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tv   U.S. Senate U.S. Senate  CSPAN  December 8, 2022 10:59am-3:00pm EST

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end of wake of these recent tragedies. give law enforcement the tools and resources to stop those outshone are propensity to becoe violent. that's what we should be focusing on, not defunding the police, not demoralizing the police, not delegitimizing the police. we should be focused on assisting the police and identifying these individuals who want to commit a crimes. >> host: back in july during that house floor debate on an assault weapons ban talking about an assault weapons ban. again this point on the "washington journal" about 50 minutes left in the segment to hear your thoughts. this is larry the line for gun owners in saint stephen minnesota. good morning. >> caller: howdy. >> host: howdy. >> caller: how're you doing? >> host: doing good, , very. >> caller: interesting conversation. do you know what i find missing? i listened to the liberal mindset and they really want my
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weapons. okay. i want your vocal cords. i'll trade you my ruger -- >> host: we believe this "washington journal" discussion here to continue our over 40-year commitment to covering congress. you can see the rest of it if you go to our website c-span.org. today senate lawmakers working on several judicial nominations with the votes scheduled throughout the day. next week the senate plans to take up 2023 defense programs and policy legislation. also off the fourth senate lawmakers continuing negotiations on funding the federal government passed the december 16 deadline. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2.
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the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, who has given us the rich heritage of this good land, we praise your name. during this season of peace of earth, thank you for continuing to supply our needs. lord, help us to listen to the quiet direction of your spirit. consecrate our speech to your service that we may honor you
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with our tongues. as your senators today seek to do what is right, make your way clear to them. strengthen them to face the pressures that come with protecting freedom. we pray in your loving name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. 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.
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the president pro tempore: 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, jeffrey paul hopkins of ohio to be united states district judge for the southern district of ohio.
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mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: i would like to suggest the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:
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>> look at what is happening on capitol hill while we wait for senator to speak. work on judicial nominations. off the floor senators continue to negotiate funding the federal government passed the summer sixteenth. and house members are considering marriage equality legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law. the house and senate plan to take up 2023 defense programs and policy legislation. live senate coverage here on c-span2. >> 9 term congresswoman, a member of the ways and means committee. good morning to you. >> good morning, thanks for
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having me. >> funding is next friday, that is what we are likely to focus on for the foreseeable future. if this plays out do we have a shot friday at midnight? >> don't think anybody has an opportunity for a shutdown. if done for political manipulation, better angels. >> host: the effort being worked out by negotiators in your mind, what are the must haves? presidk consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i am worried that we're heading toward another unnecessary
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manufactured crisis because our current government funding is set to expire in eight days. so i want to take a moment to talk about how we got here, but there is a path forward. in fiscal year 2022, leader mcconnell required parity between defense and nondefense funding. it's a requirement we met, democrats and republicans. it provided the commonsense framework that will allowed us to finish our work. now the republicans have abandoned this framework demanding steep cuts to programs the american people rely on. the cuts would be more painful as inflation continues to squeeze pocketbooks, heating,
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cooling, food, and housing. these costs are becoming more expensive. they have justified this change of tactics by claiming the democrats spent $700 billion in reconciliation bills. they should me gait the need to provide parity to nondefense programs. of course there's an obvious flaw in that kind of reasoning. the spending they're talking about was to meet an unexpected crises that killed more than one million americans -- the global economy. people expect us not to defend americans at that time? the bills were meant to get us out of the pandemic, get the nation healthy, get our economy
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back on track, and i believe we're accomplishing that goal. woof anybody say he -- would anybody say they wish we had not spepts that money? they weren't meant to fund the basic fuptions of the american functions of the american government in fiscal 2023. they were meant to take care of the dangers of the pandemic that had killed one million americans and threatened to collapse the global economy. now, we democrats do agree with our republican colleagues that inflation threatens the national security. we all agree on that. but nondefense programs face an equal threat and demand an equal response because of inflation. and if we have inaction on the republican side, that threatens
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bipartisan priorities and programs -- priorities and programs of both republican -- that both republicans and democrats support. without an omnibus, the bipartisan chips law -- remember the chips law. that passed this summer. it's to help our country compete with china. well, it won't be funded. and that competition languishes. and our promise to our veterans will be broken as the bipartisan pact act would go underfunded. v.a. medical care would fall at least $7.5 billion short. without an omnibus, those who are opposing the omnibus are those who by inaction won't
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support an omnibus before us t. would defund the police by slashing assistance to local law enforcement. it would keep 1500 police officers off the streets and out of our communities. and the -- facing a surge in domestic violence, it would be the inaction of those who are not helping us get an omnibus bill through. it would leave the bipartisan reauthorization of the violence against women act without the new funding it needs. remember when i and others, we wrote the violence against women act. we had the lgbtq community. we had the native american community. and we added money to go after those who are predators of
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children. now, republicans may want to blame democrats for stifling the economy, but it's their position that we'll shortchange funding at our ports of entry and strangle the flow of commerce and the economy's ability to grow. you could have rhetoric but then reams catches -- reality catches up. and you need the money to fund our ports of entry or we all know the effect it will have on the economy. and if they do not join in this, it will be republicans who turn their backs on small businesses by not providing the sba with the resources they need to help small businesses thrive. and sending men and women to the moon, that funding is going to be delayed. for months we democrats have asked our republican colleagues
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to join us at the negotiating table for months -- negotiating table. for months we were met with dead silence. my door, the door of my staffs is open to join us in working at this any time. time is running out. we have to move forward. i have stayed here the past several weekends to be here top any negotiations people want. so to move this forward, i'd hoped we'd have a bipartisan bill on the floor by now. by monday the chair of the house and i will introduce an omnibus bill that we believe is fair and bipartisan. it will fully fund defense at the ndaa level. it will provide the needed increase to nondefense programs to both stave off inflation but
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especially to help the american people. and to show our good faith, we eliminated the so-called poison pill riders the republicans have objected to. and we firmly believe this bill can and should earn the vote of at least ten republican senators. so i think it's a reasonable path forward. money runs out on december 16. >> i think it would help if my republican friends accept yes for an answer. there's plenty in here where both republicans and democrats can declare victory. but most importantly, the american people can declare victory. we will, each side, will get a large part of what they want, but the most important part,
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american people, will get what they need. we should call this an american bill. it's not a republican or democratic bill. it's a bill for america, because if we don't do it we're going to have a continuing resolution at last year's level, with no adjustments for inflation, when the real-life consequences that entail. i would hope no republican wants that, because if they do we may end up with a continuing resolution that lowers funds for everything from defense to nondefense programs. damages our economy, damages our defense, and will have only themselves to blame. i would hope it won't be a case of who passes blame on the
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disaster, but rather a case where we come together and say to america, you can declare victory. i yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: >> look at what is happening on capitol hill while we wait for senator to speak. work on judicial nominations.
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off the floor senators negotiate funding the federal government passed the summer sixteenth. members are considering marriage equality legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law. they will take up defense programs and policy legislation. live senate coverage on c-span2. >> 9 term congresswoman, wisconsin democrat gwen morris, good morning to you. >> thanks for having me. >> that is what we are likely to focused on in the foreseeable future. do you think we will have a shutdown next friday? >> i don't think anybody has the appetite for that.
