are no longer typically are not doing a lot of driving go-ahead. >> if i could express support war crimes investigation into russia, why isn't caserta comfortable the bombing of the maternity hospitals? >> first let me say the bombing of a maternity hospital is horrific, it is barbaric i don't think anyone who saw that could not have been emotionally deeply impacted. there is a legal review process the united states undergoes to make considerations of labeling as something as a war crime. that is the ongoing process we are pursuing at this point in time it is ongoing. obviously for russia is targeting civilians that would be a war crime. we need to go through the legal assessment and review in order to make a formal conclusion. >> the journal is reporting on the decline the president must conduct a policy why is our

policy change? >> that report is inaccurate. the president did speak with the saudi king just a few weeks ago it's all running together at this point in time. there were no were above calls. when he spoke on february 9 they talked about the readout made this clear attacks against civilian targets in saudi arabia supporting efforts with yemen insurance the stability of energy supply where we can work together, how we can work together economic security here at home. he looks forward to that continuing very. >> the policy with conducting diplomacy for. >> is appropriate counterparts

but again there are different leaders who attend different global events. from a range of countries including saudi arabia. if the crown prince said he supported the republican plan to move forward that nominee i know you're going to say it maybe just get back to work and not allow the entire to go forward. the present also said nominations are crucial to the fight against inflation that we saw today that's obviously a pressing concern. i wonder if you can walk me through what you not take what center manchin called a win for the five nominees is it because it's crucial to this fight and inflation? are you worried about slippery slope? why not take the four out of five?

>> and i give a little bit of a preview of what i might say there. one we do not have any change in our approach or policy the committee should hold an up or down vote on all five nominees. it is important to note it's not a lack of votes in the committee to move the nominees forward it is a lack of willingness of republicans a shock to the committee to actually vote even against the slate of nominees. that is where we have a core issue here. we would also greatly statement from republicans in the senate with senator grassley that said senator should not degrade instruction to the job to vote or not vote waiting on movements on both sides, but i just want to reiterate what i said earlier this afternoon. we have before us a message from the house that the omnibus.

i would point out that both republicans and democrats have had an enormous amount of input into this for the past several months. i know that because the appropriations committee staff has worked so hard on it. again, on both sides of the aisle. earlier today, i put into the record the names of members of my staff who have worked on this. i would just mention to other senators, there are many times i'd be on phone calls with them and conference calls a at 10:00, 11:00 at night. i can then go to bed. they were still there at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. i know a number of them are giving up times with their families over the weekends. i'd be checking in with them or come down and meet with them

burke i can go home. they kept on working. i think we have to understand that were it not for such dedicated staff members, this senate could not exist. we have complex matters before us. but in a way, what we have here is a simple matter. everybody has had input into it. as chairman of the senate appropriations committee i've tried to make it open to everybody. the vice chairman, senator shelby, a close friend of mine, has done the same on his side. people have been heard. now comes the time when we have to vote. the government runs out of money at midnight tomorrow. look what faces our country. we as the leading democracy in the world are trying to stand up for ukraine. i applaud senator biden -- you

know, sometimes i joke, when i came here i was accused, because i was 34 years old, presiding officer can understand this feeling, i was accused by very senior senators of being too young to be in the united states senate. fortunately, i was not the youngest. the youngest was senator joseph biden of delaware. and we formed a bond over that, and we worked together on so many things. i watched him on the foreign relations committee. i watched him in judiciary. i watched him as vice president, and now as president. i've seen him tirelessly, quietly, a lot of it not in the full light of the press but just doing what he has to do, calling leaders who respect him around the world, forming a coalition

in ukraine. and to say here's how we'll stand up against russia. i know so many of the russian people who are good people, but being led by a person who has demonstrated activities which makes him a war criminal. what has happened when mothers, fathers, and their children were machine gunned to death on the street of the city they grew up in, by russian invaders. this is a war crime. vladimir putin sends them there. and in this omnibus we have support for the ukrainian people. let's stand up, let's deliver this support. let's do what we should do.

let the senate be the conscience of the nation. let's not have a dozen or more amendments that are designed more for here's how i can get 30 seconds on the news or a twitter account somewhere. let's do what's best for this country. and let's do what's best for the people in ukraine. look at the lies -- look at the lies that have come out of russia. i don't say it lightly. after 48 years here, to call the leader of a country a war criminal, but vladimir putin has been a war criminal. he's been a war criminal in having people go in and do the horrible crimes. blowing up maternity hospitals.

