committees, the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. scan the code at the right to pre- you copy, and it helps to support the operations at c-span shop.org. today senate lawmakers are working on judicial nominations. and votes on nominees are scheduled throughout the day. next week the senate plans to take up 2023 programs and policy. and off the floor senate lawmakers are continuing negotiations on funding the federal government past the december 16th deadline. in the upcoming 118th congress democrats will have 51 senate seats after democratic senator rafael warnock last night defeated republican challenger hershel walker in the georgia runoff election. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2.

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god, who holds the wind in your fist and wraps fist. the chaplain: let us pray. o god who holds the wind in your fist and wraps the ocean in your cloak, we thank you for defending all who come to you. lord, on this december 7, a date that has lived in infamy, we ask you to bless our military. give our military people your presence and peace. bless also our lawmakers.

give them the wisdom to meet the challenges of our time. may they not grow weary in their efforts to find common ground. lord, provide them with the strengthening joy of your spirit that they may have courage for hard times and determination for challenging tasks. we pray in your strong name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in pledging allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., december 7, 2022, to the senate, under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3 of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tina smith, a center from the state of minnesota, to -- a senator from the state of minnesota, to perform the duties of the chair. signed patrick j. leahy, if president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jeffery paul hopkins, of ohio, to be united states district judge for the southern district of ohio.

the day the vote came in in the general election. even though he was disappointed that we can close but not, and had to run again. we will win the runoff. to percent or 1% but by close to 3%. and it was because he did an amazing thing. he was just a person who had great faith. he had great strength.

he had great conviction. he had great caring. he's a unique man who's had a great future. and i was brought to tears last night watching him tell his story and his concluding line in the sense where he talked about his mom. and he said she grew up in the '50s taking someone else's cotton and someone else's tobacco, and last night, this is a touching, every time i read it i get choked up. last night she helped pick her son to be the united states senator. only in america. only in america. you know, four four is agon recruiting candidates in georgia, and my first choice was obviously my friend stacey abrams pictures that i don't want to run for senate, at their someone as good as me if not better, raphael warnock. and took me a while to even convince him to meet with me. he was very busy with the job he had at the ebenezer baptist

church as pastor of one of the leading pulpits in america. the minute i met him, i finally met him, i said, this got us special. if there's anyone who can win in georgia, which was then regarded as a red state, it is this guy. it took a few more months of persuasion. i had everyone and some call him pick out sharpton was on tv today mentioning that. and thank god he ran. and, of course, the people of georgia are better off. the democratic senate caucus is better off, and america is better off because he ran and won. and as i said he's going to have a great, great future. so that's first and foremost. raphael warnock, and amazing man who now has had four victories in two years in what was regarded as a red state. and one more point i would make her i get lots of credit to

stacey abrams. she and her organizations help take a state that was very red and made it purple. and it's a lesson for all of us. you don't just coming to an election three months or six months before but you build organizational strength, day after day and year after year. second, i'm going to talk about why did democrats defy history in these midterms? as you know we did. it's the first time since 1934 where every democratic incumbent one with the party and would be the party in power. that hasn't happened since 1934 that every incumbent of the party and power won. why did that happen? first, he comes we had great candidates. not just raphael warnock. gary and i probably talk to everyone of the candidates. i probably did every single day, and their strength and vitality

was just incredible. and they are just indomitable miss. every time there's a a setbac, none of them said o god, it's terrible. they just move forward. but there are two other points that i would make here. why did things change? wife back in april when everyone thought we would lose seats in the senate, why did we win? i think two things happened and i'll take it in time order. first, in may and june the public began to realize how far right these maga republicans have gone. the dobbs decision was a crystallization of that, of course, when people said wow, these maga republicans are serious about turning the clock all the way back. but then the weather two of the supreme court decisions on concealed carry and on limiting what we could do to stop coal plants from poisoned the

atmosphere. there with the january 6th hearings. i think they played an important effect because people didn't just read about something that happened once, but every night they saw on tv these hooligans, these insurrectionists being violent, beating up police officers. very touched yesterday, mr. signet with the madison high school and we talked about that. and they saw all of that and they said wow. and then the third thing is they saw that republican leaders wouldn't even attack this. and so about ten to 15% of the electorate, republicans who were not maga republicans who were not trump republicans, people who said well, i'm a reagan republican, i'm a bush republican, but this trump republic is up for me. and independents who lean conservative who tended to vote republican started saying this

republican party isn't for me. but in june still they had doubts about the democratic party. was the democratic party talking but thinks he didn't care about our didn't like? and could they get anything done? and the turning point really a card back this summer where we passed six major bills, five bipartisan, all of which affected people's lives. there were things people wanted us to talk about. making the environment better, dealing with the high cost of prescription drugs, helping our veterans, dealing with gun safety, getting america's jobs here, not in china, with the industries in the chips legislation. expanding healthcare and they said whoa, this democratic party is a party that i'd like. and by september 1 i thought we would win the senate, keep the senate. because the combination of those two things was the powerful

one-two punch that made us define all the odds and provided -- sore great candidates both incumbents and non-incumbents could prevail. and don't take my word for it. this is what i read lindsey graham said this morning. he said, quote, democrats have done a pretty good job of picking issues that motivate their base and then wider support among the public. we, the republicans, need to be doing the same thing. i think a lot of people in the republican party don't see us doing it emphatically as a democrats. that's one of the few times i will quote lindsey graham with approval, but he said. okay. the practical effects of the 51 seat majority is bigger, it's significant, it gives us, we can breathe a sigh of relief.

obviously judges and nominees would be a lot easier to put on the bench. we're so proud of her record with judges. it's one of the most significant things, maybe the most even, rings we have done. as you know we put on the bench two-thirds are women. half are people of color. there are more black women on the federal bench and now than there has, i think today, that all the others combined before we get into, we got, biden became president. we got into the majority. and they are people, they know what people's lives are like. they are not just corporate lawyers or prosecutors. they are public, immigration lawyers and consumer advocates in legal aid people, public defenders. so the bench is looking more like america. now it's going to be easier, so are the nominees. it's been amazing how the

republicans have been able to use the 50-50 senate to procedurally hold up so many appointments. it's going to be a lot quicker, swifter, and easier. it's also going to be that our committee chairs have more flexibility on legislation. the number of times chairs came to me it's about like to move this bill forward, but 10-10 committee i can't do it. it will be tied. that's all going to change because we had the advantage on every committee. it's going to mean that our committees will have greater oversight ability, subpoena power. people say it's the biden administration. subpoena power and deal with corporate corruption and inequities and of the problems throughout the country. and it gives us just a lift. the fact that we got to 51 votes gives us just a great feeling, enthusiasm, unity, encouragement in that way.

