the hearing recordhe remain open until ten wish to submit additional materials for the record. the house committeeee -- shortly s127 nude to markup pending nominations and betting on tuesday february 15 10:00 for a hearingg on supporting quality workforce developing opportunitieso and innovation ad address barriers to employment. thank you again for your excellent work today and we stand unturned. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we take you live to the u.s. capitol for the senate is about to gather in on this monday afternoon. lawmakers tend to take up postal service reform legislation today. action on the bill could be delayed due to a minor clerical error. this week the senate will vote

to extend government funding through march 11 to avoid a shutdown on friday. the court consider the nomination of doctor robert head of the fda for a second time. live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. ... chaplain, dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, lord of history, if a sparrow does not fall without your knowledge, certainly the issues facing our senate concern you. your word assures us that in everything you are working for the good of those who love you. may that promise guide our

lawmakers as they seek equitable and just solutions to complicated problems. lord, give our senators the wisdom to discern, courage to believe, and the determination to do your will. bless, o god, the faithful men and women who manage the machinery of the senate, without whom this legislative body could not function. thank you for their efficient and productive work. lord, fill this chamber with your presence. we ask in your merciful name.

amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. and under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed h.r. 3076, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to

h.r. 3076, an act to provide stability and enhance the services of the united states postal service and for other purposes. ms. hirono: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: mr. majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, at the beginning, before i speak on the business of the day, i would like to add, madam president, that yesterday we were all overjoyed, just thrilled to hear from our colleague, our dear friend senator bay -- ben ray lujan. he reiterated that his recovery is going well, that his office continues to work serving the

citizens of new mexico. i got on the phone with him, and he sounds chipper and the same ben i remember. he's in good spirits. all of us in the senate miss him greatly. we're rooting for him. we can't wait for him to walk through the doors of this chamber once again to get back to work. now on senate business, on postal. last week, madam president, as you know, the house passed, with overwhelming bipartisan support, i believe a majority from each party, the most important update to the u.s. postal service in decades. the postal bill is the definition of legislation that should sail through congress. both sides support it. it had diligent works by both democrats and republicans with major input from both parties. everyone knows we need it and the american people strongly support action to put our postal service on sustainable footing.

our incredible postal workers give us their very best every single day they are on the job, they deserve no less in return. so many people depend on the mail. you could be a veteran because the v.a. sends your prescriptions through the mail. about a fifth of social security's recipients don't have the internet and depend on the mail. small businesses depend on the mail. rural areas depend on the mail. just about everybody does, and people don't want snail mail. it's been no fault of workers at the post office that postal delivery is slow. they don't have is the resources they need because they have a crazy anti-diluvian-type system of how they calculate pensions and health care. we've got to change all this, and we've been waiting a long, long time. later today i'm going to move to

have the senate approve a few technical fixes to the bill so we can move closer to final passage. the house made these fixes on their end through unanimous consent last week. not a democrat, nor republican, in that whole body blocked it. anyone could have, and we want to do the same here in the senate. i hope my republican colleagues will give consent tow allow these necessary -- to allow these necessary fixes to go through, just as it happened in the house. as i said, members from both sides worked very, very hard to put this bill together. it commands strong bipartisan support and we should move forward with it as soon as we can. bipartisan postal reform already has enough support to become law. i hope it happens quickly. so met me just say this once again so people understand what's going on here. we are -- all we're asking for is to fix a small clerical error made by the house of

representatives when they sent their bill to the senate. it has nothing to do with the substance of the bill. and as i mentioned, this fix, this small immaterial change that's technical received unanimous consent -- every democrat, every rhine -- in the house -- every democrat, every republican -- in the house. so let's have the same outcome in the senate tonight. let's move forward on this proposal. at the end of the day, it's about making sure the post office can fulfill its obligations to its workers and to the american people. we all know how many of us, millions of us, depend on the mail. we all know how we've been disappointed that mail service that is slowed down. and we all know that we should get together, democrats and republicans, to fix it. the bipartisan reform bill will make sure americans can continue relying on the post office the same way they've relied on it it all their lives. i hope that here in the senate we'll keep working on this bill with the same bipartisan spirit we've seen for the past week.

now, madam president, our other priority this week will be approving legislation to keep the government open until march 11 so we can give appropriators from both parties more time to draft a year-long omnibus funding bill. there's another place we're making bipartisan progress, led by senators leahy and shelby and their counterparts in the house, senators delauro and granger. we have come to good agreements on top-line numbers, and we can move forward, not with a c.r. which simply just reenacts what's been in place last year despite the need for changes in many ways. but we can enact what we call an omnibus, which is what we should be doing. so we've had positive conversations and democrats are united to keep the government open so we can achieve these omnibus. we will continue working with the republican leadership to move forward on a c.r. before

the deadline later this week. and now, on scotus, the supreme court of the united states -- well, one of the most solemn responsibilities entrusted to the u.s. senate is offering our advice and ultimately our consent on the president's appointments to the u.s. supreme court. it's a responsibility that stands apart from just about all others. those whom we approve sit on the court, and they will render judgment and exert influence on most consequential legal matters for years and potentially for decades. the impact of any one supreme court nominee is felt long after the work of a single administration comes to an end. very soon this will be precisely the task the senate will be asked to take up again when president biden announces his choice to replace associate justice breyer.

i have no doubt president biden will name someone who cannot only bring members of this body together but someone with a proven record for excellence, evenhandedness. when president biden makes his announcement, i intend to have the senate move quickly to take up and confirm his nominee. the president has promised he will not nominate a black woman to serve as a justice for the first time ever. this is not only be one of the most important moments in the history of our courts but of our country. precious few have held the title of justice in american history. only 115 to date. none of them has been a black woman. so the president's announcement is truly historic and potentially game changing for the future of supreme court nominees. imagine the impact the president's pick will have for countless young people who look up to the nation's courts and see men and women who better

reflect our condition's makeup. -- our country's makeup. imagine how they will inspire. the judges and justices of their future have their eyes on this body in the present. if our democracy is to prosper in this century, we need people from all walks of life to see that they have a place at the table when it comes to public service. the president's promise is a big step in that direction. the democratic senate -- democratic-led senate has already played an important role in bringing balance and diversity to our courts with highly qualified nominees. it's been one of our highest priorities from the moment we entered the majority. under president biden, the senate has confirmed 46 judges to serve lifetime appointments to the federal bench. indeed this majority has copped the most majorities in -- has confirmed the most majorities in the first year of the

president's inauguration since the time of john f. kennedy. three-quarters of these women have been women -- three-quarters. two-thirds have been people of color. more than a quarter have been black women. it's not just their demographic diversity that makes them remarkable, though that is unquestionably important. the new judges are also diverse because of their professional backgrounds. we've confirmed more federal defenders in the president's fir year than any president in modern history. we've confirmed more civil rights lawyers, election lawyers, more individuals with deep experience in public service, and i want to emphasize one other thing. these nominees are also extremely qualified. we are not sacrificing qualifications and excellence for diversity. president biden's nominees are both more diverse and more qualified, in my judgment, than any president in recent history.

so senate democrats are proud of this record, and we're going to keep going. diversity in all its forms matters. it's good for the justice system. it's vital for the health of our democracy. when the president announces his historic pick, the senate will be ready to move quickly and fairly to confirm her to the supreme court. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: about two weeks ago i spoke on this floor about the state of the pandemic two years in, about letting american families get back to normal. the current science clearly

supports the 70% of americans who believe we must accept this virus, it is here to stay, trust the science, and proceed with normal life. at the time this was not a universal sentiment. the next day across the river, liberals tried to shame virginia's new governor for foregoing a mask in an incredibly vaccinated area where cases have been falling for weeks. the top democrat in the virginia state senate i didn't think sighed the governor and backed ongoing school mask mandates as, quote, common sense, end quote. but, my goodness, how quickly things can change. a few days ago i understand the same state senate leader did a 180-degree turn and voted for an amendment to end school mask mandates. a dam had begun to break

nationwide. a week ago leaders in democrat-run new jersey, connecticut, and oregon asked they would relax or axe their vaccine mandates in the near future. other states had followed suit to varying degrees. obviously the scientific facts have not changed in the last few weeks. we've known for many weeks that this variant is significantly milder, and we've known for many months that the universally available vaccines reduce the odds of hospitalization or death down to the level of many routine risks that we all face constantly in our daily lives. the only science that's changed in the last two weeks is the political science. the only data that's changed in the last two weeks is democrats' polling data. "the washington post" put it

like this -- the abrupt end to mask mandate reflects a shifting political landscape. ah, but there's a problem, madam president. while democratic leaders are stampeding to finally follow the science and end burdensome mandates on adults, in many places america's children are still being left behind. states like new york and california are rolling back restrictions on adults but have yet to provide any end date or off ramp for mask mandates in k-12 schools. this is completely backward. since we've known for well over a year that covid poses far lower risks to children than to adults. officials in illinois and the district of columbia have embraced the same double standard, winding back general public mandates while leaving schools with no end date in sight. in other words, here in washington, the mayor's office will be lifting mandates next week in all kinds of adult

establishments, from bars to fitness studios, while keeping kids in classroom masked up for at least, at least another month. even as democrats permit grownups to get back to normal, they're clinging on to their emergency powers over k-12 classrooms. the ultra rich, ultra powerful teachers union that have been an tag nifts of normal -- antagonists of normal classrooms are continuing to drag their heels. democrats at the state and local and federal levels led an executive named randi weingarten become something of a classroom czar holding millions of kids' fate in her hands. science has proven over and over again that in-person schooling is safe for kids, but big labor has sought to move the goalpost

every time. and democrats have mostly gone along with it. last year ms. weingarten bragged publicly that the biden administration invited her on a hyperpolitical teachers union to basically own the scientific guidelines for school reopening. the biden administration took the pen away from experts and handed it to big labor. she boasted, quote, they asked us for language and we gave them language. reporters found multiple instances where the union's words were copied and pasted directly, directly into the final c.d.c. document. now the same ms. weingarten is trying to move the goalpost again on america's kids to an even more extreme and unscientific place. she asserted last week that little kids should have to keep covering their faces in schools until there is, quote, no dissemination and transmission in schools, end quote.

so, madam president, with respect, that is completely bonkers, absolutely bonkers. there is no credible scientist or doctor in america who believes that we're headed toward zero covid. we're not going to magically eradicate this virus. it is heading endemic. so ms. weingarten's latest made-up standard would have k-12 kids covering their faces literally forever. little kids in masks forever? that's the upshot of this top biden administration ally's public demands. it's utter madness. two years ago the american people accepted temporary disruptions to their daily lives in order to prevent our hospitals from collapsing and buy scientists time to invent vaccines and therapeutics. check, check, and check.

our health care system endured. we have remarkable, safe, and effective vaccines. we have therapeutics, and we know that, thank god, none of these variants have posed a medical emergency for the vast majority of children, period. americans who watched the super bowl saw rich celebrities having a grand time with hardly a mask in sight. but under democrats' policies, first graders who watched that big maskless party last night had to wake up this morning and cover their own faces in order to go to school. america's classrooms seem to be the last places where local, state, and federal democrats

will accept that cost-benefit calculations exist and zero transmission is simply not possible. for two years now the democratic party has allowed some of the most powerful special interests in our country to profoundly, profoundly disrupt children's lives. the political left has put kids last. that's simply not acceptable. american families deserve normalcy. they deserve it right now, and this side of the aisle, the party of parents, has their back. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a a a a

quorum call:

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: i ask unanimous consent to call off the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tuberville: thank you, madam president. madam president, it's no secret that vladimir putin longest to restore and rebuild parts of the old soviet union.

