senators to talk about expanding disability for veterans, exposed to toxic articles mainly from burn pits and we expect numbers to discuss an agreement on gun legislation announced yesterday. live now to the senate floor here on c-span2. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, dressed in a robe of light, this is the day that you have made. we will rejoice and be glad in it. lord, we place our trust in you. you have guided our life's journey through many dangers, toils, and snares. your amazing grace continues to sustain us.

today, show our lawmakers the right path. lead them by your truth and save them with your matchless love. you continue to be the god of our salvation, and without your mercies, we would be consumed. and lord, we thank you for our incoming summer pages and as always, we ask you to bless ukraine. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 3967 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 388, h.r. 3967, an act to improve health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances and for other purposes.

ms. hirono: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i note the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, madam president, yesterday democratic and republican negotiators

announced an agreement on a framework for bipartisan gun safety legislation bringing the senate one step closer to finally, finally responding to the plague of gun violence that afflicts our nation, terrorizes our children. for the first time in a long time the senate has a path forward on legislation that will save lives, reduce gun violence, and keep our communities safe. make no mistake about it, we have a lot of work left to do before we actually pass a bill. but yesterday's announcement was a positive and necessary step in the right direction. now comes the important work of turning this framework into legislation and legislative language that can pass congress and be signed by the president. we must continue working with the urgency that this moment demands because if we can save even one life from gun violence,

it will well be worth it. once the text of this agreement is finalized, and i hope it will be as soon as possible, i will put this bill on the floor quickly so the senate can move quickly to make gun safety reform a reality. as i said, i will put this bill on the floor as soon as possible, once the text of the final agreement is finalized so the senate can act quickly to make gun safety reform a reality. so i urge my colleagues to continue working with the same good faith and urgency that has brought us to this point. certainly, yesterday's agreement does not have everything democrats wanted, but it nevertheless represents the most significant reform to gun safety laws that we have seen in decades. if enacted, this legislation will make it harder for mass shooters to access assault rifles by enhancing background checks for those under 21. it will prevent tragedies before

they happen, by helping states with their red flag laws. it will prevent gun violence at home by closing the so-called boyfriend loophole and establish new penalties for gun traffickers. and it will make our neighborhoods safer by investing in mental health and community violence intervention programs. the lion's share of gun violence happens outside the national spotlight, and these intervention programs are some of the most effective ways to reduce crime and make our communities safer. altogether, this framework is a good and necessary first step towards changing the ryality of -- the reality of gun violence in america. it will lay the foundation for future action. most importantly, this legislation will go a long ways to saving lives. i want to thank senators moifery and sinema, cornyn and tillis for working asudden yu ousley on

this framework. senator murphy asked for space to let the negotiators do their work, and i was glad to give it to them because we knew any chance of getting something real done on gun safety was worth the effort. i also want to thank my colleagues who were part of the bipartisan guns working group, including senators blumenthal, manchin, coons, heinrich and others. i want to thank all the advocates, families, volunteers who lost loved ones who shared their stories, who marched to make the change. without the advocates, the families, the volunteers who lost loved ones, this bill wouldn't have happened, because year after year after shooting after shooting they didn't give up, they persisted and have helped bring us to this important moment. for decades, families across the country have seen the same dismal pattern play out whenever a mass shooting strikes the

nation. tragedy followed inaction. from columbine to virginia tech to sandy hook to las vegas to parkland to buffalo to uvalde, and to so many others. gridlock has prevented congress from bringing solace to families in grief. but no matter how many shootings have traumatized this nation, these families have never given up in their hope of making change happen. rather than curse the darkness, these families have responded to tragedy by lighting candles. they've shared their stories. they've marched for change. and they've done everything in their power to make sure no other parent, spouse, or sibling has to suffer the pain they have felt and lived with every day. the same goes true for all the advocates and so many groups who have worked on gun safety. many members of these groups are survivors of gun violence. i have a person on my staff who's a survivor of aurora.

and they have all worked tirelessly for years to fact commonsense gun-safety laws. decade -- despite decades of frustrating gridlock. i hope yesterday's announcement brings some sense of accomplishment to these grieving families and to all of those who have marched and protested and written letters and tweeted. because it's thanks to them we are at the threshold of it progress. madam president, nearly 30 years ago i was the author of the brady background checks bill, and that was the last time congress took meaningful action to address gun violence. it was a different era back then, but the lesson of that experience remains relevant today. the right law can decrease gun deaths. i believe that there are tens of thousands of people alive today because the brady law was passed in 1994. they don't know who they are. we don't know who they are.

but it's virtually certain that that law saved thousands and thousands of lives. i urge my colleagues to think of all the lives we can now save by turning this framework into law. americans have waited long enough for us to take action. too many lives -- too many -- have been already lost. too many families -- too many -- have been left grieving. while we can't undo the tragedies of the past, we can act now to make them less likely in the future. this framework, if enacted into law, will do precisely that, and i urge all of us to continue working to pass gun legislation -- gun safety legislation soon. now, on the pact act, as negotiations continue off the floor on gun safety reform, today the senate will move forward with the most significant expansion of veteran health care benefits in decades -- in decades. in a few hours, the senate will

vote on cloture on the substitute amendment for the pact act, which chairman tester and ranking member moran have been working on for months. it's my hope that we can finally pass this legislation in the next few days, well before the week is out. the changes outlined by pact act are well overdue. it would make sure any veteran suffering from toxic exposures in the line of duty can get the v.a. benefits they deserve. it would end the indignity that too many veterans face of vare vare -- carrying the burden of toxic exposure on their own, being forced to jump through hoop after hoop by the v.a. before getting any benefits, and many of them never get them. and as many as 3 1/2 million veterans would benefit from the reforms brought about by this bill. i urge my colleagues to keep working so he can can push this -- so we can push this bill over the finish line asap,

because both sides want it, our veterans deserve it and veteran service organizations, the v.s.o.'s, have been telling congress for years that change is needed at the v.a. before the week is out, the senate should do this bill and pass this bill. on the shipping bill, a few months ago the senate unanimously passed legislation to fight inflation by fixing unfair shipping practices that are clogging our ports and straining our supply chains. tonight, the house will finally act on that bill and send it to the president's dress. inflation is the grittest frutionration america has right now. backlogs at our ports are one of the biggest drivers of price hikes we will address through this bill. by now, we've all seen pictures of scores of ships lining up in ports from los angeles to savannah to seattle to new york and new jersey. these backlogs have not only caused great harm for american exporters trying to send their

products out into the world, they have also skyrocketed the price of goods coming into this country. the backlogs create a brutal double whammy that ultimately leaves american families paying the price. so i applaud speaker pelosi and all of my house colleagues for taking action on this shipping reform bill. i want to thank my colleagues in the senate, senators cloib char and thune -- klobuchar and thiewns, the authors, chairwoman cantwell who shepherded it through, and others for their leadership when this bill was before the senate. by reforming unfair shipping practices, congress is taking a much-needed step to lowering costs, clearing our ports, and relieving supply chains. i thank all of my colleagues for a job well done. i yield the floor -- no, i don't yield it yet.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 969. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will call forth the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, ana isabel de alba, of california, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk cl report. the clerk: cloture motion, we

the undersigned senators in accordance with rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on executive calendar number 969, ana isabel de alba, of california, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california, signed by 17 senators, as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 919. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, consumer product safety commission, mary

t. boyle, of maryland, to be a commissioner. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 919, mary t. boyle, of maryland, to be a commissioner of the consumer product safety commission, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the named be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call calls for the cloture motions filed today, june 13, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to.

the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: run away inflation has pushed workers to the breaking point. according to one recent poll, nearly 60% of americans are making an effort to drive less and cut back on electricity use. three in four are pinching their budgets for food and entertainment outside the home and two-thirds are bracing for prices to claim even higher in the coming year.

six months ago in december president biden told the american people we had reached the peak -- the peak of the crisis with inflation. he said that prices would start falling. quote, over the next couple of months. but like so many democrats, other confident predictions about our economy, the president's statement has proven completely false. friday morning's inflation report provided more official confirmation of what american consumers know painfully well -- that democrats' out-of-control inflation is not letting up. in fact, it's actually getting worse. in the year -- this year to may, consumer prices rose 8.6%, blowing away expectations, jumping a full percentage point over the previous month and setting -- you guessed it -- a

new 40-year high. the data underneath tell a brutal story for american families and businesses. the categories driving inflation last month were the ones they can't do without. overall energy prices clocked a year-on-year increase of nearly 35%. drivers are paying 48.7% more at the pump, and the fuel oil consumers have seen prices more than double. food costs continue to climb at over 10%. grocery prices in particular hit nearly 12% inflation. the worst year since 1979. and full-service restaurant prices saw their largest increase on record. of course that's not to mention the 31-year high for inflation in the services sector. a 35-year high for rent

inflation and the 42-year high for rising airfare. day by day, all of these painful milestones add up to one simple reality -- americans' hard-earned dollars aren't going nearly as far as they once did. runaway inflation has swallowed up any shot of rising pay. the average worker has seen a 3.the% pay 3.9% pay cut in the last year. one mother of two in indiana recently reported that she's earning more than she ever has in her career but says she still feels like she is financially losing ground. this is what she had to say. i should be able to live on my own. i'm getting ready to pay rent and it's going to take every single dime i've made. as one of my constituents in

barberville put it recently, we're cutting back on everything, and i mean everything. gas, meat, bread, it's all expensive as hell. one moment you think you can afford to buy something. then you go to the store and it's like, nope. can't get that anymore either. and here's a real kicker. one young couple in utah have taken to asking themselves weekly what did we spend money on that we could not have spent money on? imagine if washington democrats are willing to engage in that sort of self-reflection. remember, it was their policy choices that made this painful situation possible. it was the democrats' choice to insist on flooding, flooding the economy with trillions of dollars in liberal spending last spring. and it was democrats' choice to spend months working on ways to pour even more gasoline on the fire, even though working families were already feeling

the pinch of inflation. the democratic leader himself said last spring, i do not think the dangers of inflation at least in the near term are very real. none other than some of his own party's top economists warned the top opposite. but washington democrats were not to be deterred. working families' budgets took a back seat to the far left's wish list, and now democrats' decision is literally driving them off a cliff. now, on another national, the senate is in the middle of proposing major legislation to expand health care access to veterans exposed to toxation substances in the line of duty. a majority of us voted to begin processing this bill a few days back, myself included. this legislation is not a minor fix.

