for your question. there is no doubt that transnational and domestic organized crime groups committed fraud during pandemic, during this pandemic benefit programs and across the board. and we look at these investigations, not to get back to michigan but nobody, you don't have to be citizen of michigan to apply for michigan unemployment assistance. so anybody anywhere can apply and took that opportunity. we have several ongoing investigations that i can't speak to today. >> sure. >> that do involve speeding we're going to leave this hearing on covid-19 relief on prevention for our 40+ 40 pr commitment to live coverage of congress ear you can continue this hearing on c-span.org. on capitol hill senators today are expected to continue work on legislation to expand access to the healthcare and disability

benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances mainly for military burn pits during their service. we take you live now to the senate floor here on c-span2. .. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, help us to so live that the generations to come will know of your mighty acts. today, give our lawmakers

the singularity of heart to seek, find, and follow your will so that their legacy will be exemplary. lord, guide them in the path you have created, inspiring them with the potency of your powerful presence. may they trust you in times of adversity and prosperity, knowing that they will reap a productive harvest if they persevere. keep them from underestimating the power of your great name. we pray in the name of our redeemer. amen.

the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. 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 presiding officer: the clerk will now read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., june 14, 2022. to the senate, under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3 of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable alex padilla, a senator from the state of california to perform the duties of the chair, signed patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the

leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. also 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.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask -- mr. president, as we speak, the

united states senate is working on something not seen since the time we passed the brady bill i authored nearly three decades ago. a bipartisan effort to draft meaningful gun safety legislation. for decades, the rhythms of the gun debate in congress have followed a disspiritting pattern. a mass shooting takes place in america. innocent people are slaughtered. families grieve and demand action but gridlock takes over and nothing, nothing gets done. this was the cycle in action after sandy hook, las vegas, orlando, charleston, parkland, el paso, atlanta, pittsburgh, and so many others. but after uvalde and buffalo, perhaps, perhaps this time could be different. to many senators on both sides, this debate certainly feels different. with sunday's announcement of a bipartisan framework for gun legislation, we are farther down

the road to gun safety reform than we have been in a long time. i spoke with senators cornyn and murphy this morning, and they updated me on their progress. they are working with the urgency the situation demands, and they are hopeful the legislative text can be finalized in the coming days. i have assured my colleagues that once we get legislative text to a gun safety bill, i will move to hold a vote on the senate floor as soon as possible. i hope that in the very near future, democrats and republicans can take the real momentum of the past few weeks and translate it into something that's escaped this chamber for decades, voting on and passing long-sought gun safety reform. it's a rare opportunity for the senate. so in order to reach our goal, we have to keep working with the same urgency and good faith that has carried us this far. for sure the bipartisan framework is far from perfect.

but if passed it will unquestionably save lives and would be the most significant action on guns that the senate has taken in nearly three decades. if passed it would enhance background checks for those under 21. it will help states with their red flag laws preventing shootings before they happen. it will make it harder for domestic abusers to acquire a weapon by closing the boyfriend loophole. significantly, this framework also calls for new punishment for gun traffickers. we all know one of the biggest weaknesses in our country's gun laws they are today is that anyone can buy a gun in one state and simply smuggle it into another. we could begin to fight against that with the stiffer penalties on gun trafficking. of course, this framework will help lower crime and reduce gun violence in our neighborhoods by increasing funding for mental health as well and even on its own, the funding for mental health with great increases in

mental health problems that we see after covid is very much needed. taken together, the policies outlined by the bipartisan framework would be an important first step to saving lives. it would lay the foundation for a more sensible approach to gun safety in the future. it is certainly not everything democrats want, but if we can save even one life, one life, our efforts would have been worth it. i hope that very soon the senate can break the cycle of violence, grieving, and gridlock that has held firm for far too long. this is the best chance we've had in years to finally tell the american people that, yes, after the horrifying tragedies of uvalde and buffalo, this time, this time will be different. we have more work to do so i urge my colleagues not to let this precious opportunity slip away. now, on the pact act, today the

senate will continue consideration of the honoring our pact act, the most ambitious and important expansion of veteran health care benefits that we have seen in decades. yesterday we invoked cloture on the substitute amendment to the pact act with a very strong bipartisan vote, 78-17. 78 votes, a clear indication that both sides want this bill passed through the senate. there's no reason to delay that outcome. today we'll continue working with our republican colleagues to see if we can speed up consideration of this legislation. with republican cooperation, we could be done with the pact act as soon as tomorrow. we need to pass the pact act asap because our veterans have waited long enough for their health care benefits to treat complications from toxic exposure. over the last two decades, an estimated 3.5 million servicemembers were exposed to dangerous chemicals while in the line of duty while risking their

lives for us. burn pits were a common method of eliminating all sorts of waste throughout iraq and afghanistan, from everyday trash to hazardous and poisonous materials. after returning home, many veterans developed terrible diseases because of their exposure to these toxic waste dumps. but even so, nearly 80% of all disability claims related to burn pits have been denied by the veterans administration. what an indignity. what an injustice. no veteran should ever have to carry the burden of treating complications from toxic expose sure alone. and we can change that with this bill. there's every reason in the world to get the pact act done quickly. both parties want it. our veterans deserve it. and the time is hong past for us to make -- long past for us to make a change at the v.a. and on shipping. last night finally the house

overwhelmingly approved the senate's ocean shipping reform act, the most significant maritime reform law passed by congress in years. the inflation fighting shipping bill now goes to the president's desk for signature. finally providing relief to american exporters and consumers alike. shipping reform is exactly the kind of bill that can make a difference to the american people. it fights inflation. it relieves our supply chains. it helps small businesses and consumers alike. not too much has been written about this bill because sadly the way our world and media work, if there's not a big conflict, they don't write much about it. but this is very important. if high prices are our number one nemesis, one of the main reasons is the ships piled up at our ports. we've all seen the pictures outside the ports of l.a. and seattle and savannah and norfolk, and new york-new jersey. this is causing people to pay

