and sovereign nation of ukraine. the bipartisan senate delegation visit to europe, led by senator ernst, that i joined over this past weekend was truly extraordinary. it has reinforced my already strong belief that the united states must do all that it can to provide lethal aid to the courageous ukrainians fighting for their families and their freedoms, as well as to provide the humanitarian assistance necessary to ease the suffering of the ukrainian people. madam president, you were on this trip as well, and like the senator from west virginia who

just spoke, my most memorable conversation was with a young mother named katarina, who had two children, one age 8, one age 6, with her. i met her at the polish refugee welcome center. it was only a few miles from the ukrainian border. she said to me, i want to live in peace. i want to be back in ukraine. but i have to keep my children safe. she was weary looking but determined to keep her children safe. this young mother and her two children were leaving the only country she has ever known. she left her husband behind, not

knowing when -- or if -- she will see him again. all in order to keep her children safe. madam president, we have only to watch the scenes of what putin is doing to try to destroy ukraine and to break the will of its people. he has bombed apartment buildings, schools, theaters, shelters, humanitarian corridors he has bombed a maternity hospital. what does that tell you about this man? this war criminal. what more do we need to know? madam president, the only way that we can end this humanitarian crisis is to

provide ukraine with the weapons, supplies, ammunition, and other assistance that they need to bring to an end this russian war of aggression. we must provide, without further delay, the ukrainians with the mig fighter aircraft that have been held up by this administration and which ukrainian president zelenskyy has requested. we must ensure that ukraine receives additional antiaircraft defenses, including the s-300, whether directly from our stocks or those of our allies. we must ensure that the ukrainians have the means to fight and defend their people from these ongoing atrocities ordered by putin.

and we know, we saw firsthand, their extraordinary bravery, their determination to fight for their country, to put everything they have on the line. madam president, every moment, every hour, every day counts. we do not have time for endless debate and delay. that costs the lives of innocent ukrainians. as the ukrainian leader told us, the administration must stop telling putin what america will not do. it must say what we will do. the administration should also make every effort in collaboration with congress where necessary to ease the process of allowing ukrainians

with family members here in america to come stay with them until it is safe to return home. i know many mainors are -- i know many mainers are eager to help. finally, madam president, i want to acknowledge the terrific american soldiers that we met, including several from the great state of maine. many of them left their families with days or even hours notice over the past few weeks. they rapidly deployed to germany and poland and other nato allies to deter russians' aggression and defend these nato members from any russian threats. each of these members of our military were motivated, patriotic, and impressive.

and i am so grateful for their service. i have read that president biden is considering stationing our troops close to the front line, to send an unmistakable message to the russians on a more permanent basis, and i hope that he will indeed do that. madam president, thank you. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: madam president, thank you. it's a privilege to be here on the united states senate floor, speaking to kansans and to americans, to vladimir putin, to the ukrainians, and to the rest of the world, our allies, our friends, and our adversaries.

it's a privilege to be here with the opportunity of speaking with one voice, as we know that does not happen frequently enough in the united states senate, but you, madam president, on this trip with us to the eastern europe and to the ukrainian border, and my colleagues here on the senate floor, republicans, democrats, and independent, members of the united states senate together saw what we saw and resolved what we resolved together. i'm so pleased that that's the case. particularly our adversaries, but clearly our allies as well must know that this is not a democratic or republican issue. it is an american issue. it is a world issue. it is something about freedom that transcends any of the differences that we have here in the united states or on the united states senate. and every day matters. while it's important for us to

bring our report home to our colleagues and to our constituents about what we saw, what we heard, and what, most importantly, we felt, it's important that we act. remember the ukrainian citizens who told us it's okay to prockly mate, it's -- proclamate, it's okay to have a statement, it's okay to pass a resolution, but what we need is action. every day matters in the fight against vladimir putin's unprovoked, unjust, and immoral invasion of ukraine. to any of the people who say ukraine is at fault here, i cast all doubt about that. that is not the case. what's happening in ukraine, what's happening in eastern europe, and what may happen beyond the borders of ukraine is the result of an evil man named

vladimir putin. the united states, this administration, must stop telling putin what we won't do. don't ever tell our adversaries we're not going to do this. it makes absolutely no sense. but we do need to do what we said we will do, and even more. our slow, bureaucratic march to provide aid is not keeping up with the russian forces. i dread when i get up in the morning, each morning before, but especially after i've returned from the ukrainian border, i dread turning on the television to see what the latest news is and what the sights are from ukraine, only to find more onslaught, more death, more destruction. every minute, every day matters.

we have delayed ourselves in providing financial sanctions, in imposing financial sanctions. we were she in energy sanctions. and we were slow in getting a defensive military package in place. but we are moving now. this congress has reached its conclusions about the importance of these things. this administration has acted. but the things that we have promised apparently still have not, in total, reached ukraine. how difficult it must be to be a ukrainian, knowing that something's coming from the outside world to help, while i get up and dread the news of the day. every moment in their lives has to be the expectation, the hope, that something's going to arrive today to bring this incursion,

this massacre, this death and destruction to an end. if you're a parent in ukraine, it's not about what you see on the nightly news or the morning news. it's about how am i going to save my children's life today? what is going to occur in a few moments? and our answer can't be it's coming, we'll be there later. it has to be we are there now. the defensive military package includes stinger antiaircraft systems, javelin and anti-armor weapons systems, tactical unman aerial systems, grieb aid launchers -- grenade launchers, firearms, ammunition, body armor, and helmets. but they must be delivered. they mean nothing on list. they mean nothing on a piece of paper that says we're shipping these things. on a bill of laiding. they mean -- a bill of laden.

they mean nothing enroute to ukraine. they mean something in the hands of the ukrainians, that we know to be committed, brave, persistent, undeterred. in visiting the -- my senator spoke about the military men and women we've seen from our own country, and what an inspiration they are, and how much we appreciate their service and their sacrifice and their families back here in kansas and across the country. our military men and women from kansas have been training ukrainians over the last several years. and even they are amazed that, despite their relationship and training with the ukrainian soldier, how successful they are. i think, unfortunately, in this country we thought that this invasion would last a few days and it would be over and the ukrainian people decimated or surrendered.

and so our expectations apparently were that we were not necessary, that we were not a solution to this problem. the course of events are already predetermined. but human spirit defies all expectations. the human spirit of the ukrainian people. the tremendous leadership -- this is my experience suggests to me the value of a leader. you can have highly trained soldiers, but if you don't have leaders who inspire, their abilities to succeed, their abilities to persevere disappear, and president zelenskyy has been the role model. my guess is that citizens around the world look at zelenskyy and say, oh, that's the kind of clear leadership, determination that we need -- clear spoken, clear acting, not running, fighting the fight.

we must make certain -- this is a moral issue, americans, the world. if you think that the war was going to be over in a few days, you may have a different attitude, but now that we know that it's not we have to provide the military equipment, the means for the ukrainian people, their military, their civilians. not just to survive another day, but to win the war. how immoral it is to provide just enough to live, but not enough to win. what we saw on the polish polish-ukrainian border is the impacts of putin's war to these people, to the people of ukraine, to the people of the neighboring countries. the fear that our nato allies have that ukraine may not be next. not only do we need to provide

the equipment and support for ukrainians to win, for purposes of the ukrainian people, but if putin doesn't pay the price, if he feels that he is all empowered after his march through ukraine, i have no level of comfort that he stops at the ukrainian border. i'm saddened by what i saw, the human suffering, the tragedies. we all have kids and grandkids, and we saw ukrainian children. we saw parents who love them but had to give them up for their safety and security. we saw families, wives who love their husbands, spouses who love each other but departing because dad, brother needs to stay behind to fight the fight. and on the other hand there was the tremendous relief in seeing the response by others. it happens often in crises

around the world when americans and others, the whole world resolves to help people in these circumstances. but this is not a flood. this is not a tsunami. this is not an earthquake. the sadness of this comes from this is unnecessary. this is one man's evil actions causing the desperation and death, the tragedy in ukraine. and we should know that it doesn't end at the ukrainian borders. even if putin doesn't cross the border, the hunger, the starvation, the lack of food around the world. ukraine is the breadbasket of europe and its ability to feed itself and its ability to feed the rest of the world is disappearing. we will see the need for assistance and humanitarian aid in countries around the globe only increase at a time in which there is famine in so many places.

it is a cause -- the circumstance is caused by a tyrant whose actions will not just effect the ukrainian people but the -- agency the ukrainian people but the rest of the world. it was so pleasing to see the nato countries who now recognize the importance of nato and are stepping up to fulfill their commitments in support of the ukranians but in support of this pact that at the end of world war ii, across the atlantic, it was decided that america had a role to play but we could only play that role with the cooperation of others. it's still true to today, america has a role to play. but we need friends and alice and we made our commitment to nato. me, too, need to know that america will be steadfast. we can demonstrate that by being steadfast in ukraine. it is immoral. it is death causing.

it is damning should the united states of america fail in its obligations. i'll conclude with the story i've told before. it comes from watching the news, something i try to avoid doing, about the reporter who is asking the what appears to me to be a 10, 11-year-old boy in a ukrainian orphanage, that question we often ask young people. what do you want to be when you grow up. this little boy through an interpreter answered that question. what do i want to be when i grow up? his response was i want to be an american. what does that tell us about us, americans? it tells us that we're still something special. we still matter. the rest of the world still pays attention to us, and an 11-year-old boy across the globe knows enough about us to know

that's what he wants to be. that that make us feel proud as americans but it also ought to make us accept and fulfill our responsibilities. no 11-year-old boy in an orphanage in ukraine ought to be in an orphanage in ukraine and we, our allies must fill full our responsibilities of what it is to be an american. madam president, i offer my willingness to work with you and everyone in this united states senate, the congress, and the administration to make sure that knowing that there are people in the world who know what they want when they grow up is to be an american, to do my part to make sure that america is the place and an american is who you'd want to be. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: madam president, let me start by thanking the junior senator from iowa for her leadership. senator ernst, thank you for fighting for freedom. thanks for showing me the way to continue to fight for those who need help. this weekend together we witnessed the worst of mankind, but we also saw the best of humankind. and that would be the polish people and the job that they've dunwell coming -- they've done welcoming, yes, welcoming almost a million refugees from ukraine over a period of about two weeks. they didn't just welcome them. they gave them food and they gave them clothing and shelter, and then more than that, they helped process them and get them to a location, to a friend, to a relative, buying them plane tickets, putting them on trains. i've done missionary health care work all across the world.

