>> we take you live now to the u.s. capitol where the senate is about to gavel in. today senate lawmakers will consider a number president biden judicial nominations. at 11:45 p.m. eastern do eastern to vote whether to advance two nominees to service district court judges for california. this is live coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, whose might can save us, we trust you to deliver the craik people. save them from those who shoot from the shadows.

lord, we have trusted you in the past, when everything seemed to be falling apart. we continue to look to your throne in heaven for courage to face the worst that sin can do. lord, give our lawmakers the wisdom to be strong and courageous in these dangerous times. remind them that you have not given us a spirit of fear, but power, love, and self-discipline. help us, lord.

we trust your promises that cannot fail. continue to hear our prayers and bring peace to our world. we pray in your mighty name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed.

under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jacqueline scott corley of california to be united states district judge for the northern district of california.

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

what russians doing to ukraine and its citizens is an atrocity. ukraine is an american ally and an independent and democratic of 41 million people who simply want to live in peace. the russian invasion is an illegal, unprovoked, and brutal assault that over the past 19 days since the full-scale invasion began has targeted and killed thousands of civilians. americans have seen this atrocity in real time. with horrific videos online on our television screens. the videos and photos have sometimes been shocking. remember the one of the woman who was on a stretcher pregnant

leaving the maternity hospital that had been bombed by the russians. we now learn that that woman and her baby have died. today, we learn that more journalists have been killed, including an american journalists, a fox news camera person. i just returned last night from a bipartisan congressional delegation trip to poland, neighboring ukraine here i was doing on that trip by senator klobuchar, senator wicker and senator blumenthal. i see store records are on the floor. senator blumenthal is also here. senator klobuchar has a conflict. she wanted to be here but she's going to be submitting her statement for the record to join us tonight. we had a very emotional trip because we talked to a lot of the refugees coming out of

ukraine, you talked about the incredible trauma they are going through. we also got some very sobering briefings when we were over there for my own team, but also from the polish government, from people who are helping the refugees. it's a very difficult situation. poland is doing what they can to help their neighbor. they have a special bonn with ukraine, and they're doing a lot. in fact, most of the nearly 2,000,000 refugees who have fled ukraine because of this invasion and a brutal attack have, to poland where they have been met with open hearts and open homes. literally people in poland are opening up their homes to these refugees. we were at the border where some of these polish families have, to welcome ukrainians into their apartments come into their homes. in addition to briefings from a u.s. embassy team in poland, the u.s. embassy team from ukraine

who are now in poland, u.s. military in poland and the polish government, we did go down to the border between ukraine and poland to meet with the border officials from poland, u.s. and polish international relief organizations and, of course, with the refugees themselves who are streaming across the border. roughly 100 refugees every minute are leaving ukraine. it was heartbreaking to hear their stories. you can imagine. we spoke to them at the border crossing but also a couple miles away what's called the reception center, conventions or that's been converted into a place where thousands of refugees can come, get a good night's sleep, maybe stay for a few days or even a few weeks, find food, find healthcare, find mental health treatment. most of this by the way has been donated. the polish people of donut bed sheets and blankets and quilts. we were there as pressure the

world center kitchen actual washington d.c. f has set up at natural disaster areas to help feed the people that he's now doing this on the border with ukraine and in ukraine. in fact, he has about 20 different world central kitchen setup. this one was at this reception center being used by refugee families who need to find some comfort and food as they have made a long track in many cases across ukraine to get there. there are also lots of displaced people in ukraine itself, and those people being helped by the same group, this world central kitchen. i thank them, i think all the volunteers they give them support and help so they can lend a hand, these reception centers, and help these refugees along their way. i also think so many other volunteers we saw there from

every organization, catholic relief organizations, of the faith-based organizations world health organization and others. we were at the border only about six hours after the russian missiles had attacked and killed at least 35 and wounded more than 130 at a ukrainian center just 15 miles away. the border guards said they had felt the earth tremble when the bombing attack occurred, again just several hours before we got there. this was the first russian attack so close to the western border with europe and so close to a nato ally, potentially dangerous new face of the russian assault. we met refugees and there from all over the country, the vast majority of whom were mothers with their children sometimes grandmothers with her grandchildren. men between 18-60 are required to stay and fight. so we heard some really tough

stories about families being split apart, and mom's and wives and sisters wondering whether their sons and husbands and brothers who are in harm's way were still alive. some refugees have traveled by bus, some by foot, some entrées, some had come over ukraine for several days. they told of heart wrenching stories of the homes being destroyed, of friends and family being wounded by the indiscriminate russian bombing in civilian areas. they had backpacks or small suitcases. that's it. they had to travel and travel quickly and travel light. they left everything else behind, including again in some cases damning members. some begin a been traveling for several days. one family we met from the eastern part of ukraine said it'd been over two weeks. some who live close to the

border had only made the difficult decision to leave their homes that very moment at -- that very morning. refugee spoke with tears in her eyes about the pain of leaving their homeland and all the families i spoke with said they want to go back when it's safe. many said they appreciated what america had done but just about every single refugee we talked you asked that the united states of america and other countries around the world do more, particularly to stop the deadly bombing of civilian targets and the senseless destruction of the towns and cities in particular they begged us to close the skies, as he said. keep us from getting bombarded. stop the carnage. they were very proud of the courage of ukrainian soldiers, their patriots and, of course, the citizen soldier sometimes including their own family who stepped forward. they're proud of the bravery leadership of president the presiding officer: the

senate is in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: thank you. moments ago, speaking through a video feed from kiev, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy addressed members of both the house and the senate as the war in ukraine enters its 21st awful day. it is one of the highest honors of any congress to welcome remarks by a foreign head of state, but it is unheard of to hear from a leader fighting for his life, fighting for his country's future, and fighting to preserve the very idea of democracy. i cannot remember the last time a foreign leader united a room full of members from both sides so quickly and so intensely. he spoke not just to american ears, but to america's very

soul. in one speech -- in one sense, his speech was reminiscent of the stirring feeling all of us had in the aftermath of 9/11. equal parts resolve and unity and determination to save democracy from an hour of darkness. as we have said from the start of the war, the senate, the congress, and the american people stand unequivocally behind the people of ukraine. america will continue to strengthen our nato allies and reassure our friends in europe that we will remain a steady ally. it's why last week congress approved nearly $14 billion for food, shelter, money for javelins, stingers, and antiaircraft weapons, and refugee help. every last penny that the u.s. sends to ukraine is money well spent. this morning it's reported that president biden will also announce another 800 million dollars in military assistance.

this means even more antitank, antiaircraft missiles, and other weapons that have been the most effective on the battlefield for the ukrainians. last night, the senate also unanimously passed legislation supporting investigations by the international criminal court into potential war crimes by putin and his regime. i thank senator graham and the many, many others who backed this bill. the senate also confirmed the ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, our lead advocate in making sure this investigation is robust and it is swift. these steps are all necessary. over the last two weeks we have seen putin attack the largest nuclear plant in europe, attack the chernobyl containment site, attack a children's hospital, and attack designated humanitarian convoys. putin, so far, is not winning

militarily. so now this evil man is trying to win by massacring civilians, massacring babies, the elders, and a targeting arms. gist as he did in syria, just as he did in chechnya. if this doesn't equal a war crime, i don't know what does. if it wasn't clear before, it should be clear now that president putin and his band of cronies are not going to stop. but in his mono maniacal hubris, putin severely, severely underestimated the u.k. roo people. every time an zone innocent ukrainian is killed, the resolve of the people grows stronger and we stand with them. i join my colleagues in one voice to say this, slava ukraini, glory to ukraine. mr. president, just seeing the video the president showed us is

