>> the senate will work on legislation to expand va benefits for veterans exposed to toxins during their military service. this afternoon, lawmakers will be voting to limit debate on a bill providing grants to the u.s. computer chip industry to better compete with china. ... the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, the judge of our desires and thoughts, you have withheld nothing we need. today, continue to meet the needs of our lawmakers. give them so much more

than they expect that they will rejoice because of your goodness. may their rejoicing and gratitude empower them to face the challenges and seize the opportunities of these turbulent times. provide them with faith, courage, and goodwill to make the world a better place. lord, use our senators as your servants to bring healing to our nation and world. we pray in your powerful 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 25, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable mazie k. hirono, a senator from the state of hawaii, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under

the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany s. 3373 which the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany s. 3373, an act to improve the iraq and afghanistan service grant and the children of fallen heroes grant.

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, madam president, the senate gavels back in for another busy week of an exceedingly busy work period. there's a lot we must continue working on to lower costs for the american people, to strengthen health care and prescription drug costs, make sure they're lower, confirm highly qualified nominees, protect our fundamental rights, and forty fight u.s. national security interests. none of this is easy, but we are moving ahead. in a few hours, the senate will take another important step towards finally passing our bipartisan chips and innovation bill, by voting to invoke cloture. after more than a year of hard work on fixing u.s. chips supplies and boosting american scientist innovation, we're on the brink of closing the book, passing these critical investments into law.

if cloture's invoked, members should plan to vote on final passage as early as tomorrow evening or wednesday. when signed into law, the impact of this bipartisan chips and innovation bill will last years, if not decades. it will mean an increase in american jobs, increased manufacturing here at home, relief for our supply chains, and lower costs for the american people. of course, we'll also preserve america's security interests, one of the most important struggles of this century will be the fight for global semiconductor supply. sadly, america's lagging behind. a recent article from "the wall street journal" revealed that the chinese communist party is planning 31 major semiconductor fabs planned over the next few years in a bid to become the world's leader in new chip factories. american chip producer are working hard to match this output, but they're waiting for

congress to finish work on this bill. tens of billions of dollars, countless good-paying jobs are at stake. for that reason i'm glad we're close to pushing this bill over the goal line. of course, there's a lot more to celebrate about this bill. the bipartisan science provisions, many of which i authored, in partnerships with senator young under the endless frontier act more than two years ago. these provisions will unleash a new wave of american scientific innovation that will last and create millions of good-paying jobs for decades to come. we'll invest tens of billions to strengthen national science foundation and plant seeds to cultivate the tech hubs of tomorrow in regions of the country that have tremendous potential but have long been overlooked. when we invest in science jobs, that will keep america number one, for decades the united

states was consistently the world leader in innovation and scientific research because we made the investments necessary to stay on top, and the result was millions and millions of good-paying jobs that made us the strongest economy on earth, the envy of the world. in the last decade, unfortunately, we have slipped from our place on the mountaintop. this bill will help us recapture that goal and that dream. the 21st century will be won or lost on the battleground of technological innovation. this is perhaps the most competitive era in human history. will american workers, will american tech, will american ingenuity shape the world over the next 100 years in the same way we've shaped it in the last 100? i believe we can, i believe we must. and when we pass this bill, i believe we will. let's move forward today. now, on health care reforms and

reconciliation, senate democrats continue our work to advance legislation that ■willlowe costs and improve the lives of millions, tens of millions, of american families. last week, democrats and republicans held our bipartisan prescription drugs byrd bath meetings with the parliamentarian. as a he roo ind mer, this important -- as a reminder, this important preliminary step will clear the way for passing reforms through the reconciliation process. i want to thank chairs wyden, sanders, and murray and the tireless work of their finance, budget and health committee staffs for working around the clock on this important effort. if you want to fight inflation, you should support passing this much-needed proposal on lower prescription drug cost it is. here's why -- for the first time ever, we'll empower medicare to negotiate the price of many expensive and vital prescription drugs, directly lowering what patients and taxpayers pay for these drugs.

we will cap americans' out-of-pocket drug expenses to $12,000 a year -- to $2,000 a year. market will offer free vaccines and additional for for low-income eldery and crucially that millions don't see health care premiums skyrocket in the coming months. let me say it again, because it's key, i say it to my colleagues across the aisle, our republican colleagues, if you want to help americans better afford their health care and medications, you should support passing this bill. the united states citizens pay more on average for prescription drugs than any other people on earth, all for the exact same medicines that other countries use. the democratic plan will finally help change that. to many in this country, too many in this country find themselves in the confounding indignity of having to choose between getting their prescription drugs filled or putting food on the table for their families.

democrats' plan will finally help change that. even as working americans struggle to afford high-quality health care and medications, the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies face little accountability for jacking up prices on consumers. again, democrats' plan will help change that. for months, we've heard republicans complain and complain about the need to lower costs for the american people. well, democrats will presents the senate with a proposal that will do precisely that in a very big way. what will they choose on the other side of the aisle? will they work with us? so, to lower the cost for prescription medications? will they shore up our health care system and prevent devastating price hikes? will they finally join us in holding big pharma accountability? this isn't complicated. senators can vote to lower costs or they can vote for higher costs. the american people will be

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

class governance study senior fellow here to talk about an effort to change how electoral votes counsel are counted, thanks for joining us >> thanks for having me. >> it goes back to the electoral count act of 1887. can you describe what that is and why it's important as far as the process ? >> the act is the federal law that we have currently that governs how the electoral votes themselves actually get counted at the very end of the presidential election and it is not only does it date to 1887, it reads like it dates to 1887 so one of the things the reform act is meant to do is both modernize the language of the act and also take some steps to clarify some provisions that are in there that we've learned more recently might be vulnerable to some manipulation. but generally, the way that

the 1887 law works is it provides for basically what should happen on january 6 when the vice president is in the congressional team counting the electoral votes. >> so it goes also in connection to the 12th amendment of the constitution which in part reads the electors shall vote by ballot, vice president and president make a list of all persons voted for as president and vice president and the number of votes each. itgoes on from there but talk about that connection . >> under the 12th amendment the part of the constitution that says this is how we elect the president uses the electoral college and requires congress to meet to tabulate those votes and that's where the aca of 1887 kicks in and is the law that says if one member of the house and one member of the

senate object to a submission from a state that then the joint session shall provide and each chamber shall debate these sections. it the original law has some provisions as to how that works in the senate. that sort of thing why does congress feel likeit was needed at the time ? >> it's sort of in the aftermath of some contested presidential elections from the middle of the 19th century. so that's sort of when congress stepped in to say we need to regularize, make clear exactly how this should work. >> so this is our guest and she's going to talk about this process of counting electoral votes and if you want to ask questions about the process 202-748-8000 four democrats, 8001 four republicans and independents 202-748-8000 two and you can text us, 202748 8003 what did

january 6, 2021 show as far as deficiency of the act as it currently stands. >> a couple things happened january 6, 2021. it really inspired this effortto reform the electoral count act. one was this question around what exactly is the role of the vice president . as we sort of new at the time and have learned more about in the intervening 18 months there was a lot of pressure on vice president pants to find a certain authority that he does not have or didnot have under the law . and one of the things that this effort to reform the law does, it really clarifies the vice president's role is purely ministerial . his job is really to open the envelopes , read the submissions from the states. he does not have any kind of discretion over which votes get counted. that's one thing that the

january 6 episode highlighted. another is around this question ofobjections . one of the things we saw on january 6 was an effort particularly in really related to the electoral votes from arizona and electoral votes from pennsylvania for groups of house members to object to the counting of those votes. and so under the current law, you need only one house member and one senator tosign onto an objection . for fact e. >> without objection. >> in the past year and a half, washington democrats have continually found new ways to be wrong. >>

well, madam president, it should have have happened. but it's exactly what democrats' policies have inflicted on working families in our country. every time fill up our van, i'm

flabbergasted, ms. alberalto explains. i'm always worrying. i can postpone the mortgage by two weeks, but then it becomes two more weeks, and then all of a sudden, they're calling you. after democrat policies that did cause inflation, they've moved on to their next wrong prediction. president biden admitted inflation did exist but said, quote, it was expected to be temporary. that wouldn't work out either. that was over a year ago. then seven months ago in early december, president biden promised inflation had peaked. wrong again. it didn't peak in december. it just kept getting worse. inflation set a fresh, new 40-year high just last month. well now these same folks are

preparing for yet another battle against reality. in advance of the g.d.p. numbers coming out later this week, the biden administration has begun their latest project -- a frantic effort to redefine the word recession. the white house publish a whole explanation suggesting that even if the new data suggests our country is in recession, we actually won't be. it's almost beyond satire. the white house isn't focusing their energies on correcting their mistakes and making the economy better for working families who are hurting. instead, their priority is telling everybody things aren't as bad as they look or feel. they want working americans like ms. alberato to believe that americans -- their spin instead of their lies. i guess americans struggling to

stay where they are financially are supposed to read the white house press release and cheer up. the same people who said inflation wouldn't happen and then said it would be transitory -- it would be transitory and then said it had peaked last year are now insisting we aren't headed into a recession. well, draw your own conclusions. now on another matter, staring down the barrel of economic disaster they've created, washington democrats still don't appear to be pumping the brakes on their reckless agenda. for example, the same democrats who spent our country into inflation are now angling to regulate our medical cures industry into fewer new cures and fewer lifesaving treatments. american researchers and manufacturers are the driving force behind cutting-edge

treatments that the entire world relies on. american innovators are leading the races to cure terminal illnesses like parkinson's and alzheimer's. the entire world benefits from our genius, but in particular the american people get first and fastest access to the latest new treatments, cures, and medical marvels. but the democrats pursuit of prescription drug socialism could put all of this at risk. arbitrary, top-down, government price controls would drive the wealth of american innovation to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in lost research and development. and american patients would feel the pain. the cost of breakthrough cures is measured in dollars, but the cost of neglecting them would be measured in lost years of american life.

one academic analysis pegged the true cost at a cumulative $331.5 -- 313.5 million years. one expert says the negative effects of democrats' proposal on medical research would cost a collective total of $331.5 million cumulative years of life. in other words, their proposal would eventually destroy as many of american lives as they are -- as there are americans to live them. just two years ago democrats are lining up with republicans and the rest of the country to cheer the american researchers and innovators who were driving the race for a covid-19 vaccine, a race they finished in record time.

the american people know what it looks like when lifesaving advances happen right here at home. unfortunately, they may be about to find what happens when they don't. now on one final matter, over the weekend, burma's long and difficult struggle towards democracy and freedom took another dark step backward. the brutal military junta controlling burma executed -- executed four political prisoners including the well-known activist co jimmy and

xha, a protest musician. yet more innocent blood. this is yet another atrocity in a long list of who are others committed by the junta with no legitimacy, no regard for the sanctity of human life and no respect for its fellow citizens. it provides even further evidence the junta does not fear any consequences for its actions, not from internal chaos, not from civil war, not from its neighbors, not from the so-called international community. the united states has led efforts to support burma's a people and to impose costs and consequences on the hussein tax clearly it's time for burma's neighbors to shoulder a larger burden as well. it's time for asean states to step up individually and collectively.

as the junta pledges burma deeper into chaos and civil war, the turmoil will affect the entire region. it is bur massachusetts neighbors who have the -- it is burma's neighbors who have the most economic impact and who have the most at stake. do they want a failed state racked by civil war like syria on their borders? do they want a russian or kleins-backed client -- or chinese-backed state. the people of burma are risking their lives and in some cases losing their lives to defend their freedom. the biden administration claims to prioritize democracy and human rights in its foreign policy. here is an opportunity to demonstrate that it means what it says.

