you respond expeditiously in writing to the questions as you receive them and the chair reminds the member of the subcommittee that the committee's record willing open for 10 days. without objection, i pray that you all stay safe, stay well and the subcommittee stands adjourned. ♪♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including buckeye broadband. ♪♪ >> buckeye broadband supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> we take you live now to the

u.s. capitol where the senate is about to gavel in on this wednesday morning. at 11:30 eastern today senators will vote to limit debate on two of president biden's defense department nominations and also coming up this week, senators will vote to extend government funding through march 11th to avoid a shutdown on friday at midnight. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. mighty god, the refuge and strength for all who trust you. come close to us as we lift our hearts in prayer. lord, help us to love you as you deserve. inspire us to love one another as you have loved us. today, bless our lawmakers in their work. warm their hearts, increase their faith, and make them more

conscious of your transforming presence. lord, breathe your peace into their hearts as they strive to build a better nation and world. please, do for us more than we can ask for imagine. we pray in your merciful -- merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication

to the senate. the clerk : washington, d.c., february 16, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable martin heinrich, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, celeste ann wallender, of maryland, to

be and be assistant secretary.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader.

mr. mcconnell: yesterday president biden addressed the country about the ongoing crisis that russia has created on its border with ukraine. it was much in the president's remarks that i appreciated. he was right to candidly remind the russian people that neither the united states, nor nato, nor ukraine want a war. he was right to emphasize that the world will shot shrug or stand idly by if vladimir putin tries to invade his neighbor or redraw the map of europe through deadly force. we spent much time discussing russia's alleged security concerns and not enough time examining the legitimate concerns of russia's neighbors. many of whom have a long history -- a long history of being invaded by moscow. the concerns of these free

sovereign states matter as well. and the president would do well to amplify their voices and their historical experiences. so it's find for president biden to engage in good-faith diplomacy, provided we're skeptical about putin's intentions. thus far putin's behavior is proving how little he can be trusted and how little he is interested in diplomacy as anything other than a gambit to divide the west or a pretext for war. the u.s. must keep sending these strong messages verbally and with concrete actions, both right now before any hostilities and then with devastating force if putin does, indeed, plow ahead. the u.s. and our partners should waste no time in helping ukraine prepare for war. weapons, materials, advice, logistics, and intelligence.

we should be building the infrastructure to help ukraine sustain their resistance to russian aggression if and when it comes. i welcome the president's deployment of additional forces to the territory of nato allies swaiched along our eastern flank. i recommended that he take action months ago, i'm particularly -- to join nato reinforcements in eastern europe. as our diplomats work to halt the train of russian aggression, it is the brave men and women of the u.s. military who give their words added weight. i'm hopeful that president biden will rise to the occasion. as a bipartisan group of colleagues and i made clear in a joint statement yesterday, the president would have overwhelming bipartisan support to use his existing executive

authorities in tough sanctions against russia in the event of conflict. we should acknowledge putin's use of energy as a weapon. if the president is serious about providing relief for americans at the pump or blunting niewcht's -- putin's manipulation of energy markets, he will stop making it harder for our own producers to explore, produce, and export energy to vulnerable allies. while our eastern flank ail eyes have consistently taken a clear-eyed approach to their own defense, it's time for america to invest more meaningfully in our own capabilities and demand our allies in western europe follow suit. whether the administration somewhere serious about competition with russia and china will be clear when it submits its fiscal 2023 budget request. our allies and adversaries will all be watching. now, on a different matter, while the world's eyes are fixed on the president's foreign

policy crisis, troubling facts continue to surface surrounding the administration's previous self-inflicted crisis, the botched retreat from afghanistan. last week, journalists published the findings of a 2,000-page autopsy that army officials compiled following the chaotic withdrawal from kabul. the report hammers home a damning fact we've known for months. the biden administration received clear, advanced warnings from commanders on the ground that should have been heeded but went ignored. as i warned at the time, it we have confirmation this disaster was foreseeable, foreseen, actually, and avoidable. the army's conclusions built upon the report from special inspector general, which were declassified last month. while president biden and his

political advisers still cling to the notion that they got mistaken advice and were caught offguard, both these reports suggest that nonpartisan experts knew and predicted the afghan military would likely collapse and spend months trying in vein to -- in vain to get the administration to pay attention. top commanders reported that trying to get state department officials to engage in advanced evacuation plans was like, quote, pulling teeth, end quote. but the national security council was, quote, not seriously planning for an evacuation. that month peers in uniform, everyone clearly saw some of the advantage of holding bagra. as top u.s. commander on the ground during the evacuation pout it -- put it, policymakers had not paid attend to the indicators of what was happening on the ground. this staggering report from our

own us army should have chastised the biden administration. it should be an occasion for an apology, reflection, and accountability. but last week president biden instead tried to simply wave away our own army's conclusions without evidence. he was asked, are you rejecting the conclusion or the accounts in the army report? the president replied, yes, i am. so, they're not true? i'm rejecting them, the president said. no evidence, just hand waving denial. frankly, it was a bizarre performance. so, mr. president, our retreat from afghanistan seriously

damaged america's accountability. it made confronting terrorist threats that much harder from over the horizon. and it invited more testing like what we are now enduring in eastern europe. president biden and his team were warned of all these dangers well in advance, by our own military, but our commander in chief seems to have flat out ignored our commanders. this has been an unbelievably costly lesson that the biden administration should never have had to learn, even once. let us all hope they don't need to learn it twice. now, on one final matter, parents and kids into ed a swift end to pandemic disruptions that ignore the incredibly low risk to children. i'm proudly joining senator thune and many of our republican colleagues on a resolution that would overturn the absurd preschool mask mandates which

the biden administration has tied to head start funding. more than 1200 doctors and health professionals have signed a public statement about, quote, the urgency of normal, end quote. the urgency of normal. the medical and moral urgency of returning normalcy to children as fast as possible. republicans at the local, state, and federal level are standing where the parents -- standing with the parents. we're going to keep fighting against these disruptions to family life caused by rules and mandates that are not at all based in science.

two years of needless school closures and unscientific forced child masking are two years too many. but unfortunately, pandemic policies are not the only reason that recent years have been one giant advertisement for schools choice and parents' rights. we've also seen far-left bureaucrats trying desperately to inject radical theories and fringe ideas into teacher training in k-12 classrooms. everybody's heard jaw-dropping anecdotes from school districts all across our country. last year, the biden administration tried to divert money from mainstream civics education into woke propaganda like the debunked 1619 project. they only backed down when senate republicans called out secretary cardona directly. meanwhile, the far left national teachers' union adopted an

official resolution and approved extra money for their fight to make structural racism and critical race theory into central tenets in kids' schooling. this nonsense is absolutely pervasive. pervasive. just a few weeks ago, north carolina parents had to call out their statewide office of early learning for funding training materials that talked about deconstructing whiteness. deconstructing whiteness. these materials were for preschool teachers. in san francisco, the school board spent 2021 focused on renaming schools instead of reopening schools. they decided george washington and abraham lincoln were insufficiently woke namesakes, and they tried to change a prestigious high school's

merit-based standards into a non-merit-based lottery, in the name of equity. not surprisingly, parents are watching this nonaccepts -- nonsense and demanding change. for example, just yesterday, a multiethnic, multilingual recall campaign to unseat three of those san francisco school board members won an overwhelming victory with the voters. american parents are speaking out. but instead of listening to them, the political left is lashing out. president biden's education secretary solicited an outside group to send a letter to president biden's attorney general that referred to concerned parents as potential domestic terrorists. one part of the biden

administration set up another part of the biden administration with a pretext to investigate and harass concerned parents. one far-left advocate recently complained to n.p.r., quote, school transparency is essentially this big brother type regime. what a joke. the nationwide teachers union boss, randi weingarten, personally tweeted out a claim that, quote, racists are showing up in droves to school board meetings. even the liberal aclu, which used to care about individual rights and transparency, is prioritizing woke bureaucrats ahead of middle class parents. here was the aclu statement -- curriculum transparency bills are just thinly veiled attempts at chilling teachers and students from learning and

talking about race and gender in schools. so let's think about that for a minute. the far left is admitting in public that if the public gets a look at the racial and gender theories that they want to teach little kids, then those lesson plans will become untenable. i'm going to say that again. the far left is admitting in public that if the public gets a look at the racial and gender theories that they want to teach little kids, then these lesson plans will become untenable. that's what they're actually saying. if parent gain transparency into the crazy stuff we're teaching, we might have to stop teaching it. in other words, their reaction proves the point. the fact that woke bureaucrats are this terrified by

transparency proves exactly, exactly why parents deserve it. bear in mind, these same people are passionate supporters of sweeping toddler takeover that would give federal bureaucrats huge new powers to shape early childhood across america and discriminate against religious day cares. the choice before american families is actually pretty stark. on the one hand an alliance between big labor, woke bureaucrats, and many elected democrats apparently want indefinitely masked children being taught radical nonsense while parents are pushed to the sidelines. but republicans at the local, state, and national levels are standing up for science, for common sense, and for the children's best interests.