what we saw the polish people doing there was absolutely incredible. half of the polish people have taken a refugee into their own homes. but like i said, we also witnessed the worst of humankind, the worst of mankind, and that would be vladimir putin's war on the people of ukraine. one ukrainian woman, her name was olena, who i spoke with and said, and i quote her, the crawrns are attacking ukraine from the north, from the east, from the south. with their missiles they can reach every place of our country. there's no safe place in ukraine anymore. everything can be targeted. hospitals, kindergartens, maternity wards, hospitals, everything. in another -- and another ukrainian we spoke to, doria, and i quote her, in the city of mariupol, almost every single building was hit by a russian bomb or a russian missile. people are residing in bomb

shelters. they're cut from electricity, aid, food, and water. they're melting snow to drink water. russians are deliberately throwing bombs into hospitals. again, i'm quoting doria. there's only one hospital remaining. one of the hospitals was a maternity hospital. men were trying to evacuate a woman who was in labor and she died with her unborn baby. another pregnant woman, her name was mariana, was going down the stairs but she survived. she gave birth but they don't have food now to feed the mother. i don't know if the baby girl was still alive. there are thousands of people dead, but it's impossible to bury them. the bodies, it's a horror movie which is happening. people are dead on the streets. end quote. these stories are heart wrenching and there's no doubt the world needs to step up. and we need europe to lead. and i'm so proud to report the buzz across europe and the buzz across germany as we landed that

the germans are committed once again to this transatlantic partnership and a willingness to commit dollars a funds to this nato alliance and to the security of the word. that said there's so much more that we can still do short of boots on the ground. and like my ukrainian friends remind me, this war didn't start with russia on february 24 and this is alena again, she said the weakness of the u.s. started much earlier. again i'm quoting her. since the beginning of november, we've been shouting out to help arm ukraine, sanction nord stream 2. why did the u.s. lift sanctions on nord stream 2, she asked us, and basically give the green light for putin to move forward in ukraine. we clearly wanted that, that that might happen. we were not heard. and i end the quote. earlier this month the ukrainians said they met with secretary blinken and they begged him to please send air defense systems now.

but weeks later they still don't have them. this is day number 26 since russia invaded, and ukrainians are telling us they're not seeing any american weapons yet. i asked them to describe to me what they needed to win this war. and their answer was very simple. maximum military assistance as it relates to weapons, including migs, a-10's, javelins, stingers, drones. they can win this war but the problem is russia is launching bombs from their own air space, from hair own land, from the seas as well. what they need are missiles that will intercept the russian bombs. another polish woman we met, and i quote her, we were ready as poland to get these migs. this is a polish woman speaking now. we were ready as pols to get them the migs but the biden administration didn't want us to provide them. what happened? instead of consulting us, the biden administration decided to go public without the polish

government even knowing that this was the case. the impression in europe and ukraine is that the white house is undermining the giving of weapons from our allies to the ukranians, that they're thwarting the transfer of these weapons. one of the ukrainians went so far to say she wanted to steal the migs because there was just no other option. madam president, this war was completely preventable had the u.s. proscrebted its strength. the u.s. can do so much more. president zelenskyy has begged us, the united states to lead more. but this administration is falling in the footsteps of president obama by leading from behind. they've been slow to react at every step. madam president, this is a portion of a cruise missile that hit in ukraine. two ukrainian diplomat, describing to -- diplomats describing to me what happened where 35 people were killed by

this missile. this was launched by russia on one of the days that president biden said what nato will not do to help ukraine. let me say that again. this was launched the day that president biden said what nato will not do to help ukraine. this is the very telegraphing that is yet again proved to be deadly. as ukrainians pointed out to us, this is what led to the disaster -- in their words, the words of the ukrainians, not mine. they say this administration is offering what they call an afghanistan syndrome. madam president, the ukrainian people don't need speeches. they don't need words. they don't need resolutions. they don't need americans forming committees and praying about it. they need more than our prayers. they need action. they need action. madam president, i call for a war tribunal to be formed and putin and his generals to be held accountable and put on trial for crimes against humanity.

the world needs to seize his personal assets and the assets of his oligarchs. and we need to use those personal assets to rebuild ukraine. the world needs to stop doing business with russia today. don't wait on your governments. don't wait on the sanctions. i call on every business in the world to stop doing business with russia today. and finally, the united states needs to implement our sanctions today, not yesterday. we don't need to delay until june 24 a waiver, a waiver on energy payments from russian banks. we still have so much more we could do short of putting american boots on the ground. we need to send this military aid yesterday, not tomorrow, not next week. it's not a time to debate. give them the damn weapons. the brave ukrainian people will use them. they will fight to the death but they have to be empowered to do it. and every day we wait, thousands more will die.

madam president, i want to finish on a positive note though i'm so proud of these young men and women, american fighters from the big red one, the first division of fort riley, kansas. they've been there for years training ukrainians, training our partners. some of the folks will ask me back home are we going to be safe. madam president, i've got all the faith and confidence in the world of our soldiers, of our military, all the confidence in the world of these men and women that are willing to put their lives on the line. and let me reassure you also that the ukrainian people are not going to give up. they're not going to give up. they're going to fight for every inch, every mile of their home soil. in poland, elena told me just before we departed and i quote them, america is the leader of nato. every nato country is looking at what america is doing and not

doing, what america is saying and what america is not saying. we know that there are nato countries here on the border who have weapons which we need but they simply need backup from america. we will win this war but at which price will we win this war? help us win it at the price of less casualties. that's what we're asking the united states, end quote. like i said earlier, madam president, the ukrainians can win this war. there is a path to victory. i believe in them, but the world has to step up. we have to empower them. we're doing so little of what we could be doing. i was taught at a young age of whom much is given, much is required. the united states has been given so much. we're still the leader of the free world. it's time we start acting like it. thank you, madam president. i yield back. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, i ask the senate proceed to

executive session and vote on the confirmation of executive calendar 683, the nomination of julie rubin ready the previous order. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the rubin nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, julie rebecca rubin of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland. mr. cardin: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 51, the nays are 46, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. and the president will be immediately notified on the senate's actions.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the junior senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: there's a lot going on in the world right now -- ukraine, what's happening in china, what's happening with iran nuclear conversation right now, with russia, the united states and chinese. -- and china. record inflation here in the united states. so much going on that i'm concerned that we're noting also focused on an area at our southwest border. it's interesting, i've had folks that have caught me and said things must be going better at our southwest border because don't hear about it as much. actually, there's just so much other news that it's drowning it

out. so what's actually happening at our southwest border right now and where are we? let me give you a little context, then talk through some of the issues happening. today on our southwest border, about 6300 people have already illegally crossed. a day that they can manage is about 3500 people. so we're still hearing record numbers of people illegally crossing the border. to set this in context, during the four years of the trump presidency, there were 2.4 million people that were encountered illegally crossing the border during the four years of the trump presidency. during the first 14 months of the biden presidency, we've already exceeded that number. we've had more illegal encounters in the first 14 months than there was in the previous four years. in this process of all these individuals crossing the board, it's been interesting, there was something put in place in january of 2020 called title 42

authority. now, let me explain this briefly. because of the pandemic that was happening in march of 2020 the trump administration put in place that for single adult individuals that were crossing the border, they would be turned around at the border based on the pandemic that was happening. the biden administration agreed with that policy, and when they came in they kept title 42 in place. in fact, last year, 1.1 million people were turned around at the border under title title 42 authority. title 42 authority was already intended to be temporary. it's not a permanent immigration policy. it's during the pandemic. though it is ironic that the administration is looking to lift title 42 authority on the border at the same time this month members of the national guard are being forced to resign if they don't have their vaccine so if you don't take your vaccine you're in the national guard, you're being forced out, or if you're in the military and

you haven't taken it you're being forced to resign the military. but people illegally crossing our border can come into the united states. at the same month that there's conversation about dropping the title 42 authority, we're still wearing a mask on our planes, in buses, in trains, based on requirement of the administration on a threat to covid. at the same time that's occurring, the administration is looking to lift the title 42 issues it at our southern border they've had a year to be able to plan for this. i've been in conversation with mayorkas and d.h.s. we've had multiple conversations with leaders. i've been on the border multiple times to talk to leadership there. saying we've all known at some point title 42 authority is going away. so when that occurs, what is the plan to deal with illegal immigration, or what they call

irregular migration? what is the plan at that point? we're finally getting bits and pieces of the plan. the plan is, apparently, from the notes that we're getting and the conversations we've had on the staff level, and that i can piece together from multiple conversations with multiple leaders, after a year of considering what to be able to do about illegal immigration and increasing numbers on the border, apparently within the next couple weeks they're going to stop title 42 and to be able to more rapidly move people into the interior of the country faster so the border looks less chaotic. the plan is to move people into the country faster so there's not a camera shot on people backed up at the border. that's the plan. i wish i was kidding on that, but in a briefing with my staff last week d.h.s. office of intelligence and analysis told our team that as soon as they

release title 42 they anticipate tens of thousands of migrants crossing the border within hours, that they're literally camped up on the south side of the border and that they will flood the border. d.h.s. office of intelligence anticipates hundreds of thousands of migrants crossing within two weeks, and as many as a million crossing within six weeks of when they lift title 42 authority. may i remind us, last summer when we saw all the chaos on our southern border that was 900,000 for an entire year. they're anticipating as many as a million in six weeks illegally crossing our border, and their plan is not to turn them around. their plan is to bus them to towns and cities all over the united states so they move away from the border quickly. that does not feel like a plan

to me. that feels like a recipe for chaos and frustration from american citizens across the country. the plan continues to be able to give individuals a piece of paper that they would have a court hearing six years in the future -- six years. i wish i was kidding about this. they'll come across the border, be given a piece of paper, told they have a hearing six years in the future, and if they'd like to apply for a work status they can get that after they're here six months. last year we had the highest number of illegal crossings in the history of our country last year. and the administration has now -- is now planning for that number to skyrocket this year, and their solution is to give work permits, move people faster to the interior of the country,

and repeat. that's not a plan. that's a formula for disaster. that is individuals and families moving into the country that don't have legal status, by millions. may i remind this body that last year we had individuals from every single country on the planet that were encountered on our border last year illegally crossing. every single country. yes, that includes iran, north korea, russia, you name it. every country on the planet illegally crossed our border. the plan this year is not to turn them around. the plan this year is to expedite them into the interior of the country, hand them a form, and say show up in court six years from now, and oh, by the way, while you're waiting, you can have a work permit.

that's going to just drive even more illegal immigration into our country. that's going to drive people from all over the world to be able to come here and cross our border illegally. that is an invitation to chaos, and i cannot even believe, even with this administration, that after a year of planning this is the plan for what they're going to do for illegal immigration on our southern border. last summer we found out, through a series of rumors, that i.c.e. was planning to put up what they call a surge overflow temporary processing facility in western oklahoma, a at private prison there. i contacted d.h.s., confirmed that they were actually planning this, told them the obvious issues with that. there was no bus station in that area. there was no airport in that area. they were literally looking to move thousands of people from the border into western

oklahoma, into a small town, and just release them at that point. and they can figure out what to do and where to go from there. the administration, after 48 hours of our back-and-forth and me pushing, pulled back their plan and said they weren't going to do it. but i've noted their response back to me at the end of that. they said that they had decided not to pursue this facility at this time. what was threatened in my state a year ago is very likely coming to many states that are represented in this room in the weeks ahead, where individuals are moved all over the country, into small towns and large towns, to be able to move people away from the border, what even d.h.s. estimates may be a million people in six weeks. every part of the country, so

the border doesn't look chaotic. can i ask you, is your town set up to receive people coming from all over the world? to come into your town? a million in a six-week time period? interior processing is a terrible idea, mr. president. it's a terrible idea. and after a year, d.h.s. can do better than this. so what do we need to do about this? my democratic colleagues have a unique relationship with this president. you have the opportunity to be able to call the opportunity, to sit down with the leadership team and to say, this looks like a particularly bad idea. the american people do not like chaos. and they do not like illegal immigration. the american people love legal immigration. we cheer at nationality events.

we show up in droves and watch people pledge allegiance to the flag for the first time as an american citizen. but the american people do not like illegal immigration, especially one that is unlimited , chaotic, and from every country in the world. so i made contact with the administration. i'm laying this marker down. we're going to do everything that we possibly can as a team to be able to make it clear that this administration plans to bring chaos to the united states in the next several months, and we're going to do everything we can to be able to stop that. this is not some random threat. the president of the united states has a unique responsibility to enforce the law. that's what presidents do. and the people in my state are not asking for something odd or peculiar. they're asking simply for the

prubs to enforce -- for the president of the united states to enforce the law of the united states. may i remind this body of a statistic you may or may not remember. last year, i.c.e. deported 57,000 people total in a year. we had 2.3 million people illegally encountered at the southern board, and i.c.e. deported 57,000 total in a year. it was a record low number of deportation, and a report high number of illegal crossings. and now they're planning to lift title 42. all 100 of us should be addressing this administration and telling them this is a bad idea. and i pray they hear us out. to the president of the united states, just enforce the law. with that, i yield the floor.

