vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 61, the nays 30, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president shall be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to conside. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed sayall opposed nay.

all in favor aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, elizabeth wilson hanes of virginia to be united states district judge of the united states of virginia. mr. schumer: i send apcloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: , cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring bring to a close the nomination on calendar 1068 signed by 16 senators fools. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask the reading be waived. i ask the cloture motion filed today on july 28 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: and i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. mr. cornyn: mr. president, a few weeks ago the fate of the chips act, our collective effort to shore up a vulnerable semiconductor supply chain, watt in limbo. -- was in limbo. republicans said we would not move forward with what was then known as usica, the u.s. innovation and competition act. while democrats were crafting a partisan, reckless massive tax-and-spending bill behind closed doors. then senator manchin, the senator from west virginia, made a decision that angered most of his democratic colleagues. he slammed the door on the climate and tax provisions in reconciliation. he said until we see the july inflation figures, which we

haven't seen yet, until we see the july federal reserve interest rates, then let's wait. he noted that families are struggling to buy such essentials as gasoline and groceries and added i can't make that decision basically on taxes of any type. that is what i would call the old joe. after we received assurances privately from some senate democrats, including the staff of the senate majority leader, we are were able to move forward with usica and the funding of this vulnerable semiconductor supply chain that is an important part of the bill that the house is voting on today. so republicans and democrats went to work negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement because we recognized that the vulnerability of our

semiconductor supply chain was an economic and national security existential threat. because 90% of the advanced semiconductors in the world that power everything from your cell phone to the f-35 to the stinger or the javelin missiles that are being used in ukraine today, 90% of those come from overseas and the united states makes zero percent of them. that was the vulnerability and risk that we were exposed to. so that's why we worked so hard on a bipartisan basis to pass the -- what used to be called endless frontiers and i guess it's had about four or five different names so far. but it started in my mind with the chips for america act that senator warner, the senator from virginia, and i introduced in 2020. so we all celebrated with a bipartisan press conference just

in the l.b.j. room over here. but shortly after that bipartisan announcement, we learned some astonishing news. the climate and tax provisions apparently were never off the table despite what we had been told. apparently democrats, specifically the majority leader and senator manchin, just moved those discussions out of the public eye into a secret back room. and i'm pretty much -- i pretty much believed that other democratic colleagues were not clued in on those negotiations. that was my impression. it was a secret deal between the majority leader and senator schumer -- senator manchin. well, as i said, the chips act is part of this larger china competitiveness bill passed around 1:00 p.m., and it was just four hours later that senator manchin sent out a press

release announcing that build back broke was now on track. after repeatedly saying he would not support such reckless policies, he's done an olympic-worthy flip-flop, and there's simply no denying it. let me talk about the new joe. it simply can't be overestimated, overstated how dramatic this reversal is. democratic senators called me and texted me yesterday after senator manchin's announcement. one said i am so shocked and upset. another said i'm appalled. a member of the president's cabinet said i hope you know and trust that i had absolutely no idea this was going on. just two weeks ago, senator manchin said he wouldn't support the climate policies and tax

increases out of fear that it would fan the flames of inflation. last month, as we will recall, inflation hit a new four-decade high. every day expenses for food, groceries, other necessaries of life were up more than 9% from just a year ago. our colleague from west virginia said he told the democratic leader it would be wrong and not prudent to move forward while inflation was at a record high. unfortunately, it didn't take long for that sense of fiscal responsibility to fade. i don't know the details about the secret deal between senator manchin and senator schumer that resulted in this reversal. but i have to say it was ugly. now senator manchin not only supports the build back broke

bill, he now says it was his proposal. he, in effect, wrote it and it includes the same policies that he previously opposed. tax hikes on working families and small businesses, green new deal climate policies, socialist price controls on prescription drugs. things like subsidies for wealthy purchasers of electric vehicles. forget the fact that somebody who can't afford an electric vehicle, who has to drive an old clunker or perhaps buy a new car, they're the ones subsidizing wealthy people buying new vehicles. it's all in there. and democrats could not have pushed a worse time to push this reckless, irresponsible bill. this morning's news on the state of the economy confirms what millions of americans have known for months, that the biden recession is officially here.

our economy's not just stuck in the mud, it's sinking. families and small businesses deserve better than a toxic combination of higher prices and feeble economic growth. instead of helping the people survive this recession, our democratic colleagues want to push them even deeper into the hole. and senator -- in 2008, senator schumer himself, the majority leader, said that raising taxes during a recession was a bad idea. president obama said exactly the same thing. in 2009, president obama, in the aftermath of the great recession due to the financial crisis in 2008, president obama said virtually the same thing that senator schumer said, the last thing you want to do is raise

taxes in the middle of a recession. and that's exactly where we are. the following year, in 2010, senator manchin agreed with senator schumer and president obama. he said, i don't think during a time of recession you mess with any of the taxes or increase in taxes. that's the old joe. that's the same senator who's now proposing to raise taxes on families in the middle of a recession. now here's the real joke, but i guess the joke's on all of us. they're calling the inflation reduction act. what an insult to the intelligence of the american people. do they think anybody will be fooled? do they think the american people are so stupid they will

