there's time to get started. the deadline for entries is january 20th, 2023. for compe rul and tips how to get started, visit our website at student cam.org. >> senate lawmakers today continue work on a bill to fund the federal government through next september. in the meantime, senators are expected to hold a confirmation vote for lynne tracy to be u.s. ambassador to russia. if confirmed the first woman to serve in that role. today ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is visiting washington d.c. after meeting with president biden he's expected to address a joint meeting of congress this evening. we'll have live coverage on the c-span networks. >> right now live to the floor of the u.s. senate on c-span 2.

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. almighty god, the center of our joy, prepare our spirits, clarify our minds, and stir our hearts for your movements among us. lord, use us to bring peace on earth. help us to feel your presence in our opportunities to touch hurting lives. may your whispers prompt us to

deliver captives and bring healing to the bruised. abide in the hearts and minds of our senators. guide them with your counsel tht they may not stumble or fall. use their hands to transform dak tomorrows. we pray in your mighty name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., december 21, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable ben ray lujan, a senator from the stae of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, lynne m. tracy of ohio to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to the russian federation.

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mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: the senate is not. mr. schumer: mr. president, i see you are in your ukrainian yellow and blue, as am i, and that's appropriate, because this will be a day to remember in the history of the united states congress when we welcome president volodymyr zelenskyy of ukraine. this is president zelenskyy's first trip outside ukraine since the beginning of russia's invasion. the president of this young democracy will address members

from both chambers in a joint meeting of congress. it's always a high honor to welcome a foreign head of state to congress, but it's nearly unheard of to hear from a leader who is fighting for his life, fighting for his country's survival, and fighting to preserve the very idea of democracy. it shows the importance president zelenskyy places on us continuing to give him robust help. where winston churchill stood generations ago, so too president zelenskyy stands, not just as a president but also as an ambassador of freedom itself. where wince the conference board churchill, let me just say that again because it's so important -- where winston churchhill stood generations ago, so too will president zelenskyy stand today, not just as a president, but an ambassador of freedom itself. president zelenskyy could not arrive at a more crucial moment

for the senate. we're not only voting to approve more emergency wartime funding, but today here in the senate we will also vote to confirm the u.s. ambassador to russia, lynne tracy, who will be tasked with standing up to putin. we should complete our work on both -- we should complete our work on both the omnibus, with ukrainian aid, and the confirmation of our new ambassador to russia, very quickly. now, mr. president, i hope all house republicans will attend the zelenskyy address this evening. and when they do, they should listen to president zelenskyy describe the horror his people have endured at the hands of vladimir putin. i hope that donald trump's friendship with putin is not motivating house republicans to turn a blind eye to ukraine's suffering and desperate need for help, because the so-called friendship between putin and

trump was a sour relationship that was deeply damaging to our country and to the international order. excuse me. this week marks ten months since vladimir putin began his unprovoked, immoral, and savage invasion of ukrainian territory. while the conflict is sadly not near its conclusion, russia's military is on its heels after a series of humiliating defeats, a testament to the ukrainian people's bravery, resilience and commitment to defending their homeland. ukraine's success also shows that american support is working. to date, our funding has put more weapons in ukrainian hands and more victories under their belt. now is not the time, not the

time, to take our foot off the gas when it comes to helping ukraine. the single worse thing we can do right now is give putin any signal that we are wavering in our commitment to defend democracy in ukraine and around the globe. by passing this omnibus and confirming a new ambassador, we can send president zelenskyy back to ukraine with the message that the senate, the congress, and the american people stand unequivocally behind the people of ukraine, and we're backing that up with real dollars and real resources. i commend president displel for his courage -- president zelenskyy for his courage, i thank him for his leadership, and i will happily join congress in welcoming him to the capitol later this evening. now, on the omni, as we speak democrats and republicans are working on the final significant achievement of a truly significant two years in congress, a yearlong funding bill to avert a shutdown and keep the government working well

into the next fall. earlier this week the appropriators released the text of the omnibus, a bill overflowing with good news, good news for our kids, our parents, our troops, our smail businesses and more -- our small businesses and more. the senate took the first step to passing this bill last night, voting 75-20 to begin debate. note the margin, 75-20. that is a strong signal that both sides are keen to finish funding the government very soon. we must finish our work before the deadline of friday midnight, but in reality i hope we can vote on final passage much sooner than that, even as early as tonight. there's no reason for the that et to wait, and plenty of -- no reason for the senate to wait, and plenty of reasons to move quickly before a potential blizzard makes travel hazardous for members, staff and families right before the christmas season. in an effort to reach final passage soon, both sides will continue negotiating a number of

