gavel-to-gavel coverage of congress. live now to the u.s. senate which today is voting on confirmation of president biden's nominee to be u.s. ambassador to germany. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: madam president, thank you for the recognition. i rise today to speak in support of martha williams to be the director of the u.s. fish and wildlife service. i represent the state that goes by many names. most of you know it as montana. but it is often called big sky country and the treasure state. montana has earned these names through an abundance of natural resources and we have an outdoor

economy that replies on responsible forest management. people come from all over to enjoy all that our state offers. many make their living by working the land. but the key to our outdoor economy is proper stewardship. that means talking with folks on the ground. it means bringing competing interests to the table to find the most sustainable ways to manage our public lands. not only do our forests and rivers create thousands of good-paying jobs, but they also create thousands of memories for families in our country. so it's critically important that we have balanced oversight in place to guarantee that montana's outdoor economy remains vibrant for generations to come. the director of fish and wildlife service plays a central

role in this oversight and it's why i'm proud to support martha williams' nomination today. as director, she will be tasked with the management of the recovery of our nation's fish and wildlife and oversee 87 million acres, from the red rock life refuge to the alaska wildlife refuge. as a montana and former director of the fish wildlife and parks, ms. williams has demonstrated time and again her ability to bring folks together to find lasting solution, -- solutions to collaborate to find common ground. she leads with science and developed state management plans and done it with input from the

stakeholders. she has a profound understanding of the bedrock laws that guide wildlife and land management. she will bring over a decade of experience with the montana wildlife. she has spent her entire a career standing up for our public lands and proven herself to be a thoughtful, nonpartisan steward who works collaboratively with folks on the ground to make positive change. her top-notch ability to find common ground between sportsmen ansd conservationists alike and skills as a problem solver will make her an outstanding director at the fish and wildlife service. she has strong support by academics and has received strong support from the environment and public works committee had she was passed out

of committee on a 16-4 vote. make no mistake about it. we will miss her leadership in the treasure state but i look forward to seeing her effective management skills at the federal level. this position is very important for the stewardship for our lands and water, and i urge my colleagues to support her nomination today and in that vein, i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nomination, calendar number 650, martha williams, of montana, to be director of the united states fish and wildlife service. that nomination be confirmed through the motion to reconsidered made and laid upon the table with no -- that's it. that's it. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sullivan: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: madam president, reserving the right to object. i'd like to talk a little bit

about not just ms. williams, who as my friend from montana has mentioned, i actually think she's qualified, but the issues that are in front of the fish and wildlife service, as we speak, that relate to my state, the great state of alaska. and, unfortunately, madam president, it has been one executive order, executive action, delay, targeting alaska. some from the fish and wildlife service that had an enormously negative impact on my state. so i agree with the senator from montana, fish and wildlife service is important. he mentioned that it manages 89 million acres nationwide. 77 million acres of that 89 are

in alaska. 85% of fish and wildlife service land that is managed is in one state, the great state of alaska. a size bigger than state of new mexico, just the fish and wildlife service land control. so this agency, this nominee, will have an enormous impact on my constituents and, indeed, right now is having an enormous impact on my constituents, and i can't get them to do anything constructive for the people i represent. so let me give you two, madam president. and perhaps my colleague from montana can help me out with this. these are two directly -- directly in the jurisdiction of the fish and wildlife service that we've been asking for support on and haven't gotten.

one is the russian river land exchange. this is a vital exchange that needs to happen for a highway project on alaska's kenai peninsula. here's the thing about this land exchange, madam president. it's been in the works since 1975, 44 years, to be exact. we believe it's the longest-running federally led environmental impact statement in the history of america, which is actually what happens a lot in the great state of alaska. groups come up, they don't want any resource development, they don't want any access to land and then they sue and they stop and they try to delay things. this one has been delayed in one form or another for 44 years. now, the previous

administration, to its credit, heard the voices of alaska, responded to the input from different stakeholders and actually put forward a reasonable land exchange that was approved by the federal government. the regional office of the fish and wildlife service sent the approved package to headquarters, washington, d.c., in november, where it sits -- where it sits. so, madam president, one thing i'd like to do before this nominee moves forward is to get a commitment to approve that. it's very simple. 44 years, i don't think we're asking too much. but it's delayed. let me give you another one, madam president. many of you have heard about the king cove road. well, you're going to hear about it again because it's an issue that every alaskan, even those

who don't live out on the allusionian island change -- chain. on an 11-mile single-lane gravel road that will save lives for the people in the community of king cove, primarily alaska native and they need approval of that in a land exchange. we have been working on that for over 40 years -- 40 years. people in my communities in that part of the state have died because there's no road to access an airport, a lot of storms in that part of the world. and when they need access to get out on a plane, they often don't have it because we can't build a single lane, 11-mile gravel road. so we have a land exchange

approved by the previous administration. this administration has said they are looking to approve it too. that's great news, but the secretary of interior has said she's not going to fully endorse it until she goes out to king cove and sees it herself. okay. we've been waiting for that visit for a year -- for a year. so here's a theme here, madam president. with the new administration, if there's something that has been helpful to my state, primarily by the previous administration, the trump administration, on so many issues, bipartisan issues for alaska had helped us in historic ways. so on those helpful things, the new administration comes in and they say, we're going to delay it. we're going to delay it. we've got to relook at it. we don't know if the trump administration did it for alaska, it must have been bad.

that's their view. but on things that harm my state, this administration, on day one, has expedited so many things. day one, the president's in office for one hour and he issues an order dealing with anwr, which this body approved in 2017. so, if it helps alaska, they delay it, if it hurts alaska, they are all over it. and so what we have, madam president, in the first year of the biden administration -- first year -- 21 executive orders and executive actions negatively impacting my state across the board on every topic you can imagine, access to lands, tourism, fishing. 21 executive orders or actions. i gave a speech before the holidays, it was 20, now it's

21, solely focused on alaska. there's no other state in the country that is getting this kind of attention from this administration. i'm sure the great state of montana isn't. and, madam president, it's not just about resource development. these actions are hurting the ability of my constituents to put food on the table, lights on in their homes, jobs, cultures. in one area that doesn't get nearly enough attention, these actions, so many of them are actually negatively impacting the native alaska community of the great state of alaska, the native people of my state targeted. let me give you one example. the previous administration, working with this body in a bipartisan way, finally passed a bill that provided justice to

alaska native vietnam veterans who served their country during vietnam. the alaska native community is one of the most patriotic communities in the country. they serve at higher rates in the military than any other ethnic group in the country. and when many of them went to fight in vietnam, they came home and a lot had been on the books since 1906, the ability to get a native allotment had expired and they said, wait, i can't get my native allotment? so we finally fixed that almost half a century later. of course a lot of natural enviros ahead it, because it's giving land to native americans in alaska. what i rose to the person was to get the land to the alaska vietnam veterans stayed on track. the trump administration did all they could to make it happen.