so in sum, it's time for burma's neighbors to act. if they do not, the biden administration should sanction burma's energy sector and other major sources of revenue for the junta. mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no.

mr. durbin: thank you. madam president, like 17 million other americans, i watched the january 6 committee and its latest session last thursday night. for two hours i was there watching closely as they presented witnesses and evidence of the obvious. it reminded me, madam president, that our committee, the senate judiciary committee, last october released a report that showed in alarming detail how former president donald trump tried to bully the justice department into overturning an election which he lost. our report showed just how aggressively the defeated president tried to hold on to power, how some within the justice department were actually conspiring to help him, and how hard the department's leadership had to work to prevent trump's illegal scheme from succeeding. we knew when we produced our

report that it was just one chapter in an intricate plot to subvert america's democracy. in eight public hearings over the last six weeks, the house select committee to investigate january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol has laid out in clear and chilling detail more chapters in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election. the facts are damning. what makes them even more shocking and credible is that they've been revealed under oath not by former president's political -- former president trump's political foes but by people who once believed in him, people who worked with him for years, close aides, advisors, even his own family members. madam president, i'm sure you remember january 6, 2021. those of us who were in this chamber that day will never forget it. we were here in the senate to count the electoral ballots

forwarded from the states to the senate and the house to confirm the results of the 2020 presidential election. we heard the furious mob outside. they attacked capitol police officers with hockey sticks, iron bars, toxic bear spray, flag poles, whatever weapons they could find. the trump mob was on the march. they smashed windows and doors, boac into this -- broke into this capitol building. the chamber was evacuated immediately. the capitol police told us, wait here, this will be a safe room. ten minutes later they said leave as quickly as you can, the mob has taken over the capitol. we rushed to a secure location. for hours, as the capitol police and d.c. metropolitan police battled the mob in brutal

hand-to-hand combat, we asked the same questions. where's the protection? where's the national guard? where's the president? donald trump sent this carnage in motion with the big lie and ordering them to march on the capitol. and we thought to ourselves, why won't he tell them to stop? this has gone too far. the public hearings of the january 6 committee have answered the question in frightening detail, where was the president? we now know from last thursday's hearing, donald trump knew within 15 minutes of finishing his remarks that the mob was on its way to attack this building and the people inside. what did he do? what did president trump do for three hours an seven minutes? he sat in his private dining room next to the oval office watching the violence on tv. he refused to contact his national security leaders to

defend the capitol of the united states of america. he refused pleas from congressional leaders of both parties, from his own staff and family, from his allies in the media at fox news to call off the mob. he refused to walk less than 60 seconds to the white house briefing room and to make a simple statement asking the violence to stop. he was silent and he watched fox news every second of that three hours and seven minutes. we learned that members of vice president pence's secret service detail actually thought that they might die as they confronted this mob. as some of those agents made what they feared would be their last call to their families to tell them that they loved them, president trump sent out a tweet telling the mob that vice president pence had betrayed them. instead of calming the riot,

donald trump poured gasoline on the fire. adam kes inger summed it up well. he said, and i quote, trump didn't fail to act. he chose not to act. only when it was clear that his coup had failed did donald trump reluctantly record a video telling his supporters to leave the capitol and go home and carefully chose his words, we could tell from the outtakes, not to concede the big lie. not a word of condemnation about the violence. not a word of concern for the police officers who battled that mob to protect our safety and our democracy. more than 140 police officers, capitol police, d.c. metropolitan police suffered injuries from jake. where was the -- january 6. where was the president? watching fox news.

several officers who defended the capitol died. not a word from former president trump. in the committee's earlier hearings, we learned how the president had ignored his own aides and advisors and relentlessly pressed false claims of voter fraud listening to his counsel rudy giuliani even when they knew this was wrong. president trump was told by the experts around him president trump, it would be ill illegal. we learned how president trump pressed elected leaders in key states to change the vote totals in their states. when that failed, he pressed allies to send false slates of electors that would make him the winner. we learned how he summoned a mob to washington and turned them loose on this building, even after being told the mob was carrying weapons.

and even after all of the harm his big lie has done to our democracy, he still relentlessly is peddling it. outtakes by the house committee show that on the day of the insurrection, he still refused to say the insurrection was over. this little man can't bring himself to accept reality. wisconsin's assembly leader who happens to be a republican, said that president trump urged him to overturn the state's election. when did he call him? two weeks ago. he's still on a rampage. the senate will soon consider a bipartisan electoral count reform act to ensure that a vote cannot be overturned by a vice president or any state or congressional officials of i support this effort. senators klobuchar, king, and i offered our own ideas several months ago on this anticipated electoral act reform. i hope that this bipartisan

effort can get 60 votes in the senate. i hope that ten republicans will join us in modernizing this law so it works for today. it was written in haste in the middle of a political controversy in the 19th century. some of the sections of that law are almost unintelligible. let's clarify and give the american people assurance that we learned a lesson on january 6, 2021 and in that lesson we learned the american people want their votes to count, accurately, honestly and fairly. ultimately, however, the only way we can protect our elections and our democracy is by respecting the rule of law and the will of the american people and telling them the truth. by laying out the truth clearly for the american people and for history. the january 6 committee is performing an invaluable public service. they deserve our respect. one closing comment. there wasn't supposed to be a

committee in the house of representatives, madam president. you remember, and i do too. the proposal was for a bipartisan commission to be created to investigate this travesty on january 6 as they investigated 9/11. take politics out of it, take elected officials out of it, bring together people respected from across the political spectrum and get to the bottom of it. that proposal for a bipartisan commission was stopped by republican leadership in the house and the senate. after all of the statements they made expressing outrage over january 6, when it came time to appoint the commission, the bipartisan commission, they refused. there's only one conclusion you could draw. they don't want to face the truth. they don't want the truth to be on the record from a bipartisan commission. luckily, in the house of representatives, the january 6 has achieved that and there's more to come. i might add people say, why didn't the senate judiciary committee take this on? it's a very valid question. and the difference is this.

in order to issue a subpoena from the senate judiciary committee of such a committee hearing, we need to have agreement from at least one republican member of the committee. we had no assurance that agreement would be offered. so i supported the january 6 committee in the house and i'm glad that they moved forward as they have. madam president, i'd like to address a separate subject at a separate part in the record with unanimous consent. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, it was a month ago that the dobbs decision was handed down on one of the most controversial issues in american politics, the issue of abortion and reproductive health. we know that justice alito's decision, 6-3 decision, overturned roe v. wade. and since then we have been trying to sort out the impact of that decision on america. there's been many things that have happened which have been shocking and the fact that they have called into question some of the things that we accepted for 50 years as constitutionally

guaranteed rights. yes, there was a 10-year-old girl who was viciously raped and turned up pregnant in the state of ohio. and, yes, under the law in the state of ohio, because she was six weeks and three days pregnant, she couldn't qualify for a procedure to terminate her pregnancy in the state of ohio. she had to go to indiana, a neighboring state. and there were those who disputed that it ever happened and denied such a thing could occur and it turned out they were wrong. it did happen. i was saddened to read that one of the members in the right to life movement said that she should carry that pregnancy to term. you have seen 10-year-olds, i have too, and at that age you question whether they can cross a busy street without help, and

to have someone say, she should carry the baby to term, ignores her safety. that's what we're hearing from the people who oppose a national ban on abortions. i was reading an article in "the new york times" which i would ask consent to place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i want to read this because it tells thank you the complications that have been created by what seemed like a very simple decision overturning a previous supreme court case. this writer, gina colatta, wrote an article entitled, afro, urgent questions -- after roe, urgent questions about cancer care. it was july 4, 20. i -- july 4, dwoant. this shows -- 2022. it shows the real world impact. rachel brown's oncologist called

and said at age 36, she has an aggressive form of breast cancer. she found out the next day after trying for a year for a baby. she always said she would never have an abortion. if she had the chemotherapy she needed to prevent the spread of her cancer, she could harm the baby, if she didn't have it, the cancer could spread and kill her, she had two children ages 10 and 11 who could lose their mom. the supreme court decision in dobbs, ending the constitutional right to an abortion can seem like a slap in the face. if the life of a fetus is paramount, a pregnancy can mean a woman cannot get effective treatment for her cancer. one in 1,000 women who get pregnant each year are diagnosed with cancer. meaning thousands of women are facing serious, possibly fatal

diseases while expecting a baby. before the supreme court decision, a pregnant woman with cancer was entering a world with tremendous unknowns, said the chief executive office of the american society of clinical oncology. now not only the women but the hospitals and doctors that treat them are caught up in the complications of an abortion ban. if a doctor can't give a drug without the fear of harming the fetus, that is a different world. although older chemotherapy drugs are safer in the second and third, doctors are reluctant to give them to a pregnant woman. this woman decided to terminate her pregnancy, take the cancer therapy and save her life. she closes with the following statements. having gone through that grueling treatment, she wondered how she could handle have a

newborn baby and her other two children to care for. my bones ached. i couldn't walk for more than a few steps without being out of breath. it was hard to get new triants. the supreme court decision hit her hard. i feel like what i did and my life didn't matter and my children's lives didn't matter, it didn't matter if i lost my life because i was forced to be pregnant. that is the reality today. i hear my colleagues come to the floor with certain moral clarity on this issue. i learned during the course of my life, my public life, that there's not that element of certainty when it comes down to real life. to jeopardize the health, the safety and even the life of the mother in this circumstance and to leave doctors wonder if they have liability for professional medical care is something this nation should never see but we face it now and it's up to us to show leadership and come

together, i hope, and bring back the constitutional protections that have been the case for 50 years in this cannot. madam president, i yield the floor.

there's a lot we must continue working on to lower cost of the american people.

should lincoln healthcare drug costs, make sure they are lower. confirm highly qualified nominees, protect fundamental rights, fortify u.s. national security interest. none of this is easy we are moving ahead. in a few hours, the senate will take another important step toward finally passing bipartisan chips and innovation bill sykes voting to invoke cloture. after more than a year of hard work on fixing u.s. chip supplies and boosting american scientific innovation we are on the brink of closing the book passing critical investments into law. if cloture is invoked, members should plan to vote on final passage as early as tomorrow evening or wednesday. when signed into law, impacts of the bipartisan chips and innovation bill the last years if not decades. an increase in american jobs, increased manufacturing here at home, relief for our supply

chain and lower costs of the american people. of course will preserve america's security interest, one of the most important struggles of this century will be the fight for global semiconductors imply, america is lagging behind. recent article from the "wall street journal" revealed the chinese communist party is planning 31 major semiconductor fads over the next few years. a bid to become the world leader in new chip factors. american chip producers were hard to match this but waiting for congress to finish work on this bill. tens of billions of dollars, countless good paying jobs are at stake for that reason, i'm glad we are close to pushing the bill over the goal line. of course there's a lot more to celebrate. bipartisan science provision, many of which i offered in

partnership with senator young on of the endless frontier act more than two years ago, these provisions will unleash a new wave of american scientific innovation that will last and create millions of good paying jobs decades to come. we will invest tens of billions to strengthen national science foundation and plant seeds to cultivate cups of tomorrow and reasons of the country with tremendous potential but long overlooked. when we invest in science jobs, it will keep america's number one. for decades the united states was consistently lord world leader in research because we made the investments necessary to stay on top and the result was millions and millions of good paying jobs that made us the strongest economy on earth, and be of the world. in the last decade unfortunately we have slipped from our place on the mountaintop, this bill