heartbreaking and stroghtens our resorve -- strengthens our resorve, putin, being such a villain, such a brutal, evil man is not going to deter the ukrainians, for sure, and not the american people from helping ukraine. it strengthens our resolve when we see how vicious, how brutal he is. now, another issue, this morning i want to highlight two steps senate democrats are taking to maintain our laser focus on lowering costs for american families. first, today the senate finance committee is holding a hearing examining one of the most vesksing issues facing americans everywhere, the alarming rise in prescription drug costs. few things are as frustrating and debilitating as going to the pharmacy and seeing the price on your receipt go up and up and up

for essential medications. for families struggling to make ends meet, drug costs present a harrowing sophie's choice -- do i buy groceries and diapers and take care of my kids, to, do i pay for my medications? it is a decision no american should make, but millions have to make it every day. insulin is particularly number number -- flummoxing example. according to some sources, a 40-day supply can now climb north of $600 a month. for millions of americans who rely on insulin to manage their diabetes, this is a crisis that should compel the senate to act. i expect that we will consider next steps soon on proposals already presented to my colleagues. and besides rising prescription drug costs, senate democrats are zeroing in on the alarming state of energy prices. in the coming weeks, i expect that congress will be calling on c.e.o.s from the oil and gas

companies to testify on the alarming speak in energy prices. over the past few weeks, as war in ukraine began, the price of a barrel of oil rose precipitously. that immediately translated to oil and gas companies raising the price for americans at the pump. but something is happening that americans shouldn't overlook. over the past few days, oil prices have actually been decreasing, but the price of gas at the pump has not. some of the economists call this stickiness, when the costs go up, the price to the consumer goes up. when the costs go down, the price to the consumer stays high. stickiness does not come close to describing the outrage that americans feel about this. the last time that the price of oil -- a barrel of oil was at $ 96 gas was $3.62 a gallon. oil prices have now come down to $96 again, and yet the price of

gas continues to rise. it's now at $4.31. the bewildering incongruity spleen falling oil prices and rising gas prices smacks of price gouging and is deeply damaging to working americans. the senate is going to get answers, and that's why we will be calling on the c.e.o.s of major oil companies to come testify before the congress. meanwhile, as americans pay more at the pump, the biggest oil companies in america are making a killing. 25 of the top oil and gas companies reported a combined $ 205 billion in profit. that's an astownsing figure -- an astounding figure, blowing pre-pandemic figures out of the water. instead of lowering prices, these companies are using these these soaring profits to rewhere'd shareholders through stock buybacks.

it is outrageous to me. stock bye backs, they benefit the c.e.o.s who can tell the shareholders, the price went up. not because they sold more product, became more efficient, hired more workers, used productivity. it's simply decriesing the number of shares -- decreasing the number of shares so the price goes up. that is so wrong, one of the disturbing signs of american capitalism. these trends demand answers and the c.e.o.'s of large oil and gas companies should be advised they will have to provide answers before the senate very soon. why stock byebacks in-- buybacks instead of lowering prices, increasing productivity, or moving to green energy, which we know we all have to do. in conclusion, another issue on prices, the senate will take actions on bottlenecks and supply chains crippling our production lines. senator cantwell will hold a

markup on bipartisan legislation introduced by senators thune and klobuchar. one of the many ways democrats are continuing our focus on lowering costs for american families. these are concrete steps we're taking. you're going to hear about many more as democrats focus keenly, laser-like on the higher costs for the american people, which we know must, must come down. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent

that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: this morning members of congress received an update on the situation in ukraine directly from president volodymyr zelenskyy. it reinforced our sympathy, our outrage and our resolve. president volodymyr zelenskyy courage and leadership has earned the attention and admiration of the entire free world. he's marshaled ukraine's brave and defiant resistance against russian invasion. he's stealed resolve beyond what anybody expected and offered the entire world a master class in

leadership. this morning president zelenskyy didn't minutes words about what ukraine needs urgently to keep up the fight. more lethal capabilities and heavier sanctions against russia and especially the air defense systems that we should have helped ukraine get weeks ago. his people face a long and difficult road ahead and the entire world knows what they are up against. the scale of russia's aggression wasn't just foreseeable, it was foreseen. for 30 years every step toward democracy and sovereignty in eastern europe has tempted the wrath of revengsist -- revengsist autocrats like putin. that's why i asked the biden

administration to demonstrate our commitment to our allies and partners most squarely in russia's crosshairs. last june, eight months before the russian invasion, i asked the president to provide serious lethal support to ukraine and other vulnerable states on the front lines of putin's aggression. eight months ago. in december, i specifically called on president biden to deploy extra u.s. forces to reinforce nato's eastern flank, last december. i urged his administration to expedite and expand shipments of lethal aid like antiaircraft and antitank weapons. but as we know a security assistance package for ukraine sat down at the white house for months before being approved. once approved, efforts to transfer the weapons move at the speed of bureaucraticcy.

-- bureaucracy and the president wade until february -- waited until february to offer personnel to the front lines. the biden administration had over a year to get this right. they had a year to translate rhetorical support for nato into leading real collective defense. but they took five months to even nominate an ambassador to the alliance. on the campaign trail president biden called putin a k.g.b. thug. he was right about that. but after one week in office, he offered the kremlin to restart the treaty that caps putin's nuclear ambitions. as a threat, the ukraine gathered whenever an opportunity to act has presented itself, the biden administration has hesitated until the political

pressure became overwhelming or balked outright. since russia's invasion began, the administration publicly shut down efforts from a nato ally to get working aircraft to pilots. last monday the white house scuttled a bipartisan congressional bill to end trade relations with russia only to make a public show on friday of calling for exactly the same action. at every step of the way, every step of the way, this self-deterred white house has insisted its hesitation and restraint was aimed at avoiding escalation. at every step putin has escalated. now three weeks into putin's invasion, the reality on the ground is evolving. it's harder now than it would have been a few months tooj to

keep the -- to keep the pipeline of weapons and supplies and intelligence to ukraine's brave assistance open. russia's air strykes are -- air strikes are hitting a more aggressive stride. it's not too late for the biden administration to do the right thing. so here is what president biden should be doing right now. number one, he should use the money and authorities we just provided him to expand the scope of our lethal aid to ukraine to include more effective, longer-range air defense capabilities. that means working with nato allies with urgency to get ukrainian pilots more aircraft and miew munitions and facilitating the weapons that ukraine is most familiar with,

like air defense systems that have stockpiles of air defense systems. presidents zelenskyy asked for these air systems this morning. president biden should reinforce nato's eastern flank and use the new drawdown and loan guarantee authorities to help harden the defenses of our front line allies and partners. many of these partners are generously helping ukraine and we should help them backfill their inventories with more capabilities that will improve nato's inner on rat ability -- -- he should go to countries like poland, romania or

lithuania to meet with nato eastern flank allies and he should look beyond nato to deepen our diplomatic and security cooperation with important american partners like finland and sweden. and, finally, if president biden wants the united states to lead our allies by example and to keep pace with adversaries like russia and china, the place to start is robust investments in our own defense capabilities. the coming year's appropriations process is an opportunity to finely -- finely show -- finally show we're serious, vladimir putin has proven to the world that he's willing to stoop low in pursuit of power and he's shown us exactly -- exactly how he responds to weakness. we cannot afford to stay behind the curve. america must lead and lead with strength.