more. it's no one's fault. it was covid related. and now there's a big rush to make up for the delays that covid caused. but we have to do something about it, and we have. there are many frustrating reasons why prices are going up right now, but one of the main ones is abuses from ocean carriers. over the course of the pandemic -- listen to this, folks -- over the course of the pandemic, unfair shipping practices led carriers to increase prices by as much as 1,000 percent increase in prices in shipping. and who is paying that? the average family in america and the average exporting business. even worse, foreign carriers often time refuse even transport u.s. goods overseas and by now we're seeing the results. backlogs at the ports of l.a. and seattle and georgia and new york and new jersey and other major hubs. and this is not just a problem

for the coasts. when backlog occurs at the ports in los angeles, it hurts farmers in minnesota or wisconsin. it hurts truckers and tech companies and manufacturers and mom and pop shops all over the country. and most of all, it hurts american consumers. our shipping reform bill will fix this by making it harder for ocean carriers to unreasonably refuse american goods at our ports while strengthening the federal mayor time's commission powers by stopping abusive practices by carriers. i want to thank speaker pelosi and house colleagues who worked to pass this bill and special thanks goes to senators klobuchar and thune for authoring the legislation as well as chairman cantwell who used her legislative skills which are indeed very, very fine. and she shepherded the bill through this chamber. because of the hard work of these folks, shipping reform will now become law. american consumers will soon feel the benefit.

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

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask unanimous consent that further proceedings on the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: a few months ago, from this desk, i talked about the results of a recall election in san francisco. in february, a multilingual, multiethnic coalition in san francisco stood up for common sense and rejected three members of the far left school board that had prioritized woke lunacy over the basics of education. well, last week, the same fed-up citizens provided a sequel. even the deep-blue bay area decided they'd had enough,

enough with their radical left district attorney, a prosecutor in name only, who'd been nationally famous for running a soft-on-crime experiment. as deaths from drug overdoses skyrocketed, his office chose to almost entirely stop prosecuting drug dealing. burglaries shot up 50%. chain stores had to close locations because of rampant shoplifting. one person who'd been arrested five times in six months in 2020 was let out every time, every single time, until he killed two women with a stolen car. liberals actually bragged about how they'd cut down incarceration rates, even as disorder swallowed up more and more of the city. so the citizens were fed up, fed up with being the far left's guinea pigs. they flocked to the ballot box,

and they voted for change. so mr. president, this phenomenon is not only playing out in san francisco, it's nationwide, nationwide. for years, the far left has zeroed in on local prosecutors and district attorneys as juicy opportunities to make america radically softer on crime. according to recent news reports, for example, one far-left billionaire donated more than a million dollars each to the political campaigns of soft-on-crime prosecutors in chicago, new york, los angeles, and philadelphia. according to one group's analysis, the army of soft-on-crime prosecutors supported by this one donor, this one donor, and his networks oversee as much as 20% of the nation's entire population. once in office, many of these prosecutors set about abusing their authority by basically

unilaterally decriminalizing various crimes that neither voters knowledge legislators have actually decriminalized in reality. as the attorney general of virginia put it recently, instead of trying to change the law, these groups are electing prosecutors who simply ignore it. as this liberal campaign has been playing out at the state and local level, we've seen violent crime surge all across the country. here are just a few recent news reports -- from minnesota, robberies, assaults, and gun crimes are causing waves of anxiety and fear among suburban residents across the twin cities. from colorado, since the beginning of the pandemic, murders have gone up 47%, some types of property crime had nearly doubled, and the seizures of fentanyl and methamphetamine had quadrupled in just the last

year. atlanta, saw a 30-year record in homicides last year, in 2021, and 2022 has been looking actually even worse. at least as of a few months ago, both murders and rapes were way ahead of even that 2021 pace. residents of phoenix, who tried to use public transit to escape soaring gas prices, have found out, quote, assaults and drug crime in and around public transportation have risen over the last five years. philadelphia is reporting an 80% increase in assaults aboard buses. in my hometown of louisville we're struggling as well. over the past several years, violent crime has sharply risen across the city, breaking gruesome records, including record homicides and assaults, and we've seen carjacking more than triple in the last five

years. last weekend alone, last weekend alone louisville saw three homicides and ten nonfatal shootings. five teenagers and a 9-year-old were shot during a single altercation at my hometown's big four bridge. violent criminals turned a popular attraction for families and tourists into a literal war zone. stable prices, border security, and public safety are three of the most basic deliverables that any government owes to its citizens. strike one, strike two, and strike three for democrats at the federal, state, and local level. that explains one last headline i'll mention this morning -- americans are more worried about crime than at any other time this century.

now, on a different matter, the latest news from ukraine confirms that our friends need more robust weaponry, and they need it fast. outgunned ukraine needs more weapons fast, as russia advances, officials say. ukraine pleads for weapons, saying russia has much more artillery. the people of ukraine have inspired the world with their resilience, but resisting russian aggression takes reliable supplies of lethal force. as the biden administration continued to provide shipments and prod our allies, they must adopt the kind of strong and positive posture that has eluded them at earlier points in the conflict. as early as last november, i was urging sanctions or deterrence and pushing for ndaa provisions to send enhanced lethal aid. last november.