this is a series of major, major changes to help more veterans. so the precise language of the final bill will have major consequences for veterans, for policy, and for government spending. republicans have pushed to get votes on a few commonsense amendments that would make this bipartisan bill even stronger for our veterans. for example, one of these amendments would make sure that veterans who are already in line -- those who are waiting now, already in line -- waiting for treatment under the current rules are not disserved or treated unfairly as an unintended consequence of the new expansion. surely that should be completely without controversy. another amendment would clarify how the government accounts for the new funding and to make sure the legislation does not impose major unintended consequences on the appropriations process. another amendment would make it clear that new medical presumptions must rest on sound

science, so congress does not substitute our judgment for the experts'. these are not controversial amendments. they're directly related to the substance of this bill. and given the magnitude of the changes under consideration, the senators sponsoring these amendments have every right to expect votes on the floor. there's no reason why this important bipartisan bill should be denied a bipartisan floor process. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

>> want to kick us off? aframework was announced over the weekend . can we talk about what the white house would like to see the lawmakers sit down andtry to turn this into a bill ? specifically access to juvenile records. and redefining which gun sellers now have to. >>

and over again, whether it was in reference to a supermarket killing in buffalo, a school, a fourth-grade school class in uvalde, texas, or a doctor and other bystanders being killed in a tulsa, oklahoma, hospital. all of that have has occurred in the last few days. the american people have reacted with one voice, and they have said to us two words -- do something. to members of congress, don't just tell us you're going to give us your thoughts and prayers. do something. i think this decision to move forward could help. every decision in this agreement could save a life. for that reason, if for no

other, i will be supporting it. this agreement would support red flag laws. that's one way they characterize them -- crisis intervention orders is another. many states, 19, already have them. it would also close dangerous gaps in the federal law that enables domestic abusers, boiforts, to get guns -- boyfriends, to get guns. i want to commend senator klobuchar who has been the leader in the united states senate on that issue. we tried to help her on a previous piece of legislation. it didn't have the votes to do it. but if it's included in this package, i will definitely support it and thank her for her leadership. it also has strengthened the background check system by clarifying which gun sellers are required to conduct background checks. that's a step in the right direction. i hope there's more coming. the agreement would provide funds for desperately needed mental health and trauma support services, including more school counselors for enhanced school safety. madam president, i can't tell

you how critically important that is. half of the people who die because of a gun in america commit suicide. it is the plea for help that we should be answering. this could help. we also know that some of the people who pick up these guns and go shooting children and innocent people have serious mental illness problems. they need counseling too, and we need to find ways to reach to them. i also want to add that we have a different form of gun violence in big cities like chicago. many of these crimes are committed by kids in gangs, and these kids, 90%-plus of them have been victims of trauma in their lives. things have happened to them which they can never forget, and they need help to deal with them. so mental health counseling, trauma counseling is critical to reducing gun violence at all these three different levels. importantly, the framework

would crack down on straw purchases and illicit trafficking of guns. madam president, last august an amazing young woman who is a chicago policewoman, ella french, was on duty with her partner sitting in a squad car, and a man walked up and shot her in the head and killed her. then he shot the other officer and blinded him in one eye. the gun that he used to kill that policewoman was the subject of a straw purchase. what does that mean? that means that he could never have cleared a background check. he was a convicted felon. so he finds a friend or a girlfriend to go in and buy it, who have no criminal records, and then they hand the gun over to him, and he turns around and kills a wonderful chicago policeman. the outpouring of sentiment in favor of ella french and her family was overwhelming and hoip we can get this provision which i worked on with senator collins and senator leahy included in

the package to tighten up on penalties on those who make straw purchases. if you're going to lie to buy a gun for someone who can't pass a background check, you ought to pay dearly for that. it cost ella french her life. i hope that we can stick with this provision all the way through. the last point is especially important, because i met her mother, i met the officer who was in the car with her, i met his family, and i know how much this particular incident meant to each and every one of their lives. madam president, does an agreement like this do everything that i would like? no, it doesn't. but this, if we can pass it, will be the most significant gun violence reform in 30 years in congress. 30 years. we now have more guns than people in this country. they estimate some 400 million guns. they can't even give me anywhere

close to an exact number of how many ar-15's we have in this country. i've heard estimates people are convinced of that range from 10 million to 20 million of these ar-15 military assault-type weapons. we have a long way to go before we reach the finish line, but i want to commend those senators who have worked so hard to bring us to this point and just make it very clear, i'm prepared to do everything i can as a senator and as whip to bring the votes together to get this done as quickly as possible. and now on another matter, madam president, two weeks ago the education department announced it would wipe out $5.8 billion in student loan debt owed by 560,000 borrowers who had attended for-profit corinthian colleges in the last 20 years. corinthian colleges was one of the largest, most p corrupt, most unscrupulous companies in the for-profit college industry, but it wasn't alone in its shady dealings.

far from it. so the basic primer on for-profit colleges and universities, the question ural going to have in the -- you're going to have in the final exam is this. the numbers 8 and 30, what do they mean? 8% of high school graduates go to for-profit colleges and universities. 8%. 30% of all the student loan defaults in the united states are students from for-profit colleges and universities. why? why are these students who attend for-profit schools failing to make their student loan payments? well, first, these industries, for-profit industry schools, charge too much in tuition, so the students can't keep up with the debt, so they borrow more. they reach a point where something happens and they have to drop out, afraid of the debt that they've accumulated.

next stage, some finish. they take their diploma from that i were for-profit school, and they learn unfortunately that it's almost worthless. westwood college is one of those fraudulent for-profit colleges. taxpayer operated -- it operated 15 campuses in five different states, including illinois. westwood college. i remember driving out to o'hare airport and looking up at the side of one of those tall office buildings and they had a sign for westwood college. i thought what a fraud. westwood used high pressure sales and marketing tactics and lies to convince students to take on huge amounts of student debt. students in the criminal justice program in illinois were told a west wood justice degree would all but guarantee them a good-paying job, maybe even the f.b.i. what a lie. vik tow i can't vince --

victoria vincess heard those lies and is paying the price for them. victoria is the first person in her family to attend college. that is the case more often than not. these students come from families with no college experience. they look at the advertising and unfortunately fall for it and sign up for these for-profit schools like westwood. victoria enrolled in the criminal justice program in 2007 believing it would help her land a job as a probation officer or maybe the immigration service. after three years juggling full-time jobs and going to school full-time, victoria was shocked to learn a westwood dpree -- degree would not pay off. she owed $50,000 in loans she had taken out at westwood. she dropped out. she started applying for law enforcement jobs, showing them the certificate of her transcript for westwood, and they told her that's worthless.

victoria now works for the illinois domestic hotline. she likes her job and she helps a lot of people, but she's never earned enough income to make the monthly payments on her student loans. victoria vincees isn't someone who shirks responsibility. she is helping to raise a niece and a nephew who lives with her. she just doesn't believe she should have to pay back $50,000 in loans because of the deception. i agree. last week i wrote to education secretary miguel cardona asking him for a second time -- and i like him, but if he doesn't start answering my letters, i'm going to have to think of a way to get his attention. i asked him to cancel the student loan debt of all former westwood criminal law students in illinois who were defrauded by this company. i first made this request in april of last year. it's time for a response, mr. secretary. last july the education

secretary canceled debts of 1,500 former westwood students. among them were 488 illinois students. these students all applied for relief under something known as borrower defense that allows the education department to cancel those student debts. there's system more than 3,000 westwood illinois students who haven't gotten that break. some like victoria. it ruined their credit ratings, made it hearpd for them to find a job, rent an apartment, think about a future. we've known for more than a decade that westwood used misleading marketing tactics. now they have to be called to account. the unethical behavior was documented in detail by illinois' former attorney general lisa madigan who sued westwood ten years ago. i joined her in a press conference announcing it.

the education concluded that westwood defrauded its criminal justice system, criminal justice program students in illinois. the education department should grant automatic loan forgiveness for all the approximately 3,000 students who are still burdened with westwood's criminal justice program deception. during the trump years, the education department decided to take a blind eye to the situation at these for-profit schools. the trump administration actually hired people who worked in that industry for these schools to regulate them. you can guess what happened. no regulation. it's time for the education department to make a difference. and let me say it's time for us to make a difference when it comes to student loan debt. it was in 1998 when we decided, in a bill which was loaded with extras that people didn't discover until long after it passed, a bill said you couldn't discharge your student loan in bankruptcy. if you had a mortgage on a home

and filed for bankruptcy, you could discharge that mortgage, even on a second home, even on a car loan, even on a loan for a boat, even alone a loan for appliances. just about everything except a student loan. well, that was the wrong decision. it was the wrong policy. there are more than three million student loan borrowers who owe more than $100,000 in student loans, but we decided these would be nondischargable in bankruptcy. there is a provision in there that says if there is an extreme hardship, you might be able to discharge your loan. almost never does a court rule that there's an extreme hardship. this situation is unsustainable. senator john cornyn from texas and i have introduced a bipartisan bill to change it to make sure the bankruptcy code gives student debt a break. i'll continue working with him and others to get this done. bankruptcies should always be the last resort, but it ought to be an option for those who truly need relief, and these student borrowers do.

