>> my role on the appropriations committee is as chair off the interior subcommittee, and there's many key components that we worry about a great deal behind door number three if we do not succeed in having another continuing resolutions been built including the national parks service. my staff on that subcommittee has sought to discuss the contingency plans for the situation, and has not been able to get a briefing authorized for them. can we make sure that everything happens?ca >> senator, we are happy to provide briefings. we are conscientious about when we talk about b potential shutdowns, given how close in timing with our to meeting a deal. we'll work something out. i know yourng staff will come to make sure that information they need, but also not to portray a sense that we think we're headed

down a bad road. we will balance that. >> it's important congress be part of a discussion -- >> we are going to break away from this event now to take you live to the u.s. senate as part of our over for your commitment to bring you live coverage of congress. the senate is about to gavel back in following a classified briefing on russia-ukraine tensions. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. e presiding officer:e question is is it the sense of the senate that alexandra baker to be deputy under the secretary of defense shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 70, the nays are 246789 the motion is agreed to. 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 nomination of executive calendar number 673, rett at that rita j. louis to be president of the by. the presiding officer: by i ask 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 reta jo lewis of georgia to be the president of the export-import bank of the united states 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 54. the nays 39. and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, export import bank of the united states reta jo lewis of georgia to be president. 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 654, leonard philip stark of delaware to be united states circuit judge for the federal circuit. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense nomination of leonard philip stark of delaware to be united states circuit judge for the federal circuit 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:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 54, the nays 33, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk lort the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary,

leonard philip stark, of delaware, to be united states circuit judge for the federal circuit. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. carper: i have three requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and new orleans of the -- minority leaders of the senate. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. carper: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i am honored today -- mr. president, would you mind repeating the marge -- margin on that vote? the presiding officer: 54-33. mr. carper: we hope there will be a settlement in the dispute with baseball. at the end of a game, somebody

wins and somebody loses. the team that wins gets a w. we just had a w in the nomination of leonard stark to serve on the federal circuit. not just for delaware, but a win for those places that he went to school and where he practiced law, this is a win for our country. i rise in support of his nomination to serve on the u.s. court of appeals. the presiding officer from time to time will see me on the floor and passing out we call them prom cards to our colleagues asking them to join him or join me in cosponsoring legislation supporting amendments, supporting bills on the floor and for the last day or two i've been passing out pom cards to

our republican colleagues asking them to support the nomination of leonard stark to serve on this court. as grateful as i am for the democrats and one or two independents who voted for him, i also want to express my thanks for the republicans across the aisle and saw fit to support his nomination. i'm not sure, mr. president, how much our colleagues here in the senate know about the u.s. court of appeals. i'd be the first to admit i had to do some homework on it myself. this court is maybe best known for its decisions on patent law. that's right, patent law. in fact, it's the only appellate court, i'm told, other than the u.s. supreme court that will hear and consider patent case appeals. but despite my needing to do a little homework on the u.s. court of appeals for the federal circuit, i do know a great deal about judge leonard stark.

in fact, i've known him, mr. president, for probably half of his life. i've admired him for every one of those years. he's been nominated by our president to serve in this critical role in this important court. i had a chance to follow his nomination, along with senator coons, of delaware, through the judiciary process and i'm confident that judge stark's judicial experience and expertise in the complex arena in patent law makes him a perfect fit for this particular judgeship. mr. president, i knew a lot about judge stark for a couple of reasons. one, we're from delaware. delaware's a little state. some people ask me, have you met everyone in tt state of delaware -- met everyone in the state of delaware? probably not everyone, but i met

judge stark at at a young and i have a lot of respect for him. for the last 12 years judge stark served as a judge on the delaware federal district court. he clerked four judgeshipsing -- judgeship. prior to that he had an academic career. he is a fellow graduate of the fighting blue hence at u.d. double majored as an undergraduate in political science while also working towards his master's degree. let me say that again, judge mark, this is before he was a judge, he double majored as -- in political science and worked

towards his master's degree. my sister would call that showing off, but he was showing off and just excelling every step of the way. he earned a full scholarship as a eugene memorial distinguished scholar. something that judge stark and i have in common from our time at the university of delaware, we both met an individual who would change our lives, distinguished, beloved professor of political science, james soles. dr. soles won an honor at the university of delaware so many times i think they retired the honor. he was loved and respected by so many students, parents and faculty members. fortunately for leonard stark

and fortunately for me, jim soles took us both under his wings and helped get us on the right path and leads judge stark to the senate floor for cloture on his nomination. jim soles was a personal hero to a whole lot of us at delaware. he had a lifelong friendship with judge stark and i, which we cherish to it this day -- to this day. i have been all over the place and ended up working on an m.b.a., and in my first year at delaware, i met a guy running for a congressional seat, and it was jim soles. i ended up from knowing nobody to being the treasurer of a -- of a fellow running for the u.s. house of representatives, a

congressman at the time was pete dupont, good man, and i got involved in that -- in that campaign and later on i would meet judge stark and we bounded right away because of our affection and respect for -- for dr. soles. but -- i think it's 12 years ago -- 12 years ago judge stark was confirmed, i think unanimously, by this body to serve on the -- delaware's district court and i called him to congratulate him. sure enough, guess who he was having dinner with. he was having dinner with jim soles. jim got to tell him how proud he was getting a confirmation to the delaware district court. but sadly not it too long after that, we lost our dear friend jim soles. while he will not have dinner

with us tonight, i will let judge stark know that jim soles is smiling down on him and that jim would have been so proud to see his nomination once again advancing on the floor of the united states senate. mr. president, let me tell you a couple of things about judge stark, if i could. not long after his graduation from the university of delaware, again, where he had double jurors in undergraduate while pursuing a master's degree. he studied at oxford and authored books on british politics. after oxford, judge stark went on to earn his law degree at yale law school where he served as senior editor of the yale law

journal. after graduating, he clerked for judge walton and judge stark then began his career in public service as an assistant u.s. attorney for state of delaware from 2002 to 2007 he handled federal cases, civil matters and others. before his current position as a district judge, mr. president, judge stark served as magistrate judge on the u.s. district court of delaware. it was this role that prepared him quite well to serve as a district court judge. in 2010, president obama nominated judge stark to fill a vacancy on the delaware district court and the senate confirmed judge stark unanimously -- unanimously. and in the years since then, judge stark served delaware and our nation with integrity and with distinction. only four years after serving as

a district judge, 2014, he was appointed chief judge of the delaware district court which is what he held until june of this year. he has presided over 6,000 civil and criminal cases, over 6,000 civil and criminal cases, including over 2,400 patent cases, including 63 patent trials. patent law is particularly important to the federal circuit and judge stark's experience and expertise in these matters make him uniquely qualified for this particular judgeship. in fact, the judiciary committee of the senate received a letter of support for judge stark's nomination from the federal circuit bar association that highlighted the breadth of judge stark's experience. the -- they say, quote, is

uniquely well suited to a position on the federal circuit and the letter went on to highlight his -- again, quoting, his integrity, his professional competence and his judicial temperament. there was a letter of support from the american bar association which once again rated stark unanimously well qualified. well qualified. at every stage of his life, judge stash has performed at the highest level. that is impressive for any field, but when it happens on the federal bench that's for the benefit of our kiewrch and the -- constitution and the american people. judge spark is known as a concensus -- the fact that judge stark approximately 2,100

written opinions, 2,100 written opinions, only 2% of them have ever been reversed or affirmed with criticism. only 2%. that's part of the reason he was approved in january by a strong bipartisan majority in the judiciary committee. he is the heart -- he has the heart of a servant and temperament to be an outstanding judge on the u.s. court of appeals for the seventh circuit. his studies took him across the pond to oxford and england and back to yale. he has a stellar record of academic achievement. from his service to the american people as an assistant u.s. attorney for the last year on the delaware district court, judge stark earned respect and admiration of the legal community in delaware and across our nation. i want to close with this. the presiding officer knows i was privileged to serve as the governor of delaware fof eight years just -- for eight years just before i came here to serve in the u.s. senate.

