the capitol where the senate is ready to gavel in. today lawmakers will consider president biden's nominee to be u.s. ambassador to malta. a confirmation vote set for 1:45 eastern today. this is live senate coverage here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, today make our lawmakers instruments of your grace and goodness. teach them to be patient with themselves and others.

forgive them when they permit impatience to lead them astray, making them miss the wonder of -- and majesty of your purpose for our nation and world. lord, renew in our senators the joy of belonging to you as they lovingly yield to your guidance. direct their steps so that no duty will be left undone and no constructive words will be left unsaid. we pray in your great name. 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 28, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable jacky rosen, a senator from the state of nevada, 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 proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, constance j. milstein of new york to be ambassador of the united states of america to the republic of malta.

>> the cloture vote that just occurred shortly before the senator from rhode island sought unanimous consent agreement. as you know cloture was denied on that bill, and as you also know very well that doesn't mean the bill is defeated. opportunity to amend it isn't eliminated. there haven't been any amendments. that's unfortunate but i want to just stress my concern about this bill has nothing to do with the purpose of the bill. it's not about the 280 billion, approximate $280 billion of new spending that is meant to be

required under this bill for the v.a. to cover medicare and -- healthcare i should say, and of the benefits for veterans who are exposed to toxic burn pits. what i want to change has absolute nothing to do with any of that. i see the chairman of the committee of jurisdiction, i think he understands i have no interest in modifying the purpose of this bill. all the work that he and many others have done. by the way, i suspect there's 85 votes for this bill, for the underlying bill, if we fix this problem. and here's the problem. completely unrelated to the $280 billion of new spending there is a mechanism created in this bill. it's a budgetary gimmick that has the intent of making it possible to have a huge explosion in unrelated spending, $400 billion. this budgetary gimmick is so unrelated to the actual veterans

issue that has to do with burn pits that is not even the house version of this bill. the fact is we can fix this tonight. this is relatively easy fix. that might be a few technical things we would iron out and we could get this done tonight. i know the chairman of the committee very much wants to get this bill done. this is a path to do it. and if we fix this, , which as i said i would recommend we fix it tonight, we could do that a unanimous consent request. we could do it any number of ways. but once that's done this bill sales through this chamber and goes to the president and gets signed into law. so i just want to urge my democratic colleagues to join him in working this out. this is not what this bill was about. we can fix it. we can do it immediately. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> senator from montana. >> thank you for the recognition, mr. president. the good senator from

pennsylvania is correct. i want to see this bill passed and want to see this bill passed for all the reasons i talk about many times in committee and on this floor. this is about living up to the promises for our veterans. this is about making sure that the veterans come back when you come back from exposures to burn pits or oil well fires or agent orange, that it ought to go to the v.a. and fight for their healthcare and their benefits. it impacts 3.5 million veterans in this country. by the way, there will be a few more dying before we get this bill passed. and i would also say that as the senator from pennsylvania says i am all for the $278.4 billion over ten years on this bill. i got no problem with that. the fact is he does have a problem with it. the fact is by doing what happened today on this floor the

real issue here, and make no mistake about it, is the money that is being spent to take care of her veterans. i've said it before and i'll say it again. if you have the guts to send somebody to war, then you better have the guts to take care of them when they get back home. or don't send them in the first place. now let's talk about the $400 billion, okay? because quite frankly what this is about, this is about not even trusting the people in this body. we have an appropriations committee and would vote on appropriation bills, and we set the levels in the accounts based off of appropriations. let the process work. let's not tie the hands of appropriations, appropriators. let's make sure we let the process work. that's what we've always done. but the good senator from pennsylvania's amendment ties the hands of the appropriators.

make no mistake about this, the american people are sick and tired of the game to go on in this body. they are sick and tired of us working for democrat working for republicans and networking for the american people. but this is bigger than that. we have an all volunteer military in this country. if you don't think young people are watching what we are doing today, that are thinking about signing up for the military, you are sadly mistaken. and if we don't take of our veterans when they come home they are going to say why should i ever sign on the dotted line? because the promises that i made and the promises the country made only half that deal is being respected, my half. this this is a sad day in thd states senate. this is the biggest issue facing our veterans today. make no mistake about it. if it wasn't come every veteran service organization wouldn't be out there talking to us, and they've been talking to me for the last 15 years.

so we can make up all sorts of excuses about how this is going to move money around, but let me tell you something, we are the ones that decide that. if we want to move money around we will pick if we don't we won't. in the meantime let's pass this bill. let's give veterans the healthcare they have earned. if it isn't, it's political malpractice. what we're doing today with his policy by putting this policy off does nobody any good whatsoever. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> senator from pennsylvania. >> i would just briefly and simply reiterate my request that our democratic colleagues including the chairman who obviously is passionate about

this, just engage with us to fix this problem that has nothing to do with the bill that he wants to pass. this problem that wasn't in the house version of this bill, the chairman arguments that well, it's always ultimate subject to appropriations, that's really an argument, let's not have a budget at all. it's a true a future congress can always do whatever it wants. so by that logic we should have no rules, no guidelines and no budget, no procedures, no pay go, no effort whatsoever to have any management of our federal budget. because what the hell, any congress can come along and just waited. i don't agree with that. i think a special at a time when inflation is running rampant, when we have been spending money like no one has ever imagined, if we've got an important need okay we do that. but this gimmick and the chairman said people are sick and tired of games, i totally agree. this is one of those games where

you've got a bill that's going to pass and so let's sneak in this change in the budget rule so it will be easy to spend money on other things in the future. that's ridiculous. that's just not defensible. again, i would stress there's a very easy path to a very big vote in favor of this bill. it could probably happen later tonight. could certainly happen tomorrow. and if the path is, let's fix this problem. i yield the floor. >> mr. president? >> senator from montana. >> thank you for the recognition, mr. president. i'm going to reiterate what i said before. data confirmed whar majority of americans already knew. democrats have plunged america into a recession. according to official

statistics, the u.s. economy just shrank for the second consecutive quarter, democrats inherited an economy that was primed for an historic comeback, and promptly ran it straight into the ground. of course, working families didn't need any experts or statistics to tell them today's democratic party is a walking, talking economic disaster. democrats' failures are causing working families deep personal pain on a daily basis. the americans know democrats can't be trusted. they know every time they fill their gas tank, every time they check out at the supermarket, every time parents stay up late at the kitchen table trying to figure out which bills they can afford to pay this particular month, because democrats spent us into inflation 90 million american households say they're having a hard time meeting

expenses. 90 million american households. the average household in this country is having to pay an extra $5,300 and climbing every year just to tread water. democrats' ibflation is -- inflation is stealing more than $5,000 from the average family per year. like a super majority of americans already knew before this morning, it has now driven the country into a recession. a few years back, our colleague, the senior senator from west virginia said, quote, i don't think that during a time of recession you mess with any of the taxes or increase any taxes. but alas yesterday, washington democrats announced they plan to do exactly that. the democrats who robbed american families once with inflation now want to rob the country a second time through a gigantic, gigantic job-killing

tax hike. apparently, our democrat colleagues do not want to be responsible for just skyrocketing prices alone. they want americans to be faced with skyrocketing prices and higher taxes, and fewer jobs, all at the same time. democrats have outlined a giant package of huge new job-killing tax hikes. green new deal craziness that will kill american energy and prescription drug socialism that will leave us with fewer lifesaving medicines. a reckless taxing-and-spending spree that will delight the far left and hammer working families even harder. democrats are going all in on a multihundred billion-dollar tax hike on american jobs that experts called the single -- listen to this -- the single most economically damaging part of their entire bbb plan from last year. years of research show the

burden would be overwhelmingly passed down to workers. this one tax hike alone would kill tens of thousands of american jobs. democrats aren't sticking it to the fat cats. they're sticking it to the same middle class families they've already crushed with inflation. so democrats want to respond to their inflation crisis by killing jobs. they also want to respond to a global energy crisis by attacking american natural gas. this reckless taxing-and-spending spree includes a massive, massive new tax on american natural gas, our country's single largest source of electricity. we all know when you tax something, you get less of it. and democrats want new taxes on american natural gas wells, new taxes on american pipelines and new gasses on american lng exporting.

higher electricity bills in the summer, higher heating bills in the winter, less reliable energy for our countries, and less exported to allies abroad. doubling down, literally doubling down on inflation. i'm only scratching the surface of all the ways democrats want to pick americans' pockets. they want to pour new funding -- listen to this -- into irs agents so americans end up with more audits. irs agents get new computers and smort phones so that american small businesses get more audits. also democrats want to drain money out of medical innovation and leave terminally ill americans with fewer real treatments and cures as a result. the experts say this big-government money grab will literally cost americans their lives.