putin wants russia to be a super power, and he knows what he's lacking. russia is a one-trick pony with a lot of energy. it offers little except that. its population is a tenth the size of china. putin knows he needs to strengthen his military, economy, and position in the world. and he's been ruthless in that pursuit. we should not then be surprised that he is escalating his actions. it is a quest he has been on for many, many years. in 2008 russia invaded the country of georgia. in 2014, russia invaded ukraine to take the region of crimea. and last year russia began to gather troops along the ukrainian border. putin rejects western ideals. he toys with sovereign nations and he plays by an entirely

different set of rules -- his own. and when president biden signals that our words are hollow or that we will disregard our allies, our adversaries like putin take notice. in september of last year, the world watched as our military ordered a retreat from afghanistan. we abandoned our allies and we left civilians at the mercy of the taliban. in october russia further built up its invasion force along the ukrainian border. last month north korea once again tested missiles. iran is perhaps a few weeks away from building its own nuclear bomb. and today as i speak, china struts at the olympics while it tortures its citizens. the chinese communist party seeks to dominate their

neighbors and devour our ally taiwan. communist china's navy has more ships than the united states navy, and their weapons grow more sophisticated than ours every day. here's just an example. the chinese successfully tested a hypersonic missile in december while we're still at the drawing board. dictators and bullies zero in on weakness like a homing beacon. in the absence of our inaction, our adversaries will move with a level of decisiveness president biden could only dream of. putin does not want a war with the united states and our allies in the north atlantic organization, or nato. this would be foolish. putin's goal is to deter ukraine from joining nato. he wants their pro-democracy government to collapse.

ukrainians abandoned their resolve to take over the country that largely despises him. he wants a buffer between him and the west. and he wants the united states to step aside and let him do this. to be clear, we do not -- we do not want american bloodshed in ukraine, but neither do the ukrainians. last year i traveled to ukraine with several other members of congress and met with president zelensky of ukraine. the ukrainian president told me ukrainians do not want americans' boots on the ground. ukrainians are willing and ready to fight their own fight. all they ask is for support, not blankets and helmets, but weapons, weapons that can help them fight off the aggression. while ukrainians have been

sounding the alarm, our president has been asleep at the wheel. when russia was amassing troops along the ukrainian border, president biden was giving a blisserring speech about voting rights, saying that everyone who disagrees with him wants to destroy our country. instead of studying war plans on afghanistan or addressing the growing threats from russia and china, our service members were forced to spend hours upon hours on woke training, not on readiness and becoming a first-class soldier. but the missed opportunities don't stop at this administration. the senate already missed a chance to hit putin where it hurts. a few weeks ago, senate republicans voted in support of sanctions on russia's pipeline through europe, the nord stream 2. senate democrats refused to support these sanctions. who are they more afraid of,

president biden or putin? president biden spent a year deploying a diplomacy first strategy, the same page out of the same playbook from when he was our vice president. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. flawed decisions leads to failed outcomes, and weak leadership leads to bullies pushing the boundaries, like vladimir putin. it's time for president biden to step up. aggression must be met with resolve. we need to bring the full might of sanctions and squeeze russia's economy so tight it chokes putin's wealth. this includes sanctions on nord stream 2 and actions like delisting russia's companies in our capital markets, hopefully

to devalue their currency, the ruble. we need to show putin that it's shortsighted to take ukraine and think that its a victory. this may be another effort in a decades-long pursuit but it will be met with fury and a fury of sanctions. looking forward, the question becomes this. when our adversaries like russia and china test our resolve again, will they be met with weakness or might? standing on this floor lobbying advice to our president to be stronger and get tough will not work. that's too simplistic of a view. this moment requires more than that. the answer is not to simply project strength, it is to be strong. we have to be a strong nation that impresses and scarce the

bullies, not a weak country, but a country that is strong. we need to get back to what makes this country so great in the first place and that is the following: first practice peace through strength. that means that we make the necessary investments to modernize our military, the highest possible amount of money we spend at the department of defense should go to building a killing machine. we are a superpower. we're not trying to be one. but our adversaries are outpacing out. second, return our economic strength. we have to get our physical house in order -- fiscal house in order and it starts in congress. inflation has engulfed our economy. families face bayer grocery -- bare grocery shelves and gas is more in some places than $5.

our national debt just crested at $30 billion, amounting to $100,000 per citizen and our country aloan just their debt -- alone, just their debt themselves. we need to return a free market with less government intervention and, third, regain our political strength by anchoring in our american strength of character. that's what this country's about. in the past year, the administration has shown our borders and our laws are not important. over two million immigrants entered our country illegally day by day and that figure increases as we speak. additionally covid's winter surge caught the administration flat flat foot -- flat-footed,

leaving the most vulnerable short of tests and therapeutics, our country is divided between education and public health. the administration has attacked the policies and believes that made our country so great. but we have to return to champion that spirit of american resolve and determination at all facets of life. the strength of our nation depends on it. the future of our nation depends on it. after this dark year, marked by uncertainty, americans are ready to return to the path of american independence. americans across the country want to reignite the american dream and rekindle american -- ingenuity. we should all. this is something that all of us, something from members of congress to the president should want. putin thinks that because

putin -- how wrong he is. to russia and china, i say betting against the united states and rolling the dices against ukraine or taiwan is a losing game. we need to show tie juan that -- taiwan that the united states is still the beacon of hope and democracy. again, i do not want american blood to be shed in ukraine, but we should support a democracy against any tyrant. i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> are intelligence or intelligence sharing with ukrainians. as we said before we are in the windowwhen an invasion

could begin at any time . it remains unclear which path russia will choose to take. because we didn't do not know, it is his decision to make we may engage with russian government in coordination with our allies and partners. the path for diplomacy remains available if russia chooses to engage constructively but we are clear i know about the prospects on the ground and are ready to impose severe costs on russia in coordination with our allies and partners if they attack ukraine . >> supreme court, is still the expectation that the president will interview nominees this week. give those know for certain that there on theshortlist . >> i appreciate the interest here. after a series of conversations with discussions with lawmakers from both sides of the party, legal experts, scholars last week the president continued to review materials as he considers deeply qualified

candidates as we have said which with strong experience, integrity, dedication to the constitution and rule of law. i don't have anything else to share on interviews of who he's interviewed but we don't have anything else to share for today or for this week. >> he has not interviewed potential nominees to be clear. but to just answer your last question is that we are on track, he is on track to select a nominee by the end of this week . >> is their confirmation to the senate, it looks like that may happen tomorrow. as the white house gotten into the boat in light of all the democratic votes you need

. >> we are confident doctor tallis will be confirmed with bipartisan support and urge the senate to confirm him tomorrow as you stated . it is critically important to have confirmed leadership at the fda in the midst of a pandemic as we all know. he had a strong bipartisan showing coming out of committee including from ranking member for. it's important to remember he was confirmed 89 to 4 in 2016. many folks who supported him then are still in the senate. we are up in a daily contact with hhs who is doing the effort to get him confirmed. officials are making a a lot of calls to the hill figuring out which means need which information, which members need what information. secretary becerra is making support to a bipartisan group of senate offices. doctor wilson himself has met or is scheduled to meet with 47 senators and that number

continues to increase. it's one of the highest number of meetings of any nominees thus far. >> 'sconversation, with president biden did give him any signal for housing ? >>

finding solutions to prevent these attacks. in this spirit today, i'm back here on the senate floor pushing for passage of my bipartisan and bicameral eagles act. my bill is supported by over 40 state attorneys general, along with several groups, including stand with parkland, the fraternal order of police, the

national association of school principals, and lastly, the major county sheriffs of america. passing the eagles act is very vital in our fight to protect our schools and to promote safe and healthy learning environment for our children. just this month the national institute of justice published an article discussing common traits of people who engage in mass shootings. this study covers the years between 1966 and 2019. their analysis show that the people who commit these acts were commonly troubled by personal trauma before the shooting, nearly always in a state of crisis at the time they

committed their awful acts and in most cases even engaged in leaking their plans before they opened fire. every si -- every single one of those findings applies to the shooter at parkland, florida. it's clear that we need to ramp up prevention efforts. we need the eagles act because that act would achieve these aims, and it would do it by reauthorizing and expanding the u.s. secret service's national threat assessment center, proactively identify and manage threats before they result in more tragedies. the national threat assessment center studies targeted violence

and proactively identifies how to manage threats before they result in more tragedies. the bill that i introduced, the eagles act, also establishes a safe schools initiative to look at school violence prevention and expands research on school violence. my bill also provides funding to hire social sciences with -- scientists with expertise in child psychology and the development of those people, to support the national threat assessment's work. this is important to make sure that proven and evidence-based policies will continue to support everyone in the school environment and do it positively. students need more support from

congress for a safe, positive, inclusive learning environment. the eagles act delivers just that by providing resources and training to school personnel, which will enable them to identify troubled youth and give these school people intervention and treatment they need hopefully long before an intervention is needed by law enforcement. while we cannot undo the tragedies of the past, we must continue working on ways to prevent future tragedies. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. i yield the floor.

mr. manchin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mr. manchin: madam president, i rise today to express my extreme disbelief and disappointment that the united states senate will confirm robert m.califf. i came to the floor to urge my colleagues to oppose dr. califf's nomination to serve under then president obama in this same role. in the five years since dr. califf was confirmed, more than 400,000 americans and 5,000 west virginians have died from drug-related overdoses, and 2020 was the deadliest year on record for drug-related overdoses. 1,2386 west virginians and nearly -- 1,386 west virginians died from a drug-related overdose. that number is increasing with over 100,000 americans having

died from overdose between april 2020 and april 2021. let's not beat around the bush. dr. califf bears a great deal of responsibility for these deaths. we have the luxury with this nomination that we are not usually granted because dr. califf has already served as the f.d.a. commissioner. we have insight as to how he will lead the agency. dr. califf's previous tenure drug-related overdoses went up. five years later they went up again, and this time at record numbers. despite his pledge to overhaul the f.d.a.'s policy during his tenure and immediately following it it the f.d.a. approved five new opiates for market. in that same time, they removed only one. the wise dr. maya angelou famously said, when someone shows you who they are, believe them.

well, dr. califf has shown us who he is, and he has shown a complete lack of interest of in actually making the difficult decisions that we need the leader of the f.d.a. to make. nothing that dr. califf has said or done has led me to believe he will operate the f.d.a. any differently than he did during his previous tenure. as if this is not enough, reports have circulated that dr. califf intends to keep dr. janet woodcock on board as a senior advisor at the f.d.a., if confirmed. dr. woodcock bears more responsibility for the opiate epidemic in our country than any other person at the f.d.a. because of her oversight role and the approval of every single one of the opiates that went on to ratifiish communities like our -- ravage communities like ours in west virginia.

she was on board when the f.d.a. approved oxycontin. in 2014, she ignored the advice of the f.d.a. advisory committee that voted overwhelmingly by a vote of 11-2 against approving zohidro. she decided to approve zohydro anyways at a time when we needed less opiates not more. it is a strong drug with a strong risk of overdose and death. experts estimated that just two pure pills can kill an individual. the pharmaceutical industry has greatly benefited from the status quo that people like dr. califf and dr. woodcock have established at the f.d.a. in fact, dr. califf himself joined the board of directors for a pharmaceutical company immediately following his tenure as the f.d.a. -- at the f.d.a. he prospered financially in that position as thousands more died

of overdoses. due to the continued negligence of the f.d.a., more than 400,000 americans have died since dr. califf first served. among those americans was ms. cole from morgantown. her father graciously allowed me to share her story with all of you. lauren was the definition of the girl next door, a person who is approachable, dependable, and everyone saw her as their best friend. she was also a fierce competitor with a strong will to be the best. the little girl that became a competitive athlete was swimming at two, tumbling as three and skiing at age four. in college, she represented west virginia university at the national cheerleaders association collegiate cheer nationals two years in a row. everything lauren did looked effortless.