believe this is an honest attempt to address inflation? there is not a chance. this proposal is a wolf in sheep's clothing. our democratic colleagues can try to rebrand the build back broke bill that they tried to pass earlier this year, all they want, but it's filled with the same rotten policies that will hurt families, small businesses, and energy producers while the president, by the way, goes to saudi arabia, hat in hand, asking the leader of the kingdom of saudi arabia to produce more oil overseas rather than encourage domestic production here in america. if this bill were to pass, it would eliminate any chance we had of escaping the recession policies that democrats have

landed us in. families are being crushed by the worst inflation in four decades. for every dollar you have, it's worth 91 cents in purchasing power because of the broken policies of the biden administration. but it's not the politician that pay the price. we're doing just fine. it's the working families all across this country who are paying the price for democrats' war on american energy, for example. and they're sick and tired of being told by washington democrats that you can tax and spend our way out of this mess. i've got some bad news. if the democratic leader can manage to keep all 50 democrats on board, it's going to get worse. our only hope is that is single democratic senator will oppose this massive, irresponsible

bill, and it only takes one in a 50-50 senate. not only will this bill have a devastating impact on the american people, it will absolutely paralyze this chamber. there's been recent discussions about, well, amidst polarization, there is possibility for bipartisan cooperation and i've been proud to be a part of some of that bipartisan cooperation. i think we've done some important things for the american people. but the senate functions on trust. there are only 100 of us and the relationships and confidence we have that when somebody looks you in the eye and tells you something, that they tell you they're going to stick with it is important in good faith to building consensus to pass legislation. and that is the only way we can pass legislation, work in a

bipartisan, candid, good-faith way to get things done. like our mental health and school safety bill recently. mr. president, that trust was eviscerated yesterday. senators manchin and schumer did not draft this 725-page bill in the four hours between the passage of the chips act and senator manchin's press release. they've been working on this the entire time when they told us it was off the table. how is this chamber supposed to function if we don't have at least some m trust. what did our colleagues tell us? how can we negotiate in good faith and compromise if

necessary after the majority leader and the senator from west virginia pull a stunt like this? the american people are sometimes left to wonder whether our institutions, including this one, can work anymore. well, i can only speak for this senator when i say, this betrayal is an absolute declaration of political warfare. for years many of our democratic colleagues have claimed that the senate is broken because of the filibuster. they act as though a procedural vote with a 60-vote threshold is the end of democracy as we know it. but look where we are now. the democratic leader's crafting secret deals in back rooms. he's keeping members of his own political party in the dark such that they have to apologize to people like me who have been

willing to trust that what people say that their word is their bond. look, if somebody can't agree with me, i'd prefer they tell me outright and then we can figure out where we can agree if we can't agree in some areas. but to look you in the eye and tell you one thing and do another is absolutely unforgivable. and now the majority leader's trying to abuse the rules of the senate to pass a $700 billion partisan spending bill in the next week, in the next matter of days. a bill that was only announced in a press release yesterday. the senate is not broken, mr. president, but i'm afraid that this stunt pays off democrats -- if this stunt pays off, democrats are about to break it.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho is recognized. mr. risch: i rise today to urge the senate to proceed quickly, quickly to the consideration of the accession protocols for finland and sweden to join nato. once again the senate has been given the responsibility of

offering advice and consent to ratifying the accession of two new members to the north at listen tick treaty -- north atlantic treaty organization. we've been advising aggressively for quite some time and it's time now to move to the consent portion of getting this done. nato is the most successful political military alliance in history. it helped bring down the soviet union and it united europe so it could rebuild economically. the senate has the opportunity to expand nato and bring both finland and sweden into the alliance. over the years these countries never sought membership. they were content to just partner with nato, but they did not join. however, putin's attempt to rewrite the security landscape in europe with this invasion of ukraine convinced the people of finland and sweden that they

should become formal members of nato. why wouldn't they? after the past two weeks and really the entire summer, the senate foreign relations committee has carefully considered and discussed the prospective membership of our long-time partners finland and sweden. the senate has already shown bipartisan support for finland and sweden joining nato. as my colleagues and i have laid out in a resolution of support in public statements, at senate foreign relation committee meetings and hearings in june, and in the committee-reporteds submitted -- committee reports submitted to the floor along with the protocols. finland and sweden will make model members of the nato alliance. once approved by all 30 current members of nato, these two nations will become integral members of the alliance. both have strong and capable militaries and are already net

contributors to the security alliance. although militarily unaligned for decades, finland and sweden have long defended europe's high north, a region becoming even more important with the competition from russia and china in the arctic. both already demonstrated the intraoperability and the commitment necessary to join the alliance. finland already spends more than 2% of its gdp on defense and sweden laid out its plan to reach that mark shortly. both requirements for joining nato. these countries also bring additional capabilities to nato. both are intimately familiar with the north and east flank of europe. finland also trains u.s. forces in cold weather operations and the finnish avenue is suited to

operate and defend the baltic sea where some navy ships have less maneuverability being blue water navy. they both participated in missions in afghanistan, the balkans and iraq. they operated with less restrictions on their militaries in these missions than other nato members. finland and sweden also share our democratic values, have strong militaries and defense industries, and extensive experience in russian matters. one only has to take a look at a map to see the benefits of adding finland and sweden to nato. with their proximity to the baltic states, baltic states which are small, they are well positioned to provide support if needed to our current baltic nato allies just as the rest of nato would if the baltic states have a problem with russia. adding these two nations as full members to our alliance will