i never imagined when i was running for the position of governor how important the governor's role in delaware in terms of nominating judges. nominating judges to the court of chancery and delaware supreme court and family court and on and on. a lot of courts. some with national and international respect and role. one of my great regrets is that i never had the opportunity to nominate judge leonard stark, young leonard stark. he did not apply. he was not -- i know he's old enough but not by much. but i would have been very, very proud as a governor to have nominated to him to serve at any one of our courts in delaware. delaware is a little place. it has about a million people, about a hundred miles north to south, about 50 miles from east to west. and it's not possible to know everybody but you can know a lot of people. and i've been privileged to not only just know leonard stark but also to know his family.

and to know that one of the reasons why he succeeded -- i say one of the reasons i succeeded, he picked the right parents. not a lot of wealth or fortune or fame but just people with really good values and just good people. i just want to say to them, thank you for bringing him into the world and raising him with wonderful values. i want to thank his wife and children for sharing their husband and their dad with the people of delaware for all these years and for your willingness to let us give him a chance to serve in this new position. from his service to the american public as assistant u.s. attorney for the last 12 years on the delaware district court, leonard stark has earned the respect and admiration of the legal community in delaware and across our country. i again want to thank our colleagues today for voting to take his nomination to go forward to the next step. i think we'll have an opportunity to vote next week on the actual confirmation but i'm pleased with the outcome of

today's vote on cloture. and we've got a state sung. they have a state sung in maryland. i won't sing it here today, mr. president. the state sung or the very first state of delaware, the first state to ratify the constitution, includes a line take goes something like this, another direct quote. the sun is shining over our beloved delaware. and so today indeed the sun is shining over delaware. we had a national prayer breakfast in the capitol this morning in the auditorium of the visitors center where the speaker was brian stevenson, famed attorney, defender, au author, and he was here. he was our keynote speaker for the prayer breakfast. the chair for the -- cochair for the prayer breakfast was senator christopher coons of delaware. we -- the president of the united states spoke at the

prayer breakfast today, joe biden, a delawarean. and the congresswoman had a privilege to be there and part of that family. it's been a good day for delaware and with the vote to move this nomination to the next step. it's a good -- another good day for delaware for this reason but also a very good day for our country. and for all who have worked hard to make this day possible and this possible, i want to say a heartfelt thank you. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor to another fellow who has a delaware connection and when he came through orientation a few years ago, he was nice enough to share with me that -- i told him the most -- the most popular set of initials in the u.s. senate were the letter t.c. there are more t.c.'s than any set of initials in the senate. and when ted cruz joined us, we had another one as well. but he shared with me that it was his grandmother who was from will ming torn, delaware, --

wilmington, delaware, one of 17 children. it gave us a common bond right from the get-go. i'm happy to yield to my friend from texas for his comments today. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cruz: mr. president, there is a gathering storm in europe. i rise today to discuss the brewing crisis posed by russia's aggression and tragically how the reckless actions of president biden have enabled it. this morning all 100 senators participated in a classified briefing where we heard from the secretary of defense and the secretary of state and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. we heard from the magnitude of the threat from russia. we stand here today with europe

facing the greatest peril it has faced since 1945. these are ominous and chilling times. and we did not arrive here by accident. right now 150,000 russian troops are directly on the border of ukraine poised to invade. with more troops and more tanks arriving each and every day. it was also reported this week that russia has sent additional blood supplies to its military equipment on the ukraine border. another ominous signal that russia plans to invade. ukraine and indeed the region and the world find ourselves in

this crisis because of president biden's weakness. because of his appeasement, because of his surrender to putin over the last year, and now instead of rising to meet this moment with strength and resolve, president biden continues to shrink from it with more weakness and appeasement. one question that was raised in the briefing this morning is why didn't this happen in 2017? why didn't it happen in 2018? why didn't it happen in 2019? why didn't it happen in 2020? what changed? mr. president, what i -- i will suggest what changed.

what changed is the occupant of the oval office who has demonstrated weakness and appeasement virtually from the moment he rested his hand upon the bible. it's a pattern. as a result of president biden's weakness and appeasement, this administration gave afghanistan to the taliban. and 13 american servicemembers were tragically murdered. as a result of president biden's weakness and appeasement, this administration is ramping up to give a nuclear arsenal to the ayatollah in iran, the very same ayatollah who chants death to israel and death to america. the biden administration is preparing to facilitate that

ayatollah having the weapons of mass murder to carry out those pledges. as a result of president biden's weakness and appeasement, the biden administration is in the process of ceding taiwan to xi. president biden has even banned any taiwanese official from displaying a taiwanese military uniform or displaying a taiwanese flag on u.s. government property. why? because it offends the communist government in china. and again right now, today, as a result of president biden's weakness and appeasement, the biden administration is in the process of abandoning ukraine to vladimir putin. putin didn't just wake up one

day and decide to invade ukraine. he has wanted to invade ukraine for years, and he did so in 2014. but he stopped short of a full invasion then because he couldn't endanger ukraine's energy infrastructure which putin needs to get russian natural gas to europe. so russia formed a consortium to build nord stream 2, a pipeline stretching directly from russia to germany under the sea so that russian gas could circumvent ukraine altogether. we have long known about the dangers nord stream 2 poses. that's why the last few years democrats and republicans here in the senate have come together repeatedly and taken bipartisan actions, passing sanctions on nord stream 2 with overwhelming

majorities. i led that effort drafting the cruz-shaheen sanctions. they were supported by every democrat in this chamber. they passed overwhelmingly and they worked. they succeeded. they stopped the pipeline literally the day they were signed into law. the story of how that happened is well known to every senator in this chamber. as is the story of how the new president, president biden, inexplicably and catastrophically decided to squander that hard-fought g.o.p. political victory and turn a victory for america into a loss for america and our allies. many a democratic senator standing on this senate floor

has quietly expressed frustration, confusion, anger why the biden administration would surrender to russia and give away the victory we had w won. it's not only the decision to surrender on nord stream 2 and give putin the pipeline that enables him to invade ukraine that led to this day. also for the past year president biden has repeatedly systematically undermined our ukranian allies in the face of russian aggression. to placate putin -- and it's worth noting, biden does this for the same reason he undermines taiwan.

he undermines taiwan to placate the chinese communists. he undermines ukraine to placate putin. to placate putin the biden administration has repeatedly withheld military aid packages to ukraine. other times he has withheld diplomatic support to pressure our ukranian allies into supporting his misguided nord stream 2 surrender to putin. biden's actions for the past year have emboddenned -- emboldened putin who acted on that weakness and has put europe on the brink of war. so what can we do right now, today, to promote peace and stop an invasion? well, our ukranian allies have told us again and again what we can do and what we should do.

