vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays are 44. the joint resolution is passed. mr. cotton: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: the world is in chaos at every turn. in the last week, vladimir putin has provoked an unprovoked nation aggression against the people of ukraine. the reason he did this is because of his imperial ambitions to incorporate ukraine into the greater russian empire in his mind but also because he perceived weakness and opportunity from the west and, regrettably, from president biden. we saw last night the president congratulate himself on the diplomatic coalition he has put together to confront vladimir putin.

that's akin to neville chamberlain,. the whole point was to deter vladimir putin. that failed. why did it nail? because for the last year the president has projected weakness and signaled to vladimir putin that he didn't have the nerve to counteract his ambitions. his first action in office was to give vladimir putin his number-one foreign policy priority, a no-strings-attached extension of a one-sided nuclear arms treaty. shortly after that he gave him his second foreign policy priority, again with no strings attached, he waived sanctions oned nord stream 2 pipeline. we rewarded vladimir putin with a high-stakes summit last summer, but a it's not just foreign policy. it's also domestic policy here at home. as day follows night, vladimir

putin gets emboldened and more aggressive when the price of oil is higher. for the last year, the biden administration has done everything they can to stifle the production of american oil and gas that would not only keep the price of gasoline lower for our citizens, keep the price of heating their home lower, it would also constrain vladimir putin by reducing the revenues he has for his war machine. but the biden administration's war on oil and gas has in fact emboldened him. so much so that we are to this day still importing hundreds of thousands of barrels of russian oil and petroleum products every day. since vladimir putin launched this naked war of aggression last week, we have filled his coffers with millions and millions of american dollars to fund his aggression against the ukrainian people.

we still haven't taken the steps necessary to stop this -- sanctions on russian oil and gas, to cut off those revenues, to bankrupt vladimir putin's war machine. but also to continue the pressure that those sanctions would impose, to begin to once again pump more oil and gas here at home. if the we really wanted to add the pressure to vladimir putin that oil and gas sanctions would put on him, we would unleash a flood of american oil and gas into the market. and deprive vladimir putin of those revenues. but instead, on the very day -- literally, the very day last week when vladimir putin invaded ukraine, a ruthless dictator invades an innocent nation of 45 million souls, using oil and gas

as a weapon against the west who could come to the aid of that nation and president biden's action on that day was to halt all new oil and gas leases on federal lands. to the extent the president even talked about energy in his speech last night, he simply made pipe dream promises about green energy that maybe will come true in a decade or two but will do nothing at the moment to deter vladimir putin and in fact will continue to embolden him by highlighting the lack of seriousness to confront and undermine his aggression. in fact, the president only mentioned oil once last night in the speech when he bragged about releasing 30 million barrels from the strategic oil reserve which wouldn't fuel our country for even two days. what we need is not half measures. we need a sustained, reliable, and affordable flow of american energy. that's why i'm here to ask for

unanimous consent for my bill ordering the biden administration to start issuing new oil and gas leases for federal lands. it won't solve all of our problems, but it's an important and immediate step that we can take to start producing the american oil and gas that will undercut vladimir putin's war machine. president biden's foolish energy policy couldn't have come at a worst time for ukraine but we can begin to end it right now by putting our american oil and gas workers back to work. i urge my colleagues to stand with ukraine and to support the bill. it's really a choice between american energy or russian energy. we can decide. and therefore i ask for unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 3731 which is at the desk. further, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is

there objection? a senator: reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. and i reserve the right to object and to explain why to my colleagues here in the senate. this is an unfortunate, terrible exploitation of a crisis in russia by the oil and natural gas industry of the united states of america. they have no shame. they have no conscience. they have no sense of decency. this industry, this unscrupulous industry led by the american petroleum institute, really the american prevarication ?iewt which is what we're -- institute which is what we're hearing --

hearing today and hearing on the airwaves, millions of dollars of television ads saying we've just got to drill, baby, drill here in the united states. that's the answer to the invasion of ukraine by the russians. well, a few facts might be helpful so the american people can understand once again that all the american petroleum institute is about is tipping consumers upside down at the pump and shaking money out of their pockets. that's who they are. so just for a few facts here, the oil industry in the united states has bid for leases on american public lands. right now 53% of the leases

which the oil industry, the natural gas industry of the united states have on shore in our country, in our forests, in our fields, they're not drilling on them. 53% of all the leases that they have from the american people. have they been drilling to protect us against this? no, they have not. how about off shore? well, off shore the oil industry is not using 77% of oil of their existing leases off our shores. right now. and what do they do? they come in here with crocodile tears. if only you'd give us more leases. if only you'd take more of the american people's land and give it to us. then we'll drill. well, this is just hypocrisy on stilts. this is just again the american

petroleum institute engaging in exploitive, profit-making actions, and the republican party sadly is cooperating with them in this time of crisis for the short-term benefit of the american petroleum institute, which should hang its head in shame about this debate that we're having right now, when 77% of all the leases off shore they haven't drilled yet. 53% of all the leases on shore, they haven't drilled yet. and by the way, that area, you want to know how big it is? it's just slightly smaller than the state of arkansas. in other words, they've got almost an arkansas of public lands that they already own, they're leasing from the american people and they're not drilling on it. that would be every square inch of arkansas. they're not drilling. what they do is they bid low for the leases.

they keep them. they wait for the day when the price goes high. then they start drilling. they just hoard them. and they're looking for this as another opportunity to hoard more. to hoard more. now, the president has responded by deploying the strategic petroleum reserve in the short term. there are 600,000 barrels of oil a day that come into the united states. thank god our strategic petroleum reserve had 600 million barrels. in other words, you could deploy 600 million barrels every day for 1,000 days out of our strategic petroleum reserve to make up for the russian oil. we could do that right now. but one thing that we should never do is just get stampeded by this oil and gas industry greed, this industry that has blocked our movement to all-electric vehicles, blocked our movement to wind and solar, blocked our ability to blunt the

need to have oil for our vehicles, natural gas for our homes because it's inconsistent with their business interests, their profit making. they should just be ashamed of what they're doing here today. just ashame. the republican party should have no part of it. g.o.p. should not stand for gas and oil party. that's what we're hearing today. that's what i'm listening to. and if we're going to respond, let's respond together as a nation. let's not break this down into partisan politics, special interest politics in our country. let's come together as a nation. let's work to ensure that we are protecting ourselves, that we are protecting consumers. and if the american petroleum institute wants to be part of this, there's nothing stopping them from bringing out two or three,000 rigs this week -- 3,000 rigs this week starting to

drill on an area the size of arkansas, waiting for them so the oil can start pumping. not waiting to go through a whole leasing process, bidding process. they can do it right now. and you know what's going to happen? they're just going to sit there because they're making a bundle. they're tipping people upside down. they're exploiting this. and by the way, let's not understate the partnership which american companies, some key oil companies have with the russians. that's real, too, right now. let's just not forget the whole history of this. how do we get here? how do we get bad foreign policy? how do we get bad national policy? how do we get bad oil and gas policy? how do we get it? ultimately behind the curtain and in almost every instance you find an oil and gas interest somewhere in the world. and we're hearing it here today. they want to drill off the coast of florida. they want to drill off the coast of maine. or at a minimum they want the

leases so they'll be ready some day to be able to do it. that's their goal. and meanwhile they just sit on their hands. not drilling, not drilling on an area the size of arkansas because they know the less they do that is the more that we can create a panic in our country with false answers, answers that may work on fox but it doesn't work in reality. it just doesn't work. it's just wrong, plain wrong to be using this as an issue right now for the benefit of the american prevarication institute. and behind this whole curtain of dark money in our country looms the largest voice which is the oil and gas industry of our country. so we've got a chance here. we've got a chance to respond in the short run with the strategic petroleum reserve. getting our allies to produce more oil. asking our own american companies to produce more oil. and then passing out here on the

floor the tax breaks for all-electric vehicles. it gives you a little number. if we just deploy 15 million all-electric vehicles, we back out all the oil from russia. just 15 million all-electric vehicles. the next 15 million backs out all of the saudi oil. the next 15 million backs out all the oil from the middle east. you want for do something? you want to terrify them? you want to destroy their business model in russia or the middle east? that's what you should be doing. but, no, what we hear from the republicans is we're not going to support any of that agenda. no money for wind. no money for solar. no money for all whennen electric vehicle -- all-electric vehicles. no money for battery storage technologies. no, no, no. to the long-term solution, for the next generation of americans, young people, pages here in the well who want to know what's the plan for the long term. so that's the sad fact of what's happening here today on the

floor. so for my perspective, we don't need to be throwing good land and waters at bad actors in our society. it's just wrong. we shouldn't do it. and as a result, i object to the motion of the senator from arkansas. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. cotton: i yield the floor. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: mr. president, imagine this. you're the c.o. of a company and one day your c.f.o. comes into the office with bad news. the company's costs are rapidly growing and you aren't bringing

in enough money to keep pace with the rising costs. the solution here is simple. come up with a plan to reduce costs, continue serving your customers and honoring your agreements while ensuring that the company can stay afloat. if you don't adapt and evolve, you fail and go out of business. most americans understand that. unfortunately, mr. president, congress is not like most americans. we're in charge of running medicare and for decades the cost of medicare has risen dramatically. but congress has no plan to address future costs. and now we have medicare's board of trustees reporting that the hospital insurance trust fund, the fund which supports medicare part a will be insolvent in 2026. you can see here's where we are. just four short years. in just four short years we're going to run out of money to keep paying for services for americans most in need. we're talking about things like

emergency surgery, in-home health care and hospice care. by 2030, four years after insolvency, the trust fund will be $335 billion in debt. medicare part a cannot pay when it lacks funds. what makes matters worse, the medicare trustees have been warning about this for years. they've told us that medicare part a hasn't met even the most basic short-term goals for fiscal health since 2003. let's go back to the imaginary company i mentioned earlier. if you're plienee of that company and -- employee of that company and your salary depended on the company's success, how would you feel if for 18 years the company's leadership knew that the company would go under unless they fixed the problem but it never happened? but instead of fixing the problem, no one did anything. they just kept using up the company's savings.

that's basically what's happened and continues to happen with medicare. here's what's shocking. absolutely nothing has been done. wart has completely -- washington has completely ignored the rising costs. and there's no plan to repair the system. career politicians in the washington establishment have acted recklessly and immorley. they're plupging medicare into billion dollars of debt, debt our grandchildren will have to pay off. to make matters worse, we're seeing politicians they can continue to treat medicare like a piggy bank and draw as much money to pay for another unsustainable and unfunded program. we saw them use medicare savings to fund road construction in the infrastructure bill. make no mistake, i want to have better ports and better highways but robbing peter to pay paul with money peter doesn't have, that's wrong. kick be the can down the road aisa disservice to the 60 milli,