will help us recapture that goal and dream. the 21st century will be won or lost on the battleground of technological innovation perhaps the most competitive era in human history. american workers, ingenuity shape the world over the next 100 years in the same way we've shaped in the last 100? i believe we can, i believe we must and we passed this bill, i believe we will. let's move forward today. now on healthcare reform and reconciliation, senate democrats continue work to advance legislation that will lower costs and improve lives of millions, tens of millions of american families. last week, democrats and republicans held bipartisan prescription drugs meetings with parliamentarian as a reminder this important luminary step

will clear the way for passing reforms to the reconciliation process. i want to shares biden and murray and the tireless work of their financial budget staff working round-the-clock on this important effort. if you want to fight inflation, you should support passing this much needed proposal on lowering prescription drug costs. here is why. the first time ever, it will empower medicare to negotiate prices of expensive drugs directly lowering what patients and taxpayers paid for these drugs. will cap americans out-of-pocket drug expenses to $2000 a year, medicare will offer free vaccines and support additional support for low income utterly and crucially ensure millions don't see their healthcare premiums skyrocket in the coming months. let me say it again, i say it to

colleagues across the aisle, republican colleagues if you want to help americans better afford healthcare and medication then you should support passing this bill. united states citizens average prescription drugs than any other people on earth all for the same medicines other countries use. the democrat plan will finally help change that. too many in this country, too many in this country find themselves in this indignity of having to choose between getting there prescription drugs filled and putting food on the table for their families. democrats plan will finally help change that. even as working americans struggle to afford high-quality healthcare and medication, the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies face little accountability for jacking up prices on consumers. democrat plan will help change the. for months we've heard publicans

complain and complain about the need to lower cost for american people. democrats will present the senate with a proposal to do precisely that in a big way. what will they choose and the other side of the aisle? will they work with us? too lower cost for prescription medications? lake shore up our healthcare situation and prevent devastating price hike? when they finally join us in holding big pharma accountable? this is an obligated and lowering costs for they can vote for higher costs. american people will be watching. i yield to the floor and note the form. >> for the past year end a half, democrats continually found new ways to be wrong about the u.s. economy. last spring, democrats insisted their plan to jump $1.9 trillion onto the economy would not cause

inflation. democratic leader in march of 2021, i do not think the dangers of inflation near-term are very real. the biggest risk is not going to big, it's if we go small. obviously they were entirely wrong. reckless spending is the worst inflation and 40 years ms. alvarado, teacher and mother of three explained to a reporter, here's what she said. when i say okay, we cannot buy anything this week or else we go into overdraft, my husband says no, what are you talking about? we are both working, that should not happen. well, madam president, it

shouldn't happen but that's what democrats policies have inflicted on working families in our country. every time i fill up our van, i am flabbergasted explains, i'm always worried i can postpone the mortgage by two weeks but then it becomes two more weeks and then all of a sudden they are calling you. after democrat policies that did cause inflation and moved on to their next wrong prediction, president biden admitted inflation did in fact exist but said it was expected to be temporary. that would not work out either, that was over a year ago. seven months ago early december, president biden promised inflation had peaked. wrong again, it didn't peaked in december, it just kept getting

worse, inflation is at a fresh new 40 year high last month. the same folks are preparing for yet another battle against reality. advanced gdp numbers coming out later this week, the biden administration on the latest project making an effort to redefine the word recession. white house published a whole explanation insisting even if the new data suggested our country is in recession, we actually won't be. it's almost beyond, the white house is focusing their energy on making the economy better for working families hurting, instead their priority is telling everybody things aren't as bad as they look or feel. ms. alvarado to believe

democrats spend instead of their own lying eyes. i guess the 42% of americans who say they are struggling to stay where they are financially, supposed to read the white house press release and cheer up. the same people who said inflation wouldn't happen and then said it would be transitory and then said it peaked last year are now insisting we aren't headed into a recession. draw your own conclusions. staring down the barrel of economic disaster they created, washington democrats still do appear to be pumping the brakes on the reckless agenda. the same democrats who sent our country into inflation relating our medical industry and fewer

life-saving treatments. american researchers and manufacturers are the driving force behind cutting edge treatments the entire world relies on. american innovators lead the secure terminal illnesses like parkinson's and old-timers. the entire world but in particular, the america people get first and fastest access to the latest treatments, cures and medical marvels. democrats pursue the socialism and put all of us at risk. arbitrary, top-down government price controls try out the wealth of american innovation to the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost research and development. american patients would feel the

pain. the cost of breakthrough is measured in dollars at the cost of neglecting them measured in lost years of american life. one analysis have the true cost of hemolytic of 331.5 million years. one expert says negative effects of democrats proposal on medical research would cost a collective total of 331.5 million cumulative years of life. their proposal would eventually destroy as many of american lives as there are americans to live there. two years ago cracked line up with republicans and the rest of the country to cheer the american researchers and innovators driving the race for

covid vaccine, a raised they finished in record time. e not. mr. cornyn: thank you, madam president. madam president, as i was preparing to come to the floor, i was going to say we were going to have a vote tonight to proceed to fill a major gap in our national security. although it looks like mother nature and the weather may prevent a vote tonight, and it may be tomorrow, but still, i expect in the next couple of days for us to address a major gap in our national security. more than a year and a half after the original chips act became law, we're finally approaching the finish line in the race to fund it. you may recall it was in june of 2020 that senator warner, the

senior senator, democrat, from virginia, and i introduced the chips for america act to address a frightening supply chain vulnerability when it comes to the most advanced semiconductors in the world. 90% of which come from asia. 60% come from taiwan. defense secretary lloyd austin recently wrote a letter to congressional leaders saying that funding the chips act is critical to our national defense. and last week, former secretary of state and cia director mike poi payo also -- pompeo urged congress to pass this, saying the cost on this bill pales in comparison to the cost we will suffer if we allow the chinese communist party to one day own and control access to our most critical technologies. i agree with both of these statements, one by a democrat

appointee, another by a republican appointee. chips underpin virtually all the technology that we use, that keeps us safe at home and protects our troops around the world. and for those not conversant with the role that semiconductors play, these microprocessors underpin literally everything that has an off and on switch, and obviously our dependency on that kind of technology will do nothing but increase in the days and months and years ahead. from our major military assets, like the f-35 joint strike fighter, to everyday technologist that keep our troops safe, like advanced body armor, semiconductors are key. keeping a ready and dependable supply chain of these defense assets requires a lot of semiconductors, and right now we are mainly looking to other

countries to manufacture them. as a matter of fact, the united states of america makes zero percent of the most advanced semiconductors in the world. we depend on outsourcing virtually all of the manufacturing to other countries, and produce none of them here. roughly 75% of the semiconductor manufacturing globally is concentrated in china and east asia. and 100% of the world's most advanced chip making capacity is located in only two places, taiwan and south korea. as i said, taiwan commands 92% of the world's advanced chip making, and the united states makes zero. you might wonder how did we find ourselves in this situation. well, i think it was probably the supply chain vulnerabilities that we saw from covid-19 that

called into question this assumption that just because something could be made cheaper somewhere else in the world, that that necessarily checked all the boxes. well, it does if all you're depending on is china to make toys for our children or other nonessential items. but when you're talking about the very brains behind the technology we need, ranging from our cell phone, as i said, to our most sophisticated military weapons, it does not check all the boxes to say we'll just import those from abroad, where they can be made cheaper, because that vulnerable supply chain, if disrupted, could cause not only a severe economic depression in america, but also threaten our national security directly. if access to those chips were cut off or restricted, we would be up a creek without a paddle. we couldn't produce a stockpile

of javelin missiles to supply ukraine or produce the radios-and-communications devices that keep our troops and our allies connected. that's why shoring up this domestic supply, this manufacturing capacity, is a key national security priority. and this is the best way to protect one of our most critical supply chains and ensure our military readiness will not be compromised by the people's republic of china or the chinese communitiist party. which has threatened, by the way, to invade taiwan, where the vast majority of these advanced semiconductors are made. but it wouldn't necessarily require military intervention. it could be another pandemic, it could be a natural disaster, anything that might block our access to these advanced semiconductors. while closing that national security gap is the top priority here, we can't ignore major economic consequences that this legislation will deliver as

well. while when i introduced this legislation with senator warner, from virginia, who's chairman of the senate intelligence committee, on which i also serve, our focus was on national security. obviously, many of our states will be winners when it comes to the economic consequences of this legislation as well. texas has been, for example, a long-standing leader in the semiconductor industry and is home to more than 200 chip manufacturing facilities that employ 29,000 texans. for years, our state has reaped the benefits of semiconductor manufacturing. most of these are what are called legacy chips. they're the older chips, where you're not as concerned about miniaturization or compactness or power. things that, for example, run our refrigerators, our tv sets, or other consumer electronics, or maybe even our cars.

we're already seeing the types of investments that this chips bill will finally brink. earlier this summer, texas instruments, in the metroplex in dallas fort worth broke ground on the first of four new fabs in sherman, texas, about an hour north of dallas. this is part of a $30 billion investment expected to create some 3,000 more jobs. the mayor of sherman, where this is located, in northeast texas, described it as a watershed day, noting that it's hard to have a frame of reference for a $30 billion investment in a town of 50,000 people. and sherman isn't the only town in texas preparing for a major chips boom. last fall i joined leaders from samsung, a south korean company with a large facility already in austin, texas, when they announced a $17 billion additional investment in a new chip fab in taylor, texas, just

outside of austin. that facility is expected to create 2,000 high-tech jobs and other jobs once operational, because these fabs, or manufacturing facilities, are not standalone, they are part of what ultimately will become an ecosystem of suppliers and other affiliated industries that will be built up around them, creating thousands of more jobs. but we also learned from samsung that they're not likely to stop there, if we pass this chips for america funding this week. samsung is currently considering whether to expand its investment to include 11 new chip-making facilities in central texas. if it moves forward with this plan, which again depends on our passage of this legislation this week, it could lead to nearly $200 billion in additional investments and create 10,000

jobs. i know that's tough to imree hend, the economic -- to comprehend, the economic growth and sweeping benefits with a $200 billion investment and 10,000 new jobs, but as exciting as these are, there's something even better. this is just the beginning. companies around the world are eyeing texas and the united states for new investments in chip making. applied materials, mxp semiconductors, global tech and a number of other companies are looking at building or expanding their facilities in texas or other parts of the country. global foundries, for example, is investing $1 billion to boost production in new york. intel plans to build a $20 billion facility of two fabs in ohio. and taiwan semiconductor company tsmc, as it's called, is building a $12 billion plant in

arizona. they've already broken ground on that plant, but they've made it clear that their willingness to make that investment and complete that fab will depend on our passage of the chips for america act. and once this legislation passes, i expect more good news to follow. this is not just good news for individual states but also for our national economy and our global competitiveness. madam president, we're not used to providing these kind of financial incentives to businesses, but when it costs 30% less to build these manufacturing facilities across the seas in ashah and -- asia and our access toss that supply chain is potentially jeopardizes by very real threats, it is a necessary investment for us to make, and we're seeing other places around the world providing similar incentives. for example, in the european union. but that doesn't necessarily

solve our supply chain problem. we need those jobs and that annvestment here in america for us to be truly safe and secure and to reap the economic benefits of this investment. on the economic front, this funding has the support of many groups on the outside, including the bipartisan support that i mentioned earlier. in my state, the texas association of business, the u.s. chamber of commerce, for example. we've heard from the national governors association, which is a bipartisan organization of u.s. governors. as well as the u.s. conference of mayors, which represent state and local leaders across the state -- across the country. my governor, governor abbott, called this bill an opportunity to lock even greater economic potential. so i'm proud to support this legislation. after all this time, i'll be

