strategy that we recommend that they develop and we also made recommendations to the department of conference and to bring federal issues to bear across the variety of programs. >> hopefully those at least make some headway into the very important issue, so these lands do fall behind in terms of connectivity in the country. >> it's my hope that several committees will show interest in this particular area, especially given the challenges that we know exist. and with infrastructure challenges in front of the tribes with easement approval. things of that nature. this is another area getting that connectivity and being able to provide support. >> we're leaving this here to keep our over 40 year commit gavel to gavel coverage of

congress. the senate is mostly debating on judicial nominations. starting at 2:15, whether to confirm john lie for the u.s. court of appeals in the seventh circuit and a vote on advancing andre mathis, president biden's dom knee to the 6th circuit court of appeals. how live to the floor of the senate on c-span2. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. god, you are life, wisdom, truth, and blessedness. you are our hope and the center of our joy. lord, the founders of this great nation walked in your

guidance and rested in your compassion. unite us so that we can do your will. remove from us all evil desires and empower us to embrace the good. speak to our senators so that they may understand your will for our nation and world. illuminate their understanding with beams of celestial grace. make us thankful for the privilege of prayer. may we never take it for granted. and, lord, we continue to pray for ukraine. we pray in your merciful name. amen.

the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our 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, september 7, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable ben ray lujan, a senator from the state of new mexico, 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 and resume consideration

of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. john z. lee of illinois to be united states circuit judge for the seventh circuit.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, our democracy cannot hope to hang together for very long without a trusted, wald, and fair-minded -- trusted, balanced, and fair-minded judiciary. as we have seen in stark and frightful ways in recent months, the men and women who preside from the bench hold immense power over our nation's destiny and over our people's liberties. when it comes to nominating people to the bench, it's imperative we get it right. so today, the senate will continue its duty to advance president biden's highly qualified, highly diverse, and highly accomplished judicial nominees. we will begin this afternoon by voting on the confirmation of judge john lee, to serve as circuit judge for the seventh circuit. if confirmed, judge lee will

make history as the first asian american ever to preside on the seventh circuit. joining the proud company of other biden nominees making our courts more reflective of our country. i expect judge lee to receive bipartisan support, and his record certainly merits it. he's already been confirmed by this chamber when appointed to serve as district judge roughly a decade ago. and over the course of his tenure, judge lee has authored over 800 opinions, while being reversed only 11 times. later today, the senate will vote to advance the notation of another outstanding individual, andre mathis to serve as circuit judge for the sixth circuit. mr. mathis would be the first black man confirmed to the sixth circuit in nearly a quarter of a century, and the first to hail from tennessee. growing up, mr. mathis knew what it was like to go days without food, water, or heating.

and yet, despite immense adversity, he was the first in his family to attend college and graduate from law school with honors. he spent over 15 years in private practice and has an extensive pro bono record. if confirmed, i'm confident mr. mathis would make an excellent circuit court judge. mr. president, confirming judges will continue to be a very top priority for the senate in the days and weeks and months to come. last night, i filed cloture on two additional circuit nominees, which members can expect to begin voting on as soon as thursday. now, i want to take a moment, a moment to emphasize how far senate democrats have come in keeping our promise to bring balance back to the federal bench, which under president trump skewed dramatically, dramatically to the hard right. to date, senate democrats have confirmed 76 federal judges, more than the number, far more than the number confirmed at

this point to president trump's presidency. in fact, we've confirmed more judges than either president trump or president obama did this far into their administrations. in a dramatic break from the past, 75% of these nominees have been women, half of them women of color. that's a figure i dare say has never been seen before when it comes to judicial nominees. we're going to continue prioritizing judges moving forward. we cannot let the judiciary succumb to the hard right, because as we have seen the consequences are devastating to the american people. now, on the democrat results, the inflation reduction act was signed into law less than a month ago, and already, mr. president, the vecialght is in. our -- the verdict is in. our bill is already creating new investments, new jobs, new opportunities for american families. jobs here in america, not overseas. let me repeat the good news.

the inflation reduction act that every republican voted against is already, already delivering for our country. this morning, "the new york times" reported that in wake of the inflation reduction act a whole host of companies, quote, have announced a series of big-ticket projects to produce the kind of technology the legislation ames to -- aims to promote. companies like toyota announced billions in new investments to start manufacturing batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles right here, right here in america. elsewhere, the company first solar announced a $1 billion investment to build a new solar manufacturing facility in the southeast. their ceo is explicit that their decision hinged in large part on our legislation, saying it provided a level of clarity that made investment in the u.s. the right move. the examples go on. hyundai and l.g. energy

announced over $4 billion for e.v. battery production in the u.s. panasonic, which supplies parts to tesla's e.v. production, said they're also considering a $4 billion to build another e.v. battery plant. and thanks to tax incentives we passed recently that specifically reward domestic battery production, samsung has decided to accelerate plants to break ground on their own e.v. battery plant within the next few months in the u.s. these are just a few examples of how the inflation reduction act is already delivering on its promise to create countless new jobs and ignite billions in private sector investment, pave the way for america to lead the future with cheap and reliable clean energy. had we not done this, please plants would have been built, most overseas. america, as electric vehicles

become predominant throughout our country and the world, america would have lost out. we led the world in auto production in the 20th century, and because of this act, and what democrats without a single republican vote have done, we're going to lead in the 21st century as well. it's exciting and gratifying to know millions of americans will be employed in good-paying jobs, in jobs that have a real future. all of this is the result of democratic leadership keeping its promise to the american people. again, i have to say, this kind of thing used to happen when democrats and republicans came together. it's shameful that not a single republican voted with us to pass these investments, not one. of course, i'd also be remiss not to highlight all the ways the chips and science act is sparking new waves of investment as well. recently, the ceo of micron announced a $15 billion

investment in manufacturing last week, saying the chips and science act, quote, made this investment decision possible. micron committed to significantly more and larger investments to come, i'm happy to say. mr. president, when you pass good legislation, you get good results. it's been a long time, sadly, since the american people have felt that washington is capable of doing big things to meet big challenges. after four years of president trump, who spent all his time it seems just being nasty and negative and calling people names, but never getting -- making promises, never getting anything concrete done, democrats are actually delivering, with real results. senate democrats have shown that with the right people in office, government can work to promote, not hinder, the well-being and security of the american people. it's why we took on big pharma

and won. it's why we took on entrenched oil interests and won. it's why we took on the nra and beat them by passing the first gun safety law in decades. and all of this, mr. president, is the result of democrats following through on our promise. while the junior senator from florida continues to promote tax hikes for working families and putting medicare on the chopping block, democrats want to cut costs for families, increase prosperity, continue to strengthen ladders for people to get into the middle class and give them the stability to say that, once there, they're going to stay there. and democrats have given america hope in the future, that in the new industries and new ways of thinking and new sciences, we're going to lead, not follow, not lag behind, not spend time, as president trump did, most of his time, playing petty political games and never getting anything done. uh-uh. we're getting stuff done.