and let me just add in addition our caucus has been greatly, deeply grateful for vice president harris constant schedule juggling to preside over a 50-50 senate. she did a great job. we are appreciative. it's part of her job at a think she's done a lot of other good things and now she's going to look more time to do those things because the need for her to be here will be less. next, one of the things i hope to do as leader is even in this new electoral climate is reach out to republicans. there mr. mcconnell: yesterday evening, the senate and house armed services committee released its strong bipartisan national defense authorization act. as republicans have said for months, and i repeated yesterday, our servicemembers, commanders and civilian leaders should not have had to wait

until mid december to gain certainty for a fiscal year that's already more than two months over. we've got to take our national defense, military modernization, and defense industrial base as seriously as our rivals take theirs. fortunately, this strong bipartisan ndaa is a huge step in that direction. the bill tees up a significant and badly needed increase in defense spending, $45 billion above president biden's insufficient request, and roughly $75 billion over last year's level. once again, congress agreed on a bipartisan basis that president biden's defense budget request was anemic and insufficient. this ndaa authorizes crucial projects like nuclear

modernization. it directs critical investments in our defense industrial base so america can both defend ourselves and remain the arsenal of democracy for the world. it delivers for our servicemembers, their families, and our military installations and communities around the country. thanks to the leadership from our colleague, senator blackburn, among others, this ndaa will repeal the president's military vaccine mandate, a policy which this democratic administration had stubbornly clung to, even as it had clearly undermined readiness and hurt retention. just as republicans insisted, just as our servicemembers deserve, this ndaa is not getting dragged down by unrelated liberal nonsense. good, smart policies were kept in, and unrelated nonsense, like easier financing for illegal drugs, was kept out. i'm glad this democrat-led congress finally realized that defending america is a basic

governing duty. it's not some republican priority that democrats can demand unrelated goodies to be wheeled into. neither party, let alone a sitting president's party, can ever have the mind set that they need to be goaded or bartered into supporting our troops. we made it clear we wouldn't be going down that road. our democratic colleagues finally accepted it, and senators reed and inhofe did a great job landing the plane. that same lesson must carry over into our subsequent conversations about government funding. democrats must be ready to actually fund the national defense, which this bipartisan ndaa authorizes. just like on this bill, neither party has any standing to demand unrelated goodies in exchange for doing our job and funding

defense. let's hope this new acceptance of reality also helps shape president biden's next defense budget request. we have yet to see a proposed budget for this administration that takes growing threats very seriously. why do bipartisan majorities in congress keep having to force this commander in chief to adequately resource our armed forces? today's december 7, the anniversary of pearl harbor. no american wants us to ever receive another painful reminder like december 7 or september 11, of the painful price we pay when we let our guard down, soften our defenses, or diminish our worldwide presentation. this strong ndaa is one important step in keeping our guard up, but only one. we need to put it on the president's desk quickly, then stay equally serious on this subject. now, on a related matter, the annual defense bill i just

discussed will carry the name of one of our most senior and distinguished colleagues this year. the outstanding armed services committee ranking member, to whose career it will provide the perfect capstone. senator jim inhofe often soft spoken manner and unfailing humility are a pair of traits that combined to produce one of the most effective legislators i've ever had the privilege of working with. at the same time, over the same one career, jim's name has come to mean both steady, solid, conservative constancy here at home, and relentless energy as a globetrotter deal maker. the mixture has left his home state, our entire nation, and faraway lands all changed for the better. the roots of jim's conservative bona fide es aren't ard to trace. in fact, the story of his entry into politics is a familiar one

for millions of americans. ithere was honorable military service. it was hard work and success as a small businessman in his hometown of tulsa. then there were the inevitable headaches of having you can do entrepreneurial dreams bogged down in bureaucracy and regulation. jim knew it shouldn't be that way, so he threw his hat into the ring. jim's fashion for harnessing american energy was obvious pretty early on as well. apparently, even while a student at the university of colorado, jim got together with classmates and filed a claim on the uranium deposits discovered nearby. this man was born with a built-in turboprop. our friend has an insatiable drive to discover and get things done. short stints and bouncing around were how a busy, young jim inhofe worked his way to a college degree. by way of nine different

schools. it also housed a seasoned aviator who circumnavigated the globe. his conservative convictions and boundless energy might have seemed on a collision course. instead, they've proven the perfect harmony. from the state capitol where jimed earned the trust of his oklahoma senate colleagues, then served in the thankless role of minority leader, to the gubernatorial campaign where he reportedly lost 57 pounds, to the senate race where he claude back from 32 points down to win back the seat republicans had won only six of the last 45 years, to the five more landslide reelections that followed. you'd be forgiven if you assumed that such a successful elected official might have made some major compromises along the way, but you don't become famous for

flying planes upside down without a strong internal compass that stays fixed on true north. our friend knows that faith can move mountains, and james inhofe has himself been moved to incredible achievements by his love of god, love of country, and love of neighbor. don't get me wrong -- jim knows how to twist the screws to get things done, like landing generational investments in transportation infrastructure across oklahoma and the heartland. or protecting american energy dominance by pioneering and then protecting the new technologies and methods that ushered in a whole new era of prosperity and independence for our country. or strengthening and modernizing our armed forces by leading the ndaa across the finish line. jim's done it all, but in a city where a lot of people treat friendships and relationships as

means to a desired ends, jim has always viewed genuine relationships as noble ends in themselves. just take it from our democratic colleague from rhode island, senator whitehouse once had to admit jim was simultaneously his worst foe and his key ally. or consider the many years jim devoted to deep partnerships with leaders in africa. by all accounts, jim's engagement began not with lobbying a particular issue or advancing a particular administration's priorities. our friend has never been anyone's tool or puppet. jim formed deep, genuine, personal bonds with leaders in africa, just because he felt drawn to do so. but as always happens with jim, where relationships started, big results followed. jim's trusted status as a senior statesman and stable counselor had secretaries of state,

secretaries of defense, and ambassadors seeking his sage advice. just a few years ago, as i understand it, jim was called upon to ease a political standoff between rival leaders in kaneia. he had known both men for years. when the opportunity arose during the country's national prayer breakfast, jim took a moment of personal privilege after praying an invocation and got the two men to literally hug each other in front of the cameras and their countrymen. he had made international -- it made international news. so you get the picture. relationships matter. but with jim, two relationships matter most of all -- the one with his god and the one with his beloved kay. jim and kay have been married for 63 years, and anyone who's spent any time around jim knows what happens when his beloved bride calls him up.