the party of parents has your back. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, over the last 12 monthses, the economy has rebounded at levels we have not seen in decades. a 5.7% g.d.p. growth rate, 6.6 million new jobs. this is the fastest our economy has grown since perhaps 1984 and the new jobs we added to the economy were the most ever for a president's first year. after former president trump botched our national response to covid, america is now on the right track under president biden. but we face serious challenges that demand action from congress. the cost of living has come up for families across the country and around the world as well. destruction unleashed by covid has decimated supply chains, strained the labor supply, and the effects of a global pandemic that began two years ago still

reverberate today. these challenges demand action and democrats remain laser focused on lowering costs for american families. yesterday our caucus met for our weekly lunch where we held a spirited and enthusiastic discussion about ideas from our members of how we can lower costs and take action to do so. we talked about how we can continue working to lower child care costs, prescription drug costs, the cost of semiconductors which is a huge driver of price increases across a wide variety of products, and things as basic and vital as the cost of food and meat. lowering costs will continue to be a caucus-wide effort. we're not going to agree on everything, but we're all on the same page that we need to tackle the issue head-on. that's the difference between democrats and republicans. rising costs of course impact all of us whether we come from blue or red states, but democrats are the ones laser

focused on showing where we stand and offering solutions that aim squarely at the problem. republicans seem to have no solutions, just rhetoric. the other side sadly seems oftentimes motivated by something else. rather than working with us in a bipartisan spirit, our republican colleagues seem more comfortable giving speeches that go on and on about rising costs without offering any solutions. complaining about the problem doesn't make inflation better. proposing solutions does. and that's precisely what democrats will continue focusing on. over the next month and beyond, members from our side will continue offering a number of solutions, solutions that will lower costs and leave more money in people's pockets. we need to help working families build wealth after the pandemic. we need to lower the cost of medications like insulin which can still reach $600 a month. we need to relieve strained supply chains and increase

domestic manufacturing on things like chips and on that front i'm hopeful that we can take bipartisan action soon. our republican colleagues we hope will join us in these efforts. our members would welcome it. we've come a long way from the start of covid, but we still have more to do. democrats' goals are to make sure that job creation and wage increases of last year carry into this year. we're going to keep working on that this spring, and i hope to see our colleagues from the other side work with us to improve the lives of the american people. if we can keep wages growing and get costs down, the average american will have more money in his or her pocket to live a better life. on the c.r. mr. president soon our republican colleagues must come to an agreement with democrats for passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open until march 11. this extension is necessary in order to give appropriators more

time to arrive at an omnibus. on the one hand bipartisan negotiations on a year-long spending bill continue to go well. a credit to everyone working on this issue from both sides of the aisle. i thank chairman leahy, ranking member shelby, and my house colleagues. on the other hand right now the thing we must do, the responsible thing to do is pass the c.r. before the deadline on friday. democrats are united in approving it. just as it was approved with great bipartisan support in the house. nobody here wants a republican government shutdown. i dare say republicans prefer not to have a republican shutdown. but for that to happen, republicans must keep working with us on an agreement to move quickly on a c.r. democrats are working in good faith to reach a time agreement soon with our republican colleagues. there is every reason in the world to arrive at an agreement quickly. so i urge my colleagues on the other side to keep working with us to get there.

on nominations. later today the senate is scheduled to advance and confirm a pair of critical department of defense nominees. one of them is celeste wallander nominated to serve as assistant secretary for defense for international security affairs. a veteran of the national security council, ms. callen der is one -- wallander is one of our country's top experts and an experienced foreign policy. her expertise is urgently needed and her nomination must be approved as soon as possible. frankly, it should have happened weeks ago. the moment she was reported out of committee with support from both sides, but ms. wallander has remained on hold because one member of this body, just one republican has objected to her swift passage intentionally delaying the confirmation of a qualified expert on russian affairs at a time like this is

supremely reckless and is making the american people less safe. for a member of the senate to insist on this hold is a clear risk to our national security, and it only serves to undermine our defense efforts. it is unacceptable and the definition of cynical. let me say it again. to intentionally delay the confirmation of a critical department of defense nominee and a russian expert at a time when tensions persist in ukraine and eastern europe is supremely reckless and is making the american people less safe. but while this nominee has been delayed, she will nonetheless be confirmed by this chamber. the vast majority of senators understand that certain nominees are out of bounds from typical partisan politics. so we're going to do our jobs and confirm this nominee and as long as republican holds continue on a vast number of other important nominations, the senate will keep voting as long as it takes to get them through the chamber.

if it means voting late as we have done in recent weeks, then that's what we must do. i will return later to join with my colleagues to speak further on increasingly reckless holds, holds that damage our security both doam and -- domestic and national that we are seeing on the other side. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, we're currently in the midst of the

worst border crisis in our nation's history. it's no exaggeration to say that the situation at our southern border is out of control. the u.s. customs and border protection apprehended more than 178,000 individuals attempting to cross our southern border illegally. 178,000, one month. that's more than double the number of individuals apprehended by the border patrol the previous december. and this is no isolated incident. almost from the day the president took office, our nation has been experienced an unprecedented border surge. fiscal year 2021 the border patrol encountered more than 1.7 million individuals attempting to cross our southern border. the highest number ever recorded. the situation at our southern border is a security enforcement and humanitarian nightmare. our border patrol officers have done heroic work this past year but they are stretched incredibly thin and are having

to spend too much time caring for migrants and not enough time patrolling the border. this heightens the chance that dangerous individuals from terrorists to drug smugglers to human traffickers will slip across the border into the country unnoticed. drug trafficking across our southern border is a problem that affects our entire country. there is a massive increase of fentanyl crossing the border and it is as high as 1,000% in south texas. alarmingly, fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for americans aged 18 to 45. i talked with local law enforcement officials in south dakota who report they regularly seize drugs they can take them back to cartels trafficking then across our

southern border. every state in our union is lack of border security. mr. president, addressing the situation at our southern border should be one of this administration's top priorities but the president has been almost completely awall on this issue as has his border czar, the vice president. he feels if he ignores testify enough, it will go -- it will go -- enough it will go away. it's hard to overemphasize the president's dereliction of duty on this issue. after all, it is the president's job to deal with national security and border enforcement. and, yet, the president continues to do essentially nothing to address the situation at our southern border. he can't even be bothered to

visit the border. in fact, there's reason to believe that the president has never visited the border, not as president, not as vice president and not even as a senator, beyond driving by it once on the way to a campaign rally in 2008. of course, mr. president, this situation isn't just a matter of the president being derelict in his enforcement duties, the president is partly, if not largely, responsible for the existence of this situation in the fist place. -- first place. immediately upon taking office, the president took steps that weakened our border security. on his very first day in office, the president rescinded the declaration of a national emergency at our southern border. he halted construction of the border wall and revoked a trump administration order that called for government to faithly execute our immigration laws. that was all on his first day.