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we have seen it done, for political manipulation, better angels with -- >> host: the effort being worked out on capitol hill by negotiators, what are the most, must haves for a funding deal that comes together? >> there are things that have to happen. the national defense authorization as well as democrat. mr. president. earlier this morning -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, earlier this morning, the senate democratic caucus held elections to determine party leadership for the 118th congress. with gratitude and humility, i'm happy to say i've been
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unanimously elected once again as the democratic leader. i want to thank every member of my caucus for entrusting me with this awesome responsibility. my admiration and affection for every member of my caucus is really limitless. they're my friends, my compadres, my companions. they work together. we're an amazing unit, with only 50 votes ranging, of course, from joe manchin to bernie sanders, we have compiled one of the greatest legislative sessions in the last -- in this century, and even the last one, in what we have done. and next year we will continue to try to do great things for our country, in the next two years. i also wish to congratulate and thank my colleagues who form our caucus' leadership, especially senator schatz for becoming its
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newest member. want to thank senator murray for her incredible work as assistants democratic leader in the 117th congress and congratulate her on becoming president pro tem designate, succeeding senate leahy, who will soon retire. i also wish to thank my staff. they are the greatest. they are just the greatest. they've advised me and guided me over the last two years and helped me prepare for the congress to come. i would not want to go through a 50-50 senate with anyone but them. they're remarkable, hardworking, brilliant and just fine human beings as well, who really care. it's been such a privilege, honor, and joy to work with them. we must now look to the future. our focus in the congress to come shall be no different from our focus in the congress that concludes, getting things done for the american people. we want to keep this chamber active, alive, and busy, as much
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as possible. i make a clarion call to my republican colleagues -- reject maga and work with us in the years to come. we've made huge strides in congress, and i hope we can build on that, because the problems of our country are many and run deep. when meshes saw us -- americans saw us working on real issues this year, they responded positively and trusted this majority with two more years at the helm. now, it's clear that many on the other side of the aisle, our republican friends, are unhappy with the way their party has been doing business. some of the republicans want to pull the party even more in a maga direction. that's a recipe for disaster, for their party and the country. but there are many others who know driving down the maga road is like following thelma and louise off the cliff. we very much want to work with that group, that understands
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that we've got to get things done in a bipartisan way. and just railing and sleeking and -- shrieking and decrying, with no solutions and pure anger, ain't the way to go, it's not the way the american people want us to go. so i urge my non-maga republican colleagues to reject extremism, reject maga, embrace bipartisanship. don't just block bills next congress for the sake of gridlock. left us come to the -- let us come to the table and find ways to move forward together. our differences run deep. our disagreements are frequent. but that does not diminish the importance of working alongside one another when necessary, to improve the lives of the american people. i have no doubt that if we give it a good-faith effort we can be very successful, successful beyond what anyone would think right now. to the skeptics and the naysayers, all i have to say, when you say we can't do this, i said look at the record of the last two years.
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in a 50-50 senate, both sides found ways to pass the most ambitious legislative agenda, as i mentioned before, in a very long time. one of the most ambitious in decades and decades. we got infrastructure done. we reformed the post office. we reauthorized vawa. we ended forced arbitration for sexual harm. we passed antilynching legislation, helped our shipping sly lanes. after the shootings in buffalo and uvalde, we defied the nra and passed the first major gun safety bill in over 30 years. together we approved the chips and science act, passed the pact act, ratified the succession of finland and swede into nate and stood with -- into nato and we stood with ukraine. we passed the respect for marriage act, which the house is set to pass today. when we don't agree, democrats will if at it alone, as we did for the inflation reduction act. i know both parties fiercely
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disagree on the role of government in tackling these problems, such as environment and prescription drug costs. i hope the other side would agree that lower costs for seniors, lowering energy costs for families, and finding was is to preserve the planet are worthy causes that merit the attention of responsible legislators. so let me say it again -- i urge my republican colleagues, who are tired of maga, who know it is a formula for disaster, who know that it is embraced fiercely by a small group of extremists but is not where the majority of americans or even where the majority of republicans want to go. we have reminded again and again that the extreme maga agenda is not only toxic but dangerous to our democracy. it condones, sometimes lays right in bed, with those who urge violence to hurt america and destroy our democracy. but thank god the american
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people have rejected that. if there's any lesson to derive from the midterms, it's that it is certainly one of them. the american people don't like maga. they don't like hard right nastiness, they don't like threats to democracy. look, i know the other side will not rid itself of maga overnight, and unfortunately some on the other side are hellbent on doubling down on maga. for the sake of the country, and for the sake of the future of the republican party, we need to find ways to work together. to borrow quote attributed to sam rayburn, anyone can kick a barn down, but it takes a good carpenter to build one back up. he supposedly used slightly more colorful language. i won't repeat that here, but you get the point, mr. president. i hope that good carpenters exist on both sides, because there's still a lot of rebuilding to do across this
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country and new building, new front tiers to launch bravely towards -- front tiers to launch bravely towards. as majority leader, i will do my best to find opportunities for both sides to work together. so, let us move forward together with fearlessness, with clarity of purpose, and with a ceaseless hunger to reward the trust that americans have placed in all of us. i thank my democratic colleagues for the trust they have placed in me. i congratulate every single member of the leadership. and now, let's roll up our sleeves and get back to work. now, there's still a lot to do before the end. year. later today, the house is scheduled to vote on the ndaa, and when it arrives here in the senate i hope both sides can come to agreement quickly, pass it, and send it to the president's desk. defensive authorization and preservation of national security are important. i hope the senate can act rather quickly. equally important is funding the
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whole government, and we need to do whatever it takes to make that happen. we need to make sure our whole government is postured to compete with china, both the dod and across the government. we need to fund our efforts to assist the ukrainians. we need to fund our new communities and our friends in taiwan. while there's still more work to do before we bridge the gap, i'm hopeful we can get a full government funding package done soon. i want to remind everyone, i think people know it, that fully funding the goff is the -- the government is the best outcome, not only for the public, but or our sphwrims in uniform who worn useful who work day and night to keep us safe. short-term extensions hinder their abilities. i hope we don't go down that road. i urge both sides to keep negotiating until we reach a solution. i yield the floor. and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.
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quorum call:
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>> look at what is happening on capitol hill while we wait for senator to speak, work on judicial nominations. off the floor senators negotiate funding the federal government passed december 16th. members are considering marriage equality legislation to protect same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law. the house and senate plan to take up defense programs and policy legislation. live senate coverage on c-span2. : >> 9 term congresswoman will wisconsin democrat, member of the ways and means committee, good morning to you. >> guest: thanks for having me.
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>> host: funding deadline next friday, that is what we are likely to focus on for the foreseeable future. how does this play out? will we have a shutdown next friday at midnight? >> i don't think anybody wants a shutdown. we have seen it done. we are seeing it done for political manipulation. we have to hope better angels win. >> host: the effort being worked out on capitol hill by negotiators, in your mind, what are the must haves for any funding deal that comes together? >> there are things that have to happen. the national defense authorization, something i think republicans want as well as
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democrats want to see past but we are hoping to get beyond that. and to have an omnibus that includes other provisions. i would love to see the child tax credit extended, child tax credit included during the pandemic, and extremely effective way to deal with child poverty, to provide benefits to 85% of parents, up to single people, up to one hundred $15,000 a year, married couples, $115,000 a year which helped with inflationary impacts especially now.
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focus is in order. >> host: it boosted the child tax credit to $3000 from $2000, monthly payments happening for 6 months at the end of the year in july of 2021 through december and the second half came with 2,020 one tax returns. you said it was effective, how do we know that? >> guest: we had studies of the impact of the joint economic committee, determined 40%. it was especially effective, with african-americans and hispanic families. in addition to reducing poverty,
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it buoyed families in particular. when you think about it, kids don't work. so we found people used it on school supplies that are nutritious for kids, child care which we don't have a subsidy for and long term, this is a very effective investment. esidie senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: the great state of north carolina, mr. president. thank you for that. i ask that the quorum call be vitiated and the vote does not occur until after comments by leader mcconnell. the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. tillis: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. tillis: and i ask that the vote do not occur until after the comments by leader mcconnell. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. tillis: thank you. mr. president? i yield the floor.
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mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader.