throughout december and january, i urged the president to bolster nato's eastern flank with more u.s. forces and get more weapons to ukraine forces, before, before russia attacked. in february, i called on president biden to anticipate russian manipulation of energy markets, and back off his own holy war against domestic american production. but for months, the biden administration seemed mute, seemed actually more focused on deterring itself, than deterring putin. too much hesitation, too much recommending and highwaying -- too much hemming and hawing, too much preventive action in advance. the united states cannot make the same mistake with prolonged dithering over whether to provide longer-range or more powerful weapons. that's where we are now. it's time to get ukraine what it needs, to finish this fight,

including artillery and long-range rockets and strongly and firmly push our european allies to do the same. the wealthiest european countries need to move fast to do their part. no more excuses. this war has had terrible human costs to the ukrainian people. we cannot bring back the thousands who have been lost. but with strong assistance we can help ukraine limit future losses, reduce the risk of greater conflict, and create a deterrent precedent for other would-be aggressors like china. there's another area where the ukraine crisis has showcased the need to take decisive action quickly while there's still time. that is with respect to our own defense industrial base and our supplies of critical arms. equipping ukraine has seriously

depleted our own stockpile including javelins and stingers. the u.s. military has, quote, taken some risk to our own readiness. this sounds is exactly like the sort of situation that prompted the creation of the defense production act, but thus far we've heard far more from washington democrats will using the d.p.a. to fast-track the green energy boondoggle than to expand access to critical weapons. our allies and partners are interested in buying american military technology. this should be a win-win. allies spending their own money to strengthen themselves by buying american and making our militaries more interoperable in the process. but too often our partners are hamstrung by american constraints on the process, like the heel-dragging bureaucracy

that runs our military sales and lagging production schedules. we must adequately stockpile weapons, ammunition for our own military and have sufficient supplies and production capacity to arm our friends, and we need to do this before it's too late. building up our own stores, upgrading our allies is the best way we can avoid nightmare scenarios down the road where america could be forced into a terrible choice between committing u.s. troops to a conflict or doing nothing. the remedy is to help our allies upgrade their military capabilities in advantages. -- in advance. of course, this takes money. all of the serious preparation and modernization that it will take to compete with russia and china require resources. tomorrow the armed services committee will mark up the national defense authorization

act. this is a key opportunity to show that both parties are serious about the real growth in defense spending that it will take to keep us on the cutting edge. the biden administration's defense budget request was woefully insufficient. the the president has proposed a real-dollar cut for defense spending after president biden's own inflation. our colleagues on the committee must help congress deliver an ndaa that provides for real robust growth above inflation so that we can modernize our forces, ensure adequate inventories of weapons and keep america safe.

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

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. durbin: i ask consent that it be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president,

hard to believe it was 50 years ago this week, 50 years ago when five men were caught breaking into the offices of the democratic national committee here in washington. two years after that, the so-called watergate break-in and the cover-up by the nixon white house that brought down the president. for nearly half a century, the watergate scandal really rankinged as america's greatest constitutional test since the civil war. then came january 6, 2021. an angry mob, summoned by a defeated president, attacked this capitol building, attacked this chamber. and those of us who were in it knew it was an attempt to overthrow an election, an election which donald trump lost but never admitted. how did we respond?

well, the proposal was made, the right proposal, to create a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened on january 6, 2021. unfortunately, the republicans, led by senator mcconnell, in the senate filibustered the creation of an independent commission to investigate january 6. fortunately, the house went forward to proceed on its own on a bipartisan basis to get to the truth. now, after 11 months and a thousand interviews -- more than a thousand -- the bipartisan committee to investigate the attack on the u.s. capitol is sharing its findings with america and the revolution -- revelations are so damning. in its first two public hearings, the committee has shown that the attack on the capitol was not a demonstration

that changed spontaneously and became a riot. the attack on our nation's capitol, the attack on this -- the attack o on our nation's capital, the attack on this chamber, was a violent plan. the attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from the trump administration to the biden administration, to stop the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our country's history. the president summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack. when the mob beat our police officers and ransacked the capitol, going through our desks here on the floor, posing for pictures where the presiding officer is now standing, all sorts of things to make them look famous with their friends at the expense of the integrity

of this building and this chamber. they beat the police officers. donald trump did nothing to stop them. nothing. he wouldn't order the national guard to defend the capitol, the senate, the house. he watched the mayhem on tv, rewinding it to watch it over and over again. he gloried in the moment. when the crowd threatened to hang vice president pence, donald trump said -- and i quote -- he deserves it. he deserves it. the vice president of the united states deserves it. his own advisors told him repeatedly that the voter fraud conspiracy theories that he was peddling were false. they were called idiotic, amateurish, detached from reality. who said that? the former attorney general serving donald trump said it in describing the false claims that

president trump continued to peddle. donald trump was told the truth over and over again and yet he continued to push his deadly big lie. he deliberately -- the former president of the united states deliberately undermined america n's faith in our election process in order to retain power no matter what. he used the big lie to make big bucks. we learned that yesterday. a quarter of a million dollars -- a quarter of a billion dollars in donations including millions of dollars for an election defense fund that didn't exist. in a coming hearing, the committee will show how donald trump pressured the justice department into helping him overturn the election. i know a little bit about that. our senate judiciary committee, which i chair, documented this attempt to subvert the justice

department in an eight-month investigation and report that we produced last fall. we produced this report in a bipartisan fashion, inviting republican and democratic members of the senate judiciary committee to witness the testimony of the key individuals and to ask questions themselves. we interviewed former justice officials like jeffrey rosen and richard donahue, the then acting attorney general and deputy attorney general, who resisted donald trump's pressure to take over the justice department. they told us how repeatedly they informed the former president that his bogus election claims were false. they told us how trump, nevertheless, asked the justice department to, quote, just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the republican congressmen. and they resisted donald trump's

plan to replace jeffrey rosen with the big lie lawyer jeffrey clark, who wanted the justice department to help overturn the election. the facts that the senate judiciary committee uncovered are damning. the january 6 committee will unveil those. many of their own discovering and reporting and some that we sent to them from our testimony that we gathered in the senate judiciary committee. mr. president, we came close to losing this democracy in america on january 6. i believe that by laying out the truth for us and for future generations, the members of the committee are performing a public service of heroic proportions. it is sad that i have goin' the opportunity of a bipartisan commission, just as we had with 9/11, that at senate republicans stopped it. why?

