a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. ms. ernst: thank you, madam president. today america looks like a country governed by teenagers who grew up reading choose your own adventure books. they got some authority and

decided they could govern under a system of choose your own laws. but a government that derives its power from the people cannot endure if its laws change every few years based on the whims of a select few in positions of power. that is, after all, why john adams said, we are, quote, a government of laws, not men, end quote. folks, our laws are not a bu buffet. you can't pick and choose which ones to uphold and which to overlook based on your desires. but that's exactly what we're experiencing today under democratic control. this is a political party that wants to rule but do so without

following the rules. they want to break our institutions, rig the system in their favor, and fundamentally transform our country. and today we're seeing the result of this radical agenda. look no further than the biden border crisis. u.s. law requires that immigrants be deported or detained pending determination if they don't have a legal right to be here. but under this administration, enforcement simply no longer exists. in september 2019 on the campaign trail, joe biden proudly said to those seeking asylum in america, quote, you should come, end quote.

in march 2020, he said, quote, the only deportations that will take place are commissions of felonies, end quote. president biden knew we didn't have the detention space, the enforcement capacity, or administrative staff to follow the law. but he encouraged people to come. and they listened. if the illegal immigrants who have entered the united states since president biden took office established a new city it would be the ninth largest city in the country. with a population of 1.34 million. and there's -- and they're still coming. just this week we learned what might be the largest caravan

ever, nearly 15,000 migrants is headed to our southern border. this is unacceptable and unsustainable, and it was completely avoidable. this manufactured border crisis is also a boon for the deadly drug cartels. customs and border protection estimates that smuggling migrants into the u.s. earns cartels up to -- get this, folks -- $6 billion a year. and in the first three months of 2022, border patrol seized over 150,000 pounds of drugs on the southern border. our country has been struggling with an opioid epidemic for far too long, and the biden

administration's solution is an open border that will allow some of the deadliest drugs to be transported across the country turning every state into a border state. in fact, in 2021 more than 100,000 americans died from drug overdoses, the highest number ever recorded. with opioids such as fentanyl responsible for three out of five of those deaths. not to mention the horrific abuses many young girls and women face at the hands of their smugglers. folks, don't miss this. the biden administration is aiding and abetting illegal immigration and all the criminal activity that comes with it.

they have the tools in their toolbox to curb the flow of drugs and human trafficking and to stop the historic record of illegal border crossings, but they refuse to use them. on his first day in office, the president canceled the construction of the barrier along our southern border calling it, quote, a waste of money, end quote. ironically, his decision to not build the wall is the real waste of money because while it's not providing any security, it is still costing taxpayers. since pulling the plug on the project, biden has continued paying contractors upwards of $3 million a day. yes, you heard it right, folks. $3 million a day to watch over

the unused materials that are lying in the desert. taxpayers are being billed to baby-sit piles of surplus materials. but some states being overrun by the influx of illegal immigrants would still like to set up barriers to control who is coming across the border from mexico. taxpayers have already paid $350 million for the concrete, the steel, and the fencing that is now sitting idle collecting duh and dollars. why -- collecting dust and dollars. why not let states who want to build the wall access these unused materials. it would save taxpayers money and deter the unpressed number unprecedented number of border crossings we have seen as a

result of biden's border policies or in this case, lack thereof. to paraphrase a well known quotation in iowa, if you build it, they will come. let's paraphrase. if you don't build it, they will come. folks, america is and always has been a welcoming nation. but those seeking a better life here have an obligation to respect our laws and the president has a sworn duty to enforce them. that's why i introduced the borders unused idle and lying dormant inventory transfer or the build it act which would turn over the unused materials already purchased by taxpayers to construct the southern border barrier to any state wishing to finish the job. president biden's refusal to

secure our border is causing chaos and allowing cartels to smuggle drugs into communities in iowa and across the country while costing taxpayers billions of dollars for nothing. here's a simple solution. president biden, please enforce current immigration laws, curb cartel activity, and put these materials to use. let's end the taxpayer funded waste and let's stop the unprecedented flow of illegal migrants and let's build it. thank you, madam chair. i yield. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: madam president, normally i don't like to use numbers in speeches because i think numbers get lost in people's minds as they're trying to wrap their heads around

numbers. but i do want to use some numbers today because the numbers are just so incredible. during president biden's time in office, the department of homeland security has encountered illegal immigrants crossing our border more than 2.8 million times. in not quite a year and a half, 2.8 million people were encountered crossing the border. last month alone they caught people trying to cross the southern border illegally 234,088 times. so a quarter of a million people just last month were caught trying to cross the border. that's the highest number in the department's history. it's more than four times the average monthly number from 19 -- from 2018 to 2020.

now, if you've got a problem that is four times bigger than it was in the three preceding years, probably time to ask what were they doing in those three preceding years that we're for the doing now. now, some of the people who crossed the border got sent back and got -- may have gotten caught later in the month. they may have been a catch and release and then they come back. but some people who crossed the border didn't get caught at all. i'm not sure that that number is not bigger than the other number. but even if you had double counting, it's still an incredible number. a quarter of a million people coming across the border illegally in one month that were caught, not that we're -- were coming across the border, that were caught. we've never seen such a massive or prolonged effort by people to illegally enter our country that we're seeing now.

it's created a giant humanitarian crisis at the border. ask anyone who lives in a border community, the problem that's been created by this. the biden administration's response is actually been to tie their own hands by removing the most effective tools that we had to try to manage the situation. we developed a reasonable approach to the border based on lessons we learned from previous surges, one in 2014 when president biden was vice president. one in 2019. these policies help cut the number of people trying to cross the border illegally. they allowed us to deal with legitimate cases of people seeking asylum in a much more responsible way. you know, people who actually qualify for asylum come to the united states like people don't come to any other country in the

world. we are still the most welcoming country in the world for people who have a legit pat request for asylum, but that doesn't include everybody who lives in a poor and dangerous place. in contrast to what we've been doing to make it easier for people to seek asylum and harder for people to illegally cross the border, the biden administration has over and over again reversed the progress that was being made. as senator ernst just well pointed out, first day they halted the construction of the border wall. the logical debate to have there was finish the wall in pog and then have a debate with -- in progress and then have a debate with the new administration about whether you needed more border wall. but they halted construction of the border wall. the material was there. the wall was in progress. in fact, the wall in some places had been removed so you could put the more effective wall up so there was no wall.

there were places where we had known for several years now that people would come across if they could where there was no wall, there was no building to the wall. they revoked a 2017 executive order calling for stricter enforcement of the immigration laws. they canceled the migrant protection protocols. they suspended asylum cooperation agreements known as safe third-party agreements, third-country agreements. if someone is unsafe where they live and have a legitimate claim for asylum, this is not a legitimate claim for entry into the united states. it's a legitimate claim to get to a safer place for them. guatemala, honduras, el salvador all had greed to those third-country agreements. even the leaders of -- even guatemala and mexico said that president biden's policies are

incentivizing illegal crossings at our southern border which of course create a lot of illegal transit through their country as well. now the administration seems intent on ending the public health policy known as title 42 which allows authorities to turn back many of the people caught crossing the border illegally. a judge issued a federal -- a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the efforts to eliminate title 42, but the administration immediately decided they would appeal that decision. now, that's exactly the wrong decision at this moment particularly when the administration is arguing that we need billions of dollars more money to fight covid, and i think there's some merit to that argument. but you can't argue that we need billions of dollars to fight covid and covid is over at the border and it's no longer a problem there.