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mr. mcconnell: kentucky is approaching the one-year anniversary of one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in our commonwealth's history. one year since 80 lives were lost and a deep scar was cut through western kentucky. we still remember the loss and pray for their loved ones. a few days after the storm, i visited some of the hardest-hit towns. i saw how the pictures of the damage in the newspaper and on television didn't even begin to capture the local devastation in places like mayfield, campbellsville, bowling green and do you son -- and dawson springs. homes literally ripped off their foundations, trees scattered like twigs, whole neighborhoods gone in an instant. the pain is still fresh, but as i've seen in multiple return visits, slowly but surely western kentucky is coming back.
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this weekend kentuckians are carving out time to honor those whose lives were lost and continue helping those whose lives were severely disrupted. dawson springs just erect add beautiful solemn memorial to the 19 residents that the city lost that day. in bowling green, organizations are delivering handmade christmas ornaments to storm victims. in mayfield even as members of the high school football team fought to rebuild their family's lives off the field, the neighborhood cheered the team to an undefeated regular season. even in tough times, actually, especially in tough times, kentuckians stick together. i'm thankful to all the volunteers and charities helping western kentucky remember this tragic anniversary and for all the men and women who spent days and weeks working tirelessly to
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remove debris and to rebuild. things are looking hopeful in the region this christmas. homes and businesses are coming back, families will gather again under one roof, the road to recovery remains quite long, but kentuckians will stand shoulder to shoulder until the rebuilding is done. and i'll keep standing right beside them. yesterday, on another matter, i explained a simple and obvious reality that will determine whether the ndaa and government funding legislation succeeds or fails. here's the simple fact -- protecting america and supporting our troops is not some partisan republican priority that we will cajole and reward democrats into accepting. providing for the common defense is a basic minimum
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responsibility of those of us in government. passing a defense authorization bill and appropriating the money our military needs are not right-wing demands that democrats get unrelated goodies for going along with. the commander in chief's own party does not get to take our troops hostage for related -- unrelated policy aims. democrats will not be getting special rewards for simply doing their job. yesterday i praised the bipartisan deal that our senate and house armed services committees have struck on the ndaa. the house was supposed to advance the bill yesterday, but instead the democratic majority fell into disarray. some democrats want to scuttle the defense bill by attaching unrelated liberal demands that would guarantee its collapse. attaching them to this carefully
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negotiated ndaa would achieve one and only one outcome -- it would ensure that neither the ndaa nor their wish list would become law. the only outcome that partisan game playing would produce is the collapse of this bill, a massive injury for the united states armed forces at the hands of president biden's party on president biden's watch. the house needs to send us the agreed-upon bipartisan ndaa and do so without delay. the same reality applies to appropriations. democrats just spent two years using the partisan reconciliation process to lavish trillions of extra dollars on liberal domestic demands while our armed forces were language which aring on the -- languishing on the back burner.
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the ppression printed and -- the biden administration the printed and spent trillions on things like social welfare and solar panels like there was no tomorrow. they couldn't assemble a bucket proposal that sufficiently funded our troops. so my friends across the aisle have zero standing to demand even more -- at this point, even more liberal spending in exchange for giving our armed forces what they actually need. our commander in chief and his party have spent huge sums on domestic priorities outside the normal appropriations process without a penny for the defense department. obviously we won't allow them to now hijack the government funding process as well and take our troops hostage for even more spending. protecting america is our job. republicans will not be bribed -- bribing our democratic colleagues with special treats as if they need to be bargained
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into defending america. the sooner the democrats fully accept this reality, the sooner we can get on with the people's business. that goes for both the ndaa and the government funding as well. now, mr. president, on one final matter, fewer than 40 miles from ohio's border with kentucky, about halfway between cincinnati and dayton, there's a suburb called lebanon. the corner of main street and broadway looks much like it did almost a century ago in 1926. that's when a young couple, robert and virginia jones, bought and renovated an unassuming brick building called the golden glam restaurant and hotel. but the golden lamb's modest exterior conceals major history.
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it's trimester location on the -- it's prime location on the highway made it a key stopover for important travelers. by 1926 each of our country's eight presidents from ohio plus henry clay plus a long list of other luminaries, every one of them had spent night at this particular inn or at least broken bread in its dining room. the jones' small-town entrepreneurial spirit won their family right into the history of american statesmanship. as it turned out, it also started a family tradition. because a few years later, those newly minted inkeepers had a daughter named joan and then joan and her husband, bill had
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their own kids, and though bill portman would pass away just a few months before the swearing-in, his son would someday cap an incredible career in government by representing ohio righter in in the united states senate. -- right here in the united states senate. as rob explained in his maiden speech, he spent his own formative years in and around a different family business. bill risked everything in early middle age to strike out and start an equipment business. joan kept the books. and the way i've heard it, young rob's own involvement was about as hands-on as it gets.
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there wasn't just no nepotism, mr. president, there was negative nepotism. one summer break, rob was put to break grinding old paint off the trucks. even his supervisor called it, quote, the lowest job in the place. this team -- this whole team effort grew portman equipment from five jobs created to more than 300. rob saw firsthand how growing prosperity, if it's done right, can create big win-wins for both small businesses and well-paid workers. so there were two family businesses in rob's blood line.
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a crossroads where statesmen hashed out decisions and a company that created jobs and helped workers support their families. and our distinguished clegg has spent his career continuing to do both those things at an even greater scale. for decades now from the executive branch to the house to the senate, rob's desk and phone line have been the site of history-changing conversations just like his grandparents' inn and he's worked to create a national climate where millions more main street entrepreneurs like his father can literally lift up workers and communities. now, i suspect that from time to time rob's felt like law, economics, and policy may not be so different from grinding paint off rusty trucks, but the gifts
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and talents that our friend commands have been making an impact, an incredible impact. our future colleague was such a topnotch lawyer that he wound up as a young associate white house counsel and then director of legislative affairs for president bush 41. then such a wiz at the legislative process that his ohio neighbors sent him back to washington as their congressman. then such a leader on economic policy that president bush 43 made rob u.s. trade representative and then turned around and asked him to run the arrive of management and budget -- the office of management and budget. so no wonder rob fit right in and hit the ground running when he came to the senate in 2011. sometimes our friend even fit in a bit too well.
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see, rob has a great talent for impersonations. he spent several presidential cycles impersonating some of our prior colleagues for republican tickets debate prep. he became such an open secret that during the 2000 campaign, joe lieberman joked he was going to start dispatching rob to handle campaign stops. but the real reason rob's impact or his deep knowledge, his work ethic, and his passion for finding his way through the thick of each consequential issue. our friends that focus on growth and prosperity landed him at the center of the most consequential tax reform in a generation. rob spearheaded a complex overhaul of international tax policy that passed as part of the 2017 tax bill and helped unlock a literal tidal wave of
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growth, reinvestment, and job creation. spent long nights securing huge bipartisan wins on infrastructure policy, not unlike how ohio statesmen 150 years earlier may have discussed internal improvements around a wooden table at the golden lamb. but rob isn't just a macro level policy whiz who focuses on top-line numbers. as much as rob is passionate about growing the overawl -- overall pie, he also knows rising tides don't automatically lift every vote. sometimes ohioans and americans face challenges that call for a special champion. so rob stepped up. he's been one of this body's sharpest early warning signals on crises like opioid addiction and human trafficking. he's used congress'
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investigative powers to craft solutions, and he's built the relationships to make law. the comprehensive addiction and recovery act and its sequels have brought hope to families in ohio and across the country who have battled the onslaught of opioids. the stop enabling sex traffickers act forced big tech kicking and screaming to finally crack down on exploitation and on and on. from international trade to national parks and everything in between. even at the tail end of a long session, rob's been known to linger even longer in the cloakroom patiently resolving the last few objections to some final policy he's got all the way to the one-yard line. but even when you get results at this scale, even when you leave ohio and our country a better place, late night policy visuals -- vigils eventually lose their
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luster when you've got an even more appealing home front. we know rob loves public service, but we also know that even that passion comes second to his beloved wife and partner, jane, and their three kids jed, will, and sally who i know rob considers his proudest accomplishment of all. for years washington and ohio's great gain have been their sacrifice. so while the senate is sorry to lose our friend, we can't be too upset that we now have to repay the favor. so, rob, congratulations on your outstanding service.