60 million americans, including the 4.5 million floridians who are on medicare. now senator schumer is trying to pass a bill to stick congress' hands into the trust fund, this time to pay for the u.s. postal service. in 2020, part bnches was $418 billion. by 2030, the cost will double to $871 billion. this sun believable. the part b and d trust fund is funded through a combination of premiums paid by beneficiaries and direct transfer from the treasury to it collected tax revenue. that means the future costses of parts b and d are paid for by retireees and all americans. today, someone that retires from the postal service can keep their health plan with the option of adding nearkd. but the postal service needs to pay the full cost of the health plan if the retireee doesn't

choose medicare. this is costly to the post office. so the proposed solution in senator schumer's bill is to force all future retireees into medicare as a means of saving money for the post office. this shifts coppss away from the postal service onto the medicare program. from one government program to another. it's a cost born by hard-working taxpayers and nonpostal retireees. this is a gift to the post office balance sheet, but a cost to everybody else. in other words, the solution is as bad as the problem. on top of that, the c.b.o. doesn't even have a accurate estimate how much this bill will actually cost. i sent a letter to the c.b.o. asking the future cost of the bill to medicare. while they could tell me there would be a $5 billion in new deficits, they couldn't provide data past 2031, when medicare will be most affected by this proposal. yet, congress wants to pass this

bill and pretend it's solving a problem, which only makes matters worse. if you look at the limited c.b.o. score we have, think about what it says, it shows that increased -- it increases costs to medicare and reduces cost to the postal service. advocates are quick to say that it saves the government money. but that's wrong. the post office keeps all the savings and just moves the costs to medicare. it doesn't actually save the taxpayers money. we got to stop doing business like this. how can anybody in this body explain to their constituents that this is the right way to pass bills? how can anyone really say with a straight face that kicking the can down the road is the right thing to do? you know why the american people don't trust us? it's stuff like this. when congress passes a bill like this, with zero committee process, zero amendments so far considered in the senate, and the bill ends up being terrible, it's nat hard to see -- it's not hard to see why the american people don't have a ton of faivity in the congress to solve

problems. mr. president, in 2020 medicare spending was almost $1 trillion. that's a trillion dollars in mandatory spending without any mandatory reform by congress. i want real reform, to make sure retireees have the healthcare they paid into, and the postal service is sustainable. that's why i've introduced an amendment to require the postal service to pay any new cost to medicare this bill brings. this will ensure that medicare isn't used like a biggie bank. this will en-- like a piggy bank. this ensures the taxpayer and future nonpostal retirees don't bear the burden of this bailout. it ensures the postal service pays their fair share. i'm thankful to have the support of groups like 60 plus that represent the interests of american seniors. unlike many career politicians running washington off a fiscal cliff, each been a c.e.o., i've run companies, and have had to

help solve financial problems. i've listened to c.f.o.'s and worked to have budgets to turn things around. didn't come to washington to fit in or maintain the status quo. i came to make real change that benefits american families. this bill as written doesn't do nick -- anything to help anyone. i urge my colleagues to join my amendment and join me in demappedding that senator schumer -- demanding that senate schumer slow down and put this bill through the proprocess. american taxpayers deserve better than this. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

on the dc circuit and of course she was clerk to

justice breyer , the very same justice whose seat she would now fill. as a district judge jackson rendered 550 rulings and was rarely reversed by higher court. illustrating her evenhanded application of law and facts. when you meet with her mister president you see that she has brought that broad experience and adopted it into her being. she empathizes with people. she emphasized to me as the judge that she should try to understand both sides and you can tell when you met her that she really believed it and integrated all her experiences into her being. she was an incredibly

phenomenal interview as well as with an amazing record so for all these reasons, judge jackson's nomination has already won support from individuals and organizations across the political spectrum . she is supported by civil rights advocates, supported by conservative judges and lawyers . she is supported by the fraternal order ofpolice , someone who was apublic defender now supported by the fraternal order of police . you can't get much better than that. and she's supported by scores of men and women who have the honor of working with her over the years. i went through a record. you can hardly find a single person she's not as she walked through life to say a bad thing about her and when you meet her you can see why. when you meet her you can see why. america will be better off, muchbetter off with someone like judge jackson on the supreme court . our country deserves someone deeply experienced, probably supported and someone who's elevation as the first black woman justice signifies a long overdue step towards perfecting our union.i'm grateful to have had the chance to have met with the

judge. i thank her for your time and i look forward to working with my colleagues to elevate this outstanding nominee to the supreme court's very soon. having met her and studying her record she deserves this support of members from the other side of the island and i'm hopeful she will get a good number of them to support her . now on the state of the union . last night, before a joint session of congress president by then made the case to the nation and to the world and in the face of immense challenges the united states remains strong and steady to meet the test of our time. in an hour-long speech delivered before a chamber that was much older than last year president biden demonstrated yet again the kind of leader he has been for all his life . optimistic, unifying, decent and honest. honest about where we are today and where we must go. i applaud president by the four laying out a bold strong and comprehensive vision that will resonate with the vast majority of americans.

in particular i was glad the president focused on three important things. first, he united the parties in supporting ukraine and against putting. second, he showed how under democratic leadership america has turned the corner on covid and confronted the urgency of lowering costs for american families.

just like in 9/11, that unity comes with sober recognition the scale pollutants brutality is worsening. ukraine's state emergency service reported this morning more than 2000 civilians, 2000 men, women, children for my children now killed as a result of putin's savage brutality. what's happening in ukraine as carnage, the blood of every one of those innocent people also my hands of latimer putin and his band of all of us. this evolvement must be stopped because it an important step, the senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that will protect america, our government and infrastructure from cyber attacks, finally lifted from the other side of the aisle and we passed unanimously cyber

legislation that's more important now than ever before because putin is brandishing a cyber weapon. cyber warfare truly is one of the dark arts professor five putin's authoritarian regime. the weapon he's happy to employ around the world. when our authorities and government know of these attacks, they can prepare against your attacks. they will know who's attacking and where, how they are attacking and that will allow them to strengthen our defenses against future cyber attacks many industry times i believe, even the chamber of commerce was not for this legislation but the urgency of the moment the need to protect ourselves from cyber attacks, finally the senate rose to the occasion though i think senators peter important for getting this done, the passage of the bill with little notice because it came before congress

adjourned for the state of the union but a giant step forward to protecting ourselves from glad we got it done last night but we must do more, the senate must keep working on bipartisan pay basis to past robust aid package upcoming so we can send an unmistakable signal to ukraine we stand with them and putin was had against him. the quickest way to a short a to ukraine that needs to get done next week so i'm glad we seem to be having bipartisan support to get that done second, i was glad president biden showed how the country under democrat leadership is turning a corner in the fight against covid-19 by passing legislation last year on vaccines, extent testing and support healthcare workers we are beating this disease. with the president that last night was correct, we cannot

have covid control our lives anymore but neither can we let our guard down. right now as cases are dropping across the board, congress must past more funding for vaccine, testing and therapeutics, therapeutics is the word for medication that helps you alleviate the vehemence of covid, very few people who take the therapeutics have to be hospitalized. we have to assure doctors and nurses and healthcare workers are prepared in case another. comes this way so we can stay as close to normal -- sorry, we can stay as close to normal as possible even if another variance arrives. we have to have ample supply of vaccines, therapeutics, testing ahead of time. we cannot wait. some of our republican

colleagues seem to say we don't need this now, we do need it now while we still have the chance if congress waits until another variance arrives, it will be too late. let me say again, even as cases drop across the board we cannot be complacent against covid. congress must past more covid funding now so we can be ready by funding vaccines, testing and therapeutics and supporting our healthcare workers. if congress waits until another variant arrives, it will be too late so we need our republican colleagues to join in a bipartisan way just as they are joining us on ukraine. finally, i'm glad president biden's zeroed in on putting cost for american families. a year into the president's first year, the economy is surging in creating unprecedented number of jobs.

the people are struggling because costs are going up, wages are going up but of costs going up, it eats up the wage increases. why across up? because of supply chain disruptions stemming from covid and pent-up demand of people bearing covid didn't buy a lot of things. all the while americans watching as our largest corporations raise prices despite profits. in some cases executives see lavish pay increases in the end, americans are footing the bill. democrat, and for this and we are working with the president to lower costs and build upon wage growths we've seen the past year. we are laser focused on reducing america's calls lowering the cost of insulin no one pays more than $35, lowering cost of all prescription drugs, lowering costs of me at the grocery store and fixing ocean shipping lines

so bottlenecks don't raise their costs. shipping costs have gone way up as the president mentioned. do you know what else we could do to lower costs? can innovate. congress should continue working to finalize bipartisan, bicameral jobs and supply chains bill to boost american manufacturing, make our country less dependent on foreign tech companies in short, despite everything the world faces, president biden moderate supporters and critics alike by the american people and trusting him with the presidency. he didn't shy away from challenges but rather advanced optimistic unifying plan for how to meet the moment. senate democrats will continue working with the president to precisely move our country forward on lowering costs, addressing covid and suspending our democracy imperil. i think the president for his leadership, let us continue in our work. i yelled the floor.

>> the republican leader. >> last night president biden gave the state of the union address, it might have been for the administration, successfully tackling america's problem and earning high marks. but that's not the reality in which we live. making major and painful policy errors. the public overwhelmingly disapproves, president biden stay the course and rehash scattered wishlist and make a dramatic if it but he chose not to. president discussed ukraine and everyone agrees the sentiments

president biden express purpose of in the summer of the president articulated no meaningful new steps, no specific plan and made no commitment to keep flowing weapons intelligence and advanced capabilities into ukraine as long as the ukrainians need them. nor did he explain why his administration was slow to provide legal assistance in the first place. instead, the president focus on trying to claim credit for the remarkable european worldwide response his administration did not foresee let alone orchestrate. apart from ukraine, the president's other remarks were not just insufficient, they were basically nonexistent. the president's -- only

mentioned china twice, either time had anything to do with national security or military modernization. only mentioned thailand one time and it was literally by accident. zero mentions of north korea, the botched afghanistan retreat, a success". thirteen service members completely unmentioned until governor reynolds the microphone. zero mentions of rebuilding the defense budget president biden tried to cut last year. meanwhile, the presence of each try to go by kitchen table concerns keeping families up at

night. president talkedde about made in america by keeps fighting against energy. mr. president, y is texas independence day. 186 years ago today the texans declared our independence from mexico and we fired a shot for liberty that was heard around the world. as i've done a number of years in the past, i'm going to read the letter from the alamo that lieutenant colonel william barret travis wrote calling for help. it is a letter that energized texans across our great state and that energized loafers of liberty everywhere. -- lovers of liberty everywhere. i read this letter the very first time that i ever stood and spoke on the senate floor and these are the words that inspire us even 186 years after they were written. colonel travis writes -- to the people of texas, and all

americans in the world, fellow citizens and compatriots, i am besieged by a thousand or more of the mexicans under santa ana. i have sustained a continual bombardment and have not lost a man. the enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword if the for the -- fort is taken. i have answered this demand with a cannon shot and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. i shall never surrender or retreat. then ile call upon you, in the name of liberty, of patriotism and of everything dear to the

american character, to come to our aid with all dispatch. the enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to 3,000 or 4,000 in four or five days. if this call is neglected, i'm determined to sustain myself as long as possible and to die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. victory or death. signed william barrett travis, lieutenant colonel. p.s., the lord is on our side. when the enemy appeared in sight, we had not three bushels of corn. we have since found in deserted houses 80 or 90 bushels, and

got into the walls 20 or 30. travis. the brave men and women at the alamo would go on to give their lives for liberty, including travis, jim bowie, and davy crockett. but shortly thereafter, the texans were victorious at the battle of san jacinto, with the cry in the air of remember the alamo, the heroes who gave their lives for liberty inspired a successful revolution, and the republic of texas was formed. sam houston, one of the founding fathers of the lone star state, was also born on this very day 229 years ago.

sam houston was a great american. he was born in virginia and spent many years in tennessee, where he served in the u.s. house of representatives and then became governor of tennessee. in texas, he was the george washington of texas. he served as commander in chief of the texas army and led the texas army to victory in our revolution. when texas became independent, houston served in the texas house of representatives and then as president of the republic of texas. when texas joined the united states, he served in the united states senate and then finally as governor of texas. he was a tireless, talented leader and a great statesman who believed in freedom. his words -- govern wisely and

as little as possible are still true today. and the lone star state still endeavors to follow that principle. the republic of texas was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845, for nine years. then texas joined the united states of america. indeed, one fact i discovered a couple of years ago, heidi and i are members of first baptist church in houston. we discovered the first baptist church was actually started by american missionaries in a foreign country. texas was an independent nation, and american missionaries came to the republic of texas and founded the first baptist church which thood thrives in -- which today thrives in my hometown of houston. texans are proud americans, but we're also proud of the

history, the diverse, brave, extraordinary history of those texans all those years later. william travis, sam houston, gym bowie, davy crockett, and all the people they led risked everything to make freedom a reality for generations of texans. mr. president, i'm reminded of a story that was told to me by former senator from texas, my friend phil gramm. phil gramm in the early 1980's was a member of the house of representatives, and he was a democrat. he was a conservative democrat. ronald reagan was president and phil gramm as a conservative democrat in the house introduced the reagan tax cuts, and he fought for the reagan tax cuts. and phil describes a meeting of other conservative democrats in

texas back when we had conservative democrats in texas, a meeting where he was urging his fellow democrats to support the reagan tax cuts. and phil drew an analogy to the alamo on that fateful day when colonel travis drew a line in the sand with a sword and called on each of the men there to step across that line and commit to defending the alamo. and one of those other conservative democrats said to him at the time, said, phil, everybody who stepped across that line, they died. and phil, not missing a beat, he chuckled and said yes, yes, they did. and you know what? everybody who didn't step across that line, they died too, and nobody remembers their names.

