advantaged but accomplish what needed to be done and then one majority leader to say we won't do a bill on the border and that it didn't matter the rules. it was got real bad. >> we are leaving this live coverage. democrats will remain in control of the senate for the congress although one senate race for the one 18th congress is still to be decided, georgia senate race incumbent democrat raphael warnock and republican herschel walker. a runoff between the two will be held december 16. we may hear about the balance of power this afternoon as the chamber returns for the first vote since the midterm election on the agenda debate on the nomination of maria georgie jordan to service u.s. district court judge for puerto rico and the nomination will take place 5:30 p.m. eastern.

live coverage on c-span2. ... will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit who brings a rich harvest with your footsteps, we praise your name and celebrate your goodness. lord, remind us that without your help, there is no national security. may we focus less on what we can accomplish and more on your prevailing providence.

send your peace into the hearts of our senators. lord, take away distracting worries and fill them with faith. cleanse them from any bitter or unforgiving spirit as you give them contentment in serving you and this great nation. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved and morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, maria del r. antongiorgi-jordan of puerto rico to be united states district judge for the district of puerto rico.

ms. hirono: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from hawaii. ms. hirono: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

he is here to discuss what the selection asthma for president biden. jim good morning.

>> good morning. tell us it's a center-left think tank founded in 2005, we do economic policy, national security, fiscal policy election climate we occupy the centrist wing of the democratic party. >> how is third way funded? >> we are funded mostly by foundations some private donors and some business. >> let's jump what happened to the midterm election. what do you attribute the success of the democratic party and the midterm cycle. >> this is the victory of mainstream over extreme. democrats were nominated mainstream candidates particularly in congressional districts in the state republicans i candidates mostly that were election deniers followers of donald trump that is not been a women entered winning formula since 2016 it

came to roost in the 2022 election and democrats vastly over performed but you would normally see in the midterm election, democrats are walking on air, i know why republicans are grounded in tears. >> to what do you attribute the fact president joe biden still doesn't have great approval numbers but democrats did well in the midterm cycle anyway. >> biden's approval numbers are not great their typical of what a lot of presidents are two years into their run with a lot of presidents two years into the runs haven't really been. >> what i've seen of the last several months i've never seen a greater gap in candidate quality that i've seen in the selection. democrats did have mainstream candidates, they had mostly moderate in the races, they were

candidates that were strong, some are elected official summer leaders in business or church leaders. a lot of republican candidates one in the contested primary they would be the outlandish extreme candidate in the race we looked at these candidates and you match them up as a democrat there's just a gap you don't normally see. in republicans really paid the price, if you were a normal republican like a traditional republican in this election, you actually did well, there were enough of them and they got crushed. >> how much did topics like abortion and the january 6 insurrection help the democrats in the cycle? >> definitely helped, abortion was an x factor. it was proof that maybe some of these things the republicans that are on the extreme that

could really happen for sure and energized women. if you see what democrats have been doing well lately since 2016, it's a suburbs a lot of time suburban women or suburban women of color and suburban white women. it's a very important issue there and then january 6, just a reminder of how far off the beam a lot of the republican party went. i think those two issues, one that is visceral and you can feel in your home the abortion issue, one that you watched on television january 6, they came together to paint a picture of extremism on the right. >> earlier this year you wrote a column the offered suggestions to democrats on how to survive the midterm elections. remind us what your advice was and did the democrats follow it.

>> i think they did follow it, not because of me but i was glad to read the column. the first piece of advice, if you look at midterms, generally midterms the party in power loses a vast number of seats and you lose about 12 points off of your vote total between the presidential year end the next two years. what i wrote if you one by 12 or biden one by 12 or less you have to put yourself in the category of somebody who's going to lose. you need to run like you behind it i think democrats did that. the other thing to go on offense and culture issues, don't just go into a defensive craft and see if you can get through the dobbs decision a lot of them on offense to the other was pasture agenda even if it's not exactly what you hope for make sure everything gets passed in by august everything that the

democrats had fought for really got to the present side. >> right now we have the democrats will hold the senate with either 51 or 50 votes. but the control of the house is still up in the air, my question to you if democrats don't control the house is nancy pelosi still a democratic leader or democrats turn to someone else? >> i think nancy pelosi will stay as leader, i may be wrong but the choice is going to be heard, i think if democrats lost 20 or 25 seats which would be the norm she would've left and i think it would've been pressure for her to leave and she would've left on her own. in the situation if the vindication again for her, we wanted things to realize on the democratic side in 1995 in the house democrats have had to

leaders in part nancy pelosi. the ability within the democratic caucus has been a hallmark, my guess is there are a group of democrats in the wings to take that spot. >> if she doesn't stay who takes that spot. >> my guess it'll be hakeem jeffries congressman from new york city, right now there will be a battle it looks like between him and adam schiff california but if i were to predict he's probably get a better job of rounding out both at this time and that's what they need to do, he would be the next leader is my guess. >> we are going to open up a regular line which means that

democrats 2,027,488,000. republicans, your line is 202-748-8001 read independence, you can call 2,027,488,002. keep in mind, you can always text us at 2,027,488,003 and were always reading on social media, twitter and c-span wj and on facebook.com/c-span. now can president biden claim any kind of mandate following the 2022 midterm elections because historically his party would've been swept out of power in both houses of congress, it didn't happen can he claim a mandate? >> yeah i think he can. i think he can claim the mandate of trying to heal the soul of the nation and trying to get writ of extremism making sure that election deniers don't get into places of power and

continue on the path that he is on. he is a very, very closely divided congress it looks like things are to be done in a bipartisan manner just barely. this is the president right now he has a spring in his step in the wind at his back and he should feel very, very good and feel like i can move forward, i don't need to make a lot of changes. >> that brings that my next question, should there be any changes that president biden should be looking at given the results of the midterm election. >> this party was not swept out of power but he has got into his last two years of president that was not stellar approval ratings. are there any changes that he should be looking at. >> i think there are three places that they should be looking at making some changes or at least an effort to raise

arenas of what he's doing. he said a very, very good job but probably need to bring some folks in on the business area as their battling inflation going forward. in the business area that is where they understand inflation and supply chain and that sort of thing and it would be good to see the on the economic team. the climate is definitely an issue that worked against democrats, someways unfairly primarily in republican states far higher than crime rates than democratic states. immigration is a place where we republicans were able to hit democrats and on the border and the democrats should be really looking at that insane this is the place where we need to assure ourselves that. >> is anywhere he can immediately work with republicans on policies that can

pass even a divided congress, quickly questioning. >> i think you'll see something on the electoral count act in the lame-duck and maybe something on codifying same-sex marriage also in the lame-duck and both be bipartisan. >> very conspiracy theory focused or are they going to look at the new seats if they want in places like new york where to keep them there going to have to have a moderate agenda and work with the president. if you want to keep your majority you have got to take care of your moderates in the swing places. if you want to get headlines on the right wing media that we go with the conspiracy theory group, in a certain sense this is going to be up to a

potentially new house republican leadership should they take the majority. >> let's get some of our callers into this conversation we will start with chuck calling from aurora colorado on the republican line, good morning. >> good morning gentlemen. biden didn't win on anything, one of his candidates was the fact republican party has offered anybody anything there only interested in then money that they can get because trump gets all the money and that's all he's in it for plus now he's in for protection for his own little neck because of what he's got himself into with all the court cases and everything else

that is going on. to bring this up that is the reason we won, i'm a democrat as we all know. >> number one is fear something we had back in world war ii that republicans want to put into our minds plus abortion the going after all the rights, people, mostly women if republicans get in and trump wins again then they're already attacking and filling books out of our libraries, banning them, hitler did that in world war ii, he took books out and bring them. he put fear in the people's lines, chaos, fear, that's what republicans are going for.

we offer him up back in the candidates. >> i think chuck has an has a point there referendum on the party in power in the president power and this became as much a referendum the more of a choice between the two parties that republicans nominated people that were in the trump wing of the party and voters got a chance to look at them and say i do have a choice here it's not just how do i feel about inflation and some other things that might make me feel a little bit sour and when they look at what republicans were preening up they were noncompetitive candidates in very competitive states. and if you look at somebody in new hampshire moderate democrat, don bolduc, the republican

nominee. almost a crank, you have that situation and even if joe biden's relatively unpopular in that state it doesn't matter, the republican candidate is so bad and so mismatched and that's one of the reasons republicans lost and they will continue to lose if they put up candidates like that. >> let's go to michael calling from a augustine. >> how are you. florida. i like being independent because i have an open mind i don't want to stick on one side i want to go with the best candidate go from the i'm not seeing a lot of hype, i see a lot of hype with the ron desantis character who basically, i will be honest with you, i supported and voted for

it. i have voted for democrats as well. this is the situation i see in the florida media that the national media ignores. that ron desantis did get the majority of the republican votes actually moody did in she over performs him and some of the republicans did better than ron desantis. he also endorsed 14 candidates in only 21. it's like to be with the media says of the local four of the media that he's telling white suburban educator ron desantis, i don't understand they need to pick ron desantis as a republican, i know you're democrat, i understand them, why would they replace ron desantis when it sounds like he's pretty much the same, in my diagram for. >> a good responsive.