in fact, it's just the latest example of the administration over and over again responding to the crisis at the border with the wrong decision. time after time, the white house could have looked at problems that it was causing with its immigration policies and reverse course. and time after time it responded by going ahead anyway, doubling down on more than one occasion. according to "the new york times," there are tens of thousands of people who've been waiting in the border region for title 42 to be lifted. they're watching the biden administration and the signals it's sending now and how it intends to deal with them the next time they cross the border. most of them will be allowed to stay in the country while they go through immigration proceedings, many of which can take years to just get a hearing. that's why waiting in another country, like mexico, was a

policy that we should have continued to improve and move forward with because most people when they were waiting would find out that they didn't have a legitimate asylum claim, that they weren't going to successfully get into the united states and disappear into the country that we live in, and they'd find up going making it easier for other people who had a legitimate asylum claim to have that asylum hearing. the administration has proposed taking away essential resources to enforce immigration law, to make things worse. with the budget that they requested for this year, the department of homeland security specified cutting the enforcement and removal budgets for u.s. immigration and customs enforcement by $614 million. doesn't sound like to me that that's the way to deal with a problem that's the size of the problem that almost every

american has a sense of. in april, the homeland security secretary said that he'll need to reprogram funding from other d.h.s. accounts to respond to increased activity at the border while the administration, his administration, is asking for a $614 million cuts. other parts of the department like the coast guard, the transportation security administration, the federal emergency management agency could have their funding diverted to process paperwork for illegal immigrants at the border. it is due in large part to the policies of this administration. a massive turnaround that occurred on day one and hasn't stopped since. we need to act, and they need to act on border security effectively and restore order to our immigration process.

it's long past time for the immigration people to be honest with the american people about the crisis it's created and to do something about it. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. i rise today again regarding the need to secure our southern border. right now there's a caravan of migrants making it's way to the southern border. media reports that it could be the largest care caravan ever growing to 15,000 immigrants by the time it reaches the u.s. border. the unprecedented and growing crisis at the southern border is due to the biden administration's misguided immigration policies. this includes the lack of enforcement of key tools,

including the remain-in-mexico policy, the safe country agreements and the title 42 protective order. in april of this year it was reported that over 234,000 individuals were encountered attempting to illegally cross the southern border. 234,000 in the month of april. this is an increase of 31% from april of 2021, last year, and a staggering 1,268% increase from april of 2020, two years ago. 234,000 individuals attempting to cross the border illegally in just one month, just one month. i was recently in del rio and eagle pass, texas, to draw attention to the challenges at the border and to neat with the

north dakota army national guard soldiers. our guard members are providing support to customs and border protection in light of the immigration crisis. our dedicated c.b.p. officers and agents are working tirelessly to try to fulfill their mission to reduce -- of securing the border with the added pressure and stress of addressing the humanitarian crisis occurring with the continuing surge of migrants seeking to cross the border illegally. while they do everything they can, they face an impossible task that the biden administration's actions are exacerbating much as i mentioned he recall earlier, the -- earlier, the current crisis is a result of the biden administration policies. notably, the biden administration has now attempted to end the use of public health order 42 just last month. those efforts failed when a federal judge correctly issued an injunction preventing the biden administration from ending

title 42. the federal injunctions noted that rescinding title 42 will result in a significant increase in illegal immigration at the southern border. this includes an anticipated tripling of illegal border crossings at the border, increasing from 7,000 per day to 18,000 per day, should public health order 42 end. at the same time, the ongoing crisis at the southern border is creating significant challenges for northern border operations and the security of our northern border. northern border personnel and resources is continue to be depleted because of the surge at the southern border. that is unacceptable. we need to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border and ensure that we have the resources we need at our northern border as well. border security is vital to national security, and we need to secure them both. president biden's actions have

incentivized migrants to take the dangerous journey to the united states border. we need to change those policies to get the border crisis under control. that means we need to do three things to ensure that we have a secure border. we need to make sure that we continue the border wall along with personnel and technology to make sure that we secure the border. we need to reinstate key immigration policies like i talked about, and we need to move towards a merit-based immigration system. again, we need to enforce our nation's immigration laws, resume construction of the border wall, ensure that we have in place the infrastructure, the personnel, and the technology to adequately secure the border. the biden administration needs to take these steps, and they need to do it now. with that, i yield the floor.

mrs. blackburn: independent? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. one of the dangers of having a weak president is that our enemies will be able to test the boundaries that used to keep them in check. they want to see just how far they can push it before we start pushing back. indeed, we have seen that in action during this presidency. the threat of violence, crime, and of the dangerous influence of those who do not wish us well has crept into the american consciousness and made an already stressful time in our history even worse.

now, last week's news about what could be the largest migrant caravan yet hasn't helped the situation. we're all hearing about it. at least 6,000 people, probably 10,000 people, have set out from the guatemala-mexico border because joe biden invited them to come, or so they think. that's what they heard. that's how they interpreted his actions. this is not up for debate. you can look at the reports on tv. now, this is very shocking to so many of the tennesseans that i'm talking to every single day. first, they say, this is a massive national security and safety concern. it makes common sense that you would try to stop this. but, more importantly, because

they know that this president isn't just abandoning the border, he is intentionally giving control of that border to international criminals, to cartels, to gangs, to people who do not wish us well. now, what it appears to be is that for many of my democrat colleagues and for this administration this action of intentionally leaving the border open is there to keep the radical left happy. this is what they want, an open border policy. but that open border policy for

terrorist organizations, fujitives, cartel mules, this is to them all about exploiting joe biden's terrible choices and making the chaos work in their favor. they will continue to push until they are stopped. and right now they're using this to turn these cartels into international organizations. last year 160 different countries came to that border. the drug dealers, they're all very happy with the way it's operating. in april, customs and border protection intercepted more than 50,000 pounds of drugs, 37% more

than in march. now, think about that. one month, a 37% increase. keep in mind, this data only reflects what the c.b.p. found. we know for a fact that every month the got-aways make it into the country undetected, and we have no clue what they've brought with them. law enforcement officials in tennessee have told me that around 80% of the drugs they seize contain fentanyl. fentanyl. that is what they're finding. it's coming right over the border and coming to a community near you, courtesy of the biden administration. we also know that business is booming for the human smugglers, and this caravan is about to provide them some excellent cover. over the course of 48 hours this week, border patrol agents in

the rio grande valley sector interrupted four separate human smuggling attempts, and that included 156 different people. that's right, 156 people in four hours. now, that's just one example that we chose to pull out and share. i've heard a great many advocates on the left accuse republicans of blowing the scope of these smuggling operations out of proportion, but here's what i'll say. i say that just one person falling into the hands of the cartels is a problem. that is one person too many that is being subjected to drug trafficking, human trafficking, sex trafficking, being forced into a gang, being put on a bracelet that is going to track

them until they pay their debt to the cartel. the people locking these people into shipping containers without food or water, these are not people on a humanitarian mission. a good outcome is not guaranteed. and, indeed, madam president, it is quite the opposite. if the cartels guaranteed good outcomes, no one would be left for dead in the desert or die of heat stroke in an overcrowded truck. no one would have to work off their debt as a prostitute or a drug runner after they got here. but the cartels are after money. they're not providing humanitarian aid. so what do they do? they look at the welcome mat, and they see it as a way to cash in. in 2020 the national human

trafficking hotline reported more than 10,000 unique cases of potential human trafficking in the united states. only 6% of those victimize reported -- victims reported themselves as being u.s. citizens or legal permanent residents. that is correct, 10,000 cases, only 6 were citizens or legal residents. the rest, illegal entrants into this country. about 60% of those victims were female. more than 72% of them revealed that they had been forced into prostitution or some other form of sex work. 84% of those sex trafficking victims were female. this problem doesn't begin and end at the border. end slavery tennessee reported they just helped 207 potential

trafficking victims in 2021. that is one organization in middle tennessee. one. 207 trafficking victims in middle tennessee. you know, every town is a border town. every state is a border state. and every u.s. citizen deserves to know why this barbarity has gone unanswered by this administration. remember what i said at the beginning of my remarks, madam president. our enemies are watching. they're paying attention. they're looking for loopholes. they're looking for ways to exploit. they want to see how far they can push joe biden, how far they can push this administration. and so far they have not found his limit. as the president and democrat allies here on capitol hill

contemplate how long they're willing to be pawns in this game our enemies are playing, i would advise them to just take a look at the data. at the data. look at the reports from our own federal and state agencies. go talk to the human trafficking organizations in your state. look at the number of known terrorists that our federal agencies have apprehended. look at the drugs that are being seized at the borders, at the ports, and back in your hometowns. look at the number of people, border patrol has had to save from smugglers, and remember that you are not the victims here. you have the power to fix this. you could do something about this. you do not have to choose to let the cartels run unabated at the

southern border, bringing thousands upon thousands of people to our border. you might be pretending that this situation on the border isn't getting worse by the day, but people can see with their very own eyes exactly what is going on. tennesseans are watching. i think the american people are watching. and when it gets worse -- and it will -- they will never forget that you sided with drug dealers and with sex traffickers over your own citizens. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 925, alan m. leventhal to be ambassador to the kingdom of denmark, and that there be ten minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form on the nomination, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote without intervening action or debate on the nomination and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: madam president,

reserving the right to object -- and i certainly hope --. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i hope we won't have to prolong this for very long, but i can report to members of the senate that there are members on this side who have concerns about this particular nomination. perhaps those matters can be resolved in short order, and i certainly understand my friend from massachusetts and his support for this nominee, and i respect that. in addition, there are larger issues involving actions and conduct of the state department in europe writ large that go beyond this nominee. and again, i hope the state department will work with us on those important concerns. but for those stated reasons, i do object at this point.