today i celebrate heroes, heroes who fought to make freedom a reality for generations of texans. today we celebrate and we honor their sacrifices. to every texan, i wish you a very happy texas independence day. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. the ukrainian people have captured the hearts of freedom-loving men and women around the world since putin launched his unprovoked invasion of their homeland last week. even as we speak, they are

still under attack not just in the capital of kiev, but in cities all across ukraine. the images coming out of ukraine are truly heartbreaking. newborn babies in need of intensive care. kindergarten buildings and apartment complexes being shelled indiscriminately, and tearful goodbyes between loved ones. putin's invasion has caused europe's largest refugee crisis this century. according to the u.n. high commissioner for refugees, nearly 900,000 ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries so far. but many of the other images we have seen show inspiring courage. citizens of e.u. countries have welcomed their ukrainian neighbors with open arms.

regular, everyday men and women, teachers and software engineers and moms and dads have taken up arms to defend their country and to their loved ones. and president zelensky has chosen to remain in ukraine when he could have fled, refusing to desert his people in their darkest hour. the english writer j.k. chesterson once said, quote, the true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. i can't think of a better way to describe this conflict. the russians are fighting to fulfill putin's imperial ambitions. the ukrainians are fighting to protect their families, their democracy, and everything that they hold dear.

and that may be their greatest advantage as they, god willing, continue to hold out in the coming days. responsibility for this horrific invasion lies squarely with putin. leading up to this crisis, president biden and our allies offered russia every opportunity to choose de-escalation and peace. instead putin chose to use diplomacy as a smoke screen, buying time while he prepared for war. in a deliberate message of contempt for the international community, putin ordered the attack to begin while the u.n. security council was meeting to discuss russia's build-up on the ukrainian border. and here's a glimpse into how little power organizations like the u.n. have in moments of crisis like this.

during this meeting, on what to do about russia's coming invasion, the russian ambassador was presiding. innocent ukrainians as young as six years old are being killed because one man fancies himself the next joseph stalin, because of one man's desire to restore the borders of the soviet union, the fundamental principles of security in europe are in peril. in response to this invasion, president biden has announced new sanctions against russia. these measures will affect two of russia's largest banks -- spur bank and v.t.b., as well as 45 of their subsidiaries. the administration is also imposing sanctions against several other russian financial

institutions and a number of state-owned enterprises. the united states, with our allies and partners not just in europe, but also in asia, have agreed to pursue even more aggressive sanctions against russia. that includes beginning to remove certain russian banks from the global swift financial messaging network. it includes freezing the currency reserves of russia's central bank. all of this will make putin and his inner circle feel the pain. it will hurt russia's ability to wage war now and in the future. many companies are joining this effort on their own, and they are withdrawing from the russian market. putin's unprecedented aggression demands unprecedented response. beyond economic sanctions, this invasion has only made the nato

alliance stronger and more resolved to stand firm against unlawful aggression. this includes germany, which has traditionally taken a more positive view of russia than many of our other european allies. germany's chancellor, owe scholz has committed to increasing their deficit. scholz also said germany would seriously pursue options to reduce their reliance on russia for natural gas. if he follows through on increasing germany's military spending, that will bring german defense investment above the 2% target nato sat for its members by 2024, a target that most nato countries still aren't meeting. while historically neutral sweden and finland are

considering joining nato, they aren't members yet, but they're still sending much-needed military aid to ukraine. even switzerland has broken its tradition of neutrality to freeze billions in russian assets being held in swiss banks. and our other allies and partners around the world like japan and australia are helping fund the ukrainian resistance as well. after this near universal condemnation from the world's democracies, putin hasn't backed down. no. he's turned to nuclear blackmail. he put russia's nuclear forces into special combat readiness on sunday, explicitly using russia's nuclear deterrent to discourage western nations from supporting ukraine. this kind of escalation is

unthinkable to americans, but not to putin. this is why the men and women of u.s. strategic command, which is based at offutt air force base in nebraska, work day and night to deter threats like these. there's a reason that their motto is peace is our profession. separately at least five office space jets from the air force's 55th wing are flying reconnaissance missions in europe. together these planes have flown ten of the 86 missions the united states and our nato allies carried out in the days leading up to the russian attack. i was told of these missions during a visit to offutt last friday. in addition to what we've done so far, i believe the ukraine crisis demands that we

fundamentally reevaluate our approach in dealing with putin. we can no longer pretend that he might one day play by the same rules as the rest of us. since he came to power, presidents of both parties have sought to improve relations with him. too often they have overlooked decades of bad behavior to try to achieve that goal, hoping that american restraint might lead moscow to take that same approach. if it wasn't clear even before this attack, the events of the past week have proven that idea to be a fantasy. putin thought russia would get a quick win when he invaded ukraine. he never expected this kind of

resistance from the outmatched and the outnumbered ukrainians. but he didn't account for their bravery. he didn't account for the fact that while russia is fighting to gobble up more land in eastern europe, the ukrainians are fighting to protect their children, spouses, parents, and their very way of life. after the events of the past week, putin's naked aggression, his imperial ambitions, and his contempt for the international order are undeniable. global norms and treaty obligations mean nothing, they mean nothing to him. russia had explicitly sworn to uphold ukraine's territorial integrity in the 1994 budapest

memorandum, one more agreement added to the long list of those russia has violated under putin. after his completely unprovoked invasion, this would would-be 2t century czar has lost whatever credibility he had left. the united states and our allies must keep in this mind as we think about where we go from here. we have to accept that as long as putin is in power, a cooperative relationship with russia will not be possible. we have to do what we can to push back against putin's warmongering and continue to support the brave people of ukraine. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask for the committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, as i rise today kleptocracy is on the rise in europe showing how unchecked corruption leads to evil. vladimir putin's corrupt regime fabricated a pretext to invade and subjugate the sovereign and peaceful nation of ukraine. putin's attack helps divert the russian people from his festering corruption and misrule , as jailed opposition leader alexi no value knee put it. america and our allies are

meting out stiff penalties and my colleagues and i are working on additional measures to deliver financial blows to putin and his corrupt oligarchs. but we must consider how how we arrived at this moment. putin has for decades deployed corruption and kleptocracy to strengthen his grip on russia's government and to project power and influence throughout the region. in the process, he decimated russia's free press, attacked physically and economically all political opposition, and grew his own personal fortune to what is thought to be the largest in the world. i say thought to be because putin's wealth is hidden behind shell corporations and nestled in tax havens, far from the view of the people he robbed and

oppresses. and along the way, he cultivated through favors, force, or fortunes a group of oligarchs who serve him. it's important to understand that putin isn't special. we have plenty of kleptocrats around the globe. putin just happens to be in charge of a big and oil-rich country with a military at his command. a gangster with an army running a gas station, as senator mccain used to say. america is engaged in a growing clash of civilizations against this brand of corrupt leadership. democracy and the free market are on one side. kleptocracy and corruption are on the other.

and we will prevail in this clash by pursuing one powerful value of rule of law society -- transparency. kleptocrats and criminals seek the protection of our rule of law and our secure financial system to stow their illicit money, but they need anonymity. they need to hide it. that is why so much anonymously owned luxury real estate sits empty in america, in some places actually driving up local housing costs for normal people. and that's why shell corporations in american states multiplied. the pandora papers last year revealed webs of american shell corporations and trusts hiding

dirty assets. it revealed professionals, lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents aiding and abetting the hiding of those dirty assets. shining the light of transparency on kleptocrats' money is a potent countermeasure to their power. late in 2020 congress passed the most important anti-money laundering reform law in two decades -- the corporate transparency act. it was very bipartisan. senators grassley, graham, wyden, rubio, brown, crapo, warner, cotton, and i all spent years getting that bill done. our aim was to arm law enforcement with knowledge of

the beneficial owner, the real person who's behind american shell corporations. now the treasure department's financial crimes enforcement network, fincen, is implementing our beneficial ownership provisions, and the new rule promises to be a strong countermeasure. it requires anyone who exerts substantial control, directly or indirectly, over a legal entity to identify themselves as the beneficial owner. that's what we wanted. it is clear enough so that companies know what they have to do while minimizing the risk that bad actors can evade disclosure. and its time lines for reporting and updating beneficial ownership information are fair, providing law enforcement and national security officials timely information without imposing unreasonable

turnarounds for legitimate companies. the beneficial ownership rule also avoided a trap. some had urged fincen to add exceptions to the reporting requirements on top of the ones congress included in the bill. well, we worked hard to come up with the right list of excepted entities. it's encouraging to see fincen stand firm and avoid watering down the rule with new, unjustified exceptions. fincen is also working on a review of bank secrecy act regulations with an eye towards a new anti-money laundering and counterterror framework. this offers a chance to take on some big challenges. we need to make sure american professionals aren't aiding and abetting kleptocrats. investing in hedge funds, luxury real estate, high-priced art,

expensive cars, megayachts -- all requires help from professionals, and those professionals aren't bound to anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing safeguards like our banks are. private investment funds are worth about $11 trillion. you can hide a lot of mischief in $11 trillion. an f.b.i. intelligence bulletin leaked in 20 warned that, quote, threat actors use those funds to launder their money into rule of law financial systems. that's a vulnerability we need to close. this aiding and abetting problem, giving aid and comfort to our enemies, extends to professional services from lawyers, accountants, company in

trust information agents, even p.r. firms. but on this front, fincen's hands are tied. congress will need to step in to clean that up. kleptocrats and criminals constantly change the methods they use to hide their money, trade-based money laundering allows bad actors to trade everything from vegetables to washing machines as a way to move their money around internationally. we need better coordination among key agencies involved in overseeing trade and better information on suspicious financial and trade activity that is shared more efficiently among various federal authorities. real estate is a massive target for money launderers. in august of last year, the watchdog group global financial integrity released a report

showing over $2.3 billion laundered through american real estate over the previous half decade. as global financial integrity would tell you, this is just what they could identify. the real number is probably far higher. well, the good news there is we have a countermeasure that works well. in 2016, fincen started the geographic targeting order program which requires title insurers to report to fincen beneficial ownership information of shell companies that stash money in high-priced real estate. that program started in new york and miami, then expanded to a dozen jurisdictions nationwide. the congressional research service has reviewed it and said these targeting orders work. now fincen is proposing a rule

to make these orders permanent and expand coverage across the united states. it looks like fincen will deliver that improvement, and if it does, that's a big win. particularly if it lines up with -- that rule lines up with our beneficial ownership rule. and if it extends to cover commercial as well as residential real estate. in congress we should pass legislation to help fincen address professional aiders and abettors. there's bipartisan legislation in the house, the enablers act, which i hope to introduce here in the senate. i've also introduced bipartisan legislation to make it a crime for foreign officials to demand bribes from americans. at the moment, it's only a crime to pay bribes. and we should pay close

attention to others in the dark economy. like drug traffickers and terrorists. i'm working on legislation to target money laundering related to the illicit narcotics trade. indeed, we had a hearing on it today. finally, we need to work together with the international community. when u.s. defenses are strengthened, kleptocrats will direct their dirty money to some other willing sanctuary. so it matters that the biden administration has announced a trans-atlantic interagency task force to help crack down on ill-gotten assets stowed in the west by russian oligarchs and their families, their mistresses, their stooges, whomever.

this is exactly the right approach. we must work with friends abroad to close off hidy holes for oligarchs. bolster the rule of law, expand judicial transparency, and increase access to justice in struggling jurisdictions. i met recently with a member of the ukranian parliament who said a phrase that we were talking about actually during the munich security conference codel which was, it's not enough to preez the oligarch -- freeze the oligarch's assets. we need to seize the oligarch's assets. we can do so even theatrically and to take a camera through the preposterous and grotesque wealth and show the people of russia what was stolen from them

would be as significant a public relations victory as when ukranians went through their oligarchs' mansion and showed everything from gold toilet seats to private petting zoos. kleptocrats like putin and his oligarchs can be defeated. a little sunlight will vanquish them. free societies and the rule of law can win the long battle we face against kleptocracy and corruption. this is a national security matter, not just a question of doing good. this is a national security matter. and these are the tools, the ones i have described, the tools of transparency, that will

secure our victory. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor today to talk about the war in ukraine. one week ago vladimir putin attacked ukraine, by land, by sea, and by air. now we know that thousands of people are dead. vladimir putin prepared for this invasion, and he prepared over the course of at least three months.