while women are giving birth. killing children. bombing schools! destroying families, innocent civilians. for what? to return a dream of a soviet union that never existed? to return a dream of being a modern-day czar? well, that's not something you really want to be. no. mr. president, let us as senators, republicans and dems, stand up and say -- republicans and democrats, stand up and say okay, we're going to do our job. we're going to vote for legislation. we're going to vote for appropriations. it helps the president of the united states to stand up and help the people in ukraine. we all know what we're going to

do. we all know what the stakes are. we all know what's here. let's stop the press releases. let's stop the grandstanding. let's stand up and vote. vote yes or vote no. don't stand behind something where you say, well, i'm going to be underthis way, i'm going to be judged that way on a vote. just as the presiding officer has cast tough votes, we all do. i voted 17,000 times on this floor. i was proud to do it. was i right in every single vote? i'm sure i could go back over those and say, what was i thinking? but i tried to do what's best. we know what's best now. fund our government. pay for our young people. pay for our schools. pay for our nutrition. pay for feeding americans.

but also pay for helping ukrainians who are standing up against a war criminal. we all proudly say we stand for democracy and the ideals of democracy. let's do it. the people of ukraine are. when i think of the malignant, lying, terrible things that come from russia against the proud people of ukraine, i think of the putin group calling president zelensky a nazi. he's jewish and proud of it. he couldn't be further away from

being a nazi. he's a man who could have fled his country, as so many of these others have. he stayed there to protect his country, to stand with his country. shouldn't we stand with him too? i think we should. so i'd urge my senate colleagues, come in here. you go home and talk about how i voted for this, i voted for that. well, come and vote. come and vote. let's get this bill passed. mr. president, i'll probably say more as we go forward in this. and i know there are other senators, like the distinguished senior senator from michigan who is about to speak. i would yield the floor on this, but i've been here and had to vote over and over. as i said, i voted 17,000 times.

i think there's only one person in history who's voted more than that. these haven't all been easy votes. i've had to wrestle with my conscience on them. but i go back to one of the first critical votes i cast, as the newest -- as the most junior member of the senate, 34-year-old member of the senate , junior-most member of the armed services committee. we were asked to vote to continue the war in vietnam. i campaigned against the war in vietnam, and ironically enough at that time the majority in vermont supported the war. i did not. in my own conscience, i did not. and so, we had five votes in committee to continue. each time the vote to continue failed by one vote.

i was the newest and youngest member of that committee and i voted no. i became the only vermonter ever to vote to end the war in vietnam, and i was told that would end my senate career, i was done. i think back 48 years to that time, and i know at the end of this term i will leave, but i'll leave on my own accord. not because of a vote i cast. every one of us should know cast what's right in your conscience. cast what's right in your conscience. that's worth more than an election, and we should vote for this, get it done, show ukraine that the greatest democracy and the longest-lasting democracy

currently in the world, the united states, stands with you. and i will. with that i see my friend -- mr. president, i will yield the floor.

>> good afternoon. okay, a couple elements at the top then i will take your questions. the russian government unprovoked, unjustified, and a brutal invasion of ukraine continues to dominate the attention of the world. it was in this context secretary blinken traveled to europe where

he worked in service over the past few days of two primary objectives. first, to ensure that we continue to do everything we possibly can to support ukraine, its people, integra terry in every way we can. he stood with these ukrainian counterparts on ukrainian soil and reaffirmed that support for destructor humanitarian assistance for ukrainians in ukraine and for more than 2 million ukraine seven forced to flee their homes because of this criminal aggression. second, to ensure we are sending a clear signal to moscow that it will continue to pay a steep price and our commitment is ironclad. clear the transatlantic partnership is united and strengthening our security assistance to ukraine, united increasing our assistance to the people of ukraine, and united in our efforts to impose costs on the kremlin for an waging war of

ongoing war of choice. putin's military plan to quickly capture ukraine, it is clear now has failed. so he is now turning to a strategy of a laying waste population centers to break the will then ukraine. something he will not be able to do per just yesterday all reports of russian airstrikes. mr. cassidy: i yield back.

without access to food and medicine. putin's relentless and barred including civilians trying to flee for their lives prevents people from safely escaping inhumane conditions that the kremlin has created. we continue to call the russian government to allow civilians to safely depart the cities and towns that are besieged by russian forces. russia's retail to make effective long-term control of ukraine impossible. ukrainian people have made clear they will not stand for it. putin can take a town he can capture a city it's already clear he will fail in his efforts to take the country of ukraine and its people. we will continue to affect the people of ukraine and their fight for their country through security, economic and humanitarian assistance and by uniting the international community to hold pollutant accountable through devastating sanctions, diplomatic isolation and other measures. vice president noted to the knife states congress has

committed $1,313,000,000,000 to support ukraine the severity of the unprecedented measures is already having a dramatic impact close to worthless worth less than appellee the credit rating is junk status of stock market remains close halter exit their operations putin could cut his losses, extricate himself from the strategic by seeking to negotiate in good faith a diplomatic agreement with ukraine. president zelenskyy, for his part has expressed interest in that and we told the ukrainian government in no uncertain terms we stand ready to support any diplomacy that wishes to pursue. but as we've always said we will