especially glad when the finish line is? sight -- is in sight and we cross it successfully later this week. i yield the floor. mr. sanders: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: like the senator from texas, i wish to speak about the so-called chips bill. but my perspective is, to say the least, a little bit different. to my mind, what the chips bill represents is the question of whether or not we will have priorities in this country that

represent the needs of working families and middle class or whether this institution, the entire congress, is totally beholden to wealthy and powerful corporate interests. madam president, i do not argue with anyone who makes the point that there is a global shortage in microchips and semiconductors, which is making it harder for manufacturers to produce the cars, the cell phones, the household appliances, and the electronic equipment that we need. this shortage is in fact costing american workers good-paying jobs and raising prices for families. and that is why i personally strongly support the need to expand u.s. microchip

production. but the question that we should be asking is this -- should american taxpayers provide the microchip industry with a blank check -- blank check -- of over $76 billion at the same exact time when semiconductor companies are making tens of billions of dollars in profits and paying their c.e.o.'s exorbitant compensation packages? that really is one of the questions that we should be asking, and i think the answer to that is is a resounding no. this is an enormously profitable industry. madam president, according to an associated press article that i read today, senator romney,

reflecting the views, i think, of many -- i think senator cornyn made the same point. senator romney was quoted as saying that when other countries subsidize the manufacturing of high technology chips, the united states must join the club, must join the club. if you don't play like they play, then you are not going to be manufacturing high-technology chips, and they are essential senator our national defense as well as our economy, end of quote, senator romney said. now or, i find -- now, i find the position of senator romney and others to be really quite interesting because i personally have been on this floor many, many times urging the senate to look to other countries around the world and learn from those

countries. and what i have said is that it is a bit absurd that here in the united states we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all of their people. and senator romney says, join the club. and i agree. let's join the club and not spend twice as much per capita on health care as the canadians, as the british, as the french. let's join that club and guarantee health care to all people rather than making the insurance companies billions of profits every single year. senator romney says, join the club, and i agree. we should join the club in terms of higher education. germany today and other countries around the world make sure that their young people can go to their colleges and

universities tuition-free so that they don't have to leave school $40,000, $50,000, or $1 see,000 in debt. let's join the club. let's do what germany and other countries are doing, which makes eminent sense in every sense of the world. let's guarantee the right for all of our kids, regardless of income, to get a higher education. let's join the club. heh ... and there is another club we might want to join. we're the only major country, virtually the only country on earth, that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. there are women today in the united states of america having a baby, and they will be back at work in a week because they need the income. no guarantee paid family and medical leave. there are people getting fired today because their kids are

sick. they got to make a choice whether they hang on to their job or take care of their sick kids. let's join the club. let's do what not only every major country on earth does in terms of guarantee major family and medical. but i gather the problem is that to join those clubs in terms of universal health care, in terms of paid family and medical leave, in terms of free tuition at public colleges and universities, we're going to have to take on powerful special interest, and they make campaign contributions, and that's not what the senate does. well, when it comes to joining the club with other countries giving blank checks to large corporations, that's a club that, unfortunately, many of my colleagues here feel comfortable in joining. so apparently, madam president,

when corporate america needs a blank check of $76 billion, we do what other countries are doing. madam president, there is a lot of talk about the microchip crisis facing this country, but amazingly enough, very little discussion about how we got to the where we are today. one might ask, okay, if there is a crisis, how did it happen? well, let's review some recent history. this is really quite amaze ago. over the last 20 years, the microchip industry has shut down over 780 manufacturing plants and other establishments in the united states and eliminated 150,000 american jobs while moving most of its production overseas.

and, by the way, they did that after they received a federal grant and loans much smaller than what we are talking about today. so here is the absurd situation that we're in. the crisis is caused by the industry shutting down in america and moving abroad. and today what we are doing is saying we are going to give you a blank check to undo the damage that you did. let me just give you a few examples. we don't have a whole lot of information on this. between 23010 and 2014, intel laid off approximately 1,400 workers from the rio rancho. intel laid off more than 1,000 workers in oregon between 2015 and 2016.

texas instruments outsourced 400 jobs from their houston manufacturing facility to the philippines in 2013. micron technology has repeatedly cut jobs in boise, idaho, including 1,100 in 2003, another 1,100 in 2007, 1500 in 208. and in 2009, the company stopped manufacturing some types of chips entirely. in order to make more profits, these companies took government money and used it to ship good-paying jobs abroad. now as a reward for causing the crisis that we are in, these same companies are in line to receive a massive taxpayer handout to undo the damage they did. wow, that is a heck of a policy. you bribe companies to undo the

damage that they caused. madam president, it is estimated in total that five major semiconductor companies will receive the lion's share of this taxpayer handout. intel, texas instruments, micron technology, global foundries and samsung. these five companies alone made $70 billion in profits. you know, i find it interesting -- and i've heard senators here on the floor talk about entitlements. when we help working people, when we help poor people, there are all kinds of requirements, work requirements, reporting requirements, drug testing requirements, you name the requirements when the federal government helps working people or low-income people. well, what are the requirements attached to this handout for large, profitable corporations? the answer is zero. madam president, the company

that will likely benefit the most from this taxpayer assistance is intel. in 2021, last year, intel made nearly $20 billion in profits. you know, it just does astound me, madam president. you have heard people come to the floor and say, we can't help working parents with their kids. we don't believe in those entitlement programs. we can't guarantee health care to all people. we're not a -- quote, unquote -- entitled society. but a company that last year made $20 billion in profit, they are entitled to what we estimate will be between $20 billion and $30 billion in federal funding. during the pandemic during the last several years, intel had enough money to spend $16.6 billion not on research and

development, not on building new plants in america, but an buying back its own stock to reward its executives and wealthy shareholders. so here is the absurd moment that we are in. as i mentioned a moment ago, it is estimated that intel will receive $20 billion to $30 billion in federal funding, and, yes. within the last several years, the same company spent over $16 billion on stock buybacks, and there is no guarantee in this bill that they will not -- that they and other companies who receive these grants will not continue to do stock buybacks. madam president, and this is the way a corrupt political system works, and i hope everybody understands it. over the past 20 years, intel has spent over $100 million on

lobbying and campaign contributions. that's a lot of money, $100 million, but this is what a corrupt political system is about. for $100 million in lobbying and campaign contributions, they're going to get at least $20 billion in corporate welfare. that, i would argue, is a pretty good investment, and that's what goes on here not only with the microchip industry, it goes on with the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry, the insurance industry, huge amounts of money in lobbying and campaign contributions, the pharmaceutical industry has 1 1,500 lobbyists, which is why we pay the highest in prescription drugs in the world. madam president, i find this

extraordinary, and maybe i'm the only one who does. a little over a week ago a person at intel, a man named matt gelsinger, who earns $100 million a year in compensation, not a bad salary. he did an interview on cnbc's squawk box program. and i think to listen to that interview tells us everything we need to know about oligarchy and arrogance and the state of american politics. this is what he said on tv. quote, i love this one. my message, mr. gelsinger's message to congressional leaders is, hey, if i'm not done with the job, you don't get to go home, neither should you. don't go home for august recess until you pass the chips act.

because -- now listen to this -- because i, and others in the industry, will make investment decisions. and do you want those investments in the u.s. or are we simply not competitive enough to do them here and we, the industry, need to go to europe or asia for those? get the job done. do not go home for august recess without getting these bills passed. in other words, what he is telling you pointblank is who is the puppet and who is the p -- puppup -- don't go home for the august break unless you get this done or we will go to europe or asia. that is the state of american politics. not only in america, it is

equally true in other countries also held hostage by large, multinational corporations. madam president, let us be clear. the c.e.o. of intel is saying that if you don't give his industry a $76 billion blank check, and his particular company up to $30 billion, that despite no doubt their profound love for america -- i'm sure they've got big american flags all over the place and their patriotism and their concern for the needs of the military and the health care industry, which, in fact, needs these sophisticated chips, that if we do not give them this bribe, despite their love of america and their concern about our national defense, you heard

senator cornyn talking about national defense, and he's right, this is a national defense issue, but despite all of that, all of their love for america, they're willing to go to asia and go to europe in order to make even more money. madam president, as i said last week, i am thankfully not a lawyer, but that sure sounds like extortion to me. mr. gelsinger's words sure sound like extortion. what you are saying is that if you don't give his industry $76 billion, they're out. they're not going to build in the united states and they're going to go abroad. so i have a few questions for mr. gelsinger and the other microchip c.e.o.'s. if intel and the others receive a corporate welfare check from the taxpayers of america, are they willing to commit today that they will not outsource

american jobs overseas? yes or no. if this legislation passes, will intel and the others commit today that they will not spend another penny on stock buybacks to enrich wealthy shareholders, but will instead spend that money to create jobs in the united states? if this legislation goes into effect, will intel and the others commit today that they will stay neutral and end a union organizing campaign like the one by the microchip plant in oregon, will they commit today that they will issue warrants to the federal government so that the taxpayers of america get a reasonable return on their investment? these grants are going to provide a whole lot of profit for these companies. it seems to me the taxpayers should benefit as well.

and, madam president, if intel and the others were prepared to say yes to any of these questions, i don't think that they would be lobbying against my amendment to oppose these very same conditions to this legislation. so, madam president, let me simply conclude by saying this. i worry not only about this bill, i worry about the precedent that it states, that it allows. and what the precedent is is that any company who is prepared to go abroad, who has ignored the needs of the american people will then say to the congress, hey, if you want us to stay here, you better give us a handout. we manufacture virtually all of

our lap top computers in china. we manufacture all of our -- virtually all of our cell phones in china. pass this legislation and i expect all of these guys and others will be back here and say we want for our industry what you did for the microchip industry. so the bottom line is here, yes, we need to rebuild the microchip industry in the united states, but not as a handout. let us sit down and work on intelligent industrial policies, less work on a series of agreements that protect the american taxpayers and american workers and not just wealthy stockholders. and with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. .