all we have to do in the senate is listen to our friends in ukraine who are on the front line. number one, sanction nord stream 2 immediately, right now, today. and, number two, give the ukrainians weapons so they can defend themselves. just last week the chairman of ukraine's parliament wrote a letter to the senate about exactly this. mr. president, if you have not read the letter from the ukrainian parliament, i command it to you o -- i commend it to you. it's an extraordinary letter from a nation on the brink of annihilation at the hands of russian aggression. and i'm going to read parts of that letter right now because it's worth quoting extensively. the chairman of ukraine's

parliament writes, nord stream's is a source of multidimensional security, political, and economic threats to ukraine and europe as a whole. it is not an exaggeration that nord stream 2 is no less an existential threat to ukraine's security and democracy than the russian troops on our border. this pipeline must be stopped, and the only way to prevent the completion is to use all the tools available to do that a -- that. the letter continues, quote, so far the decision to waive sanctions against nord stream 2 in may of 221, that was a decision by president biden, has emboldened russia and caused moscow to conclude that the united states may accommodate

its hostile intentions. the letter continues -- after a clear majority of the u.s. senate voted 55-44 in favor of imposing immediate sanctions on nord stream 2a.g., it is essential that congress include immediate sanctions against nord stream 2ag in any new legislation to undercut options for russia's aggression -- aggressive actions on ukraine. the letter goes on asking for, quote, a clear trigger for the instant and unqualified imposition of any sanctions that are not imposed immediately upon enactment of the legislation, arguing that, quote, while some

sanctions like sanctions against nord stream 2 should be imposed immediately to demonstrate to moscow that the united states is indeed serious about severe measures a, including removing russia from swift, the trigger for these future sanctions must be clear in order to be effective. the letter continues, quote, a significant escalation in hostilities whose aim or effect of undermining or dismantling the government of ukraine occupying the territory of ukraine, or interfering with the sovereignty or territorial integrity of ukraine is too high of a threshold to deter russian aggression or affect the kremlin's cost-benefit analysis.

the ukrainians are crystal clear in this letter. the sanctions on nord stream 2 that biden waived last year, quote, in the words of the ukrainians, imposeddenned -- emboldened russia and allowed putin to think, quote, the united states may accommodate its hostile intentions. in other words, because of biden's weakness and appeasement on nord stream 2, putin thinks there are no serious consequences to invading ukraine. so the ukrainians are asking, they are begging of the united states senate, for immediate sanctions on nord stream 2. do not abandon them. they cry at their hour of need. and they also state in the letter, quote, expedited and higher-impact security assistance, including air

defense, antiship, and anti-armor capabilities is what they need. that's what the ukrainians have asked for. but president biden and most of the senate democrats aren't doing what our ukrainians allies have called for. instead, they're looking to pile appeasement atop of appeasement and they are doing it in secret. the biden administration has offered putin creeping concessions on nato when this comes to troops, when it comes to missiles, when it comes to missile exercises -- military exercises. they transmitted this to putin in secret and refused to let americans see the details. i've seen the details. and i can tell you they are deeply worrying. the reason the public hasn't seen them is the administration has placed them in the secure skiff. they're not classified, mind

you. they're merely confidential which is washington-speak for politically embarrassing and the administration doesn't want to defend the substance of it. that's why i'm introducing legislation called the partner act which would prevent president biden from endangering our longtime allies and frontline countries in nato by prohibiting him from removing american troops from the countries that border russia, meaning estonia, lat, lithuania, bulgaria, romania, poland, longtime allies. my legislation will prevent president biden from offering yet nor appeasement to russia -- more apeople to russia for offering for america to abonn done eastern europe to russia and for allowing president biden to fatally undermine nato.

madam president, i also want to address the fact that some think we should stand down and not resist russian aggression because, they say, biden will send american troops into ukraine and start a shooting war with russia if putin invades. i want to be clear and unequivocal, we should not have american soldiers in ukraine. under no circumstances should we send our sons and daughters to die to defend ukraine from russia. if the biden administration proposes that because their foreign policy is collapsing around that, i will vigorously oppose such a move, and the vast

majority of americans do as well. but, critically, the ukrainians aren't asking for that. ukraine is not asking for a single american soldier. ukraine is saying, do two things -- sanction nord stream 2, the pipeline, that enables the russian aggression, and provide them with the military weapons so that they, the ukrainians, can fight to defend their own nation from the invading russian army. so americans are asking, why should we care what happens to ukraine? or what happens to nato countries that border russia? now, let me be clear, there are some who justify american foreign policy and say we have an amorphous obligation to

protect democracies. we have an obligation to protect international norms. madam president, i think all of that is bunk. we have an obligation to protect the national security of the united states of america. the commander in chief's obligation is to keep americans safe. what does that mean in this context? number one, what putin is trying to do is reassemble the ussr. if he succeeds in doing so, it would be catastrophic for global stability and american security. putin and russia are an enemy of america. when the soviet union was bigger, stronger, mightier, and with a bigger military, the lives of americans and the lives of our allies were in far greater jeopardy.

it is overwhelmingly in america's interest to prevent putin from reassembling the soviet union because we do not wish for our enemies to become stronger and use that strength against us. number two, putin is trying to seize control of energy. if he's suckful, it will be -- if he's successful, it will be felt by americans trying to fill up their cars with gas or heat their homes in the winter. we've already seen what putin has done with nord stream 12 and he is not going to stop there. number three, we have a formal obligation, a commitment the united states made to help the ukrainians defend themselves. why is that? well, after ukraine successfully declared independence from the ussr in 1991, the united states signed an agreement, an agreement called the budapest

memorandum on security assistance. the budapest memorandum, ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons. ukraine had the third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons on the face of the planet. america agreed the world would be safer if ukraine did not have nukes and the brand-new ukrainian government agreed and gave up their nuclear weapons, making america safer and the world safer. but ukrainian government does d. so in exchange -- but the ukrainian government did so in exchange for explicit assurances that the united states would protect ukraine's territorial integrity. let me reiterate that. the united states made a formal commitment to the ukrainians that if they gave up their nuclear weapons, we would help them protect themselves and the ukrainians are asking us to

honor our commitment in the form, and they're very specific what think you're asking, in the forth of immediate sanctions on nord stream 2 and weapons so they can defend themselves. we need to send them that lethal aid. the kind of firepower the ukrainians need to defend themselves, not the blankets can and teddy bears and meals that the obama administration sent the last time russia invaded ukraine. and, number four, we have treaty obligations to nato countries on the front lines of putin's aggression. putin wants nato to withdraw foreign forces, including american forces, from the countries that border russia, from bulgaria, poland, romania, estonia, latvia, lithuania. but to withdraw american forces

from nato would be seen as and in fact would be an abdication of our commitment to nato. it would either shadow the nato alliance the most successful alliance in modern history, or it would put into motion dynamics that it would ultimately shatter nato. which is why, as i mentioned, i'm introducing the partner act to prevent the biden administration from destroying nato and undermining american security. on every one of these four points, biden has demonstrated wakeness aappeasement to putin. and i would note or, you might ask, why should america honor our commitments? why should we honor our commitment in the budapest memorandum? why should we honor our treaty compliments to the nato countries? because one of the ways we protect american national security is when we make an agreement with a country, when we make a formal legal

agreement, we honor our commitments. and we want countries to know that we stand by our friends, that we stand by our word, that our treaties mean something because if suns learn that under weak and feckless presidents our treaties, our formal binding legal documents aren't worth the paper they're written on, it undermines the ability of any president of the united states to negotiate agreements with our friends and allies that keep americans safe. when ronald reagan was standing up and confronting the evil empire, we saw the virtues of peace through strength. biden's foreign policy seems to invite war through weakness.

there are actions we can take today, like sanctioning nord stream 2, like sending lethal aid to ukraine, like committing to keep our forces in country's that border russia, all of these show putin that the united states will stand up to aggression and defend our national interests. we should take these actions without delay. we should stand in bipartisan unity in support of american national security, in op exception to russian aggression. and if we do not, if the senate acquiesces to biden's weakness and appeasement and russia invades ukraine and weeks from now there are russian tanks in the streets of kiev, ukraine and europe and america and the world will reap the world winds.

this is our opportunity to act. i pray that we take. it i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennett: madam president, i'd ask from the chair how long were the -- the remarks from the senator from texas might be. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized.