>> i think is very interesting because clearly there's a wing of the republican party of one say getting rid of trump and they have decided, we need to elevate one candidate in particular to make it a one-on-one match and they have ron desantis, you can see that coming along the way of the left five or six, a lot of buzz about ron desantis and that he definitely had to go to elections in florida he got some big numbers, the race wasn't expected to be that close. in the end voters are going to decide. it reminds us, this is way way back in the way back machine, reminds me of 1984 when a lot of the media, john glenn was good to be the democrat and win the nomination. john glenn did not get out of new hampshire. i would just say beware of candidates that are peaking 18 months before the primary vote

was cast. i think ron desantis is peaking a little bit early right now. >> speaking of the 2024 presidential election do you think president biden should run for a second term. >> i think he should run, i hope he runs, i think he will run, he has earned the right to run. he had his first two years he said one of the most successful legislative two years of any president going back to ronald reagan and lbj. huge wins on the international stage, he basically stripped the bark off of vladimir putin, what's going on in ukraine though a tragedy is a major loss for russia right now because of what joe biden did he is the right candidate, he is a centrist, he is a moderate, the

one thing that people worry about is his age, he is about the same age as donald trump and likely the republican nominee. i think you should run and i think he will win. >> what does it say in the example that we have coming from the midterm election, two thirds of midterm voters including 43% of democrats would prefer that biden might not seek reelection in 2024 this is from exit polling, anderson research, where does it say even on election day 43% of democrats say that biden should not run for reelection. >> i don't want to discount that completely but at this point in 1982 they were saying ronald reagan should run for reelection either and is unpopular and there was 10.8% unemployment and inflation was about 8% and he was considered too old. he ended up winning 49 out of 50

states. let's not take these fools to seriously. also what are people really saying when they are giving the answer. they might be cinema little bit dissatisfied with the country or unconcerned somewhat about age because as the media portrayal there on that but i think in the end voters are going to come around. on the democratic side if he runs there's nothing to be a challenge of them he gets it that simple. >> let's say he does not run in the open supplicant completely different world who becomes a presumptive nominee or is there a presumptive nominee or will there be a floor fight at the democratic nomination. >> at all think is a presumptive nominee, there is a favorite the favorite would be kamala harris and she would be a strong

favorite. but democrats don't do coronations very well. in fact the few times where we try to do a coronation it has not worked out, we lost the general, hillary clinton in 2016. it was an attempt to clear the field and have them not run against liberty, bernie sanders beat her and then she lost the general al gore was a coronation any loss to george w. bush. so i think, here's what deb would be the favorite she won the nomination ultimately she would've earned it and came out as a stronger candidate. my guess there will be others that run as well. the key to winning the democratic primaries winning african-american voters in the south and the primary that is delegate rich who is the candidate and his getting to the

right now i think a b, here's but it could be somebody else. >> let's go back to the pool lines and talk to patricia calling from white bluff tennessee on the republican lines, patricia good morning. >> yes. i was a lifelong democrat up until the selection and i didn't vote for biden because they didn't think biden did that much when he was the last president so what would make him -- so far he's frail and i don't mean that to be disrespectful, i'm 76ers old but i do feel he's just not on the ball. he doesn't speak out like he needs to speak up he stumbles,

he fumbles when he talks in a fine and very disturbing. >> go-ahead and respond to her. >> joe biden stumbled when he talked when he was 32 years old, this is joe biden meme from way way back. , he's overseas right now meeting with xi jinping tomorrow, you see him on the national and international stage he is definitely the leader of the free world, he is strong, he is stable, he is outmaneuvered vladimir putin and he presided over very difficult point in the united states of economically in a very calm stable and effective manner. i think the reports of him

having a few miles per hour off his fastball i think that's overrated somewhat he beat donald trump of the debates and his past his entire legislative agenda through congress these are the things that presidents do when they're at the top of their game. yeah, he's not a young man but is extraordinarily effective both domestically and internationally and i think he's proven he is well up to doing this job. >> whatever social media followers as texted and a question for you, can your guests explain which congressional districts are still undecided that could when democrats control of the house what races are you looking at that could when democrats control the house. >> there is a couple in

california and after i say the numbers are probably get them wrong but i think it's california nt the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: , so madam president, before i begin the substance of my remarks, today the people of buffalo, new york, observe a sombering remembrance, six months ago to the day that ten new yorkers were killed at the top supermarket on jefferson avenue. a few moments ago, the city of buffalo held a moment of silence to honor those killed and wounded and we join them in prayer and remembrance. and today, because gun violence is still all too much with us, we hold our hearts -- we hold in our hearts everyone at the university of virginia where last night three students were tragically killed in a shooting on campus. our condolences go out to the families of those lost and those in charlottesville who are

grieving today. now, madam president, let me be the first to welcome you and all of my colleagues back to the u.s. senate. there's a lot to do, a lot to say, and i'm glad to be back here on the floor with my colleagues to continue serving the american people. i want to thank the voters of new york who have elected me for a fifth term, first senator ever from new york to have five terms, and i promised the people of new york, i will serve you as dill -- diligently as i have in the past. thank you for the faith you have shown in me. and, madam president, last tuesday, americans made their voices heard in one of the most remarkable midterm elections in modern history. with our democracy at stake, with our fundamental liberties on the line and with a clear choice of moving america forward or holding it back, the american

people spoke loud and clear, democrats will retain the majority in the senate. and house democrats, under the leadership of speaker pelosi, defied precedent and remain within striking distance of defending their majority as well. the election was a great win for the democratic party. but more importantly, a great win for the american people. and let me say this. two things happened, madam president, in the last two years. first, this senate and this congress passed a huge agenda, the most comprehensive agenda affecting and helping american families that has occurred in decades. second, democrats won the elections here in the senate and many in the house. those two statements are directly related. because democrats had a strong

agenda here and did things for the american people, we won. and despite the negativity and divisiveness, the threats of violence and even the violence itself that occurred with maga republicanism dominating the country, the american people stepped back from the precipice and chose progress and getting things done rather than the voices of divisiveness, nastiness and lack of complete truth and honor. so those two things are definitely related. first let's talk about some of the things we got done. it was an incredible, incredibe two years. the list is a long one. the most significant bipartisan infrastructure bill in decades, making sure that millions of new good jobs will occur with union labor i'm proud to say employing

tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of people in good new working jobs. we reformed the post office for the first time in a very long time. we dealt with the issue of chips that were made overseas and now we said to the american people we're going to make them here, creating thousands and thousands of good-paying jobs and we're going to not let any country, china or any other, germany, take away that dominance. we developed the chips here, we're going to make them here. we dealt with our veterans who were exposed to toxins from burn pits and when the v.a. wouldn't help them, we said the v.a. must. we dealt with climate and the i.r.a. for the first time ever and we'll reduce the amount of -- the amount of carbon flowing into our atmosphere by 40%.

we took on the prescription drug companies and we are getting a $35 price for insulin on medicare and lowering prices of drugs for so many millions of americans on many other drugs starting as early as next year with the cap of $2,000 that anyone must pay. we increased health care, we expanded the aca, making health care less expensive for many and dealing with so many other -- other health care issues to the benefit of the american people. so it was a huge agenda. and despite what some of the pundits and prognosticators say, that is what the american people wanted. how did we win the election? because we stuck to that agenda. and on the other side, what we saw from maga republicans was first the big lie, the big lie that said that the election was

stolen. it was a lie plain and simple. but maga republicans, so many in this chamber, repeated that lie over and over again. and, madam president, if one political party or large group of people abandoned the view that the elections are on the level, that's the beginning of the end of our democracy. not only did we see the big lie, but we saw nastiness, divisiveness, threats of violence and even violence itself, not only on january 6, but often at the people running our elections. these are nice, hardworking people, all they want to do is do their job and make sure the votes are counted properly and they get threatened. what bored the american people -- bothered the american people even more, madam president, than this, was the fact that too many republican leaders either condoned the

violence or even aided and abet the -- abetted the threats of violence. it was outrageous, but lots of people saw right through it, and not just democrats. large numbers of republicans said this new maga republican party is not the party of ronald reagan, not the party of the bushes, it's a different party and i can't allow it. and that's why so many of them voted for democratic candidates who were paying attention to the specific issues, nondivi nondivisiveness, just helping people, and that's why i believe we won the election. so where do we go from here, madam president? well, i'll say one more thing. the midterms are not over. obviously there's election in georgia, and once again we have the contrast.

senator warnock is a man dedicated to service. he first serviced people in the ministry and he is still the pastor of one of the most revered pulpits in the entire country, the e ebenezer baptist church, but he became a senator and that devotion to service continued. he was one of our leaders in establishing a $35 cap on insulin so that tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of georgians and millions of americans, elderly, who needed that insulin and now the drug companies, even though it's not a patented drug, were charging $600, $700, $800 a month, he helped with health care and getting money for black farmers who had been discriminated against for decades. and i believe this new election in georgia will be like the

election we had last tuesday, the candidate trying to help people, the candidate who is not decisive and incendiary will win, rafael warnock. where will we go for the next two years? i hope that we will continue to get bipartisan things done. of the six bills we passed in early july and june, was bipartisan. and we are going to work on a bipartisan basis whenever we can. and we showed that we were able to. there are times when republicans wouldn't join us, they didn't want to go against big pharma, so we had to pass that by ourselveses, and no one wanted to go against big oil.

