price as is real hunger right in some occurring today, a lot more -- >> we leave this program here. the u.s. senate is gaveling back into session following their midday recess. take you live to the senate floor on c-span2.

this last week with a gdp this last quarter slipping another 1.4%. across the board. and what we need to see again is really focusing on ways that we can build up small businesses, unleash the economy. but what their answer is, is democrats with leader schumer, is to say we need to raise your taxes and spend more money as a federal government. and folks, i'm here to tell you it hasn't worked in the past year plus of the biden administration. it's not going to work when americans in small businesses are hurting with so many inflationary issues and supply chain challenges. so again let's find ways to ease the burden off of our small businesses. let's get big government off of their backs, and let's get this

economy roaring the way it should. let's see some shifts in the leadership and make sure we're supporting our small businesses. >> in the last few days the biden administration knaus said the department of homeland security now has a disinformation board. this isn't about the truth. this is about protecting families. this is about your federal government, deciding what truth is and what speech is acceptable. anybody who read george robles 1984 remembers the thought police. the thought police would tell everybody exactly how they could think and what they could say. remember this, we've been dealing with this in social media where they decided that taking example with hunter biden slapped up what was true and what was not true. and republican work conspiracy theorist because that's what they decided. now we know that all the stories about biden's laptop, it was

hunter biden's laptop. so every american should be concerned about the biden administration out creating a disinformation board that is going to be able to tell americans what the truth is just like they will go off to the left, tell americans exactly what the truth is and what you can talk about. >> you have adamantly, you've been adamant about protecting the filibuster. i wonder if the supreme court does indeed strike down roe, , u commit to keeping the filibuster in place at all costs? >> absolutely. we don't want to break the senate, and that's breaking the senate. and we went through that exercise a couple months ago. i said it was the most important date in history of the senate as an institution, and remains the case and as far as i'm concerned if we're in the majority remain the case in perpetuity.

>> you spent decades straight remake the court, overturn roe. if you take personal credit for abortion rights likely to go away for millions of people in this country? >> i think the story today is an effort by someone on the inside to discredit the institution of the senate, which continues a pattern that we've observed over the last couple of years. leader schumer over on the steps of the supreme court called out justices by name. sheldon whitehouse and others by the amicus briefs threatening the court. efforts to pack the court. efforts to have term limits for court justices. what's unique about today is this is the first time we met somebody on the inside tried to attack the institution. fortunately, i think the chief

justice has taken that seriously, and we will find the leaker. >> democrats say the prospect of roe being overturn and so the more restrictive trigger laws come into effect without exemption for rape and incest will shock the public and motivate voters in november. what is your response to that? >> that's not the story for today. the story for today is what i just said. >> if roe struck down the you see the need for federal abortion restriction legislation in congress? >> look, all of this puts the cart before the horse. we have three supreme court clerks in my coffers. they all explain the procedure and our entire conversation today was about what i've just been talking to you about, and you need, it seems to me, excuse the lecture, to concentrate on what the news is today, not a leaked draft but the fact that the draft was leaked.

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: thank you, madam president. madam president, we yield back

time, and i would ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the acquaintance are ordered. -- the yeas and nays are ordered. without objection, all postcloture time is expired. the question occurs on the nomination. the acquaintance are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. -- the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 62, the nays are 34 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 of the senate's actions. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session and the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 360, s.j. res. 39, with time, the time until 4:45 equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees and that at 4:45 the joint resolution be read a third time and senate vote on passage of the joint resolution with no intervening action or debate. further, that upon disposition of the joint resolution, the senate resume executive session.

the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the joint resolution. the clerk: calendar number 360, s.j. res. 39, joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, and so forth. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today to talk about our nation's economy. on friday, we saw new inflation numbers, and we found that inflation remains the worst that it's been in 40 years. we also found out that in the first three months of this year the american economy actually shrank. why did it shrink? well, because of the inflation that is hitting hard every family in america. so now we have a terrible situation with soaring inflation

and a stagnant economy both at the same time. people are paying more and more, and they're getting less and less. the last time this happened, madam president, was in the 1970's. it was called stagflation. back then all the liberal economic experts said it was impossible. you couldn't have soaring inflation and a stagnant economy, but we did. and now here we are 50 years later, same thing again. this is hitting american families like a sledgehammer, and the people are suffering all across this country. inflation has been so high for so long, the experts tell us it might lead to a recession. now, a recession is when the economy shrinks for six months. we're already halfway there.

joe biden the other day said everything was fine. he said he was not concerned at all about a recession. he said no one is predicting a recession right now. well, that's just not true. maybe he's not listening, but people within his own administration are predighting -- predicting additional, dire economic times ahead. our economy has underperformed projections in four out of the last five quarters since joe biden has become president. joe biden's own labor secretary admits a recession is a real likelihood. last month, deutsche bank preducted recession by the end of next year. three days later, the bank of america told investors inflation shock is worsening, interest rate shock is just beginning, and recession shock is coming. bank of america went on to say inflation is out of control and inflation causes recessions. last month, larry summers

pointed out that the united states has never had the currents inflation rate and the current unemployment rate without a recession coming within two years. larry summers went on to say recession in the next couple of days is -- couple of years is more likely than not. more likely than not. he said i expect that is how the consensus will evolve. well, larry summers is right. he's been right before. he's been right about inflation. this is economics 101. it's also american history 101. high inflation gets -- it brings about a change in the federal reserve so they raise interest rates, and when they raise interest rates the economy slows down. that's what we're seeing. inflation is the worst it's been in 40 years, and in march the federal reserve raised rates for the first time in four years. the fed is widely expected to raise rates again very soon.

easy to see where this is all going. joe biden's inflation will soon lead to joe biden's recession. now, maybe joe biden is hoping that stagnation will be transitory, just like he said of inflation for month after month after month after month after month after month. look, the american people have seen this before. unlike joe biden, the american people are concerned about inflation and they are concerned about a stagnant economy and they are concerned about a recession. apparently, the president likes to laugh about it. in the last 12 months, we've seen the highest inflation ever recorded for household staples -- chicken, lunch meat, baby food, hard-to-get infant formula now, a shortage of that all across the country. the american people are feeling stuck in place. they're very stressed, and they feel the squeeze every day.

one estimate says the typical family will pay $5,200 more this year than they did last year just to buy the same things. that's $100 a week, madam president. this is in addition to the inflation that we suffered last year. added two together, working families are paying much, much more to buy the same things that they bought two years ago. the truth is painful, and the painful truth is that the average american family is poorer today than they were the day that joe biden took office. people have had to change so much of their lives because of this. they've had to change the way they drive. had to change the way they shop and eat. had to change the way they live. a poll last week found that two out of every three american families have had to cut back on spending because of inflation. half said they were struggling

to pay rent. nearly 90% of the american people said they want congress to bring down inflation. so what did democrats have to do about this over the last 15 months? well, last week the democrat leader said this, he said he wants to raise taxes. he said it's the only way to conceivably bring down inflation, raising taxes. well, that may be the only way that chuck schumer knows. i would just say that's not going to bring down inflation, and it's not going to help the economy. prices are up, interest rates are going up. now democrats want taxes to go up on top of it. energy prices are at record highs. you have to empty your wallet to fill your tank. and yet chuck schumer's answer is higher tax rates. with the recession about to hit the country, democrat want to take more money out of the