your conversation is politely put on hold. the woman jim calls his rock always comes first. over the last half-century, jim inhofe's devotion to his country, his fellow oklahomans and his conservative principles have produced a mountain of a legacy. but i know his most cherished peak is his and kay's love and devotion and the legacy that love has produced -- namely, perry, carey, molly and jim, who have in turn grown the inhofe clan by, i believe, 16 grandchildren. he has given generously to his country. so, jim, thank you. thank you, for your exemplary

>> you did a a great job protecting your incumbents this cycle. looking ahead to 2024 are you

confident jon tester and joe manchin will run for reelection and have you begun those conversations to persuade him to stick around? >> we have great senators, a large number who are up. those who are in democratic, trump, you know, republican states but look, they're great candidates and we will do everything we can to help them. yes? >> you talked about vice president harris having more time under agenda. >> has plenty to do, believe me. >> yes, but this also mean your phone will not be constantly calling joe manchin back and forth. because you have that -- that changes the power dynamic. >> joe manchin and kyrsten sinema are great members of our caucus, very valuable. they don't always agree with us on certain issues but their tremendous contributors to our caucus and will continue to work with them. >> now that you do have subpoena power more control over committees come you mentioned -- in investigations happening now

that house democrats -- >> not speculate about the next congress. we got to sit down and talk to her members. we've got to figure out the direction you want to go. yes. >> you spoke about the speed and ease with which the new set will be able to confirm judicial nominees. do you think biden may be putting forward different possibly more progressive nominees given the leeway? >> i think the nominees he put forward have been very progressive and a far cry from some of these trump nominees who are hard right and maggie. there an amazing counterbalance and if we continue in the same direction we had the last two years, i think i'll be happy, the caucus will be happy the most important, america will be happy. >> do you see the investigations that you come to be doing and the next congress as a counterbalance to the investigations you are expecting to get from the house republicans? >> we have subpoena power. gives a certain ability we will discuss as we get closer the

various ways we may use them. >> your comments about what's going to happen and the next congress notwithstanding, are there some areas where you think you can peel away those non-maga republicans -- >> i think there will be a whole lot of areas where the non-maga republicans are going to work with us. want to work with us. for the good of the country but for their own survival. it will just not work, it will just not work if they pursue a a maga line. and i think having talked to a few of them, both come not just a new candidates. in the senate as well. again let me reiterate of the six major bills we passed, five this summer june, july and august, fiber bipartisan. people are here to get things done, not just to make a speech to be negative. gary apted put it, a lot of the campaigns since you have solutions, they lost. but i think a large significant number of republican senators

and republican house members have some solutions. they may not always agree with our solutions but they're not here just to make a speech. they're here to get them enacted. thank you, everybody. >> in a comment on the ndaa? [inaudible]

we will hear more from herschel walker, hear more from the newly reelected senator from georgia raphael warnock in a bit here in "washington journal." a close race reflecting the new 51-49 seat majority i guess, majority i guess, 51% of the votes are raphael warnock and almost 49% of the vote to herschel walker with 98% of the precincts reporting, according to "the associated press." this is a headline from "the associated press." democratic senator warnock wins

georgia runoff against walker. jeff amy wright senator warnock defeated herschel walker in a georgia runoff election tuesday ensuring democrats an outright majority in the senate for the rest the present joe biden's current term. and capping and it will mean midterm cycle for the gop in the last major vote of the year. with war knocks second runoff victory in as many years democrats will have a 51-49 senate majority gaining a seat from the current split with john fetterman victory in pennsylvania. the would be divided government with republicans having narrowly flipped house control. also this morning from "politico" in the "politico" playbook a bit more about what's behind the when and what may be ahead for raphael warnock in the u.s. senate. raphael warnock feet and his future, they write that over the past 30 months raphael warnock has won a senate primary, get the most votes in two general

elections and 12 runoffs. tuesday tuesday night he finally won a full six-year term to the united states senate. a lot has been said about how flawed a candidate that warnock's opponents herschel walker was was in so much oe conversation and coverage of georgia's elections in on what it would mean for the power of a current and former president. but the right warnock's three-point win tuesday underscored his own talent d cemented the 53-year-oldr. r: the senate is not. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, it's been nearly ten months since that cold, dark morning when i was in the departure lounge in vilnius, lithuania, with my colleague, chris coons. we watched on television as russia attempted to seize another country in the heart of europe. i'll never forget those early scenes of putin's horror unleashed on ukraine.

my friends had warned of russia's potential to strike again in ukraine, in europe, and beyond. years earlier i'd seen firsthand the seizure of georgian land by the russian military in 2008. in 2014, my friend and fellow colleague, the late-senator john mccain and i, with a group of senators paid tribute to those slain in kyiv's maidan square just as russia had seized crimea and was looking to take other areas of ukraine. but putin and his henchmen failed miserably at understanding ukraine and understanding their resolve to halt him and his brutality. his initial ploy to quickly topple ukraine's democratic government and replace it with a puppet failed immediately, and other russian military advances in eastern and southern ukraine

have been rolled back time and again. in fact, ukraine's military has reclaimed hundreds of villages and more than a thousand square miles of territory. good for them. quite simply, despite the horrific violence unleashed by putin, the ukrainian people have prevailed. their courage, their sacrifice is inspiring. and the world has rallied to ukraine's side, leaving russia isolated. it should be in embarrassed and in retreat from putin's folly. yesterday i met with our ambassador to the united nations, linda thomas-greenfield. we're lucky to have her. she is truly a skillful, experienced, and talented person. she reminded me earlier this year more than 140 u.n. member states voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution that deplored in the strongest terms putin's aggression. it also affirmed the

international community's commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and integrity of ukraine. only five nations dissented. they're the world's worst dictatorships, aligning with putin to vote against the measure at the united nations. it is a reminder that vladimir putin has utterly failed in pursuing his twisted no, sir stalia for -- nostalgia for soviet tyranny. this administration, included, provided weapons to help again their nation. the u.s. and several key allies imposed sanctions on nearly 8,400 oligarchs and their families, 1,500 russian entities and vessels. the nations of the free world understand that ukraine is in fact our common front line in the battle for freedom in this world. president biden, too, with secretaries blinken and austin,