month after month after month he moved troops, he moved weapons, and he moved them to the border with ukraine. now many of these troops are attacking the capital city of kiev. the ukranian people are fighting bravely. their example is an inspiration to the world. they're outnumbered. they're outgunned. and yet they continue to fight for their freedom. make no mistake vladimir putin has caused this war. he alone is responsible. he's responsible for the death and the destruction that the world is witnessing now. yet it is undeniable that the biden administration's so-called deterrence and diplomacy has failed. joe biden ran for president on competence and on his foreign

policy expertise. as a candidate for president, joe biden said putin's days of peer any would be over -- tyranny would be over, he said, if he became president. putin's days of tyranny would be over if joe biden were elected president. the opposite has occurred under this administration. vladimir putin has become emboldened like never before. putin is cunning. he's opportunistic. he is aggressive. when he sees an opportunity, he takes it. he can smell weakness. and he views joe biden as weak and ineffective. clearly that's become even more so after joe biden's disgraceful and deadly surrender from afghanistan. aenemies around the world have

become emboldened. after afghanistan fell, niewment increased his weapons testing. just a few months later, vladimir putin put a hundred thousand troops on the border of ukraine. how did the president of the united states joe biden respond? he lobbied this body, the senate, against imposing sanctions on vladimir putin. in january this senate voted on sanctions for putin's nord stream 2 pipeline. i came to the floor. i argued that the senate needed to act quickly. almost every democrat in this body had previously supported sanctions under the pressure from the white house the democrats reversed course. they buckled to the demands of the president of the united states who had a different view than this body in a broad bipartisan consensus had had

previously of sanctioning the nord stream 2 pipeline between russia and germany. senate democrats blocked the sanctions. energy is the reason that vladimir putin is flush with cash. he has hit the jackpot. his energy revenues are up. and more than one out of every $3 that vladimir putin has in russia's treasury is energy related. high energy prices today that the americans are paying at the pump and people around the world are paying are the reason why putin can indefinitely how he can afford this invasion. who is putin's number one rival for energy production? well, it's the united states. but under joe biden american crude oil production is down,

down more than a million barrels each and every day from what it was prior to the pandemic. it's not a lack of american energy resources. not a lack of american energy workers. they want to work. the energy is in the ground. this is a direct result of the far-left driven anti-american policies after the joe biden administration. when joe biden's first day in office he killed the keystone xl pipeline and he bragged about it. so how much energy would be coming across from the keystone xl pipeline? well, over 800,000 barrels a day. but that number today is zero. and how much energy do we bring in from russia each and every day in the united states? imported from russia sending money to vladimir putin? well, 670,000 barrels a day. if he hadn't killed keystone,

we'd be bringing more energy in that way than we're now buying and sending money to vladimir putin. and the president bragged about it. thumped his chest. i killed keystone. he also blocked new oil and gas leases on public lands, stopped american exploration for energy in the arctic. joe biden approves of vladimir putin producing energy. seems he's only opposed to american energy production. just days before he surrendered in afghanistan, joe biden sent his national security adviser to beg russia to produce more royal to sell to us. it's hard to believe. people watching said that can't be true. and i would say go to the white house website. go right now. see if it's still there. it was there two nights ago.

the national security adviser saying we're asking opec plus and the plus is russia, it's putin, to produce more energy to sell to us. why should we depend upon people who are our enemies, whose intentions are not kind or caring for us, and who is now -- vladimir putin attacking its neighbor in a bloodthirsty way rather than allow us to boost american energy we have today in the ground in this nation. so it's no wonder that putin can now afford another assault. oil hit over $100 a barrel last week, highest in seven years, and it's even higher than that today. today american families in every state are paying a dollar a gallon or more for each additional gallon of gas that they put in the tank than they were the day joe biden became president of the united states. that's soon going to be an even

higher number, higher amount that people are going to be paying as a result of this president's policies. the situation is getting worse. prieb's response to the buildup to the war in ukraine has been mismanagement and weakness. after russia invaded ukraine, joe biden issued sanctions on russia that is far too little too late. the biden deterrence was after the fact. it seemed more like punishment than deterrence. it we minded me when president obama said he was going to be leading from behind. deterrence after the fact is the same thing as no deterrence at all. try to deter someone from doing something. and even after the invasion has occurred and even after we see the tanks lined up heading into kiev, joe biden is not yet ready

to sanction russian energy. and clearly not ready to produce american energy to make up for what we buy from them. his deputy national security adviser went to the podium and said our sanctions are not designed to cause any disruption to the current flow of energy from russia to the world. this administration has caused disruption of the flow of energy from our homeland. we're not going to disrupt energy from russia, oh, no. it was finally germany who stood up and finally stopped putin from getting the pipeline. joe biden won't destroy the one issue that is propping up energy, joe biden seems to be happy with his war on american

energy i warned that ukraine will lead to higher energy prices in this country. there's no doubt about it. but we've seen no changes in joe biden's energy policies in spite of the abundant energy we have in this country. joe biden was asked if he was going to allow more energy production here in the united states, we have the resources and the jobs are necessary and effectively she said no. she heard nothing about it in the state of the union last night. not a thing. the president's secretary went on television and doubled down. she said she refused to rule out importing oil from iran. oil and gas leases on federal lands are still in limbo. the federal energy regulatory

commission, the ferc and they will appear before the energy and natural resources committee tomorrow. they recently decided, 100 partisan, 3-2 vote, to make it even harder to build natural gas pipelines in america. harder. the day after russia invaded ukraine, this administration, the biden administration, said uranium was no longer a critical mineral for the united states. no longer a critical mineral. american businesses get half of the uranium we use from russia and its partners. it's a critical mineral, but not according to biden administration. now we're going to become even more dependent on russia and putin will get even wealthier. it seems like joe biden and his advisors want to turn our energy sector into what we have seen over the last number of years in

germany, dependent on other countries, begging enemies to help us keep the lights on. and just before the russian invasion, john kerry, the president's climate envoy, said in an interview with bbc, this is the former secretary of state of the united states, said he was concerned that the war in ukraine would distract people from his climate agenda. you can't believe it. this is very disturbing to people all around my home state and i would think all around america. this is a delusional obsession distracted from the reality of the world and of our nation. innocent people are being slaughtered, vladimir putin is conducting nuclear drills,

people around the world are terrified, people are looking to the united states for leadership and we have a high official of this administration concerned it's going to distract from this white house's and this administration's climate agenda. the american people know what we need to do. we need to continue to support and send lethal weapons to our friends in ukraine and clearly we need to produce more american energy. we have it. we have it in the ground. this administration will not let us get it out. more american energy will help us at home. it will help bring down prices at home. more american energy will help us defund putin's military aggression. it is our energy dollars that are paying for putin's killing machine. more american energy will help our allies from being held

hostage by vladimir putin. now, this is why i've introduced legislation called the escape act, energy security cooperation with allied partners in europe. it expedites the sale of american gas to our allies so they don't have to buy it from vladimir putin. i brought it to the floor yesterday and democrats objected to a unanimous consent to pass it. i sent a letter to the president today with every republican on the senate energy committee, as well as senator lummis, sent the letter to the white house today detailing ten specific actions that the president of the united states can take right now to undermine vladimir putin and help our nato allies and help the people in ukraine. we, as a nation, are much better off selling american energy to

our friends than for us as a nation to have to buy energy from our enemies. more american energy means more american strength and more american security. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, two weeks ago i came to the floor to request unanimous consent for the senate to take up and confirm six u.s. attorneys and two u.s. marshal nominations. these nominees are all highly qualified. they have critical law enforcement experience and they want to serve this country at new levels they were voted out of the judiciary committee, which i chair, by a voice vote. they have the support of their

home state senators. they have the support of other local law enforcement. they deserve to be confirmed. we need them right now without further delay, and the obvious question is, why are they being held up? why are these dedicated men and women not yet in office ready to tackle violent crime, which we know is a problem across america, why aren't they in office to prosecute fraud and terrorism? why aren't they there to protect families and children across america? one reason, the junior senator from arkansas. you see, when i made my unanimous consent request, a request joined by the majority leader and the senators from all of the affected states, one senator objected. only one senator refused to allow these individuals confirmation so that they could continue to serve this nation in

the cause of law enforcement. and that same senator, the junior senator from arkansas, continues to engage in this mindless obstruction, jeopardizing the safety of communities outside of arkansas for reasons which are still harded to understand. why is the -- thard to understand. why is the junior senator blocking well-qualified nominees for law enforcement? it doesn't have anything to do with the nominees themselves or their qualifications. we asked him over and over. he has no complaint over any single one of them. he happened to pick them out. he's concerned about a completely unrelated issue. let meal tell you what it is. in the summer of 2020, federal law enforcement personnel were dispatched to portland, oregon to protect the courthouse. they now face lawsuits relating

to the events that happened there. the department of justice often represents those who are sued. under governing regulations, the department of justice goes through a process to determine that such representation would be, quote, in the interest of the united states. and in this matter, department of justice has either represented or paid for the representation of more than 70 law enforcement officials who have been sued. the department has declined to represent one individual, only one, and continues to review three additional requests for representation. the senator from arkansas says he wants to know why, but the department of justice made it clear they can't comment on these four cases. remember what you first learned when you were first elected to the united states senate and someone said i need for you to be my advocate, i need you to be

my champion, and you would like to do it, but first you have to sign a confidentiality waiver. i can't do that unless i have that waiver. i asked the senator from arkansas, have these three given you a privacy waiver? can you tell us what the circumstances are that slowed them down? no. so here he is, their champion and advocate and don't trust him with a privacy waiver and don't want that to become public. they made that decision. it's pretty complicated in a way. the bottom line is who is paying for this complication and the stalling tactic? innocent people. six u.s. attorneys. two u.s. marshals not in the state of arkansas. the department of justice has made it clear it can't comment on these cases, quote, in light of significant confidentiality interests and applicable privileges. the senator from arc -- arkansas

is hearing none of it. d.o.j.'s regulations make it clear that communications about an employee's request for representation are protected by an attorney-client privilege. the senator from arkansas wants us to ignore that. and the privacy act prevents the department of justice from disclosing personal records related to a employee without their consent. unless something has changed, the senator from arkansas never received those consents. this protects the privacy of the very law enforcement personnel whose very interest the senator from arkansas claims to represent. he claims to be speaking on behalf of these deputy marshals, but he's asking the department of justice to violate attorney-client individuals that are designed to protect them and other federal employees. it's important to add that it's standard practice for any member of congress to obtain a privacy

act. we've done it dozens of times in our office. an act that gives a waiver for a constituent to authorize the office to make inquiries on their behalf. apparently the senator from arkansas doesn't have that waiver or he'd explain to us what the circumstances are. it seems that the people he wants to protect don't trust him with that information or don't want it to become public. the senator's upset that the justice department is following a law in a process required by their own rules and regulations, a process that now affects four individuals and his response is to block the confirmation of every u.s. attorney and every u.s. marshal on the seanl calendar. -- senate calendar. how can you claim, as he does, to be tough on crime if you are blocking well-qualified law enforcement officials from serving over a grievance that has nothing to do with them. the junior senator from arkansas

should let these law enforcement officials do their job. we hear the complaint they want to defund the police, but last night president biden said we need to fund the police and got a standing approach from everybody. this is a new approach, instead of defunding the police, this one senator is going to disop law enforcement from -- stop law enforcement from doing their job. yesterday i chaired a judiciary committee hearing, we heard about how to respond to carjackings over the last two years. it was an important bipartisan hearing from witnesses, law enforcement, community groups, automobile industry, testifying on a current issue and testifying for the need for u.s. attorneys to enforce the law in their jurisdictions. the same junior senator from arkansas who is leaving these u.s. attorney spots vawct because -- vacant because he is unhappy with the way he's being

treated by the department of justice, and eses blocking -- and he's blocking votes from these nominees who would protect others. before i proceed to my unanimous consent request, i want to note the overwhelming support these u.s. attorneys and u.s. marshal nominees have. we are receiving dozens of letters because of the outrageous hold by the senator from arkansas. it speaks to the need to confirm them now. consider the support of chief la done reynolds to be nominated for the northern district of illinois. we have received letters from police chiefs in towns and cities like park ridge, and others, it's unanimous, chief reynolds is the man for the job and he's waiting and waiting and

waiting on the junior senator from arkansas. we have received letters of support for others. aaron ford, the attorney general from nevada has written in support of jason fearson. both senators from nevada took to the floor last time we brought it up. the police chiefs from rochester and duluth urged the senate to quickly confirm andrew luger. mark to then, tomorrow -- totten, has the support of county prosecutors and sheriffs throughout the state as well as from the michigan association of police organizations. and the sheriff of dekalb county, georgia. these law enforcement officials

want reinforcement. we have the professionals to take over these positions now. one senator holds them up. they're just a few examples of the broad bipartisan support these nominees enjoy. these state and local law enforcement officials know how eminently qualified the unless are and they have -- the nominees are and they've told us as much. we shouldn't waste another day. they know it's time for the senate to act now. so, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations, en bloc. calendar number 660, 661, 662, 663, 739, 740, 741, 742. that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be

immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cotton: yeah, mr. president -- the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: i reserve the right to object, because here we are again two weeks later and nothing has changed. the democrats and the department of justice once again want their well-connected and wealthy political nominees confirmed while the department of justice hangs out to dry four career law enforcement officers and threatens them with fiscal ruin and bankruptcy. the senator from illinois said i'm having none of it. you are absolutely right. i'm having none of it. these officers, i remind you, faced down left-wing street militias for months in portland. they were attacked with blinding razors, ball bearings, molotov cocktails. there were efforts to lock them into the courthouse and set it afire and burn them alive.