but remember, democrats say all these historic tax hikes are their answer to the inflation they already created themselves. do you hear that, america? democrats' answer to hurting you once is to hurt you again. democrats say the response to democratic inflation is democratic tax hikes. it wasn't enough that democrats have already destroyed your family's purchasing power. now they want to kill your job and tax your electricity as well. so the natural next question is, what do democrats want to do with all that money? what spending spree that democrats want so badly that they'll raise taxes in the midst of a recession? ah, here's the answer -- green new deal nonsense and

goodies for rich coastal elites. they want these job-killing tax hikes so they can spend tens of billions of dollars on splush funds for -- slush funds for green banks and environmental justice. they want job-killing tax hikes so they can finance new handouts for wealthy households earning up to $300,000 a year to buy an $80,000 electric car. let me say that again. tax hikes so they can finance new handouts for wealthy households earning up to $300,000 a year to buy an $80,000 electric car. they want to subsidize rich people buying electric cars that cost more, more than the median american household earns in an entire year. they want to tax american natural gas. they want to tax your

electricity so they can spend billions making solar and wind power look artificially ready for prime time when they are not yet. billions of dollars so democrats can meddle in what kind of car you drive, what kind of stove, hot water heater or clothes dryer you can afford, and how you're allowed to heat your house. this, this is the nonsense that democrats are focused on. not happening you put gas in your car. not helping you afford your groceries. they want to use the middle-class economic crisis they themselves created as an excuse to raise your taxes and ram through their green new deal nonsense. all of this liberal waste, with no proof, none, that any of it would lead to a meaningful reduction in global emissions, much less global temperatures. america has already been

reducing our emissions considerably over the last 15 to 20 years. countries like china have just kept on emitting more and more, totally washing out our reductions, and then some. democrats want to forbly re-- forcibly reengineer our entire economy out from under working americans' feet while china keeps on emitting more and more. democrats are seeing american families, the worst inflation in 40 years, and raising them job-killing tax hikes and, and a war on american electricity. our colleagues across the aisle have already completely lost america's trust on the economy before this reckless taxing-and-spending spree. apparently, they now want to see how much farther they can fall. now, on a completely different matter, yesterday, the senate

should have been able to clear bipartisan legislation expanding v.a. benefits for millions of men and women who suffered and served bravely in our armed forces. i appreciate the work our colleagues on veteran affairs have done on the pawct pact act, i support the substance of the bill. even on legislation this major and costly, the democratic leader tried to block the senate from any semblance of a fair amendment process. specifically, the senior senator from pennsylvania has an amendment that would ensure we do not just apply a financial band-aid to the problem, but actually fix the underlying accounting issue. as written, the legislation would not just help america's veterans as designed, it would also allow democrats to effectively spend the same money twice and enable hundreds of billions in new, unregulated -- or unrelated spending on the discretionary side of the federal budget. there's no excuse why the

democratic leader should continue to block senator toomey's commonsense amendment. a bill this important and this bipartisan deserves for us to fix the accounting gimmick, and then it deserves to become law. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call:

>> can you please tell us more about the work of the office of small and disadvantaged business utilization to help grow veteran women owned small businesses? >> absolutely but i'll tell you a truly an enterprise effort because again we have the idea of diversity equity and access. we work very closely with that organization, with the center for women veterans. there's a number of organizations involved because again it's a governance effort. and we've got them by good group on at their helping us to equity assessments to underserved communities. this is a fabulous initiative. we have rich data that we're starting to gather now we're in the process of turning those insights into actions. >> thank you, chairman. i yield back. >> thank thank you very muc. i will now recognize mr. bergman for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman.

lead by example, pretty simple. marines premix everybody in the military are pretty simple. the that example. and after leadership we know when you have a task no matter what the task is you are trying to make it better. the culture of behavior that you promote, if you will, you example for as a leader, goes a long way towards compliance. not compliance because you have to but compliance because you want to. that truly is kind of unique. however, in any organization, especially one as broad and vast as the v.a., you in some cases get the behavior you inspect, not the behavior you expect at times, and that is what it is. mr. johnson, leaders do set the

tone. the culture of an organization from a small office to something as large as the v.a. is dictated what the leaders do, what behavior they allow from their staff. how do you and your office work to correct the leadership failures and support those good leaders working to correct bad culture? >> so general, thank you for that question. as a former infantry officer i understand, follow me do is ideal. he think we have exhibited that today. when we came in one of the first things we started doing is passing out white ribbons and signing up people to pledge. that's because we are committed. everywhere we go we do allied ship. i am looking for everybody to be a partner. i do a lot of speaking

engagements. at conferences, and training events. i travel quite often. my staff travels quite often get we have got so we people committed to this that want to do the right thing. one of the biggest challenges i have and it's a great challenge is we get a lot of volunteers. how can i help? how can i help? we've got to figure out through the governance council how we bring, i will call them force multipliers in, to get them engaged. there are a number of speedy i don't want to cut you short here but along that line, because business operate independently, you've got the corporate v.a. if you will but then the ds ends. any issues there that you've had to confront because one did it one way and another did a different way? >> i don't believe that exist anymore. i've not had an issue. because again we have standard policies and procedures starting with handbooks and directors. i have not found that to be an

issue. we do technical assistance reviews, the visn always involves we build a partnership. >> thank you. do you believe the v.a. is actively correcting leadership failures and is the a taking the proper steps to support good leaders working to correct bad culture? your comments, please. >> we believe that there's more to be done. the misalignment of the functions as an agent before was, is a big issue. it is a large impediment to people feeling comfortable coming forward with their concerns and complaints. without that information the department doesn't have the ability to address information as effective as it could. i'm a please the department is taking action on three of our five recommendations, and it sounds like they will start on a fourth. we still think a lot more needs

to be done there. we will continue to monitor v.a.'s progress in those areas but again i really would emphasize that the structural issues are not insignificant, and speaking to have one unified model, having vha handle eeo complaint simply than the rest of the agency is one way in which things are not unified. we will have to monitor that to see how the department moves forward with that and when it can implement vha operating in the same way as the rest of the department. >> thank you. i see my time is running short here. since of urgency, there is zero tolerance for any type of this behavior he does it is and detrimental to any culture and to the dignity of the men and women who serve and those who serve those who serve. so thank you for not stopping,

and it will never end, but you can stem it. and with that ideal the back. >> hankey, general bergman. i will now yield to mr. castor who's a guest of the subcommittee. welcome. you are recognized for five minutes. >> thank you so much, chairman, and thank you for allowing me to waive on to this important hearing. four years ago a system protection board came out with its survey detailing how v.a. employees faced higher levels of sexual harassment that in any of the department in the federal government. ..

i appreciate that some steps have been taken in the past two years since it came out but i'm concerned more progress has not been made. it's imperative all of gao's recommendations be fully clement and as quickly as possible and echo theurgency general bergman has stated today . however there's more to be done. to understand the urgency you don't have to look any further than the second ms and the survey conducted last year that found that da employees still report feeling significant higher levels of harassment. 17 percent at the federal government average. compare that response to the only 440 complaints of harassment filed by va employees last year and a department of over 405,000

people. but this doesn't even start and i would argue the only realist way to read this vast underreporting of complaints is that employees still don't have the confidence va will resolve this behavior and with that in mind let me to turn to our panel. a major decision found in the gao report was that harassment complaints were being centrally filed. thankfullynow that's changing. how are va supervisors being made aware they must centrally report complaints of said sexual harassment they receive to your office or what are the repercussions if they cannot ? >> thank you for those questionscongresswoman kuster. i'm going to start with those points of contact . they're in every facility. they are our eyes and ears on the ground." note to get it to us within two business days, 48 hours.

that's where it starts. >> and is it clear that swift accountability is essential to demonstrate to employees that something will be done about the harassing behavior ? do you think that behavior has gotten through at the institution level? >> i absolutely do and i believe that because of secondarymadonna and his leadership . they have talked about this more than anyone i've ever seen. >> good, as well they should. >> and then i yield. >> the other thing to we found that's different is our departmental level we are notifying our senior level officials if those harassment allegations are not addressed and we're recording them. we're recording it not only to those that try to facilitate but to adapt and it goes up to our secretary so they are being called out if they're not operating

appropriately . >> i think the accountability is so critical. mister prosser one of the g as recommendations was that the ga do better job of making sure corrective actions are taken in instances where sexual harassment has been substantiated. do you have a perspective on any progress va has made since the report came out? >> yes congresswoman. so the va has made it clear in its handbook that managers should ensure that corrective actions are taken so that's a step forward. what our concerns are there is that it does not lay out exactly what sort of documentation needs to be provided or evidence to show that action has been taken. we have seen in the past with government agencies where somebody says that action has been taken but then when you look , they thought about it but they never did it or whatever.

so our concern here is just to make sure that there's sufficient documentation to show that actions have been taken to create a trusting environment for employees. one of the things we heard in our previous work was that employees did not feel it was accountability or sexual harassment so i think it's critically important that there is not just the recording but evidence to prove that the corrective action has been taken. >> thank you and i would just begin to call on general bergman. i know representative brownlee is working on this but the urgency in and accountability is key and i yield back . >> thank you very much. i think we've gone through the list and i have a couple more so we do look for a secondground here . for the witnesses, i think you're all aware last year. >>

re than $4 a gallon for gas? how is a new tax on businesses going to drive down the price of chicken or milk or fruits or vegetables? as for electric vehicle tax credits, they might make purchasing an electric vehicle slightly less painful, but that is if you can afford to purchase one in the first place, especially in the midst of an inflation crisis. these tax credits are going to do nothing to cool down our

overheated economy or bring inflation under control. then there's the fact that democrats are attempting to help sell this bill by claiming it's going to help reduce the deficit. well, it's not that i'm not glad to see democrats actually considering deficit reduction, even though their deficit reduction is unlikely to do much to actually reduce the deficit. perhaps they should have thought about deficit reduction last year when they passed a massive partisan $1.9 trillion spending spree financed, financed with deficit spending. the spending spree that overheated our economy and helped push us to our current inflation crisis, which is the biggest inflation we've seen literally in 40 years, a 40-year high. so we found out, of course, about this bill literally hours before we learned this morning that the second quarter in a row, for the second quarter in a