after completing her bachelor's degree in social work, she worked with foster care and recovering addicts while pursuing her master's degree in social work. she also a true helpers -- she had a true helpers heart. this life story sounds like a girl who had it all, a girl who was happy and content. she was beautiful, smart, funny, athletic, well-liked bier her friends and loved -- we will-liked by her friends and loved by her family. she appeared to not have a care in the world but she had been facing an epic battles since she was 18. one evening she experimented with opiates with her boyfriend and a few friends. lauren said once that she thought it was recreational, like marijuana. she was embarrassed and fought this disease alone for two years while maintaining good grades, excelling in sports and taking college courses while in high school. she kept this secret from her family, her teachers, her

coaches, and her friends. towards the end of her first semester of college, she had to swallow her pride and ask her parents for help. she sent her to a prestigious rehab center. they were willing to try every opportunity available to them. lauren it was in it for the long haul. she was constantly making good choices about her life. she was working on her master's degree in social work and knew that she could make a difference in the world. on july 5, 2020, after a ten-year battle with substance use disorder, lauren learned that her gym workout partner had tested positive for covid-19. this meant that lauren had to self-quarantine until she could be tested. she could not work, she could not go to the gym, she could not volunteer, and she could not even visit her family and

friends. she contacted her dad and asked him to find a covid test as soon as possible. unfortunately, there were none to be found until that thursday, july 9. her dad, michael, texted and called lauren all morning and midafternoon that day but could not reach her. she left work to go to her apartment to tell her that he had located covid tests. when he pulled into the parking lot, he found her slumped over in her car. he immediately called 911. he rushed over and pulled her out of the car. he tried to resuscitate her but it was too late. lauren had a slipup that took away her chance to live up to her full potential. it was a sunny afternoon when she died of a fentanyl poison something at the age of 26. fentanyl, which is another approved opiate under the f.d.a. she was alone in her car hiding

from the stigma of addiction. her ability to recover was stolen from her. approximately three weeks before she relapsed, she came home to talk to her dad. she said, dad, there are so many people suffering from addiction that need and want help, but they just don't have the resources or a family like mine to get it. do you think that when you retire, we can do something to help them? her parents took that wish to heart and have created lauren's wish, an organization working to establish long-term women's residential substance use disorder treatment facility in west virginia. lauren may no longer be with us, but her story will continue to inspire action and change in west virginia and across our nation. dr. califf's nomination is an insult to lauren's memory and to the millions of families who have lost a loved one at the hands of this epidemic, and i cannot for the life of me

understand why this administration is so committed to asking each of us in the senate to reconfirm a person who had the opportunity to make a difference but showed us who he really was. do not expect a different outcome if he is given another opportunity to lead the f.d.a. that won't happen. i will vote no on dr. califf's nomination, and i have never been more profoundly confident of a vote i'm going to capital than i am right now -- capital than i am right now. i strongly urge my colleagues to examine the devastation the opiate epidemic wreaked on your home state and your loved ones and those you know and those of your constituents and the lives that are lost and all the families that are left heartbroken and joined me in voting against koh h. dr. califf's -- against dr. coy live's confirmation and send the message to this administration,

to our president that we need a new direction at the f.d.a. we need people that want to protect you not people who allow drugs to destroy us. thank you, mr. president. -- thank you, madam president. and i yield the floor. .

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. i gather there is no quorum call, so i'll withhold that request. thank you. madam president, today -- i should say these days the united states is breaking all kinds of records, and all the wrong kinds. in 2021, illegal border crossings hit a new high with more than two million border encounters along our southern border, 1200 miles of which is the u.s. texas border with

mexico. other numbers, the worst inflation in the last 40 years, 7.5%, meaning that your paycheck is worth 7.5% less than it was before this inflation rocket took off. and then a number of major cities are experiencing their deadliest year as the murder rates have spiked. the combination of inflation, open borders, and rising crime rates is a dangerous combination. drug overdose deaths reached a grim new milestone as well. for the first time on record, more than 100,000 americans died of drug overdoses during a 12-month period. that's 100,000 families that lost their children, parents,

siblings, and loved ones to an entirely preventable cause. our country has been fighting the scourge of the opioid epidemic for years now. in 2018, we celebrated incremental progress as overdose deaths dropped 4%, dropped 4% from the previous year, the first decrease in three decades. unfortunately that trend did not last. overdose deaths increased in 2019, and they absolutely skyrocketed in 2020. we're still waiting for complete data for 2021, but it's not looking good. the isolation, the anxiety, the financial stresses of the pandemic have taken their toll on virtually every american. but our most vulnerable friends and neighbors are the ones who have been hit particularly hard. on top of the physical and

financial struggles of the pandemic, many individuals are battling substance use disorders and lost access to treatment centers and outreach facilities. there's never been a more important time for us to examine our response to the opioid epidemic and to take decisive action to stem the tide. last week the commission on combatting synthetic opioid trafficking released its report which analyzed the state of the synthetic opioid crisis and offered recommendations. the commission referred to illicit synthetic opioids as, and i quote, a slow motion weapon of mass destruction in pill form, close quote. that may sound a little dramatic until you consider how much death and destruction this crisis has created.

since the incidents incidents began collect -- since the centers for disease control began collecting overdose data in 1999, more than one million americans have died from drug overdoses. if you combine the number of servicemen who died in battles throughout our country's history, the number of overdose deaths would still be higher. we all know there's no silver bullet when it comes to addressing this crisis, but it's not a matter of diverting illicit drugs or stopping overprescription or breaking the cycle of addiction. it's all the of above. but one of the most important places to start is by addressing the flow of illegal drugs across our border, reducing the supply of drugs that eventually reach our streets is critical. as we've discussed the crisis at the border that's been going on

for, in its current form for a year now, i've talked about the cascading impact of the migration surge. customs and border protection deserves a lot of credit for their good work, but the agency plays a major role also not just in migration or intercepting illegal immigration, but also a major role in stopping illicit drugs. but when thousands of migrants flood our borders each and every day, their antidrug mission stumbles, because, frankly, the cartels know that if they flood the zone with so many migrants, that the border patrol has to manage those, it leaves open avenues, veritable avenues and express ways across the border into the united states to bring in illegal drugs.

if border patrol is changing diapers and passing out meals, as they've done throughout this humanitarian crisis, they can't be on the front lines combatting illegal drug smuggling. they can't interdict dangerous drugs or deter the cartels from moving their poison across our borders. one of the most effective ways to avoid overdose deaths is to prevent those drugs from entering the country in the first place. and customs and border protection is literally on the front lines of that fight. in recent years customs and border protection has seen an alarming amount of drugs coming across our border. one of the most concerning of which is fentanyl. fentanyl is a uniquely dangerous drug because it is so potent, it's so strong. depending on a person's body size, two milligrams can be lethal. a kilogram of fentanyl, 2.2

pounds, could kill 500,000 people. 2.2 pounds of fentanyl could kill a half a million people. a few years ago c.p.b. seized about 2800 pounds of fentanyl in a year. the next year it jumped to 4800 pounds, and the following year customs and border protection seized more than 11,200 pounds of fentanyl, enough to wipe out the entire u.s. population many times over. that's how potent it is. once it reaches the united states, this synthetic opioid, fentanyl, often makes its way into other substances such as a combination with methamphetamine and heroin, which too can also lead to deadly consequences. cities across america are experiencing waves of overdose deaths caused by counterfeit

opioids laced with fentanyl. in texas, authorities recently seized more than 100,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, a hull with a street value of more than $1 million. mexico, our neighbor to the south, is the principal source of illicit fentanyl, and unfortunately the biden administration has made it incredibly easy for the drug cartel to ply their trade. it is true that many of the precursors to make that fentanyl come from places like china, but ultimately it ends up ending in mexico and making its way into the united states. as the border crisis has grown to unprecedented proportions, it's become easier for fentanyl, heroin, and other illicit drugs to cross the border and reach communities throughout our country. there is a beyond urgent need

for the administration to address the border crisis, not just to stem illegal immigration, not just to stop criminals from preying on our country by mixing among economic migrants and making their way into the country. it's also about stopping the trade in illegal drugs that are literally killing men, women, and children in communities all across our country. until action is taken to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and get the border patrol back on the front lines, we're not going to make a lot of progress. we have to stop the drug cartels and criminal organizations in their tracks, and we can't do that if law enforcement officers are on diaper duty. we need a comprehensive approach to address this crisis and address additional support for those who are already struggling with addiction. last year the senate passed a

bipartisan bill that i introduced with senator whitehouse, the senator from rhode island, called the residential substance abuse and disorder treatment act, in order to help incarcerated individuals break the cycle of addiction and transition safely and productively back into society. this legislation updates the residential substance abuse treatment program and expands access to treatment in jails and prisons across the country. the program already provides incarcerated individuals with access to treatment for substance use disorders. that treatment is coupled with programs to prepare them for reentry and provide community-based treatment once they are released. the changes included in this current legislation will give incarcerated men and women the best possible shot at living healthier and more productive lives once they are released. i'm sure it's no surprise that this bill has strong support

both here in the senate and among outside organizations that do a lot of good work in this area. more than two dozen organizations have endorsed this bill, including those in law enforcement, criminal justice and behavioral health. the bill passed the senate with unanimous support last year, but is still lingering on the house calendar. it's unclear when or if speaker pelosi and house democrats will allow this bill to pass so we can invest crucial resources in the fight against drug abuse. there are a number of challenges that we face that transcend politics here in congress and inside the beltway, and this definitely is one of them. finding the opioid epidemic is a cause everyone in this chamber should get behind because each of our states and indeed the entire country has been impacted. families across my state and the

rest of the 49 states have lost children, parents, siblings, and friends to the opioid epidemic. in 2020 alone, we lost more than 4,000 of my fellow texans to drug overdose. unless we take action to thwart the slow-motion weapon of mass destruction, our communities will face even more suffering and more deaths. i'm tired of the pain and suffering the opioid epidemic has inflicted on families across the country. i'm angry, i'm fed up, and i believe we need a call to action because there is an urgent need to address drug addiction in america. i'm committed to being part of the solution, and i would hope every member of congress in the house and the senate, republicans and democrats alike, would join us in becoming part of the solution. madam president, i yield the

floor and i'd 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 senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i've come to the

senate floor many times over the last several years to discuss an aspect of higher education which few people even know exists. the so-called for-profit colleges. this disgraceful industry enrolls 8% of all postsecondary students in america. 8%. and yet accounts for 0 p 30% of all -- 30% of all federal student loan defaults. those two numbers tell the story. for-profit colleges get 8% of the students and are responsible for 30% of the student loan defaults. why? for obvious reasons -- they're too expensive. they charge higher tuition than community colleges or even many private colleges. secondly, the students don't end up finishing, because they get

mired in debt. third, if they end up with a degree, it turns out to be virtually worthless. when i think of the cases that we have looked into in illinois, in chicago, of the exploitation of well-meaning students, sometimes the first in their families to go to college, who are lured in by the siren song of the marketing of for-profit colleges, sign all the papers, turn over all their pell grants, then sign up for federal student loans and other private loans and have disastrous experience, where they can't even finish they're so deeply in debt, or if they finish they find their degree was worthless. how many of those young people i remember coming to me and saying, well, i was majoring in law enforcement, and i was given this degree from one of the local for-profit colleges to go

into law firm. you know what, senator? they loved at me when they saw the name of the school. they said, that's not a real school. this isn't a real degree. well, senator, they tell me, it's a real debt. and that's the reality of these for-profit colleges. i called for greater oversight of this industry as they exploit these students and their families. we've called out some of the most vicious, predatory players in the industry, like corinthian, university of phoenix, devry, i.t.t. tech and westwood, institutions more likely to lead students into a lifetime of debt, rather than a lifetime of opportunity. now, just imagine, if you will, that one of the leading architects of this fraudulent industry was chosen to be one of its watchdogs by the federal government. well, that's the situation we

have today. dr. arthur kaiser, who embodies the worst of the for-profit industry, is the chairman of the board of for-profit southeastern college. he's also chancellor and c.e.o. of kaiser university, a so-called non-profit university that he converted from for-profit status in the year 2011. this so-called conversion to not for profit is misleading. the overlap between southeastern college and kaiser university is well established. for example, multiple executives at kaiser university are also executives at southeastern. an i.r.s. filing showed that executives at kaiser university, a supposedly nonprofit school, are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

yen when you hear the term not for profit, you think of a charitable institution, people just barely making enough to get by, service to principles and values? well, mr. kaiser and his gang have turned that upside down. hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, a hefty salary for part-time employees working for a nonprofit college. arthur kaiser is also notorious, the so-called federal watchdog, notorious for shady dealings. i'm not making this up for going to a source of fake news for it. these were detailed in a g.a.o. report last year. for example, in the year after kaiser university was converted into a not-for-profit college, not-for-profit, the school paid out more than $34 million to members of mr. kaiser's family

winning. $34 million? that's right. to arthur kaiser's family. not bad for a not-for-profit venture. arthur kaiser's financial misdeeds are so grave, so serious that his own mother has filed a lawsuit against him over shifty financial handlings of the colleges that they cofounded. this would be a dramatic situation comedy were it not for the victims, the students. rather than being chastised by this g.a.o. report, lawsuit by his mom, mr. kaiser's now seeking to dramatically extend his influence within the for-profit college industry. how exactly is he planning to do this? well, lucky for arthur, the power is already in his hands. today, arthur kaiser serves as chair of the national advisory