this is a swirling world, people are not happy with their circumstances. they want help that this senate in the next two years, under the leadership of this caucus, will rise to that occasion. and i say to my democratic colleagues, let us proceed in the next two years by putting people first and getting things don't even if we have to compromise. we not accomplish everything we want, but if we can get real things done, that will measure how good a congress we can be. the guns -- the guns bill that we did under senator murphy's leadership last summer is an example. almost every one of us is -- on this side of the aisle is for universal background checks. i'm author of the brady law. we couldn't get that, but we got significant changes, we fought the nra and young people will

not be able to automatically be able to buy an assault rifle, as the horrible perpetrator in uvalde and buffalo had done. the american people were elated. they said they finally broke the logjam and got something done. for our side, that ought to be a model, get it done. don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. the american people want us to make their lives better and help them. speeches won't do it. putting down just a bill that has everything we want that fails won't do it. getting it done will. i say to my republican colleagues, including leader mcconnell, work with us. work with us. we are willing to work with you to get things done, as the past senate has shown. let's sit down and talk about how we can come together.

that is what we need to do, and i say to my republican colleagues embracing the maga way of divisiveness, nastiness, negativity without constructive compromise, that's how donald trump wanted it and some of our colleagues follow him, that would be a disaster. that would be wrong. it will be bad for america, but it will also be bad for the republican party because these elections have shown that the maga republican way is not where the american people want to be. the election of 2016 showed it, the election of 2018 showed it, the election of 2020 showed it, and this election more than ever showed it because no one ever thought democrats would succeed in the election because we were climbing uphill. but the combination of us actually accomplishing things and focusing on those things in

our campaigns and the fact of the distaste that a majority of americans have for the maga republican way of intransigence, divisiveness, nastiness, tossing incendiary language over the wall, is not going to succeed. so we can have a great, great two years if we work together. and i am urging leader mcconnell to work with us. i am urging the hopefully large group of nonmaga republicans on the other side to work with us so we can get things done. now, finally, i want to thank a few people in the aftermath of this election. first, i want to thank president biden for his leadership from working with us on climate

change to lowering costs for families on drugs to delivering action on student debt. and, by the way, i forgot to add we focused on our younger generation as well and two juries they cared about most were climate and student debt, we delivered on both. president biden took great leadership on so many of these issues and delivered on so many. so i want to thank him for his leadership. he helped set this bold agenda that we in the senate that we were proud to hone and act. i went to welcome our two new colleagues to the senate on our side of the aisle, peter well much of vermont and peter getterman -- fetterman of pennsylvania. they will be excellent senators. i want to thank all of those who knocked on doors, who volunteered, who said this democracy should not be left to

others, i must be involved. thank you. all of that hard work has produced a very good result, at least in my opinion, on last tuesday. so the election of 2022 is approaching the end, but our obligation to serve the american people continues. let us move forward with the same spirit of cooperation and compromise that made the 117th congress one of the most successful in recent history. if we do it, it will be good for democratic senators, it will be good for republican senators, but most of all, it will be good for this grand experiment in democracy, the united states of america and its people. i yield the floor.

quorum call:

the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: last week's mid-term elections reconfirmed something that's been clear for a number of years. when it comes to politics and to policy, we are closely a divided nation. but the -- for the third straight election, our closely-divided nation saw a closely-fought election. go all the way down to the wire. and as the dust settles for the third straight time the american people have chosen a very

closely divided government. though several races for the house of representatives remain uncalled, it appears the likeliest outcome would mean the american people have put a stop to two years of democrats' disastrous one-party government and placed the house in republican hands. senate republicans have spent two years working to check and balance reckless policies. it would be an outstanding thing for the country to have a new, to have a set of new reinforcements arriving on the other side of the capitol. now while this election underscored some of our country's close divisions, it also highlighted areas where the people are speaking overwhelmingly with one voice. the american people are not divided over what democrats'

reckless policy decisions have done to our economy and to their families' budgets. exit polls show three-quarters of voters say the economy they're facing is poor or not good. americans are not divided over whether the current trends in inflation, crime, open borders, and drug addiction are acceptable outcomes for the greatest country in the history of the world. everyone knows they're not. and americans are not especially closely divided about whether they want president biden to keep governing like he has been or actually change course. at this point in their presidencies, every one of the last 13 presidents dating back to truman had higher approval ratings than the biden administration. one state where democrats' policy failures have hit especially hard is the state of georgia.

georgia families have seen cumulative inflation of 14.7% since january of 2021. both of their senators cast the deciding vote to rubber starch the spending that -- stamp the spending that made that happen. now households in the peach state are paying a hidden democratic inflation tax that adds up to thousands of extra dollars per year. the nationwide breakdown in law and order has hit georgia hard as well. the city of atlanta now has per capita rates of homicide and assault that are even actually worse than chicago. and the people of georgia saw their state attacked, called racists, called jim crow 2.0 by the sitting president of the united states and boycotted by major corporations over a voting law that just facilitated -- listen to this -- historic ballot access, record turnout,

and low wait times for georgia voters. so where did georgia taxpayers and small businesses go to get their money back after the liberals' smear campaign that led to the boycotts? but the day after the election, madam president, president biden took to the podium and triumphantly promised that he plans to learn no lessons and change nothing at all. here was the quote. i'm not going to change the direction, end quote. 13-plus percent inflation over two years, historic levels of dissatisfaction at america's kitchen tables, and president biden says he will keep doing precisely what he has been do doing. more inflation, more crime, more chaos, more open borders.

if washington democrats do not want to pivot to sanity and common sense, if they will not help us address the ways their policies are hurting families, they will encounter stiff resistance from the sizable senate republican conference that half the country elected to be their voice, to be their champions to fight for them. so to sum it up, we're going to fight hard for the american families this administration is leaving behind.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, before i make any remarks in the senate, i want to make remarks of a specific and personal nature to the presiding officer. the last time we were together was election night and it was a wonderful night for you, for your family, and for the state of illinois. your victory was an amazing achievement. but your whole life has been an amazing achievement. and i particularly will remember when brian brought the girls up to the stage and they jumped all over their mom in her wheelchair. it was something that made the news and should have. it was a wonderful moment for you and your family, but it was a wonderful moment in american

politics. your reelection in the state of illinois was my number one priority. and i didn't have to work as hard as i thought i would because they love you and it showed in the vote. so congratulations to the presiding officer. madam president, in the fall of 1862, president abraham lincoln sent his second annual message to congress. the civil war was raging and our nation was really uncertain as to its future. in the midst of what lincoln called the fiery trial, he called on congress to do something that was remarkable, to assure the freedom of every american, including the nearly four million black americans living in bondage. president lincoln said this is the only way to, quote, save the last best hope of earth, american democracy. last tuesday 160 years later, americans across the country stood up, went to the polls, and

did their part in their time to save the last best hope of earth. they voted to protect our fundamental freedoms and to preserve our democracy. one of those voters, madam president, was a young woman in our state named lauren. she's a student at the university of illinois in champagne. the students at the university once again had to wait for hours in line. people were bringing pizzas to sustain them during their trial of waiting to vote. it worked. they voted in big numbers. and lauren was one of them. while she was waiting in line, a reporter with the illinois student newsroom asked her why, why did you come out here to vote? she said, i was voting based on women's rights in terms of candidates who were supporting women's choice. it's important as a student, she said, as a young person to come out and vote for issues that i care about. thankfully lauren wasn't alone.

and this year's election, young voters continued to the trend that began 2018 and 2020. they turned out in record numbers. they realize it is their responsibility of their generation to do a better job than our generation and to keep democracy alive. so let's start off by thanking the young people, the sons and daughters who were raised properly when it came to their civic duty, who voted for the first time last week and for some it was a repeat performance along with every other american. with their votes they sent a message to us and to the rest of america that was loud and clear. it is time for the big lie to die. last week in state after state voters rejected maga republicans who ran on this big lie that the 2020 election was stolen. this outrageous assertion with

no proof, no evidence, and nothing to back it up other than the big liar has become rampant among some corners of this country. but thank the lord it did not prevail on election day. in fact, every single election denier who ran for secretary of state in a swing state was defeated. every single one of them. so the take away here isn't all that complicated. i hope it's one that our republican colleagues will finally take to heart. it's time to reject that extremist lie. the american people are sick and tired of false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. the same claims that generated the insurrectionist mob which on one of the saddest days in the history of this building stormed this capitol on january 6, 2021, injuring over 149 law

enforcement officials who were doing their duty to protect this building and the people in it and sadly leading to six deaths. now the threats of violence continue. after the election and the american people have spoken can we finally join together in a bipartisan fashion to condemn all forms of violence regardless of their political origin? it's inconsistent with a democracy we can be proud of. yes, the american people are also sick and tired of right-wing assaults on our fundamental freedoms that young voter in champagne i mentioned, lauren, she's just one of millions of americans motivated to vote after the supreme court's dobbs decision earlier this year. by erasing the constitutional right to abortion, a right that millions of americans have counted on for half a century, the court's radical, right-wing majority lit a fire in the hearts of voters across the country.