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the presiding officer: the question occurs on the hopkins nomination. is there a sufficient second? there is. there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:
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vote:
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vote:
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vote:
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the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 64, the nays are 32. the nomination is approved, is confirmed. 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 united states senate's actions.
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the clerk will report the motion 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 move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 1183, tamika r. montgomery-reeves of delaware to be united states circuit judge for the third circuit, signed by 17 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 tamika r. montgomery-reeves of the great state of delaware to be united states circuit judge for the third circuit shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:
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the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 57, the nays are 39. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, tamika montgomery-reeves, of delaware, to be united states circuit judge for the third circuit.
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h.r. . mr. hagerty: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. hagerty: in the last week new details have come to light with tiktok to censor speech. this is not limited to twitter, but this news underscores the problem and the need of congressional action to protect the rights of the american people. americans need to know when government and big tech platforms are trying to manipulate what they can say or what they can read. recently published e-mails to show what the company did to prevent the americans to see a news story weeks before the election. the twitter executives locked the twitter account of the white house press secretary who simply
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mentioned a story that was published in an established american newspaper with one of the largest circumstances in the country. facebook admits it likewise limited the spread of the story based on a general warning from the fbi about propaganda. the evidence also emerged that in 2022, biden and democratic campaign officials were going so far as to send lists of tweets for their corporate allies to remove, requests that twitter granted. this censorship activity has carried over into the biden administration. in 2021, then-press secretary jen psaki said that they are in regular touch with media platforms and facebook. a facebook official e-mailed and
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said i know our teams met today to better understand what the white house expects from us on misinformation going forward. the facebook employee told the hhs department that a number of posts had been deleted. the cdc proposed setting up a monthly misinformation meeting. additional freedom of information act requests in lawsuits revealed improper coordination between government agencies and social media companies to restrict speech here in america. meta, the parent company of facebook and instagram indicated that it talked to more than 30 different officials about its
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platform, including the u.s. election assistance administration and the white house. youtube indicated it had such communications with 11 federal officials. if the biden administration doesn't like what is being said, they reach out to their allies to silence it. government using its power to coerce censorship is what the chinese government party or what the north korean regime might do. it is not only un-american, it is unconstitutional. government cannot use big tech as a tool to end run the first amendment. the american people deserve to know when their government, which is sphoafd to work for them is using big tech to censor their speech or manipulate the information they see. in july of 21, i required
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transparency. the disclosed government censorship act would require government officials publicly disclose communications with big tech regarding their actions to restrict speech. actions that would plainly violate the first amendment if the government did it itself. the act contains appropriate exceptions to protect legitimate law enforcement for national security activity. it would require a coming off period to address the revolving door that occurs between government and big tech. this washington revolving door fuels politically driven censorship as evidenced by the fact that the former fbi general counsel who resigned because of the steele dossier scandal was hired by twitter and at the center of the decision to suppress the "new york post" story in 2020. our nation was founded on
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protecting freedom of speech under the first amendment would protect people by -- americans deserve to know when government is covertly trying to accomplish what the first amendment prohibits. as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the health and human services be discharged from further consideration of s. 2527, than the senate proceed to immediate consideration. i further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there an objection? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: mr. president, reserving the right to object. ill certainly fully appreciate senator hagerty's interest in protecting the first amendment and ensuring that legitimate
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speech is not unduly or unfairly restricted. i'm also committed to holding big tech companies accountable. i held a series of bipartisan oversight hearings on social media this congress, including bringing top executives in to testify and to answer tough questions. the legislation we are discussing today has not been considered by the homeland security and governmental affairs committee and i look forward to working with my colleague to explore these issues more fully. but given this bill has not been marked up by the committee, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. hagerty: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. hagerty: mr. president, i democratic colleague is objecting to legislation that simply allows the americans to see when the government is crying to censor them. my colleague has concerns that
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my bill hasn't been marked up in committee. but the committee to which this bill was referred has had over a year to review the legislation and no progress has been made. i would ask that my colleague commit to working with me on my legislation to address this important first amendment issue in the next congress. this problem is simply too significant to ignore. our government works for the american people to ensure this continues the first amendment prohibits the government from controlling what americans say or read. but now government is using big tech to accomplish such censorship without disclosure of such communications, americans free speech rights become a dead letter because there is no way to address this. my legislation would preserve these rights by allowing americans to see when government is trying to silence them. this is a basic element of self-government. mr. president, i yield the floor.
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a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. i ask to make remarks prior to a unanimous consent request. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. casey: i rise today to talk about the pregnant workers fairness act which is a bill i first introduced in 2012 with senator shaheen of new hampshire. senator cass i did has worked -- cassidy has worked with me and others to get this bill passed. i want to thank senator cassidy as well as the chair of the health education committee and the majority leader schumer and others for all the work they have done to help us pass this bill. this is a commonsense bill that has broad bipartisan, bicameral
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support. everyone from the aclu to the u.s. conference of catholic bishops to the u.s. chamber of commerce supports this legislation. these organizations didn't merely endorse the bill after reviewing it, they were actively involved in shaping the legislative text and finding agreement on the text that we are attempting to vote on and they remain supportive today. the pregnant workers fairness act simply close as loophole in the 1978 pregnancy discrimination act to allow pregnant workers to request reasonable accommodations -- reasonable accommodations. you're going to hear that phrase a lot today -- so that that worker can continue working safely during their pregnancy and upon returning to work after childbirth. i'm going to be coming back to that phrase in a moment of
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reasonable accommodations. i want to cite two examples. one from pennsylvania, a teaching assistant working at a child care facility. she's from bucks county, pennsylvania, in suburban pennsylvania, she suffered a miscarriage due to an infection, when she got pregnant again, she asked for extra bathroom breaks which were necessary to prevent contracting another infection. she was -- she was made to wait over an hour just to use the bathroom. later that day, she was fired. this is just one example of a pregnant worker asking for a simple -- simple commonsense accommodation and being denied that accommodation. what other types of reasonable accommodations that pregnant workers might request? light duty is a common example. pregnant people are routinely
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advised by their doctors to limit how much they lift, whether it's 20 pounds or 25 pounds or 30 pounds. peggy young was a ups driver who requested light duty when she was pregnant. other workers had received light duty, but she was denied because there was no requirement under the 1978 pregnancy discrimination act to provide reasonable accommodations. that's the loophole we're trying to fix. peggy young was forced into -- on to unpaid leave and eventually took her case all the way to the united states supreme court. other common accommodations a pregnant worker might request are stools or water bottles, cashiers or other retail workers are often denied these reasonable accommodations that can help them maintain a healthy pregnancy. there have been cases where pregnant workers have been demoted or forced into
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lower-paying jobs because their employer refused to provide uniforms to accommodate the worker's pregnancy even though the pregnancy didn't affect the worker. this is what -- this is it what would be provided to a worker that would not substantially inconvenience the worker while allowing pregnant workers to work through their pregnancy. all too often pregnant workers are being denied reasonable accommodations, leading to impossible choices for these workers. keep working in an unsafe environment? is that a good choice? taking leave early and running out before the baby is born? number three, be let go or force to quit and face the stress and financial strain that comes with losing their job. there is no need for this to happen. the pregnant workers fairness
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act sets up a simple framework that is easily understood and utilized by both employers and employees. under the pregnant workers fairness act a pregnant employee may request reasonable accommodations from their employer. the worker and the employer will then engage in an interactive process to determine how -- how the employer can provide these reasonable accommodations to the worker. this protects both parties, the worker may not be forced to accept accommodations that are not needed and that do not address the original concern. the employer cannot be asked to provide an accommodation that would pose an undue burden on that employer. if this process sounds familiar, that's because we have carefully crafted it to closely resemble the process under the americans with disabilities act. the ada is 30 years old.