and that wasn't all. the president's department of homeland security also issued guidelines that same day pausing deportations except under certain conditions. the effect of all this was to declare to the world that the united states borders were effectively open and the administration hasn't made much of an effort to correct that impression. the president significantly limited the ability of immigration and customs enforcement and customs and border patrol to enforce laws. arrests dropped in the interior of the country. having a president who seems untroubled by the massive number of migrants cross the border illegally, hardly sends a discouraging message to those contemplating making the crossings themselves. mr. president, there is simply

nothing good to say about president biden's record on the border so far. his policies are not compassionate. there is nothing compassionate about policies that invite illegal immigration an encourage individuals to undertake the dangerous journey to our southern border. he has betrayed the duty he owes to the american people who should be table to count on their president to care about security concerns, including border security. mr. president, we just marked the anniversary of the president's first year in the white house, a year marked by disaster at our southern border. the president has a chance to change that record, to leave behind something other than border kay ys to mark his time in office. but until we see real action from this administration, i'm not going to get my hopes up. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

will call the roll. quorum call:

when we today and tomorrow critical challenges for european security, and we have heard the signs from moscow about residents to continue diplomatic efforts, but so far

we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground. on the contrary, if the pressure continues the military buildup. and we have not received any response to our written document, our written proposals that we sent to russia on the 26th of january. the topics and items, and discussed to try to find political path forward. we will continue to tell russia we're ready to sit down and discuss with them, but at the same time we are prepared for the worst. and if russia once again invade ukraine, they will pay a high price and will continue to

expose russia's plans and actions to make it harder for them to conduct aggressive actions against ukraine. but we really hope that russia will engage in meaningful dialogue and choose diplomacy instead of confrontation, and we are ready to sit down and find a political solution. >> secretary general, russia has again said it's moved some of its forces, withdrawn some of its forces. are you century saint you do not believe them? the second question is you have expressed cautious optimism on the diplomatic track. given the track it doesn't seem to change wide you have that optimism? >> i think the message and the signs we heard from moscow yesterday provides some grounds

for cautious optimism. because that was a message about diplomacy. and we have been ready for diplomatic efforts talks with russia throughout this crisis. we have stated that again and again and we had conveyed all proposals to russia in written and we are waiting for their response. at the same time, we have not seen any withdrawal of russian forces. and, of course, that contradicts the message of real diplomatic efforts. so it remains to be seen whether there is a russian withdrawal. we are of course monitoring very closely what russia does in and around ukraine. what we see is they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way. so, so far, no de-escalation

but, of course, we hear the message about diplomacy and where ready to engage in diplomatic efforts with russia. let me just add that this ministerial will focus on the critical security situation in europe, but we will also have other meetings. we will meet with our partners from ukraine and georgia. and again that will be a platform to address the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in europe, including georgia and ukraine. we will also meet with our close partners sweden, finland and the european union. and there will also be a regular meeting of the nato nuclear planning group. >> mr. stoltenberg, mr. schultz yesterday said that ukraine won't be a member of nato when he is still in office or when mr. putin is still in office. actually he says it's not on the table for a longer future. do you agree? is nato membership for ukraine

not on the table for let's say the next decade or so? >> to my message is that this is for 30 allies to decide. russia is not deciding who's going to be member of nato or not. this is a matter of principle that all allies have stated clearly again and again. this is not respecting the right of every nation in europe to choose their own path. whether they want to belong to organization as nato or whether they don't want to belong to nato. finland and sweden, close partners of nato, not applying for membership, , but they've ao stated very clearly that of course nato cannot find a legally binding agreement with russia, where we say that there will be no further enlargement of nato. so this is about -- this goes beyond ukraine. this is about ukraine but also about other sovereign nations in europe, about the principal, the right for every nation to choose

its own path. and these are principles not only enshrined in the nato founding act, but also enshrined in for instance, to helsinki final act, which are principles that also russia has enshrined two. so this is about the right for every nation to choose its own path. >> mr. secretary general, could you elaborate a little bit what: you justse said, , i ask for there to be a vitiation of the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, as i speak here today, russian president vladimir putin has amassed 30,000 to 150,000 soldiers on ukraine's doorstep in a show of force that could be a dress rehearsal for invasion of ukraine. but putin's inventory of tanks, infantry and missiles is enabled by another dangerous weapons,

russia's export of dirty energy oil and gas. our global addiction to fossil fuels, an addiction which russia is only too happy to exploit, is kindling for this potential conflict. it without a worldwide clean energy revolution, we will never be able to quit this cycle of fossil fuel corruption and conflict. we will never be able to experience true independence from foreign interference. and we will never be able to protect our friends and our allies, or ourselves, from wars spurred by dirty energy profits. as long as vladimir putin can wield natural gas and oil as a threat against our country and our european allies and partners, we will always be on the defense. as long as putin can wield gas prices and oil prices as a

cudgel to remake borders, these crises will become a repeating drumbeat on the battlefield of history. as long as putin can rely on global economic systems that are dominated by dirty fossil fuels instead of clean, renewable energies, we will all remain vulnerable. the most effective way to reduce the long-term security threat to ukraine and to europe and to sovereign nations everywhere is to stop the spigot that puts billions of euros and dollars into the hands of vladimir putin and his oligarch cronies in return for dirty fuels. in 2021, more than 36% of russia's federal budget revenues came from oil and gas sales.

this could fund annual russian military activities more than twice over. the united states itself participates in these dirty profits. 7% of our oil imports come from russia. we send billions of dollars a year to putin, to those oil giants in russia. we do it ourselves. since 2015, russia has used these oil and gas revenues to expand its currency reserves to $3631 -- to $631 billion, the fourth largest reserve in the world. why does this matter? because the massive revenue chest thriewts the im-- dilutes the impact of nonmilitary

options to respond to russia's aggression. president joe biden is right to seek a diplomatic offramp to the current crisis over ukraine. this crisis has no military solution. but a long-term solution has to include a comprehensive strategy that ends the globe's deadly addiction to russian fossil fuels. that strategy will only happen through an american-led clean energy revolution. that frees the west from dependence on putin's pipelines. many of my republican colleagues think that the only way to address energy security is by building more pipelines or drilling for more oil and gas. that is just plain wrong.

instead of doubling down on investments that align with russia's dirty energy business model, we must lean into the innovation of clean energy technologies to fight against russia. that is our competitive and strategic edge. their vulnerability is that we are the technological giant of the planet, but we have to act like that. implement policies that reflect the fact that we are the technological giant. my republican colleagues often come to the floor and attribute their fealty to oil and gas as a quest for energy security and independence. when we know their calls for more domestic drilling are nothing more than a ploy for profits by the big oil companies.

while families and workers are getting tipped upside down at the gasoline pump every single day, oil companies are stuffing billions into their pockets. exxon, conoco, chevron made more than $45 billion in profits last year as gas prices increased by more than 40%. republicans call these price increases supply constraints. and incorrectly blame president biden's energy policies. but here are the actual facts -- daily domestic oil production remained constant between 2020 and 2021, at 12 million barrels of oil a day.

we are producing as much today in the biden administration as we were producing during the trump administration. so, i just don't want to continue to hear this from the republican side. what they're saying is not true. here are some more facts that the american petroleum institute, or the american perverocation institute and my republican colleagues seem to omit. in 2021, three million of those 12 million barrels were exported to foreign countries. let me say that again. of the 12 million barrels of oil that we actually drill for here in the united states, three million of those barrels were exported around the world. who wanted to export those

barrels of oil? the american petroleum institute. and we're exporting them abroad because in 2015 republicans voted to end the decades-long export ban on sending oil overseas. it was their votes that paved the way to send american oil overseas. it was their votes that aligned with the american petroleum institute, that results today in three million barrels of oil a day leaving the united states. as we see these crocodile tears about oil imports and exports from the american petroleum institute, from the republican party. so, you can't say out of one side of your mouth energy independence, but out of the other side export, baby, export. that's what the republican party has stood for. that's what the american

petroleum institute advocated for and got as a new american policy after four decades in 2015. and the more oil we drill for here at home, the more likely big oil will sell american consumers out to the highest bidder abroad for our oil. republicans owe americans at the pump an apology for putting us in this situation. we cannot support a business model where big oil drills for energy in the united states, only to sell that product to china at the expense of the american consumer. in november of 2020, i requested a federal report that revealed that the repeal of the 2015 crude oil export ban increased u.s. crude exports while imports remained largely unchanged and resulted in higher oil costs.