big stuff. important stuff. stuff that gives us a brighter future. that's why we worked so hard to pass our agenda, and already it's clear the american people are feeling the benefits. i yield the floor, and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: .

quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: washington democrats have spent nearly two years -- two years -- borrowing, printing, and spending our economy into turmoil. families and businesses across middle america are paying the

price. i met with many of them in my home state of kentucky over the past few weeks. since president biden took office, prices in the commonwealth have spiked by 13%. at the same time we still have 19,000 fewer workers than before the pandemic. during a meeting with the kentucky association of manufacturers in louisville, i heard directly from employers who would, under different circumstances, be powering our recovery. instead many are struggling to find enough workers to meet consumer demand. in hopkinsville, i spoke to farmers who watched the price of energy skyrocket, raising the cost of everything from fuel to fertilizer. as a result, all americans are paying higher prices at the grocery store. and while eastern kentucky struggles to recover from

devastating floods, supply chain issues and the increased cost of building materials are hamstringing the repair process and making it even harder to rebuild. i'm sure my democratic colleagues heard similar stories during their own august travel. kentuckians aren't the only americans feeling pinched. the official inflation numbers confirm that yet again, just after the senate adjourned last month, a fifth straight month of inflation above 8%. inflated gas prices, inflated utility bills, the worst explosion in grocery costs since 1979, these are the painful effects of democrats' reckless spending. americans keep communicating over and over and over that runaway costs are their top concern, and they didn't like what president biden and his party are doing about it. but amazingly just a few days

before the latest inflation report, democrats had just pushed through hundreds of billions of dollars more in liberal waste on a party-line basis. democrats packed their bill with an environmentalist wish list that won't even affect the climate. they sold it -- listen to this -- as the inflation reduction act, even though experts found it would do absolutely nothing meaningful to reduce inflation. they did find room for massive job-killing tax hikes that will hit manufacturing especially hard and kill jobs on the brink of a possible recession. it's not getting any easier to put food on the table, pay rent, or even keep the lights on. but here we are again starting another senate work period with not one word from the democratic leader about plans to bring

bills to the floor to cut inflation, fight the crime wave, or secure the border. the american people have communicated loud and clear what their priorities are, and democrats keep communicating loud and clear they simply do not care. now on another matter, inflation is not the only way the last two years have shown that bad policies and bad ideas have real consequences. one especially damaging myth is the liberal notion that making our country kinder means having weaker public safety, weaker justice for criminals, and

weaker borders. this misunderstanding dominates today's democratic party. across our country, democrats have spent years, years, trying to p defund law enforcement. studies have proven that antipolice hostility changes how officers do their jobs, leading directly to more crime, including more murders. so liberals nation wide antipolice p.r. campaign has literally cost people their lives. when liberals do let police arrest criminals, a growing cadre of far-left prosecutors often simply decline to charge them. one liberal billionaire has donated more than $1 million each to the campaigns of soft-on-crime district attorneys in new york, philadelphia, los angeles, and chicago. the los angeles d.a. has presided over a 69% increase in

shootings and a 40% spike in car thefts. chicago's liberal d.a., quote, appeared to be simply dropping nearly 30% of all felony cases, including -- listen to this -- alleged murders. philadelphia's liberal d.a. has presided over an 85% spike in shootings and a huge increase in murders since he took over. in the name of equity or compassion, these people are announcing they will not prosecute eligible entire categories of crimes. no wonder american cities are becoming more dangerous by the day. a couple of years back a former d.a. from outside boston published a list of crimes she would not prosecute -- shoplifting, breaking and entering, resisting arrest, and even in the middle of the opioid crisis, possession with

intent to distribute. as a reward, washington democrats made rachael rollins the u.s. attorney for massachusetts. she got a promotion. last month senator rubio put forward an amendment to increase funding for cops and keeping violent criminals behind bars. democrats blocked it. every senate democrat has also voted multiple times to strip customs and border protection of the only remaining emergency authorities to contend with the historic surge in illegal immigration unfolding on their watch. of course the open door policies our colleagues support in office are rooted in open border rhetoric that they have embraced literally for years. on the campaign trail, then-candidate biden himself said you want to flee? you should come. so on president biden's watch,

illegal immigrants flocked, literally flocked to the border. some carrying his campaign flags and t-shirts. as an outright security crisis at our southern border. we're in the middle of the most illegal immigration arrests in more than two decades. this year just in january to august, border appropriate says they have already -- border patrol says they have run into the number of known criminals this year as they saw in the entire year, entire year before president biden took office. and huge, huge upticks of deadly drugs like fentanyl. but democrats aren't just ignoring a security crisis, it's a humanitarian crisis as well. waves of unaccompanied children have stretched border patrol facilities to the limit, and under incompetent leadership the

department of health and human services has had to scramble to help ensure the safety of crirn in its -- children in its custody. there's nothing, nothing compassionate about tolerating or even encouraging anarchy down at the border. violence in our streets, and a steady erosion of public safety. it is neither fair nor is it compassionate not to any americans, least of all to the vulnerable people democrats say, say they're helping. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

in his

debt-intensive operation, and so with higher interest rates,

record farm debt of $496 billion, that's expected to increase interest payments by 37%, or more than $7 billion from 2020 or two years ago. so, my point simply, mr. president, is that, at least in my part of the country, with corn, soybeans, wheat, livestock, you know, cattle prices, expected to go up in record numbers, in terms of overall gross farm income, gross cash receipts, that you would think would lead to good times in american agriculture because of inflation, a 14% increase in gross cash receipts is going to result in an actual loss, reduction, year over year, from 2021, when it comes to inflation-adjusted net farm income. i make that point, mr. president, simply, again, to illustrate how critical it is

that as policymakers we acknowledge what's happening in the real world, because i think around here, an administration, the biden administration tries to downplay this whole inflation issue like it's a nonissue. it's a real issue. it's hitting the pocketbooks of every american in this countries to the tune of 8.5% to % for a family. i've -- to 9% for a family. the analysis is out there for an average family in this country, year over year to buy the same basket of goods you bought last year, an additional $9,000 over last year. 700 and some per month, year over year, month over month, increases in costs for average families in this country. that is a $9,000 tax increase on every family in this country. now borne arguably more easy by high-income families, but with if you're trying to make ends meet, putting more and more on credit cards or dipping into

savings, more and more people in this country, i just saw this number yesterday, one out of every six americans is behind on utility payments. there are people living paycheck to paycheck, and inflation is killing them. it's like this administration has a blind eye to that and wants to talk about a lot of other issues, and i can see why, because this is an issue i would not want to have to take responsibility for, and in many respects, all the spending, all the spending pushed through here advocated by the president, the $2 trillion last year, american rescue plan, just in the last month another $750 billion in spending and taxes and the heavy hand of regulation, the shutdown of oil and gas production in this country, which drives up the cost of energy, which is reflected in a lot of these numbers. if you look at the fuel costs year over year. you actually have a situation in american agriculture today where you've got record gross cash