now, the senator from illinois keeps saying that my objections are completely unrelated. that was his words -- nothing to do with these nominees. we've heard this now for weeks. i don't know why he keeps repeating it. i'll give my answer once again. i am not making objection to some random, unconnected agency. i'm not upset that the corps of engineers didn't approve the water project in arkansas. i'm not making some doomed to fail demand, like merrick garland should resign in disgrace, though he should. i'm making a very specific point about this department. if merrick garland and the democrats want their political nominees to be confirmed on a fast-track basis, then they need to protect their career law enforcement officers from financial ruin and bankruptcy. i've talked to these officers.

the anxiety and the stress that this has created for them is real. they've received no explanation whatsoever beyond not in the interest of the united states. that is not an explanation. that is a conclusion. three of them haven't heard anything at all. it's been months, actually more than a year. the senator from illinois said, the department of justice often represents law enforcement officers sued for action in the line of duty. it is not often represents. it's almost always represents. i've spoken with multiple former department of justice leaders. they say they cannot remember a time when they declined to represent a law enforcement officer sued for actions in the line of duty. the senator from illinois once again waves around the idea of a prove privacy waiver like it is a big gotcha or something. i don't have a provecy waiver.

the senator from illinois would like to be a good bureaucrat and me get a provecy waiver, i guess i could do that. i'd ask, why did you get denied coverage, and they would say, i don't know, they won't tell us anything. the point of the matter here is that career law enforcement officers are being hung out to dry and facing financial ruin, and they cannot get an answer. we cannot get an answer. now, is it possible they engaged in misconduct? sure. it happens. however, i'd note, as i did last time, that all four officers are on unrestricted active duty, unrestrict active duty. three are in the special operations group. one is in the warrant group. both assign piments likely to result in situations with a threat of violence or even lethal violence is high.

if these officers somehow acted inappropriately, surely they shouldn't be serving out on the street in the special operations group. i can only infer that's not the case. the department of justice won't tell us anything more. they won't tell these officers anything more. none of these facts has changed. nothing in two weeks. the only thing we know that we didn't know two weeks ago actually is that three of these marshals received inward for their service in -- an award for their service in portland. this is the award that is given out to those who risked their lives. i blurred out the names to protect the safety of that's marshals. but i assure you, their names are on there. they're being sued for that very service and the department of justice won't represent them.

they deserve answers. the senator from illinois said that last night the president spoke about funding the police, after the democrats spoke for years about defunding the police. how about funding these officers legal defenses? how about that for funding police? stand by the law enforcement officers who did their job and cannot get an explanation why merrick garland is not standing by them h and until that happens, i guess we can keep coming down here every week or two weeks, because they deserve to be represented, we deserve a credible fact-based explanation. i'm just one senator. i can't block these people forever. we can have a vote on them. we were in session yesterday for ten hours, didn't have a single vote. on monday night, we voted on late-term partial-birth abortion. or the department of justice could just dozen what it should, which is right and moral.

it should represent law enforcement officers who are being sued for actions in the line of duty or it should give them an explanation for why they're not. so, mr. president, i do object, and i'll continue to object until that happens. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. the majority whip. mr. durbin: right and moral? is it right and moral to deny law enforcement officials -- the senator is now leaving the floor. is it right and the moral to deny these law enforcement officials an opportunity to serve across the united states? i listened carefully. i was waiting for him to spell out, the senator from arkansas who just walked off the floor, his objections as to the qualifications of these law enforcement officers. he has none. there are none. these men he calls political appointees -- the same thing happened under the trump administration. over 85 of their u.s. attorneys were approved by voice vote with no delay. one was held over for one week. that was it. and yet he has made a crusade of this to try to stop these

individuals from serving in the states where they're desperately needed. the senator from arkansas is blocking the confirmation of these individuals and at the same time calling the democrats soft on law and order. go figure. don't lecture me on law and order if you are a coming to the floor to prevent law enforcement officials. the reason i come to the floor and will continue to come to the floor is because we have a serious crime problem in my state and in the city of chicago. i want to have the u.s. marshal there on the job doing everything he's supposed to do to help local and state law enforcement bring down the violence and death rate. the senator from arkansas just doesn't seem to understand basic law. the department of justice has an attorney-client privilege with these individuals as they review their cases. he's been unable to get a waiver so that he can even tell us publicly what the complaint might be by the department of justice from the viewpoint of

those federal officials. he can't do it. if it's good enough for them they're under review to stop all observer u.s. attorneys and marshals across the united states. is this what america wants to see in washington? this kind of obstruction? i think not. it doesn't take political courage to harm an innocent person, and what the senator from arkansas has done is to harm individuals who simply want to serve america and that i can it safer. -- and make it it safer. my republican colleagues frequently claim to be the part of law and order, but in this matter, they're the ones playing politics are law enforcement. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

we all listened to president biden's primetime opportunity to explain what his administration is doing to address the many challenges that our nation is facing. here at home we know family budgets are being plundered by the worst inflation in four decades. we are paying higher prices for everything from food, to gasoline. we also know there have been spikes in violent crimes that are created public safety concerns in communities across the country and after a year of hearings -- hearing folks on the

democratic side of the aisle the progressive base of the democratic party calling for defunding the police it was welcome to hear the president say last night we should fund the police. it's long overdue. and of course there is the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. as i have said before texas has 1200 miles of common border with mexico and of course we have seen record shattering month after month of people coming across the border claiming asylum and then being placed by u.s. authorities in the interior of the united states. given a notice to appear for future court hearings which in all the ahead will never occur. the human smugglers and drug cartels that they get out the weaknesses of our own laws and policies are exploiting them

to -- on drugs alone 100,000 americans died of drug overdoses last year and the overwhelming amount of which those drugs came across the southern border into the united states and the cartels are smart. they have figured out if you let the order with people that's going to take border patrol off the front lines and here come the drug cartels moving their poison across the border. of course the trials we are facing now a broad or not any easier. the precipitous withdrawal from the in osteen without any kind of warning or confrontation with their nato allies has caused the world to doubt the future of american leadership and then the chinese communist party over in the people's republic of continues to commit genocide against the uyghurs and threatened attacks against the

democratic taiwan. the course very much on our minds today is the fact that vladimir putin is attempting to seize a sovereign nation and redraw the maps with europe ande united states and other democracies around the world. i have course like many attended the president's address last night and listened closely as he spoke about each of these challenges beginning with the conflict or i should say war, in ukraine. when it comes to russia our allies are not strong enough on their own to deter vladimir putin or the russian federation. they are looking to the united states as part of nato the north atlantic treaty organization for leadership. i was pleased to hear president biden deliver a clear message to the world that we stand with the democracy in ukraine and we will

do everything we can to help the ukranians deter putin and to defend their country. the president said we will continue to send military economic and humanitarian assistance to ukraine and it's clear that there is bipartisan support for that. but the fact of the matter as most of our allies in europe have been the ones who have stepped up to the threat and of course it's in their neighborhood. and we could have. did not impose sanctions before putin invaded rather than after-the-fact. i was disappointed that the president did not speak about what is at stake in ukraine, something i've talked about here on the floor a few weeks back. so many challenges in our own backyard it's easy for folks in

texas or colorado or new jersey or anywhere else around the country to wonder why should i care about what's happening in ukraine? americans want to know what difference does a war or a military conflict on the other side of the globe, what relevance does that have to me and if it is important how can we best help? we know the answer to that question here in the house and the senate. we know that this conflict is key to preserving all rules-based international order that if putin can get away with this he can get away with anything and if putin gets away with this president xi is waiting for his opportunity to unify taiwan with mainland so this is a global geopolitical crisis. we know and iran and as i mentioned and other adversaries

who we are paying close attention to. if texans want america to stay out of another world war we better slam the door on vladimir putin now. president biden had a window to remind the american people and their allies around the world what is at stake in this comp like. vladimir putin has put his nuclear forces on active reserve. he is rattling the nuclear saber in order to threaten and intimidate nato and the united states and the rest of the world. he is also finding an incredible amount of courage and resilience in leadership by people like president zelensky who led the uke training people in their effort to resist this invasion. so this is a very serious and very dangerous moment. many of the things that vladimir putin have done her ear a way similar to what happened in

germany in the wake of the 1930s and 40s. in another topic of president alluded to inflation last night. he didn't instill much confidence that he had a concept of what was at stake or how to solve the problem. he talked about his plan to address inflation and he said we need to cut our expenses and overhead. well, i talked to some of the cotton producers in texas last week when i was home and they told me one of the -itis problems they have are increasing costs of their inputs things like diesel and energy, fertilizer and the like. they don't have any room to cut their overhead unless they go out of business entirely. so the president did not inspire much confidence when he came to dealing with the scourge of inflation. one thing we can do is quit

making it worse by trying to continue to shovel more and more money out the door chasing fewer and fewer goods and services. the president did try to recycle some of the elements of the build back better or as i like to call it the build that vote will but that policy is dead and buried. the president could need to get support among his own political party. he did try to rebrand it and respond to it in a way and rebrand it in a way that it appeared to deal with the concerns that everybody has about increasing costs and inflation. but it just did not make any sense. the president repeated the same lines that have been shot down a number of times talked about raising taxes on the american people and he says no one earning $40,000 a year or less

would pay a penny more under his plan. of course this is the same president who said the price of a 5 trillion-dollar held back that are built was zero. i think the president has lost a lot of credibility when it comes to talking about taxes and spending. what the president talked about last night was really a laundry list of his liberal agenda. this is in the new plan. this is the same old plan with a new name broken down into smaller pieces. none of this is going to address what is contracting the american people today when it comes to inflation or crime or the border or regaining american leadership and credibility with world affairs. i mentioned crime. when it comes to crime the president did affirm that

calling the police is not the answer. i see her friend a senator from new jersey on the florida senate i think he led an effort for us to have a vote on funding the police rather than defunding the police. of course this is a complete reversal from what we have heard from many of the president's nominees including those of the department of justice people like fujita gupta who for months if not years chanted this mantra of defunding the police in criticizing the men and women and law enforcement you who are the thin blue line between us and chaos. there are some shining examples that i think the president could have pointed to. one of dallas, texas. it's a shining example of how supporting our police both financially and with moral support and plans can make a difference. the most major cities across the

country today crime is up. in all categories. in dallas, texas violent crime is down by 8.5% and that's no accident. that's thanks to the great leadership of the dallas mayor eric johnson and chief garcia, chief of the dallas police department. i asked chief garcia yesterday in a hearing in front of the senate judiciary committee i said is there any reason why the plan that you have owned implemented in dallas couldn't work elsewhere around the country and he said no, there is no reason. of course every plan needs to be adapted to local conditions. with the dallas police department and the city council and the mayor have done is something that could be replicated in other parts of the country. chief garcia and other witnesses also testified to the importance of project safe neighborhoods which is a federal program

designed to go after young criminals, people who are felons in possession or people who use firearms for carjackings or drug transactions or the like. the fact of the matter is the federal law with this mandatory mended -- sentence for using a firearm is it huge deterrent and if you can't deter people from using firearms you certainly can lock them up for an extended period of time which i think send a strong message that this sort of back to today will not be tolerated and will deter future criminal to be. there's a lot we can do when it comes to crime. we can also make sure that people who are suffering with mental health challenges aren't taken to jails and denied the treatment that they need that could help them on the road to recovery. those are the kinds of things that i wish we could have heard