not push them into concessions. instead the kremlin continues to spread outright lies such as the allegations the united states and ukraine are conducting biological weapons in ukraine and their baseless claim that bombing a maternity hospital ist quote cu unquote

h all due respect to my friend from michigan, this is a covid-related provision which the biden administration never requested. it's not in the president's budget. i.t. not even in the -- it's not even in the supplemental budget. the administration asked for everything under the sun, but they never asked for this. this is another example of my colleagues trying to take an emergency pandemic, the exemptions, and turn them into permanent changes that last forever. families don't want schools to be permanently stuck in pandemic posture. families want schools to be passed covid and get back to normal. this would extend policies that were specifically designed to help schools close and go viral. what's exactly what families don't want. parents and kids want schools open. finally, this amendment cost $11 billion, and it's not offset.

for the people waste, fraud, and abuse this tonight, that means i.t. not -- for the people waste, fraud, and abuse this tonight, that means it's not paid for. we had a covid package ready to go until the house democrats blew it up. we'll not be going around the backs of our own senate committees of jurisdiction because house democrats killed a bipartisan covid package. so,mr. president, i respectfully object. the presiding officer: objection is heard to the modification. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: is there objection in the original request? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, in the last four days alone, the united states senate has passed a sweeping postal reform bill, unanimously approved anti-lynching legislation, approved emergency aid to ukraine, and now we're about to fully fund the

government. from start to finish, it's been a very productive and very bipartisan week in the senate. if we could boil down this week to three words in the senate, they would be productive, bipartisan, successful. in a few moments the senate will pass the strongest, boldest, and most significant government funding package we've seen in a long time. this bipartisan funding package is a significant and far-reaching win for the american people. i'm glad the senate moved quickly -- as quickly today as i hoped we would. to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, i say bravo, job well done. we're keeping our promise to support ukraine as they fight for their lives against the evil vladimir putin. with nearly $14 billion in emergency aid, congress will approve more than double what the administration originally

requested. we took the president's original request for ukrainian aid, examined it, and added to it, and every last penny of the money will be well spent. we're giving the ukrainians billions for food, medicine, shelter, and support for theover 2 million refugees who had to leave ukraine as well as funding for weapons transfers like javelins and stingers. we're going to reassure and strengthen nato and add teeth to our defense against russia's malicious warfare. we promised they would not go it alone in their fight against russia, and once we pass this funding, we will keep that promise. on the domestic front, this funding bill is awash with good news for our country. we're about to give our troops a pay raise. we're increasing funding for our schools and head start programs

and pell grants. we're reviving at last the violence against women act. we're kick-starting the president's can cancer moonshot, and with this package we will unlock billions upon billions to fully fund the bipartisan infrastructure law. of course, we didn't get everything we hoped for. in the weeks ahead, we must -- we absolutely must work to secure more covid money. covid funding is about being prepared by funding vaccines and therapeutics and testing. we'll be ready for the next variant and stand a better chance of keeping schools open and preserving normality in our daily lives. we're going to keep working on this. it's too important to ignore. now, as i finish the -- as we reach the finish line, i want to sincerely thank chairman leahy and ranking member shelby. what a fitting and worthy

accomplishment as they near the end of their tenures in office. i've always said, from my first day as majority leader, that democrats would be willing to work in a bipartisan way to get things done whenever we could, once the omnibus passes, the senate will have sealed the deal on three major bipartisan accomplishments this week alone. of course, when we're unable to find common ground, democrats will hold firm in defense of our values and be willing to work alone, if needed. but this week bipartisanship has propelled us over the finish line. we're moments away from getting this package done, and i thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: the majority leader referred to what we're doing this evening as awash with good news. well, it's also awash with

earmarks. they have not been around for over ten years, and we're bringing them back. i'm going to call up an amendment here in a bit that's going to talk about what to do about them. but i think you need to have a backdrop of what we're doing here this evening. i am on the budget committee, and i don't think we did a budget resolution, and i don't think we've done a budget for over ten years. this is the biggest business in the world that is now spending close to $5 trillion, only $1.5 trillion of it that's even subject to review because of the one ingenius thing we've done here is put it on autopilot, on mandatory spending. that's what drives the government currently, and that

means that the budget committee is a useless appendage because we don't use it anymore. i got here a little over three years ago. we were $18 trillion in debt. now we're over $30 trillion in debt. everyone seems to shrug their shoulders. that's not a good business plan for americans to be borrowing money, even if it has good stuff in it, when it's for consumption. it'll only end up in a hard reconciliation down the road. now, let's talk about earmarks. it's kind of a gateway drug to more spending. 367 pages of earmarks, just took a quick poll how much it weighs in paper. four to five pounds. haven't had them for over ten

