i do think that the was a period of time after the sixth when the party could have rescued itself, and when the leaders of our party could have rescued the party. there was a moment -- >> we believe the last few minutes of these remarks. to keep our long-term commitment to live coverage in congress. you can watch the rest of this at our website c-span.org. the senate is coming back from recess. lawmakers are expected to debate changes to a global climate treaty adding an amendment reducing hydrofluorocarbons which is, using air-conditioned and refrigerators. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. 20h meeting of the parties of the montreal property cal, the kigali amendment, revise and kent with one declaration signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. is it the sense of the senate

that debate on the amendment to the montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer adopted at kigali on october 15, 2016, shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 64, the nays are 30.

three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the treaty. the clerk: calendar number 2, treaty doc number 117-1, amendment to the montreal protocol. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i call up amendment 5503. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes an amendment numbered 5503 to the resolution of ratification at the end add the following, section -- mr. schumer: i ask to dispense with the further reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. mr. menendez: mr. president. i rise to react to the protocol to the kigali amendment. i thank the leader for bringing

this important legislative initiative to the senate floor. i want to thank our republican colleagues that have joined in a bipartisan effort to accepted a very strong message that this is about america's competitiveness, this is about america's security, this is about challenging china. for more than 20 years u.s. manufacturers have been hard at work pioneering new technologies for our refrigerators and air conditioners. they define the global standard, and they have the competitive advantage over companies in china and india, which have doubled of doubled down on yesterday's technology. our companies want and need the senate to support them, so that they can continue to lead, to create jobs, and to export their goods to global markets. so, mr. president, this is why i come to the floor today, to urge my senate colleagues to provide advice and consent to the kigali amendment, the fifth technical

update to the incredibly successful montreal protocol. a treaty amendment that passed the senate foreign relations committee by bipartisan voice vote. a bipartisan voice vote. that just shows the depth and scope of bipartisan support. each of the four prior updates were approved by the full senate with overwhelming bipartisan support, and i urge my colleagues to do the same for kigali. the amendment is a success story of business and government working together, dating back to the george w. bush administration. it is an update that will ensure u.s. leadership in exports into the future. and it is the only way, only way, to keep our businesses from being locked out of markets across the world. american businesses are clear --

it's time to phase down antiquated chemicals, known as hfc's, which american manufacturers want to leave behind. it's time to usher in a new era in which the modern products are purchased all over the world. our companies already lead in this space. they have been investing billions of dollars to develop new technologies, alternatives to hfc's. and they've done so in ways that will ultimately decrease costs, decrease costs for u.s. consumers. that's why for the time being, we have the competitive advantage over china and others. so, the choice on this is clear -- ratifying kigali means ensuring u.s. companies dominate the export markets. failure to ratify means a wasted investment and a missed opportunity.

ratifying means we will see thousands more domestic manufacturing jobs, 33,000 according to industry estimates. fail yoo your to ratify means -- failure to ratify means u.s. businesses that employ tens of thousands of people across the country will not -- will not be able to sell many of their products in key countries. we're talking about $4.8 billion annually, annually of increased exports, $12.5 billion of increased economic output per year. so, do we want billions of dollars a year in more exports and economic output, or do we want to have lost jobs? do we want lost exports? do we want our companies suffering needlessly? beginning in 2033, the nations all around the world that have already joined kigali, 137 of

them and counting that have already done this, will be required, required to block the imports of most hfc's from the countries that have not joined kigali. so, we would be blocked if we don't, in fact, ratify this amendment. we don't want u.s. manufacturers to be on the outside looking in. they employ thousands of people all over the country. we don't want them to be unable to sell products that they have been at the forefront of developing. adopting this treaty amendment is the only way to keep our businesses from being locked out of global markets. so let's not waste the engagement and encouragement by the bush administration that led u.s. manufacturers to develop alternatives to these harmful chemicals. let's not waste the accomplishments made by the aim

act i which president trump signed into law. we need to remember that the aim act provides for the exact same chemical phasedown required by kigali, which means we've already taken the required steps domestically. this means that we wouldn't be required to do anything more, anything more if we ratify kigali, but we will miss out on billions in exports and thousands of jobs if we fail to do so. that is the essence. that's why manufacturers all over the country, from states like wisconsin, texas, and kentucky support senate approval of kigali. that's why there has been an outpouring of support from the business community, including major employers like walmart, carrier, trane, len objection and others. that's -- lennox and others. that's why the u.s. association

of manufacturers, chamber of commerce, they all support this practical and bipartisan senate action. so, in closing, i ask my colleagues to fulfill our constitutional role in the treaty process by providing advice and consent to the kigali amendment. that requires 67 votes. i think we're well on our way there. let's support american businesses. let's continue to be the global leader. let's support american consumers. let's make sure the united states stays ahead of the competition. and let's beat china instead of help china at the end of the day. we can do all of that and so much more by adopting today's amendment, and i want to thank so many who worked on this in a bipartisan effort. senator kennedy has been working very hard. i want to thank my colleague senator carper, the chairman of

the environment and public works committee, who has been so passionate about the kigali amendment and such a force to bring us to this moment today. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. carper: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: i have six requests for committees to meet today, they have the approval of the majority leader and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. carper: thank you. i want to say to senator menendez, my thanks, our thanks to him, and others on the foreign relations committee for the leadership and setting us up for great success. american business is up for extraordinary success here today. i think the path is clear. we need to use some common sense and work together. i think we'll benefit from that, and so will the men and women who sent us here to serve them and to represent them. i rise today, mr. president, in support of ratification of the kigali amendment to the montreal

protocol. mr. president, i have worn many hats throughout my life of public service, including naval flight officer, state treasurer, congressman, governor, and united states senator. today, i rise to speak from my heart as a recovering governor, if you will. during my eight years as governor of delaware, i realized quickly my job was not to create jobs. that's not why they elected me. rather, it was to help provide a nurturing environment for job creation. to help create a nurturing environment for job creation. more jobs were created in the lathe years -- in the eight years i was governor, i'm told, than any other eight years in delaware. i didn't create one of them. we worked very hard with the legislature, business community and others to create a nurturing environment that made possible extraordinary job creation. the most successful economic development policies were the policies that provided

businesses with long-term certainty and predictabilities. as it turns out. that is not unique to delaware, new jersey, connecticut or any other state represented here. it is something that we still hear from businesses across the country, in all 50 states. i'm sure my other colleagues hear that message too on a regular basis. that's why i'm so passionate about working with our friend and colleague, senator john neely kennedy, to ratify the kigali amendment to the montreal protocol. during the trump administration we successfully enacted the american innovation and manufacturing act, known as the aim act, which phases down hfc's in accordance with the kigali amendment. ratification of the kigali amendment, along with implementation of the aim act, will provide businesses with the certainty and with the predictability that they need for future investments. ratification will unleash

billions of dollars in u.s. economic benefits. billions of dollars in u.s. economic benefits. and create some 150,000 american jobs by 2027. i'm going to repeat that. ratification will unleash billions of dollars in u.s. economic benefits and create some 150,000 american jobs by 2027. these are jobs in my state. these are jobs in every other state throughout our country. why would we ever pass up this opportunity? let me be clear to my colleague- i'm not the one tell industry that ratification of the kigali amendment is good for business and economic growth. no, i'm not telling them that. industry leaders are telling us that kigali is good for their businesses. everyone from the u.s. chamber

of commerce to the american chemistry council to the air-conditioning and heating and refrigeration institute to the alliance for responsible atmospheric policy support ratification of kigali. in fact, it's hard to find anyone in the business commune disclose act who is opposed to ratification. i would like to share with my colleagues today one statement i think is particularly noteworthy from the national association of manufacturers. here's what they have to say on this score. i quote them. kigali ratification will protect american workers, grow the economy, and improve our trade balance all while encouraging further innovation to strength then america's technology leadership. if we work together, if we rise above politics and partisanship and focus on solving problems, we can make our vision of a brighter tomorrow into reality.

for my colleagues who are -- close quote. but for my colleagues who are still hesitant to support kigali ratification and worried that ratification may hurt, not help global competitiveness, here are a few points i'd like for you to think about before tomorrow's vote. first, i've heard concerns that ratification might benefit china and hurt the u.s. nothing could be further from the truth. while the united states contributes roughly $40 million annually to the montreal protocol's financial assistance programs which facilitate the transition to next-generation technologies, it is not true that this assistance goes solely to china. in fact, china only receives a very small fraction of these funds according to the u.s. heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration industry. financial assistance to china

under the montreal protocol supports less than 2% of china's $37 billion refrigerant market, less than 2% of china's 37 -- $37 billion refrigeration market. moreover, china's share of these funds is decreasing, not increasing. in fact, funding to china under the montreal protocol has decreased, has decreased by nearly 70% in recent years. mr. president, the truth is these small -- the small amount we pay every year under the montreal protocol is worth the investment and then some. through kigali ratification american businesses are set to gain nearly $40 billion, $40 billion in economic benefits by 2027. according to a 2018 study by the university of maryland. and ratifying kigali will guarantee that american businesses continue to have

access to international markets for refridge rants long into the future. however, without ratification, american companies could lose full access to international markets for refrigerants of 2033 closing the door to benefits in future -- and future economic opportunities for u.s. companies. why would we want to allow that to happen? ratification also protects u.s. business investments. while china has doubled down on hfc's and the production of hfc's and dumping of hfc's and to this day is illegally du dumg hfc's into this country, the united states leads the world, i'm proud to say, leads the world in hfc alternatives. ratification to protect the illegal hfc dumping and smuggling. these are protections that u.s. businesses have sought.