thank you. the senator from texas is recognized when he's ready. mr. cornyn: i would yield to my -- mr. bennet: no, the ?airt from texas was yielding patiently. for clarity for the record, i yield to the senior senator from the state of texas. mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cornyn: madam president, in the summer of 2020, the senior senator from virginia, senator warner, and i introduced the championships -- the chips for america act to reshore

semiconductor manufacturing here in the united states. i didn't know much about semiconductors when we got started, but i've learned a lot, and what i've learned is that this is a essential commodity that we have, over time, offshored to places like asia, that we need to reshore, or bring back to america, for our economy and for national security. currently, 90% of the semiconductors in the world are manufactured in asia, 63% of the semiconductors in the world come from one place, taiwan. if covid has taught us one thing, it's taught us how vulnerable our supply chains can be, and the truth is semiconductors have become so critical to our way of life, to

our economy, and to our national security, to everything we do, that if that supply was blocked for some reason, either as a result of another pandemic or a natural daferred or -- disaster, or heaven forbid, a military conflict, it would be devastating to the united states and our economy and our national security. that's why when our bill was introduced as an amendment to the defense authorization bill, it passed by 96-4. clearly, we had strong bipartisan support here in the senate. it took less than seven months from the time we introduced the bill until it became law, and then six months later the senate passed the u.s. innovation and competition act with $52 billion in funding for the chips program. had this legislation been

introduced years ago, before the pandemic, i don't think it would have received either such quick action or such broad bipartisan support. that's not because this type of investment wasn't needed. there's clear data that showed a concerning trend in u.s. chip manufacturing. we saw big investments made by other countries in their own capabilities, and a business model primarily by taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing company, which i visited along with colleagues in taipei just a few months ago, where their business model is to manufacture chips made and designed, i should say, designed, by companies that need those semiconductors, rather than build their own manufacturing capability, their own foundry, they outsourced that to taiwan semiconductor. so, taiwan, and particularly

taiwan semiconductor, has become the focal point for the product of semiconductors around the world. well, there was general agreement that something should be done before covid-19, but it certainly wasn't at the top of everyone's priority list. but as i said, when the pandemic hit, the vulnerability of our supply chains for everything from p.p.e., personal protective equipment, to semiconductors became apparent. well, how has that affected everyday texans, folks from nevada or colorado? well, we found out that an absence or lack of smucts meant -- semiconductors meant empty car lots. you couldn't buy a new car. you couldn't get a computer, perhaps for your child to be able to study virtually during a

quarantine period or during a period of virtual learning at schools across the countries. we saw higher prices adding to the problem of inflation, and suddenly those concerning data points turned into real-world problems. consumers never even dreamed or thought about a semiconductor before found themselves impacted by this global shortage. the new car they'd been saving up wasn't available. the christmas gift they planned to order for their children was out of stock. and while the lack of consumer products is a big problem, it pails in comparison to the -- pales in comparison to the security risk created by the chip shortage. simply put, semiconductors are vital to our critical infrastructure. our grid, that keeps on the lights, that makes it possible to heat our buildings during the cold of winter, they run our cell towers that enable us to

talk op our cell phone or download data and do searches on the web. they're critical to our energy grid, our water treatment plants, our agricultural sector. semiconductor chips make it all possible. as i said, our national defense also depends on semiconductors. when we send our troops on any mission, by air, sea, land, or cyberspace, they need the best equipment available. and usually what that means is the most advanced technology available. advanced fighters, quantum computing, missile defense, all rely on semiconductors. i asked my staff to research, back when israel was using the iron dome missile defense system to knock rockets out of the sky that were destined to hit population centers in israel, i said find out for me how many semiconductors are in each one

of those missile defense interceptors. and they came back with a figure of 750 chips in each one of those missile defense interceptors. so, it's not hard to imagine we would be in big trouble if a lack of supply crippled any of these functions. and unfortunately, it is a real possibility. over the years domestic chip production has steadily dropped as other countries have upped their manufacturing capabilities. as i said, 90% of that manufacturing is now in asia. we had the idea, and it's not a crazy idea, that if somebody can make things cheaper overseas, then that's the most efficient way for that product to be made. but we didn't calculate these supply chain problems, again, which covid-19 exposed.

well, we know, as i said, if there were another pandemic or, let's say, natural disaster or a military conflict, the people's republic of china has made no secret about its plans to unify with taiwan. president xi has explicitly said invasion of taiwan will happen, and he asked that his military be ready by the year 2027. but we don't actually know what his timetable may be. and if china follows through on its threats to invade taiwan and interrupts that supply chain of critical semiconductors, it would be dramatically bad for the united states and the world. our national security and critical infrastructure could be hobbled by a single decision made by the president of the

people's republic of china. i was reminded of jimmy carter's 1980 speech at the state of the union wherein he spoke about instability in the persian gulf and soviet threats to the movement of middle east oil through the straight of hormuz. president carter said at the time, when we were so dependent on imported oil from the middle east, he said any attempt to gain control of the persian gulf and to block the straight of hormuz would be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the united states of america. you could say the same about a blockade that prevented us from getting semiconductors from asia. just as the soviets could have blocked the straight of hormuz and choked off global supply, the people's republic of china could seize taiwan's supply of chips and its manufacturing facilities and hold the rest of the world at risk.

the u.s. and our allies would be left fighting for the crumbs, what was left over. our country isn't the only one, fortunately, who spotted this blimpinging red light. other -- blinking red light. other countries are pouring tens of millions of -- billions of dollars into newfound ris. the european union is investing up to $35 billion. south korea is investing $65 billion. and the people's republic of china is reportedly investing $150 billion in semiconductor manufacturing. so, the u.s. cannot be left behind, and we can't drag our feet. unlike p.p.e., personal protective equipment, or hand sanitizer shortages, this one cannot be solved quickly. companies that make other technologies can't just adjust to the lack of semiconductors. in order to build a single chip, you need very expensive, highly advanced equipment, and you need

the very skilled workers, and you need a lot of time. it can take literally months to build a single chip, and that's assuming you have the facilities and the expertise to do so. so, it's not hyperbole to say that there are life or death consequences to a reliable semiconductor supply chain, which is why this has been such a high-priority item op -- on a bipartisan basis here in the senate. the u.s. innovation and competition act included $52 billion to fund this program and ensure once again we can maintain a strong supply of advanced semiconductors. that legislation, which included an emergency appropriation passed by a vote of 68-32, which is pretty impressive these days, with the polarization we're all dealing with. a strong bipartisan vote. unfortunately, the momentum that that bill had ended when it got

to the house of representatives. the speaker of the house had other priorities, and months and months went by. our house colleagues said they wanted to pass their own version of this legislation, and they have every right to do so, but time is not on our side, and they needed to act quickly. every day that goes by is a day that china inches ahead of the u.s. and that we fall farther behind. we need to get this funding out the door and to begin that construction of these fabs which take a considerable amount of time to build under way as soon as we can. in a year's time senator warner and i introduced the chips act, it became law, and the senate funded the program that we created. we're not ordinarily known for our speed and the quick timeline is indicative of how urgent this problem really is.