a few minutes ago, perez zelenskyy reminded us that the united states is indeed the leader of the free world. so it's time we acted like it. last week marked one years since democrats ran $2 trillion of runaway liberal spending through the senate on a party-line vote. working families were certainly not celebrating this particular anniversary. they were too busy continuing with the worst inflation in modern american history unleashed in large part by that very bill. democrats' policies have conjured up the worst inflation in 40 years. consumer prices rose .8% in february, annual inflation hit 7.9%. it's getting worse. we learned yesterday that the

producer price index is up 10% -- 10% since last year. this is hammering american families. experts estimate that inflation alone is costing the average household more than $296 every single month. the equivalent of an extra $300 monthly bill courtesy of democratic policies. no wonder 60% of americans are saying that inflation is causing them personal financial pain and the democrats' approval policy are way under water. even with a literal land war in europe, the democrats' inflation is so painful, that inflation, and not ukraine, still tops the american people's biggest list of concerns. from the gas pump to the grocery store to clothes, diapers and

baby formula to furniture and home essentials to ka repairs -- car repairs and car replacements, democrats have put working families on a treadmill where they have to run faster every month to stay in place. rent prices are spiking faster than they have in 1991, grocery prices are soaring faster than they were in 1981, new truck and car prices are climbing faster than ever. households are lucky if they are even able to tread water. lately democrats have launched a shameless campaign to blame 12 months of inflation not on 12 months of their balanced policies, but instead on the last three week crisis in europe. the white house informs us, quote, putin's price hike is the culprit. of course that is utter

nonsense. even liberal experts rejecting their spin. a former top economist for president biden directly responded to the biden administration's attempt to shift the blame. he said -- this is what he said. well, no, these are february numbers and only include a small russia effect. this is biden's inflation, and he needs to own it. the white house spin has not even persuaded former democratic officials. here's another quote. this is biden's inflation, and he needs to own it. working americans understand this just as well as the experts. everybody knows where the buck stops. one retired mechanic who lives in los angeles recently explained to a reporter, said he was facing $6 gasoline and rising food prices. said he's a registered democrat, but he knows where

the inflation came from. here's how he described it -- he said uncle joe has put us on a diet. i like to have a steak once or twice a month. i can't do it now. this is exactly what republicans said would happen when democrats dumped trillions of dollars into printing and spending on a partisan basis last year. even top liberal economists said democrats' reckless spending spree would bring about inflationary pressures like we have not seen for a generation. but democrats didn't listen. they pushed ahead, and for 12 months and counting working families have been paying a heavy price. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, the republican leader referred to

the american rescue plan which did not receive a single republican vote in support. he referred to it as runaway federal spending. what did we buy with the american rescue play? we bought vaccines and we bought an administration and management of delivering those vaccines to the american people in the midst of a pandemic that was claiming american lives every day. runaway federal spending, how much stronger would this nation be if we were still in the depths of the pandemic? we're emerging from it, thank god. yes, we spent the money, we administered the shots and people across america are now protected from hospitalizations and death because of it. no apologies here, to my colleague from kentucky. it was money well spent not just for that -- and that was the number-one public health purpose. but secondly, to keep businesses afloat so they could

reopen their doors as the pandemic ebbed. that investment in the capital of america, in the business of america paid off for business owners who otherwise would have lost their life savings and family investments and for their workers who finally returned to work. i think of the help to small businesses and i think of the help to families. the child tax credit which cut in half child poverty in america, that child tax credit, according to the senator from kentucky, was runaway federal spending. tell that to the family that lives paycheck to paycheck and tries to provide the basics in life for their children. no apologies here for the american rescue plan. when you ask the american people what about this inflation? it's a problem. of course it is. we see it as they do. and we see it all across the world. inflation isn't confined to the united states. it is reflected in a world that is emerging from covid-19, where economies, local

economies were strangled and choked and restricted, now they're expanding. people are expanding their needs and spending on that side of it. the supply doesn't keep up with it, and inflation results. we have a battle ahead of us and many plans here to try to address it with a number of items to reduce the cost of living for families. the second item i would like to mention refers to a moving historic presentation this morning by the president of ukraine to a joint session of congress. he did it virtually by remote because he is literally in kiev, risking his life every single day for his nation. vladimir zelenskyy may have started life as a standup comedian. he begged us to continue to help, and we will. last week we added almost $14

billion to the effort to support the ukrainian defense and resistance. we need to do that and more. many of the suggestions by the republican senator are consistent with that goal, and i would endorse him. but i want to leave it to president biden to make the critical decisions as our commander in chief who is really tasked with america's national security as his highest priority. i take exception to this notion that joe biden didn't understand the timing of this crisis. he understood it better than anyone. he knew that if he pushed too far and too fast, two things might occur. first, that the russians would move because we had precipitated it with an action we had taken. he was hoping, as we all did, that this could be ended bloodlessly and nonpartisan -- and innocent people would be saved from the devastation that is happening in ukraine today. so he was careful to make those moves in a way that putin couldn't use them as an excuse

for starting the invasion. second and more important, he needed to move at a pace consistent with building the nato alliance. president joe biden succeeded in that effort. the nato alliance today is stronger than it has ever been. don't believe the last president of the united states had anything to do with that. just the opposite was true. joe biden picked up that alliance from the mat and brought them up to fighting trim to be ready if needed to defend every square inch, as he says, of nato territory. that timing was crucial, and decisions which seemed so easy and obvious in america were much more complex on the continent of europe. joe biden knew that, and he paced himself accordingly. because of that today we have the strongest alliance in the face of vladimir putin than he has ever seen and we have ever seen. the last point i want to make to this, you could not watch the

graphic video presented by president zelenskyy without breaking your heart. every parent and grandparent in america watching that video saw a member of his family, a child, a lifeless corpse because of a mad man, vladimir putin, and what he is doing to that poor country. unprovoked he has invaded them and kills innocent people every single day. last night unanimously the senate decided, as they should, that the conduct of vladimir putin is nothing short of a war crime. i can't think of any other way to describe it, and certainly never excuse it. zelenskyy touched our hearts too. his people are fighting a valiant effort, and the united states and allies and countries that share our values stand behind him and will continue to. mr. president, i come to the floor this morning to speak to a different issue which i'd like it to be placed at a separate part of the record. unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. durbin: i'm honored to join my colleagues, senator murkowski and ernst and of course my friend and colleague, senator feinstein, to celebrate the reauthorization of the violence against women act, more commonly known as vawa. yesterday president biden signed it into law, a monumental achievement for victims of domestic violence and those who stand by it. it lit real would not have been possible without bipartisanning cooperation. with this strengthened version of vawa we helped ensure every survivor in america no matter where they live will be able to reach for a lifeline in a moment of crisis. we've expanded and authorized services for rural survivors, survivors in need of culturally specific services and lgbtq survivors. we've reauthorized programs that ensure survivors and their families can access housing, health care, essential support

services. we've improved rape prevention and education as well as services and protections for young survivors. we've enhanced critical protections for native american women and children who experience violence at the hands of non-native perpetrators. it doesn't include everything we hoped for. that's the nature of legislation and compromise. i wish there had been stronger protections for housing and economic assistance, but we had to find an agreement, and we did. the bill contains several important provisions to help boost enforcement of our gun laws. i wish it would have finally closed the so-called boyfriend loophole, but that was beyond our reach in this effort. the lack of those provisions could not attract enough bipartisan support to pass on their own. they'll be saved for another day. for nearly 30 years vawa has transformed the way we address domestic and sexual violence in america and saved countless lives. at a moment when nearly one in

three women, one in three have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence, a crisis that's grown worse during the pandemic, vawa is going to help save lives. let me tell you a story. my office received a letter from a woman named keisha who works with connections for abused women and their children in chicago. keisha told me that vawa provides funding for domestic service -- pardon me, domestic violence services at chicago's haymarket center, an amazing agency i know full well. she shared the story of cassandra, receiving treatment at the center for substance abuse and disclosed to her counselor that she was the victim of abusive treatment. her counselor referred to vawa and that programming gave her an opportunity to, quote, open up about the emotional, financial, and physical abuse she'd suffered for years at the hands of an abusive husband. keisha wrote after weeks of domestic violence psycho education, a supportive network

