this wednesday. today lawmakers are expect today resume debate on president biden's judicial nominees including several associate justices to serve on the washington d.c. superior court. roll call votes to advance the nominees will take place throughout the day. live coverage of the u.s. senate now here on c-span2. king of kings and lord of lords, we worship you, for great is your faithfulness. today, show our lawmakers the way you desire for them to choose. enable them to know with certainty that you are the god who delivers them. lord, inspire them to cultivate such a spirit of humility that

they will obey your commands regardless of the consequences. let integrity and uprightness preserve them, as they discover the joy of fellowship in your presence. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the

clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., february 2, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable patty murray, a senator from the state of washington, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved, morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. rupa ranga puttagunta of the district of columbia to be associate judge of the superior court of the district of court of the district of

invited different parties and friends down here. an awful lot of supreme court justice of together, senator grassley and i come and we together on a lot of court nominations overall but particularly supreme court nominees. selective justice one of the serious responsibilities and as i always said, apparently -- which is kind of meaningful. beyond 60, chuck. i'm not sure. >> i think 15 or 16. >> i started way back early on in the early '70s. in any rate, what were going to do is i've said before, back to

some of the opening statements i've made two justices over the years, the constitution says advice and consent, advice and consent. and i'm serious when i say i want the advice of the senate as well as the consent. we can arrive on who the nominee should be. there's always renewed national debate every time we nominate, any president nominates the justice because the constitution is always evolving slightly in terms of additional rights, and is always an issue. several schools of thought in terms of judicial philosophy. and we'll see, , but the fact is that i looking for someone who i can, this is not a static issue that goes back and forth but i'm looking for a candidate with character, with the qualities of

judge in terms of being courteous to the folks before him and treating people with respect, as well as judicial philosophy that is more one that suggests that there are -- [inaudible] and remember something in the ninth amendment. i intend to take this decision, make this decision and get it to my colleagues by the end of the month, that's my hope. i am looking forward to their advice and how to proceed and now the hearing will be conducted and the like. so thank you very much. we're going to get a chance to talk and want to hear from them today. thank you. [inaudible]

>> i'm here today to talk about the escalating aggression by russia against ukraine, an ally and a sovereign country whose territorial integrity is once again under attack. in our generation this is where the fight for freedom is being held. this is where it is being waged. it's going to affect not just ukraine in eastern europe but the countries all over the world, depending on the outcome. today i'm going to address what i think the appropriate role for us as americans. what more we could do to help avoid what could become an international disaster and a

humanitarian crisis. russia is the aggressor here. having invaded ukraine twice in the past eight years, illegally annexing crimea, initiating cyber attacks against public and private entities in ukraine and using disinformation to try to destabilize the democratically elected government in ukraine. now they have gone further. by amassing more than 100,000 troops under the command of 100 tactical groups on russia's ukrainian border. this russian diplomat with rockets and tanks and artillery and is no longer just on the eastern border of ukraine but it's now across the borders including the northern border were russian combat troops and heavy equipment have gone into belarus and on the belarus ukrainian border a russian presence is being felt. it's also in crime the and in the black sea area where russia is taking advantage of the illegal annexation to move troops into those areas close to

ukraine. give your little history about how we got here. eight years ago the people of ukraine made it, a clear choice. they set up to a russian backed corrupt government in 2014 and made a conscious decision to turn to the west, to the european union, , to us the unid states of america. i was in ukraine in 2014 shortly after what is called the euromaidan, also the revolution of dignity, the barricades were still there and in the center of town the maidan in kiev was occupied still by ukrainian patriots, insisting that ukraine chart its own course. the ukrainian people had rejected authoritarianism and instead embraced freedom come embrace democracy, freedom of speech, freedom to gather,, freedom for the respect of law, respect for the judicial institutions in the country and free markets. now have they stumbled along the

way sometimes with regard to reforms including of the judicial system yes, of course, most fledgling democracies do but they've made tremendous progress. they are on their way toward becoming what they wanted to be, at the time eight years ago when again the revolution of dignity was called the euromaidan, more like a western european or eastern european country that is part of the eu. despite russia's unrelenting efforts to destabilize ukraine over the past eight years, , the people of ukraine have remained committed to this independent, sovereign and democratic principle. that vision, and ukraine are increasingly patriotic and opposed to the russian efforts to destabilize the country. according to polling data the senate is true among young people which makes sense because they have tasted the fruits of freedom, free enterprise, the ability to express themselves, the ability to connect with the rest of the free world.

they don't want to state control t one of our dear friends, senator ben ray lujan of new mexico, suffered a stroke last thursday after experiencing dizziness and fatigue while back in his home state. our thoughts, our prayers, our most fervent well wishes go out to ben ray and his family. i was glad and relieved to hear that he is expected to make a full recovery, and all of us are rooting for him every step of the way between now and the day he makes his return to the senate. senator lujan has served in this chamber for only a year, but already he has become one of the most beloved members of this body. public service literally runs in the family. you will be hard-pressed to find someone who fights for their home state like ben ray does for new mexico. as senator lujan begins his path

to full recovery, i want to offer encouragement and praise for his superb staff, who will continue their work providing vital constituent services for the people of new mexico. in the days to come, we will continue working and communicating with senator lujan's staff about his recovery process, and all of us are hopeful and optimistic that he will be back to his old self before long. in the meantime, the u.s. senate will continue to move forward in carrying out its business on behalf of the american people. now, madam president, it's going to be another busy day here on the senate floor, as we confirm more of president biden's nominees to serve in his administration and on the federal bench. for the information of all, we'll be holding three votes starting around 11:00 a.m. this morning to either confirm or invoke cloture on a handful of nominees to serve as associate judges for the district of

columbia. later this afternoon, at approximately 2:15, we'll hold three more votes on additional jude i recall nominees. members should be advised additional votes may be scheduled as the day progresses. so i ask all of us to be patient and to be flexible. we have a lot of votes to get through today. most of these votes in old days would have just occurred by voice. but our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, just a handful, are making us vote, even for d.c. judges, circuit judges. what we -- but we have to get through them. the d.c. courts have come to a stand still. and many other votes. so we'll have a lot of votes to get through today. all of us want to get to them -- get them done in a timely manner to respect the schedule of our colleagues. so, in order to move things along, i am urging my colleagues to be ready to vote early when each vote is called so we can prevent extend the -- extended delays and confirm as many of