the bottom line, even with other reform measures like relief for corinthian college students, bankruptcy reform ought to be part of the solution to student debt crisis. i hope that it will. madam president, i ask that the statement i'm about to make be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i recently received a letter from a man in chicago. he was writing on behalf of his dad who was a vietnam war vet, and he was writing for hundreds of thousands of other veterans just like his dad. these people are sick with illnesses connected to their military service. these veterans served our nation in many different wars, many different places, and many different times. different branches of the military. they have one thing in common -- they were unknowingly poisoned with toxic chemicals during their service. they came home from war, thought they were safe. they managed to escape the fate of some of their colleagues. but years and sometimes decades

later they became sick with rare cancers, debilitating lung diseases, heart conditions, and other illnesses as a result of toxic exposure during their service. one veteran said it's like an i.e.d. that goes off in your body 8, 10, 20 years after you're out of the service. al lahood -- is not related to the congressman or the congressman's son, but he's a father for whom my subsequent wrote to me about. al was 22 years old when he was drafted and went to vietnam. he was an infantryman stationed northwest of saigon. he came home after a year with a bronze star for valor, but he brought something else home although he wouldn't know it for almost 50 years. his body had absorbed agent orange, the toxic substance used in vietnam.

al got married, had a family, the american dream. every two years he and his army buddies made a point of having a reunion somewhere. one by one over the years his buddies started getting sick -- heart disease, prostate cancer, esophageal cancer, turns out all related to the toxic exposure to agent orange. four years ago the toxic time bomb caught up with him. he was diagnosed with nonhodgkin's lymphoma. last year worse news, diagnosed with another rare cancer. doctors tell him he has a 25% chance of surviving for five years. al was declared 100% disability. it amazes him to now know that he receives more in disability compensation each month than he received in combat pay for an entire year in vietnam. people don't understand the true cost of war, al says.

exposure to toxic substance is not new. in world war i, it was muss turd gas, in vietnam agent orange, in the wars of iraq and afghanistan, there was a new form of exposure, it was called burn pits. massive pits filled with everything imaginable from ruined humvees to aircraft to medical waste, human waste, computers, batteries, everything produced in a war on a military base and then they doused it with fuel and lit it on fire. the deadly chemicals filled the air and covered everything around. and the soldiers they breathed them in into their lungs and body. al said that he was concerned for the veterans from iraq and afghanistan. he hopes they get early

screening so if they develop cancer, it might be able to save their lives. al and his family say they want more research into the exposure to vets. al would give up gladly all of his disability payments if the money could be paid for research on illnesses of fellow victims exposed to toxic substances. i want al and others exposed to toxic substances, the senate is hearing your voices. sergeant first class heath robinson act is being taken up by the senate this week. it's about keeping promises. the promises we made to veterans if they risk their lives for our nation and became wounded as a result. we would not leave them behind. it would have -- they would have health care and benefits they needed and earned.

the pact act builds on the historic agent orange act. let me at this point note that a friend of mine, now diseased, was -- deceased, was one of the major movers on the agent orange act. his -- he and i were elected to the house in the same year, 1982. lane was a vietnam veteran and he made agent orange his cause. he recognized that illnesses caused by agent orange are actually war wounds, should be treated that way. the pact act takes that principle that congressman lane evans stood for and applies it to other situations. they apply it to all american veterans from all wars exposed to toxic chemicals during their service whether overseas or in the u.s. and as we continue to learn about the cost of exposure, it provides a framework related to toxic exposure in the future.

veterans will no longer have to fight a second war with the v.a. to prove their illness was service related. they can focus on fighting their disease instead of fighting the bureaucratic. it is estimated -- bureaucracy. it is estimated that the pact act will help 1.5 million veterans. it will process new claims and treat new patients. in another provision, which i strongly support, the pact act has the v.a. working collaboratively with the department of defense and health and human services and the e.p.a., it is a better way to treat and deter these hidden wounds of war. our veterans deserve nothing less. i heard a critic say, it's going to cost a lot of money. right. it might do that. can you think of a more deserving cause? can you think of anything for us than to face the true cause of

war and stand by our veterans? madam president, you know that story better than i do. i have supported this research especially at the v.a. many v.a. researchers are veterans themselves, determined to find innovative treatments and cures. i commend senator john tester of montana and senator jerry moran, they are chairman and ranking member of the veterans' affairs committee for this historic bill. i support the v.f.w., and so many others that helped produce this bill and the veterans who fought to reach this point. fought sometimes literally with their last breath. i'll vote proudly for the pact act and urge my colleagues to do the same. madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: invited biden to speak where he's pro tem president. is that an invitation the president is considering? >> we will have anything to review or announce at this time. >> i have a question about china and tariffs with inflation still an issue, there's pressure on president biden and tariffs on china but it's meeting resistance from union members as

he has to the afl cio, what does he want to see done? >> as you know, the president has asked his team to look at that particular issue, he will make a decision on that, i want to get ahead of it. that will be for the president to speak to when he's ready. >> what is the timeframe? >> i don't have a timeframe. >> just a follow-up, i heard you mention reports but does the president believe they are responsible for khashoggi's death? >> the president has talked about that, comments he's made during the campaign what i'm trying to say is the president said he's not going to che change his view on human rights and we quote him right now but as president of the united states, it is my job to bring

peace if i can and that's what i'm going to try to do. >> this is a specific question. >> we put measures in place, we put out a report last year on the serious nature on what happens and we take it very seriously. the president has spoken to himself and i will leave words as he has set himself. >> the chinese goods and tariffs, how quickly does the white house anticipate for americans to feel the effect on the price of goods on these products? >> the president has not made a decision so the hypothetical i cannot answer. >> does the white house feel it would have a significant effect on inflation? >> that is a decision is going to be put together by his team and the president will make a

decision. that's something i cannot answer. >> january 6 hearing based on the evidence lawmakers presented so far, does the president believe merrick garland should constitute former president trump? >> the president has said this before voicing support for the final work of the bipartisan january 6 select committee and as kevin mccarthy said days after the attack we cannot sweep this under the rug. we agree all americans should watch and remember the horrors of one of the darkest days in our history but this is up to the department of justice and the president has been very clear, department of justice is independent, the president chose attorney general garland because of his loyalty to the law in our constitution and restore the independence and integrity of the justice department and that's what the attorney general is doing so we leave it up to

the department of justice. >> the president spoken to this? >> i don't have a call to reach out to you. >> was the president's reaction, what is the administration doing in response? >> it's still under investigation, i can't speak to that from here. people i haven't gone to. >> okay. >> on gas prices, they hit an average of over $5 this week and so is the administration reconsidering the idea of a federal gas tax holiday and what other things are you thinking about? >> we don't have anything new for you to announce on gas prices or gas tax but gas prices are up nearly $2 and that has been the case a gallon and has been started friend the borders

of ukraine, the u.s. is on track to produce a record amount of oil next year. we are releasing a record 1 million barrels of oil a day for strategic petroleum reserve and has been for six months. with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, tomorrow will mark three weeks since the devastating school shooting in uvalde, texas. over those last three weeks, senators murphy, from connecticut, senator sinema, from arizona, senator tillis, from north carolina, and others have been working to identify steps that congress should take to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future. this is not an easy debate. it's emotional and can be divisive, but it's also very

important that we act. most often you hear people say, do something. well, they don't give you a lot of guidance on what that something looks like, and when you begin to dig down into the details, you find out that there's not a lot of consensus about what that something should look like. the good news is as a result of the work we've been doing these last three weeks, working with our colleagues, i believe we are making good progress. over the weekend, there was an agreement reached between 20 senators, ten republicans and ten democrats, on a framework or principles for bipartisan legislation to keep our kids and our communities safe. before i go through. so the details -- through some of the details of this agreed framework, i want to explain what it does and what it does not include.

from the beginning i promised my constituents that when i took an oath to uphold the constitution and laws of the united states, i did not take that oath with the intention of violating it. and so i said at the outset, i would not support any additional restrictions on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. there are hundreds of millions of guns in america today and the vast majority, almost all of those gun owners, are responsible. they're not a threat to public safety. and so this being a constitutional right to keep and bear arms, there is no basis to restrict the rights of lwcf-abide -- of law-abiding gun owners or to restrict the rights of any of our citizens.

i made it clear this was what i stood by at the outset and this makes good on that commitment. the gun-related proposals will only impact criminals and those adjudicated mentally ill. law-abiding begun owners will not be -- gun owners will not be subject to any restrictions. we will strengthen the background check system, something that we had strong brp support for. for example, the fix nics bill after the southernland, texas, where the person was able to gain a gun because the air force did not upload the -- his

background check. we passed that legislation which compelled federal agencies to post this derogatory information which disqualifies people. since 2018 when that bill was signed into law, there have been 11.5 million new records uploaded in the background check system. our agreement on the background check system in this particular legislation is an attempt to try to make sure that existing law works the way that -- that congress intended. ima very proud of the bipartisan work that led to this framework, and i'm eager to share more with my republican colleagues this week. the various portions of this proposal can be grouped into three broad categories. one is mental health support.

