gavel coverage of congress. the u.s. senate come in to debate nominations for alcohol, tobacco firearms and explosives, and at least two votes are expected today. live coverage of the senate on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, the reverend dr. barry black, will open the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. we acknowledge today, o lord, your power, mercy, and grace. we need your power, for the challenges we face require more than human wisdom and strength. we need your mercy, for we transgress your law and fall short of your glory.

we need your grace for we cannot offer anything to merit your favor or gain your love. empower our senators for todays journey. give them confidence to draw near to you that they may find grace to help them in this time of need. may they pass their days in the companionship of your eternal presence. enable them to learn the stewardship of time, energy, and abundance. and, lord, we continue to pray for ukraine. we pray in your sovereign name.

amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c, july 12, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order,s the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration

of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, ashish s. vazirani of maryland to be deputy under secretary.

the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: we all know inflation and the economy are the biggest problems facing americans today. "the new york times" released a poll just yesterday showing a full 93% of working-age americans are dissatisfied with the state of our economy. we are a big and a diverse country. 93% of americans hardly ever agree on anything, but democrats are unifying the country in unhappiness at the dark path down which they've taken our economy. monmouth university released data explaining why americans are feeling so sour. 42% of americans are struggling

to stay afloat financially. that's the highest rate ever, ever, in this poll's entire history. even higher than the darkest days, the days of the covid pandemic. 63% of americans name economic issues as their chief concern, and they know who to blame for their misfortune -- president biden and congressional democrats, who plowed $2 trillion into our economy last year and created the highest inflation in four decades. i'm sure many of my colleagues heard heartrending stories from constituents struggling with inflation during the past two weeks' state work period. i certainly did in kentucky, where the average household now spends more than $500 more a month than they did before president biden took office. at a meeting with home builders

in northern kentucky, local employers told me their businesses were poised to slow down dramatically. for two years they struggled as washington democrats exacerbated supply chain hiccups and worker shortages with free-wheeling spending policies. now as the fed tries to rein in inflation by hiking interest rates, home buyers have to contend with the most and i have borrowing -- with the most and i have borrowing environment in more than a decade, home builders seeing their industry stalling out. in paducah i sat down with barge operators like the home builders, they're concerned with ongoing worker shortages, inflation, and of course spiraling fuel costs. they also rightly worry that power outages could hit the commonwealth in the coming months. washington democrats pursued environmental goals with no sense of how the real economy functions. they sidelined power plants that use cheap, reliable energy

sources without acknowledging that shortages would occur when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine. independent electricity reliability experts have been sounding the alarm that two-thirds, two-thirds of the united states could endure interest rate electricity blackouts this summer. it hit home with distillers in the bluegrass region as they explained that the $2 trillion spending package last year encouraged workers to exit the workforce and stay on the sidelines. the commonwealth still has 20,000 fewer workers -- 20,000 fewer workers than we did before the pandemic. hamstrung by a lack of employees, these kentucky business owners are watching apprehensively as washington democrats debate another dose of

bad policies. this time our colleagues are reportedly cooking up a $1 trillion in massive tax hikes on things like small businesses and domestic energy. when you tax something, mr. president, you get less of it. that's the way it works. i don't know many kentuckians who think america needs fewer small business jobs or less american energy. i'm not certain about the good people of west virginia either. one estimate has found that almost half of all the jobs in all of west virginia are tied to small businesses. the vast majority of which are pass-throughs. half of all the jobs in the entire states are provided by pass-throughs. i can't imagine the people of pennsylvania or ohio or a number of other states are especially keen to have fewer small business jobs, higher prices passed on to consumers or less american energy either.

yet each of these states and many others have a senator apparently keen, keen to champion these bad ideas. the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation has proven that the policies that democrats are floating would completely break president biden's promise not to raise taxes on the middle class below $400,000. the j.c.t. says their bad ideas would create a tax hike for more than a quarter of all americans who earn between $75,000 and $100,000 and more than half of people earning between $100,000 and $200,000. they are taking president biden's promise not to raise taxes on anybody below $400,000 and putting it through the shredder. putting it through the shredder. this all-democrat government has already spent america into runaway inflation, and now, now they want to tax us into a

recession. now on a different matter, yesterday i discussed the supreme court's historic courageous and correct decision in dobbs. that landmark case was only part of the most consequential supreme court term in almost 70 years since brown overturned plessy in 1954. for example, in the space of one week the court took two huge leaps forward for religious liberty. two big steps to restore and strengthen america's first amendment right to pray and worship how they choose and raise their kids accordingly. time and again we've seen opponents of religious diversity argue that government ought to discriminate against faith-based undertakings and organizations. these efforts spanned from the anti-catholic blaine amendments