row, our economy not only failed to experience any growth, but actually contracted. the news was not unexpected. there had been signs that the economy was weakening for a while now. but i have to say, mr. president, as i think about that news, the inflation news, coupled with the fact that the economy is in fact contracting, that it seems really incredible that the prescription for either one of those problems in this country would be a massive new tax-and-spending bill. this bill isn't going to do anything about inflation. it's not going to do anything for economic growth. i wouldn't be surprised if this bill's new tax on businesses actually slows down parts of our economy. and it begs the question, mr. president, about why you would need new taxes when the taxes that are coming into the treasury already are frankly at

record levels. we saw year-over-year increases in the last two years in the amount of revenues coming into the treasury by taxes paid by the american people increase by 18% and 20%. 18% one year, 20% the next year. huge increases in tax revenue. in fact, so big, such big increases in tax revenue that the revenue generated, generated by the tax paid in this country, as percentage of gross domestic product, in other words, as percentage of our total economy, reached the highest level since the year 2000. a 22-year high ef revenue to gdp. that's what's happened in the last tum years, revenues have been coming up, from individual tax returns, from business tax returns, from capital gains

taxes, all have gone up by double digits, and big double digits, 18% and 20% in the last two years, to the point where revenue to gdp is at the highest level it's been literally since the year 2000, 22 years ago. now, couple that with the fact that, because of inflation, which at 9.1% is the highest seen in 40 years, you have to go back to when i was literally in high school and college to find a time when we saw this kind of inflation, and the impact that that has on american families and consumers. so the joint economic committee did an analysis recently, which found out that the increase in cost for an average american family year over year as a result of this level of inflation is about $9,000.

so that's $9,000 more for the same basket of goods, the same basic necessities that americans bought last year. $9,000 higher this year. roughly about $2700 a -- about $700 a month. so $700 a month out of an american family's budget that goes toward nothing more than paying the inflation tax. so, you already have this huge tax on american families, because of inflation. now you couple that with the fact that the economy is slowing down, it's getting a little wobbly, and you would think, you would think, just intuitively, that when you have an economy like that, the last thing you would want to do, the very worst prescription for high inflation and slow growth would be more

taxes and more spending, particularly given the fact that you even have liberal democrat economists who have said that the $1.9 trillion spending bill last year contributed to, largely responsible for, this inflation, and perhaps one of the worst policy decisions ever made. again, that's been not just republicans saying that. that's been liberal democrat economists. so, in light of that situation, that sort of cluster of economic data, slow growth, or in this case negative growth, a recession technically speaking. now, of course, there's a question by the administration about what really constitutes a technical recession. but i think if you're an american family or american consumer, 9% inflation and slow growth in the economy and a concern about what the future of

economic outlook's going to look for yourself and family, suggest they probably think we're in a recession already. i think that's the experience of most americans who are dealing with the day-to-day pocketbook issues. so you have to ask the question, again, with higher prices already out there and concerns about the economy, why more taxes on businesses, which in most cases, and people think of taxing, oh, just tax businesses, because businesses make all this money, they're very rich and all that, but what happens typically with businesses is, obviously, they have to hire employees. so if you hit them with a big, fat tax burden, typically what happens is it results in lower wages for their employees, or conversely it could also result in higher prices for consumers, for their customers, because that typically gets passed on. in most cases, those taxes don't

just get eaten or absorbed, they get passed on in the economy in the form of higher prices or lower wages. there are all kinds of economic studies on both sides of the political equation that show that. so the question again is, why would you do this particularly now when in fact what we ought to be doing is focusing on those solutions that actually would reduce inflation, starting with reducing wasteful, out-of-control spending. if spending overheated the economy in the first place, if that's what we've experienced in our economy over the past several months, then you would think if you are in a hole, quit digging, don't spend more, don't flood the zone with more dollars out there and increase that demand and put higher pressure on prices. you would think that would be a solution. and you would also think that since a lot of inflation has to

do with the price of energy in this country, that you would focus on reducing the price of energy rather than increasing the price of energy, and this bill does the exact opposite. it puts taxes, taxes on energy production in this country, oil and gas, all in the name of and in the interest of trying to push people into electric vehicles. now, interestingly enough, when i mention electric vehicles, the african american cost is about $-- the average cost is about $80,000. the suggestion is, so gas prices are high, fuel prices are high, just go get an electric vehicle. well, you got 9% inflation and a wobblably economy. the idea that an average american person out there or on average american family is going to go out and drop $80,000 on a new vehicle seems a little far-fetched. this incentive to buy electric

vehicles can be taken, experienced, enjoyed, if you will, by people making $300,000 a year. hardly the average american who is getting hit by high gas prices. so instead of lowering energy costs by increasing more supply, opening up federal lands, you know, approving permits to drill, approving infrastructure projects, encouraging investment in energy production in this country instead of discouraging it and pressuring companies not to invest in energy production, this has the opposite effect. it's going to tax energy. it's going to put a tax on energy. so you're going it to have higher electricity costs, higher fuel costs. i don't get it. i understand there is a very distinct difference in this country in political philosophies and all that, and i also know that -- i've been here

long enough to know that when democrats are in power, they tend to expand government. i can't think of a debate i've been involved in in the time i have been here where democrats haven't wanted to spend more and republicans wanted to spend less, with one exception, and that is defense. when it comes to just overall spending government, the role of government, that sort of thing -- and these are philosophical differences, but the fact of the matter is that democrats like to grow and expand government. they like more government. they like more government control. and this achieves that in a lot of ways. it obviously makes people more dependent on government and particularly if -- when it comes to, you know, what you choose to drive, pushes people more into government vehicles -- government -- into electric

vehicles, government again picking winners and losers. but i would also suggest that one of the other provisions in the bill locks in policies that socialist countries have adopted, places in western europe, that fix drug prices. that's not something we've done in this country. and everybody around here says, well, europe does it, why can't we do it? well, as i recall, we left europe. for that reason. we wanted less government control. we wanted more personal freedom. coupled with individual responsibility. that was part, i think, of the defining principle of this country. so now we're going to adopt the price fixing policies that have been adopted in places in europe in an attempt to try and get drug costs down at the same time we're going to be sacrificing the innovation, the investment, and the ingenuity that have

resulted in so many of the great cures we've seen in this country, as recently as a couple years ago with covid, which was a record time in terms of guesting a vaccine out there -- of getting a vaccine out there into circulation and trying to keep people from getting terribly sick with that disease. so what this, sparse i -- so wht it, as far as i can tell, does, it sort of socializes medicine, to otoextent that it pertains to the pharmaceutical business. it has government fixing prices. it has us adopting the european model when it comes to drugs. it has us taxing energy production here in the united states, and investing in all kinds of different green energy things. by the way, $60 billion, $60 billion in this proposal for, quote, environmental justice. defined, evidently, as grants to

communities who are having a hard time keeping up with environmental standards in their communities, which again, all of us -- i would argue in my experience here i have been one of the most forward-leaning people when this comes to renewable energy, you know, coming up with new sources of energy that obviously not only are good for our economy but benefit our environment as well. but $60 billion for environmental justice, nothing for funding the police or law enforcement to keep our communities safe, which is a huge, huge crisis in this country. so, mr. president, i would just argue that if ever there was a time when priorities are misplaced, this would have to be it. i just can't think of a -- you know, a way in which anything that's being talked about here does anything to address the fundamental economic hardship

that's being experienced by tens of millions of americans. and that is when they go to the gas station to fill up their tank with gas or a farmer who needs diesel, which is -- which has literally doubled in cost, in price since the president took office, or going to the grocery store where all these inflation and energy costs and everything else get passed on. everything has gone up. groceries in country, up 12%. utility costs up 38%. gasoline up 60%, and that's just year over year. if you go since the time the president took office, the price of gasoline has almost doubled. it's 90% higher than it was when the president took office. and so you've got all this sort of economic bad data and hardship and, you know, the american people are experiencing, and so just kind of out of nowhere really -- i

mean, there's been some discussion about this, as we all know over the past year or so, but everybody i think kind of concluded when we got the inflation numbers last month that, let's cool it down a little bit. let's cool our jets here and let's just see what's going to happen with the economy before we do anything rash. well, you can't say that a trillion dollars in spending and taxes isn't pretty rash, isn't pretty rash, especially when you're trying to drive it through on a party-line vote, the same way that the $2 trillion in spending was done last year where you had, again, all these warnings -- not just republicans; i was saying this, but i'm not unique; there were lots of democratic economists who were suggesting at the time that that kind of spending would do nothing but overheat the economy, overstimulate the economy and get too many dollars

chasing too few goods, leading to inflationary impacts, which is ultimately what happened. so here we are. 90% inflation -- 9% inflation. two quarters of negative economic growth, negative g.d.p. and democrats are saying, okay, let's raise taxes. and let's raise taxes a bunch at a time when revenues to g.d.p. are at their highest level since the year 2000, and we've had two successive years now, year over year, of revenue growth, 18% and 20%. surely, surely the problem here can't be not enough revenue. the issue i think is -- and it comes back to my fundamental point in the first place -- you want to get to government, you want to expand government, you want to have $60 billion -- $60

billion going to environmental justice and zero going to funding the police or addressing the issues of law enforcement, crime in our communities around this country or maybe putting some money toward the border, addressing another out-of-control problem that i can see -- you can point back directly to policy decisions made by this administration and the ultimate consequence and result that we've seen, the outcome that we've seen. but this is going to be done on a party-line basis. this is going to be done with democrat-only votes, and again it sort of came out of nowhere. so i say, say it isn't so, joe. i wish i had -- i wish i had a better story here, but the fact of the matter is, this will be done with zero consultation with republicans and what happens like very little if any