president biden's qualified nominees as possible. now, on book banning, an entirely different matter. over the past year, a truly orwellian trend has spread across our schools, libraries and state legislatures. with an intensity not seen in decades, far right extremists at the local and state level are engaging in efforts to ban hundreds of book titles from the shelves of schools and public libraries. these efforts are framed as an attempt to regulate obscene or inappropriate content. but if you even take a passing glance at the books under scrutiny, it's clear the goal is to censor and suppress materials that deal with matters of race, sexual and gender orientation and, more broadly speaking, soviet injustice. in texas, for instance -- social injustice. in texas, state legislators have been demanding titles be scrutinized and in some

instances have already pulled hundreds of titles from their shelves grrks from mere fear of repercussions. in mississippi, one mayor withheld funding from local public libraries and said he would only relent when all books exploring lgbtq themes were removed. that is patently disgusting. and in tennessee, one school even banned a pulitzer prize winning graphic novel depicting the holocaust, because some mice weren't wearing clothes. these new and unprecedented efforts by the far right to ban books that explore matters of injustice and racism are deeply disturbing and downright orwell ian. many of the titles under attack have been well-known for decades. some are pulitzer prize winning works. others are, get this, children's picture books, children's picture books. the list is broad, dizzyingly

broad. many of these works are vital to our society, because they can accomplish only what literature can do -- explore timely social issues, and expand people's understanding of the world around us. we don't need to look that far into history to see what happens when we go down the dangerous road of censorship and suppression, when free expression is weakened, the mob is empowered. the groundwork is laid for further discrimination, intimidation, and god forbid, increased violence. it is one thing for families and local communities to have good-faith discussions about the best way to help our students learn and grow. but what we're seeing here today isn't that. these mod earn-day efforts from the -- modern-day efforts from the far right to ban hundreds of books from the top down are dangerous, patently un-american, and this right-wing cancel culture should be resoundingly condemned. i yield the floor.

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: first, the entire senate is praying for and pulling for our colleague, senator lujan. we learned yesterday that our colleague suffered a stroke late last week and has been hospitalized in new mexico as he recovers. it's certainly encouraging to read that our friend and colleague is expected to make a full recovery. i know that all 99 of his colleagues are thinking of him every day, rooting for a swift and smooth recovery and already looking forward to the next time we see him. this week marks two years since the federal government first declared the new coronavirus

outbreak a public health emergency. i don't need to recount the staggering number of lives lost or the terrible upheaval throughout our society our citizens have had to endure. two years in it's time for leaders at all levels of our society to take a deep breath, clear the decks, and review where we stand today. here's what we know in february of 2020. thanks to the prior senate's work with the prior administration, our country is flooded with safe and effective vaccines for all who want them. we know the vaccines do not prevent us from catching the current variant of the virus or transmitting it to others, so there is no moral justification for vaccine mandates.

but it is absolutely clear that vaccines slash the odds of hospitalization and death. they are a powerful personal shield that lowers the fatal risk of covid beneath other normal background risks that we face regularly in our daily lives. as "the new york times" explained this week, with a booster shot, covid resembles other respiratory illnesses that have been around for years and, quote, the chance that an average american will die in a car crash this week is significantly higher. that's from "the new york times." the good news goes on -- as we've known for months children are even better off still. unvaccinated kids seem to face the same extremely low risk as vaccinated people on the younger side of middle age. in february 2020, we know we are currently facing an omicron variant that seems both significantly more contagious

than its predecessors but also significantly less severe. even in hard-hit states like my own, where hospitalizations remain too high, the curve of cases and hospitalizations appears to be starting to bend back down. i continue to encourage kentuckians and all americans to discuss the vaccines with their doctors and take the safe and effective step. it can be the difference literally between life and death. but from a societywide per is speck alternative, after two years on the hell -- perspective, of a two years on the hellish highway it appears our society is arriving at the off ramp. the virus appears to be heading endemic. 70% of americans agree with this statement. it's time we accept that covid is here to stay, and we just need to get on with our lives.

it's time for the state of emergency to wind down. but disturbingly, whether or not we should trust the science and reclaim normalcy is somehow becoming a partisan question. as "the new york times" writer observed this week, millions of democrats have decided that organizing their lives around covid is door their identity as progressives. even as pandemic isolation and disruption are fueling mental health problems, drug overdoses, violent crime, rising blood pressure, and growing educational inequality. those are not my words, madam president. that's "the new york times." for goodness' sake, nearly 60% of partisan democrats told one survey they'd support placing unvaccinated people under a form of house arrest. let me say that again. nearly 60% of partisan democrats

told one survey they'd support placing unvaccinated people under a form of house arrest. a supermajority of americans oppose that absurd idea, but most democrats say they support it. a majority of americans oppose the heavy-handed vaccine mandates where mayors and local politicians are trying to substitute their own judgment for the decisions of free citizens and their doctors. a majority of americans oppose these vaccine passports, but nearly 80% of democrats want them. and communities across the country, bureaucrats are still forcing young children to wear masks to participate in society when neither kids nor vaccinated adults are remotely, remotely likely to get gravely ill. so what exactly are we doing here? where are the goalposts? what is the end game? consider if this variant were

its own separate virus that we were just meeting for the very first time, without the scar tissue from the prior two years, nobody would accept anywhere near this much disruption to fight the virus that we're actually facing right now. here in washington, multiple congresses spent a staggering $6 trillion on this crisis. of the most recent, $2 trillion that our democratic colleagues rammed through last year, only 9% went to health care in any form. less than 1% went to vaccines. even within that 9%, the biden administration then diverted important covid funding to other unrelated crises like their border crisis. now we hear democrats may request yet another, yet another huge hunk of emergency spending. but experts say as much as $800

billion or $900 billion of the money that we've already set aside has not even been spent yet. $800 billion or $900 billion of the money that we've already set aside has not been spent yet. what about a full accounting of the $6 trillion that's already been approved? if there are urgent needs for true medical covid needs, let's discuss it, and let's start that discussion by talking about repurposing the hundreds of billions that are already sitting in the pipeline. as one report put it, the vast majority of almost $200 billion allocated to k-12 schools has not been spent. that's $200 billion. the same goes for half of the $195 billion sent out to state governments. and most city and county governments have not spent much of the $130 billion that they

received either. many states are swimming in cash and running surpluses. they have had to dream up creative non-covid related uses for these windfalls. two years in if democrats call for large sums of emergency spending, the burden of proof lies with them to demonstrate the hundreds of billions of dollars of unspent money already in the system are not sufficient. and unless something changes, so long as covid continues retreating to the level of risk that we all regularly face in other aspects of daily life, then our leader's duty to the american people is perfectly clear. trust the vaccines. follow the data. forget the tribalism. work to assuage people's fierce fierce -- fears and neurocease