receipts and a reduction in inflation-adjusted net income. that's the impact of inflation. mr. president, eight days, eight days. that's how long it took president biden to completely erase any of the supposed deficit reduction included in the democrats' so-called inflation reduction act. on august 24, eight days after signing the inflation reduction act into law, president biden announced that with a stroke of his pen he would be forgiving $10,000 in student loan debt, $20,000 for pell grant recipients, and taking other costly measures on student loans. the committee for a responsible federal budget, which incidentally is where treasury secretary janet yellen served

prior to joining the biden administration, they estimate that altogether the president's student loan changes will cost anywhere from $440 billion to $600 billion over the next decade. the penn wharton budget model suggested it could be even worse than that, with a total cost over ten years exceeding, exceeding $1 trillion. now, mr. president, even using the most optimistic assumptions, the inflation reduction act would only ever have reduced the deficit by about $300 billion. president biden's student loan plan will wipe out every single dime of that reduction, and then add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt on top of that. so much for the democrats' commitment to reducing the deficit, which i think was a hoax in the first place. there wasn't any serious commitment to it. but it only took them eight days. eight days to wipe it out after

they crowed about it and talk about how got joe manchin on board because we made a commitment to deficit reduction, which is something that he supposedly insisted on in these discussions. yet here we are, eight days, it's gone. mr. president, i've already noted that the committee for responsible federal budget estimates that the president's student loan measures will cost a staggering half a trillion dollars over the next decade. here's what else the committee for responsible federal budget had to say, and i quote, the student debt cancelation and relief measures announced by the biden administration would meaningfully boost inflation, end quote. would meaningfully boost inflation. that's right. americans have spent the majority of the biden administration struggling with huge increases in the price of everything from gas to groceries, and the president

just imposed, by fiat, a new policy that's likely to, quote, meaningfully boost inflation. i guess it isn't surprising, mr. president. after all, it's thanks in large part to democrats in the present that we ended up with this inflation crisis in the first place. as i mentioned, their reckless american rescue plan spending spree flooded the economy with unnecessary government money and the economy overheated as a result. the bo president's latest action shows how committed the democrats are to the big spending and big government agenda. mr. president, democrats tried to suggest that they'd gotten serious about the economy with their so-called inflation reduction act, even though the bill was only serious about spending taxpayer dollars on ill considered priorities like their green new deal agenda.

but the fact, the fact that it took the president telephone eight days to wipe out any deficit reduction from the democrats' bill tells you all you need to know about exactly how serious democrats are about handling taxpayer dollars responsibly. now, mr. president, i've talked for a while about why the president's student loan plans are such bad economic policy, but you don't have to take my word for it. here's what former obama economic adviser jason furman had to say about president biden's student loan plans, i quote again, pouring roughly half a trillion dollars of gasoline on inflation is reckless. doing it while going well beyond one campaign promise, which was $10,000 in student loan relief, and breaking another, which is that all proposals have to be

paid for, is even worse, end quote. that from obama economic advisor jason furman. another former obama economic advisor noted, quote, student loan debt relief is spending that raises demand and increases inflation. you will also tend to be inflationary by raising tuitions, end quote. well, there are even some current democrat members of congress that have expressed their concerns about the president's reckless student loan decision, and the president of the committee for responsible federal budget, which i mentioned, is where president biden's very own treasury secretary once served on the board, issued a scathing statement in which she said, and i quote, this announcement is gallingly reckless. with a national debt approaching record levels and inflation surging, it will make both worse. it would do nothing to actually

make education more affordable. if anything, this policy will drive up tuition costs while raising prices on a variety of other goods and services for ordinary americans, end quote. again, from the committee for a responsible federal budget, which is where the president's own treasury secretary used to serve. let me repeat that. while raising prices on a variety of other goods and services for ordinary americans. mr. president, as "the washington post" editorial board noted, american taxpayers will be footing the bill for the president's student loan decision. ordinary americans will pay in the form of higher prices. they'll pay in the form of higher rates on loans and mortgages. and they'll pay in the form of higher tuition costs. the majority of americans do not have student loan debt, either because they paid off their loans, never went to college, got a scholarship, or worked

their way through college or were able to go thanks to their or their parents' savings. now, these americans are going to be footing the bill for the 13% of americans who do have student loan debt. everyone is going to have to suffer economically to provide loan forgiveness for the few. this is deeply, deeply unfair, mr. president. it's unfair to expect americans who either never went to college, paid off their loans, or paid their way through to shoulder the cost of other americans' loans. the president's decision is unfair to parents who scrimped and saved to send their children to college, representing a lot of american families. the students, who chose a lower-cost college or worked to put themselves through. to the men and women in uniform, in the military, who fought for

this country, to earn money for their college education. and to the families struggling with high grocery bills and high energy bills and high rent prices who are likely to end up facing even more price increases thanks to the president's student loan decisions. and let's remember the taxpayers are going to be facing economic hardship to pay for student loans for americans if they graduated from college, enjoy greater long-term earning potential than the many americans shouldering the burden for their debts. the president's plan isn't even targeted to the most needy. with families making $250,000 a year, nearly ten times the poaft line for family of -- poverty line for a family of four, now eligible to have their loans

forgiven. mr. president, there's no doubt that the cost of college education has risen outrageously and that in some cases students have been encouraged to take on unrealistic levels of debt to pay for it. but the president's student loan plan does absolutely nothing to fix these problems. the president's plan will not only do nothing to control the cost of college education, it will almost undoubtedly make our current situation worse. what college is going to spend time worrying about lowering tuition tbees if it can expect the federal government to pick up part of the bill for its students education? the president's plan will do nothing to discourage taking on unrealistic levels of debt. in fact, it will encourage students to incur even more debt since the president has now set up an expectation that the

government will help pay down students' loan burden. given the fact that student loan debt is expected to be back to its current level in six years, i imagine we will hear more democrat calls for student loan forgiveness in the future. some members of the democrat party think the president didn't go far enough. more than one democrat wanted the president to forgive $50,000 in debt. now, apparently these democrats won't be satisfied until our economy drowns entirely under the weight of reckless government spending. mr. president, the defining achievement of the biden administration so far has been an economy that's left millions of americans struggling to make ends meet. apparently the president wants that to be his legacy. because for the sake of a few possible votes in november, he decided to pursue yet another

economic policy that will almost undoubtedly result in further economic payment for the -- pain for the american people. now he'll just have to hope that his strategy doesn't backfire because while his reckless student loan plan made by him a vote or -- may buy him a vote or two, a lot of other americans may decide that they had their fill of inflationary spending and far-left appeasement. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: one of those cities we'vebeen

hearing about is jackson mississippi and its water problem . talk about the actual problem and what you think of the cost >> there was flooding throughout the south over the last few weeks during the summer and one of the instances led acutely to flooding of the main water system there. the kurdis plant and water coming in from the pearl river. the plant was already compromised for because of years of deferred maintenance and it enabled the pump filtration systems and hundred 50,000 residents were not able to get clean water for a week.