committee on institutional quality and integrity. also known as aciqi. i'd never heard of it. but those in the industry know it quite well. naciqi is the federal advisory board that approves the accreditors who act as gatekeepers for federal student dollars. in order to offer a federal student loan, the department of education lass to first establish -- has to first establish that you're a real school. i mean, a real school with real teachers and classrooms or some other means of teaching students. and that your degree is being presented to you in its real terms, whether it's really going to help you in life. this naciqi is the watchdog of all federal watchdogs when it comes to for-profits. guess who's the chair -- arthur kaiser. as chair of naciqi arthur kaiser poses a systematic threat to student borrowers across

america. his chairmanship is a major conflict of interest in naciqi's vital role of maintaining federal student aid. for-profits are already one of the most heavily subsidized sectors in america. i took a look what these companies, these for-profit colleges were taking out of the federal treasury. they put some of the worst federal contractors to shame. of course, they often leave students saddled with debts they'll never be able to pay, for worthless degrees. naturally, you may wonder how did these for-profits spend all of the federal dollars sent their way. well, this is what it's all about. they spend millions on advertising their worthless degrees to underprivileged students. there was a ad running out here a couple of years ago, one of my favorites from the for-profits. showed this young lady, couldn't have been more than 19 years of age, she was lounging on a bedroom in her bedroom with her

laptop on the bed next to her, talking about how she was going to college in her pajamas. i'm not making this up. they spend millions of dollars just like that advertising to young people who may not know any better that you have to put in a real effort to get an education. it pays off, but it doesn't come to you sitting in your pajamas. instead of reformerring the for-profit advertising model, arthur kaiser is expanding it. he has it in the so-called nonprofit college space. in 2017, kaiser university, aptly named after himself, which dr. kaiser claims is nonprofit, he has wracked up the largest bill. they spent nearly one-fifth of after their entirely budget on ads and marketing. more than $82 million.

we found that some of the colleges that have been investigated in the past were spending more money on advertising than they were on faculty salaries and it showed. for the sake of comparison, other nonprofit colleges, real nonprofit colleges will spend 1% to 6% on marketing. dr. kaiser, if he is a real doctor, they spent 60%. doctor kaiser's for-profit school, there was a report to the i.r. .is that 87% of its annual revenue came from student aid, that is close to the cap imposed by the 90-10 rule. what does this mean in the big picture. this is just a conduit. follow the pros, the student sits -- process, the student sits in the admission office and the admission office says we're ready to launch. we're ready to put you in the

courses. all you have to do is sign this. here's the contract, the contract where you're going to seek federal student aid. the student signs it, got my pell grant, got my federal student aid and it is going to the for-profit, what happens? the school gets the cash. the school turns around, dr. kaiser turns around and has a big distribution party and they find out they still have a debt to pay. unless some action is taken by the department of education and release that's student from the debt, it is going to be a debt he carries for years. does dr. kaiser and his gang care? they've got their money. they've distributed it among their family members. they have questioned his conduct at naciqi at the expense of students and taxpayers.

this is a real fox in the chicken coop. naciqi wrongfully peenlized the -- penalized the too fraudulent for-profits. dr. kaiser was forced to recuse himself from career schools and colleges. what exactly did they have to recuse themselves? because this organization accredited his college so he was putting the pressure on him -- on that entity. and in dr. kaiser's absence, the other naciqi members sought student outcomes to see if they would continue as an accredit iter, when he returned, he chastised the same members for having the gall to chastise the needs of students. even when he was forced to recuse himself, dr. kaiser found

a way to advance his own interests. i'm going to leave a letter with sherrod brown, requesting the -- that they investigate dr. kaiser and his conflicts of interest. we are not alone in raising these concerns about dr. arthur kaiser. the house, labor commission raised the issue of kaiser's manipulation conversion. time and again arthur kaiser has put his personal priorities over the needs of students and taxpayers he's supposed to serve. his conflicts of interest have become abundantly clear and now it's time for the department of education to put an end to this party. last month the secretary cardona announced holding post secondary institutions accountable.

right now the d.o.e., has an opportunity to uphold that priority by bringing arthur kaiser's nefarious conduct to an end. we'll be watching. on behalf of those students and families and behalf of the colleges and universities that do a good job, we've got to put an end to this rip-off. madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. i'm sorry. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: will the senator withdraw his request? mr. durbin: i withdraw that request. the presiding officer: thank you the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: last week most appeared to be shocked from a cnn poll that most tennesseans knew for a while. and that is that joe biden and his agenda with the biden

administration is truly upside down with the american people. here's what we found out 58% of the american people disapprove of the way he's handling his job as president. that alone is really an indictment on what they've been putting forward, but it gets a little bit worse. 62% disapprove of how he has mishandled the economy. 57% think his approach to fighting crime is not working. they believe that because they are seeing it in their streets, in their hometowns. 55% don't like how he's responding to xi jinping and how he's handling putin and i'm sure that number will go up before the next poll goes out. these numbers are brutal, but

here's the cherry on top. 57% believe biden's first year in office has been a total failure and when asked whether or not joe biden's government represents the views of people like themselves, 68% of the people polled said no. joe biden and his administration do not represent my views. it is pretty simple. the american people are not buying what joe biden and this administration are selling and the people in the white house seem to put their hands up and they just cannot figure this out. they can't understand why the people won't just shut up and do what they are told. here's the secret. it's because when the people look at washington, when tennesseans look at washington and they look at who is in

charge of our government -- and democrats have control of the house, the senate, the white house -- all they see is an empty suit with an agenda. there's no vision but there's agenda. they've got a to-do list. they've got a list of boxes need to check off. we've killed the keystone pipeline, we put mandates in place, we've got people in masks, we've got people in lockdowns, they are going to lose their jobs if they don't go get a job. they've got an agenda about all of this bluster for fundamentally transforming our lives, all joe biden has managed to do is to alienate his fellow countrymen. now his allies are trying to turn the tide by revamping their talking points. but here's the problem.

it won't work because this administration, the biden administration, does not have a messaging problem. their problem is their agenda that they have that is lackluster with no vision. but the american people are paying attention to this. and you know what they are seeing? i have to tell you, madam president, it really frightens them. it frightens them. it doesn't matter if i go to one of the grandkids' ball games, go to church, go to the grocery store, run some errands, i am hearing from people, what they see happening, the cramdown, the control, it frightens them and there's no distracting them from the fact that the president is weaponizing this liberal wish list against what they have as the vision for their future, for

their children, for their family. for the past year tennesseans have watched biden dodge, weave, and ignore what the people are telling him -- the people are telling him. democrats in washington have treated their political rivals like enemies and accused them of racism and treachery all for the crime of drawing a line in the sand and saying no. it's amazing. i wish some of my colleagues did want to stand up for freedom. the people deserve better than that, and i'll tell you what they know it. no talking point is going to convince them to tolerate the intolerable from their government. and, yes, inflation, mandates, lockdowns, the open border, crime in the street, the debacle

of afghanistan, problems with russia, the situation with russia, ukraine, china, iran. the list grows every single day. every single day. it is the wrong -- it is the wrong agenda. as it said, it lacks vision. at the beginning of thee remarks -- these remarks, i said that the liberals pretended to be shocked by biden's terrible poll numbers and i stand by that statement because the truth is the white house, my democratic colleagues and their allies in the media know that they are kind of circling the drain when it comes to what they are pushing forward on the people. but for some reason they think that just one more power grab is going to do the trick.

it will be the magic bullet. madam president, that is certainly a tactic, but it also will fail because the people know that it is the people of this country that have built this country, and it is built on a foundation that treasures faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity. and if you've got an agenda and a checklist and a to-do list, but you have no vision for a better future, the american people will not buy what you are selling.

now on center business, last week, the house passed with overwhelming bipartisan support a believe the majority from each party, the most important to the u.s. postal service, in decadesf also bill's definition of legislation it that fell through the congress in both sides supported it and in a diligent work by both democrats and republicans with major input from both parties and everyone

knows we need it in the american people strongly support the action and butter postal service unsustainable footing it in our us their very best everything will date and they are on the job they deserve no less and return it and so many people on the mail and you could be a veteran because the va since the prescriptions through the mail and about social security recipient as i understand it, they do not have the internet and depend on the mail and small businesses depend on the mail. in rural areas depend on the mail and just about everybody does and people do not want snail mail, no fault of the workers at the post office that postal deliveries slow, they don't have the resources they needed because they have a crazy type of system of how to calculate the pensions and healthcare. so we have to change all of this

and even waiting a long long time, and later today i'm going to move, senate approved a few technical fixes to the bill and so we move closer the final passage in the house maybe fixes on there and through unanimous consent last week another democrat nor a republican nobody blocked and anyone could, and we want to do the same here in the senate and i hope my republican colleagues will give consent to allow these necessary fixes to go through. just as it happened in the house as i said, members from both sides worked very hard to put this bill together. command strong bipartisan support and we should move forward as soon as we can. i postal and bipartisan postal reform has enough support to become law and i hope it happens quickly and so let me just say this once again so the people understand what is going on here. we are asking for, is to fix a

small clerical error made by the house of representatives when they send their bill to the senate and has nothing to do with the substance of the bill and as i mentioned, this fix, the small little for material change that is technical, received unanimous consent every democrat in every republican, in the house and so let's have the same outcome here in the senate tonight and let's move forward on this proposal. >> 5:45 p.m. today without objection. >> thank you and i yield back. >> on february 1942, and that will be 80 years ago this coming up saturday, roosevelt issued 9066 executive order authorizing the racist, mass incarceration and potentially all japanese

americans and the united states at the time. indefensible move, one that resulted in walking up about 120,000 decent hard-working innocent people. based on nothing other than the race. unconstitutional imprisonment of the japanese americans. writing for the majority, in a case koramatsu v. the united states, associate justice hugo black, a justice with a history of bictry, uncorchbly glossed over the countless violations built into the race-based internment of innocent american citizens, who the court acknowledged, quote, were loyal to this country, overwhelmingly. based on the fact that, quote,

there was evidence of disloyalty on the part of some japanese americans and military authorities considered that the need for action was great. there a moment one might expect from someone like justice black, who had a history of bigotry, he cavalierly dismissed the blatant racism inherent in this action, reasoning that, quote, to cast this case into outlines of racial prejudice without reference to the real military dangers which were presented merely confuses the issue. tragically, justice black, blinded perhaps by his own intolerance and bigotry, or perhaps by his loyalty to the president who had appointed him just a few years earlier, missed the obvious point. racial prejudice was the issue. that was the whole point. i agree with the characterization later provided

by now chief justice roberts, who just a few years ago in 2018, when noted that quote koramatsu was wrong from the day it was decided and has been overruled in the court of history, and to be clear has no place in the law under the constitution, closed quote. no person should ever be in prison solely due to their race. shouldn't be even a factor in anyone's imprisonment, certainly not in the united states of america. japanese internment is one of the very worst examples, one of the very worst examples of our government rejecting its founding principles. it's something that should be remembered so that it can never be repeated. despite this mistreatment by government, japanese americans served faithfully in many capacities during world war ii and have continued to serve our nation and their communities in

irreplaceable ways. their contributions are worth remembrance and celebration. regrettably, the united states has failed to meet other admittedly far less fundamental obligations that it's made to individuals and to states. one of those obligations is relevant here. ironically, arising in the context of an effort to honor victims of japanese internment. similar promises had been made to most states that were admitted into the union ever since the louisiana purchase, but for the fact that congress honored such promises with respect to a lot of these states including states like illinois and missouri, the federal government would still to this

day own around 90% of those states. the same could be said of many, many others. although utah received such assurances from congress prior to its admission into the union in 1896 using essentially identical language, utah is still waiting for the federal government to honor its end of the bargain. however, unlike states like illinois and missouri, which received the benefit of the federal bargain, utah did not. the federal government still owns more than two-thirds of all the land in my state, resulting in an extraordinary amount of economic and educational consequences that hurt utahans, particularly those utahans in poor and rural communities. in fact, they're a blatant insult to people whose families settled and developed much of the west. the government continues to

restrict much of the mining and grazing on land it had promised to relinquish. rural farms, industries, and communities are shrinking and dying because of this continually broken promise. to add insult to injury, the fed has routinely failed to care for the land in their portfolio. the maintenance backlog is yearslong and $12 billion in the hole. the federal bureau of land management controls from washington, d.c., with little interest or regard for the people whose livelihoods and way of life depend on that land. this relationship remains a vexing problem for everyday life in utah. businesses are shuttered because the federal government capriciously halts mineral extraction authority. ranches go bankrupt because the bureau of land management ends grazing rights in areas where

families have raised cattle for generations. and then just last week federal land managers damaged an exquisite collection of dinosaur fossils and would have continued doing so but for the intervention of a noble citizen named jeremy roberts who was willing to call them out on it. at a time when the federal government already owns far more land than it can manage, congress should be really cautious about decreasing federal land holdings. it should be going out of the way to decrease its federal land holdings and doing that rather than increasing them. recognition of sites like the amachi champ deserve better than federal -- camp deserve better than federal management. if they want it to be under the national parks jurisdiction rather than subject to local control, then i'm not inclined to argument with them.

