancy on the court, president biden will have the opportunity history by nominating the first ever black woman to serve on the supreme court. i'm confident the president will select an outstanding individual to fill justice breyer's seat. we intend to move quickly on our constitutional duty to act on the nominee went announced. i can assure all senators the

senate will have a fair process that moves quickly so we can confirm president biden psalmody to fill justice breyer's seat as soon as possible. today members office chamber say thank you to justice breyer for his lifetime of public service. now madam president, as our country continues to recover from the darkest days of the public pandemic, last week we received a remarkable bit of news. the u.s. economy grew 5.7%, 5.7% in 2021. let me say it again, last year the u.s. economy grew by 5.7%, the largest single year growth rate in about 40 years. last year's economic growth did not happen on its own. faced with historic prices, democrats took unprecedented steps in 2021 to give american

families and businesses the support they need to make ends meet and stay healthy. though we have more work to do to lower cost and expand opportunity, we are undeniably better off today than we were a year ago when we first took office. it's frightening to remember how bad things were at the start of 2021. for entry very worst of the pandemic, the economy had a worst year since world war ii and 11 million people out of work. 3000 americans die each day from covid-19. the democrats responded by passing theal american rescue pn too much into the president's term, we later passed historic infrastructure package putting people to work, fixing roads and bridges and highways thanks to the head i was care workers, leadership in the biden

administration action taken by congressional democrats, over 200 million americans have now been vaccinated. because of these steps democrats took last year, unemployment plummeted faster than many forecasters predicted a year ago to below 4%. the economy added the largest number of manufacturing jobs we decades and wages keep climbing, layoffs are near record lows. make no mistake this economy is in the midst of historic turnaround thanks in large part to swift action by democrats in the congress and the white house but of course the work is far from over, we must keep working to lower costs for american families, we need to help businesses struggling with supply chains, particularly shortage affecting everything from auto manufacturing to household appliances and workers me protections to ensure they

share in continued economic recovery. that's why congress must keep working on legislation the u.s. innovation competition act which the senate passed last year with strong bipartisan support. this year, this week the house will hold a vote to pass their counterpart to this bill, the america competes act. i brought the house is taking this important step in the right direction and when the america competes act passes, the house and senate can begin the process of resolving the differences in each bill and send a final product the president's desk. with historic investments in science, technology and american manufacturing from colleges seek to represent the boldest steps in decades to secure america's economic future while manufacturing is back to the u.s. from overseas to strengthen domestic supply chains and help

address our countries dangerous semiconductor shortage giving up prices and everything from cars to microwaves, all of this not only relieve rising costs making us less reliant on foreign manufacturing and also advanced national security from a legislation to fix our countries dangerous semiconductor shortage and driving prices up and everything from cars to waves strengthening domestic supply chain and increases production, not only relieve rising costs also advanced our national security are not spoken with both my republican and democratic colleagues about finding a way to get the bill to the president's desk. now i'm glad the house will take action this week on their version of this legislation and i look forward to working through elsa president biden and finally sign manufacturing and innovation built into law.

madam president, over the next few weeks, there are other crucial priorities the senate must also attend to as we returned to this work. from one senate democrats will tenure and also work on nominations for the end of the last four. from isaiah approach on 20 nominees to serve in both the biden administration and federal courts. later today we will hold a quarter vote on the first of these nominees missed rigid to serve as a district judge for the district of ohio and over the course of this week from work to get these men and women confirmed as quickly as possible. among 20 individuals i filed? on include more nominee for the u.s. court of appeals, several federal district judges, several judges who serve in washington d.c. superior court, nominee to serve as u.s. ambassador to germany and many other highly

qualified men and women to serve in the department of defense, export import bank and the less international about finance corporation. we are going to work until we confirm all of these crucial nominees and i look forward to working in good faith with the other sites to get them done. finally, this work. begins -- this work. in this work. some of the senate will work on the final task passing a package to fund the federal government, prevent a shutdown make sure the federal government is well-equipped to serve the american people. i will sit down with a number of democratic appropriators tomorrow discuss the state of negotiations and i want to thank the appropriators for their hard work the funding package. we're going to work might bring the package and make sure congress fills the basic duty for the american people.

i yelled the floor and note the absence of. >> last week in our home page, hear firsthand updates about the real issues facing real families.