of the 1800's to today's efforts by the secular left to chase religion out of the public square. we've had democrat politicians trying to force nuns to pay for birth control against their will. 49 of 50 democrats just voted for a radical bill that would have forced faith-based hospitals -- listen to this -- force faith-based p hospitals to perform abortions against their principles. last year democrats tried to pass a sweeping toddler takeover that was written to squeeze out faith-based child care presidins for goodness sakes, five years ago a lutheran preschool in missouri had to argue all the way to supreme court that it deserved equal access to widely available funding for updating an outdoor playground. textbook antireligious discrimination.

fortunately they won easily, 7-2. this is indeed a new supreme court. last month the court took another landmark step. the case was carson versus mcen arose because the state had a school voucher program that tried to discriminate against faith-based school. in effect the government was using taxpayer money to nudge families away from faith-based education and toward secular private schools instead. the court rightly struck down that law. chief justice roberts explained that maine could not exclude a accredited and otherwise eligible schools piewcial because they are -- purely because they are religious. that's not government choice to make. it's up to the parents. a few days later the court issued another important and commonsense ruling. joseph kennedy, a high school football coach from washington

state, was fired -- listen to this -- simply because he quickly and quietly offered a simple prayer on the field after the games. he got fired for that. the man was fired by government bureaucrats for praying. in our country. the court ruled for coach kennedy under both the free speech and free exercise clause of the first amendment, thank goodness. in the process, justice gorsuch and his colleagues cleared away many, many years of phony, made-up legal tests that made our laws needlessly hostile to religion and turned back to what the constitution actually says. so the court's term was an exciting one for americans of faith who simply want to be allowed to live out their faith and raise their kids. but this was a win for the entire country.

americans of any faith, and no faith at all, can celebrate that we have a brilliant majority of originalists, textualist judges who will defend all of our constitutionality, guaranteed freedoms, and apply what the bill of rights actually says. in a better world, mr. president, in a better world neither of these commonsense rulings would have been close calls or breaking news. but since they were, they were very good news indeed. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: on june 24, the united states supreme court overturned roe v. wade and

returning the decision on abortion to the states. this was an affirmation of democracy which had been set aside by roe by a regime on the entire country by activist judges. it took legislative power out of the hands of the people and into the hands of unelected justices. the supreme court's decision puts the question of abortion back in the hands of the states and the people and their elected representatives where it should have always been. i'm profound by grateful for this decision most especially because what is at stake here. the roe decision was not a failure of failed jurisprudence. it was a failure that infringed on our fundamental rights as human beings, in fact, on the fundamental right, the right to

life. roe not only allowed for but imposed a regime that forced states to legalize the killing of unborn human beings. the decision to overturn roe, repairs not only a constitutional wrong, it allows for a profound moral wrong, the legal killing of unborn americans. the supreme court's decision does not of course make abortion illegal. but it will finally -- finally allow those states that choose to put in place protections for unborn children. mr. president, since roe v. wade legalized abortion through all nine#os of pregnancy, more than 63 million children were killed in this country by abortion. 63 million. it's an unfathomable number and heartbreaking number. that is more than twice the

population of california. 63 million unique, unrepeatable human beings. future doctors, nurses, farmers, teachers, bus drivers, plumbers, and scientists. that's a lot of innocent lives lost, mr. president. and, yes, mr. president, when we talk about unborn babies, we're talking about human lives. members of the pro-abortion left would like to obscure this fact, but science and medical technology and plain old commonsense, i would add, all clearly demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child. every mom who has felt her unborn baby kick, is well aware she's not just carrying around a clump of cells. ultrasound and other advancements in technology made

this even more denial. it is impossible to hear the heartbeat of an unborn child at six weeks and not say he or she is still alive. you can't pretend she is anything but a human beings. and human beings deserve to be protected. the sponsors to the dobbs decision -- the response to the dobbs decision is hysterical. they want a supreme court that only rules in lines with the democrat precedents. we heard about eliminating protections for the minority party in the senate and the americans that it represents. we heard a proposal to establish abortion facilities in national parks. i'm struggling to think of any family who wants an abortion facility to be part of the

itinerary offered on their trip to yellowstone or the badlands of south dakota. some democrats think our national parks should become abortion factories. then, of force this is the flood of information out there falsely saying the laws will prevent americans from getting medical care for miscarriages in ectopic pregnancies. on top of this multiple democrats started a crusade against pregnancy resource centers. that's right. pregnancy resource centers which were established to provide moms in need with things like diapers and baby clothes, prenatal and parenting classes, help connecting with state and local resources, emotional support and agency referrals for moms who want to choose adoption are now under attack by members of