it is a question they're going to have to answer. on another topic, mr. president, we speak often in the senate about threats to peace and freedom around the world. russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine, china's brutal repression of the uighurs, the dismantling of democracy in hong kong, nicaragua's repressive dictatorship and more. in each of these struggles, there are some brave men and women who are prepared to risk their liberty and their lives to defend democracy and dignity. many of them languish in prison as political prisoners. their captors often try to torment them by telling them that the world has forgotten you. no one knows you're here. well, i want to make sure that that doesn't happen by coming to the floor of the senate and sharing some of these stories. today let me tell you about a few of them. let me start with a russian opposition leader of remarkable

courage, vladimir karamersir. he was poisoned twice, 2015 and 2017. he not only survived that, but he continued his work for a democratic russia. he was a close friend of senator john mccain who asked him personally to serve as a pallbearer at his funeral. i asked mr. kara-murza in march. he was living near washington at the time with his wife and three children. but he told me he was going back to russia. he had work to do. on april 11, he was arrested in moscow, one day after giving an interview in which he called vladimir putin's government a team of murderers. his wife, evgeneia, who i expect to me later this week, said he is doing as well as you can do

in a russian prison that's notorious for torture, humiliation and mistreatment. earlier in month, the senate passed a resolution i led with senator marco rubio calling on russia to release vladimir kara-murza immediately and thousands of others, russians jailed for speaking up, for even mentioning the possibility of the murderous war in ukraine. it is time for america to stand up for mr. kara-murza and those like him who have shown extraordinary courage. senator layla delemuth is a leading human rights advocate in the fill feigns. -- philippines. she is a state new hampshire who just passed her fifth year in

jail. why is she? prison for five years? she criticized the regime of president rodrigo deterte. meet elet me share a short excerpt of a letter. warm greetings from my detention headquarters. i do not know for how long i will remain behind bars but there's one thing i am sure of -- my will to fight for what is right continues to be undeterred. mr. president, recently two key witnesses in the sham case against senator delima reof can'ted their testimony proving the case against her is contrived. it is a travesty of justice. many filipino americans in illinois tell me they are deeply concerned about the accountability in democracy and its prospects in the philippines the incoming marcos regime can demonstrate its commitment to a democratic philippines by ending

the harassment of journalists and making senator delima's release one of its first priorities. let me now turn to saudi arabia. timely. i've been troubled by the human rights record of this kingdom, including the murder of jamal khashoggi for which there's no real accountability yet. this year brought a bit of welcome news. writer raif badawi was released from prison after completing a ten-year prison sentence for dubious charges about his peaceful writings. i hope the saddle's allow him the dignity -- i hope the saudis will allow him the dignity of reuniting with his wife and

their three children now living in canada. badawi's lawyer, a leading human rights defender, is still in prison. he was convicted in saudi arabia's specialized criminal court usually reserved for terrorists. i think appeal to the saudi government to free waleed and to allow raif to be reunited with his family. these gestures would be particularly notable in light of president biden's upcoming visit. finally, let me turn to the united arab emrates. this is one of the last major human rights voices. arrested in 23017 for using blog posts to advocate for reform and human rights in his nation, convicted of charges of threatening the u.a.e.'s state security and social harmony, they sentenced him to ten years

in prison. he's been there for more than five. at times in solidarity confinement isolated from other prisoners, no contact with his family. he has reportedly been tortured. despite the dismal conditions of his incarceration, he remains steadfast in his commitment to human rights. he's conducted multiple hunger strikes to protest prison conditions. i appeal to the united emirates new president to take this opportunity early in his presidency to demonstrate compassion and courage by releasing mr. mansoor. mr. president, america's strength around the world comes not only from our military and economic might but from the power of our values. over the years i've heard many political prisoners. they tell me that they -- the support of this body, of congress, of america and so many

others in our government sustain them through the lonely, desperate times they spent in jail for days and weeks and months and years. i'll close with the words of vladimir kara-murza. this is from a recent op-ed he wrote for "the washington post" from his russian prison. he wrote, the prisoners' worst nightmare is the thought of being forgotten. i always knew how true these words were, and how important were international campaigns of solidarity with prisoners of conscience. i now feel it with my own skin. to vladimir kara-murza, raif badawi, waleed abut al-khair, ahmed mansoor, i say you're not forgotten and we'll continue to advocate for your freedom. let me also close by acknowledging a member of my staff chris holmon has inspired

me to take on this cause and works at it diligently. our reward, an indicational political prisoner makes it to my office. one from africa presented me with basically a baton he had made while in prison with my name on it because he'd heard i remembered him and spoke of him on the floor of the senate. i'd say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, make this part of your responsibility as united states senator. find these people, these heroes who are sadly wasting away in prison and remember them on this floor. it can make a difference. some will be released. all will remember the fact that you stood up for them at the time of great need. mr. president, i yield the floor.

>> the fact that as wefound in the pdp program a single telephone number was used in connection with 1400 ppp allocations. one social security number was used in 29 states . >> but if they had been required to okay, get out your cell phone, prove you are who you say you are and you is that single identifier and the fact that you can't call it a modern cell phone because they'll disappear on the generation. basically why one of these security toggles so you could use that to make sure that if you have a unique id that you are demanding every time you apply for any federal benefit , it seems like you could have just stopped that in its tracks. and the return on investment from getting that mobile ids that are being implemented. >>. >> the latest inflation numbers came out on friday .