all they had to do was hit send. she delayed it for two years. delayed it for two years. wasn't even going to tell the delegation. i guarantee you, madam president, in the next two years, as this is being delayed, a lot of these vietnam vets -- alaska vietnam vets will die before they even get their lands. so we're starting to hear it, and i want to make one final point because it's very important. this administration talks a lot about racial justice, environmental equity, they talk about it all the time. but it comes with a cave yacht. they say -- caveat. they say they want to help disadvantaged communities, minority communities, i think that's a good goal, but it comes with a caveat. racial justice and environment equity unless it's for the native americans of alaska. a lot of executives orders are

targeting them. i have a whole list where some of the most disadvantaged americans in the country are being targeted, in my view because of their race, by this administration madam president, i've submitted these before but i'm going to submit them again for the record. several letters from alaskan native groups talking about this unwarranted lack of consultation and targeting of their interests in my state. i'd like to submit them for the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: so here's one. the president of the voice of the arctic enuclear power yak, john hopson, jr. quote, in terms of equity, racial equity, we understand the biden administration has made promises dom mostly and internationally to curb this country's emissions and we as a nucnupiak people whose homelands

are on the front lines of climate can understand the need to move in that direction when it comes to addressing government policies. what we cannot support, however, is that those efforts are often made on the backs of indigenous peoples in alaska. without even a conversation. that is not how more equity is achieved. the federal government must allow us time and resources for thoughtful, deliberative, and sustainable transition of our economy, but instead we have seen secretarial and executive actions from this administration that threaten our way of life and economic sustainability and therefore our entire way of life in america's arctic. another group, apparently consultation with all indigenous groups in the country, except for those in alaska, is this

administration's policy. so bottom line, madam president, i need commitments from the fish and wildlife service on these issues, the russian river land exchange, the king cove land exchange, and more broadly i need the administration to end its war on alaska and our working families. happy to discuss with the senator from montana on these issues and maybe get his help. but for right now i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. tester: could i just get a minute. that's all. unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: i know there's a vote coming. first of all i would ask my friend from alaska, i appreciate the fact you're standing up for your constituents to do us right. i have no problem with that whatsoever. i have no problem with the concerns you brought up on the russian river or the king cove road, although i don't know the issues as nearly as well as you do. but my point is this.

if you're able to put ms. williams in as director of fish and wildlife service, she's -- has a track record of listening to people and you happen to have a u.s. senator in front of your name, you will be at the top of the list. she's not somebody that shuts the door and says just because you're a republican, i don't want to listen to you. she's someone that always brings in people, collaborates, and comes to a decision that will work. and i wouldn't be up here advocating for her if i didn't believe that. mr. sullivan: to my colleague, i look forward to working with you on that and those commitments and look forward to moving her nomination forward in that light. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: international -- department of state, amy gutmann of pennsylvania to be ambassador of the united states of america to be federal republic of germany. the presiding officer: the

question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 54, the nays are 42 and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the clerk: department of state. lisa a. carty of maryland to be representative of the united states of america on the economic and social council of the united nations with the rank of ambassador. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 68, the nays are 27, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions.

mr. schumer: i ask that at 5:00 p.m. today the senate vote on the confirmation of the wong amendment -- nomination, sorry. the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. schumer: i ask that the senate resume consideration of the bush nomination. the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, last week i came to the floor to warn that we are moving closer to a yearlong continuing resolution, or a c.r. that would have devastating implications for every federal agency, particularly the department of defense. we are five months into the fiscal year. soon the house will send over another stopgap measure so we can avoid a shutdown for a few more weeks. when the short-term funding bill expires, the fiscal year will

be halfway over. we need to get this work done. as i outlined last week, democrats put a deal on the table months ago that gave p republicans what they wanted, more funding for defense than the $22 billion increase that president biden sought and less money for nondefense programs than he requested. this should have been an easy deal for them to accept. indeed, the defense funding number that democrats are willing to agree to is the number the republicans on the armed services committee proposed this summer and that was incorporated into the national defense authorization act. but even with that defense number at hand, our republican colleagues continue to draw out negotiations, pushing us closer to a full-year continuing resolution that would fund defense at a level that is less than what president biden initially requested and about $37 billion lower than the level

set out in the ndaa. i think that's important. if the republicans continue to reject a sensible agreement on an omnibus appropriations bill, they will end up with a defense number that was less than what president biden sent up, and what he sent up was harshly and vigorously criticized by the republicans as being not only ineffectual but of somehow undermining our defense. so it's very clear we have to move quickly to make a full-year c.r. an impossibility and that we have to move and vote for an omnibus appropriations bill. a c.r. for the full year will shortchange our military. it was disrupt the efficient operations of the federal

government in the midst of international tension, the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, and a fragile economic recovery. now let me focus on the navy and marine corps for a moment. like the other services, they would be hard hit. a full-year c.r. would lead to a shortfall of $4.4 billion from the level that the president requested. even worse, the navy estimates the impact could total more than $14 billion of misaligned funds because a c.r. prohibits any new starts in production rate increases. the military personnel accounts alone would be $1.6 billion below what the navy needs, and that's the pay and benefits for our men and women in uniform. the navy's activity duty end strength would be reduced by 23,000 sailors of its planned accessions. almost half the permanent change

of station moves would be cut and the naval reserves would also face a substantial reduction in its end strength. a full-year c.r. could lead the training and readiness accounts for the marine corps $2.5 billion short of what they need. this shortfall would reduce the service's flight operations by 10% to 20% for all units for six months. reductions in ship construction will put training certifications for one carrier strike group and two expeditionary strike groups at risk, thereby impacting fiscal year 2023 deployments. this would impact the schedule of ship maintenance, affect the availability for five submarines and two aircraft carriers, something that will ripple through the industrial base in future fiscal years. for the marines, maintains availability for 12 of their lending craft would be deferred

including six landing craft cushions and utility. these deferrals would affect ability to support operational needs around the globe. if we don't keep our ship and amphibious vehicles maintained they are not ready nor reliable when needed in operations, thereby risking the safety of servicemembers and impeding their ability to perform the mission. these are just some of the operational impacts the navy and marine corps would face under a year-long c.r. a c.r. will also prevent the navy from effectively modernizing and reinvesting in new programs. the department of navy would not be able to execute ten new procurement programs and ten new research and development projects. additionally, 20 programs would not be able to increase their production rate as planned in the budget requests. perhaps most importantly, the c.r. would provide insufficient funding for the continued construction of ssbn-a26, the

first boat of the columbia class ballistic missile smen submarine program. the columbia class program is vitally important to maintaining our strategic nuclear deterrence. i have seen the boat currently under construction in rhode island. the state-of-the-hard hull and missile tubes. it is a formidable vessel and needs to stay on track. a yearlong c.r. would also affect the advanced procurement funding for the second, third, fourth, and fifth submarines in this class. effectively, we would be disrupting the unavoidable replacing of aging ohio-class submarines with the new columbia class, and all this would mean down the road eventually is just more expensive submarines. we are already on a tight schedule to deliver ssbn-826 to

meet the requirements of strategic command. as chief of naval operations has said, the columbia class is the navy's number one modernization priority, and it is a program with zero margin for delays. the impacts aren't limited to our undersea fleet. and you yearlong c.r. the navy also wouldn't be able to purchase three additional surface ships, two of the tagos ocean surveillance shims and one ship-to-with shore connector. the navy wouldn't be able to stop procuring materials for the new frigate and freight oiler. the marines will not be able to buy seven more joint strike fighters, 20 more of the amphibious combat vehicle nor additional quantities of the joint air ground missile and hell fire missiles. instead of procuring six nq 9-a, the marine would get zero. there are many impacts to these

projects that cannot be started under a c.r. in the navy, they're very concerned about the shortfall and funding, to the conventional prop strike program. this missile, which is being produced jointly and developed with the army, will provide navy ships and virginia class submarines with a hypersonic weapon capability that is critical to our nation's ability to deter conflict with china and with russia. in order to make up this shortfall under a c.r. and keep this program on pace, the navy would have to defer funding from other important r. & d programs. it is one step forward and two steps back, and in some cases may cause delays that are unrecoverable. the navy and marine corps also won't be able to start 17 military construction projects, new facilities that our sailors and marines need to do their jobs safely and effectively. this includes, among others,