the democrat party. apparently the pro-choice party can't stand the idea that women might be offered a choice other than abortion. mr. president, when the dobbs decision was handed down, the president called it a sad day for our country. a sad day. to the president and his party, apparently it is a sad day when the door is open to greater protection for human life and human rights. i would say that it's a sad day when the right to kill unborn human beings has become the signature issue of the democrat party. when the party that portrays itself as the defender of the little guy has become the party that wants to deny even the smallest protection to the littlest guys and girls among us. mr. president, the democrats' vision of america is not my vision of america. i believe that america is big enough to take care of both moms and their babies.

we don't have to pit moms and babies against each other. we can take care of them both. it's something the pro-life movement has been focused on for years and something that a number of states have worked to do with their alternatives to abortion programs. and i know that commitment will only grow in the wake of the dobbs decision. mr. president, those who seek to deny human rights to human beings, to some human beings are never found to be on the right side of history as our nation knows to its sorrow. our country was founded to protect human rights, the right to life, to liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. but for almost 50 years now, our country has failed to protect the human rights of unborn human beings. today, thanks to the dobbs decision, we have a chance to change that. we have a chance to build a society where the life of every

american is valued and where being small and vulnerable does not mean that your human rights are any less respected. at our best, we are a country that defends human rights, not denies it. we stand up for the innocent. we protect them. we fight for them. it's time to live up to that. mr. president, the dobbs decision gives us a chance to protect the human rights of the smallest and most innocent humans among us. but the dobbs decision would never have happened without the tireless work of so many since the day roe v. wade was decided. it would have never have happened without those who prayed, who offered help to moms in need, who fought for the rights of unborn americans in elections and courts and state legislatures. speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, it says

in the book of proverbs. for 50 years that's what members of the pro-life movement have done. and it is their work that has brought us to this day when we finally once again have a chance top protect innocent unborn americans in law. may the lord reward their work and their wages be full from the lord. mr. president, i know that sometimes it seems like the day when roe v. wade would be overturned would never come, but it is here. and while there's still much work to be done to ensure that the human rights of unborn americans are respected and that moms and their babies have the support they need, it is nevertheless a moment for joy and for gratitude. i am profoundly grateful for this decision, profoundly grateful that we have the opportunity to move closer to the day when we fully live up to

our founding principles and ensure that every american, born or unborn, has the opportunity for life, for liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, month after month, week after week, day after day family budgets are being battered by inflation, inflation made worse by the reckless spending habits of the federal government, and particularly of the biden administration. gas prices are up nearly 50% from a year ago, and grocery

bills, as any of us can see when we go to the grocery store, have soared from eggs to milk to meat to produce, everyday essentials cost more today than they did last year. the pain of inflation is having a dramatic impact on the american people. this quote from "the new york times" yesterday sums it up pretty well. widespread concerns about the economy and inflation have helped turn the national mood decidedly dark both on mr. biden and the trajectory of our nation. it's a sentiment i've heard over and over again in my conversations with my constituents in texas, and it's one that's increasingly visible in public surveys. a recent poll from "the new york times" and see yen in a college found -- sienna college found that more than it three-quarters

of voters think that the united states is headed in the wrong direction. three-quarters of the country. only 13% said the country was on the right track. with voter confidence at a concerning low, our democratic colleagues have made an interesting calculation. they're trying to resurrect their build back broke agenda. you may remember this bill which was called build back better, but i think can more accurately be described as build back broke or build back bankrupt. this bill went out with a whimper last year because our democratic colleagues didn't even have the support among their members to pass it in an evenly divided senate where the vice president breaks the tie. so they've now chosen this moment for some reason to bring

it back. to have a shot at passing this proposal, our democratic colleagues have slimmed and trimmed the bill, but it still packs a painful punch, especially when it has to do with energy prices. last month the national average of gasoline exceeded $5 a gallon for the first time on record. five bucks a gallon-plus. since then prices have fallen some, but the national average today is still $4.66 a gallon. now that's better than $5, but it's certainly no reason for celebration, and it still costs almost $40 to fill up a pickup truck today, 40 bucks more to fill up a pickup truck today than it did a year ago. in standard fashion, the biden administration has tried to