to prevent violence, we need to improve the availability and accessibility of mental health services across the country. if you look at the profile of these young male shooters, whether it's in sandy hook or it's in uvalde, texas, they fit a familiar profile. alienated from their peers, suffering increasingly deteriorating mental health, not giving any -- not getting any treatment. it's like circling down the drain. and unless they get some help, they're likely to do what, unfortunately, too many of our young people do, and that's commit suicide. and in the case of adam lanza and sandy hook and salvador ramos, they know they're not coming out of this alive. they take innocent lives with them. so access to mental health

support is absolutely critical. so, too, is the investment in our schools. this includes everything from physically hardening school buildings to training personnel to more effective violence prevention efforts. we know iew is valuedee -- we know uvalde, the door had a lock on it but it didn't work allowing the shooter easy access to this elementary school. all of our students, all deserve to feel safe in their schools. and no parent should send their child to school worried that they may not come home. they deserve to know their child will be safe at school and the peace of mind that goes along with that. that's why i think these resources for additional school hardening of that soft target is

very important. the final portion provides targeted reforms to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who already by law should not have guns to begin with. our proposal includes resources for states to implement crisis intervention orders. some have talked about red flag laws, but that's actually a broader category than red flag laws that exist in 16 states. as i said, some of this assistance for crisis intervention orders will help administer existing red flag laws, but my hope is others will qualify for these resources for other important measures to help provide support for our communities to aid in crisis intervention, things like assisted outpatient treatment centers. as i said, 16 states have red flag laws.

texas does not. and they certainly shouldn't miss out on access to those resources for crisis intervention. but one of the things you hear people concerned with most when it comes to these red flag laws where people who are found after an adjudication to be a danger to themselves and others can lose access to their firearms on a temporary basis. it's absolutely critical that each and every one of those includes protection that come from due process of law. and particularly when it comes to the rights of law-abiding gun owners. our time work also includes protections for victims of domestic violence. it shouldn't matter whether the victim is married to their abuser. if the abuser is convicted of domestic violence, they should not be able to purchase a firearm.

our proposal also cracks down on illegal sellers and manufacturers of firearms, like the man who sold a gun to the shooter who killed seven people and injured 25 others in midland and odessa out in west texas. the shooter knew he couldn't pass a traditional background test, so he traveled to lubbock, texas, and purchased a firearm from somebody who made knockoff ar-15's out of parts he purchased over the internet. and of course no background check was done and tragedy ensued. our provisions also include a review of juvenile records for buyers under the age of 21. in uvalde, salvador ramos was able to pass a background check because no one had official insight into his tortured background. i've said before he was a

ticking time bomb. somebody who mutilated himself, threatened assault including sexual assault against his fellow students. somebody who posted pictures online of the weapons that he bought and threatened online to go shoot up a school. we need to know before somebody walks in and buys a firearm when they turn 18 when their mental health and criminal record history looks like to the extent feasible. and then we need to incentivize more states like the state of south carolina and virginia that currently upload mental health adjudications even for juve juveniles. to be clear, we agreed on a press statement, a set of principles. that was very important and hard fought. but now comes the even more

difficult task of trying to agree on legislative text to actually implement those principles. and that's what we're working on this week. my hope is that we can complete that job in the next few days, hopefully by the end of the week so that the bill will be available for all senators, indeed all the world to read and then senator schumer will have that available should he choose to do so to put it on the floor of the senate next week. there's been a lot of talk and speculation in the press about what was included in the bill. and i'm pleased to say that i believe the principles that we came up with will save lives. to me that's the ultimate goal, just like the legislation we passed in 2018 to fix the background checks system after sutherland springs. i believe the principles we've

articulated if carried out in legislative text which i expect them to be will save lives. that's our goal. but we also understand we are operating here in the senate with the 60-vote threshold. 59 votes won't get it. and any lesser number will not allow us to vote off -- to close debate and then to pass a bill. and so i want to just talk about ideas that were left out of this deal because we knew they would jeopardize our ability to get to 60 votes. there's a lot of desire on both sides to include additional things but they were excluded in large part because of our necessity of getting to 60 votes in order to get a bill.

for example, proposals on universal background checks, assault weapon bans for 18 to 21-year-olds, mandatory waiting periods, 21-day waiting period for purchases of all firearms for 18 to 21 -- 21-year-olds, high capacity magazine bans, unconstitutional mandatory safe storage requirements, licensing requirement for purchasing an assault weapon, criminal penalties for negligent storage of firearms at home, and low mens rea, a criminal state of mind, standard for straw purchasing and trafficking of firearms. all of these have been proposed by either president biden or many of our democratic colleagues and were not included in the statement of principles that was agreed to by ten republicans and ten democrats. we knew including any of these components would jeopardize our

ability to get a deal. and so any time our democratic colleagues tried to push the envelope as far as they could, we had to remind them of that requirement and push back. again, my view, my red line, my starting point, my premise in all of this is law-abiding gun owners are not the problem. law-abiding gun owners who have passed the background check have a second amendment right to purchase a firearm. and no limitation on their rights is going to prevent shootings like uvalde or sandy hook or sutherland springs. so focusing on the problem which are keeping criminals and people with mental health problems from purchasing firearms under existing law i believe is the right formula to build consensus

and get a bill on the president's desk. we're still working, as i said, through a lot of the details, but i'm encouraged about where things stand right now. as i've said, my goal all along is the art of the possible. that's what politics is. it's the art of the possible. it's not everybody i want and nothing you want. or everything you want and nothing i want. that's how not to get a deal. that's how not to accomplish anything. i'm hoping that ten republicans supporting the bill is not a ceiling but is the floor, and we intend to continue to work with our colleagues to help them understand these principles that we've agreed to, the 20 of us, and to write legislative text that can earn broad bipartisan support, maybe supermajority support here in the united states senate.

i want to personally thank our colleague senator murphy, senator sinema, and senator tillis for working in good faith to get us to this point as well as a number of other senators who contributed to this bipartisan proposal. we still have a lot of work ahead of us. i think in many ways this is a beginning, not the middle or the end of our work because now we need to put these principles into legislative text and then we need to get it on the senate floor, get it passed, get it passed in the house, and then it get to president biden's desk. i'll be sharing further updates with my colleagues on the -- in the republican conference this week. and i hope working together with senator tillis and others to build additional support on our side of the aisle. madam president, i just want to

close on one final note. the bipartisan work that we've done here in the senate on this school safety mental health, and gun safety bill is a sharp contrast from what is happening on the other side of the capitol. house democrats unfortunately have a history of prioritizing politics over policy, but now their games have reached a dangerous low. i'm talking about the safety and security of the members of the united states supreme court and their family. it's been more than a month since the senate passed bipartisan legislation to protect them from threats of violence. the legislation senator coons, the senator from delaware, and i introduced, a bipartisan bill, passed the senate unanimously. you'd -- you think that happens every day? not by a long shot. to get all 100 senators to support a piece of legislation means it's really not controversial.

but unfortunately once it went to the house, it sat there and languished for a month, even as members of the supreme court and their families are being threatened. the house hasn't allowed a vote on that bipartisan bill. the reason given by our democratic colleagues in the house is, well, they want to extend further protection to court employees and their families. that could include round-the-clock security details for everyone from clerks to i.t. staff and their spouses, children, siblings and parents. that makes a mockery of what senator coons and i tried to do. all we wanted to do is give the police at the supreme court the very same authority that capitol police has to provide protective details to members of congress. in fact, the leadership in both houses have permanent details assigned to them.

but if a member of congress receives a credible threat, capitol police will provide a protective detail for them. that's all we want to do for the members of the supreme court and their family. last week we received a terrifying reminder of the failure to act and what the consequences of that might be. u.s. marshals arrest add man outside of justice kavanaugh's home who had traveled all the way from california to assassinate a sitting justice on the -- in the united states supreme court. when he was arrested, he had a glock 17 semiautomatic pistol, a knife, a pistol and some zip ties. he told us his plan was to break in justice kavanaugh's house, kill justice kavanaugh and then commit suicide. that was his plan.

thank goodness law enforcement authorities were able to stop him. but this close call immediately set off calls for the house to pass the bipartisan legislation that i was discussing a moment ago. again, that passed unanimously in the senate a month ago. but, unfortunately, house democrats have still refused to do that. they still claim that the law clerks and other supreme court staff who are virtually anonymous to the public are in dire need of protection, too. i think this is pretty transportly a stalling -- transparently a stalling tactic. it is a pretty lame excuse for not providing the supreme court justices and their families the very same protection that capitol police provide members of congress. well, our bill was -- the bill that the democratic house members say they want to pass

instead was introduced on may 10, almost five weeks ago. but they haven't even voted 0en that bill yet -- on that bill yet. again, this is a transparent attempt to stall the legislation that passed here 100-0. if they actually believe that -- if house democrats actually believed in the snake oil they're trying to sell, they would have passed their own bill a month ago, but they didn't, and they haven't. they've wasted pre-schuss time -- precious time and left justices' families july to grave danger. if house democrats want to vote on bill that extends protection to other people, including the leaker of the supreme court opinion, they're welcome to try to do so. but first they need to pass the bipartisan bill senator coons and i introduced. the line between legitimate public discourse and acts of violence has been crossed, and

how democrats -- and house democrats cannot continue to turn a blind eye. we don't have time to spare when it comes to protecting the members of the court and their families. if, heaven forbid, something were to happen because of a lack of authority that would be conferred by the supreme court police parity act, shame on members of the house of representatives. it would be on them for their failure to act on this commonsense, bipartisan bill. so, madam president, the house needs to pass the supreme court police parity act today. and if not today, tomorrow. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you, madam president.

there's been a lot of well-deserved ad -- attention to free expression limited on college campuses. my colleagues have heard me right here on this very senate floor speak about the need for free expression many times, but one reason that we have this issue at colleges is because students aren't exposed to the diverse ideas in our public schools and other k-12 institutions. so then when brand-new college students encounter opposing ideas for the first time, you've heard it, they lash out, they demand what is called safe spaces on the college campuses.