i also heard fears that ratifying the kigali amendment will somehow raise consumer costs. that's just not true. we're already transitioning away from hfc's, similar to the way we transitioned away from ozone substances through the 1987 montreal protocol under president reagan's leadership. with the transition away from hfc's, we expect consumer costs to fall. why is that? no refrigerants and related products run more efficiently according to the epa use of hfc alternatives will save consumers and businesses billions of dollars in costs. again ratification means lower costs for consumers and for businesses while enhancing the u.s. competition. in closing, i hope our

colleagues will join senator kennedy and me in supporting the ratification of the kigali amendment. this is a treaty that fosters job creation, a lot of jobs. this is a treaty that promotes economic growth. this is a treaty that strengthens american leadership. this is a treaty of made in america, not made in china. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: thank you, mr.

president. i ask unanimous consent that i be recognized. the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. inhofe: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. without objection. the senator is recognized. mr. inhofe: thank you. there's this old document that no one reads anymore. it's called the constitution. i think some of my colleagues should give it another read today. the constitution tells us what congress is supposed to be doing here in d.c., and that's national defense. it's right there at the top. some people, some of my colleagues dons agree with that. they don't have that as the number one concern. i think the majority do but there's some who don't. i would say this for 61 years now, 61 years in a row, congress has fulfilled this duty by

passing the national defense authorization act to strengthen the common defense and support our troops. that's 61 years. that's a long track record. and this year will be my 62nd, and i'm proud to say that i've had the opportunity to vote on over half of them in that time frame. so i think i have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to get this bill done and the significance of this bill. the way this typically works is the house does their bill. then the senate does ours. we go into conference and create a bipartisan, bicameral conference report. that's normally what takes place. but that takes time. it really takes months. i've been in a position being active in this for a long period of time. so when i look at the legislative calendar right now, i get concerned.

the days are ticking down and frankly we're running out of time to get this bill done to do it the right way. and we're talking about the most important bill that we consider all year. some people don't agree with that, but i certainly do. this tells us our ability to defend and help america to survive. senator preed and i believe deep -- senator reed and i believe deeply in this bill. we held a markup june 15 and reported out a strong bipartisan bill. that was three months ago. we've got an election in november. that will likely eat away at the limited time that we have. we saw last year what happens when this bill isn't given enough floor time. last year majority leader schumer waited until the last possible moment to try to jam through the ndaa, national defense authorization act, without debate right before thanksgiving. if he delays it again, we don't

get an open amendment process where every senator has a chance to improve the bill. now we're talking about every senator, not just the members of the senate armed services committee, but all the others that are out there that have an interest in how to make this a better bill. we could have virtually unlimited amendments process that we've enjoyed in the past. now, if he delays, we get jammed in a negotiating conference bill with the house. the whole process would take longer which leaves our military with more uncertainty and prevents them from moving out and getting things done. there are real consequences to waiting this long. it's bad for this institution. it's bad for our troops. it's bad for our national security. i understand some of my colleagues, including the majority leader, have different priorities than i do, but i think this is the most important bill that we do all year.

so this year that's as true as ever. we have threats. we have two countries out there, russia and china, they have capabilities that we never believed they had and some capabilities are better than ours. people have this assumption. when i go out to oklahoma or anywhere around the country and i talk about what we're doing here, we -- we have other countries out there, we have threats that are there. most people now agree we're in the most threatened position that we've been in in a long period of time. the scope of threats that we have. senator reed and i deeply believe in this bill because it responds to those threats and takes care of our troops. we finished markup three months ago. we could have gotten started -- we could have been finished by

now. i've got to admit, mr. chairman, that i have a selfish motive. how many members of this body are going to stand up and admit that they have a selfish motive other than me? and that motive is that i want to get this bill done because it will be my last national defense authorization bill of my career. i want to make sure it's done right. i would hate to leave here without finishing the ndaa without fulfilling our promise to our troops and the american people. and i would hate even more to see the bill's six-decade track record broken. for the last four years as chairman and now ranking member of the armed services committee, i have fought tirelessly to pass this bill. and i know the majority leader doesn't want to be responsible for the demise of congress' last remaining annual authorization bill. there's really no time to waste.

we're out of time now. the senate is going to have to do now, have to do the ndaa. with that i yield the floor. and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

or keep their auricular insulin cold weather cannot travel to get medical care or hospitals do not have electricity to treat patients. we also know we have been saying for years is true, five years after hurricane maryna puerto rico's infrastructure would not be able to withstand the next hurricane. sadly we were right, once again the entire island lost power after complete block on sunday as of this morning we know only a proximally 164,000 households have electricity this means the

population of 3000089% of households are without power in more than 66% are without access to jingle water. period right after hurricane maryna hispanics have permanent staff and office we are happy to report that our team in our families are safe. they have been tirelessly working in preparation for hurricane fiona there to have distributed 11000 solar lamps leading to the hurricane and soon as it's safe to be back on the roads they will be at our warehouse coordinating the delivery of another 20000 solar lamps and other emergency supply to our more than 100 partners community-based organizations around the island. we also deliver power generators to some of the islands most honorable patients on dialysis.

we plan to distribute more in the days to come, we have also immediately launched a fund of $100,000 to emergency assistance to respond to the immediate needs of the most honorable on the island of our network of community-based organizations. that was created five years ago when local government collapsed and the trump administration failed the people of puerto rico. these other organizations that care for the sick, feed the hungry and provide support in the midst of so much despair. we help people across the country will support these efforts so we can do more because we know the need is great. i'm happy to say puerto rico central government response is working much better this time and some lessons have been learned, however, depending on which community really cannot they need to go from being safe

to dyer especially the most vulnerable communities and for residents who are still living on blue tarps were still waiting for their homes to be repaired since hurricane maria. no matter how the government response is, we will always need community-based organizations to reach the most vulnerable. one of our main passes to the federal government is to facilitate the aid in many to no profits underground who in many cases can access and provide and supply the needs and distribute the aids faster and more efficiently the government is able to. our top take action for puerto rico policy continues to be to push congress of the administration to use federal dollars wisely to build a resilient puerto rico. the island has received the largest grant and fema history. over 12 billion to rebuild its

energy grid. congress should use authority to ensure the money is being invested that will help puerto rico reach its own legislative goals to be 100% renewable energy by 2050. instead as we speak by a private company energy company to continue investing in puerto rico energy depend on fossil fuels. this is a tragedy in congress and the biden of administration must put a stop to it. the u.s. department of energy studies have found solar energy can be up to 85% of puerto rico's household energy needs. any excuses or keep enough from becoming a reality. one small example of the different rooftop solar systems

since 2018 partners have been installing solar energy on clinics across puerto rico. yesterday we were able to reach a center and confirm the systems are functioning in the emergency and critical services are fully operational and provide no power coming in the electric grid. this is what we say solar saves lives. i will bring together people and organizations to reason awareness and options for puerto rico five years after hurricane maria and irma devastated island. this includes a just and sustainable recovery and into the discrimination by federal government on every turn democratic self-governance of puerto rico by redeeming and putting it into the financial oversight and management board for puerto rico. now i want to introduce a great friend of the federation.

majority leader chuck schumer. >> thank you frankie, it is good to be here, once again i want to thank you frankie the hispanic federation, all of your members for the great job you are doing bringing the supplies and generators to those who desperately need the most. it is so important, i blushing for what you are doing. this had been planned before fiona, we were supposed to be here today, tomorrow the fifth anniversary of hurricane maria a devastating weather event, the deadliest natural disaster in any u.s. territory in 100 years, the deadliest. not second, not there, the deadliest. as many of you remember maria expose the weaknesses of the infrastructure on the island and the callousness of the federal

response literature for administration. despite the shameful disdain of the previous ministrations i am glad to say that along with my colleagues here blumenthal, menendez and the senate in my congress members from the house, we were able to deliver $21 billion, $21 billion to our fellow citizens in puerto rico. to deal with housing, healthcare, and half of it went to power. as frankie mentioned, $12 billion. this is not a lot of money, let me say this, listen to this according to gao of the $21 billion only 2% of the money has been spent, 2%. in the island was already devastated by maria and leda open to more devastation by

fiona's since things weren't fixed. is that outrageous? , and large part the trump administration callousness and action and intransigent is also because the ongoing conflict on the island for what resources should power puerto rico, 12 billion of that was for getting a new power grid, half of that funding, more than half to rebuild the grid, devastated by maria. . . . the puerto rico energy bureau