and it wasn't just in the blue states. in the minority leader's home state of kentucky, kentucky, voters rejected an antiabortion ballot measure. the lesson here at this moment isn't that a democratic or republican issue is at stake. this is about a basic constitutional right taken away from the women of this country, the right to make their own decisions about their own reproductive health choices. people don't want politicians, senators, congressmen, you name it, sticking their nose into the business of doctors in the hospitals and clinics across america. so we need to respect the will of the people and protect the right to choose once and for all. let me also add that something happened over the weekend which bears comment. there's been a lot of loose talk as to whether or not this united states supreme court is too

political. it has fallen in approval ratings to record lows. the american people think it has been dominated by political decisions and political choices. so what did four of the nine supreme court justices do over the weekend? they attended the federalist society gala ball here in washington. the federalist society is an obvious political force which chose many of them under president trump and others, and they basically fed the storyline that the supreme court is enthralled with the federalist society. you could not become a federal judge -- and i know this from serving on the judiciary committee -- under presidents of the republican party in recent times without the stamp of approval by the federalist society. in fact, their stamp of approval is even more important than being judge-qualified by the american bar association. nine federal judges chosen by

president trump failed to be deemed qualified to serve on the federal courts of our land, but they had been stamped approved by the federalist society. this powerful political force had a party, and they invited the members of the supreme court. four of the nine members of the court came to that party -- justice alito, justice gorsuch, justice kavanaugh, and justice barrett. how can they dispel the belief that many people have that they're too political when they attend so much overtly political events? and that wasn't the only thing we learned. one of the top things the american people were concerned about was the state of the economy. and rightly so. my wife does most of the shopping, but i get around to many of the grocery stores and take a look at the price of things. it is clear that the price has

gone up for everyone everything. you can't miss the price of gasoline. and it does create a hardship for american families. it makes sense to understand historically why we're facing this. we're still recovering from a once-in-a-century pandemic and like every nation, inflation has hit working families the hardest. but the american people also recognize that this senate majority has made steady, meaningful progress in working against inflation. we can't will it away. we can't pass a law to ban it. we can't expect even the federal reserve by the their monetary policy to disexpense with ins nation -- dispense with inflation in a quick way. we've got to work together, and we have, to help working families pay their bills and stayed afloat. just a few months ago we passed a the inflation reduction act on the floor. i remember that well and i'm sure you do, too, madam president. we had 41 roll calls.

41 roll calls, went all through the night. i think it was at least 24 hours or more, maybe 36 hours. we went straight through to finish it and get it done. and we did. in the end, the bill passed with only democratic support. every republican voted against it. i'm sorry that was the case because there are things in there that republicans should join us in supporting. telling people on medicare that they're never going to have to pay more than $2,000 out of pocket for prescription drugs is a great relief. you and i both know that the cost of prescription drugs in some cases ranges into the tens of thousands of dollars, breaking the backs of a lot of families and finding them basically dispersing all of their savings for that purpose. now we have a guarantee with that bill, the maximum charge out of pocket, $2,000 a year. and if you happen to be on medicare and be diabetic, we

capped the cost of insulin each month to $35. insulin was discovered by canadian researchers and when they discovered it the doctors who came up with this wonderful drug said we're going to surrender our patent rights for a dollar. we're finished. we don't believe that any life-or-death drug should be bargained away to pharmaceutical companies. but unfortunately it has been. well, this change for medicare, capping the cost of insulin, means that many people who are diabetic will be able to take their medicine and afford it. that is a great thing for our future. do you recall, madam president, when we had this on the floor and we fried to extend the -- and we tried to extend the same $35,000 insulin charge to all other diabetics in the united states, not just chair? we needed ten of the 50 republicans to join us, ten of 50, to cap the cost of insulin for all diabetics in america. we failed. only seven republicans would

join the 50 democrats. we needed 60 votes. we got 57. i've heard this president say, and i am eel sure you have, too, he's going back to this issue, and i should. this is something that should be bipartisan and passed very quickly. this also means in the inflation reduction act we started making changes when it comes to energy policy in america. i think the young people voting were motivated by several things. they were motivated by the threats of losing protections against discrimination for sexual orientation. they were motivated by the dobbs decision on choice. but were motivated as well because we have made it clear, at least on our side of the aisle, would we're going to move forward with an energy policy that's going to address global warming and give them an earth that they can live on. i think that's an important part of the future. i'm not bragging, but i'll tell you that seller months ago, as you know, i put solar panels on

my home in springfield. my wife and i decided that it was the right thing to do, even if it didn't pencil out economically. well, guess what? it's working out just great. we ended up generating more electricity than we purchased in the course of a month. i hope that continues. that reduction, dramatic reduction in my energy costs, is also an investment in sustainable, renewable energy for the future. those solar panels enhance the value of the moment we live in. we estimate 280,000 families in our home state of illinois are going to install solar panels. they're going to find great savings and they're going to join us in the effort to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that threaten our future. we also understand that we have to do much more in these fields, whether it is the cost of health care or whether it's the climate

crisis in our country. we want to make sure as well that the burden of government's cost is fairly shared. how can we possibly explain or rationalize that many of the wealthiest corporations in america don't pay their fair share in taxes? families across america know they have to face their civic responsibility and pay their taxes. very few of those families are applauding, but they are hoping that the basic social contract holds and everyone -- a corporation as well as an individual -- will pay their fair share. we moved in that direction with that bill. these policies in terms of tax fairness are popular and we saw that proof last tuesday in the vote. the american people reelected a democratic majority to the senate because i believe they support the work we're doing. i want to comment on the comments made by the minority leader from kentucky.

he generalized that midterm election as if it were something other than what i saw. a midterm election is tough on the president's party. historicky every president has taken a beating. i can recall when my colleague from illinois was president, barack obama. his midterm election he character isled as a shellacking, and he was right. i believe they lost 40 or 50 seats in that election. it happens. but it didn't happen last tuesday t and we have to ask ourselves a basic question -- if the senator from encan kentucky is right and everybody rejects when this president has done and rejected when the majority has done, why didn't his party do better? we have an opportunity to build on the senate's proud record of accomplishments, starting this week. listen to what the american people told us. they told us roll up your sleeves, ignore the big lie and

do something together, show us cooperation. can you do it? well, i will tell you, i've reached out already to two of my republican colleagues on the senate judiciary committee asking them to think about whether we can achieve anything in the next three or four weeks, and i'm hoping we can. it was a good-faith effort on my part to say, we might have prevailed, but we can't get anything done unless we wok together. i think that's what the american people are begging us to do now. i will basically say that this bipartisanship is an easy task when you have members on the other side willing to join with us. our most basic duty, though, the most basic thing we can accomplish between now and at end of the year is to make sure we don't face a government shutdown. who can imagine that is good for our country or the people count on us to let the government shut down? i'm hopeful that in the coming weeks before the first of the

year we can make negotiate and pass an omnibus appropriations package with bipartisan support. i'm also hopeful that we can address the debt ceiling. from where i'm sitting, the debt ceiling should be eliminated. it basically is a promise that we're going to pay the bills we've already incurred. well, we wouldn't have voted for the bills if we didn't think we had to pay for them. so this debt ceiling has to be renewed on a regular basis and has become a bargaining point for some extremists in congress who argue that shutting down the congress won't be noticed by the american people -- the government won't be noticed by the american people. it is not good for our country. this week we'll also continue rebalancing the federal judiciary by confirming highly qualified, evenhanded judges who will bring diversity to the federal bench and who will defend our basic rights.

during this legislative session, week do something that americans have been waiting on -- reforming our broken immigration system. everybody is talking about it. now let's do something about it ton a bipartisan basis. we can and we should. for the people -- and the exact number i'm not sure, but the tens of thousands protected by daca, they're waiting to see if one judge in texas is going to force them in deportation. think about that. thousands and thousands of young people brought to the united states by their parents, pledged allegiance to the flag in their classroom and want to be part of america. we have been unlow-income and unable to come -- we have been unwilling and unable to come to an agreement. i beg my republican colleagues, particularly those who have told me private lit they've always wanted to vote for the dream act, give us a chance to work

together to help bring workers that we desperately need for agriculture and for some specialties in health care where we're having severe shortages in this country. we can do this. there's no reason we can't do it. we have the basic legislation. let's really do something we can be proud of in the closing days of this year. i can think of no better way to show the american people that we were listening on november 8. because after years of obstruction, we need bipartisanship. and i no he that means compromises -- by me as well as by them, but that's the nature of the senate. millions of voters turned out across america last week and challenged us in the senate. they challenged us to continue making real progress for working families in this country. let's show them that we can get it done. i yield the floor.