what i would like to ask is that this land not continue to be acquired by the federal government with no plan in sight for dealing with the size of the federal footprint. it's the size of the overall federal land estate that worries me because the federal government has not proven a good steward of what it's got. so if we keep adding to that, it's only going to perpetuate some of these problems. now, i have been wrongfully portrayed by some in the media as being somehow against this historical recognition and against commemorating as a warning to future generations and to honor the victims of the past one of this nation's and it's government's most tragic missteps. i think continue to negotiate in good faith to find a way forward on this bill. i have been in consultation with the lead sponsor in the house,

and i think there are ways that we can address this, to address both goals at issue. i think we need to be able to commemorate these events, but we also need to do so in a way that won't lead to the unfettered explanation of the federal land footprint. so, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 255, h.r. 2497. i further ask that it the lee amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. bennet: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: madam president, reserving the right to object, i strongly disagree with senator lee's proposal amending the -- what has been agreed to, not agreed to but what has gotten

every single member of the senate but for one. i want to also say, madam president, that i was on the floor about ten days ago, i think, on the subject of this, and i want, through the chair, for the senator to utah to know i didn't even mention who had objected while i was here. but it was one out of 100 senators. this bill passed the house of representatives with all but two votes. it passed with every single vote from the colorado delegation, and we have the gamut of people, you know, in from colorado. the bill is strongly supported by my friend, ken buck, who i ran against in 2010. and if ken were here, he'd say, there's very little upon which we agree to. i hope there's more than he thinks we agree on. but we definitely agree on this. but let me just explain, madam president, why we wrote this

bill in five days, as the senator has said, we're going to mark the anniversary of executive order 9066, which began the forced internment of japanese americans during world war ii. two-thirds of them were citizens of this country, american citizens forced out of their homes into camps by our own government, by their own government. one of those camps was amache in the eastern plains -- on the eastern plains of colorado where the federal government detained nearly 10,000 japanese americans against their will. most of them had less than a week -- madam president, most of them had less than a week to get rid of virtually everything they owned and crowd onto buses and trains with no idea where they were going or what was going to

happen to them. some of the first arrivals at amache were kids younger than the pages that are on the floor here today. with us, who were forced to build the camp where their own families were entered during the -- were interred during the duration of the war. the conditions were horrible. snow blew in during the winter, dust blew in during the summer. this is what our government did to our fellow americans. to children forced to work in the fields to grow their own food in the jail that the united states of america had committed them to. and what's even more remarkable is that despite this treatment, one out of ten of the people at amache still volunteered to serve during the war. a higher rate than any other

camp in america. think about that. they were willing to defend the very government that was detaining them, that had locked up their children. that's how much they believed in america, even when america turned our back on them. and i had the opportunity to visit amache a few years ago with john hopper, a high school principal in grenada who worked with his students to create the amache preservation society. they have been taking care of this site themselves all of these years, collecting items from all over the world that former prisoners have sent back because they want people to remember, they want a memorial to their captivity. and year after year these high school students and their teacher have worked to restore the sight so that the next -- the site so that the next generation of coloradans could learn about what happened. if it were up to me, madam president, every student in

colorado and throughout the american west would go there, throughout our entire country, and learn about the americans of amache, the men and women who were held under hope year after year, who supported one another, who forged a community behind the barbed wires of this site, who never gave up on the united states of americas, even as it was interning them on their own soil. and after i visited the site, i introduced a bill with senator hickenlooper to make amache part of the national park system so it would have the resources and recognition it deserves for years to come. we have to get this done, madam president. because the survivors of amache are growing fewer and fewer in number each year. we have to keep the memory of what they went through alive for the next generations. that's what colorado wants, madam president. i have a list of over 70 groups that support it, from the asian

chamber of commerce to the colorado council of churches to the town of grenada, who owns the site today. so, madam president, i ask unanimous consent to enter this list into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. this bill wasn't controversial in colorado. and it wasn't controversial in the house, where republican congressman ken buck, whose district this is, took up the bill with joe neguse, the neighboring congressman. amache is in ken's district. the bill passed the house 416, i think it was, to two. and it wasn't controversial in the senate energy and natural resources committee, where it passed with bipartisan support from the chamber and ranking member. that's why i came here two weeks ago to pass the bill by unanimous consent. but now there's been an objection. and i should mention, by the way that this site is less than one

square mile. it is a tiny, tiny fraction of even the county that we're in. and it seems to me that we shouldn't -- if we believe in federalism at all, we shouldn't be blocking colorado's right to preserve less than one square mile the way we see fit. that we shouldn't have to reduce the public lands of the united states by an equal amount. and i'll say in that connection, madam president, that i formally object to the senator from utah's motion for this reason -- the land here is owned by grenada. it's already public land. the town has said it wants to donate it to the national park service. i have a letter from the town making this intention perfectly clear. so it's not even private land that's becoming public. it's public land transitioning from a local government to the federal government at the request of the community. and they're not asking for

anything in return. and i think that's an important point that the senator from utah has raised, and we've worked with the town to show that they're not asking for an exchange. they want to donate the land as their patriotic contribution to america to protect this part of our history. and i would think all of us here should agree that unless it's hurting somebody else, a town can do whatever it likes with its own land, just like a private landowner can do with their own land. i also -- let me stop there, madam president, and see whether the senator from utah has any reaction to that. i will formally object to his motion, and i'll stop there and i have other things to say. but i hope that maybe we can get to an agreement based on what i would offer. so i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. lee: madam president? the presiding officer: 0 the

senator from utah. mr. lee: a couple points. i don't think we're far off in where we are on this. it is true that it's not an expansive land that is as big as some other land transfers we see, one square mile. on the one hand, a lot of people would regard that as large, 640 acres, the equivalent of one square mile. i wouldn't call it a federalism argument that we have to allow this. there are federal implications to this that extend far beyond what a local unit of government might want to do. what happens is when you transfer it into the federal estate, we do incur additional obligations to make sure that that land is maintained and managed appropriately. it does cost money and it takes an expense off the books of those who would otherwise be

maintaining it. it's not without any consequence at all, nor is it a matter of simple operation of federalism to say that we should allow this in this circumstance. i would note moreover that we've come closer on this, the amendment that i offered a moment ago that my friend and colleague, the senator from colorado, objected to, is one that would allow this to happen but would require an offset to be made by the appropriate federal land managers within one year of the transfer of this land. there's nothing about that that strikes me as particularly unobjectionable, particularly given the fact that the federal government owns and manages about 30% of the land mass of the united states, in my state and in colorado it's much more than that. but there's nothing about that that should be particularly objectionable. that said, the senator from colorado has changed this

legislation in a meaningful way. because i've got a desire to honor those victims of this horrific event in american history, and the senator from colorado has offered up a separate solution, one that would involve donation rather than acquisition by the federal government, and although that also raises some concerns in that over time i think we've got to watch this because the more we enhance the federal land footprint, the more difficult it will be for the federal government to keep up with the maintenance backlog. but given that this doesn't directly impact concerns quite the way those same concerns might be implicated if we were having to purchase it at the outset, i'd be inclined, if my friend from colorado were interested in offering that amendment, to withhold any

objection from that while noting that it's my hope and expectation that moving forward we can be more aware of these issues and that as we see the federal land footprint increasing, we can take steps as a body to make sure that there's some gnarl -- natural stopping point even before we turn to what i believe we have to turn to which is the commitment made at statehood that still needs to be honored. mr. bennet: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i thank through the chair, through the president, the senator from utah. and i think, let me start, madam president, by saying that i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 255, h.r. 2497. further i ask the bennet

amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered, read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: this is all happening on the fly right now, so i'm actually going to withdraw that in the spirit of what senator lee has said. hopefully we can do this later today. we need to make sure that everybody has the benefit of seeing the language, and then we'll be back later to do this. i thank the senator from utah, and i will spare him the rest of my speech except i think he deserves to hear this, and i think everybody here deserves to hear this, which is when the committee took this legislation up this fall, here's what the survivors from amache wrote to the committee, and i want to

put their words into the record before i withdraw. during world war ii -- their words -- during world war ii we were forced to live as prisoners in our own country along with our parents, we were forced from our homes, tagged like animals and sent to the desolate prairie of southeast colorado, where we lived in trauma, a constant presence of armed guards, barbed wire and suffering too large to describe in one correspondence. our families suffered loss of jobs, homes, property, and businesses, and many of us lost family members. many of our parents went to their graves without even an apology from their country. our nation still has a long way to go to learn from this mistake, and our community both old and young continues to suffer from anti-asian hate crimes increasing to this day. our national parks and the stories they honor reflect our

values as a nation, adding amache to the national park system would allow us to protect a unique story that has largely been forgotten and can only be told through the power of place. with each year that passes, there are fewer of us. we are counting on you to see us through. and because of the discussion we've had tonight, we're going to have the chance later to be able to do that. i thank my friend from utah and i thank the presiding officer. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent --. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: -- that the cloture vote occur ... mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent, madam president, that after senator scott speaks and blocks the proposal, that i speak, senator peters speaks,

and then senator murray speaks on the califf nomination, and then we move forward on our unanimous consent requests, on the cloture vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate agree to the request of the house to return the papers with respect to h.r. 3076 and that when the senate receives from the house the correct engrossment of the bill it be in the same procedural posture as it was at the time of granting this request. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: reserving the right to object. let me first say that i care deeply about fixing the problems with the united states postal service. the postal service provides an essential service and touches the lives of nearly every american. the postal service also consumes billions in taxpayer and consumer money every year. it has to be accountable to taxpayers and consumers not only in how effectively it delivers but how it spends the dollars it receives. so i absolutely support getting

something done to reform the postal service ensures more accountable to taxpayers and consumers. i also support provisions of this bill like it's focused on enhanced services for rural communities which will benefit many families across my great state. i like the fact that it maintains the six-day mail deliver schedule. unfortunately there are pieces of this bill that blocks the opportunity for us to achieve our shared goal of responsibly reforming the postal service. what i'm asking for here is not unreasonable. i want the senate to have the opportunity to work on this and improve it and deliver a bill that works. the committee on homeland security and government affairs has jurisdiction over the postal service. i'm actually very proud to serve on this committee. unfortunately the committee has not held one hearing or member meeting on the bill, nor has the bill been considered at a markup. madam president, we aren't here just concerning a simple resolution. this is a massive multibillion-dollar bill that has huge impacts on medicare

recipients and the democratic majority skipped the committee process and rushed the bill to the floor. despite the process a few details need to be highlighted. this bill does not fix the underlying issues with the postal service nor does it make it profitable. i don't understand why the postal service loses money and cannot be profitable. i don't think many americans understand why. madam president, america is more than $30 trillion in debt. we can't afford to add more stress on our already enormous national debt with poor financial planning which i think this bill absolutely does. in fact, this bill simply shifts risk to medicare recipients by adding billions in new costs to medicare. i'm not sure why the democrats are so eager to threaten the viability of medicare or the benefits for medicare recipients. democrats triggered billions of medicare funding cuts in 2021 in florida and other states in their wasteful covid bill. now they are putting more stress on medicare and recipients by shifting billions of new costs