$321 million for two projects in north carolina, 288 mgdz for three projects -- $288 million for three in virginia, $14 million for a project in minnesota, $49 million for a project in michigan, $558 million for eight projects in guam, and $50 million for a project in japan. this will clearly affect our ability to have a forward operating presence in the indo-pacific region, and to confront what the secretary of defense has called the pacing threat, china. these are just some examples of the vivid impacts and chalenges the navy and marine corps will face if there is a yearlong c.r. i would encourage my colleagues to read the full testimony of the chief of naval operations, admiral gil day and the commandant of the marine corps, general burger, with i they submitted to the house appropriations subcommittee on defense. mr. president, i ask these statements be submitted into the record.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you. in short, a yearlong c.r. will make us less competitive with our adversaries, less able to respond to the rapidly changing globe landscape, and these are some things -- these efforts are not something defense department can do on its own. we need to fund our diplomats and our law enforcement and all agencies of the federal government. indeed, we cannot afford to short change nondefense priorities. a c.r. will not adequately fund our defense department nor our defense agencies. stating the obvious, we are still in the midst of a covid-19 pandemic and are we truly willing to fund the n.i.h. and the c.d.c. and other public health agencies at last year's levels? are we willing to tell school systems to make due with the same funding levels for programs like title i? are we going to cut funding for

housing rental assistance? are we willing to shortchange law enforcement, including capitol police? mr. president, we need to get our work done. that begins with reaching an agreement that provides the funding americans need on both sides of the ledger. a full-year c.r. is not a acceptable solution. i am hopeful that agreement is near, but no one should believe those who claim to support our national defense while threatening a yearlong c.r. and no one should claim that our domestic needs are somehow unworthy of support as well. mr. president, with that, i would yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. fischer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. i'm notmrs. fischer: i would ast be dispensed with, please. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator is recognized. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. it goes without saying that each of the american athletes competing in the olympics this year is the best in their event. many of them have dedicated their entire lives to their sports in the hope that they

might have this opportunity to represent the united states at the olympic games. they have earned their spots on team u.s.a. and i wish them the best as they compete against other athletes from around the world. but make no mistake, beijing 2022 is no ordinary olympics. just a four-hour flight from where the games are being held china has imprisoned more than a million uighur muslims in concentration camps. these chinese citizens are prisoners, political prisoners in their own country. their crime? maintaining a vibrant muslim culture that doesn't fit the mold that beijing wants to impose on china's more than 1.4 billion people. the very same government that's

hosting the olympics this week is putting these innocent people in labor camps and subjecting them to forced sterilization, forced labor, and physical and psychological torture. one of the few things that president trump and president biden agree on is that what china is doing to its uighur population amounts to genocide. last november, one of the most famous athletes in china, punk punk -- pung shuai posted on social media that a high-ranking chinese official had sexually assaulted her. this wasn't any politician. he was a member of the politburo standing committee and the chase of china's successful effort to land the 2022 olympics. even met with the president of

the international olympic committee at least once. speaking out about someone like this is dangerous in a country like china. pung shuia knew that, but i don't think she expected what came next. less than 20 minutes after posting her accusation, her existence had been scrubbed from the internet. any mention of her name was restrikd. for a while -- restricted. for a while, the communist party banned discussion of hundreds of other keywords, even words as general as tennis. she disappeared from the public eye for months, and the only appearances she has been allowed to make since have been scripted and supervised by the c.c.p. if this is how china treats its own people, mr. president, i

think it's fair to ask what kind of risks are our athletes facing as they participate in the olympic games? to protest china's miserable human rights record, the united states instituted a diplomatic boycott and american officials will not be present for these games. neither will officials representing many of our allies, like canada or the united kingdom. that is the right decision. we shouldn't pretend that everything is fine in china just because the i.o.c. chose them to host the olympics. and as far as the committee is concerned, they have made it very clear that china's money is worth more to them than the rights of the world's athletes. they had years to plan for these

olympics. but they still chose not to adopt any rules to protect the human rights of olympians while they are in china. instead, competitors are required to follow local laws limiting free expression, privacy, and other basic freedoms. and before they ever set foot in china, athletes and journalists were required to download an intrusive smartphone app, supposedly to track covid-19 infections. experts say that china and other malicious actors could exploit flaws in the app's design to go beyond that and spy on athletes in many other ways, both during the olympics and long after they are over. the c.c.p.'s app also contains a list of more than 400 illegal words that they could use to

censor athletes' conversations. the u.s. olympic and paralympic committee has gone as far as to tell american athletes to, quote, assume that every device and every communication, transaction, and online activity will be monitored, end quote. and many other nations have issued similar warnings. this all could have been avoided. we didn't have to host a unifying event like the olympics in a country that thinks the book "1984" is an instruction manual. the i.o.c. chose to have china host the olympics anyway. they chose to ignore these and many other shameless human rights abuses beijing engages in every single day. they could have required china to respect the basic liberties

athletes enjoy in the united states and other western countries, but they didn't. the next time that a host country's chosen it is important that the i.o.c. pick any of dozens of democracies around the world. the more than 200 athletes on team u.s.a. earned their places at the olympics, with years of hard work and sacrifice. i do wish them the best, and i pray that they stay safe while they are away from home. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. young: in an effort to make the internet healthy, happy, and peaceful, the chinese government recently clamped down on what it deems as online bad behavior. beijing knows all about bad behavior. in fact, if behaving badly were an olympic sport, china would take the gold, silver, and bronze. speaking of the olympics, last week the olympic caldrin was lit. thousands of participants filled the bird's nest. its kor choreography was innovae as china sought to portray itself to the world not as it is, but as it wants to be seen.

there were brilliant fireworks and children sang and raised glowing doves. the theme was environmentally aware. the chinese flag was passed through the hands of people representing the diversity within china and it was raised where it billowed proudly even though there wasn't a breeze. and not a single american government official was present. not a single government official. you see, we sent our regrets to the chinese communist party, refused to join in the xinjiang games, let a few of the reasons we didn't appear submitted to the world. a million uighurs are locked away, raped, and tortured with

electric batons, sterilized, forced into abortions, all in an effort to eradicate these religious and ethnic minorities not just from xinjiang but from the face of the earth. taiwan sovereignty is continually threatened with the chinese flying aircraft streaking across taiwan skies. hong kong's democracy is strangled there and across the c.c.p.'s domain, dissidents, whistleblowers are apprehended, imprisoned, persecuted and reeducated. religious freedom denied. a virus recklessly unleashed on the world, killing our most vulnerable, closing our

businesses, damaging our economy, dividing our people. a nation is hosting a storied athletic competition, but that nation erases its own athletes for telling embarrassing truths about its government. the history distant and recent of the chinese communist party is one of inhumanity, ruthless violation of the most basic human rights and aggression towards america and its allies. the olympic games in beijing spit and polished even carbon neutral may present the face of a humane and caring world power, but we are not fooled. we see through the charade. a slave state hosting the olympics. its participants wearing uniforms made by uighurs

tortured and toiling in labor camps. we see the authoritarian regime behind an artist calls china's fake smile. and we're leading by example. the c.c.p. has the world stage but we are not in the audience. our athletes are in beijing though. they are on the ice, in the snow, on the slopes and in the arena. and they should be. they worked their entire lives for this moment. they are seizing it while we root them on and i want america's olympians to bring back every gold medal, but i want the athletes to know what the chinese government might have in store for them. here are a few hopefully helpful words for our american olympians. keep an eye on your bank

account. that's right. when you buy a meal or souvenir in beijing, you will be forced to pay for it with the c.c.p.'s yuan. they say it creates more efficient payments in their economy, but it is also a way to keep a track of your transactions and watching what you buy. think twice about what you buy in beijing. the international olympic committee made no effort to stop selling apparel made with forced labor. not only will olympians being wearing clothes by forced labor, but official garments could be coming from the same source. don't be fooled by uncensorring, the c.c.p. erases any