with fact and articulate your game plan in order to give them back their normalcy in the very near future. on another matter, today more than 100,000 russian troops are holding positions along ukraine's eastern borders. more have been deployed to belarus to threaten ukraine from the north. for the second time in a decade, vladimir putin's campaign to forcibly redraw the map of the european continent is on the verge of massive escalation. for those of us who remember the cold war, this strong man routine from stale kremlin autocrats is quite familiar. but ukraine is not a captive nation trapped behind the iron curtain. it's a free democratic and sovereign european country. the proper response from the west should not be a mystery. the united states and our allies

need to do four things right now. first, we need to cut through the bureaucratic caution inertia and red tape that is slowing the delivery of military, economic, and humanitarian assistance to ukraine. this help needs to arrive before, before a russian escalation. so our friends can defend themselves and prepare for what could be a cold and bloody winter. ukraine is a proud independent nation that wants fo defend itself. but after years of combatting russian aggression while simultaneously trying to tackle major political and economic reform, ukraine needs help. it needs weapons. it needs communications, equipment. it needs logistical and intelligence support. we should be building the logistical networks now to prepare to keep flowing support to ukraine in the event of

escalation. i've been encouraged by the united kingdom and other allies who are already making serious commitments to this effort. second, we need to bolster the defenses of our eastern european nato allies most threatened by russia. this is a decision that the nato alliance as a whole should make. but if it doesn't, the united states and other partners we should strive for unity but not at the expense of security. our most nervous allies cannot get unilateral veto power over the policy of the greatest nation in world history. yesterday i was glad to hear the u.s. forces are finally moving to reinforce our eastern-flanked allies. i urged president biden to take this step nearly two months ago. i hope this will encourage other neigh toe a lice to follow our

lead. we need to impose overdue sanctions now, right now, to confront a litany of russian threats, including their use of energy as the geostrategic weapon. at the same time let's make clear we're prepared to impose even more devastating costs should russia continue its aggression. again, we may have differences of opinion with parts of europe, but we have priorities here that run deeper than matching our most timid allies. as we consider sanctions, we should be honest about our past mistakes african american the 2014 obama administration and our e.u. partners tried to use sanctions to deter further aggression against ukraine and compel russia to comply with the minsk accords. those sanctions are still in place, but they failed on all counts. for the ukrainians, this is not a frozen conflict but an ongoing

one. russia's continued aggression is self-evident. its minsk commitments remain unfulfilled. we need to learn these lessons, avoid empty symbolism, and get ready to impose serious costs that could actually change putin's calculus. but we also know that sanctions alone are not enough. putin's behavior is a reminder there is no substitute for hard power. deterrence is stronger when our enemies question whether their enemy plans can succeed. and so, fourth and finally, we and our neigh toe lies need to take hard -- and our nato allies need to take a hard look at our defense threats. this remains having hard conversations about building real military capabilities p when the biden administration

abandoned afghanistan last year, china and russia were paying close attention. now russia is testing our resolve in eastern europe and china once again is taking notes. our adversaries understand their best path to outmaneuver america is to outspend our commitment to defense. so i hope president biden will act swiftly to equip our european friends, reinforce our neigh a lies, and punish -- allies and punish russian escalation. and we must pay serious attention to equipping the u.s. military for the next threat. it is past time -- past time -- to invest in modernization, hypersonic weapons, and our nuclear arsenal, and to encourage our european allies to wake up -- wake up -- follow our lead, and stand side by side

against common threats. the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that senators braun, murray, andry able to complete our remarks prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i want to follow up on the statement made by the republican senate leader, and i agree with many of the things that he said. we disagree with others. but there is a way for us to show our commitment, not only to our troops and to the defense of causes that are important to america, and it's in his hands. it's known as the appropriation bill for the department of defense. it's known as the appropriations and budget for the united states of america. where are we now? we're on something called a continuing resolution. that means we haven't decided. we can't get an agreement from

the republican leader to move forward on the spending bills for this year, which began on october 1. who is stopping them? the republican leader. so he can't have it both ways and argue we need to invest more in the defense of america and then stop us from an appropriations process that does just that. let's get it done. this should have been done before last october 1, and his cooperation means it can be done now. now let me say there's another aspect to it. many speeches are given about the rise in crime in america. i know this personally, representing the great of illinois and the great city of chicago. the number of violent gun crimes in this last calendar year was juice shocking, when you look at all -- was just shocking, when you look at all of the people who have been hurt and killed with the use of guns in cities across america, it is clear we

need to invest in our police officers and law enforcement. hold them accountable for the right values, the right conduct, but put in their hands the resources to protect our homes and neighborhoods. what's holding that up? the same decision by the republican leader not to bring any appropriations bills forward for approval by the congress. this is just mindless. you can't preach on one hand that you want to fund the police and then stop the appropriations process, which the republicans in the senate have done. it is time to pass the omnibus appropriations bill so the resources can go to a.t.f. and the u.s. attorneys office and our law enforcement offices that can help the state and local law enforcement efforts to try to suppress this violent crime. so don't preach about the need for this money and then turn around and stop the effort here on capitol hill. why aren't we voting on am an omnibus appropriations bill this week? why?

why can't we get this done next week? it was supposed to be done last october. it is time for us to do t let me say a word about the ukrainian situation. i feel strongly about this as the cochair of the bipartisan ukrainian caucus. there is one guiding principle that we should acknowledge -- the fate and future and decision-making for the ukrainian people should be in the hands of the ukrainian people. not in the washington, not in moscow, not in bonn, not in minsk, but in kiev and the ukrainian people should have the right to do it. the question about their solidarity and defense comes down to the fact that they were invaded eight years by russia, that took over the crimean province and then went on to expand their military force, the little green men, the so-called little green men who are just russian surrogates fighting in the eastern part of ukraine.

is it any wonder that the ukrainian people look to nato to protect them? for years they've lost thousands of their citizens innocently, who died in defense of their country. and for us to stand in defense of ukraine and their efforts to make their own decisions for their future just makes sense. ultimately, we may have near theories on what -- we may have theories on what it should be. but we respect their sovereignty. i would say as far as vladimir putin is concerned, i know his style. i am -- i have seen it for a long, long time. we see their continuing threats that the russians have against the baltics, for example. these are small is independent, democrat countries that fought long and hard for that opportunity, and they are constantly menaceed by vladimir putin. the same is true for poland.