more about from the president last night. i was shocked when the president said we need immigration reform last night that i've been in the senate for quite a while now and i was on the judiciary committee and the ranking member on the immigration subcommittee when my party was in the majority. i was the chairman of the immigration subcommittee and for the president to say immigration reform is something we ought to do stuck me as a throwaway line and the reason i say that is because he has done nothing, zero, zip, nada to stop the flood of migrants across our southern border. together with the illegal drugs that come right behind him. i have tried to do my best on a bipartisan basis working with people like senator sinema a border state senator from arizona to come up with some

modest ideas to deal with the crisis at art order. unfortunately we have not heard a peep out of the administration and at the same time the president's poll numbers when it comes to security and immigration are in the cellar review would think that they would be looking for some sort of bipartisan opportunity to register a win and make some progress but that would be wrong. mr. president i was so full that we would hear more about the president's plan to work with republicans and a 50/50 senate to build consensus for bipartisan solutions other than the bipartisan support for ukraine we didn't hear much about that last night. we heard was a long laundry list of partisan legislation that has

been tried and failed during this last year. the biden administration needs to do more to address inflation and a smart and effective way. they need to do more to support our men and women in uniform who are the thin blue line between us and criminals and they need to do something, anything to address the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. i was hoping this would be a reset both. we all make mistakes in life but the real test is whether we learn from those mistakes and from the comments the president made last night when it comes to these failed policies it appears that he has learned nothing. the american people elected a 50/50 senate expecting forces to work together and we should do that. we took the tried-and-true formula building consensus and

passing positive though legislation and we should use that formula again. it just simply blows my mind that the president and his party with the prospect of an evenly divided congress has tried to do so many things on a purely partisan basis and as you might expect has failed to do so when he can't even unite his own political party. we need a stronger and safer and more prosperous country. as governor kim reynolds said yesterday evening we can't project abroad if we are at home and we can't support our allies like nato and their own military to deter authoritarian thugs like putin if our economy isn't strong here at home as well. mr. president i continue to be an optimist and hope for the best that last night's message

was not encouraging. i yield the floor. earlier this morning was an honor a truly rare honor to meet with judge jackson for the first time since her nomination to the supreme court could before the meeting judge jackson is brilliant and beloved. now that i have met her she is not only brilliant and loved that belongs on the supreme court. i believe her nomination certainly merits a good number of votes from both parties and i hope we see that as we move forward in the process. i am certain that when other senators have a chance to meet with judge jackson they will understand why she is the unqualified to replace justice breyer on the supreme court. for one, if confirmed judge jackson would have one of the most diverse professional

backgrounds of any sitting justice. throughout her career she's been a federal defender worked in private practice, set on the u.s. sentencing commission said is a district commission said as a district judge in as a circuit court judge on the d.c. circuit and of course she was a clerk for justice breyer, the very same justice whose seat she wants to philpart is a district judge joe jackson landed more than 550 rulings rarely reversed by higher courts. when you meet with her mr. president you see that because of what she has brought without broad experience and adopted it in to her being she empathizes with people. she emphasized to me that the judge she should try to understand both sides and you could tell when you met her that she really believed it and has integrated all of her experiences into her being.

she is incredibly phenomenal interview as well is an amazing record. for all these reasons judge jackson's nomination has already won support by individuals and organizations across the political spectrum. she is supported by civil rights activist. she is supported by conservative judges and lawyers. ccip ported by the paternal order of police. someone who was a public defender now supported by the paternal order up police you can't get much better than that. and she supported by scores of men and women who've had the honor of working with her for years. i went through her record and you can hardly find a single person who met people who have said that a bad thing about her. and when you meet her you can see why. america will be much better off with someone like judge jackson on the supreme court.

the country deserves something -- someone broadly supported and someone who is the first black woman justice certifies a long-overdue step. i'm grateful to have had the chance to have met with the judge and i thank her for her time this morning and i look forward to working with my colleagues to elevate this outstanding nominee to the supreme court very soon. having met her and studied her record she deserves the support of members from the other side of the aisle and i'm hopeful she will get a number of them to support her. now on the state of the union, last night before a joint session of congress president biden made the case to the nation into the world that in the case that the mental challenges the united states remains strong and steady to meet the test of our time. an hour-long speech before a chamber that was much fuller than last year president biden demonstrated the kind of leader he has been for all of his life.

optimistic, unifying decent and honest, honest about where we are today and where we must go. i applaud president biden for laying out a bold strong and comprehensive vision that will resonate with the vast majority of americans. in particular i was glad the president focused on three important things. first he united the parties supporting ukraine and against putin. second he showed how under democratic leadership america has turned the corner and third he confronted the urgency of lowering costs for american families, something our caucus has been focusing on. first i was glad that president biden united the country and the world imposing -- opposing klezmer putin. it's obvious the president has done an incredibly good job unifying europeans in the west

as the united front against putin and that was felt by people on both sides of the aisle. when the president called on the chamber to stand up and applaud oksana markarova the ukrainian ambassador he reminded me of the unity we all felt after 9/11. just like 9/11 that comes with the sober recognition that the scale of prudence for talladega in ukraine is worth seeing for the state emergency service reported this morning that more than 2000 civilians, 2000 men women children have now been killed as a result of putin's brutality. what is happening in ukraine is carnage. the blood of everyone of those innocent people falls on the hands of vladimir putin to understand the crony oligarchs. this evil man must be stopped.

an important step recognize the senate unanimously passed bipartisan legislation that will protect america and our government and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks and finally we passed unanimously the cyber legislation. it's more important now than ever before because putin is brandishing a cyber weapon. cyber warfare is truly one of the dark arts of perfected i've putin's authoritarian regime. it's a weapon is happy to employ around the world. when our authorities in government know these attacks they can prepare against future attacks they will know who is attacking where they are attacking how they are attacking and that will allow them to strengthen our defenses against future cyber attacks. many in industry at in industry at times i believe even the chamber of commerce was not for this legislation but the urgency

of the moment the need to protect ourselves from cyber attacks finally the senate votes to be patient. i thank senators peterson portman for getting this bill done the passage of this bill with little notice because they came right before congress in the state of the union but it's a giant step forward to protecting ourselves and i'm glad that we got it done last night. of course we must do more. the senate must keep working on a bipartisan basis to pass a robust aid package so we can send an unmistakable message to ukraine that we stand with them and to putin that we stand against him. the quickest way we can assure the aid reaches ukraine is through the omnibus really needs to get done next week so i'm glad we seem to be having bipartisan support to get that done. second, i was also glad president biden showed how the

country under democratic leadership is turning the corner in the fight against covid-19. by passing legislation last of the fund vaccines expand testing and support our health care workers we are beating this disease and with the president said last night was absolutely correct. we cannot, we cannot have covid comptroller lives anymore. neither can we let our guard down. right now as cases are dropping across-the-board congress must pass more funding for vaccines,. therapeutics is a word for medication that helps alleviate the virulence of covid read very few people who take therapeutics have to be hospitalized and we have to assure that our doctors and nurses and health care workers are prepared in case another variant comes this way so that we can stay as close to normal, even -- sorry we can

stay as close to normal as possible even if another variant arrives. we have to have an apple supply of vaccines of therapeutics, of. we cannot wait read some of my republican colleagues seem to be saying we don't need this now. we do need it now read while we still have the chance if congress waits until another variant arrives it will be too late. let me say that again. even as cases drop across-the-board we cannot be complacent against covid. congress must pass more covid funding now so we can be ready by funding vaccines, testing therapeutics in supporting our health care workers. if congress waits until another variant arrives it will be too late so we need a republican colleagues to join us in a bipartisan way just as they are joining us on ukraine. finally i'm glad that president

biden zero did on cutting costs for american families. a year into the president's first year the economy is surging in creating an unprecedented number of jobs. the people are struggling because costs are also going up and wages are going up but it those wage increases. why are costs up? costs are up because the supply chain disruptions stemming from covid and pent-up demand. all the while americans watch and credulously as some of our largest corporations are raising prices despite growing products and executives as saying lavish pay increases. in the end the americans are footing the bill. many democrats will not stand for this. we are working with the president to lower costs and build on the wage growth we have seen over the past year. we are laser focused on reducing

america's costs. lowering the cost cost of insolence and no one pays more than $35 lowering the cost of all prescription drugs in lowering the cost of needed groceries and our oceans shipping lines of the bottlenecks. raise costs to shipping costs have gone way up as a present mansion and do you know what else we could do to lower costs? we could innovate. congress to continue working to finalize their bipartisan bicameral jobson's light chain so we can boost american manufacturing, and make our country less dependent on foreign companies. in short despite everything the world is facing president biden reminded supporters and critics alike why the american people have trusted him with the presidency. he didn't shy away from our challenges. rather advance not domestic and unifying plan for how to meet the moment. senate democrats will continue working with the president with

two precisely move our country forward unloading costs and addressing covid and expanding our democracy. i thanked the president for his leadership and let us continue with our work. i yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> the republican leader. >> last night present biden gave the state of the union address in it might have worked okay for an administration and successfully tag lined. actually earning high marks. that's not the reality in which we live. democrats had the last 12 months making major and painful policy errors. the public overwhelmingly disapproves.

president biden didn't even stay the course and rehashed a scattered wishlist needed to make a dramatic pivot. he chose not to. the president first discussed ukraine. everyone agrees with the sentiment that president biden expressed but the sentiments are not enough. the president articulated no meaningful new steps, no specific plan and he made no explicit commitment to keep flowing weapons intelligence and advanced capabilities into ukraine as long as the ukrainians need them. nor did he explain why his administration was slow to provide legal assistance in the first place. instead the president focused on trying to claim credit for their marker buoy european and worldwide response that his

administration did not proceed let alone orchestrate. apart from ukraine the president of the remarks were not just insufficient, they were basically nonexistent. the president spoke for over an hour and only mentioned twice. neither time had anything to do with national security or her military modernization. the president only mentioned iran when time and it was literally by accident. zero emissions in north korea and zero emissions in afghanistan retreat. the administration originally posted it was a quote success end quotel:. a 13 servicemembers who lost their lives was completely unmentioned until governor reynolds took the microphone.

in zero matches of rebuilding the defense budget the president hi tried to fund last year. meanwhile the president discussed the serious kitchen table concerns that are keeping families up at night. the president talked about made in america that keeps fighting against energy independence. democrats want us to buy american but not american oil and gas. on president biden's watchers said the new record for importing russian oil and asking opec to produce even more in his energy vision is to dump huge huge subsidies into supply chains dominated by. the president tried yet again to revive the spending plans which the bipartisan majority of senators have argued killed and

buried because they would make inflation even worse. he tried to brag about fancy technology on our southern border is simply hadn't just seen a new record for illegal crossing on his watch. the president's address was not responsive to the countries concerned. he needed to pivot buddy didn't. cns conducted an instant poll which you might expect it to oversample democrats and even so the percentage who gave the president's speech high marks was the lowest it's been in 15 yours. now iowa's successful governor kim reynolds offered the clearest contrast. she spoke for the working families who are suffering under democratic policies to get land a commonsense republican vision of stability at home strength abroad law and order on our

street and sanity in our public schools. november is just months away and president biden does not correct course sharply and quickly the american people may correct the course for him. on entirely different matter what the occupational hazards of senate service is having to say goodbye to truly remarkable staff and professionals. i've been through this rodeo with energy -- all the way back in 1988. this dedicated caseworker left the house for the nonprofit sect are. back in 2010 i left for the chance to hire a state office manager and her second tour of then at huge success. i have known her for 40 years now and i've watched her master a wide variety of roles.