unflattering but accurate betrails on the internet. they promise to lower the great firewall, allowing athletes access to the internet through sim cards. china's citizens are afforded no such privilege. hopefully you brought a burner phone and left your personal devices at home. keep an eye out for your fellow athletes. now this is important, tennis star peng shuai disappeared in november after accusing a chinese official of sexual assault, her peers in the women's tennis association called for action and an extraordinary showing of solidarity, but after peng was shown in a video, the world moved on much to china's delight. we may never know how many of china's athletes live under fear

for their oppressive government. journalist after journalist, you should be on guard too. there is no freedom of the press in china. reporters are regularly harassed, censured and surveilled. in 2021, china jailed more than 50 journalists, more than any other nation. during the 2008 summer games in beijing, there were at least 30 cases of c.c.p. officials reporting and assaulting journalists and that was when china was truly concerned about making a positive impression across the world. lastly, and most importantly, to all of america's athletes, don't forget this: your country is behind you. by boy cutting the olympics, we are shinning a light on the c.c.p.'s abuse of its citizens

and disregard for the last of the world. but by competing, our athletes are showing what free people from an open society are capable of. the olympics have long been a forum for american victory at the expense of authoritarians pride. they were on the front in the war against fascism. jesse owens won four gold medals while hitler looked on, his delusion of superiority burst. when owen stood on the podium after winning the long jump, he was surrounded, but he stood taller and he stood higher than all of them, saluting old glory. but it was cornelius johnson who was the first black american who earn gold in berlin, winning the

high jump. the silver went to dave albriton, another american who was also black, dellis did yourbur -- durburr won the brons, hitler refused to meet with any of them. when they took to the podium, all three offered their own salute, which was named after the author of the pledge of allegiance for france. the olympics were a battleground in the cold war as well. in 1980, the unheralded and ragtag american hockey team upset the fow-time gold medal -- four-time gold medal winning soviets. two years -- two weeks later they won the gold.

the victory not only shocked the world, it lifted our nation and sunk the soviets spirits. the russian hockey players didn't have their medals engraved they were so angry losing to america. now in 2022, another act in a global competition will takes place at the olympics. we have seen it unfold in recent days. america and the free west against the american chinese government. it's -- -- against the chinese government. show the c.c.p. that the future belongs to the free, that authoritarian governments fail. let them see the stars and stripes again and again and again. we're cheering you on and we'll be waiting for you when you come home decorated in gold.

good luck to team u.s.a. and god bless america. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. young: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i ask the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, we have a true crisis at our southern border. those in washington who refuse to use the word crisis to describe the humanitarian and security challenges we must accept the disastrous consequences of an open door border policy. just look at the numbers from the department of homeland security. more than two million illegal immigrants were caught attempting to cross the border last year. and if the biden administration

doesn't get serious about securing the border, we're on a pace to repeat or exceed this troubling figure for 2022. in december alone, 178,840 illegal immigrants were apprehended attempting to cross along this stretch of the border making it the highest total for that month in the department of homeland security history. i've been here before describing this chaos, but the reality is it continues to escalate while the administration refuses to take action to stop illegal imimmigration. unsurprisingly, we're seeing the tensions it the biden administration and border patrol officials boil over. these men and women have answered the call to protect and to serve. they put their lives at risk to enforce the law, arrest people illegally crossing the border only to have the administration approve the release of the very

criminals the officers locked up. this betrayal by the administration is creating low morale with some border patrol officers choosing to leave the job rather than support this lawlessness and insanity. instead of preventing illegal drugs from entering our country, border agents are spending time processing paperwork for illegal immigrants. and you know who else is doing this paperwork? who's seen the paperwork? t.s.a. agents, the department of homeland security is allowing these law breakers to board airplanes using their immigration and customs enforcement arrest warrants as identification at t.s.a. check points. this is totally absurd. it's a reckless policy that threatens the safety of air travelers and all citizens. the administration must end this practice. the message coming from the white house is our southern

border is open. all are welcome. this has been a green light for immigrants since day one. it started with migrants' numbers increasing along the southern border as they awaited biden's immigration action. and now we see the results. we've experienced record border crossings, overflow detention centers and the release of single adult migrants into the u.s. among other many problems. that's how it's going. it's not just citizens from central america and mexico who are taking advantage of this foolish generosity. people from syria, turkey, russia, pakistan, cuba, haiti, and india are illegally entering the u.s. along our southern border. i've been here before on the senate floor sounding the alarm about the threat this dangerous approach to immigration and border security is having on our

country. it's threatening our sovereignty and undermining the rule of law. instead of implementing commonsense steps to secure the border, the administration has prioritized, quote, border czar, vice president harris, the mission to discover the root causes of the crisis while the number of illegal immigrants enters our country is reaching historic levels. the reality is this truly is a crisis of the biden administration's own making. the president reversed policies that were carving illegal immigration like the construction of a border wall and the remain in mexico policy. we must provide border patrol agents with the tools and resources to successfully accomplish their job. that involves enforcing the laws and holding illegal immigrants accountable for their unlawful

actions. not helping them board airplanes to travel around the country. this is a matter of national security. my g.o.p. colleagues and i are ready to get back to the effective strategies we had for controlling the border under president trump and it's time president biden gets on board. and with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: t the

senator from ways ways. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. ms. baldwin: i ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote occur immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, asian development bank, chantale yokmin wong of the district of columbia to be u.s. director. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 66, the nays are 31, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, i

move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider executive calendar 705. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. all those, no -- all those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, federal maritime commission, max vekich of washingtoning to a federal maritime commissioner. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. 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 705, max vekich of washington to be a federal maritime commissioner signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, february, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent to shut off my phone. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: pursuant to s. res. 27, the committee on financing being tied onetime of reporting, i move to discharge the committee on finance from further consideration of the nomination of sam bagentos to be the general counsel for the department of health and human simplifies. the presiding officer: under the provision of s. res. 27,

there will now be up to four hours of debate on the motion equally divided between the two leaders or their designees with no motions, points of order, or amendments in order. mr. schumer: i ask that the vote to discharge be at a time to be 234 consultation with the minority leader. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: we've had so much good news in ohio and across the country over last few weeks. rising wages, record job growth, a million jobs in two months, intel is bringing 10,000 new good-paying manufacturing and trades jobs to central ohio. that facility will be built by union workers, electricians and carpenters and laborers and pipe

fitters and other workers in the skilled trades. hyperion is opening the largest factory built in ohio in a decade. g.e. aviation with boeing signed a new deal exporting planes built with next-generation jet engines developed in southwest ohio, supporting thousands of ohio jobs. as i was flying into columbus with senator portman a couple of weeks ago to join intel a nnounce those jobs, i was thinking, today we're finally burying the term rust belt. for too long corporate elites on the coast have used that outdated offensive term, a term that devalues our work. now ohio,the center of the country, the heart of the industrial midwest, leads the way in the next general recession of manufacturing. the state that founded the auto industry and gave us the wright brothers is today making the most advanced chips that go into

cars and phones and appliances. all this is made possible because we're putting american workers at the center of our economy. it's not a coincidence we're going to this record job growth when we finally have a president who understands what carrying a union card means, who centers workers, who cares about wages, who comes from the industrial heartland. a union card that means better wages, a union card that means better benefits, a union card that often means a more flexible work schedule within the, that workers have a decision and input into forming. and look at the results we're getting. last year for the first time in 20 years our economy grew faster than china. think about that. for the first time in two decades the american economy grew faster than china's economy. we know that china and other competitors aren't giving up. they are every week trying to find new ways to cheat, new ways to undermine american jobs. we need every possible tool to

