admitted into hospitals for malnutrition because of the a government created problem, we can't get to a solution here. i'm determined to find one and not to take no for an answer. to that end, i'd like to modify my last request, shorten it from 180 days, six-month suspension, to a -- down from 180 days to a 90-day suspension this is the exact time frame that mirrors the biden administration's proposed time window for gas tax alleviation. the president raised this, asked us to act on that immediately. look, i happen to think baby formula is a lot more important and urgent than gasoline. we can at least do this. i'm going to modify my request to move it down to just 90 days. we should be able to do that for 90 days. i'm certain we can. mr. president, as as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 372 s. 4261, further that the

lee substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, that the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? caste caste mr. president. mr. casey: mr. president, ib i objects. for the same narrow reason. the democratic side has not had the opportunity to review this. we will do that, on both this and the prior amendment, to see where we are. on that basis i object. i also add for the record on the debate overall, i think my friend is expressing a real concern that both sides have. it's not as if we just arrived here today to start talking about this issue. as i said, for months now the health, education, labor, and pensions committee, in a bipartisan way, and the committee on agriculture and nutrition, in a bipartisan way, has been working on these

issues. and so to suggest that somehow the debate just started today, and neither side is doing enough, i think is not accurate. both sides are concerned about this. both houses, both parties, very concerned about it. it's a real crisis. the f.d.a. should be held accountable. should, as i said earlier, be hit hard for this. but we can't compromise safety standards, and that's the reason for my objection. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i appreciate the thoughts expressed by my friend and distinguished colleague, the senator from pennsylvania. i share this concern, this desire to see this worked out and worked out in a bipartisan basis. i think it is important. it is true that people have been working on it. they've been working on it now for the better part of a month and a half.

and yet, nothing has happened. now, i understand rome wasn't built in a day. significant legislative reforms are not usually enacted very quickly. well, they are in some places, and we're experiencing some of that this week. that's a different issue altogether. but i understand that it takes time on many occasions to develop a legislative solution. this is not one of those issues. this is just not that complicated. so i appreciate the fact that people are considering it. i appreciate the fact that my friend and colleague, the senator from pennsylvania, is will to -- -- willing to try to clear this on the democratic side. i hope and expect one of the four alternatives i propose, in the spirit of comity and compromise, has got to get there. there are issues on which we're always going to struggle to find a solution. this one isn't hard. we can do this. we can fix this.

american babies are going hungry because of mismanagement within our country, and yeah, i share your belief that we've got to hold the f.d.a. accountable. but i feel like we're in the same position as the unarmed english bobby with the f.d.a. lately. the unarmed english bobby, who being unarmed upon seeing the commission of a crime, shouts in his charming british accent, stop or i will yell stop again. we need to do something to force this issue. because people are going hungry. babies are going hungry. and there are dire, long lasting consequences. i hope and expect that we will solve this before the end of the week. this issue is not going away, and neither am i. thank you, mr. president. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for us to take five minutes to address the pump for nursing mothers act. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. merkley: thank you, mr.

president. it's ten years ago we all got together to pass a bill to help women when they go back to work to be able to pump breast milk at work. we have 80% of women having babies today striving to breast feed. half of the women who have babies are going back to work within a very short period of time, and the only way they can breast feed is to pump milk at work. this is a beautiful, bipartisan vision. it was doctor coburn who educated us all about the tremendous benefits of breast milk for babies. but in that work we did ten years ago, we left out a significant group of women in america, those who work according to a manager's salary rather than according to wage. and so, now we have a bill that has come out of committee, by voice vote, to fix that. here we're talking about baby

formula. truly, what is better in terms of baby formula than mother's milk? let us stand with the babies. let us stand with the mothers. let us stand with the families and fix this so that every single mother in america who wishes to breast feed can do so. so, as if in legislative session i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar number 65, senate bill 1658. further, that the committee reported substitute be witt drawn, the merkley substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as as amended be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsidered be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. lummis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senators are asked to take their conversations off the floor. the senator from wyoming. ms. lummis: mr. president, reserving the right to object.

the pump act is no -- is noble in nature, but it's an economy-sized approach without flexibilities for some nonstationery workplaces. this legislation would require all modes of transportation that have employees, including railcars, be retrofitted with private, nonbathroom enclosures to allow for breast feeding. it would also require employees' reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk. to be clear, i recognize the need for breast feeding women to do just that. however, many women in this industry are quite literally keeping the trains running on time. entire supply chains could be disrupted because of an overly broad and burdensome regulation that is not crafted to fit this industry. i can't believe i'm the only one who sees the pitfalls in this.