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lots of case law in those years, testing and probing and examining this reasonable accommodations standard. so we have 30 years of evidence that reasonable accommodations is a way to protect workers who have a disability in the workplace, and it's also a great way to protect a pregnant worker. reasonable accommodations. mr. president, at this time i'll yield to my colleague, the chair of the senate health, education, labor, pensions committee, senator murray. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. before i remark, i want to i ask unanimous consent senator baldwin be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions today. the presiding officer: without objection.mrs. murray:thank you. president. i am here today because no one should have to choose between their job and a healthy pregnancy. it is outrageous that pregnant
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women in our country have been pushed out of their jobs, by their employers, because as you just heard they asked for abe additional bathroom or because their doctors say they need to avoid heavy lifting or their employer can't be bothered to provide them a stool to sit on. it is unconscionable that people looking forward to wonderfulling a new family member or having their lives upturned or losing their paychecks they depend on to make rents, buy groceries, or pay for child care, all because their employers refuse to provide basic, commonsense, low-cost and even no-cost accommodations. we have to do better, and that's why i'm here with senator casey, a relentless champion on this issue, to urge all of my colleagues to let us pass the pregnant workers fairness act, which is a bipartisan bill that will make sure no one is forced to choose between a job and a
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healthy pregnancy, and everyone can get the reasonable workplace accommodations they need when they are pregnant. let me be clear, this is fundamentally a bipartisan bill that we have worked closely with our republican colleagues on. senator cassidy coleads this bill. he's been an amazing parter in. it passed out of the help committee overwhelmingly. it is supported by my ranking member, senator burr, and it passed overwhelmingly on a bipartisan house vote. there is no reason to stand in the way. we can send this to the president's desk right now. we're really not here asking for much. this is very simple. give pregnant workers a break. give them a seat. and give them a hand. give them the dignity, the respect, and basic workplace accommodations that they need. this is way overdue, and i can't think of a more & commonsense, less controversial bill, and i
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hope we can get it done today. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: i want to add before i offer the unanimous consent request, senator murray made reference to the overwhelming support. this bill, when it comes to a final vote, will have at least 60 votes here in the senate if not more. i think it will be more than that. we should also note the passage in the house that senator murray made reference to. better than three to one. 315-101. more than 75% of house members support it. obviously, bipartisan. mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 425 s. 4431, further that there
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be up to two hours of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, and that the only amendments in order be number 1, lee, number 2 braun. further, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on the amendments in the order listed, with a 60 affirmative vote threshold required for adoption, and that following the disposition of the amendments the bill be read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill as amended, if amended, with a 60 vote affirmative threshold required for passage, without further intervening action or debate. finally, that there be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to each vote. the presiding officer: is there
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objection? mr. tillis: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: reserving the right to object. i thank my colleagues, the senator from pennsylvania, for his efforts to assure pregnant women have access to accommodations, reasonable accommodations, at work. they need to have healthy pregnancies. as the husband of a wife who had two children while working, and a grandfather of two grandchildren, with a daughter who is a nurse, i absolutely want to make sure those sort of reasonable accommodations are accounted for. however, in its current form this legislation before us would give federal bureaucrats at the eeoc authority to mandate that employers nationwide pro void accommodations, such as leave, to obtain abortions on demand under the guys of pregnancy-related condition. worst still, the legislation would subject pro-life organizations, including churches, and religious organizations, to potentially crippling lawsuits if they
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refuse to facilitate abortions in direct violation of their religious beliefs and their moral convictions. under like title 7, and the americans with disabilities act, this legislation contains no exemptions for religious organizations. mr. president, i and a number of other people do not believe that abortion is health care. i believe it's a brutal procedure that destroys an innocent child. the federal government should not be promoting abortion, let alone mandating that pro-life employers and employers in states that protect life facilitate abortion on demand. i hope that we can work together on this legislation and amend it to address those concerns so that all the reasonable accommodations that they've worked so hard to achieve can be passed and can gain my support and the support of other colleagues. but until such time, sir, i have to object.
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on behalf of senator lankford, senator daines and myself, i do object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. casey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: i yield to my colleague from louisiana. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: mr. president, i regret that my colleague has objected to this bill, and i -- but i reject the characterization that this would do anything to promote abortion. it's probably not important what i think. i'll quote the conference, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops. last night, they said, this is the catholic bishops, we believe this version of the bill, read in light of existing religious liberty protections, helps advance the u.s. conference of catholic bishops' goal of ensuring that no woman ever feels forced to choose between her future and the life of her child while protecting the
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conscience, rights, and religious freedoms of employers. this is the u.s. conference of catholic bishops last night. i think as a physician i can now speak. as a physician, i will say that there are times when a woman, if she wishes to continue in the workforce, needs an accommodation. the cincinnati police officer, or the louisville police officer, which was quoted in the cincinnati paper, spoke about her need for light accommodation. but those who are ultimately her boss would not give it to her, because she was not, quote, injured. they had a policy if you needed it on a doctor's order, you should, unless it was a doctor's order because of pregnancy. she was told if she sought to use that, she would lose her insurance. at five months pregnant, she'll lose her insurance. mr. president, i would argue the pro-life position is to make an accommodation for that woman who has those needs so she can
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safely carry the baby to term. by the way, it's also good for business. others endorsing this from the business sector, i'll give one -- the u.s. chamber of commerce. they clearly see that this is something which is a reasonable accommodation, not forced by unnamed bureaucrats in washington, d.c. upon people who are employing others across the nation. the u.s. chamber of commerce has made this a top priority. as regards the pro-life issue, let me also point out that the march of dimes, which is so vitally concerned about the health of children, likewise supports. my colleague mentioned that it passed out of the help committee 19-2, strongly bipartisan. and then passed the house with 315 bipartisan results. now, we have experience with these laws nationwide. 30 states interest laws such as this already, but that leaves millions of american women uncovered. and our goal was to address it
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with this bill. now, let me just go back once more, because this apparently was a sticking point. is it possible that this law would permit someone to impose their will upon a pastor, upon a church, upon a synagogue if they have religious exemptions? the answer is absolutely no. this is what the u.s. conference of catholic bishops was referring to, the title 7 exemption, which is in federal law, remains in place. it allows employers to make employment decisions based on firmly held religious beliefs. this bill does not change this. there's an exemption entitled -- in title 6 related to pastors, ministers, and rabbis and how they would conduct their business. all of that remains in place. which is why the u.s., united states conference of catholic bishops last night once again endorsed the bill. even those who oppose would
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agree we need a safe environment for pregnant women and their unborn children in the workplace. they desieive our oy tension -- deserve our attention. i say this bill is pro-family, pro-mother, pro-baby, pro-employer and pro-economy. i hope at a later point we can pass. thank you, and i yield. mr. casey: just by way of conclusion. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: by way of conclusion, mr. president, i hope we can continue to work with our colleagues to get this bill passed. i want to say, for the record, however, under the act, under the pregnant workers fairness act, the equal employment opportunity commission, the eeoc, could not, could not issue any regulation that requires abortion leave, nor does the act permit the eeoc to require employers to provide abortion leave in violation of state law. the eeoc understands that what is reasonable is specific to
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each workplace. for example, if the accommodation would conflict with a generally accepted work rule, like a seniority system, that is generally not reasonable. so for these and other reasons, we want to get this bill passed and not have to start all over again to delay the passage of the pregnant workers fairness act. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: i ask unanimous consent that i, senator klobuchar, senator cotton and senator paul be permed to complete -- permitted to complete the remarks prior to the scheduled role call vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president, i rise in strong support of h.r. 3843. this bipartisan package of commonsense an try tus reforms would bring a whole lot of much-needed improvements to the administration of our federal antitrust laws. first, it would update our merger filing feels to reduce