the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, today the senate had planned to move forward to end the debate on the bipartisan chips and in in -- innovation bill. ununfortunately a number of storms on the east coast disrupted plans of a significant number of senators. to give members a chance to get back flew town safely i'm going

to delay the vote on the bipartisan chips and innovation bill until tomorrow morning. i remain hopeful that we can remain on track to finish this legislation asap. in the meantime, i'll now file cloture on another bill that will dramatically improve the lives of millions of american veterans, the pack act which wen signed into law will be one of the biggest expansions of benefits in decades. as my colleagues know, because of a technical error, the house of representatives was unable to take up our version of this bill that we passed in the spring. the house has now fixed their error and has returned the pack act back to the senate. by filing cloture, we should be able to pass this bipartisan piece of legislation before the week is done. our nation's veterans have waited long enough to get the benefits they need to treat their complications from toxic e polish in the line of -- toxic

exposure in the line of duty. we have every reason to get this bill down with the same bipartisan support as the first time around. i want to thank senators tester and moran who led the way to pass this bill earlier this year. i thank all of our colleagues and our veterans and veterans service organizations for helping push this bill through congress. now i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture vote with respect to h.r. 4346, occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: for the information of the senate, we expect the cloture vote with respect to the chips legislation, chips and science legislation to occur around 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, tuesday, july 26. now, madam president, i have a cloture motion -- i have a

cloture motion to the motion to concur at the desk. the presiding officer: without objection, the the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur on the house amendment to s. 3373, an act to improve the iraq and afghanistan service grant and the children of fallen heroes grant signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, july 25, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 3359 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 3359, an act to provide for a system for reviewing the case files of cold

case murders at the instance of certain persons, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the matter. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the bill 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: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you, madam president. i was in the chamber and heard senator sanders' speech, is and i appreciate his passion about globalization and what he and i -- it brought back to me the memories of standing shoulder to shoulder, he in his second term, i in my first, against the north american free trade agreement. and then a few years later standing shoulder to shoulder with him in opposition to pntr,

permanent normal trade relations with china. and we know what that meant especially in my state, especially in the industrial midwest, especially in places that the presiding officer represents, places like east st. louis and downstate illinois and so much of the industrial plants that were -- steel especially east of chicago and indiana and illinois. madam president, we are on the verge of a big win for ohio, a win that will create jobs, will bring down prices, will bring home supply chains. as a kid growing up in ohio, i walked the halls of johnny appleseed jr. high school with the sons and daughters of union workers, electricians, electrical workers at westinghouse, sons and daughters of auto workers from general motors and machinists from ohio brass, carpenters and

pipe fitters and electricians who built our city and serviced these large companies. but by the time i graduated mansfield high school, from mansfield sr. high school, those plants were shutting down one after another. why? because corporate america wanted cheap labor. first they went to antiunion states in the south. a plant might shut down in mansfield or barberton, ohio, and move to alabama. a plant might shut down in shelby, ohio, or springfield, ohio, and move to georgia. a plant might shut down in toledo or in wadsworth, ohio, and move to north carolina or arkansas or virginia. they went to antiunion states. they went to antiunion states with low wages. but you know what? then those ceo's, paying themselves really, really good

incomes, you could see already then the average pay for a worker in those days when i was, i guess, in junior high school, a ceo made about -- the plant manager made about 25 times what the worker made or even a smaller proportion of that. now it's hundreds of times what workers made because 25 times what workers made just wasn't enough for a lot of these companies. so then they shut down a lot of these factories and the antiunion right to work south, and they moved to mexico. they wanted nafta passed, north america free trade agreement, so they could do it. they wanted opinion interest, normal -- pntr so they could have relations with china, all in the name of efficiency. we've got to be more efficient. that, as you know, efficiency is business-school speak for pay our workers less. those ceo's -- and some of you remember these nicknames. they earned the names of chain

saw al and john the cutter and larry the knife and neutron jack. to the ceo's themselves they may kind of like those names, but they were not bestowed on them out of respect. they were given those nicknames because they were willing always to cut the pay of workers in mansfield, ohio, or in -- and hurt those families and partially destroy those communities. they were always willing to do that. so their companies made more money and they got bigger paychecks. and all the executives in the corporate suites all did much, much better. the workers didn't. the communities didn't, but who really cared. they lobbied do think make outsourcing easier and politicians were all too happy to do their bidding. first with nafta, as i said. then permanent trade relations with china. that transformation hollowed manufacturing in ohio and parts of the presiding officer's state in illinois, throughout the midwest. and then here's where it hits us

most poignantly in our face today, ended up with too long, too from a -- fragile supply chains. my friends' parents lost their jobs and ended up in jobs making a third less or half less. but now in the communities where never, many of these communities never really recovered, these proud communities, but now everyone is paying for those decisions to go overseas and to cut, to shut plants in ohio and in the united states and go overseas. now everyone is paying with higher prices. why? a big reason for the inflation we see today is decades of offshoring our supply chains. we need to bring that production back home. that's the point -- that's what this bill is all about. investing more in america, making more in america, particularly the most critical inputs that cause the most

problems right now like semiconductors. think about that. think about these american companies. they have american -- they were founded in america, the investment, the research was done in america. but think about this technology that started in this country, was probably patented in this country, was developed by americans or immigrants to our country, but -- and got tax incentives from our country, and, but then these companies began to move offshore. and today semiconductors invented in the united states, 90% of them are made overseas. we only make 10% of semiconductors in this country country -- we make 10% of semiconductors but we make zero percent of the -- we make zero percent of the highest-end semiconductors. because these companies all thought there's more profits overseas. that's the hand we're dealt now. so over the past year, ohio

manufacturers have faced severe shortages and long waits for semiconductors. ford and gm plants in ohio forced to implement short-ranget term plant closures. ohio manufacturers rely on semiconductors, they suffer when there's a shortage. let me list some of these companies. i believe i've been in every one of these companies. ford in lima, ohio. ford, a city like mansfield where i grew up. ford in avon lake. i used to live near that plant. jeep in toledo. my wife and i drive a jeep. navi star in spring field. whirlpool in clyde. kenworth in chillicothe. g.e. in evendale, near cincinnati. sterris in mentor. new core in marion. cleveland cliffs in toledo, right across the river from

steubenville and west virginia. half the workers there ohioans. these businesses and their workers need shifts. the u.s. invented the semiconductor. we started the industry, 90% made overseas. we allowed that to happen because of the corruption of this place where people were happy to vote to give tax breaks to companies to move overseas, for whatever reason. too many presidents from trump all the way back to clinton went along with those corporate interests as those companies betrayed us and moved overseas. what has that meant today? it means higher prices, it means back orders, and it means we're all paying too much for too many plucts. -- products. the chips act is about reshoring supply chains, bringing down prices for every american. it's not enough to invent technology. we've seen it over. look at the label on any smartphone. it probably says developed in california, made in china.

developed in california, that means the invention was in california, the research was in california, with u.s. investment of tax dollars one way or the other. but then they made it in china. why? because they wanted cheap labor and they could make more money by making it in china. now they raise the price because the supply chain has spread all over the world. we get tech jobs in silicon valley but not the production jobs we need throughout the country. frankly people on the coacht don't think -- on the coast don't think a lot about what's happening on the internal part of the country. our economic security depends on a vibrant technical manufacturing. we keep doing this, it's not like these companies where the production is happening are stupid people. these are smart people too, and they're going to take our inventions and our innovation because we know so much of innovation takes place on the shop floor, they're going to

pass us with their brainpower and their innovation and their inventions. ohioans know that ideas and improvements come directly from the shop floor. that's why we were so good at it in the 40's and 50's and 60's and 70's and 80's. it's why this bill invests in our greatest asset, american innovation. it allows intel to move forward in columbus, 10,000 good paying jobs up and down the supply chain. this historic investment is going to impact far more than just central ohio. when you establish an industry like this, it has ripple effects around the state, around the region, around the country. it's not just these jobs. it's the way they attract other suppliers. they incubate talent that in turn attracts other business. the way it used to be in our country. it's just the beginning. we'll see a lot more companies create more jobs. ohioans know how to make things. we know what that means for our country. it's a decision to invest in american ingenuity, american

workers, american communities. it's a big win for ohio, a big win for our country. it's what have i've been fighting for my whole career, good-paying jobs. when you love this country you fight for the people that make it work. more manufacturing, innovation, more technology stamped made in ohio. it's how we bury the term rustbelt. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. a senator: i'd like to ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tuberville: thank you, madam president. madam president, americans across the country are canceling their vacations, watching their 401(k)'s shrink, and they're worrying about their week's grocery bill. families are making very tight budgets, and they're having to stick to them because prices have risen at historic highs. the price of ground beef is 36% higher than it was this time

last year. as much as a steak dinner this time last year, if you're buying hamburger meat. businesses are raising prices on consumers in order to make ends meet, and if the cost of basic goods and services wasn't high enough, skyrocketing prices, gas prices have driven everything even higher. this is our economic reality of now and for the future for the next few years. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and all of us need to start discussing ways to help our country and ease the economic strain. but we're for the doing that this week or next week before we go on recess. for some reason we're hatching

plans to spend more taxpayer money to pay for progressive policies and programs that might be needed but american taxpayer need help and they need it now. americans are suffering and the federal government is not doing its part to help in the economic plan. let's take a step back and talk about how our economy got to this point with record inflation. we all remember 2020. the company was humming along. and then a global pandemic hit all around our country and the world. it halted everything. it halted production. the economy was shut down. came to a screeching halt, something that none of us has ever seen. but by the end of the year the economy was showing signs of life. we were starting to open back

up, and we're starting to move around, get people back to work, and get things hopefully back to normal in the very near future. as we round the corner, our democratic colleagues who took control of the house and the senate and the white house inherited an economy that wasn't great but it wasn't getting better but instead of allowing free market forces to return us to prosperity coming out of this pandemic, president biden a in s rookie year of office was like a kid in a candy store. i can remember like it was yesterday. he decided to go on a spending spree. he unveiled a plan to pump trillions of dollars into our nation's economy in an unprecedented amount of government spending. mere months after congress passed the first covid relief

bill in december of 2020, our colleagues on the left began crafting a new bill for more federal spending in early 2021, again just a few months after the first covid relief bill was passed in december. the left disguised a litany of progressive policies and programs as pandemic relief. i'll never forget it. pandemic relief. but in reality as of now, $2 trillion, less than 9% of the bill was targeted covid rlted spending -- covid-related spending. 9%. blare summers who was president clinton's and obama's top economic adviser said the spending package, quote, set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation. he was exactly right.

but democrats pressed forward anyway. they passed their covid relief bill amounting to almost $2 trillion in spending, $2 trillion. the result? inflation began to soar. this injection of federal stimulus into an economy that was already recovering was an economic train wreck. a lot of people saw it coming, even the expert economists. production came to a screeching halt during the pandemic causing supply to plummet. democrats' efforts to pump excessive stimulus into the economy caused demand to skyrocket. in short supply went down and demand went up. the result of low supply and high demand has been the worst inflation our nation has seen in

decades. despite prik's treasury -- president biden's treasury secretary said the inflation spike would just be temporary, prices continue to climb. and despite the very real, clear evidence that their spending was the cause, democrats moved into the fall of last year engaged in discussion of even spending more. november 2021 majority leader schumer said, quote, want to fight inflation? then support build back better, referring to the name of their next massive spending package. our democrat colleagues -- rising prices saying they were a result of corporate greed. president biden claimed quote, inflation has everything to do with the supply chain, but he made no mention, no mention of

all the millions and billions of dollars that he had just spent. our colleagues on the left pointed fingers at everything but themselves in their reckless spending agenda. and now democrats are trying to tell americans that they will lower consumer prices by increasing government spending again and again that makes no sense. it makes zero sense. no economic sense. yes, as our country is under increasing economic stress, democrats are reviving talks to spend more, which will further increase inflation. so let's be clear on this. this did not work last year and it's not going to work now. spending more taxpayer dollars on progressive policies is not

the answer. it wasn't the answer last year. it's not going to be the answer this year, and it's going to cause inflation to even go up higher. senate democrats attempt to rebrand what was once known as build back better is a last-minute amendment to deliver on failed far-left policy priorities before folks head on home and back to the ballot box in november. this is president biden's last-ditch effort to enact his administration's social priorities. make no mistake, democrats are trying to put lipstick on a pig and have a working class -- have working class americans pay the price. it should be telling to every american that the administration does not think of how they can help but how they can hide. how they can try to hide behind a blame game and convince you, the american taxpayer, the

american people that your economic pain is caused by something other than their actions. the buck stops here in this room, not anywhere else. how they want to remake the country into a social state and have the taxpayer foot the bill is the direct we're headed. i can say this more plainly. raising taxes to enact a liberal wish list in the face of a potential recession is a very, very bad idea. americans and businesses would be forced to bear the brunt of billions of dollars in new spending which would be paid by raising taxes. for six months in a row, main street businesses have faced double-digit inflation causing optimism to plummet to the lowest point in nearly 50 years. president biden recently boasted

that his spending was, quote, changing people's lives. the president left out that it was changing people's lives not for the better but for the worst. americans, my colleagues, are struggling all over this cou country, they're struggling. families are using their savings to pay for basic bills. would-be retirees are delaying their retirement after they've watched tens of thousands of dollars vanish from their retirement accounts. farmers, family farms are shouldering the burden of rising import costs like feed and fertilizer. we have worse things coming if this continues to happen to our farmers. small businesses are losing profits and making unwanted layoffs to stay afloat. we're going to lose a lot of

small businesses and small businesses made the united states of america. if democrats pass their reconciliation bill, nearly 62% of alabama's small businesses and one million employees will be at risk of tax increases that they cannot handle in this inflation. i've been hearing from small businesses and small business owners across my state every day. they're worried about their livelihoods and are threatened by the economic policies of this administration. let's find ways to bring inflation down, not find ways to take inflation up, and that's exactly what we're doing in this chamber. one business owner in alabama told me his earnings had gone down this year 50% to 60%.