compete. it's why last year in the senate we passed the innovation and competition act. we passed what we're now calling the make it in america act. it's a serious effort to invest in manufacturing research and development and bring and build supply chains back in the u.s. it's going to mean jobs. it's going to bring down prices. for too long we've had a trade policy and a tax policy lobbied in this body by corporate interests that wanted to move overseas for cheap labor. we've had a trade and tax policy that essentially hollowed out manufacturing in ohio and across the midwest. ohioans know what permanent normal trade relations with china of 20 years ago, when congress passed it, and pushed by people like nut gingrich -- like newt gingrich. people know what that did to our economy. most everyone knows the devastation the north american free trade agreement caused to

industrial towns in ohio and across the country. pntr admitting china to the w.t.o. hasn't gotten the same media attention but the steel industry knows how big a problem it's been. it's how we ended up with empty factories, lost dreams, supply chains that are too long, too fragile and that stretch all over the world instead of made in america. it's why i wrote the level the playing field act that was passed in to law in 2015. it's why senator portman are working to ensure the level the playing act 2.0 is in the competition bill, the made in america act the house passed last week. level the playing field has been critical for ohio companies allowing them to file and win trade cases against foreign companies that cheat the rules. we know our competition hasn't stopped coming up with new ways to skirt these rules and distort the global market to benefit their own companies. the chinese government still

subsidizes steel. the chinese government engages in economic espionage to steal american trade secrets, to prop up their own state-controlled companies. look at the most recent conviction of the chinese spy trying to steal g.e. aviations pioneering jet engine designs to take to china. the senate and house bills include the chips act to invest in new surkt production in the u.s. like the new intel factory coming to columbus. even though the u.s. started the surkt -- semiconductor industry today those chips are made overseas. right now 75% of chip manufacturing is in taiwan, south korea, japan and china. it's meant severe shortages and long waits for those chips that are critical inputs in so many of the products americans rely on. we need to bring the is supply

chain back home starting with intel in ohio. by passing the chips act we must invest in domestic manufacturing innovation. it's what senator blunt and i worked together to do with our provisions in the senate bill to create more manufacturing hubs across the country. the first one, as many in this body remember because they voted for it, was in youngstown some years ago, something called america makes. all of us in the house and senate need to work to get these bills over the finish line. if you want to get a sense of how important this is, how strong these bills are, look at what china is doing. the chinese communist party is lobbying seriously against this bill. that's right, the c.c.p. and its cronies, the communist party in china are lobbying against a bill that invests in american innovation, supports american manufacturing, takes on unfair and illegal trade practices. they're scared, pure and simple. they know that who he it competition -- that procompetition bills will have

consequences for thairl cheating and trying to undermine american workers. a reuters headline from november, beijing urges u.s. businesses to lobby against china-related bills in china. beijing urges u.s. businesses to lobby against china-related bills in congress. unfortunately, i won't name them on the floor -- maybe i should -- but there are u.s. businesses that are lobbying against this because they do enough business in china exploiting chinese workers, invading environmental worker laws that may be in place. the chinese government threatens these american companies recruiting them to lobby against the interest of american workers. this time we're not rolling over. we're going to stand up for american innovation, stand up for american manufacturing, stand up for american workers. we have a president now that puts workers at the center of our economic policy. we have a president that puts workers at the ner of our economy -- at the center of our economy. we have a president not afraid

to talk about unions knowing carrying a union card means a better life for workers. we're going to get a strong bipartisan bill that increases our economic competitiveness. we know how to speed up our supply chain and lower prices and end our reliance on china, make more things in this country. mr. president, that's a solution to many of our economic problems, make it in ohio. i urge my colleagues in both parties, in both chambers to go to work. let's get this done for american workers. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, many americans are watching the news, reading the newspaper, watching cable news, and they're seeing the russian build-up of troops on the border of ukraine. so i thought what i would do is take just a few moments to speak

about what's at stake in ukraine. why should americans care, and what should we do in response? tensions along the border are high. shuttle diplomacy is occurring and is the order of the day. but more than 100,000 russian troops are in position should an invasion of ukraine be ordered by russian federation president putin. reports indicate that russia has created a graphic propaganda video, something called a false flag operation, to serve as a pretext for invading, and cyberattacks like those that might precede a planned invasion are already underway. not surprisingly the kremlin is engaging in a disinformation campaign, making every attempt

to blame the united states or any other country, for that matter, for its own aggressive actions. this kind of gaslighting might work in a totalitarian state, but in the rest of the world, where we have access to more complete and accurate information, we know better. there's no question that russia and russia alone is responsible for the military build-up on ukraine's border. and is also threatening peace in europe. as frederick kagan, a scholar at the american enterprise institute has written, he said this isn't primarily a ukraine crisis. it's a russia crisis. more precisely, it is a putin-created crisis aimed at destroying the north atlantic treaty organization, otherwise known as nato. it's putin's attempt to drive

the united states and its west european allies to put ourselves in a time machine, to abdicate our alliance obligations, expose countries previously occupied, brutalized and exploited by the soviet union to putin's continued aggression. demonstrate our unreliability as partners and show our unseriousness about defending our own vital national security interests. in return for a promise of nothing at all. mr. president, the united states has played no part in creating this crisis, but i do believe we have some responsibilities not just a treaty obligation to our nato allies, because ukraine is not yet a member of nato, so that obligation under article 5 does not apply to ukraine, as i will discuss in a moment.

but i do believe that we have a responsibility to support the ukrainian people as they fight to defend their own sovereignty, despite the fact they are not members of nato. with so many challenges on the home front, though, and around the world, it's easy for folks in texas or massachusetts or anywhere else around the country to wonder why should we care what's happening in ukraine. americans are experiencing the highest inflation in 40 years. there's growing concern about violent crime. we have a humanitarian crisis on our southern border. and let's not forget the ongoing fight against the pandemic. we know families are struggling to face the challenges right in front of them, let alone those on the other side of the globe. americans want to know how does a conflict on the other side of the globe actually impact the

united states, and importantly, why should we help. i think those are fair questions. the human and financial costs of armed conflicts are very high, and we have learned the painful lesson during many times in our nation's history, twice in the last century in europe alone where there were world wars centered. but we also know how much the free world depends on the united states and its leadership and strength to provide stability and prevent wars and promote peace if we can, while safeguarding freedom and democracy around the world. the united states is a global power, but we are no longer the only one. that day has passed. our leadership role and responsibilities in a rules-based international order were earned by the sacrifices of generations of americans who

defended our freedoms and our way of life and those of our allies. believing, as ronald reagan said, that peace comes through strength, america's role in the world has been achieved by our military might, by our strategic alliances, our commitments to free markets and trade around the world that have produced the economy that have allowed us to defend ourselves as well as an unwavering dedication to our values. and whether we like it or not, our unique role in the world brings with it certain responsibilities. we can't give anyone, adversary or ally, a reason to doubt our commitment to freedom, peace, stability, and security. unfortunately, our reputation for reliability has suffered some damage recently. the botched withdrawal from afghanistan, for example, caused our nato allies to doubt

the future of american leadership and our commitments under the north atlantic treaty. our friends and adversaries alike are wondering if the afghanistan debacle is a onetime misstep or dwindling of u.s. commitment and power. of course mr. putin and mr. xi will not miss an opportunity to disparage america's credibility as a reliable ally. our urgent task by our actions as well as our words should be to convince friend and foe that we will remain a credible friend and ally. but either way, putin is an op op -- opportunist. will we stand strong in support of ukraine or will we sit

passively on the sidelines? make no mistake, russia is doing far more than just threatening ukraine. president putin told the world in a speech in 2005 that the collapse of the soviet empire, the soviet union, was what he called the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. that's his mind-set. putting that empire back together was on his mind when russia invaded the nation of georgia in 2008, and when russia annexed crimea in 2014, also part of the soviet orbit. and of course we can be confident this is foremost in his mind as he threatens to invade ukraine, another country that used to be part of the soviet union. so putin has tried to get away with as much as he can, and it

would be naive to think that he will stop at ukraine. if the u.s. fails to support ukraine at this pivotal moment, other authoritarian moments like those in china and iran will take note. today's "new york times," there's a story that says both sides of the taiwan strait are closely watching ukraine's crisis. in other words, the people's republic of china, mainland china, as well as taiwan, the independent democratic state right across that thin band of water known as the south china sea. here's what one of the representatives of the -- of taiwan said in this article. he said, if the western powers fail to respond to russia, they do embolden the chinese thinking regarding action on taiwan.