now, that tells me that students are coming to college very unprepared to hear diverse views. if your own views have never been challenged, then you almost certainly have not developed the skills to evaluate different viewpoints and then go ahead and make up your own mind. so let's raise this question -- why are students arriving in college so resistant to hearing diverse views in so i've been following some new stories on this subject last month, and all of this may not be entirely accidental that our high school students aren't prepared to hearing diverse viewpoints when they get to college. the american federation of teachers recently announced that it wants to put an extension on the computers of its 1/7 million

members. the goal is to provide, quote-unquote, trust rating of news websites. although numerous studies have pointed to a clear left-wing bias from news guard, a.f.t. still wanted to bring it into the classrooms across america. now, that should not be our goal. our goal should be to get political bias out of k-12 schools, not ingrain it. contrary wise, a major focus that i've heard from iowa teachers is that we need to develop among our students critical thinking. well, critical thinking requires

listening to different ideas. if all students just agree with their teachers, that's repetition, not independent thinking. the disease that has infected so many colleges now seems to spread throughout our k-12 schools. i hope for our country's future we find a way to continue to show kids both sides of an argument rather than shutting down ideas that teachers may disagree with. i've heard from many iowans concerning -- concerned about exactly that kind of bias. but we can't fix it here in washington, d.c. the first rule of education policy should be that decisions are made as close to the family

as possible. if you have issues with how your school is being run, your local school board should be your very first step. these elected officials are directly accountable to the parents in their own communities. a problem should only go up to the state legislature if it is caused by state law and only a select few issues should go to this national level where federal intervention is found out to be the source of the problem. so if you see political bias or lack of diverse viewpoints in your kid's school, go to the people who can fix it. make your voice heard, both at school board meetings and at the ballot box. now, madam president, on another

subject, we had the good fortune of hearing a series of speeches last week led by my colleague from iowa, joni ernst, on the critical situation at our southern border with people violating our laws coming into this country and almost being invited into this country in violation of our laws. because our laws say you need the permission of the united states to come to this country. so i didn't speak last week on that subject, but as i have done on a number of occasions otherwise, i want to once again come to my colleagues about the border crisis created by president biden, secretary

mayorkas and maybe more throughout this administration. the crisis at our southern border is one of the top issues i hear at my county meetings. iowans are understandably upset by president biden's policies that have incentivized illegal immigration and created and historic crisis at the southern border. in the first 15 months of this administration, u.s. customs and border patrol protection, c.p.b., as we call it, has experienced over 2/7 million encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border. that number is staggering. it's larger than the population of 15 states and washington, d.c.,. it's almost three times larger

than the president's home state of delaware. make no mistake about it, this crisis is entirely the fault of president biden and the policies that he put in place almost his first day in office. since taking office, this administration has terminated physical barrier construction at the southern border. in other words, the wall that works to keep people from entering our country was stopped being built. next, this administration attempted to severely limit the ability of i.c.e. to deport illegal immigrants. also attempted to terminate the remain-in-mexico policy, rolled back asylum cooperative agreements, openly supported

sanctuary city policies, embraced mass catch-and-release policies, put forward mass amnesty legislative proposals that would do nothing to secure the border, and he even attempted to terminate title 42 without any plan in place to deal with what happened when we increase the number of people illegally crossing our borders from about 6,000 to 7,000 a day to 18,000 a day, and that figure comes from the estimates of our own executive branch government. now you listing all -- now, listing us a all these things. therefore it shouldn't be surprised to see a record-shattering surge of illegal immigration into our

southern border. this is what happens when you make it clear that you have no intention of fully enforcing the nation's immigration laws or cracking down on illegal immigration. as i've said before, it's an unfortunate reality that the president and his administration believe the surge in illegal immigration at the southern border, due to his policies, is a process to be managed rather than a crisis to be stopped. until that mindset changes, this historic crisis at our southern border will continue and president biden, secretary mayorkas, and the irresponsible and reckless policies of this

administration deserve all of the blame for the situation we're in. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

one step closer to finally responding to the plague of gun

violence that afflicts our nation, terrorizing our children. for the first time in a long time the senate has a path forward on legislation that will save lives, reduce gun violence and keep our communities safe. make no mistake, we have a lot of work left to do before the we actually pass a bill but yesterday's announcement was a positive necessary step in the right direction. now comes the important work of turning this framework into legislation and legislative language that can get past congress and be signed by the president. we must continue working with urgency this moment demands because if we can save even one life from gun violence it will be well worth it. once the text of this agreement is finalized, and i hope it will be soon as possible, i will put

this bill on the floor quickly so the senate can move quickly to make gun safety reform a reality. i will put the bill on the floor as soon as possible once the text and final agreement is finalized so the senate can act quickly to make gun safety reform a reality. i urge my colleagues to continue working with same good faith and urgency that brought us here. certainly yesterday's agreement does not have everything democrat want but nevertheless it represents the most significant reforms to gun safety laws we've seen in decades. if enacted, this legislation will make it harder for mass shooters to access assault rifle by enhancing background checks for those under 21. it would prevent tragedies before they happen by helping states with red flag laws. it will prevent gun violence at home by closing the so-called loophole and establishing

penalties for gun traffickers and it will make our neighborhoods safer by investing in mental health and community violence intervention programs. the share of gun violence happens outside the national spotlight and these intervention programs are some of the most effective ways to reduce crime and make our communities safer. all together this framework is a good and necessary first step toward changing reality of gun violence in america it will lay the foundation for future action. most importantly, this legislation will go a long way to saving lives. how to thank senators murphy and sinema, wanted and tillis for working on this framework. senator murphy asked me for space to let the negotiation, negotiators do their work and i was glad to give it to them because we knew any chance of

getting something real done on gun safety is worth the effort. i want to thank my colleagues who were part of the bipartisan guns working group including senators blumenthal, manchin, goons and others. i want to thank the advocacy's, volunteers who lost loved ones who shared their stories to make the change. without the volunteers and loved ones, this bill wouldn't have happened because year after year after shooting after shooting they didn't give up, they persisted and helped bring us to this important moment. for decades, families across the country have seen the same pattern layout whatever a mass shooting trait strikes the nation, tragedy followed by an action. columbine to virginia tech to sandy hook to las vegas to parkland, to buffalo, uvalde and so many others. gridlock has prevented congress

to families and grief but no matter how many shootings traumatize this nation, these families have never given up in their hope of making change happen rather than curse the darkness, these families have responded to tragedy by lighting candles. they've shared their stories, marched for change and have done everything in their power to make sure no other parent, spouse or sibling has to suffer the pain they felt and lived with every day. the same is true for all the advocates and groups who have worked on gun safety, members of these groups are survivors of gun violence, i have a person on my staff who is a survivor of aurora and they have worked tirelessly for years to enact common sense gun safety laws. decades, despite decades of frustrating gridlock, i hope yesterday's announcement brings a sense of accomplishment to

grieving families and all those who have marched in protest and letters and tweeted because of things to them we enact the threshold of progress. madam president, nearly 30 years ago i was the author of the background checks bill and that was the last time congress meaningful action to address gun violence. a different era back then but the lesson of that experience remains relevant today, the right law can decrease gun death. i believe there are tens of thousands of people alive today because brady law was passed in 1994. we don't know who they are but it's virtually certain that will save thousands of lives. i urge my colleagues to think of the lives we can now save by turning this framework into law.

americans have waited long enough for us to take action. too many lives, too many have already been lost. too many families, too many left grieving. while we can't undo the tragedies of the past, we can act now to make them less likely in the future. this framework if enacted into law will do precisely that and i urge all of us to continue working to pass gun legislation, gun safety legislation soon. now on the path act, glaciations continue off the floor on gun safety reform, today the senate will move forward with the most significant expansion of their healthcare benefits in decades. in a few hours, the senate will vote on closure on the substitute a minute for the path act which tester in 19 members have been working on for months. it's my hope we can finally pass

this legislation in the next few days well before the week is out. the change is outlined by the path act long overdue, would make sure any veterans suffering from toxic exposure in the line of duty get the ba va benefits they deserve. would an indignity to any veterans face right now carrying the burden of toxic exposure on the owns and being forced to jump through after hoop after hoop by the va before they can get any benefits and many of them never get them and -- as many as three and a half million veterans should benefit from the reforms brought about by this bill. i urge my colleagues to keep working to push this bill over the finish line asap. both sides want it, our veterans deserve it and veterans service organizations, bso's have been telling congress for years change is needed at the va so before the week is out, the senate should do its job and

pass the bill. on the shipping bill, a few months ago the senate unanimously passed legislation to fight inflation by fixing unfair shipping practices clogging our reports and straining supply chains. tonight the house will finally act on that bill and send it to the president's desk. inflation is the greatest frustration america has right now and backlogs that courts are one of the biggest drivers and price hikes we will address through bill. by now we've all seen pictures, ships lining up imports in los angeles to savannah to seattle to new york and new jersey, these backlogs have not only caused great harm for american exporters trying to send product out into the world, they have also skyrocketed the price of goods coming into this country. backlogs create a brutal double whammy and ultimately leaves american families paying the

price. i employed speaker pelosi and house colleagues were taking action on this shipping reform bill want to thank my colleagues here in the senate, senators klobuchar and thune, office of the legislation. >> the families to the breaking point according to unreasonable when 50 percent of americans reckon effort to drive less, back on electrics and electricity use and three binging the rogers prophetic