regulations like this risk inadvertently doing more harm to working women than helping them. i understand what it's like to juggle the need to feed your child while also working to provide for them. my daughter is working while raising two little boys. mr. president, this whole thing just makes no sense. that's why i'm working on an amendment that would recognize the unique situation working moms in the transportation sector face. it's my hope we can work with the bill sponsors to solve this small issue. until that time, we don't need to exacerbate our supply chain crisis, by implementing regulations that do not actually protect or aid women in this industry. for that reason, mr. president, i object. the presiding officer: the

objection is heard. mr. merkley: mr. president, a huge thanks to my colleague from alaska, senator murkowski, who partnered with me in this effort. we worked through the flexibility needed in every setting, and i must say the railroads weren't the folks who came to us and said they needed help. in the past, we worked out every possible way to address fast food locations, all kinds of industries that said we need special arrangements, and we worked them out. we've worked them out in this version for the airlines. it really is beyond ar world of -- beyond a world of reasonable reasonableness to keep finding there's some excuse that we can't, with the innovation, inventiveness, ingenuity of americans we can't find the ability for a woman to express breast milk. we solved this problem in much more difficult situations.

i'm very disappointed that today, because of my colleague from wyoming's objection, the women, the mothers and the babies and the families lose. let's win next time. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to discharge. the yeas and nays have been previously ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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vote: the presiding officer: the yeas are 50, the nays are 47 and the motion is agreed to. and the nomination will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: pursuant to senate res. 27, the judiciary committee tied on the question of reporting, i move to discharge the judiciary committee from further consideration of jessica g.l. clark of new york to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york. the presiding officer: the

presiding officer, under the provisions of senate res. 27, there will now be up to four hours of debate on the motion, equally divided between the two leaders or their designees with no motions, points of order or amendments in order. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there is. there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i have 12 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate, with the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noticed note theed -- duly noted mr. whitehouse: thank you, mr. president. i rise now for the 284th time with my increasingly at that

time ird -- tattered and battered time to wake up poster to urge this chamber to wake up on the issue of climate change. human beings dumped 36.3 billioe gasses into the atmosphere last year, last year, after all our big talk, after all the plans and the cops and the commitments , 36.3 billion tons. that's the highest total ever recorded. we're not doing any better. we continue to do worse, and here in congress we continue to do nothing. we've seen this coming for many years, and even with all that warning nothing. noaa reports there's clushts more carbon -- currently more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now than at any time during the last four million years.

humankind has never experienced what we are putting ourselves through. here's a look at it. over centuries, wobbling, wobbling, back and forth, quite steadily, and now, whoop, and all the way up to where we are. out of the historic range of this planet, back into jeal oj cal time -- geological time. all that has us hurtling towards climate catastrophe with every ton of carbon dioxide we add comes a higher risk of destructive changes to our world. ever stronger hurricanes, rising seas, severe drought, flooding, heat waves, disease, hunger, and more. we have a simple choice -- we act swiftly to address the carbon pollution scorching our

planet or we tip our climate over the edge into a cycle of destruction mankind cannot halt. as we disresult essential planetary operating -- as we disrupt essentially planetary operating systems, we face american deindustrialization and offshoring of jobs and much of our manufacturing base. after china joined the world trade organization back here in 2001, the u.s. lost almost six million manufacturing jobs. it was a complete bloodbath. communities across america were hollowed out as factories closed and workers were laid off, losing union jobs that helped workers support their families and enjoy a good wage and a decent standard of living.

our trade deficit blew up, especially for manufactured goods. in 2001, our trade deficit in manufactured goods topped 250 billion. by 2020 it had more than tripled to almost $900 billion. then came the covid-19 pandemic and exposed the fact that we no longer make so much upon which modern life depends. first it was the masks and the protective gear for medical professionals on the front lines. then shortages came to everything, from patio furniture to auto computer chips, bicycles, garage doors, and much more. well, what if -- what if it turned out that there was a solution to both problems? a policy that would

simultaneously drive down carbon pollution worldwide and help reshore american manufacturing? well, it turns out there is such a solution, and it's called a carbon border adjustment. with senators coons, schatz and heinrich i've introduced one here in the senate. the fact is that american manufacturers are way less carbon intensive than other competitors. on average, we're nearly 50% less carbon intensive than our trading partners. here's a list of some of our majors. china, 3.2% more -- 3 ps 2 -- 3.2 times more efficient. mexico 1.4 times more efficient.