further deter any temptation by russia to engage in military adventureism in the baltic area or the arctic regions. although my sense is russia has already learned this year of the ineptitude, columnsness, and just plain -- columnsness and just plain overrated abilities of its military which can't even win against a small, less equipped adversary, even when russia uses barbaric medieval tactics. russia's efforts have been pitiful and at the same time despicable. many senators have already given firm statements of support for the accession and we deserve the timely chance to -- let's get on with it. there are few things more important than voting on accession for finland and sweden

than nato. this accession process is an important chance for the united states to demonstrate leadership in nato and commitment to its modernization and very importantly nato's future. when this -- when the shooting is over in the ukraine, it won't be over. there's no doubt that nato is going to take a long, hard look at what's -- at what it's doing, what its priorities are, and very importantly, hardening its eastern and northern flanks. since this wave of nato enlargement was first announced, the senate foreign relations committee has carefully consulted and coordinated with our nato allies the governments of sweden and finland with the administration and within the senate itself to ensure this process could move as efficiently and quickly as possible. i can't count the number of meetings and conversations we've had in this regard. we now have only one step left

until ratification, and it makes no sense to dillydally at this stage. there should be no issue with moving this treaty as quickly as possible. the senate's quick ratification of finland and sweden as new members of nato will both send a strong message of transatlantic unity to a now foundering russia and strengthen against russia's growing threat. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

i'm coming down to the floor believe briefly to talk about our efforts to protect women's access to contraception but before i do i want to know something that happened here today that was really odd . so a few weeks back, we came together andhad a consensus bipartisan vote to stand up for our veterans . the number of republicans and democratic legislators here, in the house and senate worked together to develop something called the 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 wherea lot of toxic chemicals and plastics are turned . at military installations but also for exposure to chemicals like agent orange. so we had an 84/14 vote here

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 though vote went from 84 to 55. 30 senators reversed their vote and the bill failed. all 30 of those were republicans. what happened in 2 weeks that convinced 30 republicans who previously thought it was a good idea to help veterans to decide instead to take 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 three weeks later they decided that it wasn't a good

idea. they would rather spend that money on something 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 the bill especially a bill that helps veterans, the most vulnerable veterans in the country. veterans who were dealing with cancer. >>

saying before today, they don't make cars like they used to. well, some of my colleagues know, many folks in delaware know, i can attest to that personally. for two decades, i drove a 2001 chrysler town and country minivan, a silver one, affectionately called by many the silver bullet. it had 600,000 miles on it.

i went to the dmv, i took with me the young man that wanted to buy it, they asked how much i was going to sell it for, i said $1. the lady there at the desk, at the dmv said, well, all i have to do is turn it over, sign the title on the back. $1. and so i wrote $1, and i signed the document, as did the purchaser. then the lady, the dmv, she said there is a transfer fee that you have to pay for the vehicle. i said what is it? she said 3%. i said 3% of $1? she said yes. i pulled a nickel out of my pocket and gave it to her, and said keep the change. my old minivan is more popular and famous in my little state than a lot of places than i was. anyway, that vehicle had seen every corner of the first state,

with some 600,000 miles to her name. she carried carpertown staffers, constituents, family members, and even a future president. when it came time to retire her early last summer, through anguish and heartache, i opted for a slight upgrade, a red tesla y, that maybe someday will have 600,000 miles on it. we'll see. let me tell you, they don't make cars like they used to. they make them a lot better. a whole lot better. and a whole lot cleaner, as well. on top of being fully electric, let me say that two, three, four years ago our selection of electric vehicles, low-emission, no-emission vehicles was limited, very limited. the folks from tesla were largely out of the gate first, the people from g.h. had come up with a -- from g.m. came up with a very good hybrid vehicle for a number of years. it took a long time for us to get into the business, both

domestic and foreign manufacturers are building and selling fully electric vehicles. but on top of being fully electric, right when you step in these new cars is, including the one i own, you see a world of technology in front of us, a state-of-the-art touch-screen gps system, backup cameras, digital heating and air-conditioning controls. it's a far cry from my old minivan that drove so many miles. the odometer died on me at 500,000 miles. i don't know exactly how many miles it had, but it had a lot. at 500,000 miles, i went to dover downs, the miracle mile, the monster mile, where we do auto racing, nascar, and they let me drive my minivan around the track as fast as it would go, holding the starter flame out the window. i thought it was going to rip my arm off, but it didn't. one ride in a car like my new one, it's clear automotive

technology and the american economy have drastically advanced in the last 20 years. that's thanks in part to the advances of semiconductor technology, or sometimes we say chips. now, folks at home might have read about chips. i think they may have heard about some connection with semiconductors, and our supply chain woes on the nightly news. they still wonder what that has to do with their everyday lives. so here it is, a little chips 101, chips 101 before i get in my new vehicle and head for the delaware state fair. as fast as i can go, legally, legally. chips 101 -- a semiconductor oftentimes referred to as a chip is commonly used material in tech manufacturing made of elements like silicon that are valued for their ability to manage the flow of electricity. our technology, a chip as small