the first step to true energy independence is to reinstate the ban on exporting american crude oil and natural gas abroad. the other step must be equally aggressive. aggressive in investments in clean energy, in wind and solar and all-electric vehicles and battery storage technologies and new metals, new inventions, so that we don't have to import that oil from russia or from any other place in the world. so we can break our addiction to the russian oil that comes into our country right now, even as we speak on the floor of the united states senate. because that hurts american working families. it hurts vulnerable communities in our country. our fossil fuel addiction is a

catalyst for conflict, a clean-energy green new deal would be a pathway for peace. the position of my republican colleagues represents the kind of short-term thinking that will harm our long-term national security, the security of our european partners and allies, and the health of our planets. if we export more american natural gas to our allies in europe, fuel prices would increase for american consumers, and the russian government would continue to profit by simply redirecting its fossil fuel supply to asia. putin would still be able to use his oil and natural gas revenue to threaten the sovereignty of free and democratic countries. and as a top three oil and natural gas producer, russia will continue to have significant influence on energy

supply and pricing as long as there continues to be global demand for its oil and gas exports. whether that demand is eastern asia or eastern europe. this is not theoretical. just think, last week, russia and china inked a 30-year deal through which russia will send natural gas worth $80 billion a year to china. in addition to whom russia sells its oil and gas, we must start focusing on why russia has a market for its oil and gas in the first place. this is a demand-side problem. let's demand some answers. if we're serious about addressing fossil fuel demand, let's switch to clean energy and make smart investments in electric transportation. we don't need more gas pumps.

we need more heat pumps for heating and cooling. we don't need more pipelines. we need more transmission lines to deliver safe, secure, and reliable clean energy. and we don't need more mass destruction. we need mass construction of clean industrial facilities, clean manufacturing, clean cars here in the united states and worldwide. if we're serious about ending russia's oil and natural gas blackmail, we should invest in energy-efficient technologies that get us off the fossil fuel that threatens our planet and threatens the security of europe. we need to build electric cars and trucks so americans and europeans will never again be at the mercy of global energy markets led by russia and opec. we need to build electric heat pumps so our european allies no longer have to rely on putin's natural gas to heat their homes in the winter.

and we need to build clean energy manufacturing facilities here in the united states so that we can export clean energy technologies to europe and create jobs here at home. we need to make the wind turbines here in the united states. we need to make the solar panels here in the united states. we need to make the battery technologies here in the united states. we need to make the all-electric vehicles here in the united states. that has to be our plan. that will frighten putin. that will frighten all of the rest of his petrol buddies right now having a little con fad in so muchy. that will -- in sochi. that will frighten him. but we cannot preach tem prance from a barstool. we must lead the clean energy revel revolution to protect yours from russia, yes. but also from the existential threat of climate change caused by dirty fuels. if the united states leads with

government investment and clean energy, we will drive down the cost curve for these clean-energy technologies and spread this wide spread adoption in the united states and europe and across the planet. just look at the power that clean energy already has in our country, the clean-energy sector was one of the nation's fastest growing job sectors. soler jobs in 2020, 93,000 workers. about i now, 345,000. wind jobs in 2010, 75,000 employees. by 2020, up to 114,000. energy efficiency jobs, 830,000 in 2010, now it's up to 2. 1 million people working in energy efficiency in our country. that worker power is matched by actual power. just listen to these generation achievements. we've gone from 1200 megawatts of solar in 2008, to 120,000 megawatts today. from wind it's gone from 25,000

to 143,000 megawatts, and all-electric vehicles, there were only 2500 all-electric vehicles in the united states in 2008. that was a crime. that we had fallen so far behind, that the auto industry in the united states had just sat down on the job. but by 2030 we're now expecting 18 million new jobs, 18 million new electric vehicles on the streets of our country. this is america's strength. this is where we can dominate the world, the clean energy economy will not free ourselves from putin's energy clutches by staring down the dark barrel of a gun but by harnessing the clean energy of the sun. if vladimir putin's market for fossil fuels strength so does his ability to finance threats and sow division around the world. in order to diffuse tensions in europe, we need a revolution, a

clean energy revolution. our wind turbines, our weapons against russia's pipelines. our solar panels, our shields against siberian oil. together with the e.u.'s green deal, that is how we will fight and win. the clean energy revolution that will finally disarm putin's dirty regime. our first step is to pass the climate justice and clean energy provisions from the build back better bill. that $555 billion investment includes tax credits and rebates and clean energy, heat pumps, all-electric vehicles, advanced domestic manufacturing, wind and solar which will aid in america a clean economy will be created. and those credits coupled with technology neutral climate and clean energy bank that will help finance the clean economy and a civilian climate corps which will train the next generation

of young people and bring jobs and justice to our local communities. we need to deploy one of our greatest assets against putin, american ingenuity and the american workforce, well trained, well paid battalion of american workers who will build our clean energy revolution with jobs take cntsz be outsource -- that cannot be outsourced. this clean energy revolution is worth fighting for and i know we can do it. now we need to build on the past 12 years of domestic clean energy success and help build european economies so no longer they have to rely on vladimir putin to heat their homes and power their cars. the united states imports russian oil. europe imports russian gas. what if instead we exported climate innovation and leadership to the world? that's the clean energy revolution that could stem the possibility of war and climate catastrophe. we don't need russia's oil any more than we need russia's

caviar if we are serious in our country. we need a new nato that comes together and forges an alliance to deploy all-electric vehicles, to deploy wind and solar so we back out the oil and gas not only in europe, not only in the united states but all around the world that we use. this is our moment. we have a chance here in the united states senate to respond, but i just don't want to hear anything more from the american petroleum institute, the american purveyorcation institute. their policies are the ones we're living with today. those are the policies that must change. that's the only way in which we can meet this health care, environmental, national security and moral issue of all time. and if we do it, generations in the future will look back and say that we responded to that challenge. thank you, mr. president. and i yield back.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. like many americans, nebraskans were rooting for the bengals on sunday. everyone loves a good underdog story. the bengals hadn't won a playoff game in more than 30 years until this season and they were effectively the visiting team in a super bowl that was played in los angeles against the l.a. rams. outside of ohio, nebraska may have more connection to the bengals than any other state. to start joe burrow has deep roots in nebraska. both of his brothers jamie and dan played for the huskers in the early 2000's. his mom robin grew up in nebraska and burrow has uncles

and other relatives scattered around southeast nebraska. and his grandfather wayne is a farmer in johnson county. wayne has watched every super bowl for 56 years going back to super bowl i in 1967. this year was the first time he's attended the big game in person to cheer on his grandson and the bengals. maybe best of all joe's dad played for the nebraska huskers in the 1970's before going on to a career in the nfl and the canadian football league. later as an assistant coach, he was part of the husker team that took on number one miami in the 2002 rose bowl. husker football fans remember that game as the last time nebraska has played for a

national championship. not good. 5-year-old joe burrow was there in pasadena to support his dad making sunday's super bowl the second time he has traveled to l.a. for a national title game. even by themselves joe burrow's nebraska connections would have been enough to make husker nation pull for the bengals, but bengals coach zac taylor is another reason that nebraskans were with cincinnati on sunday. he was the huskers' starting quarterback for the 2005 and 2006 seasons throwing for nearly 6,000 jardz and 45 -- 6,000 yards and 45 touchdowns. he was also the last cornhusker to win the big 12 offensive player of the year award. he credits his success as a

player to nebraska's coach at the time bill callahan. now he has brian callahan, bill's son, on his staff as his offensive coordinator. torrey walders, the bengals wide receivers coach was nebraska's offensive coordinator from 2017 to 2019 and another bengal player with nebraska ties is stanley morgan. he signed with the bengals in 2019 after a stellar college career with the huskers, and he's easily one of the best receivers in husker football history. morgan rewrote nebraska's wide receiver record books from 2015 to 2018. he holds the record for career receptions and receiving yards and also for single-season

receiving yards. with that last record he eclipsed the previous total nebraska football legend johnny rogers set on his way to winning the heisman trophy in 1972. now morgan has a bright future ahead of him in the nfl. mr. president, nebraska's connections to this bengals team is strong. the team came up just short on sunday but nebraskans are proud of what they accomplished this season. joe burrow and zac taylor led this team of underdogs to a game no one expected to see them in, and they ended the longest active playoffs drought in the nfl while they were at it. things are looking up for nebraska-led team. i look forward to seeing them in the playoffs again next year.

thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that i be able to finish my remarks prior to the scheduled vote at 11:30. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. at the end of this month the united states supreme court is slated to hear oral arguments in the case of west virginia v. e.p.a. in which the justices will consider the u.s. environmental protection agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. stakes could not be higher. this case will have lasting impact in maryland, the nation, and the planet. as we follow the science of work to mitigate the damaging impacts

of climate change, it is imperative that the court respect e.p.a.'s authority which congress granted to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to protect public health and the environment. i would like to take a moment to consider where we are and how we got here. at issue in the case is the question of whether e.p.a. acted outside its statutory authority when it promulgated in 2015 the clean power plant, the c.p.p., which established guidelines for states to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. the trump administration repealed the c.p.p. and issued in its place the affordable clean energy rule which eliminated the guidelines. the u.s. court of appeals for the district -- for the d.c. circuit, vacated the affordable clean energy rule as arbitrary and capricious. one of the challengers, north american coal corporation, challenged how broad the

e.p.a.'s authority is to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. notably the clean power plant was never implemented. the clean power plan was never implemented yet several of the parties challenged the plan and are asking the supreme court to issue a decision far beyond whether the c.p.p. constitutes a reasonable interpretation of section 111-d of the clean air act. the challengers have put forth interpretations of two legal doctrines, the nondelegation and major questions doctrines that could have adopted, strip e.p.a. of its authority to regulate green house gases entirely. the supreme court has spoken on the clean air act in 2007 and in massachusetts v. e.p.a., the supreme court decision ruled e.p.a. has the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases in vehicle emissions. the majority found that the agency could not side step its authority to regulate greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change unless it could

prove a scientific basis for its refusal. there is none. the same year the environmental defense v. duke energy, the court ruled unanimously with regards to the e.p.a.'s authority to regulate factories and power plants that add capacity or make renovations that increase emissions of air pollutants. in the current case of west virginia v. e.p.a., i joined chairman carper's amicus brief with nearly 200 members of congress. the brief illustrates e.p.a.'s authority under the clean air act to protect the public from harmful pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and address the climate crisis. it also rejects arguments made by the petitioners challenging the e.p.a.'s authority to address carbon pollution. it is among a notable number of briefs filed in this case, many citing my home state of maryland. in their briefs in support of the respondents, scientists observed that heavy rain and

snowstorms across most of the united states have increased in both intensity and fraction si since -- frequency since 2001. the northeast region often faces flooding particularly in the historic districts like annapolis maryland, home to the u.s. naval academy and newport, rhode island, as well as portions of washington, d.c. near the tidal basin. for example, human cause climate change made the exceptionally heavy precipitation and flooding events that occurred in 2018 in pennsylvania, new jersey, maryland, and washington, d.c. up to 2.3 times more likely. "the washington post" reported that more than 40% of americans live in counties hit by climate-related disasters in 2021 including three in maryland, st. mary's county and culver county in southern maryland and dorchester county along maryland's eastern shore. according to fema data, each suffered declared disasters spawned by hurricanes.

because of the vulnerability in my home state, i took direct action in 2019. i was proud to lead an effort with over 20 of my colleagues in a joint resolution providing for the congressional disapproval of the trump administration's repeal of the clean power plan. maryland is at risk not only to extreme weather events but also to slow onset climate impacts that are equally damaging. the national park conservation association in its brief remarks on maryland's cultural history. the harriet tubman underground railroad national historical park is located in maryland. the approximate elevation of the park is a mere 3 feet above sea level and is surrounded by the inlets of the chesapeake bay. viewed another way 3 feet is half the depth of a quarter of the bay. as water levels continue to rise, this national historical park may be permanently lost. the national park conservation association's brief discusses

the obligations congress conferred on e.p.a. to protect public lands and their reso resources. on february 15, noaa announced the sea level rise technical report which provides the most up-to-date sea level rise scenarios available for all u.s. states and territories. the report projects sea level along the coastline will rise an additional 10 to 12 inches by 2050, which specific amounts varying regionally mainly you don't to land height changes. the effort is a product of the interagency sea level and coastal flood hazardous and tool task force comprised of the u.sf engineers as well as several academic institutions. the report leverages meth odds and insights from the panel on climate change assessment report

and supporting research from the u.s. department of defense regional sea level database. the report tells us that the united states is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previously 100 years, and it must serve as a wake-up call. maryland's urban and surbur ban centers in addition to our rural communities and coasts are in danger. the national league of cities and the u.s. conference of mayors in their brief state that baltimore, maryland, as well as other major cities, including washington, d.c., philadelphia, and boston, have all experienced significant increases in exposure to wildfire smoke that prevailing winds carry across the country. state and local governments are taking action. in their brief, they cite that in 12013 baltimore developed comprehensive responses for structure, building codes, and

public services to threats from rising sea level, heat waves and storms. in central maryland, annapolis developed the first of its kind nation cultural resources hazardous mitigation plan in 2018 to mitigate climate impacts on important cultural and historical landmarks and the eastern shore climate adaptation partnership has brought together local governments from across the eastern shore to prepare for climate impacts. private companies, too, are among subnational actors that are all in on climate. maryland's mccormick and company has said a new, more ambitious goal for reducing emissions after achieving 20% boy 2025, four years earlier than expected. a fortune 500 company has announced a plan to achieve net

zero emissions by 2050 with contributions secretary kerry delivered adopt of the cop26 meeting that occurred last year. but the company cannot mitigate climate change alone. the federal government must support it. the clean air act is an essential tool by which we do so. through the build back better agenda and elsewhere, congress is taking an all of the above strategy to combat climate change complemented by the biden administration's biden administration's whole of government approach. i am proud that the title to fulfill reconciliation instructions includes funding legislation to make federal buildings greener but more is needed. the legislation also includes funding for water utilities to enhance their resilience to natural hazards as authorized by the bipartisan infrastructure investment and jobs act. the supreme court must tread carefully in curtailing any

specific toll, including the clean air act, and must not intercede where efforts to curb e.p.a.'s authority have failed. we must continue to pursue as many avenues as possible to deal with the climate crisis. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 692, celeste ann wallander of maryland to be an assistant secretary of defense. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of celeste ann wallander of maryland to be an assistant secretary of defense shall be brought to a close.

the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

is vote. the presiding officer: the yeas are 81, the nays 13. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 476, david a. honey of virginia to be deputy under secretary of defense, signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the

sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of david a. honey of virginia to be deputy undersecretary of defense shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 93. the nays 3. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of defense, david a. honey of virginia to be deputy under secretary.