kentuckians have been grateful, fema has begun disturbing for proper aid we know recovery will be a long process, my office and i will stand with our people every step of the way. the entire state expected to improve roads, bridges, railways and broadband by the bipartisan infrastructure feel congress struck last year. but like working people across america, kentuckians have serious concerns about significant headwinds families are feeling the pain of the worst inflation in 40 years. in our country has been hammered by 7% inflation over just the past year. employers trying hard to keep up even as they face inflation across all expenses, businesses across our region have

significantly up there spending on wages and benefits but many workers have gotten raises but it's only on paper because historic inflation on the democrats part is more than the average increase in wages, inflation turning pay raises to pay cuts. this is just one of the many significant problems confront after a year of bloodshed and america streets from a violent crime is forcing too many to live in fear. historic humanitarian and security crisis that unfolded at the southern border on democrats watch has only gotten worse. the biden administration has unreliable american energy consumers in a bind. half a world away in multiple regions, growing strong project darkening, the international stage with major implications for america and for our allies.

across the middle east, paris attacks nuclear and missile development, iran keeps reminding us and has no intention of playing by the rules in eastern europe about vladimir putin himself spelling out directors international order one armored vehicle at a time. i am encouraged president biden finally appears the european treaty allies with u.s. forces and must take place sooner rather than later. other nato allies should join us in defending our allies. likewise, supporting the ability to defend itself occur not at the speed of bureaucracy the speed of relevance washington from across spent months focus on one distraction after another

in these pressing challenges months before russia began forces for invasion of ukraine, probably from the armed services committee produced bipartisan defense authorization bill to reassert our allies and partners in eastern europe and asia. our forces on the cutting edge of competition with china and russia set of distillation forward from past democratic leaders left in limbo until almost last minute. in the meantime, senate democrats spent months trying to assemble reckless spending spree policy nobody was asking for outside of the radical left. providing for economic lives trying to fight off gas prices and grocery prices, housing prices in here democrats proclaiming the way out of inflation to suspend trillions

on windmills and welfare. of course multibillion-dollar explosion wasn't even the most radical thing democrats recently tried to ram through. this month earlier tried to break the chambers fundamental goal for the sake of appointing themselves the entire countries or elections on steroids. i hope our friends across the aisle confront 2022 recommitting themselves to the actual problems families are facing on their watch. razor thin senate majority was the american people at least that much. on a final matter last week stephen breyer announced plans to retire from the supreme court at the conclusion of this term. justice breyer deserves our

countries hearty congratulations. the summer he will have dedicated more than four decades of service to the federal judiciary including 28 years on our highest court. during this time, just one respect and admiration from across legal profession, but does not have to agree with the substance of legal philosophy or conclusions reached in many to appreciate the service is rendered the court and our country. he's universally regarded as careful and committed euros, top legal expert and intellectual heavy weight. justice breyer published prolifically beyond, over the corrected justice and spent under the published pages laying out legal philosophy through scholarly questions in public view. most of all, i admire his

friends of the institution of the supreme court itself in the face of increasingly reckless rhetoric from my voices on the political left would likely consider themselves intellectually aligned with justice breyer. justice proved that they are not. he spent loud and consistent opponent of disastrous ideas such as moderate democrats partisan court packing proposal to destroy public trust deal with permanent blows to the rule of law one best wishes are with him and his wife joanna the breyer family just term truly remarkable time. countries focus turns to the next chapter the court which positive biden in the senate will offer together. for now, i will simply note basic fact positive biden was

elected promised to govern the middle. stuart our governing institutions and unite a divided country underscoring that, under people hands of president 750/50. i suggested president biden bear this in mind as he nominating to our highest court. >> and people deserve a nominee demonstrated text of our laws and great constitution.

from so many different backgrounds and circumstances, so many different needs and hopes, together productively, harmoniously and in his nearly a decade from the supreme court, justice has lived by those words. he's help ensure laws are enforced booker freedom and equality. i've truly mixed feelings as i

stand here today, he announced last week retire at the end of this term. what a legacy he wanted san francisco, he attended stanford and harvard law three years after graduating from harvard, he returned to the school as a professor. >> a special prosecutor's office, and chief counsel to the senate judiciary committee which amounted to chair. according to the u.s. court of appeals for the first circuit to come up reserve years, before his confirmation to the united states supreme court i might add that for the record, the

confirmation to the court was 8989 - seven that was remarkable showing the strength and support from an whose politics were very clear that he served as chairman ted kennedy and the senate judiciary committees and lead record when he came to the supreme court was nothing short of awe-inspiring it in from the voting rights to women's productive and reproductive treatments, and from criminal justice to consumer protections, and from campaign finance to immigrations, the justice breyer's voice has been powerful, pragmatic, thoughtful, and enduring. whether the majority were in dissent. consider justice briars opinion in the 1985, case united states versus the best. in that case, the course conservative majority overturn the gun free school zone act and