years. now they're back. in the house, they said they're okay with it. in the senate, the other side of the aisle said they're okay with it. we said we're not okay with it in our republican conference, but any senator to do it anyway. those are called gimmicks and loopholes, and that's the way the place works. no one is sure how much money is actually being devoted to these. it's a wasteful tool that was away for a long time, and it's on top of a budget that was never done and what we're doing this evening was supposed to have been done by september 30 of last year. too many people depend on this place to have a system that's run by the seat of its pants. you bring the earmarks back? well, there's supposed to be a few rules to go with it. you're supposed to make them public two days before you

actually have to vote on them. well, that didn't happen. text was released at 1:30 a.m. yesterday. 2,700 pages. the house passed it only after 20 hours of review. that's at the rate of about having to come up with finding out a billion dollars a minute of what's in it. members are supposed to have a financial disclosure attached to any earmark. that hasn't happened either. just one of those simple details that seem to never get attended to in this place. let's look at a few of the doosies. one earmark spends a half million dollars to promote health equity in yonkers, in new york.

one spends $1.6 million for university research into equitable shellfish aquaculture. i don't know what that is, but it's in rhode island. one earmark spends $300,000 on the alliance for gun responsibility foundation, a left-wing lobbying group that claims that the second amendment has a history of being used as a tool of white supremacy. three samples of hundreds and hundreds of earmarks. that's not what the american public deserve. they expect more out of us. it should be a merit-based system on what we spend here. it should be going through regular order on the budget committee i'm on where you bring people in to testify, do you actually need more money? what you did spend the year

before, was it spent well? that's the way all other places in this country do it because it's the only thing that works. here the system has been so degraded, this is what we end up with. i'll end with this -- most of my colleagues here, i think, view this place as a growth business, but a growth business is based on a few things. you generally make a profit. that's not what this is about, but you balance your budget. you do things that make sense year after year, and when you're spending money that constitutes almost 20% of our g.d.p., you think you put more into it than dropping 2,700 pages in our lap and thinking that you can get through it. and for those that want more of

this for the sake of the institution, you ought to be concerned about what it's going to look like down the road when we add another $1.5 trillion in debt to our current $30 trillion and there's no end in sight. a lot of stories have been written throughout history where that ends up, and it's in the ditch. the medicare trust fund is completely exhausted in about four and a half years. 18% benefit cuts when that happens. actuarially, we've known the social security fund is going to go broke in about 10 or 11 years. what will we do? we'll probably wait until the year before it happens, not make any other reforms, and then borrow the money to backfill it and put more and more obligation

on our kids and our grandkids. i'm going to call up my amendment in a bit. i'll yield the floor at this time. mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: i call up my amendment number 4989 and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from utah, mr. lee, proposes amendment numbered 4989. mr. lee: mr. president, a few short months ago, president biden issue add series of executive orders. these executive orders issued by the biden administration imposed some pretty sweeping mandates on the american people, mandates insisting that covered persons, including for our purposes today military employees, federal workers, employees of businesses with government contracts with the federal government and

medical professionals who contract with c.m.s., basically anyone involved with the provision of services is through medicare or medicaid, must get the covid-19 vaccine. on condition of termination. the way these mandates work is particularly nasty, especially if they work for one of the private companies, as is the case with the c.m.s. and independent contractor mandates. if they don't fire all their workers who don't get vaccinated, they basically are rendered out of business. the federal government was going to just impose these crippling costs that no corporation could afford to carry. they knew that this was creating a big issue and that this would force people into getting vaccinated. here's the problem with that, mr. president. i want to be clear. i've been vaccinated. my familiar family's been vaccinated. i believe that vaccines have made things safer and healthier for hundreds of millions of people. i also believe that, like any

medical procedure, it's not without risk, particularly to some people who might have extreme sensitivities, who might have a idiosyncratic response to the vaccine. so it's not right to force this on everyone, and to render those who refuse to get it not only unemployed, but unemployable. i've received communications from countless people. for example, military professionals, military officers and enlisted personnel who have worked for the u.s. military for nearly two decades, who are actually coming up on retirement, who are saying, for one reason or another, they don't want to get the vaccine. sometimes it's religious. other times it's based on a history of poor reactions to other vaccines or prior medical condition that they believe would cause them to respond poorly, or based on natural immunity. they don't want to get the vaccine and they're being told, in the case of military personnel, if they don't get it they will not receive an

