>> i think you're going to find that they are shredding ballots because they have to get rid of ballots because the ballots are unsigned. the ballots are corrupt. and they are brand-new and they don't have seals. there's a whole thing withot the ballots of the ballots are corrupt and you're going to find that they are, which is totally illegal. it's more illegal for you than it is up for them because you know what they did and you are not reporting it. that's the thing, that's a criminal, that's a criminal offense and you can't let that happen. that's a big risk to you and to ryan, your lawyer. that is a big risk. >> secretary raffensperger, after making a false claim about ballots the president suggests you may be committing a crime by not going along with his claims of election fraud. and after suggesting -- >> we believe this hearing to continue over for your commitment to live gavel to gavel coverage of congress. you can continue watching it

though on our companion network c-span3 or with our free video at c-span now. the use senate returning with work expected to start on a bipartisan gun bill. now live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. our father, we wait in reverence before your throne. cleanse us from our sins, creating in us clean hearts, while renewing a right spirit within us. help our lawmakers today to discern your voice and do your will.

give them the ability to know your guidance from all others, permitting you to lead them to your desired destination. lord, speak to them through your holy word. guide them with your spirit and sustain them with your might. may they strive to permit justice and righteousness to flourish in this generation and beyond. use them to rescue those who suffer because of violence and oppression. we pray in your great 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. and, under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business for debate only, with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each.

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i understand there is a bill desk that is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 4431, a bill to eliminate discrimination and promotes women's health and so forth. mr. leahy: mr. president, no

reasonable doubt to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule have, i would object to further proceedings. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. leahy: mr. president, i have another matter to speak of, and before i do, i wish to commend my colleague and neighbor from new england, the distinguished presiding officer. as president pro tempore, i'm always delighted to see somebody step into that position. but i wish to commend him for your tireless and at times what must have been frustrating negotiations on a matter that's of extreme importance to our

country. i have in my prior profession, i went to many murder scenes. it seemed always at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. people died of gunshots. and i can remember each one of them as though it was yesterday. since then, what we've seen has been far, far worse, and i commend the senator, his leadership, and those in both parties who have worked with him to try to at least take some steps to curtail that in this country. mr. president, on june 20, yesterday, we commemorated world refugee day. it is an important reminder that we have to rededicate ourselves to a cornerstone of our nation's founding, providing refuge to the persecuted and oppressed. since the days of the earliest

european settlers, america has provided safe harbor to waves of refugees throughout our history. many americans today can trace their ancestry back to refugees who fled their homeland seeking freedom and security. welcoming refugees is not just something america does, it is who we've always been. americans have put this long tradition of welcoming refugees on full display in recent months. after the withdrawal from afghanistan, americans across the political spectrum opened their hearts, homes, and wallets to afghans fleeing the taliban's ruthless rule. today american families have helped to welcome nearly 80,000 vulnerable afghans into the united states, giving them a fresh start.

as a vermonter, i'm proud that our small state joined this class and volunteered to welcome and resettle 100 refugees -- 100 afghan refugees. now, when russia shocked the world and invaded ukraine, americans of all walks of life yet again stepped up to assist ukrainians fleeing violence and destruction. already tens of thousands of americans have volunteered to serve as private sponsors for arriving ukrainian refugees. in fact, a gallup poll from april confirmed that nearly 80% of americans support resettling 100,000 ukrainian refugees in the united states. that happens to be a central goal of the biden administration is uniting ukraine initiative. in the deep and broad support for refugees among the american people has for many years been

reflected in the halls of congress. i strongly supported the 1980 refugee act, the landmark law creating our modern u.s. refugee admissions program and asylum system. that legislation was passed overwhelmingly in the house and here in the senate unanimously. in the decades since, both parties have worked together to provide refugee exile to cubans, displaced haitians, dissident chinese, and many other refugee populations feeling -- fleeing persecution and tyranny. and most recently, as chairman of the appropriations committee, i worked again with members of both parties to pass multibillion-dollar aid packages to fund our government's efforts to aid afghan and ukrainian

refugees. so it should come as no surprise that both parties have more often than not worked together to support refugees seeking to begin anew in the united states. the over three million refugees who have resettled in the united states over the past several decades have enriched our country economically and culturally. refugees are entrepreneurs and job creators, they're members of our communities. they are our neighbors and friends. our nation's history has been defined by refugees, from albert einstein to madeleine albright. their stories and the stories of the millions of other refugees who come to our shores are the american way.

now, the trump administration gave rise to a dark turn toward nativism and xenophobia, a jarring retreat from what has made america great. the hateful policies of the trump administration espoused first by the former president himself aim to demonize refugees and asylum seekers, to shut our doors to the persecuted and oppressed. these policies were shameful. they should be repudiated, repudiated forcibly -- forcefully by every member of the senate. now, there's much more to be done to rebuild our nation's capacity and welcome and resettle refugees. i will continue fighting to defend and support refugees for my remaining months in the senate, just as i have

throughout my senate career. today, though, i'm hopeful. i've seen vermonters come together over the past several months. and i'm confident that earthquake in's highest ideals have not -- that america's highest ideals have not seen their last days. we the american people have not lost sight of our roots. we're still here -- imperfect by compassionate beacon of hope for them. we're still here. our torch held high. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

>> i felt horrible. i felt like it was all my fault. like i would have never decided to the elections worker. like, that's what i decided to do and now people are lying and the spread of rumors and lies and attacking my mom. i'm an only child. going to my grandmother's house, i'm her only grandchild and my kid. i felt real bad. i felt bad for my mom and i

felt horrible for picking this job and the one that always wants to help and is always there. never missing not one election. i just felt like it was my fault putting my family and the situation. >> it wasn't my fault. your mother was kind enough to come us earlier. lessonlet's listen to her story and her words . >> my name is ruby freeman. i've always believed that when god says he will make your name great but this is not the way it was supposed to be. i could have never imagined the events that marked the presidentialelection of 2020 . for my entire professional life i was lady ruby. my community in georgia where i was born and lived my whole life as lady ruby.

i don't my own business around that name. the rubies unique treasures. a pop-up shop catering to ladies with unique passions. i wore a shirt that proudly proclaimed that i was and i am lady ruby. actually, i have that shirt on in every color. i wore that shirt on election day 2020. i haven't worn it since. and i'll never wear it again. now i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i get nervous when i bump into someone i know in the grocery store who says my name. i'm worried about who's listening. i get nervous when i have to give my name for food orders. i'm always concerned of who's around me. i've lost my name and i've lost my reputation.

i've lost my sense of security. all because of a group of people starting with number 45 and his allies rudy giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter shea. two push their own lies about how the presidential election wasstolen . >> miss loss how has that it's this experience of being targeted by the former president and his allies affected your life ? >> it's turned my life upside down. i no longer give out my business card. i don't transfer calls. i don't want anyone knowing my name.

i don't want to go anywhere with my mom because she might yell my name out inthe grocery aisle or something . i don't go tothe grocery store all . i haven't been anywhere at all. i've gained about 60 pounds. i just don't do nothing anymore. i don't want to goanywhere. i second-guess everything that i do . it's affected my life in a major way, in every way. all because of lies. for me doing my job, the same thing i've beendoing forever . >> you're also mother also told us in the committee about how she had to leave her own home for her safety and go into hiding after the fbi told her it would not be safe for her there before january 6 until the inauguration.

let's listen to her storyin her own words . >> around the week of january 6 the fbi informed me that i needed toleave my home for safety . and i left my home for safety around that time. >> how long did you stay? >> i stayed away from my home for approximately twomonths . it was horrible. i felt homeless. i felt, i can't believe this person has caused this much damageto me and my family . to have to leave my home i've lived there for 21 years. and you know, i'm having to have my neighbors watch out for me . you know. and i have to go and stay

with somebody. it was hard. it was horrible. >> and your conversation with the fbi leaving home for your own safety, do you remember was there a specific threat that prompted that wasn't a continuation of threats. >> what prompted it was getting ready to january 6. they did not want me to be at home because of all the threats and everything i had gotten . they didn't want me to be there in fear of the people would come into my home and i had a lot of that. so they didn't want me to be there just in case something happened. i asked how long am i going to be have to have to be home and they said at least until

the inauguration . >> miss loss i understand people once showed up at your grandmother's house to tellus about that experience . >> i received a call from my grandmother. the woman is my everything i've never even heard her or seen her cry ever in my life . and she called me screaming at the top of her lungs like shane all my god. freaking me out saying that there were people at her home and they you know, they knocked on the door. of course she opened it and seeing who was there, who it was and they just started pushing their way through claiming that they were coming in to make a citizens arrest. they needed to find me and my mom they knew were there.

and she was just screaming and didn't know what to do and i wasn't there. so i just felt so helpless and so horrible for her. she just was screaming. itold her to close the door. don't open the door for anyone . and you know, she's a 70 something -year-old woman and she doesn't like having restrictions. she wants to answer the door. she likes to get her steps in walking around the neighborhood and i had totell her you can't do that you have to be safe . you know, she would tell me that the night people would just continuously send pizzas over and over to her home. and they were expecting her to pay or these large amounts ofpieces .

she went through a lot that she did not have to and once again it made me just feel horrible. >> in addition to the personal impact this experience has had on you and your family one of the things i find most disturbing is how these lies discouraged longtime election workers from continuing to do this important work. tell us if you would of the other election workers shown in state farm video and their supervisors. how many are stillelection workers in full . >> there is no permanent election worker or supervisor in that video that's still there. >> did you end up leaving your position as well and mark. >> yes, i left. >> miss moss i want to thank you for coming in to speak with us and thank you for your service to our democracy .

what we have just played is the truly horrible and appalling sample but just a sample of the things that were said about you and your mother following the election . i want to say how sorry i think we all are or what you've gone through . tragically you are not alone other election workers around the country have been the subject of lies and threats. no election worker shouldbe subject to such a mistreatment just for doing their job . with your permission i would like to give your mother the last word . >> we're just going to play the tape. >> there is nowhere i can face. nowhere. do you know how it feels to have the president of the united states target you? the president of the united states is supposed to represent every american. not to target one. but he targeted me. lady ruby.

a small business woman owner. a mother, a proud american citizen whose stand up to helpful countyrun its elections in the middle of a pandemic . >> thank you miss moss. thank you miss freeman or as america now knows her, lady ruby. in your serviceable county georgia and are country and our democracy. mister chairman i feelback . >> thank you chair. miss moss, i want to thank you for sharing with us the very troubling story of what you and your mother experienced. the harassment of election workers like you simply for doing your duty as public service poses a threat to our democratic process. your testimony is an important contribution to the work of our committee and

serves as a reminder to all of us that the safety of local election officials is vital to ensuring that our elections are always free and fair. i want to thank our witness for joining us today. the members of the select committee may have additional questions for today's witnesses. we ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to those questions. without objection members will be permitted 10 business days to submit statements for the record including opening remarks and additional questions for the witnesses. without objection chair recognizes the gentleman from california mister schiff for a closing statement. >> for more than 200 years

our democracy has been distinguished by the evil transfer of power. when an american raises the right hand and takes the presidential oath they are transformed from an ordinary citizen into themost powerful person in theworld . the president . this is an awesome power to acquire. it is even more awesome when it's handed on peacefully. when george washington relinquished the office of the presidency he set a precedent that served as a beginning for other nations struggling against tyranny. ronald reagan described it as a kind of a miracle in the eyes of the world and was exactly right. other countries use violence toseize and hold power. but not in the united states . not in america. when donald trump used the power of the presidency to try and stay in office after losing the election to joe biden he broke that secret and centuries old covenant. whether his actions were criminal will ultimately be for others to decide.