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. very seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and the minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this is a pivotal moment for our country, for our economy. everyone understands we need a full federal reserve board. the first time once we move the president's nominees and get them confirmed and get them sworn in, it will be the first time in nearly a decade that the federal reserve has had a full complement of seven fed governors. that's especially important with the upcoming meeting of federal reserve in march because the fed's job is to tackle inflation and bring prices down for american families. it's pretty simple equation. the president nominates. it didn't happen the last few years but the president nominates. we have hearings. we ask some questions.

we send them follow-up questions. the nominees answer these questions. that's how this place works. that's a good thing about this place. then we call a voting committee and we vote yes or no. the job is vote yes or vote no and hope your side prevails. well, that's what americans think we should do. every day americans get up, go to work, do their jobs, but senate republicans didn't do theirs yesterday. we had our markup, our meeting to confirm five -- five nominees for the federal reserve. the chair of the federal reserve appointed originally by president trump has been renominated by president biden. his nomination we were voting on. the vice chair, lael brainard who has been on the fed some time and then three new fed slots that have been vacant for some time. sarah bloom raskin who would be vice chair of supervision, a very important job at the fed and the other two also important jobs, please is a cook and

philip jefferson. all five of these nominations we wanted to vote on yesterday. three weeks ago senator toomey, the leading republican on the committee, he and i agreed it would be yesterday -- yesterday vote would be yesterday and we would meet at 2:15 and vote them up or down. all 14 of us get a vote. under senate rules if one party doesn't want to play ball, they don't show up, and we can't do business. so all 12 democrats showed up. we wanted to vote. we actually took an informal vote passed 12-0 for essentially all six of them. there was one no on one of them. but republicans didn't show up. so as i said, americans every day get up, go to work, do their jobs. they expect us to get up every day, go to work, and do our jobs. but republicans are awol in the fate against inflation. if we're going to get serious about inflation, we need a federal reserve in place. we need all seven fed governors in place ready to work, ready to

debate, and make decisions about monetary policy, about interest rates, about jobs, about attacking inflation. americans don't want, mr. president, they don't want -- they don't want -- in boulder or denver or cleveland or columbus, americans don't want more political theatrics. they want solutions to bring down their costs. republicans, they've been great coming to the floor and speaking against inflation. they've got their political stunts, but when it really came time to show up and do their job, they just simply didn't show up yesterday to do their jobs. all 12 democrats were there ready to go. all 12 of us wanted to move forward on these five nominations for the federal reserve and under senate rules, we simply couldn't act officially to get that done. i know that the ranking member, i understand he doesn't want to do this for whatever reasons. he doesn't like her position on climate change. he doesn't like it that she's going to -- that the one he's

complaining most about, doesn't like it that she's going to stand up to wall street and not roll over for wall street every time wall street rattles the fed's chains. he knows that, and he probably -- he doesn't like that, but he's hanging his hat on some issue that really makes very little sense. sarah bloom raskin, the person whom he's most complaining about, she answered, over a weekend had 48 hours to answer more than a 180 questions from senator toomey and his colleagues. she answered them all in 48 hours. then even outside the senate rules, more questions were sent to her. she answered those questions. so it's really about the fact that far too many people here pay far too much attention to the oil company lobby. but that's really neither here or there. every day americans, as i say, get up, go to work, do their jobs. senate republicans must do theirs. pure and simple republicans are

awol in the fight against inflation. we're not going to stop fighting for these nominees. the american people want us to vote. some people say vote yes. some no. i'm fine with that but the american people want us to do our jobs. when you come here, you don't -- there aren't three boxes, vote yes, vote no, or check a box that says i don't want to come to work today, i'm not going to vote. no, they want us to vote. so we'll keep fighting for these nominees. i implore at least one republican of the 12 on the committee to come to our next markup, our next vote, our next executive session so we can vote on these nominees. i want the federal reserve for the first time in a decade to all be there pulling in the same direction, fighting inflation for our country. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

>> this is the fastest our economy has grown since perhaps 1984 and the new jobs we added to the economy were the most ever for a president's firstyear . after former president trump botched our national response

to covid america is under the right track under president biden but we face serious challenges that demand action from congress. cost of living has comefor families across the country and around the world . destruction unleashed by covid has decimated supply chains, strain the labor supply and effects of a global pandemic have begun two years ago still reverberate today. these challenges demand action and democrats will remain laser focused on lowering costs , for american families. yesterday, our caucus met for our weekly lunch where we held a spirited enthusiastic discussion. we got ideas from our members on how we can lower costs and take action to do so. we talked about how we can continue working to lower childcare costs, prescription drug costs, cost of semi conductors which is a huge driver. price increases across a wide variety of products. and things is basic and vital

as the cost of food. lauren costs will continue to be a caucus wide effort. we're not going to agree on everything but we are all on the same page that we need to tackle the issue head on. that's the difference between democrats and republicans. rising costs of course impact all of us whether we come from blue or red states but democrats are the ones laser focused on showing where we stand and offering solutions that aim squarelyat the problem . publicans seem to have no solutions just rhetoric. the other side it sadly seems often times motivated by nothing else. rather than working with us in bipartisan spirit, our public and colleagues the more comfortable giving speeches that go on and on about rising costs without offering any solutions. complaining about the problem doesn't make inflation better . proposing solutions does. and that's precisely what democrats will continue focusing on. over the next month and

beyond, members from our side will continue offering a number of solutions that will lower costs and leave more money in people's pockets. we need to help working families build wealth out the pandemic. lower the cost of medications like insulin which can still leave $600 a month. release strain supply chains and increase domestic manufacturing on things like chips and on that front i'm hopeful we can take bipartisan action soon. our republican colleagues we hope will join us in these efforts. our members would welcome that. we've come a long way from the start of covid but we still have more to do. democrats goals are to make sure that job creation and wage increases last year carry into this year. we're going to work on that this spring and i hope to see our colleagues from the other

side work with us to improve the lives of the american people. if we can keep wages growing and get costs down the average american will have more money in his or her pocket to live a better life. on the cr, mister president soon our republican colleagues must come to an agreement with democrats for passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open until march 11. this extension is necessary in order to give appropriators more time to arrive at an omnibus. on the one hand, bipartisan negotiations on your lawn spending bill continue to go well. a credit to everyone working onthis issue both sides of the eye . i think chairman leahy, ranking member shelby and my house colleagues. on the other hand right now, the thing we must do, the responsible thing to dois pass the cr before the deadline friday . democrats are united in approving it. just as it was approved with great bipartisan support in the house. nobody here wants a republican governmentshutdown . i daresay republicans are not

to have a republican shutdown for that to happen republicans must keep working with us to move quickly on acr. democrats are working in good faith to reach a time agreement soon with our republican colleagues. we have every reason in the world to arrive at an agreement quickly so i urge my colleagues to keep working with us to get there. on nominations, later today the senate is scheduled to advance and confirm a pair of critical department of defense nominees . one of them is celeste wall under nominated to serve as secretary of defense for international security affairs . a veteran of thenational security , miss wallender is one of our country's top russian expert and an experience foreign-policy advisor. as tensions persist miss wallender's expertise is urgently needed and her

nomination must be approved as soon as possible. frankly, it should have happened weeks ago. the moment she was recorded out of committee with support from both sides but miss wallender has remained on hold because one member of this body, just one republican as objected to her swift passage. intentionally delaying the confirmation of a qualified expert on russian affairs at a time like this is supremely reckless is making the american people less safe. for a member of the senate to insist on this old is a clear risk to our national security and it onlyserves to undermine our defense efforts . it is unacceptable and the definition of cynical. let me say it again. to intentionally delay the confirmation of a critical department of defense nominee and a russian expert at the time when tensions persist in ukraine and eastern europe is supremely reckless and is making the american people less safe.