blame someone else. mr. biden has implausibly blamed vladimir putin for the high cost of gasoline. so rather than acknowledge the impact of its own policies which have discouraged investment in new production, new supply, the administration is trying to blame the very energy companies that we are depending on to produce more oil and gas so we can make more gasoline and so we can bring the price down. i've heard from oil and gas producers in texas who are working to ramp up production and bring down prices for consumers. it's as if the law of supply and demand has somehow been repealed during this administration. they simply don't get it. that if you want to bring down the price of something, you need to increase supply or reduce demand. this administration doesn't understand that it's not as

simple as just pushing a button on a machine to create output. this is a process that takes time. it takes investment. it takes time to build the pipelines and the infrastructure. it takes time to drill the wells and produce the oil and send it to the refineries to make into gasoline and jet fuel. while industry is working to increase supply, washington democrats are looking for new ways to put an even tighter squeeze on domestic energy. you would have thought that the russian invasion of ukraine demonstrated the irresponsibility of not maintaining multiple accesses to energy. as a matter of fact, mr. putin had convinced most of europe to depend solely on russian supply. and then when that's no longer available or when he uses it as

a weapon, they're looking around for alternatives, but they're not easy to come by. they take time and they take some investment. according to reports, we're hearing that our democratic colleagues are considering a new tax that would require energy producers to pay hefty fees if they emit more methane that our democratic colleagues would allow. natural gas accounts for about 40% of our electricity, double the amount of renewable resources. we're having a hot spell in texas. i know it's july. it's always hot in texas in july. but we're having a particularly bad spell of 100 degree-plus days in my hometown of austin, texas, and across the state. and one of the problems is that

for some reason the wind that we depend on to produce electricity from wind turbines has died down during this hot period. so not only do you have the constraints on natural gas and other sources of energy, but now even renewable sources like wind are not producing as much electricity as we need in order to maintain the grid, in order to maintain things like air conditioning. hitting producers of natural gas with a methane fee and other proposed tax hikes isn't going to change the fact we need natural gas to keep the lights on. we've seen emissions reduced by about 15% over recent years primarily because the country has transitioned from coal to natural gas. you would think that would be something that we would celebrate, and certainly our energy supply continues to

transition as we come up with new and different ways to satisfy our demand and our economy's need for affordable energy. one change this tax that our democrat colleagues are considering would have is on energy costs for the american people. interest rate costs are already already -- electricity costs are up from last year and with this methane fee they would rise even more. of instead of policies that would make inflation reduced, would reduce the pain at the pump and at the grocery store of sky-high prices, actually our democratic colleagues are considering policies that would make it worse. i understand this p proposal is still in the drafting phase, but it's an example of the sort of things that our colleagues are considering in their build back broke reconciliation bill.

last go-around, the build back broke included tax credits for rich people buying and i and i - buying expensive electric vehicles. if you're a well to-do person and you can pay that price, you'll get a tax credit courtesy of uncle sam and the federal government and our democratic colleagues. but you won't get it if you're buying a used car on a parking lot because you need to take your kids to school or you need to be able to drive to work. our colleagues also propose to provide billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded rebates and grants to cover the costs of retrofitting private homes. not public buildings, but private homes. while the climate policies would be sure to hurt working

families, another piece of this proposal would give the richest americans another cause to celebrate. the so-called millionaire tax breaks has been scrapped be a revived -- and revived many times over the past few years. it's extremely unpopular among working families for a very simple reason -- it allows millionaires and billionaires in blue states to pay less federal taxes, a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. that's the proposal. when our colleagues tried to include this provision in their most recent partisan spending attempt, the price for this tax cut for millionaires and billionaires was $285 billion. that's quite a tax cut for the wealthiest people in america. according to the liberal tax policy center, 93% of those making a million dollars or more would receive a tax break, averaging about $48,000.

a $48,000 tax cut for people making a million dollars or more, or at least 93% of them. so this isn't an attempt to support those who are struggling to make ends meet or to bring down high prices that are wiping out family budgets. it's a get out of jail free card for the wealthiest people in america, who don't want to pay their fair share of taxes. under this proposal, two-thirds of those making more than a million dollars would receive a tax cut next year. nearly 90% of those earning between $500,000 and a million dollars would receive a tax cut. these around the -- aren't the families forced to buy just a few bucks worth of gasoline because they can't afford to fill up their car, or remove items from their shopping list because they simply find them too expensive, or have to make

conscious choices for cheaper items at the grocery store in order to feed their family, to deal with inflation. we're talking about not making their life better, but making life maybe a little bit better for the wealthiest of americans. if this proposal were enacted, about 70% of the benefit would go to the top 5% of earners. that is people making $366,000 a year, roughly six time the median income in texas. the millionaires who stand to be gain the most from this change are those who live in blue states, like new york or california, that have higher state and local taxes. they'd get to deduct up to $80,000 of their state and local taxes and send the bill to the american taxpayer. working families in texas should not be forced to subsidize the tax bill for manhattan millionaires.