it is truly astounding how the democrats can look at their constituents in the face and say now is a good time to inject more spending into the economy just so they can pay for more progressive policies. it is absolutely absurd. they're expecting blank checks to be paid and be paid for by hardworking american taxpayers. they can't afford it. we're out of money. we're broke. and we need to quit spending the taxpayers' money. president biden and the democrats are putting their agenda above the best interest of the american people, and it's cruel. the solution to this mess, this huge mess that we've gotten into,s solution to this is to cut taxes, cut regulations, and

cut spending, just the opposite of what the democrats are trying to do. just the opposite. to change americans' lives for the better, democrats should abandon any, any discussion of another tax or another spending spree. americans have had enough. they've had enough of this. they want the american people in this country to survive, and they want us to quit spending money. it's time for us to listen to the people that own this country and not the federal government who thinks they own this country. i yield my time.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: madam president, just last night u.s. navy lieutenant rich alconis was forced to leave his wife and three children and report to a japanese prison, an american serviceman had to explain to his children that although he had done absolutely nothing wrong, he had to leave them. and he had to leave them to be incarcerated in a prison on foreign soil for three whole years. a prison inside a land that he'd been asked to serve in by his country to protect that country, and now he's in prison in that country having been ordered to prison by that country, even though he had done nothing wrong. while serving his country in

japan, lieutenant alconis, a man who loves the country of japan, who has spent years there, who had spent years there many years before the u.s. navy had assigned him to serve in japan. he served there for two years in a missionary. he learned the lapping. both as a missionary and a member of the united states navy. he's continued his acts of community service in every community where he's lid and served. he is a model, upstanding citizen in every respect. he is a decent, kind, intelligent, hardworking officer and a loving husband and father. it was while serving in japan that he was involved in a car citizens. it was a car accident that resulted from a tragic, unforeseeable, unforeseen medical emergency. now, that accident left two people dead.

i speak sincerely when i say that my deepest sympathies go out to the victims of that accident, along with their families and their friends and their loved ones. i can't begin to imagine their sense of loss and confusion and hurt and even anger associated with the horrific accident. it's important to note, however, that this was in fact an accident. in mo way, shape -- in no, way, shape, or form do the facts of the case suggest otherwise. quite to the contrary. all of the facts in evidence indicate that this is what happened. and yet the japanese court continues to insist that lieutenant alconis somehow had some culpability, that he did something wrong. they continue to float the false narrative that he fell asleep

while driving as a result of his own carelessness or negligence. that simply not true. the accident occurred at 1:00 p.m. a little over a year ago. at 1:00 p.m. in broad daylight. lieutenant alconis was well rested and had no reason to be tired ordurous subsidy. being, he was -- or drowsy. in fact, he was having a conversation with his daughter when he passed out mid-sentence. he remained unconscience despite his daughter's repeated attempts to yell, scream, and kick the seat. alconis did not wake in response to his daughter's cries, nor did he wake even upon impact when the accident occurs. no matter how deep a sleeper, anyone would be awakened by either of these events.

but he didn't. he remained unconscious even after the collision. now, madam president, it's important to note that eyewitnesses reported that lieutenant alconis' color had drained from his face, which is precisely consistent with what would happen with someone who has suffered from a sincople episode like this one. he was too weak to even open his car door after he finally regained consciousness in the wake of the accident. it is simply disingenuous that judge komiko wasala would offer such a simplistic view by stating that alconis should have pulled over if he felt drowsy. it flies in the face of the evidence and the experience of everyone at the scene, including and especially his family who were present at the time.

the comments are even more egregious considering the fact that the japanese authorities didn't even so much as bother to conduct a thorough investigation into the medical event following the crash. they appear to have been willfully inclined to disregard pretty clear indications of a medical emergency. apparently it wasn't what they wanted to find, so they didn't find it, so they didn't conduct the thorough investigation needed to be conducted. he was even denied a medical evaluation before the japanese police subjected him to 26 days of rigorous detention and custodial interrogation, before he was so much as charged. this is not how friends treat each other. this is not how one friendly nation treats another nation. when one nation sends its best

and its brightest and its bravest, including people like lieutenant rich alconis, to go and fight and protect that country, that's not how we treat each other as nations. the united states navy did conduct an investigation, the same kind of investigation that should have been conducted by the japanese authorities, but the japanese authorities didn't conduct. and in that investigation, the u.s. navy, very thorough in its approach, concluded that lieutenant alconis in fact lost consciousness. and the loss of consciousness was attributed in that thor reinvestigation to -- thorough investigation to something known ras acute mountain sickness. there were no drugs in his system. there was no alcohol in his system. nothing like that had anything to do with this crash. and yet even after the nest

concluded that he was not -- and yet even after the navy concluded that he was not at fault, even after lieutenant alconis did everything to remedy the situation, being the brave, patriotic, loving american he is, he was heartbroken that an accident had occurred, that he was involved in it and that two people had lost their lives. you know, there is a tradition in the japanese culture, a tradition that's in so many respects admirable. it's known as the gomenesai tradition. when something awful happens, there is an attempt made by those involved in the incident resulting in loss to go to the family, the loved ones of the deceased, and to offer something to offset it. we may think of it in rough

terms here as the crude approximation of restitution. it is not exactly that. but it's a significant profound gesture of remorse, of the fact that the incident happened at all the. in fact, he paid over $1.5 million to the victims' families. more than what would ordinary be consistent -- considered custom mary within the gomenesai tradition. he's expressed deep and sincere remorse. and despite all of this, despite all of his efforts through the gomenesai process, despite the deep remorse and despite the noble, unblemished record of distinguished service to the united states navy and to japan,

despite using every resource at his disposal to make things right, he's still in prison. madam president, i find it nothing short of inexcusable that will an american who experienced a medical emergency should be treated so poorly by an allied nation that he's protecting. japanese nationals convicted of the same crime are routinely granted leaniouscy. in fact -- leniency. in fact, 95% of similarly charged defendants get a suspended sentence. meaning even if they're charge add, even if they're convicted, 95% of them don't actually have to do prison time because their sentence has been suspended. now, clearly the japanese judicial system is trying to make an example of lieutenant

alkonis, perhaps stemming from aer who of disputes -- stemming from a history of disputes from our status. he is being targeted because he is an american as because he was in the unfortunate position of having suffered a med emergency that resulted in -- a medical emergency that resulted in tragedy. but this, madam president, is no way for a friendly nation to treat a friendly nation. these conversations are difficult because we've got a great relationship with japan. we've been allies for a long time. we've had a good relationship under our status of forces agreement. and so these conversations are difficult. but not in spite of the fact that our nations are friendly but because they are friendly, we need to have difficult

conversations, just as sometimes it's only a friend who can approach a friend and speak the truth. how, i would ask, can we possibly ensure justice for the thousands of american men and women who serve our country abroad when they face prejudice because of their status as americans and as american servicemen and servicewomen. lieutenant alkonis represents our best, our very best, the best of the best. if our servicemembers cannot gate fair treatment -- can't get fair treatment from the country they've been tasked to defend, especially those who like lieutenant alkonis represent the very best of the ideals of the united states navy, then maybe it is time to revisit key portions of our status of forces

agreement with japan. if their due process protections aren't sufficient to protect someone like lieutenant alkonis, to make sure that he has an adequate opportunity to build his case, to prepare to meet his accusers, to gather exculpatory evidence, then something is wrong with the status of forces agreement. i'm still not entirely convinced -- not at all -- that there weren't violations of the status of violations force agreement. but we need to reopen them because this is too high a price to pay. we're not -- we're willing to make sure that there are consequences to people who

disobey a law, who engage in bad behavior on foreign land, but to have a situation like this one where someone, through no fault of his own, just as a result of a tragic medical emergency of which he had no prior warning whatsoever, to have him sent to prison for three years, bereft of his friends, his family, his career that he so deeply loved, his children to whom he is everything, this is wrong, madam president. we deserve better than this from an allied nation, especially a nation with which we have such a genuinely good relationship, as we do with japan. and so -- look, i sincerely hope and pray that ambassador emanuel and secretary blinken and the department of defense will

immediately take every step possible to negotiate with their japanese counterparts and bring ridge home. i call upon the president of the united states to intervene directly with his counterpart and bring ridge home. i call upon all sympathetic ears within the sound of my voice to plead not only with decision-makers in japan but with almighty god to bring ridge home. we need that to happen. it's not just about ridge alkonis and his family. it's about the security and confidence needed by every service family in the american armed forces deployed whether in japan or anywhere else. they need to know that we've got their backs. they need to know that while

their on the service of the united states of america, we'll watch out for them and that when a foreign country makes a tragic mistake, as they've done here, we'll continue to advocate for them until we bring them home. madam president, i call on my colleagues to join me in the effort to bring ridge home. madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i come to the -- the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: i come to the senate floor once again this evening to talk about the brutal and illegal unjustified invasion of ukraine by russia and what we can do, what more we can do here in this chamber and in this congress to be able to help the people of ukraine. this is the updated map that tells the story of what's going on on the battlefield.

you can see this light blue color here indicates that the ukrainian forces are on the move and making progress, but in the meantime, russia back in 2014 took crimea, part of the donbas. now they've taken more of that territory. so the fighting that we'll talk about tonight that is most fierce is taking place here in the east and now increasingly here in the south. this is where the battlefield is, but that's not the only place that things are happening. remember this is a country, ukraine, that just wants to live in peace with its neighbors. it has no interest in war. and this is russia's assault on that country starting in 2014 and now this larger assault. but it's not just here in this battlefield. russia is actually sending missiles into the heart of ukraine. you see this town here,

vinnytsia. this is where recently a missile exploded killing civilians, children. last week i talked about lie today, -- liza, a young girl would was killed in that bombing. so every place in ukraine is subject to this kind of bombing. we've heard -- we've seen it in kiev and other towns all throughout ukraine. another part of this brutal assault on ukraine has to do with blocking the ports so here's odessa. this is the largest port but there are several ports along here that have been blocked by the russians. so the russian navy is not allowing exports from ukraine to be sent to the rest of the world. this, of course, is hurting ukraine's economy which is the whole idea, but it's also preventing the export of millions of tons of grain which is creating a global food crisis, threatening the lives of

millions of people around the world, particularly in africa where they rely heavily on ukrainian grains coming out of these ports. after weeks of discussions, really the last couple of mo months, finally on friday ukraine, russia, turkey, and the united nations agreed to facilitate the export of ukrainian grain. according to the u.n. secretary-general gutierrez who has been working on this for months, this provides, quote, a glimmer of hope in alleviating the global food security crisis. one part of the agreement that was reached in turkey was that russia would not attack facilities in these ukrainian facilities, specifically the agreement prohibited any attacks against merchant vehicles and other civilian vessels and port facilities engaged in the export. ukrainian -- export of ukrainian

products. there was an agreement and a specific agreement not to attack civilian vessels, port facilities that were involved in export. the ink was quite literally barely dry when russia violated the terms of that agreement. within 24 hours the russians fired four missiles at ukraine's largest port odessa which again is critical to exporting grain from ukraine. by striking the port infrastructure, they violated the agreement right after signing it. here's the port. you can see the damage that was caused. there were actually four missiles fired if warships into odessa. two were intercepted by antiaircraft weaponry, thank god, but two destroyed part of odessa's port infrastructure therefore violating the agreement. i guess we all learned that russia can't be trusted so we

shouldn't be surprised but violating its international obligations less than 24 hours after agreeing to them may be a new low. oksana markarova who is behalf to the united states put it well this weekend. we would do everything to perform part of our day. when russia is violating it, they are clearly showing who they are and that needs to be stopped. she went further and said, everything russia is doing in ukraine is a violation of pretty much every international law, attacking a sovereign country, it's a war crime. end quote. she's right. ambassador brink, our ambassador to ukraine criticized russia for this brazen attack. she said and i quote, the kremlin continues to weaponize food. russia must be held accountable. end quote. i've talked before on this floor about the specific russian attacks on the grain bins in odessa and other port cities where they literally targeted food that is supposed to go to starving people.