but what he did was without a doubtunconstitutional . it was unpatriotic and was fundamentally un-american. and when he used the power of his presidency to put enormous pressure on state local elections officials and his own vice president it became downright dangerous. on january 6 pressure became deadly. rudy freeman said the president is supposed to protect every american, not target them and she is right . it's the most powerful person in the world can bring the full weight of the presidency down on an ordinary citizen who is merely doing her job with all live as big and heavy as a mountain who among us is safe? none of us is. none of us. city councils and town councils and school boards and election boards from the

congress to the courts dedicated public servants are leaving their posts because of death threats. to them and to their families . this is not who we are. it must not become who we are. >>

hovering near its highest level since 2000, and small business optimism set an all-time record high. republican policies helped create that environment, from cutting red tape to passing the most comprehensive tax cuts and tax reform in a generation. now democrats said the 2017 tax bill would not strengthen the economy, would starve the federal government of money, but we republicans knew better. and sure enough, with our tax

bill in place, federal revenues are at historic levels. the past fiscal year's nominal corporate tax receipts were the highest they have been since 2007. individual income tax receipts just hit an all-record, all-time record high as well, and they're on a pace to climb even higher this year. overall treasury department revenues recorded their largest one-year surge in 44 years. that's what's happened since the 2017 tax cut. the democrats literally preaddicted -- tax cuts for american families, record-setting tax revenues and the best economy for working families in a generation prior to the pandemic. unfortunately, most of the democratic colleagues have a terrible track record when it

comes to economic policies and predictions. the tax reform they called armageddon preceded low inflation, high unemployment and robust growth. and what about on their watch? democrats setting policy on party lines decided on trillions of dollars in reckless spending that brought us the worst inflation in 40 years, anemic growth, and now on top of all that, the threat of rising unemployment and a possible recession. just as senate democrats were preparing to dump $2 trillion in reckless spending on our economy, the senate democratic leader said, quote, i do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near term, are very real. president biden said the risk is not doing too much. the risk is not doing enough.

secretary yellen said, quote, the price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big. well, they're all wrong, and american families are paying dearly for it. the democratic leader claimed the dangers of undershooting our response are far greater than overshooting and, quote, we cannot do too little. we cannot lock our country into a long and slow recovery, end quote. well, if democrats do not want a long recovery, mission accomplished. a long and steady recovery with stable prices, rising real wages, falling unemployment and strong growth would have been exactly what the doctor ordered ordered, but the democrat policies helped take that option entirely off the table for our country.

instead their decisions have fueled skyrocketing prices, a decline in americans' real incomes, and cornered the federal reserve into having to raise rates sharply and potentially stop or reverse the recovery altogether. so faced with this mess, what is our all-democrat government planning next? are our colleagues admitting their mistakes and trimming back their appetites? unfortunately not. just the opposite. even now with the evidence of an historic sex inflicted policy disaster -- historic self-p inflicted tax policy democrats are lining up a spending spree this summer. even with the economy teetering on the brink of recession, even with families' real incomes already falling rapidly on their

watch, senate democrats are reportedly behind closed doors dreaming up -- listen to this -- historic new tax hikes to drop on top of our economy at the very worst possible time. the same democrats who wanted to pass trillions more in spending last year now want to rush through huge new tax hikes. the same party that spent 2021 trying to inflate their way out of inflation now want to spend 2022 tax hiking their way right into a recession. you could not invent, could not invent a worst time for washington democrats to pile new tax hikes on our country.

340eu7 -- mr. mcconnell: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:123450 l l l l quorum call: >> here to help bring down

what happened and watch out for our julie garrison covers the white house for usa today. we're joined by jarrell dillard, who covers congress and both of you gentlemen thanks for giving us your time. today being a starting point as far as the january 6 committee hearing, another hearing to focus on elections . g jarrell dillard what should people be watching for in this hearing that they haven't seen in previous

men and wouldn't you know it, more women than men graduate

from college. in short, title 9 means something to women and girls in this country. it has opened countless doors of opportunity. so today i'd like to invite all of my colleagues to join me in supporting a simple resolution celebrating the promise of title 9. it recognizes the 50th anniversary. it honors the work of women's rights activists who led the fight for equal treatment among men and women in education and it encourages all women and girls in the united states to continue to academic and athletic accomplishments if they so choose. i thank my colleagues in vons for joining me as we celebrate the women and girls in this country and all of their beautiful potential.

mr. president, i ask that the remainder of my remarks be printed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. blun -- mrs. blackburn: the senate is back in session and still we have no indication from the white house or my democratic colleagues that they have a plan to lower inflation. tennesseans are flightenned. you would be too if you consistently found more month at the end of your paycheck than paycheck at the end of your month. it's getting hadder to stretch the -- harder to stretch the pennies and nichols and -- nickels and dimes. the white house keeps telling people if they hang on a little bit longer, they will be all right. that's not how to works in the real world. in the real world, at a certain

point, you run out of rope to hang on to. people are looking at this transition economy and they're saying, what are we transitioning to? it's not what they want for their economic future. it's no longer a matter of just trying to make things work. you just can't pay the bills anymore, the gas tank stays empty, or you go to bed hungry. now it's clear that joe biden and the democrats know that the country has reached a tipping point, but rather than offering hope, they settled into blaming everyone from congressional republicans to foreign dictators for the problem. that's not what the american people want to hear. they know who got us in trouble and they know it wasn't vladimir putin, it was joe biden and the democrats. it is the people the democrats

are controlling every branch of government in this town. yes, they have done it and no amount of scapegoating will change the fact that the american people have been watching closely over the past year and a half and they know things have gone terribly wrong. the biden administration abandoned our recovery, spent trillions on a reckless spending spree and then panicked when all that spending caused record-high inflation. no, it is not temporary. the country doesn't need a pep talk. they need joe biden and the democrats to reverse course before we fall into a recession, if we haven't done so already. and there are things the administration can do right now that will pull us back from the brink.

it's time to take the taxpayer-funded credit card away. the american people can't afford what the democrats are selling and they wouldn't want it even if they could afford it. they know this is wasteful, out of-control reckless spending. next the president must stop expanding the size and power of the federal government. stop hiring bureaucrats we don't need at the salaries we can't afford to write regulations that only exist to take more money out of people's paychecks. democrats would also be wise to get the regulators we do have out of the way, especially when it comes to the energy sector. restart the keystone xl pipeline, and make american energy independent again.

go back to drilling in alaska, offshore, fracking. return it all so that we once again are energy independent. finally, there's something we can do right here in the senate that would keep future spending and inflation in check. i've introduced legislation that would require a supermajority to pass a spending bill during times of high inflation. it's good common sense. so we should put it up for a vote. it's time for each of us to go on the record and let the american people know what our priorities are. they're tired of what they are seeing coming out of washington, d.c. i'm glad that they are paying attention. mr. president, i am so pleased that tennesseans are paying

closer attention now than ever before, and i do think that it's appropriate that president biden, the white house, the executive branch, and the democrats who are in charge of capitol hill to go on the record and decide if they're going to stand with that build-back-broke agenda, stand with the radical left or are they going to stand for the prosperity and safety of the american people? tennesseans know what the right answer would be, and mr. president, whether i'm at church, whether i'm out at one of the grandkids' sporting events, whether i'm at the moon pie festival in buckle, i hear it from everyone, this spending is out of control. i yield the floor.

i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: >> here to help us break down

what might happen is joey gerson covers the white house for usa today. we're also joined byjarrell dillard of bloomberg news covers congress and both of you gentlemen, thanks for giving us your time . >> today being a starting point as far as the january 6 committee hearing, another hearing to focus on elections . jarrell dillard what should people be watching for in this hearing they haven't seen in previous? >> today is the january 6 committee's fourth hearing and they are focusing on the pressure campaign on state officials to overturn the results of the 20/20 election . last year focused on improving from led the

pressure campaign on former vice president pence now they're turning to state officials. one of the key witnesses is brad raffensberger, the georgiasecretary of state was told after the election to five more votes for trial . the georgia secretary of state chief operating officer will testify as well as the form of armor georgia state official election officials as well as the arizona house speaker. >> have the committee itself said why a focus on elections is an important aspect to talk to focus on? >> overall the committee is trying to prove that from led his campaign to overturn the election and it was a multifaceted campaign on officials at the state and federal level that's what they're trying to prove with these hearings. >> let's turn to the white house. julie garrison one of the things that came up during the conversation last couple of days was when it comes to the economy what to do about

the price of gasoline the tax price that the president may be looking.>> yesterday president by the told reporters he would have a decision on the gas tax holiday by this week. that's actually i think maybe surprised many that this was back under consideration. the white house always said this was something on the table. senate democrats back in february you recall this proposal out there to suspend the gas tax until the end of the year but there are a lot of critics with this type of policy move for one it would only save drivers $.18. as you know many states is five dollars. and then there are questions about whether it would be three funds that are earmarked for infrastructure projects so president biden is going to have a decision this week and it would be if he does take it his boldness step arguably towards cutting back on or curbing gas prices" would be a controversial one. >> related to that the

president expected to leak discuss or meet with oil executives to talk about various things. once the nature of those meetings and what is the president trying to get out of the ? >> the nature is the high gas prices right now. and the use of refinery supply and gas supply and it comes after biting in a letter to ceos and gas companies basically scolded them for having record profits during the first 1:45 thousand 22 this year and he told reporters yesterday that he wants to get an explanation as to how the oil companies have a $35 billion profit . the white house has said their exploiting this inflation situation for their benefit so there's going to be a lot of, there's a major backdrop heading into that meeting and it will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

>> again our guests with us until 8:45 if you want to ask questions about what youmight see on the topics we talked about and some others as well . was at 202-748-8000 14 republicans. and independence 202748,002. you can text us questions at 202-748-8000 three. jarrell dillard iwant to turn back to you when it comes to the senate side of things . reports as of yesterday concerning what they're doing as far as gun legislation . tell us where they are. >> the senate has been negotiating for weeks over a compromise done bill. democrats wanted to go much further of any kind republicans in the senate to vote for the legislation so they been working out a compromise . it release a framework that they been going over that includes funding for red flag laws trying to close the boyfriend loophole. increase background checksfor younger gun buyers ages 18 to