inflation is already pummeling folks in texas. the last thing we need to do is to send more tax breaks to the wealthiest of americans, who are not hurting at this time when the vast majority of americans are hurting. well, i guess it shouldn't be any surprise when the majority leader of the senate is from new york and the speaker of the house is from california, two of the highest taxing states at the state and local level. and i understand they're hearing from their constituents, saying we want our old tax break back that we lost in 2017. but you shouldn't prioritize tax breaks for the wealthiest of your constituents over dealing with the rising costs to working families. this proposal won't ease the burden that americans are facing or help our country build back better. it will ensure that we never

reach the prepandemic economy that was the envy of the world. no p.r. blitz or no spin doctoring can hide the truth about this reckless tax-and-spending spree proposal that apparently the majority leader is considering. it raps ill-conceived tax plans, irresponsible spending, and hurtful energy policies into another partisan exercise. and let's get this straight, no republican is going to vote for this. so, if, in fact, our democratic colleagues can pass it, and they can, if all 50 senators on the democratic side and the vice president vote for it, it will be they who own it and who will be accountable to the american people in the upcoming midterm elections. but it's fair to ask where have

these policies gotten us so far. while the administration has kept its foot on the neck of domestic energy policy, while the president's making apparently a trip to saudi arabia to talk to mohammed bin sal man about increasing saudi production of oil, not here in america, that would sort of create jobs, which would create more supply, arguably bring down the price at the pump. he's going hat in hand to a foreign leader in a nondemocrattic country and saying, will you please open the spigot just a little bit more? i think it's embarrassing. we've also seen our democratic colleagues spend nearly $2 trillion in a party line vote earlier this year that helped ignite inflation to its current 40-year high levels.

this new tax-and-spending spree, or i should say the old tax-and- spending spree bill, now being repackaged and presumably resold, won't be any different from the earlier one. so mr. president, it isn't time to hand out tax breaks to the well-off or push our country toward unrealistic energy goals at a time of high demand and not enough supply. we need more domestic energy supplies. that would provide relief for working families and a shot of of a -- shot at waking up from the economic nightmare we find ourselves in. mr. president, this reconciliation bill, this build back broke bill that is apparently being contemplate bid our democratic colleagues, is not the solution. it's making the problem worse.

mrs. shaheen: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i'm pleased to come to the floor with senator tillis from north carolina, senator ernst from iowa, hoping to being joined by senator coons from delaware, to talk about the very successful congressional delegation we took in the first week of the two-week break to finland, sweden, and the nato summit in madrid. i want to especially acknowledge my colead for that delegation, senator tillis. he and i cochair the senate nato observer group, and we have both been fervent supporters of nato and efforts to ensure that the u.s. continues to be a leader on the world stage and a champion

for freedom. we were also joined in that trip by senator durbin from illinois and senator fischer from neb. a couple of months ago -- from neb. a couple months ago, leaders schumer and mcconnell asked us to lead the senate's strong bipartisan support for the alliance, especially aid mid -- amid putin's unprovoked war in ukraine. i was very honored to represent the senate amid what was -- has been one of the most consequential moments in the history of the transatlantic alliance, and i think probably senator tillis and everyone who was part of that delegation felt the same way. our visit to sweden, finland and spain affirmed three important points -- first, the nato alliance is stronger than ever before, and this year's historic summit reaffirmed that. second, the strategic concept that was approved at this year's

summit will ensure that nato is prepared to address immediate threats on all fronts, from putin's attempt to threaten the sovereignty of our allies to chain's challenges to our alliance. finally, as putin attempts to rewrite history, working with our allies and partners is critical to ensuring that putin or any leader that attempts to follow in his path is met with the might of nato's democratic resolve. one of the other things that i was very impressed with, as we met not just with some of our nato allies, but with nato as pregnant country delegation -- nato aspirant delegation countrieses and talked with leader from the indo-pacific in madrid, is how everybody we talked to reaffirmed the importance of america's leadership in the world. i think as we think about the future of nato, about what we need to do in the united states,