approved a plan 40% renewable energy by 2025 incredible and fought back pushing on natural gas and it's so susceptible to natural disaster, it ridiculous. using old time cables over mountains where the hurricane hit to bring it to the north side makes no space, we need brazilian power, the power by solar energy, rooftops. that's what we need. i've long pushed alongside almost everybody today for a grid that reflects the call of the people resilient to storms because it's made up of micro grids and local rates so there's not hundreds of miles power lines exposed to weather and hurricanes and earthquakes to

deliver the energy most of the people and needs resilient and in the community and we need to make sure microgrids and distributed resources for used. climate change only makes storms worse, we need to ensure puerto rico is increasingly resilient to extreme weather so that's why we push hard to pass the inflation reduction act. the climate bills that will help puerto rico and other communities reducing emissions making storms extreme and structure invested in jobs act, bipartisan infrastructure act which made landmark investments and resilience unfortunately today, we are confronted with devastating disaster is left

puerto rico without power, running water and some without a roof over the head. as of this morning, more than 1 million customers on the island are without power, out of a total of 1.5 billion. at the house of three people so a lot more than 1 million people. all of them lost power before the storm, even made landfall. the situation is a disaster. enough is enough, puerto rican energy bureau must push luma not only to restore power but once and for all create distributed resilient grid and we will back them up. these two agency cannot stand in the way once again because you see by their in action the disaster and harm that's gone to the people of puerto rico so

that is my first focus but we have to do more, there's an immediate emergency. yesterday i was on the phone with my colleagues, we got together and got on the phone and talked to the administrator last night asked that our government be ready to approve one 100% cost share for all emergency protective service and the money to get out. and disturbing disasters for medical care bureaucracy meeting the needs of the people while ensuring order ago can be built stronger than before. as of late last week, the fema disaster, we pushed for this to

have it be flushed with money, $15 billion so either both on the power side, electricity side and emergency release, there's enough money, it's not a money issue, it's getting the money to where it needs to be in the short and long-term. we sent a letter from the new york delegation calling on fema to be ready to support the ricoh on any upcoming requests for aid including major disaster declaration and lock long-term funds as well as to respond. joining another support of the recent application. we have more work to do to get the dollars out and get them out quickly. don't make the ricoh have to find the money. long term, make sure the dollars

go so there's a resilient grid system to no longer come back after the next hurricane and say half the people of puerto rico don't have power. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for your leadership in expressing what so many of us believe. we are going to move to our next champion corporate ricoh, kiersten gillibrand has been a leader in the fight to help the people recover from maria and i'm sure will continue the efforts now. >> thank you. i want to thank the federation for leadership and shining a spotlight where it needs to be shown, to make sure take action for puerto rico campaign advocating is not advocating

alone. every elected leader today feels as strongly as you do and will not stop until relief is granted. i could not have said it other than chuck schumer. he is right, now is the time to act. the federal government has to do is job of the federal government has to help the people of puerto rico survive, recover and rebuild stronger and better and a more resilient way. i am grateful for the senators here for continued to ship to puerto rico. i want to thank members of congress have worked tirelessly too make a difference and media for being at the forefront of the needs of the people of puerto rico for being the one to call me to ask for help when needed. we were supposed to be here too mark the five-year anniversary

of maria, the purpose of getting together but now we are asking for more aid and support because of the devastating outcome over what happened the last several days. either before hurricane fiona down, thousands of homes in puerto rico had nothing but a tattered blue tarp as a roof. can you imagine what it would be like to live without a roof over your head? it's unacceptable. the government only completed 21% of more than 5500 official post hurricane projects and only five of the islands 78 municipalities said at least half of the projects have been completed. the conditions following the devastation of maria forced many families to leave puerto rico. thousands were still there in jeopardy for the next hurricane

and of the earthquake and drought and flood. now the hurricane has hit and only time will tell how devastating the outcome will be. we have 3.1 million fellow americans living and puerto rico. we have to stand by them in their time of need and come to their support. senator schumer and i are calling on fema to stand ready and if requested to determine whether the damage meets statutory duty, i agree it should be 100% federal support not requiring funds from puerto rico, a place so devastated under resourced for so many years. because i sit on the ag committee, introduced a bill to enable puerto rico to participate in snap program, puerto rico nutrition assistant fairness act of 2022 to address

the injustice to puerto rico when it was excluded in 1981. these are just simple changes to make now too meet the needs of puerto rican brothers and sisters. i stand ready to fight for them. [applause] >> thank you for that, that's the passion and leadership we need to see today and moving forward for puerto rico. there's no one more passionate in congress and the first puerto rican woman elected to congress left an important committee hearing to be with us today so i'd like to introduce her. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it's a difficult time for all of us. puerto ricans and puerto rico, the puerto rican diaspora, the

mainland. a year ago we stood here discussing maria. a year ago i said the puerto rican power grid is not where it needs to be and cannot even category one will lead to a collapse of the power grid and here we are today. we sent a lot of letters, i had a meeting with schumer and met with the speaker. we have been asking for what was needed in terms of financial aid. we have two issues here. one is the must recognize the responsibility of the federal government because we have a

colony, puerto rico is a colony of the united states. the government has spots ability. a blank check to puerto rico and say you deal with it but the lack of oversight regarding use of any. today 9.5% of the puerto rican people will have no water. how many lives will be lost. i'm asking u.s. congress to provide assistance to puerto rico needs.

we are just waiting for the governor puerto rico to finalize the damage assessment but in the meantime, fema is responding and the difference between this time and last time, this president to instruct the agencies, particularly fema to put assets on the ground and because of that, we have faced lives in puerto rico but we need to do more. let me just say this to the government of puerto rico and senator schumer is correct, we need to put pressure to make sure fossil pool to resilient

energy, that is the issue. otherwise we will hear again and again because climate change is a serious issue that's not going to go away particularly in terms of the caribbean islands, climate change with all of these hurricanes. i want to conclude by saying this is not enough evidence to contract with lua to privatize the electrical grid, i don't know what is. one year ago i warned the people of puerto rico time and again even before the storm puerto rican has been left in the dark

and we must hold them accountable. we need sustainable climate resilient puerto rico. today i'm introducing house resolution to honor the 3000 plus lives lost in maria and reaffirm the federal government's commitment to the people of puerto rico. the responsibility we have with the people of puerto rico. it is our colony and we must act. that means we need to do proper oversight to make sure the people of puerto rico are provided with solutions to provide the kind of future needed. in terms of policy, it's about

equity, providing equal resources we do in the united states, every american citizen. puerto rican citizens deserve nothing less. [applause] >> thank you so much. the people standing here are here because they care about puerto rico and just as much for our next speaker senator blumenthal from the great state of connecticut and from new jersey. >> thank you for your eloquent power. thank you to senators joe legrand.

to my colleague senator menendez spent at the forefront of the fight, thank you everyone for most of all i want to recognize courage and strength of the people of puerto rico. i visited puerto rico soon after maria and i expected to find people in despair, without hope. the people of puerto rico have courage and resilient and strength beyond words. to them i want to say you're not alone, we are going to have you back. time of throwing paper towels and counting it as action, we are going to demand real action from the federal government not just rhetoric but rebuilding and recovery.

the people of america, let me say we have an obligation, the time for second-class citizens for the people of puerto rico is also over. they are our neighbors, friends in connecticut and new york and new jersey and around the country, puerto rican community, friends and neighbors, family and puerto rico are going through indescribable suffering. i've seen it after maria, after the tornado and earthquakes that occurred, i've been to the puerto rico many times and i admire the strength and resilience of the people of puerto rico. we need a major disaster declaration. we need that 15 billing provided to puerto rico now. we need rebuilding of schools and hospitals now. rebuilding of the grid, not just rebuilding in the sense of

restoring transmission line on pools but a different approach to powering the island. puerto rico can be at the forefront of renewable energy if we simply make the investment, that's the key word. investment in puerto rico has to be done now. i think having observed what happened in the wake of maria, a lot of the fault is on fema. we have a new fema, new leadership and we will hold accountable and do the oversight, we are going to be on fema like a hawk to make sure there is actual performance, not just rhetoric but robust action. let me just say chair of the

federal government, more than the dollars out of the fema funds we need real commitment to provide better tax treatment, the staff program, medicare and government programs have to treat puerto rico equally because in the long run investing in puerto rico is investing in america and americans and that must be a recognition the people of the united states except proudly. the people of puerto rico have talent, energy, gifts they bring to america and the investment is in the national interest. thank you for being with us. [applause] >> let me kick off for senator

blumenthal and it. you heard from three new yorkers to stop the program, it's not about new york or connecticut or new jersey or florida. it's about the united states of america. 3.12 million united states citizens who get treated differently than if they were on the mainland of the united states and that is unacceptable. it is un-american. puerto rico put on the united states uniform and served in every conflict in its history, the most decorated military unit, a congressional gold medal. it means nothing if you don't treat your fellow citizens in a way that's dignity and respect. rise to seek consent to advance

the nomination of a virginian friend to be executive director of the interamerica development bank. the idb is the largest source of development financing for latin america and the caribbean. it is a critical part of the u.s.' ability to engage diplomatically with our american partners to counter a growing influence of russia and china and iran and other nations in the america comes. and it is very much in the national interest of the united states to build up economic prosperity of countries in the western hem sphere. we've seen over and over that when countries have troubled economies, it's not a distant or faraway problem and it drives corruption, organized crime, drug abuse and drug trafficking and then it expands migration that could start as a country's problems but very quickly become our country's problems as well.