has rallied unprecedented international support. other nations clearly understand what's at stake. the struggle for the rule of law over the rule of chaos and brute force. that's what's at stake. and now it's time for the united states and the rest of the free world to continue to lift up our support. it can be easy to get impatient, even despair, as ukraine faces continued russian bombardment of civilian targets, and in many cases war crimes specifically designed to terrorize civilian populations a. i'd like to show you a recent photo. it shows the u.n. high commissioner for human rights. volker turk. he's speaking to defenders in kyiv in an underground shelter during a recent air strike. another of a child here

hauntingly looking at a damaged school. he's dressed for school. the building has been destroyed by vladimir putin. ukrainian civil servants are working around the clock to restore access to electricity, water, and heat to allow hospitals and schools to function. the continued unified support and military assistance of nato is invaluable. and this congress has been unified in providing this aid. make no mistake, russia is losing the war in ukraine. its leaders now are trying to break the will of the ukrainian people. as an amateur student of history, i know that the winter has often been a defense for the people of russia. napoleans advance of his troops on moscow was stymied by the coldest winter imaginable. they said it was so cold that the birds fell if the sky.

and we remember well what the nazis faced when they invaded russia with the bitter winner that was also a defense for the russian people. vladimir putin has turned the tables and sadly he's using winter as a weapon of war against common ukrainian people, mothers, fathers, and children. i want to conclude by showing this one photo because it tells such a story. members of the ukrainian national philharmonic orchestra performing in a darkened theater in kyiv on tuesday lit only by battery-powered lanterns. it says it all about the resilience of the ukrainian people. russia will fail. mr. president, i ask that the statement i'm about to make be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, congress has some big decisions to make in just two or three weeks. the continuing resolution which funds our government is about to expire. one of the decisions, whether to include important measures to ensure the food and drug administration fulfills its public health mission. you see, when we passed the last c.r. in september, we reauthorized the user fees that are necessary to fund this critical agency. however, the package did not include commonsense changes in the law, bipartisan changes, that really would make fda a more effective agency. so we continue to pursue them -- continued to pursue them this month. one of those measures was the dietary supplement listing act, a bipartisan bill that senator braun of indiana and i introduced in april. more than 75% of people living

in america, myself included, my family, too, use a dietary supplement such as a vitamin or mineral. however, many assume when reaching for that supplement bottle in the medicine cabinet, that the food and drug administration of the united states government knows what's in that bottle and knows that it's for sale. that's not always the case. dietary supplement companies are not required to disclose to the food and drug administration the ingredients in their products. let me repeat that. dietary supplement companies are not required by the food and drug administration toll disclose the in-- to disclose the ingredients in their products. they aren't even required to register that their products are for sale in the united states. an obvious problem exists. how can the fda really regulate this for the safety of american consumers when it doesn't know what's on the market.

it can't. it's impossible. so the legislation i have with republican senator braun would require supplement companies to tell the fda what products they put on the shelf and what's in them, just that basic. it's a simple fix that would improve the safety of the supplement market and it would basically enhance quality companies selling quality dietary supplements. others might be penalized by this. good companies would not. i'm glad this legislation received an endorsement for the -- from the council for responsible nutrition, one of the largest supplement trade associations in our nation. they're speaking for the good guys. i want to emphasize this is not a partisan idea. polls show that nine out of ten americans already believe that manufacturers should be required to list their products and their ingredients. 90% of americans believe it but

they're wrong. in october scott gottlieb and mark mcclellan two republican former fda commissioners under republican administrations wrote that our legislation represents, quote, a once-in-a-generation reform. they concluded their article and said, congress should seize this opportunity to achieve long awaited reforms that modernize fda regulation, promote innovation, and provide consumers greater assurance that the products they use are safe and reliable. i understand that some oppose the inclusion of my bipartisan legislation in the year end package. i'm willing to work with any of them to overcome their resistance or to take their suggestions very seriously. but let's not move this package to fund the fda and miss this opportunity. consumers have waited long enough. the fda needs to know what supplements are on the market and what's -- and what its ingreed ends -- ingredients are

to protect consumers. that's at a bare minimum. i ask consent that the statement i'm about to make be placed in a spat part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, yesterday -- the day before yesterday it was reported that two of our colleagues senator sinema and tillis, are working together on a potential immigration package. and though i want to know more details about what they are considering, i want to thank them for showing this kind of initiative on this important issue. i believe we must pass immigration reform legislation before the end of the year. and the members of this senate shouldn't leave for home for the holidays until we take a vote to reform our broken immigration system. now, i know some people at home may be wondering why, what's the urgency, why do it now? well, we first may have an opportunity and i hope we do. but it could be the last opportunity for a long time.

it's been more than 35 years since congress has enacted a bill to reform our immigration system. with all of the attention paid on the issue of immigration and our borders, it is hard to imagine how a congress can be critical of the fact that the situation is deteriorated and not take action for 35 years. that is shameful. our failure to act on immigration hurts everyone. from hospitals in my state of illinois struggling to find doctors and nurses to asylum seekers fleeing violence and oppression. there's one group of people in particular who have been left behind. dreamers. these young people who are in america in every -- who are american in every way except for the paperwork. we all know the dreamers have made a difference in our state. they're young people brought to the united states by their parents, grew up here, thought they had a future here, but find they're undocumented. many of them were brought here as babies and they've grown up

alongside our own kids, pledged allegiance to the same american flag in their classrooms every morning. a few weeks ago i had a chance to welcome some of these dreamers to washington. as always i was amazed by these young people. and above all, i was amazed by their passion to give back to the only home they've ever known, the united states of america. one of these i want to show you a photo of today is eddie ri rivera. he is a freshman at dominican university in my home state of illinois. he is studying to become a nurse. over the years i've come to the floor of the senate to tell the stories of people just like eddie to show what's at stake when we consider the dream act. eddie's story is the 131st dreamer story i've told on the senate floor. you see, eddie's family is originally from honduras and back there his mother was an attorney. while you think that's a stable