pockets of hard-working people. well, there's not a lot left to take i would say to the majority leader of the united states senate and to the president of the united states. it's really no wonder, then, that two out of every three americans disapprove of the way the president of the united states is handling the economy. american people know that democrats, every one of them, voted in lockstep with joe biden for 15 months. they remember every single democrat in the senate voted with joe biden on his major spending bill. american people remember every democrat supported joe biden's economic priorities, which of course hurt the economy. the results have been disastrous for the american people. we know what we need to do. we need to lower costs. we need to reduce these burdensome regulations. we need to get back to american energy, american energy, affordable energy, reliable

energy, not going hat in hand to people around the world. we do much better if we're american energy dominant, selling energy to our friends, rather than having to buy it from our enemies. madam president, we've had the strongest economic times in the united states in ni lifetime -- in my lifetime prior to the pandemic. we know what brought it to us. it was lower taxes, more american energy, limiting regulations. those are the things that make a difference. those are the things that joe biden has chosen to ignore. the american people are struggling and suffering, and it's about time they get an administration focused on their needs, not on the needs of an

administration which is woefully out of touch with the american people. thank you, mr. president. thank you, madam president. -- thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader whip. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. americans across the country today woke up to a rare occurrence in the history of our american democracy. the highest court in our land is preparing to eliminate a federally protected constitutional right, a woman's right to choose. i'm an amateur historian, but i can't think of a precedent in history where the supreme court has taken away a constitutional right after it's been in place

for 50 years. women in america may soon live in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents. let me be clear -- the leak of the majority draft opinion in dobbs v. jackson women's health organizations is a breech of the court's cf dentiality -- breach abreechtions. the draft, which has been authenticated by the chief justice, is very real. there's a peculiar political event this afternoon. senator mcconnell, the republican leader, who has focused more of his energy and efforts on reshaping the federal judiciary to reflect his political point of view, was virtually silent on the issue of this alito draft opinion on the dobbs case. he couldn't be pinned down as to whether he would acknowledge it or even say something good about

it. supposedly, it was the answer to his political prayer. he went so far in trying to reach this goal as to protect a vacancy on the supreme court for almost ten months. anton scalia died while barack obama was still president, in the last year of his second term, and mcconnell, senator mcconnell, made the argument that he did not have the authority, since he was a lame duck president, in senator mcconnell's words, to fill the vacancy. so the supreme court was there with eight members for ten months, until senator mcconnell's political prayer was answered again, and donald trump was elected president and could appoint a justice of senator mcconnell's political liking. so he has been very successful in his approach to filling vacancies on the u.s. supreme court with people who agree with his political philosophy. now, one of them, justice aleet

'-- justice alito, is about to hand down an opinion, we eye limb nates roe v. wade, consistent with senator mcconnell's belief stated on the floor many times. yet, when he was asked today whether he was in favor of thismen -- of this opinion, he refused to answer. he wanted to focus on who leaked this opinion. of course, that's an important question. the court is working on it right now, with the chief justice turning his u.s. marshal on the case. but he -- senator mcconnell insisted on avoiding even taking a position on this draft opinion that has now been spread across america. it makes no sense at all. women across america are grappling with the very real concern, and yes, you could say fear, that they may luczak sess to reproductive -- may luczak sess to reproductive freedom of choice in a matter of weeks. if true, this decision will end a 50-year guarantee that reproductive rights are protected by our constitution. if this radical decision becomes the law of the land, it would

deny tens of millions of americans their bodily autonomy. in an instant, abortion would be rendered illegal in more than a dozen states. in this land of liberty, the government has no business interfering with a woman's right to her own reproductive health care. can it's her right to choose. plain and simple. for the past several decades, the far right has fought relentlessly to owe limb nate this constitutional right -- to eliminate this constitutional right. they've waged a harsh campaign to, in some instances, punish the women seeking abortions. in texas last year, lawmakers passed a law that has turned bounty hunters loose on anyone that even helps a woman receive an abortion. and that mississippi law that the court's poised to up hold, makes no exception for women seeking the abortion in the case of rape or incest. at a certain point, you have to ask what is the real goal here?

these restrictive laws won't stop people from getting abortions. we know that from history. they only make the procedure dangerously unsafe, and in some cases prohibitively expensive for low-income americans. women's lives are literally at stake. furthermore, we have hardly begun to reckon with the consequences of this decision when it comes to other fundamental liberties. i read justice alito's draft opinion. it's hard for me to describe it in a few words. but when it comes to issues as fundamental as privacy and personal choice, justice alito takes a pretty harsh point of view. he acknowledges the cases that are ofted cited in the case of privacy, such as griswold. i can vaguely remember before the griswold decision in the 1960's, the decision of selling contraceptives was subject to strict state regulation. and in many states they prohibited the

sale of any forms of contraception. it's hard for america to believe that when you see forms of contraception advertised on tv these days, but there was a time in the 1950's and before where state regulation prevailed. griswald and the supreme court case looked at the case in connecticut and said it's fundamentally right. we believe individuals have a right of privacy to make their own decisions on contraception. that was a privacy right i respect, yet, if you're careful and read every single word, you will never find the word privacy. the supreme court found privacy that seven other amendments. that wouldn't be good enough for justice alito on the basis of this of draft opinion. he said since he can't find the word abortion in the constitution, he doesn't believe there's a right to it. he goes on to compare it to

privacy rights like the one i described in griswald versus connecticut, and he is saying that privacy is the right to choose your own personal lifestyle. but it's more than that. it gets down to the fundamentals. if you are going to make a decision on a family, a husband and wife on how many children and when they will have children, it is one of the basic things when you define freedom in this country. that's not the way that justice alito finds it in the dobbs position. if we look at this decision behind other rights, the implications are staggering. the supreme court could turn back the clock on a whole host of civil liberties. what's next? the return of state ban on contraception? bans on same-sex marriage? bans on the permissible conduct of lgbtq in a different sexual orientation situation?

all of that could be on the table. now the supreme court confirmed that this draft is authentic, the members of the senate cannot delay. we need to hold a vote codifying the right to abortion and law. let's show the american people where each senator stands. senator mcconnell ducked the question at a press conference today. i don't understand why. but he can't duck the vote. we will make sure there is a vote and that he and other senators will have an opportunity to express their vote. will we have a country that is less free for our children? now, mr. president, i ask consent that the following remarks be placed in a separate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: last month on the evening of april 5, a drone whizzed through the skies of shanghai china. the city had been shut down for a week following an uptick in

covid. the government forced 2,600 residents into a strict lockdown. nobody was allowed to leave their home, not teefn to buy groceries -- not even to buy groafers or medicine. -- groceries. in one housing come -- complex people demanded. the drone stopped flying. it blinked a white flashing light as a robotic voice issued a command, a command that would send chills down the spine of anyone. the drone instructed the residents to comply with the lockdown and then said, control your soul's desire for freedom. as government drones patrol shanghai skies, robotic dogs are patrolling the city's empty streets, barking commands at

citizens to, quote, remain civilized. these methods of enforcement and control did not appear out of of mid air. they have developed -- next generation technology. technology, of course, by itself is neither good nor bad. the same technology can be used to advance freedom and technology as they use to suppress it. for instance, facial recognition technology, it's built into our smartphones to protect our data. it is also used to tabulate their social credit scores in china. the chinese use artificial data for the drones, particularly on ethnic minorities, like the uighurs. scientific and technological

innovation are critical to america's future prosperity and standard of living, but innovation is also critical to our national security and to the future of our country. who do we want to take the lead in shaping the future? the united states and the other democracies of the world or authoritarian states like china and russia? china's technological clock -- this show the annual growth in r&d, note that leading the pack is china, korea second, taiwan third, israel four, united states, five. from 1995 to 2018, china increased its investment in research and development by more by 15%, reaching $416 billion. since then they have accelerated in pace.