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households $460 per month.s $460 that's right. $460 per month. it's no surprise that in a recent poll, 83% of respondents, 83% described the state of the economy as poor or not so good or that just 27% said they have a good chance of improving their standard of living. mr. president, president biden likes to talk about creating, quote, an economy that works for working families. well, i have news for the president. this economy is not working for working families. working families can't absorb an additional $460 a month. they have to cut back. they have to put off needed car repairs or eliminate a family vacation or cut down on milk for their kids. the president said the other day, and i quote, the economy is

strong as can be but for inflation, but for gas and food, end quote. but for gas and food? well, mr. president, i have to tell you gas and food prices are two pretty essential items for families. moms and dads wondering how they can afford to fill up their cars to get to work and get the kids to baseball practice don't care how good the president says the economy is if the price of a tank of gas has more than doubled since the president took office. mr. president, i guess we can at least be glad that democrats and the president have finally started acknowledging our inflation crisis. for months last year i should say, for months last year as inflation climbed, the administration dismissed those concerns. and even as it became more and more clear that we had a long-term problem on our hands, the president and congressional democrats spent their time focusing not on solutions to our inflation crisis but on a

massive spending spree almost guaranteed to make our inflation problem worse. that's right. let's remember how we got here, mr. president. when president biden took office, inflietion was at 1 -- inflation was at 1.4%, well within the fed's target inflation rate of 2%. and it might have stayed there had democrats not decided to pass a massive and partisan $1.9 trillion spending spree under the guise of covid relief mere weeks after congress had passed a fifth bipartisan covid bill that met essentially all current pressing covid needs. the democrats so-called american rescue plan sent a lot of unnecessary government money into the economy and the economy overheated as a result. and you don't have to take my word for it. here's what one democrat economist who worked in the obama administration had to say on the subject. this is a quote. the $1.9 trillion american

rescue plan passed in the early days of the biden administration will go down in history as an extraordinary policy mistake. now, let me just repeat that, mr. president. the $1.9 trillion american rescue plan passed in the early days of the biden administration will go down in history as an extraordinary policy mistake. that a direct quote from a democrat economist who worked in the obama administration. mr. president, democrats were warned that the american rescue plan ran the risk of overstimulating the economy. but they went ahead anyway. but what's almost worse was their subsequent decision to pursue another massive spending spree, their so-called build back better plan, even after it had become clear that their first spending spree had helped plunge our economy into a

serious inflationary crisis. even now, mr. president, as americans deal with the worst inflation in decades, it's looking like democrats are trying to revive elements of their build back better plan and use reconciliation rules to pass yet another partisan spending spree. it's the triumph of big government ideology over economic reality. if democrats succeed in passing another partisan spending spree using reconciliation rules, americans' economic situation is going to get even worse. mr. president, unfortunately, there is no easy solution to democrats' largely self-inflicted inflation crisis, but the first priority is to do no more harm. and that means no more partisan spending sprees, like the democrats' build back better plan. another big priority?

should be unleashing american energy production, in particular domestic production of oil and gas to ease energy prices. high gas and energy prices fuel higher consumer prices across the board. no question about it. unleashing american energy product would not only help reduce the price of gas, but could also help rein prices for other commodities. unfortunately, the president dem on straighted -- demonstrated a clear hostility to conventional energy production, which is discouraging investment in american energy and prolonging the current gas-price situation. another thing we should be doing to help make life easier for consumers is trying to ease supply chain woe,s, whether that involves removing burdensome trucking legislation or passing legislation like my ocean shipping reform act. i'm pleased both democrats and republicans have come together to support my bipartisan bill,

which i introduced along with senator klobuchar earlier this year. i'm particularly grateful to my fellow south dakotan, representative dusty johnson, who helped usher this legislation through the house of representatives. the ocean shipping reform act would help ease supply chain pressures by addressing unfair ocean carrier practices, speeding up the res lietion of -- resolution of disputes, and improving the movement of goods at our nation's ports. it won't solve our nation's inflation crisis, but it should help make life easier for u.s. exporters, importers, and consumers alike. i'm very pleased this legislation passed the house of representatives yesterday, and it will be soon on its way to the president's desk. i hope that we will be able to pursue more bipartisan propositions to help make life easier for american families. mr. president, democrats' big spending, big-government agenda

has resulted in a lot of pain for working families. president biden and democrats really want to make life better for ordinary americans, they will decisively reject any further spending sprees and work with republicans to do what we can to alleviate the inflation crisis that the democrats helped create. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. no, i'm sorry. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you, mr. president. my reason to come to the floor is to tell my colleagues about a bill i'm introducing today to encourage savings, but to set the stage for the necessity of that bill i'm going to speak for a minute about the obstacles that this administration's

economic policies, and particularly inflation, has put into the need for such legislation. on friday, we learned that inflation surged 8.6%, a new four-year high for inflation. inflation is the number one concern that i hear from iowans as i do my 99-county tour throughout the state over the course of a year. i hear how rising prices, particularly for food and energy, are cutting into budgets, making it difficult to make ends meet. moreover, i hear from iowans who are concerned that inflation is eating into their savings. that gets to the purpose of the legislation i'm going to soon talk about. this is particularly true for seniors, who are living on fixed

budgets and are dependent on their savings and investment income to keep their heads above water. yet president biden and congressional democrats continue to ignore the damage done by reckless tax-and-spending agenda. sadly, their solution for inflation is just more of the same old democrat tax-and-spend agenda. we still hear rumors that there may be some version of build back better. just think, if that original version of build back better had passed, we'd have another $ 4.5 trillion of additional spending feeding the fires of inflation. thank god for 50 republicans and