profession in honduras, it was actually a liability. she received death threats because of her work and it was out of fear for her young son's life that she sought refuge in america. eddie's family moved a lot when he was growing up. they struggled to get by, but they came to rely on one another for support. when his grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, eddie and his mom became her full time caregivers. he would sit by his grandmother's side day by day feeding her, praying for her, holding her hand. sadly his grandmother passed away in december of 2019. but it was this personal life experience, caring for his grandmother, that inspired eddie to pursue a career in medicine and nursing. so when the covid pandemic hit in 2020, he answered the call for duty. he was hired to assist the nursing staff in a covid unit of a hospital in north carolina. in this role he tried to provide the same loving care to his

patients that he once provided to his grandmother. in the future it's eddie's hope that he can obtain his nursing degree and work at a retirement home. one where people can, quote, spend the rest of their lives living in dignity in a loving community, respecting them, appreciating them for all they've given to society. so ask yourself a very basic question which every senator should ask. would america be better if eddie rivera were deported to hon door ras, a country he barely remember -- honduras, a country he barely remembers, or would he be better here. what about the more than 200,000 recipients who also work on the front lines of the pandemic, doctors, nurses, paramedics. would we truly be better without them? of course not. we need dreamers like eddie and we need to act on their behalf

this month. in october 5th circuit returned a case to the lower court to determine whether daca which has protected 800,000 dreamers since 2012 will remain the law of the ■land so unless congress acts in the next few days to protect daca recipients, this program could end even as soon as next year. and what does that mean for those currently, 800,000 currently protected by daca? two things. they are subject to deportation at any moment and they no longer have the legal right to work in the hospitals and businesses and clinics across america. if that happens, an afternoon of 1,000 daca recipients would lose their jobs each week in health care, education, and other sectors of our economy where we expect serious shortages. look, i'm under no illusions about what it takes to pass an immigration package in a matter of two weeks or a few days. i know many of our republican

colleagues have their own priorities. and i'm willing to sit down and make sensible compromises to bring order to our border. but we need to move. we need to act. because as i mentioned, this could be the last chance in a long time. the incoming republican house majority has already declared that they will not allow a vote on any immigration measure during the next congress. it will be the same dynamic we saw in 2013 when we passed an immigration bill here in the senate only to see it die in the house. let's not repeat the same mistake. to my republican colleagues i say this. if you care about improving border security or helping address worker shortages, this is our last chance to do it. let's give every dreamer in this country the peace of mind they deserve heading into the holiday season, and let's prove to the american people that we are making -- we're capable of making tough decisions when the situation demands it. mr. president, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: it is not. mr. thune: mr. president, when it comes to the actions of a party or a presidential administration, legislation sometimes grabs the lion's share of the attention. but it's equally important to pay attention to what a presidential administration does with its regulatory power.

and the biden administration has been characterized by a lot of deeply troubling regulations. the so-called inflation reduction act may be democrats' most prominent green new deal effort, but the biden administration's radical environmental agenda doesn't stop thr. the president -- there. the president has also been using regulations to push through democrats' green new deal fantasies. and these ill-considered, overreaching regulations could have serious consequences. later today, i will be sending a letter to the president about the attempts to use financial and securities regulators, like the securities and exchange commission, and federal reserve, to push through environmental, social, and governance, or what are referred to as esg, regulations that seek to choke off investment to essential industries like oil and natural gas and american farms and ranches. notable among these is the security and exchange commission's proposed climate

disclosure rule, which would require publicly traded companies to disclose information not only about their own ementions but also -- emissions but also about the greenhouse gas emissions of their suppliers, and even their customers. now, it would also require companies to determine the effects of climate-related risks on each line item of their consolidated financial statements. well, to start with, this rule is obviously unworkable. companies have zero control over the emissions of their suppliers and customers, and little to no ability to accurately gauge those emissions. but the most serious aspect of this proposed rule is the fact that it represents a clear effort to coerce companies to sever ties with certain industries, notably, of course, the conventional energy industry, but also with other industries, like agriculture, and it's hardly the only

regulatory action of its kind proposed by the biden administration. the department of labor just finalized a rule that would, in practice, require pension fiduciaries to consider climate change and esg factors when making investment decisions, irrespective of therapy kuhn yary -- of their pecuniary relevance. the federal reserve, which i believe has zero business inserting itself into debates over climate policy, recently established a pilot program to analyze climate-related financial risks for the nation's largest banks, something that clearly, clearly exceeds the fed's statutory authority. similarly, the office of the comptroller of the currency, the fedfederal deposit insurance corporation and fed have issued draft principles for large banks on, quote, climate-related financial risk management, end quote. and the list goes on.

mr. president, private companies, of course, have the right to consider whatever factors they want when determining what companies they do business with with, and where they will invest. but the federal government should not be making those decisions for them. the president and his cronies and the far left environmental movement may like the idea of choking off investment to the fossil fuel industry and other industries to hasten the arrival of their fantasy green new deal future, but reducing or eliminating investment in conventional energy and other essential industries is likely to create a nightmare for american families and american businesses. i am and have long been a strong supporter of alternative energy, but the fact of the matter is we are still a long way from being able to rely exclusively on alternative energy. the technology that would enable us to rely solely on green

energy simply doesn't exist yet did. pretending we can rely exclusively on alternative energy isn't going to change the reality, which is that we still need oil and natural gas and will continue to need them for the foreseeable future. choking off investment to the conventional energy industry isn't going to magically bring about the green new deal future, but it is going to reduce essential energy supplies, and that in turn is going to increase energy prices. it's going to increase energy prices for american families. it's going to increase energy prices for american businesses. if democrats succeed in reducing investment in oil and natural gas, we could be looking at a very serious reduction in our supply of conventional energy and correspondingly serious price hikes. there's reason to be concerned that democrats aren't just interested in choking off investment in oil and natural

gas. but in agriculture as well, because of natural livestock emissions and farming inputs like fertilizer. the national credit union administration published a since- resinced strategic -- since rescinded plan that seemed to suggest that credit unions reduce member beship and loan offerings to farming communities. south dakota banks and credit unions have repeatedly expressed their concerns to my office that the president's far-reaching esg agenda could ultimately damage their ability to extend loans to farm and ranch customers. should investment in agriculture also drop off, we could be looking not only at higher energy prices but higher food prices as well, and possibly actual food supply issues.