they have spent more than korea. america grew by less than 5%, leaving it only $89 billion aced head of china. a report warned that china is a full specter competitor when it comes to a.i. and quantum computing. i have worked for years on the senate appropriations committee to address this gap, to boost federal investments in science, technology, and medical r&d. for america to remain the scientific and technological leader of the world we need to act to increase investment. the u.s. investment and competition act will enable us to make these investments, it's a down payment on a more secure america. usica will unleash -- it will strengthen national security and harness american innovation to

drive economic growth. it includes a provision i led with senator shaheen that requires the u.s. to increase exports by 200% to african, latin america, markets. this is going to help american workers. and importantly, usica will innovate american manufacturing by bringing microchip production back to our shows. it will expand our u.s. microchip industry. a critical component in our future economy. microchips, the small pieces of silicon power everything from smartphones to appliances like refrigerators and microwaves. right now there is a serious global shortage. it has disrupted nearly every industry. it is leading to higher prices. america invented the microchip

and we used to make it here too, but we let that manufacturing and production get away. now we need to bring it home. today we produce 10% of the supply of microchips. outsourcing microchip production has massive consequences for our economy. when a manufacturer in china halts their production, it affects our country. we rely on other competitors. with usica we can rebuild america's manufacturing and solve supply chain shortages, it will incentivize companies to make share products here at home. in addition to shoring up the supply chain, usica will protect american consumers. the house has a counterpart bill, the america competes act. included is something called the informed sciewrps act. i introduced -- informed

consumers act. it is led in the house. this bill will help prevent counterfeit goods from china and from our retail stores from being hawked. it was ten years ago or more, home depot came to see me. they said, we have a problem. i said what is it? they said our drills are being sold on an internet marketplace. i said what's wrong with that? they're not being sold by us and it is drills being made in china. they said someone is stealing enough of them they can offer them for sale on the internet. i said, well, that explains a lot of what is going on. go into a drug store and buy a deodorant and it is under lock and key. you think, that is under lock

and key. why? because it is so frequently stolen in bulk, whether it's home depot's drill or the deodorant at walgreenss, people are stealing them because there are gangs peddling these goods on the internet. we put together a bill, senator cassidy and myself, that prevents these counterfeit and stolen goods from being sold without disclosing the name of the seller. we had resistance. they didn't want to disclose the name of the seller. we told them that seller is selling stolen goods on your marketplace. that is their business. they have a right to confidentiality. our bill is supported by a broad coalition, the national association of manufacturers, the fraternal order of police, afl-cio and consumer reports. i think it's about time. you look at the gangs doing all of this shoplifting and massive

amounts and pouring it into garbage bags, they've got a syndicate, a gang land operation which filters all these goods into an internet marketplace. if we can start to identify these sellers of these illegal and stolen goods, perhaps we can start to bring justice to this situation. finally usica is going to make crucial investments in america's capacity to innovate and pioneer groundbreaking technology. it offers billions of dollars for the national science foundation to help scientists unlock a.i., quantum computing and other technology. this will make a difference. two weeks ago i was at the university of illinois and a dr. ponch who heads up the national science foundation made a visit. many of the yufts in our state -- universities in our state do research and the

university of illinois has several grants from the national science foundation. and they are looking at the products being funded. i can't describe some of them, but i'm just a liberal arts lawyer, i heard the descriptions about the next generation of computing and technology. one of the projects, which i did understand of it was led by professor chaudhary, along with the c.e.o. of his company. the project they've kartd is earth -- started is earth sense. their goal is to combine machine learning with smart agriculture to build robots that our farmers can use to grow crops more efficiently and improve the environment. so i watched their little robots go to work. they are powered by batteries. and if you can picture a corn field, and we've got a lot of them in in illinois, these

robots go between the rows of corn, while they go down the rows, they gather information, moisture in the ground, pictures of the soybeans and the corn above them to determine if they are successful and most productive and at the same time they are spreading seeds for af cover crop that's -- for a cover crap that is going to help the -- with the harvesting of the corn. i think that is the future of the farmer. i think a picture of a farmer on a tractor is going to be a souvenir. the farms of the future will be -- it will be farmedded by machines -- farmed by machines. earth sense is a good illustration. let's give them the tools an

resources they need. if we want a future that flying drones overhead tell people that they need to suppress their desire for freedom. which nations and which values will shape the future will be shaped by the decisions we make here in washington. let's send this competitive package to president biden's desk and invest in america. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i want to take a few minutes to speak about orrin hatch, who many of us were fortunate to work with for many, many years. he had a tremendous impact on the united states senate and in turn on america. barbara and i first want to express our condolences to his wife elaine, their six children,

their families, and all those who mourn the passing of this outstanding public servant and humble servant of the lord. senator hatch's funeral will be this friday. in december of 2018, as his incredible 42 years in the united states senate were drawing to a close, orrin hatch delivered the usual farewell address of retiring members here on the senate floor. concerned about the direction that he had seen this institution take in recent years, he said, quote, we must restore the culture of comity, compromise, and mutual respect that used to exist here and still does to some extent. -- in some respects, end of

quote. he also said -- and this is a shorter quote -- we must not be enemies but friends. in his farewell address and in the quotes that i just read, orrin's commitment to mutual respect and integrate is made very, very clear. it's also a charge to us to honor his memory by taking his words to heart as we go about our work here and what we do across the country. during orrin's career, he served as chairman of the finance committee, the judiciary committee, and president pro tempore of the united states senate and i've had the honor to do those same three things. the finance committee and the judiciary committee are powerful committees that deal with

matters of broad importance to america. decisions are made there that directly affect the lives of all americans. many times dearly held beliefs and principles held by different senators come into conflict during long hours of work on important legislation or high level cabinet and judicial nominations. many of the tributes to orrin have already made an observation which i share from our decades of work together at the negotiating table. orrin was an unflinching statesman who stayed true to his values and his convections and financed disagreements with the spirit of collegiality. he always remembered that he was working with friends and not enemies.

and he always remembered why he was in the united states senate, to represent the great people of utah. orrin's ability to disagree without being disagreeable is evident from his incredible level of productivity. according to the orrin g. hatch foundation, when he retired he had passed more legislation into law than any living senator and sponsored or cosponsored more than 750 bills that were enacted into law. as anyone who has spent any length of time in the senate knows very well, getting legislation enacted into law, especially any enduring legislation, requires the ability to develop relationships and build trust with members of both parties.