the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. markey: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i thank you, madam president. and i just want to say i appreciate the position of the senator from mississippi, but i'll say this on behalf of am lan lev thowl -- on behalf of alan m. leventhal, he's a favorite son of massachusetts, left an indelible mark in his community, the surrounding community, has done incredible work in his life. he's in a senior position it at the massachusetts institute of technology. he's worked to train the next generation of innovators and leaders, and he's received broad accolades for his transformational work as chairman of the board of trustees, in every endeavor no matter how big or challenging, alan embodied excellence. the men and women of our foreign

service and locally employed staff in copenhagen will have an accomplished manager in our ambassador, and our strong ally denmark will get a committed partner with a direct line back to washington to further strengthen our bilateral relationship. this is critical as we rely on denmark, a key member of nato and the european union to sustain its leadership role in defense of ukraine in the wake of russia's invasion. i think it would be invaluable to have him on duty right now, especially at this critical time in european history. i understand the objection of the senator from mississippi, and i look forward to working with him and other senators in order to find a route to removing the objection to this extremely qualified candidate as ambassador to denmark. and i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: is the senate currently in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. mr. lankford: thank you. over memorial day weekend, i

spent the day in oklahoma, 102 at sundown. for those of us from oklahoma not used to that kind of heat but it was very helpful to be able to be there, to be on the ground, and to see what's happening at that particular border area. each area of the border is a little bit different. but what we're experiencing right now on our southern border is a continual rolling chaos there. i will have people catch me occasionally in oklahoma and say it seems like things are going better because i don't hear the media talking about what's happening at the border anymore. i'll smile at them and say well, you remember last summer when the media was focused on the southern border? we had 6,000 people illegally crossing a day at that time. now we have 8,000 people illegally crossing a day. 8,000. in fact, last month when a quarter million people that illegally crossed the border in

one month, that was a record, by the way. the previous record for a one-month illegal crossing was the month before. things continue to get worse. but each area of the border is a little bit different. now, i had not been to this particular border crossing in yuma, arizona, to be able to see how things are different there, but this is either number one or number two most trafficked areas for illegal traffic across the entire southern border at this point. well, you see, when you're in yuma, arizona first, when you get there to the fencing area is that you notice this. you notice in yuma, arizona, that you've got a port of entry that's there and at the port of entry, you have miles and miles of border fence and then a gap in the fence where january 20 of 2021, construction was on to be able to complete this but literally that day it stopped and so that gap has never been

closed. and so border crossings look like this. another good picture of it is a picture like this. this scenario where there is a dam on the mexico side and on the american side, there's the fencing, at least there was going to be fencing. there's fencing on both sides of this so individuals literally just step over this dam, walk over and walk right up into the country. you say why is this not complete? is it that we ran out of materials? actually, if you go just a mile from that last picture in the desert, you'll see this. just stacks and stacks and stacks of steel, of 30-foot sections all cut ready to go to be able to close those gaps. but those gaps are not being closed because the biden administration a year and a half ago determined they were not going to close those gaps. they were going to just leave them open. and so there they sit open.

so that's one of the issues. that's different in yuma than in some of the other areas where they've just literally let the steel sit horizontally in the desert rather than being installed vertically, what it was designed for. second big issue is in this area because of those gaps in the fence, individuals as they fly into yiewm pa, they're not -- yiewm pa, they're not -- yuma, they're not coming in caravans. they're literally flying into mexico, taking a charter bus that the cartels have organized for them where they'll pick them up at the airport, load up in a charter bus. they'll drive them up to the gaps in the fence with the bus and allow them be able to just step across the border. they're literally -- i could see it. they'll literally step across the border and stand there and wait for the border patrol to come pick them up like it's uber xl coming to pick them up in their spot. they know if i stand on this side of the fence and wait long

enough, border patrol will come by, pick them up in a van, take them to the processing area where they get processed and within a couple of days released into the country wherever they want to go. these individuals are traveling from all over the world. in fact, when i met with some of the leadership there in yuma, arizona, i just asked the question, how are things going, what's happening in different spots, what are you seeing? one of the folks said there well, last week, last week we encountered people from 50 different countries crossing just in this spot. why is that? because the border remains open and people from all over the world know they can fly to next cali, mexico, pay the cartels and the current going rate is between $7,000 and $15,000 a person for that section of the border. they get on the buses. they drive up to the border and they step across. now, it's a different kind of thing. we sometimes see pictures of people that have traveled 3,000

miles in a caravan. and by the way, there's another caravan that's actually organizing through central america right now and coming through mexico. the current caravan has estimated 6,000 people in it that are walking their way up and traveling their way up through central america and mexico right now. but the folks coming through yuma, arizona, are not like that. they step across the border and they're carrying luggage with them. in fact, border patrol has had to actually limit the weight that they could actually bring in luggage to more than 50 pounds because as they come into the processing area, they're carrying their luggage with them. they're dressed in nice clothes. they're clean. they just got a shower the day before. they come across the border and they wait on border patrol. we take them into the processing area. when i got to the processing area, one of the border patrol agents walked up to me and said you see the lady behind you? and i turned around and said

yes. he said, she's wearing a versace dress. i said it probably should mean something to me as a guy but it doesn't. my wife explained to me later that's a pretty expensive dress. why are we seeing people like that crossing the border? because it's easier to come in illegally into the country now than it is legally. most years we have a million people a year that legally cross our border, legally, that go through the process, fill out the paperwork. we do a background check on those individuals. they come through and come into our country and we celebrate people that legally come into our country and have for over two centuries. these individuals are finding it's faster and cheaper just to pay the cartel, fly to mexico, walk across the border. and when you walk across the border, you're in the country not just for a few months. right now when you walk across the border and enter into this

area, as you walk across the border, you're given a work permit and the ability to stay in the united states for eight years until your asylum hearing comes up. why do we have people coming from all over the world? we have a million people doing it legally, but last year we had two million people do it illegally because it's faster just to illegally come to the border. let me ask a simple question of this body. do we really want a system that incentivizes illegal activity as the entrants into the united states of america. because right now the incentive is to come illegally into the country. let me phrase it this way. for the individuals that come across this border, we do not do a background check on these individuals. we have no idea any criminal history they have from the country they're coming from. we do a background check with

american records. we know if they've committed a crime here in the past. but we have no idea any of the countries they're coming from. let me remind you in yuma when i was there a week ago, the week before 50 different nations crossed that border that week. we have no vin background -- criminal background check on any of those individuals. what else happens with this? because of the chaos happening here and border patrol having to run their uber xl vans to be able to pick people up and take them to processing and they have to come off the line to come into the processing center, what else is happening? the open desert areas not far from here where they know the drug traffickers are actually moving large quantities of drugs, they don't have enough agents to be able to patrol that anymore. they can see them on cameras. they just don't have enough people to get to it. the check points that are on the highways typically leaving out from this area to try to pick up the gun and drug smugglers coming in and out of the country, those check points don't exist anymore.