it's important to remember just how important our role is. now, our trip coincided with turkey's announcement to support finland and sweden's ambitions to join nato, which will significantly strengthen the alliance. as we landed in madrid, we got the into us that turkey had dropped its -- we got the news that turkey had dropped its hold on the applications and we were able to celebrate. sweden and finland's accession into nato sends an unmisstakable message to putin, the alliance is stronger than ever and russia does not have veto power. we were happy to meet with finland and sweden to reaffirm the bipartisan support in the senate for the stwift approval of nato -- the swift approval profl of nato. the message of support for ukraine and nato was resip ro cated by our allies, which was -- resip ro cated by allies, which was evident by the

meetings with japan and germany. we met with ukrainian officials to help ukraine defend itself, but to help ukraine win. that's what we heard from all of the allies that we met with. pits critical that as members of the -- it's critical cal that as members of the senate we cord coordinate with allies to help ukraine defend against putin's aggression. because that war is not just against the people of ukraine. it is an attack on democracies around the world, an attack on our shared transatlantic value use, that have maintained peace for over 70 years. our bipartisan delegation made clear that the united states will continue to support peace and stability in europe and around the world. we will defend every inch of nato territory and continue to look for ways to bolster ukraine's defense. i was -- we were pleased to share this commitment with

members of the it biden administration who also traveled to the nato summit. our delegation met with president biden, with secretary austin and secretary blinken, and reaffirmed that the senate will continue to look for ways to help defend ukraine and respond to emerging threats from the balkans to the indo-pacific. again, i want to thank all of those who went on this very important trip, especially the staff who did such a great job putting it together. i was proud to colead that delegation, which was centered on our bipartisan resolve to support a strong and unified nato and stand by our ukrainian partners. as putin's war threatens democracies around the world, i think it's important that we send a clear message to our constituents at home and our allies abroad, that the united states remains resolute in our commitment to the stability and freedom of all democratic nations, because if putin

succeeds in ukraine there's no telling where his belligerence will end. last night senator durbin secured unanimous consent for the protocols to the north atlantic treaty on the accession of finland and sweden to be referred to the senate foreign relations committee. this is an important development. i hope we can get this done as quickly as possible. i hope the foreign relations committee will move on that process and we can act here in the senate chamber, because swift ratification is in our national security interest. so, again, i'm pleased to join my colleagues here on the floor, and would like to turn it over to senator tillis to get his impressions from the trip. mr. tillis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank senator shaheen, my colleagues, senators coon,

ernst, blunt, and the others who joined the delegation at the nato summit. it was an extraordinary opportunity to see firsthand how the democratic world looks to the united states for leadership. it was an extraordinary opportunity to talk about russia's aspirations. it was an extraordinary opportunity to talk about what i think may go down as the greatest miscalculation in this century on the part of vladimir putin. months ago, when he was massing troops at the ukrainian border, he called it a special am i right operation. a training consider, for a little while. what he was thinking in the back of his head that now was the time to test nato's resolve. now was the time to see if the differences that we have was enough to break an alliance. what he found out was quite the opposite. shortly after february 24, the nato countries came together. the e.u. came together. we implemented sanctions. we provided troops on the ground

to assist with the evacuation of ukrainian refugees. and now we're in a position of providing support for the very courageous members of the ukrainian military. and what else did he get for his miscalculation, two nations that for decades have been nonaligned, sweden and finland, 830 miles of russian border is now about to be the backdoor, or the front yard, of nato. and when nato, when finland and sweden ultimately get membership in nato, which i expect to be in weeks or months, then vladimir putin needs to understand his reward for invading a sovereign nation is 830 miles of nato borders right next door. now i want to talk a little bit about finland and sweden. they're extraordinary countries, advanced democracies, the rule

of law, they manufacture jet fighters that are nato inner operable, finland has 64 joint strike fighters on order. if the united states was going to have as many, they're a nation of 5.5 million people. if the united states was going to have as many f-35's as finland on a per capita basis, we would have thousands, we have less than 200. they are committed to defense and a strong army and ground force. russia knows that, look back to 1949. and in sweden we have a defense industrial base and a navy that covers the arctic, it covers the baltics, they will be net contributors of security the day that they get nato membership. now, i had somebody a couple of weeks ago from time to time i go to the front office and i take

calls from constituents. i had someone call up and say, why are you supporting -- why are you focused on ukraine and finland and sweden when we have so much to do here back home. i said we have to do both. because the future of our safety and freedom at home is intrinsically linked to the safety and security of europe. this weekend i was moving some furniture around, i came across the globe i had for 40 years, it has a picture of the soviet empire on it. vladimir putin wants to recreate that and expand it. this doesn't end and i told this caller this, it doesn't end in ukraine. it's one step of several chess moves that vladimir putin would like to play out and ultimately dominate the free world many we can't let that happen. when we were at the nato summit, i think it was very clear, at least to me, that those who we