to be productive over the long term, those relationships need to be able to withstand the unproductive partisanship that tends to dominate the fleeting issues of the day. some of orrin's most significant legislative accomplishments highlight his ability to work across the aisle. a prime example is the drug price competition and patent term restoration act also known as hatch-waxman stemming from his work with long time democrat congressman henry waxman. another important piece of legislation is the state children's health insurance program on which he worked with the late senator ted kennedy. orrin regularly talked about

working with his good friend senator kennedy. for many years orrin hatch and ted kennedy appeared to be complete opposites. they couldn't imagine, those two senators with very different views, could even work together much less be friends. people that say that don't understand how the senate works. orrin's spirit of bipartisanship didn't come at the expense of his principles. whether he was criticized for compromising with democrats or for not compromising enough, orrin stuck with what he believed was the right thing to do. as chairman of the finance committee during consideration of the tax cuts and jobs act, orrin took the lead in drafting the most important tax reform legislation to be enacted in

more than 30 years. when staff would discuss provisions to be included in the legislation, orrin would repeatedly ask what's the correct tax policy -- what the correct tax policy was. this was always his primary concern, not what was most politically expedient policy or the best policy to win reelection, orrin wanted to get the details right and the rest of his decision flowed from that perspective. and i know because i worked with him for decades on that committee and particularly during that legislation. despite the criticism he would get from all sides, orrin would never let that drive him off course from sticking with his values and from being civil with his colleagues. in his office orrin had a statue

of a red tailed hawk that staff had given to him. he had a plaque on that staff that said tough old bird. he adopted that phrase to describe himself to reporters and many who met him in his office. his tough-old-bird status was fully evident one late night during finance committee consideration of that tax bill i've referred to, the tax cuts and jobs act. when republicans were accused of only being interested in looking out for the very rich, orrin forcefully noted his own very humble beginnings. he shared how he had worked his whole career for, quote-unquote,

people who don't have a chance. another principle orrin shared with me is the importance of the our staff. to be effective day in and day out and to sift through the avalanche of information that comes into every senator's office, good staff are vital, particularly when a senator has served for a lengthy period of time. staff are important to preserve the institutional memory of a committee. from years of around-the-clockwork, they become really a second family. they may not share blood ties but they share loyalty and share service, to dig down into the trenches when policymaking and politics becomes a blood sport.

so having longevity and a cohesion within a staff is very, very important. a tradition that i believe was unique to the hatch office, hatch office was the election of a pioneer day king and queen, people within that office. now, pioneer day is a utah state holiday that celebrates the entry of the first mormon pioneers into salt lake valley on july 24, 1847. to recognize that holiday, everyone working for senator hatch, whether in his personal office or on a committee he chaired, would vote for king and

queen from a slate of candidates from within that office. at a lunch attended by the whole office, orrin would announce the winners and crown the king and queen. the coronation was a salute to their service to the people of utah whose endearing pioneer spirit rings true this very day. outside of ensuring his office was a place that good staff would want to work in, orrin was no aloof boss. his sincerity shined through with me and his senate colleagues and then, of course, with his staff. he wanted to know what was happening in his staff's lives and made sure to say that he appreciated their advice, even when he might not take that

advice. in closing i return to what i said about orrin and what he said in his farewell address. i associate myself with his remarks that we must be friends and not enemies. that is how we can honor orrin hatch and keep his spirit within this institution that he cared so much for and devoted much of his life to right here in the senate. orrin's lifetime of public service helped generations of families in utah achieve a better quality of life and made america and the united states senate a better place. godspeed, my friend. i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island.

mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the following senators be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled vote. myself up for 15 minutes. senator murray for up to five minutes. senator thune for up to five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, this is my 283rd travel to the senate floor to ask that we wake up to the threat of climate change, an issue that demands right now american leadership. over the recent recess, i traveled to parts of the world where climate catastrophe looms, and i saw firsthand what the absence of american leadership has cost. my first stop was the 2022 our oceans conference in pall ao where i joined secretary john kerry to discuss the state of our oceans. it was another productive our oceans conference leading to 410 commitments from around the world worth $16.35 billion to

fund climate action, reduce plastic pollution, and reduced illegal fishing among other things. these commitments are indeed a hopeful sign. pallou is a tiny nation on the pacific rim. it relies almost entirely on the ocean with tourism and fishing as a way of life. it has a front row seat to the changes taking place in our ocean. rising ocean temperatures and sea levels, acidification, disruptive fisheries, more frequent storms they see and feel these every day. i've spoken a lot about the amount of heat trapped by greenhouse gas pollution and then absorbed by our oceans. it's equivalent to atomic bombs being detonated in the ocean

every second. that's the heat load we are adding. the last three decades our oceans warmed eight times faster than preceding decades. this is so much heat, you have to measure it using a special super unit of measurement, the zettajoule. what's a zettajoule? a joule is our standard unit of heat energy. a zettajoule is that unit with 21 zeros, 21 zeros behind it. here's a more practical reference. all the energy used annually by all the people in all the world, all of it adds up to one half,

one half of a zettajoule. well, what does this mean for oceans? scientists tell us that the top 2,000 meters of ocean have absorbed a record 227 excess zettajoules of energy from 1981 to 2010. the current rate is to load 14 zettajoules of heat into our oceans every single year, which means we are loading into our oceans every year nearly 30 times more heat than the entire energy use of the entire species on the entire planet. if you take a look at the segment of our energy use that is produced by fossil fuels,

that segment, which is less than half a zettajoule, is creating this effect of 14 zettajoules into the oceans every single year. we are pumping into the oceans nearly 30 times our total global human energy use. this kind of heat is why coral reefs face mass bleaching and are dying. and, of course, dead reefs threaten the collapse of the entire ocean ecosystems. and it's not just dying reefs. sea levels are rising and will rise by feet in the decades ahead, a big problem for coastal communities everywhere, including connecticut and rhode island. i landed in palau on the heels of an unexpected tropical storm, unseasonal, that grew into a

violent typhoon. climate change makes these storms more frequent, more severe, and more unpredictable, putting coastal infrastructure everywhere under serious threat. from palau, i met up with a congressional delegation traveling from -- to india and in a pall, two nations -- nepal, two nations at the center of dire security risks. the himalayan glaciers are the source of much of asia's fresh water. the himalayan snowcap is so big, it is described as the earth's third pole. the north pole with all of its ice, the south pole with all of its ice, and the himalayan gray sherr, with all of -- glacier with all of its ice. as the planet warms, those himalayan glaciers shrink away. our 1.5 degree celsius global warming target right now is in effect a 2.1 degree celsius

global warming target for the himalayas. and himalayan glacier mass is expected to drop by more than a third by the end of the century. if the glaciers aren't there to feed the rivers, the rivers don't have the water to flow, and for india the consequences are deadly serious. according to the u.s. institute of peace, losing that glacial flow will spell rampant sickness, hunger, and economic calamity downstream which could, as they say -- i quote them --in turn open the door to conflict, end quote. well, obviously if people don't have the water they need to live, they are going to fight over it. a likely flash point is kashmir, the region between india and pakistan, two nuclear-armed adversaries. india's parliament has reported on the challenge climate change poses for distributing scarce himalayan water among india and

pakistani regions. new dams are in kashmir. pakistan fears that india will cut off flow into pakistan. suspicions between the two countries run high and long memories of conflict linger. food security, electricity generation and public safety are all at stake, giving nuclear-armed adversaries a lot to fight over. so what did we see and feel in india? scotching heat, 109 degrees fahrenheit tautaug ma shall. last week in deli, thermometers topped 110 degrees. temperatures hit 117.5 degrees in another area. in another area of pakistan, temperatures exceeded 122

degrees. try to walk around and work and live out of doors in 122 degrees. it doesn't work. this is the kind of heat where the human body no longer functions properly. it can't cool itself. and of course electricity grids fail and lots of water evaporates. we discussed these issues with the nepally prime minister and congress president. they are government is clear-eyed about this problem. their glaciers are thinning before their eyes. they see it now and they feel it in river flow, and they see it in glacier collapse, which leads to catastrophic downstream flooding. they feel all of these shocks to their region's food supply and every tremor from their neighbor's conflicts. and their message to us was really clear -- nepal is ready to join hands with the u.s. on the issue of climate change, one of the nepaly parliamentarians told us. but the u.s. needs to step up.