finding that the statute exceeded congresses part of the commerce clause and a departure from existing tanning president and his dissent he noted the sound constitutional interpretation with the signature pragmatism, citing the fact and law he methodically explained how the widespread problem was caused by gun violence in and around the schools clearly affected and threatened commerce and he concluded and, only a particular statute before us fails within the commerce would not expand the scope of the because whether it was simply applied pre-existing law to changing economic circumstances than it would recognize that in today's economic world, the related new classroom makes a significant difference in our economic as well as her social well-being. and that was one of the many opinions captured stephen g. breyer's vision of the law is

the force for productivity and for harmony and for well-being in the american people. and fast forward 20 years, the case, and in that case the challenge of the form of lethal injection was violating a commitment and cruel and unusual punishment in the course conservative majority rejected the challenge. once again justice stephen g. breyer responded with conscious and clarity come up with his keen analysis of pragmatic it presenting, he explained constitutional and harmonies of the death penalty. and he wrote and i quote, nearly four years ago, this court upheld the death penalty under statute than course view contains safeguard sufficient to ensure the penalty be applied reliably, not arbitrarily in the circumstances and evidence in the death penalty application of change radically since then.

in the changes i believe that it is now time to reopen the question. let me say this empathetically, it's interesting for me to note how many supreme court justices laid in their term, facing retirement or nearing it, i reflected on the death penalty, and justice - was another and assist me that these cases, what they decided once with a fast eye towards consistency, wait on the conscious is in the to concluded the death penalty was truly needed to be questioned under constitutional values and justice stephen g. breyer recognized in our system of justice, the punishment must not only be firm, but fair. during his 28 years on the court, stephen g. breyer has been a store work defender of america's question constitutional rights and as i mentioned in the year before he was confirmed the supreme court

justice stephen g. breyer set on the court of appeals first circuit located in boston today the boston harbor said the building at the reflexes lifetime of service, the john joseph united states courthouse, the miata, he was my colleague and my friend in the house. when judge stephen g. breyer help is on the courthouse out he still keeps an office there predict the building features curved the glass wall stretching across tens of thousands of feet. and passer buyers can appear into the courthouse during the day and is designed to provide a clear view into the administration of justice. the names of the workers who had a hand in building it, alongside of the names of the bricklayers in the carpenters and edged and setting the name, stephen g. breyer. those two principles reflected in the building transparency and equality, have in many ways defined stephen g. breyer legal

philosophy and contribution to america predict and he understands our system of justice, it is stronger when the american people understand how the law works, the law works for them and we must carry that tradition forward and soon president biden will announce the successor to the supreme court and big shoes to fill but i no doubt that the president biden will selected your who parallels the justice and electability and dedication to public service and we have an opportunity to confirm another outstanding justice during his retirement of stephen g. breyer in one will indeed campaigning the liberties that we hold so dearly. one who will also remain faithful to the rule of law and who will approach her work on the court with the same thoughtful dedication displayed by justice stephen g. breyer we don't yet know who the nominee will be but here is what we do

know, no matter the nominee, we will undertake a process in the senate judiciary committee is both fair and timely. in this process will afford the senators an opportunity to review the nominations record it in question nominee thoroughly. all the same time, ensuring the nominee is treated respectfully and receives confirmation vote and not for this nominate but also for the market people because by returning it to the justice stephen g. breyer opening statement before the judiciary committee, july 12, 1994. america bruce watching with justice stephen g. breyer watson said that you are now considering my appointment to the united states supreme court and it works within a grand tradition that is made painful n the practice and guarantees the fairness with the constitution provides, and he said that a promise you and promise the american people if i'm confirmed as a member of the court i will try to be worthy of that

position and there is no doubt in my mind that might've been any objective person listening that stephen g. breyer has proven himself worthy of that great tradition it and whoever his successor may be, i'm confident that she will be the same and want to personally thank justice stephen g. breyer, as a member of the senate for the respectful and spirit of graciousness inconsistent and for always working at the constitutional guarantees of fairness and freedom. >> when the senate last week was in recess, justice stephen g. breyer, announced that he will soon retire from the united states supreme court read on the first thank stephen g. breyer for his service, more than four decades on the including nearly three decade is the supreme court itself. and it disagreed with his rulings, from time to time, i

maintain deep respect for justice stephen g. breyer's commitment to the rule of law and the integrity of our judicial system and last year when some of our democratic colleagues renew their threats to expand supreme court and package with partisans, justice stephen g. breyer to his credit spoke up. and naoko the, the late ruth bader ginsburg, who warned about potential dangerous consequences democrats court packing threats i have great respect for the def the court for the rule of law and protecting the court as an institution it especially the moment we sound principal leadership was needed. i want to get over the thank justice stephen g. breyer for his service and i wish him his well-deserved pretournament. and all eyes are now in the white house as we await news of president bided so many to