president putin believes this global food and energy security crisis, the two crises are to his advantage. he's seeking to pressure energy dependent europeans and pressure countries which rely on ukrainian grain to join him in forcing ukraine to surrender. fortunately it's not working. countries in the region in fact are rallying around ukraine more than ever. why? because they know they could be next. vladimir putin has said his ambition is to fully restore the borders of the old russian gwire and in recent years he has -- russian empire and in recent years he has learned the lesson that the west may not stand in his way. few global leaders stood in his way when he invaded georgia, a country that tips to be, in part, occupied by the russians. that was in2008.

and enough stood up to him in 2018 when we saw in this previous map russia invaded and took over crimea and parts of the donbas. when it comes to 2022, it's been different so far. and we should commend all those countries that have stood up and stood with with us. we now have a chance to actually stop this assault, to stop what russia has been doing, and to teach them a different lesson, to protect ukraine and other countries in the region that russia may have set its sights on. the free world has rallied. freedom-loving countries, almost 50 from around the world, have come to ukraine's aid. specifically, over 42 of them have provided military assistance. others have provided humanitarian aid by way of food and nutrition and economic help. the weapons that have been provided have made it easier for

ukraine to defend itself, to take out some of the russian artillery that was sitting back and firing on the ukrainian positions with immunity because it was so far back the ukrainian artillery couldn't reach t the new weapons have been helpful in dealing with that. the u.s. has provided ukraine with a specific weapon to help in that regard called the high-mobility system is or himars. they allowed the ukrainian to be on the offensive. i commend the administration for sending ukraine four more himar systems. that's good. but they need more. what the analysts suggest is they need 40 or 50 just to be able to push the russians back. officials in ukraine have made

the need for these systems aware. i was hearing it directly from the ukrainians, from their military experts. it took us a while, but it turns out the ukrainians were right. these systems are effective. general mark milley, who is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has said that they are steadily degrading the russian's troops to carry out their illegal war of aggression, end quote. that's from general milley. the ukrainians are an effective force when they were armed with the right weapons. officials have said with the help of himars, ukraine has taken out russian command posts, air defense sights, and long-range artillery positions. these are all high-value targets and destroying them has saved ukrainian lives and saved some of the shelling of ukrainian cities.

there also seems to be some progress in sending ukraine other tools to help them fight, particularly in the air. the u.s. air force top general hinted last week that ukraine might get fourth-generation fighter jets from the united states horse other allies and he left open the option to train ukrainians on how to use them. these fourth-generation fighter jets could include u.s. f-16's, the rafel from france and the ute euro fighter. some of the strikes have c.b.p. from the air. earlier in the war there were many who talked about creating a no-fly zone. that never happened. nato was not willing to move forward with a no-fly zone. but by providing ukraine with advanced aircraft, they could impose their own no-fly zone over critical areas of the country.

two weeks ago i sent a letter to secretary of defense austin and to general milley urging them to expedite as soon as ukraine including necessary flight training. the reason we cloud that in our -- we included that in our bipartisan letter is because we had heard from ukrainian fighter pilots who came over here several weeks ago and met with us. i'm the cofounder, cochair of the ukrainian caucus. it was very powerful to hear their words. they said they know how to fly these planes and with regard to the details, they could learn them quickly and it would make a huge difference. it has made a huge difference with what they have, which are aging soviet aircraft, migs, and not enough of them. but we've got to move quickly if we do that because we've got to keep russia from gaining more ground. we've got to save more lives. training ukrainian pilots will take some time. as we've seen, even a day delay can mean the difference between

life and death. so let's get started. there's also the battle being waged on energy, and that is in a sense just as important as what's happening on the battlefront. why? because russia gets its funds from energy receipts. that's what's funding the war machine. and they continue to leverage europe's dependency on their oil and gas as a political and economic weapon. this is plainly seen as president putin continues to play games with the gas supply. europe depends on russia for 20% of its natural gas imports. that's down from 40% last year. so a significant reduction, reducing by half their dependency. but with regard to that 20%, president putin is tightening his grip and retaining his leverage by decreasing supplies, by driving prices upward and lining his war chest even further. by the way, his attempts to divide nato have not worked.

over russian objections, nato will soon be expanding rather than dividing, or contracting. instead of splintering, last tuesday i was proud to vote to advance the ratification of two more applications. adding these nations into the fold will only strengthen us. i agree. finland, by the way you has the european union's longest border with russia and has a very capable air force and other parts a much of its military. they have yesterday their defense spending by 70% and sweeped is targeting military spending at 2% of g.d.p. as soon as possible. already possesses an innovative defense industries. in fact, the swedish weapons that are in the market today are

some of the most advanced. adding sweden and finland will strengthen the arctic region and the baltic sea. i learned a little while ago that we're going to vote on their applications here on the national floor this week or next week. that's great news. i hope my completion will join me in a -- i hope my colleagues will join me in a prompt and strong support. this is one thing that will bring this congress together because this is in all of our interests. in nato's interests, america's interests, and certainly in ukraine's interests. it is a clearwater demonstration to ukraine that -- it is a clear demonstration that the alliance will continue to welcome applicant countries. i believe nato should begin that process with ukraine. entering the membership action plan. this plan provides a formal road map for nato membership that is

long overdue. we need to show ukraine the world stands with them. and nato is a defensive alliance. nato is about protecting countries in the region. last week congress had the privilege to hear from someone who knows how critically important it is that we stand with ukraine right now. we heard from olena zalenskment. she gave a speech to the congress about the horrors of the war and the desperate need nor weapons. she paint add picture of life in ukraine right now. removing words about her own family and the effects this war has etched in the memory of ukraine's children i thought was particularly poignant. she said ukraine needs weapons to wage a war not on somebody

else's land but to wake up alive in that home. to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home. that's what this is about. in a tv interview during her visit, she talked about the trauma children have neighed and said she hopes their childhood can be given back to them at some point. she said, before the war, my 9-year-old son used to go to folk dance ensemble. he played piano, learned english, attended sports club. now the only thing he wants to do is martial arts and learn how to use a rival, end quote. -- rifle, end quote. that's a 9-year-old boy. at the polish border and the moll doven border, i have had the opportunity to visit with refugees as they've come across from ukraine. it's all women and children, grandmothers, mothers, aunts, the men staying behind to fight.

this war is taking away these kids' childhoods and replacing them with war-torn memories. those children who fled ukraine in the early stages of the war are now growing up making friends and going to school in foreign countries. 7 million or 8 million ukrainians left their country. those who stayed in ukraine are in constant fear that the next russian missile may hit their home, their town, their city. many will never have the opportunity to get their childhood back. first lady olena addressed the mental health impacts. although underreported in most media outlets, russia has forcibly deported millions of ukrainians to russia or russian-controlled territory in

the donbas, including hundreds of thousands of children. once outside ukrainian territory, these children are taught to be russian, not ukrainian, in an attempt by russia to wipe out the cultural identity of ukrainians. combined with russia's consistent denial of ukrainian nationhood and identity, these acts must be acknowledged for what they are -- genocide. it is important that the united states and the rest of the world recognize these acts as such. that's one reason why the portland must call out russia for what is happening in ukraine. last thursday knife senate colleagues and i joined senator risch in introducing a bipartisan resolution condemning russia's actions in ukraine as genocide. i know genocide is a really powerful word. it's got a long history and serious implications. many people are understandably

hesitant to use it. and the facts and russia's atrocities are clearly genocide. article 2 of the convention on the prevention and punishment of crime of genocide defines it as any of several acts, quote, committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, religious be, or racial group. two of the acts are killing members of the group and causing bodily or mental harm to members of the group. only one of those criteria is necessary for genocide. russia all too clearly fits all of these parts a of the definition of genocide. its forces have killed and wounded innocent civilians all across ukraine. last week i spoke about little liza. that is the aftermath of the bombing in vinnytsya. i've also heard with the target practice that russian soldiers have bragged about that they did

in sievierodonetsk. and buca, russian forces massacred civilians, some with hands tied behind their backs. this included 31 children and the mental toll of this war has been extreme. our senate resolution also includes a clause about my resolution commemorating the anniversary of the soviet union's famine genocide against ukraine from 1992 to 1933. unfortunately, russia has aer history of committing genocide against the people of ukraine. and that continues to this day. the world needs to let the kremlin official knows we see the war crimes being committed and they are being recorded. perhaps that would have some sort of effect on what actions

they take. the trickle-down effect of this war is heartwrenching. we've all seen the images, the videos on social media of innocent civilians caught in the cross fire. not only that, it's what this war has created, the countless children who are now orphans. i've talked about this in the past, but according to under secretary of state victoria newland, russia makes orphans, then steals them, up to 1,000 ukrainian kids, stolen, taken and given to russian families to potentially never be found by their families, end quote. that's very concerning. let me say that again. she's saying that russia takes these orphans and steals them, gives them to russian families, to potentially never be found by their ukrainian families. so, there are all these young

boys and young girls who watch their fathers and brothers and uncles, sometimes their moms, go to war. many to never come back home. there are young boys like ms. zelenskyy's son, a 9-year-old who wants to be a soldier. there are the children who will never be with their family in ukraine again. that's where we are today, a merciless authoritarian who needs to flex his power against a nation that just wants to live peacefully. nothing more than to live in peace with their neighbors. this is a struggle between freedom and democracy and self-determination, on the one hand, and aggression and conquest and tyranny, authoritarianism, on the other our choice is clear. at this critical juncture, let's continue to work with our allies to provide ukraine with what they need to protect that homeland, to defend that

democracy. we need to help ukraine, and we need to do more, and we need to do it now. we need to move quickly. we need to live up to these important words from ukraine's first lady last week, when she was here in the congress talking to us. she said, and i quote, while russia kills, america saves, end quote. let's continue to save. let's continue to save lives every day, and let's save our democratic ally, ukraine, a proud nation that is simply fighting for its survival. thank you, and i yield the floor.