encouraged her and her own personal resilience, cassandra decided she wanted to remain in recovery and not relapse she had to find a new home away from her abuser. she was able to break free and transition into temporary housing. she's been able to gain financial independence and find a job. she's remained on her path to recovery, a success story, and a reminder that vawa doesn't just help save lives. it gives survivors the power to rebuild their own lives. vawa also provides funding for educational programming and it's done it so well. i want to thank senator feinstein, senator ernst, senator murkowski for their partnership and tireless leadership in getting this bill addressed, introduced and cross the finish line. i want to thank their staff, jessica jensen as well as nick hinickes, corey becker, christina susek, senator ernst

legislative council. on my staff i'd like to give thanks to stephanie traphone, nicole mcclainl walton and stephanie burns. i want to thank the other committees along with ranking member murkowski and the minority staff on the indian affairs committee chaired by brian schatz. they have done an extraordinarily good job, bipartisan job when it comes to native americans. chair brown on the staff of the banking committee and chair wyden on the staff of the finance committee were part of this. this was a multiteam effort on both sides of the aisle and that is the reason we can stand here today and say we will continue to give hope who are struggling with domestic violence and abuse. i yield the floor. i ask unanimous consent that senators ernst, murkowski, and

feinstein be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each prior to the cloture vote on the corley nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, i want to thank my colleagues, senator durbin, senator feinstein, and senator murkowski, for joining me on the floor this morning to talk about a very important topic and one that we can finally celebrate, which is the passage, the signing of the violence against women act. mr. president, nine years. it has been nine years since the violence against women act was reauthorized. but finally the senate reauthorized and modernized this very important bill. last week the violence against women act reauthorization act of 2022 passed the house and the senate, and yesterday at long last it was signed into law.

i've been a proud champion of this bill over the last three years. and while no bill is perfect, i'm extremely grateful for the bipartisan work to get it over the finish line. mr. president, this bill is personal. many of you know my story. i am the one out of three women that have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. similarly, one in four men have had the same experience. this means nearly 20 people per minute, more than ten million women and men in the united states every single year have suffered this horrific personal abuse. i am not a victim. i am a survivor. it took me a long time to say

those words out loud, and my hope is that with this bill, some women will never have to. and those that do will have the necessary support and resources in a moment of crisis to cope with and ultimately overcome their trauma. the reauthorization of the violence against women act is a bright light in our current troubling reality. the bill includes so many critical resources, especially in our rural communities that have been drastically overlooked. specifically the bill doubles the support for both the rural domestic violence assistance program and the rape prevention and education program. both of which are great importance to my home state of iowa. and my sincere hope is that the

resources contained in this new law will finally help truly move the needle on domestic violence around the country, and that some of our nation's most vulnerable will have access to the support that they so desperately need. to my colleagues, thank you, especially to senators fine stein -- feinstein, durbin and murkowski for your diligent work on domestic violence-related issues over the years. i also want to thank republican senators cornyn, collins, capito, portman, cramer, tillis, moran, burr, and blunt for supporting this vital bill at introduction. the negotiations were, at times, my colleagues will recognize this, very tough, and there were several doubts along the way as to whether the bill would actually ever happen. but with a little bit of

tenacity and good faith negotiating, we got there. to those that work every day around this great country to help domestic violence survivors, including our law enforcement officers, who are answering those domestic violence calls, thank you. while working at a victim shelter, answering the hotline in college, i heard the heartbreaking stories of abuse. i understand this is your daily reality. please know your work is not going unnoticed and is making a difference in the lives of those around you. to all of the advocates, i greatly appreciate and respect your passion for the causes you support. your persistence made this bill possible and it made this bill better. while the end result isn't perfect, it modernizes the resources necessary to meet the

evolving needs of our survivors. this bill is proof that bipartisanship is not dead and congress can tackle these tough issues. finally, for my fellow americans who can say they are survivors, for those who have not come to terms with their abuse, and for those who feel trapped in their situation, and for those who have lost their battle, please know that you are not, and will never be, forgotten. the violence against women act is for you. today i join my fellow survivors, my colleagues, and our strong and wonderful

advocates across this country in celebrating vawa's reauthorization and its modernization. thank you to my dear colleagues for their wonderful work in helping us get this over the finish line. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, i so appreciate the leadership, the heart, the heart of senator ernst and the ability to work with my colleagues on the other side of the isle, senator durbin, senator feinstein, in this effort towards reauthorization of the violence against women act. thanks to the very open, very inclusive, and really a very transparent process that we followed, the bipartisan support

that was built with this, we were able to include the vawa reauthorization in the omnibus appropriations bill that passed the senate last week with 68 votes. that wasn't necessarily the path that we had set on. what we had worked to do, again, with extraordinary leadership from senator ernst, senator durbin, senator feinstein, myself, who had been working on this for years, but trying to build that collaborative effort, that negotiated effort that would result in not a partisan bill, but a bill that is designed to help those survivors, designed to help the most vulnerable at their time of need. so there is great thanks that is due this afternoon as we recognize the dedication, the leadership of, again, the cosponsors, the members that led this, but we all know we are

backed by incredible men and women who work very hard to get these initiatives built and across the finish line. senator durbin has named many of the staffs, our general counsels, our legislative assistants that made this happen. i also want to recognize all those that were named in addition to those working on the senate indian affairs committee to help us with that tribal title. it was a collaborative effort that was really, really tireless. and i want to acknowledge senator ernst particularly. she worked tirelessly over these last three years, working to ensure that women and their safety, and really all those who are most vulnerable, their safety is put first. but to senator feinstein, senator durbin, invaluable partners, putting the politics aside, saying we have to figure out how we're going to make this

happen, and they did so. but we and our staffs can't do near the job that needs to be done without the advocacy. and again, this passionate grassroots advocacy that we have all felt. i want to recognize women like tammy jiro from the alaska native women's resource center, michelle demmert, brenda from the alaska network on domestic violence. so many urged us along, in fact, so many who have flown 4,000 miles to come from alaska to be at a ceremony at the white house in recognition of this. so, senator ernst has said how personal this issue of domestic violence is, and it is for so many. half the women -- half the women in the state of alaska experience -- have experienced

intimate partner sexual violence, or both. the advocates know, i know, we know how imperative it is for congress to take action to reauthorize and modernize this almost three decades old law. again, we don't want to talk about statistics, because these are people, these are friends, these are mothers, daughters, but the statistics, the statistics are just so in your face. alaska native women suffer the highest rate of forcible sexual assault and have reported rates of domestic violence up to ten times higher than the national average. in so many of the native villages in my state, in rural alaska, they have no law enforcement presence. so trying to prevent violence, trying to protect or ensure

justice for survivors, is hard. and so i really am very, very thankful for the work that senator schatz committed to within the senate indian affairs committee, to put together a strong tribal title in vawa that would continue to empower tribal courts to help combat this major public safety issue affecting native people and children. we've got a pretty complex jurisdictional landscape as the result of our native claim settlement act, and the last time that vawa was reauthorized in 2013, alaska was effectively left out. but today, today we have an alaska solution to this jurisdictional mays. we -- maze. we call it the empowerment pilot project, included in the tribal title. it's the product of years of work with tribal advocates, with the department of justice, some pretty smart lawyers out there, and then good, strong work in the committee.