>> as president biden begins the most important foreign trump of his presidency the best thing thesenate can do is pass permanent normal trade relations legislation so we can land another devastating blow on putin's economy . in a few moments i will ask the senate for consent to do

just that. last week the house passed legislation revoking russia's normal trade relations with the us by 424 to 8. 424 to 8. the vast majority of house republicans úincluding leader mccarthy and the republican leadership. here in the senate my friend the senior senator from idaho sincerely believes we should amend the bill by including an oil man. i don't believe we should do that and as i said earlier today there are four reasons why we should move forward quickly on the ntr and then as a separate discussion on the oilman. first, president biden has already implemented a ban on russian oil and gas so passing something the president has already done is not even remotely as urgent as passing the pnpr first especially because the president is leaving today

and meeting with european allies. what could be better than a united senate putting further sanctions on russia as the president meets with our european allies when he's done a good job of bringing them together? second there is still disagreement including with the administration about how to best draft and oilman proposal. there are some who worry the proposal that my friend from idaho is pushing would actually delay the ban on russian oil compared to the president's proposal. this is a consequence no one wants. third, it is so important we show unity right now with president biden meets with our europeanallies . swift senate action, bonding democrats and republicans with one force voice would do just that. and finally the house is not in session. any changes we would make to the pnpr legislation by amended delays and accidents by atleast a week . there is no reason to change

the pnpr legislation the house has already approved and delay action. again i repeat, i am, senator wyden is and always senate democrats are willing to work with senator crapo on this issue if he canagree to let the process move forward so let me say again .pnpr has been overwhelmingly passed by the house. it's an important and logical step in the fight against putin's barbaric war. we should move the house bill asap. so madam president. i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader the senate proceed to the consideration of hr 7108 which is at the desk. that there before hours of debate equally divided and

that no amendment be in order. that upon the use or yielding back of the time the bill will be considered read a third time, the senate vote on passageof the bill and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table without further intervening action or debate . >> is there an objection? senator from idaho. >> reserving the right to object i address ukraine's perilous situation. there is broad agreement in this chamber and in the house of representatives that america's response in all areas to russia and belarus aggression against ukraine must be comprehensive and strong. leveraging the benefits of the us trade relationship with russia is just such a response that will add to the pressures on putin to rethink his actions in ukraine and punish him or what he's already done . on march 8, the democrat and republican leadership in the senate finance committee and

house committee on ways and means reached an agreement on precisely that type of response. the bicameral bipartisan agreement has called for suspending normal trade relations with russia and belarus at and its provisions included having russian energy imports including various forms of petroleum, natural gas and coal, moving russia and belarus to the same pariah trade status as north korea and cuba, providing the senate additional authority to raise tariffs on russia and belarus further, calling on wto members to take similar actions to deprive russia of its trade benefits and sending a crystal clear message to russia's dictator vladimir putin that he will never see these trade benefits restored until he reverses his aggression , stops threatening our nato allies and recognizes the rise right of the american

ukrainian people to live freely. none of this is controversial and all of itis necessary . yet only a day after the deal was made and with neither warning or explanation the house split the energy banned from the trade status provision and bifurcated the two majors further by imposing separate standards on putin's actions in ukraine before any resident can think to remove these trade benefits to restore these trade benefits to russia without congressional approval. each bill passed by over 400 votes but the house decided to only transmit the bill on russia's trade status. the permanent normal trade relations were pnpr even though it passed more than a week after the energy banned. the important point is our house colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree both restrictions need to happen. some may wonder why the urgent need for congressional energy and the import ban after president biden

provided one in his executive order. speaker pelosi was asked just that question when sheflipped the new house version on the import ban up for a vote . and she stated correctly to her house colleagues you're here to legislate. absolutely. that's why we are here. and our legislative response more especially its certification requirements must deliver an unmistakable message to putin. no relief until you stop your aggression and recognize ukraine'sinalienable right to live free and choose its leaders .the energy banned and its trade status revocation are complementary and they mustwork together . while president biden's executive order to ban russian oil was a positive step the senate and house need to impose conditions on putin's treatment of ukraine to be met before any president seeks an end to the

energy import ban. these conditions are like those congress had done in the bipartisan legislation which we negotiated when i was banking committee chairman during the trump administration. and acting a russian oil band will demonstrate to the ukrainian people and our nato allies that congress is committed to cutting off russia's funding for its war efforts. many of our allies including in europe are debating whether to adopt an energy banned against russia. by the united states congress acting definitively and with certainty through our congressional action, our allies will all be more encouraged to take similar stands against russian energy exports which accounts for over a third of russia's budget . i seek to continue our bipartisan tradition by introducing text that is as close to the original deal as possible except in 2 respects that respond to the points

made by our majority leader. both made to facilitate our colleagues on the other side of the aisle making a single technical connector correction made at the request of senators manchin and murkowski so no delay will exist. this edit is necessary to avoid that delay and it solves that problem. second i have revised the certification criteria that would allow the restoration of trade benefits to match exactly what the house passed . the original bill provided benefits could not be restored until russia with grow its forces and stop posing an immediate threat to nato allies and partners. to secure a bipartisan support by i yielded to what the house passed that russia need only reach an agreement with the president to withdraw its forces rather than have definitively withdrawn them and that

russia not pose athreat to nato members as opposed to nato members and their partners . again, this is to match what the house has requested. my view, i have many colleagues on my side would like to do many more things . and i agree with their requests. but on the trade front i'm willing to make these concessions to get this done. my view is that we should act quickly. i agree with the majority leader on this. we must do it together and we must do it today. there is no reason to wait for another revenue bill to come through the house before we act so let us mark the bravery of ukrainian people bypassing the strongest legislation we can today in the trade space . accordingly, i'm asking the senator to modify his request to take the firm comprehensive action against vladimir putin that circumstances require . i would like to ask that the

senator would modify his request to make it in order for the crapo substitute amendment atthe desk to be considered and agreed to and the senate vote on the passage of the bill as amended . >> reserving the right to object to the request from that senator from idaho, it's my understanding that the senators modification would not include the provisions that were included in the house passed legislation that modifies the global magnet ski sanction regime. and i would like to speak for a moment on that if i might. there is no question we stand with the people of ukraine against the unprovoked attack by mister putin. we are inspired every day by the courage of their ukrainian people and by their inspirational leader president zelensky.

the us has shown leadership and i congratulate the biden administration we've led the free world and providing lethal weapons to ukraine to defend itself . we provide humanitarian assistance , joining the global community including dealing with 3 million ukrainians that arenow refugees from other countries and 10 million that have been displaced as a result of mister putin's unprovoked attack . and we have led on sanctions. we have led in getting the global unity to impose sanctions against not just a russian settlers but also against individuals. and when mister zelensky spoke before the members of congress, he specifically mentioned the importance of these sanctions. and he asked us to expand those covered by the sanctions to include the enablers. those that are enabling mister paul putin, the oligarchs to be able to fund his aggression against

ukraine . so what did the house send over to us? in their bill they sent over a global magnitsky modification. it's identical to legislation that was filed by senator portman and myself that included the revocation of pnpr for russia along with the global magnitsky. first and foremost it removes thesunset in the legislation that would sunset this year . mister zelensky asked us to be resolved in being willing to stand up to mister putin. that would take some time. a clear message is that we remove the sunset on the global magnitsky statute and we know how difficult it is to get legislation passed in this body. it also expands the global magnitsky to include the enablers, exactly what mister

zelensky asked us to do. those who enabled the oligarchs that allow him to be able to finance the language included here is similar to the language that was included in president trumps executive order . this is critical legislation. now, let me tell you how appropriate it is that it's included in a pnpr bill because the magnitsky bill and senator wyden was crucial in getting this donewas included in the original pnpr bill for russia and we were able to get it done at that time . we then made it a global magnitsky and my partner on that was the latesenator mccain . it's always been bipartisan. my partner now is senator wicker. the two of us joined forces to make sure we get it done now. it's critically important in order to impose banking restrictions on those that

are targeted under global magnitsky as well as these restrictions on being able to travel. how important it is?ask mister austin enough was one of the principal oligarchs to mister putin who solves mister putin's business problems. guess how he solves those? his yacht has beenconfiscated in germany . >>

most advanced today come from taiwan, and today'se hearing was about how the united states of america needs to do more to produce the next generation of advanced chips for artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing here in the united states, and that an overreliance on the global sliech, which every -- supply chain, which every american can tell you about the supply chain

now because of products they're not getting because of the supply chain or the price has gone up because of the supply chain, we know this issue of getting this innovation and competition act or getting the funding for more production to be done in the united states on something as critical as semiconductors is a very key issue. so i hope our colleagues will help us get to cmps and resolve -- get to conference and resolve this issue with our colleagues. i would like to talk about a few of those sectors that are really impacting and hurting americans. first of all, the automotive sector. thousands of american workers have endured layoffs due to the shortage. the global automotive industry suffered over $200 billion in losses, and ford was forced to halt or cut production at eight plants as recently as last month. the cost of a used car has gone up 41%, and the price of new cars 12%. a lot of this is due to the semiconductor shortage. let me repeat those numbers. the price of a used car has gone

up 41%. the price of a new car, over here 12%, and this is a price of 12% increase on new equipment. well, if you think about it right now, most of those people trying to buy the new cars, they might be on a waiting list. but people who can easily afford a new car and need one but can't get it due to the shortage, they're buying used cars instead and that is what is driving up the price. who feels the pain at the pump? it's not the person who has to wait a few extra months for that new car that they wanted. it's the person whose radiator blew out last week who just needs anything to drive to work, anything to get them to and from their job. but now that used car is 41% more expensive. that basic used car might have cost $5,000 last year, but if you add the 41 cents to that, it's now costing $7,000. where does the extra $2,000 coming from, that american

consumer who has to delay a family trip or do without things for their children or maybe not even be able to pay next month's rent. all of this is due to the impacts that we're seeing from this shortage. so chips and the semiconductor effort that we're trying to address in the underlying bill is really the ultimate supply chain issue. that is that some of the networking equipment that i mentioned here, 12% increase, sometimes people are selling chips for 100 times the regular price just so that people will compete for them to build out the broadband access. we also are seeing issues of security that now that the source of the chips are so concentrated in taiwan, that at least seven different chip manufacturers have, people have tried to hack them to steal the designs of these chips. so these are all the reasons why

we today here d into to advance this -- here today need to advance this bill. we want to go to conference, we want to move forward on this legislation. this legislation also supports $2 billion for specifically defense department efforts to secure the supply chain as well and help us face this increase in demand. i just want to say to my colleagues, i know some people think this issue will be over, it will be down the road. it's not going to be over until we act. right now the world needs one trillion chips per year. you need one trillion chips per year. in 2021, that went up to 1.2 trillion chips per year. in 2031, it's going to be two trillion chips a year. this is driven by, you can see the demand. there's a 200% increase in what's going to be needed from the automotive sector, a 60%