when we don't step up, we see that other nations, china and russia in particular in the americas fill the vacuum. as latin america and caribbean countries continue to face challenges from the covid-19 pandemic where the region has had the highest global per capita infection and death rates in the world and is experiencing the largest economic cbs than any -- contraction than any region in the world, the di b has a key role to play in improving economic outcomes for the region. but the problem is the idb is without an executive director. it's without leadership confirmed by the senate at this critical moment in time. martinez brings decades of experience in the public and private sectors as well as academia. he advises private equity fund, international businesses, and nongovernmental organizations. he's the ceo for the center for democracy and development of the

americas as well as a commissioner for small business in the commonwealth of virginia. he's on the board of one of our public universities, the university of mary washington. as i've said, he's not just a constituent. he's also a friend. in all respects he's outstandingly qualified for this position. now, i understand that there are differences of opinion in the senate about the success or lack thereof about the biden administration's policies in latin america. earlier this week or late last week some of my republicans challenged the biden administration as being sort of too soft on corruption issues in the americas. i was asked about my republican colleagues' critique and said i have a critique too. i want say they're too soft but i would say they're too inattentive. i don't think we have under this administration or the previous administration or the previous administration going back nearly to the beginning of this

country, i don't think we've paid the attention to the americas that we should and when we only pay episodic attention to the americas, a lot of bad things happen in western hemisphere countries that ends up making things worse for us. but if there is a critique to be laid against the biden administration or any administration, the americas, we don't solve the critique by leaving key positions vacant that could be used to strengthen our activities in the hemi hemisphere. i understand that some of my colleagues have objected and this was raised in the senate foreign relations committee to some, frankly, partisan tweets, some annoying and nasty tweets that my friend leo martinez put on social media accounts. i would say to pages you might want to thank about this now because in 20, 30 years you're running for the senate or up for a position that is a senate-confirmed position,

anything you tweet is going to be held against you. but i do think they have to be put in context. my friend mr. martinez is a democrat, no surprise. he's being nominated by a democratic administration. he has let his tongue race ahead of his brain on a couple of occasions. but i think all hundred of us have seen this pretty often in the last ten years and we've learned to apply a little bit of a discounting to it. i have voted for many trump administration nominees who had some negative tweets and even said negative things about me. i didn't like them and wouldn't have nominated them but i would acknowledge that they're qualified for the job and i believe mr. martinez is more than that. finally, i want to speak in particular to my colleague from texas who is here. my colleague from texas serves with me on the foreign relations committee. he asked, i believe -- i'm going to be accurate about this but correct if i get any details wrong. he asked mr. martinez in some written questions about working

together with faith-based organizations in his role in the idb should he be confirmed. because throughout the region and throughout the world, sometimes faith-based organizations are some of the most effective in, for example, providing humanitarian aid, working with refugees, et cetera. the initial responses from mr mr. martinez i believe were not satisfactory to my colleague and maybe other colleagues as well, but i do believe that mr. martinez has tried to amplify those and meet and discuss this issue. i worked as a mission-year in honduras. i know very powerfully the role that religious organizations do in the region. i know how important it is for us whether it's usaid or state department or idb to work in tandem with some of these faith-based organizations that do such a powerful job and everything i know about my friend mr. martinez would suggest he would see the value of those partnerships as well. so with that, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that

notwithstanding rule 22, that the senate foreign relations committee be discharged and the senate proceed to the following nomination, p.n.1028leopoldo martinez nucete to be executive director, that the senate vote on the nomination with no intervening action or debate, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that no further motions be in order as to this nomination. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: reserving the right to object. let me start by expressing agreement with my friend from virginia on two points he just raised. number one, his very good advice to the pages here and to any senate staff that might be listening. the best thing to do probably is do not tweet. but if you must tweet, and i am guilty of that offense myself, remember that your tweets can and will be used against you.

that the internet is forever and as the father of daughters, i sometimes am terrified what our children will say and to see it come back to haunt them years and decades later. a second thing my friend from virginia said that i also agree with is he said administrations from both parties have neglected the americas. i think that's a serious problem. i'm a strong believerrer in the monroe -- believer in the monroe doctrine. i think the united states of america has a pivotal leadership responsibility in north america and in south america. and i think under both republican and democrat administrations too often the executive branch has neglected the vital role of central america, of south america, of our friends throughout the americas. i think that problem has been

exacerbated under the biden administration because under the biden administration, not only have they neglected the hemisphere but what little attention they have given has had the effect of elevating the extreme left in latin america. elevating socialists, elevating marxists, he elevating terroriss and elevating enemies of america. we see this tragically in the recent election in colombia where a strong friend and ally of america is now led by someone who had been a hard-legislature hard-legislature -- hard-left active terrorist. and i believe the biden administration's actions, including delisting multiple terrorists from our official terrorism list played a role in elevating antiamerican terrorist in colombia. how does that relate to this

nomination? i rise to express very significant concerns with the nomination of mr. martinez nucete. for one thing, at the outset mr. martinez nucete is a man of the left, a man of the hard left. the senator from virginia suggested that he may have sent an ill-advised tweet now and then, and that's true, but that's not the basis of my opposition. he has been a hard partisan his entire life. and even further than that, and this is quite remarkable, mr. martinez nucete was actually a socialist congressman in venezuela. under hugo chavez, he was a member, or his party was a member of socialist international, is and he was a man of the hard left, the anti-american hard left. hugo chavez was an unshakeable

enemy of america. nicholas maduro continues to be a brutal dictator, illegitimate leader, and an enemy of america. and i believe president biden nominating a fellow traveler, a socialist congressman from venezuela, for a major role dealing with latin america is astonishingly ill-advised. secondly, mr. martinez nucete has expressed an unusual and odd hostility to and antipathy for people of faith. this is not something we have seen in many nominees, but his answers have been peculiar in this regard. and it is particularly inappropriate for the job to which he has been nominated. for example, here's what the world bank says about their

role, quote, the bank recognizes the -- this is speaking of faith-based organizations -- their distinct strategic tral given unique attributes including the fact that more than 80% of the world's population claims religious affiliations. faith-based organizations are found in every country and offer opportunities for partnership and advocacy on a broad range of key development issues. it's not just the world bank. here's what usaid says, quote, faith-based organizations serve some of the most vulnerable populations in the world. they offer the first in and the last to leave and are uniquely qualified to identify and meet local needs. and indeed, here's what a study actually funded by the interamerica development bank where mr. martinez nucete would be representing the united states said, quote,, all institutions surveyed partnered with community groups and faith-based organizations to

provide information. now what are mr. martinez nucete's views? i asked him about them when he came in front of the senate foreign relations committee. i asked him the extent to which he believed faith should be disentangled from development, because he had previously been quite vocal on his passions in that regard. here's his answer, quote, there should be no entanglement between government and religion. that is a bedrock constitutional principle for us in america. i don't think any particular culture or religion is superior to others in terms of achieving socioeconomic development. now, mr. president -- madam president, that answer was odd and it was nonresponsive to the question i asked, so i asked more precisely for mr. martinez nucete to describe the role that faith plays in economic development as a constraint and a contributing

factor. and i remind you that these organizations repeatedly said faith-based organizations are integral to success in their mission. here is his answer. education and respect for human rights, promoteing social mobility in market economies is the key to development, not faith. madam president, that is unusual. that degree of, i think, myopic hostility to faith and those with faith is odd in any nominee, but particularly one that would be required to deal with faith-based organizations on a daily basis. i raised these arguments in committee and he was defeated in committee. we had an even, a deadlocked vote in the senate foreign relations committee precisely because of his answers. and then after that, he came back and revised his answers. i will say his revised answers

were terrific. it's clearly someone wrote them who apparently does not have a manifest hostility to people of faith. but there's no reason to believe that his first answers were not true and honest and a reflection of his views. there was a time not too long ago where the united states senate found bipartisan consensus on many issues, including a defense of religious liberty. the religious freedom restoration act passed this body, i believe the vote was 97-3. numerous iconic liberal democrats voted for rfra. president bill clinton signed the religious freedom restoration act into law. sadly we're no longer in that era. too many in the democrat party now have embraced a view that is hostile and antagonistic to people of faith whether people

of the christian faith, people of the jewish faith or people of other faiths. i wish that were not the case. nevertheless, i believe it is inappropriate for the united states representative on a development board that is required to deal with faith-based organizations on a regular basis to be both an extreme man of the left who is a socialist congressman under hugo chavez and an individual who's expressed repeated antipathy to people of faith. accordingly, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: madam president, just a brief response. i will not respond to senator cruz's recitation of mr. martinez's testimony before the senate foreign relations committee. ep has his -- he has his opinion about what those words mean, and i think he quoted them accurately. but i would just say for anyone, you can go and look at

that quote and decide for yourself whether you think that was a statement that was hostile to faith or whether that was a statement by a banker, business guy financier about what he thought were the most important issues that an international development bank should be focused on. i read those same comments as not hostile or antipathetic to faith. i view those as talking about his own priorities in terms of how that bank should program their work. but i do want to respond to the first point. senator cruz is correct about mr. martinez's past. he grew up in venezuela. he was initially in a government that apparently had a lot of promise to offer to venezuelans because mr. chavez was elected by venezuelans in a democratic

election overwhelmingly. but my colleague didn't tell you the rest of the story. mr. martinez is now a political exile from venezuela who is part of the venezuelan opposition, who has been strong in critiquing the human rights record of both the chavez and maduro regimes. and i think that's actually one of the reasons that president biden nominated him for this position. if anyone knows the danger of a authoritarian governments, including authoritarian governments from the left and americas and knows what it will take for america to counter that with smart strategies as somebody who grew up in that culture and came to realize the dangerous path that his country was on. i think whoever is the idb president is going to have an awful lot of work to do.