it is important that we stand behind the neigh a lines. and 2021 -- and one way to help is to pass the appropriations bill instead of being stonewalled as we have been by the republican leadership. it's long overdue that we get to that question. i'm glad that senator murray is on the floor because the issue i want to raise now is one that she knows well, and i thank her for her leadership. a little bit of history. in 1964, an advisory committee headed by the u.s. surgeon general issued a landmark report linking cigarette smoke to heart disease and other deadly diseases. 1964. that was considered to be breakthrough information that tobacco actually caused cancer. for decades after that, big tobacco companies denied it. they continued to lie to congress and the american people about the products they were selling. tobacco companies knowingly lied to america when they claimed

their products didn't cause cancer and weren't addictive, and they lied when they said they weren't targeting children with their products. a trove of 13 million internal industry documents that finally were made public in 1998 as part of the settlement of a lawsuit in minnesota showed what the five major tobacco companies actually knew when they were making public denials. the same documents provided a damning evidence against big tobacco in the suit brought by system, from states. let me read you things that were said about children smoking in their own internal memos that they thought would never see the light of day. 181 report by philip morris, creator of the moral bore row moon, said the overwhelming majority of smoker irrelevance first began to smoke while still in their teens. the smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to philip morris, end

of quote. the base of our business is the high school student, a 1978 memo from the makers of newport cigarettes. and this from r.j. rein notes, the brains behind the cartoon character joe camel. here's what the document said a the fragile, developing self-image of the young person needs all the enhancement it can get. smoke may appear to enhance that image. replacement smokers. those words were used by big tobacco executives to describe our kids, america's teenagers. if you can hook them young, you'll have them for life. that was their game plan. all of the tobacco industry's dead lit deception was supposed to stop. in 2009 congress passed a landmark law giving the food and drug administration the clear authority and responsibility to regulate tobacco products. that was something big tobacco had fought for decades, but they

lost. the tobacco control act requires tobacco companies to obtain f.d.a. approval for any new tobacco products. in a specific report to the discourage young people from smoke, the law also bans most flavored cigarettes because of the clear rule in hooking kids. the clear role in hooking kids. when this comes to traditional cigarettes, we have made amazing strides in the time that i have served in congress. 20 years ago, 30% of high school kids were smokers of cigarettes. today fewer than 5%. but tobacco companies didn't take this lying down. they came up with new products to hook kids -- e-cigarettes, vaping, little gageeths that turn nicotine-spiked liquids. powerful stuff. one pod can contain as much nicotine as a whole pack of cigarettes. they came up with flavors to

entice children. tell me -- you listen to the name of these flavors. gummy bears, cotton candy, unicorn poop, froot loops, skitless, sweettarts. come on, we know what this is all about. they're enticing kid to take up vaping and e-cigarettes. in 23014, e-cigarettes became the most popular product used by our kids. today nearly 30% of all high school students are vaping. the e-cigarette industry is now worth billions of dollars and who are the biggest players? hang on tight. juul is the number-one seller of e-cigarettes. el trua, the largest selling of traditional cigarettes bought a 35% stake in juul.

el tria, buying 35% of juul. another one is made by r.j. reynolds, the producer of camel signets which caused my father's lung cancer. r.j. reynolds is the second biggest seller of traditional cigarettes. see any patterns here? we all knew that big tobacco would try to find new twice addict children on their deadly products. they never quit, which is why the tobacco control act allowed the f.d.a. to establish authority over e-cigarettes. but what we didn't expect was that the food and drug administration would sit back as big tobacco dusted off its playbook to ignite, as one former f.d.a. commissioner called, an epidemic of youth vaping in america. for years teachers warned kids about using jules in the classroom. parents found devices that

looked like flash drives in their kids' backpacks. many of us in the senate demanded that the f.d.a. take action. senators murray, the chair of the health committee, has been one of the leaders on this. countless calls, letters, meetings with f.d.a. commissioners went nowhere. testimony and alarming data from public health groups and parents yielded no action. the f.d.a. still failed to use its existing statutory authority to police these e-cigarette products, allowing millions of e-cigarettes to into the the market illegally, while their manufacturers made outrageous, unsubstantiated claims, downplaying the risk to kids. in 2019, finally, a federal judge stepped in, and ordered the f.d.a. to do its job, instructing them to finalize review of e-cigarettes, remember this date, by september 2021. last september. the f.d.a.'s court-ordered

deadline to act on pending e-cigarette applications passed five months ago. five months. yet, incredibly, j of the -- many of the e-cigarettes, used moistly by kids, the -- mostly by kids, the product fueling the epidemic, are still on the market today. the law is clear on this issue, tobacco tobacco companies must proof, they have the burden of proving to the food and drug administration that their product is appropriate for protection of it the public health. why haven't they proved it? it's because they can't. there is no evidence of it. so if they can't meet the burden of proof, how do they continue to sell these products on the open markets? meeting that burden was supposed to be a condition precedent, the first thing they had to do to sell these cigarettes. well, it's because the f.d.a., the food and drug administration, is sitting on its hands, is refusing to use its own legal and stamptory authority. big tobacco -- statutory

authority. big tobacco continues to target replacement smoarks. those are our kids. the ♪ is expected to vote soon on a new f.d.a. commissioner. in determining who that person will be, we have the opportunite that, we have the responsibility to make it clear that the f.d.a. has to stop dragging its feet. it must use the authority provided by congress to prohibit tobacco companies from preying on our kids for profit. as congress evaluates the nominees, we must be guided by the answer to this question, do we believe that the incoming f.d.a. leadership will correct the failures that have gone before them in allowing these e-cigarettes to prey on our kids yesterday, i spoke to dr. califf, who is joe biden's nominee to be head of the f.d.a. i've had serious misgiving about whether he is the right person for the job, but i finally relengthed yesterday and said yes, dr. califf, i'll support you. but if you make it, i'm going to

hold you personally responsible for taking control of this issue. our kids' lives are at stake. we've waited too long. the f.d.a. has sat on its hands when it should be moving to protect our kids. it's long overdue. in the interest of our children, i sincerely hope that the leadership of the f.d.a. will open its eyes and do its tuity. -- do it's its duty. i yield the floor. mr. braun: madam president. it. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: january 22, 1973, the supreme court handed down their decision in roe v. wade. homogenizing an approach to abortion across the country. it's estimated over 60 million lives have been lost to abortion since this decision. this resolution recognizes january 22 into the future as the day of tears.

it encourages americans to lower their flags to half-staff to mourn the lives lost to abortion i'm joined in this resolution by senators danes, inhofe, blackburn, hagerty, blackburn, hawley, and rounds. similar resolutions have passed in alabama, arizona, arkansas, idaho, louisiana, and west virginia. representative jody heiss is leading a similar mesh in your the house -- a similar measure in the house. it has 61 cosponsors from 26 states. two weeks ago, thousands of americans joined the march for life to stand up for the unborn. later this year, the supreme court will issue a decision on a case which strikes at the heart of roe v. wade.

our current abortion guidelines, we only have five other countries that would be similar. two of those countries, china and north korea. what does that say about abortion in america? minimally, the court needs to return this to the states so that we don't have this policy put upon all the states, at least half of which disagree with it. whatever that decision may be, we must remember the millions of lives lost to the tragedy of abortion. madam president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to senate resolution