senator manchin, that has not happened. several democrats have argued that hiking taxes to combat inflation. however, their proposed tax hikes on job creators would suppress business investment, then lowering productivity. this would be counterproductive at a time when consumers demand demand -- consumers' demands far outpace supply. we need more production, not less, to combat unchecked inflation. moreover, the proposed democrat tax hikes would be passed on to middle class in the form of lower wages and higher prices. these tax hikes would further squeeze a middle class that's

already enduring the worst of inflation. i just complimented senator manchin for putting a stop to build back better. when it comes to some of the original tax policies, we heard from the democrats, we can thank senator sinema, another democrat, for stepping in and bringing at least some common sense to tax policy, even though it wasn't a complete change of that tax policy. raising taxes on job creation isn't the only misguided tax proposals. the proposed democrat tax hikes would pass on to the middle class in the form of lower wages and higher prices. these tax hikes would further

squeeze the middle class that's already enduring the worst of inflation. while many consumer products are in short supply, the ill-conceived democrat proposals are not. in addition to the reckless tax hikes on businesses broadly, democrats have proposed providing consumer gas rebates, forgiving student loan debt, imposing windfall profit taxes on oil and gas, and implementing price controls. none of these proposals would help tamp down inflation. instead, they would only make things worse. much worse. instead of providing relief, gas rebates would increase demand, driving yet prices higher. forgiving student loans would

have a similar effect, and would be horribly counterproductive. and at the same time, very unfair to those students who have already paid off their student loans. yet, you don't have to take chuck grassley's word for it. prominent democrat economist larry summers has said that student debt cancelation would be, his words, regressive, uncertain creating, untargeted, and inappropriate at a time when the economy is already overheated. windfall profit taxes and price controls may make things worse, the worst of all proposals. that should have been learned from the nixon administration

when he froze prices and wages, and it was a disaster. part of the cause of the great inflation of the 1970's. disastrous consequences then as a result of what happened in the 1970's. anyone who lived through that time can tell you how these policies made things worse by reducing supply. the result was rampant shortages, most notably gas lines all around the block. when addressing inflation, congress must be guided by the principle first do no harm. democrats' proposals fail this principle miserably. the fact of the matter is that once the inflation fire gets started, it's hard to put out. just think, just a few months

ago inflation was transitory, and then it got up to 6%, 7%, 8.3%, then somebody said last month it was going to cool off. it's up to 6.8%. the federal reserve is best suited for reining in inflation, given its control over the money supply. as milton friedman said, quote, inflation is always, and everywhere, a monetary phenomenon, end of quote. this doesn't mean congress is helping when it comes to responding to inflation. the most important thing that congress can do is stop spending like drunken sailors. even better would be to trim the budget to eliminate unnecessary spending. congress can also provide targeted inflation relief.

however, it must be done in a way that won't add to our growing debt or further fuel the flames of inflation. one way to do this is by providing targeted inflation relief that incentivizes and rewards taxpayers who save, rather than spend. with today's high inflation, many in the middle class could see most, or even all, of their savings investment gains wiped out by the inflation that's upon us. yet, even though a middle-class saver may be losing money in real terms, they're still taxed on all gains and interest income as if inflation doesn't exist. this creates a reverse

incentive, that encourages taxpayers to consume today, rather than to save today. this can push up demands for goods and services, forcing prices higher, and further fueling inflation. to help counter the current bias in favor of consumption, i now come to my proposal, a proposal subjecting most middle-class savings investment income to zero tax. now, this isn't a silver bullet in the fight against inflation. ultimately, the federal reserve will have to do the heavy lifting. however, unlike counterproductive democrat policies, my proposals would incentivize and reward saving. as a result, it would get relief

to the middle class without further fueling consumer demand and reducing production and supply. under my bill, the title of the bill is middle-class savings and investment act. that bill would give the taxpayers in the 22% individual income tax bracket and lower would pay zero taxes on their long-term capital gains and dividend income. moreover, my proposal would allow individuals to exclude a reasonable amount of interest income from tax. for 2022, the combination of these proposals means an individual with a taxable income of below's 89,075 or a married couple below $175,000 would

largely be able to save tax-free. in addition to exempting the middle class from the tax on most of their savings and investment income, my proposal would enhance and expand the saver's credit. this provides a tax credit to low- to middle-income taxpayers who contribute to a tax-favored retirement account. my proposal would increase the maximum credit amount by $500 for married taxpayers and expand eligibility to more taxpayers. finally, my proposal would address a massive marriage tax -- marriage penalty that is gradually catching evermore taxpayers by surprise, thanks

just simply to inflation. under obamacare, democrats imposed a new 3.8% tax on investment income of taxpayers earning over $200,000 single or $250,000 married. congress never indexed these thresholds for inflation. thus, given current inflation, it's likely -- it likely won't be long before millions of middle-class taxpayers find themselves squarely within the grasp of that marriage penalty. to prevent this, i indexed the income threshold for this tax to inflation. moreover, i eliminate the marriage penalty by raising the threshold for married taxpayers to twice that for single earners. of course, any relief provided must be fully paid for to ensure

that we aren't just adding unsustainable debt and deficits. this is why my proposal is fully paid for by extending the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions beyond the current scheduled expiration at the end of 2025. the salt deduction is a highly regressive tax subsidy that primarily benefits high-income taxpayers. according to the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation, more than half of the benefits from lifting the salt cap would go to those making over $1 million a year. extending the current cap on salt, an otherwise regressive tax benefit, to provide immediate tax relief to the middle class, should be a no-brainer to all of my colleagues. i urge members on both sides of