21 . some additional penalties for those who try to evade certain requirements and some funding for mental health services and schoolsafety . late last week taking points groups to be the red flag laws and boyfriend loophole. the boyfriend loophole reversed the law that prevents domestic abusers from buying guns but that only applies to domestic abusers if they were married to the or had children or some type of long-term relationship and there was some disagreement over how to define dating partner a provision is added that would extend that to dating partners and there is also disagreement over redflag laws . john cornyn, one of the leaders on this effort wanted the funding to also be available to the states who may not enact red flag laws that they can use it for other purposes. >> as far as those two things

. what's the potential? >>

tenured federal employee in the state of montana. anyone who know, carol will tell you she exemplifies the definition of a public servant. for more than 50 years, she served her community with unmatched stiewl -- institutional knowledge and professionalism. she's been a voice of reason in debates over public lands management emphasizing that forest management and conservation truly go hand in hand. as district ranger, carol worked tirelessly to increase the timber output on the superior district to help benefit the local economy and support wildfire mitigation in the community. outside of her role at the forest service, carol is active in her community. she serves on many boards, including the mineral community hospital board, the mineral fair board and glacier country

tourism board. her commitment to public service, it's clear she's been a long respected and beloved member of the mineral county community. it's my honor to recognize carol for her dedication to the forest service and her 50-plus years of public service to the great state of montana. carol, thank you for your many years of public service and commitment to improving our public lands and our forests. i wish you all the very best in your retirement. you truly make montana proud. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, last week senator portman of ohio and i hosted a group of visiting members of parliament from ukraine. we were joined by colleagues from both sides of the aisle in a continued demonstration of bipartisan support for that beleaguered country. one of the ukrainian

parliamentarians included a key negotiator with the russians. he was clear in his assessment. the russians won't negotiate seriously unless confronted with strength. i agree. we must not let russia regroup and retrench in the eastern part of ukraine. we are now in the fourth month of this horrific war launched without provocation by russian war criminal vladimir putin to fortify his fragile ego and his wharped nostalgia for soviet horror stories. we all recall the initial assessments that ukraine and its democratically elected government would fall within days of the russian military assault. the russians for months poised on the border of ukraine a mighty force, acialorred

military, virtually everything imaginable. well guess what? it not only didn't happen but the russian military was turned back decisively in their effort to take kiev. in the war-torn months since, the government of ukraine has become a symbol of freedom, strength, determination, and defiance around the world. in fact, key leaders from europe visited kiev last week and pledged their support for ukraine's membership in the european union. president biden has played a key role in rallying nato allies and providing equipment and support that have allowed the ukrainians to heroically defend their nation. he's committed more than $6.3 billion in security assistance for ukraine since the beginning of the biden administration with $5.6 billion provided since the beginning of the war alone. this kind of security aid typically takes months to process and deliver, but weapons

are being delivered to ukraine at unprecedented speed. some in as little as 48 hours. technical assistance, training, and humanitarian aid continue in parallel. in fact, under president biden's leadership, the nato alliance has never been more unified or more middable. including with two new aspiring members, finland and sweden hoping to join soon, a step i strongly support. imagine vladimir putin started this vicious war against ukraine to weaken nato. he strengthened that organization and now two pivotal nations in europe have asked to join nato for the first time, an indication to putin that nato's days are ahead, not behind it. despite these historic successes, we must continue to adjust our support for what is likely to be a protracted fight. the ukrainian military needs long-range artillery and

equipment to withstand the russian onslaught. i'm joining senators portman, blumenthal and grassley in a letter to secretary of defense austin this week urging more long-range rocket artillery for ukraine which the administration is reportedly reviewing at this very moment. at the urgent needs go beyond weapons. ukraine's economy and food exports, exports that feed some of the world's poorest nations cannot be held hostage to vladimir putin's cruelty. for the record, more than 20 million tons of ukrainian grain exports are stopped because of a russian blockade of ukrainian ports, and it's estimated that barely half of ukraine's harvest can be exported this year. secretary of state blinken rightly has accused russia of using food as a weapon of war and there are credible reports that russia has stolen ukrainian grain. imagine this, only to cynically

resell it on the world market. one has to ask, when you consider this bar baric act -- barbaric acts following other acts, does vladimir putin really believe he's going to restore the moral authority of russia by his actions? is this really the kind of behavior incidentally that china wants to be associated with? so our task and that of our allies must include not only sustained and updated supply of critical weaponry but also help to reopen and secure the ukrainian ports and find alternative land routes for this year's harvest. and we must support efforts announced by attorney general garland today in his visit to ukraine to help identify, apprehend, and prosecute those involved in war crimes. here in the senate we can help that effort by passing the bipartisan justice for victims of war crimes act. i've introduced this bill with senator grassley to ensure that perpetrators of war crimes in ukraine and elsewhere cannot find sanctuary in the united

states of america. i also urge my colleagues not to delay approval of finland and sweden into nato and to never again entertain the weakening of this critical western alliance. let me also take a moment to comment on threats made over the weekend to one of our nato allies, a nation which still has a recent stark memory of soviet horror and i refer to lithuania. lithuania is one of the balt baltic states that led the efforts of independence from the soviet union. who can forget the baltic way, a human chain of two million people who joined hands across estonia, lithuania 33 years ago to call for independence from the soviet union. just a few years later in july 1991, the russian government recognized baltic nations independence during the historic end of soviet tyranny in eastern europe and recognizing that the

russian people were ready to give and give baltic states a future. since then lithuania has flourished as a vocal and vibrant member of the european union and nato. and this small nation of nearly three million people has never forgotten its own struggle for freedom. lithuania was an early ally of ukraine in its fight with russia going back to 2014. it has stood firm against its neighboring dictator in belarus, the putin puppet alexander lukashenko and against the chinese economic bullying for increasing a trade relationship with taiwan. over the weekend russia actually threatened lithuania which was preventing goods sanctioned by the e.u. from being transported through its territory to the russian territory. litt winnian foreign minister who is accustomed to russian threats said it's not lithuania

doing anything. it's european sanctions that started working on the 17th of june. feigned russian outrage over the actions, limiting the movement of these goods already sanctioned while russia is bomb be the entire peaceful civilian area to rubble in ukraine shows the depths of putin's madness. president biden and nato secretary-general stoltenberg have been very clear that the organization's commitment to common defense is ironclad. it will protect every inch of member territory. vladimir putin should think carefully about the nato commitment and the horrific cost he's already imposed on the russian and ukrainian people before making further threats of continuing his war crimes in ukraine. mr. president, it's been my good fortune to have visited lithuania many times. my mother was born there. i have a special affection for that land and its people. i was there in the darkest of

soviet times in 1978. i'm glad i went. as sad and depressing as it was, it was important for me to see that moment in history, to see lithuania today is to see a brand new democracy thriving in its belief and the value, of individual people and the determination to continue with a free economy and open democracy. they've come and rallied to the side of many around them who are being terrorized by lukashenko and belarus, by putin in ukraine. and lithuania speaks up, the small nation of fewer than three million people, is a nation which is determined to stand for principle and values. i want to make certain that they understand that there are those of us here in the united states congress that will never forget the battle that they waged to become independent of the soviet union and their determination to stay in that position. i was proud to be one of the voices in the chorus calling for

the baltic states to be part of the nato alliance. they saw it as their day of liberation from fear, from the soviet union, then russia, now putin. and we've got to make sure that we keep those words sacred so that that nature foe -- that nato alliance is an alliance that can be counted on by all the members. i'm heartened by the fact that finland and sweden are joining in this effort now, want to be part of the future of nato. extending that nato border with russia, 600 to 800 miles is an affirmation of the foolishness of putin. he actually thought at the end of the day by invading ukraine nato would be weaker. now it will be stronger than ever and frankly right up against his own country. and the finnish borders if they are allowed to join us in the nato alliance which i dearly hope for. in the meantime, to my friends and all of the folks i've worked with in lithuania, we're so proud of your continued

determination to stand up for what's right. continue doing that. that is the spirit of the baltics. it's the spirit of lithuania, and it's the spirit of the nato alliance. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i'm here today to visit with my colleagues about a group that we refer to as pharmacy benefit managers. but around washington, the short -- the short hand for that term is p.b.m.'s. many americans may not know about p.b.m.'s. they're very obscure in the whole pharmaceutical business. yet p.b.m.'s market is nearly $500 billion and they're powerful in our pharmaceutical

drug supply chain. it's our duty in congress to understand first how p.b.m.'s operate. second, hold them accountable and, three, work to lower prescription drug costs for the taxpayers and for the consumers. in 2018 i pressed the federal trade commission to investigate p.b.m.'s. i saw the ongoing consolidation of pharmaceutical supply chain and its impact on drug prices, driving those prices up. but i didn't wait for the f.t.c. to act. i pursued, one, bipartisan legislation, two, held hearings and conducted oversight. most recently, senator cantwell

and i have introduced the p.b.m. transparency act. this bill prohibits p.b.m.'s from engaging in spread pricing. this is a situation where p.b.m.'s charge and insure more than they charge the pharmacy, and then they pocket the difference. iowans call that gaming the system. another practice we prohibit in our bill, clawbacks. in medicare part d, these are sometimes called retroactive direct and indirect renumeration fees, or. clawbacks are costing patients more in higher co-pays and also costing the local pharmacy.

this practice is putting rural and independent pharmacists out of business. in addition, our bill will incentivize fair and transparent p.b.m. practices benefiting consumers and taxpayers. the bill has the support of community pharmacists, manufacturers, and patient advocacy organizations. not surprisingly, this industry we call p.b.m.'s oppose the cantwell-grassley bill. they say my bill is anticompetitive and, in their words, an expansion of power at the f.t.c. they also claim that their industry is already

well-regulated. nothing could be further from the truth. my bill establishes transparency and accountability. so good news. tomorrow the commerce committee will mark up the p.b.m. transparency act. i don't happen to sit on this very important commerce committee, but i urge my colleagues to support this bill. finally, mr. president, i've never given up o passing the bipartisan -- on passing the bipartisan wyden-grassley bill known as the prescription drug pricing act. despite the democrats having the majority for 18 months, we've not passed a prescription drug bill. so we still have high prescription drug prices. by now i would assume that they'd be interested in advancing a bipartisan

prescription drug bill. they can get 60-plus votes, save the taxpayers $95 billion, and seniors who are consumers $72 billion. rather than a partisan effort that doesn't have 60 votes here in the united states senate. i want my colleagues to know i will work with anyone who wants to pass the bipartisan wyden-grassley bill. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

joey covers the white house for usa today. we are joined by jerome covering congress, both of you, thank you

for giving us your time. today the start as far as the january 6 committee hearing, another urine, the focus on elections, what should people watch for in this hearing that they haven't seen previously? >> today's the january 6 many hearing today advair focusing on pressure campaign on state officials to return results of the 2020 election. last week they focused on proving trump left the pressure campaign on former vice president pence to overturn the result of the election but now they are turning to state officials, one of the key witnesses is roethlisberger, georgia secretary of state was told after the election primary votes return. second day of chief operating officer as well as georgia former georgia state official election official as well as arizona house speaker. >> has the committee said why a focus on elections is an