india, 3.8 times more efficient. so, if we level the playing field about carbon emissions, economy to economy, we win, again carbon-intensive nations like china and india. and that's fair. a steel plant in shanghai shouldn't be able to pollute for free and undercut plants in pittsburgh that make better steel with less pollution. my border adjust fixes that problem. carbon-polluting goods from abroad, fossil fuels, refined petroleum products, petrochemicals, fertilizer, cement, steel would be tariffed on the carbon intensity of their

industries. this means that if you're a carbon-intensive cement factory in mexico, you pay, or you invest in technologies to lower your carbon intensity to match that cleaner plant across the border in texas if. that's a powerful incentive to reduce global emissions and a big boost to u.s. companies competing against foreign climate cheaters. the tariffs' revenues fund a competitive grant program for carbon-emitting u.s. industries to help them invest in the new technologies necessary to reduce their own carbon intensities. and developing countries didn't get us into this mess, and they are getting clobbered by climate

change. so we also direct some revenue to the state department to support decarbonization projects in those countries. to make this work we need to hold american companies to the same standard as we do overseas. so we set the standard at our u.s. average emissions for the industry. so, all you have to do to pay nothing is be better than average, and if you're below average all you have to do to pay nothing is to clean up your act to where half your industry already is. we also give clear targets to industry for future baseline carbon intensity, because that's what industry wants -- clarity, certainty, to know where the goalposts are. look at an example, under my

bill the average or better american steel mill would pay no charge at all, because it is better than average. the below-average steel mill might pay $5 to $10 per ton of steel produced. a $5 to $10 per ton incentive to clean up its mill. but here's the really good part -- imports from a chinese steel mill, more like $110 per ton. below-average u.s., $5 to $10. chinese, $110. that will make american steel more competitive, compared to polluting chinese imports. and then buyers will beat a path

to our door. we might as well get ready with a u.s. carbon border adjustment, because the european union parliament is passing a carbon border adjustment of its own. member states will vote on that proposal later this year when -- later this year. with init takes effect, american companies will pay a carbon tariff to european governments, unless we have one of our own. now, where we want to be is for the e.u., the u.k., canada, mexico, japan, perhaps south korea, all with common carbon border adjustments. , creating a common

carbon-pricing platform across all those major economies, so that we move towards decarbonization, but more importantly the rest of the world, that wants to trade with the u.s., with the u.k., with the e.u., has to clean up its act. they would need to decarbonize and fast to have any hope of competing. trying to convince chinese manufacturers to clean up their acts, out of the goodness of their hearts perhaps, is a bit of a fool's errand. putting a tariff on their goods so that they have to pay if they don't clean up their act? now, that is how you get things going. unfortunately, this is on us now, on democrats. there are too many republicans who are just in tow to the

fossil few industry to help. and of course, you can't talk about anything having to do with climate change without the dark money scownd rels -- scoundrels puffed up by the fossil fuel industry to come and cause mischief. they're even advertising against my bill. here's an advertisement against it, paid for by ag conservatives. ag conservatives. well, assume that this is a real organization, which it isn't, it's a front group, paid for with dark money that hides who the real donors are, just a mouth mouthpiece for somebody who doesn't want to identify themselves. but why would an agriculture

group want to hurt american manufacturing? doesn't make any sense. why would they not want american manufacturing to have that advantage against their chinese competition? why would they be asking people to vote no on a carbon border adjustment? and by the way, there are a lot of products where agricultural products form the feed stock for a later manufacturing product. and if we're bringing manufacturing to the u.s. because we are favored versus dirty, polluting, foreign manufacturers, why would they not want that to happen? and where is agriculture in this fight anyway when this is mostly about manufacturing? where, for american agriculture, is the down side? if you think it through, it actually doesn't exist. which helps confirm to me that

behind this phony front group is probably the fossil fuel industry pretending that its some agriculture group. if that was agriculture, that was agriculture for millions of years ago before it all went down to the bottom and got compressed and rotted and turned after millions of years into oil. that is the agriculture. so that is what we are up against. that is why democrats are going to have to do this. the fossil fuel money that is driving the other party makes it impossible for bipartisanship to work. we have a shot in reconciliation to pass a serious climate bill, a real one, and we should make a carbon border adjustment a central component of that bill. it is a win-win-win. we compete on a playing field

with a huge built-in advantage for american manufacturing. we spare ourselves carbon tariffs from the e.u. and we relentlessly with economic pressure and power drive down carbon pollution across the biggest polluters around the globe. win, win, win. the choice is clear. let's win. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nomination,

calendar number 1031 vinay vijay singh, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that the president be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of housing and urban development, vinay vijay singh, to be chief finance officer. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if

made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider number 103, s. 671. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 103, s. 671, a bill to require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by agencies and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. whitehouse: i further ask that the hassan substitute amendment be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. 3510. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 385, s. 3510, to direct the office of