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the financial burden on the vast majority of filers. second, it would implement the state antitrust enforcement venue act to allow state attorneys general the same, so their enforcement actions can't be transferred out of their state to more defendant-friendly jurisdictions. third, this would require companies that submit premerger filings with the ftc and department of justice to notify the agencies of any subsidies or support that they receive from foreign countries of concern, such as china, russia, and iran. this will allow our antitrust enforcers to ensure american markets are not being manipulated by hostile states. finally, in addition to simply being good policy, these reforms are the product of bipartisan cooperation, exemplifying the model for future bipartisan
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cooperation on antitrust legislation. therefore, i stand in strong support of this legislation and many support -- am supportive of this request. i'd like to yield my time to the distinguished senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i thank you my colleagues, senator lee, senator cotton. we're united on this, as is senator grassley, the ranking member of the committee, as is senator durbin, the chair of the judiciary committee. these proposals got through our committee unanimously. we were able to pass them in different forms through this senate, on part of different bills. now and now this combined grouping of bills that the three of us have led have now passed the house of representatives. if lieu at what's going on -- if you look at what's going on in our country right now, we have a competition problem. over 75% of our industry ranging
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from ag to pharma to tech, a small number of large companies more and more are controlling more of the business than they did decades ago. look at just what happened with ticket master. the lack of competition is estimated to cost a median american household $5,000 per year. we all believe, we agree on some things, we disagree on some things, but we all agree that we need to update our laws in some way. one of the ways you do this is to make sure that our enforcers can take on the cases against the biggest companies the world has ever known. the agencies are now a shell of their former selves. in 1980 when the antitrust division was working to break up at&t, it had 453 lawyers. as of april 2021, that number has fallen to 299. the ftc had 1,719 employees in
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1980. now it's down to 1,100. we cannot take on the biggest companies the world has ever known or put fair rules of the road in place if we expect the enforcers to use band aids and duct tape. not only that, they bring in money when they bring these cases. so i am proud of the work senator lee and i have done together. i would note that leaders of both parties support these concepts, including the former assistant attorney general in charge of antitrust making as well as the current administration, including the former republican ftc chair joe simons in addition to the current leadership in this administration. capitalism is built on the foundation of competition and open markets. to quote adam smith, the so-called godfather of our capitalist system, the invisible hand of competitive entrepreneurship is key, but he also said that we must watch out
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for the overgrown standing army of monopolies. there's the old cartoon with a bunch of the monopolies sitting up there with the guests are looking down, used to be railroad, all kinds of other trusts. new the new guy is in town and it's equally dangerous to capitalism and i appreciate the work of senator lee and senator cotton. thank you. i yield the floor to senator cotton. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: part of china's strategy to defeat the united states includes unfairly helping corporations buy on american companies. we can prevent them from gobbling of american businesses but we don't know which companies china subsidizes or by how much. a bill i introduced with congressman fitzgerald would require companies to disclose any subsidies they receive from foreign adversaries before a merger. if a company has received subsidies from a nation like russia or china, u.s. antitrust
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regulators can use that information to determine whether or not the merger is fair. this bill has support from republicans and democrats. the administration and from the house of representatives. we should pass this package of bills today to protect american businesses and consumers and to stop china's economic war against the united states. i yield the floor back to the senator from utah. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 3843 which was received from the house and is at the desk. further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: reserving the right to object. the proponents of antitrust laws are famously zealous in their desire to eradicate the curse of
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bigness. to them big is always bad except, of course, when it comes to the size and scope of government. the same people who supposedly fear the concentration of power in the marketplace celebrate the concentration of power in the state, a state that inserts itself into and nullifies private contracts, breaks up companies it deems too large, and inflicts punishment on those who succeed in the competition for customers. in short, antitrust seeks to cap the amount of success any company or business can enjoy and the benefits reaped by customers. as the economist broasen wrote, antitrust law shows firms should compete but should not win. firms should be sufficient enough to survive but should not share the fruits of greater efficiency with their customers. and that is the fatal defect of antitrust policy.
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antitrust fails to accept the lessons of economic history that voluntary exchange is a win-win proposition and that consumers are incredibly powerful in a free market system. a company that continues to reward its customers with superior products and innovations will in turn be rewarded with greater market share with more and will do better than their competitors and they will grow in size. size is not necessarily a bad thing. the size of a business reflects its ability to please its consumers. but no company can achieve a strong position in the market and rest on its laurels. consumers are too demanding. and competitors will arise to steal customers away from any firm that ceases to treat its clients well. unlike players in the marketplace who must take note of consumer trends to survive, antitrust enforcers often fail
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to see what it is right in front of their face. just take the issue of video services. in 2005 when netflix was already several years old and growing in popularity, the ftc, believe it or not, busied itself in blocking a merger between blockbuster and hollywood video. so this is the inside of government. netflix is beginning to take off and the antitrust busters, the trust busters are breaking up vcr companies, dvd companies. they're going after blockbuster. this is the incompetence of government and we should not encourage this. blockbuster and hollywood video no longer exist. even now netflix is the one they're worried about. so netflix was the competitor that put blockbuster out of business. they wanted to get blockbuster to forbid them from merging. it makes no sense at all.
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no such fear exists today, though, that netflix will be a nonmoply since they're -- monopoly since they're competing with hulu, peacock, amazon, hbo max, apple tv, paramount plus and others. but five or six years ago you might have thought netflix was going to take over the year. we have to break them up. no. if companies please their consumer, let them get bigger. bigger means they're giving their cution hers something they want. we didn't need government to break up netflix. we didn't need government to interfere to ensure competition. and innovation. all we needed to do is let the marketplace work. but standing in the way of the benefits of the market are the antitrust zealots. the u.s. chamber of commerce has pointed out that enacting this bill would stymie legitimate business transactions between sectors and industries, create
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needless new bureaucracy, and spur unwarranted litigation. but the package is even more nefarious than that. it will take money out of the productive sector, the private sector, and give it to bureaucrats in washington. as americans for tax reform correctly points out, this legislation would give the biden administration hundreds of millions of dollars in new funds to pursue a progressive social agenda. they're talking about critical race theory and all this craziness injecting this into whether your company can merge or not. this is not something we need to give them more money to do. we need to give them less money. the package of bills here is just the first step to reinvigorate antitrust law. there's no lack of bills designed to empower government control over the marketplace. take just one bill called the competition and antitrust law
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enforcement reform act which would presume that any merger of a certain size violates the law and shifts the burden of proof to the merging parties. government doesn't have to prove that you merging and becoming bigger is bad. you have to prove that you're -- your americaning somehow is a benefit. people -- merging somehow is a benefit. people merge to provide lower costs and gain market share for consumers. that's what capitalism is based on. that's what adam smith really wrote about. according to robert bork jr., the antitrust bill would enact so many potential ways to prosecute, abuse and torment companies that government would in essence become the real board of directors and every major company would be ruled by the federal government. that is what is coming. that is what they're proposing. this bill today is a small step in that direction, but what they have in the pipeline is more government control of business.
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the package today is a mere precursor to designating the department of justice and the ftc as the central planners of the american economy. this bill seeks to take the power out of the hands of the consumers and hand it to the antitrust bureaucrats. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. lee: mr. president, it's unfortunate the objection has been launched. i think i disagree with every single assertion in there. that's not what this bill does, not in the slightest. this bill does not take the position that big is bad. i'm well familiar with the big is bad theory. that's not what this is. the merger fees are being reduced, like 85% of all filers. this simply allows them to do what they need to do and nothing more. it's unfortunate. i'm grateful to my cosponsor, senator klobuchar, the lead sponsor for this bill and the bipartisan effort in which she's managed this. thank you. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to
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invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in correspondence correspondence -- in cord nantz of the provisions -- bring debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 1146 danny -- dana m. doug las for the united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of dana m. douglas of louisiana to be united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.
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the presiding officer: the ayes are 63, the nays 31, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk: the clerk will report.