why? because they don't have enough staff anymore because they're managing this chaos at the border. we are losing our security presence on our southern border because the president is incentivizing illegal immigration and it's taking everybody that's there for our national security to actually be on the border to manage the check-in staff for people coming in. this is a ticking time bomb. it is solvable. let me give you just some very basic things on this. number one, keep title 42 in place. the border patrol that i speak to when i talk to the folks on the line, their number one fear is the biden administration is going to cancel title 42. now, currently the court is prohibiting them from doing that. but their biggest concern is if the biden administration cancels title 42, even more people will

come across and this chaos will be even worse. that's their number one issue. keep title 42 authority in place. the second thing is, stop giving people that cross the border between the port of entry and illegally cross, stop giving them work permits. that incentivizes people to cross between the ports of entry in illegal fashion. the administration could do that right now. third thing, stop giving people a free pass to come into the country for eight years, to stay in the country while they await their asylum hearing. do -- whoever is last in, first up for the asylum hearings and do it right there at the border. the asylum hearings can be done in less than a month and do it right there at the border. and so they have to remain if place to have their hearing. what happens is these individuals cross the border. they cross the border.

they get their eight-year pass in the country. they get their work permit. they snap a picture of it. they send it to their family back home and say i paid this cartel member this much money. i crossed in this spot. i sat at this line when i got there. i'm in the country. come join me and it keeps accelerating. that's a policy decision that the administration could stop now. they're choosing not to stop now. the final thing on it again is not hard. close that gap. why is this so hard? close that gap. we have fewer people crossing in california right now than we do in yiewm pa. -- in yuma. why is that? because the gap is closed in california. while me and my colleagues scream fences don't work, why do we have fewer people crossing in california than we do in yuma, arizona? because there's a functioning fence in california and a big giant gap in yuma. this does work and everybody

knows it. that's why the biden administration leaves it open because they're facilitating this. this is something that's going to bite our nation. it's a national security issue and we should not ignore it. again, i celebrate legal immigration. i want more of it in our country. this is unchecked illegal activity and we better pay attention to it. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: we hear from other colleagues about the crisis of crime in our cities across the country as another

failure of this administration. i come today to talk about the biden economic crisis which is hitting families in all of our states, in all of our communities, and the thing i heard the very most about when i was home in wyoming last week. across the country summer is almost here, it's time for barbecues and visiting friends and family vacations for many. this year it will be many fewer who will able to afford what has been a natural part of their family lives. the american people have just been through the most expensive memorial day ever, and it's been painfully expensive for families across this country. this is it just a preview of the summer of stress that families are going to be facing all across america. hamburger meat today is at the highest price ever. chicken, highest price ever. gallon of gasoline, highest

price ever. gas prices, they say inflation is up a certain percentage, gas prices have doubled since joe biden has become president, 100% increase in gas prices since the democrats became in the majority in the senate and joe biden was sworn in to the white house. gas prices in america under democrats have gone up 15 out of 16 months since joe biden came to the white house and chuck schumer came to be majority leader. gas now costs more than $4 a gallon on average in every state in the union and we're approaching $5 on average across the country. in the liberal paradise of california, the gas price today isover $6 -- is over $6 a gallon. financial analysts predicted

that the average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide could be $6.25 all across the country this summer. so what does the president of the united states and democrats in the senate have to do about that? what is the solution? and the democrats say we run the place, where are your solutions, i would say to those democrats? joe biden has a solution. i think i'll go and beg for oil from saudi arabia. i think i'll go and beg for oil from saudi arabia. the democrat policy on energy seems to be anything but american energy. the biden administration has already been begging venezuela, iran, the opec cartel, and even vladimir putin to sell us more

oil. we've seen that fall the last -- that all in the last year. it north korea had oil, i'm sure that democrats would go and try to beg them as well. this president would rather beg the saudis to sell us energy than to let hardworking american energy workers get it out of the ground here at home. now, you don't need to go to saudi arabia, you don't need to go to venezuela, don't need to go to russia, we have it here at home in america and we have an abundance of energy. joe biden is transferring the wealth of our nation to the middle east. and why? because that is a decision by joe biden and the democrats. send our wealth to the middle east rather than use the wealth that we have here in america. joe biden has blocked off the

vast majority of federal lands from energy exploration and production. even on the remaining federal land, joe biden continues to cancel major oil and gas lease sales. just last week while members were home, the biden administration, with none of us in washington, but all of us at home, said they're going to redo the environmental reviews of leases made by the previous administration. now, this includes 2,000 leases in my home state of wyoming. for every existing energy lease, joe biden has done what he can to stop production there. he has put 4,300 drilling permits in limbo. and what does he say about this? he said it in japan. he said we are going through an incredible transition. he said, quote, god willing,

this is joe biden, president of the united states, god will, when it's over, this incredible transition we're going through, we'll be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels. what joe biden is saying, tough luck. take your medicine. pay the price because we're going through an incredible transition and god will, when it's over -- god willing, when it's over, you're going to be -- we're going to be strong. we are going from a nation of energy dominance to an energy-dependent nation many we are going from prosperity to poverty and from wealth to weakness and that's what we're getting from the democrats in congress, democrats in the senate, the democrats in the house and joe biden. today we are still producing one million barrels of oil fewer than we were before the pandemic. and so what do democrats want to

do? once again, the secretary of treasury was with us yesterday, they want to raise taxes on the american public and american energy. what do you think higher taxes on energy production is going to do and oil is already at a point where people are paying $5 a gallon for gasoline. for democrats who chose to go home and listen to the people at home, i would think they're getting an earful from the people from home. one democrat was bragging at a hearing that she didn't care how high energy prices went, didn't care at all because she has an electric car and drove it home from washington, d.c. it didn't matter, if you have $50,000 to buy an electric vehicle, too bad for you. that's what we're seeing in this

country, joe biden has led us into crisis after crisis after crisis. higher energy prices means higher prices for almost everything else. higher energy prices is already driving up food costs. any senator who went to a grocery store, i'm not sure how many senators do the shopping for themselves, democrats could see how high the prices for food prices are. i certainly saw it this past weekend. food prices are rising at the fastest rate in 40 years. do any democrats come in here and try to come up with a solution for it? joe biden can't blame vladimir putin for high food prices. the price of food has gone up every single month since joe biden came into office. high energy prices, high food prices, a 40-year high in food prices in this country. the federal reserve has raised

interest rates. what does that mean? for retirees and those who are watching their retirement melt away, it means a lot. mortgage applications have dropped. many have given up on owning their own home. young mothers can't find baby infant formula to buy. joe biden didn't see it coming, people saw it coming, mothers saw it coming. it was ignored by the administration. once again, they -- they dropped the ball and the president was caught by surprise. seven out of ten stores in america run out of baby formula. there have been cases of children hospitalized because they can't get right kind of formula and what did the biden administration finally stay in they admitted -- say? they admitted to knowing about the crisis last year. yet they did nothing. month after month after month, this administration did nothing.

that's kind of what we've got with this president, a president -- our president is too slow. too slow to react, it too slow to act, too slow to respond to the needs of the american people. no wonder they're nicking him too -- knick naming him too slow joe. it's a disgrace. americans deserve better. americans in every background are being punished by joe biden and the democrats in congress. for most americans, this is the worst economy they have ever seen, more and more americans are having to borrow money to pay the bills to try to keep up. household debt is at an all-time high, credit card debt is at an all-time high. the average credit card in the united states is at an all time high. i would have to say to my colleague about driving an electric car and not caring

about gas prices going up, actually laughing about it, it seemed to me, well, you're different than most americans, most americans can't do what you do, don't have that opportunity. the united states average car is 12 years old because that's what people can afford. they can hardly afford the gas to go in it. they can't afford to buy a new or used car, let alone an electric car. since joe biden became president, prices have gone up faster than wages. and that is the complaint i continue to hear about at home. month after month after month the buying power of the average american family keeps going lower and lower and lower. now, two-thirds of the american people are talking about living paycheck to paycheck with nothing left over. nothing. as a result, the american people are feeling stuck and stressed and squeezed. the pessimism of the economist

is only exceeded by the pessimism of the american people and by the joe biden economy. all told, joe biden's economic crisis has become a perfect storm of bad economic news. jamie diamond is the c.e.o. of j.p. morgan chase, he warned of the upcoming economic hurricane. it is a perfect storm of record inflation, record debt, shortage of necessities, vanishing interest rate, shrinking savings, shrinking economy. the biden economic crisis is quickly spiraling into an all-around economic crisis. if democrats continue on this path, it's going to get a lot worse soon. inflation for producers is even higher than inflation for consumers. in fact, inflation for producers has been the highest on record. wholesale prices for housers went up -- for producers went up