into the program. ing according to the congressional budget office, between just 2025 and 2031 this bill would increase costs to medicare by more than $1.9 billion for part b and $4.2 billion for part d. this will hurt recipients. that score is based on the number of future budget years covid in the c.b.o.'s review. we must have a -- that's why i sent the c.e.o. a letter. over 60 million americans, including 4.5 million seniors in florida rely on medicare, it's unconscionable to add more expenses to them and put the future of postal workers on the line. the retirement health benefits are partially funded. this provides no new funding for the postal workers. it doesn't solve the problem. i heard my democratic colleagues

say that it will address the massive supply chain. i'm shocked that they are willing to unfairly stick our postal workers with the blame of the biden administration that have created the supply chain problems. this bill does nothing to address the supply chain problem. i know the hardworking men and women of the postal service, my colleagues insist they are, that is even more reason to make sure that this bill is heard in committee and make sure that we can come up with a sustainable solution. there is no looming deadline that this should be rushed by the senate. this bill perfectly captures everything that is wrong with the way that washington solves problems. instead of taking the time to craft a sustainable for medicare recipients and achieves our policy goals, congress rushes bills into law so that politicians can send out a press

release saying that we did something even if it makes the problem worse. we have to stop this insanity. given the scope of the legislation, the potential negative impact to postal workers, taxpayers, consumers, medicare recipients and seniors, the senate should carefully and thoughtfully consider this bill. we should take all the appropriate steps to make sure that we get this right. the senate has not afford the opportunity to do that therefore i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the majority leader. mr. schumer: what we heard is why people really are frustrated, angered at the united states senate, a broad bipartisan bill, months and months in the making with large amounts of discussion has the support of democrat -- of the democratic chair of the committee, the republican chair of the committee, was voted in the house with a majority of democrats and a majority of republicans and would finally fix the post office.

i hope my colleague from florida has ever heard his colleagues in florida, his constituents about snail mail, prescription drugs coming late, social security economics coming late, birthday cards coming weeks after the birthday occurred and finally both parties coming together in both the house and the senate to pass this legislation and the senator from florida's using a technical detail to hold us up. it's the same bill that was on the floor thursday where we had agreement to move to vote on it tonight, but the house sent us a bill with a technical -- technical change and five times in the past this has happened and each time no senator had -- had -- had the temerity to get up and block it on a technical issue and it just past on u.c. and we moved ahead and went

forward. our constituents want us to fix the post office, a majority of democrats an republicans want us to -- and republicans want us to fix the post office. my colleague from florida says he's defending the post office. i dare say it's the head of the postal workers more than the senator from florida and they are overwhelmingly for the bill. as is the postmaster an appointee of president trump. so everyone tries to come together and get something done and the arcane rules of the senate allow one person to stand up on a bill that's been out there and discussed repeatedly at the last minute and raise objections. it's regrettable and it's sad. there's good news, though. even though this will delay the bill, we will pass it. we will have to just go through this elaborate process the

old-fashioned and often discredited rules of the senate that the senator from florida's employing. we'll have to use them, but we will pass this bill because america needs it. rural people need it, senior citizen need it, veterans need it. 80% of the veterans' prescriptions are sent through the mail. no one should stand in the way of this bill. it's a shame that one member has. i yield the floor to senator peters. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. peter peter madam president, i stand in support of this bill. this bill is absolutely essential to make sure that the postal service is on sound financial ground. americans rely on the postal service that they rely on. they expect to have service to provide it six days aweek and to do it on time but unfortunately

the postal service has been saddled with rules. the legislation before us is to fix those rules that make it more difficult for the postal service to do those essential services and do it in a cost-effective way. it has been discussed in congress a decade or more. this is not an issue that just came out of nowhere. this is a situation we have tried to fix over a decade. over the last year and a half we have worked on bipartisan, bicameral legislation, bringing people together and saying let's focus on something that is common sense. what is common sense. right now the postal service has to -- no other company in america needs to do that. no other federal agency in the government does that. no one does it but the postal service is saddled with this requirement which is tens of billions of dollars. it's common sense to treat the postal service like every other

business and every other government agency in federal government. also, it makes sense to have a retirees integrated into medicare like every single company in america. it will be integrated into medicare and let's be clear, those postal workers have been paying into medicare their whole working career. they are paying into medicare. they should have the ability to actually get medicare. this will also help the postal service to be able to function in an efficient and effective way. the bipartisan, bicameral work that we did, i worked with my ranking member, senator portman, we've been working with our counterparts in the house, both the democratic chair and the ranking member republican, came up with a bill. the bill i introduced in the senate which is basically the bill that is before us from the house has 28 cosponsors, 14 republicans, 14 democrats. how many bills do we have here

on the floor that have that much support from both sides? this is bipartisan, this is is common sense, it addresses a critical issue for the american people and they want us to come together and solve it. but instead we have a procedural blocking technique to slow this down and every day we wait, it puts the postal service in more jeopardy. it's time for action now. as the leader mentioned, since 2000, there have been similar kinds of mistakes by the transfer of a bill, five times -- five times in 20 years. and every time it's been settled quickly because people say it's just a mistake, let's move on with the business of the people. let's not play games. i would hope we could do that now. five times it went quickly. in fact, three of those times the bills that came over had less bipartisan support than this bill. this bill had 120 republicans support it in the house. it is time to move this forward. let's stop playing games.

let's help the postal service, let's help the american people and let's show the united states senate knows how to get a job job -- knows how to get a job done. mr. schumer: the senator from michigan speaks for many in this chamber and in the house. i ask unanimous consent that the senate lay before the body a message from the house with respect to h.r. 3776 and the senate address with it without intervening action or debate. the senator from florida. mr. scott: neither of my colleagues addressed the fact that this is -- why didn't this go to committee? why wouldn't we go through a process with this massive billion-dollar bill. why didn't it go to committee. by the way, they talk about a technicallerror. i was -- error. i was here when my colleague from florida had a technical change, the number was wrong and

my democratic colleagues blocked the amendment. so this is not unheard of. on top of that, they never addressed the fact that this puts our medicare recipients and medicare program at further risk because it's a program not fully funded and this does nothing to fix it. and on top of that with the retiree program in the postal service, this doesn't do anything to improve their funding. i'm not going to object but let's make sure we clear up the facts here. mrs. murray: madam president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: he objected to the first part. the presiding officer: without objection, the request is agreed to. mrs. murray: madam president. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the message from the house. the clerk: order that the clerk be directed to request the senate to return to the house of representatives, the bill h.r. 3076, entitled an act to provide stability and to enhance the services of the united states postal service, and for

other purposes. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the request of the house to return the papers. all in favor say aye. opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. yid yid. the request is -- the ayes do have it. the request is agreed to. the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. i come to the floor tonight to vote in a minute to confirm dr. robert califf. he was confirmed previously with strong bipartisan support. i hope to see that again this evening at this critical moment we need a trusted hand to lead the f.d.a. and dr. califf's previous service in this role, his career as one of the nation's leading research scientists given the experience to take on this challenge. families across the country count on the food and drug administration every day to follow the science and the data and keep them safe.

and covid-19 has put its work in the spotlight like never before. this pandemic has been incredibly hard on our nation. it has killed over 900,000 americans and throughout this crisis, as people have sought to keep their families safe, they have looked to the f.d.a. and depended on the tireless work of f.d.a. scientists to confirm the safety and effectiveness of treatments in vaccines and ensure we have high-quality masks, review tests to make sure we give us accurate results and more. and parents across the country are continuing to wait anxiously for the f.d.a. to green-light safe and effective vaccines for kids under 5. while the covid-19 pandemic remains one of the most urgent challenges we face, there are countless other ways the f.d.a. works that matters to family. every day people put the well-being of themselves, their families, and even their pets in f.d.a.'s hands.

when we sit down for a meal, we count on f.d.a.'s efforts to ensure the safety of our food supply and provide us with the information we need to make healthy choices. when we get our prescriptions filled or rely on medical devices to stay healthy, we count on the f.d.a.'s work to uphold the gold standard of safety and effectiveness. the f.d.a. needs strong leadership to continue that work and you and other challenges, like the opioid crisis that claimed over 100,000 lives in a year, that is a new record, challenges like youth tobacco use. according to the c.d.c., two million of our youth use e-cigarettes, anti-my kroabl resistance, challenges like sky-rocketing drug costs and pharmaceutical kpts to who keep

more affordable drugs off the market. i repeatedly raised the need for the f.d.a. to improve diversity in clinical trials because when women or people of color -- the presiding officer: the senator will suspend. the senate will come to order. mrs. murray: this undermines people's health by delaying information they and their health providers need how a treatment will protect them specifically. for example, whether it's safe during pregnancy and to identify the safety and effectiveness of treatments for those patients, as the hardworking staff at the f.d.a. continue to tackle these challenges, they deserve a senate-confirmed leader with experience on these issues to lead those efforts. dr. califf was previously confirmed to lead the f.d.a. by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote and he demonstrated in the committee that he is ready to return again as commissioner. i urge my colleagues to join me

in confirming dr. califf to ensure the f.d.a. protects our families and uphold the gold medal in safety. thank you. 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 with no intervening action or debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 668, robert mackinnon califf of north carolina to be commissioner of food and drugs, department of health and human services, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of robert mackinnon califf of north carolina to be commissioner of food and drugs, department of health and human services shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.

the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 49. the nays are 45. the motion is agreed to. cloture having been invoked, the senate will now proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of health and human services, robert mckinnon califf of north carolina to be commissioner of food and drugs. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania.

mr. casey: mr. president, i would ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise this evening to talk about black history month, and in particular to talk about a program that my office has been presenting every february for many years now. each february it's been my privilege to honor several pennsylvanians as part of the celebration of black history month. this year, we pay tribute to four esteemed pennsylvanians who have helped their community and the commonwealth build resilience, and i'll list them first, then i'll be talking with each of them -- about each of them in greater detail. first, tyrone holmes from my hometown of scranton, pennsylvania. della clark of philadelphia, pennsylvania. julius boatwright of pittsburgh. and theo brady of harrisburg.

all pennsylvanians, and their work is demonstrative of this year's theme for our program, resilience in the face of adverse at this. as their -- adversity. as their persistence and strength has helped their communities surmount significant difficulties this year. their enduring leadership is an encouragement to me after a year where, sadly, resilience has been sorely needed throughout our commonwealth and throughout our country. now, in some ways, we've made some progress in the last year. just consider this, the national economy created 6.7 million jobs, the most ever in the first year of a presidency. pennsylvania's unemployment rate went way down, from 7.1 to to 5.4. tens of thousands of jobs have been added just in pennsylvania. wages are up, and child poverty is down. the number of fully vacks

thoughted -- vaccinated americans has increased from 2 million to 213 million in just the last year. and we have more tools to manage covid-19 and keep us safe. finally, the number of schools open for in-person learning has skyrocketed from just 46% a year ago to now 95% of schools. some believe it's as high as 98%. however, despite those measures of progress we're still grappling with so much, grappling with a virus that is adaptable and still deadly, especially for people with pre-existing health conditions, and even more so for those who are unvaccinated. as covid-19 has lingered, so too have the attendant direct effects. our schools still struggle to teach our kids and to maintain the regularity that is critical to learning.

our businesses must contend with fluctuating demand and a fragile supply chain. many of our children have fallen behind on their other critical vaccinations and routine doctor visits. many children and adults struggle with isolation and pandemic-related mental health challenges. we know that much of the adverse impact of covid-19 has been particularly acute for communities of color. in the united states, black americans experience -- have experienced higher rates of covid-19 hospitalization and death compared to white americans. and black americans have had higher levels of covid-19 covid-19-related unemployment. beyond the pandemic, other challenges remain. systemic racism persists in our economy, in our schools, in our healthcare system. and of course, in our criminal justice system, just to mention a few.