so this is not just about ukraine, this is not just about europe, this is about america's credibility and that of our friends and allies around the world and our willingness to stand up for our values and defend our freedoms. if our adversaries see that the u.s. responds merely with pass pass -- pass civility or words they will see opportunities for them to exploit. that will risk further geopolitical stability and it would inevitably diminish america's leadership in the world, the global order of which which he -- which has been termd an anchor of a coalition of freedom-loving nations. yes, ukraine is on the front

line of a crisis, but the security of europe is also in question. the reach of russia's aspirations for reestablished empire are as well. and, as i said, there are global repercussions to however we choose to respond. i'm not suggesting that president biden send american troops to ukraine. i want to be clear on that point. i know of no one calling for american troops to be deployed to ukraine. there are, however, concrete steps we can take to help ukraine defend itself without putting american lives on the line. and fortunately there's some precedent for that. in the early 1940's nazi germany was making dramatic advances across europe and great great -t britain was hanging on by a

thread, prime minister churchill asked frack lynn delano roosevelt for help from the united states. this ultimately ended up in a solution. in the words of president roosevelt, this transformed the united states into the arsenal of democracy by supplying great britain to fend off attacks. he compared to lending a neighbor a garden hose if there was a house fire. it wouldn't just protect the neighbor's home, it would protect your home as well. others agreed with the logic and this was signed into law. soon after aircraft, weaponry and other critical resources made its way across the atlantic to allied forces fighting

against germany. i think this is part of the response we need to provide today, to provide the ukrainians with the ability to defend themselves under a modern version of the 1941 lin lease act. with the inspiration of president roosevelt in the 1940 act, i worked with my colleagues, republicans and democrats alike, to draft a 2022 version of that legislation, called, not surprisingly, the ukraine democracy lynn lease act, which will ensure that the ukrainian people will have what they need to defend against russian invasions. as it stands today, the president of the united states has a menu of options to support our international friends in times of conflict. in some cases such as the loan of equipment the united states

will eventually retain in use, and in others, such as grants and emergency aid, we do not recover the funding sent to our friends. this bill would provide an additional option to that menu allowing the united states to provide assistance that otherwise might be unfeasible and that we could retain and use. this would give president biden the opportunity to enter into a lin lease agreement and will help protect the ukrainian people. in an ideal world, this will help ukrainians to defend themselves and prevent russia from mounting aggression in the first place. knowing that ukraine has access to arsenal could prevent putin from risking a deadly war. if putin makes the decision to

move forward, ukrainian forces will have the lethal weapons they need to defend their sovereignty. they'll also have the support of the united states and our nato allies. in the senate, there's clear support for this sovereignty of ukraine, and i'm glad to have worked with my colleagues on this legislation that includes this lend-lease component. i want to thank chairman menendez and ranking member emission on the -- ranking member risch on the foreign real estates committee and my colleagues who have been working on an approach. we discussed the lend-lease bill and additional security assistance for ukraine. and as we've read, senator menendez, senator risch are negotiating an immediate sanctions response to this aggression, including cyberattacks and additional sanctions in the event of an

invasion, as the chairman and ranking member said, negotiations are making some progress and i hope we can wrap things up quickly and bring the bill to the senate floor without much more delay. the fact is we're racing against the clock. putin could invade ukraine at a moment's notice and he's not going to wait on the united states senate to act. that's why time is of the essence. ideally the lend-lease agreement, military assistance, sanctions and other provisions, including in this package -- included in the package will cause putin to think about invading, but that can only happen if we act before putin acts. so the clock is ticking and we need to move. i'm encouraged by the bipartisan support we've seen for ukraine and for this effort, and i hope we can take action soon to reaffirm america's position as

the lead defender of global peace and security. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. murphy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, the world was safer when the jcpoa, the iran nuclear agreement negotiated by president obama, and the world was in less of a safer place when president trumper -- tore p that greelt. we have -- agreement. we have an opportunity to reconstruct that agreement or the most important elements of it so that iran, once again, is

as far as possible from being table to obtain a nuclear weapon. that would make the region safer, that would make the united states safer, but time is of the essence. u.s. negotiators, european negotiators, the russians, chinese and iranians are right now entering what could be the last round of discussions and it is absolutely imperative that the united states senate provide this administration with the support it needs to effectuate an agreement. i want to talk to my colleagues for a few minutes this morning about how important it is for the united states and our european allies, for the world, indeed, to reconstruct a diplomatic agreement with iran and i want to also talk for a moment about how disastrous the last five years have been, a period of time during which the united states has largely been out of compliance with that agreement. the jcpoa was signed by the united states, european allies

entered into in a coalition that included russia and china with the iranian government. it was signed in july of 2015, and within about six months, the iaea was able to complete its obligations under the nuclear greelt. this included commitments that would increase the amount of time that iran needed to acquire enough material for a nuclear weapon, from two to three months, that was the amount of time it would have taken prior to the agreement to at least a year or more. the agreement reduced iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium by requiring it to ship 25,000 pounds of it out of the country. iran committed to dismantling and removing two-thirds of its

centrifuges. it modified its heavy-water reactor and filled it with concrete so it could never be used again, preventing iran from producing weapons-grade plutonium and there was no access to their nuclear facilities and nuclear supply chain. not only the sites we knew about, but it also agreed to adopt what are called the additional protocols which allowed the iaea to request and get access to sites in which they might have some sus pigs that there -- suspicion that there was new nuclear activity happening. iran reduced its stockpile of uranium by 95% and kept the uranium enrichment at 9.6%, significantly below what you need to make a bomb, they

reduced their centrifuges from 20,000 to 6,000. and so this was the world that president trump inherited. the united states, europe, russia, and china united on iran policy. iran shutting down major elements of their nuclear research program, such that they were more than a year out from getting a nuclear weapon if they made the decision to achieve a nuclear weapon. that's called the breakout time. a time from which a country decides it wants a nuclear weapon to the point at which it has a nuclear weapon. from iran that went from two to three months prior to the agreement to over a year after the agreement. but it also lined up the united states, europe, china, and russia, this unlikely alliance of traditional adversaries, with respect to russia and china, sew we could move on to iran's other

behaviors. critics said it only pertained to the nuclear program. but that's not the only bad program that iran is engaged in. president trump inherited a united front of unlikely allies that could then be utilized to pressure iran to make changes to its ballistic missle program, to reduce its support for terrorist organizations and proxy armies around the region. that's why secretary tillerson and secretary mattis and many other trump advisors encouraged him to stay in the deal, but he didn't. president trump tore up the deal and announced to the country and the world that he was going to pursue a different strategy. critics of the jcpoa said that president obama shouldn't have entered into an agreement.