11% for the last year, that means it went up for people who keep the lights on. inflation today for businesses mean inflation for consumers tomorrow. after 15 months of this inflation crisis, crisis that the administration kept ignoring and denying and kept refusing to say was here and said it wasn't coming, well, if it comes, the secretary of the treasury said, small chance it comes, but it will be manageable. there is no light at the end of the tunnel. if there is any light at the end of the tunnel, it's because the freight train marked recession is about to hit america. inflation is so bad democrats can't even deny it anymore. so they created it, ignore it, they deny it, they blame inflation on everybody else.

yesterday at the finance committee, the secretary of treasury said, no, no, it wasn't them, democrats. she said, no, no, it was putin, it was the pandemic, but now democrats want to make it worse. well, it took will 14 months but janet yellen admitted this week on a cnn interview that she had been wrong about inflation. and when she said testify a slight risk, she was mistaken and when she said it was manageable she was mistaken and now she says i was wrong about the path inflation would take. this is the secretary of treasury for joe biden, his hand-picked person to run the economy. she also admitted that inflation is a matter of supply and demand and the spending and the american rescue plan did feed the demand. i think she's talking about the $2 trillion that every democrat voted for and every republican

voted against. the $2 trillion that even democrat economists said don't do that, it's going to make us have pad inflation -- bad inflation of and we had bad inflation. but joe biden and the secretary of treasury and every democrat in the house and senate voted in favor of pouring fuel on a fire that turned into the inflation we are facing today. this was an enormous mistake on the part perfect democrats, the president, chuck schumer and every democrat in this senate, all the democrats in the house and nancy pelosi, and it is costing the average american family today $5,000 more this year than last year just to stay even. not to get ahead, just to stay even. democrats were warned. they were warned by republicans. they were warned by their own experts. and they ignored it, simply, flatly, ignored the warnings, passed the largest spending bill

in american history. ever since that day, inflation has spiraled out of control. more than a year later, democrats still don't have anything to offer beyond blame and excuses. last week the secretary of commerce was asked is there one specific category of high prices where you think you can actually make a difference? this is her answer, she said, i wish. that's what democrats are left with, wishes. wishes. no plan to fix the crisis that they have created. joe biden's so-called energy inflation plan made so many false promises, and he talked about this, he wrote an editorial in "the wall street journal," you would think that maybe somebody at the white house who wrote it would have been vetted before they gave it to the president, before he put his name on it. got four pinocchios from "the washington post."

who walked about what the president had to say about energy as just being a lie. we know what we need to do. we need to stop the reckless spending. we need to unleash american energy. instead of canceling lease sales, joe biden needs to open up federal lands to american energy production, instead of canceling pipelines joe biden should speed up the pipeline permit prog sess. instead of -- process. instead of begging other countries to sell us oil, we should get it out of the ground right here in america. we have the skills and skilled workers to see us through this crisis. the president just needs to let them go to work. working families have already been pushed to the breaking point. people are spending their savings, seeing it melting away. they've run up credit cards just to get by. now recession is heading at us. we need to change course.

the administration needs to change course. because the joe biden economic hurricane is about to hit america. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. durbin:madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. durbin: yesterday as chairman of the senate judiciary committee, i had the honor of welcoming a group of important guests to washington. the committee was join by the families of some of the victims

in last month's mass shooting in buffalo, new york. a white supremacist marched onto the -- into the tops grocery store with an assault rifle and massacred ten black americans in cold blood, wounded three others. just weeks after laying their loved ones to rest, these families flew to washington to deliver one very simple, straightforward message to congress -- do something. do something to prevent the next mass shooting, to combat the lethal threat posed by violent white supremacists, to honor the memory of those slain in this horrifying act of racist violence. one of the family members who attended yesterday was garnle whitfield jr., his brother raymond, their mother, ruth, was the eldest victim in the buffalo shootle.

-- shooting. she was 86 years old. in the hours before, she finished vising -- visiting her husband in the nursing home. the two had been married 68 years. in an instant, she was gone. is her family shattered. during yesterday's hearing, mr.y voiced what millions of americans feel about the devastating run of mass shootings in america, outrage. he asked me and the fellow committee members there, a really important question -- what are you doing? you were elected to protect us. is there nothing that you can personally be willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and domestic terrorism that it inspires? mr. whitfield con concluded his testimony with the following words i hope every member of the senate will hear. he said, mrs. ruth whitfield's life mattered.

your actions here will tell us if and how much it mattered to you. we heard the same sentiment from across the country, from uvalde, texas, to chicago, illinois. it's impossible to keep track of these mass shootings. they've claimed so many innocent lives. during this past weekend alone, our nation was hit with at least ten of them, ten. think about it. in this country, ten in one weekend. in many countries, most countries around the world, there are none. no other developed nation on earth experiences this degree of bloody carnage every day, every week. if we want to prove to americans like garnell whitfield the liestles of their -- the lives of their loved ones really matter to us, we have to do something in the senate. the first thing is simple -- close the loopholes on the purchase of guns. currently there's a bipartisan group of senators working on

this issue. i commend this group, especially senators murphy and cornyn, democrat and republican, who are leading this effort. we're also going to hold a hearing next week in the judiciary committee over a phenomena equally embarrassing. gunfire is now the leading cause of death for kids in america. did you hear that? gunfire, the leading cause of death of children in america. we talk about protecting our kids. our highest priority. well, the guns are killing our kids, more than automobiles, more than poison, more than disens in the -- more than accidents in the home. that brings me to the second obligation to families like the whitt fields, the -- the whitfields, the focus of our hearings. we've got to condemn and combat the hateful ideology that inspired the attacks like in buffalo. during the previous administration officials in

f.b.i. and department of homeland security shared a sobering assessment, this was under the previous president trump, they found that since 2000, the year 2000, white supremacists had been, quote, responsible for more homicides than any other domestic extremist movement. right now, in the words of f.b.i. director way, the threat of -- f.b.i. droark wray -- f.b.i. director wray this is metastasizing in america. in the past decade alone, white supremacists have committed mass shootings in a church, in a synagogue, not to mention a walmart and grocery store. we've seen other acts of domestic terrorism. this past weekend in wisconsin, madam president, a violent extremist broke into the home of a former judge, shot him to death. the murderer was found with a list of names including that judge and other officials, including the governor of your state. it's no coincidence that the threat of white supremacy is

growing worse at a time when racist rhetoric is drgd into the mainstream of -- dragged into the mainstream of our discourse. in 2022, hate has a formidable platform on fox news. media figures like tucker carlson are amplifying false, racist conspiracy theories, like the so-called great replacement theory to millions of vulnerable americans. night after night, tucker carlson legitimizes the fix that his -- the fick -- the fix chun that his ?sh -- it's the same racist dogma that inspierd the re-- inspired the resurgence of the ku klux klan 100 years ago. they took off the white robes on this gang. carlson and pundits like him traffic in fear and hate. they are radicalizing their viewers by preying on paranoia and winks to the far-right extremists looking to them for

leadership. we've seen the growing use of political violence against the elected officials, against flight attendants, election workers, school board members and other public servants. just this morning, to make it clear, our condemnation on violence applies on the right and left. just this morning, news broke that a man was arrested near the home of supreme court justice brett kavanaugh, carrying one weapon and with burglary equipment. he told police he was planning on killing the justice. we have to stand united, democrats, rbltion, independent, independents, left and right, and condemn violence wherever its source, right or left. whether threatened against a sitting supreme court justice or capitol hill police officer on january 6, who wanted to defend this building from the insurrectionist mob, it is unacceptable and inexcusable. as the threat of domestic

terrorism looms over the country, we must ensure that members of law enforcement have resources, training, and our support in their legitimate exercise of their duty. that's why we need to pass the domestic terrorism prevention act. i put this bill on the floor in 2017. it ensures that the federal government will keep track of the crimes and the nature of them. that's it. it doesn't give any new powers of investigation, surveillance, or arrest. simply counts the numbers of attacks and where they come from. it was a decision of the trump administration to remove white supremacy as one of the motives for this domestic terrorism, at a time when the head of the f.b.i. tells us that threat is metastasizing across america. president trump was wrong. the f.b.i. should be keeping track of these crimes so that we know the source of this violence. that's why this legislation is needed, not just to pass through the senate but to say to the wit