met with, the heads of state, felt like now more than ever that america has to lead, that america has to understand the threats that exist, a rising china, a threatening russia, a maligned group of leaders in iran. now is the time to look outward and preserve the free world. how do we do that? make nato stronger, admit finland and sweden. so i think at the end of the day, to the american citizen who is wondering, why do we worry about nato, why do we worry about ukraine? because it is directly linked to the sovereignty and our safety here at home. i want to thank the president for his contribution at nato as well. we met with him for an hour last week. we had a press conference later in the day and people wanted to

ask us about domestic policies, i said we're a bipartisan group here to talk about our commitment to nato and to our commitment to have putin defeated in ukraine. but the democrats and republicans on that codel with respect to our commitment to the future of nato and the free world many i hope that we will move swiftly to pass the treaty. to be one of the first to recognize that we want and welcome sweden and finland into the nato alliance and that we need to continue to remind people at home why it's important, although it's not in our backyard, it's in a part of the world that if we let this stand, if we don't act with unity, then we will live to regret it. thank you. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i rise

today to join the leaders of the codel i just had the honor and blessing of joining, senator shaheen and tillis and senators ernst and blunt and also traveled with senators durbin and fischer and to just join in my colleagues' statements today. i think this was a tremendous opportunity with us to meet with nations that have advanced economies, that have sophisticated militaries and for the very seeking admission to nato. they are the most successful security alliance in history. it is rooted in shared values and concerned interests. if you looked at the map just a few months ago, where three little baltic states, lativa, lithuania and estonia that were under the heels of the soviet union admitted to nato but very

difficult to defend and i'll tell you one of the reasons i joined with my colleagues and saying here as we did in madrid, that we should swiftly ratify the joining of both sweden and finland to into the they will be security contributors to this alliance. the odds that a young man from north carolina, iowa, delaware, will have to risk or give their lives to defending lithuania will go down dramatically if we have on that border at the very end of the nato alliance a new 830-mile border between finland and russia that they know they will have to pay attention to given the history of the 3940 war, and our priorities will continue to contribute to this important alliance. it was valuable that in our meetings with heads of state from europe like chancellor schultz and the prime minister

of japan and in krgses with -- conversations with the members of the united kingdom and the foreign leaders of germany, france, and spain, that this delegation was able to speak with one voice and that we join with these two critical new partners. i am hopeful that we will continue to provide bipartisan, robust support for ukraine's severe defense of its nation in the face of russia's war crimes, russia's continued aggression. we are calling on all of our nato allies to contribute and participate and they are. this has brought greater unit, greater purpose, greater focus to the nato alliance than anything in decades. i will remind you, the one time that the article 5 to come to each other's defense has been

triggered before was in afghanistan and thousands and thousands of nato soldiers served along with ours when it was the united states attacked on 9/11. this nato alliance is stronger than its ever been and needs to be the strongest it's ever been. as my colleagues have laid out, this is a pivotal moment in the future of the united states and the role in our world, the future of nato and western freedom, we must make sure we succeed. i'm grateful of the bipartisan commitment at the core of this delegation. with that, i yield to my colleague and friend. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. s. ms. ernst: mr. president, su. i want to thank my -- thank you. i want to thank senators tillis and shaheen for leading this congressional delegation to the nato summit and for organizing our discussion today.

i join them with having finland and sweden to nato. they both have extensive commerce and trade with our great united states and broadly they share many of our values. and historically perhaps these were conditions sufficient to readily welcome to european nations and to one of our multinational security frame works, but today given the increasingly complex threats our adversaries are imposing on the homeland, protecting security and prosperity demands partners capable of sharing nato's manpower and resource burdens. nato isn't a club of democracies or a playground for exploring climate change or progressive cultural interest, it's a

military alliance that is assembled to deter our adversaries from wreaking havoc on our partners and against our own homeland and today the united states is the unquestioned and undisputed leader of not just nato but continues to lead the global coalition containing and destroying terrorist operations in the middle east and in africa. beyond europe and the middle east, the united states must and i'll repeat that, must lead a coalition to deter china's looming imperial expansion around the world and potential takeover of taiwan and our other partners in the indo-pacific. the united states has the greatest military on the face of the planet and the american people support of our armed forces is unwavering. still, our commander in chief