important aspect to look at talking about the overall events? >> overall the committee is trying to prove trump led the campaign to overturn the election it was a multifaceted campaign, at the state and federal levels so that's what they are trying to prove these hearings. >> let's turn to the white house one of the things that came up during the conversation last couple days when it comes to the economy, what to do about the price of gasoline in the president me look at, can you fill in the blank? >> yesterday president biden told reporters he would have a decision on a gas tax holiday by this week and that's actually i think maybe surprised many that this was back under consideration. the white house has always said this was something on the table, senate democrats in february put this proposal out for the gas tax until the end of the year but there are a lot of critics

with this policy move. it was only save drivers 18 cents, many states gas is $5 and there are questions whether it would deplete funds earmarked for infrastructure road projects so president biden will have a decision to speak and if he does take it, it would be boldest step toward cutting back carving gas prices and a controversial one. >> related to that, the president expected to meet with oil executives and talk about various things, was the nature of the meetings and what is he trying to get? >> the nature is high gas prices and use of refinery supply and gas supply and it comes after biden in a letter to ceos of gas companies basically scolding

them for high record profits for 2022 and he told reporters yesterday who wants to get an explanation of how the companies have $35 billion profit of inflation. the white house says they are exploiting the inflation for the benefit so there will be a major backdrop into the meeting and interesting to see what comes out of it. >> with us until 845 if you want to ask questions about what you might see in washington, topics we've talked about and others as well. 2-027-488-0014 republican's. (202)748-8000 democrats. independents (202)748-8002. you can text questions at 2027488003. when it comes to the senate side of things, reports yesterday

concerning what they are doing as far as gun legislation? >> the senate has been negotiating over a compromised gun bill, democrats wanted to go much further but they need senate republicans to vote for legislation so they been working out a compromise. they did release a framework for been going over including funding for states with red flag laws, trying to close the boyfriend loophole and increase akron checks, ages 18 to 21 and additional tendencies for those who try to evade certain requirements and mental health services and safety. late last week, sticking points proves to be red flag laws and the boyfriend loophole. the loophole refers to the law that prevents mastic abusers from buying guns, that only

applies to domestic abusers if they were married to the victim or children for long term relationship with the victim and there was disagreement over how to define a dating partner is provision was added to expand to dating partners and also disagreement over red flag laws john cornyn, one of the leaders on this effort wanted the funding to be available through state may not enact but flag laws but use it, some of the funding for other purposes. >> as far as those two things, what is the potential, legislation this week and also put into context of the end of the week congress is supposed to go. >> there was a report over the weekend they continue to negotiate over this and they might make some headway but like you said, there's a short timeline on this. at the end of this week, they are going out for the two week

fourth of july break and this is running into july ahead of august when they go on recess and then midterm election will be the focus so they have a short window to get it done. >> if it were possible to see legislation debate and a vote the senate with the house to the same or wait until the break is over to do that? >> that depends on how quickly the senate can get it done. >> the numbers will be on the screen if you want to ask our guest questions, matters of inflation, joey, he talked about gas prices for the larger issue, the president dealing with how to deal with bullies who are combative, what is the white house strategy overall when it comes to addressing concerns of inflation to america? >> that's a good question, they face a lot of criticism for not articulating the vision is.

right now the question is whether we move into recession. if you hear the line, repeatedly from the white house from biden that is not inevitable, biden said the other day and then sunday shows treasury secretary janet yellen and others put out there. in terms of oil prices, the strategic reserve, historic levels and in terms of the strategy to fight inflation, the white house is it proactive to say who left the federal reserve exercise independence. interest rates have been raised by the fed, last week by another three fourths so that could have an effect in terms of cooling down the economy although have had unemployment reached a low that could start to rise as a result of these strategies so

the white house is walking a delicate line of telling the american people that the economy is better than when we took office job growth but at the same time does a lot of anxiety out there so president biden is telling american people hears and understands them but as we all know going into november, it's not a good spot right now, messaging at all. >> november -- >> it is just such a bad spot for the president and a pull last week reached a new low in approval rating 39%. all across the board among polls, he's now the low or right at 40% market and that's a dangerous spot right now for president for democrats and

that's why they've resisted this push for democrats for the gas tax suspension for several months but is so limited the president in terms of things he can do to fight inflation, this would be a perhaps simple step voters would understand and that's why i think it's being considered right now. >> our first call from christopher in california, independent line. you're on with our guest, go ahead. >> i am 28, i heard in the last segment people in washington, i am definitely watching. one of the guest just said the gas tax is the biggest step, probably the easiest step joe biden can take. we should stop giving different

things but i wanted to say that i was hoping joe biden would be different than trump because it's like trump never took any blame for anything wrong and sometimes you take the responsibility and the people appreciate that and keep saying every decision you are making is it wrong and i know it's a hurt in the beginning and you take the blame for some things but let people know -- >> got you, thanks for the call. one of his points, he talked about the tax, what the president wants to do. democrats in congress, are they behind generally?

>> in congress in general there has been some debate over the gas tax but i think right now they're looking at the president to see what he's going to do on gas prices and democrats are working on how to tackle inflation and prices in general. they are working right now on trying to revive a form of reconciliation bill to alleviate prices in different areas so they are working on that as that is obviously a big problem for them. >> if it is interesting if you look at the democrats, democratic senators who proposed the gas tax holiday and tough reelection, you can see how they are looking at this issue and why they might be interested in. after biden's comments being open to the possibility, went back and looked at the last time this issue was discussed historically and it brought back memories in 2008 when john

mccain and hillary clinton, both senators at the time against barack obama, there's a great recession started pushing the suspension of the gas tax holiday. barack obama was gifted this, a gimmick during an election year. it would be interesting to revisit the comments from obama if biden were to end up going forward with this. >> this is george in missouri, hello. >> i wanted to ask, i don't know if it's appropriate or not but it seems to me that the democrats are always wanting the republicans to do things and i don't understand we lose our democracy which will happen, there's only one party,

democrats. the democrats get committees together and talk about it. i hate to think if world war ii pearl harbor what democrats have done, they've got a committee together. >> since you identified as a democrat, are you saying january 6 hearings are necessary, are they necessary? >> they are necessary, very necessary, people are finally waking up to it but it seems democrats always want to just talk about it whereas republicans are doing things about it. >> that's george in missouri, let me take his question and if the house switches to republican power after the member, what can you expect potentially from republicans as pure as the investigation and otherwise?

>> there's obviously a lot the democrats have done in terms of the january 6 committee and subpoena different people and we can expect some of the same probably from house republicans especially when it comes to the removal of members from committees. we might see retaliation from republicans if they gain the house. >> i think you can see if republicans get control of the house, judiciary committee and you might see hundred biden hearings, you might see hearings on withdrawal from afghanistan, those are some things allograft so far the house republicans in the new majority would want public hearings on. >> let me follow up with one question, what is the mood among them across the house about the

potential of them losing power come november? >> of course they are remaining optimistic, a lot of them have said they hope to retain the power but they have a lot of things on their plate, inflation, different things and not having passed the reconciliation bill last year so they are trying different things to see what they can do to gain voter support in the midterm. >> tom important ornaments, republican line, confronting. >> i wanted to make a comment that on all these tv stations, the news and all that, it is a good thing what they talked about, all of the biden things going on so i was calling to ask either one of your guests, joey garrison i know was one and i'm

sorry i forgot the other, yes, okay. what i don't understand is, either one of you two gentlemen were somebody, instead of talking about, somebody needs to get in front of joe biden's case, grabbed him by his lapels and say we are tired of hearing all of your lies and blame game at the united states is not ready for this garbage rotten green deal, 25 years down the road -- >> 's would you like our guests to address then? >> get in joe biden's face say

we are tired of what you're trying to tell everybody, why don't you just be honest say it off this green deal -- >> we leave it there, joey garrison -- ultimately messaging particularly when it comes to this. >> the new green deal, that something not passed in congress so not sure what he's referring to, biden has been pushing climate initiatives, still something he's talking about when he goes to the g7 meeting next week challenge the global efforts. in terms of messaging, i do think we could be in the beginning of a flight shift here and i think the white house biden entered, was selected, they been guarded in terms of

limiting the number of times he speaks to reporters, press and etc., you will notice last week for the first time, i think was the first time he sat down with the print press, a long interview with the associated press, he talks to reporters multiple times during this past weekend so i think you've been hearing a lot of allies of biden saying let biden be biden, pump gas and etc., i do think they want him to go out there and present the message more assertively now and he has. the question is finding the right message with so many challenges right now with inflation being the top one ahead of november finding the right message will be the real hard part. >> the democrats also looking for that message, to as far as this, they could come on board

or tell him on certain aspects. >> democrats looking for unified messaging especially into the midterm in their quest. >> arnold from virginia, hello. an independent line, go ahead. >> good morning. pretty much goes toward the medium, you have gentlemen who work for the media. for the previous four years of the previous president, all i heard about was russia collusion russia collusion. fraudulent elections. american people didn't forget about these things and that's all we've heard about so the first question i have is and then i will follow up with the comment, what happened to the russia collusion? that was the front of your newspaper for the u.s. take times, bloomberg on the national news headline as well, what happened to russia collusion? this second statement i have is, with the media today, do you recognize the reason why people

don't trust you or the media because of its consistencies you present when it comes to president trump versus president biden and all catastrophic things going on today? >> that's arnold and joey garrison as far as coverage and administration and how it might change one to another or at least the caller. >> the first question regarding to russia, i'm not sure anything happened, there was a long investigation led by mueller, there weren't eventually any charges pressed for it. eventually shortly after that, there started to be an impeachment process on ukraine, president trump had at the time so i do think -- not sure what you mean by what happened to it? it was a story and we moved on

to other things. in terms of the reputation of the press, all i can do is speak for myself and try to hold every elected official counsel. i wasn't the white house reporter in the trump years, i don't have any experience on the but i can tell you, my colleagues and myself included, we don't try to have any difference in terms of coverage when it comes to different politicians. >> do you want to add anything? >> i would say the same, try to hold everyone accountable, i was also not a reporter. but in my work i do try to remain unbiased", hold every official accountable. >> michelle in ohio, confronting. >> i am calling, i am tired of hearing this blaming pelosi and mcconnell and the d.c. mayor,

does any republican ever read the executive order? executive order -- mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, 28 days ago an 18-year-old young man opened fire on students at the robb elementary school in uvalde, texas. he murdered 21 people -- 19 children and 2 teachers. in the process, he effectively committed suicide as well. this was an attack that was so cruel, so brutal and inhumane that it has brought much of our nation to its knees in mourning. since the shooting, my office has received, as i'm sure many other members of congress have, i received tens of thousands of calls and letters and e-mails with a singular message -- do

something. do something. not do nothing, but do something. texans are disgusted and outraged by what happened at robb elementary and they want congress to take appropriate action to prevent the loss of more innocent lives. i don't want us to pass a bill for the purpose of checking a box. i want to make sure we actually do something useful, something that is capable of becoming a law, something that will have the potential to save lives. i'm happy to report as a result of the hard work of a number of senators in this chamber that we've made some serious progress. in particular over the last few weeks, senator murphy, the

senator from connecticut, senator sinema, the senator from arizona, senator tillis, the senator from north carolina, and i have searched high and low for common ground. there are some people who would say, what's the use? why try? we know this is an issue that divides much of the country, depending on where you live, and maybe even divides people living in the same household, but i think we have found some areas where there's space for compromise, and we've also found that there are some red lines and no middle ground. we've talked, we've debated, we disagreed, and finally we reached an agreement among the four of us, but obviously this is not something that will become law or fail to become law because of a small group of senators. the truth is we had a larger

group of 20 senators, 10 republicans and 10 democrats come forward and sign on to an agreed set of principles. and i believe as senators see the text that supports those principles, they will see we tried our best to be true to what we said those agreed principles should be. so soon, very soon, not soon enough for me, but very soon we will see the text of bipartisan legislation that will help keep our children and our communities safer. we know there's no such thing as a perfect piece of legislation. we are imperfect human beings, but we have to try and i believe this bill is a step in right direction. one of the pillars of this legislation is support for community-based mental health

care. following the violent attacks, we've all heard about missed signs. and the fact is as "the new york times" recently profiled, the type of young man typically alienated, isolated, not receiving any sort of support or psychiatric care, certainty not compliant with their doctor's orders with taking their medication that allows them to manage their mental illness challenges, we know that this profile is one that salvador ramos fit, the shooter in uvalde. he was a deeply troubled young man. he was isolated, he was bullied at school. he cut himself because he said he liked the way it made him look. it made him look tough.