but the single largest challenge in the americas right now, at least in terms of pushing refuges out of the countries like venezuela and who knows it better than seeing it firsthand firsthand, who better to counter that influence? and with that, madam president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

we are monitoring the impact fiona is having on puerto rico and as the president said we are keeping the people of puerto rico in our prayers. i want to provide a brief

overview of our response to date on sunday before the hurricane made landfall president biden issued emergency disaster declaration to ensure the federal government was ready to surge resources and emergency assistance to puerto rico. yesterday as you know the president called governor from air force one to discuss immediate needs as the storm made landfall. today fema administrator will be on the ground to assess emergency response. mr. cornyn: madam president, for each of the past 61 years straight, the senate has passed the senate defense authorization act. i still remember the presiding officer's predecessor, john mccain, who used to rail on the senate to get this done and making the very correct point that this should be the number-one priority of the united states congress, making

sure that our men and women in uniform receive the training, the support, and the weapons they need in order to keep america safe. the annual defense bill is part of congress' commitment to give our men and women in uniform the resources they need to surmount the growing threats of today and prepare for the ones that inevitably will come tomorrow. as we know here in the senate, the global threat landscape is not getting easier; it's getting in order and more dangerous -- it's getting more and more dangerous. for example, september 11, 2001, changed everything in our conversation, in our acts to fight terrorism across the world. that single day and that single act forced us to reexamine our

long-standing military paradigm and change course as rapidly as we could. but other threats grow over time. just look at the rise of the people's republic of china. over the course of roughly four decades, china has transformed itself from a poor, isolated country to the world's second-largest economy. its wealth is is used to finance a powerful military with increasingly aggressive and hostile acts. looking back over the last year or so, it's remarkable to consider how much has happened and how quickly the global threat picture has shifted. last year this time, american troops were still on the ground in afghanistan, but president biden made the decision to retreat ahead of the 20th anniversary of september 11, and our servicemembers and diplomats were preparing for what we

assumed would be an orderly withdrawal. there wasn't much optimism about the long-term fate of the afghan government, but it was effected to hold out -- but it was expected to hold out for at least six porches following our withdrawal. at the same time, tensions between russia and ukraine were high. the countries have had a long, tense relationship since the collapse of the soviet union but there didn't seem to be any reason for immediate alarm. ukrainian cities were as vibrant, lively, and free as ever. in a little over a year's time, though, all of that has changed. the taliban took control of afghanistan before our troops even exited, leading to a chaotic exit and the loss of 13 heroic servicemembers and other americans left behind. in this period of time, russia has launched an unprovoked war

on ukraine, bringing death and destruction to the ukrainian people. over the past several months, thousands of ukrainian civilians have died and more than 13 million have been displaced. europe is now experience respecting the largest refugee crisis -- europe is now experiencing the largest refugee crisis since world war ii. russia is developing even closer ties to communist china. meanwhile, north korea has declared itself a nuclear weapons state. iran appears to be inching even closer to acquiring a nuclear weapon, and china's threats against taiwan have only grown more dangerous in this period of time. it's striking to consider how much has changed in such a short period. last summer it would have been nearly impossible for us to predict that this is where we would be some 14 months later.

i'm reminded of former secretary of defense bob gates' words in 2011. he said, when it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since vietnam our record has been perfect. we haven't gotten it right once. of course, he's absolutely correct. it's impossible to anticipate the challenges that face us and that are on the horizon. but that doesn't mean we should sit idly by and hope that we're ready for what's coming. there's simply no security in that sort of fantasy. we need to start taking actions today to ensure that we're prepared for whatever comes knocking at our door. everybody knows that in order to secure our defense and be prepared to deter aggression from aggressive actors, we need

money, we need to make sure that we have the weapons that are needed not only to supply countries like ukraine, not only to replenish the supply from our nato allies that have been in turn supplying weapons to ukraine, we need to be ready for whatever comes knocking at our door. our military leaders need to train -- or plan every single day for the unknown, and that's exactly why a strong, on-time national defense authorization act is absolutely critical. now more than ever, we need to take stock of evolving threats and start preparing. one of the problems that britain faced in world war ii is they did not heed winston churchill's warning about the growing military strength and ambitions of nazi germany. britain in the end, as a result, was hanging on by a thread, and

that's where the united states got involved in becoming the arsenal of democracy in the lend-lease program, which provided the brits the military equipment needed, the aviation platforms and the weapons in order to defend themselves and to survive until the united states got involved in world war ii following the attack at pearl harbor by the japanese. over the last 20 years, we've developed a military that has used -- that is used to fighting unconventional asymmetric threats like insurgent groups in the middle east. but things have changed in the interim. now a conflict with china or russia seems more likely. to prevent or to prevail in such a conflict, we need a more

conventional, highly technological, modern military. in addition to determining what capabilities we need, we also have to ask our self whether our defense industrial base, that arsenal of democracy that as franklin roosevelt called it in world war ii, whether our defense industrial base can even support the production of what our military will need to prepare for in the future. there's clearly a lot of work that needs to be done. but like a lost things, it can't -- but like a lot of things, it can't happen overnight. that's why it's so important we get started today. in order for the military to invest in these new programs and capabilities to deter chinese and russian aggression against american interests and american allies and in order to send the demand signal to our industrial base for new and emerging defense requirements, we have to pass the national defense authorization act.

it's not just the long-term threats we need to address, we need to close the near-term security threats, too. if another conflict came at our door today, we would be at a tremendous disadvantage, and that's, as i said, because the united states has been supplying weapons to ukraine to defend its own sovereignty. but when we do that, that means those weapons are not available to us, should president xi decide to invade taiwan or some sorry military conflict pop -- or some other military conflict pop up around the world. we provided ukraine with unprecedented defense aid, including javelins, stingers, grenade launchers, small-arms ammunition and much more. this assistance, to be sure, is is not a handout. this is not a charity project. like our allies, the united states has made a strategic decision to invest in the outcome. it's not just that we want

ukraine to win this war, we also need russia to lose. we cannot risk a russian victory that will embolden the kremlin to push its fight even farther west. there's no question that this is the right thing to do, both strategically and morally. but we must remain clear-eyed about the risks that our assistance carries. every piece of equipment or weapon that we send is one less that we have ourselves in our arsenal. we need to enshould you are that the assistance we provide does not end up weakening our own military readiness. the cards are already stacked against us, and we certainly don't need to weaken our own hand. that's why senator shaheen and i have introduced the securing american arms act, which will help us replenish our defense stockpiles more quickly. the pentagon is already working

towards this goal, but there are a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and just red tape that stand in the way. the defense department can't place an order for more javelins and have them show up at the pentagon five to seven business days later. it doesn't work like that. the process of purchasing, manufacturing, and deploying aid takes a long time, which frankly we don't have. that's where the securing american arms act comes in. this bill will remove some of those time-consume being hurdles to allow the -- time-consuming hurdles to allow the defense department to fast-track the process. it will allow us to provide critical support for our partners and allies now and in the future without compromising our own national defense. i appreciate senator shaheen working with me on this bill, which now has more than a dozen bipartisan cosponsors. i'm everything this legislation as an amendment to the national defense authorization act, and i

hope my colleagues will join me in supporting its inclusion in the final bill. now more than ever, a well-prepared and well-funded military is an imperative. the rapid changes in the threat landscape should serve as a wake-up call for anyone who thinks we can carry on with the statistics quo -- with the status quo. for our forces to continue fighting and defeating evil in every corner of the world, we need to provide that funding. they need the stability and they need the unwavering support of the united states congress. as new powers rise and old powers fall, our country must be prepared for whatever changes are on the horizon. congress has a critical role in that preparation, and we can't ignore our responsibility. we need to pass a strong national defense authorization act as soon as possible, and i would urge senator schumer, the

senate majority leader, to bring that bill to the floor as soon as possible. madam president, i yield the floor. i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

also served on select committee on cn crisis serving as ranking member pairing -- represent great good morning. as part of the discussion over continuing funding of the government there's a provision by senator manchin in order to change leasing rules, could you first of all tell us what that would mean and where you think that's going. >> guest: you mean energy leasing, public lands and waters for energy production. and i think it's really important we have ourselves a situation like what's happening right now as we are seeing record gasoline prices record utility prices. we have seen fewer land lease for energy production than any of administration dating back to the truman administration. to put it in perspective we are 100 times more acres of land for energy production at this point