she's an integral part of my state office and she keeps all of us on task and on time. unfortunately tomorrow her second tour of service will end with a second farewell. angie is retiring after decades of hard work and phenomenal public service. for 12 years and she has been the steady rather steering my team through the complicated problems. she would fix fix it and a scheduling conflict, she would resolve it. a new staffer needed help in her role, she provided. angie combines meticulous efficiency with a totally charming and cheerful demeanor. my relationship with angie predates my time in the senate. her mother was my personnel director from county

administration. there was a newly-elected republican in a heavily democratic government that needed all the help i could get. angie's mother jeanette proved invaluable. in 1982 her daughter and you came on board as office receptionist. i quickly promoted her not once. twice as she served as office manager at my neighborhood response office. when i won statewide in 1984 when i won statewide in 1984 angie was one of my first tires. with the same vigor that helped proper -- settle property disputes and you began helping kentuckians across the state navigate the morass of federal government red tape. expertise in the eye for detail and she grew into a public

servant. our whole team was overjoyed to welcome angie back after tenure with metro united way one of the commonwealth largest non-profits now angie is famous for humming and whistling while she works and for throwing extravagant birthday parties for her colleagues. she is unfailingly upbeat has a permanent positive attitude and boy does she get results for kentucky. as you can see it's been an honor to have angie's talent on our team. i'm just grateful in her sterling 40 or career concludes tomorrow a 40 year friendship will not so angie i wish you every happiness as you spend more time with steve with kathleen and back and with those grandkids grant logan and elizabeth are there maternally grateful for your outstanding

good work. >> they are does have the opportunities his down -- to sit down with the nominee of president biden. it's not the first time we met. in fact it's not the first time she was in my office. she was there we thank in 2011 is a member of the sentencing commission. i had passed a reform of sentencing for crack-cocaine and she was a member of the sentencing commission which ultimately unanimously decided to make that decision retroactive including support of conservatives, republicans and others on a bipartisan basis. let me tell you why we are ready

to make history in america. she -- if you're going to be first in america you had better bring credentials to the desk and she does. she has been an outstanding law students, and outstanding clerk for three different levels of the judiciary including retiring justice stephen breyer. she has been before this judiciary committee but but this will be her fourth time she has been before or three different times successfully with bipartisan support approved by the judicial committee. the most recent was this last year when she was approved for the d.c. circuit court. every single time she has come before the committee she has had high partisan support. that is quite the source of pride in this day and age with the contentious partisanship that we have.

she is an amazing person personally. we talked about her background and the things that she had been through and i would say she is in a position now where she is prepared to come before the committee and before the senate and to win the nomination officially before the senate. i want to say a word about the timing of this. she is going to have a hearing before the committee on march the 21st. i informed senator grassley about this morning and he has taken it to his caucus to announce that this is the date that we chose. he didn't choose that day. he was chosen by the democratic jordie. let me tell you why i believe it's fair. that will be the 24th day after president biden's announcement of his nominee that

the hearing begins on march 21. it has been less than a year since she was before the committee and consented for her current judgeship trading comparison amy coney barrett came before the committee 16 days after president trump's announcement in this case it's 24 days and secondly judge barrett had been on the bench for three years so it had been three years between the consideration by the judiciary committee for her circuit position and the supreme court approval. in this case judge jackson will be less than a year when she comes in for a hearing. i'm looking forward to an awesome responsibility and possibly the greatest responsibility in the senate judiciary committee to advise and consent to it presidents nominee for a lifetime appointment to the highest court of the land. i want this to be fair, timely

and professional and i'm going to besiege my colleagues on both sides to keep this at a high level for discourse because we are considering issues of great constitutional moment and issues that are very important for the future of this country. i'm open for any questions you have. [inaudible] >> thank you reminded me of a question i did not address and let me address that further. yours is a good question and i think linus too. it's the fact that we are going to make sure that judge jackson is available to all the members of the senate judiciary committee before march 21 and then after march 21 any other senator who wants to meet with her will have that opportunity.

senator grassley raise that issue and i think it's a fair issue and for the republicans averaged out to have said over and over again we will make her available. we are evolving here when it comes to the safety of covid-19. and dealing with covid-19. i think last night was a major step forward and in the state of the union address that neither the president were not many members of the house and senate wearing masks. that i think is a positive sign and let's hope it proves to be in the days ahead as we measure the impact of public gatherings. as long as we have an opportunity for orderly witnessing of this process i would support it. i want to make sure first and foremost we take into consideration public health and security and i will rely on the experts for that.

[inaudible] >> good question, timely question. i just finished a brief book becoming justice and the talked about 1970 and how different things were at that time. the limited amount of time that was on the committee the overwhelming vote and overwhelmingly bipartisan. i am looking for a bipartisan vote and i don't have to defy net for you. we know at least one republican will vote for her.

i'm not saying i'm winning them over. i hope they will consider it. i think it would be good for the senate and good for the supreme court if that happens. i don't presume a vote. [inaudible] >> not yet. i'm still going to talk to him. >> you laid out the timeline for justice coney barrett. is that a standard? >> at the contemporary and an analogous standard. a recent movement of the supreme

court and that's why we make reference to it. many were here for justice there at's nomination are still here in the committee substitute for them to argue that we are doing anything particularly different. [inaudible] >> let me talk about the steps first and that is we sent a questionnaire to the white house last friday and we got a response back by monday evening. it refers to some 537 cases that she decided. i knew there was a five and a seven and a. by others a. 570 cases that she had written an opinion on in the d.c. circuit, the district court and i think there were eight cases in the circuit.

anyhow the point i want to make is for those who want to know who she is and how she thinks wl have lots of evidence so i would assume the staff and democrats and republicans in the senate judiciary committee will start there as they should. there will be some documents provided and traditionally to supplement anything that is needed in terms of her background is concerned and one other question. [inaudible] >> we talked to about a number of things and some of them i'm going to keep to myself for the moment. we talked about her family and we talked about her daughter which is a well-known story about how her daughter learned of justice scalia's passing the daughter sent a letter to

president obama i have a perfect person for the vacancy, my mom. it's a wonderful and heartwarming story and her relationship with her. [inaudible] >> i haven't brought it up. giving more time is appropriate but also distinguishing the fact that it's been less than ears and she appeared before the committee is also an important factor. [inaudible] >> under the rules of the committee to believe that can be held over if the decision of the minority for an additional week so we are starting with that presumption. if we have good fortune and it comes the other way it will be soon.

[inaudible] >> it will always be a question. it's a question for every nominee and today we have five nominees redistrict circuit court and at least half of them were asked that question. i don't assign the same importance to that as a lot of my colleagues do. that is the big tell if they can get somebody to say i'm an originalist or i met textualists or whatever the heck that means anymore. i don't think that's going to be decisive for anyone who follows this closely. [inaudible] >> of course polly know personally and like.

they are related by marriage and he spoke for her in one of her earlier -- and had glowing things to say so any support from him i would welcome that there really is a decision by the white house and the nominee is to witnesses that will be presented. we may have some input and they have the last word. [inaudible] >> we are talking about a handful. [laughter] >> i think we are closer to the half dozen range. if i see a glimmer of hope i will pull out my senate rules and start bumping them. [inaudible]

>> well i don't know their reasoning as to why they oppose her on the d.c. circuit. there were a lot of circumstances and i tried to go at it with an open mind and my first appeal to them is this is a moment in the history of the united states and i always want to try to be on the right side of history and i hope they will consider her and give her a second look if the first time around they didn't support her. i have been pleasantly surprised and really surprised in some respects of the reaction of the african-american community do this nomination but it's powerful and i don't want to over analyze it. when you think about 115 justices and not one black women in the history of the court it will make a difference.

[inaudible] >> i don't think it is. i think she was well qualified and prepared and there were 500 written opinions. there is little mystery as to how she views the cases and and analyzes it and she has demonstrated that again. senator mcconnell raised that the limited number of opinions. i don't think that holds her back at all. yes. [inaudible] of course that is part of it and there is no reason to wait and delay as far as i'm concerned. she assisted has a clear record and will make available for all

the senators to review and be personally available. there is no reason to wait on this. i agree with president biden last night. there's apple precedent for senate approval and as of late in and the actual swearing-in until the vacancy occurs. anything else? the priority is to make sure every committee member has a chance and as i said earlier senator grassley made that point to his own colleagues don't lurk and don't wait. if you want to do this tell us right now. [inaudible] >> it's just a matter of availability and time. g officer.

mr. sullivan: i ask that thecer. quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, obviously the images coming out of ukraine and the heroism that we're seeing is inspiring people all across america, all across the world, and it's spurring governments to action, appropriate action. just the other day there was a world leader in charge of one of the world's most important countries who was spurred to action despite his country and his government having a left-wing leaning, he made announcements, historic, remarkable announcements that not only stunned his country but stunned his world about the importance of a strong defense,

military defense, about the importance of being realistic about energy policies. no, mr. president, i'm not talking about president biden, unfortunately. i'm going to get to that. he missed a huge opportunity to do just that. i'm talking about the world leader german chancellor olaf scholz who in the last two days has said germany, because of the current crisis, is going to almost double its defense budget to achieve its 2% g.d.p. portion of national defense within the next year or two. huge, stunning announcement by the chancellor, a country that is addicted to russian natural gas is now saying we're not

going to have any, and we're going to stop the nord stream 2 gas line. huge, stunning announcement. that's global leadership, mr. president. and unfortunately president biden missed the opportunity last night at the state of the union to do exactly the same on exactly the same issues. let me talk about this a little bit more, mr. president. i think we are starting to fully understand the implications as a nation and as a world of what's happening in ukraine. we have entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by russia's and china's dictators who are increasingly isolated and dangerous, who are driven

by historical grievances, who are paranoid about their democratic neighbors and are willing to use military force and other aggressive actions to crush the citizens of such countries. citizens in countries like ukraine and hong kong and taiwan these dangerous dictators -- vladimir putin and xi jinping -- are increasingly working together to put forward and implement their vision for the world. spheres of influence that revolve around them, if you saw, mr. president, and read their joint communique just a few weeks ago before the beijing olympics, xi jinping and putin's, it is a wake-up call to the world. it is a scary darned document.

so that's what's happening. and again, we need to wake up. this administration needs to wake up to this new era of authoritarian aggression because it's going to be with us, unfortunately in my view, for years if not decades. and the president had the opportunity to do what the chancellor of germany did in the last few days, and he didn't. my view of this situation is that we need to face it as a country with strategic resolve and confidence and recognize that our country has extraordinary advantages, particularly relevant -- relative to china and russia. if we are wise enough to utilize and strengthen these advances. what are they? global network of allies, our

lethal military, our world-class supplies of energy and other natural resources, our dynamic economy, and most important, mr. president, our democratic values and commitment to liberty. we must always remember that putin and xi jinping's biggest weaknesses and biggest vulnerabilities are that they fear their own people. they fear their own people. we need to remember that and exploit this vulnerability in the months and years ahead. but what happened last night? and again, it was a missed opportunity because the president could have, should have followed the lead of of the chancellor of germany.

and he didn't. now he put forward a few good ideas that i think drew bipartisan support in the chamber, certainly talking about the brave people of ukraine. that was something that all americans are seeing and supportive of. also the president's commitment to defend every inch of nato territory, i think is an important red line that he drew last night that, again, all of us support. but it was important for him to articulate it. other topics -- opioids, mental health, helping our veterans -- count me in on those. but what he didn't do was step up in front of the american people and like the chancellor of germany, say it's a new world, and we need to recognize

it. and the biden administration is going to make a course correction on some critical issues. what were those critical issues? they are the exact issues that the chancellor of germany announced to his people. and, mr. president, yesterday 23 senators, we sent a letter to the president respectfully imploring him to address the same issues that the chancellor of germany just did in this new era of authoritarian aggression. we need a much stronger, robust military budget that can ensure the lethality and readiness of our forces. if you don't believe that, you're not watching what's going on in ukraine. and what we don't need is another biden budget like he put

forward last year that increases by double digits the budgets of literally every federal agency in the government of the united states, with the exception of two -- homeland security and the department of defense. the biden budget last year cut those, and i guarantee you the dictators in beijing and the dictator in moscow noticed. you can't do that. he didn't even mention it last night, didn't even mention it last night. and i guarantee you, the dictators in moscow and beijing noticed. so did our european allies, which is again why what the chancellor of germany did was so extraordinary. he announced the budget doubling -- a doubling of the budget of the german military.