increase from the wireless sector, an 80% increase in the consumer electronics sector. the question is are we going to wait and see what happens in taiwan or are we going to make an investment here in the united states to jump from that 1.2 trillion a year to 2 trillion a year and make it being leading-edge u.s. technology? i thank the witnesses who testified at today's hearing. one particular industry that was there was pac-car, a company that is leading the way on transportation and automotive and driverless traction and they explained what this has done to advance their business and why we need advanced chips and why we need to as a nation promote them. i definitely hope that my colleagues will see the importance of moving forward on this investment, getting

underlying r&d bill to the president so we can do what we do best in the united states of america, and that is invent, make our manufacturers competitive and grow jobs. so, with that, madam president, i would like to turn to another issue. i've been joined here on the floor by my colleague, senator klobuchar. we very much appreciate her and senator thune's efforts on trying to tackle some of the supply chain issues at the ports. our ports are seeing a record amount of traffic, 20% increase of traffic coming into the united states and that congestion has caused lots of problems at our ports. senators klobuchar and thune, announced legislation that we marked up in committee earlier this week that i hope will see action on the senate floor as early as next week. that legislation puts new tools into the hands of the federal maritime commission whose job it

is to make sure that there are not unreasonable rates that impact shippers in the united states. right now what's happening is particularly our agricultural sector is getting very hard hit. that is that literally some of this these foreign shippers who are at record profits, record millions have basically been leaving without the u.s. exports. they are coming to the united states, dropping products off and leaving less than full and leaving to pick up more product and deliver to the united states. and our growers haven't been able to get their products on to those ships and the resulting of that is they are left on the docks and without the ability to deliver the product to the customers that they would like to see. so our farmers need help and solutions on this. one solution by the biden-harris administration that secretary vilsack has implemented is a

popup space at our ports to help defray the cost of freight that's been caused. i just want our colleagues to know that more needs to be done with the klobuchar-thune bill because the container cost has gone from $1,300 per container to $11,000 per container. this is part of data that's been provided to us. and what's happened is that not only is that the cost that they are facing, sometimes they are called if your product isn't here, then we're leaving without it and ha is a big problem -- and that is a big problem if you're talking about washington apples, seafood, any of the other products that are big from our state. one individual who testified or came to a -- we had last week said that the dairy chain supply we had last week cost them over

$$1.5 billion and it means more contain rs are leaving the port -- containers aring leaving the port empty. we believe the loss of revenue is 22%. i want to thank the president for his infrastructure in putting had more money into ports and port development as we did in a bipartisan way with our colleagues in the commerce committee and also for getting this project up and running here at terminal 46 in seattle. this popup storage helped facilitate and preposition our agricultural products so that they could be ready to get on those ships and not face a penalty because of the congestion we're seeing. usda is providing our exporters with $200 to $400 per container to help with the storage cost, but it's literally getting them

in position so they can be right around the corner and get picked up quickly. so i want to thank the biden administration on that. but i also want to encourage our colleagues to move ahead, as i mentioned, on the klobuchar-thune bill, which is saying to the major federal entity whose day job it is to oversee reasonable rates as it relates to shipping in the united states, please let's get this legislation on the senate floor. if we care about supply chain issues, if we care about how this is impacting consumers, let's get this bill on the floor. the cost of the containers are impacting everyone. so if those kotions are on -- costs are on every container, whether they're coming in or leaving, we are see costs to consumers and consumer products all across the board. let's get the supply chain issues like usica, the united

states innovation and competition act, let's get that supply chain moving, let's get that supply chain with us with the house moving so we can fix the supply chain problems and let's get the maritime issue on the floor so we can address the supply chain issues that is costing us more for ag. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: mr. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i thank the senator who is the leader of the commerce committee. the presiding officer as someone who is the former governor of colorado understands as well, we have to fix these supply chain issues and we have to actually take up the torch. we've gotten through the worst of this pandemic. we see the lighthouse on the

horizon and it is time to move forward with our economy. and instead of just diagnosing the problem, we actually have to do something to fix it. and on that list for my own state i would say number one is workforce and getting people into the jobs that we have available. number two, something that senator cantwell has made so clear is the -- is semiconductors and all of the things that we should be making in america. number three is infrastructure. we're so proud of the bipartisan infrastructure bill that we worked so hard on and the money going to improve our ports, including the port in duluth, the busiest port on lake superior, and then, finally, something i'm going to address today, the ocean shipping and reform act, a bipartisan bill that i lead with senator thune, unanimously passed the commerce committee yesterday and i want to thank senators cantwell for

her help on the bill. senator thune and i are in the middle of the country, and we know that american farmers feed the world and consumers and businesses look to them for in-demand ag goods from dairy to poultry to pork to beef, to name just a few. we have tons of small and big manufacturers in the middle of the country. and it's not just minnesota or colorado or south dakota that's been seeing the delays in shipping. it's everywhere in this nation. the past two years have hield significant supply chain disruptions and vulnerabilities for u.s. exporters, including many families across my home state. u.s. companies have only been able to ship 60% of their orders because they can't access shipping containers during spearnts of this pandemic. at the same time, ocean carriers, almost all

foreign-owned, mr. president, have reported record profits. it is reported that the foreign shipping industry made a record of $190 billion in profits in 2021, a seven-fold increase from the previous year. this is not the result of improved performance given what we have not been able to ship out. they are fleecing shipping exporters because they know they can get away with it and the consumers are paying for the supply chain disruptions caused by their unreliable service. we need to be a country that makes stuff, makes things, exports to the world. that's why senator thune and i put together the ocean shipping reform act and we want to thank our colleagues in the house who have a very similar bill. our bill protects mefer farmers and manufacturers by making it easier for them to ship ready to

export goods at our ports. it levels the playing field for american exporters by updating federal regulations for the shipping industry, its gives the federal maritime to regulate big ocean carriers. it directs the federal maritime to prohibit from declining shipping opportunities for american companies. they bring in companies but export air. so many empty containers with nothing in them. in addition to giving the f.m.c. more authority to investigate bad practices, they are authorized to set new rules for what the international carriers can reasonably charge and that they prove that the fees they charge are fair as rates continue to climb, this is more urgent than ever. the sheer act of passing this

bill will send a major message to the foreign-owned shipping industry that it is time to ship our goods out of america and to charge our american manufacturers and our american farmers and give our consumers a fair rate. i want to again thank chairman cantwell and ranking member wicker for holding a compelling conference on this bill. and i thank those on the committee for passing this through and senator thune have baldwin, blumenthal, young, kelly, crapo, smith, ernst,. ms. cortez masto: , braun, risch, cramer, blunt van hollen, fischer, padilla and senator

hickenlooper. i know that senator coons has remarks himself. so, with that, i thank you. i yield. mr. coons: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i rise to offer some brief remarks about a dear friend, someone whom i've relied as a mentor, someone who served our nation across many decades and someone whose passing earlier today is a moment of great significance for our nation and our place in the world. i happen to have been a truman scholar. some of my best friends are

truman scholars and the person whose passing we mourn today i first met because she was the chair of the truman scholarship foundation board. i'm speaking of the former ambassador to the united nations, former secretary of state madeliene albright, who i first got to know decades ago but who in my dozen years here in the senate i got to know as a mentor and a friend, someone whose humor and insights and charisma were unmatched. one of the greatest memories i will have in my life was a dinner i got to enjoy last year with former and chairman of the joint chiefs collin powell and former secretary of state and ambassador to the united nations, madeliene albright and the ambassador from the united kingdom. we sat in her garden and talked for hours about the world, about conflict, about russia and china, about putin, about the

balkans, about a whole range of things and i learned so much. madeliene never lost her love for this institution for the senate. it was here that she, as a relatively young staffer, cut her teeth on politics and on being engaged on policy making and one of the things that always amused her was that this desk, the desk that senator biden and senator kennedy was also the desk of senator ed musk -- -- muskey. i will simply say this. today we have lost one of our best and brightest, one of the most passionate in her dedication to democracy. as someone who was born overseas in czechoslovakia, and overcame communism, she never stopped

offering her insights, her advice and dedication to democracy and the books that she read in the pins that she wore, in the speeches that she gave, in the students that she mentored, madeliene albright touched so many lives. and yet,s gracious enough to give me just a few minutes of her time. through her, her daughter allison, her grandson david, became great and dear friends. david's sphrifs in my office was an -- david's service in my office was an enormous blessing to me and my team. i ask for prayers for them, their family, and all whose lives were touched by madeleine albright. mr. president, i rise today to make some comments about a truly bittersweet moment in my career in service. i've been an elected official for 22 years. i've had the opportunity to work

alongside dozens -- actually, hundreds -- of dedicated, capable, and hard-working staff. none have earned my trust and my confidence, driven my agenda, set my priorities, and been so central to my service and my life like my national security advisor tom mancinelli. like me, a triewmman scholar, tom decided -- a truman scholar, tom decided early on to set his life to public service. in the seven years he's been a member of my team, he's been an incredible mentor, great leader, and someone upon whose advice i have always been able to rely. i hired him from service in the department of state, where he was chief of staff of the bureau of political military affairs. he was a presidential management fellow before that, but most importantly he's a naval academy graduate and was an officer in the marine corps.

i note that brings a smile to his face even now. as i had a chance just last week to say to the commandant, i've seen through tom's service in my office a gentleman and an officer who has lived the values of the corps, of hopper and -- honor, courage, commitment, someone who's lived his life with integrity, respect for dignity, respect for others, intense commitment to his service and a joyful and whimsical spirit. as a result of our years together traveling around the world, our time here in the united states, a number of phrases and terms have become a part of my lexicon that i did not know before. once a marine, always a marine. every marine a rifleman. no plan survives contact with the enemy. officers eat last. tom has been an exemplar of the sort of student -- excuse me, servant leadership embodied in that phrase officers eat last. it means you take care of your team, of your squad, of the men

and women entrusted to you. and in his two tours in iraq and in his seven years with me, tom has shown that exemplary. as celebrated the marine corps with him, and i've heard him talk about tunn tavern. i've seen him brighten the days of countless marines deployed as parts of security detachments with a hearty semper fi, and he has always made sure we've respected and paid attention to the lives and service of the men and women of our armed forces. although it is with great regret that i congratulate him on this, i congratulate him today, on his next tour, which will be at the department of defense. through our time together, we have traveled to 54 countries. that's nearly a third of the countries on earth. we have pressed dictators and autocrats for democratic

progress and human rights. we've visited refugee camps in some of the toughest places on earth to hear those fleeing persecution and civil wars. we've directed to see mountain gorillas in rwanda and i've watched him with just over the rise an elephant in the near distance. we've carried out a presidential mission to go to ethiopia in the middle of a civil war, and we've helped deliver vaccines to our partners from guatemala to taiwan. and we visited american troops stationed abroad more times than i can count. tom's helped me write and introduce and get marked up and pass bills that would invest in our strategic competition with china, advance electryification across africa, combat wildlife trafficking, combat violence and extremism, support young palestinian entrepreneurs. there is a long, long list. the one of which i'm proudest for him, and i hope he is proud

as well, was the huge amounts of effort he dedicated to leading the build act. signed into law in 2018 to establish the new u.s. financial development corporation, $60 billion in capability deployed to do everything from vaccine manufacturing to sustainable agriculture from women's empowerment to deploying solar energy in the developing world. the d.f.c. will have a remarkable impact for a very long time to come. as i've said, it's not just the hard work of policy making, but the inside-the-room work of mentoring and guiding fellows and staff members, becoming the sort of person upon whom i can rely to execute a flawless congressional delegation trip overseas, or codo. frankly, one of our most recent trips was among his most successful. we crisscrossed the world with a constantly shifting constellation of members of the

house and senate leaving from andrews air force base, flying overnight to brussels for visits with the e.u., nato, and belgium, then continued that same day on to scotland. if we spent time at both the cop 26, global conference on climate change, and in ed inburg, and capped off that day with a celebration with the scottish government at edinburg castle, then back on the plane, all the way to qatar, dinner with the emir, breakfast with the foreign minister, but wait, went on from there to jerusalem, to tel aviv, to ramallah, to meet with the prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister of israel and prime minister of the palestinian authority. we went to meet with the chancellor in berlin, central to our response in ukraine before flying home, stopping briefly.