between higher energy prices and higher food prices the kind of financial hardship that americans have been experiencing during our current inflation crisis could become a fixture for the long term. mr. president, democrats like to think of themselves as the party of the little guy, but the truth is they've become the party of extreme special interests. and the little guy often ends up getting sacrificed as a result. since president biden and democrats took office two years ago, ordinary americans have faced almost nonstop financial challenges thanks to the inflation crisis democrats helped create with their massive american rescue plan spending bill, and if the president's esg agenda continues unchecked that diminished prosperity could last

indefinitely. mr. president, in the letter that i am sending to the president later today, i am urging his administration to consider the real-world effects of rules and regulations on ordinary families and american businesses and to refrain from regulatory actions that would drive up prices even further. and i hope that the president will listen. but if past is prologue then i'm worried we're looking at two more years of extreme democrat policies and two more years of economic suffering for the american people. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: last friday, elon musk released documents and very good information relating to

twitter's interference in the 2020 presidential election by censoring the new york post hunter biden reporting. and just yesterday musk reportedly fired twitter's general counsel, jim baker, for his involvement in the censorship scandal. baker, you might remember, was general counsel at the fbi and was involved in the cross fire hurricane vef -- crossfire hurre investigations. you can't make up these stories. musk also released information that showed the biden campaign was involved in the censorship efforts. the information shows that twitter employees knew, actually

knew, that they had no legitimate basis to censor hunter biden's reporting, but proceeded to do it anyway. twitter also removed links and blocked the reporting from being shared by direct messaging on its platform. folks that fought the good fight against twitter's extraordinary censorship were also locked out of their accounts. these documents that musk made public make very clear that twitter was effectively an arm of the democratic party and the biden campaign. twitter essentially gave the

biden campaign a massive in-kind campaign contribution. what twitter and other big-tech companies did in 2020, with respect to censorship, was as much an outrage then as it is today. simply put, what they did is expected of communist china, not the united states of america. reports also indicate that the fbi warned twitter, during weekly meetings, before the 2020 election, that hack-and-leak operations involving hunter biden material were likely to occur in october of 2020. well, the fbi had the hunter

biden laptop since december of 2019, almost a year before the election. information on it has been verified by liberal news outlets. it took a long time for those liberal news outlets to admit that this was a russian -- that this wasn't russian disinformation. so then, i ask this question -- didn't the fbi do the same, or did they fail to do their due diligence? i find the fbi's action in advance of the 2020 election to be more than suspicious. it's too bad that just now, two years later, we get this information from a person that bought twitter and wants the public to know what actually went on. now, some of you remember that

senator johnson and i released our first report on the biden family connections to communist china on september 23, six weeks before the 2020 election. and you know, if you remember at that time, it was swept up into the hunter biden censorship fiasco not long after. so too was our second report, which we released on nove november 18, 2020. but we were more than just censored. before we even made the first report public, the liberal media, and even some of our democratic colleagues, tried to smear us with false claims that our work was connected to you

know what, russian disinformation. my senate colleagues went into full joe biden protection mode. so here we have four elements to this fact pattern that ought to shake up every member of the united states senate and shake them up to their very core. one, the fbi got their hands on twitter via these weekly briefings, the weekly briefings that i've already expressed existed, and planted seeds regarding future hack material relating to hunter biden. two, the fbi improperly labeled information it possessed on hunter biden as you know what, disinformation. three, the fbi provided an

unnecessary august 2020 briefing to me and senator johnson that was used by some democrats and by the liberal media to try to undermine our investigations that started well before the 2020 election. and four, the liberal media repeatedly and falsely labeled my and senator johnson's investigation as, you know what, said russian disinformation. now, all of that happened in a runup to the 2020 presidential elections. in the long run, these false allegations and bad-faith efforts against me and senator

johnson didn't work, as everybody knows now. but didn't know at the time. for example, this congress, senator johnson and i gave floor speeches, these dates are 2022, march 28, march 29, and april 5. through those speeches we introduced bank records connecting hunter and james biden to the chinese communist regime. and we sent hundreds of pages of bank records to u.s. attorney weiss on october 26 this year. showing those very same connections. the same connections johnson and i made in our 2020 report. these are authentic bank

records. they aren't russian disinformation. president biden still owes the american people answers about his connections to hunter and james biden's business deals and arrangements. he owes the american people an explanation as to how much he knew about their businesses and personal relationships with communist china. on october 13 of this year, i wrote to the fbi telling them that i know it possesses documents that indicate joe biden was aware of hunter biden's business arrangements and may have been involved in some. in conclusion, since senator johnson and i began our biden investigation august 2019 --

now, remember, 14 months before the 2020 election -- now after all that, our work has been substantiated. big-tech censorship may have succeeded in the short term. however, the truth eventually sees the light of day, and i think the new twitter owner -- and i thank the new twitter owner for his transparency, and accountability should follow. on another short point i want to make, i want to congratulate our senate colleagues on confirming rob storch to be the new department of defense inspector general. this happened last week. the dod office of inspector general has been without a

senate-confirmed i.g. for almost seven years, and we all know that's far too long. inspectors general play a key role in watchdogging the executive branch. they act as force multipliers for congress through our constitutional responsibility of congressional oversight. inspectors general must hold government bureaucrats accountable with hard-hitting findings and recommendations. they must remain on attack to root out waste, fraud, and abuse. the department of defense has an annual budget of over $700 billion. it's high time that we have an i.g. confirmed that's accountable to congress to watchdog this money. the department of defense

inspector general must now hit the ground running in conducting effective and efficient oversight over the waste, fraud, and abuse that happens at the department of defense. i, along with my colleagues, expect the department of defense inspector general to be an inspector general that has teeth, unafraid to identify wrongdoing. and we'll expect him to call out those who seek to get rich off the backs of hardworking american taxpayers as well as those who put our nation at risk. i expect mr. storsh to be that watchdog. i also expect him to work with congress to conduct oversight in areas of congressional interest and be responsive to requests for information that any member

of congress seeks. transparency is key, and being responsive and accountable to congress will be crucial to his success. i look forward to working with mr. stohsh in his -- storsh in his new role as department of defense i.g. i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. brown: thank you it mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that i -- i believe my remarks will be concluded before 11:30, but i be allowed to go a minute or two over before the roll call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring dr. owe dell owens, a champion of public health and public education in cincinnati, whom we lost last month, a longtime friend, longtime activist, a public servant and a trailblazer.

dr. owens' stories, his unwaiving dedication to the public good serves as example to all of us. so much of his work was aimed at empowering young people of color and encouraging them to recognize their potential by staying in school and attending college. he often shared a memory from his years as a ninth grader. a college counselor said he was, quote, too poor and too dumb to go to college. imagine a counselor saying that. dr. owens proved that counselor and everyone who didn't believe in him, he proved them wrong. he graduated from colleges, he got a masters and a medical degree in yale university, he completed his fellowship at harvard medical school. after gathering degrees and credentials that provided him with opportunities anywhere in the world, dr. owens returned to his home in cincinnati where he spent his career serving his community. he was a pioneering fertility specialist at the university of cincinnati medical center.