>> we have bloomburg scott wong and democrats will control the senate? the 118th congress. where are we as of this morning when it comes to the house and will we know final answer today coming to the house? >> i don't think we'll know the final answer today. what's going on with the house is things are up in the air. we have not really been in a situation like this before where nearly a week after the election control over the house is still unknown.

now there are about 19 to 20 seats uncalled at least by nbc's, you know, standards and so majority of those, democrats will need to carry in order to retain control of the house. it's a very tough feat for democrats. republicans only need a handful of those seats to flip the majority, but there's a very narrow path for democrats to obtain the majority and it's not a situation that any of us anticipated just a week ago that democrats would be in a position to be able to retain control because of what history has shown us that usually the party in power controlling the white house, president joe biden's party typically would lose dozens of seats in their first midterm election. democrats have defined history here in the slow count in california where a lot of races

are, we may not know for days or weeks. >> eric lawson, on that same question, 19 races according to the associated press yet to be called. are you getting a sense though that the momentum is for republicans right now with the way these are falling out? >> i trust some of the pendants like david wassermann, he's a democrat but it's still possible. even the president himself said it would be an inside straight and it's unlikely and it's still possible. >> tomorrow morning will dawn and we are expecting house leadership elections and take us through the latest on that and is ken mccarthy going to see a challenge here? >> maybe and andy biggs from the house freedom standard will step up and he only needs the way

republicans have that you are he needs 218 votes on the floor and if it's a very tight --

national security. the best i can tell, our -- democratic colleagues still don't have a plan to address any of those issues. it's become an exercise in finger-pointing, and the latest scapegoat is now the former customs and border protection commissioner chris magnus. even the biden white house and congressional democrats, even if they did have a plan, it doesn't look like there's much appetite for action. if republicans had won the majority, these issues would have been at the top of our list, but unfortunately we came up short this time. i know many of my republican colleagues are eager to have a

frank discussion about the path forward for our party, and it's essential that we do so. we need to ensure that in two years our policies and our message will resonate with the voters. so i agree with the need to have a frank, meaningful conversation, debate even. we shouldn't be afraid of spirited debate in the united states senate, after all. debate about what our message should be and what our priorities should look like, that is essential. those discussions will begin tomorrow, and i hope there will be plenty of time to listen to one another and then to work toward consensus on a clear, concise, andimpactful plan of action. in terms of what to expect from our democratic colleagues, i don't expect much to change, given that senator manchin and

senator sinema, given their strong support for the 60-vote threshold for the senate to act, i believe that will remain firmly intact. if the majority leader tries together nuclear, as he's threatened to do time and time again, and blow up the rules of the senate, he simply doesn't have the votes. that's the good news. there will be no green new deal, there will be no court packing, no d.c. statehood, no mass amnesties. republicans, maybe with some democrat support, will block the most radical aspects of the agenda for progressives in the democratic party, and we'll continue to fight the irresponsible spending and government overreach our colleagues have pushed for the last two years. instead, we'll push for commonsense policies to bring

down the costs and improve the standard of living for working families. we'll work to increase domestic energy production rather than go hat in hand to autocrats in the middle east. and we will secure the border. i hope we can do this through bipartisan progress. these are the top issues facing families across the country, and they deserve our attention, and more than that, they deserve our action here in the senate. unfortunately, it's not just the senate that's in a bit of a holding pattern. several house races have yet to be called, and it's not clear which party will hold the majority. republicans have a lead right now, and i'm optimistic that that's where things will end up in the house. a republican majority in the house would force our democratic colleagues to abandon partisan governance which has dominated

in the last two years as they held the white house, they've held the house, and then had a working majority in the senate. but now democrats would no longer be able to abuse the budget reconciliation process to circumvent the legislative process. they would be forced to work in earnest to find common ground, which is what the american people, i believe, clearly want. again, we're all eager for the ballot counting to conclude. it's been nearly a week since election day, and everyone is eager to have a final roster for the 218th congress. and while there's a lot we still don't know, there are some exciting things we do know. the senate will welcome at least five new republicans at the start of next year. katie britt, ted budd, mark wayne mullen and jdva -- jd

vance. each of these will have a long list of ideas to improve the lives of folks in their state and across america. while i'm sad to see our retiring colleagues go, i'm eager to welcome this new blood, this new energy, and these new ideas into the senate. there are also new faces joining the texas delegation. we've added two new house seats this cycle, bringing the total to 38 house members from the great state of texas. next congress we'll welcome five new texas republicans in the house, and i'm eager to work with these men and women to solve some of the biggest issues our families, families in our state are facing. but if the truth be known, madam president, i'm happy to work with anybody who shares my

interest in trying to make life a little bit better and to address the critical issues facing american families today, which brings me to my next topic, the national defense authorization act. while we wait for the final ballots to be tallied and runoffs to be held, there's still work to be done here in the senate. the first identity on the agenda should be -- the first item on the agenda should be the national defense authorization act. to be frank, i don't know why this is still outstanding, why we haven't acted as we have, i believe, for 61 years in a row, passing a national defense authorization, given its importance to the safety and security of our nation. thanks to the bipartisan leadership of senator reed and senator inhofe and our colleagues on the armed services committee, they completed their

work in the senate armed services committee last summer, but the defense authorization act has just lingered on the senate's agenda without any action by the majority leader, the senator from new york. thanks to bipartisan leadership on the senate armed services committee, they compiled a strong bill that will strengthen and modernize our national defense, but that bill was filed on july 18 last summer. in the meantime nothing has happened here on the floor of the senate, now four months later. the majority leader has so far refused to provide floor time for the defense authorization bill. this isn't a matter of scheduling. the senate has had plenty of time to work on the defense bill in september, and there was certainly bipartisan appetite to get that done.

but the senate majority leader, senator schumer, the senator from new york, could not be swayed. he hasn't prioritized our national defense, which i believe is the single-most important duty of the members of congress. given our global risks, this should be our number-on priority. day after day russia continues its unjustified assault on ukraine as it tries to find friends on the global stage, it's cozying up to iran. at the same time the chinese communist party has become increasingly hostile to the west, and its threats against the people of taiwan are as strong as ever. north korea has declared itself a nuclear weapons state. the global threat landscape is evolving at a pace we haven't seen in a long time. we need a strong national

defense authorization act that gives our commanders the predictability they need to plan and to be able to prepare for if the future, and hopefully to deter military conflict, what ronald reagan called peace through strength. it's baffling to me that the majority leader has put the national defense authorization act at the very bottom of his to-do list. radical nominees can wait. our national defense must be the top priority, and i hope he'll put this bill on the floor soon. senators on both sides of the aisle, as i mentioned the defense authorization bill, is a bipartisan bill that came out of the senate armed services committee that was filed july 18, last summer, and nothing has happened on the floor of this senate since then, and there's one person who can change that, and that's the democrat majority leader, senator schumer.

i hope he will decide, finally, to get this bill on the floor. once the national defense authorization act passes the senate, we still have to keep the lights on. we have a continuing resolution that expires december 16. we have just over a month until the current stopgap spending measure expires and a government shutdown is the last thing our country needs. given the fact that this is the end of the democrats' unified government where they have the majorities in the senate, the house, and the white house, i worry that our colleagues will weigh this down with tons of partisan freight, sweetheart deals and earmarks. i'm afraid they will include every item from the far-left's wish list and turn a critical funding bill into a christmas

tree. this bill should be kleine of poison pills as much as -- clear of poison pills as much as possible. there's far too much on the line. like all of our colleagues, i am eager to have the makeup of the 1180th -- 118th congress and i, for one, am ready to get to work. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: quorum call:

>> there's 19-20 seats still uncalled and democrats will need to carry in order to retain control of the house. it's a very tough feat for democrats. republicans only need a handful of those seats to flip the majority, but there's still a very narrow path for democrats to retain the majority. this is not a situation that i think any of us anticipated just a week ago that democrats would be in a position to be able to retain control because of what history has shown us that usually the party in power controlling the white house, president joe biden's party would typically lose dozens of

seats in the first midterm election. this -- democrats really have defied history here because of the slow count in california where a lot of the uncalled races are, we may not know for days, perhaps even weeks. >> eric lawson on that same race the associated press and the race yet to be called, are you getting a sense that momentum is for republicans the way it's falling out? >> i trust some of the pendants like david wassermann. it's unlikely but possible and it's striking that scott and i were at the mccarthy victory party on election night saying by tomorrow morning we'll know if we're in the majority and many mornings including this one have dawned and we still don't know. >> tomorrow morning will dawn and we're expecting house leadership elections. take us through the latest on

that. is kevin mccarthy going to see a challenge here? >> he may and someone like andy bigs from the house freedom caucus may stand up and mccarthy only needs half of his caucus plus one and that's the way they call their caucus. the real problem is january 3. he needs 218 votes on the floor so if it's a very tiny majority, we're looking at 220 according to wassermann, it takes three people to bring him down and there's negotiating ahead of that with the freedom caucus and other conservatives and this empowers what we call the tuesday group. people won in new york state, you know, for example tom cain, i covered his race in new jersey and a moderate that squeaked in and not going along with a debt ceiling show down and impeachment talks and a delicate balance on both sides of the conference. >> scott wong on republican

leadership. there's bump for that . and they'll stand before their fellow members and explain why they should be in leadership as you mentioned tomorrow, house republicans kevin mccarthy and others running for election leadership will have those votes. on the senate side, mitch mcconnell we're expecting leadership elections wednesday morning so these things are happening very fast. it's in mcconnell and mccarthy's

interest for it to happen very quickly. the longer there's delays and there perhaps could be funny business being played by conservatives that may not want some of the leaders --

snatching it away. inaction sends a very powerful message, and right now all they're hearing is that the military has become a political football. and that does not inspire confidence. we have passed the national defense authorization act 61 years in a row, and i am confident that there will be bipartisan support for number 62, which makes this tight timeline even more unnecessary. the american people don't have all the details on what this