succeed justice stephen g. breyer this is the first opportunity to nominate a supreme court justice and he is standing in a very familiar fork in the road. outlining two separate and distinct paths. one of those baths involves convention and virtuous leadership and president biden could select an individual who stole her credentials and experience were matched by a deep respect for the rule of law and the constitution make nomine someone who agrees that supreme court justices are meant to act as umpires, not as players in the game. there is supposed to call the balls in the strikes, not to help their preferred team score run. and of course, there is another path, one that was clear and paved by the radical left, the

resident could listen to the liberal activist who want to select somebody who will deliver partisan lens regardless of the facts. he could nominate them in inglewood to use the position on the supreme court to rule based on personal policies or preferences rather than with the law commands that injustice do. but as i've said president biden is found himself looking down the two diversion paths a number of times when he took office he could work with republicans to build on congresses perfect record of bipartisan pandemic relief but the border crisis, he could've endorsed bipartisan efforts address virtually uninhibited flow of migrants across our southern border during this last year. with a 50/50 senate, he could've embraced the opportunity to work across the aisle to make progress under shared priorities

made every single decision point the president basically ignored the opportunity to build consensus even when he supported the infrastructure bill, only as last resort after his attempt along that with that of speaker pelosi to join in the imperceptible for the build back better bill, she knew had do not have the sport the needed even among members of his own party. the president has repeatedly failed to radical left demand and the result speak for themselves in the spring the american people are stuck with a nearly 2 trillion-dollar bill for unnecessary partisan spinning, illegal border crossings at historic highs with more than 202 million apprehensions since january of last year when he took office printed maybe democratic colleagues long-standing support for the filibuster, the

bipartisan consensus building requirements, about cultural rules and try to blow up the foundation of the senate in order to clear a path for even more partisan legislation. and we find ourselves when you're good democratic with the short-lived legislative accomplishments and time and time again, president biden has abandoned it by partisanship and in order to please the progressive based political party in the american people are the ones who have suffered the consequences once again i would hope that he would remember his inspiring words in his inauguration on generate 20, just about a year ago recoded for healing of the divisions in the country working together in a shared desire to improve the quality of life for americans

and make the place in the world, one of leadership and peace. the left has begun the campaign to replace justice stephen g. breyer with an activist in fact, the very fact that justice stephen g. breyer decided to retire is an indication the radical left was successful in browbeating into retiring rather than pinching his term of office. but clearly, these folks on the left do not want him to be succeeded by the principal jurist bill belly of the cases the lawn the facts them on the partisan who will deliver sure political and internation does not need a radical ideologue serving on the high score the land. we all know that the supreme court is a 30 kobe bryant

government also the role of judge is far different than a legislature for they are elected in order to represent their constituents make policy proposals that hopefully will become law which will improve their lot in life and their future. at a supreme court or any judge for that matter is not supposed to start with the desired result and work backwards from there. and it's not a substitute for working together to pass legislation it in the executive branch with a signoff he sees me legislative grant with a signoff by executive branch. as supreme court or any court is not feel safe camino lies in deliver particular results who cannot be secured through the legislative process. and judges should not be legislators in black robes

predict they do not advocate any particular policy outcome promote a specific agenda read our democracy and the rule of law depends upon emphasis embracing it, no personal politics, not personal beliefs and a preference for a particular result in a case. the key to our constitutional republic is a judge that calls the balls and strikes and decides each case based on the facts and the law. and it's important because every time a judge act as an activist, take away an issue that should be decided by the political branches, he shrinks the capacity of the american people make their own choices at the ballot box when they liked members of the legislature and executive branch. in effect that is the reason why our constitution gives the

judges tenure so they will be in to and from the politics, no so they can use that tenure in order to impose their political preferences without retribution by the voters. conversely, those in congress are precisely elected by in the political elections for policy purposes and the fact is that we either listen to your constituents and are guided by their desires withhold the power to replace us and retire us at the ballot box and that is where founders of course jurisdictions to apply and interpret the law not to make it up as they go along many dedicated public servant who follow the statute passed by congress and signed by the president into law on the constitution fundamental law of the land.