and what this pilot program will do is supplement the work that the state of alaska is doing with regards to public safety. it doesn't create indian country in the state. it doesn't take away any jurisdiction. but it will empower a limited number of alaska tribes to exercise the special criminal jurisdiction over defendants who commit certain crimes that we outline in the law that occur in native villages in the state. tribes selected to participate have to meet specific criteria set by the department of justice. they will have to include a tribal justice system that can adequately safeguard the rights of all defendants. so i am optimistic. i believe that our alaska tribes are up to this job. they're going to be good partners with the state, and they will make a difference. they will make a difference and provide hope to so many in these communities that have felt without hope. we are celebrating again the passage of this law, the

reauthorization, the modernization, but for so many who have shown the bravery, the strength, the resilience in the wake of unspeakable trauma, we know, we know that so many, again, of our friends have endured domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking. many have survived, but so many have not. these women have endured physical, mental, emotional abuse. the impacts don't necessarily fade away because the calendar moves on. but on their journeys to recovery and healing, many have developed an extraordinary inner strength to stand up and be advocates for themselves and others, and they've spoken about their abuse, they've sought the changes to vawa to prevent the future tragedies and hold perpetrators accountable. and we've heard them. and with their pleas to improve access to essential support

services, whether healthcare, safe housing for victims, we've also heard the cries of parents and loved ones who lost those that they love so very much. i'm thinking of butch and cindy more. butch and cindy are from wasilla. i swear, they've spent every moment of their lives since they lost their beautiful daughter, bre, 20 years old. they have been advocating for prevention efforts to ensure no parent experiences the loss of their child to teen dating violence. butch and cindy have said, as parents who have experienced the devastation of losing our daughter, bre moore, to dating violence, we know prevention is the key to keeping future generations safe from interpersonal violence. i know that butch and cindy are looking at this day and feeling

that, again, there is some hope, there is some hope. this is a legislative win, but i think it is also a victory, a victory for women everywhere, and we mark its passage in memory of both those that we have lost and those that have survived. this is the day where we recognize that this congress can act in a bipartisan manner to address the crisis of violence in our communities by passing this reauthorization of the violence against women act, which is now law, now helping to protect women in alaska and across the country, and we thank all who helped us get here. with that, i yield the floor. mrs. feinstein: mr. chairman. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. feinstein: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i rise today also in recognition

of the violence against women reauthorization act of 2020. i'm delighted that president biden signed it into law yesterday as part of the omnibus spending bill. it's important to know that this bill reauthorizes critical programs that help respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. it's long overdue, but today this law will become law. last month i introduced this bill alongside senators ernst, durbin, both of whom are here today, murkowski, who is also here today, and additional cosponsors. a number of advocates joined us, including angelina jolie to speak about the importance of the legislation.

the bill we introduced and the bill we're passing today has really strong bipartisan support, including that of 11 republican cosponsors. in addition to reauthorizationing the violence against women act through 2027, the law includes bringing it up to date, and that's important. it means that existing programs will be able to do an even better job protecting and supporting survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. it's the result of a truly bipartisan effort and i want to thank senators ernst, durbin, both are on the floor, particularly senator murkowski, for working with me to prepare this important piece of legislation. i'm very appreciative of this partnership because the law will

become a reality. we also had help from a number of our senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle who made important contributions to the effort. this act plays a critical role supporting law enforcement in their efforts to stop these perpetrators before it's too late. it reauthorizes important programs and provides the necessary updates to strengthen them. so what does it do? first, it enhances and expands services for survivors, including survivors in rural communities, lgbtq, survivors, survivors with disabilities and survivors who survive abuse later in life.

it strengthens the criminal justice response to domestic violence, including by improving the justice department's stop grant program and strengthening the ability of tribal courts to address instances of domestic violence on tribal lands. excuse me. it also establishes a pilot program that focuses on addressing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through community-based victim-initiated efforts to seek accountability. and the law invests in prevention, education efforts that will improve the health care system's response to sexual violence, we hope. and these changes can have a real impact. here's one example. the international association of

forensic nurses reports that only one in four u.s. hospitals has a sexual assault forensic nurse on duty. not a special place, but even one nurse on duty. our bipartisan law remedies this problem by providing additional funding and training to increase access to forensic nurses, particularly in rural areas where strangely enough a lot of this violence takes place. through this bipartisan law, we will make significant improvements to our nation's response to domestic violence, but i want to caution everybody, it isn't perfect. i really regret that certain provisions were unable to be included in this bill. in particular, i had hoped we could include a provision to

close the boyfriend loophole. most people don't know that while individuals convicted of domestic violence against a spouse are prevented from purchasing a firearm. that's not the case for those convicted of domestic violence against a dating party. we tried to get that part passed and it's very disappointing that there was not sufficient bipartisan support for this division to close what will remain a dangerous loophole. so, clearly, we still have work to do. there are those of us who will follow these assaults carefully and make a determination where this bill works and where it might need improvement, and i've just suggested one so we will watch those figures carefully.

i'd like to thank the many advocates who provided valuable input and support. this bill was written in close consultation with the people on the front lines helping survivors of domestic violence every day. for many years, the violence vie against women's act has played a vital role in the federal response to dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, as katie ray jones, the c.o.e. of the domestic violence hotline noted, the violence against women act provides services for for -- to meet the come complex needs.

according to the national network to end domestic violence in a single day in 2020, there were 76,525 survivors. in one day 75,000 women were affected. they all received assistance thanks to programs funded and supported by the violence against women act. so despite the progress made over the last three decades, sexual, emotional, and physical abuse are still painful realities for far too many americans. we need to say this over and over again. we need to change miebdz and change actions -- minds and change actions. more than one in three women and more than one in four men will

experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. according to the national coalition against domestic violence, in my home state, california, approximately 35% of california women and 31% of california men will experience violence from intimate partners in their lifetimes. that's an amazing figure if you think about it. in conclusion, let me end with this. all too often these instances of domestic violence have fatal consequences. every day people are killed by a current or former intimate partner. this law is long overdue. and i want to thank the members who have spoken on the floor and all those who voted for this

law. we hope to get it signed and have it become law very shortly and put an end to some of this. thank you very much, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 656, jacqueline scott corley, to be united states district judge of the district of california. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of jacqueline scott corley of california to be united states district judge for california

shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 63. the nays 35. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar

number 738, fred w. slaughter of california to be united states district judge for the central district of california signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of fred w. slaughter of california to be the united states district judge for the central district of california shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 56, the nays 41, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, fred w. slaughter, of

california, to be united states district judge for the central district of california. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: as the federal government rightfully continues to levy devastating sanctions on russia and punish putin and his thugs for their horrific invasion of ukraine, they will -- nicholas maduro is the ruthless dictator in venezuela. i traveled to the colombia border. i met with venezuelan refugees and got a report on how bad they were being treated. venezuelan children walk through hours through dense forests and over terrorist-controlled

territories to get an education and a meal. mothers with young children came to to get a meal. a woman slept on the streets because she was home. imagine having to look at your 3-year-old child in the eyes and tell them they are not going to eat today because there's no food. the pain, hunger, devastation, i cannot believe any human being would do this to young children. it was heartbreaking and it was evil. and there's one man responsible for it, nicholas maduro. since my visit, things have only gotten worse in one of the worst humanitarian crisis, more than six million venezuelans have fled since 2014. a fact-finding mission have determined that the maduro

regime have committed crimes against humanity, including assassinations and torture. the regime has imprisoned hundreds of political opponents and forced countless minor exile and used the guise of the covid-19 to crack down on the centers. we know that what has been happening at the direction of mr. maduro is horrific, in 2019 the previous administration issued a complete economic embargo on venezuela. we can all agree that the united states should not be bolstering such a disgusting socialist regime and any lifting of sanctions or show of appeasement will only further the suffering there and help its evil allies like russia, youtube -- x cuba and iran to help maduro.