authorization will do, but they don't need them to know that it's the only thing standing between us and getting steamrolled by the ccp, the chinese communist party and the new axis of evil, which is russia, china, iran, and north korea. our service members might not know every line item in the 200 pages of the bill, but know that its contents will determine the course of their lives for the next, five, ten, or 25 years. passing this bill is the bare minimum as far as the senate is concerned, but it means a lot to our men and women in uniform. madam president, we're ready to get this thing done. i know that you as a member of the armed services committee who

has worked so hard on this, you join me in being ready to get it done. we finished our committee work back in june of this bill. we considered more than 400 amendments. we adopted about 200 of those amendments, and it passed out of armed services committee 23-3. so when i say we're ready to go, we are. there is bipartisan support for getting this finished. but as we prepare to move forward on this legislation, i want to highlight two of my own proposed amendments that unfortunately fell victim to partisanship. but first here's a little background. now, the tennessee national guard has a reputation for answering a cry for help no matter where it comes from. last month they deployed to warren county, tennessee, to

help first responders gain control of a w wildfire. in september members of the 194th engineer brigade, 278th army calvary regiment, the 230th sustainment brigade and the 1230th assault telecopter deployed to florida to help with the cleanup in the wake of hurricane ian. in july members of nashville's 1230th assault helicopter battalion pulled people to safety after flash floods destroyed communities in kentucky. this year the guard has rescued multiple hikers who got into trouble on or near the appalachian trail. and last september members of the 269th military police, 913th engineer company and the c company second battalion 151st aviation regiment made it home after spending more than

a year helping law enforcement officials in texas try to contain the border catastrophe. the sight of that national guard uniform makes people in this country feel safe when things are going wrong. but the continued enforcement of the covid-19 vaccination order will inevitably jeopardize that sense of security. i introduced two amendments to the 2023ndaa that would have injected sanity into these vaccination requirements. the first would have prohibited involuntary separation of any servicemember for refusing the covid-19 vaccine until each service achieves its end strength authorized by last year's ndaa. the second amendment would have

made sure that members of the national guard or reserve maintain access to pay and benefits while their request for a religious or health accommodation was pending. this is about as noncontroversial as you can get on the issue of vaxxing mandates. these amendments would create a simple rule to stop this biden department of defense from railroading their own troops. there is nothing political about preserving readiness. and a basic sense of fairness which has been completely absent in this process. i'm going to use the army as a case study to show how destructive this mandate has been for the military. now, the army has not achieved the end strength authorized in the 2022 ndaa. what does that mean? it means that we don't have

enough men and women doing the jobs, filling the slots that the army has. the data backs this up. if you head over to fort campbell and ask anyone in uniform if this is true, they'll tell you that i'm 100% correct. they do not have enough people. members of the 160th special operations aviation regiment have been consistently deployed for more than two years. and we thank them for that service. i would encourage my democratic colleagues to ask them what this democrat-led administration's lack of attention to readiness and force strength could mean for our national security. what kind of impact does this

have? this mandate has already separated 1,796 active duty soldiers from their service. what's worse, the army has only approved to less than 4% of medical exemption requests. and just over 1% of religious exemption requests. the guard is still in a holding pattern on the issue of separations, but their exemption denial statistics are just as troubling. 15% of medical exemptions have been approved. but only zero -- 0.0047 of religious exemptions. the reserves are not fairing much better. the army has only approved a little more than 5% of the

medical exemptions and 0.0044% of their religious exemptions. pros pets are looking bleak for guardsmen with legitimate exemption claims. and it's pretty bleak for the military as a whole. the national guard is already missing recruitment goals, and they're set to lose 9,000 members in fiscal year 2023 and 5,000 in fiscal year 2024. in the united states the number of new servicemembers joining the military has reached a record low. the army alone fell 10,000 soldiers short of its goal for 2022. and is projecting a deficit of

21,000 soldiers for 2023. this administration knew manpower was a problem, but still they chose to fire servicemembers who were perfectly healthy and ready to defend this great country. and so we shouldn't be surprised that 18-yards in this country -- 18-year-olds in this country don't feel that they can trust this democrat-led admini administration. at the pentagon with full control of their young lives. the fact is the democrats have a perfect record of making decisions that end in a disaster. they spent trillions of dollars, provoked record breaking inflation and hired 87,000 new irs agents to squeeze small businesses who are struggling to

survive in communities all across the wonderful state of tennessee. they've abandoned the southern border and they've caused the worst illegal immigration crisis we have ever seen, the worst humanitarian crisis we've seen. and remember, it would be even worse if the tennessee national guard hadn't come to the rescue. they latched on to the green new deal and erased american energy independence. they backed shutdowns and mandates that destroyed the american workforce. they shuttered american businesses and sent our supply chains into a shamble. and let's be clear. they didn't make these decisions blindly. they had the same data that each member of this chamber has. they watched the news. they knew what they were doing. they knew it was wrong.

they did it anyway. it was intentional. they are focused on an outcome. and now they're applying that same destructive strategy to the members of the u.s. military. every year we come into this chamber and fight as hard as we can to make our military the most lethal fighting force in the world. we reauthorize billions of dollars for aircraft, for equipment, for weaponry. the ndaa represents an incredible investment in the future of this country, but it also represents the trust the american people put in this congress to keep them safe and to keep the enemy at bay. i join my republican colleagues, madam president, in asking leader schumer to bring the ndaa to the floor so that we can get

this, this very important piece of legislation to the president's desk. there is no reason for delay. and i also implore all my colleagues to remember that the greatest military in the world is nothing without the brave men and women and their families who have volunteered to be a part of it. we ask so much of them. they're already busy enough putting out fires, fighting w wars. the least we can do is spare them the pain of fighting our political battles. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

we are a closely divided nation. the third straight election closely divided nation, closely the election all the way down to the wire. as the dust settles for the third straight time the american people have chosen a very closely divided government. it remains on called, it appears the likeliest outcome would mean the american people put a stop to two years of democrat disastrous one-party government and placed the house in republican hands. senate republicans spent two years working to check and balance reckless policies, for

the country to have a new reinforcement arriving on the other side of the capitol. while this election underscore our country's close divisions, it highlighted areas where people speaking overwhelmingly with one voice. the american people are not divided over what democrats reckless policy decisions have done to our economy and their families budget. exit polls show three quarters the economy they are facing poor or not good. americans are far from not divided over whether the current trends and inflation, crime, open borders and drug addiction are acceptable outcomes for the greatest country in the history of the world. everyone knows they are not.

americans are not especially close the divided whether they want biden to keep governing the way he has were actually change course. at this time, everyone of the last 13 presidents lead back to truman with higher approval ratings in the biden administration. one state or democrats policy failures have hit especially hard state of georgia. georgia families are seeing punitive inflation of 14.7% e prt objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar number 449, h.r. h.r. 8404.

the presiding officer: question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the bill. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar 449, h.r. 8404, an act to repeal the defense of marriage act and ensure respect for state regulation of marriage and for other purposes. mr. schumer: madam president, let me say a few words about the cloture motion that we just filed. -- the cloture motion we will file. in a few moments i'm going to set up the first procedural vote on legislation that will codify marriage equality into law. members should expect the first vote on wednesday. the respect for marriage act, which my colleagues, senator baldwin, , collins and others

have done a great job working on, is an extremely important and much-needed bill. mo american should ever, ever be discriminated against because of who they love. and passing this bill would secure much-needed safeguards into federal law. i want to make clear passing this bill is is not a theoretical exercise, but it's as real as it gets. when the supreme court overturned roe, justice thomas argued that other rights like the right to marriage equality enshrined in another case could come next. now the senate had a chance 20 bring marriage protection to athe floor to a vote in september. but at the urging of colleagues from both sides of the aisle, i agreed to wait because we were given an assurance that enough votes would materialize after the election. because my top priority is to get things done in a bipartisan way whenever we can, we determined that this legislation was too important to risk failure. so we waited to give bipartisanship a chance.

i hope for the sake of tens of millions of americans that at least ten republicans will vote with us to protect marriage equality into law soon. now i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar 449, h.r. 8404, an act to repeal the defense of marriage act and ensure respect for state regulation of marriage and for other purposes, signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the mexico filed today be waive add. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president,

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

today the people of buffalo, new york deserve a somber remembrance. six months ago to the day ten new yorkers killed the shooting at a supermarket and jefferson avenue. a few moments ago the city of buffalo held a moment of silence to honor those killed and those who did. we join with them in prayer and members. stay as gun violence is still too much with us, we hold our hearts everyone at the university with virginia for last night three students were

tragically killed on campus. condolences go out to the families of those lost as well as everyone in charlottesville grieving today. adam president, let me be the first to welcome you and my colleagues back to the u.s. senate. there's a lot to do, a lot to say and i'm glad to be back here on the floor with my colleagues to continue serving the american people. i want to thank the voters of new york elected me a fifth term, first senator from new york to have five terms in the promise the people of new york i will serve you as diligently and work just as hard for you as i have previous years. thank you for the faith you've shown in me. madam president, last tuesday, americans made their voices heard in one of the most

remarkable midterm elections in modern history. with our democracy at stake, our fundamental liberties on the line and a clear choice between moving america forward or pulling it back, the american people's vote spoke loud and clear, democrats will detain the majority in the senate. the house democrats under the leadership of speaker pelosi, five presidents remain with in striking distance of defending their majority as well. the election was a great win for the democratic party but more important, a great win for the american people. let me say this, two things happened in the last two years. first, the senate and congress passed a huge agenda, the most comprehensive agenda affecting and helping american families that occurred in decades.