entertainment side of the home, and two thirds are bracing for prices to climb even higher in e coming year. as a summons ago in december, president biden told the market people that we have reached the peak of the crisis of inflation any said the prices will start falling, because over the next couple of months like so many democrats, and other confident predictions about our economy, and the president statement has proven completely false braided in the inflation report provided more official confirmation about american consumers no, is painfw and impressed out of control inflation is on letting up an infection, it is actually getting worse. this year, consumer prices rose 8.6 percent, blowing away the

expectations it and jumping a full percentage point of the previous month, and you guessed it, setting a new 40 year high. in a data underneath tell the story for working families and american businesses, the categories driving inflation last month without once they cannot do without an overall energy prices dropped year-over-year increase of nearly 35 percent, and drivers are playing 40.7 percent more the pump and fuel oil seeming the prices, more than double. some of the food cost, he continues to climb in over 10 percent in the motion prices in particular for nearly 12 percent inflation in the 1979, and food service restaurant prices other largest increase in records. and of course, is not to mention

the 31 your high for inflation, and of the 35 your high for rent inflation or and 42 -year-old i for rising airfare. and day by day, all of these painful milestones at up to one simple reality, americans hard earned dollars are not going nearly as far as they once did really inflation swallowed of any shot of rising pay ringing more prosperity in fact the average worker is seeing a 3.9 percent pay cut in the last year. in another two in indiana recently reported that she's earning more than she ever house in her career as an that still feels like she is financially losing ground. this is what she had to say that it should be able to live on my own and getting ready to pay rent is 20 take everything

all-time i have made and is one of my constituents and barb revealed put it recently, looking back on everything, and i mean every thing gas me bratty, hit is all expensive is eric. one moment you think you can afford to buy something you go to the store is like no, you cannot get that anymore either. and here's the real kicker, one young couple you talk has asked themselves weekly, we did we spend money that we could've spent money on and imagine, if washington democrats are willing to engage in and that sort of self reflection, remember that it was a policy choices that made this painful situation possible and it was a democrats choice as to insist on flooding the economy with trillions of dollars liberal spending last spring as democrats choice to spend months for summer and

working on ways to supporting more gasoline on the fire and even though the working families were already feeling the patch of inflation predict let's bring this that i do not think the dangers of inflation elise in the near term, are very real. none other than some of the own party stop economist lord the exact opposite washington immigrants work not to be detoured, and working family budget took a backseat to the far left wish list and out impressed decision is literally, driving them off of a cliff. on another matter the senate in the middle of the proposing major legislation to expand healthcare access for the mountains toxic substances in the line of and 96 majority vote to begin the processing this bill a few days back and

myself included this legislation is not a minor fix, hit is a series of major major changes to help more veterans and so the precise language of the final bill of major consequences for the veterans it for the policies and for government spending printed republicans of getting votes on a few common sense amendments that would make his bipartisan bill more stronger for the veterans and for example, one of these amendments would make sure the veterans who are already in line come those who waiting outcome already in line, waiting for treatment under the current rules, or not treated unfairly as an unintended consequence of the new expansion and surely, that should be completely without controversy and another minute of how the government a counseling funding to make sure legislation does not oppose major unintended consequences on the appropriations process

andmake it clear that new must t on sound science and so congress does not substitute our judgments for the experts. these are not controversial, the directly related to the substance of this bill and given the magnitude of the changes hundred consideration, the senator's response during these amendments have every right to check the votes on the floor. and there's no reason why this bipartisan bill should be denied in a bipartisan floor process. >> it avenues along with others, on sunday morning, about the decision of the ten republican predicate senators to move forward with a proposal to do with the nations epidemic of gun

violence and i had a conversation with senator chris murphy, one of the leaders on the democratic side to provide exactly what it meant and help being offered to him by the judiciary committee and i just want to say that at this moment, back to me and my colleagues on both sides, democrats and republicans, and only be made a good-faith effort to negotiate a package of reforms and center murphy and senator cornyn of texas, made a bipartisan timely and i believe did an excellent job in the package that i would've written, no nor yours included things i would've included others but is within reach we have a bitterly politically divided nation that is a vacuum we have a senate judiciary committee evenly divided 50/50, we have chamber,

even divided 50/50 and so it is difficult to say that anyone party where one person will get exactly what they want in this political atmosphere is equally important to note that we've all gone home and gotten the message. over and over again, reference to supermarket killing, in buffalo and the school fourth grade school class, and uvalde, texas, or a doctor and other bystanders been killed in the tulsa, oklahoma, hospital and all of that is incurred in the last few days and the american people and reacted with one voice and they have said, to us, to works, do something. and numbers of personal just tell us are give us your thoughts and prayers, do something. why think this decision to move forward could help you, every

provision in this agreement could save a life after the reason it if for no other, i will be supporting it in this agreement support red flag laws commence one-way characterizing the crisis intervention it. in many states, 19 already have them, and also close dangerous gaps in the federal law that enables to mass domestic abusers of the boyfriends to get guns and want to commend sender computer is been the theater and this issue and return helper previous piece of legislation does not have work to do it benefits included in this package, i will definitely support it and thank her for her leadership, had also strengthen the background check system by clarifying which gun sellers are required to conduct project and that is a step in the right direction i hope there's more coming in the agreement

providing funds or desperately needed mental health and trauma support services including school counselors for enhanced school safety and i cannot tell you how to go you reported that is enough of the people who die, because god, in america, commit suicide. it's a plea for help, we should be answering it and this could help we also know some of the people of these guns and negotiating and children and innocent people, they have serious mental illness problems. in any counseling to and we need to find ways to reach to that i also want to add, leave a different form of gun violence in big cities like chicago, and many of these crimes have committed by kids and gangs in these kids, 90 percent have been victims of trauma in their lives, things that happen to them which they can never forget, we need to help to deal with him so mental health counseling and trauma counseling

is critical to reducing violence in all of these different levels predict important to crackdown on purchases and trafficking of these guns and last august, an amazing young woman it was a chicago policewoman, bella french on duty with a partner, sitting on the squad car, and a man walked up and shot her in the head and killed her. and he shall the other officer and blinded her and when i and the government used to kill the policewoman, was the subject that was a purchase and what is it mean, enemies that he could never have cleared a background check and it was a convicted felon and so he finds a friends or girlfriend to go in and buy it no criminal records and hand the gun over to him and he turns on the kills it wonderful chicago policeman and the outpouring of settlement and favorite of she and her family, was over whelming and i hope we

can get this provision which i center: slightly included in the final passage, to target up the penalties on those who make strong purchases are going to set up in my to my guns on that you can get to somebody get up because back onto coming up out of a dearly for that cost her her life and i hope we can stich this provision all of the way through the last point especially important because i met another and the officer ie car with her, animate his family, and how much this particular incident meant to each and every one of their lives. and this is an agreement like this, do everything that i would like, no, it does not, but this if we confess it will be the most significant gun violence reform in 30 years in congress, 30 years we now have more guns

than people in this country and estimate some 400 million guns and i cannot even give me anymore close to an exact number of how many ar 50s we have in this country and effort estimates of people convinced outcome of the ring from ten - 20, million of these air ar 15 military assault type weapons and we have a long way to go before we reach the finish line but i want to commit the senators who have worked so hard to bring us to this point to make it very clear nine prepared to do everything i can as a senator to bring the most together to get this done as quickly as possible. and now, two weeks ago in education department announced that it will wipe out 520 billion in student loan debt owed by 560,000 borrowers who attended for-profit colleges in the last 20 years these colleges was one of the largest most

corrupted, most unscrupulous companies in the for-profit college industry but it was not alone in this shady dealings and so the basic it on for-profit colleges and universities, the course is one of his final exam is this, what you never still the whole story about the for-profit colleges and universities, the numbers, eight, and 30, would eliminate, he percent of high school graduates going on for-profit colleges and universities, that is a percent, and 30 percent of all of the student loan defaults in the united states are students at these four profit colleges and universities, why, why are the students who attend for-profit schools, failing to make the student loan payments predict will first, these industries these for-profit industry schools charge too much intuition because of the students cannot keep up with it

so they borrow more to reach a point where something happens and they have to drop out and afraid of the debt that they have accumulated in the next stage, some finish, they take their diploma from the for-profit school, and the lord unfortunately that is almost worthless and one of those fraudulent for-profit colleges operated 15 campuses in five different states including illinois, and i remember going out to o'hare airport looking up on the side of one of those tall office buildings and they had decided for this college and i thought what a fraud these high-pressure sales and marketing tactics now right lies to pressure the student to take on huge amounts of student debtd students at westwood's criminal justice program in illinois, were told that westwood criminal justice degree would all be guaa good paying job with a local police department and maybe even the fbi, what a lie, victoria,

one of the thousands of illinois to those who heard this voice and is paying the price for it have a choice of person in her family ever to attend college at that's the case more often than not of the students come from families with no college experience, don't know where to turn a look at the advertising and unfortunately they fall for it and they sign up for these for-profit schools pretty and victorian role of the criminal justice program in westwood 2007, believing it would help her manage job as a probation officer or maybe even immigration service after three years, juggling full-time jobs, and going to school full-time, make sure he was shocked that westwood degree, would not pay off it all, at that time she owed $50000 in student loans it this year taken out at westwood, that are not willing to take albums were useless degree she dropped out and she started to

apply for jobs showing them to the certificate of her transcript from westwood, and they told her, that is worthless and victorino works for the only domestic violence hotline pretty she likes her job, she helps a lot of people but she is never earn enough income to make monthly payments on your student loans it and then she sees this is someone who assures this responsibility she's helping her nurse and her nieces and nephew live with her she just does not believe that she should have to pay back at $50000 in loans because of this deception and i agree last week i wrote to the education secretary asking him for a second time, and unlike him, if he does not start to answer my letters i'm going to have to think it may way to get his attention i hassan to cancel the student loan debt of all former westwood criminal justice students in illinois who are defrauded by this company predict first made the request