field family in buffalo, new york, we hear you, we're going to start by doing something very basic. as we watch one community after another torn apart by sickening acts of violence, the members of this senate have to go beyond thoughts and prayers. if anyone is unwilling to take the most basic steps to save lives, i encourage them to follow the advice mr. wit field offered yesterday. if you don't want to take action, yield your position of authority and influence to others that are willing. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: map, i want to thank

the chairman of the judiciary committee for his remarks just now. i too sit on the judiciary committee, and i listened to garnell whitfield talk about his 86-year-old mother who was murdered and his charge to us to do something. he said if you're not going to do something in the face of all this gun carnage in our country, what are you doing here? i think that is a question each of us should ask. what the heck are we doing here if not to protect american citizens and one of the questions that i asked of the panel which consisted of two inviteees from the republican side and three panel members democratic inviteees and i asked them is there easy access to guns in our country. a major part of the gun violence and the massacres and the killings in our country and they each said yes. they acknowledged the easy access to guns regardless of

ideology is what makes our country the outlier country among all developed nations. what that says to me is that we need to be very, very committed and very serious about the need to enact sensible gun safety legislation. and as i listened to one of my other colleagues a little bit earlier talking about inflation, yes, inflation is a problem, but certainly it is not the answer to just blaming the democrats. i would like the republicans -- my republican colleagues to make a commitment to do what we need to do, at least get a start and ending the gun violence in our country. and as i said at yesterday's hearing, hawaii has among the strongest gun safety legislation in the country. we have the lowest gun violence in the country. there is a cause and effect h here. and as mr. whitfield charged us with yesterday, do something.

that is our responsibility. turning to another subject, madam president, over decades of conflict, millions of americans -- american servicemembers have been exposed to burn pits and other toxic materials. these men and women risk their lives in service to our country and we have a duty to ensure they get care for conditions caused by these toxic exposures. for months my colleagues and i and the veterans affairs committee have worked to craft a bill that meets our responsibility, our duty to our veterans. and now we have the responsibility to pass this legislation here in the senate and deliver for our veterans. and this legislation is a bill named for sergeant first class heath robinson from ohio who served tours of duty in kosovo and iraq where he was exposed to

toxic burn pits. a decade after returning home, sergeant robinson developed a rare form of lung cancer caused by his toxic exposure. tragically he passed away in 2020. the sergeant first class heath robinson honoring our pact act of 2022 is historic, comprehensive legislation that provides the care toxic exposed veterans like sergeant robinson deserves. this bipartisan legislation extends v.a. health care eligibility to millions of post-9/11 veterans, including nearly three and a half million who were toxic exposed. it also adds nearly two dozen conditions to the v.a.'s list of service presumptions and strengthens the v.a.'s ability to provide the high quality care and benefits these veterans need

in a timely manner. altogether this bill delivers the historic investment in caring for our nation's veterans. the honoring our pact act is the latest step we are taking to support our veterans in hawaii and across our country. just yesterday president biden signed legislation to name the state of the art v.a. clinic under construction on oahu after the late senator daniel akaka. he also expanded the bill for access for treatment for veterans helping to especial sure every patient can get the care they need. by passing the honoring our pact act, we can continue building on this progress and delivering for our veterans. i'd like to thank chairman tester, ranking member moran,

and chair mark decono in the house for their leadership in this effort. i would like to thank all the veterans and their loved ones who have shared their stories and advocated for so long to help us get to this moment. this is an important and long overdue step toward honoring our nation's veterans, caring for them. i urge my colleagues to pass this bill without delay. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the junior senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, nearly six years ago our state, nation, the city of orlando, and hispanic and lgbtq communities were attacked. 49 innocent and beautiful lives were lost. it was an evil and hateful act, an act of terrorism designed to divide us as a nation and strike

fear in our hearts and minds. but instead we came together, we supported each other and we per veered. we've proved to the world what we in florida already knew. floridians are resilient. the days i spent in orlando following the shooting will always be with me. i talked to parents who lost their children. i went to funerals and wakes. i sat in hospital rooms. it was one of the hardest things i've ever had to do. it was heartbreaking. but in this horriblely dark time, the selfless courage of so many from community members to law enforcement to health care workers provided a sense of hope. this incredible strength, love, and bravery lifted up order and the state -- orlando and state of florida and helped us to rebuild. this week on the sixth anniversary of this devastating tragedy, the state of florida comes to honor the lives lost too soon. and we vow to always stand up and fight against evil and hatred in this world. i was proud last year congress passed and the president signed

into law legislation i introduced with senator rubio and senator padillo to designate the location of pulse nightclub in orlando as a national pulse memorial which will honor the memory of those we lost. today i'm requesting all of my colleagues to join senator rubio and me to pass a resolution honoring the memory of the 49 lives lost during the heinous attack at the pulse nightclub. let's come together now to say that our nation will always stand against hate and evil in this world. as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the considering of senate resolution 663 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 663 honoring the memory of the victims of the heinous attack at the pulse nightclub on june 12, 2016. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. scott: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed

to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the junior senator from florida. a senator: i note the absence of a quorum of a quorum call. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

>>.

>> as all the snow and the press note as well we have candidate here because two weeks ago a elementary school in uvalde texas, an unspeakable act of mass violence took the lives of 19 children and two of their teachers. i know i speak for all of us and i think i speak for everyone in the country saying our hearts are broken by what happened in uvalde. there is nothing we can do that can undo the pain born both by the survivors , families, victims and the community and the country but the independence and

transparency and expertise of the justice department can go a long way towards assessing what happened in uvalde, with respect to law enforcement response and giving guidance for the future and that's what we're here for today. the justice department is undertaking a critical incident review of the law enforcement response that they . at the request of the mayor. the review of the comprehensive, it will be a transparent and it will be independent. we will be assessing what happened that day. we will be doing site visits as a school. we will be conducting interviews of an extremely wide variety of stakeholders, witnesses, families, law enforcement, government officials, cool officials and reviewing the resources that were made available in the aftermath. the review will come in a final report which will include our findings and

recommendations and it will be made public. done apartments cops office is leading the review. our director rob chapman and our senior counselor chanelle cutler will be leading the team. and now i'm going to be happy tointroduce to you the team who will be doing the investigation . chief rick frizzell served as chief of the sacramento police department and lead investigator at a number of criticalincident reviews . deputy chief jean eisner who served as deputy chief of police director threat management for virginia tech where he was recruited following the mass shooting there in 2007. deputy chief frank fernandez is a former chief of police and police practices expert for the justice department's civil rights division since 2008 . albert gwen every who is on the screen who is 20 us

remotely is currently serving with the fbi as unit chief of the violence reduction unit in the office of partner engagement who oversees the fbi's program that has screened over 110,000 law enforcement officers in active shooterpreparations and response . major mark lomax served for 27 years with the pennsylvania state police, led national efforts to strengthen law-enforcement tactical response as executive director for the national tactical officers association and is manager of the iac p center for police leadershipand training . laura mcelroy is joining us remotely. she's a communications diocese worked as a civilian police executive dedicated to writing the between officers and the communities they serve. sheriff john mia led the orlando policedepartment through the mass shooting all night club in 2016 . doctor april luttrell's traumatic stress specialist

to let one of the world trade center health programs outreach and education programs and was the architect of behavioralhealth response for the boston marathon bombing . finally chief christians enough led the aurora police department through the mass shooting at a movie theater in 2012. as i said nothing before can do can undo a terrible tragedy thatoccurred . and that we are just heartbroken about what we can assess what happened and we can make recommendations for the future. i would also say as we conduct this review the justice department stands ready to participate, to support the bipartisan gun safety negotiations going on in congress right now in any way that's possible. i think now will take a few questions . >> how concerned are you about it but it's so far down

in uvalde and does this review have the tools it needs to enable. >> as i said we've been invited by the mayor. we have been promised, assured and welcomed with respect to cooperation by every level of lawenforcement , state federal and local. and we will participate in that vein and we don't expect any problems . >> on the topic of gun violence a man was arrested this morning outside. [inaudible] what is your reaction to this? >>

ervative, could work so productively with somebody with such different views? senator enzi told me, it's