consultation with democrats. not only was a deal cut by basically two people and it's going to be shoved through on a party-line vote at a time when we've got historic issues related to our economy which are impacting american families in a very direct and real way, starting with the fact that they're now putting more of their purchases on their credit cards a, they're digging in, dipping into retirement savings to be able to keep up with just the daily costs of living. we've already put -- i say we -- not we, but if you think about it, in some ways, the policies that went through here last year, the $1.9 trillion party-line spending bill led to a lot of this inflation. so the american people right now, the average family according to the joint economic

committee, which is a bipartisan committee here in the senate, says that it's costing theage of family in this -- the average family in it country, $9,000 a year more, $9,000 more this year than it did last year for the same basic necessities for the same basket of goods. so they've already seen a $9,000 tax. and now they're being told that there's going to be a big tax increase -- and oh, yes, it's going to hit corporations, but don't think for a minute that those costs don't get passed on in the form of higher costs to consumers and lower wages to employees. because these things don't happen in a vacuum. there are decisions and there are effects that happen as a result of those decisions. mr. president, i hope my democrat colleagues will think

better of this. i can't think, honestly, of a time where there hasn't been a worse prescription for what ails our economy and ails our country than what is being proposed here in the form of more taxes, more spending, more government control, and more pain, economic hardship for the american people. mr. president, i yield the >> democrats have plunged

america into a recession. according to official statistics, the us economy just shrank for the second consecutive quarter . democrats inherited an economy that was primed foran historic comeback . and promptly ran it straight into the ground. of course working families didn't need any experts or statistic to tell them today's democratic party is a walking talking economic disaster. democrats failures are causing working families the personal pain on a daily basis. americans know democrats can't be trusted. they know every time they fill their gas tank, every time they checked out of the supermarket, every time parents sit at the kitchen

table trying to figure out whichbills they can afford to pay , this particular month because democrats spin us into inflation 90 million american households say they're having a hard time meeting expenses. 90 million american households. the average household in this country is having to pay an extra 5000 $300 and climbing every year just to tread water. democrats inflation is stealing $5000 from the average family per year. and like a super majority of americans already knew before this morning it has now driven the country into a recession. a few years back our colleague the senior senator from west virginia said quote, i don't think that during the time of recession you mess with any of the

taxes or increase any taxes. but alas yesterday washington democratsannounced they plan to do exactly that . the democrats who rob american families once with inflation now want to rob the country a second time to a gigantic job killing tax hike. apparently our democratic colleagues do not want to be responsible for just skyrocketing prices alone . i want americans to be faced with skyrocketing prices and higher taxes and fewer jobs. all at the same time. democrats have outlined a giant package of huge new job killing tax sites. green new deal craziness that will kill american energy and prescription drug socialism that will leave uswith fewer life-saving medicines . reckless taxing and spending spree that will delight the far left and hammer working

families even harder. democrats are going all in on a multi-hundred billion dollar tax hike on american jobs that experts call the single listen to this, the single most economically damaging part of their entire planfrom last year . years of research show the burden would be overwhelmingly passed down to workers. this one tax hike alone would kill tens of thousands of american jobs. democrats aren't sticking it to the fatcats. they're sticking it to the same middle-class families they've already crushed with inflation. so democrats want to respond to their inflation crisis by killing jobs. they also want to respond to a global energy crisis by attacking american natural gas. this reckless taxing and spending spree includes a massive new tax on american natural gas . our country'ssingle largest source of electricity .

we all know when you just something you get less out of it . when democrats want new taxes on american natural gas wells, new taxes on pipelines and new taxes on american lng exports. higher electricity bills in the summer, higher heating bills in the winter. less reliable energy for our country and less american energy exporting to our allies abroad . doublingdown , literally doubling down on inflation. i'm i've only scratchedthe surface of all the way democrats want to pick americans pockets . they want to pour new funding , listen to this into our rs agents so americans windup with more audits. irs agents get new computers and smart phones so american small businesses get more audience .

also democrats want to drain money out of medical innovation and leave terminally ill americans with fewer real treatments and cures as a result. experts say this big government money grab will literally cost americans their lives . but remember democrats sayall these historic tax hikes are their answer to the inflation they already created themselves . so you hear that america? democrats answer to hurting you once is to hurt you again . democrats say the response to democratic inflation is democratic sites. it wasn't enough democrats have destroyed your families purchasing power . now they want to kill your jobs and tax your electricity aswell . so the natural next question

is what do democrats want to do with all that money. what spending spree that democrats want so badly that they'll raise taxes in the midst of a recession . the answer. green new deal nonsense and goodies for rich coastal elites. they want the job killing tax hikes so they can send tens of billions of dollars on slush funds for greenbacks andenvironmental justice . they want job killing tax hikes so they can finance new handouts for wealthy households earning up to $300,000 a year to buy an $80,000 electric car. let me say that again. tax hikes so they can finance new handouts for wealthy households earning up to $300,000 a year to buy an $80,000 electric car.

they want to subsidize rich people buying electric cars that cost more than the median american household earns an entire year. they want to tax american natural gas. they want to tax your electricity so they can spend billions taking solar and wind powerartificially ready for primetime . but they are not yet . billions of dollars so democrats can meddle in what kind of car you drive . what kind of stole hot water heater or closedryer you can afford . and how you're allowed to keep your house. this is the nonsense that democratsare focused on . by not by helping you put gas in your car, not helping you afford your groceries. they want to use the middle-class economic crisis they themselves created as an

excuse to raise yourtaxes and ram through their green new deal nonsense . all of us this liberal waste with no proof, none that any of it wouldlead to a meaningful reduction in global emissions . much less global temperatures. america has already been reducing our admissions emissions considerably over the last 15 to 20 years . countries like china have just kept on admitting more and more totally washing out our reductions . and then some. democrats want to forcibly reengineer our entire economy out from under working americans these while china keeps on admitting more and more. democrats are seeing american families the worst inflation in 40 years and raising them job killing tax hikes and more on american electricity. our colleagues across the i'll have already completely

lost america's trust on the economy. before this reckless taxing and spending spree. apparently they now want to see how much farther theycan fall . now, on a completely different matter yesterday the senate should have been able to clear bipartisan legislation expanding va benefits for millions of when men and women who served bravely in our armed forces. i appreciate the work our colleagues on veterans affairs have done on the pack . i support the substance ofthe bill . but even on legislation this major and this costly, the democratic leader tried to block the senate from any semblance of a theremin process. specifically the senior senator from pennsylvania. has an amendment that would ensure we do not adjust a financial band-aid to the problem but fix the underlying accounting issue.

as written the legislation would not just help americans veterans, it would allow democrats to effectively expand the same money twice and enable hundreds of billions in new unrelated spending on the discretionary side of the federal budget. there's no excuse why the democratic leaders should continue to block senator toomey's common sense amendment, this bill this important and bipartisan desserts for us to fix the accounting gambit and it deserves to become law. >>

>> this is mister president yesterday afternoon democrats , senator mansion from west virginia and their leadership announced the latest version of their bill back better tax and spending spree which they are bizarrely calling the inflationreduction act . now i have to say that when i say they announced it i think it certainly blindsided the republicans but i think it also blindsided i'm told an awful lot of democrats. who didn't know or hadn't been consulted about what was going to be in this so-called inflation reduction act. so let me just tell you a few of the things that the bill does. it imposes a new tax on job creators, provides funding

for the irs to harass small businesses and nonprofits. it provides tens of billions of dollars in tax credits for green new deal projects and the purchase of costly electric vehicles. and itextends increased government subsidies for people on obamacare . mister president i think the question you have to ask is what exactly is any of that going to do to address inflation? how are more irs audits going to help americans wonder how they can continue to afford to pay more than four dollars a gallon for gas. how's the new tax on businesses going to drive down the price of chicken or milk or fruits or vegetables . and as for electric vehicle tax credits, they might make purchasing in a electric vehicle slightly less painful but that is if you can afford to purchase one in the first place, especially in the midst of an inflation crisis.

i've long believed in environmental stewardship. after all we have a moral duty to leave behind a cleaner, healthier planet for our children. senator capito and i both born in west virginia. my sister and i grew up along the beaver creek outside of beckley. my dad used to take me and my grandfather fishing and hunting, even at a young age, along the new river and other parts of raleigh county. one of the things my dad and my grandfather always made clear to me, if we're out in a boat and there was trash or something in the water or there's something that could be recycled, to pull it out of the water and to put it in something that we're carrying and to take it home. and the idea was to try to leave our state of west virginia then better as -- better than we found it. from an early -- very early age

in west virginia, i was -- had those values instilled in me and they still have been. we instilled them in our sons, too. but we have a moral obligation to leave behind a cleaner, healthier planet for our children. and there are many ways to meet that moral obligation. but one of those is to make sure that the products that can be recycled, we recycle them. we don't have to landfill them. we can actually address climate change in a very positive way, but especially with respect to aluminum cans and things like that that we recycle. with the national -- i wish i could stand here and say the recycling rate in delaware is a hundred percent or west virginia is a hundred percent or the country is a hundred percent. it's not. and the recycling rate in our country is something like 35%. if given a grade in school, you get a 35 on a paper or test, that's a failing grade. and with respect to recycling,

unfortunately we're racking up failing grades year after year after year. we have to do something about it and turns out we can. and part of doing something about it is the legislation before us today. we have to do more when it comes to improving our nation's recycling and composting efforts. these bills would take action to address some of the challenges facing america's recycling efforts. one of the challenges that we face is the availability of good data. and that might sound strange but it's true. this past november, for example, the environmental protection agency released its first ever national recycling strategy. that's kind of late to the game, but it's better to be late to the game than not to be there at all. it's a good document and a document that reflects input we reported, our staffs provided and around the country provided. to epa's credit, they accepted take input and they actually did something with it.