494. i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mrs. murray: madam president, reserving the right to object. just weeks ago, we celebrated the anniversary of roe v. wade, the landmark decision that affirmed the right to abortion and changed so many lives for the better. and across the country, patients spoke out about their experiences before roe, about how roe meant they could get an abortion that they needed, or even after roe, they still struggled to get access to an abortion. but what was present in all of those stories was real fear about what the future holds, fear of what a country without roe would look like, because that's what republicans are pushing for all across the

country. republicans in texas passed s.b. 8, which bans abortions after six weeks and allows people to sue anyone who helps someone get an abortion. in idaho, bordering my home state of washington, extreme republican legislators are trying to pass a law modeled after that texas abortion ban. republicans in mississippi brought a direct challenge of roe to the supreme court, and have told the court in no uncertain terms they believe roe should be overturned. now, those are just a few examples, and we've got one more here in the senate today. the resolution from the senator from indiana sends a message that the republican party knows best when it comes to some of the most personal decisions people make about their health and their future, about when and whether to have children, and about what is best for themselves and their families.

well, they don't. in fact, the majority of americans support roe, and do not want to see it overturned. they want a country where everyone can control their own body and their own future, and that's exactly what i am fighting for. so i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. braun: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: the senator from washington makes a point that it's republicans. this is not republicans. of course, they are for doing what needs to be done, and that's returning this to the states minimally, taking a decision that was out of context back in 1973, when it was made, and the opposite of the argument she made would be that why should the federal government, based upon a judiciary ruling that was out of context, force this on the entirety of the

country? and when it comes to what it allows now, abortions late into a pregnancy, that is not supported by most of the country. so, minimally, this ought to be returned to the states to reflect how different states in this countries of 50 of them, over half disagree with it, and over half of our citizens would say that makes more sense than what we've got now. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: cloture time has expired. the question is on the nomination. is there sufficient second? i believe there appear to be sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: has everyone voted who cares to vote? anyone wish to change their vote. the yeas are 57. the nays are 38. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. 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 556, ebony m. scott of the district of columbia to be an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia for the term of 15 years signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.

the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of ebony m. scott of the district of columbia to be an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia for the term of 15 years shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 58. the nays are 37. the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, ebony m. scott of the district of columbia to be an associate judge for the superior court of the district of columbia. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 557, donald walker tunnage of the district of columbia to be an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of donald walker tunnage of the district of columbia to be an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia for the term of 15 years shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 57, the nays are 38, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, donald walker tunnage, of the district of columbia, to be an associate judge of the superior court of

the district of columbia. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: mr. president, i rise today to urge my colleagues to confirm several highly qualified nominees to serve on the local district of columbia courts. the d.c. superior court, which functions as a state-level trial court and the d.c. court of appeals, which serves as the state-level appellate court, right here in our nation's capital. both courts are currently suffering from a vacancy crisis. 16 of the 62 d.c. superior court seats are currently empty, and three of the nine seats on the d.c. superior d.c. court of appeals are also vake vacant, slowing justice and impeding public safety for all district residents. last year, the committee on homeland security and government affairs reported seven nominees to serve on the d.c. courts by a

bipartisan voice vote. these include five nominees to serve on the d.c. superior court, rupa ranga puttagunta, kenia seoane lopez, sean staples, ebony scott, and donald tunnage, and two nominees to serve on the d.c. court of appeals, john howard iii and loren l. alikhan. judge rupa ranga puttagunta currently serves as administrative judge for the d.c. rental housing commission. she began her legal career as a law clerk in d.c. superior court and the d.c. court of appeals, and practiced for several years in the district of columbia, focusing on family and criminal law. i'm certainly pleased my colleagues confirmed her earlier today. judge kenia seoane lopez currently serves as a magistrate judge on the superior court of the district of columbia, a position she's held for nine years. she previously served as a

bilingual attorney negotiator in the court's domestic violence division and as assistant attorney general for the office of attorney general of the district of columbia. judge staples also currently serves as magistrate judge for the district of columbia superior court. a position he was appointed to in 2013. early in his career he served as a law clerk on the superior court, then worked as a solo practitioner and assistant public defender. he went on to work as a clinical professor for several years, supervising law students, representing criminal defendants in d.c. superior court. judge scott has served as a magistrate judge on d.c. superior court since 2020. she previously served as a deputy director in the d.c. mayor's office of legal counsel, as general counsel for the district of columbia office of human rights, and the assistant attorney general for the d.c. office of the attorney

general's housing and community justice section. mr. tunnage has served as a criminal trial attorney in the civil rights division of the u.s. department of justice since 2009 and previously served as an assistant public defender in miami, platform. loren alikhan served as attorney general for the district of columbia since it 2018. she served as deputy solicitor general and spent time in the appellate practice division of a d.c. law firm. john howard iii serves as an administrative law judge with the district of columbia office of administrative hearings, and he previously worked in private practice and served as an administrative law judge with the district of columbia commission on human rights. all of these nominees are experienced lawyers and adjudicate tors, and all of them are dedicated to serving

the people of the district of columbia. these are not controversial nominations. unlike federal judicial nominees, these individuals are extensively vetted by an independent seven-member local commission which recommends candidates for the president to nominate. during the last administration, the senate confirmed ten local d.c. judicial nominees, all by voice vote. i urge my colleagues to join me in confirming these nominees, each of whom has broad and strong bipartisan support. thank you, mr. president. mr. peters: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan.

mr. peters: mr. president, i have ten requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the minority and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted.

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent -- i gather from the parliamentarian shaking her head that there is no quorum call in effect, so i will withhold that request. mr. president, during the last break in our voting schedule here in washington,d.c., i was grateful to have the time back home talking with my constituents about the challenges that they are facing on a day-to-day basis.

and like we all, i think, try to do, figuring out how we can be helpful to them here in the senate. i must note that there is usually a huge disconnect between what seems to object ses the news media and -- to obsess the news media and folks living in the bubble in washington, d.c. and what i hear from my constituents back home, and this time wasn't much different. when i was back in austin, i received a briefing on the ongoing pandemic response efforts. like the rest of the country and the rest of the world, covid-19 hasn't gone away, and we are trying to slowly but surely both adapt and deal with the pandemic. thanks to an overwhelming response by the federal government initially back during

the trump administration, during operation warp speed, we have access to vaccines that on the fastest timeline we've ever seen before. medical science and pharmaceutical companies and the government came together to produce effective and safe vaccines at a historic rate of speed. but even though as the virus itself has morphed, as viruses, i understand, will likely do, we still continue to need things like personal protective equipment and additional tests and antibody treatments for people in my state. ironically, president biden ran in large part in 2020 based on the covid response of the trump administration. as we all recall, was pretty harshly critical.