second, democrats won the elections in the senate that och moderate republicanism dominating the country, the american people stepped back and chose progress and getting things done rather than the voices of divisiveness, nastiness and lack of complete truth and honor. those two things are definitely related. let's talk about the things we got done. an incredible two years. the list is a long one, the most

significant bipartisan infrastructure bill in decades making sure aliens and new good jobs would occur. union labor employing tens, hundreds of thousands, millions of people in good working jobs. we reformed the post office for the first time in a long time. we dealt with issue of chips made overseas and now we've said to the american people will make them here, creating thousands of good paying jobs and not let any country, china or any other. , germany take away that dominance. we will make them here. we dealt with our veterans who was exposed to toxins from burn pits and when the va wouldn't help them, we said the va must.

we dealt with climate in the ira. for the first time ever and reduce carbon flowing into our atmosphere by 2030 by 40%. in the same field we took on the prescription bill countries and a 35-dollar price for incident on medicare and lowering prices of drugs for so many millions of americans on many drugs as early as next year with a cap of $2000 anyone must pay. we increased healthcare and expanded aca making healthcare less expensive for many and dealing with so many other healthcare issues to the benefit of the american people. it was a huge agenda and despite prognosticators, that's what the american people wanted. how did we win the election? we stuck to the agenda.

on the other side we saw from republicans, the first, big lie that said the election was stolen. a light, plain and simple but moderate republicans, so many in this chamber repeated the lie over and over again. madam president, if one political party or a large group of people abandoned the view of the elections are on the level beginning of the end of our democracy. not only did we see the big lie but we saw nastiness, divisiveness, threats of violence and even violence itself not only on january 6 but often directed the people running on election. nice hard-working people, they just want to do their job make sure votes are counted properly and they getna french.

what bothered the american people even more than this -- je. mr. young: madam president. panel 2-e, row 71. not long ago a young lady visited the vietnam veterans memorial during a trip to washington, d.c. she walked along the wall, searching the black granite panels, then she saw the name right there in front of her. she stopped and pressed her hand against it. it was panel 2-e, row 71, alvin c. forney.

across our country, not just on our national mall, but on the boulevards of our state capitals and in the squares of our small towns, there are names of brave americans etched in memorials, the names of those who never came home. and there are those who did come home whose names may not be on monuments but whose example of service and sacrifice for their country is no less inspiring. for two and a half centuries they have answered the calls, they have protected our freedoms, they've placed their lives in the line of fire oceans away so that their countrymen can live lives in peace here at home. they are the citizen-soldiers who defeated a king's army who

ended the scourge of slavery, who saved western civilization and liberated concentration camps, who today down communism and stand vigil against terrorism. they are more than just names, though. they are the spirit of this country, strong but merciful, forever guarding our freedoms, and devoted to our fellow citizens. corporal alvin forney lived this example out in his all-too-brief life. he seemed destined, no matter his path, to make a difference, and he did. tall, handsome, with a bright smile and infectious optimism, he was an ace athlete, a football, track, and

basketball star at short ridge in washington high schools in indianapolis, a member of a military family. corporal forney enlisted in the united states marine corps in 1961, and he went west. he graduated from marine corps recruit depot san diego and then trained in the mountains near camp pendleton. he endured the forced marches and step hikes and the tarantula and rattlesnake-filled scrub. san diego-trained marines are sometimes derisively called hollywood marines by their paris island peers. p tinsel town is just up the pacific coast highway, but if hollywood did ever try to create the ideal marine, corporal forney could be its muse. you can see it in the old

photos, the focus, confident air, the spotless uniform. he looked like a gentleman marine, a hero. and he wasn't just courageous or strong, he was patient and decent, slow to anger. he seldom swore, a rarity of course for a u.s. marine. he loved his family and he loved his country. and when he arrived in vietnam in the summer of 1965, as part of the third marine expeditionary force, his chief concern was not for himself. it was for his brother. you see, army sergeant william forney, the corporal's brother, was departing for vietnam. corporal forney wrote their

mother, minnie, quote, i don't mind being over here, but i worry about bill coming over, unquote. his brother william had married shortly before deploying and corporal forney was concerned about his brother's separation from his new bride. shortly after that letter arrived, a military car pulled into the driveway. it was a telegraph from the department of defense that came. corporal alvin forney had been struck by fragments of a mine during a patrol, and he was killed in action near danang. it was september 1, 1965. he was 22 years old. corporal forney was awarded the purple heart, and he was laid

to rest in indianapolis' crown hill cemetery among a president and vice president, poets, businessmen, inventors, and all the rest, and he wasn't at all out of place. corporal forney's mother visited his grave every september until the day she died. beneath the words on his headstone, beloved son and brother, and after the mention of vietnam, his headstone read, the first casualty from indianapolis, which he was. but a mere statistic he was not. it was a half century later that that young lady came to the wall in search of corporal forney's name. she came because her grandfather asked her too because 50 years

earlier he had served with corporal forney at naval air engineering station at lakehurst in new jersey, and he never forgot it. he could still see that squared-away marine. he could still hear his soft-spoken voice. and he could still remember the day in september 1965 when he walked into headquarters at lakehurst and saw the secretaries sobbing and heard the tragic news. corporal forney had been killed in action in vietnam, and the corporal's family too, they never forgot him. he's still in their hearts. his younger siblings and cousins, they still remember the days before he left for vietnam, how kind, loving,

and protective he was. the memories of the dinners he treated them to of popping his fingers and whistling, his enthusiasm and joy. just weeks ago i met mary allen, corporal forney's younger sister on a flight back to i-ip. -- back to indiana. she shared her brother's story and asked that i remember him. i will. of course on veterans day, which just passed, we remember all of those who wore the uniform, who pledged their lives to freedom's cause. yes, because they are owed our grateful devotion, our eternal gratitude every day, not just one day in november. beyond that, though, to forget them is to take them for granted

in an act of national self-destruction. decades pass, generations come and go, and values change. in many ways that's the natural course of a society in search of a more perfect union. but those who have defended that union carry with them unbending values, values that are essential to a democracy. our veterans set an example. they are a monument to the values at the heart of this experiment in liberty, service and sacrifice, humility and honor, loyalty to country and love of countrymen, dedication to others and to causes greater than one's self. panel 2-e, row 71.

when that young woman went to the wall in search of panel 2-e, row 71, it was not just because her grandfather had served with alvin forney. it was because as her grandfather said, he set an example all americans should be proud to follow. without citizens like corporal forney, there is no america. he is not forgotten. p none of our veterans or the example they set are, nor will they ever be. thank you, madam president.

the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 1130, maria del r. antongiorgi-jordon, of puerto rico, to be united states district judge for the district of puerto rico, signed by 19 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of maria del r. antongiorgi-jordon, of puerto rico, to be united states district judge for the district of puerto rico, 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:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 43, and the motion is agreed to. mr. brown: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: i ask my colleagues to join me today in honoring -- we use microphones here, don't we? that's right. excuse me, mr. president. i'll start again. i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring and thanking the heroic individuals who served our country.

every year we come together as oregonians, ohioans and new mexicans to remember our veterans and all they've done for our country. they've sacrificed so much to keep us safe. they put their lives on the line to protect us. so often, veterans don't speak about their service. my dad was a world war ii veteran. he didn't talk about it. typical of that generation. not so different for vietnam vets, many of whom suffered from agent orange. they don't brag. they don't ask for recognition but of this' earned it. so we pay tribute to all who serve and all who have served who must remember that we owe veterans and their families more than just a thank you on labor day. or on veterans day. we owe them what they have earned. health care benefits, education opportunities, taking care of our veterans is a cost of going to war. now, i've heard -- i'm going to talk about the pack act, the

long overdue step we took to pass the pac act. number of our more conservative colleagues said it cost too much. they never say it costs too much to send people to war. it only costs too much to take care of the men and women who have served us in providing health care at the v.a. in dayton or the v.a. in cleveland. we took this year a long overdue step to pass the pac act. we secured the most comprehensive, the single most comprehensive benefit expansion for veterans in our nation's history. some of you in this body remember with agent orange at the beginning to get agent orange benefits, you had to prove you got sick because of the exposure to agent orange. some veterans have to hire lawyers. it just didn't make sense. well, we learned the lessons from agent orange and the pac act. when president biden signed this bill, we delineated 23 illnesses, most bronchial and

cancer, and if you as a veteran who served in iraq or afghanistan or or some other theaters, if you had one of those illnesses, you can get treatment at the cincinnati v.a. or others. it means post 9/11 combat veterans are now eligible for this v.a. care. it means we also expanded coverage for veterans exposed to agent orange and for those exposed to burn pits and other toxins. it means if you're exposed to toxins while serving your country, you get the benefits you've earned, period, no exceptions. we couldn't have done it without the lessons of agent orange and the activism of our servicemembers and families. i've spent much of the last six weeks doing round tables of six, eight, ten, a dozen veterans in rural communities and cities alike in my state. and most of them weren't yet aware of what this bill meant. it does mean that if they have any one of these illnesses and

they were exposed to these burn pits, these football field size burn pits that burned everything from industrial waste to tires to computers to human waste to who knows what, if they were exposed, then they got the help that they have earned. i encourage all veterans to go to vo.gov slash pact to find out more about the law and see what benefits you may be eligible for. this is just the start of veterans finally, finally, finally getting the help of a grateful nation. this bill came to my attention about five years ago, this problem came to my attention. a woman from sandusky, ohio told me about her son-in-law who was healthy, a distance runner until about a year earlier and he was diagnosed with bronchial illness and then a cancer, a rare cancer but a cancer that was recognizable to v.a. doctors. he has since passed away. his name is heath robinson.