so it's reflected in the national recycling strategy, was promulgated. the document offers a transformative vision for strengthening our nation's waste management efforts, and it also highlighted the need for gaiter standardization around data collection. toll address this, senator boozman and i developed the recycling and composting accountability act. senator boozman and i some of -- and myself, senator capito and others are part of the recycling caucus, a bipartisan group. it focuses on how we promote and encourage recycling, not just on capitol hill, not just in the district of columbia, not just on the east coast, not just in west virginia, but across the country from coast to coast. our legislation, the recycling and composting accountability act, would improve epa's ability to gather data on our nation's recycling systems and explore opportunities for implementing a national composting strategy.

another area where we can improve is by increasing access -- access to recycling. many americans in disadvantaged communities want to recycle. they want to compost but they're unable to do so. that's because they live in neighborhoods that lack curbside pickup. they lack bottle return and other necessary recycling infrastructure. senator capito's recycling infrastructure and accessibility act would help address this by citing a pilot program at epa to improve recycling services in underserved areas. this legislation would bring many communities into the recycling world, including those in urban and suburban areas while also protecting our environment. i commend senator capito for her work and the leadership -- her leadership on this bill. i want to commend her staff and my staff led by mary francis, our staff director, adam on the

other side of the aisle. we -- members don't do this by themselves, as we know and we're really blessed with terrific staff that help us put these provisions together. but i commend senator capito heartily for her work and her leadership on this legislation, her support of the legislation that senator boozman and i have offered. i want to work with her to make sure this bill helps jumpstart recycling in communities with the greatest need, especially those that have been historically left behind and there's too many of those. both of these bills that will have an opportunity to -- we'll have an opportunity to consider here today are the result of a true collaboration and reflect a substantial amount of bipartisan efforts dedicated to explore our nation's recycling and composting challenges. i know a lot of people if they watch the news, whether it's television or on the radio, newspapers, read online, they think all we do here is fight

with one another. we never find anything like common ground on important issues like the one we're talking about right now. and the committee that we're privileged -- senator capito and i rimpled to lead you it -- privileged to lead actually reports out legislation, bipartisan legislation, all kinds of issues that are enjoyed by bipartisan support, unanimous bipartisan support. with that, mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 358, s. 3743. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 358, s. 3743, a bill to require the administrator of the environmental protection agency to carry out certain activities to improve recycling and composting programs in the united states and for other purposes.

the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. carper: i ask for -- you're not going to say is there an objection proceeding to this measure. the presiding officer: is there an objection to proceeding to the measure. mr. carper: we're practicing. all right. thank you for those words. i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. carper: thank you. thank you very much. senator capito. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. chairman. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia.

mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i feel like the senator from west virginia right now. i'm very glad that we're going to be passing these two recycling bills. i'll just briefly say i am the cosponsor of the bipartisan recycling infrastructure and accessibility act. sometimes the simplest things we can do have such great impacts. and i think that's what we're going to see here today. in rural america we don't have the accessibility to recycling and the infrastructure that we need. and that's the point of my bill and it helps obviously protect our environment, supports jobs, and it helps our municipalities and others to be able to sustain these. this is a pilot program that would give federal support for recycling infrastructure projects, such as transfer stations and dropoff facilities. that's the difficulty. you can't have one in every small town. you need to have a spoken hub, sort of system. and that's what this is looking at. so i will speed it up here. i want to thank all of the different organizations that have helped in groups, the national water and recycling association, the plastics

industry associate, american beverage association, our associated staffs and particularly the chair of the full committee. he's been just a champion here in working on the recycling bills. he's the -- he is the main sponsor of the recycling and composting accountability act of which i'm also a cosponsor. so these will give us great, important data gaps. these are recycling bills that were reported by voice vote so we have unanimous consent by our committee. and i'm glad that our colleagues have agreed to pass that. so i will move on and say as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to immediate consideration of calendar number 357, s. 3742. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 357, s. 3742, a bill to establish a pilot grant program to improve recycling ac accessibility and r other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will

proceed to the measure. mrs. capito: 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: is there objection? without objection. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. mr. carper: mr. president, i ask that the senator, senator boozman, who's a charter member of the senate recycling caucus be recognized to speak on behalf of these measures which he has played a key role in. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. thank you, mr. chairman, and ranking member capito for your leadership in this area. as has been said and should be said many times more, we appreciate the great work of our staffs in getting this done. the other thing that's so important is the answers to our problems need to come from the ground up and through the recycling caucus and hearings and the list goes on and on, this is really where these

bills, this is where those answers were generated from the people out that are fighting the battle. we talk a lot about the lack of bipartisanship and things. this is a great example of people working together for the common good up here. it's great for the environment in the sense that recycling is not just gathering. we don't want to have a situation continuing like we do now where so much of that that's gathered actually winds up in the landfill eventually. conservation is the low-hanging fruit. it makes all the sense in the world to reuse things. it creates a situation where we lessen the dependence on landfills, things like that. and then again, in this age of globalization and things, we really do need to use the resources that we have and then continue to use the resources as they go forward. so we're talking about jobs. we're talking about the

environment. and for that reason i very much support and appreciate, as i said, the leadership of the chairman and ranking member for their great effort in pushing this forward. and with that i yield to senator cardin. mr. boozman: i yield the floor, mr. president. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. carper: mr. president, i want to say again my thanks to -- i think i'm pretty rabid on recycling. this fellow from arkansas is right there with me and

appreciate your leadership and senator capito. i think we're going to shift gears here. we just enacted two recycling bills for our country. this is something i'm thrilled about and senator capito is as well. we're going to shift gears and take some time to consider other important legislation. water resources development act. senator cardin is, i think, prepared to speak. i think i need to make a unanimous consent request before we do that. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session to consider h.r. 7776 as provided for under the previous order. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the clerk will report h.r. 7776.

the clerk: calendar number 399, h.r. 7776, an acts to provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the united states, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related services, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, amendment 5140 is agreed to. there will now be up to one hour for debate equally divided in the usual form. corps --. mr. carper: i'm pleased to yield to the senator who has jurisdiction. the presiding officer: senator cardin. mr. cardin: thank you. thank you, mr. president. let me thank chairman carper and ranking member capito for brings us to this moment where we'll soon be voting on the water resources development act. this is an extremely important bill that gives the army corps the authorization they need to advance critically important

water projects in our country. and, mr. president, this was passed by unanimous vote in the environment and public works committee due to the leadership of senator carper and senator capito. this bill involves the input of all the members of our committee, indeed may i say all the members of the united states senate. so i want to thank them for getting this bill to the point where we'll be able to vote on it this afternoon. this bill is bipartisan. it reflects priorities for our water resources in states and communities across the country. it provides crucial authority for projects and guidance for the army corps of engineers to engineer better solutions to our nation's toughest water infrastructure supply and quality challenges. the work of the army corps of engineers is vital for keeping commerce flowing in our waterways, for restoring aquatic ecosystems and for helping communities deal with

the health and impacts of flooding. in my state of maryland, we have challenges in all of these areas, and we are partnering with the army corps to address them. the port of baltimore, for example, is critical in our national supply chains and economic engine for the state of maryland. to enhance the port's ability to serve commerce and provide safe navigation, the army corps is moving forward with the mid-chesapeake bay restoration project or midbay, which will dredge material to beneficial use, restoring our ecosystems in the chess bay, a may -- in the chesapeake baip, a win-win. we are taking dredge materials and using it for environmental restoration, providing a very popular place to put dredge materials so we can keep our harbor, channels dredged but we also can restore our environment at the said time. a project the size of midbay also has the opportunities to benefit smaller channels along the chesapeake bay. in maryland, we have dozens and

dozens of smaller channels that support economic activity, recreational opportunities and an integral part of the identity of smaller communities they serve, but these channels have not received the maintenance they require. this year's wrda bill provides the bill with new authorization, directing the corps to take a closer look at them according to the significance of that you -- of r community and not based on the cargo they move. in doing so, this bill adds new perspective to the army corps' thinking so the chesapeake bay is understood not just as an artery for commerce but as a national environmental treasure that is home four-week-old -- home to living waterfronts for nature based activities. the water reauthorization takes an important step in that direction with its provisions for underserved harbors. i'm also proud this bill

includes a new statewide authorization for the army corps to provide assistance to maryland on environmental infrastructure. we very much will take advantage of this opportunity. we know that we have challenges with the chesapeake bay, and this environmental study, assistance will certainly help us in meeting our obligations. this authorization will help communities across my state deal with the impact of aging infrastructure and move forward on the backlog of critical repairs and upgrades to water supply, wastewater, and storm water infrastructure. the bill recognizes that because the army corps work is high demand around the country, the corps needs to have accessible to communities and have engagement with directly on the challenges they face. the planning assistance on state's programs will include a new authority for the corps to conduct the outreach to communities. the army corps is carrying out its work, important work on navigation, flood risk mitigation, ecosystem

restoration, and environmental infrastructure against the backdrop of worsening climate crisis. this reality is forcing us to act with new urgency to protect our communities from multiple hazards that our country is already experiencing with increased frequency and severity, including concentrated catastrophic rainfall events, sea level rise and associated erosion of flooding these impacts bring. it is also forcing us to prioritize the restoration of ecosystems harmed by climate change that can still play a role in building resilience. all that is incorporated in this bill that will be able to have those tools that are available. i just want to mention one example of marshlands that absorb tons of carbon dioxide in the u.s. each year and they buffer ways and reduce flooding during storms. we had a hearing in the environment and public works committee yesterday. it was a good hearing in how we can get carbon capture. one of the ways we can gept carbon cap -- get carbon

capture through natural ca causes is to restore wetlands. finally, i want to note this year the army corps baltimore district is celebrating its 175th anniversary. i congratulate the baltimore district on this important milestone. the district played an instrumental role in the history of our nation in the state of maryland dating back to the construction of fort mchenry, which i am proud of the ongoing partnership of colonel penchasen, the current regional director. i urge my colleagues to support this bill, and i again applaud the great leadership we have on our committee, the very open way that we do business, the way that we listen to each other and are able to get the priorities accomplished. senator carper, senator capito and senator cramer, it's a pleasure to work with you and thank you for making this be po.