easy. i call it the 80/20 rule. the fact of life is we're not going to agree with everybody 100% of the time. i sometimes say i don't agree with my wife 100% of the time, but she's always right. but seriously, if we're going to get things done here in the united states senate for the benefit of the american people, we have to understand nobody is going to get everything they want. and i think for purposes of simplicity and illustration, that senator enzi's comments about the 8 op-20 rule -- about the 80/20 rule are very helpful. i tried to employ that strategy many times since those days, and i hope we can apply that wisdom and strategy again dealing with these, this recent string of shootings, including uvalde, texas. now this debate evokes strong emotions and strong opinions

from people across the political spectrum, and it's an understatement to say that there are serious differences of opinion. i start with the premise that i took an oath to uphold and defend the constitution of the united states, and i have no intention of violating that oath. that's where i start. part of the constitution is the amendments, including the first ten -- the bill of rights -- including the second amendment, which provides a constitutional right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding americans. i have no intention of violating my oath, and i have no intention of undermining the rights of law-abiding gun owners in america, because it is a

constitutional right. but it's no secret that when it comes to the culture in america, there are very different views, ranging from, let's say, connecticut, where senator murphy comes from, to places like texas, where guns are commonplace. but people know how to use them, and they use them responsibly, and they are not a threat to public safety. but there are those who would like to restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners, because that is their view, they strongly hold that view. but i've been clear that's a nonstarter for me. but to senator enzi's wise advice, rather than focus on the 20% we can't agree on, i've been trying to explore common ground with our colleagues on a bipartisan basis. these were devastating

tragedies, we all gray with -- agree with that. we all agree no child should ever fear for his or her safety while sitting in a classroom. i think we even all agree that there's a mental health epidemic in america today and that that is a piece of the puzzle. to me, the shootings are a symptom of a larger problem, which is the failure of our mental health system in america, and it manifests itself in many different ways. people suffering from mental health challenges by and large, they're not violent, but a subset of them threaten their own lives with suicide. some of them, even a subset of others, not only commit suicide by attacking the known armed police contingent, but they also engage in homicides too, which is what happened with

salvador ramos in uvalde, texas. i think there's a consensus in america that criminals and people experiencing severe mental health crises should not have access to guns. it's not just my opinion, it's actually the law. that's what the national instant criminal background check system is supposed to vet for, to make sure that people who have criminal records, people who have been institutionalized for mental health problems, people who are dishonorably discharged, people under a protective order, people who have committed felonies, people whoch -- who have committed domestic violence. those are people who, if you went to buy a firearm and went through an instant background check, you would not be able to

purchase a firearm because that is the law of the land and has been for a long time. with that in mind, senator murphy from connecticut, senator tillis from north north carolina sand senator sinema and i have been looking to come up with a targeted bill to prevent some of these tragedies. to say if this had been in place, is it less likely that this tragedy would have occurred. stated another way, if we do this, is there a chance or a probability that we could save lives in the future. to me, that should be our focus. and instead of wasting time talking about what we don't agree on, i think it's productive for us to focus on this subset of issues where i believe there is room for a consensus, because of course

that's the only way to make progress and to get a result. you know, when the constitution was written and created three branches of government, but in particular now the legislative and the executive branch, with two branches of the congress very different, very different in their nature, they created -- they made it difficult to pass legislation. it's hard. we do it, but it's hard. and it's hard because it takes consensus, and consensus sometimes takes time, particularly on issues that evoke such strong views and opinions and reflect, frankly, the diversity of this country. i'm glad to say on this topic, we are making steady progress.

it is early in the process, but i'm optimistic about where things stand right now. what am i optimistic about? i'm optimistic that we could pass a bill in the senate, it can pass the house, and it will get a signature by president biden. it will become law of the land. and what is the test of that legislation? it is, to me, not whether it meets your ideological standard of what the bill should look like, but it's simply this -- will it save lives? if it will, it is worth all of our best efforts. as i said, there's broad agreement about the mental health challenges not only in our schools, but in our society at large and how that manifests itself. 60% of the gun deaths in america are suicides. don't we want to try to prevent those suicides? i think so.

that's why the mental health issue is so important. among other reasons. and then obviously the school safety issues. we need to try to figure out ways to make our schools harder to get into for people like salvador ramos. unfortunately, the mental health challenges of young, disaffected and alienated boys is a profile that's all too familiar. it's reflected in the shooter in uvalde. it's reflected in the shooter in sandy hook, adam lanza. they came from much different places in terms of the socioeconomics, but in terms of their alienation and their developing mental illness and their willingness to not only take their own life, but other people's lives, unfortunately

it paints an eerily similar picture. the shooter in uvalde was isolated and bullied in school. he had a record of cutting his face, self-mutilation and abusing and torturing animals and he was known for fighting and threatening his fellow students with everything from assault to rape. he was a ticking time bomb, and many people, not all the people, but many people in this small community of 15,000 people knew it. certainly his mother knew it. unfortunately his mother was a drug user and he was living with his grandmother. but this is a young man who shot his own grandmother because she wanted him to go back to school because, of course, he had been out of the classroom because of covid-19 restrictions. frankly, that isolation just

made his mental illness that much worse. as i said, the shooter at sandy hook, adam lanza was suffering from what was described as severe and deteriorating mental health problems being untreated. not that his parents didn't try. they did. but when he was prescribeed medication for his mental illness, he never took it and his mom eventually gave up, you can imagine. and it was three years without seeing a mental health advisor. sitting in his room, playing individual yo -- individuals online and become becoming -- we need to equip all of our young

people in america with resources and assistance they need in order to manage their emotional and mental health struggles. i think that is part of what we need to do. school security, as i said, was also a glaring issue in uvalde. the shooter was able to enter robb elementary school through a door that wasn't even locked. that's a problem school districts need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. they need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. that means evaluating physical security, reviewing current protocols, developing best practices and potentially adding or expanding the number of school resource officers. those are law enforcement officers on campus. i think there's a lot of common ground on things we can agree on here, safer schools, better mental health resources, coming

up with additional assistance that will harden our schools and provide greater deterrence and protection for our students. the senators who i've been talking to, including the group of four, but even the larger group today at noon, we've been talking about other things we might do to keep individuals who are already prohibited by law, because they've got a criminal background check or they have mental health adjudications and problems, how do we keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who are undergoing mental health crises? that's an area of common ground. this is not about -- this is not creating new restrictions on law-abiding citizens, it's about ensuring that the system we already have in place works as intended. one idea we've discussed is because this young man in

uvalde, he turned 18 and because there was no look back at his juvenile record, he passed a background check. it's as if he was born on his 18th birthday and nothing that happened before was important, that's obviously a problem. so we're looking at taking steps to encourage states to upload juvenile records into the national criminal background check system. this is standard practice in some but not most states, and it's easy to see why it's important. if we're uploading information about adults of mental health adjudications, but we don't have access to juveniles mental health adjudications, to me that's a problem. if a 17-year-old, for example, is convicted of aggravated assault, the record should show up in his background check if he tries to purchase a gun when he turns 18.

i think this is a commonsense way to make sure that the national instant criminal background check databases are complete and they're accurate. that's not about expanding the system, that's about making sure the system we have actually works. i want to make sure there's -- that we are committed to providing due process protections for citizens in all circumstances. this, again, this is part of our constitution, due process of law. the right to appear, the right to contest a decision by the government and to produce evidence and to cross-examine witnesses. that's an essential access of due process. when you talk about depriving somebody of a constitutional right, it's even more important. the goal here is to make a law. it's not to make a political

statement. and, as i said, i'm encouraged by the progress we're making. but i don't think artificial deadlines are useful. the majority leader, senator schumer, has threatened to schedule votes if an agreement isn't reached by a certain time. i don't think that's particularly helpful. again, my goal, and think most senators' goal here is to come up with a bill that can pass, otherwise we might as well move on to other topics. but i sense a feeling of urgency and a desire actually to get things done. around here, if you know people have the will, there is a way, and i believe there is a collective bipartisan will. so far everybody, i believe, has been working in good faith. we all understand the differences that we have regionally, culturally when it comes to things like the second

amendment. we understand there are different politics in different states. that's the genius of the senate that brings us all together. it doesn't make it easy, but it makes it possible for us to try to find some common ground. the most common cry you hear today when it comes to incidents like uvalde is to do something. i think we agree with that, but what that something is is not easy, but it is important and we need to try. and, again, i am optimistic because of the progress we've made so far that we will do something here that's important that will save lives. to me, that's the goal. and i think all 100 senators would agree, if we can achieve that goal, then our efforts will

have been worthwhile. i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

we can't forget about the chaos right here at home. gun violence is killing our children. nineteen students, two of the teachers, uvalde, two weeks ago. twenty children and seven others in newtown, connecticut. nearly ten years ago, 12 students and the teacher at columbine, 23 years ago. las vegas, 58 deaths, 49 said, marjory stoneman got douglas, 17 said. all victims of gun violence. this is just a snapshot of the epidemic of gun violence in our country.