as a puzzle piece or smaller than a fingernail is vital for creating the phones we carry in our pockets, our purses. the washing machine in our basement, the television in our family rooms, and all that technology in our new vehicles. but more than that, semiconductors have a vital role to play in some of the medical equipment that monitors our health and the weapons systems that protect our country. but after two years of the covid-19 pandemic and economic shock, unpredictable shutdowns along with labor shortages and logistic failures have led to severe supply chain constraints. these supply chain issues have caused the same inflation that americans have seen play out in empty shelves at their local grocery stores or in new technology they've said up for years to buy, but are having a hard time finding it on the

market as of late. just last month senator john cornyn an i chaired a finance trade hearing and it was a hearing on supply chain resiliency and we did it to take a look what the causing supply chain backlogs and hurting american consumers. we heard that day from the experts about the need for greater investments in semiconductor manufacturing here at home and about the vulnerabilities we face when companies thousands of miles away, maybe on the other side of the world, can determine the economic success of an entire american industry. because our manufacturing sector relies on this technology, we beholden on the companies that produce the semiconductors. that's increasingly a problem when america's share of global chip production drops from 37% in 1990 to just 12% today.

or when more than 75% of chips are manufactured in asia on the other side of the world. this reliance on foreign manufacturers makes our economic and our national security vulnerable to geopolitical shocks from halfway around the planet. and that's a problem for companies in my state, delaware, and your state of nevada, madam president. but one of the companies that i would mention from our state is hologic, and they're located near the university of delaware, northern part of our state. they rely on a reliable stream of ships to produce mammography machines. for hologic, a lower amount of chips means a struggle to replace and repair old machines

that men and women rely on for care to detect breast cancer. after more than two years of this pandemic and cancer screenings all-too-often delayed for months, that means more clinics and doctors' offices with outdated equipment will offer limited screenings, and that means more women in states like mine, like yours across america will have to put screenings that could save their lives on the back burner. and that's just one very serious real-world example of why these investments are critical to families and they're critical to businesses up and down the first state and across the united states. so, madam president, we can and we should take action to address some of the weaknesses in our economy and to compete with countries like china in the process. that's why i'm proud to support the chips and science act. it's a much-needed investment for the manufacturing of semiconductors and their

development of other critical technologies in our country and will provide tax incentives to make our tech sector the envy of the world once again. by investing in american-made chips, we can reduce costs of technology for americans, we can improve supply chain reliability and we can create new opportunities and jobs for a lot of american workers. by investing in the national science foundation and the american innovation hubs, we have an opportunity to jump-start american innovation and growth once eng.n.p. this legislation will make life a bit easeiers for businesses and consumers across america, from car dealerships in delaware on the east coast and in your state of nevada out in the middle of the great west, from car dealerships that don't have enough inventory to meet customer demands as to being

able to access critical parts. and as secretary raimondo and the defense secretary have made mere over the last couple of weeks, including a leaving they held with us, this bill will bolster both our economy, both our economic and our national security. not only that, to not act, to not invest in american jobs in manufacturing, secretary raimondo described it would cause -- her words, this is a quote -- irreparable harm to the united states economy and the united states military operations, close quote. because when america isn't in the driver's seat, someone else is, and they're taking the wheel. america may well fall behind as a result. so we have not just an opportunity, i think we have an obligation to american consumers and to our nation's workforce to invest right here at home. the action we're taking should be the beginning rather than the end of our efforts to strengthen

once again america's economic competitiveness. there are many bipartisan ideas on the table through debate on this legislation. i have some ideas that didn't make it into the final bill. many of them were worthy of our future consideration. as the chairman of the finance committee on international trade that i lead with senator cornyn, i will continue advocating for greater economic engagement in our allies across the globe and especially, especially in the asian pacific. there is more we can do. i'll say that again. there is more we can and must do to strengthen supply chain resiliency and support american workers and innovation. i was proud to vote in favor of chips and science act because, first and foremost, i serve the people of the first state, and yesterday's vote will mean investments that create jobs for delaware workers and states around us. we have a lot of people in other

states that work in delaware even though they work in pennsylvania or new jersey or maryland. but yesterday's vote will mean support for the technology that keeps our loved ones healthy and safe. and it will also mean more affordable goods delivered faster to families in the first state and every other state. i want to commend the house of representatives for the action that they took today in passing this legislation, and, madam president, when i leave here today, i'm going to go out and get in that red sports car that i drive these days, and it has incredible music, incredible music capabilities, as you probably know. most cars have that these days. i think first i'm going to head for the delaware state fair, which i love. the first time i ran for office -- a million years ago -- i'll probably pick out some music to

listen to. the first song -- the first song i think is a willie nelson song, "on the road again." and i'm going to get on the road again and head for the first state, for the delaware state fair and look forward to meeting a lot of people. i wish you a great weekend. and to my it colleague, dan sullivan from alaska, marine colonel who is about to take the floor, have at it. dan, it's all yours. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. sullivan: thank you, madam president. and i want to compliment my colleague from delaware, who i enjoy working with very much on the epw committee. and, madam president, i'm going to -- normally at this time at the end of the week, i talk about the alaskan of the week. so stay tuned for next week when we continue that series. today i want to talk about the