many judges to make decisions based on what that law says, with the preferred outcome may be. as a prison approaches these two pass, hope he will ignore the clamor on left many toys this are the best interest of the american people. in tennessee nominate who respects the law and the limited role of the judge in our political system because a judge is not supposed to substitute his or her opinion it prevented elected representatives of the people and surely the constitution itself is a fundamental law of the land unless chief justice marshall said, the decisions of the court interpreting the constitution of the last words. what we needed is what chief justice roberts called humility. the judges understand their imported by limited role in government, not to supersede the

policy judgments of the elected officials. just because the can, because they are the last word, we need to judges who demonstrate the sort of humility and understand it that yes, have attacked an important job to do but it is within certain guardrails and limitations about what the role should be. and as the president of stanley bascom i hope he will ignore the clamor on the left make a choice that serves the best interest of the market people and he would do that but using mainstream nominee. and he promised to nominate an african-american woman it to supreme court making that a historic first. as he weighs his decision i want to remind him enter senate colleagues the diversity extend this far beyond just gender and skin color and we needed diversity of education,

background, experience and for example all of the current justices on the court but one, were educated and ivy league colleges and universities in effect when just as barrett was confirmed she became the first sitting justice to attend the law school other than harvard or yale and is true that the current justice largely help from coastal metropolitan areas one part of the city justices previously served in the dc circuit court of appeals, so i agree, the diversity and highest court in the land is a valuable asset and i agreed to present to consider nominees that can bring unique experiences, education, viewpoints, for all types to supreme court. one of the president chooses will be evaluated based on qualifications, experience and

ability to separate politics from the rule of law, that is the job of the senate judiciary committee on which i am proud to serve. i presume we would treat gaining nominee regardless of ethnicity, race or gender, in effect and extending to them and respectful and dignified process. certainly nominees when you get point to speak torso confirmation vote because they are the particular race ethnicity or gender. each nominee will be vetted and questions, just as prior nominees have been but unlike some of the mudslinging that we saw during the confirmation of justice kavanaugh, i expect this process to be fair and dignified. we must be careful, girl, comprehensive because the american people in the institution of the supreme court deserve nothing less.

the presiding officer: the senator from new york. a senator: i vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without

objection. 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 move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 655, bridget meehan brennan of ohio to be united states district judge for the northern district of ohio, signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of bridget meehan brennan of ohio to be united states district judge for the northern district of ohio shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 61. the nays are 30. the motion is agreed to. mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i don't believe we're in a quorum call but i'll

check. the presiding officer: we are not. mr. merkley: thank you. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to jeffrey warner, my state department fellow for the duration of his time as a fellow. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. mr. president, when freedom and democracy are threatened, we have a responsibility in this body, the u.s. senate, to speak up and speak out. it doesn't matter if it's a challenge here at home or it's happening somewhere else around the globe. we cannot remain silent. for the past year, burma has been descending into chaos, violence, and authoritarian military rule. so i've come to the floor here tonight, the anniversary of the burmese military's illegal coup overthrowing the democratically elected government to call on all of my colleagues to join me

in passing resolution 35, a resolution condemning the desecration of democracy in burma and the year of atrocities that has followed. and urging our allies around the world to join us in doing so. i also urge this body to pass the burma act which will give president biden the tools he needs to apply pressure to try to reverse this coup and help restore democracy. for those who are not aware of the situation in burma, a year ago the people of burma took to the streets. they engaged in general strikes to peacefully protest the military's overthrow of their fledgingly democracy. one woman who was part of the general strike committee, one of the main groups behind the protests, said she was participating because i have a little girl.

she's one. i don't want her to grow up under a dictatorship like i did. before taking to the streets, she told her husband, take care of our baby and move on with life if i get arrested or die in this movement. and she finished by saying, we will finish this revolution on our own and not hand it over to our children. early last year the country's parliament was expected to sign off on the recent national elections in which the leading civilian party, the national league for democracy and its head had won more than 80% of the seats that were available. now, the burmese military was never under civilian control and it wasn't happy with these overwhelming results, these results for the national league for democracy. they had been diluted into

thinking and believing that the people of burma supported their military policies and so they would support a strong military role in parliament which the people of burma did not. thus the military leaders refused to recognize the outcome of the election. they tried to have the country's supreme court throw out the results as fraudulent. and when that didn't work, they declared a national emergency and surrounded parliament with soldiers. civilian leaders were arested and the nation's infrastructure was seized by the military and almost overnight burma's decade-long experiment with democracy as imperfect as it was, was thrown out the window. and the kind of brutal military rule that had governed the country for roughly half a century was reinstated. the initial reaction from the

new military seemed restrained. the protests were allowed to go on peacefully but only for a little while. the restraint didn't last long. the military leaders who had been leading a brutal year long genocide against the country's rohingya minority turned to violence. they turned to violence as they had done in 1988, and 2007 to crush the protests. one local film maker who took it upon himself to document the protests said that at one protest in late february, about a hundred people marched towards us quickly. i don't know if they were police or they were soldiers and without warning they started shooting, shooting at us with sound bombs, with bullets, and with gas bombs.