i don't have any excuse for the house's failure to address this issue for seven months, but now it sounds like they are beginning to think about addressing it. well, i could understand why the process would take so long if the house was actually engaged in a bipartisan negotiation, but unfortunately it looks like they're going to pass a partisan bill with no republican support because they were not included in the discussions. the democratic committee chairman refused to consult with the republican ranking members and it looks like they're going to produce a partisan bill. well, that bill, i do not believe will pass the united states senate. the house bill contains $8 billion to an unaccountable u.n. climate slush fund which has provided more than $100 million

to the people's republic of china. what we're talking about, what we should be talking about is countering threats from china, not helping china. the partisan bill from the house has also added provisions related to immigration from creating new types of visas to removing green card caps. immigration is an important issue. we ought to be talking about it. we ought to be doing something about it, but not on a partisan basis. these changes should not be tacked on to this legislation at the last hour. they need to be debated and marked up by the appropriate committees and given the sort of careful consideration that they deserve. the house bill also includes additional handouts to favored political constituencies from massive slush funds to burdensome new labor requirements, organized labor would be the big winner in the house bill, but not

rank-and-file americans. it's not just what's in this bill that is a problem -- i'm talking about the house bill no. the bill's trade title is completely inadequate. it extends and expands trade adjustment assistance but excludes trade promotion authority. we know that trade promotion authority is critical to negotiating strong trade agreements without lengthy delays. so i'm, i regret and i'm very disappointed that the house has wasted valuable time, particularly when this vulnerability to the semiconductor supply chain is so grave and so urgent. we have a responsibility to secure our most critical supply chains while creating thousands of high-paying american jobs and boosting our global competitiveness. so i hope that once the house does pass a bill, that we quickly form a formal conference

committee in order to make the final product look a whole lot like the senate bill that we passed with strong bipartisan majorities. madam president, let me just comment in closing. i'm a big fan of the "wall street journal." i read it, or at least parts of it every day. but i was concerned that a treatment of this legislation in the "wall street journal" editorial yesterday -- actually it was this morning -- either was unclear or provided misinformation about the importance of these semiconductors. the title of the editorial was the "be more like china act." and suffice it to say, they were not fans of either the house or the senate bill. but they made this statement. they said the pentagon is

already providing incentives to make advanced chips in the united states, and taiwan's semiconductors is building a $12 billion plant in arizona. to the second issue, the reason why taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company is building a fab in arizona is on the expectation that the senate will pass this $52 billion incentive program, and through the department of commerce grants will be made which will level the playing field when it comes to the cost of building these fabs in the united states. it costs roughly 30% more to build a manufacturing facility, a fab, in the united states than it does in asia, which is the reason why they are mainly there. but i think what the "wall street journal" was talking about was something very different than what we are trying to do here with reshoring

manufacturing of semiconductors. "the wall street journal," i believe, is talking about the department of defense's zero trust semiconductor purchasing model. in other words, we needed a trusted foundry to build semiconductors for our most important weapons systems and aircraft, like the f-35. and so this is not a manufacturing facility that will supply the semiconductors that are needed by our growing economy and for national security. this is a very narrow, targeted program at the department of defense. and like i said, the department of defense's secure foundry or trust and supplier program is not a substitute for what we're trying to do here. finally, let me say that there is broad bipartisan agreement about how important it is that we get this chips act passed.

secretary raimondo, the secretary of the commerce who i've come to know and come to work with and respect, she said to cnbc yesterday, she said the u.s. is dangerously dependent on taiwan semiconductor manufacturing, which is in a fragile situation, which i've tried to describe. i agree with secretary raimondo. this is something that the president wants done. this is something the senate has spoken to and passed on a broad bipartisan basis. and this is something that we need to do without further delay. so i hope the house will pass the bill if for no other reason than to give us a bill that we can conference the senate bill with. but in the end, the senate bill needs to be the template for what is ultimately done by the conference committee and what is ultimately passed by the united

states congress. mr. bennet: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thanks, madam president. i'd like to congratulate the senior senator from texas for his leadership on this important issue with senator warner, senator virginia. it is important we get this passed. our national security depends on it. i think the american economy depends on it. the senator mentioned there was a time in our country's history not long ago -- i'm going to use my words, not his, but i'll paraphrase it, where we thought that making things as cheaply as possible was the same thing as making things as efficiently as possible. i would argue we privileged the

people in our economy that wanted to make stuff as cheaply as possible in china, when there are a lot of really other important values at work, including our national security, the supply chains that we rely on, making sure that communities in our country have jobs and wages being created. i think we have an incredible opportunity as a nation to come together and build an economy that when it grows, grows for everybody once again. in my mind, that's what this bill represents. so i just want to say to the senator from texas how grateful i am for his leadership, and i hope that it won't be long before we pass it. madam president, i'd ask that my next remarks appear distinct from my previous in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. 80 years ago this month president franklin roosevelt

signed executive order 9066, two months after the bombing of pearl harbor. and it led to some of the most disgraceful chapters in our nation's history. the forced dispossession, relocation, and concentration of over 120,000 japanese americans during world war ii. two-thirds of them were citizens of this country, forced out of their homes and into internment camps by their own government. they were our neighbors and they were parents and shopkeepers and students, doctors and factory workers. they were americans in every sense of the word. but racist fear forced them into these camps, crowded, squalid and at war with everything that we stand for as a nation. one of those camps was amachi in colorado, where nearly 10,000 japanese americans were detained

against their will. this is a photo of that camp, madam president. i'll mention just because i looked it up. i figured this might be true because we have senators from nevada and texas here. there were five such places in texas as well, internment camps. but this is one that was in southeastern colorado. these children are among the first arrivals at amachi. they were forced to build a camp where their own families were interned for the duration of the war. i can't tell exactly the ages of the children in this photo, madam president, but i would be surprised if the pages on this floor are any older than them. and i'd say to the president in front of the pages to ask them to imagine a time when our country interned people the age of the people that are pages on the floor of the united states senate. i've had the opportunity to

visit amache a few years ago with john hopper, who is a high school teacher, a principal out there near the camp who along with his students created the amache preservation society. there wasn't anybody else to do it. it was just a high school teacher and his students. they recognized how this, how much this site meant to colorado, how much this site meant to the country, and act the completely on their own they worked year after year after year to restore the site so that the next generation of coloradans and americans, the young people sitting on this floor today, would have the opportunity to learn about what happened here. if it were up to me, madam president, every student in colorado and throughout the american west and, for that matter, in our entire country would come to this site and learn about the americans of amache, the men and women who

held on to hope year after year, who supported one another, who forged a community behind the barbed wires of this site, who never gave up on the united states of america, even as it was interning them on their own soil. and if they did go to amache they could learn about california's former governor ralph carr who spoke out at a time when most politicians in the west and in this country, going all the way up to our president franklin roosevelt were either not speaking out or allowing this to happen. at that time many western governors opposed internment camps not just because they wer. at that time many western governors were comfortable locking up their fellow citizens so long as they were locked up

in someone else's state, because there was an anti anti-japanese american prejudice in the land. and some coloradans in nearby communities gave way to shameful fear of their fellow citizens and objected to their presence, to say the least they objected to their presence. speaking to an angry crowd one day on the eastern plains, i say to my colleague from texas, this is where my colleague, senator cory gardner, was from, this part of the state of colorado. governor carr said, quote, i'm talking to all american people, whether their status be white, brown or black, when i say a majority may deprive a minority of its freedom contrary to the terms of the constitution today, then you as a minority may be subjected to the same ill will of the majority tomorrow. he went on, the japanese are protected by the same

constitution that protects us, an american citizen of japanese descent has the same rights as any other citizen. if you harm them, he said, you must first harm me. he went on to lose his next election. i think it was to the united states senate. and i shudder to think what would have happened if people like governor carr hadn't been there to stand for our highest ideals as a country or survivors and their descendants and community leaders, many of whom have close connections to colorado to this day, who live in colorado to this day had worked for decades to preserve the site and the memory of what happened there. thanks to their work we have the opportunity to give amache the recognition and resources it deserves. that's why i introduced this bill along with my colleague senator hickenlooper to make amache part of the national park system. this would ensure amache has the

legal status and if you think the to preserve -- funding and status to preserve the site. in the house congressman ken buck and joe neguse introduced the bill. not everybody here would know that. i know congressman buck would know that. he and i ran against each other in 2009 in 2010. that was a tough, tough, tough election, and i barely, barely won. i barely won. but i'm proud to serve with congressman buck in the house and congressman neguse in the house who also have come together just like me and senator hickenlooper to support this bill. this site is in ken buck's district. he won 74% of the vote there in 2020. by the way, i think i won 33% in 2016 so ken is outpacing me there. we don't agree on a lot. but we agree a hundred percent