but now he seems to have changed his tune when asked about things like access to testing, he says those are really state responsibilities. well, passing the buck is a familiar past time here in washington,d.c., but i don't think anybody is fooled that this is an area where the federal government continues to play an essential role. and, yes, our state leaders have done by and large, i think a good job in their respective jurisdictions. the fact of the matter is we still need a plan to deal with the testing and the ongoing effects of covid-19. interestingly, people who wanted to get access to things like therapeutics, antiviral drugs, and monoclonal antibodies were told that the federal government would not allow the states to use those

particular modalities any more because the federal government had made a decision that this was not effective against the current strain. but as we know, this virus continues to mutate. we're hoping we don't go all the way through the greek alphabet in various forms of this virus, but the fact of the matter is i think we've all now gotten a little glimpse at what washington-run health care would look like starting with rationing based on decisions being made in washington, d.c. about what should be available to people when they get sick or when they see their doctor. i believe that those decisions are best left to individuals in consultation with their health care provider to make those decisions. but we've gotten a little bit of a glimpse when washington says no monoclonal antibodies anymore, no therapeutics, antivirals because they don't work against the current strain

of covid-19, the omicron. as i said, the virus is probably not going to stop mutating. and unfortunately, i think the federal response rationing access to these therapies and treatment is, could well backlash on the government. well, i'm appreciative of the dedicated work of all of our front line health care workers. as we know they have been pushed to the limit dealing with covid-19. they're exhausted and in many instances burned out, and there's not enough front-line health care workers currently. so what that means is that many hospitals and health care providers have to contract with nursing services which really are national organizations which hire nurses and then contract out as needed to local hospitals.

what that usually means is because there's not enough local nurses available at the going rate, that they have to contract for prices for those nursing services, many multiples of what ordinarily they would have to do, causing a lot of pain and strain at health care providers across texas and across the nation. on my travels, i went to fort worth where i visited with the university of north texas health science center to discuss legislation that i've introduced along with senator leahy, senior member of the judiciary committee, called the justice for all reauthorization act. as the name suggests, this is a reauthorizeation of important tools needed at the local levels to support victims, deliver justice and avoid wrongful

conditions. it focuses on the use of forensic techniques to test d.n.a. and other samples. for example, in a rape kit, which is collected following a sexual assault by a forensic nurse examiner who can collect a rape kit, and assuming it's done properly and it's provided to a lab that performs the appropriate test, you can identify with almost 100% certainty who the assailant is or was. and so it's really important for us to make sure those tools remain available, including eliminating further that rape kit backlog. it used to be that the rape kits were not tested when the identity of the assailant was not in question, because in fact many times the identity of the assailant is known to the victim of that assault. but as we found out, the power of these forensic tests is immense, and we can rule out

somebody based on the d.n.a. we can identify people who have perpetrated sexual assaults because many of these sexual assault predators are serial assault predators. and -- many times you will be able to identify with virtual certainty the individual who committed a subsequent sexual assault for which the statute of limitations has not run. so that remains very, very important. in houston, which is we like to say the energy capital of the world, i sat down with leaders to discuss legislation that i've introduced with senator coons, the senator from delaware, to expand the use of hydrogen technologies in energy-intensive

sectors. hydro -- if you use hydrogen in the fuel cell, you will not only get propulsion of the vehicle, and it is very clean and very safe. but the problem is the expense of this new technology and trying to get it used in places where it makes pt most sense because the -- because the infrastructure is critical both for the storage and delivery of the hydrogen in use in these energy-intensive sectors. texas is already the epicenter of energy production. we believe in all of the above when it comes to energy. and these investments in new, clean energy like hydrogen can help grow our state's energy portfolio even further while continuing to reduce emissions

in many sectors that are currently big emitters of carbon and other emissions. so it was great to be back home, as i know we all feel when we get back home and to listen today and learn from your constituents, not just the official talking points and the subjects that are always on cable news or social media, but about the challenges and the needs and the hopes and the immigration reform of the people we represent, real people, the 29 million people that i'm privileged to represent in the senate from texas. we also hear about some of their problems that they are dealing with, like inflation, and we're hearing more about rising crime and my constituents are looking to congress for some leadership and some action. they want to see clear and decisive steps made to address

the problems that texas families confront on a regular basis. but, as i said, there isn't a whole lot of overlap, it seems, with the agenda in washington by the current majority in the house and the senate, and the priorities of my constituents back home. so the debates in congress have largely been detatched from their reality. it's like living in an alternate universe where we spend more time about manufactured crises or political agendas than solving real problems. this year it began with a $2 trillion partisan spending bill. our colleagues abused the rules of the senate to pass this legislation without a sickle republican vote, and -- single republican vote, and clearly they are hooked because -- partisan legislating became the rule. and they extended pay fairness

to accommodate trial lawyers. they scheduled a number of votes on varying versions of legislation to hijack america's elections because of an alleged voting rights crisis, even though last november in 2020, 94% of respondents to a pew poll said it was either easy or very easy to cast a ballot in the 2020 election. now, i had an interesting exchange on the majority leader with this. i had a chart on the pew poll and he said, yeah, we agree everything was great in 2020, but then it all went down the tubes when states began passing new election laws. but i pointed out to him, i asked him, i said what's your -- what's your primary concern?

and he said, well, ballot harvesting. he thought that there ought to be more permissive ballot harvesting than what's allowed in some states. but he didn't talk about eliminating voter i.d. or protecting the integrity of the ballot by making sure that the person, whether they were mailing in their ballot or voting in person was who they say they were and legally entitled to vote. but, again, we spend a lot of time on those multiple attempts to pass that takeover of state-run and local-run elections. and then there was the so-called build back better bill. i'm sure that was focus group tested so that it would be appealing to people who maybe didn't know exactly what was in it, but then we found out that it was massive tax increases and massive spending at a time when inflation was as bad as it's

been in my lifetime and where the dollar earned by working families goes less and less farther and, in fact, diminishes their standard of living because they are -- because of the effect of inflation. so the b.b.b. bill, some have called it build back better, i prefer build back broke or build back bankrupt, which would have thrown gasoline on the problem of inflation along with dprefg our economy and -- depressing our economy and inflation, they couldn't get all members on board with it. that's what happens when you have a 50-50 senate and the vice president breaks the tie. this isn't like f.d.r.'s new