he became the first african american to hold office in hamilton county when he was elected the county correspondent roner. he served as the president of the technical community college. he was president of the nonprofit interact for health. his work always came back to the community and extended far outside of medicine. he set a on the boards of various organizations and foundations, the university of cincinnati, the national underground railroad freedom center, the only one of its kind in america. it's an extraordinary place. anyone in my part of the midwest should visit it. the cincinnati cleveland business advisory council. he volunteered as chair of the annual children cincinnati television auction in support of cincinnati's public television programming. dr. owens empowered each of us to make the world a better

place. he reached out to make sure we were paying close attention to issues impacting people in cincinnati. he was a very talented speaker known for his passionate delivery. always, always, standing up for what he believed in. he was well-respected, he was dearly loved throughout our state for his courage and what i liked most to think about his moral clarity. he took care of cincinnati. i join our entire community for expressing gratitude for his lifetime of service. today we recommit to his example and our thoughts are with the owens family, with all those who knew and loved him. mr. president, i would like to -- the remainder of my remarks be in a different section of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring julia reichert, an award-winning filmmaker,

activist, and ohioan whom we lost last week. she was born in new jersey, moved to yellow springs, ohio, in greene county to attend antioch college where his from in storytelling moved, interests that led her to become a voice, a strong, well-known voice for working americans. during her time at antioch, he combined her passions by hosting a feminist program on the campus radio station and making growing up female a groundbreaking documentary that explored the socialization of women. decades later it would be added to the national film registry by the library of congress. after college, julia made dayton her home as her work gained attention. her documentary "union maids" and "seeing red" were both nominated for academy awards. her 2010 film "the last truck"

followed the workers at an auto plant. "american factory" focused on the next chapter of that g.m. plant. julia took a local story and made it national. she made it popular. she gave a voice to the workers and communities overlooked by the headlines which happens all too often with a plant closing. in her films and documentaries, as she explored feminism and family, labor and politics, globalism and the economy, she took his big ideas and showed what they meant on a human level. julia had a unique ability, an extraordinary ability to connect with all kinds of people and tell their stories in respectful and empathetic and understandable ways. she highlighted issues that were over-often looked. her work sparked important conversations can. people that watched these films had really no idea what it was

like to be these workers until they understood so much more when she -- when they came to the theater and watched these. julia also taught at wright state university in dayton serving as a mentor to the next generation of filmmakers. she instilled in her students they have a voice and story to tell, no matter who they were, where they came from, how little wealth their family might have had, they have a voice and a story to tell. and it's up to us to listen to those stories. they remember her genuine interest in their lives outside of the classroom. she cared about them. that's who she was. she was a champion of the labor movement, the feminist movement. she was a friend and mother and mentor. our world is a better place not just southwest ohio, whence she came, but our whole place, our whole country is a better place because of her. julia's husband and family will he filmmaker, steven, and her

daughter is an activist like her mother. they will together uphold, as i will try to do, uphold julia's legacy and continue her work. today our thought are with steven and leila, and all those who so appreciated her and had the privilege of working alongside her. thank you, mr. president.

mr. brown: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote begin immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the perez nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. mia roberts perez of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be one. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 52, the nays are 43, the confirmation is agreed to. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motions to invoke cloture. 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 1187 kai n. scott. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. is it the sense of senate that the nomination of kai n. scott to be district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rules. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 52. the nays are 42. the motion is agreed to o the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, kain. scott of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania.

the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. you know, for more than 60 years congress has passed the ndaa to ensure our armed forces are able to keep up and keep america safe. the armed services is committee agreed on a robust, bipartisan bill in june, june of this year. what i don't understand is why it took six months to schedule a vote on this critical bill for our national security. waiting until the last minute to pass the ndaa is playing a game

of chicken with our national security and with american servicemembers. it puts them in harm's way. i know most of my democrat colleagues in both the house and the senate did not control the timing of this bill. but senator schumer did. and he decided to wait so long that our chairman and ranking member were forced to conference the bill prior to it coming to the senate floor. so let's not wait until december 2023 to get the ndaa on the floor. it makes no sense. let's get the physical year 2024 to the floor in regular order. because of the consequences of playing these games with the ndaa are severe. if congress keeps the dod guessing, which we have all year long, when we might pass their

budget, it hinders our ability to keep up with china. assert our dominance in space, keep command of the seas, and restock our missile defenses. if we fail to pass the ndaa or kick this to the next year, we should keep in mind all of these consequences. there will be no raise for servicemembers and no spending increases to keep up with inflation. that's the reason we need to pass this bill. in short, we would be in a very dangerous situation if we continue to do this. providing for our common defense is one of the few responsibilities mandated by the constitution of this body. as the house moves forward with the ndaa this week and the senate considers the bill that

they send over next week, i hope my completion will come together -- my colleagues will come together to put our common defense over partisan politics. you know, producing the military equipment and facilities outlined in the ndaa requires a huge supply chain, and the pandemic revealed america's concerning dependence on foreign adversaries for items we use to produce here in the united states. our military is dependent on imported tungsten, cobalt, and rare earth elements. in addition to the military, our nation's food supply depends on imported materials for fertilizer. our energy supply chains are dependent on imported aluminum, copper, graphite, and uranium. all of these have been listed by the u.s. geological survey as

critical minerals. in 2018 and most recently in 2022, many of these maxed out at 100% imports to the united states. in fact, we import 100% -- 100% -- of our supply of 14 of the 35 critical minerals, as defined by department of interior. that means our domestic production of these minerals is zero. our dependence on foreign countries is growing every day. it's putting us in a bad situation. where are we getting our imports? mainly from russia, china, and their surrogates. we're importing these materials from a country waging brutal and unprovoked war on one of our allies as we speak and another

country with a human rights abuse record that is too long for me to fit into my time here today. all the while america boasts these minerals in abundance right here in the united states. this is a disgrace. america's enormous mineral wealth is sitting right under the feet of american citizens across this country. and we're getting them from our adversaries. this is a tragic irony similar to the perceived oil shortages in the 1970's that some of us remember. the skyrocketing energy prices, we didn't have enough oil, even though america is endowed with near limitless oil and gas wealth. we don't have to depend on anybody else. over a 200-year supply right here in our country. but we want to get them from somebody else. it's a self-inflicted crisis. and we're in the same boat with these critical minerals that i