he had a history of fighting, of assaulting fellow students, of threatening sexual assault of young women, and torturing and killing animals. it's a familiar profile. this man -- this young man, i think, was crying out for help, but he got no help. notwithstanding the best efforts of people around him. this young man, he shot his own grandmother before he went to robb elementary school because she wanted him to go back to the classroom after being out of the classroom for two years because of covid mitigation practices. so our goal with this legislation is to try to help people in crisis get treatment before they reach a point like

salvador ramos. now, i want to be clear. not everybody who's suffering a mental health crisis is a threat to themselves and others. as a matter of fact, the opposite is true. many people suffer in silence with their parents, their families, their siblings trying to help them to no avail, but there is a small subset of people like salvador ramos who are a danger to themselves and others if they don't get the kind of help they need. so the provision of the bill which represents the single largest investment in community-based mental health treatment in american history is drawn from bipartisan legislation introduced by senator stabenow and senator blunt. i think there are eight demonstration projects around the country. we want to make this kind of access to community-based mental health health care all across

the country, and our bill will help do that. it expands high-quality mental health and addiction services nationwide through the expansion of certified behavioral health clinics. many of these providers already operate in communities across the country, but our legislation expands the networks of clinics to deliver even stronger and more fulsome support to our communities. we also include provisions to expand support of care in our schools because it is at school that many of our young people will be identified as needing support. teachers actually spend more time than parents typically with our school-aged children and support of -- supportive services that will be part of this bill will help identify students need that help so

intervention can become as early as possible. mr. president, as the presiding officer probably knows, 60% of gun deaths in america are suicides -- suicides, we not only want to do our best to stop the salvador ramoss in the future of hurting other people, but we want to help them and keep them from hurting themselves as well. so i believe this huge investment in america's mental health delivery system is an investment in safer and healthier communities. another pillar of the legislation is school safety. the uvalde shooter was able to enter robb elementary school through a door that was not locked when it should have been. that's an obvious vulnerability. schools needs to be prepared for the worst case scenario, which means evaluating emergency security measures, reviewing

current protocol, adopting best practices which are broadly available through publications and studies by the secret service and other law enforcement agencies, and they also need to be able to add or expand the number of school resource officers as appropriate. i've said it before and i'll say it again, no parent should have to send their child to go fearful for their child's safety. and no child should have to go to school and be afraid for their safety. all of our students and teachers and the administrators and others in our schools deserve to feel safe and parents deserve peace of mind, and that's what i hope these additional resources will provide. now, the final range -- portion of this bill, beyond mental health and school safety involves a range of provisions to prevent these sort of violent

attacks from occurring in tt future. -- in the future. again, i believe that law-abiding citizens are not the problem. i don't believe law-abiding citizens are a threat to public health, and this bill honors that commitment. so unless a person is convicted of a crime or is a jude -- adjudicated mentally ill, their ability to purchase a firearm will not be impacted by this legislation. some have suggested provisions that i believe would infringe on second-amendment rights and really not get to the root of the problem. for example, there's no particular ban on a type of gun or no mandatory waiting periods, no background checks of intrafamily or friend-to-friend transfer. none of these are included in the legislation, and some of our colleagues clearly would like to see that. but, again, that's because

law-abiding gun owners are not the problem. what we're trying do is prevent dangerous individuals from unleashing violence on their communities. and one way of achieving that goal is through more robust crisis intervention programs. now, that's a broad term that describes a range of initiatives that aim to reduce violence, protect the public and connect individuals in crisis with the help they need. it could include something called assisted outpatient treatment, which allows courts to order people with mental health challenges to receive outpatient treatment to ensure they receive the care they need and the court will hold them accountable to make sure they make their doctors appointments and take the medications they need in order to remain productive. but beyond a.o.t.'s, or assisted outpatient treatment, there are health courts, like i saw in

dallas, texas, not that long ago. one thing that will have compliance is a judge in a black robe saying, you will do this, and if that's what it takes, that's what it will mean but there are also courts which treat the root cause and not the symptom. there are thousands of mental treatment and other programs that have delivered incredible results. i've been clear at the outset that i'm for providing law enforcement grants to put forward a range of crisis intervention programs that that state deems best to help reduce suicide and violence of now some of our -- violence. now, some of our colleagues wanted to focus this money on the 19 states that passed some form of red flag law. that is a choice up to the

state. but we are not introducing a national red flag law, but we are providing the availability of law enforcement related grants to crisis intervention programs whether you adopted a red flag program or not. perhaps you have chosen something different. well, this grant program will give every state funding that implements programs that they themselves have adopted to stop individuals in crisis from reaching the point of violence or self-harm. if any state wants to pass a law, obviously under our constitution, they are -- they have authority to authority to pass whatever crisis intervention laws they choose to do so. but one of the things that we've agreed upon is they have to have robust due process protections because we're talking about a constitutional right. so if the new law does not include due process protections, it will not be eligible for

these grants no matter what form that crisis intervention program takes. our bill also provides increased protection for domestic violence victims. it shouldn't matter whether a person is married to their abuser if the abuser is convicted of domestic violence and many people have what i will call nontraditional relationships, whether they're living together, whether they have a child together, or whether they have a long-term romantic or intimate relationship. 86% of gun-owning households support that kind of protection for domestic violence victims where too often a gun is involved. again, this doesn't limit law-abiding gun owners rights until someone is convicted of domestic abuse under state laws, their gun laws will not be impacted. again, this portion of the bill

includes critical due process protections, which, as we all know, is part of our constitution. you shall not be deprived of your rights without due process of law. one new feature that we've proposed is that those who are convicted of nonspousal misdemeanor domestic abuse, not a felony, but misdemeanor abuse will have five years to have their rights restored. they have to have a clean record and this is an incentive for people who have made a mistake and committed domestic violence and committed a misdemeanor conviction to straighten up their act and to not repeat it. our bill strengthens the national international background check system, known as nics. in uvalde, this young man,

salvador ramos, passed a background check, it was like he was born yesterday because there was no way for the criminal background checks to look back on any mental health adjudications or criminal convictionings which would have barred -- convictions which would have barred him from purchasing a firearm. if a 17-year-old is convicted of a violent crime, that information should show up in the background background checkn he turns 18. 87 % of households support making jiewf nil -- the background check system will make this possible. the states will control what information they're willing to share, but our legislation provides an incentive for states to upload the records that reflect on the suitability of

the individual to purchase a firearm, allow them to upload juvenile records into the national instant criminal background checks system to make sure-fire arms are not falling into the hands of those under 21 which would be prohibited from purchasing that gun if they were an adult when it happened. so, mr. president, i know this bill is not going to please everyone. some think it goes too far. others think it doesn't go far enough. and i get it. but the nature of compromise and the nature of actually wanting to get a result requires that everybody try to find common ground where we can. and that's particularly hard in a 50-50 united states senate. but i believe the people -- same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe.

i'm confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction. i want to thank all of our colleagues who have worked is he -- worked so hard in this process that has gotten us this far. my understanding is the text will be released essentially at any moment, although the principles upon which that text is written have been public for quite a while now. this legislation is the product of good faith, bipartisan negotiation. it includes bills and ideas offered by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. and it makes changes that are supported by vast majorities of americans. and i think most importantly, it has the real potential to become law and create real changes in communities across this country. safer, healthier communities, stronger, more secure schools, saving lives, that's what we're all about. so i'm eager to discuss more

details with our colleagues as they review the text in the coming days, and i hope we can continue to show the same sort of good faith and the openness to other ideas that have brought us to this point. as we debate and we vote on this bipartisan legislation. mr. president, i yield the floor. and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presence of american action form and the director of the congressional budget office is served in 2005. thanks for giving us your time to remind people about the form and approach it takes in the positioning it takes when it comes to economic issues as a

center-right think tank. >> we are interested in market-oriented when possible. any social issues or international affairs. >> host: when you hear statements from others about the possibility of a recession later this year, mild recession as it's described what do you think or what goes through your mind as you hear those terms in the reality there? >> guest: a recession is a bit overblown. i don't think it's imminent or is threatening as the rhetoric suggests. the reality is that the number one problem is inflation and once you are in this situation you have no real good choices. the federal reserve will either deal with inflation and we have heard all about that or they will take steps to combat it and that means lowering the demand for housing which if you don't

put sugars in houses and -- every month we will hear reports that there aren't as many retail sales and housing sales and that feels bad. the necessary steps to slow inflation and recession is imminent. what do we saw gerald powell take a step toward that as far as other steps the four lovers the federal reserve controls what can we expect. >> guest: the fed doesn't have great fine-tuning instruments but they will change the interest charge on overnight loans. it's the shortest one in the economy and when that interest rate goes up today alone goes up pongo and they will push up rates across-the-board in all activities so auto loans and everything. it's a blunt instrument and how

it did i want to and 15% pretty quickly is slowing if it's not they'll it's not not building work is good as far as the timeline for inflation was think about these things turn several years thing or what the timeline? >> at four sure. when chairman powell wrote up their strategy in his speech he said he expected they could get to there to on target in three years. that's a player statement to continue this for a couple of years to keep you for three years that place and expect nations are getting early april in an age that people will and you double-digit and do not wait that increases in product that

it's to be. hard a beara suspend -- a senator: i ask we suspend the roll call. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from california is recognized. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, today i'm proud to celebrate two district judges joining the federal bench for the states of california. we're scheduled to vote shortly on the confirmation of judge ana de alba who is nominated to become a judge for the eastern district of california. judge alba brings a lifelong commitment to advancing justice in california's central valley. the daughter of immigrants from mexico, she was born in merced, california and grew up in a family of farm workers. judge alba watched her mother and her grandmother struggle with unfair treatment as they worked together in some of the hardest jobs in the world.