all of this in one week. no mess. no fuss. flawless. excellently executed, perfectly planned. tom takes the time in the course of a codl like that, rather than being frenetic or self-important, to make sure the other staffers are learning how to lead future codls and it is a purposeful investment of the final and resource of the -- the time and resource of the american people, all while celebrating with the marines who helped execute that fantastic codl. most sim pressively to me, tom excelled in my office while still being a great father, to his children, george, ruth, and husband to sarah. on the few occasions i chased him out, saying don't miss that, often he's already gone, to a parent-teacher conference, a baseball game, understanding that's his first mission.

and something to which he is tirelessly dead cated. he will continue his record of public service as assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs. i've warned him, dealing with congress is a really miserable duty, but there is no one, no one they could have hired who would carry this duty out better, more thoroughly, with more character and competence than tom mancinelli. hiring tom is one of the best choices i've ever made, and for as many years as he will return my calls, i will continue to call on him for advice and counsel. i very much look forward to his next chapter in public service. as i was talking with my own children just this weekend, my youngest said to me that of all the people she's gotten to know in my office, he most ex exemplified to her what it means to be an american, a patriot, and a public servant.

i can offer no greater compliment than that. well deserved, well performed, pel served -- well served. to my favorite marine, thank you. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. today marks one month since the illegal and unprovoked russian invasion of ukraine began. since that time, ukrainian president zelenskyy has proved himself a courageous and inspiring leader. the ukrainian military has performed heroically in the face of overwhelming violence. and the ukrainian people have shown the world what true courage looks like. there is one person who is responsible for so much suffering and catastrophe -- vladimir putin. faced with this senseless

attack, ukraine and the international community have rallied together to stand up to putin with a unified front. it is stunning, therefore, that many of my republican colleagues now seem intent upon suggesting that russia invaded ukraine because of something the biden administration did or failed to do. there's no polite wait to put this -- this attempt to score political points by blaming the biden administration for putin's invasion is unacceptable and inappropriate. i think it is important to remind my colleagues of some important facts that they are ignoring. to be clear, the biden administration has done more than any previous administration when it comes to support for ukraine. in the roughly 14 months since taking office, the administration has provided more than $2 billion in security assistance to ukraine, including weapons like stingers and javelins that are proving so

effective today. this is far more than any previous administration, and i applaud those 17 republican senators who voted for this military and humanitarian aid for ukraine. further, since last fall the biden administration has worked tirelessly to build a coalition of nations committed to supporting ukraine. so, when the time came to stand up to putin's illegal invasion of ukraine on february 24, the united states stood with more than 30 countries from across the globe to condemn this violence, to execute the largest sanctions and export controls in history, and to support the ukrainian people by surging humanitarian and security aid into the country. this overwhelming international response would not have happened without president biden's leadership. we also should not forget a

major reason vladimir putin felt so embolded to invade ukraine and challenge nato. for four years president trump treated our allies like adversaries and pandered to dictators and despots, especially putin. mr. trump's animosity towards nato created lingering doubt about the united states' cohesion of the alliance, jeopardizing our greatest advantage against russia. the trump administration's failure to hold russia accountable for numerous violations of international laws served only to embolden putin in challenging u.s. leadership and the rules-based international order. most disturbing, of course, was the offenses that -- the offense that led to mr. trump's first impeachment. his efforts to extort ukraine's security for political favors at home. that an american president would abuse his office to pressure a

foreign government to interfere in our democracy as part of the a reelection bid remains deeply troubling. mr. trump's actions damaged nato, weakened ukraine, and ceded political leverage to putin. now the ukrainian people are paying the price. fortunately, at this critical time, the united states and our allies are no longer hamstrung by mr. trump's erratic leadership, a fact a vladimir putin must understand very well at this moment. if putin thought his actions over the past month would drive a wedge between nato members and within the international community, he has found himself badly mistaken. led by president biden, the international community has united in a way not seen in generations, and russia is already straining under the immense costs we have levied

against it and the courageous actions of the ukrainian people. with that in mind, i'd like to take a few moments to correct the record on a few debates about our ongoing support for ukraine. first, on the issue of arms transfers, the united states has led the international effort to identify capabilities the ukrainian milt can put to -- military can put to immediate use. and i think we have to emphasize immediate use. transferring equipment that cannot be used effectively because of the combat conditions in the area or because the need to train or refit the equipment is not going to give the ukrainian forces immediate assistance, and that's the kind of assistance they need. in fact, over the past few months, the state department has worked with incredible speed to facilitate the transfer of u.s. origin equipment from partner nations to ukraine. however, all of these transfers,

whether it be former soviet-era air defense systems or former soviet aircraft, occur on a bilateral basis, and ultimately it is the decision for each partner nation to make within their own internal channels. with regard to a no-fly zone, the united states has enjoyed the superiority for the past 20 years of conflict in iraq and afghanistan so it's perhaps understandable that some of my colleagues think such endeavors are easily achieved and without risk. however, establishing and enforcing a no-fly zone against the near peer competitor like russia is far more complex. to do so would almost certainly drag the united states and the entire nato alliance into direct armed conflict with russia. it would also put the women and men tasked with flying such missions at great risk.

president biden has rightly said that the u.s. will not seek direct conflict with russia and establishing a no-fly zone would almost certainly defy that aim. so to my colleagues both on this side of the aisle and the other side of the aisle, enough with trying to bring the biden administration at every step in this conflict. this crisis demands unity and strength, and i call upon my colleagues, particularly my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, to join me in condemning the one person who bears responsibility for the horrific violence against the people of ukraine, vladimir putin. mr. president, i yield the floor.

ms. stabenow: mr. president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. ms. stabenow: thank you so much. mr. president, i'm here today with my great friend, the senior senator from missouri, to talk about an issue we both care passionately about and that we have partnered on now for a number of years. and with consent i would like to proceed with colloquy with senator blunt. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. on october 31, 2013, senator blunt and i stood here on the senate floor to mark a very

important anniversary. it was 50 years to the day after president kennedy signed into law the community mental health act. it was the last piece of legislation he was ever able to sign. as we know, his life was tragically cut short. and one important part of his life's work, providing full funding for comprehensive mental health services in the community never came to happen. instead behavioral health is funded far too often through grants. and while these grants are important, they're just not enough because you would never say to somebody who needed a heart bypass surgy, yup, you need surgery but so sorry, the grant ran out which is what happens to someone with a mental health crisis or addiction all the time. and you wouldn't say to somebody with a bipolar disorder, substance abuse -- well, we

actually would say, so sorry, the grant ran out and we should not be saying that. why should health care above the neck be funded differently than health care below the neck? and so this is something that senator blunt and i started to work on. we know that that should not be true. health care is health care. president kennedy understood this. and so does my friend, senator blunt. right, senator blunt? mr. blunt: exactly. so glad to be here with you, senator stabenow. we've been friends a long time. we worked together on a number of issues, both in the house where we came at the same time and in the senate when i got to the senate. but clearly this is one of the things that i think we both have a strong sense, that we really made a difference, not only how we look at mental health but also in the way we talk about mental health. senator stabenow's point of treating mental health like all

other health and what happens when you do that. we got an award last month when i was home and senator stabenow was virtually in jefferson city, missouri for a few minutes from the missouri behavioral health council, the excellence in mental health award. brett mcginny, the head of that council talked about what they were doing and what they were seeing from would they were doing. also we talked about the partnership with community health centers, another thing we've worked together on. and joe pearlley and brett mcginny are also here today coincidentally when we're talking about this issue so important to both of them. i've often thought about the same time -- type of discussion we had in 2013 as senator stabenow just pointed out. we went through the community mental health act from 1963, and it became apparent that many of the things that probably should have been closed but were serving a need did get closed. but then the support system

didn't come in in the way that anybody would have envisioned when that came together. i can remember in missouri when some of our mental health facilities, our hospitals were closed. that was a fine thing if you had what the bill that president kennedy signed had in mind. and i think what we've had in mind. one of the things that we've looked at as we've looked at 41 states now that have some effort, some unit of excellence in mental health, the community certified community behavioral health centers in their state. maybe it's a big county. maybe it's a city that was able to qualify with the 365 days a year, 24/7 standards with the kind of staff available, that you have to meet that criteria first. but we have eight states including michigan and missouri and this process. and one of the things that's happening in all of those units

is keeping track of the person's other health care challenges when you're dealing with their mental health care challenges. n.i.h. says about one in five adult americans has a behavioral diagnosable and almost always treatable behavioral health issue. and one in five adult americans probably has other health issues as well. in fact, they obviously would have. and one of the things we've been trying to keep track of is what happens in the real confined health care world when you deal with people's mental health problems like they were any other health problem. do they start showing up at appointments more frequently? do they take the medicine they're supposed to take for either behavioral health issues or other health issues? eating better, sleeping better, feeling better about themselves? and i think it's pretty clear and totally logical that that would be exactly what happens.