americans of the century, the americans of the century. this is an iconic, iconic picture of the men and, of course, women who built our great nation, the working families, the union members who built our great nation, won world war ii. this is, by the way, the empire state building, some of our workers built that. i'm going to talk about at that in a minute. having a little bit of lunch. but these are the workers who built america, certainly helped us win world war ii, the machinists, electricians, welders, builders and, madam president, next week my colleagues are going to be put to the test and it's going to be a simple test. it's the question that's a really important one right now -- where do you stand? do you stand with the workingmen and women of this great nation,

the ones who built our country and their incredible heritage of building america? or do you stand with the coastal elites, represented by this individual, who are actually focused on not building the country but in many ways shutting it down? well, i'll tell you where i stand. i stand right here, with the men and women who built this great nation. here's what's going to happen next week, madam president. i'm bringing together a joint resolution of disapproval under the congressional review act, what we call a cra, that will be a simple vote to nullify a recent biden administration regulation that clearly is going to make it harder in america to

build infrastructure projects, to build back betterings, to build energy projects. these regulations will waste taxpayer dollars, but the biggest thing they will do is they will prevent workers from working and building the country. so that's it. we're going to have a simple vote on where you stand -- with the people who take a shower before work or the people who take a shower after work, the people who spend their days holding tools to build things or holding lattes, the people with dirt under their fingernails. the vote will answer the question posed by the late folk sing pete seger, "which side are you on?" right now there are 50

republican senators who cosponsored my resolution. so let's talk about little bit about the background of what we're going to vote on next week. this is a very famous structure in america, the hoover dam, and it's part of a great american tradition that we are all proud of. every single american, that we used to build big things -- our roads, our dams, our ports, our bridges, our pipelines. we built engineering marvels in the world, a source simplify immense pride for all -- a sense of immense pride for all americans. the empire state building, you just saw a picture of men and women building that -- 410 days.

to build the empire state building. the pentagon, the biggest building in the world -- 16 months. let me talk a little bit closer to home. the 107-mile alaska-canadian highway, through some of the world's most rugged terrain -- 11 months. we did that! america did that! workers did that! the trans-alaska pipeline, think of this -- 70,000 sections of 40-age wide pipe join and laid, 70,000 sections across three mountain ranges, 800 riverbeds, tundra, forest, lakes, from the arctic ocean to the pacific. 800 miles -- three years. incredible. the american worker can build anything. can build anything.

so -- and then the engineering. we put a man on the moon in less than ten years. we used to do big things, big infrastructure, and the men and women of america have always been the best, most productive workers in the country. well, madam president, that is no longer, unfortunately, the legacy of america. and here's part of what's going to happen next week. let me talk a little bit of a background issue here. and i know some of my colleagues aren't going to like to hear it, but the democratic party was once home to these great american workers. that's true. my family was part of this tradition. irish-catholic, immigrants, democrats. my great-grandfather, frank j.

sullivan, was one of the founding members of the iebc, international brotherhood of electrical workers. he passed on the values of hard work throughout his family, and the democratic party long supported the union members, the workers who built not just america but the middle class. and i think that's a proud tra i guess did. -- and i think that's a proud tradition. i think that's a proud tradition. certainly something my family was part of. but that'sman abandoned -- but that's been abandoned. right now the focus is on coastal progressive elites and what they want versus what these men and women want. that was yesterday's democratic party. you're seeing headlines more like this -- quote, the democrats' working-class voter problem. that's a headline from the "democrat ally backlog" titled

"the liberal pa trot." "newsweek," democrats have forgottening the working class. here is a doozy from the economist lately, democrats in america are realizing they must moderate or die. now some attribute this problem to cultural issues, as james carville said, wokeness is a problem. cultural issues, wokeness, all that complies and and all that implies are certainly issues driving the working class away from the democratic party, but i believe the problems that the democrats are having with the working class run much deeper than wokeness. i believe they are structural and at the end of the day, they are pocketbook issues. in one issue, that impacts everybody but especially america's workers is the regulatory system, the permitting system that we have in america.

it hurts so much of our country, but i'll tell you who it really hurts -- the men and women who build things. they are on the ground. they see their projects being delayed when they are killed. they are the ones who get the pink slips when there's endless litigation. on a resource development in alaska. they worry about feeding their families. they can't build things anymore. they're day tacked by the far left because they produce things like american energy, which we all need. we live in a nation now that is increasingly divided into two countries. one of builders and doers, of working men and women, of working families, and the other side that soaks up the spoils of those workers and then figures out ways to make their job even harder, oftentimes resulting in putting them out of work all

together. and i've seen this time and time again, madam president, in my state. -- in my state. when these men and women try to build things and there's a choice with my democratic colleagues between the coastal elites who want to shut things down and the men and women in america who want to build things, unfortunately, the default position for them is the coastal elites. forsaking the working men and women of our country. so why am i so animated by this? because our great nation that built so many great things is now caught up in red tape. is now caught up in red tape. so i want to talk a little bit

more about my relation and the -- resolution and the vote we're going to have next wednesday or next tuesday. the nepa required environmental impact statements when things were built so the public could be engaged. that act, called nepa, resulted in people participating in the permitting process but not overburdening it. so normally, nepa, environmental impact, would take a little less than a couple of -- now you look at the system in america to try to build things. the average eis takes four to six years to just complete -- four to six years to just

complete, and it usually costs several million dollars just to do to build anything in this country. that wasn't the purpose of nepa. we are killing ourselves as a nation with our inability to build infrastructure because we're tangled up in red tape. in his recent reporting, the progressive "new york times" writer ezra klein looks at the cost of building things in america relative to other countries. japan, canada and germany build a kilometer for $254 million to $287 million, which seems like a lot until you get to the united states. one kilometer costs