while this nominee has been delayed she willnonetheless be confirmed by this chamber . the vast majority of senators understand nominees are out of bounds from typical partisan politics. so we're going to do our jobs and confirm this nominee and as long as republican bowls continue on a vast number of other nominations, the senate willkeep voting as long as it takes to get them through the chamber . it means voting late as we got in recent weeks that's what we must do.i will return later to join with my colleagues to see further on increasingly reckless holes that damage our security both domestic and national that we are seeing on the other side. >> yesterday president biden addressed the country about the crisis that russia has created on its border with ukraine. it was much in the president's remarks that appreciated. it was right to candidly remind the russian people

that neither give the united states nor nato nor ukraine wants a war. he was right to emphasize that the war will not shrug or stand idly by vladimir putin tries to invade his neighbor or redraw the map of europe through deadly force. we spent much time discussing russia's alleged security concerns and not enough time examining the legitimate concerns of russia's neighbors. many of whom a long history of being invaded by moscow. the concerns of these three sovereign states matter as well and the president would do well to amplify their voices and their historical experience. so it's time for president biden to engage in good faith diplomacy provided we are

skeptical about putin's intentions. thus far putin's behavior is proving how little he can be trusted and how little he is interested in diplomacy . as anything other than a gambit to divide the west or a pretext for war. the us must keep sending these strong messages verbally and with concrete actions both right now, for any hostilities and then with devastating force if putin does plow ahead. the us and our partners should waste no time helping ukraine prepare for war . weapons, material, advice, logistics and intelligence. we should be building the infrastructure to help ukraine withstand its resistance if and when it comes. i welcome the presidents deployment of additional forces to the territory of nato allies situated along our eastern flank. i recommend you take such

action months ago and i'm particularly grateful to the kentuckians of the hundred first airborne division leaving fort campbell to join nato reinforcements and eastern europe. as our diplomats work to halt the train of russian aggression, it is the brave men and women of the us military who give their words added weight. i'm hopeful president biden will rise to the occasion. as a bipartisan group of colleagues and i made clear at the joint statement yesterday, the president would have overwhelming bipartisan support to use his existing executive authorities for top sanctions against russia in the event of conflict. we should acknowledge putin's use of energy as a weapon. and if the president is serious about providing relief for americans at the pump or applauding putin's minute relation of energy markets he will stop his administration's anti-energy policies that make it harder for our own producers to

explore, produce and export energy to vulnerable allies. and while our eastern bloc allies have consistently taken a clear eyed approach to their own defense it's time for america to invest more meaningfully in our own military capabilities and demand our allies in western europe actually follow suit. whether the administration is serious about competition with russia and china will be clear when it submits its fiscal 23 budget request. our allies and adversaries will all be watching. on a different matter while the world's eyes are fixed on the presidents foreign-policy questions , troubling facts continue to service rounding the administrations previous self-inflicted crisis of botched retreat from afghanistan . last week journalists published the findings of a 2008 autopsy.

the army officials compiled following the chaotic withdrawal from kabul. the report become a damning fact the vitamins. ministration received warnings from commanders on the ground that should have been heated but went ignored. as i warned the time we had confirmation this disaster was foreseeable, foreseen actually and avoidable. the army's conclusions built upon the report from special inspector general was declassified last month. while president biden and his political advisers still cling to the notion that they got the second advice and were caught off guard, both these reports suggest nonpartisan experts new and predicted the afghan military would likely collapse and spend months trying in vain to get demonstration topay attention .

top commanders reported trying to get state department officials to engage in advance of evacuation plans was like quote, pulling teeth. but the national security council was quote, not seriously planning for an evacuation . then among peers in uniform everyone clearly saw some of the advantage of holding sovereign. as the top us commander on the ground during the evacuation policymakers and not pay attention to the indicators of what was happening on the ground. the staggering report from our own us 40 should have chastised biden administration. it should be an occasion for apology, reflection and accountability. but last week president biden instead tried to simply wave away our own armies conclusions without evidence.

he was asked are you rejecting the conclusion or the accounts in the army report? our president replied yes i am. so are they not true? i'm rejecting them, the president said. no evidence. just hand waving denial. frankly, it was a bizarre performance. >>

eterans are the newest generation of american heroes to suffer from toxic exposure encountered during military service and passing this legislation marks just a first step, a first step of phased approach to solving the complex challenges of caring for those veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic exposures. for way too long we have heard

from veterans who got sick after expose tour to burn pits about and need lifesaving care. there is a bipartisan consensus on our committee that this phased approach delivering health care now and reforming the benefits system next is the most effective pathway forward. for toxic exposure veterans and other veterans as well. servicemembers are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. we know that, we respect that, we honor that. we must match that level of commitment by crafting thoughtful and efggettive -- effective solutions to make sure we hold up our end of the bargain and work toward the best outcomes for those who served and sacrificed. i once joined a roundtable in wichita, kansas, with local members of the vietnam veterans of america and was moved by their stories, not only their own health consequences of agent orange but their concerns about how their exposure was affecting the health of their children and

grandchildren. from that veteran feedback i introduced the toxic exposure research act with senator blumenthal signed into law in 2016 and have heard from veterans in kansas and throughout the country who are sick and dying from the effects of toxic exposure caused by burn pits addressing the need canning not wait -- cannot wait. this legislation can be lifesaving sphor -- for those exposed. when our men and women go into harm's way on our behalf we owe it to them take care of them for whatever injuries are incurred during their services. this is not a question of resources. this is a question of getting reform done in the right way. the senate has now, or soon will act to pass this bill, moving us closer to competing, moving us closer to completing phase one of this approach to provide timely care to our veterans. i'll continue to work with

veterans advocates in the v.a. and importantly my colleagues on the senate committee on veterans' affairs and its chairman, senator tester of montana, to make sure we are crafting legislative solutions that are veteran centric. i call upon my colleagues in the house to take action and pass this bill and to being the a on our promise as a nation so that post-9/11 veterans who are suffering from toxic exposures can get the care they need. i thank my colleagues in the committee, chairman tester, and our respective staffs for working to craft this feasible path forward. i also want to thank many veteran organizations who have expressed their support for this legislation, including the disabled veterans of america, the veterans of foreign wars, the wounded warrior project, the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, the american legion, military officers association of america, and military veterans advocacy. i'm confident that if we continue to work together with the v.a. and with veteran groups, we will keep the needs

of veterans foremost in our minds, that we can deliver meaningful reforms for the current generation of veterans and for all those who come thereafter. mr. president, i yield the floor to the senator from montana. mr. tester: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from montana. mr. tester: i want to thank my friend, the senator from kansas, senator moran, the ranking member of the veterans' affairs committee. when we started in this congress, the number-one issue put forth by the veterans service organizations was toxic exposure. it was incumbent that the veterans' affairs committee do something about toxic exposure, and we created a bill called the cost of war act. we're at a point now where we're going to try to i am -- implement that bill in phases. the phase we're working on today has six major components to it. number one, it expands the period of health care eligibility for combat veterans

who served after september 11, 2001, from five years to ten. number two, it provides an open enrollment period for any post-9/11 combat veteran who is more than ten years from separation. number three, after we do the first two things, it tells the v.a. to have an outreach plan to contact veterans who did not enroll during their initial period of enhanced eligibility so that they can sign up for the potential benefits. it directs the v.a. to incorporate a clinical screening regarding a veterans potential exposures and symptoms commonly associated with toxic substances. the fifth thing, it mandates health care and training for health care personnel that work at the v.a. finally, it strengthens federal research on toxic exposure. this is a big big, an important bill and does right by veterans

in our country. toxic exposure is not something that's new. we've dealt with it since world war i, world war ii, agent orange and the vietnam war, and now toxic exposure due to burn pits. when we get done with this process, it's not going to take an act of congress to get the benefits they need when it comes to toxic exposure moving into the future. this is a giant step forward in that regard. and so i want to thank both the minority and majority staffs, the senator from kansas, who has been an incredible help, being able to work together to get this to the point it is today. so as if in legislative session, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the president proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 263, s. 3541. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 263, s. 3541, a bill to improve health care and services for

veterans exposed to toxic substances and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. tester: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. tester: i know of no other -- i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none, the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. tester: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: thank you. mr. president, it's important, i think, that we acknowledge a very simple truth that few people can disagree with, and that is we are living at this moment in the most difficult time of our lives. and i say to the american people, if you are feeling anxious, feeling depressed, if you are feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling confused, if you are feeling angry, you are not alone. many millions of americans feel exactly the same way. this pandemic has had a devastating and horrific impact