now, this incident was one of several over the last year and a half. many people may remember during that winter snap last year when about a quarter of the residents did not have clean water. this is clearly an issue around broken infrastructure at least as far as the water system. there's been a lot of chatter in the media about what is the actual cost because this issue is years in the making, no one denies it but from my perspective, we know that water management is, follows patterns of segregation. now, there's some utilities that are managed regionally when you're talking electric and gas in mississippi. those are managed at a reasonable level and investments are shared more regionally in that respect

when it comes to water, municipalities are in charge of their water systems and as a result they have to pay for them. what the issue for a lot of people is that jackson does not have the revenue to repair upwards of $2 billion of needed repairs. and that has to come from federal, state sources. it will not come from the tax base there. jackson, as many people know, is one of the blackest cities in one of the blackest dates in america. the state is one of the poorest in the union and jackson is one of the poorest cities. you started to see white flight, you also started to see white middle-class flight leading leaving some of the poorest residents in the state. and that really just leaves

the city without the tax revenue. now, there's a lot of debate on what caused that reduction in population. my research largely focuses on the valuation of assets. a lot of people know my research from housing where my colleagues and i found homes in black neighborhoods are priced about 23 percent of all 48,000 per home. cumulatively hundred 56,000 in equity so we measured homes and compared homes and black neighborhoods in white near its controlling for all those factors, education, crime, those things. and homes are valued less compared to comparable homes in other areas. that's a metaphor for how we value assets in black neighborhoods. schools are devalued.

infrastructure is devalued. other municipal services are devalued. a lot of people will say people left jackson because of bad services. well, that maybe partially true but it's the clear, in mississippi people left largely because they did not want to be educated with black children. they do not want to live with black people and the federal government helps facilitate through investments. so what i've been saying is we need to fix this issue. no question about it. but we also need to recognize that black communities are the value. and we also need to fix this raises an issue of usnot wanting to live together . it's best infrastructure is a shared resource for economic and community involvement. it helps with transportation, all thesedifferent things . we need to do things together

with shared infrastructure but right now it is not shared. it, we don't have this sense that we're all in this together. >> let me invite you to call in. if you want to ask our guests about these issues you can call us at regional alliance today, for those of you in the and central time zones 202-748-8000 . 748-8000 one and you can text at 202-748-8000 three. you can also send us a text for us if you want at c-span. it was the governor talking about issues when it came to him, but i want to play a little bit what he has to say as far as causes and get your response . >> government is taking in more revenue over all these days than ever before. so what happened? how did we gethere ? basic work to maintain the facilities was not done

caused the few staff in that plant had been abandoned. this crisis cost effort and tens of thousandsof dollars to fix . and at the time to prevent, not billions and billions of dollars. whatever investment comes next, basic competency to run a water system has to come with it. we cannot continue on the way that we've been going. the state has invested and will continue to invest a tremendous amount of resources to quickly fix what has been broken over the past few years. we've administered hundred $50 million in federal state funds to the city over the last several years. we will spend tens of millions more on this issue. i vetoed state funding for golf courses and parking lots in jackson this year because i knew we would need to provide big investments like

this at somepoint . unfortunately we've never received a real plan from jackson on how to improve their water system or the state to considerfunding it . >> the governor they're talking about money from the states to the city . and alleging mismanagement of that, what you think about that ? >> there's constant claims that the reason why we're here is because of mismanagement and i want to be absolutely clear, when you're working in the city and dealing with low revenues overall, that you have to make choices, you have two decide whether or not you want to invest in policing and education. infrastructure. when you don't have enough resources you pick and choose and something falls short and in this case, there's a lot of deferred maintenance that has happened and yes, there has been mismanagement really a poorly executed contract on the part of siemens who was

hired to manage for help repair and manage the system and that was a horrible contract that everyone recognizes including the city was horribly wrong. but this is really an issue of the city not having enough resources to deal with the $2 billion crisis. the governor noted that the state has provided billions of dollars but woefully inadequate to address the $2 billion of needed repairs. this is the state capital. people forget that but legislators have to go into work dealing with this issue, bypassing this issue and this for me, that's where you have to have some type of emotional connection.

there is sort of this dissonance that i can go into work and not worry about water because i'm going to go off at the end of the day and how that plays out is how it plays out in many different areas of the country. we know that black cities have eroding infrastructure particularly around water where we see i used to live in new orleans. i have a close relationship with water and a lack of investment in infrastructure in those systems and we see in other counties and cities where literally water and infrastructure sometimes stops when it gets to the black border so for me this is our willingness to change the approach. we clearly need a more regional approach to water management. there's an approach called one water that really is more of an integrated approach to managing water,

representative bennie thompson, democrat has proposed a regional water management board structure. i certainly think that is going on the right path but we have to embrace that in terms of rentable. >> you guys also suggest possibly privatization being on the table. >> for me privatization is one of the reasons why we're here. there's this sense of in my community this is what i want to deal with and it happens at many communities in mississippi. they are very segregated so they will say hey, this is our issue and our responsibility. we don't have a responsibility for someone else but when it comes to things like infrastructure we are in this together and so for me we do need some regional sharedapproaches to management . and it is a test of how we're going to see ourselves as citizens of the same country

in the same state in the same region. sharing some responsibility together. and if we can't do that around infrastructure we're going to see incidents like this happen over and over again. water is necessary. and whether you're a black town, white town, poor town or a rich town one should not have to be afforded better water than someone else but we have a system that allows for it. when white flight happened, you had residencein a place . i don't care if the town is hollowed out. you still need clean water in that place so we need some systems that will allow for residents to not get basic things like water. >> is this purely a race issue or an economic issue because you mentioned white

flight happened but blacks also left it there are the two connected ? >> i think it's connected, race and class are in many different ways. but i do see this more as an issue rooted in our inability to get along, whatever prevents us from doing that and in mississippi if you're not talking about race and racism then you're really not talking about one of the main issues are not getting together . there's clearly class divides also, no question about that. and we have to figure out how to go to school with poor people. we have to learn howto go to school with black people and white people ,hispanics and others . this is the central problem that is eroding the public so for me, in mississippi is, it is about race because why people move originally was

clearly about race. >> this is andre perry again with brookings institution will talk about your research but devon washington dc first up for our guest, you're on with them, go ahead . >> morning sir. i think he just said people left the city because they don't want to deal with black people? what data are you using to say that or is it quality of life in the neighborhood? >> it wasn't that long ago brownlee board happened in 1954 and you started to see the desegregation of schools and there was a resistance historically particularly in the 70s because that's when you started to see desegregation kicked in inthe south . it's been about 10 years where there wasn't a lot of movement . feds really started to put their foot down and say you