with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. mrs. capito: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i'd like to thank the senator from maryland, senator cardin, for his good, hard work with senator cramer on the subcommittee. senator cardin and i share the chesapeake bay. he's got a lot more of it than i do, but we've worked on those issues for years together, and i think that shows that his dedication not just to his state but to the environment. and so i appreciate all of his efforts. i'm very pleased to rise today in strong support of the bipartisan water resource development act of 2022. this is the bill we're considering today. we call it wrda. most of us know it as wrda. congress authorizes water resource projects and sets national policies for the civil works program and u.s. corps of engineers. the work of the corps dictates commerce. projects along our waterways

enable the movement of cargo while also bolstering our supply chain. the support and partnership during this process were integral for us to reach a solid agreement. so, mr. chair, i would like to thank you and your staff, and i'm going to go through our staff list really quickly. mary francis, john kaine, jordan bah, melee boise. mylow goodell and jeanine from your staff. thank you. this represents bipartisan legislation that addresses the needs of senators and the communities we represent. our colleagues submitted more than 800 policy and project priorities to the committee. we worked hard to thoughtfully incorporate a majority of their requests into this legislation, and i think that shows with the vote we got in committee. true to the corps' tradition, the bill moves forward projects

that benefit local communities and the entire country. we know that natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes can strike at any time and have devastated consequences for our communities. the corps' work to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of americans is furthered by congressional authorization of flood and coastal storm risk management projects. since 2014, congress enacted wrda every two years, and i'm thrilled that we are here again continuing that tradition. i again want to thank chairman carper for his leadership and dedication to this critical piece of legislation, as well as, i think i mentioned them but i'll mention again senator cardin and senator cramer have been integral as subcommittee chairs. the wrda bill authorizes 30 countries including projects for navigation, flood and coastal

storm risk management and ecosystem restoration. one project is a coastal storm risk management project along the eastern coast of texas, which think of all the hurricanes and damage we've heard over the years that have come in on the eastern shore in galveston and houston. this will help mitigate impacts of future hurricanes and ensure critical port assets can continue to serve our country's shipping and supply chain needs as we're moving forward. the bill also directs the corps to expedite the completion of 24 previously authorized projects and it authorizes 36 studies that will develop solution to challenges we have ahead. while this bill is very much oriented towards challenges and studies, it includes several policy changes i'd like to highlight. at the beginning of this process i outlined areas which i believe changes will be beneficial. i said we needed to reduce confusion some communities

experience when dealing with the corps and ensure more effective delivery of our projects and efficient delivery. the bill bolsters the age's technology assistance authorities, specifically the flood and planning assistance to state's program, one that impacts my state greatly. this bill authorizes the corps to conduct outreach to ensure communities are knowledgeable of the ways they can be helped with water resources needs. it directs the corps to designate staff in each district to do this outreach. the bill makes improvements to the tribal partnership program and other authorities to assist indian tribes. it includes new authorities to assist communities that are economically disadvantaged, including those located in rural areas. it requires reporting on timelines for environmental review process for projects. the bill directs the gao to conduct a study, a review of projects that are overbudgetted and delayed to find out what's

going on as well as a review of the corps' mitigation practices for projects. the bill includes several provisions that improve flexibility with regard to financial accounting. for example, the bill allows federal agencies to provide funding to help satisfy the nonfederal sponsor's contribution for a project or study under certain circumstances. it authorizes for the first time a dedicated research and development account for the corps to spur innovation and provides contracting flexibility in undertaking these activities. the bill directs the corps to support science, technology, engineering, and math -- stem education and recruit individuals for careers at this agency. the input of nonfederal entities is crucial to the successfully resolving water resources challenges now and into the future. this bill establishes a new advisory committee for federal interest to voice their, for

nonfederal interests to voice their opinions on how the corps can better meet their needs. we preserve the integral part of the nonfederal cost share process in the delivery process by avoiding mandates from washington, d.c. and assuring that the corps continues to evaluate a full array of solutions during the feasibility study phase. in addition to my role as a ranking member, i represent the great state of west virginia, and i work to address the needs of my home state. this legislation advances a critical flood-control project in the city of milton, west virginia, authorized in the 1990's. this project is a long time coming appeared i'm -- coming and i'm proud to move it forward, it continues to provide environmental infrastructure assistance to communities throughout the state. finally, the bill will provide additional critical support to river bank stabilizations such as those on the canal river.

in closing -- there's a lot in this bill. i could go on and on, but i won't. it's the culmination of a true bipartisan agreement and represents our shared goal of addressing the nation's water resources needs. i'm proud of our committee, mr. chamber, we're active, cooperative and we're fruitful. we get things done. it's a testament to the values and goals that senator carper and i share and it's a testament to our friendship. in closing, i would like to thank my staff for all of their hard work and dedication to seeing that we get this across the finish line. adam thomas lynnson, kim townsend, jacob mitchell and hayden miller. i would like to thank the technical assistance we received from the corps of engineering,

damey klein and countless others, and we would like to thank deanna edwards. thank you, mr. chair and mr. president. i look forward to a rowing vote -- rousting vote in a rue minutes -- in a few minutes. a senator: senator capito has articulated much more eloquently than i all of the priorities in the bill. i would like to add my thanks to chairman carper and ranking member capito. and senator cardin as well. mr. cramer: it has been a great team effort as it is illustrated in the final product and overwhelming vote. let's keep the team together and let's just pass a really big and important wrda bill. we did this through regular order, colleagues. we stayed on the two-year schedule, colleagues, and when

we wok together, -- work together, we can help the people we serve. thank you. the presiding officer: the senator from hampton y. dellinger. mr. c -- the senator fromdelawa. mr. carper: i thank the senator for his great words. i don't think it's been said in the short time we've been on the floor here this morning. we don't just make up this legislation. we have a tradition of reaching out to other senate offices. we reached out to all 100 senate offices. we asked everybody, democrat, republican, a couple of independents, and asked what would you like to see prioritized? we would -- we received feedback and input i think from every single office and we tried to

include that input in this legislation. this is very much a community effort and for everyone who participated in this, thank you for doing so and putting us in a position to vote and hopefully in an affirmative way. but before we do vote, i just want to express one more time the support for t wrda. it is a bipartisan package that assures the timely reauthorization of the army corps of engineers projects. it equips the corps to protect communities from climate change, exacerbated events like flooding and drought. this is a product of tireless commitment to bipartisanship and doing the right thing.

senators capito, cramer, and around and myself have found a path forward on critical infrastructure needs just as we did last year on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the president signed into late last year. this is not the first time we've done this. it won't be the last. this congress, the environment of public works committee, has consistently advanced bipartisan legislation on drinking water, legislation on wastewater, legislation on transportation, roads, highways, bridges, and on recycling just today -- just today. all of those bills passed epw unanimously, just like this army corps of engineer bill passed unanimously. as epw chairman, i'm quite proud of the committee's work. i just wish that everybody in the country who thinks that all

we do is fight around here and agree on nothing, i wish he had had a chance to tune in and maybe be a fly on the wall and hear how when you work together, you can get some amazing stuff done on really important things as well for all of our states, for every corner of this country. a word, if i could about the army corps of engineers. i'm a navy guy. i spent 23 years active duty. last vietnam veteran serving here. i have huge respect for the army corps of engineers. i like to say different uniforms, same team. in my state, and the other states, they do extraordinary work, sometimes without a lot of recognition or thanks, and i just want to say, we recognize you in delaware and even in the navy and we're deeply grateful for the work you do and couldn't do a lot of what we do without your help and this legislation is needed to -- for the army corps to meet their spoments and

obligation -- responsibilities. we're so proud of the committee's work. what a joy it is to work with senator capito. i wish i could say the same thing about her staff -- no, just joking. we loved working with you and your team and we feel really privileged. and we're privileged to be led on our staff by mary frann sis web -- mary francis who has been here for a quarter of a century and i think she started at the age of 12. the corps is a principal steward of our infrastructure and serves as a proctor of our diverse economy. this bill wrda 2022 recognizes

that the corps is an essential part of our lives and this bill takes critical steps to better support the agency to serve all parts of our country. from navigation to ecosystem regulation, the corps is the backbone and foundation on which our country is built. i would like to reiterate that every provision in this bill is a result of bipartisan work. i can confidently say that wrda 2022 will benefit everyone from alaska to kentucky to new york to maryland and rural towns and everyplace in between. again, i want to express my heartfelt thanks to the staff on the democratic side, the majority staff, and to senator capito's staff on the minority side, the republican side. you can walk into some of the meetings we had with senator capito and myself and the staff, and if you didn't know who