stunning. but, mr. president, the other area that we suggested strongly to the president of the united states to address to the american people in this new era of authoritarian aggression is energy -- is energy. and in our letter to the president yesterday, we respectfully called out the president and said, with respect, mr. president, you recently told the american people in a press conference that your administration was using, quote, every tool at our disposal to protect american families and businesses from rising energy prices. but that is not true. it is not true. and whole world knows it. heck, the administration knows it. so we suggested 12 actions that

the president of the united states could take and announce at the state of the union that would help us with regard to energy -- bring down costs, put american energy workers back to work, and not let putin blackmail european allies of ours with energy and continue to use it as a weapon. we asked for a course correction on the biden administration's energy policies, which from day one have focused on restricting, delaying, and indeed killing the production of american oil and gas. all of this has had the predictable result, the catastrophic result of driving up energy prices at the pump and in home heating for american

citizens, enormous increases, hurting working families, increasing pink slips for american energy workers like those in my state, the great state of alaska, and again in the current crisis significantly empowering our adversaries, especially vladimir putin, who has used energy as a weapon against our allies for decades. so,mr. president, i'm not going to go into each one of the topics that -- or the actions that we suggested the president of the united states take, with the exception of one, because it is so apparent that we need to do it and so apparent that the president should have announced it last night that i want to just briefly mention it again here.

we called on and today in a press conference many of us called on many republicans and some democrat senators now have called on the biden administration to undertake sanctions and an embargo against vladimir putin's strongest weapon -- his export of natural gas and oil. now, many people are saying, well, you can't do that as it relates to our european allies. what we're saying is, we understand there's challenges there. we're not talking about europe. we're talking about the united states of america. mr. president, i want you to understand these numbers. right now we're buying an average of almost 700,000 barrels a day of russian oil.

by the way, that number has increased 35% -- actually, over 35% during president biden's first term. at the same time, the biden administration is is going to states like mine saying, here's -- we're going to try to shut down alaskan oil production. does anyone in america -- does anyone in the u.s. senate, does anyone in the biden administration think that that makes sense? increase imports of russian oil to the united states while shutting down the production of american energy. and they're doing it. we all know they're doing t heck, they know they're doing it. it makes no sense. in the last year, imports from the united states paid for that

went back -- oil imports of russian oil paid for in the united states, going back to russia, put $17 billion into putin's war chest, $17 billion. so, mr. president, a number of us, like i said -- republican and now democrat senators -- saying -- have been saying, this is nuts. we're trying to sanction putin. we're trying to isolate russia from the global economy. and there's this giant loophole, and it's coming right to the united states. we're paying for hundreds of thousands of barrels a day of russian oil going back to putin and they're still trying to shut down american energy production.

come on ... of course some of this is driven by the far left that the biden administration listens way too much to. but, come on. mr. president, my colleagues here, this is insane. and everybody knows it. everybody knows it. what are we doing right now? we are subsidizing this war. we are subsidizing, by the importation of 700,000 barrels of oil a day, russian oil to the united states, we are subsidizing putin's war on the ukrainians. by the way with our friends in canada, they just announced that they're not going to import anymore russian oil. prime minister trudeau, well done, sir. and, by the way, had the keystone pipeline not been killed by the president of the united states a little over 12

months ago, we would have up to 700,000 barrels of oil from canada. itch rather be getting -- much rather be getting oil from canada than russia right now. but if you think that this is an issue that's not impacting ukraine, here's what the foreign minister of ukraine recently said about this topic. quote, we insist on a full embargo for russian oil and gas around the world. buying russian oil and gas right now means paying for the murder of ukrainian men, women, and children, unquote. that's the foreign minister of ukraine. what he's asking for is something we can easily do -- block anymore russian oil, russian natural gas coming into the united states of america.

and then people say, well where would we get it then? we'd get it from the united states of america. the only thing that the president mentioned last night on this topic in a glancing manner -- to be honest, it was a lame glancing manner. it was almost a pathetic attempt to just barely recognize that this giant issue had to be touched upon. he said, we're going to briefly release oil out of the strategic preliminary reserve. we're not going to -- the strategic petroleum reserve. we're not going to produce more, which we could. we're just going to release a little out of the strategic petroleum reserve. here's my answer to that. mr. president, there is that he a much better strategic petroleum reserve than the one you referenced last night. i.t. called the great state -- it's called the great state of alaska. that is earthquake in's strategic role -- that is america's strategic petroleum reserve you need to let us, as your fellow americans, help our

fellow citizens and the rest of the world by producing. so, mr. president, it was a missed opportunity last night. we had world leaders who right now, prime minister of canada, imports of russian oil, the chancellor of germany in i.g. isly recognizing the new era we're all in saying, i've got to be serious about national defense and our military and i've got to be serious about energy. we have respectfully asked the president of the united states last night in the state of the union to do just the same, just the same. the american people were watching, and he had an opportunity to talk about the consequences long term of this new era of authoritarian aggression and say, and i'm going to make some course correction as the president of

this administration because it's going to be what's good for a the -- good for the american people and our allies. and he didn't do it. he didn't do it. and it was a big missed opportunity for our country and for the world. for the world.

last night by a state of address. in actually earning high marks. but that is not the reality in which we live. democrats spent the last 12 months making major and painful policy errors. the public overwhelmingly disapproves. president biden needs to stay the course and rehash the scattered wishlist needed to

make a dramatic pivot but he chose not too. the president first discussed ukraine. everyone agrees with the sentiments of president biden expressed. but the sentiments are not enough. the president articulated mel no meaningful steps on placement three into ukraine, as long as ukrainians need them.

they were basically nonexistent. the president spoke for over an hour but only mention china twice. neither time had anything to do with national security or military modernization present only mention iran one time zero mentions of of the botched afghanistan it originally boasted which was a success. or 13 service members completely unmentioned. until governor reynolds took the microphone. in zero mentions tried to cut last year.

energy independence. democrats want us not oil and gas preyed on present binds watch we set a new record for importing russian oil and we are begging opec to produce even more. his energy vision is subsidies and supply chain from our grandkids to build back to beijing. the president tried it yet to revive the spending plans with have bipartisan majority have killed and buried because they would make inflation even worse.

the president's address was not responsive to the countries concerns. he needed to pivot but he didn't. cnn conducted a poll as you might expect, it overt sampled democrats even so the percentage who gave the president's speech high marks was the lowest it had seen in 15 years. i was hugely successful governor, kim reynolds, offered this clearest contract she spoke to the working families who are suffering under democrat policies. she outlined a common sense for stability at home. strength abroad, law and order and sanity in her public schools. november is just a month away.

president biden does not correct course sharply and quickly the american people make correct the course for him. now on an entirely different matter, one of the occupational hazards of senate services having to say goodbye to truly remarkable staff. i've already been through this rodeo with angie. all the way back in 1988 dedicated caseworker left my office for the nonprofit sector. that back in 2010 i leapt at the chance to hire angie back as my state office manager and her second tour of duty has been a huge success. i have known angie for 40 years now. i have watched her master a wide variety of rules purchase integral part of my state office. she keeps all of us on task and

on time. but, unfortunately tomorrow come her second tour of service will end with a second farewell. angie is retiring after decades of hard work and phenomenal public service. for 12 years, and has been a steady writer steering my in-state. there is a complicated problem, she would fix it. a scheduling conflict she would resolve it. a new staff needed help into her role she would provide it. angie combined meticulous efficiency with a totally charming and cheerful demeanor. my relationship with angelique actually predates my time in the senate, her mother jenness was my personnel director for my county administration. as a newly elected republican

and a heavily democratic government who needed all the smarts and help i could get. angie is valuable. in 1982 came on as office receptionist i quickly promoted her not once but twice. she served as office manager might neighborhood response office. and when i one statewide 1984, when i one statewide 1984 angie what is my first hires for the same vigor that helped louisville residents settle party disputes and parking tickets angie began helping kentuckians across the state navigate the federal government red tape. expertise in it i for detail angie grew into the confident public servant. our whole team was overjoyed to welcome angie back after her

tenure with metro united weight one of the commonwealth's largest nonprofits. now, angie is famous for humming and whistling while she works. and for throwing extravagant birthday parties for her colleagues. she is unfailingly upbeat. she has a permanent positive attitude and boy does she get results for kentucky. as you can see, it has been an honor to have angie's talents on our team. i am just grateful a sterling 40 year career concludes jamar, a 40 year friendship will not. so angie, i wish you every happiness as you spend more time with steve, with kathleen and becca and with those grandkids grant, logan, elizabeth. i am eternally grateful for your outstanding good work.

quick senator from texas. >> thank you, mr. president. esther president, last night of course we all listen to president biden's primetime opportunity to explain what his administration is doing to address the many challenges that our nation is facing. here at home we know family budgets are being plundered by the worst inflation and for decades. we are paying higher prices from food, to gasoline, there's been spikes in violent crime that have created public safety concerns in communities across the country. and after a year of hearing folks on the democratic side of the aisle the progressive base of the democratic party calling for defunding the police it was welcome to hear a president say it last night we should fund the police it's long overdue.

and of course there is the humanitarian crisis as i have said before texas has a 1200 miles of common border with mexico. and of course we have seen a record shattered month after month of people coming across the border claiming asylum and then being placed by u.s. authorities into the interior of the united states given a notice to appear for a future court hearing which in all likelihood will never occur. the smugglers and drug cartels have figured the weaknesses in our laws and policies and are exploiting them to the detriment of the american people on drugs alone on died of drug overdoses last year and that drugs humor of the southern border into the united states. and they cartels are smart. they figured out if you flood

the border with people that is going to take the border patrol off the front lines and here come the drug cartels moving their poison across the border. of course the trials we are facing now abroad are not any easier. the precipitous withdrawal from afghanistan that any kind of warning or consultation with our nato allies than the chinese communist party the people's republic of china continue to commit genocide against the uighurs since a democratic taiwan very much on our minds is the fact vladimir putin to see a sovereign nation redraw the maps

many attended the president's address last night and listen closely as he spoke about each of these challenges beginning with the conflict or i say war in ukraine. 38 be discharged fre committee on finance and the senate proceed to its consideration. further that there be three hours for debate only with the time equally divided between the leaders or their designees on the joint resolution and that following the use or yielding back of that time the joint resolution be read a third time and the senate vote on the resolution with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president, i'm about to file cloture on the postal reform bill, so let me say a few words about that. so this week the senate has kept making progress towards our goal

of passing and ultimately enacting the largest bill to support the u.s. postal service in a long, long time. this is a bipartisan bill, long overdue, and far-reaching in how it will place our post office on secure footing for the future. democrats have spent the day working with republicans on a list of amendments that they want to hold with regard to this bill, and these negotiations are ongoing. so while we work on an agreement and to keep the process moving, i'll be filing cloture so that we can take the next steps towards the final passage. it is my hope that we can arrive at an agreement tomorrow and finish in bill before the weekend. there's every reason in the world to do so. at the end of the day the vast majority of democrats and republicans want to see this bill sent to the president's desk quickly. i want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their continued work, especially chairman peters.

this postal reform bill has been a long time coming, and when passed it will ensure that tens of millions of americans who rely on the post office every single day for medicine, social security checks, other goods, they can make sure that the post office remains in good hands and is strengthened. so i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on calendar number 273 h.r. 3076 an act to provide stability to and enhance the services of the united states postal service and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, wednesday, march 2, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc, calendars 441, 445, 458, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear

separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar 224, s. 198. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar 224, s. 198, a bill to require the federal communications commission to incorporate data on m ternl health outcomes into its broadband health maps. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate can proceed to the motion. mr. schumer: i further ask the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 276, s. res. 3103. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 276, s. res. 3103, a bill to amend title 18 united states code to eliminate the statute of limitations for the filing of a civil claim, and so forth.

the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. res. 527. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 527 designating the week of february 12 through february 19, 2022, as national entrepreneurship week, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. the senate will now proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 530 submitted earlier

today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 530 designating march 4, 2022, as national speech and debate education day. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, finally, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, march 3, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of calendar 273, h.r. 3076 postal reform, postal service reform. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand

adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until [background noises] the senate has gobbled up for the day at lawmakers work today covid 19 vaccine mandate for most healthcare workers. that resolution was still have to go through the house and then be signed by president biden. watch live coverage of the senate when they return tomorrow here on cspan2. >> tonight and update on monetary policy and the economy from the chair of the federal reserve jerome powell. watch the house financial services committee hearing at 9:30 eastern on c-span, online

at c-span.org, or watch full coverage on her free video app, c-span now. she spent as your unfiltered view of government including buckeye broadband. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ buckeye broadband support c-span as a public service along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. quick senator lindsey graham held a news conference today with indiana congresswoman victoria sparks. was born in ukraine when it is part of the soviet union. she shared stories of ukrainians fighting the russian invasion. senator graham also announced a