and even as we strive as a nation to achieve our high ideals of liberty and freedom for all, we must openly acknowledge a history of discrimination and racism and reckon with its present-day manifestations and implications, including disturbing efforts around the country to turn back the clock on voting rights. it is only the challenges brought about by adversity that occasion the rise of resiliency and the triumphs of the human spirit and of community action that can live all of us. the late member of congress, shirley chisholm, once said, quote, leadership is to have the vision for what is necessary and the courage to make it possible. the leadership -- leadership is to have the vision for what is necessary and the curve courageo

make it possible. following a year of difficult challenges, it's fitting that as part of our black history month celebration we honor innovative, courageous, and intiepg pennsylvania leaders -- enterprising pennsylvania leaders who have both the vision and courage to help our communities and our commonwealth to exhibit resilience in the face of that adversity. let me start with ty holmes, our first honoree. i'm proud to honor ty as a fellow resident of scranton and the president of the lackawanna county branch of the naacp. ty holmes is as well-known in scranton as a avid vol up tier and -- volunteer and advocate through his work with multiple community organizations, including as a penn state advisory board member, the vice president of the scranton rotary, and as a lackawanna county democratic committee member. following the death of george floyd in 2020, community members

were inspired to make change in northeastern pennsylvania, and establish the lackawanna county naacp. since its founding in 2020, this naacp branch has grown to 131 members. under ty holmes' leadership, the branch is working to be a voice for underrepresented groups and serve as a bridge between them and the broader community in scranton. ty also has a particular interest inberg the lives of young people in scranton, leading him to run for the scranton school board. this past november he was elected to the board and sworn in last month. with his election ty holmes becomes the first african american to ever be elected to public office in the city of scranton. he also serves as a board member for the northeastern pennsylvania youth shelter, which provides quality emergency

shelter and related services to unaccompanied youth ages 14 through their high school graduation. the northeastern pennsylvania youth shelter has a specific focus on social justice and advocacy and is welcoming to young people from all backgrounds, especially lgbtq plus youth in the area. ty holmes' life has been one of service, both to his community and to his country. he retired after 25 years of active duty in the united states military, received numerous decorations from both the united states navy and the united states army. he began his military career in 1991 with the navy, and served in various duty stations throughout the south pacific and the middle east. in 2003, he crossed branches and

entered the united states army, deploying in the middle east. he's also worked as part of the support-and-rescue operations in new orleans during hurricane katrina in 2005. through his work with many community objections and his -- community organizations and his role on the scranton school district board of directors, ty continues to build the scranton institutions that provided support to people and those institutions that lift them up during times of adversity. so i look forward to seeing ty holmes' continuing contributions to my hometown for years to come. second, our second honoree, della clark, from philadelphia, pennsylvania. della clark is a true community shepherd. i'm not the first to recognize della's exemplary work, and i certainly won't be the last, but i'm honored to add my voice to her chorus of admirers. her work in the city of philadelphia, particularly in

west philadelphia, has undoubtedly been a saving grace 100 times over. della is indefatigable, a true force of nature who has shown true dedication and steadfast leadership. since january 1, 1992, della clark has served as president of the enterprise center. this center supports minority entrepreneurs and underresourced communities and is one of the most trusted organizations in the region to advise and deliver transformative, economic development, and community wealth-building initiatives. under della's leadership, the enterprise center has experienced tremendous growth. among its accomplishments is its purchase of a dilapidated building at 46th and market street in west philadelphia, which was completely renovated and now serves as the center's state-of-the-art center for business and entrepreneurship.

additionally, affiliated organizations have been added to the center's portfolio, including the enterprise center community development corporation, and the enterprise center capital corporation. today, the enterprise center is leading a project that will be transformative for the city of philadelphia, the 52nd street initiative. this commercial corridor along 52nd street in west philadelphia has been an important historical and cultural hub, but unfortunately has seen significant decline in recent disinvestment just over the last number of years. further exacerbating the already existing troubles for business owners and residents, the covid-19 pandemic and civil unrest have made recovery and revitalization challenging at best. the enterprise center has a bold vision for this 52nd street initiative, which will transform this street, 52nd street, into a

national model for integrating technology to improve public safety, enhanced visitor experience, and support businesses and residents. with della clark at the helm, i'm confident she will move mountains to see to it that this project reaches its full potential and that this vital neighborhood and its residents can thrive once again. della clark speaks eloquently are, yet fiercely, on the importance of investing in black and brown businesses, and is a tireless advocate for equitable distribution of and access to resources and capital. for that, i thank her for being a champion, a leader, and a true servant for her community. in southwestern pennsylvania, our third honoree, julius boatwright. not only has the pandemic taken a toll on the nation's physical health, but many americans have struggled with mental health challenges, particularly isolation and geography.

julius boatwright knows that good mental health is fundamental, foundational to overall well-being. he has made delivering critical mental health services his life's work. at a time when the pandemic left many americans feeling isolated, alone or depressed, julius' mission has renewed urgency. in his work as a licensed social worker, community-based therapist, and outpatient therapist, julius boatwright has led with profound vulnerability and understanding. his passion for mental health is derived from a deeply personal place. julius has bravely discussed his own mental health struggles in an effort to open up a conversation about mental well-being. his experience of growing up in a household in a community where mental health was never talked about supplanted the desire for him to address silent suffering.

in college the death of a friend by suicide could have disrupted julius' journey to becoming a mental health professional. instead, his deeply personal challenge spurred him onward. he would go on to earn a bachelor degree in communications and a master's of social work with a sift in human services -- a certificate in human services management from the university of pittsburgh, as well as establish the pittsburgh-based nonprofit steel smiling. julius is now the founder and managing director of steel smiling. the organization's mission is to bridge the gap between black people and mental health support through education, advocacy, and awareness. steel smiling has an am bishes -- ambitious goal, to connect every black person in pittsburgh to a positive mental health experience that improves their quality of life by the year 2030. julius' empathy and vision is

encouraging and inspiring, and i look forward to witnessing the transformative impact of his work. steel smiling has already begun to improve the mental well-being of pittsburgh's black community. since 2019, the organization has been a significant provider of community services, helping black pittsburghers to receive mental health treatment, training, and support. the implementation of culturally sensitive programs, trainings and workshops have helped combat the cultural stigma that exists in black and brown communities surrounding mental health. the need for sensitive, stigma-free mental health support is a longstanding one, but there has been a long gap between the need for services and the availability of them. furthermore, the covid-19 pandemic is even -- has even more starkly illustrated the critical need for behavioral health services, especially for people of color of -- of color.

i'm grateful to julius for not just recognizing the need, but for stepping up and working to address critical community need. finally, theo brady, the personification of resilience in the face of adversity. i am honored to recognize him today. at the age of 15, theo was involved in an accident while playing high school football and the resulting neck injury left him paralyzed and a wheelchair user. this life-changing experience would become a catalyst for his future work in the commonwealth of pennsylvania. after his accident, theo moved to pennsylvania and completed high school. he furthered his education by graduating from edinburgh university in erie county and then earned his master's degree

from temple university in 1988. later this year, he established and became the founding director of the center for independent living of central pennsylvania, a position he held for over 30 years. as c.e.o., theo was instrumental in creating an independent living center that would become a strong and vibrant voice for the people -- for people with disabilities in central pennsylvania and indeed throughout the commonwealth. under theo's leadership, the center for independent living of central pennsylvania not only provided essential services for people with disabilities but has also advocated for access to people with assisted. theo crafted his leadership role to both create services with people with disabilities and to advocate to improve the lives of people with disabilities. in addition to his work leading the center, theo has served on

numerous boards over his career influencing disability policy. he was appointed by three different governors of pennsylvania to serve as a commissioner for the pennsylvania human relations commission. theo also served on the pennsylvania statewide independent living council. he has taken his years of service and advocacy to the has room to -- to the classroom to help shape disability leaders of the future teaching at several institutions of higher education. after leading the center for independent living of central pennsylvania for 30 years, theo retired to begin his next venture. today theo serves as president of his own consulting firm. i've had the opportunity to work with theo on a number of disability issues over the years, and his professional and personal knowledge about the importance of home and community-based services has been invaluable in shaping meaningful policy and

communicating it to members of congress. for over 40 years, theo has proudly and inclusively served the commonwealth of pennsylvania with his advocacy for people with disabilities. we're grateful for his commitment to making our state and our nation fairer and more accessible for all. so, mr. president, in conclusion, it's a privilege and a pleasure to be able to honor these remarkable pennsylvanians, ty holmes, della clark, julius boatwright and theo. all four share a commitment to lifting up their neighbors and their neighborhoods. they believe that we are stronger when we stand together and that by joining hands with our brothers and sisters, we can overcome adversity, build

resilience and flourish together. as we head toward a light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic and continue to strive to ensure the ideals of our nation are fulfilled for all americans, the stories of these exceptional leaders will continue to inspire all of us to pursue a brighter tomorrow for america. madam president, i would yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. portman: i come to the floor tonight with my colleague from new hampshire, senator jeanne shaheen, to discuss the critical situation in ukraine. ukraine is an independent country. it's a democracy. it's an ally of ours. it's a country that is currently under siege. there is a threat of invasion by russia that grows every single day. right now there are more than

130,000 russian troops under the command of 100 tactical groups surrounding ukraine. this russian deployment includes nuclear-capable missiles, rockets, tanks, and artillery, and it's no longer just on the eastern border of ukraine, where there has been activity before, as we'll discuss; but now on the northern border where russian combat troops and heavy equipment have moved into the country of belarus, and also in crimea, russia has deployed amphibious ships and other ships to the south and has commissioned its flight system which could stop flights into the ukraine. so from the east, from the north and from the south ukraine is facing this threat. news accounts say additional equipment is actually being moved to the ukrainian border, not being pulled away. while there are differing views on whether russia has made the fine final decision as to

whether to invade or not, floss question that they have amassed the capability needed to conduct a full-scale invasion of ukraine. let's not forget that russia has invaded ukraine twice in the past eight years, illegally annexing crimea and inserting troops and military equipment into the donbas region in the east. they have also targeted cyberattacks against private and public entities in ukraine and continue to use information to try to destabilize the democratically elected government of ukraine. by the way, the ukrainians have lost about 14,000 citizens in the last five years at the hands of the russians, 14,000. fathers, brothers. that would be as a percentage of our population like the united states losing about 115,000 people. that's more than we lost in vietnam and korea combined. actually, vietnam, korea, iraq, and afghanistan combined. think how we would feel.

and let's not forget that russia continues day by day to conduct this low-grade but serious war against ukraine. we all hope that instead of an invasion russia chooses a diplomatic end to this current crisis. but we've got to treat this threat of an invasion as a very real and serious possibility. doing anything else would be irresponsible, given the massive mobilization and the past maligned behavior. and all freedom-loving countries have an interest here. ukraine is where the cause of freedom is under siege today. eight years ago ukrainians made a very deliberate choice. they stood up to a corrupt russian-backed government and they turned to the west, to the european union, to america. they said that they wanted to be like us. i was in ukraine in 2014 shortly after what is called the

euromaidan. they sat there in makeshift tents in the cold because they believed that their hard-won freedom was worth it. in the protests against the russian-backed government, they lost 100 ukrainian citizens by the security forces of the russian-backed government. these individuals were called the heavenly hundred and still honored today by memorials at the maidan. they were willing to defend it then as they are today. i was there as an election observer with other american and european officials, mostly parliamentarians from europe, and we witnessed a fair and robust presidential election, with a huge turnout. i saw their patriotism and national pride. they are proud and consider themselves ukrainian, not russian. they have been a free and independent country for 30 years and since the protests in 2014 they have been on track toward a western-focused democracy and a free-market economy. it is their choice to be free

and independent and no country -- no country -- has the right to take that away from them. i also want to highlight a change since 2014. that is in the proficiency of the ukrainian military and the great tragedy that would result from an illegal invasion of ukraine. ukraine's military will stand up, and they are ready. the military of today is a professional force that has been fighting this low-grade war with rube for the past eight -- with russia for the past eight years. it is not the military they had in 2014. they are instead battle-heartened today -- they are instead battle-hardened today. and they are better trained and better equipped than ever before. i've been to the line ever contact in the donbas region, the line of contact is where the russian troops are on one side and the ukrainian troops on the other, firing back-and-forth periodly. i've seen these troops from ukraine. they are tough. they know how to fight, and they

will fight to defend their country. ukraine is a big country, a nation of 41 million people. in the capital city of kiev, there are almost three million people. think about the humanitarian disaster that will ensue if there is an invasion. millions displaced from their homes in the dead of the winter while fighting rages around them. this is not a sight anybody wants to see. by the way, the blood of these innocents will be on the hands a of the russians. and there will be significant russian casualties as well. and severe multilateral sanctions that will being devastating for the russian economy and targeted sanctions that will ensure that the era of russian oligarchs treating the west as their playground will be no more. in 2014, the ukrainian people rejected authoritarianism and chose instead democracy, freedom of speech, freedom to gather, respect for the rule of law, free markets, prosperity.