our last stop was doha where i met with the international guard and other servicemembers carrying out vital missions in the middle east at al duhai air base. the defense department is worried about climate heat compromising its flight operations in places as hot as doha. it gets hard to operate out on the runways in the kind of heat that climate change is causing. and doha is hot. you may recall the news a few years ago about qatar considering air conditioning the out-of-doors. d.o.d.'s october 2021 climate risk analysis listed rising temperatures affecting flight operations and aircraft performance. quote, loss of payload capacity, range, and loiter time, end quote, as the military has to

schedule for too-hot-to-fly times of day. for the airmen i met with out protecting our country, these are real issues now. so, mr. president, the world crisis out for -- the world cries out for congress to act, to reclaim america's place of leadership on this defining issue of our time. the people of palau cannot fix the ocean heat on their own. the people of india, pakistan, and nepal cannot solve the disappearance of the himalayan glaciers on their own. and our airmen cannot cool the temperatures disrupting their flight operations on their own. president clinton once said that the world was always more impressed by the power of our american example than by any example of our american power.

if we are to remain daniel webster's city on a hill, we must reflect the power of that good american example beyond our borders. this goes beyond climate change, mr. president. this goes to the heart of the integrity of the american brand. at the end of an american century where we rebuilt europe with the marshall plan and rebuilt asia with the being a arthur plan and set the -- with the macarthur plan and set the stage for the freedom and growth that this century has produced, we are at risk of squandering that entire reputation as people from palau to nepal suffer and experience the consequences of climate change and know perfectly well that america could have and should have led, that america could have and should have done something about this, that america knew what the climate risk was and failed to act and that the failure is

explained by the worst of all possible reasons -- we got rolled by the special interests, the fossil fuel industry, whose conflict of interest is apparent but whose power through dark money and pressure and corruption in this body has disabled us for more than a decade from doing what everyone knows is right. our failure and the disgraceful reason for it will be a visible blot on america's standing for decades if we don't act. if we don't act, if we fail, don't think no one will notice. what we are doing is open and notorious, and it is a devastating failure of american leadership. we must pass a real climate bill now. it is time, as i have said 283

times, to wake up. i yield the floor. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: mr. thune: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, as i mentioned earlier today on the floor, president biden has apparently decided that covid is over at our southern border but not -- not apparently for american toddlers. while a court injunction has barred enforcement in a number

of states, the department of health and human services has still not repealed its mask and vaccine mandate for head start programs. a mandate that requires children as young as two years old to wear masks indoors and, incredibly, outside. mr. president, the scientific evidence for masking toddlers is shaky at best. the world health organization does not recommend masking for children under five. and the concerns about the effect on speech and children's development are real. but none of that seems to matter to the administration. despite the low danger of serious illness in children, apparently the biden administration believes that toddlers should be masked in perpetuity, a position secretary besir a doubled down on -- becerra doubled down on last month. the biden administration isn't going to repeal its toddler mask

parent, it is -- mandate, it is time for congress to step in and do it for them. the resolution i'm working on would end the administration's mandate, and i urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting for this resolution. it is past time to call a halt to the biden administration's outdated and unscientific mandate and ensure that our toddlers can run around the playground mask-free. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. president, i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. murray: mr. president, are would we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mrs. murray: i ask that the quorum call be lived. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask that lauren battle be granted floor privileges through july 1, to 22. -- july 1, 2022. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you. what we are about to vote on is another distraction while republicans are taking away republicans are taking away abortion rights. i want to be clear this vote is more than about masks. the congressional review act resolution could have hugely intentionally damaging effects not just for the current

pandemic but for the future as well. young children getting an early education through our head start program are the only age group that cannot yet be vaccinated against covid-19. that means parents of children under 5 are in a really difficult position right now. they don't have the choice to vaccinate their children so they are dependent on the adults who care for them to do everything they can to continue protecting them. but senator thune's resolution fails to take into consideration the concerns of parents with young children. and i don't just mean masks. this resolution would also take away a rule for head start programs to ensure that adults are vaccinated when caring for kids who cannot get vaccinated themselves. now, once our youngest children can get fully vaccinated, it probably makes sense to revisit some of these requirements, but we are not there yet.

something i know so many parents are worried about and frustrated by. right now we need do everything we can to protect our children and give parents some peace of mind. we also need to think about the dangerous repercussions this c.r.a. could have in the future. this resolution would prevent h.h.s. from implementing critical public health practice also that keep our kids safe in the future, enacting a c.r.a. con strains an agency's ability to regulate again in that space. i cannot overemphasize how serious a step that would be. what if there is a new threat but we can't implement new health measures which we can use to keep kids safe because it has been blocked by the c.r.a. we need to make sure that we protect our most vulnerable children in case there's a more dangerous variant or even a new pandemic threat.

mr. president, when you get in from the rain, you may put your umbrella away, but you don't throw it out. and when it comes to this pandemic, some of us are safely inside, but for the young kids who cannot yet get vaccinated, they are still out in the storm and their parents are still counting on having that umbrella. and when it comes to the future, there could be other rainy days, so let's not throw away this important tool to keep our kids safe. i urge my colleagues to vote no. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will read the joint resolution for the third time. the clerk: s.j. res. 39, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code. the presiding officer: the question occurs on passage of the joint resolution. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

vote: vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 55. the nays are 41. and the joint resolution is

passed. under the previous order, the senate will resume executive session. a senator: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. portman: i come to the senate floor today once again to talk about what is happening in ukraine. this is the tenth time in the ten weeks of session since before the invasion started that i have come to the floor to talk about the atrocities being

committed in ukraine by this brutal and unprovoked invasion from russia and to talk about more effective ways for us to help the ukrainian people. i just spoke to the ukrainian ambassador to the united states oksana markarova. she started by thanking me on behalf of the ukrainian people, really thanking the american people and saying that they appreciate all of the help, not just the funding and the weapons but the moral support that the people of ukraine feel from the people of the united states of america. that made me proud. but she also talked about the desperate need right now to provide ukrainian soldiers with the heavy weapons they need to confront the new fight in ukraine, the need to confront

russia as vladimir putin continues his brutal campaign to kill ukrainian citizens, to flatten ukrainian cities. just today, lviv, which is way over here in western ukraine, was attacked again. so russia says they're going to focus over here. once again, they're lobbing missiles into lviv. once again, they've attacked odesa in the south. hoping, i suppose, to flatten odesa as well as they have done with mariupol, and killed there somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 innocent civilians, according to the latest reports we have. ukraine has been an independent and sovereign country since 1991. they're not part of russia. in 2014, the people of ukraine made a very conscious choice, to

turn to the west, to get out from under the russian thumb altogether. they wanted freedom and democracy, to move away from tyranny and corruption. they wanted to be like us here in america. that's one reason so much of the free world has rallied around ukraine, because this is about a country that is seeking freedom, free enterprise, the ability to gather freely, free speech. i was an election observer here in 2014, right after they made this decision, and we saw a fair election, where a president was elected by the people, with huge voter turnout. again, that's one reason we feel this connection to ukraine, as do the rest of the free world. ukraine's armed forces continue to perform well, but as this map shows the fight is fierce right now. the dark red here is ukrainian

territory that was taken by russia back in 2014. so, this includes crimea. it includes dnesk, lahansk. the lighter red is the ukrainian territory russia has seized during this latest invasion, during this war. the light blue area is where ukrainian troops have effectively countered the russian offensive and pushed russian forces out of territory. ukraine wanted -- won a divisive here in kiev. you can see where they pushed the russian forces out of the kremlin at that time had as its strategic objective seizing kiev, the capital of ukraine, and also other major cities all around the country. they wanted to force the