honorable discharge. this could render them not only unemployed, but unemployable. that's the case for many, many others subject to thighs overreaching mandates. look, mr. president, if we decided as a country that this was good policy, then good policy like all good policy should be embodied in law. my copy of the constitution, very first clause of the very first section of the very first article says all legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress of the united states which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives. article one, section seven, makes the point even clearer, it says in order to pass a law within the federal system and have it be a federal law, it has to be proposed in one body or the other, but it has to be the same legislation passed by both houses prior to its presentment to the president for signature, veto or acquiescence. in this case, we've had none of

those things. no, instead you had unilateral executive action taken by the president and those working within his administration. in the process they've bypassed this set of mandates is largely unnecessary, dramatically overreaching, not within the executive power granted to the executive branch of government by the united states congress, and is fundamentally immoral in addition to being wildly and increasingly unpopular. the secret is people don't like the government doing things that are immoral. all of us understand that you don't render someone unemployed. unable to put bread on the table for their children simply because they won't bow to presidential medical orthodoxy. that's not right. that's not american. it's not constitutional. more than anything, it's not moral. we all know deep down that this is not right. this is not something any of us would want to do. not one of us would want to show up and tell our own employees, you know, if you don't do what i

say with regard to a medical procedure you may not want, and as to which you might have legitimate, sincere religious objections or that might be unnecessary because you've got natural immunity, natural immunity which, by the way, recent studies confirmed natural immunity is at least as good as, according to many studies released by many countries and studies in the possession of our own government, are indicated to be at least as powerful as, in many cases more powerful than, the immunity achieved through the vaccine. none of us would do that to a friend, a neighbor, our own employee because we know it would be wrong, it would be mean, it would be unkind. you can't atone for the unkindness and the immorality in that by claimingity okay, because it's through the government -- claiming it's okay, because it's through the government, not when the president of the united states is circumventing the

constitution of the united states. we have a chance to make this right. over time, sadly, senates and mowrps and white houses of -- house of representatives and white houses have contributed to this, because we've given executives too much power. if i complained about it during the previous administration in response to specific actions taken by the previous president who was a member of my own party. sometimes at great personal expense. because i believe congress has given the executive too much power. it's bad. it's harmful. it's dangerous. we have to stop it somewhere. we have a chance right now. we have a shot with something that is wildly unpopular and inherently immoral. that shot exists with not funding it. we don't have to fund that part of government that goes to fund these dangerous, immoral, unconstitutional vaccine mandates. we shouldn't do it. i encourage all of my colleagues, all within the sound of my voice, please end this madness now. thank you, mr. president. mr. wyden: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

senator from on the other hand. wyden i'll be very -- mr. wyden: i'll be very brief. there are two reasons senators should vote against the lee anti-vaccination amendment that affects our dedicated healthcare workers and super lative military. first, vaccines protect the most vulnerable, particularly seniors and those are chronic illness. three in four covid defendants in america were seniors. vulnerable people are safer when their homes, hospitals, and doctors' offices are safer. furthermore, flew shot requirements -- flu shot re requirement for healthcare workers are common. healthcare workers know vaccinations are part of the job. i'm simply going to quote the letter general millie wrote with respect to the vaccination requirement. here's general milley. we need each and every soldier, airman, marine and guardian healthy and capable of performing our duties.

covid-19 is a threat to forced protection and readiness. general milley went on to say, with this in mind, secretary of defense intends to plan date this for all servicemembers. he makes it clear joint force professionals recommend this has a necessary step to sustain our readiness, protect our force, coworker, families, and communities, unquote. for these reasons, mr. president, when we get a chance to vote on the lee anti-vaccination amendment affecting healthcare workers in the military, i urge my colleagues to oppose the lee amendment and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. mr. lee: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i'm rising to support the amendment my colleague, senator john kennedy will introduce. i speak before he introduces, but speak in support thereof.

senator kennedy is going to introduce an amendment that would increase, that would grant some disaster relief to several regions of the country, but i speak on behalf of those in southwest louisiana. a picture tells a thousand words. if you recall that in three years ago the hurricane delta, hurricane laura health southwest louisiana. two weeks later, almost on the exact same track, hurricane delta followed up, destroying that which had not already been destroyed by hurricane laura. the devastation of these storms was dramatic. now, i thank the american people. there has been aid given by fellow americans to these communities, but it's been less than that that's required. flying over, the picture tells a thousand words. there's still blue tarps on top of roofs years after the storm has hit. for those unfamiliar with it, blue tarps are when the roof has been destroyed, you place the