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the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, dana m. douglas of indiana to be united states circuit judge for the fifth circuit. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. portman: mr. president, 12 years ago i stood on this senate floor for my maiden speech. i was new to the senate, but i had a sense of what i thought was possible to achieve my constituents in ohio having served in the house for two years. in my speech i talked about the interest in solving problems an working across the aisle to tackle big issues facing our
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country. that's what we've tried to do. we've had some successes and some disappointments, but through it all, i considered it a great honor to be given a chance to represent my neighbors, the people of ohio. we viewed it as a sacred trust to do all we could. our commitment was to move the ball forward whenever possible for our great country and the families who wrep it. and through our legislation, we have honored that pledge. it has been a team effort. i've been blessed by an awesome staff sitting behind me today, some amazing senate colleagues and friends in every corner of ohio who helped me to represent our diverse state. if helped me to understand families, in a partner in all things, jane portman. what inspires someone to get into public service?
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my mother -- through my parents volunteer work and my sister and brother, they helped to change lives. i respect that. i chose to serve in a different way, which involved the rough and tumble of politics. not for everybody, but also a way to help others. another reason for getting involved in politics was my father, bill portman. even though he was a small business guy, he thought it was crazy to get into this line of business. when i was a kid he gave up his safe job as a fork forklift sales company to start his own business. he gave up health care, a retirement plan and five people, my mom was with a book keeper, started portman equipment company, with lots of debt. they actually lost money the first few years, but he never gave up on his dream an eventually through hard work an integrity fond his niche. my brother, sister and i all worked at portman equipment
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company in high school and college. by the time my dad retired, my brother took over the company and almost 300 people worked there. keeping that american dream alive and to create the conditions to let that next bill portman to take that risk and build his or her dream helped so many families and communities has been my north star, that's what guided me. my dad played a special role in my decision to run for the united states senate. in a couple of years before 2010, we had the great recession. our country went through some tough times. i stepped away from public service at that time. i was back in the private sector thinking that i would never run again. then my friend and mentor roy voinovich decided to retire and jane and i began thinking about it and traveling around and talking to people. across ohio people told me about the policy decisions made here in washington and how it
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affected them. and i remember in early 2009 asking my dad, if he would do it again, would he take that risk and start a business from scratch? his answer was troubling. he said he wasn't sure. he listed higher taxes being talked about, more health care costs, more regulations. he said i don't know if it would be worth it. that conversation with my dad was part of what drove knee to run for the senate -- me to run for the senate. i believe i needed to help drive more people achieve their american dream. not many people would say that politics is an honorable profession. a recent poll showed 20% of americans approve of the job congress is doing. partisan gridlock keeps us from solving problems like the energy crisis and what's happening on our southern border. it doesn't have to be that way.
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it can be honorable. we all have our own views and that's fine and as elected leaders we have a responsibility to represent our states an constituents. sometimes we forget we were hired to do our best to find that common ground and achieve results. that's what we were hired to do. when i need to be reminded about that, i think about my political mentor, george h.w. bush. to him, public service was a noble calling a, way to serve. and he help young people like me see that by his example. in working for his son george w. bush, i witnessed that same commitment to public service. in my senate office, as these folks behind me can recite, we have a mission statement and we developed it together. and it says the following. our mission is to deliver bipartisan results through effective servant leadership with integrity, selflessness and excellence so all ohioans can
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reach their god-given potential. what is servant leadership? it begins with the respect for constituents by listening to them and understanding their concerns and whenever possible delivering those results for them from casework to legislation. during my time in the senate, i'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish for ohio and the country by trying to follow that formula. i'm told by my staff today as of this week, over the past 12 years there were 195 bills i authored or coauthored signed úthd forth it leads to that common ground. not all bills are monumental and my constituents will never hear about the vast majority of them because they aren't controversial and therefore the media doesn't cover it. but it makes a difference. as an example, a bill i wrote with senator hassan is on the president's desk.
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about the hearing issue, it is important to a family. this is a testament to the willingness of staff on both sides of the aisle to find a way to achieve mutual objectives by listening to different points of view even when there is trust and dysfunction, we've been able to achieve a lot together. today i want to touch on a few of those areas, it won't be 195, but a few of them. thanks to bob menendez and ranking member risch for working on a number of legislation. thanks to the leaders of the finance committee, chairman wynne and ranking member crapo for working with me, including working with ben cardin on our retirement bill. senator cardin thanks for being my partner on retirement
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savings. from hospice to israel to irs reform. i dragged him into irs reform. as ranking member of the homeland security committee, i would like to thank my colleagues and chairman gary peters. he hails from the state to the north and as an ohio state fan, i have to make that point, we are friends and have been able to accomplish a lot in the last couple of weeks from helping to protect houses of worship to combating cyberattacks. i've been proud of the work i have done. the bipartisan investigations i spearheaded as chair of the permanent subcommittee investigations with senator carper, led to the end of websites like back page that led to the trafficking of women and children online. i led efforts to ensure that our federal government doesn't allow human trafficking to occur with the influx of unaccompanied
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minors passing the u.s.-mexico border. this demonstrated that federal agencies must implement reforms to hen sure the safety and security -- ensure the safety and security of these vulnerable children. our 18-month psi investigation, showed ow drug traffickers exploited our international mail system to ship fentanyl through the postal service led to the successful implementation of the stop act. through a bipartisan investigation, we also found that china has been targeting and stealing scientific research and intellectual programs. american taxpayers have been unwittingly funding the rise of china's military over the past couple of decades while federal agencies have done little to stop it. i help -- to require the federal government to take decisive action to safeguard our intellectual property, our inventions, our research here in
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america. it has passed the senate. i'm disappointed some members have blocked it. our investigations this year also reveal china's malign influence to target and undermine the u.s. federal reserve. we must do more to safeguard our homeland from the threat of phone adversaries, especially china. i appreciate senator heinrich for launching the intelligence caucus with me to ensure thoughtful, bipartisan policymaking on ai. 15 of our bills to ensure safe and coordinate use of artificial intelligence have now become law. since 2015 when my bipartisan federal permitting improvement act was signed into law as title 41 of the fast act, i worked to update our infrastructure and create good jobs while expanding and streamlining the permitting process. thanks to senator sinema and senator sullivan for their passion on this issue and their leadership in passing the federal permitting reform and jobs act to make these key provisions and the permitting council permanent which speeds
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up the permitting process for some of the largest infrastructure projects resulting, by the way, on average with the 45% time savings and major cost savings. can he should expand that. i also want to thank the bipartisan group of senators who worked with me on the historic infrastructure bill. with the special thanks to my lead democratic partner senator sinema. along with senators collins, romney, cassidy, murkowski, warner, shaheen, tester, and manchin. every president in every congress in modern times has talked about the need to fix our aging infrastructure, but we worked from the middle out to form a bipartisan coalition of 69 members to go beyond the talk and make some of these needed and historic improvements to our nation's roads and bridges, ports and rail, and upgrade our nation's broadband system and so much more. the process to me was almost as important as the substance. we did it by focusing on our key principles of core infrastructure only, no tax hikes, and bipartisan consensus. i was proud to team up with each one of you.