that this matters to our state and the legacy we want to pass on to the next generation. i have a list of 65 groups that support this bill, the asian chamber of commerce, the colorado council of churches, the colorado municipal league. if that weren't enough, the bill also has the support of the chairman and the ranking member of the environment and natural resources committee. but today there's one senator out of 99 and it's not the senior senator from texas who's objecting to this bill. this bill passed the house of representatives with all but two votes. we have 99 senators on one side who supports this and one objecting. i have absolutely no idea why that one senator is objecting and i hope that it's just a misunderstanding of some kind. we fight for a lot of things on this floor, but there's -- there is a bipartisan tradition going back to teddy roosevelt of both

parties coming together to protect places that matter to our heritage as a nation. amache matters, madam president, to colorado, and it matters to america. this is about whether we're going to ignore the worst parts of our history or lift them up and give future generations the opportunity to learn from them so that we can move this country closer to our highest ideals. so i hope that the senator who is objecting to this bipartisan bill with massive support in both the house and senate that's of critical importance to the state of colorado, that doesn't touch and concern any other state in the union except to the extent that people from the states of the union might some day like to come here and learn an important episode in our country's history. i feel strongly about this in part, madam president, because

my own mom and her family were dislocated by the same war. they were living on the other side of the world in poland and the entire family was killed except for an aunt and my grandparents and my mom. and she got here when she was 11 years old, probably the same age as the young children here who were picked up from their homes all across the western united states and brought to a place that they never had known before. and it seems to me the least we can do with this massive bipartisan support is to pass this bill. as if in legislative session, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 255, h.r. 2497. further, the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that

the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, reserving the right to object. due to the winter storms that are shutting down airports around the country, senator lee, the senator from utah, who objects to this unanimous consent request is not here and i had the bad luck to be here when he communicated to me his desire that i make an objection on his behalf. i would say to my friend from colorado, i'm a noncombatant on this issue. i didn't hold his bill, but i know senator lee does have an amendment i believe he wants to offer and certainly he wants to be here to participate in the discussion and vote on the bill. so on his behalf i object. the presiding officer:

objection is heard. mr. bennet: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i thank the senior senator from texas who in fact is a noncombatant in this effort and i am sorry that he's had the misfortune of having to come out here and object. i will say, madam president, that colorado and utah are right next to each other, and i face the same travel issues that the senator from utah faces i guess. i hope he gets where he's trying to go but i stayed here this evening because -- not because i objected to this but because i thought it was so incredibly important for us to get this work done. and i want the record to reflect that i actually didn't name the senator who objected but the senator from texas did. my fervent hope is that we can work this out because really importantly, we are having the anniversary of franklin roosevelt's decision to

interthese young people this month. if we don't get this back to the house of representatives, we may miss that anniversary and people in colorado would miss the chance to be able to demonstrate that they have -- that they're carrying this really important legacy forward. when i think about my mom's experiences here, the country -- these young men are growing up in who are with us today, it just makes me think even more how important all of this is. and, madam president, i can't think of anybody i would really have had this discussion with than with you sitting in this chair. so with that, madam president, i yield the floor. and i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> good morning. last night, operating on my orders, the united states military forces successfully removed a major terrorist threat to the world, a global leader of crisis known as haji abdullah. he took over and since then

suffices has directed terrorist oppositions to americans, our allies and partners through countless civilians in the middle east and south asia. haji abdullah oversaw the spread of crisis related terrorist groups around the world after savaging communities and murdering innocents. he was responsible for the recent brutal attack on a president in northeast syria holding isis fighters which was quickly addressed by our very partner's and the syrian democratic forces. it was the driving force applied the genocide of the hussy people in northwestern iraq in 2014. we all remember the wrenching stories of massslaughter that wiped out entire villages , thousands of women and young girls sold into slavery use as a weapon of war. thanks to the bravery of our troops this level terrorist leader is nomore . our courses carried out the operation with their

signature preparation and precision and i directed the department of defense to take every precaution possible to minimize civilian casualties . knowing this terrorist have chosen to surround himself with families including children we made a choice to pursue a special forces raid at a much greater risk to our own people rather than targeting him with an airstrike. we made this choice to minimize civilian t's. our team is still compiling a report we do know that as our troops approach to capture the terrorists and a final act of desperate cowardice, heat with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building he chose to blow himself up not just with about blow up that third floor rather than face justice for the crimes he has committed taking several members of his family with him, just as his predecessors did. i'm grateful for that and in storage and skill and

determination of our us forces who skillfully executed thisincredibly challenging mission . the members of our military are the solid steel backbone of this nation ready to fly in the danger at a moments notice the country and the american people safe as well as our allies. and i'm also grateful to the families of ourservicemembers . we serve right alongside these soldiers and sailors and marines, special forces and loved ones giving them the strength and support they need to do what they do. our servicemembers and their families were forever grateful for them what you do for us and we all you adapt. thank you. were also aided by the essential partnership of the syrian democratic forces and i want to commend our dedicated intelligence community and department of defense and members of our nasa security team was meticulous and tireless work over the course of many months ensured that this mission exceeded. this operation is testament

to america's reach capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they tried to hide anywhere in the world. i'm determined to protect the american people from terrorist and i'll take decisive action to protect this country. we will continue working with close allies and partners the syrian democratic forces, iraqi security forces including the kurdish and more than 80 members of global coalitions to keep pressure on prices to protect our homeland. we remain vigilant, we remain prepared. last night operation took a major terrorist leader off the battlefield and sent a strong message to terrorists around the world. we will come after you and find you. once again today, we continue our unceasing effort to keep the american people safe and to strengthen the security of our allies,partners around the world . i want to thank you all my god bless you and god protect our troops.

i'm heading off to new york right now and thank you for your time. >> ,us troops were involved serve. how many civilian penalties were there?

we've taken off the battlefield the world leader of isis. aren't you think the incredible work of our brave military service members who work to invite americans safe. so many suffered of the brutal hands prices. senators were learn more about the operation later this morning

during classified while senator's briefing secretary often and others senior administration officials. the american competes act, in the first year under president biden and senate democratic majority, america saw fit strongest economic growth in decades. including increases in wages, very, very important to the american people who had not seen enough over the last few decades. this week congress is taking a major step to build on that success by advancing legislation that will help lower costs, leave u.s. supply chains and bring manufacturing back united states. over the next two days the hospital debate and vote to pass companion bill to the senate u.s. innovation and competition act which we approved last summer strong bipartisan

support. i'm pleased the house is taking this important step. i've been pushing for months for progress on this legislation, to strengthen supply chains and boost technological competitiveness. senators from both sides of the aisle want to seek competition and technology will finally enacted. we will hopefully be one step closer to achieving that goal. americans are demanding bold solutions to help lower the cost of living and businesses coast-to-coast need help to relieve supply chains strained by the pandemic. legislation along the lines of this is just for the doctor ordered. long-term help our country needs to lower cost and help businesses grow right here at home. jobs here in america, not overseas. one of the best examples of why the bill is needed is our nation dangerous chip shortage, but george has sent shockwaves across the economy hamstringing everything from cell phones from

refrigerators, equipment used by military. increased cost of all items american families are paying for those costs you see got would help relieve them and make sure supply chain bottlenecks are for proposal will provide 52 billion two relief the supply chain pressures and bring production back to america instead of relying on other countries. let's bring the jobs back home. it's america provides the research from r and d and putting edge chips but somehow this country allowed the vast majority of them to be made overseas. let's make them here. good manufacturing jobs in addition to making sure we stay top of the game in terms of research. use the correct us both, increasing manufacturing here in america. i want to commend politics for pushing the legislation forward.