tarp so that hopefully it provides protection that shingles otherwise would. when on the ground, you go through the neighborhood, there are homes that are blighted, boarded up, and as they've been boarded up criminals have come in and businesses have closed. this particularly affects lower-income communities. those who have more resources, they're recovering. but those folks who need a little extra help, they are not. and so, as we think about the aid my fellow americans are asked to give to their fellow americans, i just want to give some statistics. hurricane laura cost $19 billion in damages. delta another $3 billion. and ida, of course, not only in southwest louisiana, but caused $75 billion in damages from louisiana to new york. there's a lot that's happened. i ask for additional support as outlined in my colleague john

kennedy's amendment to finish the recovery for these folks who have endured so much. i humbly ask my colleagues to support the amendment. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: mr. president, i rise tonight to urge my colleagues to support the omnibus appropriation bill before us. the bill, mr. president, represents a massive bipartisan effort that rests upon a framework that preserves all legacy riders, reject poison pill policy provisions from both sides, and achieves dollar-for-dollar funding parity for defense and nondefense increases. as political compromise has become more and more difficult here, great credit, i believe, belongs to chairman leahy for making the tough choices that needed to be made and show the leadership to reach this agreement tonight. the senior senator from vermont,

who also serves this body as president pro tem, has accomplished many things in his long and distinguished career. each and every one of these accomplishments were made possible by his unparalleled ability to get things done, mr. president, and this bill needed to get done. mr. president, because the international security situation demands a greater emphasis on and investment in our national defense, this omnibus bill provides $782 billion for the department of defense and for other defense functions, $4 billion more than the level authorized by the national defense authorization act, $30 billion more than the -- president biden's budget request, and nearly $42 billion more than 2021. the bill, mr. president, also provides 11% increase over

fiscal year 2021 for the department of homeland security, including $6.5 billion for much-needed investments in border security resources, and 7% increase for ice operations. critically, mr. president, the package restores $2 billion in funding for wall construction on the southwest border. the bill also cuts nearly $65 billion in wasteful nondefense spending proposed in the biden administration's budget. nearly 10% decrease from the request level. finally, the package, mr. president, also provides critical emergency assistance to our military, to the ukraine and our european allies, without reducing base defense spending by a single dollar. mr. president, here's an omnibus appropriations bill ideal? i'll tell you tonight, the

answer is no, it's not. but at this critical time and this late date, it's necessary. my hope is, mr. president, that we can pass this bill and use the same framework that made this bill possible as we begin the 2023 appropriations process. mr. president, i have no illusions that it will once again be -- i have no illusions that once again it will not be a difficult process. it will be. i know that our chairman can get it done, and i look forward to continuing to work with senator leahy on the appropriations staff, and with him one last time for both of us. mr. president, before i complete my remarks i would like to also recognize the incredible, and it is incredible, effort put forward by the staff members of both the senate and house appropriations committees, as well as the staff the re-- of the respective leaders' offices. without them, we couldn't be

where we are tonight. we asked them to do the impossible, and they delivered, as they all always do. on behalf of the entire senate, i want to thank them very, very much. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent -- mr. lee: i ask unanimous consent unanimous consent that i be given a minute and a minute to the senator from

washington. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, it's unkind for us to tell americans, just moms and dads, ordinary people trying to live their lives, put food on the table that they can't put food on the table and they'll be rendered unemployed and unemployable unless they defer to presidential medical orthodoxy. it's not who we are as americans. especially not, if as is the case with these mandates. there are not adequate provisions made for pre-existing medical conditions, religious objections and natural immunity. that's what we're dealing with here. it's illegal, immoral and unkind and we should not fund its enforcement. i plead with my colleagues to vote for this amendment. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, we've had this debate many, many times. vaccines are safe, effective, and they are lifesaving.

because of our ability to get safe and effective vaccines out to americans nearly a hundred percent of our schools are open again. more than 90% of people in communities with lower -- are in communities with lower or medium levels of covid and people are finally getting back to a sense of normal in their everyday lives. vaccines have helped to make that happen. here we are once again. it's hard to believe this isn't the first or the second time a few senate republicans have decided they want to risk a damaging government shutdown in order to oppose steps that save lives. but i hope for the sake of the people of this country it's the last time this happens. there are problems real families want us to solve. they want us to bring down costs with steps like democrats have proposed. they want us to stand up for democracy and the people of ukraine who are facing a war and a humanitarian crisis. they want us to learn from this pandemic so we're better prepared for whatever is next. i'm going to focus on finding

steps that we can actually take to help families. and i believe that is what most of us want to do. i urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment which risks derailing this important bipartisan bill, delaying needed aid to ukraine and causing a dangerous government shutdown. mr. lee: i ask unanimous consent for 20 seconds to respond. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, it's not helpful to american families to threaten the breadwinner, the mom or the dad or maybe both of them in some cases with being rendered unemployed and unemployable, unable to put bread on the table. this is not about being antivaccine. i am not that. neither are any of the senators supporting this effort. this is about supporting american families. it's not supporting them to order them fired. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on amendment number 4989 offered by the senator from utah mr. lee. is there a second?