neighbor last year is time for the response mr. cemetery cost by the education secretary cancel the student loan debt of 16 former westwood students and among them were 488 noah students taking on debt to enroll in westwood's worthless criminal justice program and the students and all would apply for relief under a defense positive education department to cancel the student doesn't so more than 3000 westwood criminal justice students in illinois who have not gotten that same break and e carried that debt for more than ten years is run the credit ratings, made it harder for to find a job, and an apartment, think about a future we've known for more than a decade that westwood use misleading marketing tactics and now they have to be recalled and called to account in this unethical behavior was documented in detail by holy former attorney general is a medic in student

ten years ago, remember thatna join her in the press conference. mr. moran: thank you. madam president, as you know the senate is currently considering the heath robinson honoring our pact act. this bipartisan legislation is the most comprehensive toxic exposure bill ever considered for veterans. my colleagues deserve a fair consideration of common sense and reasonable amendments to improve this bill for our veterans. the house of representatives had six votes and adopted 27 amendments. part of the agreement between the chairman, chairman tester and i, was that amendments would be considered for this legislation and specifically i have pushed for two amendments to be considered. given the magnitude and size of this legislation, there needs to be a bipartisan process, and given the magnitude of the bipartisan support of this legislation, there needs to be a bipartisan process on the senate

floor and i would ask the leadership of the senate to make certain that's the case. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

men was running on behalf of his work that he was writing for hundreds of thousands of other veterans just like his dad people are sick with illnesses connected to military service, these veterans information may different worst in places and times in different branches of the military and the one thing in common, they were unknowingly wasted with toxic chemicals during the service came home from work that they

were safe they managed to escape the fate of some of their colleagues years and decades later, they become sick with rare cancers and debilitating lung diseases and heart conditions and other illnesses as a result of toxic exposure during their service in one veterans that is like an ied could thank you so often neurotic, 20 years after you're out ofk the service.

iraq with the ohio national guard. when he deployed he was a healthy and active soldier. while deployed he was exposed to toxins from burn pits. and 13 years, 13 short years after his deployment, he lost his life to a rare autoimmune

disease and stage four lung cancer, conditions undoubtedly related to his exposure to toxins from burn pits while he was on active duty serving this nation. heath left behind an 8-year-old daughter. he also left behind a wife, a family, and his family is now committed to ensuring this country provides for other veterans what it could not provide for heath. the support he needed to survive. this bill will address decades of inaction and failure by our government. it expands eligibility for v.a. health care to more than three and a half million combat veterans exposed to burn pits. supporting our post-9/11 and vietnam era veterans by removing the burden of proof for 23

presummive conditions -- presumptive conditions caused by toxic exposure from cancer to lung disease. and it establishes a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service-connected related toxic exposures. given -- giving the v.a. the tools it needs to bolster its work force, establish health care facilities and improve the claims process to better meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran that the v.a. serves. there's always a cost of war, and we often look at it with ships and airplanes and tanks. but the fact is is the cost of the wars we have fought in were never fully paid. this bill will help right that wrong. congress has a chance to show our nation's veterans that their government has their back.

our men and women in uniform answer the call of duty. the president of the senate knows exactly what i'm talking about. they upheld their end of the bargain. we need to uphold ours. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. tester: i ask the quorum call be eviscerated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: i ask unanimous consent we yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tester: and the vote occur right now. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on tester substitute amendment numbered 5051 to calendar number 388, h.r. 3967, an act to improve health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances and for other purposes signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sensn

amendment numbered 5051 offered by the senator from montana, mr. tester, to h.r. 3967, an act to improve health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances and for other purposes shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 78, the nays are 17. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to.

ms. sinema: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. ms. sinema: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to dr. the following nominations en bloc, numbers 990, 91, 9 -- 991, 92. that the senate vote en bloc, without intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the nominations are confirmed en bloc. ms. sinema: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. sinema: mr. president, had i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the debate, and it has the approval of the majority leader and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. sinema: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn until 11:00 a.m. on tuesday, june 14, and that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings approved to date, the time for the lieu leaders reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of calendar 338, h.r. 3967. further that all time during adjournment recess, morning business and leader remarks count postcloture. finally, that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to

allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. sinema: if there's no further business, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator portman. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. portman: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, are we in legislative session? the presiding officer: the senate is considering the pact act.

mr. portman: mr. president, for the 15th straight week, while the united states senate has been in session, i come to the floor to talk about what's going on in ukraine. this is the war that russia continues to wage against the people of ukraine. i'm going to talk about what's happened in the last week, some of it's very concerning. but also about what we can do, right now, to help more -- to help our ally, ukraine, to help president zelenskyy and his duly elected government and the people of ukraine. last week i talked about a grim milestone, 100 days of this war. it's becoming a war of attrition. the russians expected a quick victory, remember. that didn't happen. now they are grinding it out in one area, called the donbas region. unfortunately, they're making some incremental progress there. in a minute, i'll have a map here to show you where the donbas region is, but that's where the focus is right now. that's where the russians are grinding it out. the fate of ukraine, its future, may be decided here in the next

few months. or maybe even weeks, given what's happening in the donbas. the russians have regrouped and they're using their superior weapons, particularly long-range utility. the ukrainians, though fighting valiantly, don't have that longer-range artillery to counteract what russia is doing. the russians are sitting back with the more long-range, accurate artillery, hitting ukrainian positions, taking out ukrainian cities, flattening them, then the ukrainians can't reach them because they don't have artillery that is long range. there has been some ukrainian progress in the past week. if you look at this map, you can see that in the northeast, around kharkiv, up here, you can see this light blue, ukrainians have made some progress. in one case, pushed the russians back to the russian border. they've also made some progress in the south, and you see the city here, that was one of the first big cities that the russians took during this most

recent attack. the ukrainians are moving toward that area. that is positive news. frankly, one reason they're making the progress is the russians are all focused right here. this is the donbas region we talked about earlier. of this is where the russians are making incremental progress, and killing, frankly, a lot of ukrainian civilians, but also ukrainian soldiers. russia is grinding it out, as i said earlier, meaning that they are using their superior artillery fire, they have more troops, they have more weapons. but the ukrainian defenders are fighting hard. they're making the russians pay for every single inch of territory that's being taken. this is particularly true in svero dnesk, where there's an ongoing battle tonight as we talk. the russians are engaged in

urban combat there. the ukrainians have fiercely defended their homeland. the russians are still advancing, bit by bit, in some cases kilometer by kilometer every day. because they have that firepower, especially longer range, accurate and deadly artillery. reports said unless they can get access, donetsk could fall to russia soon, possibly within weeks. this should alarm all of us. it should alarm the administration, it should alarm the congress because every time russia gains more territory, they reduce it to mostly rubble, destroy it, and then they dig in making it twice as hard to get that territory back. because the russians have more artillery than the ukrainians and their weapons have longer ranges, the russian forces concentrate manpower from a distance which ukrainian forces cannot reach. then they move in. they destroy territory. they occupy it.

there's disparity in the quality and quantity of artillery has put be ukraine as a distinctive disadvantage. the good news is we can fix this problem. we can level this playing field and address this disparity. america and our allies have the ability to do it, and it's urgent that we do it now. in our inventory, we have hundreds of what are called high mobility artillery rocket systems or himars, a system superior to russian artillery in every way. more mobility, more accuracy and more importantly, more range. getting these systems, these himar systems to ukraine could be a game changer. it could save so many lives. with these systems in the arsenal, the ukrainians could turn the table on the russians interior donbas region. they could maybe push russian forces back as they're doing in kharkiv up here or down here in the south.

unfortunately, the biden administration has been unwilling to act quickly on these himars. two weeks ago, after weeks of ukrainian request echoed by some in the united states congress, president biden announced he would provide ukraine with some of these systems. i was pleased we were finally taking that step. however, according to the department of defense, i now learn thath dimed is only -- that the administration is only sending four of these systems. four. the administration has said that it's only providing ukraine with midrange missiles as well, meaning ukrainian troops will need to fire from closer to russian positions and put themselves at greater risk. that announcement of our decision to send four systems will be two weeks old on wednesday. we were told these systems require almost three weeks of training to be able to operate. that means at best ukraine will have four some time late this week or maybe next week. ukraine has been fighting for its life for weeks along a

massive front line. this front line all along here. and the biden administration is only now sending this military support, and frankly, it's just not enough. combine this with the public reporting that the m triple 7 howitzer promised to ukraine months ago are arriving very slowly and you have the picture the u.s. is not responding with urgency to ukraine. don't take it to me. listen to the military advisor to president zelenskyy's chief of staff quo, quote, if we get 60 of these rocket artillery systems, the russians will lose all ability to advance anywhere. they will be stopped in their tracks. if we get 40, they will advance, albeit very slowly with heavy casualties. with 20, they will continue to advance with higher casualties

than now, end quote. so he's talking about the need for 60 or at least 40. 20 won't be enough. unfortunately we're talking about four. to their credit, the british announced last tuesday that they'll send something similar to these multiple launch rocket systems to ukraine. it's a larger version actually of the himars rocket artillery system they are sending. i appreciate that. however the bbc reports they are now only sending three at least initially. the world looks to america for leadership, and if america leads with only four rocket artillery systems, the rest of the world will follow with similarly modest support. i hope this will change. i hope we'll see that these numbers improve. i'd like to be proven wrong, that those artillery systems are already on their way. i hope they are but the best information we have is that's not true. it has been months now and the ukrainians cannot afford to have