she decided at a young age that one day, one day she would become a lawyer to help families like her own. judge alba is a first generation high school graduate. she went on to earn her bachelor's degree and her j.d. from u.c. berkley. and after graduating, she built a successful career in private practice in the central valley. and she realized her childhood dream of service by establishing a workers rights clinic for low-wage workers to learn their rights and to seek legal advice. in 2018 based on her extensive legal experience and proven commitment to the public good, judge de alba was appointed by then-governor brown to serve at the -- as the superior court judge for fresno county. judge de alba is a dedicated,

fair, and universally respected public servant, respected by her colleagues. i also want to note that if confirmed, judge de alba will be the first latina to sit on the eastern district bench. she will bring a deep knowledge of the central valley and a passion for equal justice, informed and inspired by her own family's story. so i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting judge de alba's confirmation today. i also like to take this moment to celebrate the confirmation last month of judge robert huie now serving on the southern district of california. judge huie is a resident of san diego where he was lived and worked for nearly 20 years. but his roots in california in fact began generations ago. his grandfather immigrated to san francisco from china in the 1930's making his home there

until joining the u.s. army. judge huie is a talented lawyer who has continually -- opportunities to promote justice. he earned his under graduate degree from calvin college and his j.d. from yale law school. his career includes 12 years of service as an assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of california. during that time he investigated and prosecuted more than 600 district court cases and two dozen appeals on matters raping from public corruption to securities fraud to bank robberies. and at the outset of the covid-19 pandemic, judge huie took the initiative to great a district wide working group that combated pandemic-related fraud. his commitment to service, his strong work ethic, and his

insightful legal thinking will benefit the community of the southern district. mr. president, as a member of the senate judiciary committee, i'm proud of the work that we continue to do to confirm outstanding, effective, and diverse judges across the federal court system. that's especially important in places like the sovereign district and eastern -- southern district and eastern district of california, two of the bussest federal judicial districts in the entire country k as we confirm more nominees like judge de alba and judge huie, we are building a federal court system that can better deliver on the promise of equal justice for all. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: i ask that the order with respect to judge de

alba's nomination be executed at 5:30 p.m. if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection.

collectively all they have really done is add new social welfare programs to an economy that can't be for the ones it has been up or they see them spend the time fixing social security long-term than taking out medicare and medicaid. >> from henry in michigan on the line for democrats. helloan henry. >> caller: hello. shootings in uvalde and buffalo, i saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that i spoke to that i've never seen before. this country has lived through mass shooting after mass shooting, rising rates of homicide. but there was something different in the eyes of these families, as they once again had

to contemplate the idea that our schools are no longer safe places, that our supermarkets are no longer safe spaces. but they also were contemplating the idea that congress was so caught up in its own politics, so addicted to backing into our own corners that we wouldn't be able to do anything meaningful about the thing that matters most to parents and to families in this country -- the physical safety of their children. think about it. what matters more to you than the physical well-being of your children? you would give away everything, your car, your home, the roof over that you are head in order to guarantee that your children were safe from physical harm. so the anxiety and fear that i saw in connecticut, that i think many of my colleagues saw when they returned to their states, was not just for the safety of

the their children but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something. and do something meaningful. i believe that this week we will pass legislation that will become the most significant piece of antigun violence legislation congress will have passed in 30 years. this is a breakthrough. and, more importantly, it is a bipartisan breakthrough. and i'm glad to join my friend, senator cornyn, on the floor today to talk a little bit about the piece of legislation that our colleagues will be able to look at, hopefully in a matter of moments, and that this body will be able to consider this week. i want to thank senator cornyn, senator tillis, and senator sinema in particular. this was a hard road to get to this compromise, but nothing worthwhile is easy. and nobody in a compromise gets

everything they want. this bill will be too little for many. it'll be too much for others. but it isn't a box-checking exercise. this bill is not window dressing. this bill is going to save lives. this bill is going to save thousands of lives. it's going to be something that every single member of the senate who votes for it can be proud of. i want to tell you a little bit about it and some of this has already been covered by my friend, senator cornyn. first, let me talk about the provisions in this bill that change our nation's firearms laws. first we are going to invest in the development of crisis intervention orders. we are going to give money out to states that they will be able to use to implement what are commonly called red flag laws. these are laws that allow local authorities and courts to take

weapons, firearms temporarily away from individuals who are threatening to hurt themselves or others. we just saw connecticut's red flag law be used just in the last month or so to take weapons away from a young man who was making threats to shoot up schools, potentially saving dozens of lives. under this bill, every state will be able to use significant new federal dollars to be able to expand their programs that try to stop dangerous people, people contemplating mass murder or suicide, from being able to have access to the weapons that allow this emto perpetrate that -- that allow them to perpetrate that crime. as senator cornyn said, we will also make those dollars eligible for a narrow range of other court-based antiviolence interventions, something that was very important to our republican colleagues. second, this bill is going to make sure that no domestic

abuser can purchase or own a gun. we are closing the boyfriend loophole. what we know is is that in states that have taken this step already, there are 10% fewer intimate partner deaths. this is an incredibly important step forward. we know this provision alone is going to save the lives of so many women who unfortunately die at the hands of a boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend who hunts them down with a firearm. to be consistent with state felony restoration rights, this legislation will allow individuals to be able to get their rights back after a period of time, but only for first-time offenders and only if there are no crimes of violence in the intervening time. this bill will provide for enhanced background checks for younger buyers. what we know is the profile of the modern mass shooter is often

in the 18 to 21-year-old range. so this bill has enhanced background checks for those i hads have, including a call to the -- for those individuals, including a call to the local police department, a process that can take up to three days, up to ten days if there are particular signs of concern that investigators need to perform follow-up on. that enhanced background check is going to make sure that younger buyers who are in crisis have another check performed, perhaps a short period of time in between their decision to buy a lethal weapon to perform a crime and their ability to get that weapon. this bill has new criminal statutes banning gun trafficking and straw transportation. this is in-- and straw purchasing. this is incredibly important. for decades, for some reason,

congress has not given our federal authorities the ability to interrupt these gun-running rings because we have no effective ban at the federal level on trafficking and straw purchasing. we will after we pass that law. we clarify who needs to ledgester as a federally licensed -- who needs to register sasse a federally licensed gun dealer. one person who sold a weapon to in odesa, texas, should have been licensed. he sold the gun to a person who was prohibited from buying the gun because of his menial health history. we will clarify in this law that individuals like that need to register as federal firearms dealers and they need to perform background checks. as senator cornyn said, this bill makes an historic investment in mental health, an historic investment in mental health. thanks to debbie stabenow and roy blunt, we are going to be able to expand out the certified community health center model

nationally. that literally means millions of people in this country in underserved areas with no access to mental health are going to be ail to get it. we have significant new funding for school-based health centers to make sure that kids are better served, especially those kids who are in crisis. we have help in this bill for pediatricians who are trying to do telehealth consults with behavioral health professionals, are trying to get more training on mental health so they can help their patients. and finally we make investments in school and community safety, funds to help schools make their campuses safer places but also funds for community-based programs that are doing good work in cities from boston to hartford to dallas, interrupting cycles of violence in our communities. for 30 years, mr. president, murder after murder, suicide

after suicide, mass shooting after mass shooting, congress did nothing. this week we have a chance to break this 30-year period of silence with a bill that changes our laws in a way that will save thousands of lives. it is a compromise. it is a bipartisan compromise. it is a path forward to the way that both republicans and democrats can work together to address some of the most vexing, most difficult challenges this nation faces. we have a chance to show parents and kids and families that we take their safety seriously and that we are prepared to do not just something but something that saves lives in order to protect them. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the de alba nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. ana isabel de alba of california to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 53, the nays are 45, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is

considered made, laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action.

mr. portman: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i come to the floor again today to update people on what's happening in ukraine as russia continues its illegal, unprovoked and brutal assault on that country. and talk more about what we can do here in the congress and as americans to help the people of ukraine during this desperate hour. this will be the 16th consecutive week that i've come to the floor to discuss the invasion while the senate's been in session.

we're on the 118th day of this war in ukraine. in response the bravery and effectiveness of the ukrainian defenders is unbelievable and impressive, but not surprising because they're fighting to defend their homeland, their families and their freedom. they have shown again and again the power that comes with that. just four days ago is another example of ukrainian tenacity and success against a bigger and better armed russian army. last friday ukrainian military officials announced they struck and sunk a russian vessel using harpoon missiles from the u.s. the russians had used the snake island as a blockade. this is the first time that ukraine struck a vessel with a

western-supplied armament. it is an example of what we can do, the u.s. and 42 allies helping to give them the tools they need. the ukrainians have sunk so many that ukraine is creating a brigade at the bottom of the black sea. russia has taken the up irhand in the critical area east of ukraine call the donbas. this is the eastern area of ukraine where russia has focused its forces. previously, you will recall they took crimea in 2018 and part of the donbas areas, now they are trying to take the entire region and more. although the ukrainians are

fighting valiantly in this area of the donbas, they are outgunned by the russians who have longer range and very accurate russian missiles. the stakes are high right now. the fate of a sovereign country to remain free hangs in the balance. but not only that. if vladimir putin is successful here in the donbas, taking more than he already controls, i think to would be naive to believe he will stop there. based on his own worlds, he won't stop there, the baltics could be next. he has a puppet dictatorship here in belarus, these countries, the baltic, poland, they are concerned and rightly so. we cannot allow him to achieve these goals. last wednesday, the senate ukraine caucus hosted six members of the ukrainian parliament, leaders in the parliament who came to talk to

us along with the ukrainian ambassador to the united states. they offered a blunt view of the current war which we've now heard many times over the past several weeks. ukrainian soldiers are fighting hard to defend their homeland but russia is incrementally advancing killing 100 to 500 ukrainian soldiers every day, as well as dozens of civilians and destroying cities in the donbas area with a steady barrage of missiles. russia is sitting back and firing these guided missiles with impunity because the shorter-range ukrainian missiles can't reach them. the delegation of ukraine's leader, told us that they are delaying negotiations until russia has secured control over the whole area of the donbas, then they will continue to engage in negotiations while they recover their combat power and prepare for yet another

offensive. russia must not be allowed to continue to gain ground in the donbas. we've got to get the ukrainians what they need to protect themselves, the weapons and equipment they need to be able to succeed so they can have a negotiation with the russians, but on their terms, not the russians. there's a solution to the ukrainians being outgunned. over the past cell weeks, ukrainian officials requested advanced weapon rocket artillery systems. the u.s. operates the high mobility artillery rocket system. we have hundreds of these in our inventory, many of which are not with active units. they are superior to russian artillery in almost every respect, mobility, reload time, accuracy and most importantly range. during ukraine's hour of need, it has taken us too long to respond and we are providing too few units to make a serious impact. three weeks ago the administration did announce that