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and i thank you for your willingness to find that illusive common ground. and so to people in my hometown who have heard politics talking about fixing the bridge which connect, ohio to senator mcconnell's state of kentucky. for over 30 years we've been talking about. it's the confluence of two major highways, carries more than 150,000 vehicles a day which is twice as much it was designed to carry, has no shoulders on the bridge because they were eliminated to carry more traffic which makes it unsafe and is still congested. local, state and federal stakeholders have never been able to come up with a way to solve the problem. the travel will be safer for hooians but improve the movement of goods throughout the midwest and strengthen our national economy. there are so many people i'd like to recognize and apologies in advance for those who i will miss. senator blumenthal, thanks for
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working with me on the greatest -- one of the greatest humanitarian and civil rights causes of the 21st century, human trafficking. we started a caucus and we've enacted a number of bills to address trafficking, including ensuring justice for victims of sex trafficking and holding internet sites accountable to prevent the facilitation of trafficking, the one time that congress has been able to successfully eliminate the section 230, immunity. senator whit whitehouse has wore by offering the comprehensive adrix recovery act to provide a broad response to the opioid crisis, that provides individuals with the evidence-based treatment and recovery services they need. i think looking at addiction as a disease is probably the most important thing we did in that legislation in addition to the significant funding. i want to thank senator blunt who i see here for his role on the appropriations committee, senator capito has been right there with him. senator klobuchar and i worked to pass the stop act to keep
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china from shipping fentanyl through the u.s. mail and senator capito and senator manchin have worked with me to pass important bills on scheduling, fentanyl and analogues to make sure it's illegal. i've been engaged on the substance abuse issue for 25 years. i started a group in hog that has become a model of prevention coalition. enacted the drug-free communities act that has helped spur the establishment of about 2,000 coalitions around the country. i worked on that with senator chuck grassley when i was in the house. in fact, chuck took me to iowa with him to set up an antidrug coalition there that was almost as interesting as going to the iowa state fair when i was trade representative. senator shaheen and i have worked over the years on policy issues and energy efficiencies. we introduced our first energy efficiency bill in 2007. helped to reduce energy bills for families and businesses and reduce emissions by simply using
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less energy. and i thank my college classmate senator hoeven for his leadership on our energy efficiency bill and his all-of-the-above energy approach and mostly for helping me improve my spanish by adding a north dakota accent. i also want to thank senator bennet for successful efforts on encouraging carbon capture and sequestration. our legislation is starting to work to do that. i appreciate senator stabenow's partnership as my cochair on the great lakes task force. working with her and all members of the task force, we've made a lot of progress fighting harmful alga blooms and so many other issues important to our constituents along the world's largest fresh water resource. thanks to senator kaine as my cochair of the career and technical education caucus working to challenge congress to do more to address the nation's skills gap and promote the jones act, to provide individuals the skills they need to get good-paying jobs. those skills are needed out there and we need to focus more on how we ensure that we're not
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just spending money to send young people to college but also getting them the industry recognized skills that they need. senator coons, burr, and whitehouse as company chairs of the natural conservation caucus. you've been great partners to conserve forests and develop strategies to protect some international treasures like the delta in southern africa. i appreciate senators warner and king and former senator alexander to work to restore our parks act which is finally addressing the massive deferred maintenance backlog at our national parks. some of our most treasured landscapes can be enjoyed for generations to come. because of the chips and science act, the bipartisan legislation i worked on with senators young, tillis, sinema, and schumer, intel recently broke ground on its semiconductor plant judgment side of columbus, the largest investment in the history of ohio, an investment we believe will grow over time. with the chips act now in law, we can reverse this trend of
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this critical semiconductor manufacturing capability being sent overseas. it's going to create thousands of high-paying jobs here but most importantly to me, help strengthen our national security. these remarks will be incomplete without a reference to our work on tax reform. as i mentioned when i decided to run for the senate in 2009, ohio was losing jobs. our economy was falling behind. campaign was based in part on a plan for jobs that focused on a number of economic policies, including fixing our tax code, making it competitive again for american workers. and businesses. in 2017 one of the highlights in the senate for me when i was able to work with a small group of lawmakers, pat toomey, tim scott, john thune, helped develop the promise with the tax cuts and jobs act. the first time congress had passed comprehensive tax reform in 31 years. it cut taxes for middle-class families, reformed our business tax code to create more and higher wages for ohio workers and updated our international
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code to encourage employers to actually bring jobs and investment back here to america. i wish it could have been more bipartisan but frankly much of what i led on the international side had absolute bipartisan roots and i believe it worked. tax reform helped us through a period of unprecedented economic growth. after tax reform and before the pandemic, we had 19 straight months of wage gain of 19% or more. well above inflation. and most of the wage gains went to lower income and middle income workers. we also had the lowest poverty rate since we started tracking it in the 1950's. lowest unpolite rate ever for blacks, women, hispanics. it was an opportunity economy. unfortunately, a lot of those gains have been walked away by the pandemic and an avalanche of stimulus spending over the last two years that has fed the demand side of the economy while supply has been constricted by covid but also by regulations, particularly on energy. contributing to the highest inflation in 40 years.
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i hope the new senate will have an opportunity to reset and working with the house make pro-growth economic policies a higher priority. i want to thank so many of my colleagues who have worked with me over the years to support ukraine and its ongoing fight for freedom. this is an issue near and dear to my heart and to ohio, as some of you know, where the home of many ukrainian americans and other nationality groups that are committed to the goal of a free and independent europe. i want to thank dick durban, the cofounder and cochair of the ukraine caucus and my republican colleagues in the caucus who are so passionate on ukraine. senators graham, wicker, kramer, cotton, barrasso, rick, burr, mikulski, cornyn, mcconnell, ernst and and others. and all those who joined me with ten trips to ukraine since 2014 when ukraine rows up and threw off a corruption russian government and turned to us, the west. this includes two recent sobering visits to ukraine with
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senators klobuchar and coons. in 2015 i authored a book called the ukraine security initiative which has become the key funding account which is used to equip the ukrainian forces. we need to fund this account and lead the free world carrying the torch of freedom. since russia's original occupation of ukraine, escalated into a full-scale war on february 24 of this year, i have spoken on the floor 27 times every week we've been in session about the unprojoked, illegal, and brutal invasion of ukraine. my most recent speech was last night so i won't go on, but except to say we are at a critical junction right now and it is more important than ever that we support ukraine. so i'm going to be fighting hard for a continuation of aid to ukraine before christmas. we just discussed so many examples of breaking through the partisan gridlock and getting things done. but despite these achievements, i do worry about the divisive political rhetoric in our country. it's important we restore faith
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in our democratic institutions both for our own country's sake and so we can continue to be that beacon of hope and opportunity for the rest of the world. we can rise above the cynicism and the dysfunction. we just talked a lot about how that's happening and has happened over my last 12 years in this body. we did it on infrastructure as i've outlined and so many other ways. i urge all of us to remember that there is more that unites us than divides us. i hope that one of the things we can agree on is the need to uphold this institution and what it stands for. i strongly believe that means preserving the legislative filibuster that protects the rights of the minority in the senate and is really the only thing that forces us to work in a bipartisan way. the result when we find common ground is better legislation that will stand the test of time and not be changed every time there's a change in the majority in this body. our country and this body faces enormous challenges, whether it's the economy and the record inflation, the national debt
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that's robbing future generations, the absence of any real border security and our broken immigration system. these issues won't be solved by one party running over the other. and imposing its will on the senate and the country. they only be solved by us working together in good faith. at the start of my remarks today, i said serving the people of ohio is the greatest honor of my life. over the past 12 years i've worked with el with my colleague and friend from ohio, senator sherrod brown on issues important to our state. sherrod, we've canceled each other's votes out many times on the floor of the senate. but we've also figured out how to work together and i'm proud of the work we've done on issues that are important to ohio, like the great lakes, trade enforcement, di aix -- addiction and important judicial nominees like the judicial court judge we just confirmed thank. despite our differences, we made progress for ohio together. i hope you'll have the same type of relationship, good working
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relationship with my friend, senator vance. he has an impressive background in the military and private sector. i know he wants to make a difference in the lives of ohio workers and families and i look forward to watching him in action here in the senate. i know what it's like to be in public service with young children so i want to wish jd, his wife and their three kids well. jane and i support you both. thanks to everyone who has served on team portman throughout my career. the first bush white house, the house of representatives, the ustr, omb, and here in the senate. we're having an alumni event tonight with a couple hundred of some of the best public servants ever assembled. jane and i are looking forward to seeing you there. i have an amazing senate staff who stuck with me to the bitter end. thank you. both in ohio and in washington, d.c., many of them are here in the chamber today. i want to thank them for their hard work and dedication to getting things done. they work really hard for the people of ohio and for our country.

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