we'll have much more work to do to bridge our proposals together. the houseboat this week setting honest necessary horse to pass his policies into law. on scotus, yesterday i met with president biden at the white house to discuss broad range of issues on the democratic agenda. one of the most important matters was his intention to nominate the first black woman justice to the supreme court. i reiterate the same commitment made all week when president biden makes his nominee known to the nation, i will move to have the senate consider confirm her as soon as possible. i will see to it the process is fair and members on both sides of the aisle can evaluate questions and get to know the nominee but we will also move quickly. everything seems to be on track to get that done and move the nominee quickly through the courts. president biden -- through the

congress. president biden is not expected to announce his nominee for a few weeks we already know one thing about the president pledged to name black woman to the supreme court is historic. there have been 115 justices last sat on the court since 1789. only five of them have ever been women, none until 1981. only to have been african-american but never, never has there been an african-american woman who still wake up barely 6% of the federal judiciary. amazing until 1981, this powerful body supreme court was all white men. imagine. america wasn't all white men in 1981. under president biden in fist senate majority, we are taking sort steps to make the courts more like the country they serve by confirming highly qualified diverse nominees.

a quarter of all african-american women who sit on the federal bench were nominated by this administration and approved by the senate. 25% of african-american women who sit on the federal bench came through the senate this year, past the progress we've made in a relatively short amount of time. in fact nearly 70% of all presidents nominees have been nonwhite fluffing the record of every president since at least jimmy carter some say why was that? bench has been almost all white as i said one 100% all white males until 1981. ground to make up so the court can represent america. these are facts and figures put on the bench matters each judge brings to bear to not merely be clients over. when americans come before the courts and look up resides in

the courtroom, they should trust those who render judgment on them will be able to understand each lived experience and bring human understanding required to apply the law equitably. the best way we can do that is elevate judges from a broad range of background. diversity in all its forms matter, it's good for the justice system and vital, madam president, to the health of our democracy. president biden's nominees are extremely well-qualified, we are not sacrificing qualifications and excellence for diversity. president biden's nominees are both more diverse and more qualified than any president in recent history. i'm proud of the accomplishments we secured to bring this past year to bring balance to our federal court. on this progress, yesterday was a good day on the senate floor. we held 12 local boats, guest

12, on a number of president biden's nominees to his administration and the federal bench. have of these posts took place in the evening. i'm glad we dispense with them efficiently and without needless delay. our defense my colleagues for their cooperation and flexibility as we move through a large number of votes. we want to keep doing this. we want to be able to work similar speed next time a large number of votes are lined up on the floor. maybe some of them bypass i will go by voice, some there's no reason to have a boat on a few, just a handful. not the vast majority of the other party insist on both on all of them which only lengthens the progress but doesn't deter us from moving forward on these nominees. of the 20 nominees at the end of the last work. from we confirmed during culture on all but three of them today expect the other three. again, it's an unusually large

number of roll call vote for nominees that typically pass unanimous consent. obstruction of a small group of republicans, only a small group, not the majority or close to the majority as forced us to work with these individuals one by one, last night, cooperation of everybody we were able to move quickly so i think my politics for the good work and cooperation. finally once again, i want to return to what i said yesterday about the way for books, book bannings we are seeing in the public libraries in school district across the country. we should get ourselves about the scary nature of these attacks from the far right because when far right legislatures in places like texas demand schools turn over the reading list or school district in tennessee fans a graphic novel that teaches about the holocaust or when reactionary voices hide behind flames of indecency and effectiveness, anytime they attack works that explore issues of racism or identity or social

justice, social injustice, we are not seen intimidation, free expression, we are seeing intimidation. that's what bannings are about, efforts to intimidate educators and students away from exploring difficult issues to obscure part of our history, the far right doesn't like and perpetuate ignorance of our own past. we don't need to look far in history to see what happens when we go down a dangerous road of censorship, oppression and freedom of expression is weakened, the mob is empowered. these unprecedented efforts by the far right to ban book that explore racism are deeply disturbing and negative they should be opposed at the state level before more damage is done to our students and our country. i yelled the floor and note the absence of a quorum.

>> this morning the banking committee is examining three of president biden's nominees to the federal reserve board of governors. the fed is one of the most consequential institutions in america. decisions have ramifications for our citizens and the world economy, at the same time independent is paramount, the feds structure insulates the governor's short-term influence and political pressure. when an institution is important is this independent, the guard rails that defined its power are extremely important. congress given the fed such a mandatory that is very clear and very limited.

the fed will mandate is maximizing employment and stabilizing prices. that's it, that's what the fed exists to do. the fed is meant to serve as our central bank, not meant to act as unelected super legislature that dabbles in broader economic policymaking should it strike. its current leader, chairman powell, understands this keenly. but unfortunately, president biden's nominees for the powerful number two slot wants to destroy this crucial distinction. lesson two years ago from a pr campaign was launched saying the unelected that governor should pursue liberal environmental goals and elected democrats cannot get through congress

through the banking system. it bears repeating, president biden's nominee, fed vice chair wants unelected bureaucrats naturally bully the private sector and policy changes which lack support to come law the honest way. let's get more specific. ms. raskin has argued repeatedly the fed should ideologically pick winners and losers in the energy market. in 2020, she said unelected bureaucrats should have excluded companies that employ americans and produce american energy from widely available rescue lungs because oil and gas are not green enough for liberals

liking. this the same old democratic war on fossil fuel and middle america smuggled into a dangerous new form. why should democrats raise america's gas prices? they want to make electricity even less affordable, they want it to cost more to keep your family warm in the dead of winter and now they want to do all this in a radical new fashion where voters could never hold them accountable. justification for this paragraph is climate change may impact the future of our economy so therefore it's the feds business. nonsense with no limiting principle. every major policy could affect our economy, opening the box but

transformed the fed from a political central bank into hyper political super legislature. it would turn the institution supposed to safeguard the american dollar into enforcements for a radical agenda that can't make it through congress. you better believe liberal activists are acknowledging this would not stop climate issues. they got a whole list of ideological goals they like the fact to literally force on our country. democrats introduced legislation to assign the fed's permission of racial redistribution. i want to hardwire a financial affirmative action plan into our banking system.

the american people don't want these wild ideas so they elected resident senate of who don't support them. the far left wantsre to transplt radical campaigns -- call. the presiding officer: without objection. be. mr. wyden: mr. president, i rise today to remember the late frank moore of oregon. frank passed away last month at 98. now, the story of frank moore is really at least three stories. it is a story about a war hero. it is a story about a natural resources hero. and it is a love story, which is the only way to describe his wonderful marriage with his wife, jeanne, who survives him to this day.

so, to begin, frank will always be remembered in our corner of the nation as a legendary flyfisherman who channeled his love of the umquar river into protecting and preserving this extraordinary natural treasure in southern oregon. mr. president, it has been said in fishing circles, and i quote, most of the world is covered by water. a fisherman's job is simple -- pick out the best parts. and my friend frank picked out consistently the best parts of his extraordinary life. and all of us as oregonians are better off for his good

judgments about the umqua and about so much else in oregon. after returning to our state from world war ii, storming utah beach at normandy on d-day and later fighting at the battle of the bulge, frank bought the steamboat inn with his wife and work teammate, jeanne. together, they provided generations of visitors an unmatched recreation experience on the north umpqua. in the decades that followed, frank became a flyfisherman so, so revered, so quint exceptionally -- quint essentially oregon that he could recall our late governor, tom mccaul, an extraordinary fisherman in his own rite, as a

fishing buddy. we call it the oregon way, where oregonians come together to keep our state so special for living, working, raising a familiar family. and -- raising a family. i'll tell you, mr. president, oregon is a long way from georgia, the fact is there isn't anything that's more oregon way, that shortens the distance between oregon and the rest of the country than priorities like fishing and having a special relationship with somebody like tom mccaul. now, with respect to his war heroism, in addition to earning france's highest award of merit for his world war ii service, we saw frank's extraordinary accomplishments in oregon when we talked about his work in