the aisle to support this proposal. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: and i'd consent that i believe allowed to complete my remarks before the senate adjourns for the lunch hour. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i want to report that we are making serious progress in our bipartisan effort to respond to

the shooting in uvalde, texas, and other places around the country. over the last few weeks i've been working particularly with senator murphy, senator sinema, senator tillis on mental health and school safety reforms, and we've narrowed the scope of our discussions to provisions that we believe can earn broad bipartisan support in the senate. and a number of our colleagues on both sides have joined the discussion. over the weekend we announced an agreement on principles for bipartisan legislation. 20 senators, 10 republicans, and 10 democrats. this included a range of targeted reforms to keep our children and our communities safe from mental health resources to funding to harden schools and make them more safe. no parent should have to send their child to school wondering whether they're going to be safe at school, and certainly no student should be afraid to go

to school for fear of their safety. we also included a number of targeted measures to prevent violence by people committing crimes and other dangerous individuals. i'm proud of the work we've done so far, but of course we're not at the finish line. we are still at the beginning when it comes to drafting appropriate text. our agreement is based on principles alone, and translated this proposal into legislative language is no easy task, as members of the snapchat -- members of the senate understand. here's annual -- an example of the details. state crisis programs and initiative. support programs that would reduce violence, protect the public and help individuals in crisis get the help they need. but there are a number of

different ways this provision could be drafted, and i'm committed to ensuring we get it done right. but i want to be clear because there's been a lot of misinformation, misunderstanding on this point. none of what we are proposing would create a national red flag law. no national red flag law. some have mischaracterred this provision as an incentive for states to pass a red flag law, but that's something i'm aiming to avoid. i trust the states to make their own decisions, and 16 states have decided to pass red flag laws. but that's fewer than half of the states with red flag laws on the books. congress should not only send federal funding to those states, but also other states that are doing things to deal with people in crisis. and as the agreement in principle said, what we're focused on is crisis intervention. but there are a number of

different ways that this could be approached, and i'm fighting for this proposal include a grant program that gives every state, regardless of whether it has a red flag law or not, funding to administer programs that they do have that will reduce violence, increase public safety, and make sure that individuals in crisis get the help that they need. there should be no requirement for states that do not currently have a red flag law to pass one. the existence or lack of a red flag law should not impact on any state's ability to receive fund for crisis intervention. and if a state does wrant to use this money to implement ead red flag lawmakers they should not be able to do so unless their red flag law contains a full set of due process and bill of rights protections in the constitution. so how could states without red

flag laws use this money? whether a range of evidence-based programs that support our shared goal, which is in fact to keep communities safe and to save lives. one great example is the assisted outpatient treatment programs. these are sometimes just called a.o.t.'s. these programs allow courts to order people with serious mental illness to receive outpatient treatment as a condition of living in the community. aot's can be life-changing for people who struggle to maintain consistent mental health treatment. programs vary from state to state but typically include medication along with a variety of other services, including counseling. aot's rely on evidence-based treatment plans to help individuals live healthier, safer lives, and they have a successful track record. assisted outpatient treatment progress, programs are effective in reducing arrests

and incarceration, violent mental crises and hospital stays and homelessness. i think this is another way that states without red flag laws might be able to use the funding that we would provide under the provisions of this bill. at least that's what i'm hoping we would ultimately land on. i think it would be kind of strange if we passed a national law that said only 16 states were going to be eligible for this money, and you'd only be eligible for it if you passed a red flag law. i think that would almost be like trying to congressman dear the state's legislature -- to commandeer the state's legislature and government. maybe they've tried to do something a little bit differently like assisted outpatient treatment, mental health courts which have been very successful in my state, and veterans courts in particular to focus on our veterans community who have particular challenges.

while i'm talking about assisted outpatient treatment, 47 states actually have those laws, and i would like the money that would be available under this fund for crisis intervention to be able to be used for that. again, i don't support any prescriptive mandates or national mandates at all, including a national red flag. each state should be able to make their own choices and use its share of funding in the best way it sees fit to protect constitutional rights of somebody who is in mental health crisis or to provide other resources like assisted outpatient treatment or mental health court adjudications or veterans courts hearings in order to help them address their challenges. the great thing about the design of our country is that we have a national government, but we have sovereign states.

louis brandeis once called them the laboratories of democracy, and actually it makes plenty of sense to me that we learn from the experience of the states that have passed red flag laws and states that have passed other types of ways to address people requiring crisis intervention. this provides the ability to innovate and to try new yppedz and to come up with best practices that the federal government simply cannot do when you're considering legislating for a country of 330 million people. so i personally do not support an overly prescriptive grant program that favors only a few states over all 50 states. and of course i won't support any grant program that violates the constitution or the requirement of due process of law when it comes to a constitutional right like the second amendment. so i do believe there are a range of options to improve public safety, and the states should have the funding and

flexibility to invest in programs that they think best delivers the result to save lives, to help people in crisis, and that's really what we're trying to do with this legislation. so the details are still being worked out, mr. president, and we're drafting legislative text. of course that's sometimes hard. sometimes i've found that people use the same word, and they mean something differently by it, or they come to it with a sort of context that maybe isn't apparent from a conversation about principles. and that's why going from the principles that 20 of us have agreed on into legislative text that we can then vote on and pass is a challenge. we know that on a sensitive topic like this, a single word or the placement of a comma can make the difference between protecting and infringing on rights. so i'm laser focused on drafting text that reflects the