management and budget to respond to natural disaster resilience and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table . the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the appropriations committee be discharged fru further consideration of h.r. 4346, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 4346, making appropriations for legislative branch for the fiscal year-ending september 30, 2022, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection. the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the hagerty-warner

substitute be considered and agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. whitehouse mr. president, -- mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 689, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 689, commemorating the passage of one year since the tragic building collapse in surf side, florida, june 21, 2021. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 690, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 690, designating july 8, 2022,

as collector car appreciation day and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. whitehouse: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: and finally, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, june 23, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the motion to discharge the clark nomination. further, that at 11:00 a.m. the senate vote on the nomination to discharge the clark nomination, that the senate then resume consideration of the house message to accompany s. 2938 and vote on the motion to concur with the house amendment with

amendment numbered 5099. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of the distinguished senator peters. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from michigan. mr. peters: mr. president, for far too long, americans have grappled with the epidemic of gun violence that has taken lives and shattered families in my home state of michigan as well as across the country. these shootings and attacks not only caused imaginable pain for their families, but terrorized entire communities who must cope with the lasting effects of unspeakable tragedy in schools, theaters, houses of worship and other public places. there is no one easy solution to

address this matter, but americans deserve to feel safe where they live, where they work and learn and shop and pray. and these senseless acts of violence occur far too often. from the sandy hook elementary massacre of a young -- young students and staff, to the emanuel ee pes ka -- church that killed young americans practicing their faith, to the deadly and hateful attacks at pulse nightclub and a grocery store in buffalo, gun violence has left no corner of our country untouched. in michigan, sadly, we know all too well the terror and devastation caused by gun violence. late last year in oxford, michigan, a horrific shooting unfolded at oxford high school.

in a matter of just mere minutes, a routine school day at oxford high, turned into a scene of chaos and heartbreak when a gunman, a 15-year-old classmate opened fire inside the school. , taking four young lives and wounding seven other people. that attack forever changed the lives of the students, the teachers, staff, and shattered the assumption that schools are a safe haven. oxford high school students and the entire community have been resilient, but as they continue to process the shooting and to work to heal from it, those emotional wounds again reopen for many when they watched yet another horrific scene play out at robb elementary school in uvalde, texas, where 19 young

students and two teachers were murdered. schools are supposed to be a safe haven. parents and family members should not live in fear that their children or their loved ones who are at work won't return home at the end of that school day. and while there's no single solution to end the gun violence epidemic, for far too long partisan gridlock has prevented congress from advancing commonsense legislation that can save lives. for decades politics have stood in the way of progress and that's despite 90% of the american people, including a majority of republican voters, supporting commonsense steps like expanding background checks. in today's partisan environment, it's tough to get consensus, but that just shows how much support

there is to getting something done. this should not be a partisan issue. we know that many responsible gun owners across our country support gun safety legislation. i'm a gun owner. i enjoy hunting, as do so many in michigan, and i know that we can pass measures to improve public safety while protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens. after nearly three decades without major progress, we are on the verge -- on the verge of a significant breakthrough as we consider the bipartisan safer communities act. this legislation will take important steps to address gun violence, improve school safety and increase mental health resources. there's no question that this legislation could have included additional measures that are overwhelmingly supported by a

majority of the american people, but this is still a significant step forward. we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. this bill will help protect our children, our schools, and our communities, and by passing this bill we can make progress right now. right now. with this legislation -- right now with this legislation we can strengthen background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21 be and keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who should not have them. this includes critical support for red flag laws at the state level to ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals who a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselvessor to others. -- themselves or to others. right now we can offer protection to victims of

domestic violence to include those in the daying incidents to the national criminal background checks. we can crack down on criminals who illegally evade licensing. we can have safety measures in and around schools and support school violence prevention efforts. right now we can improve access to essential mental health resources which school safety advocates and violence prevention professionals agree to the key, the key is providing an early opportunity for intervention. by investing in school-based health services to support those impacted by traumatic events. i'm grateful to my colleague senator stabenow who has led the charge to ensure that legislation include proven, effective initiatives that will strengthen mental health services, and i urge my colleagues to work together to

pass this legislation and encourage the house of representatives to quickly -- to quickly do the same and send it to the president to be signed into law. but know this, the bottom line is that our work to save lives and protect public safety must not end here. we must continue to come together and address this very real threat that is hurting communities all across our country. and when we face difficult challenges and crises here in our country, we persevere because we ultimately come together as one. let's channel this spirit and come together for every american before the next school, the next family, and the next community is shattered. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

and senators also several judicial and executive nomination what coverage when they return here and "c-span2". >> mr. president, and gallery right now listening to the senate debate, on the bipartisan communities act, it's one of my interns, i'm glad to have hurt is mentoring my office the summern but she is a story to