another thing we've seen after that 50 years of whatever happened in mental health between october 1963 and the day we were on the floor in 2013 is in so many ways the police department, law enforcement, and the emergency room became the de facto mental health system for the country. and we've seen -- we've had people come and be part of press conferences with us. senator stabenow and talking about fewer people being taken to the emergency room, the importance of having a contact take you can make. maybe a place that's not only a place to spend a night but also a place to then -- for you and your family to know you're going to have an ongoing opportunity to have a relationship to deal with your mental health problem just like you would if you had to be taken to the hospital to deal with other problems. and we've seen some things th

there. senator stabenow, you may want to talk about it a little bit. everything from the ipad that law enforcement officers and the crisis intervention team uses in springfield, missouri, and other places in our state, to where they can immediately link the person that they're dealing with up on the screen of the ipad with the behavioral health counselor that's there any time of the day, fully manned 24/7 and see what begins to happen when a professional is dealing a person in crisis. i've seen that happen, and i'm sure i was there with probably the best crisis intervention center that the police department had -- person that they had but you can tell a difference when they start looking at that screen and talking to somebody. not only a behavioral health specialist but also who is just a little bit removed and totally prepared to enter into that discussion. and we've had lots of people

talk about the impact on departments and emergency rooms. senator stabenow? ms. stabenow: i couldn't agree with you more. i don't know about you, but when we first started and we knew this was going to be a step-by-step process, we weren't able to go nationwide. we had to prove the concept would work of really providing comprehensive services, not just what is done in most states like in michigan where it was medicaid funding for people seriously mentally ill, but if you weren't seriously mentally ill, there was no support for anybody else. and so doing a concept like federally qualified health centers which i've been so proud to be your partner on where you say okay, if you meet high standards, we will fully fund your capacity then to provide services, if you meet high standards which is what the whole point is. and after only to years of doing that -- two years of doing that with the eight-state demonstration project, i was really blown away, and i think

you were, too, that after only two years, that the kind of results that they were able to get was so meaningful and h.h.s. -- and by the way under both democratic and republican presidents have embraced this and supported this which has been wonderful. but after only two years, they found 63% fewer emergency room visits. as we -- i remember being in one of the press conferences he with did -- conferences we did with a police chief from oklahoma talking about how it was so difficult to -- if they had someone that needed care and then they would drive hours and go sit in the emergency room with them. and the officer would be off of their regular duties all day sitting with somebody in the emergency room. and so to have a 63% reduction in the number of folks sitting

in the emergency room because they couldn't get help and then to have a 60% reduction in the number -- the time in jail. i'm not surprised that sheriffs and police chiefs, law enforcement officials across the country are our biggest supporters in terms of having comprehensive community behavioral health clinics because they want people to get help. they don't want them going to jail, just sitting in jail. and the other thing that was so important, i thought, was about a 41% decrease in homelessness. oftentimes the ipad that you're talking about may be someone on the ground, on the street and an officer will be asked to respond. and the fact that they can put someone, a social worker or psychologist or someone on the ipad and facetime basically to

talk to someone and get an initial diagnosis of what's going on, what kind of help they need, where they should go and so on, has been so effective. and i know for law enforcement such a relief that they have tools that they can use. and we're seeing that over and over again. one of the things we require, of course, is to be able to get this full funding as health care, that you have a 24-hour psychiatric crisis operation which i think has been some of the most important pieces of it. i don't know about you, but the results to me have been amazing. and we now have ten states in demonstration project, and we're ready to offer this opportunity to states across the country. mr. blunt: we are. what you were talking about, about the -- getting people into the health care system instead of the criminal justice system is obviously what one -- one of the goals we should have.

missouri got really -- was started in january 2017 and in that first four years, they served more than -- in the certified centers, they served more than 150,000 missourians, more than 3500 veterans, and that was a 41% increase over the four years of not being in the program to being in the program and not only to serve people but because of the way this is set up, you're able to serve people so much more quickly. you're able to have the staff that you can have because you know you've got the funding you need to have the staff. largely this is an increase of the medicaid coverage, but the other medicaid costs go down more than the behavioral health costs add to the system, and, you know, we've always known that this was the right thing to do. the right thing to do in the long run, the right thing to do for police officers, the right thing to do ford the emergency room, the right thing to do for

the prison system, the right thing to do for people to be at work. not only is it the right thing to do, it saves money over time, but the right thing to do and largely pays for itself and maybe more than pays for itself within the immediate context of health care, and that's one of the things we're looking at. and, you know, what we saw in it the last two years with covid was the real crisis that became part of that the health care crisis, the mental health crisis of isolation, of people who developed some kind of dependency. you know, if you don't have a mental health problem before you become dependent on opioids or something else, you have one as soon as you become dependent on those problems. the suicide numbers went up, and having a structure in place ready to reach out and man the suicide holt line, to get people to -- hotline, to get people where they need to get. there's no waiting list for

somebody who is thinking about doing harm to themselves or others. we need to have a society where we understand that's an immediate problem. it has to be dealt with immediately. and it's a societal -- not only a societal goal but actually it should be one of our primary responsibilities in a society. and i think that's what we're seeing here over and over again, senator stabenow. ms. stabenow: i agree. and, you know, i think about covid and all of the increased stress on children and young people, and, as you said, the increased number of suicides. and all the pressures on everyone, from those on the front lines that were taking care of patients in the hospitals and the stress of families and so on. we know that it's even more important that we eliminate the stigma of what it means to ask for help, mental health help, or if you have an addiction to be able to ask for help, but it's not enough just to eliminate the

stigma. you have to have the service. you have to have the service in the community. it has to be quality services. it has to be funded in a structural way where you're supporting the staff and, again, modeling this after community health centers, which are widely supported. every community in the country, strong bipartisan support, by our picking up that motto and basically saying, we need to do that for mental health and addiction as well as physical health, we're just extending something that has shown such success in the community. and now, because of what's happened and all the pressures under covid and so on, it's even more important that folks who need help can be able to get that. you know or, i think of someone who -- you know, i think of someone who has struggled with addiction their whole life and they finally get the courage up,

they are going to go ask for help. the ability to be able to walk into a clinic and say, i need help and to have somebody say, come on in. mr. blunt: i think almost in all of the states once they get this running the way they hope it will, that everybody that needs to be seen the first day is seen the first day. there's maybe an occasional evaluation where you talk to somebody and realize this is something that you don't have to put at the very front of that day's line. but if you need to be at the front of the line, you get to go to the front of the line. if you need to be seen the first day, you get to be seen the first day. no more seven-day waiting period for a crisis moment. people still may have to occasionally wait and come back tomorrow or come back wednesday or whatever the schedule might be. and i think that's critically important. and then now, senator stabenow, what you and are trying to do is to further expand the opportunity. you know, the president said in his state of the union message, let's get all americans the

mental health services they need. that's a quote. let's get all americans the mental health services they need. that was a goal in the president's state of the union message. it should be a significant goal for the country. and what we'd like to see happen in this congress is the expansion of excellence in mental health to every state that wants to do it. initially, we had 24 states apply to be part of the eight pilot states a. 19 of them went all the way through that entire process. and, you know, all 50 states may not apply, but we'd like to create an environment where all 50 states could apply. and, frankly, every time we get a score on this bill, the score is a little lower than it was before because i think the facts are beginning to persuade even the congressional budget office that this makes economic sense to do it, and there may be some start-up costs, but the long term costs may be actually long-term savings.

if you can do the right thing and save money while you're doing it, mr. president, that's a pretty good place to be and for a society sore a government or a country -- or a government or a country. that's what we're trying to get done in this context. ms. stabenow: absolutely. and we ask all of our colleagues to join us. we have a great bipartisan effort going on with our excellence in mental health and addiction treatment legislation of 2021 that would open the door for all states. we know that many, many states and certainly local communities are very interested. we can do this. we can actually get this done. and when i heard the president speaking about this, i know i had a big smile on my face, and i think you as well, senator blunt. we were like, all right. this is the next step. i'm so excited to see the president agreeing with this and speaking about it in his state of the union. i'm looking forward to his including this in his budget, which will be coming out very soon, supporting and embracing a

nationwide program. and i am just so he very, very -- and i am just so very, very pleased that this is a model that frankly has survived both democratic, republican presidents, republicans, democrats, house members, senate members, local communities, governors because it works. everybody is looking at this. everybody. mr. blunt: and you can have a community behavioral health center working with a primary care center or you could have an independent provider working with their other health care provider or vice aer have vaccinate it's very -- or vice versa s it's very interchangeable. the one criteria for the behavioral health centers is the level of staffing, 24/7, 365 days a year, always available to be that critically important partner that people with a mental health challenge need. and frankly, their families and

people that care about them need it as well. this is a big challenge for the individual that has a behavioral health problem but it had been an equally big problem for people that care about them. ms. stabenow: it really is about families. so, mr. president, i want to close by saying i am so grateful for the partnership that senator blunt and i have had. he thinks he's retiring at the end of the year. i'm actually going to put him in the closet and not let him leave, because he has been such a champion both in his role on appropriations as well as partnering for long-term funding. this is important. this is something real and tangible and meaningful that we can all do together, and i'm excited and hopeful we're going to take the next step this year together. mr. blunt: we're, too. and, mr. president, we look forward to you joining us in this effort. ms. stabenow: absolutely.

reading a bipartisan senate allegation to poland and germany. ten senators, republicans and democrats traveled together to demonstrate america's unwavering support for the freedom loving people of ukraine and affirms

the strength of the world's most powerful alliance. i will never forget and engagement with ukrainian civil society leaders must this group of passionate strong women demonstrated ukraine's spirit and their will to fight if they delivered a very clear message to the united states from a they said ukrainians when they need more legal aid delivered now. our bipartisan delegation departed with the conviction the united states, ukraine and the free world have the role and the means to stop vladimir putin's tyranny.

i'm here on the senate floor today to state my beliefs that ukraine will back vladimir putin's bloodied invasion. they will throw the russian army out of their country and they will declare victory over this lawless criminal incursion. ... isolation and rejection of the free world. he and his cronies futura not right either. clinton's propaganda consent that the qowrkt be dis--

the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: we're not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. cornyn: we've begun the long-awaited process of moving forward on legislation to bolster our domestic semiconductor manufacturing and confront the growing threats imposed by china. this legislation has had many different names over the last year or so. we started with the endless frontier act in the senate, then miraculously became the u.s. competition -- innovation and competition act. affectionately known as usica. then it became the make it in america act. but now it's got a new name, the bipartisan innovation act. well, regardless of what you call, it's absolutely critical that we get a strong version of this legislation to the president's desk as soon as we can. the senate passed the original legislation last summer with significant bipartisan support.

we urged our colleagues in the house to treat this legislation with a sense of urgency that it deserved, but they've wasted months with no action. to be charitable, i guess they were preoccupied with other matters. but it wasn't until last month that just ahead of the president's state of the union when they finally leapt into action. the president, of course, wanted to talk about this legislation in his speech, so house democrats had to coble together a bill in short order. unfortunately, it was a highly partisan one. their bill passed almost entirely along party lines, and now the two chambers, the house and the senate, have a critical task ahead of us to reconcile those two versions. we need to begin the formal conference committee process, dive into negotiations, and get that strong bill to the president's desk. the cornerstone of this effort,

as far as i'm concerned, is bolstering our domestic semiconductor manufacturing. even more concerning is that 92% of the world's most advanced semiconductors come from one place, and that is asia. 63% come from taiwan alone. if that supply chain were cut off, it would lead to very serious consequences, and unfortunately that potential is not just a doomsday scenario that's far-fetched by any means. a few months ago i led a congressional delegation to asia to learn more about the need to confront china in a variety of ways in that region. one of the leaders we met with was the head of the ino pacific command, the -- the indo-pacific command, the regional command that covers that part of the globe, and he described the

current power dynamic rather succinctly. he said it's not a question if china invades taiwan, but when. well, we have one rough idea when that could potentially happen. president xi jinping himself said he wants to be ready to unify the people's republic of china with taiwan by 2027, just five years from now. but the truth be told, we don't have any idea when president xi will call that play. we won't have any more notice for that than we did for putin invading ukraine. it's tough to overestimate the impact this would have on the united states and our allies. and even absent some military action by the people's republic of china seeking to swallow up

and absorb taiwan with its manufacturing capacity for the semiconductors, if we had another pandemic, if we had another natural disaster, any one of those three things could disrupt that critical supply chain, much to our detriment and that of the rest of the world. we learned one thing in covid-19, and that is that these supply chains are very vulnerable. i still remember the first call i had with my governor when covid broke out, and i said, well, what do you need? what can we do to help? and he said, i need two things -- i need testing and i need p.p.e., personal protective equipment. those are gowns and masks used by healthcare professionals and others to protect themselves when treating people with covid-19. and the fact of the matter is almost all of it is made in

china. this notion of globalization of the economy has led us to believe that the only thing to think about when it comes to manufacturing a product is where can it be made the cheapest. but obviously there's more at stake than just who can make it the cheapest. we learned that in covid-19, thus the need to bolster our critical supply chains across a whole range of products, including semiconductors. well, semiconductors are something that most of us don't know a lot about. i've had to learn a lot myself about it, and i still don't consider myself and i expert. but i asked my staff, i said, well, please, tell me, how important is this? and they said, well, senator, it's everything with an off and on switch involves semiconductors. and if you think about how technological our lives are and how much we depend on everything from the censors in our -- the

sensors in our car, the backup camera when we back our car out of the parking place, to the laptop computers our kids were using during covid-19 to study virtually. then there's farming equipment, communications equipment, medical equipment. all of these rely on semiconductors, and 90% of them come from one region of the world, and that is asia. the shortages we've experienced recently would seem insignificant compared to the complete chaos that would ensue if this supply chain was disrupted. this gets downright dangerous when you think about how a global chip short shortage would impact our national security, and more broadly global security. russia's attack on invasion on ukraine is a wake-up call for the united states and our allies to examine our defense posture across the planet.