in time during the carter administration. 375 times more energy production during the reagan administration but but this is the second post-crisis we are experiencing right now with energy pricing and what's going on with ukraine and russia we could do the morning -- be doing more to help her nato allies in europe. it's what we are expressing a cabinet or found impact on american public. host of the legislation you are referring to as many times it requires leases for energy issues because they are effectively have been done under this. her's administration modern history to do so. this shouldn't take an act of congress to force these actions and to force us to solve problems that should have never become a crisis or problem begin with. >> host: president biden during a "60 minutes" interview when asked about oil and gas prices and i want to tell you

what he had to say about it in response to get your response to that. >> mr. president the price of gasoline is down about 26% from the 5-dollar high. what can you do to keep that price down while vladimir putin is throttling energy supplies? >> a couple of things for example i got criticism for releasing a million barrels of oil a day from the petroleum reserve and then along came the industry and they another 1 million barrels a day by the spring. we were in relatively good shape. >> vladimir putin is going to try to break your will on ukraine and use energy prices to do it. >> sure he is but you know we in the united states are in much better shape than anyone else is relative to russia in particular. he's been trying that for a while but it's not going to succeed. let's go represented great to use the good shape when it comes to america or oil or gas

situation. what's your response? >> guest: look that unfortunately i think is uninformed. president biden took office my hometown we are paying $1.82 a gallon. let me say that again when president biden took office we were at $1.82 a gallon on the low end for regular gasoline. this weekend it was three bucks, $3.6. we are in shape right now the thing is looking back within the last two years we were actually entirely energy independent. we were taking care of all of our own energy needs. due to a self-imposed problem come you can't we say in real release energy from the strategic petroleum reserve. with the sale of $10 million of of -- barrels of oil and we don't have an energy crisis or a supply-side problem we don't need to increase her those two things can't exist. by continuing to tap our

strategic were petroleum reserve for energy if we have the lowest volume of energy in the strategic petroleum reserve that we have had them for decades. this makes america weekend gives more power to folks like vladimir putin to exercise their leverage over the united states and it doesn't have to happen. we never should have put ourselves in a situation in the biden administration needs to be more aggressive with both renewable and conventional energy sources to ensure america has the resources it needs to bring prices down and out supply and demand. >> host: (202)748-2001 for republicansof and 202274820024 independents from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i rise today to pay tribute to the life and service of her majesty queen elizabeth ii who was laid to rest in windsor castle just

yesterday. she represented the best of the united kingdom to the world. she was unwavering in her support to the united states and the american people reciprocated with their admiration and respect for her. my sympathies to the royal family and the people of great britain. we treasure our unique relationship and america stands with you once again as we mourn your loss. i ask unanimous consent to have my following remarks appear in a different part of the congressional record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. portman: i'm here on the floor of the senate for the 23rd week in a row to bring to the attention of the senate, to my constituents, and to the american people the latest news of russia's illegal, unprovoked, and brutal war against ukraine. i will talk about the disturbing news from ukraine, about more russian war crimes, and i will discuss the upcoming vote on the supplemental spending bill for the effort in ukraine, why it's so important right now to continue to support ukraine as it makes progress in pushing

back against russia's war of aggression. last week i spoke about ukraine's stunning advances up here in the north around kha kharkiv. after distracting the russians with a counteroffenser here in the south near kherson, the ukrainian army launched a surprise counteroffensive in the north and punched through the russian lines. in just a matter of days, as you'll see with this light blue part of the map here, in just a matter of days, the ukrainian army was able to liberate roughly 300 settlements across 3,000 square miles and liberate over 150,000 ukrainians from russian occupation. they also managed to capture hundreds of pieces of russian military equipment and vehicles and ammunition. so now instead of being used to kill and subjugate innocent ukrainian citizens, these vehicles, the equipment and munitions can be used by

ukrainian forces to liberate their fellow citizens from russian tyranny. there were stories of russian soldiers abandoning their equipment and stealing ukrainian cars to make their escape. even stealing motor bikes and bicycles. last wednesday ukraine's president zelenskyy visited a town in this area. the town is called izium. izium is located right here on the map. very strategic town for the russians. just four days before he step foot there, this town was under russian occupation and even when he visited the front line was only about six miles away. izium had been used as an important logistics hub from which the russians attacked south and east into the donbass region so down in this area. this was supposed to be the northern part that russia would use to track ukrainian forces in the donbas so ukrainian forces

who are here, the idea was that this area would be used as a staining ground to build a cutoff -- to be able to cut off the ukrainian troops. instead it's under ukrainian control. there were reportedly 10,000 russian soldiers in this town of izium and most observers thought it would be months before ukraine could recapture it. but just after a couple of days of a lightning strike, this town has been held by the russians -- which had been held by the russians for six months is now free. its russian occupiers on the run. unfortunately with the -- what the occupierers left behind was not just military equipment but clear evidence of russian atrocities. multiple graves have been found near the city cemetery. president zelenskyy said they contained the bodies of civilians, civilian adults, civilian children as well as ukrainian soldiers showing signs of violent death, including evidence of torture. the chief prosecutor of the

kharkiv region has confirmed that at least 445 graves were at one site in this town. here's a photo of some of the corporations that have been discovered. some corporations had their hands tied behind their backs. others had ropes around their necks. some victims are still being identified but as an example, investigators have confirmed that among the dead are -- the dead of a family killed by a russian air strike on their home in this region. again another target, a civilian target of russian missiles. the nearly 400 civilian graves were found near a previous graveyard but near there they also found 17 graves of ukrainian soldiers. their hands were all tied. and they appeared to be shot at close range. they were in a single mass

grave. bodies piled upon one another. they were executed. so those killed in izium were men, women, children, soldiers and noncombatants alike. cnn described the scene this way. even the heavy rainfall couldn't erase the smell of death in the pine forest in izyum. president zelenskyy described it as cruelty and terrorism. the ukrainian ambassador to the united states said yesterday the scene was one of, tortures, rapes, killings and war crimes of a massive proportion, end quote. it is indeed inhumane and genocide but it's not the first time we've seen evidence of russia committing horrible atrocities. a commander in the national guard announced his team is hunting for additional graves reportedly of victims abused at a detention center north of

kharkiv. that's this area up here. certainly we will learn about many more graves and many more atrocities in this area as we begin to discover more and more of these war crimes being committed by the russians. over the weekend president zelenskyy also said the ukrainian forces found ten makeshift torture chaibts throughout the liberated territories in that kharkiv region. some of these rooms had tools for russian soldiers to conduct electric torture on innocent ukrainians. this photo is from inside one of these cellars, one of the makeshift torture chambers we found in the kharkiv region. in here you can see where a prisoner actually scratched the lord's prayer on the wall of the torture chamber. the liberating soldiers are also recovering bodies on the

battlefield, which is where they're lying too often in farm fields or woods just left to rot in the fields in the woods. this is what russia has done to ukraine. this is not a one-off event. when senator klobuchar and i were in ukraine three weeks ago we visited a suburb of kiev and saw the spot where soldiers dug a mass grave for innocent civilians they murdered during their occupation. sadly the murder, torture and rape discovered in bucha was not unique. these events often aren't known to the world until that area is liberated by ukrainian forces. one has to wonder what other russian horrors are occurring in occupied areas that we will witness. this is the grim reality of russia's war. president putin claims this is about reunited them with their ukrainian brothers and sisters but this photo is not what

brothers and sisters do to each other. this is not a war of freedom or a war of liberation. this is a war of conquest and genocide. and over the weekend we also got a glimpse of what happens to the ukrainian children who have lost their parents in this war and fall into russia's hands. russia's presidential commissioner for children's rights who has been sanctioned by the united states recently stated that russian authorities are placing 125 ukrainian orphans with russian families. of course the natural solution here would be to put these children in the care of their extended family members in ukraine, allow them to stay in their country. but that's not their objective. russia's goal isn't to provide a better future for these children. their goal is to erase their ukrainian identity and turn them into russians. under the rules laid down by the united nations, quote, forcibly transferring children of one group to another group, end quote, constitutes genocide,

another example. frustrated by ukrainian gains in the northeast and in the south that we've seen on these maps, russians have begun bombing civilian infrastructure at increased rates like power plants and dams, threatening the livelihoods of innocent ukrainians. unfortunately we have to expect more missiles being fired into ukraine to terrorize civilians. just this weekend a russian missile struck about 300 yards away from a nuclear power plant in southern ukraine threatening disaster. this was not the plant that we've talked about a lot on this floor. this is another planet. the largest plant in all of europe provides 25% of electricity to all of ukraine. that's the plant the russians are using as a shield, much as they used energy as a weapon, cutting off energy unless europe agrees to stop the necessary sanctions. they used food as a weapon,