imprecise and low-level assistance from the world's most poiferl military. this -- powerful military. this congress sent $40 billion in aid to the ukrainians. $21 billion of that was military assistance. i think we should expect and demand that the administration utilize that funding as much as possible and provide ukrainian with the precise and powerful military equipment it actually needs to be able to fight this war, to stop the bloodshed by pushing the russians back. $21 billion is a lot of money, let's be sure it's spent properly. another ukrainian official, ukraine's deputy head of military intelligence, told a british outlet, and i quote, everything now depends on what the west gives us. ukraine has one artillery piece to 10 to 15 russian artillery pieces, end quote. ukrainians need our help, and congress has done its job in an

overwhelming bipartisan fashion. we should not be tentative now. not now. russia's brutal, unrelenting rocket and missile attacks throughout ukraine have killed tens of thousands of ukraine civilians and soldiers, while entire cities have been laid to rubble by the russian barrages. while the media coverage has waned significantly here in the united states, the people of ukraine are still feeling the effect and the terrible impacts of this bloody and illegal invasion of their homeland in so many ways. one is the blockade of ukraine's black sea pordz. since the war began, russia put this blockade in place preventing the export of millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products desperately needed by the way, in africa, the middle east and other developing countries. just this past saturday, deputy agriculture minister taurus

visotsky reported that 300 thousand tons of grain were destroyed when russia shelled a warehouse near this port. russia is actually shelling grain bins to destroy the grain. let me be clear, food should never be a target and should never be used as leverage in negotiations. the houthis in yemen, assad in syria, and now russia in ukraine. russia has the rest of the world hostage with its barbaric food blockade. president putin suggested that he would lift his stranglehold on ukraine's black seaports, including odessa, but he said doanld so if all the sanctions were lifted on russia. in other words, russia would like to be rewarded for lifting the hostage it has taken. russia must lift its hostage without any conditions.

i would include the united states and allies including turkey to come up with contingency plans if they don't have them already. this affects africa and east asia. countries in africa depend on the the ukrainian grains. otherwise there will be massive food shortages. in turkey, presidentered -- president there continues to negotiate. even in china -- no friend of the united states and a very good friend of russia right now -- president xi jinping warned of a bad winter wheat harvest. i hope he can persuade vladimir putin that needlessly causing a food das fee will not do -- food catastrophe will not do him favors. the world's looking to our leadership to help solve this problem. what we need is a creation of a humanitarian corridor that can

go out at least through the port of odessa through which ukrainian agriculture products can reach the world market. until then other avenues have to be explored. when i was in romania two weeks ago, the prime minister there told me that they intend to boost their road and rail and canal infrastructure to the port in romania to help export as much ukrainian oil as possible. this would help and i really appreciate the romanian effort but it can't match the capacity of odessa or these other ports in ukraine. at a security conference in singapore on sunday, ukraine's deputy foreign minister announced ukraine will try to export its grains through romania as well as through poland, as well as anyplace they can get it out. they're looking for a third route as an example, through the baltic states -- lithuania, latvia and estonia. that is a desperate attempt by ukraine to try to get this grain out but it can never match the

huge volumes that can go by ship from its own ports. as the head of the ukraine grain association said last week, and i quote, i can tell you we won't find a solution for exports without black seaport access, end quote. unfortunately i think he's right. it is clear that russia is trying to starve the world into pressuring ukraine to surrender. meanwhile russia's crimes within ukraine continue. a few days ago ukrainian prosecutors announced that eight more war crimes have been filed against russian soldiers. these are, these cases are part of a more than 16,000 investigation that the ukraine has opened into possible war crimes committed during are the war according to ukraine's prosecutor general. 16,000 investigations right now into war crimes. in the past war crimes trials, two captured russian soldiers were each sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison in late may after pleading guilty to shelling a town in ukraine and a russian soldier was handed a

life sentence for shooting a civilian in the head. these heinous acts of violence are going to continue unless ukraine has the ability to push back. we do need more of these sentences of war criminals to try to act as a deterrent to stop the further russian barbarity in ukraine. maybe some officers, maybe some officials in the kremlin looking at these war crime convictions whil say, you -- will say maybe we shouldn't be attacking our peaceful neighbors and killing them and raping them and terrorizing this country. there's another important issue i want to mention, one that is worth the world's attention. ukrainian orphans. unfortunately there are hundreds of ukrainian orphans who are stuck in ukraine or elsewhere in europe. a lot of these orphans have ties to america and unique ties to about 200 american families who are ready, willing, and able to host these children. these families have been in the process of adopting these children from a long time, from before the invasion. many of these children have

previously visited the united states to meet with their soon to be adopted families. unfortunately many of these children returned before the invasion and are unaccounted for now. many lost account with their soon to be families. i have constituents in ohio and hundreds of other families across the country ready to welcome these children into their homes. in march along with 26 colleagues, i wrote to the state department. i have yet to hear back from that letter but we asked for two things. one, to help identify these children. this needs to be done in claiks with the ukrainian government -- in collaboration with the ukrainian government and u.s. based organizations. two, issue travel visas to allow adoption-eligible kids to come live with their host families now. the the state department should use their powers to allow these kids to travel to the u.s. and stay with host families in the united states instead of requiring these children to remain in other locations for displaced persons in europe or in ukraine. many of these children may be given refuge in neighboring

countries. however, i believe in the unique circumstances where children already have established relationships with these families in the united states, they should be able to come here and be with their host families who can ensure the child's safety and stability. at the same time we could continue to work with the ukrainian government which has been open to finalizing the adoptions that were in process before the war began. i will close with this -- i've now come to the floor every week since just before president putin began this illegal and unprovoked invasion against the people of a democratic ukraine who just wanted to live in peace with their neighbors, including russia. this is the fight during our generation where democracy is on the line. i'm not surprised because i've seen the spirit and bravery of the ukraine people firsthand in many trips to ukraine, including meeting with the ukrainian troops on the front line before this latest invasion. i'm not surprised that they have held off russia so far.

their strength and resiliency is a marvel. again, it's not what putin expected. it's frankly not what our own u.s. military expected. they have fought hard, and they continue to every day. but they need more help. last week i met with a great fighter in this cause, a friend from ohio who leads the ukrainian world congress for the ukrainian diaspora all over the world. he's been a strong advocate for ukraine and joined me at a rally at the white house with hundreds of ukraine americans. whep i met with andy last week and other members who just returned from ukraine, they spoak with passion about the destruction they had seen in ukraine, about the steep price the ukrainian people have paid and continue to pay to be able to remain free and independent. with them was a young woman from ukraine who was very emotional in her appeals, with tears saying america needs to do more during this hour of need. as they made the case

passionately that the u.s. needs to continual sending weapons and artillery and sooner, not later, they talked about the need for these long-range weapons we talked about tonight so ukrainians have a fighting chance. every day the u.s. fails to sufficiently support ukraine only serves as a detriment to the ukrainians who need us to lead the free world in helping us win this war. brave ukrainians are dying every day. we can't afford to delay. senator. mr. durbin: -- senator durbin and i founded a ukraine caucus. mr. portman: we will meet with the caucus who are looking to gain greater support for their country. many of us here in this chamber get it. we they that america can't afford to stay on the sidelines and be a be spectator in this conflict. at this crucial time for the

battle of democracy, at this critical hour, america cannot afford to be tentative. we must remember the lessons of the late 1930's that appeasing tyrants will not saish -- will not work. some may not understand that, but ukrainians understand it. they know what it's like to live under the thumb of tyrants. i was in ukraine after the revolution of dignity when ukrainians decided for themselves that they wanted to turn away from russian domination and turn to us and europe and pursue a hopeful future of democracy and freedom. now vladimir putin is trying to extinguish that hope. we must not let him. one question many of us have of the administration, what's the end goal here? is our objective to help ukraine grind down russia's military so

it will not be able to take on another violent -- or is it to help the ukrainians have -- get back their territory. the administration dodges these questions by saying it's up to the ukrainians to decide. i understand that. but the ukrainians have already decided. they want their sovereign territory back, all of it. i've discussed this at length with ukrainians and they consistently said ha i heard from the parl -- what i heard from the parliamentary members. nothing less than the ukraineian territory is the goal. anything less would embolden aggressors in the future. it's now been 110 days of unrelenting attacks on our ally ukraine. this happened with russian oil,

russian gas exports, it happened with trade and banking sanctions and various kinds of military assistance. now it's the himars. they need these weapons. we are on the side of freedom over tyranny. the country's of the free world are with us but more so when we lead. now is not the time to be tentative. at this critical juncture let's work with allies to provide our democratic brothers and sisters in ukraine what they need to protect the homeland and defend democracy. thank you. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until today the senate passed a bill to expand health care and disability benefits for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals. mainly from burn pits.

this week lawmakers could work on gun legislation bred senators and unjust of a framework on the legislation that deals with background checks, mental health, and school safety. when the senate returns watch live coverage here on cspan2. c-span is your unfiltered view of government we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> do you think this is just a committee center? no it is way more. comcast is partnering with 1000 committee centers to create wi-fi enabled list so students from low-income families get the tools they need to be ready for anything. comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. january 6 committee continues its public hearings releasing evidence gathered in their

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pre-downloaded for free today. c-span now your front row seat to washington anytime anywhere. ♪ >> florida's republican governor desantis spoke at the 2022 jewish leadership conference and discussed his decision to keep florida schools and businesses largely open throughout the early months of the covid-19 pandemic. this is a just shy of 40 minutes. [cheering] [applause] [cheering] [background noises] >> thank you. it is wonderful to be here. they cannot cancel me i'm going to speak my