they would send himass to ukraine -- himars to ukraine, but just four units. with the time it's takes to train the ukrainians on this platform, they will not be ready until this week. we announced a few weeks ago, but every day brave ukrainians have been dying and donbas cities have been destroyed and the countryside is destroyed step step by step. we must do more. "the wall street journal" responded to this when they said how many rocket systems to our friends need? well, a military adviser said if we get 60 systems, the russians lose all ability to advance anywhere. they'll be stopped dead in their tracks. if we get 40, they'll be able to advance, albeit slowly. with 20 they'll continue to advance with high other

casualties than now. end quote. we're providing four. when i met, they told me they would need at least 48 advanced rocket artillery systems to have a meaningful impact. again, so far we've only provided four. my hope is based on conversation also i've had with the administration, that more are coming. but any new units won't reach the battlefield with trained crews for roughly three weeks. defense officials know that we need to move more quickly and i hope we will. i'm pleased to report that the brits, the u.k., and also the germans have offered their own rocket systems similar to ours. in fact, the british system is bigger than ours but only three apiece. to address this, today i sent a letter with my colleagues senators durbin, blumenthal and grassley to secretary of defense austin urging the administration to rapidly send significant amounts of these advanced rocket artillery systems to ukraine working with our allies. in our inventory, we have

hundreds of these himars. getting the systems to ukraine could be a game changer. we need to send them more quickly so they have a fighting chance in this war. with these systems in their arsenal, i believe the ukrainians could turn the tables on the russians just like they have done in so many places. remember in kiev the success there. in kharkiv they're having success, pushing back the russians there. even here in the eastern part toward kherson, they're having success. but they need help here with regard to these artillery systems. it's an artillery battle. "the wall street journal" editorial board went on to say and i quote, stakes are high. putin will have grabbed more land than he can sell at home. he can regroup and push southeast toward odessa down here. robbing the ukrainians of their coastline and building a bridge in mall dove va, up here. europe will be less secure and mr. biden will bear some responsibility.

end quote. the editorial continued with the threat to other nations saying, skeptics of u.s.a. to ukraine like to say we can't support the country forever but that's all the more reason to get kiev the right weapons sooner and enough numbers so ukraine can stop and roll back russian advances. that's the only way to get mr. putin to the negotiating table with any hope of after cease-fire on ukrainian terms favorable to nato. end quote. i think they're right. we just provided $40 billion to ukraine. very generous from the u.s. taxpayers. roughly $20 billion of that goes toward military. i'm not suggesting we spend more than that. i'm subjecting we use the $21 billion in a more effective way to give them what they actually need to be able to push back against the russians given this current threat. russia won't stop at the donbas. they will conquer the ukraine's black seacoastline as said in this editorial. this, by the way, would landlock ukraine, one of the great

exporters of the world. it's an attempt to ruin the country economically. one thing that's become crystal clear over the past decade, russia only responds to strength. when president putin senses weakness, that's exactly when his aggression increased. he invaded ukraine four months ago because he believed that ukraine and the west would not respond forcefully. he believed he could divide nato. boast of these assumptions proved to be wrong and russia was initially pushed back. but note, they kept coming believing that freedom-loving democracies around the world will become war weary, that our attention span is too short. he believes he can outlast us. i am kerned that some -- am concerned that some are losing interest. look at the news coverage. ukraine is often no longer in the headlines, not in the nightly news even though the destruction continues. the bombing of civilian targets continues. the war crimes continue. i'm concerned that summer

forgetting the global stakes involved in this war and how important it is to ensure that ukraine wins and russia loses. if russia senses that the west is weak and distracted and losing interest in ukraine, it will continue this war and bring it ever closer to our nato allies. that's exactly why we need to provide ukrainians what they need to fight back right now, especially these himars systems. we must accelerate our deliveries if we're serious about supporting ukraine. fortunately other nations continue to offer support. during last week's meeting of the ukraine defense contact group in belgium, secretary of defense austin urged nations, quote, not to lose steam in their efforts to aid ukraine during russia's invasion. good for him. he reported to germany will offer three long-range artillery rocket systems with ammunition to follow the u.k.'s example and slovakia is promising hill copt erps and ammunition. poland, canada, netherlands have promised more artillery. 42 nations have stepped forward,

not just us. several of these leaders also committed to ukrainian officials that the west would not demand any territorial concessions from ukraine to apiece russia and will support -- appease russia and will support ukraine to the end of this war. that's very welcome news making concessions to russia would only embolden putin. the lesson they would learn is that with enough patience we can wear down the west and get what we want. we saw how the territorial concessions worked in the late 1930's. it only increased nazi germany's appetite. nazi germany was not led to think that if they took over one country, that they couldn't take over the next. the u.s. needs to join our allies and continue to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to ukraine's territorial integrity. while we continue our mission, americans of all stripes have gone to ukraine to help, some as

volunteers, some have gone actually to help fight alongside ukraine forces to defend that democratic country. according to reports, two americans have been taken prisoner by russian-backed forces and a third american is missing. we need to get our people out. just yesterday the kremlin's chief spokesman told nbc that the two americans are not protected by the geneva convention. he stated they should, quote, be held responsible for the crimes they have committed. end quote. by the way, the only crime they committed was fighting back against the russians and helping ukraine, an ally and democracy defend its sovereign territory. the russians seem to be so accustomed to killing unarmed ukrainian civilians that they're shocked when anyone on the other side dares to shoot back. let me be clear. these americans are prisoner of war subject to the protections of the geneva convention and any unlawful prosecution could be an

unacceptable acceleration, escalation by russia. i expect the administration to draw up a plan to address this situation and get them out of kremlin activity. that's on the military side. on sanctions when it comes to funding for russia's war machine, last week the treasury department announced it will allow certain energy-related transactions with cyber banks, alpha bank and several other russian entities to continue until december 5. the u.s. has already banned imports of russian oil and gas and imposed sanctions but now the administration seems to want to extend bank transactions on russian oil and gas sent to european countries. that doesn't make sense to me. there have been bipartisan calls here in this congress to put a halt to sending president putin the money to fund his war machine. remember, the e.u. is using russian oil and gas dependent on it in many cases and sending roughly $870 million a day to

russia to fund that war machine. why would we want to extend these licenses to early december? i asked the department of treasury about this and was told that it was to align with the effort u. sanctions -- with the e.u. sanctions. i fear we're letting e.u. lead and we follow with softer sanctions we must have in order to get russia to feel as though there's impact here, that what they're doing in ukraine is hurting their economy. america needs to lead from the front on sanctions, not lead from behind. when we do lead, by the way, others follow. this is true with a revived nato right now. it's -- its 30 countries strong and members are more committed than ever to pushing back against this russian invasion. in fact, in the wake of russia's invasion of ukraine, sweden and finland have shrugged off long history of neutrality to apply to join nato. i applaud them for this and look forward to voting in favor on

the u.s. senate floor very soon. tomorrow the senate foreign relations committee is going to hold a hearing on their interest in joining the alliance. i urge my senate colleagues to support this and instead of causing global division as he meant to do, show president putin he has brought nato together and added to the strength of nato. i urge swift consideration of nato expansion. let's bring the swedes and the fins into the fold. we can't forget russias that claimed this war started because ukraine wanted to join the nato alliance. it's certainly true that as they reaffirmed in 2014 when they threw off a russian-backed corrupt government, the people of ukraine have been looking westward, not eastward. of course they want to join nato and they want to join the european union and form ever closer bonds with the transatlantic community and they have made significant progress in doing this. this brutal invasion is just russia's latest attempt to throw

that progress off course, to stop them from what is their inevitable move to the west. we must not be deterred. ukraine deserves nato membership, as i said before, and immediately the nato membership action plan to provide a clear path to eventual membership. at the nato summit in madrid last week, much of the attention will rightfully westbound focused on sweden and finland but i urge the leaders gathered there to remember ukraine and georgia in a similar situation as well. just last friday there was some big news. the european commission recommended that ukraine be granted candidate status to join the european union. that's not nato. but it's the european union, the political union. the recommendation by the european commission, the e.u.'s executive body, is on significant step forward toward e.u. membership. the commission also recommended e.u. candidate status for moldova, a country with its own troubled hiss we -- history with

russia. here we see moldova between romania and ukraine, transnistria is right along here controlled by the russians, a small part of moldova. i visited moldova last month, meant with -- met with their government and prime minister. we have a very strong partner in moldova. they, too, are looking to the west, the people of moldova want their freedom and freedom from russian intimidation. when the leaders of the e.u. meet next month in brussels, i hope they will strongly support both ukraine and moldova's candidacies for the european union. soon the senate is going to adjourn for a couple of weeks. during that time ukraine will be continuing to defend its territorial integrity. i've now come to the floor as i said every week to highlight this fight. every week since this illegal, unprovoked and brutal invasion began. the ukrainian people just want to live in peace, including with

their neighbor russia. this is our fight during our generation where democracy is on the line. how this war develops will have far-reaching impacts on all of us. all freedom-loving countries, including the united states of america. most of us in this chamber, republicans and democrats alike, get that. we know that america can't afford to stay on the sidelines and be a spectator in this conflict. at this crucial time in the battle for freedom, democracy, and the ability for countries to decide their own future, america cannot afford to be tentative. that's how we need to supply them, with these mobile rocket launchers, the himars system, to have the range and the ability to protect themselves. let's not be tentative. we must remember the lesson of the late 1930's, that appeasing tyrants will not satiate their desire to violently conquer and subjugate their neighbors. ukrainians certainly understand this.

they know what it's like to live under the thumb of authoritarians, the soviets, the russians, and they broke away from that and toward democracy, first in 1991 and again in 2014. i was in ukraine after the revolution of dignity which is what they call it in 2014 where ukrainians decided for themselves that they wanted to turn away from russian domination and corruption and turn to us, europe, and the united states to pursue a more hopeful future of freedom and democracy. now president putin is trying to extinguish that hope. we cannot let that happen. the countries of the free world are with us. but more so when we lead. now is not the time to equivocate. at this critical juncture, let's work with allies to provide our democratic brothers and sisters in ukraine what they actually need to protect their homeland and to defend democracy. i yield back my time.