and diplomatic and military leadership and members of the senate must hold our partners accountable to their own defense and not lean on the reach and lethality of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines and guardians alone. going forward, nato countries must invest in their own defense, 2% must be a minimum standard, too many in the alliance are too lax and they gletful -- neglectful to the alliance. we are not the policemen but the leader of the free world and this alliance and finland and sweden are on target regarding their 2% commitment. i'm confident that finland and sweden are ready to stand up and help shoulder the resource

burden on nato's military obligations in europe, particularly following russia's bloody lawless invasion of ukraine. the accession of finland and sweden to nato is a great success, but regarding the war raging in ukraine today on day 140 of this conflict, the u.s. cannot grow weary. our resolve to support our partner must carry on. china is watching. the gulf states, south america and africa are weighing their commitment to the free world against the economic and security guarantees on the table from our adversaries. our national defense capacity diminishes the more our adversaries from the tawbl to -- taliban to iran's cluster of violent extremist organizations to vladimir putin to the chinese communist party can call our

bluff and see we cannot bear the cost of achieving our goals. we must remain steady and strong. this administration and our partners in nato must change their strategy to deliver ukraine victory over putin's russia. and that's why sweden and finland will be a much welcomed addition to nato. i thank my colleagues for organizing this colloquy, and i urge my colleagues to move quickly to support the united states' -- to support swede sweden and finland to nato. mr. blunt: i would like to complete my remarks before the vote starts. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blunt: mr. president, i want to join with my five colleagues who have been here today and the two people with us, senator fischer and senator durbin.

i would say one of the great things about this effort was the unanimous feeling that all seven of us had about both what's happening in nato and our commitment to win in ukraine. we were able to demonstrate that to every group we met with from every country we met with. i think with the strong leadership of chairman shaheen and tillis that it made an impression on where we were and the unity we have on this. it would be interesting to know if putin was more surprised by the ukraine resistance, the poor performance of their own military or what happened at nato. the great turn around of nato and their commitment to nato, their commitment to what they have been willing to do and pledge to do with nato and then to see these two important security contributors join nato

after 73 years of being neutral and an important part of the world and saw that as part of their long-term commitment with finland and sweden, who, by the way, have been nato contributors for some time now in terms of being willing to be part of nato missions, training with their future nato allies, all that incredibly important. but thesey bring incredible security contributions to nato, but they also bring significant geographic contributions to nato. when you look at a map, suddenly not just norway that's been in nato but sweden and finland and nato has an incredible impact on the ability of what happens in the baltic. that's important to us as we look to the future. now with the exception of russia, every country that borders and has part of a claim on the arctic will be a nato country.

this is a part of the world we've been talking about much more the last five years than we did the previous 25 years, to have this nato unity as we look at the arctic is an important thing. the 800-mile border that finland has shared for years and defended for years against russia doubles the nato border in europe. the imminent understanding that both sweden and finland have of russia brings a different point of view and a helpful point of view to nato, and for the current members, particularly the new members of nato, when you look at these baltic countries of estonia and latvia and lithuania and then look at poland and romania, seeing what happens when the unity is created and the force multiplier is there, you've heard my colleagues already talk about the jet planes, the submarines, the navy, the air force, both of

these people bring, the cyber ability that both of them bring to the fight is real. in a meeting that i was with before this meeting occurred with the defense minister, one of the newest members of nato, one of the most vulnerable members of nato as we looked at nato for some time said we don't want to be rescued by nato. we want to be defended by nato. i think today we see the growth of nato. we see a nato that's willing to do its job defending its members in this most successful alliance of all time. never been anything like it. president truman was the leader in putting this together in 1949. here we are 73 years later with in my screw nato -- with in my nato with its largest group of members but also the most

powerful and committed in this alliance. i look forward to being on the senate floor when the senate does its job to welcome sweden and finland to nato. and i'm pleased that process has started and i'd yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 73, the nays 21. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 1037, steven m. dealt back of ohio to be director, bureau of alcohol, tobacco,

firearms and explosives, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of steven m. dettelbach of ohio to be director of bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

a

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 48, the nays are 46 and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of justice, steven m. dettelbach to be director of bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. the presiding officer: the senate stands in res

>> we are funded by these television companies and more including charter communications . >> broadband is a force for empowerment. that's why charter has invested billions building infrastructure,upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. charter is connecting us . >> charter supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers givingyou a front row seat to democracy . >> next a discussion about potential changes to the 2024 presidential primary calendar . members of the dnc rules and bylaws committee talked about a series of bids from states to hold the earliest democratic primary for caucuses. the committee expected to make a final decision when it needs again in august . this is just over an hour.