one of the bright spots of this, if you can call it that, is that countries in europe, including countries like germany, that were reluctant to contribute 2% of their gross domestic product to the joint collective defense effort of nato has turned around and stepped up. that's a welcome development. but the fact of the matter is our military and our national security depends on access to these semiconductors, because increasingly our military depends on technology to perform their mission. and one advantage that the united states has typically had against our adversaries around the world is our advanced technology and our capacity to innovate and to solve problems using that technology. but here's the bottom line -- that technology cannot function without semiconductors.

it's that simple. whether you're talking about advanced fighters like the fifth-generation fifth, the f-35, you're talking about missile defense systems like iron dome that was used by israel to defeat the rockets that were raining in on it in recent months. a single interceptor used by the iron dome missile defense system, rocket defense system, contains more than 750 semiconductors. just a single one. so semiconductors are our key to confront threats by any adversaries, not just china, and are essential to our economy here in the united states. earlier this week two national security and foreign policy experts at the university of texas wrote an op-ed piece in "the hill" magazine, or newspaper, and they made the

national security case for chips funding. they noted this is not the first time that semiconductors supply chains were regarded as a matter of national security. back in the 1980's president reagan pushed to maintain our competitive edge in these chips, thereby helping us lead in the advanced weapons and aircraft that they enable. as they said, reagan didn't just outspend the soviets. we also outinnovated the soviets, winning that arms race, and that's what we need to do again today. we can't just rely on our ability to spend more than russia or china or any other adversary. we need to outibo vate them -- outinnovate them as well. considering the fact that china is the number one master cheaf of intellectual -- thief of intellectual property, it's all that much more important. some critics of the chips program, introduced by the

senator from virginia, senator warner and myself, both of us serve on the senate select committee on intelligence, is one reason why because of the briefings we get that this became a matter of grave concern to both of us. but the good news is that concern is shared by a broad bipartisan majority in the senate. there are some, though, who said that this initiative is just a bailout for domestic energy. but, madam president, that's not the case at all. this is not a handout. it's frankly one of the tools we have to reshore, to bring back onshore, this essential manufacturing compass iity -- capacity. as well as incentivize domestic industry to build out our capacity here at home. well, here are the numbers -- over the last three decades, the u.s. has gone from producing 37% of the global chip supply to

just 12% today, 12% here in america, the rest of it in asia and other places around the world. that's a big, flashing red light when it comes to our national security. without some federal incentives, companies cannot afford to invest the enormous amount of time and capital needed to stand up new chip fabs or expand existing ones. that's because it costs about 30% more to build these fabs here in america than it does overseas. again, going to the low-cost producer is not the only consideration when it comes to these vulnerable supply chains that are so important to our economy and our national security. that's why it's absolutely critical for us to bring this semiconductor manufacturing back home and full funding for the chips pro yam is the -- program is the best way for us to see

results. we began to establish this program more than a year ago in the national defense authorization act, and the only thing missing now is, well, you guessed it, it's money. we need the appropriation in order to fund this chips program that we began to embrace over a year ago in the national defense authorization act. and that's why it's absolutely critical that we begin the conference committee process for the u.s. innovation and competition act, or whatever it's called today -- i'll have to refresh my memory -- the bipartisan innovation act. since it's had so many different names. but we need to get this done, and we need to get this done now. and we need to get it done right. now, i expect the final bipartisan conference committee report to look a whole lot like the senate version. that's because, as i mentioned a moment ago, the house decided to

take the low road and pass purely a partisan bill. the senate bill was a product of intense bipartisan negotiations and represented a good-faith compromise by all sides. i think that's the best place for us to begin, once the formal conference committee process is under way. i hope we can work quickly to reach a final agreement and one that will serve the interests of the american people, our economy, and most importantly our national security. i urge all our colleagues to weigh into this process so we can begin that conference committee and reach a bipartisan resolution promptly. this is not a time for us to doddle or to play politics. it's a time for us to get the strongest possible bill we can to the president's desk, and that begins with passing this appropriation portion of this

bill to bring that manufacturing capacity back to america. madam president, i yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. president i returned to the united states after leaving a bipartisan senate delegation to poland and germany. 10 senators, republicans and democrats traveled together to demonstrate america's unwavering support for the freedom loving people of ukraine and a firm the strength of the worlds most powerful alliance. i will never forget the

engagement with the ukrainian society leaders. this group of passionate strong women demonstrated ukraine's spirit and there will to fight. they delivered a very clear message to the united states. they said that ukraine can win. they need more aid delivered now our bipartisan delegation supported with the conviction that the united states ukraine and the free world has the will and the means to stop vladimir putin. i'm here on the senate floor today to say that ukraine will

throw the russian army out of their country and they will declare victory over this criminal incursion. ukraine can win this war. when the shooting is over, the russian military will be broken and the russian economy will collapse. consequences for prudence chose my solution and projects and of the real world. he and his cronies, their future is not right either. putin's propaganda media machine will break down. he will be marked by the international community as a war criminal and i predict will be held accountable by his own

people. his best days are behind them, freedom will win. most of the outcomes were improbable just a few weeks ago. intelligence assessments in the first days of the invasion concluded unequivocally that ukraine didn't stand a chance. they predicted putin would pummel kyiv within three to five days. tomorrow marks one month since the start of the war. the russian military is disorganized and it moralized. four separate divisions are all competing for supplies. putin knows he is losing and he is panicking.

he failed to deputy chief of military burning the bodies of their russian casualties. ukraine's forces are hanging tough. the weapons the u.s. and our allies and partners provided are being deployed with lethal efficiency. the frontlines have been chosen berber weekend russian casualties are greater than 1000 a day. ukrainians are intercepting unclassified calls and eliminating russian field commanders. crucially the ukrainian people are ready to fight to the last man. the russian army supports

teenage conscripts subject of an war criminal whose delusions of grandeur about the soviet union drove this invasion. the ukrainian army is made up of free citizens who chose freedom over russian tyranny. putin's invasion doesn't change ukraine's choice and they will not go quietly. given all of this has the united states shifted its strategy? do we believe we can help make a ukrainian victory a mere certainty? we all know why we must come to ukraine's aid. this bodies memory is not that short. the u.s. is in an agreement bound partner with ukraine. we entered into an agreement. we are their partner.

in 1994 ukraine dismantled and surrendered its nuclear armaments entirely in exchange for our security guarantee. the protection of the worlds greatest superpower. our agreement resulted in a prosperous ukraine and made the world a much safer place. vladimir putin attended to snuff it out for good three weeks ago. the american people and the world benefited from the breadbasket of europe's agriculture sector and energy production. ukraine has been an invaluable economic and security partner for nearly 30 years. putin is not only testing that agreement today on the streets

of kyiv mariupol and kharkiv he wants to spread the momentum all around the globe. and folks we can't allow that to happen. we must not. if it has not been made clear enough already and unshakable commitment to our allies and partners to keep them safe. authoritarians weathered the taliban vladimir putin xi jinping, the terrorists the rule iran, they cannot dig the terms for our security and our economy. we are still the world's superpower 28 years after we made a security agreement with ukraine. america cannot he pushed around. we also know how we can come to ukraine's aid. congress just passed $14 billion in support for ukraine which

included nearly $2 billion in lethal weaponry. that aid, those weapons and that logistical support must flow right now. i thought for a provision in the aid package that allowed the president to draw down on. positions military equipment and i will be ensuring he follows through and sends these weapons into ukrainian hands. there is no excuse for americans in action. the commander-in-chief now has the authority to transfer. positions weapons and logistical support, including as many as 40 soviet style helicopters, purchased for afghan security forces to the ukrainians. america's commitment to ukraine and our nato allies demand we

expedite the delivery of weapons and capabilities to ukraine. any delay due to the fears of escalation is reflective of the doctrine of appeasement that will only further embolden our adversaries. pentagon press secretary said recently that success for the u.s. mission in ukraine is at the end of the conflict a free and independent sovereign ukraine. i wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. if that is our mission america has to provide more support to enable ukraine to win this war. we cannot hold back. the u.s. mission in ukraine must go beyond ensuring the country

merely has the means to defend itself against russian aggression. now is not the time to be risk-averse. this administration does little to deter putin's march on kyiv and the invasion that was set in motion as early as april 2021. president biden lifted sanctions on north korea saying the relationship was stable and predictable as late of june as last year and canceled european command military exercises, calling them to evocative. congress and even european nations have hammered, and dragged to push the biden administration into action. from economic sanctions to the russian oil band the

administration has led from behind and from a position of weakness. take the polish mig debacle. three sundays ago secretary blinken gave poland the green light to transfer mig fighter jets to ukraine. the white house did a flip and reject it the transfer of plans as putin might see the move as escalatory. 41 republicans voiced their displeasure to the president for failure to act. leading an adversary defined your military rules of engagement, letting the aggressor dictate the boundaries of our response is not just a folly, it's suicidal. the administration cross their

fingers and hoped putin would play nice. we no putin. he didn't play nice and deterrence failed. the failure of this administration's doctrine of appeasement doesn't mean ukraine would lose the war. i commend actions to shore up the nato alliance following the invasion. our commander-in-chief must now lead and give ukraine the means to win if he is to continue being the most powerful man in the free world. he must act as such. delaying the -- of dictator putin is not an answer. success is not a protected insurgency. success is a free, independent and sovereign ukraine.