$538 million. may more than any other industrialized country. the laser costs. and it is -- this is a study several years ago. i'm sure it's worse now. a new highway construction project, just to build a highway normally takes nine to 19 years. come on, america. we built the alcan highway in 11 years and 121 months. mr. president, this is a topic i'm passionate about. it sounds kind of geeky, this is the core of what is keeping so many working families down. let me give you a couple of other examples. the new, not new now, the

recently expanded runway at the seattle-tacoma airport. it took three years to build. i asked the head of the c-tech airport, how long did it take to get a permit before you built it? he looked at me and he said, senator, 15 years. 15 years to get permits to do a runway expansion at c-tech airport. he actually said by the time we got the permits an construction time -- and construction time, almost 20 years, i think the ancient egyptians would have built the pyramids by then. this is what we're talking about madam president, every state, every city, every community sees this problem. let me give you a couple of other examples. the gross reservoir in colorado, which is going to offer clean water to all the people in colorado, has taken two decades,

20 years to get this project permitted. california's bullet train that they're still working on, approved in the late 1990's, still not built because of permitting delays, the costs have gone from $33 billion to $105 billion. the mountain valley pipeline in virginia and west virginia, trying to transport natural gas, litigation is stopping that. of course in alaska we're ground zero for a lot of this. the kensington mine, right now producing gold for our country, hundreds of people working there, average age, $110,000. those are good jobs. 20 years to permit that mine. if you include the litigation, 20 years. here's how james calahan, a great american worker, president

of the international union of operating engineers, the men and women who really build america, the operating engineers, put it in a letter supporting my resolution next week. you can see it right here. he nails it. since its modest beginnings, nepa has evolved into a massive he'd physical, -- edifice, capable of destroying project after project, destroying, not helping, job after job in virtually every sector of the economy. he goes on. dilatory strategies ploid by project opponents freectsly exploit provisions -- and raising costs to the point that many applicants, whether public or private simply walk away.

by the way, madam president, when i talk about the coastal elites, the radical environmental groups, that's their goal to use nepa to just kill projects and they're really, really good at that. so what happens, as james callahan says when that happens, when the applicants simply walks away. we know what happens. work dries up, layoffs happen, the dignity of hope and work that can lift entire communities dissipates, families struggle, communities struggle. when we took about good-paying jobs in our country, we are talking about so much more than men and women punching a clock. we are talking about the health of families, the pride in communities, the pride in our

country. look at the pride of those men and women who built the empire state building, the pride of men and women who built the alaska pipeline. we see it over and over again that communities without hope, without an economic future, without good-paying jobs who get crushed by these burdensome regulationings an groups that want -- regulations and groups that want them to shut down experience violence, crime, and overcoming huge challenges like the opioid epidemic, so this matters across the country. again, madam president, they matter to working families more than anyone. so what are we going to do next week? well, a surprise to me, and i must admit it was a surprise, i came down here and talked about

this a while ago was that during the negotiations for the infrastructure bill that many of us voted on. i voted for it last year in part because it had really good provisions, not as good as i would have wanted, but on permitting reform. these built on what i worked on, what the trump administration, when they put out regulations as it related to building infrastructure. by the way, that were supported by millions and millions of americans for the reasons i just talked about, streamlining permitting, getting projects online, not so costly. so some of the nepa reforms that we got in the infrastructure bill were things that we had built on during the trump administration. let me give you a couple of examples. one federal agency in charge of all regulatory decisions, time

on nepa, limitation on the pages on nepa. these are commonsense reforms we worked on with the trump administration and some of which we got into the infrastructure bill. so imagine, madam president, this is supposedly joe biden's top legislative achievement. four months ago, kind of under the radar, the biden white house, council on environmental quality, put out new regulations. here's "the wall street journal" editorial on what the regulations were meant to do. anyone who's read them, and i encourage all americans to read them, these regulations have one goal in mind, slowing down the ability to build american infrastructure, especially american energy infrastructure.

the new nepa regulations from the biden white house make it harder to build our country. when the president supposedly supported the infrastructure bill. i truly wonder if the president has any clue that his white house issued regs to undermine what we all viewed as a very important bipartisan agreement. now, i gave -- achievement. now, i gave a speech a couple of weeks ago saying, how did this happen? how are we killing infrastructure on the sly through these regulations when supposedly this administration wants to build infrastructure and support the working men and women of our country. my view is like a lot of things, john kerry and gina mccarthy were probably behind it.