bombing grain bins in the odessa region, keeping food from going to starving people in africa. now they are actually using nuclear power plants as weapons in this war. it's all reckless, all dangerous, but this risks a catastrophe by creating a military zone around a nuclear power plant and firing on ukrainian forces from there and actually exploding parts of the plant that connect to ukraine. this is incredibly dangerous and risks something like the tragedy we had add chernobyl. all of this is why we need to continue to give ukraine the help it so desperately needs. vladimir putin will continue his reign of terror against a neighbor that just wants to live in peace unless he knows that there are consequences, he is betting he can use terror to intimidate ukraine and its allies into surrendering. let me be clear, i want this brutal war to end as much as anyone else in this chamber, but the responsible way to end this war is not to stop

providing our assistance to our allies sand watch as ukraine falls to russian domination. the right way to end this war is to win it, continue to provide ukraine the weapons it needs to keep advancing and liberating territory like it did over these past few weeks. for the sake of global freedom, ukraine must be allowed to end this war on its own terms, not russia's. that's why when the chamber votes on the continuing resolution to keep government open next week, i urge my colleagues to also support the expected supplemental request for additional ukraine funding. most important to me, frankly, is the military support including needed ammunition for the weapons they already have and including refilling our own stockpiles of military weapons and ammunition. this is one way we can show vladimir putin that we will not stand for his war crimes. the west and our allies only to recognize that these russian atrocities will not stop until there are more victories on the battlefield and until sanctions

are more effective at cutting off funding to russia's war machine. the world is watching, and if president putin's military is not held accountable for these atrocities it sends a signal to other rogue leaders that they will be able to get away with the same types of crimes. as congress considers this latest request for support, i hope my colleagues will think about four things. one, the mass graves i mentioned at the beginning of my speech. we should not turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate violence russia has wrought on ukraine. vladimir putin will continue terrorism against a neighbors who wants to live in peace unless he knows again that there will be consequences. as president zelenskyy said, and i quote, russia leaves death everywhere and must pay for it, end quote. second, despite these atrocities, ukraine is turning the tide of the war in large measure because of our help. it's working. this map, to me, is very interesting because it shows

here on february 24, after the invasion of ukraine, on that date, how much territory that the russians controlled. not just the parts they had already controlled down here in crimea, here in here in lieu -- luhansk and donetsk. this is where the famous battle occurred outside kiev where they planned to bring in more government and topple the government in the capital of kiev. look, all this in red, all of this in red and today here we are. so we have made progress. the russians have come along the donbas area and now more recently of course we have made additional progress here and here to push the russians back. this would not have happened without the support of this body. we must think about that as we look at this additional request

for funding. we are making a difference, specifically thanks to this congress, these long-range missiles called himars have been extremely effective in enabling ukraine to be able to strike behind enemy lines and disrupt russia in ways no one thought possible. before the russians were sitting back and firing on ukrainian positions and the ukrainians couldn't respond because they couldn't reach the russian guns, they were firing with impunity, killing civilians, killing ukrainian soldiers. now with these new weapons, these himars, theers longer -- these are longer-range missiles coming from the united states, coming from the u.k., coming from germany, the ukrainians are able to hold their own as we see with advances ?owgget and and -- south and northeast. we need to keep it up particularly when russia is getting help with its own partners. iran is equipping the armed

military with armed drones like the ones they used against american forces in syria and iraq. there are reports north korea supplied russia with artillery shells. third, i'd ask my colleagues to remember this is not just about ukraine. we've got to remember that vladimir putin has said, quote, the borders of russia never end, end quote. this summer president putin says he views ukraine as the first step toward re-creating the russian empire. his advisors made similar statements about their intent with regard to this war. it's not just about ukraine. but the united states matters. what we do in defense of global freedom not only shows the world we will stand up for ukraine against a rogue authoritarian attacking an alley but it shows we're ready to defend democracy around the world. it's not just the united states providing this military support. let's remember that. 49 other countries are contributing in one way or another weapons, ammunition,

training and so on. with regard to economic support, more countries than 50 are providing help to ukraine. fourth, i'd ask my colleagues to remember that there are important guardrails to assure assistance to the u.s. taxpayers is very well accounted for, and there should be. while in poland recently senator klobuchar and i met with the 101st airborne to discuss end use monitoring of military equipment that goes into ukraine. this is ramped up even further with the intition of our -- with the addition of our embassy staff on the ground in kiev to ensure there is no diversion of the military assistance we are providing. this is unprecedented level of accountability and it is necessary. transparency is absolutely needed and promised by the ukrainians. i will say that from president zelenskyy to members of his government to members of parliament we met with, everyone said the same thing. they too want total transparency and accountability. it's very important to them,

just as they are continuing their reforms against corruption even in the face of this war, they want transparency with regard to all the aid. they have an accounting firm in ukraine who is following the budgetary funding that goes from this place, this congress to ukraine as well. and they have a need and an interest in transparency themselves. with regard to the end game in ukraine, and some have asked me about here on this floor, i believe ukraine's ambassador to the united states, markarova said it well, ukraine will not rest until all our country is free, all our people are back and russia is brought to justice, end quote. as russia's military suffers setbacks in ukraine, that's actually good news for the freedom-loving countries of the world. for decades russia has used its military to threaten and coerce its neighbors.

think of russia's invasion of ukraine this year and back in 2014 when they invaded crimea and the donbas. russia, under its current government, is a threat to all of its neighbors. think about its invasion in georgia in 2008 and its ongoing occupation of parts of moldova, just to name a couple. as russia's military has weakened, europe and the united states are made safer. so our support matters. global support matters. i believe president putin responds and weakness on our part would only invite more aggression. helping ukraine is just one way to show our strength and to show our resolve. as a country and as an alliance. i noted last week that we are finally seeing the fruits of our labor when you look at the progress that has been made. the support now is more important than ever. 3,000, 3,000 square miles of territory has been liberated

just in the past few weeks. this is the battle of our generation. this is the fight between authoritarianism and democracy on the world stage, the fight between evil and good. freedom is at stake. the ukrainians are fighting for that. they're fighting for democracy, for the right to live free, for the right to chart their own course, and as we have seen, they will fight like hell for it. we see this every single day in their courage and their resolve. they're fighting for their families, they're fighting for their homeland, they're fighting for their freedom. when senator klobuchar and i met with president zelenskyy last month, he started and ended our discussion with expressing gratitude to the american people for their willingness to stand with ukraine. he spoke about russia's war in his country as our joint battle as all freedom-loving countries strive towards our joint victory. ukraine is the shield of democracy. it is bearing the full brunt of the aggression that russia has threatened against europe for years and is still standing

strong. it is in our interest that russia's military aggression ends here, the sword of russian imperialism must be broken in ukraine. by ukrainians and the united states and our allies need to continue to provide those brave ukrainians with the tools they need to be successful. i yield the floor.

on the national infrastructure committee and served on the select committee on the -- crime crisis represented grades good morning. as part of the discussions over continuing funding the government there's a provision by senator manchin who wanted to change leasing rules. what do you think? could you tell our viewers what that would mean and where that's going? >> guest: when you see leasing you mean energy leasing public lands and waters for any g. production. i think it's important since we

got ourselves into the situation what's happening right now as we are seeing record gasoline prices record utility prices. we have seen fewer lands leased for energy production in any administration of administration dating back to the truman administration. to put into perspective there were 100 times more acres of land for energy production at this point in time during the carter administration, 375 times for energy made available for infrastructure during the reagan administration but but this is self-imposed crisis that we are experiencing right now. of course what's going on with ukraine and russia we could be doing more to help our nato ought allies in europe. it's having a profound impact on the american public. >> host: the legislation you are referring to it requires the sales of energy to be issued

because they are effectively have been done under this administration. this should not take an act of congress to force these actions into force us to start problems that should have never become a crisis. >> host: president biden during the interview was asked about oil and gas prices and i want to tell you about what he had to say in response to get your response to that. >> mr. president took price of gasoline is down 26% from the 5-dollar high. what can you do to keep that price down while vladimir putin is struggling -- throttling energy supplies. >> i got criticism for releasing 1 million barrels of oil a day from the petroleum reserve and then along came the industry saying they reduce another $1 million -- 1 million barrels a day think we are in relatively good shape. >> vladimir putin will try to break your will on ukraine in

use energy prices to do it. >> sure he is but you know we in the united states are in much better shape than anyone else's relative to russia in particular. but he's been trying that for a while. he's not going to succeed. >> host: represented grades are we in good shape when it comes to america or when it comes to oil and gas situation in which a response? >> that answer unfortunately is just uninformed. when president biden took office we were paying $1.82 a gallon. let me say that again when president biden took office we were paying a dollar on the low end for regular gasoline. so we are in shape right now. the thing is looking back in the last two years we were actually entirely energy independent and we were taking care of all of our own energy needs.

if these are self-imposed from spree can't be out there saying we are going to release energy from the strategic petroleum reserve dislike was reiterated yesterday with oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in saying we don't have an energy crisis or a supply-side problem and we don't need to increase their production. those two things can exist. by continuing to tap our petroleum reserves for energy we have the lowest volume's of energy and our strategic petroleum reserve families have been for decades. this makes america week and it gives more power to folks like vladimir putin to exercise energy -- we should never put ourselves in this position and the biden administration needs to be more aggressive with renewable energy sources to ensure america has the resource it needs to have supply and demand.