since then the military's violence has escalated. they fired rocket launchers, burned down homes, launched air strikes, cut off food supplies to starve entire communities, shot at unarmed civilians as they fled. just last week there was a report that members of the military went to one village looking for two specific individuals, one of whom was disabled after shooting, killing these two individuals, they set fire to the entire village. according to one organization monitoring the situation, nearly 1500 burmese citizens have been killed since this coup began a year ago. another 12,000 arrested. with warrants issued, often death warrants issued ab citizen ya for another 2,000 or so and those are just the numbers that can be verified and who knows what the total amount are.

and for the rohingya people, a muslim population in a largely buddhist country, the situation has only grown worse. they've been the target of military oppression and gen genocide. hundreds of thousands have fled across the border. but the military continue to crack down even more on the rohingya population in a state i visited a few years ago leading to -- leading a delegation of senators and house members after the horrific genocide when some 700,000 people fled. villages were firebombed from the air. helicopters carrying soldiers shot from the air, on the ground, babies were killed in front of their parents, husbands were killed in front of their wive, women were raped, one of

the most horrific genocides, hundreds of villages, occurred at that moment. but the military now despite all what happened then is enacting new draconian restrictions on freedom of movement of the rohingya that remain. they have engaged in continuous intimidation efforts. they have warned of the dangers of collaborating with rogue groups assisting the military's authority. colleagues, the senate cannot stay quiet in the denial of freedom and the presence of massive human rights violations in burma. america cannot stay silent in the face of such atrocities. the world must not stay silent in the face of genocide being carried out against any group of human beings. we must make it undeniably clear to any government around the world that when you

systematically persecute your people, when you deny their human rights, when you murder innocent men, women, and children, when you burn down their homes and their communities, when you starve them of food, deny them the opportunity to earn a living or even travel to the next community to see a doctor, there are consequences, that a community of nations will not stand by idly as you commit these horrendous acts. and that we in the senate will not sit by and fail to give voice about these atrocities. so for the sake of all the burmese people who have lost their lives in this coup, for the sake of all those striving to restore democracy, let us pass senate resolution 35 and let us do it this week, a resolution condemning the military coup that took place on february 1, 2021 in mur bah and the burmese military detention of civilian leaders.

calling for an immediate and unconditional release of all those detained and for those elected to serve in parliament to resume their duties without impediment. let's pass that resolution and let's do it this week, the one-year anniversary of the coup. and let us work with our allies around the globe to restore freedom in mur bah, hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable -- burma, hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable for the crimes they have committed. mr. president, this is not only the anniversary of the military coup in burma, it is also the week of the start of the winter olympics in china. on this friday, february 4, the torch will be lit signaling the start of the 2022 winter olympic

games. millions around the world will gather around tv's, smartphones, computers, ipads and every kind of device to watch the spectacles of the opening ceremonies as they unfold in beijing. and for two weeks the audience will cheer as athletes from across the globe achieve the near impossible and join in the sorrow of defeat and the joy of victory. but while the world's attention focuses on the glamour of the games, a thousand miles away in jingsheng pro -- xinjiang province, the people of hong kong will still be denied their rights and freedoms. anden told numbers of political prisoners will languish behind bars in china, many for mog nor than exercising the most basic

voice they have as human beings. colleagues, we cannot allow the glitz and glamour of olympic gold and glory to blind us to the reality of pain and persecution that so many are sufferings under the chinese communist party's authoritarian control. people like maki rae coup, an insurance saleswoman, a mandarin tutor, the mother of three who is currently serving a 6 1/2 year sentence for funding terrorist activities. that sounds terrible. what has this mother of three done? but what did she do? she essential money overseas to australia to help her parents buy a house. since first being taken into custody of march of 23018,

mahire has languished in detention. first she was taken to a mass internment camp. then she was moved to a pretrial detention center. she was released twice, taken back into custody twice before being sentenced in december of 2020 to six and a half years behind bars for the crime of helping her parents buy a house. but the whole world knows her real crime and why she's behind bars is she was born in the uighur uighur minority community -- in the wearing minority community. mirzat taher is another member of the uighur community imprisoned for actions that here in the united states people would say, where is the crime? what have you done wrong? years ago he lived in instabull,