>> we know this profile is one that salvador ramos fit, the shooter in uvalde. he was a deeply troubled young man. he was isolated. he was bullied at school. he cut himself because he said he liked the way it made him look, made him look tough. he had a history of fighting, of assaulting fellow students. of threatening sexual assault of young women, and torturing and killing animals.

it's a familiar profile. this young man i think was crying out for help. but he got no help. not withstanding the best efforts of people around him. this young man was -- he shot his own grandmother before he went to robb elementary school because she wanted him to go back to the classroom after being out of the classroom for two years because of covid mitigation practices. our goal for this legislation is try to help people in crisis get treatment before they reach a point like sal ra dora mose. -- salvador ramos.

the provision of the bill which represents the single largest investment in community-based mental health treatment in american history is drawn from bipartisan legislation, introduced by senator stabenow and blunt. i think there are eight demonstration projects across the country. we want to make this kind of access to community-based mental healthcare available all across the country, and our bill will help do that. it expands high quality mental health and addiction services nationwide through the expansion of certified community behavioral health clinics.

the uvalde shooter was able to enter robb elementary school through a door that was not locked when it should have been. that's an obvious vulnerability. schools need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which means evaluating physical security measures, reviewing current protocol, adopting best practices, which are broadly available through publications and studies by the secret service and other law enforcement agencies. and they also need to be able to add or expand the number of school resource officers, as

appropriate. i've said it before, and i will say it again. no parent should have to send their child to school fearful for their child's safety. no child should have to go to school and be afraid for their safety. all of our students and teachers and the administrators and others in our schools deserve to feel safe, and parents deserve peace of mind, and that's what i hope these additional resources will provide. now, the final range portion of this bill, beyond mental health and school safety involves a range of provisions to prevent these sort of violent attacks from occurring in the future. again, i believe that law-abiding citizens are not the problem. i don't believe law-abiding citizens are a threat to public health. and this bill honors that commitment. so unless a person is convicted

of a crime or is adjudicated mentally ill, their ability to purchase a firearm will not be impacted by this legislation. now some have suggested provisions that i believe would infringe on 2nd amendment rights and really not get to the root of the problem. for example, there's no particular ban on a type of gun or no mandatory waiting periods, no background checks of intra-family or friend to friend transfer. none of these are included the legislation. some of our colleagues clearly would like to see that. but again, that's because law-abiding gun owners are not the problem. what we're trying to do is prevent dangerous individuals from unleashing violence on their communities. one way of achieving that goal is through more robust crisis intervention programs. that's a broad term that

describes a range of initiatives that aim to reduce violence, protect the public and connect individuals in crisis with the help they need. it could include something called assisted outpatient treatment which allows courts to order people with mental health challenges to receive outpatient treatment to ensure they receive the care they need. the court will hold them accountable to make sure they make the doctor's appointments and take the medications they need in order to remain productive. but beyond aots or assisted outpatient treatment, there are very effective regimes like mental health courts, like i saw in dallas, texas, not that long ago. one of the things that encourages compliance is the fact that you have a judge, somebody wearing a black robe saying you will do this, and if that's what it takes, that's fine with me. but there are also drug courts, veterans courts, and the like, which aim to treat the root

cause of the -- not the symptom. across the country, there are hundreds of mental health and treatment courts and thousands of drug court programs that have delivered incredible results. i've been clear at the outset that i'm interested in providing law enforcement-related grants to all 50 states to put forward a range of crisis intervention programs that that state deems best to help reduce suicide and violence. now, some of our colleagues wanted to focus this money solely on the 19 states that have passed some form of red flag law. and frankly, that's the choice that's up to the state. but we are not introducing a national red flag law, but we are providing the availability of law enforcement-related grants to crisis intervention programs, whether you adopted a red flag program or not. perhaps you've chosen something

different. well, this grant program will give every state funding that implements programs that they themselves have adopted to stop individuals in crisis from reaching the point of violence or self-harm. any state wants to pass a law, obviously under our constitution, they are -- they have authority to pass whatever crisis intervention laws they choose to do so. but one of the things that we've agreed upon is they have to have robust due process protections because we're talking about a constitutional right. so if the new law does not include due process protections, it will not be eligible for these grants, no matter what form that crisis intervention program takes. our bill also provides increased protection for domestic violence victims. it shouldn't matter whether a person is married to their abuser, if the abuser is convicted of domestic violence,

and many people have what i would call non-traditional relationships, whether they're living together; they have a child together; or whether they have a long-term romantic or intimate relationship. 86% of gun-owning households support that sort of protection for domestic violence victims, where too often a gun is involved. again, this doesn't limit law-abiding gun owners' rights, unless somebody's convicted of domestic abuse under their state laws, their gun rights will not be impacted. again, this portion of the bill includes critical due process protections which as we all know is part of our constitution. you shall not be deprived of your rights throughout due process of law. one new feature that we proposed is that those who are convicted

of non-spousal misdemeanor domestic abuse, not felony, but misdemeanor domestic violence will have an opportunity after five years to have their 2nd amendment rights restored, but they have to have a clean record, and this is an incentive in fact i think for people who have made a mistake and have committed domestic violence and received a misdemeanor conviction to straighten up their act and to not repeat it. our bill also strengthens the criminal background checks to ensure it's more accurate. in uvalde, this young man, salvador ramos turned 18, when he passed a background check, it was like he was born yesterday because there was no way for the criminal background check system to look back on any mental health adjudications or criminal convictions which would have barred him from purchasing a

firearm had it occurred as an adult. if a 17-year-old is convicted of a violent crime or adjudicated as mentally incompetent, that information should show up in the background check system, if he tries to purchase a firearm when he turns 18. 87% of gun-owning households in america support making juvenile records available in the background check system in this legislation, and this legislation will make that possible. the state wills control what information they're willing to share, but our legislation provides an incentive for states to upload the records that reflect on the suitability of an individual to purchase a firearm, allow them to upload juvenile records into the nationalistic criminal background check system to ensure that firearms are not falling into the hands of those under 21 who would be prohibited from purchasing that gun, if they were an adult when it

happened. so mr. president, i know this bill is not going to please everyone. some think it goes too far. others think it doesn't go far enough. i get it. but the nature of compromise and the nature of actually wanting to get a result requires that everybody try to find common ground where we can, and that's particularly hard in a 50/50 united states senate. but i believe the people -- the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe. i'm confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction. i want to thank all of our colleagues who have worked so hard in this process that's gotten us this far. my understanding is the text will be released essentially at any moment.

although the principles upon which that text is written have been public for quite a while now. this legislation is the product of good faith bipartisan negotiation. it includes bills and ideas offered by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. and it makes changes that are supported by vast majorities of americans. and i think most importantly, it has the real potential to become a law and to create real changes in communities across this country. safer, healthier communities, stronger, more secure schools, saving lives, that's what we're all about. so i'm eager to discuss more details with our colleagues as they review the text in the coming days, and i hope we can continue to show the same sort of good faith and the openness to other ideas that have brought us to this point as we debate and we vote on this bipartisan

legislation.

>> thanks for giving us your time. >> my pleasure. >> remind people about the forum and the approach it takes -- or at least the positioning it takes when it comes to economic issues. >> it is a center right think tank, and we are interested in market-oriented solutions where possible. we do the entire waterfront of domestic and economic policy issues. we don't do any social issues or international affairs. >> when you hear then with that in mind statements from others about the possibility of a recession later this year, a mild recession, as it's described, what do you think or at least what goes through your mind if you hear those terms and the reality there? >> i think those recession talks become a bit overblown. i don't think it as imminent or as threatening as the rhetoric right now would suggest. the reality is that the number one problem is inflation, and once you're in this situation where inflation becomes somewhat drained, you have no real good choices. the federal reserve will either have to let people live with inflation. that's quote unpleasant.

we have heard all about that. or they will take steps to combat it, and that means raising interest rates which in turn will lower the demand for housing which means you don't put refrigerators in house, and you don't put pour furnaces -- put furnaces in houses, and slow down the economy. every month you will hear not as much retail sales or housing sales. that feels bad, but it is a necessary step to slow the inflation. that doesn't mean a recession is imminent. it means the economy is slowing. >> we saw the jerome powell took a step towards that last week as you referenced. as far as other steps or levers that the federal reserve can throw, what can we expect? >> you can expect more increases in the so-called federal funds rate, and so if you think about it, the fed doesn't have great fine-tuning instruments. they are going to change the interest charge on overnight loans between banks. that's probably the shortest loan in the economy. when that interest rate goes up, two day loans go up, ten year loans go up, they are going to push up rates across the board

and in all activities, auto loans, mortgages, everything. it is a blunt instrument. they are pushing something up and watching how it hits the economy. that's the game plan. they've signalled that they want to move aggressively to get what they call neutral, so get the interest rates up to 2 1/2% pretty quickly and take a gauge on whether inflation is in fact slowing. if not, they will do more. >> as far as the time line for inflation, what's the best way to think about these things? is it a long-term thing, several year thing, potential timeline? >> it is a several year thing for sure. when chairman powell rolled out their strategy in his speech, he said that he expected they could get to their 2% target in three years. so that's a fairly clear commitment by the fed chair to continue this for a couple of years. the key to keeping it to three years is that inflation expectations are not getting [inaudible]. i grew up in the very high inflation, late 70s, early 80s, in that day and age, people

expected inflation to be double digits. they negotiated double digit wages in advance. people priced double digits in their products. if people start doing that, it is hard to slow down the inflation. it's hard to imagine now, but in that era, the fed pushed interest rates above 19% to slow the economy. >> you've probably heard as well as others saying that if you look at inflation, it's only the result of the policies of this president. how accurate is that? >> it is the result of the policies of this president and the federal reserve. i think if we look back to 2020, with the onset of the pandemic and the very rapid reaction by the federal reserve, cut interest rates to zero, started buying up 120 billion dollars worth of bonds every month. what that is doing is pumping 120 billion dollars into financial markets. that was a effective response and the financial markets performed pretty well. you look at the cares act in march of 2020, very timely, a big response because we had a

big problem. people forget quickly that the economy fell by 10 percentage points in one quarter, in the worst year of the great depression, it fell by 12%. that 1932. that was a terrible time. big response on a bipartisan basis, unanimous through the senate. i think those were all appropriate responses in 2020. did it march and again in december. i think the missteps came in 2021 where the fed kept its foot on the gas, all through the year, even though inflation was rising, and by late in the year, clearly a problem, and the additional 2 trillion dollars in march, the american rescue plan was just too much, too big, at the wrong time, and it really did fuel the inflation. >> explain that. expand on that. >> so here's a way to think about it. we have only had three instances in the u.s. where the consumer price index inflation has jumped by six percentage points in one year. one was in 1951 when the economy was growing at 10 1/2%. wrap your head around that

number, and the federal government expanding its spending to fight the korean war. evening, democrat and republican negotiators finally released after a lot of hard work a bipartisan gun safety bill. this bipartisan gun safety legislation is progress, and will save lives. while it's not everything we want, this legislation is urgently needed. as the author of the brady background checks bill which passed in 1994, i'm pleased that for the first time in nearly 30 years congress is back on the path to take meaningful action to address gun violence. i will now take the first steps to move this lifesaving legislation on the senate floor for a vote. with an initial procedural vote tonight and following that, we will move to final passage as soon as possible. i expect the bill to pass the senate by the week's end. i want to commend all of my

colleagues, so many who worked so hard on this bill, for their diligent and astute efforts to finalize this legislation. and i want to particularly single out senators mufer any, sinema, -- murphy, sinema, cornyn and tillis who led the charge to put this together. madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, it is my understanding the senate has received a message from the house of representatives to accompany s. 2938. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. schumer: i ask the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany s. 2938, and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

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