upon our country. over 900,000 people have died from covid and tens of millions have been made ill. many thousands of workers have lost their jobs simply because they went about doing their jobs. they had to go to work. they were critical workers, and many thousands died as a result. and in the midst of the pandemic, in an unprecedented way millions of other workers have chosen to find new employment paths. they have given up their old jobs. but it's not just working people who have been impacted. it has been a terrible time for the young people of our country. the education of our younger generation from child care to graduate school has been

severely disrupted in a way that we have never seen in the modern history of this country. but again, it's not just for workers or the children, it is for elderly people. you have senior citizens in this country who have died at a alarmingly high rates. but in addition to that they have been isolated over the last several years because of the fear of catching the virus, which means that they can't come in contact with their kids or their grandchildren. they can't get out of the house house, and they are hurting as a result. in america today, it is no great secret. it's an issue we're trying to deal with, that mental illness is on the rise, as is drug addiction, alcoholism, and domestic violence. in other words, these are difficult and in fact

unprecedented times within our lives. but what i want to point out this afternoon is that while the vast majority of people in our country are hurting emotionally, they're hurting economically, these are not difficult times for everybody. that's an important point to be made. in fact, i want to start off with, if i might, some really, really good news. if you are a billionaire in this country or a c.e.o. of a large corporation, for those people these times have not been bad. they in fact have been very, very good. in fact, if you are one of the very richest people in this country, this moment right now has never been better for you

than any time in american history. today corporate profits are at an all-time high and c.e.o.'s, heads of large corporations have seen huge increases in their compensation packages. let me give you just a few examples. everybody in america is worried about the high price of gas. we drive around and today gas prices are higher than they were yesterday. but while gas prices are soaring, shock of all shock, oil company profits are now higher than they have been in over seven years. gas prices are soaring, and guess what, large oil companies

are making huge profits. in fact, in the last quarter, exxonmobil, shell and b.p. made nearly $20 billion of profits in one-quarter. gas prices soaring, profits of the oil companies soaring as well. that's not all. everybody is worried about high food prices. many senior citizens live on fixed income and they go to the grocery store and get upset about the high price of meat, vegetables and everything else. well, turns out the oil grocery stores are enjoying large profits. kroger made a record-breaking profit of some $4 billion in 2021, while its stock price jumped 36% in the past year, its

c.e.o. got a 296% pay raise over the past decade and they have been able to spend $1.5 billion on stock buybacks and dividends to enrich wealthy shareholders. food prices soaring, yet company after company in the food industry are making huge profits. for the people on top the good news is that it's not just corporate profits have never been better. that's good news. but even better for them is that c.e.o. compensation has never been higher. you know, there was a time way back in the 1950's, when i was growing up, when c.e.o.'s did very, very well. they made 20 times more than

their average worker. well, if you are a c.e.o., the good news is those days are long gone when you only made 20 times more than your average workers. today, as i am sure the c.e.o.'s of this country know, they are now making 350 times more than what the average worker in america makes -- 350 times more. talk about greed. and, by the way, at a time when we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, the really, really good news is that the c.e.o.'s of the top eight farm ought to cal companies -- pharmaceutical companies in america made over

$250 million of compensation in 2020. got that? eight c.e.o.'s of the drug companies that charge us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, made $350 million collectively in compensation. and if that is not good enough news for the billionaire class, let me give you some even better news. today the billionaire class owns more income and wealth percentagewise than at any time in american history. as a result of a massive transfer of wealth -- you know, we hear a lot of talk about transfer of wealth, oh, my god, we can't tax the rich and transfer wealth, but you know what there has been a huge transfer of wealth, the only problem is it has gone in the

wrong direction from working families to the top 1%. and as a result of that, what we have now is the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92%. the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92%. and amazingly the two richest people in america own more wealth than the bottom 42%. two people own more wealth than the bottom 42%. we pride ourselves in being a country of fairness, of justice, justice for all. it is not fair. it is not just that two people now own more wealth than the bottom 42% of the american people. that's wealth, accumulated income. in terms of income, what we earn

in a given year since the wall street crash of 2008, the top 1% has earned 45% of all new income created in this country. okay. got 100 people, guy on top earns 45% of all of that income. you know, mr. president, every day, as you well know, members of the senate and the house, they go to the floor to give congratulatory remarks to the boy scouts, congratulating them on their anniversaries, the kids who have done well, the 4-h club, and we honored traid for his great football success -- tom brady for his great football success. everybody comes here to

congratulate somebody else. that's just great. i do the same. we congratulated some great olympians from vermont. but, mr. president, the time is approaching where we need to have a resolution congratulating the billionaire class for their enormous success in moving this country into the oligarchic form of society that they have long desired. maybe we should do a u.c. on that issue. and by the way, mr. president, here's another area of congratulations to the billionaire class. when we speak about oligarchy -- when we speak about oligarchy, we should all understand that we're not just talking about massive levels of income and wealth and inequality or the rich getting richer or the poor getting poorer, we should all

understand that never before in american history has so few owned so much. and this issue, the issue of the incredible concentration of ownership in our country is almost never talked about here in congress or in the corporate media. and that has a lot to do with the corporate political system that we operate under where many members of congress receive huge campaign contributions from these very same people. but here's an important point to make and tomorrow actually i'll be doing a hearing on this as chairman of the budget committee. this is an issue we almost never discuss, and it is of enormous consequence. today in america just three wall street firms black rock, vanguard and stay street.

i suspect many have not heard-these firms, vanguard, black rock and state street, these firm manage $21 trillion in assets. $21 trillion in assets. what does that mean? well, for starters, it means that the amount of money these one, two, three firms control is more than the gross domestic product, the g.d.p. of the united states of america, the largest economy in the world and more than five times the g.d.p. of germany. these three firms, black rock, vanguard and state street are major shareholders in more than the 6 -- 96% of s&p 500

companies. what does that mean? it has significance over companies that employ millions of workers. there used to be company x, owned by somebody, good employer, bad employer, there was a group of people that owned a company. that is rapidly changing in the al edgaric world -- al -- al garagey world. over three companies have controversial hundreds and hundreds of companies. you know, after the wall street crash, mr. president, of 2008, i recall a lot of discussion about the wealth and the power of the big banks, the giant banks and whether or not they were too big to fail, a huge amount of discussion.

well, today these three firms -- three wall street firms are the largest shareholders in some of the biggest banks in america, j.p. morgan, chase, wells fargo, and citibank. in other words, it these banks are also owned by a handful of wall street firms. what about transportation? you know, we all get on planes, we go here and there. well, these three major wall street firms black rock, vanguard and state street, they are among the top owners of the four major airlines, united, american, et cetera. well, what about health care? what about health care? who owns the health care industry? well, together these three wall street firms own an average of

20% of the major drug companies. they also own many hundreds of nursing homes, hospitals, and emergency rooms. what about housing? well, what we're seeing is a handful of wall street firms are now the major owners of rental housing in america at a time, by the way, when the cost of housing and rents are soaring in this country. and maybe, just maybe, if you haven't heard a whole lot about these issues, it might have something to do with the fact that a handful of wall street firms control half of the newspapers in america. and i think there is a reality which maybe says it all. and that is during this terrible, terrible pandemic,

when so many people have died and become ill and lost their jobs and missed school and suffered all of the isolation that this pandemic has brought about, 745 billionaires in america became more than -- became more than $2 trillion richer. and that is, to my mind, the clearest example of the level of corporate greed that we are now experiencing. desperate workers who live paycheck to paycheck are forced to go to work. they go to work in hospitals and they go to work in public transportation, it they go to work this meat-packing plants, bus drivers, whatever they may be, and thousands of them have died on the job while a handful

of billionaires, 745, became more than $2 trillion richer. and when we talk about the growth of oligarchy in america, not a lot of people, but i do, but when we talk about oligarchy in america, it's not just the very rich are getting richer. that's one thing. but the reality is that tens of millions of working-class people, lower-income people in the wealthiest country on earth are suffering today under incredible economic hardship, desperately trying day to day to survive. 745 billionaires in the pandemic, $2 trillion increase in their wealth, tens of millions of americans s