natural resources and what we saw when he got together with friends. i'm going to talk about one particularly eventful meeting. frank was named oregon wildlife federation conservationist of the year in 1969. he served on the state fish and wildlife commission from 1971 to 1974. he was among the leaders in getting passed the oregon forest practices law to protect fish in streams. he earned the international federation of flyfishers' conservationist of the year award in 2003. and he was inducted into the freshwater fishing hall of fame in 2010. i had a chance to have some of the most memorable experiences i've had in public service with frank moore, and back when i was

chairman of the energy and natural resources committee, i remember being in the backyard of the ratslaff, jim and jane ratslaff of roseberg, oregon. jim has passed. i continue to stay in touch with jane. and in their backyard, one wonderful day, where my former staffer, mary catreau, who is up in heaven, listening to this discussion, the late mary catreau, we conceived of the idea of all working together to protect 100,000 acres of public lands in the steamboat creek watershed for steelhead preservation. and as the former chairman of the committee, i'd been through, mr. president, some of the rituals that we all see in the

committee process, and i'm sure my colleague has nashed his -- gnashed his teeth over one or two of them already. but one of the things we noted early on is that this incredible love affair between frank and jeanne that went on for decades didn't really fit into the legislative process. so i wanted to name a frank and jeanne moore wild steelhead sanctuary after both of them, because they were partners in life, partners at the steamboat inn, partners in everything. well, i just checked in with the inimitable david brooks, who is our guy at the energy and natural resources committee, who has worked for decades on preserving these treasures.

and at the time, david reminded me really how to -- really it had a tradition of not being able to name one of these bills to protect your treasures after two people. and it was not like it was a law, but it was a tradition. but members felt kind of strongly about it. won't mention any names. but frank moore, when i told him that, he said, ron, i love you to pieces, but this bill's got to be named for both of us, because we've been partners in life. we've been partners in the steamboat inn and in the sanctuary and the like. so i went back and told david brooks about this, and finally, i'm not sure everybody actually agreed, mr. president, to name it after frank and jeanne, this

wonderful love affair, but i just basically did it. and around here, as the president of the senate knows, sometimes if you do it, other people won't raise a fuss, and that's how frank moore, from southern oregon, ensured that for all time we would have a wonderful place known as the frank and jeanne moore wild steelhead sanctuary in monument to make sure for generations to come young people would have a special place to go. and mr. president, i would just note, because i talked to her a few minutes ago, that colleen moore-bechtell, who is a teacher at west intermediate school in sutherland, she and her class may be watching this proceeding today. they were trying to figure out

how to get c-span live. i'll have more to say about colleen before i wrap up. but i'm so pleased because that's exactly what frank and jeanne, to this day, have always wanted, was to make sure that our treasures are -- our treasures, our really special places, would be there for the future. and so i'm hoping, if they weren't able to see it live, that colleen will be able to show these remarks to all the kids at the douglas county school, west intermediate in sutherland, what their united states senator thought about frank moore. now, the last time i visited with frank and jeanne in octobed

really dealt them a tough hand. we had a horrible fire, known as the archie creek fire, and it had destroyed the log cabin that frank had built above the umpqua. and frank and jeanne were living with their daughter, colleen, and her family in glide. but you'd have never known from frank about that loss of a lifetime's work and care. instead, that fall afternoon, on a pretty front poach in rural douglas -- front porch in rural douglas county, frank came striding out onto the porch, that wonderful smile, a bone-crushing hand handshake and one joke after another with a twinkle in his eyes. he was always optimistic about

our state. an optimist on that day, right after his treasured home had been ravaged by fire. he never wavered from that focus. in fact, this past july, i was so pleased that he wrote an opinion piece in our publication "the eugene register guard" that detailed how the wild and scenic river destination had helped the north umpqua, and he talked about his involvement with me to promote the river democracy act. a really fresh approach endorsed by hundreds of small rural businesses to ensure that we preserve our treasures and also tap the full potential for the recreation economy. now, there have been a lot of recent remembrances of frank,

and almost all of them talk about him being a giant of oregon. those characterizations certainly his impact on the southern part of my state and my entire state are on point. i want to make sure, though, that something else that frank said is going to stick with me. he was always quoted as saying the important thing was that jeanne was with him, referring to jeanne, his wife of 79 years, frank said, i have the treasure with me. that's my treasure. mr. president, i can tell you virtually every time i saw this wonderful couple, they were holding hands. just said it all -- holding hands. and they had been married for 79 years. so tonight i just want to say,

mr. president, to jeanne, to all of frank's loved ones, all the kids who may be following this at oregon schools, i'm just going to add frank is always going to be oregon's treasure. and on behalf of oregonians who are certainly scattered almost everywhere, i thank you for sharing frank with all of us. and i'm speaking on behalf of oregonians everywhere. through the frank and jeanne more wild head steel sanctuary and so many other best parts that frank leaves as his legacy, frank moore will never, mr. president, be forgotten. and with that, i yield the floor.

mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar 636, neil harvey mcbride of virginia, that there be 30 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form of the nomination, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the following nominations en bloc -- calendar 637, 702, 703, 709, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table without intervening action or debate, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the

nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time with respect to all nominations on which cloture was invoked on february 2 and 3, 2022 be considered is expired and that the confirmation votes be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 505 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 505,

commemorating the success of the united states olympic and paralympic teams in the past 24 olympic winter games and 12 paralympic winter games and supporting the teams in the 2022 olympic winter games and paralympic winter games. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 504 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: without objection the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 504, commending and congratulating the coffeeville community college red ravens men's basketball team on winning the 2021 national junior college athletic association division 1 men's

basketball championship. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration and that the senate now proceed to s. 500. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 500, supporting the observation of national trafficking and modern slavery prevention month, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate veterans' affairs committee be discharged and the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 3527. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3527, a bill to amend title 38, united states code to authorize the secretary of veterans affairs to transfer the name of property at the department of veterans affairs designated by law to other property of the department. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. mr. wyden: mr. president --. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the tester-moran substitute amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate veterans' affairs committee be discharged and the senate proceed to the immediate

consideration of s. 2159. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2159, a bill to designate the community-based outpatient clinic of the department of veterans affairs located at 400 college drive, middleburg, florida, as the andrew k. baker department of veterans affairs clinic, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. mr. wyden: mr. president --. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read add third time and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate veterans' affairs committee be discharged and the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 1281. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1281, an act to name the department of veterans affairs community-based outpatient clinic in gaylord, michigan, as the navy corps man

steve andrews department of veterans affairs health care clinic. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it recess until 3:00 p.m. on monday, february 7, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each, that at 5:30 p.m. the senate proceed to executive session and vote on confirmation of the scott and tunnage nominations as provided under the previous order. finally, if any nominations are confirmed during monday's session, the motions to

reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, for the information of senators, there will be two roll call votes on monday at 5:30 p.m. and if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand in recess under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands in recess until 3:00 p.m. on monday. as always, you can follow live coverage on c-span2, online at c-span.org or on the go with our span now video app.

♪♪ 's. ♪♪ >> discussion of campaign 2022 and the senate jacob inside elections, reporter and analyst for that publication, thank you for joining us. >> but to be herer . >> set the stage for where the senate is now and what 2022 could bring ass far as control f the senate? >> united states senate is

currently split evenly as possible, 50 democrats 50 republicans.ib when joe biden's president, kamala harris is vice president, that means the democrats have a fentanyl majority in the chamber vice president harris cast tie-breaking vote. however, 2022 elections, we are looking at a battlefield that while small, still determine control of the united states senate which is on the line this november. democrats order publicans walk out of 2022 with control of this important chamber. >> if that's the case, for the most important races you're watching that determines the ultimate outcome? >> while there are 34 races up for election this fall, there eight we are watching closely that we below are the most competitive. evenly split like the senate is evenly split,