we learned last week that president biden secretly sent a team to venezuela and began negotiations about the potential purchase of venezuelan oil. high gas prices caused by president biden's war on american energy and president putin's invasion of ukraine doesn't mean we can turn a blind eye to maduro's oppression. we know that russia and venezuela are aligned. if we support one, we support the other. days after the american team left, the administration made the decision to stop buying russian oil, it came too late, the biden administration reluctantly agreed to not buy oil and gas from venezuela. maduro has decided to be our

enemy and so has putin. neither deserve our money. the biden administration needs to remember that america has huge supplies of oil and natural gas and we have access to those resources right now if the biden administration hadn't spent the past year relentlessly trying to destroy the u.s. oil industry. on day one, biden killed the keystone xl pipeline and 10,000 jobs alongside it were lost and he cut off new drilling contracts on public lands and they have added one ridiculous rule after another to make it harder for oil manufacturers to do business. we met from being energy independent to begging cartels and ruthless dictators for oil. this is not american leadership and it's not american independence. it's long past time for the administration to admit that its

green new deal policies hurt american families. prices at the pump are at an all-time high. we should resolve our problems with our own resources and our own workers, not with maduro and his thugs, that's why i introduced the banning operations and leases with the venezuelan regime. it would prohibit agencies from doing business with the maduro regime. we have to do everything possible to restrict the money that maduro uses to hold him in power and destabilize the reeblgon. when i was governor of florida, i signed a bill to prevent state agencies from companies doing business with venezuela. cutting off funds to the maduro regime was in legislation. we unanimously passed the bull

vard act -- boulevard act. i'm thankful to marco rubio and tom tillis who helped to bring this to fruition. we didn't introduce the bill only to have the biden administration begin working with maduro's thugs and bolster the corrupt venezuela industry. no one wants object connected to maduro's genocide. i hope that the entire senate will support the fight for freedom and the people of venezuela. i yield the floor.

gaining financial independence and find a job. remaining on a path to recovery a success story. it does not just help save lives, it gives them the power to rebuild their own lives. also providing funding for educational programming and has done it so well. i want to thank the senators for the partnership and tireless leadership for getting this bill

addressed introduced and across the finish line. i want to thank their staff, her former chief counsel, senator legislative director and general counsel and dietrich legislative assistant. thanks to stephanie, nicole and chasity. i want to thank the other members of the committee jurisdiction and their staff along with ranking member in the minority staff on the indian affairs committee chaired by brian. they have done an extraordinarily good job, bipartisan job when it comes to native americans. the staff of the banking committee, the staff finance committee. as you can see, this is a multi- committee team effort on both sides of the aisle and that is the only reason we can stand

here today and say we will continue to give hope to those that are struggling with domestic violence and abuse. i gild the floor. this consent that senator ernst feinstein be permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each prior to the vote on the corley nomination. >> senator from iowa. >> on the floor this morning to talk about a very important topic and one that we can finally celebrate which is the passage, the signing of the violence against women act. nine years. it is been nine years since the violence against women act was authorized. finally, the senate reauthorized and modernized this very

important bill. last week, the violence against women act reauthorization act of 2022 passed the house and the senate and yesterday at long last it was signed into law. i have been a proud champion of this bill over the last three years. and while no bill is perfect, i am extremely grateful that a bipartisan work to get it over the finish line. mr. president, this bill is personal. many of you know my story. i am the one out of three women that have experienced some form of physical violence by an infinite partner. >> from the state of california recognizing that right now many americans are certainly following news and potential news of the federal judiciary focusing on a nominee to the

united states supreme court. as a member of the judiciary committee, i certainly look forward to hearing more from the judge, brown jackson next week as we conduct the confirmation hearing. the choices of the supreme court are critical for the future of our democracy. but the fact of the matter is, mr. president, you don't like numbers and you don't like data, so the important data point is it is only a tiny percentage of cases in our federal court system that actually reach united states supremeor court. 90% of federal cases are decided at the district court level. that means the vast majority of people who interface with the federal judiciary will only ever meet a district court judge sitting on the other side of the bench. whether they are a witness to a

crime, whetherda they are a pary to a lawsuit or a defendant in a criminal case. and, so, that is one of the primary reasons why i have t worked so closely with the biden administration to help identify and recommend and support nominees for california's district courts. today, i rise to highlight three nominees to serve as federal judges whose confirmation process we are beginning today. judge ruth is nominated to serve u.s. district court for the southern district of california. she is the proud daughter of mexican immigrants who came to this country with only an elementary school education just like my parents. t a very young .

she was born and raised in the imperial valley where she returned after graduating from ucla law school like so many of us. you try to fulfill your parents' dreams. you go on to college, get a good education and you graduate and have options all over and choose to come home to make a difference. judge montenegro built a career representing public agencies. could have made a lot of money in the private sector. she chose to represent public agencies like the el centro school district. she served nearly ten years now at the state -- as a magistrate judge. her extensive judicial experience and lifelong dedication to her community i have no doubt will strengthen the southern district's bench.

next, i'd like to highlight judge fred slaughter who is nominated to serve on the u.s. district judge for the central district of california. judge slaughter received his undergraduate and his law degree from ucla going on to a distinguished career as a prosecutor. for more than a decade he served as an assistant u.s. attorney in arizona, oregon, and california where he oversaw and tried hundreds of cases, including cases involving human trafficking, bank robberies, and prosecuting members of white supremacist groups. judge slaughter has spent the past eight years serving in the orange county superior court. there he's known for his compassion and leadership in jiewrve nil justice. -- juvenile justice. his long career demonstrates his legal excellence as well as his

commitment to providing justice for all. finally, judge jacqueline coreley is nominated to serve on the northern district of california. she's a native of long beach. she earned her bachelor's degree from u.c. berkley and her j.d. from harvard law school. judge coreley's nontraditional path to the bench displays her commitment to public service. after spending some time in private practice, she spent more than ten years as a career law clerk on the northern district of california. based on her outstanding work in that role and the expertise that she built in private practice prior, judge coreley was selected to serve as a magistrate judge for the northern district. she served there for the past decade and is known for her mentorship of current law clerks. so i celebrate each of these highly qualified nominees who will help californians access

justice throughout our state. when people enter a federal court, they should feel confident in the promise of equal justice. equal justice those three nominees will help dplimp. the oversight and thoughtful of a fair judge is paramount. our democracy depends on the public faith in the judiciary and that's why i'm committed to building a bench of judges who better reflect and understand the district, the state, and the country that they serve. mr. president, i'm proud to take another step towards that goal by supporting the confirmation of these three judges, and i urge all of our colleagues to do the same. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: mr. president, i rise today to reflect on a dark day in georgia's recent history. one year ago today a hateful act of violence shook metropolitan atlanta and reverberated across our state, our country, and indeed the world. in the span of just a few hours,

our sense of safety and sanctuary was pierced by bullets of hate and fear. eight precious people lost their lives. eight people who were loved by their families, their friends, their children. eight people. with their own successes and struggles, hopes and dreams. swe speak their names. young jon, sim kim, yongau yu.

delaney ashley yongogzalez, paul andre michaels, shial tong and delu fong. my heart aches for these gentlemannians and their families for whom i'm sure the wounds are still fresh. they were victims of unconscionable senseless hate. as a pastor i believe in the sacred worth of every human being that we are strange mixture of dust and devanety, of sod and sky, beauty and possibility. so i'll ask now for all of my colleagues and everyone who can join me in taking a moment of silence to remember these eight

georgians and to pray each in our own way for their families. thank you. importantly i must mention, mr. president, that this unspeakable violence was visited largely upon georgians -- georgia's asian american community and especially on women of asian descent. unfortunately this hateful act that horrified atlanta is not isolated. it is a part of a larger trend. last year anti-asian hate crimes increased 339%. think about that. in one year 339% increase in

anti-asian hate crimes. it is a so sobering statistic ad should remind all of us of our shared duty in our democracy to stay committed to a peace, an active peace, that recognizes that we are in this together. it was martin nemo, the pastor during hitler's third reich who said first they came for the communists and i did not speak because i was not a communist. then they came for the socialists and i did not speak because i was not a socialist. then they came for the trade unionists and i did not speak because i was not a trade unionist. then they came for the jews. and i did not speak because i was not a jew. then they came for me.