turkey. in xinjiang province, traveling abroad is a source of massive suspicion that chinese officials and about -- a much about a year in turkey, mirzat moved back to xinjiang province. he met a young woman visiting from australia. they fell in love, got married, lived in xinjiang for a year before they started hearing rumblings of people disappearing and the increased oppression of the uighur community by the chinese communist party and they started to make plans to leave the country. this was in 2017 when china's crackdown on uighurs and other muslim minorities was just starting to ramp up. and a program of arbitrary mass detention was beginning. as an australia citizen, his wife was able to get her husband, mirzat, a visa, and they booked a flight to

melbourne. but two days before they were scheduled to leave, police knocked on their door in the middle of the night. mirzat's passport was confiscated and he was interrogated and once they learned he spent time in turkey, the officers made them accompany them to the police station. and he didn't come home that night or the next week or the next month or the next year. it would be two years before he saw his wife again. he was locked up in a detention center for ten months moved to a mass detention camp where he was subjected to mental abuse, including at one time his arms were shackled to the top of the door for an entire day four the crime of speaking some uighur words. in may of 2019, mirzat was suddenly released and he and his wife tried to get him to australia but twice more the

chinese officials detained him until his most recent defection for the alleged crime of organize, leading, or participating in a terrorist organization. last april he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for charges related to terrorism or separatism, all because as a young man he traveled and lived in turkey for a year. gogo sherab gyatso -- in fact, separatism is often a common general purpose charge used by the communist party against those they think might become critical of the policies of the communist party. we take so granted our freedom of speech and ability to be critical of each other's ideas, to support those ideas or those our own president. but in china, any word or presence in which he might not

do something other than just praise the party and you may be treated as a criminal and imprisoned for a long period of time. that charge, separatism, is a charge you can throw around accusing basically anyone and in this case, a young man working as a tour guide or tibetan scholar and monk like go s.sherab who was sentenced in a closed trial last year. he was originally arrested in october of 2020 after traveling to shindu to act as an translator for an ill person p it is the fourths time he had been arrested. he is a monk, scholar, rights advocate and been sentenced with

the same state security crime that is so frequently used against his fellow tibetans of inciting separatism. and he faces a decade in prison. separatism, it's the exact same charge that rinchen kyi was arrested for last august. she is a teacher, a fellow tibetan. what was her crime? she expressed her displeasure that the private middle school she was teaching at which was established to help educate those in the community without the means to receive a formal education, whether they be poor oregon fannieed children -- or orphaned children had suddenly been shut down by the chinese

government. no reason was given for the sudden shutdown, but it is believed from local sources sout it was because of primary language used in the school was tibetan. tibetan language at a tibetan school. and the school provided tibetan culture-based learning. rinchen was so disturbed by the closure of the school, she lost her appetite, basically stopped eating for two weeks, her health deteriorated, she grew weaker. but before her family could get her help, the chinese police knocked on her door and arrested her on charges of inciting separatism. rinc ehen was hospitalized hundreds of miles away from home. she was transferred to another undisclosed location, detained. five months after she was arrested her status and whereabouts are unknown.

her crime was trying to help educate the poorest children in her community in their own language and discussing their culture. the challenges are not just happening in tibet. this same kinds of efforts to silence voices and information that the chinese government doesn't want out is happening right now in hong kong. earlier this month, chow hang-tung, a pro-democracy activist, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for helping to organize a vigil commemorating the victims of the tiananmen square massacre. for 30 years, this vigil has been held in hong kong on the anniversary of the bloody military crackdown. as the former vice chairwoman of the group that held these

vigils, she had helped organize them for years. but in 2020, the government banned them. despite that her organization planned to -- planned for holding these vigils. they submitted the paperwork. they notified the government. they alerted the police of their intentions to hold the event, just as they had done year after year after year. and then paperwork was rejected. so they formally appealed the decision. and their appeal failed. so chow took to social media calling on her fellow hong kongers, who wouldn't be able to hold this gathering, to simply do this -- light a candle in remembrance of the anniversary. she didn't suggest they come to any specific place, didn't suggest they rally in person, just in your home or wherever you are, light a candle in remembrance.