deal where he could move the country in any direction he wanted. what you would ordinarily think with a 50-50 senate, that requires bipartisan consensus building, not trying to go it alone in a purely partisan manner and it's no surprise that it wasn't successful. well, obviously economists have something called opportunity costs, and so what that means, as i understand it, is that if you're doing -- if you're choosing to do one thing, that means there's other things you necessarily cannot do, and that's an opportunity cost. and one of the obvious costs to the american people is the border crisis with -- which has seen more than two people encountered at the southwestern border. it's no surprise that fentanyl,

cocaine, which took the lives of 100,000 americans last year through drug overdoses come from the southwestern border. the cartels are not dumb. they are actually pretty shrewd, and they found out if you flood the border with massive numbers of children and other people, that the border patrol will have to leave their station on the border keeping the drugs and cartels at bay and that opens up huge avenues of opportunity to smuggle drugs illegally into the once, in addition to the billions of dollars that they earn bringing people into the united states from more than 150 different countries. i know most people who don't live in a border state or who haven't been to the border, they think these are economic

migrants from central america, that seems to be what the vice president, who has been designated as the immigration czar by president biden, what she seems to think and by comments from the president himself. he doesn't understand the dynamic at the border. but in -- in reality what secretary mayorkas, at the department of homeland security and the biden administration have done, is to lay out the red carpet for human smugglers and drug smugglers and migrants coming from around the world. early on in the biden administration, i went to the del rio sector of the border patrol, and they told us that over 100 people they detained had come from more than 150 different countries. this is a global phenomenon based on how much money you have and you how much you're willing to spend on smugglers to get into the united states.

and, again, for everybody that we have no record on, we don't know whether they've been sex offenders, we don't know whether they've been murders or committed other -- murderers or committed other crimes back in their own country. we occasionally catch people who are criminals and come back to the united states because of the opportunities provided by the lack of border patrols. this doesn't take into account all of the people that the border patrol calls the gettaways. in other words, we know how many people turn themselves in and try to take advantage of the asylum system by flooding our immigration courts and creating a huge backlog and then melting into the great american landscape. but there are people who do penetrate our borders that the border patrol never encounters and so it's really hard to know precisely what they are up to,

but i can assure you based on my observation and experience, they are up to no good if they are avoiding the border patrol. well, in trying to be constructive, which i believe in trying to do, washington, d.c., is a -- can be a pretty tough place, and for sure, there are going to be things we disagree on, but there are also opportunities do things on a bipartisan basis. so seeing what was happening at the border, i reached out to another border-state senator, senator sinema, from arizona, and she and i both reached out to a congressman from loredo, texas, congressman cuellar, and we had a bicameral, bipartisan

effort to come up with a piece of legislation that we thought that assuming the administration wanted some help, this might be a good place to start. it's called the bipartisan border solutions act. but i'm sorry to report that the administration, indeed the democratic leadership, particularly on the judiciary committee that has jurisdiction over immigration matters, has shown absolutely zero interest in my kind of measures to -- to stop or to reduce the flow of migrants into the united states and to solve this problem. well, obviously crime is still a big problem in america and the border is part of the problem because of the flow of people -- unrestricted flow of people coming from across the border. but we know last year in 2020, murders -- two calendar years ago now, murders rose by nearly

30%, from the year prior, the largest single increase on record. crime has definitely spiked for whatever reason and requires a forceful and effective response. we're still waiting on data from 2021, but so far the picture doesn't appear to be much brighter. a number of major cities have experienced their deadliest years on record. and america are taking notice. a poll in november found that more than half of those surveyed believe local crime has gotten worse, a 13-point jump from the previous year. concerns about national crime rates are even higher, nearly three-quarters of people polled believe that crime is up nationally. this is bad for our communities, families, businesses and especially for our dedicated law enforcement officials. within a five-day span five

harris county police officers, that's houston, texas, as well as a police canine officer were killed or injured, during a five-day span, five were killed. an officer was shot and killed during a traffic stop, one was killed during a hit and run while off duty, three officers were killed in a shootout and another with a butcher knife. with crime, there's a need for congress to step up and act. we need to ensure that our police departments are well-funded, transparent and held accountable. this is not a priority for the majority party. the radical left and their base wants to defund the police and most democrats seem to be

intimidated about speaking up and speaking for their constituents when it comes to stopping or abating these crimes. as i mentioned, families are being also pummeled by the highest inflation in 40 years and we've all seen prices going up everywhere from the gas pump to groceries to cars to clothes. business owners have been hit with a double whammy as supply chain issues have made it more difficult and costly to sell and ship their products. as i mentioned gas prices are perhaps the most easily identified area where inflation is eating away at people's paychecks. drivers are now spending 50% more today than they were a year ago on a gallon of gas. that's not just the big headline-grabbing crisis the biden administration has failed to address. the national defense authorization bill is one of the

best examples of what we should do here in the senate. an example of bipartisanship. aversion of this bill -- a version of this bill is passed every year for 61 years. and last summer things appeared to be on track, even ahead of schedule. the armed services committee passed a national defense authorization bill by a vote of 23-3. you don't get more bipartisan than that. unfortunately for some reason the majority leader refused to bring the defense authorization bill to the floor and left the bill to collect dust on the senate calendar before moving it. when he finally aloud it to come to the -- allowed it to come to the floor in late november, he tried to limit the normal amendment process by blaming the calendar. to no one's surprise that created a lot of issues and a lot of consternation. you simply can't sit on a bipartisan bill for months and claim there is no time for a robust amendment process.

but eventually the senate did pass the defense authorization bill before the end of the year, but we can't get in the habit of delaying bipartisan bills in order to meet a partisan agenda. then there's government funding. for more than a year into the democratic-controlled majority, controlling the government and not a single regular appropriation bill has passed. our colleagues have kicked the can down the road. mr. whitehouse: will the senator yield for a question. the presiding officer: does the senator yield for a question? mr. cornyn: as soon as i'm finished with my remarks. mr. whitehouse: that was the question given we have a 2:15 vote coming up. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cornyn: our colleagues kicked the can down the road in keeping the lights on in the appropriation process, in september and december and they're poised to do it again and will not meet the february deadline. with the focus on partisan

politics, rather than bipartisan opportunities, our colleagues in the majority have simply ignored the basic responsibilities of governing. they put the demands of partisanship ahead of the needs of the american people. rather than reevaluate the strategy and perhaps make a course correction, our colleagues have doubled down. they scheduled another vote on their partisan election takeover bill and when it failed, they attempted to blow up the rules of the senate to create an easier pathway to purely partisan legislation. so there's a massive disconnect between what democrats in the majority have been trying to accomplish here in washington, d.c. and what the american people are telling me, particularly my constituents, that they actually need. families in texas are struggling to pay their gas and grocery bill. and they're worried about the increase in violent crime. but our colleagues are trying to convince them that they're wrong and what's more important is the