i majority leader chuck schumer and set up a procedure about for later this week on a measure expanding health benefits for

veterans, exposed to toxic burn pits. that bill was passed by the senate last month requiring senators to vote again. next fill a nature gap in our security. when finally approaching the finish line and found it. june 2020 senator warner the senior senator, democrat from virginia and i introduced the chips for america act to address

a frightening supply chain vulnerability when it comes to the most advanced semi conductors in the world. 90% of which come from asia. 50% come from taiwan. defense secretary austin wrote a letter to congressional leaders saying funding the chips act is critical to our national defense. and last week former secretary of state and cia director mike pompeo also urged congress to pass this funding sang the cost of compromise on this bill, pales in comparison to the cost we will suffer if we allow the chinese communist party to one day own and control access to our most critical technologies. i agreed both of these statements. one by a democrat appointee, another by a republican

appointee. chips underpin virtually all the technology that we use, that keeps us safe at home and protects our troops around the world. and for those not with the role semi conductors play, these microprocessors underpin literally everything that hasn't often on switch. obviously our dependency on that kind of technology will do nothing but increase the days, months, and years ahead. from our major military assets like the f35 joint strike fighter to everyday technologies that keep our troops safe like advanced body armor, semi conductors are key. keeping a ready and dependable supply chain of these defense assets require a lot of semi conductors. right now we are mainly looking to other countries to manufacture them.

as a matter of fact, the united state of america makes 0% of the most advanced semi conductors in the world. we depend on outsourcing virtually all of the manufacturing to other countries. unproduced none of them here. roughly 75% of the semiconductor manufacturing globally is concentrated in china and east asia. one had a% of the world's most advanced chipmaking capacity is located only two places, taiwan and south korea. as a said, taiwan commands 92% of the worlds advanced chipmaking. in the united states makes zero. i wonder how did we find ourselves in the situation? i think it was probably the supply chain vulnerabilities that we saw from covid-19 that called into question this

assumption not just because something can be made cheaper somewhere else in the world, that necessarily checked all of the boxes. it does up all your depending on his china to make toys for our children or other nonessential items. but when you are talking about the very brains behind the technology we need ranging from our cell phone, as i said to her most sophisticated military weapons that does not check all the boxes to say we will just import those from abroad where they can be made cheaper. that foldable supply chain, if disrupted could because not only is severe economic depression in america, but also threaten our national security directly. i've access those chips were cut off or restricted would be up a creek without a paddle but we could not produce a stockpile of javelin missile to supply

ukraine or produce the radios and communications devices to keep our troops and our allies connected. that is why shoring up this domestic supply, this manufacturing capacity is the key to national security priority. this is the best way to protect one of our most critical supply chains and ensure our military readiness will not be compromised by the people's republic of china or the chinese communist party. which is threatened, by the way, to threaten taiwan for the vast majorities of these advanced semi conductors are made. but it would not necessarily require military intervention but could be another pandemic. i could be a natural disaster but anything that might block our access to these advanced semi conductors. will close in the national security gap is a top priority here, we cannot ignore major economic consequences this legislation will deliver as well. when i introduced this

legislation with senator warner from virginia who is chairman of the senate intelligence committee on which i also serve, our focus was on national security. obviously many of our states will be winners when it comes to the economic consequences of this legislation i was well. texas has been a long-standing leader in the semiconductor industry at his home to more most of these are called legacy chips. you're not about miniaturization or power, things for example run our refrigerators or tv sets, or other consumer electronics. or maybe even our cars. we are already seeing the types of investments this chips bill

will finally bring. the summer at texas instruments in the metroplex in dallas, fort worth broke ground on the first of 4-inch sherman, texas about an hour north of dallas. this is part of a 30 billion-dollar investment that is expected to create some 3000 more jobs. the mayor of sherman where this is located in northeast texas described it as watershed day. noting it's hard to have a frame of reference for $30 billion investment in a town of 50000 people. sherman is not the only town in texas preparing for a major chips boom. last fall i joined leaders from samsung a south korean company with a large facility already in austin, texas. they announce a $17 billion additional investment in a new chip fab in taylor, texas just

outside of austin. that facility is expected to directly create more than 2000 high-tech jobs as well as thousands of other related jobs once it is operational. because these fabs are manufacturing facilities are not standalone's. they're portable ultimately become an ecosystem of suppliers and other affiliated industries that would built up around them creating thousands more jobs. but we also learn from samsung they are not likely to stop there if we pass this chips for america funding this week. samsung is currently considering whether to expand its investment to include 11 new chipmaking facilities in central texas. if it moves forward with this plan, which again depends on her passage of this legislation this week, it could lead to nearly $200 billion in additional investments and create 10,000 jobs.

i know that's tough to comprehend the economic growth and sweeping benefits of a come of the 200 billion-dollar investment in 10,000 new jobs, but as exciting as these potential investments are, there is something even better. this is just the beginning paired companies around the world are on texas and the united states for new investment and chipmaking. applied materials and beyond. global tech building or expanding their facilities in texas or other parts of the country? global foundries is a billion dollars to produce production in new york. intel plans to build a 20 billion-dollar facility to fabs in ohio. in taiwan semi conductor company is building a 12 billion-dollar plant in arizona. they've already broken ground on that plant.

but they have made it clear their willingness to make that investment and complete that fabric will depend on our passage of the chips for america act. what's this legislation passes i expect more good news to follow. this is not just good news for our individual states but for our national economy and our global competitiveness. madam president, we are not used to providing these kind of financial incentives to businesses, but when it cost 30% less to build these manufacturing across the seas in asia and our access to that supply chain is jeopardized by very real threats seeing other places around the world providing similar incentives. for example in the european union, but that does not necessarily solve our supply chain problem.

we need those jobs in that investment here in america for us to be truly safe and secure and reap the economic benefits of this investment. on the economic front this funding has a support of many groups on the outside including the bipartisan support that i mentioned earlier. and at my state the texas association of business, the u.s. chamber of commerce, for example we have urged the national governors association which is in the bipartisan organization of u.s. governors as well as the u.s. conference of mayors, which represent state and local leaders across the state, across the country. my governor, governor abbott called this billet opportunity for even greater economic potential. i am proud to support this legislation. after all this time will be especially glad when the finish line is in sight and we cross it

successfully later this week. i yield the floor. madam president. quick senator from vermont. >> like the senator from texas, i wish to speak about the so-called chips bill. my perspective is to say the least a little bit different. to my mind, but the chips bill represents is the question of whether or not we will have priorities in this country that represent the needs of working

families in the middle class or whether this institution, the entire congress is totally beholding to wealthy and powerful corporate interest. madam president, i do not argue with anyone who makes the point that there is a global shortage in microchips and semi conductors, which is making it harder for manufacturers to produce the cars, the cell phones, the household appliances, and the electronic equipment that we need. this shortage is in fact costing american workers good paying jobs and raising prices for families. that is why i personally strongly support the need to expand u.s. microchip production. but the question that we should

be asking, is this. should american taxpayers provide the microchip industry with a blank check, blank check of over $76 billion at the same exact time when semi conductor are making tens of billions of dollars in profits and paying their ceos exorbitant compensation packages. that is one of the questions we should be asking. and i think the answer to that is a resounding no. this is an enormously profitable industry. madam president, according to associated press article that i read today, senator romney reflecting the views i think of

many i think senator cornyn made the same point. senator romney was quoted as saying when other countries subsidize the manufacturing of high-technology chips the united states must join the club. not many manufacturing high-technology chips as well as our economy and of quote senator romney says. now, i find the position of senator romney and others to be really quite interesting. because i personally have been on this floor many, many times urging the senate to look to other countries around the world and learn from those countries. in what i had said is it is a

bit absurd that here in the united states we are the only major country on earth join the club and i agree let's join the club not spent quite as much as cap the as healthcare as the canadians, as the british, as the french, let's join that club and guarantee healthcare to all people rather making the insurance companies billions in profits every single year. senator romney says join the club. and i agree. we should join the club in terms of higher education. today, and other countries around the world make sure their young people can go to the colleges and universities to

they do not have to leave school at 40, 50, or $100,000 in debt. let's join the club. let's do it germany and other countries are doing which are making imminent sense in every sense of the world. let's guarantee the right of all of our kids regardless of their income to get a higher education. let's join the club. there is another club that i think we might want to join among many others. we are the only major country virtually only country on earth that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. there are women today in the united states of america having a baby and they'll be back at work in a week because they need the income. no guaranteed paid family and medical leave. there are people getting fired today because their kids are sick for they have to make a choice whether they hang onto their job or take care of their

sick kids. let's join the club. let's do would not only every major country on earth does in terms of guaranteeing paid family and medical but virtually all countries including some of the poorest in the world do. the problem is, to join those clubs in terms of universal healthcare, in terms of paid family medical leave, in terms of free tuition and colleges and universities were going to have to take on powerful special interests and they make contributions, that is of the senate does. but when it comes to join the club with other countries giving blank checks to large corporations, that is the club that unfortunately many of my colleagues feel comfortable in joining. so apparently, madam president, when corporate america needs a blank check of $76 billion, we

do it other countries are doing. madam president, there is a lot of talk about the microchip crisis facing this country. but amazingly enough, very little discussion about how we got to where we are today. one might ask if there is a crisis, how did it happen? well, let's review some recent history. this is really quite amazing. over the last 20 years, the microchip industry has shut down over 780 manufacturing plants and other establishments in the united states and eliminated 150,000 american jobs while moving most of its production overseas. and by the way, they did that after they received state

federal grant and loans much more than what were talking about today. so, here is the absurd situation we are in. the crisis is caused by the industry shutting down in america and moving abroad. in today what we are doing is saying we are going to give you a blank check to undo the damage that you did. let me give you a few examples but we do not have a whole lot of information on this. between 2010 and 2014 intel laid out for proximally 1400 workers from the new mexico chip facility and offshore at 1000 jobs to israel. according to the oregon bureau of labor and industry laid off more than a thousand workers in oregon between 2015 and 16. texas instruments outsourced 400

jobs from their houston manufacturing facility to the philippines in 2013. micron technology has repeatedly cut jobs in boise, idaho including 1100 into house and three. another 11002007, 1,502,008, and in 2009, the company stopped manufacturing some types of chips entirely and laid off 2000 workers. in other words, in order to make more profits these companies took government money and use it to ship good paying jobs abroad. now, as a reward for causing the crisis that we are in, these same companies are in line to receive a massive tax handout to undo the damage that they did, wow. that is a heckuva policy. you bribe companies to undo the damage that they caused.

madam president, it is estimated in toto that five major semiconductor companies will receive the lion's share of this taxpayer handout intel, texas instruments, global foundries, and samsung. these five companies alone made it $70 billion in profits. i find it interesting, i have heard senators here on the floor talk about entitlements. when we help working people, we help poor people there all kinds of requirements, work requirements, reporting requirements, drug testing requirements, you name the requirements of the federal government helps senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m., tuesday, july 26, that 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 consideration of morning business the senate resume consideration of the

house message to accompany s. 3373. further, that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meeting. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: vote will be at 11:30 a.m. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until i'm placement one. provides grants to the chip industry. that vote was postponed until tomorrow after severe weather prevented some senators from being present. line a placement one response to an industry shortage that have disrupted automobiles and.

majority leader chuck schumer also set up a procedural vote for later this week on a measure expanding health benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pit. find placement to receive technical changes in the house requiring senators to vote again. to find live coverage of the senate here on cspan2. funded by these television companies and more. including cox. i'm placement to that is why we are providing lower income students access

deputy commerce secretary don graves spoke about the biden administration's efforts to strengthen u.s. international trade. he also responded to questions on legislation expected on the senate floor today that provides grants to the u.s. computer chip industry. the center for strategic and international studies hosted this discussion. it runs about 50or minutes. [background noises] [background noises]