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

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to vote? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 49, the nays are 50. the amendment is not agreed to. majority leader. mr. schumer: can we have some order, please, madam president? mr. schumer: if we want to hasten the evening, i suggest everybody stay around, try to sit in your seats, we're going to try to limit the rest of the votes for ten minutes, to ten minutes.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to the braun amendment number 4990. mr. braun: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun:i call up my amendment 4990 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will read. the clerk: the senator from indiana, mr. braun, for himself and others, proposes an amendment, number 4990. mr. braun: this bill, madam president, has 367 pages worth of earmarks. the presiding officer: the senator will be in order. mr. braun: roughly five pounds

of paper. before it came to the senate, dozens of house offices deleted their public disclosures. i think the swamp is rising again. dr. tom coburn, he would be appalled by this. he called earmarks -- the presiding officer: the senator will suspend. mr. braun: i'll just speak louder, madam president. earmarks -- the presiding officer: i ask all senators to remove their conversations from the floor. the senator from indiana is recognized. mr. braun: thank you, madam president. i think it's clear most aren't interested in talking about earmarks, something else. i believe they lead to waste and abuse. that's why congress got rid of them ten years ago. they should have never been allowed back. my amendment would cut every one of them from this bill that should have been run through regular process, through the budget committee, to where appropriators should have known what was in it, until it landed

in our lap last night. for anyone here that loves the institution, you ought to have enough common sense that trillion and a half deficits embemedded -- embedded in this bill aren't a good business plan for the institution. i ask you all here this evening, make a statement, a symbolic one, to get rid -- the presiding officer: the senator's time has ek period. mr. braun: get rid of these earmarks, and quit shoveling all this debt onto the next generation and our kids. the presiding officer: the senior senator -- the senior senator from vermont is recognized. mr. leahy: madam president, the senator asked those who love this institution to speak up. i'm the dean of the united states senate. i served here for 48 years. i love this institution. i know the constitution vests the power of the purse in the congress. certifications of these earmarks

have been available to the public, and my request and senator shelby's request for eight months. everybody knows what's here. vote for them or not. frankly, if i have to speak of what's needed for my state of vermont, i want to be the one speaking for it, not somebody downtown. and i would hope everyone feels the same way. i yield back the rest of my time. i oppose the amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to king his or her vote, the yeas are 35, the nays are 65. the amendment is a is not agreed to. there will now be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on kennedy amendment number 4983. the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: madam president, i call up my amendment -- and senator cassidy's amendment number 4983 and i ask that it be

reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from from louisiana, mr. kennedy, four him is he sand mr. cassidy, proposes amendment numbered 4983. mr. kennedy: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to be recognized for up to two minutes of debate. senator cassidy for one minute of debate and senator schatz for two minutes of debate prior to the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, madam president. could we have order, madam president. the presiding officer: yes. senators will remove their conversations from the floor. mr. kennedy: madam president, in 2020, a hurricane hit louisiana, then hurricane mark co-hit us. then hurricane zaida. those storms cost $150 billion in damage. my amendment and senator

cassidy's amendment would appropriate $2.5 billion in disaster aid to louisiana. that would include $600 million for housing aid for hurricanes laura and delta, $1 .4 billion in housing aid for hurricane ida. the amendment would provide for $500 million in funding to rebuild louisiana ports. i'm mindful of the fact, madam president, that we should make sure this aid is paid for. i would remind everyone that through the heroic efforts of senator schatz and senator cantwell in which i played a small part that we forced our f.c.c. not to give away the c-band in our telecommunication industry and instead auctioned it out, in which case it brought in $81 billion. and inside think we can spare a little bit of that for people who lost their homes and businesses through no fault of their own. i yield.

mr. cassidy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i'll add to what my colleague, john kennedy said. if you fly over louisiana, you see blue tarps. they don't have the prone to replace their roofs. the plights neighborhoods, people have moved, criminals have entered and those left are now prey to criminals. as they've left, the businesses have closed. madam president, we do so much in this country for those who have been injured. and we appreciate in south louisiana all that that is already been done. but there is a little bit more needed to particularly benefit those who are less well off. so i join my colleague, senator kennedy, in requesting that additional funding to complete the job started to southwest louisiana can become whole once more. with that, i yield. mr. schatz: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: i respect my

colleagues' desire to take care of their people and needs of that every state. i think agree there is a need but not just in this state but in other states. we must pass a disaster supplemental to provide funding for states fairly and based on need. we wish that the ssb were in this bill but it was not agreed to by republicans in the house and senate. looking ahead, we ought to pass a bill to provide $2 billion in permanently authorized cdbgr program. as for pay-fors, the spectrum sale funds that nigh colleagues suggest senator a pay-for are already spoken for. that that is already been used as a pay-for in previous bills. so, unfortunately, i urge my colleagues to vote no. thank you. the presiding officer: is all time yielded back? the question is on the amendment.