have to desegregate and people responded. they moved. also remember that there's a, that this didn't happen without some policy intervention . in the 50s we started to see federal outlays that helped support the movement towards the suburbs. highway construction, new development and outside of the city. that really helped change the law so one of the criticisms around people who say hey, racism is part of this bill say people are moving not because racism, because there's a lack of opportunity . a lack of quality housing and so forth. again, those things might be true but you didn't getthat quality in these other places without investment . nothing grows without investment so what i'm saying is we need to put investment

and growth in areas where we clearly needed and will start to see the growth. this idea that we should only invest in places that technically don't need it, it's ridiculous. we also need to invest in places where clearly we need growth. >> we saw the ministration pass and infrastructure plan, how much of that plan could help cities like jackson resultissues like they're having with their water ? >> the infrastructure and jobs act only applied in mississippi $500 million. they have $2 billion effort and we saw about 14 million i believe 02 jackson at the time. again, the state declared this up federal emergency. and appealed to biden, biden's willing to address that but long-term. there needs to be a long-term change in the structure and

how infrastructure is paid for because even if somehow these repairs were made, you still have to maintain them. and if you don't have the revenue to maintain them you'll be back here much longer down the road. but it will happen so we do need change in structure and how water is managed in the region. >> let's go to erin in alexandria, your next up . >> i'm originally from philadelphia. born and raised in the 80s as part of the desegregation program in philadelphia which was highly segregated and i definitely have witnessed white flight but i believe there was a systematic dismantling of black communities, i'm a descendent of one of the founders of blackstone, you can google it for the listeners but the main thing i want to say is that there is a defunding or

divestment from black communities while also negative attributes who are brought in. you saw the liquor stores, pawnshops come into those communities and also the stop snitching. the mentality that was happening in the black community while people were leaving and black people were leaving the communities. the community i grew up in was very diverse we saw that people were starting to leave. more black people, poor white people did not want to live together and i think my main question is how do we keep these communities that we live in sort of solidify against the negative business of divesting and defunding of black communities and lack lives in these communities because ultimately what happens isthat we start breaking apart , crime comes in and then there's

gentrification happens. the rents raise up, people have to move out and they can't afford to live in randy moss house was paid for and now has turned from 200,000 to 500,000. >> sorry to interrupt, you put a lot there for our guests toconsider . >> i do agree there's been a significant amount of investment in black communities in particular and the way to reverse that is through investment in community andeconomic development activity . again nothing grows without investment so when you're talking about community development you have to talk about housing . there was just announced the freddie and fannie are and government-sponsored enterprises announced they be incorporating rental payments in essentially fica scores and determiningthe readiness . why that's important, bank of america recently announced they would have no down payment loans as a result of that and it's because they're

going to use new metrics of determining prime borrowers. so don't think about housing crisis in a sense of you had a lot of borrowers who were not ready to do so. they're creating new metrics to find out those areas of prime borrowers who may not have had the assetsgrowing up . they were low but they pay all their bills on time, particularly rents and their creating some new models to determine that. so those are the kind of things that will help people stay in communities, will help you invest in communities and solidify the activities. my colleague tracy lowell and i were pursuing this idea called buyback block at the brookings institution where we were going to identify commercial corridors that are also should receive

investment. we are working with these across the country and helping them refurbish those commercial corridors that are moribund because again like every city deserves water every city deserves a main street, idon't care if you're in rural america, you need your barbershop . you need your insurance companies. any other services in the area but you also need high revenue growth types of businesses. >> call gentrification, is that a bad word in this case? >> five think gentrification is a bad thing because it means people are being pushed out. there are ways to develop communities in ways that don't push out existing residents but that means grading programs and opportunities for those residents. who often and gentrification happens because it literally buildings structures for

other people to come in and benefit from. we need to create programs and initiatives that are investing in people who are there, developing thepeople who are there . a study came out not too long ago that examined the benefits of placing new school buildings in neighborhoods. not surprising, when you place a new school in the neighborhood the entire neighborhood grows economically. because there's jobs created, there's noactivities . so the call is for investments, the call is also to invest in people who are there and this should not be at racist issue. you see people in rural america struggling the same way they are struggling in latin america. so for me it is about figuring out ways to invest in people who are committed to place because we have lots of people who are committed to their neighborhoods. they wouldn't leave if there

was an opportunity. this is my home in detroit, this is my home in jackson, this is my home in wilkinsburg pennsylvania. and they're going to stick their. we something to those folks and my colleague mark at the brookings institution is constantly talking about superstar cities and how there's a lot of investment going to like five, six,seven cities across the country . they are, new york, the dmz but there are other places that have ideas other places that are creating but we need to figure outways to invest in those ideas . >> even the washington post this morning there's a story about baltimore having issues with its own water and they contributed to drinking infrastructure and the like . >> when baltimore is a major city, one of our largest cities. again, and i say this not loosely. baltimore was a majority

white city. we would not see the last of investment overall in that city. and this is what i mean by that. that part of this dilemma is that you're not seeing the tax base rise up. and one of the reasons why is we are not investing in businesses . we're not investing in new colleges, or refurbishing commercial corridors. so when we do that everyone benefits. so in places like baltimore we seen decades and decades without basic investment and

by the way, when you build up a college or university it comes with infrastructure. so when you don't invest in the people, we keep talking about infrastructure but really this stuff whether or not we are investing in people it comes out in the wash and how infrastructure is maintained but when we invest in people we can see the growth of the city . so for me , this is a simple but difficult thing to do but we do need toinvest in businesses , startups and encouraging more lawyer firms. we do need to invest in main streets and the like. we need to invest in housing. but clearly we need to invest in infrastructure. the same way we got out of the great depression in the 30s, 40sand 50s by investing in places where they did not exist or there was little to offer , we can do that today. >> andre perry frombrookings institution. patricia in minneapolis your next up . >> hi you guys. in your opening statement

mister perry you said thatthe deferred maintenance . if i don't maintain my car is going to break down and i certainly wouldn't look to my neighbors to buy me a newcar. but your city of jackson , that city of jackson has been run by democrats for dates and decades. and you know, black people need to value their own lives . they need to take care of their own communities . what's up with not maintaining your water systems, it's the most importantthing, why were they doing that ? there's a lot of waste in that city. i that there was corruption. for decades and decades. looking to other people to solve your problems, it's endless. it'll never end. black families, the fathers are there. there on welfare. the kids don't have a chance and then you look at the