government, the democratically elected government out, to overthrow the government of president zelenskyy. instead, because of this effective ukrainian resistance, russia has been forced to settle for these more limited objectives, even as they continue to bomb cities all around ukraine. they now want to consolidate the donbas region and create a land bridge from crimea up to transnistria. they want to cut off one of the greatest exporters, ukraine, to any access to the sea, to make them land locked so they cannot have an effective economy. our goal must be to stop russia from achieving its invasion goals and push them out of the territory of this free and independent country, ukraine, our ally. this is a very dangerous point in this battle. while the russians have made incremental gains in the east,

they have not achieved the i did siesive breakthrough that they want, thank to the toughness and tenacity of the ukrainian forces but it is a tough fight, and the ukrainians are outgunned. we must do all we can to keep russia from a breakthrough until heavier weapons pledged by the united states and other allied nations can reinforce ukrainian positions. our out it'sers as an -- our howitzers, artillery, are starting to arrive, but only starting. my hope is that by reinforcing ukrainian positions with these heavier weapons, that will allow ukraine not just to defend itself, but to build a rollback to this russian invasion and reclaim this territory. late last week i was pleased that the biden administration formally requested emergency supplemental funding that will provide needed military, humanitarian and economic aid for ukraine. this proposal, by the way,

included $6 billion for the ukrainian security assistance initiative, a bipartisan i'm not sure i have -- a bipartisan initiative used to train, equip and provide support for the ukrainian government and military. it was crucial to helping ukraine prepare for the current fight, and it's crucial now. as the president has requested, there is also drawdown authority in this legislation. now, that's what the president is currently using to provide the howitzers i talked about, and other military assistance. there is $5 billion of additional presidential drawdown authority in this request. the existing presidential drawdown authority has been expended. i just checked with the ambassador again, just before making this talk. she indicates that out of the $

3.3 billion in the previous presidential drawdown authority to provide weapons to ukraine, there is roughly $150 million left. in other words, they need this supplemental spending package now. it cannot wait. not at this crucial time in the battle. i'm encouraged by the administration's requests for military assistance because i think, assuming we approve it and get this done quickly, it will send a very important message to the world, and most importantly to vladimir putin, that america is in this fight for long haul. the humanitarian aid is also desperately needed to complement the remarkable work being done in ukraine by so many great religious and nonprofit groups. some you know, samaritan's purse, as an example. last night, jose andres, the founder of what's called the world central kitchen, told me they have now provided

18 million meals to ukrainian refugees, both in country and out of country. and they have 12,000 volunteers that have been engaged to do this. they're not asking for money from american taxpayers, but they are providing incredible help, so many of these great groups. i'm also encouraged that the administration heeded our bipartisan calls and appointed a ukraine military assistance coordinator, lieutenant general terry wolf. this followed a letter that i sent with senator shaheen, wicker, and durbin with the goal of cutting through the red tape to ensure that the right weapons get to ukraine and they get there quickly. when i asked secretary blinken last week who lieutenant general wolf would be reporting to as coordinator of the military assistance, in order to make this whole process work more smoothly and help the ukrainians more, he was uncertain. i will state today that i hope

that the coordinator, lieutenant general wolf, will be reporting directly to the commander in chief. why? because there are so many agencies and departments involved, and the whole idea is to have one person who has the president's ear, who is able to get stuff done quickly, without the bureaucracy. i know president biden believes that we ought to get this military equipment and other assistance to ukraine immediately. in the context of this significant additional funding request for ukraine, to be able to defend itself, it's important to note that they're not just relying on us. we're not the only country providing military assistance to ukraine. in the past few weeks, we have seen allies and nations in europe and around the world come together and increase their military aid, and i commend them for that. last thursday, after weeks of debate, i was very pleased to see that the german partment --

parliament voted 586-100 of sending heavy weapons to ukraine. this is a breakthrough for germany. they have now woken up to the serious threat that russia poses to european security, and the germans are now assuming more responsibility for defense of their own backyard. good for them. we need them. additionally, the polish government has transferred even more soviet era t-72 tanks to ukraine. again, heavy equipment they need in the donn bast. slovakia sent air defense systems. the great allies in the united kingdom have been great supporters from before the invasion, including antitank and antiair weapons used to devastating effect on the battlefield. they've sent humanitarian eight aid and armored vehicles. the netherlands sent stingers that helped ukraine protect the sky again russian superior air

power. turkey proceed vieded armed drones that have neutralized tanks, vehicles, and surface ships. i commend turkey for that. even on the other side of the globe, democracies are stepping up and providing military aid to ukraine, including bush master armored vehicles from australia, bull et proof vests from japan and other equipment from south korea. the lists of the countries providing lethal assistance or humanitarian aid is over 40, and grows every day, as freedom-loving nations see what's happening here. they see putin's actions for what they are, an assault on freedom and democracy, a brutal assault. again, the next few weeks could be a tipping point, but ukraine is finally starting to get the necessary weaponry from the free world to have a chance to succeed in pushing russia out of their territory.

the new ukraine funding bill is being scrubbed right now. for issues or problems. which is appropriate. we want to be sure that the direct economic support has the anticorruption guardrails we've had in it in the past. the department of it agriculture funding has to be scrubbed to ensure it actually helps ukraine. but the scrubbing has been going on for almost a week now, and it's time for us to move this legislation. i encourage the senate democratic leadership to bring to the floor this ukraine funding bill this week. not combined with other measures, but as a standalone piece of legislation. not tied to covid funding or other unrelated priorities, including title 42 and the border, which i feel strongly about, or other issues, including issues to do with afghanistan and the patrolees. let's -- paroleees. keep other issues off this legislation. why? because it becomes a political

football. it will be impossible to pass quickly. we have time to deal with those other issues as well, and we should, but our allies in ukraine are desperate for assistance and they need it now. at this crucial time in this battle. adding other politically charged issues to this request will slow it down and delay the lethal aid and, in the end, will cost the lives of ukrainian soldiers and civilians at the hands of the ruthless russian attacks. on the sanctions front, i'm pleased that this past week the administration is finally saying they will move forward in seizing, not just freezing, russian assets in the united states. last thursday, the administration announced a streamlined process for seizing assets and finding a legal way to repurpose those assets to help the ukrainian people. good for them. i've called for this in legislation i introduced five weeks ago with senator bennett of colorado, our relief act would ensure seized russian

funds support the humanitarian needs in ukraine, which is just and appropriate. by the way, other countries have done this. the russians continue to commit war crimes and atrocities against the innocent people of ukraine. late last week, ukrainian authorities filed criminal charges against ten individual russian soldiers accused of taking civilians hostage and torturing them in the kiev suburb of bucha. many of you have seen the videos this is the first such move by prosecutors investigating possible war crimes by russians. all ten were noncommissioned officers and privates from russia's 64th separate guards motor rifle bringing adds, one of the units that took part in the months-long occupation of bucha. i call on the international criminal court to follow in ukraine's footsteps and immediately begin a war crimes tribunal. the evidence is clear. there should be no delay.