we named this bill that senator tester worked so hard on and senator moran, a republican and a democrat, worked so hard on to make sure it was enacted into law. again i urge veterans to go to va.gov/poct to find out more about the law. earlier this month v.a. and the department of housing and urban development announced an 11% drop in veterans homelessness over the last two years in part because of the work of this new president and this new senate and the work we're doing with the v.a. it's progress. we have more work to do. i'll continue to travel across ohio to hold round tables with veterans to talk about the pact act. i'm going to keep talking to veterans around the state. with my colleagues in the senate and with members of the veterans affairs committee, we'll continue fighting so every veteran has the benefits they deserve. we'll never forget the debt we owe. we're humbled by their commitment to service. and i -- you can't talk about veterans without thanking the military families.

the families of heath robinson, the family of heath robinson who fought to make sure he got those benefits and his legacy in spite of his tragic death, his legacy of helping veterans will move on. it was the county veterans service officers, ohio's lucky. most states don't have it. we have a veterans service organization commission and every one of the -- in every one of the 88 counties so at least two employees and in some cases 50 in the largest counties that take care of veterans who have all kinds of issues and pro problems. so our veterans service officers and all the veteran service organizations like the vfw and the american legion and the polish american veterans and so many others worked every day -- who work every day to support families, to support veterans and their families. we honor their sacrifice. this bill happened because of the act, because of the activism of veterans' families, because of the veterans service

organizations, and this body recommits as the -- as senator merkley does, i know, and the presiding officer, recommit to fighting for veterans, fighting for military families on behalf of a grateful nation. thank you for your service. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i couldn't agree more with the words of my colleague from ohio,

senator sherrod brown. it's unbelievable how long it took to do basic justice for our veterans serving us in some of the most difficult conditions in iraq and afghanistan that get their illnesses treated without having to basically solicit legal help to connect that illness to their work. the fact that these 23 illnesses are now automatically covered for a veteran who served near a tox inis -- toxin is just a terrific step forward. and i'm so pleased that we're making encouraging progress on veterans housing. for our veterans to come back and be in this situation of facing the stress of return, the stress of reentering the workforce, and not have basic housing is unacceptable and it is one of the ways we show that we are in fact a grateful nation

for their service. mr. president, i am pleased to be on the floor tonight to say thank you to one of my team members who has been part of my senate team for 14 years and is now headed over to work with the peace corps. i want to say a little about the critical role that she played in my office and on my team. when i first came here for orientation in 2009, i heard wise words and that was that perhaps the most important person on your team is not your chief of staff, it's not your legislative director, it's not the head of your communications. it is your s scheduler, the pern who montgomery tofers and controls your time -- who monitors and controls your time

because time is something you can't make any more of it and everyone will want a piece of it. the key person on your team, the hub of your team is your scheduler. the scheduler has to figure out how to fit in meetings with organizations both from your home state and from national organizations into already busy days. has to figure out which policy conversations need to take place, how many urgent today and how many can wait tomorrow or next week. which network meetings with other legislators are essential to get on to the calendar. the scheduler is also essential to our family lives. we have to have a scheduler who understands that our spouses are a key partner in serving in a legislative body, who have to understand that our time spent with our children is a critical part of our responsibilities as a parent. the scheduler has to ensure that

the family has its appropriate presence in a senator's life. so you need someone who can take all of these competing demands and make sure that attention is paid to them and there is a balance strategy to address them. otherwise serving in the senate can become an absolutely miserable experience for all involved. well, 14 years later i can say that this piece of advice that i received at orientation was the best piece of advice i heard. best piece of advice that can be there for an incoming member. over time the person who schedules your hours, your meetings, makes all those judgments in consultation with you becomes not just a member of the team but a friend, confidant, a member of your extended family. and my wife, mary, and i along with our two children have been

blessed to have jennifer puroskoski as a member of the family. i'm so pleased she's able to be with us here tonight. in fact, jennifer who goes by j.p. was part of team merkley before there was a team merkley. in 1998, j.p. who had a passion in international affairs called me out of the blue to ask for an informational interview when i was head of world oregon. so we got together and i was immediately impressed by that conversation. so i immediately recruited her for a project that we had funded to archive 50 years worth of world oregon's records. it took someone with a real organizational mind and energy to accomplish that kind of task. once we saw her at work on our team, i knew i'd have to do everything i could to keep her with us. and she ended up staying with us

in many different roles as bookkeeper to office manager to programming to speakers on international issues. but we couldn't keep her forever because international world called to her. the peace corps called to her. and she started a new chapter of -- in her life of service when she joined the peace corps and headed to albania as part of the first group of volunteers to reenter the country after civil unrest broke out in 1997. during her two years in albania, she worked with civil society organizations and with children living on the streets and survivors of human trafficking. she worked on enrichment programs to help at-rich roma girls, a minority population in the country. she secured $65,000 to increase participation of disabled citizens in municipal decision-making. her time in country was so transformative that after her peace corps stint ended she

remained in albania for another year working as deputy head of mission to combat child trafficking in kosovo, greece, and albania. in that role among a whole host of great accomplishments, j.p. struck a memorandum of understanding or mou with the albania ministry of social affairs and minister of education which led to the opening of child protection units. child protection units that are still in place and operating to this day. i can only imagine how many young children have ledbetter lives because j.p. helped open those centers. so mary and i arrived here in 2009. started on this adventure of serving in the senate. and we pondered who can fill this key role, this essential role of scheduler. who would be the bridge between our office life and our family

life? who would be the extraordinary individual who would serve as a hub for the entire team? and then we suddenly realized that j.p. was back from albania. and that she was right here in washington, d.c. continuing her terrific work on human trafficking at the labor department. pretty important work and we're not sure we could pray her away, steal her away from that to be on our senate team. but fortunately we held our breath and she said yes and we're so lucky to have had her with us this last 14 years. it was j.p. who initiated my organ meetings -- or meetings. we welcomed oregonians who happened to be here in d.c. for a discussion and a good cup of

stump town coffee. it was j.p. who initiated or committee to address unconscious bias, to work to ensure greater inclues sift, to better integrate diversity equity and inclusion into all aspects of our tomb's -- our team's work. it was j.p. who organized our staff retreats. with unique exercises including this last year's scroll-a-on this. -- scroll-a-thon. she took charge and innovated new human resources strategies and helped our team transition to the scary world of zoom and skype and other tools that ensure we could continue to function on behalf of the people of oregon. it was j.p. who strived year

after year to set the atmosphere of competence and graciousness and supportive connectiveness as team members navigated the challenges of both our work life and our home life. she loved nurturing team members as they sought to grow and thrive in their careers. and i think you'd be very hardpressed to find a member of my team over the past 14 years who did not at some point go to j.p. for insight or sage advice. over time, j.p. grew in her career taking over more parts of our team. now, life often travels in circles. j.p. was an integral part of my team at world oregon and then after serving in the peace corps, she became again an integral part of my team here in

washington, d.c. and now j.p.'s life is completing a circle. 17 years after her peace corps work in albania, she's returning to help the peace corps thrive in the position of executive secretariat in the office of the director of. and i could not think of a better person to help organize that team leading the peace corps. their mission is to help build a better world for all, and my dear friend, my family member j.p. is just the right person to undertake that mission. j.p., i cannot begin to thank you enough for all you have done in each chapter of service throughout your life. your service at world oregon, your service in the peace corps,

your service following up in that extra year in albania, your work at the u.s. labor department combating human trafficking, and of course here in the senate as a founding member of our team. so, thank you for all that terrific work, and we know that the the work you're going to continue to do to contribute to making the peace corps an incredible bring effective organization will be a significant way to help build a better world. thank you. thank you, mr. president.

mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and 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. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 523, s.j. res. 63. that there be 30 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form and that upon the use

foraying back of time, the -- use or yielding back of time, the snoot vote on passage of the resolution without further action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointment at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i understand that there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk read the realtor the first time. the clerk: an act to amend the justice for united states victims of state-sponsored terrorism act and so forth. mr. merkley: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will receive its second reading on the next legislative day. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it

adjourn until 11:00 a.m. on tuesday, november 15, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the maria antongiorgi-jordan nomination postcloture. further, the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for weekly caucus meetings and at 2 :15, the senate vote on confirmation of the nomination. if any nominations are confirmed during tuesday's session, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presidingthe presiding offit objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: 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 senate stands adjourned until the senate today advanced the nomination of maria to serve as the u.s. district court judge for puerto rico. majority leader chuck schumer filed culture to begin legislation to codify same-sex marriage into law. setting up a vote on wednesday. off the floor lawmakers continue to negotiate federal funding past the december 16 deadline. as always watch live coverage of the senate on cspan2. ♪ sees fit is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including cox. cox homework can be hard. but squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder for that is so we are providing lower income students access to affordable internet so homework it can just be homework