teachers union. the horrible jobs they're doing with lack kids in particular in those schools, they don't have a chance in hell. >> to compare your card to infrastructure is a bad comparison. to saythe least. we share infrastructure . when we build grids, power grids and water systems, they cut across geography and racial groups. these are not private goods but that isthe problem. that's the problem , people see this as this is mine and they also don't see how that extends to our shared responsibility in terms of taxes to each other. people literally legislatures are acting in the same way. they say we shouldn't give to

jackson or we don't, i mean, let's beclear . the governor, a mississippi governor blocked many different efforts to raise taxes so that they could pay for it so there is this racialized preemption, this ideapreemption is when a higher authority can overrule ,higher authority being the state can overrule a lower authority being the city . there's a racialized version of that where the mayor offered different solutions on the table. some of them involving increasing taxes but the governor who i just recently made one of the largest tax cuts in the history of mississippi supported those efforts. so this is isn't a matter of a private good and only people should take care of themselves . certainly there is a self determination among black

people and certainly there are problems but this is where my research comes into play. when there's a devaluation of people, when there's a devaluation of property, when there's a devaluation of neighborhoods, you get less revenue to actually refurbish infrastructure, improve neighborhoods so the caller really is missing a fundamental thing about infrastructure . it's shared. infrastructure is shared. it's not a private good. >> this is the researchour guest is referring to, devaluation of assets in black neighborhoods, a key for resident property andre perry and others that out, it's@brookings.edu . blake, hello. >> caller: i wanted to say the problem is that america

is wasting the most diverse people on the planet, african-americans . you marvel our arts and sports but you actually are some haters because you aren't willing to invest in our community unless you want to put a highway on it or gentrification because you can't have one place where there's 50 times as much as another race. how do you say slavery ended in that case. you want to invest in education, you put drugs in our community. we don't have drugs, we don't manage that kind of thing but you're treating the justice system unfairly and it's because these people are first tried so it's all about like the gentle lady just said. people are tribal. america was an experiment to see if people could live together but it was a

government that had been enslaving people for hundreds of years and turnaround and not do anything for those people then you just out of the problem . let's receive this inequality and your inability and your unable to evenattempt to straighten this out. i'm ashamed of being american . >> host: blake in leyland mississippi. >> what i want to propose here is infrastructure actually provides an opportunity to come together because it is a good that should be shared.and what i do hope the governor and governor of mississippi, mayor of jackson can demonstrate is that there is an opportunity to change the structures and the mindset that creates sort of this segregated sort of approach to everything we do. infrastructure at its best provides a foundation for community well-being.

we can build new schools, build, create new roads and new water systems together. because we have to pay for it together and the benefits should be shared as well. we talk a lot about in research about the negative cost of segregation.

months, 150,000 migrants each month. and the biden administration seems to be saying what's the problem? their decision apparently is to stay the course. what little attention there has been to the impact on the border crisis tends to focus, though, solely on the migrants and of course that is part of the concern. no one is suggesting that we treat them with disrespect or

inhumane manner. in fact, just the contrary is true. but we know that people coming into the country outside of the legal immigration system endure a brutal journey just to get here. they pay thousands of dollars to cartels and coyotes or human smugglers and often the women and girls are raped, abused, and migrants who slow down the coyotes will be abandoned and frequently left to die. we see that particularly in south texas around the falfurrias check point where we see the migrants coming across the river. then they are put in stash houses in inhumane conditions and then driven north through the border patrol check points.

but because of their fear of being discovered, the coyotes tell them get out of the vehicle and walk around the check point and meet us on the north side to begin -- to continue our journey. the problem is this time of year the weather and temperatures are brutal and frequently ranchers in books county which is a county why the falfurrias check point is located find the bones of migrants who did not make it or otherwise dead bodies. migrants are certainly the face of the biden border crisis, but they're not the only ones being hurt by the failure of the administration to deal with this crisis. when thousands of people a day

illegally cross our border, it impacts our entire border security apparatus. we're seeing unprecedented numbers of people showing up at the border and unfortunately it's part of a plan to overwhelm the capacity of law enforcement to deal with these numbers. this is part of a business model of the drug cartels. flood the border with migrants, distract the border patrol who have to leave the front lines to transport processing care for the migrants creating huge security gaps. and there's no question that the cartels and criminal organizations are exploiting those gaps to traffic dangerous drugs. they're bringing across heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, name your poison. the truth is these transnational

organizations sometimes called cartels or commodity agnostic. they're in it for the money and they'll sell anything or anybody to make money. but without a doubt the most alarming drug that's crossing the border today is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. last year the biden administration may have not noticed but 108,000 americans died of drug overdoses last year alone. and the vast majority of those drugs came across the southern border because of the business model that i just described. and the majority of those deaths involve synthetic opioids like fentanyl. fentanyl of course is especially dangerous because as little as two milligrams can be deadly. that's a lethal dose that fits on the tip of a sharpened pencil.

customs and border protection doesn't track fentanyl seizures by milligram, though. it logs, it impounds. and since october of last year customs and border protection have seized more than 10,600 pounds of fentanyl. and, no, they didn't get it all. that's just what they were able to interdict and seize. but of that 10,# -- 10,600 pounds is enough to wipe out the entire u.s. population more than seven times over. you would think this would be a matter of serious concern by the administration, an operation which uses migrants to distract law enforcement from being able to interdict a dangerous drug coming into the united states and taking tens of thousands of americans' lives. but, frankly, it hasn't even

registered any kind of reaction by the administration. the good news is thanks to the hardworking customs and border protection officers, those 10,600 pounds of fentanyl never ended up on the streets or in our local communities. but the bad news is there's a whole lot more where that came from. cartels exploit the security gaps along the border to smuggle drugs into our country, and while the first stop may be texas or another state along the southern border, trees products don't stop -- these products don't stop there. they're quickly distributed by networks of criminal gangs across america to every community, not just cities but rural communities as well. fentanyl poses a unique danger buzz not only is it incredibly potent but it's also a lot cheaper than these other drugs. illicit drug makers will lace

substances with fentanyl to cut expenses, to hook the user, and buyers often have no idea what they're actually getting. this is a big problem in texas but not just in my state but across the country. but we've seen a surge of fentanyl-related deaths in my state. last year more than 1,700 texans died from fentanyl overdoses and we continue to see the hard breaking toll this drug -- heartbreaking toll this drug is having on communities of every size. cities across the state have experienced strings of overdose deaths likely tied to batches of drugs laced with fentanyl. there's no single profile to describe the victims of these fentanyl deaths that cover every age, every demographic, and every walk of life. but one of the most concerning trends we've seen is a spike in

teenage overdose deaths. nationwide 77%, 77% of all teen overdose deaths last year involved fentanyl. fentanyl is, believe it or not, the leading cause of death of americans between the age of 18 and 45, a shocking statistic. teenagers may think they're buying prescription opioid, things like oxycontin or some other drug, but they may be unknowingly taking drugs that contain a deadly dose of fentanyl in addition. one texas community is feeling the devastation of this situation, an almost unimaginable degree.