here's what i know. the people who like these rules meant to slow down the building of infrastructure, certainly not the working men and women of america, it's the radical environmental groups, probably the trial lawyers, and another group that loves it when we do this to ourselves, the chinese communist party. they look at us and say, holy cow, these americans can't get out of their own way. nine years to permit a bridge. this is killing us in terms of competitiveness. mayors don't like these rules. so what we're going to do next week, madam president, my congressional review act resolution is simple. it says we're going to rescind this biden rule that's going to make it harder to build american infrastructure. and here's the thing, right now we have a very big list of groups that are supporting my

resolution. we've got all the building trades of america, the operating engineers, the flcio of alaska, the labors international, the biggest construction union in america, and so many groups, farmers, independent business men and women, dozens of groups are supporting our resolution to say we're not going to allow them. we want to build things. we want to build things. president biden likes to talk about his supposed blue collar roots. well, i wonder where the president is going to be on my resolution because all the unions in america that build stuff are supporting it. again, maybe he didn't even know his white house put it out there. maybe he wants to support my congressional review act

resolution, but i'll tell you who this resolution is going to be really good for. it's going to be good for these men and women in america who built this country, who built this country. so again, madam president, i'll end where i began. next week there's going to be a big vote here, a simple vote. i have 50 republicans who cosponsored my resolution to get rid of the biden administration regulation that's going to kill infrastructure. so if you support the building trades and the labor unions who build america, you're going to vote yes on my resolution. if you support infrastructure for america and building it in a timely fashion, you're going to vote yes on my resolution. if you support american energy that we need so much in our

country, that we have right here, that we don't need to import from saudi arabia or russia or iran or venezuela, you're going to support my resolution. if you support the men and women who actually build this country, all of whom are supporting my resolution, you're going to support my resolution. but if you stand with the coastal environmental elites who want to shut down this country, shut down my state, shut down the economy, maybe you'll vote the other way. like i said in the beginning, it's going to be a test next week. whose side are you on? are you with these men and women and their heritage and their heroism who built this country? or are you going to be standing

with this individual, epitome of arrogant coastal elite, smugly telling americans that they shouldn't build energy projects. i know where i'm standing next week. i'm standing with the great men and women who built this country, the great men and women who continue to build this country, the great men and women who are supporting my resolution, and i sure hope all my colleagues vote the same way. this is an easy vote for america. this should be 100-0. that's the reason why. i yield the floor.

senator manchin, the senator from west virginia made the decision that angered most of his democratic colleagues. he slammed the door on climate and tax provisions and reconciliation. he said until we see the july inflation figures which we haven't seen yet, until we see the july federal interest rates than that's wait. he noted families are struggling to buy such essentials as gasoline and groceries and added

i can't make that decision on taxes of any type. that's what i call the old joke. after we received assurances privately including staff and senate majority leader the taxes, provisions were off the table we were able to move forward with you zika and the funding of this supply chain that's an important part of the bill the house is voting on today so republicans and democrats went to work negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement because you recognize the vulnerability of semiconductor supply chain was economic national security existential threat. 90% of advanced semiconductors in the world the power everything from your cell phone

2f35 to stinger or javelin missiles used in ukraine today, 90% of those come from overseas and the united states makes 0% of them. that was vulnerability and risk we were exposed to so that's why we work hard on a bipartisan basis to pass what used to be called in this frontiers, four or five different names so far but it started in my mind tips for america act senator warner from virginia and i introduced in june, 2020. we all celebrated bipartisan press conference in the lbj room over here. shortly after that bipartisan announcement we learned astonishing news. the climate and tax provisions apparently were never off the

table. despite what have been told apparently democrats specifically majority leader and senator manchin moved the discussion out of the public eye into a secret back room. i pretty much leave other democratic colleagues were not included on those negotiations. the secret deal between the majority leader and senator schumer -- senator manchin. i said the chips act as part of larger china competitive bill passed around 1:00 and four hours later senator manchin sent out a press release announcing bill back broke was now on track. after saying repeatedly he would not support such reckless policies he sent an olympic already football and there's no

denying it. let me talk about the new joe. it simply can't overestimated -- overstated how dramatic this reversal is. democratic senators called me and text me yesterday after senator mansions announcement, one said i am so shocked and upset. another said i am appalled. a member of the president's cabinet said i hope you know and trust i had no idea this was going on. two weeks ago senator manchin said he wouldn't support the climate policies and tax increases out the fear it would fan the flames of inflation. last month as we were recalled inflation hit a new four decade type. everyday expenses for food, groceries and other necessary of

life were up more than 9% from a year ago. our colleague from west virginia said he told the democratic leader it would be wrong and not prudent boom forward while inflation was at a record high. unfortunately it didn't take long for that sense of fiscal responsibility, i don't know the details about the secret deal between senator manchin and senator schumer that resulted i, this reversal but i have to say -- 4 hours here in the congress, a legislative one-two punch that the american people rarely see. a little while ago, the house voted to improve the largest investment in decades to lower costs, increase manufacturing, invest in science, and help fix the semiconductor crisis. the chips and science bill now

goes to the president's desk after three long years. and last night, senator manchin and i announced an agreement on the inflation reduction act of 2022, a bill that will take historic steps to lower costs, fight climate change, and make health care more affordable in this country. again, the past 24 hours have been a legislative one-two punch that americans rarely ever see and which will benefit them immensely. first, a bill that will supercharge american industry and now a bill that will fight inflation and mark a turning point in our fight against climate change. this morning i met with my democratic colleagues to review the big wins contained in the inflation reduction act of 2022. and we discussed our plan for passing it through reconciliation next week. with the inflation reduction act of 2022, this senate majority will finally take on big pharma