by holding russians accountable now, the hope is there will be some deterrent effect to avoid additional war crimes being created. last week, secretary blinken in his testimony before the senate foreign relations committee on the new budget request talked about the request for additional funding of $5 million for the global engagement center. this is an organization that senator murphy of connecticut and i cofounded with legislation to combat disinformation abroad. unfortunately, this very modest increase will not adequately address the massive disinformation efforts by the kremlin, let alone the world. in in hybrid war in ukraine, it's not about just kinetic military action. it's also about a massive disinformation campaign. they are bombarding ukraine with disnrgs that -- disinformation that must be confronted. the

global engagement center is established to do just that. it's been years since there was a coordinator appointed to lead this global engagement center. this gap in leadership is unacceptable, and i urge the president to immediately appoint a person to this role. the efforts we talked about tonight so tar far -- the heavy weapons and the seizing rather than freezing of russian assets -- are all steps in the right direction. however, further steps have to be taken if we're going to stop the kremlin from being able to finance this war effort. the biggest problem by far is energy. energy is russia's number-one export. 40% to 50% of the russian budget is funded by energy receipts coming back into the country. president putin of course has long used natural gas as an energy weapon against europe. last week he directed the gas

company, gazprom, to stop providing natural gas to poland and to bulgaria. the natural gas supply from russia was suspended because of poland's and bulgaria's refusal to pay in rubles, russia's currency, which would help bolster russia's economy and make it easier for them to finance this war. bulgaria and poland should be commended for not bowing to vladimir putin's wishes. this is also a significant opportunity for the united states to step up further and help our european allies to wean themselves off of russian energy. the united states of america has the tools and resources to help our allies accomplish this. we have a tentative agreement to do so. the united states has already halted the import of russian energy. i now commend lithuania and estonia for recently doing the exact same thing. poland has indicated they would like to do the same. in order to encourage europe to

end its dependence on russian oil and gas, america must act now to help ensure there is a more abundant supply of resources on the market for purchase by europe and other countries. specifically, we need to expand u.s. production of natural gas that will help provide liquefied natural gas to europe and reduce energy costs for consumers. most importantly, it will stop the flow of funding to russia's war machine that is killing innocent ukrainians every single day. together, working with europe, we can end the approximately 870 million -- $870 million a day, $870 million a day, that europe is sending to russia to help fund the war machine. we must do so immediately by expanding natural gas production here and our infrastructure here to provide europe with the

promised liquefied natural gas as an alternative to russian gas. but more generally, we've got to support all of our domestic producers here in the united states through a robust, all-of-the above energy policy that includes fossil fuels, renewables, carbon capture technologies, nuclear power, hydropower, hydrogen and energy efficiency. instead of recognizing that putin is using energy as a weapon and responding appropriately, unfortunately the biden administration has acted to make it more difficult for domestic energy production. these actions include an increase of taxes on energy production proposed in the president's budget, restricting new leases for oil and gas production, rewriting wotus, which would add significant time and complexity to permitting new energy projects. as i raised directly with secretary blinken last week during his time before the

senate foreign relations committee, these domestic policies that the administration is pursuing are having a direct and negative impact on our national security and the security of our allies abroad. we need to produce more right now to be able to ensure our national security and their national security is protected. the ruble, the russian currency, has just about fully recovered, in part because russia is still bringing in revenues from the sale of energy. our sanctions have left russia's biggest economic lifeline largely untouched. again, energy sales, specifically to europe. in addition to cutting off natural gas and the revenue that fuels the russian war machine, we need to tighten up bank sanctions as they relate to energy. sanctions for energy transactions don't go into effect against russian banks, including the v.t.b. bank, until june 24. these sanctions should have gone into place weeks ago. they should certainly go into

place now. protected must lead our allies to do whatever it takes to help ukraine win and the administration should make clear that their objective is for ukraine to bush the forces of russia out of the sovereign territory of ukraine. remember, ukrainians are not asking for us to fight for them. but they are asking us to help them fight for themselves. we've got to do that so they have a chance to win. last month i was at the border of ukraine and poland, and i was able to talk to a number of ukrainian refugees. through their tears, they spoke of their homes being destroyed, their loved ones killed and the pain of being separated from their husbands and fathers who have stayed behind to fight. almost every refugee was a woman or a child, grandparents with their grandchildren. i also saw the heroic efforts and the amazing generosity of spirit from the polish people

who were taking these refugees literally into their homes, to feed them, give them a roof over their head. yesterday i joined my colleagues chris coons and roy blunt in introducing a resolution to commend and recognize poland's efforts and welcoming ukrainian refugees in supporting the ukrainian resistance. poland has been amaze ago. since russia's invasion more than three million ukrainians have fled adoctors the border to poland -- across the border to poland. we are so thankful to them for continuing to donate their time and resources to help the refugees. i want to close my remarks today by talking about why the united states has a special obligation to support ukraine in light of russia's brutal invasion. it's important that we not forget the budapest memorandum signed by russia, the united states, and the united kingdom and ukraine in 1994.

after the fall of the soviet union under this 1994 memorandum, a newly independent ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons, but they did so in return for an ironclad commitment from all these signatories -- the united states, the u.k., and russia -- to respect and ensure ukraine's territorial integrity and independence. this is what makes russia's invasion and veiled threats of nuclear weapons particularly outrageous. russia made a commitment to respect ukraine's territorial and independence in exchange for ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. now russia invaded ukraine and is threatening to use nuclear weapons against ukrainians. this war is a gross violation of the budapest memorandum and of course russia's other international commitments, such as the united nations charter. for these transgressions, it's now time for the international community to strip russia of its

privilege of sitting on the u.n. security council and other bodies of international representation. and russia should be deemed a state sponsor of terror. there is reporting that russia believed the invasion with a split and weaken the neigh a lines -- the nato alliance. instead, as we've seen, russia's brute a tax deduction have actually galvanized and strengthened the resolve of nato and the free world in general and will likely lead to expansion with finland and sweden soon joining the neigh a lines. -- the nato alliance. what the united states is doing to help ukraine with military, humanitarian and economic assistance and rallying our allies to do the same is critically important, particularly at this time where the battle is at a critical stage. it's clearly important -- it's important not just because it fulfills our commitment under the 1994 budapest memorandum but because it's in our national

interest as the leader of the free world to stand with our allies. there was a speech once written that was never given. it was meant to be delivered by president john f. kennedy on the afternoon of november 22, 1963. the day that he was killed. the speech was profound and very simple. it said, we, in this country, in this generation, by destiny rather than choice are the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. by destiny, rather than choice. when democracies are under attack by authoritarian regimes, history says, when america leads, others will join, and we are victorious in protecting freedom. in this instance, in this

critical point in ukraine, we must continue to lead the free world in standing with ukraine until their final victory.

i'm joined by senators. if we had to pick a word our caucus feels is infuriated, infuriated by the alleged decision, infuriated by the lies these justices told us when they said they would respect precedent. infuriated by our republican

colleagues who do not tell the truth. it is utterly amazing that mitch mcconnell did not want to say he supports repealing roe v wade at this meeting. every time it was brought up substantive about roe v wade all he did was talk about the leaks. republicans are spending all of their focus on the league because they do not want to focus on roe v wade. they note they are on the wrong side of history. they note they are on the wrong side of the american people. so they are ducking it and hiding behind this so-called leaks situation. they do not want to focus on roe. i heard mitch mccanna was proud he got roe appealed he would not answer yes or no. they spent a decade, two decades trying to repeal roe and now they will not own up to it they are like the dog that caught they know they are on the wrong

side of history for they know they are on the wrong side of where the american people are. they know they will pay consequences in the 2022 elections. and they are spin masters telling them to avoid the subject. what's with those horrible decisions looks like it's coming from the supreme court in line with some of the worst decisions throughout the court's history that they caused and they cannot own up to it. they are afraid. so the bottom line is we know that history is on our side. and we know politics is on our side. and you can be sure in 2022 this is going to be an issue all across the country. and republicans will not be able to run away from it. not be able to run away from it. republicans sought to this

outcome for years. you would think they would be celebrating. the real hard right fanatics but not leader mcconnell most republicans. i want to make three things clear. it is our intention in the senate to hold a vote on legislation to codify the right to an abortion in law very soon. second, a vote on this legislation is no longer an abstract exercise. it is as urgent and real as it gets. we will vote to protect a woman's right to choose, every american is going to see where every senator stands, which side are they on? women's health, women's rights, mainstream america that protects liberty. or on the side of darkness, retrograde history.