worked for whom, you wouldn't know. i think it is a wonderful thing. with that in mind -- i want to thank again my staff from and senator capito's staff who worked so hard. i recognize mary francis and the republican side of the committee. i also want to thank murphy, max, kim, kath lynn, hayden -- kathleen, aheador, jordan -- jannine and john kaine, you are a force of nature. thank you for your great leadership. i would like to say again -- i already said that so i'm not going to say that again. i want to thank amy klein and david wethington of the corps for their countless hours of

technical assistance and support as the bill was developed. in closing i want to encourage all of our colleagues to join us in supporting this excellent bill because every state stands to benefit from the legislation before us today. and i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, that my full remarks appear in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. carper: with that, mr. president -- mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the bill, as amended, is considered read a third time and the question occurs on passage of the bill, as amended. mr. carper: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 92, the nays are 2. the bill, as amended, is passed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, calendar 1063, david pressman, to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states to hungary, that the senate vote on the nomination at 1:45 today without intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action, further that

july 19, that the july 19, 2020 order with respect to the milstein nomination remain in effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, david pressman of new york to be ambassador of the united states of america to hungary. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i'm coming down to the floor to speak briefly on our efforts to protect women's access to birth control and contraception. but before i do, i just want to note something that happened here today that was really odd. a few weeks back we came together and had a consensus bipartisan vote to stand up for

our veterans. a number of republican and democratic legislators here, the house and the senate worked together to develop something called the pact act. this is groundbreaking legislation, decades in the making that provides veterans access to health care for exposure to toxic chemicals, exposure that comes through being subjected to military burn pits. these are these pits where a lot of toxics and chemicals are burned at military installations, but also for exposure to chemicals like agent orange. so we had an 84-14 vote here just a few weeks ago in favor of the pact act. and then the bill came back to the senate due to some technical corrections having nothing to do with the substance of the bill, and yesterday the vote went from 84-55.

30 senators reversed their vote, and the bill failed. all 30 of those were republicans. what happened in two weeks that convinced 30 republicans who previously thought it was a good idea to help veterans to decide instead to take a -- tank a bill that was helping veterans? there's really only two explanations. the more charitable explanation is that 30 republicans just changed their mind. that three weeks ago they thought it was a good bill, helping veterans was a good idea, and three weeks later they decided that it wasn't a good idea, that they would rather spend that money on somebody else instead of our most vulnerable veterans. that would be pretty fantastic to have 30 members of the senate change their mind on the merits of a bill, especially a bill

that helps veterans, the most vulnerable veterans in this country, veterans who are dealing with cancer and respiratory illnesses. the less charitable explanation is this, republicans are mad that democrats are on the verge of passing climate change legislation and have decided to take out their anger on vulnerable veterans. that's the other thing that's changed in the last three weeks. republicans thought that democrats weren't going to be able to pass a bill asking corporations to pay a little bit more, tackling climate change. yesterday news emerged that there is an agreement that makes it likely that a climate change bill is going to proceed on the senate floor, and magically 30 votes flip. that's the less charitable explanation, because that would be pretty horrific. if republicans were mad about a

climate change bill and decided to take out their anger on veterans, on vulnerable veterans. so maybe in the coming days we'll figure out which one it was. maybe we'll figure out if 30 votes flipped because the merits of the bill dictated that flip. on maybe we'll find out that republicans have decided to just take out their anger about the reconciliation bill on veterans. either way, this is not a good day for veterans in this country. democrats are standing up for veterans. we're going to keep voting for the pact act. we're going to bring it back. 30 republicans that thought helping veterans was a good idea just three weeks ago all of a sudden have abandoned the cause. mr. president, i came down to the floor to talk about something that happened yesterday as well. that was an effort by democrats to get a bill on the floor that would protect women's access to

contraception, and republicans predictably blocked that bill from receiving consideration. and i want to talk about the broader picture of what's going on here today. j.d. vans is a candidate for the united states senate. he is a republican star, maybe the party's highest-profile candidate running for the senate. here's what he said about men who beat up their wives. he said, quote, one of the great tricks that i think the sexual revolution pulled on the american populace was convincing people in unhappy or violent marriages that getting divorced would make them happier. women should stop complaining, he suggests, about getting the crap beat out of them, should stop trying to leave abusive husbands and stick it out. senator hawley a few months ago gave a whole speech explaining how men have certain virtues

critical to the maintenance of the american republic, like aggression and competitiveness and independence, that women don't have in equal measure. he made a pretty una pop -- unapologetic case of the superiority of men over women. marjorie tailor green, nobody gets a bigger crowd than she does. sheep says women should accept that they are, quote, the weaker sex. a few weeks ago on this floor, republicans refused to allow a debate on a bill that simply says government can't tell women which states they can travel to in order to receive health care. and yesterday republicans blocked proceeding to a bill that simply says that men shouldn't be able to stop women from buying birth control. so put that all together. you see the pattern emerging here? you see what's going on?

this is a pretty coordinated, industrial-scale effort to bring women under control of the state, to take away decades of rights accumulation from women and put them back where they were in the 1940's and the 1930's. this is a massive coordinated effort by republicans to put more women under government control. no more abortion services, no more divorces from your abusive spouses, no more driving your car wherever you want, no more birth control. women are on their way back to becoming second-class citizens. that's what the cumulative agenda looks like here. and i don't think i'm paranoid. i don't think i'm overreading the tea leaves. i'm just picking up the pieces that republicans keep putting down day after day after day.

i know republicans will dispute this characterization, but if they do, we're going to continually give them the chance to prove us wrong. vote for a bill that says states can't ban birth control. vote for legislation that says states can't tell women where they can drive. what we're asking for is not an expansion of women's rights, just a protection to make sure that we don't take these big leaps backwards. other republicans will say that these are imagined crises, that states really aren't going to ban birth control. but just pay attention to what's happening in state legislatures right now. all over the country states are trying to restrict women from accessing contraception because many women -- many republicans

will tell you that protecting life, in their view, involves banning the use of birth control. in texas, the state already bans its family planning centers from distributing birth control. in missouri, conservatives are trying to block health providers who receive federal funds from prescribing contraception. and the supreme court in the dobbs decision basically previewed that it is likely to strike down the right to birth control sometime soon. so this isn't a fake crisis. this is real. and i'm not making up this new wholesale republican effort to try to drag women back 100 years and to sideline them in a way that we thought was history. that's all real too. and we will give republicans the chance over and over again to prove that wrong.

i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i want to talk a few minutes about the circumstances we find ourselves in in passing what i consider to be one of the most important pieces of legislation, perhaps the most important piece of legislation that's currently pending certainly before the united states senate, and that's what we've beening referring to as the pact act. it's legislation that we've talked about many times on the senate floor. it's a piece of legislation that

i and senator tester introduced. it is a piece of legislation that follows a long line of bills coming from the senate veterans' affairs committee with broad bipartisan support that have consequential outcomes for the veterans of our nation. we started years ago, several years ago in regard to the mission act. we followed that by the john q. hannon act. the mission act provided additional opportunities for veterans to access care in settings across the country, to bring care, medical care for veterans closer to home, to make it more available. and we followed that with the john q. hannon act which dealt with mental health and trying to reduce and eliminate the use of suicide in veterans' lives. then finally this major piece of legislation that has been a long time coming, way too long in meeting the needs of those veterans who serve now -- served now a long time in vietnam and in southeast asia

and are veterans who more recently served in iraq and afghanistan. and that's the subject of toxic exposure, where veterans come in contact with something that maybe not at the time created any health care concerns for them, but over time has become a significant medical and health care challenge for those who served in those areas. in iraq and afghanistan, in relationship to their location of, their location in relation to the location of a burn pit where many things were burned and caused toxic exposure for those veterans in the vicinity, and going back to vietnam, agent orange, which has been so devastating to so many people. veterans have waited for a long time. the process to date has been so slow. the legislative efforts, while they have occurred, were never sufficient to meet the needs of those who served our nation. and the actions at the department of veterans affairs delayed too long decisions necessary to make certain that those who encountered these

traumatic and damaging health care consequences of their service to our nation were not receiving the medical care that they deserved and not being able to acquire the benefits, the financial benefits that come from being disabled as a result of military service. i want to reiterate my support for that piece of legislation. the pact act needs to, as it came out of our committee by a unanimous vote, it passed the senate previously with 84 votes, and we need to continue the practice of taking care of our nation's veterans in a way that is not partisan on either side of the issues. i often tell my constituents with some level of pride that i serve on a committee, and unfortunately one of the few remaining committees in which it's difficult sometimes to tell

whether there's a republican chairman or a democratic chairman. i've been a ranking member and am the ranking member of that committee and i've been a chairman of that committee. and the senator from montana and i have worked hard, and in many ways because it's our veterans, it's a natural occurrence that we find common ground, and our committee members have done the same. we are now at the point where we need to make certain that the pact act is considered, that cloture be invoked. the difficulties that we've had with whether there needs to be an amendment or amendments needs to be resolved and this issue needs to pass the united states senate in short order. our veterans need to be reassured and i would do this as to the best of my ability to reassure veterans that whatever is any capabilities, i'm going to be the advocate, the spokesperson, the one who is trying to make, along with my