federal takeover of state-run elections and provide additional tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires from blue states by lifting or eliminating the cap on deductibility of state and local taxes as they attempted to do. so a lot of the time we've had this last year, the opportunity to pass a good and meaningful legislation has been lost and thus the opportunity cost of this partisanship is things that really would make a difference and improve the lives of ordinary americans. the american people are not asking for a radical transformation of the country. that was pretty clear by the 50-50 senate that they elected in 2020 as well as a democratic majority in the house. they want safe communities. they want affordable standard of living. they want secure borders. and they want the right to

decide what's best for themselves and their families and not be dictated to or mandated by the federal government. so i hope -- i continue to hope that our democratic colleagues will abandon partisanship and use the remainder of this year to support what the american people actually want and need. i'd be glad to yield for a question. mr. whitehouse: my question was simply how long the senator was going to broad given -- proceed given the schedule for my remarks was at 1:35. no further questions. i apologize for interrupting. i was just trying to sort out the timing. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: thank you very much, mr. president. well, i am not very happy to be back with my trusty and somewhat battered time to wake up poster.

almost exactly a year ago i delivered what i hoped would be my last time to wake up speech and took the poster off the floor. things looked good then. the conditions for climate progress were in place. voters had elected a democratic president and democratic majorities in both houses of congress so the malicious group grip of the fossil fuel industry on the republican party was no longer a stopper. president biden ran on a fact-based uncorrupted climate agenda and many in our congressional majorities campaigned on climate action. we had reconciliation to work with and work began on a serious climate bill. actually after i stopped these speeches, the smithsonian asked me if they could have this old poster. it's the most used poster in

senate history, it turns out. and i came pretty close to turning it over to them but something made me hesitate and, well, here it is back again. we just aren't making progress, not by the only measurement that matters, greenhouse gas emissions. we are one year in with no bill, no carbon regulation, and no litigation. and look at the climate havoc. scientists reported that global temperatures registered between 1.1 and 1.2 degrees celsius above afternoon in 2021. that is among the hottest years ever observed by human beings, and it is dangerously close to our safety ceiling of 1.5 degrees celsius. and we're here despite 2021

being a la ninia year when cold pacific water usually cools global temperatures. the last seven years are the seven hottest years in recorded history. republicans may mock and disparage this, but they are paid agents of the polluters causing this. and they are wrong. in past speeches i've described how our oceans absorb a massive amount of the heat that is trapped by greenhouse gas pollution. it's the heat equivalent of multiple hiroshima size nuclear bombs being set off in the ocean every second. multiple hiroshima size nuclear devices worth of heat per second we're adding to the ocean. in the last three decades our oceans warmed eight times faster than preceding decades, and it is so massive it has its own

measurement term, the zetta jewel. the top 2,000 feet of ocean absorbed a record 227 excess zettajoules of energy in 2021. so what's a zettajoule? well, a half zettajoule, a half zettajoule is the total annual energy consumption of the planet. that little line right down there represents a half zettajoule. the total energy consumption of planet earth, all humans. and here is the heat that that loaded into the oceans because of the amplification of greenhouse gases. 227, one half. so about 500 times as much heat going into the oceans as our

entire energy heat spend as a species. and ocean temperatures are, of course, now the hottest ever recorded. the excess heat means dying coral reefs and lost fisheries with acidifies seas. it means higher sea levels as heated water expands and more severe storms as heated water supercharge storm systems. including thunderstorm complexes that spawn midwestern tornadoes in december. republicans may mock and disparage this, but remember, they're paid agents of the polluters causing this. and they're wrong. this costs lives and dollars. the u.s. suffered 20 separate billion dollar weather disasters in 2021, almost 700 deaths and a hundred billion dollars of damage. the year before we had hit $22

billion disasters. tropical cyclones, coastal floods, western wildfires, the most spectacular fire didn't actually make it on to this list because it ripped through more than a thousand homes and businesses in suburban denver in december. that fire didn't even make it on to this top disasters list. the pacific northwest heat wave of june 2021 smashed all records. a town in normally temperate british columbia saw 116-degree temperatures beating the previous canadian national record by 3 degrees. the next day the thermometer hit 118 degrees. the day after that 121 degrees. and the day after that, a wildfire burned the town to the

ground. in washington and oregon, temperatures shot off the charts. these graphs show maximum daily temperatures in seattle and portland. the dots on these charts that form this gray band represent every daily maximum temperature reading over the last 42 years. over 15,000 data points. the red dots here and here reflect for seattle and for portland those days. way beyond the norms. these temperatures aren't just uncomfortable, they are lethal. research shows more than 600 excess deaths during the june heat wave in washington and oregon. those 600 people aren't even counted in that storm death toll i mentioned before. so why aren't we doing anything about it? two primary reasons.

fossil fuel obstruction and corporate indifference. to be blunt, the fossil fuel industry controls the republican party the way a ventriloquist controls a painted wooden dummy and the rest of corporate america lets them get away with it. the fossil fuel obstruction isn't new. they've been add it for decades. dozens of colleagues have joined me here on the senate floor exposing the web of climate that the industry wove to perpetrate their obstruction. the fossil fuel industry is still at it. they just changed it up a bit. they can't debate the science anymore and they can't argue against the urgency but they can still write checks. they can fund phony front groups and fill republican campaign coffers and those they can't sell climate denial, they can buy climate delay. they can hire the biggest p.r. in advertising firms around like edelman, i.p.g., w.p.p. to pollute our minds with slippery

green washing like they pollute our skies and oceans with their carbon emissions. here's an example of this stuff in action. type fossil fuels into google and this is the slick, phony paid for result you get. a fossil fuel giant saying it is already a willing and able player in the energy transition. read more. the guardian and watchdog group influencemap expieced -- exposed how fossil fuel companies cook up these ads designed to look like google search results. don't do anything. we've got this is the big lie message of these ads. the watchdogs call this endemic green washing. the industry doesn't just lie and pay politicians. fossil fuel companies also use trade associations and dark money front groups to whip up opposition to climate legislation.

coal heavy electric utilities and their dark money cohort mobilized against the clean electricity performance plan that would have helped decarbonize the power grid. republicans did their bidding. the american petroleum institute and other fossil fuel industry groups fight paying a price on methane emissions from their oil and gas facilities. they want to pollute for free knowing full well the harm. republicans do their bidding. the c.e.o. of that 800-pound climate-obstructing gorilla the u.s. chamber said the group would do whatever it could do to prevent the provisions from being abouting law. and republicans do their bidding. these groups spent millions on political ads. they unleashed a deluge of campaign contributions. they're almost certainly behind big super pac spending. they mull out all the stops. and against them in corporate america to push