and there was no one left to speak. and so this is a tragedy and a real sense visited upon all of us and as a student of history and a voice for our state in the senate, i know georgians understand all too well how hate and misplaced anger can hurt our communities. how certain parts of our community are so easily scapegoated, they lose their sense of sanctuary, and then when that happens, all of us lose a piece of ourselves. so i want to the say to my aapi sisters, brothers, and neighbors that i see you and, more importantly, i will continue to stand with you against hate and violence wherever it rears its ugly head. that's why i cosponsored and fought to pass the covid-19 hate crimes act and to get it signed into law, directing more

resources to ensure our communities have what they need to seek justice whenever and wherever hate and crime rear their ugly head. i am especially proud that my colleagues worked with me to include a provision in this legislation that names and acknowledges the pain and experiences of georgia's aapi community specifically and make sure we never forget the names ttached to the lives -- attached to the lives and the families we lost in the horrific shootings in atlanta one year ago today. and that's why i'm pushing here in the senate to confirm a united states attorney for the northern district of our state, a post that's integral to helping georgians stop crime and pursue justice. the terrible act of violence and hate we witnessed on march 16, 2021, ought to remind us all that we all have a stake in each

other's well-being. georgia's greatest son, that great american dr. martin luther king jr., said it best -- we're tied in the singles garment of destiny, caught up in an inescapable destiny. what affects one affects all. you cannot be all that you ought to be until i am all that i ought to be. and so let us continue working together to stop asian hate, to stop the scapegoating, to create what dr. king called the beloved community, a community where everybody, no matter their skin collar, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religious background, can live a life of fulfillment and joy without fear

of facing hate. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. lankford: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: madam president, there's a lot of things going on in the world right now, a lot. what's happening in ukraine, russian aggression, we're continuing to talk about the continuing challenges of communist china, dealing with covid-19 and its affects worldwide, still here in the united states, still lots of people frustrated on transportation and transportation mandates on the masks, i should say, other vaccine mandates that are out there. we have a 7%, almost 8% inflation in the country, cost of living is going up. there are so many things we're dealing with around this body of late. i want to bring something to the middle of this conversation that i don't want us to forget about because the media seems to have pushed it all to the back burner. i've had people catch me and say, apparently things are going much better on our southern

border because i don't hear about it anymore. well, it's not gotten any better. i want to bring a couple of issues and one that i'm very concerned about about where things are going right now on our southern border. this goes through the last ten years of the illegal crossings that have been engaged, the new term is encountered, that the biden administration is using. this is over the last ten years, and this is quarter by quarter of what has actually occurred. you'll see rise and fall over multiple times. you'll see spikes that have happened. but right there, that spot is when president biden was elected. that's that date. his election is there and this is what has occurred since that time period. instead of seeing a big dropoff, just in the last couple couple of months, we've seen it not only not go down but to the

highest peaks. we've had 2,355,000 people that we have -- quote, unquote -- encountered on the southwest border. these are not just record numbers. these are all-time high numbers, nothing even close to the number of people that are legally crossing the border. this is on the southern border. there are two facts, the first of which is what's happening inside the country. well, that would be i.c.e. removals. this is since 2015, the i.c.e. removals that have been done every year, during the obama administration, during the trump administration, and then during the first year of the biden administration. so not only do we have 2.3 million people that have illegally come to our border and crossed it that we've encountered, but it's an

all-time low of actual deportations that are happening right now as well. so not only on our southern border are we seeing record numbers of high coming in inside the country, it's record low numbers actually being deported out. this is about design. this is not accidental. the policies that have been put in place on our southern border were put in place to encourage people, quite frankly, to be able to pass the border, knowing full well that when you get inside, you won't actually be deported. there is only one policy that has been in the middle of this that's changed the dynamic at all. it is a policy that most americans have never heard of, and it's called title 42 expulsions. quite frankly, most of the folks in this room have not heard of title 42 expulsions. i want to be able to walk through it a little bit. starting in march of 2020, just

two years ago when covid started to accelerate worldwide, the surgeon general made a recommendation through the c.d.c., through h.h.s. to the president to be able to say we have a worldwide pandemic that is occurring. here's title 42 of the public health service act. it says, whenever the surgeon general determines that by reason of the existence of any communicable disease in a foreign country there is serious danger of the introduction of such disease into the united states and that danger is so increased by the flukes of persons or -- by the introduction of persons or property, that a suspension is required in the interest of public health. the surgeon general in accordance with regulations approved by the president shall have the power to prohibit the introduction of persons or property that they shall designate a void such a danger. in march of 20, the trump administration -- in march of

2020, the trump administration said we've got a concern with individuals crossing our border illegally. there's covid all over the world. there are some authorities that you go through that you can actually say, some of these folks can be turned around immediately. the surgeon general, h.h.s. and the president agreed that we're going to turn people around at the border immediately. so the trump administration did that. and, by the way, right there is president biden's inauguration. his h.h.s. also agreed with this same policy of title 42 to say we have a serious risk from covid so we should also turn people around in numbers at the border and send them back home. this is the number under the biden administration of individuals that have been turned around. let me give you aspect of. -- a perspective of the 2.3 million people that have been turned around since beginning of

the biden administration, 56% have been turned around at the border and said, you cannot enter under title 42 authority. 56% of the people. so 44% of the people have been allowed to be able to come into our country. so let me set this in context because i am throwing a the love numbers out at everybody. i want you to remember all the news reports from last year, all of the overcrowding in the donna texas facility, all of the folks that piled across the border in massive numbers that we sawing could into the united states. that represented only 44% of the people illegally crossing our border because they have allowed in. i bring this up because, as of right now, we have heard that d.h.s., the president, and

h.h.s. is considering canceling title 42. if that occurs, we won't ■have one million people i illegally crossing our body and released into the united states. within months, we'll have 2 million, and all that you saw last surges the flood of people, that 44%, imagine what that looks like more than doubled this summer. the conversation is, we're getting toward the back side of covid. ironically enough, while the president just extended the transportation requirement for masks -- again -- while the president just asked for billions of dollars of additional money because we need vaccines worldwide to be able to distribute more vaccines worldwide to be able to fight covid, while we're still dealing with all the additional rise and falls in other countries -- in

fact, just within the last couple of days, china has gone back into lockdown based on new covid cases in china, while all of that is occurring worldwide, apparently the president is looking to cancel title 42. and when i have asked what will replace that policy, the question has come back to me, we're not sure yet. that tells me nothing. his actionable plan to replace this. that's a problem. what happens when title 42 goes away? an extra 40 million people come into the country illegally. remembering that when all of those folks come into the country, partnersly the biden administration -- apparently the biden administration also has no plan to deport them. where are we right now with the number of people who have illegally crossed our border and

where are they from? this is a map from all the countries in the past year, just in the past year, that have illegally crossed our border. so in the white there is the united states. in the red are the countries that we've seen people illegally cross our border. if you want to squint at that map, let me give you shorthand for t it's every country in the world. last year we had individuals from literally every country in the world illegally cross our southern border. yeah, that includes china, that includes north korea, that includes iran. it includes them all. interestingly enough, just in the last -- well, not the last three months but the last four months that we've had records on it -- that would be october, november, december, and january -- just in those last four months that we have those

records, we've 6,400 russian citizens that illegally crossed our southern border. just in the last four months that we have records, 6,400 russian citizens. we have people from all over the world that are illegally crossing our southern border, because people know, if you get across the border, you're in. when title 42 goes away, this accelerates even more. it's an open invitation, because 56% of the people were turned around. 44% of the people were released into the country. by the way, that's over a million so far. that goes away. then they all get in. what happens at that point? those individuals are told that they can make a request for asylum, even though our statistics show 91% of the people that request asylum are actually coming for economic reasons, not actual true asylum. 91%.