colleagues, i'm not trying to single myself out as the only one who cares about this issue, but whatever i can do, i will make sure we have success in this legislation. and success to me is passage by the senate, passage by the house and signed by the president and a law that then can be implemented by the department of veterans' affairs. i said many times there's lots of challenges still to come. no legislation that we will pass is easily implemented by the department of veterans' affairs. we will have our work to do. the work that needs to be accomplished today, now, this week, is the passage of the pact act so that our veterans who are encountering significant medical challenges have the care they need from becoming a veteran. i believe if you serve in our military, we need to live up to the promises we made. i'm of the belief that the cost of war, they certainly come with

the service, we have an obligation not only to fund the military activities, but to fund the programs and benefits that are necessary to care for those who serve who as a result of their service are damaged mentally, physically. i ask my senate colleagues here to let's get this resolved. let's get it resolved quickly and let's make sure that our veterans, as we want to serve them, are served in the way that they should be. and, mr. president, i just would only add that time is of the essence. this bill has been pending before the senate for a while. and before that, the united states house of representatives. but it's been a conversation by our veterans service organizations, their members. it's been a conversation by veterans organizations across the country now for decades. solve this problem. and we are on the cusp of doing so and we should not let this

moment pass. there are veterans who are dying every day. there are veterans who have died since this legislation was introduced. and i would like to make certain that there is no veteran, even if he or she is nearing that time at the end of their life in which they're worrying about whether their children or spouse is going to receive the care and treatment, the benefits they earned by their service. so, mr. president, please, my colleagues of the united states senate, please, let's make certain that we do our work to honor their service. i yield the floor, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: mr. president, i rise this afternoon to make sure that the plight russian leader is not forgotten.

that the outrageous imprisonment of vlad koramomaza is not forgotten. russia had entered a new age of possibility some three decades ago. after more than 70 years of communist oppression, the soviet union collapsed and with it the iron curtain was torn down. as the red flags came down in moscow, the free world watched with anticipation hoping that democracy might take root in a free russia. regrettably that has not happened. instead of democracy and freedom, the russian people got vladimir putin. a man who has used his office to

murder, imprison and no, sir into exile anyone who threatens his grip on power, all the while enriching himself beyond anyone's wildest imagination, while ordinary russians, especially in the countryside, live in squalled conditions. one of them is vladimir kara-murza. today he spends his days in a prison cell where the only thing he could see through the window is a barbed wire fence. what was his crime? he simply spoke the truth about putin's war on ukraine. his trial, if it even can be called a trial, was held in secret. no journalists, no diplomats or spectators of any kind were

allowed to be there. and for his offense of talking about the russian war against ukraine, he now faces up to 15 years in prison. this is not the first time the russian dictator has tried to silence him. mr. kara-murza has been poisoned twice. and almost died in both cases. since then, his wife and children had to live abroad, though he has chosen to spend his time in russia. in the national review, his wife described why he was working in russia. he believes he would not have the moral right to call on people to fight if he were not sharing the same risks. or as he put if in a recent cnn interview, the day of his arrest, he said the biggest gift to give the kremlin would be to give up and run. that's all they want from us.

what a contrast in character to the man currently running the kremlin. the national review story goes on to describe his courageous work as well as the costs that he and his family have endured along with so many other russian dissidents. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent, i ask to insert the national review story i referred to into the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: mr. kura-murrza's imprisonment is what -- in his words, putin's regime has gone, quote, from highly authoritarian to near totalitarian almost over night. in this march, russian officials passed a new censorship law forbidding all criticism of

mr. putin's war in ukraine. that law has been the basis for more than 16,000 arrests since the war began in february, including that of curiae muz r mushza -- others have been charged for speaking out against the war. independent russian media outlets have all but vanished having been blocked, shut down or forced out of the country by the kremlin. the last embers of freedom in russia are going cold. putin's crackdown on domestic freedom began in 2003 after an arrest on trumped up charges on tax fraud after he criticized the government. a former member of the elite, he had successfully led the oil company through privatization

after the iron kur tabaka -- the iron curtain fell. and prior to the claims, the company paid its taxes, but that did not stop them from throw him in jail. i would note before his arrest, mr. hortakofki displayed the same courage that we see in mr. kara-murza. he knew he could go to jail and refused to flee the country and said, quote, i would prefer to be a political prison rather than a political immigrant. by then mr. putin had shown himself willing to violate the international violations of law having leveled the chechen cap.

in 2014, he started a bloody war in eastern ukraine and in 2016, ruin dictator putin and his forces attacked the syrian city of aleppo, killing hundreds of civilians. meanwhile putin ramped up his attacks on domestic freedom as well. in 2015 boris nemzov, former deputy prime minister of russia was shot to death in broad daylight just yards away from the kremlin. three days later mr. khodorkosky was poisoned. this is vladimir putin's russia

today. when novalna recovered, he returned to russia knowing of the risks and then he was arrested. this is the horrible state russia. time and again vladimir putin has shown he is stepped on the aspirations of the people. as leader of the free world, america must condemn putin's lawless acts and stand for those fighting against all odds for a better future in russia. these are modern-day heroes and we should not forget them. my friend, the distinguished senior senator from -- from maryland, senator cardin d and i

along with two members of the house are part of the helsinki commission. we recently sent a joint letter to president biden calling on the administration to name and sanction all of those who have been involved in the arrest, detention, and persecution of vladimir kara-murza, i ask that my colleagues stand and work for his release. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. hir hir mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii -- ms. hirono: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to be able to complete my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hirono: mr. president, i rise today in support of the confirmation of dr. lester

martinez lopez to be an assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, or asdha. the defense department is responsible for the health and welfare of over 1.3 million americans who are entrusted with protecting our nation. in order to ensure they get the care they need and deserve, the dod must have an assistant secretary in place to lead their health affairs. this is a principal advisor for the secretary of defense for all health protection policies, programs, activities, and the integrated disability evaluation system. the afcha, is responsible for the execution of the dod medical mission, to provide and maintain physical and mental health, readiness for our medical services, and support to members

of the military services, their families, and those held in the control of the military services. dr. martinez-lopez is eminently qualified for the position and has an impressive history of public service. he graduated from medical school in 1978. he retired from the u.s. army as a major general and was the first latino to head the army medical research and material command at fort dietrich, maryland, he is a former director of the army's worldwide medical research acquisition and logistics program, overseeing a vast portfolio that included cancer, trauma, infectious diseases, and telemedicine research. dr. martinez-lopez directed the

premier laboratories and research program and led the development of the national biodefense capital at fort deelectric. he -- dietrich. he served -- i directed a worldwide public health organization and was responsible for preventive medicine, health promotion and wellness, global medical surveillance, occupational and environmental health and health risk communication. dr. martinez-lopez has an extensive military and medical background that make him eminently qualified to fill this important role. but republican obstruction has left us without a confirmed assistant secretary for health affairs for nearly a year. endangering the health of our servicemembers and the safety of our nation. unfortunately, dr. lopez is not the only critically important

civilian d.o.d. nominee senate republicans are blocking. just yesterday chairman reed came to the floor to ask for unanimous consent on the nominees to serve as inspector general of d.o.d., assistant secretary of the navy, a judge of the u.s. court of appeals for the armed forces. this unprecedented obstruction must end, and we must fill the important positions, including dr. martinez-lopez as quickly as possible. i urge my colleagues to confirm this nominee. i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nomination, calendar number 779, lester martinez-lopez to be an assistant secretary of defense, that the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the

record. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: mr. president, reserving the right to object. mr. marshall: i rise in observes to this nominee due to his support of president biden's irrational and proven foolish vaccine mandates for the military. the biden administration imposed a vaxxing mandate across the entire military. this led to the expulsion of qualified honorable servicemembers who elected not to receive the vaccine. this d.o.d. mandate failed to account for immunity to the virus many troops gained through natural infection which we now know was equal to or greater than the effectiveness of the vaccine. the mandate also failed to account for the fact that these men and women are our bravest and healthiest americans with strong immune systems. recently we learned the army cut roughly 60,000 national guard and reserve members from pay and

benefits for refusing to take the covid vaccine at the beginning of july. this decision was made at a time when more than 30% of it's criewtment slot -- recruitment slots are not fulfilled. the recruiting crisis has gotten so bad, the army is placing enlistees into a dietary and exercise program in order to lose weight. this manpower shortage could result in undermanned units and potentially longer deployments as well as greater dependence on national guardsmen and meeting mission goals. these personal shortages are clear and obvious and they're getting worse. yet the on the logs in charge refuse to drop the vaccine mandate for the military. there's no longer any rational basis to persist in this demand other than its deliberate campaign to punish and oppress political enemies. the department also appears to be going out of its way to deny religious accommodations for our troops.

more than 24,000 members across the branches have submitted religious accommodation requests. almost all have been rejected. the air force approved fewer than 130 of the more than 9,000 religious requests submitted by airmen. it's time for this administration to do what is morally right and patriotic, what is decent and sensible, and prudent for the readiness of our military and drop this vaccine mandate. further, the defense department should reinstate those servicemembers who have been expelled for this reason, return them to their previous positions, and provide backpay for time missed. but until they do so, i will continue to object to this nominee. and therefore i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. ms. hirono: mr. president, very briefly. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: the fact that my colleague is objecting to the consequences of not adhering to the requirement for a vaccination is not within the

purview of dr. lester martinez-lopez. therefore their objection as to this particular nominee is misplaced and in my view irrelevant. i again call on my colleagues to enable this nominee to come forward under unanimous consent. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. a senator: on roll call vote 273 i voted no. it had been my intention to vote aye. mrs. blackburn: i ask permission to change the vote since it will not affect the outcome. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. the clerk will call the roll. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is. the clerk will call the roll.

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