and lower prescription drug prices. this senate democratic majority will tackle the climate crisis, with the largest package on climate ever. this senate majority will ensure we close tax loopholes and make the wealthiest corporations and individuals pay their fair share. and this senate democratic majority will fight inflation and reduce the deficit. the inflation reduction act is common sense, it's bold, and it's very much needed. for decades, many in washington have promised to address these challenges but where previous efforts have fallen short, senate democrats and this majority will move swiftly to deliver to the american people. now, there is so much to like in the inflation reduction act. by a wide margin, this legislation will be the largest action on climate change ever passed by the congress. like the creation of the epa and

the passage of the clean air act half a century ago, this legislation will mark a turning point in our nation's commitment to protect our planet for our children and our grandchildren. through this bill, we will at last put the u.s. on a path to roughly 40% emission reductions by 2030, and it will help us achieve climate justice for communities long left behind, especially communities of color. but that's not all. for many years people in washington, including president trump, including the republican senate, promised to lower the cost of prescription drugs, but they failed to follow through. under this senate democratic majority, that's changing. our proposal will finally lower the cost of prescription drugs by empowering medicare for the first time ever to negotiate the prices of certain drugs in part b and part d. we will prevent health care premiums from skyrocketing for millions of americans in the

coming months and through it all we will ensure that no small business or family making under $400,000 a year will see their taxes go up. republicans go on and on and on about how this is a tax on the american people. no, republicans, you tried to hide the truth. this -- the truth is this bill will close tax loopholes exploited by the wealthiest americans and largest corporations and will not touch americans who make below $400,000 a year. why don't you say that? because you know your tax policies are so unpopular with the american people, which we proved in 2017. you tried the same shibilus then. oh, we're cutting taxes for the american people. we democrats made clear to the american people, no, no no. they were cutting taxes on the very wealthy. and by the time the 2018 campaigns rolled around, you didn't even mention it. we're going to do the same thing

now. we're going to tell the truth. yes, we are raising taxes on very wealthy people and big corporations that pay no money, not on average americans, and you are afraid to do that. the american people want these tax reforms. they support making sure the ultra rich and big corporations play by the rules and pay their fair share. it's common sense much the american people know that. so when the republicans threaten panic about taxes, what they really hate is the idea of increasing taxes on big business and those at the very top, and they're afraid to admit to the american people that they know they're own the wrong side of the issue. as i said, republicans should have learned their lesson in 2018 when the american people rejected their tax cuts for rich americans. we all saw what happens when republicans cut taxes for the rich and ultra rich

corporations. it fuels stock buybacks. since then, stock buybacks have only increased. according to s&p, buybacks are forecast to reach $1 trillion this year. americans don't want a tax code that's skewed to the top one percent, which is what happened under president trump when they had the majority. republicans know that so they distort and the ignore the fact that under our plan, small business and middle-class families making under $400,000 won't see their taxes go up at all. it's the same thing for the deficit. for years republicans have howled at the moon about the deficit. but when they were in the majority, they blew a $ 2 trillion hole in the budget. democrats' proposal will actually lower the deficit significantly, which will go a long way to easing inflation. if republicans really care about

fighting inflation, if they really care about lowering the deficit, as they've claimed, they should support our proposal, which would lower the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. now, at the end of the day, the american people want us to do a few commonsense things -- lower the cost of their daily expenses like health care, protect our planet for future generations, make sure everyone plays by the same rules and has a fair shot at achieving the american dream, and that's what the inflation reduction act will do. these are not easy matters, but we didn't come here to do easy things. to be sure, the work is not done. there's a lot we have to do in the coming zais. but i'm proud that right out in we have a strong, bold package to move on, one that will lower inflation, fight the climate crisis, and help preserve america's place as a nation with immense opportunity into the 21st century. let us get to work and pass the inflation reduction act of 2022.

i yield the floor. nope, i don't yet. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session, be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the veterans' affairs committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 3369, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3369, a bill to designate the medical center of the department of department ofs affairs in metropolitan atlanta, georgia, as the joseph maxwell cleland veterans' a fairs medical center. the presiding officer: without objection, the matter is -- the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the vote -- or proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered

read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the health and human -- health, education, labor, and pensions committee be discharged from s. 34490, a bill to promote media literacy and the bill be transferred to the subcommittee on commerce, science, and transportation. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the small business committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 7334 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 7334, an act to extend the statute of limitations for fraud by borrowers under certain covid-19 economic injury disaster loan programs and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the matter the. mr. schumer: i further ask the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is to further debate, the question is on passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. schumer: i finally ask that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the small business committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 7352 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 7352, an act to amend the small business act to extend the statute of limitation for fraud by borrowers under the paycheck protection program and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i further ask the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is to further debate, the question is son passage of the bill. -- is on passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye. all opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. schumer: i finally ask that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that senators baldwin, smith, and warner be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions through monday mr. schumer: i ask that the senate complete its business, it adjourn until 3 p.m. on monday, august 1. following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the

hanes nomination. further, that the cloture motion filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until

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