so, the bottom line is this, we are asking the public, i don't think we need to but we are. we are asking the public to raise their voices in the next week let every senator know how you feel. rights, call, e-mail, however you contact them. and continue to raise your voices throughout the year. our candidates are already talking about this from one end of the country to the other. i cannot tell you the outrage i feel at this decision. and the outrage i feel a republicans who did it will not own up to it. and duck it, despicable. we are not talking about anything inconsequential we are talk about women's health, women's right to choose and the millions and millions and millions of american women who felt the need to have an abortion, just about every one of us know someone in that situation. they want to take it all away. and they won't stop there this

right wing court put in by a republican senate, many other rights are at risk. if they succeed in getting this accomplished. so, that is the bottom line here folks. we have a great contrast between the republican vision for america and our vision for america. this is not your grandfather's republican party, america it is donald trump's republican party. it is a right wing republican party. it is a party or your children will have less rights than you do. so, i still firmly believe in my very bones of the story of american democracy is the story of progress. i believe we will win this fight because the american people are strongly, strongly, strongly on our side. senator murray. clerks will thank you. i went to the steps of the

capitol earlier today where i spoke about these alarming reports we are seeing that the supreme court plans to end the constitutional right to abortion in this country and overturn roe v wade. this is a part five alarm fire. this was always the republicans and goal, ending the right to abortion. extreme republicans were never going to stop at the state level. and mark my words, they are not going to stop it with a row and the right to abortion either. they are coming for your birth control, for all reproductive health care. so, we are not going to be quiet but we are going to keep fighting because we do not want this to become a country where women are forced to remain pregnant no matter their personal circumstances. and yes we are talking about situations like rape and incest. i country workstream politicians will control patients most

private decisions, a country where for the very first time ever the next generation of women will have fewer rights than their mothers. so listen you probably already heard from many of my colleagues who are upset and horrified, who are heartbroken but we are also determined and we are ready to fight back. we are going to make sure that anyone who is not felt the weight of this moment yet, who does not think this could happen, he doesn't think it matters to them, it gets thehe message loud and clear. we are going to make sure that every single person and every single space understands this. a month after -- maybe it two weeks after president biden took office i was invited as a new chair of a major senate committee, the senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee. i think the presiding officer was there that day too. we met with the oval office with the president of the united states.

we sat in a semicircle and i saw the painting behind president obama was franklin roosevelt. he was surrounded by busts of harry truman, rosa parks, dr. king and caesar of chavez. he and robert kennedy. he asked us to go around the room 57bd tell us what -- and tell us what interests us, what kinds of things we should be doing. when it was my turn i talked about the protecting the right to organize act. i talked about the child tax credit, which after we passed it, it was a $3,000 tax cut to 92% of the families in my state, a similar percent in the presiding officer's state of michigan, children and families with children a $3,000 tax cut, the biggest in american history. i spoke about housing. then i said at the end of my little minute and a half, i said, mr. president, thank you for talking about unions. and he kind of smiled and said of course. when the meeting was over,

after 45 minutes or so, the president walked towards me and he said why wouldn't i mention unions. i said, mr. president, i've been in this office a number of times over the last 25 years, and i've never heard a president talk about the unions the way you do. and that was the beginning. we then passed a recovery act. and have done so much more with the bipartisan infrastructure bill. he's always put the emphasis on workers, putting workers at the center of our economic policy and workers at the center of our country and the center of our economy. let me illustrate. the last two weeks, i know that senator hassan, who is about to preside today, when she went back to new hampshire during these two weeks and was talking to families and workers and senator peters, who is presiding, from michigan, the same. and what struck me is we had four sort of cabinet-level people from the biden administration that came to ohio during this couple of weeks, and i was with three of them. one of them we couldn't work out schedules.

the head of the e.p.a. was in ohio. you know what he talked about? he talked about how we replace -- ohio unfortunately is number two in the country in the number of contaminated pipes connecting main water lines going into people's homes, contaminated with lead. we are, because of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, going to replace those 600,000 pipes. we're going to replace them with u.s. made in america iron and steel and other components because in infrastructure, we passed the strongest, and senator hassan was part of this, and others, passed the strongest provisions ever in american history. if you're going to spend american tax dollars, you're going to hire mernl workers to do that. administrator regan of the e.p.a. talked about what that means. it means thousands of jobs for pipe fitters and other union tradespeople. it also means clean water going to moderate and low-income families homes in appalachia, east cleveland and everywhere in

between. that means healthier children. then the secretary of the department of labor came. the department of labor secretary with president biden predecessor was essentially a corporate lawyer -- i would use the word, this might use a bit disrespectful, i apologize ahead of time. a hack. he made millions of dollars a year i assume, always siding with employers with big corporations against workers. that was the predecessor. the secretary of labor under president biden came out of boston, and he was a former laborer. he was a former union laborer. make that contrast. then i spent part of the time in lakewood, a cleveland suburb, in the city of cleveland. then fremont, ohio, with the new chair of the export-import bank talking about jobs, talking about workers, talking about getting help, competing with the chinese with the export

import bambg always with an emphasis on wages. we know what happened the last 50 years. i walked to high school and johnny apple seed junior high school with electrical workers that worked at wefgget house, with auto workers that worked at g.m., the sons and daughters of laborers and mill writings and carpenters -- mill wrights and carpenters, that built a decent economy for tens of thousands of families in my community. i know what that meant when -- and then we saw corporate leaders, first they shut down production in places like mansfield -- my hometown or springfield or it toledo. they moved to alabama or tennessee or arkansas. low wages, few unions, weak

unemployment compensation, sort of inadequate unemployment and workers compensation programs for nonemployed workers. but those wages weren't low enough, so these same corporate leaders went on a scavenger hunt to mexico and all over the world to try to find the cheapest labor possible. far too many presidents and far too many people in this body helped them do that. that's why this president is so important, it's why this senate is so important, that we can fight back. and we're seeing now the whole idea of this administration is to begin to bring these jobs back home and treat these workers with respect and begin again to rebuild the middle class. the last cabinet secretary to come in that i spent a full day with was in chillicothe, ohio and southern ohio. it is a small community hurt by globalization. there is a v.a. hospital. it was one of the oldest v.a. hospitals in the country. these workers, there was a commission started by president

trump that is slating the closure of the chillicothe v.a. today the presiding officer, senator hassan, and i were in the veterans' committee asking about workers -- with senator tester presiding and senator boozman, a good bipartisan team on veterans affairs. what do we do to train workers, that they're not burning out by all the tension and the pressure and anxiety they face now. sitting with secretary dennis denisa, the -- dennis mcdonough, the biden secretary of the va, interacting with the union president in chillacothe. miss simon was there listening to these workers, listening to what do we do to