they're not going back. despite russia's unrelenting efforts to restabilize ukraine, the people remain commitmented to this independent and sovereign democratic nation. they don't want repression or fear. they instead seek liberty and opportunity. moscow would have the world believe that somehow this massive unwarranted russian build-up is about trying to shore up its border against threats from ukraine and nato. this is false and should be rejected out of hand by america and its many allies. ukraine's military posture has always been defensive. they just want to be left alone. and unlike russia, ukraine has upheld its commitments under the minsk agreement designed for a cease-fire in the donbas region. nato is defensive and is no threat to russian territorial integrity. ukraine is not asking for us to fight this war for them. they are asking for increased military lethal assistance to

help them defend themselves should russia make a mistake and invade ukraine again. and they are a it was a treaty. where yiewkan agreed to give up their nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, from russia, the united states and the united kingdom, that we would all respect the independence and sovereignty of ukraine and refrain from the threat or the use of force against ukraine. these are commitments that must be honored. i know there's a lot that this country on congress are divided over today. we see it played out on the floor and media constantly. i will tell you, republicans and democrats alike are united in backing ukraine in this crisis. that's why it's so important my colleague from new hampshire is on the floor with me today. she's been a stall ward. we traveled to ukraine a few

weeks ago and had the opportunity to meet with the leading officials there, including president zelensky, but also talked to the ukrainian people. we let them know on a bipartisan basis we support ukraine. we have a bipartisan consensus on the broad structure of aid package for ukraine. the sanctions, by the way, would cripple the russian economy. we have disagreement perhaps over preinvasion or postinvasion sanctions and how much on each, but we agreed on sanctions. it we also agree on assisting ukraine with further and much needed support. defense against cyber attacks, for example, that the russians are conducting and we expect more to come. disinformation attacks from russia. we agree, republicans and democrats alike, not just on sanctions, but providing more support to ukraine for these critical areas. of course, we agree on providing more military assistance to ukraine so they can defend themselves. we've come to a consensus on

these issues. but we now need to work together, including the white house, to ensure we can step forward and put legislation or resolution on the floor to ensure that we're doing whatever we possibly can to make it clear what the consequences will be to actions -- act as deterrent to russia making a terrible mistake. this is a critical time for us to act and lead. it's time for us in the congress and for this government to speak with one voice. freedom in eastern europe depends on it, but so does the cause of freedom all around the world. i now yield to my colleague from new hampshire, senator shaheen. mrs. shaheen: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. ms. sha she'll: -- mrs. shaheen: i couldn't agree more with my colleague from ohio, mr. portman. we're here on the floor to convey the strong bipartisan opposition that exists in this

senate to vladimir putin's unprovoked 'i aggression against our partner, ukraine. now, like everyone in this body, i've been closely following the deteriorating political crisis that has been fabricated by russia, because as senator portman says, ukraine has always been defensive, it's not been offensive going against russia. but russia intends to further undermine and threaten ukraine's sovereignty. this senate has a long history of supporting an independent and democratic ukraine. since russia's initial invasion in 2014, congress has provided more than $2.7 billion in security assistance and supporting its government in advancing critical reforms to help ukraine on its journey to greater euro-atlantic integration. i'm proud to have been vord in a number of those bipartisan efforts to support ukraine.

as senator portman said last month, we traveled with a bipartisan delegation of seven senators, four democrats and three republicans, to meet with ukrainian president zelensky and other officials. we met with his national security team to discuss the russian threat and how the united states can help our ukrainian friends. the message from the ukrainians was clear. they see their future in partnership with the west. they share our democratic values and their people are proud of their hard-won independence. so, it's worth asking, if ukraine has made its sovereign wish clear, that it wants a future with europe, why does putin have more than 130,000 troops at its border? as senator portman pointed out so well, it's not just its eastern border with russia. it's its northern border with

belarus. so, it's been said, but i think it's worth repeating, that this unprecedented russian threat to ukraine sovereignty is on putin. it's on no one else. he's designed this crisis to advance his own agenda. he wants to reconstruct the soviet union and re-create his own sphere of interest, and he wrongfully sees ukraine as part of this authoritarian future. but make no mistake. this isn't just about u.k. a. putin -- about ukraine. putin wants to rewrite the european security order for his benefit, and in blatant disregard for previous international agreements and treaties that russia has signed. senator portman talked about the pude pest memorandum -- the budapest memorandum. there have been other efforts to try and reduce tensions between russia and ukraine by europe, but putin has basically thumbed

his nose at all of those efforts. he has shown repeated attempts to subvert democratic institutions in the united states, to attack our infrastructure, and to compromise the sovereignty of our allies around the globe. this is why what happens in ukraine matters here in the united states. it's important that we stand up for our values. it's important that we stand up to protect our national security. and it is critical that we continue to uphold and protect the transatlantic security order that has given us peace and prosperity for over 70 years, since the end of world war ii. as putin tries to dismantle and divide the very alliance that's kept your safe for over 60 years, it's -- over 70 years, it's all more important that we strengthen our resolve through a strong message of unbreakable unity. it's critical that the senate take up and pass bipartisan legislation that shows our support for ukraine and our

opposition to russia and what putin is doing. i've been working toward this goal, i especially want to commend senator portman for his work and leadership, because he has also been working towards this goal. the senate foreign relations committee chairman and ranking member, senators menendez and risch, continue their efforts to find a bipartisan path forward, and i'm sure senator portman would agree with me that when we say we're committed to doing our part to forge a path forward on this legislation, we mean that's what we want to do, that this is an opportunity for us to show the rest of the world that we are united. and that's why we're here today, to send a strong bipartisan message to putin, to ukraine, and to our allies. we must lead by example and convey, as we've done to our ukrainian partner and transatlantic allies, that we must not leave any space for

putin to sow further discord. therefore, the senate doesn't really have a choice. we must send a message of strong, uneqisk al, bipartisan re-- uneqiskal bipartisan resolve. for many years, senator portman and i and others in the ukraine caucus have worked closely to support the ukrainian people. we've traveled to kiev to ensure that the u.s. resolve for our ukrainian partners is absolute. we've teamed up to increase military assistance to ukraine. and we've spoken to ensure on the topic of ukraine that this senate speaks with one bipartisan voice. so, today, we stand united here on the floor of the senate to send an unequivocal message to putin -- you will not divide the senate. you will not divide the united states. and you will not divide the transatlantic alliance. diplomacy remains an option, i

hope, to deescalate the situation, to pursue a peaceful resolution. but if putin decides to further invade ukraine, he will only succeed in uniting us all, democrats, republicans, americans, and the transatlantic alliance. sending a message of unmistakable resolve against his belligerence. i hope he chooses peace rather than war, but we plan to be ready. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. mr. portman: i'd like to commend my colleague from new hampshire -- the presiding officer: will the senator from new hampshire hold? the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i'd like to comment my colleague from new hampshire for her strong statement. there should be no mistake here. the united states of america is united, as this place is united, this senate and the house, republican and democrat alike in stapg with ukraine.

-- in standing with ukraine. if there were to be another invasion, the consequences would be devastating for russia. it would also, by the way, be very harmful to the stability of europe and to the cause of freedom all around the world, because then you would have an authoritarian country coming into a democratically elected, smaller country and invading it, as russia has already done with crimea and parts of donbas. this effort tonight on the floor is simply to make it very clear that regardless of what legislative vehicle we choose or resolution or other, there is no question that we are united as republicans and democrats in doing what is nonpartisan, which is standing up for freedom, which is what america has traditionally done. i thank my colleague. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: will my colleague yield for a question? mr. portman: absolutely. mrs. shaheen: as you point out,

if this -- if putin does invade ukraine, as you said, it would be devastating for ukraine, for those of us who believe in freedom and the right of each individual countries to determine their own futures. but this would also be the biggest conflict in europe since world war ii, isn't that correct? mr. portman: that's correct. if there is an invasion, it would be the first time since 1945 that we've seen this kind of maligned behavior, not just an invasion but even the buildup of troops that we've seen and the so-called hybrid attacks, cyber attacks, disinformation attacks, which is why so many in europe are alarmed, particularly go the baltics -- in the baltic, lithuania, latvia, estonia, romania. countries on the border realize this isn't going to end in ukraine if this happens. it will send a message that we

no longer have this post-world war ii security system in place in europe that has kept the peace. so, my hope is that we will continue to see not just unity on the floor of the senate and in the house and the white house to stand up for ukraine, but among our allies, because all of us are engaged in this. i must say, i think what russia and vladimir putin have done well in the last several weeks is unified the it transatlantic alliance is ways i've rarely seen it. nato is stronger than ever. you listen to the secretary general of nato, he sounds exactly like we do, meaning this shall not stand and cannot happen. and so i think this is going to bring us together. but deterrence is what we're all about, a peaceful resolution, a backing off, and the ability to allow a free and independent people of ukraine to have their

sovereignty and territorial integrity respected. may i ask my colleague from new hampshire a question? mrs. shaheen: yes. mr. portman: we have seen on the floor of the senate lots of back and forth on partisan. i made the assertion earlier that i see colleagues on both sides of the aisle being unified on this. i certainly feel that among my republican colleagues. can you speak to it as to your democratic colleagues? mrs. shaheen: i'm certain the presiding officer would agree with me that in the democratic caucus we're also united with the republican caucus and wanting to support ukraine, to ensure that they can determine their own futures. and to hold vladimir putin accountable. and as you say, hopefully diplomacy will win out. there will be some way in which we can work with vladimir putin

to address some of his concerns. we certainly are not going to allow putin and russia to determine ukraine's future, to say to ukraine you can't join nato, to say to europe and nato you can't expand and to europe if countries want to join. but hopefully he will choose a path that is going to be good, not just for europe and the united states and ukraine but for russia because in the long run, as german chancellor said to us last week when he met with a number of senators, he said, in the long run, this will not be good for russia, for their energy future because europe is going to get off russian energy a lot faster if russia invades

ukraine, and it's not going to be good for russia's standing either in europe or in the world. so hopefully putin will choose the reasonable approach, he will choose diplomacy, and he will not choose war. and it's our job, the trans-atlantic alliance, those of us here in congress, to hold putin accountable if he makes the wrong choice, to make sure that they, we put in place crippling sanctions, that we provide the assistance that ukraine needs in fighting russia and that we make it clear to the world that the world order that we have defended for the last 70 years, we are going to continue to defend. mr. portman: i yield back my time. mrs. shaheen: thank you. madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: all right. i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the califf nomination be expired and that the vote on confirmation be at 12 implac noon, february 15. that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the 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 proceed to to executive session to consider calendar 692. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of defense. celeste ann wallander of maryland to be an assistant secretary. mr. schumer: i send a motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 692, celeste ann wallander of maryland to be an assistant secretary of defense, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the 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 calendar 476. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense. david a. honey of virginia to be deputy under secretary. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 476, david a. honey of virginia to be deputy under secretary of defense, signed by

18 senators as follows -- the presiding 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 calls for the cloture motions filed today, february 14, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that all previous action prior to today, february 14, with respect to h.r. 3076 be is issued. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: i ask unanimous. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 255, h.r. 2497ment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2497, an act to establish the amache national historic site in the state of colorado and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: further, i ask unanimous consent that the bennet amendment at the-esque

did be agreed to, the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and pass and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 3076, an act to provide stability to and enhance the services. united states postal service and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i ask for its second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be read for the second time an the next legislative day. mr. schumer: i ask that the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, february 15. 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 be 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 resum consideration of the wallander nomination. that the senate recess following the disposition of the califf nomination until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until they plan to take up postal service performed today however action on the bill was proposed due to a minor clerk or error made by house clerks. florida senator rick scott block to that bill for ming fixed on the senate floor. also this week the senate will vote on extending funding through march 11 to avoid a government shutdown on friday.

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