mr. kennedy: i ask for the yeas and nays, madam president. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change his other her -- or her vote? if not, the yeas are 35, the nays are 64. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. under the previous order, the motion to refer and the motion to concur with amendment number

4984 are withdrawn. the question occurs on the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 2471. there are two minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote. the senate will be in order. members should bring their conversations off the senate floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: madam president, i've got a minute here. i hope i won't use it all. everybody wants to leave, and i understand. but this has been a lot of work to put this omnibus together. i want to thank senator leahy, his staff, the republican staff and everything else. this is a big improvement for defense. it's a big improvement for homeland security and i think we've talked about what's in it, what's not. but i think overall, it's something we should have done six months ago. i urge my colleagues to support

the omnibus. mr. leahy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, the distinguished senator from alabama, senator shelby and i have been friends for decades. i applaud his work on this. i applaud his staff. i applaud our staff in the appropriations committee. i thank those senators in both parties who came together to come here. we stand up for america. we stand up for the needs of america. but we also stand up for ukraine , which is being attacked by a war criminal, putin of russia. i yield back my time and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to concur. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second?

there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: does any senator wish to vote? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 68, the nays are 31. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this motion, the motion to concur is agreed to. mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: madam president, i'm delighted to see the vote. i thank the senators who voted with us. i would note there are a lot of senators -- senator shelby and i -- but senators on both sides of the aisle who work so hard on this. i especially want to say again, i don't know how many times on weekends and evenings i could leave and go home at 10:00 or 11:00 at night but the our staff was still there until 2:00,

3:00, 4:00 in the morning doing this. they are the ones who deserve so much credit in getting this. this is the reality. this is our government. this is how we protect our country. that's also how we show our responsibility to a country -- in this case, ukraine -- that's being attacked by a war criminal, vladimir putin. so i thank every senator who voted this way. i thank the distinguished majority leader, who worked with us every step of the way to make sure we had the schedule so we could do this. i thank republicans and democrats who worked for this. i yield the floor. mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: before i do all these things, let me thank senator leahy, who was so diligent and so relentless from three, four, five months ago warning our caucus of the

dangers, the very real dangers of a c.r., which wouldn't have been able to move the government forward. his hard work, diligence, dedication has been amaze, and i join him in -- has been amazing, and i join him in thanking the great taft of the appropriations committee, who are second to none, as well as my staff who worked with them. megan tyra is another person you would be able to say, it wouldn't have happened without her. it is a good night for this country, a good, bipartisan in my judgment i thank our senator from vermont -- and our president pro tempore, of course. okay, madam president? the. the presiding officer: the senator from -- the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask that 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 -- madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of house con. res. 79 which was received from the house.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h. con. res. 79 directing the clerk of the house of representatives to make a correction in the enrollment of the h.r. 2471. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask that the concurrent resolution be agreed to, the 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: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.j. res. 75, which was received from the house and is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house joint resolution 75, making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2022 and forefor other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate proceed. schumer i ask unanimous consent that the joint resolution be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i know of no

further debate. the presiding officer: all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the joint resolution is greed to. -- is agreed to. mr. schumer: i ask that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 209, s. 497. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 209, s. 497, a bill to establish the american fisheries advisory committee and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i further ask that 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: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the

consideration of s. 543 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 543 designating march 10, 2022 as national slam the scam day and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. 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: madam president, i move to consider -- i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 726. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, executive office of the president.

shalanda d. young of louisiana to be director of the office of management and budget. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 726, shalanda d. young of louisiana, to be director of the office of management and budget, signed by 16 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: read the first one. i want my name read because i think she's great. the clerk: senator schumer -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no.

mr. schumer: yea. the presiding officer: those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar -- the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, federal labor relations authority. susan begunman of virginia to be a member. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 718, susan groundman of virginia to be a -- grundmann of virginia to be a emin of the federal labor relate relations authority. 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 motions filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session and the e.p.w. committee be discharged from further consideration of pn-1676, corey wiggins to be federal cochair person delta regional authority and the senate consider the following en bloc -- py-1676, 641 is 76, 782, 785, 786, 8 87 and all nominations on the secretary's desk in the foreign service, 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 inned record and that the president be immediately notified of the senatest action and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question occurs on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor, say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed. mr. schumer: madam 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: and, finally, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3:00 p.m. on monday, march 14, and that the following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed.

that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the young nomination. further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is to 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 3:00 p.m. monday, march 14.