critics said that he should have held out and kept applying more and more sanctions, even if the europeans walked away. as a means of getting iran to come to the table on a broader agreement that would include its ballistic missle program, its support for terrorists. prem believed it was important to -- president obama believed it was important to get the nuclear question off the table. to the extent there was any silver lining of president trump's decision, is is that it allowed us for four years to test the theory of the opponents, the theories of critics, president trump implemented the strategy that the critics wanted president obama to employ. president trump demanded that he would only talk to the iranians if they came to the table on everything. he set it down in a piece of paper. mike pompeo gave a list of

demands and said we will talk to you and consider releasing -- if you talk to us about your ballistic missle program, your support for terrorists. so president trump ga -- gave ups the gift of testing the theory of the opponents. you know how the story goes. it was a spectacular failure. it was a spectacular failure in multiple respects. first, let's just talk about what happened to iran's nuclear program. in may 2019 iran announces it will no longer observe the jcpoa stockpile limit. and as of november of last year, the stockpile of enriched uranium, enriched uranium gas was roughly 11 times what it was during the agreement. in july 2019, iran began enriching urine yum up to --

uranium as specified in the agreement. in january, 2021, if began enriching to 20%. april of 2021, up to 60%. december 2019, a-- iran announced it would would no longer be bound by limitations on centrifuges. in twients, iran announced it would enrich up to 4.5%, enrichment at fordow was prohibited for 15 years. by january of last year, iran was enriching uranium to 20% at fordow. in november of 2020, iran's parliament passed a bill requiring the country to build that new heavy water reactor in iraq that allows them a path to pollute plutonium. it once built, that would be enough plutonium annually for two nuclear weapons. since february of this year, iran has been restricting that iaea access to its facilities. it no longer complies with the

additional protocols. if you ask for access to a site which you think that there is new nuclear research activity being undertaken, iran no longer feels obligated to grant that access. iran went from a breakout time of two to three months, to under the agreement more than a year, and today, two months. arguably less than the breakout time prior to the deal. but important to also note that during these last four years, none of iran's other malevolent activities in the region have abated. in fact, arguably, they've gotten worse br. iran -- gotten worse. iran continues to support proxy armies in syria, lebanon. their connection with hezbollah and the houthis in yemen is probably stronger today than during the jcpoa.

after president trump backed out of the jcpoa iran restarted attacks on u.s. troops. iran has been engaged in permanent destabilizing activities in iraq since the outset of that war, but during the period of time we were in the jcpoa they were not shooting directly at u.s. troops. their proxy armies had stood down. once with were outside -- we were outside of the jcpoa, those attacks started again. one rocket sent by a proxy army at a u.s.-staffed base in iraq could have killed 100 u.s. troop members. it just narrowly missed them. the iranians have undertaken attacks against the saudis that they never would have contemplated while jcpoa was in effect. taking action against saudi oil facilities, including a high-profile attack against saudi aramco. their proxy armies similarly are firing at our friends in the gulf. in the last few months we've

seen increased level of drone and missile attacks against saudi arabia and u.a.e. from inside yemen. one of my republican colleagues in this body claimed that trump's iran policy had restored deterrence. that's a laughable proposition, because it did exactly the opposite. once we got out of that agreement, iran started their nuclear research program to the point it is trounger -- stronger than it was prior to the jcpoa in some ways. they didn't stop any of their other destabilizing activity. it got worse. and they didn't come back to the table. the whole point of the critics of the obama policy was if we had just kept on applying sanctions, iran would come to the table on everything. trump tried it. it didn't work. iran didn't come to the table on anything. their actions in the region, against the united states, their nuclear research program just got more serious and worse.

diplomacy is not weakness. news flash, occasionally there are diplomat agreements in the best interest of the u.s., and the jcpoa was one of them. the data tells a clear story. iran wasn't a good actor during the jcpoa. they were still engaged in all sorts of deleterious activity. but donald trump inherited the ability to use that coalition that was built to build the jcpoa, to take on that other activity. he inherited a nuclear research program, which was controlled and he threw it all away. what's interesting is that many of our allies, who were very skeptical of the jcpoa when it was signed, are now very supportive of the united states reentering it. it tells you that they see the same story that i'm telling you. our gulf allies, who are amongst the most vocal opponents of the

jcpoa of 2014-2015, september out a joint statement urging, quote, a mutual return to full compliance with the jcpoa. this is a deal that the gulf nations opposed, and they now support the united states entering back into it. and a cavalcade of israeli officials, former intelligence officials and defense officials who can now feel freer to speak about their personal views, have been equally clear about the need to get back into this agreement. the former director of masad, five years he directed masad, said what happened in 2018 was a tragedy, unforgivable, that it was a strategic mistake. the former chief of the i.d.f. military intelligence unit, a job he held four years, said we

want to be honest what postponed iranian progress toward this was not the action, but iran is closer than ever before, because of the very wrong policy of withdrawing from the agreement. former i.d.f. chief of staff says the fact that the u.s. withdrew in 2018 from the deal released iran from all restrictions and inspections on the deal, even if there were holes in the deal, it brought iran to the most advanced position today with regard to its nuclear program. so many of our friends in the reasonable job see -- region see the need to get back into this agreement. the status quo is not acceptable now, it's not going to be easy. because there are elements of iran's progress in nuclear research that are difficult, if not impossible, to undo, given

how much new research and advanced centrifuges they have built since president trump left the agreement. quite frankly, there are some sanctions we've applied to iran since the nuclear agreement that we aren't going to release, because we told the iranians and the world we were going to apply sanctions to iran relevant to their ballistic missile program and support for tryst organizations, and we -- terrorist organizations, and we did that. some under president trump. those aren't going away. but it is important for the biden administration to see that many of the sanctions that trump put in place during that period of time may have sounded good, but had no impact on iranian behavior. i would put on that list the sanctioning of the iranian revolutionary guard, the

sanctioning of the supreme leader. these aren't good people, but those sanctions didn't change iran's behavior for the better. in fact, during that period of time, their behavior got worse, their nuclear research program became more advanced. if releasing those des ig naysee required to make the world safer and get iran back into the nuclear box, then i hope the administration will give serious consideration. i hope the administration understands the vital importance of getting back into this agreement and being willing to do the tough things in order to achieve a new nuclear agreement with the iranians. and the iranians are going to have to make concessions as well. the iranians will have to make serious changes to their current scope of nuclear research. but it's the only way to unlock

sanctions relief for a country that badly needs it. there's no way for the currents president of iran to make good on all the promises he made without the sanctions relief. but time is of the essence. time is of the essence. president biden promised to restart diplomacy with iran to make the world a safer place by getting back into a nuclear agreement. this is the moment to do it. and i would urge the administration to take all of the smart steps necessary in order to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, making the region and the world a safer place. i yield the floor.

mr. murphy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: mr. president, i yield back all time on the motion to discharge. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. murphy: i would i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of the following nomination, calendar 362, homer l. wilkes. that the cloture motion be withdrawn, that the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and and the president be immediately

notified on these actions and that and the president will be immediately notified on the senate's actions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of agriculture, homer l. wilkes of miss to be under secretary for natural resources and environment. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is indeed confirmed. mr. murphy: mr. president, i would ask consent that the president proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: i have nine requests for committees to meet. they have approval of the majority leader and minority leader. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. murphy: i ask that the senate proceed to s. res. 506 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk

will report. the clerk: supporting the goals of national catholic schools week. promise without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: mr. president, scawcts that the -- i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to s. res. 507 submitted earlier today. the clerk: s. res. 507, designating february 1, 2020 as blue star mothers day. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate will proceed. mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: mr. president, i understand that there are three bills at the desk. i ask for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the

bills for the first time. the clerk: s. 3600, a bill to improve the cybersecurity of the federal government and for other purposes. h.r. 3076, an act to provide stability to and enhance the services of the united states postal service and for other purposes. h.r. 6617, an act making further continuation appropriations for the fiscal year ending september purposes. mr. murphy: i now ask for a second reading and i object to my own request all en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard. the bills will be read for the second time. the next ledges lative day. mr. murphy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the armed services committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. res. 424. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 424, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the dedication of