defending freedom in ukraine is defending freedom everywhere. authoritarianism cannot prevail in this conflict. and with that mr. president i will yield the floor. >> mr. president. >> the senator from west virginia. >> mr. president for the light to thank my fellow senators and from iowa for leading the delegation trip that we took this past weekend, bipartisan delegation that was most informative and impactful and she did a wonderful job leading that. i was proud of the effort. i'm here to join my colleagues to discuss the invasion, the

unjust and invasion of ukraine by vladimir putin in light of the check that we just took to germany and poland. and the way i'm kind of hesitant to do so not because there isn't a lot to say or a lot to share. because of the powerful words by the ukrainians that we met implored us which was enough talking. it's time to act. and i could not agree more. out of deep respect for them i'd like to take a moment to make sure we all understand why we have to act and why we must act now. as americans we realize this when we talk certainly talking to germans and others and europeans. we don't have the same perspective sometimes that europeans have two world war ii. one of the most powerful invasions was that a new

generation who heard for decades about the atrocities from their parents and their grandparents and they were told this would never happen again and yet what we see is that it is happening again. this is an unjust war and there seems to be no level of atrocity that vladimir putin is unwilling to commit. putin overestimated his ability of his army for the invasion to be over in three days according to him. he overestimated his own ability and he underestimated the will of the ukrainian people and the will to not just live but to live freely. on top of this putin has failed to understand the commitment of the free world, of nato, to stand up for freedom and we certainly saw that over the last several days read we and our nation know the read them is

worth fighting for and it's also worth defending. we have generations of the in the past and will do this in the future and we believe this to our core. we also believe that delivered an evil bombing of hospitals targeting supply routes and killing civilians are the actions of war criminals. in the face of all of this evil we see hope. we see hope from the ukrainian people. we see hope from the ukrainian leadership. we see hope from the ukrainian military and we see hope in our own military forces as a part of nato including all nations of nato as well as the generosity of people around the world. the nongovernmental organizations we saw helping at the refugee centers and the polish people stepping and militarily and on the

humanitarian side and an incredible outpouring. we saw this first-hand at the refugee center. paul went has taken in over 2 million people and to their country which is more than the entire population of -- during her trip we visited a refugee center where ukrainians are going first to be processed as they are leaving to flee their country and after this they end up not in another refugee center. likely in someone's home. also the level of care and support that they received and that is the level of care and support that they deserve as a tribute of their willingness to fight to defend their freedom. many of these women and children , mostly women and children's leaving their husbands in their homes behind. ukraine is united in this we were told ukraine will fight to

the last man. may it never come to the last man because the free world must help. make no mistake the united states of america has chosen a side. we side with freedom. we side with the people of ukraine. just a few weeks ago congress passed $14 billion in support for ukraine and central european allies in the midst of putin's war. it's critical to get these funds and equipment to them now because time is of the essence. as an example congress took an extra week to pass this package. when you are there on the ground talking to the leadership who are trying to push back on putin a week is a lifetime. a week is a lifetime so we cannot afford to hesitate or to

pause and action. in their efforts to get the funds and impose sanctions on russia we must act now and keep acting so madam president as you know you were on the trip as well, we met with diplomats generals and representative from many of our executive agencies, ngos, rave soldiers including many from our home state. i will never forget the words of the one we met named katerina at the refugee processing center. she said in a desperate tone she didn't want to leave ukraine. she did not want to leave her home. she wanted to live in freedom and peace. she had a six and an 80-year-old who were constantly hearing sirens of palm alerts and the sounds of in just the violence. she had no choice. she had to leave to protect her children. so let's do what we can and as

much as we can and as fast as we can in that last part is critical. to return freedom to ukraine and justice to those without respect the sovereignty of the nation. this is really what we owe every child in ukraine, in germany poland and the united states. thank you and i yield back. >> the senator from maine. >> madam president on february february 24, approximately one month ago vladimir putin launched an unprovoked and unjustified war against his neighbor, a free, it democratic and sovereign nation of ukraine. the bipartisan senate delegation went to europe led by senator ernst. i joined over this past weekend

and it was truly extraordinary. it has reinforced my already strong belief that the united states must do all that it can to provide lethal aid to the courageous ukrainian fighting for their families and their freedoms as well is to provide humanitarian assistance necessary to ease the suffering of the ukrainian people. madam president, you were on this trip as well, and like the senator from west virginia who just spoke, my most memorable conversation was visiting a young mother named katerina who had two children, one age eight and one at age six, with her.

i met her at the polish refugee welcome center. it was only a few miles from the ukrainian border. she said to me, i want to live in peace. i want to be back in ukraine. i have to keep my children safe. she was weary looking. determined to keep her children safe. this young mother and her two children were leaving the only country she has ever known. she left her husband behind, not knowing when or if she would see him again. all an order to keep her children safe. madam president we have only to

watch the scenes of what putin is doing to try to destroy ukraine and to break the will of its people. he has bombed apartment buildings, schools, theaters, shelters, humanitarian corridors. he has owned a maternity hospital. what does that tell you about this man? he's a war criminal. what more do we need to know? madam president the only way that we can't and this humanitarian crisis is to provide ukraine with the weapons, supplies ammunition and other assistance that they need to bring to an end this russian war of aggression. we must provide without further

delay to ukrainians with the mig fighter jets that have been held up by this administration in which ukrainian president zelensky has requested. we must ensure that ukraine received additional antiaircraft including the f. 300, whether directly from our stock or those of our allies. we must ensure ukrainians have the means to fight and defend their people from these ongoing atrocities ordered by putin. and we know, we saw first-hand their extraordinary bravery, their determination to fight for their country, to put everything they have on the line. ask thatt

be vitiated. ask thatt the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. fischer: thank you. i would like to tell you a story about north platt, nebraska. during worl -- world war ii, this small, west central nebraska town was one of the most famous in america. it was the epitome of home front patriotism. from christmas day, 1941, to april 1946, north platte was the site of one ever the many community-based can teens that offered hospitality to soldiers on their way to join the fight or on their way back home. there were nearly 120 of these canteens across the united states, mostly along railways, like the union pacific line that still runs through nebraska. of these 120 canteens, north platte was by far the biggest.

it served more than six million servicemembers over the 4 1/2 years it was open. the country's second busiest canteen in ohio served well under half that many soldiers over its lifetime. as many as 24 different troop trains, carrying up to 8,000 uniformed personnel overall rolled through north platte on any given day. here's a quote from a local newspaper about what the residents of just two nebraska towns, myrna and anselmo, dobated to the north platte can teen on a single day in 1944. 53 birthday cakes, 127 fried chickens, 58 dozen homemade cookies, 32 dozen cupcakes, 73 pounds of coffee, 163 dozen eggs, 68 dozen donuts, 41

quarters of pickles, three crates of oranges, nine pounds of ham, 160 loaves of bread, 40 popcorn balls, and 50 pounds of sandwich meat. it took 22 cars and three pickup trucks to drive all those donations 70 miles west to the train station in north platte. members of the community organized regular benefit dances , scrap metal drives and other events to support the canteen's operations. in all, volunteers raised more than $137,000, worth more than $ 2 million today, to support the canteen. and they did it all on their own. as you might imagine, the soldiers who were fortunate enough to stop at the north plattee can teen isn't soon forget the hospitality they

received. russ bay, a whichite, who was barely old enough -- a wisconsinite, who was barely old enough to be drafted when shipped to california for basic training, was one of the lucky soldiers. more than 60 minutes after his 10 minute stop in north platte he told journalist bob green, who wrote a book about the north platte canteen called "once upon a town" quote, i can still taste it. i would say the majority of the men on the battlefield knew exactly what north platte was. they would take about it like it was a dream. out of nowhere, other soldiers would say, how'd you like to have some of that foot from the north platte canteen right about now? end quote. the thought of the north platte canteen kept our soldiers going during one of the darkest periods in world history, and more than 55,000 people, nearly

all of them women, from 125 different communities, chipped in to help run it at one point or another. most were nebraskans, but many were from our neighboring states of colorado and kansas. one of those nebraska women was my mother, florence stroble. she moved from lincoln to teach kindergarten in north platte in the fall of 1944 and she was proud to be among the volunteers at the canteen. to honor everyone who helped give our soldiers a good memory to hold onto while they were away from home, i recently introduced the north platte canteen congressional gold medal act. this bill would awashed a collective -- award a collective congressional gold medal to all of the individuals and communities who volunteered or donated food and other items to the north platte canteen. this is the highest honor

congress can give civilians, and the tens of thousands of people who made america's busiest world war ii canteen a success are certainly deserving of it. under my bill, after the treasury department strikes this congressional gold medal, it would be on display at the lincoln county historical museum in north platte, which has an outstanding exhibit about the canteen. this wouldn't be the first time that congress has given the volunteers at the north platte canteen the recognition they deserve. almost 20 years ago, the 108th congress acknowledged their efforts with a resolution introduced by nebraska representative tom osborne. i hope the 117th congress will do so as well by passing this bill. thank you, madam president. i would yield the floor.

i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

as the apartment six ambassador at large for criminal justice.

an expert in transitional justice or specter professor at stanford law school civil society leader and former deputy in the very office she now leads. ambassador brings a wealth of experience and commitment to this position. we are honored to have her here with us and i'm very glad to have her here today to explain the announcement. without further ado ambassador. >> good afternoon everyone could appreciate the opportunity to address you here today as ambassador at large for global criminal justice. the office of criminal justice provides advice to secretaries and other written it interagency leadership on issues are related to genocide war crimes and crimes against randy. as the secretary did last week or office is leading the department's efforts to collect analyzed documents of potential

war crime. earlier today secretary blinken issued a statement announcing information that is currently available. u.s. government -- russian forces are committing war crimes in ukraine. i want to provide you with additional information underlying this assessment. we have all seen with it images and accounts of expensive and unrelenting attacks on civilians and civilian sites being conducted by russian forces in ukraine. there have been numerous credible reports of hospitals schools theaters etc. being intentionally attacked as well as indiscriminate attacks. russia's forces have destroyed apartment buildings hospitals and other elements of the critical civilian infrastructure. we've been shocked by images of russian forces hitting civilian sites in mariupol including a maternity hospital in museum and

an art school. the united nations and other critical observers have confirmed hundreds of civilian deaths and we believe the exact toll will be in the thousands. last week secretary blinken expressed his view that some of russians reported attacks did in fact constitute war crimes of the size the department of state and other u.s. department will be documenting and discussing the facts and the law surrounding these reports. the assessment has concluded with the current review of currently available information both public and from intelligence sources. this review underpinned the assessment that the secretary announced today that russian forces are indeed committing war crimes in ukraine. as with any alleged crime ultimately it will go before a court of law to determine criminal responsibility and who is directly responsible for these particular cases. u.s. government to continue to track reports coming out of

ukraine of war crimes and we will share this information with our friends and allies with international and multilateral agencies as appropriate. where are also supporting the ukrainian prosecutor general's office in their workroom directed in a civil society documentation effort. i want to read or radar solidarity with people of ukraine. we are committed using all the tools available to us including criminal prosecution. as the secretary said those who are responsible for such abuses must to be held accountable. without i would welcome some questions. >> thank you ambassador and welcome and congratulations on your confirmation. i'm just curious in terms of the information that you say you are collecting or have collected and are going to share with partners and allies and national institutions where exactly do you think the accountability is

going to come from? it does not appear likely and in fact it's impossible that any u.n. mandated or u.n. approved report will take this up considering it's going to go to the security council so where exactly are you expecting the accountability to come from? >> i've considered all the options available to us including domestic courts and the courts in ukraine itself is at territorial state in a director at in supporting efforts to build capacity within that office to help them adjudicate cases over particular. in addition states in the region who would potentially be able to do a trial would have jurisdiction over war crimes

committed in ukraine and we welcome the fact that the incoming prosecutor of international criminal court has opened an investigation into the situation in ukraine so they are options for accountability even absent of a dedicated tribunal as you mentioned. >> the previous administration had sanctions against the ipc. are you cooperate in with the prosecutor of the ipc? >> we are considering the various options for accountability. it has no been -- there's not been as specific as in the prosecutor has been meeting with the parties which are members of the court and they have specific asks for those members who have paupers in with the court. as a nonstate party member. we aren't a member of the court so we don't have any affirmative corporation. >> thank you ambassador. [inaudible]