she also wrote an article in the paper titled "candlelight carries the weight of conscience and the hong kong people persevere in telling the truth." her article was used against her as evidence of, quote, incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly, even though she decided not to call for an assembly and just to ask someone wherever they are to light a candle in remembrance. she didn't ask anyone to assemble. she didn't ask anyone to gather. she didn't define a particular place. tiananmen square massacre by the chinese government is perhaps the most censored issue in mainland china and since china has broken their agreement with great britain over hong kong, their 50-year agreement, and

wiped out the political rights of the people of hong kong, talking about tiananmen and hong kong is cause for arrest. even the suggestion of simply lighting a candle. the chinese government tightens its grip on hong kong. it wants to raise -- erase all information or history related to it, just as they've done on the mainland -- that in regard to tiananmen square. just as they want to suppress the voices of people in tibet, just as they want to wipe out the xinjiang muslim community, they want to make sure that any form of potential resistance to the beijing government and their version of the world is silenced. and as we've seen far too many times over and over again, these

silenced people who speak up against them in any way. this is li yuhan. she is eight 65. she is sea a human rights lawyer known in china's human rights community aces big sister -- in china's human rights community as big sister. she was held in prison for four years before getting a trial. she was charged with the obscure crime of, quote, picking corals and provoking trouble, another catch-all phrase used to lock up anybody the chinese government sees as criticizing anything they do. everyone in china has to live in immediate fear of being arrested should they voice their inner opinions on something going wrong in the country, something they want change add, improved, something that disagrees with the official line of the communist party. she's in poor health, as indicated by the fact that when she was arrest, they had an

ambulance outside. actually, the ambulance was outside at the trial where it was held. she suffers from heart disease and hypertension, itemmer thyroidism, and her long -- hyperthyroidism and her long time behind bars has made things worse. staff reportedly instructed other inmates to urinate on her food and threaten to beat her to deaths. because she was a human rights advocate. in march of 2018, almost four years ago, li went on a hunger strike to protest her mistreatment, which led detention center officials to force-feed her. like many others, li yuhan had to courage to stand up for what's right and she is mercilessly persecuted for doing so.

these various individuals and the way that they're treated are the kinds of abuses that will be going on at the same time as the wenter olympic games are -- the winter olympic games are held in china. figure skaters fly across the ice, and while they do so li yuhan will continue to suffer in custody for standing up for human rights. bobsledders will careen down the track at lightning-fast speeds. chow hang-tung will continue to be punished for trying to ensure his cultural history is remembered. as skiers race down the slalom scopes, goshi rob, gyatso is stilled locked up for sharing and defending their culture, as athlete after athlete climbs the podium to have beautiful bronze, silver, gold medals around their next, if mahiri ya will languish

in prison sells for the crime of being born in the uighur community. that is the backdrop of this year's beijing olympic games. human rights abuses, genocide, the destruction of freedom and democracy, and we can not allow that to be ignored or overshadowed. we cannot allow for that to be forgotten in the glitz and glamor of olympic gold. we cannot let these names and these faces and countless, countless others who have faced the same be lost in the shadows of the flames of the olympic torch. the world must join together to say to the international olympic committee that never again can the perpetrators of human rights abuses be allowed to host a treasured event like the olympic games. never again can the athletes of

the world ask to be essentially conspirators in the glitz and glamor of covering up genocide. and for all of us, we need to remind the world throughout these games of what's going on in china. do not let the chinese government succeed in having the world forget about their massive human rights violations, their genocide, their torture, their elimination, their imprisonment, their complete crushing of the rights of people in tibet and hong kong, the complete destruction of the right to speech and right to religion within their country, the complete obliteration of the human spirit. we cannot allow all that to be forgotten during these olympic games. thank you, mr. president.

mr. merkley: mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session, and be in the period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn tuesday, february 1, thatling to the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate

resume consideration of the brennan nomination post-cloture. further, are that all post-cloture time on the brennan nomination expire at 11:30:00 a.m., that the senate recess following the cloture vote on the brennan nomination until 2:15:00 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. that if cloture is invoked on the fleming nomination, all post-cloture time expire at 2: 15:00 p.m. finally, if any nominations are confirmed during tuesday's session, that the motions to reconsider the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified on these actions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: for the information of senators, there will be two votes at 11:30:00 a.m. and two votes at 2:15:00 p.m. with additional roll call votes expected. mr. president, if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until the senate voted to advance the nomination of bridget brennan to be a u.s. district court judge for northern ohio. throughout the week, lawmakers will consider more president by the judicial and executive nominees. 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. ♪ ♪ sunday on in-depth at georgetown university law professor cheryl will be our guest live to talk about race relations and inequality in america her many books include the failures of immigration the agitators daughter and her latest white space black hood. joint and the conversation with your phone calls, facebook texts and tweets for cheryl, live sunday at noon

eastern on book tv on cspan2. and before the program visit cspanshop.org to get your copy of shirl's book white space, black hood. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more. including wilde. >> the world has changed internet connection no one can live without. while it is there for our customers with speed, reliability and choice. now more than ever it starts with great internet. >> while support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. senate majority leader chuck schumer and minority leader mitch mcconnell spoke on the senate floor about the retirement of supreme court