(202)748-8000, 2,027,488,002, for independents. representative graves we saw the green energy ways of going forward what did you think of the money that's going to be devoted and is there some benefit from that money being. >> guest: with the bill does is it floods the renewable market with money. they cause some problems because with energy solution one key is you have to technologies that are both economically sustainable which means you don't have to continue flooding taxpayer dollars that you can afford into these different energy technologies to subsidize them. that's not sustainable.

you've got to have economically sustainable technologies that are also environmentally sustainable and unfortunately i think what that legislation does is it artificially gifted to the point we can't continue subsidizing it to give an example over 40 years ago you had renewable energy industries that were coming in and saying hey seven years of subsidies, seven years and what does happen is we just renewed it after 40 plus years of subsidies. so the only way these technologies are truly going to be sustainable is that they meet the sustainability has and the environmentally sustainable test and unfortunately in some cases new technologies are failing both. >> host: there's an op-ed in "the new york times" today from the former climate adviser to president biden gina mccarthy and she assesses what's happening with the green energy in u.s. she says united states has become a magnet for clean energy and a nation investment

and says the president took office companies have invested $85 billion in electric vehicles and ev chargers. the u.s. is on track to triple opacity by 2024 and in 2021 investors in on $2.2 billion in funding for offshore wind adding we have a long way to go in reshaping our economy especially in a country as vast and complex as ours. when you talk about those investments would he you think of those? >> guest: i think you use three criteria to evaluate the performance of energy under this administration. yet look at affordability and emissions for the environment and energy security. affordability prices have surged. we should not the excited about a small drop considering we are seeing huge increases compared when biden took office with electricity prices number two emissions have gone up under president biden for the me say

that again on average under the previous semesters and they went down two points and this year they will go up again. the president is supporting requirements and the third on the security. we are more dependent on foreign energy sources trying to manufacture 90% of the solar panels that argues globally. 90% and the biden administration took action which allowed solar panels that are already subsidized for u.s. markets undermining domestic production of that technology. we basically wave the tariffs or love them can to continue to create more uncertainty. there is no metric we can look at today to say this a administration estate profound impact for one quarter of all americans today have to decide

if they have food medicine or cover energy bills. these are unforced errors and we never should have gotten his to the situation and we have the resources nice taste of supplier on energy and have an energy preserve preserve first call is from edward in michigan democrats line you are on with represented garrett graves. go ahead. >> caller: wanted to talk about the drought out west. i'm amazed at how bad the drought is being described as a one in 1000 year megadrought and i will list the specific states that are in a severe drought now. it's the california nevada arizona new mexico colorado utah texas is now on the drought. and i commented you to upgrade the whole southwest is in the drought. they are going to have start -- they are rationing water now.

the colorado river is extremely low. the reservoir is late meet in lake carl are at record lows but they may have to turn off the hydroelectric generators because the water level is so low. do the republicans have any plan or any statement of how to, what to do about this drought? let's go to edward we got the point. >> guest: hope you're having a great morning and thanks for the question. yes this is actually really important issue and on friday we will be talking about our commitment to america where we will be going through some of these topics and talking about some of the resiliency efforts we are working on including disasters in the southwest and talking about our plans to address those things. there's no question in my home state of louisiana we have had 2000 year flood event and a 500 year flood event in 250 or flood

event all in the last few years. a dry molder something-somethings wrong through that to prepare and make our communities and -- our community again self guys and we have water coming out of her ears. part of her strategy is looking at how we can try to i guess reallocate water in ways that give us more options to share those resources with areas like out west. >> host: from albany new york on the republican line, go ahead. >> caller: thank you wanted to bring something up that trying to use common sense. and not be political. regarding energy which i feel the minute the new administration came in one of the first things the executive order was to do was to cancel the keystone pipeline and also to stop drilling in the united

states. if there was a solution in place when i happened and the electric cars and the right energy that tickets place i can understand that that that's not going to happen for another 20 years or more. so i don't understand why people weren't up in arms back then because we knew prices were going to go up. prices as we know double for gasoline and that affected food prices of food prices are out of sight to all because of the higher gasoline. now that it's coming down the administration is taking credit for it coming down. it's almost you create the problem, you create the problem and then you say okay i'm going to take care of it and the problem is coming down. we are getting energy from other countries and it's not even as clean as our refineries. we have got to stop doing this and bring production back to the

u.s.. >> host: thank you, thank you. >> guest: you bring up some good points. one of the executive orders actually puts applause or stops new energy production in the united states. when you put supply and demand on you see the a and you can't call the problem and take credit for solving an nsa said before there's no metric on energy policy ended this administration that showed success. we have moved in this direction rather than data and sciences of you indicated and largely governing by emotion. it's causing consequences on american families. you're exactly right u.s. energy does have a cleaner emissions profile than most other countries. in fact oil and gas in the gulf of mexico for some of the cleanest or lowest carbon associated with it than any other source in the world. the biden administration says will have a 50% growth in global energy demand. the reality is we need wind and

solar and geothermal. we need hydro and we need nuclear and oil and gas but even the biden mr. schenn shows will have an 80% increase in natural gas in developing countries. rather than allowing countries like russia to fill that boy why not allow cleaner natural gas to go to those places? those places? we have to be really stick and follow the data. that way you can have energy policies that results in lower emissions getting back on that trend in getting and affordable sources and allowing the united states export to export more of our resources which benefits jobs in the economy. >> host: represented to talk about the issues and the commitment of the america on friday. to what degree will oil and gas, to a degree will oil and gas be part of that energy component versus clean energy? >> guest: loco look we are going to truly have all of the above energy strategies to where we will be using as i said wind

and solar thermonuclear hydro and oil and gas but it's going to be based on even the biden administration's projections for global energy demand. making sure they were able to meet the needs are u.s. citizens and stop this record inflation that's causing the for undermining or lowering wages and niceties but also ensuring that we worked to address this weakening of nato that we have seen with our european allies by causing extraordinary energy shortages over there which i'll say again is undermining these military readiness and undermined the economy and weakens the strait of -- the the strength of nato which now need to be stronger based on what vladimir vladimir putin and not uyghurs who are seeing now now. we'll have in all the above energy strategy based upon science and data. we are using the right technologies and right places and not trying to openly subsidized technologies to where you are using technologies that are not economic to a

sustainable and later had to be taken down are consumed with taxpayer dollars to subsidize them into some type of equilibrium. >> host: we will hear from jeremy madison wisconsin on the independent line. >> caller: hi pedro. just hear me out. i appreciate all of your language so far. you are going way too quick though. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22 of the senate, the senate consider the following nominations en bloc -- calendar number 1120 and 1059. that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, with no intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. the question comes on the

nominations, en bloc. all those in favor, say aye. all those no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent 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. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that at senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 4899 introduced earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4899, a bill to amend title 18 of the social security act and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i further ask the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is to further get, the question comes on passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye.

all those, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. durbin: i move to the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 4900 at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4900, a bill to reauthorize the sbir and sttr programs and pilot programs and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that at senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following bills en bloc -- calendar number 327, s. 3884. calendar number 331, h.r. 3539.

calendar number 335, h.r. 5577, calendar number 398, h.r. 2142, calendar number 469, h.r. 91. calendar number 470, h.r. 92, calendar number 427, h.r. 3508. and calendar number 474, h.r. 4809. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed en bloc e. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bills en bloc be considered read a third time and passed, that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objectionment -- without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 453, h.r. 4693. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 453, h.r. 4693, an act to

advance targeted and evidence-based interventions and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to. mr. durbin: i further ask that the bill be remembered a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i know of no other debate on the bill. the presiding officer: with no further i think embarks the question comes on passage. all those in favor, say aye a all those, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. durbin: i move 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. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that at senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 483, h.r. 5641. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 483, h.r. 5641, an act to amend the robert t. stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act and so forth and for other purposes.

the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i further ask the senate -- that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and the motion to reconsider to recan consider be considered made and laid upon the table the, with no intervening action or debate. mr. durbin: mr. president, i'd like to amend my earlier statement. i think further ask that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the women, as amended, be kurd read a third time and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 489, s. 4553. the presiding officer: the

clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4552, a bill to extend the program for authority to acquire innovative commercial items using general solicitation procedures. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the committee on homeland security and government affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 4552 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4552, a bill to extend the program for authority and so forth.

the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. and the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the billable considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 776, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 776, designating september 2022 as national prostate cancer awareness month. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i know of no further debate on the resolution. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions introduced earlier today -- s. res. 777, s. res. 778, s. res. 779, s. res. 780, s. res. 781, s. res. 782, s. res. 78 3. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed en bloc. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 784 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 84, designate -- 784, designating the week beginning on september 12, 2022, as national hispanic serving institutions week.

the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday you september 21, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the morning business be closed, upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of treaty document 117-1 postcloture, further, that all time during adjournment, recess, morning business, and leader remarks count postcloture on the treaty. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: if there is no 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 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

>> they are to keep you waiting. i apologize. good afternoon. i'm about to head to new york for the annual u.n. general assembly. we have a number of meetings while i'm there. before it the yuan i want to speak with you briefly about the vote in congress this week that addresses this serious problem facing our democracy in my view. ie