i look back at my 48 years here in the senate and say when will we say enough, enough? we didn't finish honoring and celebrating the lives of the text ten victims in buffalo before news broke of the tragedy in uvalde. nineteen children, two teachers, massacred in their schools. where they learn and work, they should be saved. they should just be children, at least a dozen people killed. sixty more injured and shooting incidents across our country. when is it enough? after sandy hook well over a decade after columbine the nation, the content of the country were stirred. now we must look at gun laws,

now we must think about what simply makes sense and what does not. judiciary committee acted, i was proud to hear that but the senate did not. bipartisan proposals, then proposes could muster bipartisan support again today there is a problem and acknowledges we can and must do something about it. the problem is not the second amendment, the problem is abuse of the second amendment, the top absolute. i was in vermont last week and people would say to me of course we pray for the victims. we also pray congress will finally stand up and do something.

i'm with my fellow vermonters. i am a lifelong gun owner. i was on the target shooting team at st. michael's at my home, armed my letter and that. millions of others, lifelong gun owners, they are responsible gun owners and honor americans rights and they choose their own to defend their families or to hunt but not commit battlefield style murders. most americans, firearms and value for defensive purposes, not for murder and mayhem. there are ways we can use common sense, keep guns out of the

hands of people who are dangerous. let's have background checks, they are a quick and easy way to help accomplish that goal. there's bipartisan support to require background checks for commercial firearms sales. i think we should go further we have to start somewhere and commercial sales and background checks are a good start. background checks would have to bring common sense back into the discussion. we should be encouraging more states to enact these laws, loved ones or law enforcement to petition in order that would temporarily prevent an individual crises from accessing firearms. people in crisis, a danger to

themselves or others, they shouldn't have ready access to firearms, it's plain common sense. then we have the question of strong purchasers. these are people buying guns on behalf of someone else. we've seen this where terminal gangs will send to other states, makes purchases of weapons and back to sold. there's no criminal statute specifically prohibiting strong purchasing so prosecutors had to rely on laws that prohibit false statements in connection with the purchase of a firearm. there's bipartisan agreement we

should strengthen the penalties were strong purchasers, deter the dangerous. it's also practical, commonsense. we should also have common sense and consistency minimum age requirement to purchase the. you have to be 20 want to buy a handgun. you also have to be 21 to purchase alcohol or many places, even cigarettes. under current laws, a shotgun or rifle including automatic rifles like those used on the battlefield were also used in buffalo and uvalde, battlefield weapons killing innocent children, innocent americans and

if we can't find common ground to ban military style assault rifles which i believe we should, we should at least raise the age which they could be purchased, 18 to 21. all these proposals are practical common sense. they should be the least congress can do to help prevent the next mass shooting but we have a problem in the united states, the leading cause of childhood deaths and 2020 was firearms. think of that, children and our grandchildren, the leading cause of death, firearms. we have a problem when he cannot stand it together to respond to the peers of our children, you have a problem we knew we cannot push aside the interest of the

nra and gun industry and gun owners in america and other pressure groups that tell us democrats are coming for your guns. we got to boost sales, boost sales and children died. this is united states of america. i am a democrat, a gun owner, i have been nearly my entire life. prosecuting murder cases, 3:00 in the morning seen people being shot, i'm also apparent and a grandparent. i'm a united states senator.

i am a proud vermonter. in my home state we have a long tradition dating back to our founding when we became the 14th state in the union hunting to land. ownership of firearms is proud of that. i've heard from more than 1000 vermonters since uvalde urging me telling me something must be done. when is it enough? marcel and i went last week to vermont and we heard, when is enough enough? i've spent months or actually years listening to my friends on the republican side in congress talk about protecting children. i asked them, who's going to step up now? who will step up to say enough is enough? if we protect our children, we

must be the adults with the courage to listen to their fears and act to alleviate them. we are the adult who must protect our children. if we do nothing, we are not protecting them. this isn't about politics. this is about the money the interest of pressure groups, lobbying congress without acknowledging tragedies today. this is about you or me, mr. president. this is about the thousands of people killed gun violence every year. the countless family members will have to sorrowfully move on in the absence.

by our family, loved ones, by my parents, by my children, why my brother or sister? why? this, the greatest country on earth, a horrific record of gun violence. this is an about revoking the second amendment. it's about applying practical common sense, safeguards. again i ask, as i've been in the senate, the american people have, when is it enough?

i joined those who pray for the veterans, i especially joined those who pray congress will have the courage, democrats or republicans alike to do something meaningful. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. >> the house oversight reform committee heard from the witness.

i hope every member of the house and senate pays attention, god knows many in congress need to listen to what the witnesses have to say. we need to listen and congress needs to act because every neighborhood, every school, every city, every tongue americans are wondering the same thing, when is congress going to act to stop gun violence? that is precisely what we are working on now in the senate. it will be hard to believe after hearing what these witnesses say the senate cannot find a way to come together and act on gun violence. over the past week and a half my democratic colleagues led by efforts of senators murphy and senator in bloom and heimlich

and others have been holding good faith talks with republicans to see if we can arrive at an agreement in gun violence legislation. as i've said, bipartisan talks deserve the space they need to produce meaningful results. i hope my colleagues continue to make progress toward an effective agreement hopefully by the end of the week. overwhelming consensus of our caucus among gun safety violence prevention and the american people is even if we can't get everything done, getting something real done is worth pursuing. overwhelming consensus in this caucus among the groups, gun safety groups and among the american people, get something real done even if not everything everyone would wish for. given the other side refusal to

do anything meaningful, we know how difficult this is but that's all the more reason to explore every realistic opportunity getting something real done. we know we won't get everything we want, gun safety will continue after this moment but we have a moral obligation to try to get something meaningful done for the american people in the name of those who have died. this is not a partisan issue, gun safety is overwhelmingly backed by large majority of americans and majority of democrats, her publicans, independence. it's bipartisan because all americans know the same thing, we stand alone in the developed world and a number of mass shootings that take place every year. we stand alone among the developed nations in the world and any day, another school, another grocery store, another

neighborhood can suddenly become unimaginable tragedy. americans from many times our thinking i might be shot whether they are in a supermarket, their kids are in school or anywhere else. we stand alone year after year in the plague of mass shootings in the country has been backed by in action. other countries base mass shootings, they have acted and acted well. why aren't we? the american people are tired and angry of the same thing happened again and again, tired of nothing getting done, tired of the greatest country in the world paralyzed and not acting in the right way mainly because people on the other side of the aisle joined us but i urge my colleagues now, let's get something done. the sooner we act the greater chance we have of preventing

another senseless mass shooting in america, let's break the cycle of gun violence and end the days when parents, doctors and children have to come to the u.s. capitol to big elected result representatives to take action. on fox news and january 6 now. tomorrow evening house select committee will hold its first public hearings on the insurrection of january 6. a watershed moment for what now a ten month investigation to uncover the truth of what happened that terrible day in our nations history. the american people need to see january 6 for what was, deliberate organized violent attempt to inverse of free and fair election, it was grotesque as an assault upon american democracy. worst of all, part of a larger effort from the hard right to

erode constitutional order from within, a couple of days ago someone was arrested who said he in 20 feet -- m call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 59, the nays are 40. the nomination is conformed -- confirmed. under the previous order, the motion is reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and thes are will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the next nomination. the clerk: department of education, amy loyd of income to be assistant secretary for career, technical, and adult education. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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