hayes county southwest of -- situated southwest in texas, only days ago, a 15-year-old high school sophomore died from a suspected fentanyl overdose. sadly, this wasn't the first death in the hayes consolidated independent school district. it wasn't even the second. in one month's time, this school district lost three students to fentanyl rlted over-- fentanyl-related overdoses. the other two were seniors. we're talking about young people at the starting point of their life. they have endless potential and an army of people who want to see them succeed and live happy, productive, and successful lives. but that human potential is lost because this deadly drug has made its way into our country and into our communities and into our schools.

but texas isn't the only state confronting a wave of fentanyl overdoses. a few weeks ago a woman in colorado found her 13-year-old grandson jose leaning over the bathroom sink unresponsive. jose's family said he had no history of illicit drug use and they believe he received a pill from someone on his way home from school. but that pill contained enough fentanyl to kill this energetic eighth grader who had his entire life ahead of him. sadly, this is an all too familiar story. earlier this summer a 1 15-month-old toddler, a toddler in georgia died after being exposed to fentanyl. same thing happened recently in california also to a 1 15-month-old infant. law enforcement in big cities and small towns alike have seen

a spike in arrests and overdoses connected to fentanyl. the problem has gotten so bad that a number of major cities including las vegas, san diego, and new york have installed vending machines to distribute lifesaving shots of narcan which is an anecdote to fentanyl overdoses. vending machines on the city streets of an anecdote for fentanyl because the problem has become so pervasive. this is a crisis facing everyone from toddlers to teens to adults of all ages. last year more than 71,000 americans died from a fentanyl overdose. that's 71,000 out of the 108,000 drug overdose deaths that i mentioned a moment ago. and given the rate at which fentanyl is coming into the united states, i fear the worst is still to come.

drug cartels are taking advantage of the security gaps at the border and going to extreme lengths to boost their sales. for example, last month the drug enforcement administration seized brightly colored fentanyl tablets in 18 states. children appear to be the target demographic for what the dea is calling rainbow fentanyl. there are small colorful pills that look like candy as well as pressed blocks of powder that look like sidewalk chalk. mexican drug cartels and others have turned a dangerous and deadly drug into something that any child would be quick to pick up. no, mr. president, there's no question there's a crisis at the border notwithstanding the fact that president biden and his administration have been

ignoring it for the entire time he has been in office. it's certainly hurting the migrants, but it's also having a deadly impact on the american people. coming from a border state, i visited the border many times, and i've spoken often to the officers and the agents who are on the front lines of this fight. they know well about how the cartels are gaming the system, using the migrants to divert and distract while moving deadly drugs into the country. but, frankly, they cannot stop this humanitarian crisis on their own. they need a change in policy that can only come from congress working with the administration. but so far the administration has refused to take any steps, any steps at all to address the

migrant surge and so the problem continues day after day after day. i know the mayors of new york and chicago and washington, d.c. have expressed concerns that my graptses are being -- that migrants are being bussed to their city, even though they advertise themselves as a sanctuary city. but, frankly, i think if that's what it takes to get the attention of the mayors of those cities who can then hopefully get the attention of president biden and his administration, that it's worth it. unless something changes, though, the 108,000 americans who lost their lives to drug overdoses, including the 71,000 who lost their lives to fentanyl last year will only go up. more fentanyl will come across the border and find its way into

our communities. more cartels and criminal organizations and street gangs will get rich off of our suffering. and more of our children, our neighbors, our friends and loved ones will die. we often talk about the need for a humane response to the border crisis, and these conversations largely focus on migrant care. and there is a no question these individuals should be treated humanly. but a humane response also involves consideration for the impact this drug infestation is having on the american people. by allowing our border to descend into chaos, the president may think he has taken the humane route. but he is sorely mistaken. families are burying their loved

ones, children are losing their schoolmates, and our country is suffering while the cartels get richer and richer and richer. until we can get this crisis under control, the cartels will continue to move drugs across the border and poison our communities. no, an open border policy is not humane. it's not sustainable. and despite what president biden may think, it's not benefiting anyone. mr. president, i yield the floor. i'd note the absence of a quorum the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

she was also the former deputy national security adviser in the trump administration from 2019-2020, served before that. . in the national security space what was your specialty. what did you focus on? >> mostly middle east energy issues. i served as senior director for middle east and north africa before becoming the nsa. mostly working on israel issues, iran issues and then things related to the gulf.

>> tangential related issues of recent decision by russia to cut off gas to europe for time. could you tell our viewers what happened and what's behind this move by vladimir putin? >> guest: it's a deeply dangerous as go to remove and the problem is the europeans have for the last 20 years really been increasing their dependency on russian gas to the two nord stream pipelines which a been run by gazprom into europe largely bypassing ukraine and other transit points. it always seen too many of us that this is not a very wise move for the europeans to place their energy security in vladimir putin's hands. my old boss senator cruz had sanctioned, very strong legislation under which can to pipeline that shut it down basically that president trump very strongly supported because president trump understood this was a terrible idea. now we are seeing the fruits of it and the energy crisis in

europe is existential. >> host: vladimir putin saying that this reaction at least this decision came from sanctions placed on by the west, blamed the west for these decisions. >> guest: he's made it a quid pro quo that the sanction have to be lifted before he will turn the taps on again and that's what the germans told us for years could never possibly happen because putin need to sell them guess what the negative to buy it. he has other views. >> host: what's the course europe has? >> guest: the immediate recourse would be extremely difficult. it would be helpful if the united states would maximize our natural gas production, increase or export facilities. that takes time. we should've been doing it two years ago. that's no reason not to start now on that. they need to not close all the nuclear plants that they've been threatening to close. that's got to be their key source of energy going forward. the good news is it's a green. >> host: what parts of europe

are directly affected because of the decision? >> guest: all of europe is directly affected because the pipelines go into germany, for example, but reducing that supply means there's less for everyone. this this is a global market. it's not an isolated import. we are seeing terrible spikes also in great britain as well as in continental europe. we're starting to see plants shut down, aluminum smelting that kind of thing, activities are stopping. i kind of supply chain disruptions we've been seeing over the last 18 months are just going to get worse next year. >> host: at the white house press secretary was asked about this issue yesterday and had a bit of an exchange with reporters about it. i want to play some of that exchange and get your response to it. >> the uk is going through some serious economic concerns. the energy crisis that's been going on. is there any room for assistance or more to be done in terms of

supporting them on lowering energy prices? >> you've heard us say this but what we see rush is doing we've been very clear about this is that they're using energy, weaponizing energy and its choosing, one of the things that's been out there to shut down the pipeline, nordstrom one. the sanctions we impose we believe to stand and we have pipeline to continuing operating so the u.s. and europe have been collaborating to ensure sufficient supplies are available. as result of these efforts european gas will be full by the critical winter heating season so we have more work to do but again we are working closely with our allies. >> host: so victoria coates what could the u.s. do to help with this? >> guest: i think we could be coordinating with other producing nations and i think one of the key mistakes the current administration is making is their posturing the united states as a consuming nation. the president goes round the