commonsense targeted proposal that we've agreed to in principle. again, we're working through the details, and i hope we will have legislative text later this week. but i'm not willing to rush it for the sake of speed. i spoke with senator schumer, the majority leader, this morning, and he said he'd like to have this bill ready to vote on next week, and i'm certainly with him in terms of that aspirational goal. that means we're going to have to complete our work on the text by the end of this week so senator schumer will have that legislation available to take up next week. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i'd note the absence of a quorum. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you, senator cornyn, for the work you're doing and working with senator murphy and so many other senators. you and i have done so many bills together, including the historic save our stages bill,

which made such a difference. and i am very pleased that we are finally advancing gun safety legislation, and a lot of these provisions are things that we have been working across the aisle on for many years. the boyfriend loophole, something that i introduced in 2013, mr. president, ten years ago, to close the boyfriend loophole. that is a part of this negotiation, part of the framework. we have so many women killed, one every 14 hours from domestic partners. one every 14 hours from domestic partners with guns in this country. and sadly, half of those involve dating partners, people who aren't married to someone but they're in a romantic relationship with them in some way. and the way the law works in all but 19 states where it is fully

closed, in many of these states, you get convicted -- convicted of domestic abuse, and you can still go out and buy a gun the next day. so i am pleased that we are moving forward on this provision. this isn't the first time we heard the call to action from america when it comes to guns. we heard it after 23 people were killed at wal-mart in el paso, after 17 people were killed at marjory stoneman douglass school in parkland. after 39 people were killed at a country -- 59 people were killed at a country music fes val and -- festival. and 49 people killed at the pulse nightclub in orlando. today we hear calls for action because of more tragedies, a white supremacist murdering ten people who were simply shopping for groceries.

one guy out buying a cake for his little boy, a birthday cake for his son, who never returned. ten people killed. the american people are demanding we do something after the senseless murder of 19 children and two teachers who died putting their very lives up to protect those children in uvalde, texas. we've seen the pictures of those kids in their confirmation communion dresses, in their sports uniforms, the converse green seekers, the smiles, in some they were holding awards they won that morning. but today, after too many of these tragedies to name, i rise with renewed hope that we are finally working together to help keep americans safe from gun violence. while there is so much more work to be done, the reforms outlined in the bipartisan framework, liken couraging states to enact

risk protection orders, also known as red flag laws, expanding access to mental health services and supporting school violent prevention. senator grassley and i led that bill after parkland for significant funding for schools. clearly more must be done. as i noted, i am particularly pleased to see that the framework that will include my bill to close the boyfriend loophole. six million american women are killed on their partners many we focus on the mass shootings, but think of those numbers, 600 women shot every year from intimate partners. we know that preventing convicted domestic abusers from getting guns saves lives many we know that because we've seen the numbers in the states that have the laws in place. currently federal law only

prohibits domestic abusers from buying a gun if they are currently or formerly married. think about that. currently or formerly married. or if they ever lived together or have a child. that is despite the fact, as i noted, that half of these homicides, half of the women killed are killed by dating partners. that's why in 2013, i introduced this bill to close this dangerous loophole and now i am so pleased that there is growing bipartisan support for the bill. by the way, we've shown that support in the past. it was part of the violence against women act that passed in the house and it had 29 republicans vote for it, and that included an even more broad version of the bill, which also included stalking and what is broader in this bill. obviously i support my original bill, but the fact that we are

making progress to close the loophole in the states that so far have not gotten to where the other 19 are is incredibly positive. it did not pass last time when we passed the violence against women act in the senate. sadly it didn't make it in there, but, again, it got 29 republican votes in the house and that shows the growing momentum we have for this. so i come from a state, mr. president, with a proud tradition of hunting and fishing, like yours, i always think of my uncle dick in his deer stand and i always ask when i introduce these proposals from closing the boyfriend loophole to background checks to doing something about better checking of 18 to 21-year-olds, i think does that hurt my uncle dick in the deer stand and the answer is, of course it does not. this is our moment to act. it's not just one killing, and we all know that.

it's happened in every single community. every single senator in this chamber knows of a moment where they thought, how could this happen in my community? where they meet with the family. what i remember the most, actually, is a case involving a police officer out of lake city, minnesota. he's a good cop doing his job. he was called to a domestic violence incident. and what people don't know for police officers, these domestic violence calls can be some of the most dangerous because you have someone who is very angry, you don't know what you're walking into it, it's in the moment. he gets there at the door, has a bulletproof vest, but the perpetrator, mentally ill, had been beating up his young, young, girlfriend, meets him at the door and he shoots him in the head. i was at the funeral. the funeral was held in the same

church where the officer and his wife and their three little kids had gathered for the nativity play at that church just a few weeks before for christmas and there were two little boys and a little girl. and the father sat in the front row to watch his boys in that nativity play only a few weeks before. the next time the family is in the church, it is the widow, the two little boys, and this tiny little girl with a dress -- in a dress with blue stars on it walking down the aisle at the funeral. it shows you how domestic abuse, and those kind of cases, yes, there is one immediate victim, most likely a woman, but it's the whole family that's a victim. kids who witness domestic abuse through their lives are more likely to get into crime

themselves. the statistics show it. it is a whole community, that family who lost their dad and husband would tell you if they were standing in here right now. i am so pleased we are moving on this right now. i thank senator murphy and senator cornyn and i'm grateful for ten years of work with debbie dingell in the house has not gone for not. perseverance matters in this place and i'm pleased with the final negotiations and it will make a difference in saving lives. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate >> the senate is in recess until 2:15 p.m. eastern for their weekly party lunches. senators are working on legislation to expand access to

va health care and disability benefits for toxic exposed veterans, namely from military burn pits during their military service. when the senate returns watch live coverage here on c-span2. >> earlier today president biden talk about his strategy to build the u.s. economy at the afl-cio convention in philadelphia. >> okay. we are ready. so we are here ready