just got through talking about. we are in a tough situation that's getting worse every day. instead of using what we have at home here in the united states, we're importing them by doing business with nations that run counter to everything that we stand for and that we value. two of it our largest suppliers, which are russia and china. as you can see on the chart, we depend on these adversaries for huge amounts of our supply of minerals and materials we need to produce everything from batteries to pharmaceuticals. what do we do that for? we've got it right here. that means when it comes to critical minerals, we go elsewhere. we're buying from countries that don't have humane labor standards, child labor, forced labor, slave labor. it all exists as i speak here

today, and the american consumer is subsidizing everything that's happening in these other countries by buying from them when we have what we need here at home. we're buying from countries that don't value our high environmental standards. china consumes six times -- are you hearing this, folks? six times the amount of coal as the united states. and we're worried about climate? and that figure is growing, not shrinking. we're buying from countries that don't value freedom and democracy. both russia and china use our courts, our laws, our media, our press, and our freedoms to erode trust in our most sacred institutions. we're buying critical minerals from countries that are outright

adversarial to america, that seek to topple our place in the world. america earned her place in the world affairs through blood and treasure, and we have maintained that world order to the betterment of humankind. the president of american democracy and capitalism has lifted more humanity out of misery and poverty than any other system of government or finance the world has ever seen. in 6,000 years of recorded human civilization, no system, and i mean no system has ever brought comfort, security, and dignity to so many. yet our nation's economic and national security apparatus is at very serious risk today.

just as in the 1970's, except the stakes are higher given today's unstable geopolitics. according to experts at the u.s. geological survey, other western industrial economies, some of whom provide critical minerals to the u.s., are also vulnerable to global mineral supply chain manipulation from these adversarial countries. most of these countries are also reliant on imports, making their economy somewhat fragile. but none more than us here in the united states. the u.s. tions its mineral -- the u.s. shuns its minerals rather than from the vast geological bointy. we have it all right here under

our feet. it's possible to mine critical minerals in an environmentally responsible way. we can do that. we are the united states of america. we can do that like they do in canada and australia. these two allies are wise environmental stewards because they know how to both extract needed minerals and protect their environments the same time. we can walk and chew gum at the same time. we're not behind these countries. we just don't want to do it. we can protect our environment and the national interest at the same time, and the future of this country. just look at uranium. clean nuclear energy powers 20% of america's power needs. 20%. in my home state of alabama, it powers a full third of our homes and businesses. uranium. clean and safe.

uranium powers our aircraft carriers and submarines fleets, keeping america and allies safe. america has uranium in abundance, but our nation's uranium mining industry is on life support at 0.1% of global production. we as a nation are better than this. we as a nation act like that we want to protect what we have because we don't know how to extract what we have. we want to use other people's. and as a country, we don't mind working with our allies, but why would we put the lives of 330 american citizens at risk because we don't want to use what we have, that we want to use and subsidize these other countries that want to put us in

harm's way every day? mr. president, i yield the floor.

mr. tuberville: mr. president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> host: represents montana in

, welcome to "washington journal." >> guest: thanks for having me on. >> host: let's start with the election for speaker. you told cnn that you would vote for a kevin mccarthy speakership under extreme circumstances. les reporting this morning there was a meeting of the republican conference, of your fellow members yesterday. what came out of that meeting? >> well, you're still going to have pressures back on forth on who is going to end up being the eventual speaker for the 1118th congress. and -- 118 congress. and there is still a lot of opportunity for us to wail make some changes and have someone who wants to be the speaker to support those changes. there's a lot of folks, bill, over the last 20 years that have said that washington is broken, and they campaign on the fact that washington is broken. and it truly is. and part of the reason for that

is we have consolidated the power of all of the decisions into the hands of just a few select individuals, and that's the speaker and what they call the rules committee in congress which is a group of nine people that make most of the decisions about what legislation is actually going to come to the floor, what amendments will be allowed to change that legislation. and then the rest of the body simply is in a position where they have to vote yes or or no on it, and that's it. so you don't have the collaborative process that most of the folks that have ever served in a legislative body in their respective state have been able to participate in. and so by doing this, by consolidating that power, by isolating the ability from -- freezing out the ability for the other members to participate in it, we don't have the ability to represent our constituents at the same level as those nine individuals that have

consolidated all the power. what we're doing is requesting that there is a, to diffuse this power back to the body by having a couple just basic changes. number one, that we have single-subject legislation come before congress which would eliminate a lot of these deals that are made back and forth to buy votes virtually and then to allow what they call open rule back on the house floor so that each member would be able to propose amendments to legislation as long as they were germane, as long as they would pertain to the specific legislation that was, had been introduced and brought out to the floor. and by doing that, we'd each have the ability to represent our constituents equally. >> host: you tweeted about this a couple weeks ago. you say each member of congress has earned and deserves equal participation in the legislative

process. that will only happen if the house returns to rules that govern this legislative body before nancy pelosi took control. kevin mccarthy isn't willing to make those changes. have you made any inroads with leader mccarthy. >> guest: no. no, unfortunately, he hasn't been willing to make those kinds of changes. we hear a lot of rhetoric, we see a lot of fanfare taking place, we see a lot of emphasis given to the oversight committees as we go into the 118th congress, and that's all really important. we've seen time spent down on the southern border, that's really important. but as far as changing the actual functions and the process on the house floor, we haven't is made any progress in that place. and that is how we're going to change congress. that's how we're going to restore order. and that's how the constituents across the nation are going to have equal representation. >> host: and to be clear, those rules wouldn't just follow -- the ones you're proposing

wouldn't just follow for republican members on the house floor, but for all members, correct? >> guest: that is exactly right. we're trying to make sure everyone has an equal voice in congress. anytime that you try to set a process up that basically benefits one party or the other, typically that's going to get turned around, and that's why we have this whipsaw effect on a lot of legislation and a lot of just the conduct that takes place up here. so we establish -- we're not talking about dramatic, radical changes jection. the question's on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 42, the nomination is confirmed. senator from delaware. mr. coons: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate recess following the vote on the murphy nomination, until 4:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the murphy nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: the judiciary, john frank murphy, of pennsylvania, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania. the presiding offi the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be o -- there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 63, the nays are 28. the nominations is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 4:30 p.m.