world and ask everyone from venezuela to saudi arabia for more production and us not taken basic steps to maximize production here. countries like saudi arabia, they look at that and say you want us to increase production which brings down prices, fine, but it also lowers our profits. they are not inclined to do that if they see us not doing everything we can to maximize her own production. in coordination with them. we could be doing that. it's not encouraging that the press secretary for to the pipeline at the nordstrom i pledge or we speak but it just shows, it's a lack of seriousness about this issue and there really are not putting anything concrete on the table. she said putin is weaponizing energy. esiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise today to report back from a trip that senator portman and i took to ukraine last week. and the number-one thing i'd

like to report is that president zelenskyy personally asked us -- and i know that senator portman addressed senate last night and reported this, but he personally asked us to thank the united states senate, to thank the people of this country for the generous and unending continuing help that senate has given to ukraine in their fight for democracy. this is a country that has given it all. sometimes we wonder in our own country, what are we going to put on the line for our democracy? are we going to go over and vote today? how much do we care? there, the people of ukraine are putting their lives on the line every single day. the balance reknee who put -- the ballerina who puts on camo and goes to the front lines, the exhausted workers at the nuclear

plant trying to protect not just the country of ukraine but surrounding countries because it is the biggest nuclear plant in all of europe, supplying 20% of the electricity to the people of ukraine. they go to work every day under incredible stress and pressure that we can't imagine trying to keep their country safe, while surrounded by 500 russian troops. we think of a cellist playing beautiful melodies on the front steps of bombed-out remnants of a town square to remind people the culture and love still exist in this country. i think of the mass grave that we visited in bucha. in irpin, the apartment buildings after apartment buildings burned out. but ukraine goes on.

we saw firsthand the strength of the ukrainian people in the face of vladimir putin's inhumane barbarism. but just as putin has shown his true colors, so have the people of ukraine -- in brilliant blue and yellow. over the past six months since the invasion, their bravery and humanity consistently shine through. when senator portman and i went to ukraine last january as part of a group of senators -- we were the last group that went in before the war started, with senator shaheen and murphy and senator blumenthal and senator wicker and senator cramer -- we witnessed the incredible resolve of the ukrainian people. last week we saw up close a nation defending its homeland in a way that few expected would even be possible. we had an excellent hour-long meeting with president zelenskyy

and the defense minister and the president's chief of staff. our country has helped them so much. we heard the story of how our employees at the embassy -- we now have people located in kiev -- went to get takeout food from a ukrainian restaurant. when they got the food back, they got the bag back, someone not even knowing who they were, where they were but knew they were american, had writtenned on it thanks -- written on it thanks for the himars. other nations from japan to south korea to poland, we have stood with democracy. we have stood with ukraine. we also discussed with president zelenskyy the counter offensive ukraine is making to reclaim its territory in the kierson region, wuvment -- one of the

first cities ukraine lost when the war began. ukraine announced they have recaptured villages and knocked out radar stations upon two bridges the russians built. we are working closely with the ukrainians to tailor our security assistance to meet their immediate needs on the front lines of the conflict, something more difficult to do at the beginning. now we have clear lines of communication with the ukrainian leadership. of course as i mentioned earlier, the situation on the ground remains incredibly dangerous, especially in the region, home to the largest nuclear plant in europe which was a central issue that we raised in our discussions with ukrainian leadership, the plant which as i noted previously provided ukraine with 20% of its power is at significant risk because of russian shelling. just today ukraine announced they may have to shut the plant

down for fear of a nuclear disaster as this skeleton crew constantly has to reconnect the lines that have been shelled to not only get the power out to ukrainians, which russians are trying to divert to their territories, russian-held territories, to making sure they have the power to keep the reactor going and safe. we called on russia to establish a demilitarized zone around the plant and to allow the team from the iaea to inspect the plant. we were glad when the team of 14 inspectors visited the plant. two inspectors will remain there indefinitely. this is all happening as we speak. the iaea released its report yesterday and said, quote, while the ongoing shelling has not yet triggered a nuclear emergency, it continues to represent a constant threat of nuclear safety and security. the agency which is full of

nuclear safety experts from around the world noted extensive safety concern. i continue to call for the demilitarized zone around the plant. we know that this nuclear incident wouldn't be just an incident. it would be a catastrophe. we all know this is a hard fight, but america must continue to stand with ukraine. if vladimir putin had been allowed just to enter their country, take over an entire democracy, he would never have stopped there. we also held a meeting with u.s. military leaders at the 101st airborne division in poland who are there to underscore our commitment to nato allies in the defense of europe. they affirmed the ukrainians are making great use of the weapons they have supplied in their fight against russia. in addition to the direct support we are providing to ukraine, we're also seeing

sanctions are working in russia as just yesterday the administration reported, our administration, that moscow is in the process of purchasing rockets and artillery cells from north korea. it shows how much trouble russia is in when they are purchasing military equipment from the country of north korea. this type of desperate purchase says a lot about the state of russia's supply chain. in fact, we have seen that as russia has attacked ukraine, its actions have been met with almost universal combination. it was a key factor in finland and sweden's decision, a measure we here in the senate supported on the floor with a 91-5 vote. the u.s. has provided economic, military, and humanitarian aid since the invasion. our leadership has brought and continues to bring other nations to the table and has allowed ukraine to continue to fight for

its freedom. we remember that moments after the invasion began, when president zelenskyy stood in kyiv and said the simple words, we are here, we are here, that video went viral. we are here. from that moment on, he and his people inspired the world, a living symbol of courage. so now it is our time to assure the ukrainians, knowing that they are up against the evil of vladimir putin, with the simple words, we are here. thank you, mr. president. i yield. i yield the floor. mr. president, i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and the minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly

noted. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until over the next couple of weeks senators will consider and vote on a spending bill to keep the federal government operating past september 30. also debate on a measure reauthorizing fda programs and user fees which also expires at the end of the month. as always live coverage of the u.s. senate on c-span2.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. >> former secretary of homeland security jeh johnson and former cia director mike morell talked about the fbi searched of mar-a-lago and the implications of the search. watch tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span2. you can also watch on our free mobile video app, c-span now.

>> come out live on c-span now our free video app. >> we will have that conversation at 2 p.m. eastern. then a a senate judiciary subcommittee holds a hearing on the u.s. copyright office at 2:30 p.m. also this afternoon at 2:45 . the white house briefing with press secretary. all live on our video app, c-span now. >> new british prime minister liz truss to question for members of the house of commons this morning. went after she formally assumed the role. >> i would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the new prime minister. [shouting] and i know she will want to ensure the that these states will have been made in the