shepherd air force base and the 40th anniversary of the creation of the euro-nato joint jet pilot training program. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. murphy: 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. murphy: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, february 9, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders are reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the bush nomination. further, at 11:30 a.m., the senate vote on confirmation of the nathan nomination and following disposition of the nathan nomination, the senate

vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the bush nomination, that if cloture is invoked on the bush nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. finally if any nominations are confirmed during wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be needly notified of the senate's -- immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: if there's no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator portman. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i come to the floor this evening to urge that congress speak with one voice at a critical time on an urgent matter. the fight for freedom is being waged in ukraine right now and

the outcome is going to have profound effects not just in eastern europe but around the globe. russia has invaded ukraine twice in the last eight years. inserting troops and offensive military equipment into the done boss region. they continue to use disinformation to try to destabilize the democratically elected government in kiev. now the russians have gone further by amassing more than a hundred thousand troops under the command of a hundred tactical groups on russia's ukranian border. it includes rockets, tanks and artillery and is no longer on the eastern border of ukraine but now on the northern border where russian combat troops and heavy equipment have moved into dell reuss and in crimea and the black sea area. let me give you a little history as to how we got here. eight years ago ukraine made a

choice. the people of ukraine stood up to a corrupt russian-backed government in 2014 and made a conscious decision to turn to the west, to the european union, to the united states. i was in ukraine in 2014 shortly after what is called the euromaidan where the revolution of dignity. when i was there in 2014 the revolution of dignity barricades were still up and in the center of town the may dan was still occupied by ukranian patriots who were determined take their country not go backwards. the ukrainian people at that time rejected authoritarianism. they said instead they were choosing democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom to gather, respect for the rule of law and free markets. turning to us. despite russia's unrelenting efforts at destabilization over the past eight years, the ukranian people are more committed than ever to an independent sovereign and democratic nation.

and ukranians today are increasingly patriotic and opposed to the russian efforts to destabilize their country. they don't want state control, repression and fear. they choose liberty and prosperity. moscow would have the world believe somehow this massive unwarranted russian buildup is about trying to shore up its border against somehow some threats from ukraine and nato. this is of course pay tants -- patently false. ukraine's military posture has always been purely defensive and ukraine has upheld its commitments under the agreements which were designed to ensure a cease-fire in the d donbass region. ukraine is no threat to russian territorial integrity. nato secretary-general recently told reporters that, yoat, the significant -- quote, the significant movement of russian troops into belarus is the biggest russian deployment there since the cold war.

end quote. and russian troop numbers in belarus are likely to climb to 30,000 with the backing of special forces, advanced fighter jets, short-range ballistic missiles and s-400 ground-to-air missile defense systems. this is new. by the way, ukraine is not asking for us to fight these wars for them. they have been in a war with russia over the past eight years. they have lost over 14,000 ukranians to this battle, including at the line of contact where there's been a hot conflict. i've seen where the russian snipers have killed ukranian soldiers. i talked with the soldiers from ukraine who are determined, committed, and patriotic. 14,000 people, if you compare the population of ukraine to our population here in the united states of america, that would be the equivalent of us losing about 120,000 americans officer

the past eight years -- americans over the past eight years to an enemy. that's more people than we lost in korea, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan combined. think how we would feel. this is how the ukranians feel. ukraine is not asking again for us to fight their war for them but they are asking for increased lethal military assistance to help defend themselves should russia make a big mistake and decide to invade further into ukraine. when it comes to our allies, i've been pleased that most have really stepped up to help ukraine during this crisis. the british have provided antitank missiles. when i was in ukraine recently with the congressional delegation, as we left the airport, this was about three weeks ago, a cargo plane arr arrived, an american made cargo plane with weapons from the u.k. the united kingdom was providing

antitank weapons to ukraine. i saw them being unloaded and i saw the smiles on the faces of the ukranians knowing this will give them a better chance to defend themselves. we appreciate the brits. the canadians have helped specifically recently providing important training on some of the new equipment they're getting. the daines have helped additional funding and baltics have transferred weapons as well. lithuania have strongly been supported, poll lad, so many others. we need all of our allies to step up like that. certainly all of our nato allies, but really all freedom-loving countries around the world. this is where the cause of freedom is being fought right now. i hope -- my hope is that congress can come together and speak with one voice. republicans and democrats alike. pass bipartisan sanctions and legislation and an aid package that sends a strong message of support to the ukranian people, a message that we stand with them in their fight for freedom,

but also sends a strong message to russia that if they choose to invade further, the armed conflict will carry a heavy cost. the sanctions will be devastating. and finally, legislation that sends a strong message to the world that the united states stands with its allies in eastern europe and throughout freedom-loving countries across the world. the time to speak is now. with one voice. the world is listening and watching. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my further remarks appear in another part of the congressional record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: mr. president, i'm pleased to come to the senate floor today to speak in support of a bill sponsored by the entire ohio delegation naming the post office in avan dale of cincinnati, ohio for two world war ii aviators. john leer and herbert bruin.

they grew up in a neighborhood part of cincinnati, ohio. they dreamed of flying and signed up for the army air corps after pearl harbor. john flew the p-51 mustang with the tuskegee ai airmen. the fighters were assigned to protect the bombers in the european theater. non-and -- john and herb worked together on some of the same missions but they were segregated and didn't get to interact. they didn't get to know each other until more than 50 years after the war ended. in 1997 herb discovered that an event for the tuskegee airmen was going to be held in downtown cincinnati. he decided to stop by and thank the fighter pilots who helped protect him and his bomber and his bomber squad in europe. herb met john and they hit it off and discovered how much they had in common.

they found out they both had grown up in endale work -- endale working at the same plant. they realized they had been in the same third grade class at north enevendale elementary school. they saved the class picture and you could see them standing right next to each other. john and herb. their friendship was obviously meant to be. john had long wanted to make sure young people knew about the tuskegee airmen and contributions during the war. together john and herb shared their story with schoolchildren and adults talking about how things were different in the past and promoting racial understanding and the rejection of bigotry today. here they are with a group of young people. herb and john, with models of the airplanes that they flew.

the harvard foundation for intercultural and race relations honored them for their work in 2003 and there was a book black and white american airmen, their true history and it recounts their story. john died in 2015 at the age of 94. herb died in 2020 at 100 years old. i believe naming this post office in their neighborhood for john leahr and herb heilbrun is a fitting honor for them who served with bravery and distinction in world war 23-r but then -- war ii but then continued an important part of their service long after their military service ended. my hope is that this legislation will be passed by the senate on a bipartisan basis and we can name this post office after these two remarkable men. madam president, finally, i want to acknowledge someone who's in the chamber tonight. i want to acknowledge her

dedicated service. this is one of my senior staff members who is moving to richmond, virginia, to join the new virginia governor's administration. angie young is an ohio native and ashland university graduate who is very proud of that and who is a scheduler for my predecessor senator george voinovich. i had the good fortune of having her on my team. her loyalty, hard work, and judgment over the past eight years is deeply appreciated. so angie, we will miss you here on capitol hill but best of luck in your new adventure. i yield back my time. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate the previous order, the senate the u.s. senate today confirmed two nominees to sit on the court of appeals for the district of columbia.

this is a local and not a federal court. because d.c. is not a state confirms as judge of the senate today also consider nominees to the u.s. ambassador to germany and u.s. representative the un economic and social council. when it sat returns the session we will have live coverage here on cspan2. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of governments. we are funded by these television companies and more. including medco. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> medco support c-span as a public service along these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> at a federalist