those individuals are released into the country. they're told to be able to sign up for a hearing date and they can do their hearing anywhere they want in the united states. and they're given a hearing date currently six years in the future. six y -- six years. so they'll be traveling in our country anywhere they want to go for the next six years awaiting on their hearing. and, by the way, if they don't show up for their hearing, apparently there's no plan to be able to actually go get them if they don't show up for their hearing because right now i.c.e. is not removing people. so they're just released. and when they're released into the country, they can immediately text friends back home and say, i'm in. here's what i said, here's where i crossed. here's the cartel member i paid on the southern border to be able to get me through. i'm in. follow my same path, you'll have the same result. what can be done about this? let me just highlight a couple of things and then we'll talk

about this more. first things first, don't end title 42. we still have a worldwide pandemic. until there is a plan of what's actually going to occur next on our southern border, don't end title 42. this is the time for the president and alley mayorkas and all the leadership to put up a pause and to say the chaos that happened last year was only 44% of the people crossing our southern border. we do not have physically the capability to be able to handle that many people. do not cancel title 42. second thing, the remain in mexico policy. the remain in mexico policy that actually started under president trump that president biden set aside and federal courts stepped back in and told this administration you have to put back in place the remain in mexico policy, so they chose to do it. i've talked to this body before about what they did. the biden administration said,

okay, we will follow the court order. we will reinstate the remain in mexico policy. they've reinstated that policy the last three months. they put up three different facilities. actually now there's four total facilities. i visited one of them in brownsville, texas. that facility has six courtrooms, each courtroom set up to handle 22 people at a time plus their attorneys plus all the ancillary services. six of those that they've got set up. they have individual meeting spaces set up for 120 people to meet individually with their attorney. so 120 rooms, six courtrooms that are all set up, all the ancillary, everything around it as well. and we've now got four different locations for that. of the 500,000 people that have illegally crossed our border in the time that they've set up the new m.p.p. courtrooms, of the 500,000 people that have crossed illegally during that time period, so far the biden administration has pulled out 1,569 of them to evaluate if

they would go in the remain in mexico policy. of those, 893 they actually put in the system. of those, they've actually had 494 of those that at some point came back and said we've changed our mind. we have a new way. we've talked to attorneys. we have a new way to be able to get out of it. we're trying to get the actual number of people that have actually gone through the remain in mexico policy and that have actually qualified for it while we have four different locations, each of them with six courtrooms, 120 meeting spaces. but what we're finding is really a handful of people actually have, quote-unquote, qualified for the remain in mexico policy of 500,000 people during that time period. the simple answer is the biden administration is spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars setting up the

m.p.p. program that the court has required them to do, but they've made so many exceptions to it no one actually qualifies. so they're trying to please the court by saying we're following your order, waste american tax dollars while we continue to see record numbers of people crossing the border. that's a waste. if we're going to stop this, keep title 42 in place until you have a response to what you're going to do instead. actually run the m.p.p. program as the court has instructed you to do rather than playing games with american tax dollars and with the system here. and i would also encourage you to put the safe third country policy back in place. the previous administration had actually created a relationship with multiple other countries, so that as individuals traveled through other countries to get to the united states, they could make asylum requests in

those locations. we understand because we know the law in this body. the law is very clear on international standards on this. if you're going to request asylum, you go to the next safe country and request asylum. if they're traveling through five countries or they're traveling literally across the globe to get to the united states from everywhere else to then request asylum, that's not asylum. that's economic opportunity. and, by the way, don't blame them for coming to the greatest country in the world to get economic opportunity, except that's not asylum, and we all know it. so why don't we actually treat it exactly as we all see it. if you'd like to come to the greatest country in the world, wonderful. go through the legal process of that. we allow a million people a year to legally become citizens of the united states coming through the legal process. do that. but for the billions of people that wake up every day wishing they were in the united states, i don't blame you.

but we welcome people when they come through legally in this process, and we do with open arms welcome people that come through legally. there are ways to be able to address this, but my first concern today is to be able to speak to this administration and to be able to say the title 42 piece is essential to maintain. do not let go of this until you have a solution to what's happening at the border or the chaos at the border will be even worse this summer than it was last summer, and it's on you for not enforcing the border. i want to keep this conversation going in the days ahead, but as of now i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the quorum --. the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call. mr. grassley: thank you. i come to the floor today to celebrate what we say annually is sunshine week, a very important week in our system of

self-government. for the last 17 years, advocacy groups, good-government watchdogs, media organizations, and many members of this body have joined forces to observe the importance of transparency in government and freedom of information. as a longtime champion for open, accessible government, i speak today in support of what we all ought to consider enduring principles. sunshine week coincides each year with march 16. that's the day one of our nation's founding fathers and fourth president of the united states, james madison, was born. madison is widely known as the

father of the constitution and the bill of rights. from his writings, particularly in the federalist papers, you might say he was the architect who framed our system of checks and balances. madison believed all powers of the government are derived of, by, and for the people, and that's what brings me to the floor today, madam president. the public has a right to know what their government is doing and how it's spending tax dollars. there's very few things in government that should be kept secret. national security, so we don't tell our enemies what we're going to do. privacy of american citizens. and some intelligence-gathering information. i'll bet that's 1% of everything

the government's involved in. and yet, there's some people who think that a lot more ought to be classified or secret, et cetera, et cetera. so we have the freedom of information act that is to protect the public's right to know. through freedom of information act requests, every day americans can ask a federal agency for information. unfortunately now, and it's a growing problem, federal agencies seem to have the unstated goal of releasing as little information as possible to the public. agencies rely on exemptions to foia, the freedom of information act, to withhold

information. a 2021 government accountability office study found this, that federal agencies use foia exemptions to avoid disclosing documents. that problem has doubled between 2012 and 2019. most americans may not be familiar with a section of the code that we call b-3, foia exemption. and they don't -- of course they don't have to be aware of this. but they should know that it's the most used justification by the federal government to withhold information from the public. the increase in use of this foia exemption to withhold

information from the public is unacceptable to me, and it ought to be unacceptable to anybody that believes we should not have secrecy in government. in another recent report, the government accountability office found that foia requests bobbing logs increased -- backlogs increased by nearly 20% in just the one year, 2019 to 2020. in fact, backlogged foia requests are up 97% since 2012. 16 federal agencies had more than 1,000 backlogged foia requests. they account for 91% of backlog

requests across the entire government. federal agencies ought to do better, must do better, and we must all work to ensure that they're responding appropriately and within a reasonable time for foia requests. congressional oversight is part of our constitutional assignment to protect the power of the purse and ensure laws are faithfully enforced. finally, we must acknowledge the important role that citizens who bravely come forward often at great professional risk to report wrongdoing in our efforts to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. i've often said that whistleblowers are the best line of defense against government waste. no one shines arrest brighter

light on waste, fraud, and abuse than whistleblowers. and why might that be? because they're down in the bowels of the government where maybe the heads of the agencies don't know something wrong is going on, and they're able to point it out, the whistleblowers are. that's why i introduced this congress to strengthen the false claims act. i got the false claims act passed in 198 6. since that that act helped government recover $70 billion in fraud. and last year i asked the department of veterans affairs about allegations that v.a. employees leaked potentially market-sensitive information, and then you know what they did? they retaliated against these whistleblowers. nearly one year later, i

haven't received any answer, and i assume i'm not going to receive any answers because it's an embarrassment to the v.a. as spotlight on waste, fraud, and abuse at the pentagon,