amendments i hope we can begin voting on later today. again, that's going to require cooperation. so i urge my colleagues not to stand in the way of mo everything this process forward -- not to stand in the way of moving this process forward. nobody wants a shutdown. nobody benefits from a shutdown. i hope nobody here will delay this process to fund goff asal -- to fund government asap. this package is full of good news for our kids, veterans, small businesses and even our democracy. for one, we'll pass long-sought reforms to the electoral counts act after a lot of hard work from senators manchin, klobuchar and collins and blunt, and many others. now is not the time to take our foot off the gas when it comes to helping -- excuse me.

the 117th congress began under the shadow of a violent insurrection, so it is fitting that one of our final actions will be passing a bill safeguarding our elections from future dangers. the omnibus also represents a major win for kids and parents across the country. it increases child care assistance by 30%. our child care agencies are struggling. this 30% increase is a huge shot in the arm to help them. it also is a massive boost for the tens of millions of families who can't afford this basic necessity. we have a shortage of workers. one of the reasons, not good child care. this helps alleviate that situation, because moms, dads who want to take care of their kids, but have to go to work can't go to work unless there's adequate and good child care. we're also taking a temporary program that helped kids eat during the summer during covid

and making it permanent. so parents won't have to worry about their kids going hungry during the day when school is not in session. i'm also proud we got many of the best elements of the momnibus in this package. we'll ensure new mothers on medicaid and chip have a full year of postpartum coverage. that's a great breakthrough. we're increasing funding for nurses and health care workers and beef up support for mental health services, which i fought for very hard. discrimination in maternal care and at birth is a real blot on our country, that people of color have higher rates of mortality than the moms and the kids is a disgrace, and this goes a good way toward trying to rectify that blot on our country's pride. there's also some other good stuff at a time in which we are seeing a surge in union activity, because workers

realize that to get adequate pay, adequate benefits a union can help them. defendants heeded the -- democrats heeded the call and broke the nearly decade-long funding freese freeze on the nrlb, which was one of the very few agencies that got no increase in funding for years, despite the increase in mission. it's a very important priority for democrats and for working americans, because the nlrb is one of the most important pro-worker agencies, and has been utterly starved for resources for about a decade. let me say it again -- kids, parents, veterans, nurses, workers. these are just a few of the beneficiaries of our bipartisan funding package. so there's every reason in the world for the senate to finish its work as soon as possible. no one got everything they wanted. that's how this works. but we got a lot of good things in there to help america. i want to thank all of my

colleagues, from both sides of the aisle, for their work. let's finish the job today, if possible, by working together and cooperatively. i yield the floor.

the presidingmr. mcconnell: mr.. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: the bipartisan republican bill before this body is imperfect but strong. it will make huge new investments in our armed forces while cutting nondefense nonveterans baseline spending in real dollars. the world's greatest military will get the funding increases it needs, outpaifg inflation --

outpacing inflation, meanwhile nondefense, not veteran spending will come in below the rate of inflation for a real-dollar cut. this is a debate about american security, american service members, and american interests on the world stage. month after month, year after year competitors such as china are methodically pouring in money and planning an upgrading and modernizing their own militaries. they're constantly probing new ways to expand their military, intelligence, economic, and political reach indirectly or directly threatening american forces and our allies and partners' forces. so under these perilous

circumstances, cutting defense spending in real dollars, as democrats first wanted to do, is simply not an option, and embarking on a potentially endless cycle of continuing resolutions that give our military real-dollar funding cuts because of inflation and giving defense department leaders no certainty whatsoever to either plan or to invest is simply not an option that we can adopt. there's no question the bipartisan funding bill is certainly imperfect. if senate republicans control this chamber, we would have handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to bottom. but given the reality of where we stand today, senators have two options this week, just two. we either give our armed forces the resources and the certainty that they need or we will deny it to them.

on a related matter, today members of congress will have the opportunity to assemble in a joint meeting and hear from president zelenskyy of ukraine. i look forward to welcoming president zelenskyy to the capitol and to hearing from the ukrainian people's elected leader at a critical moment in their struggle for their safety and their sovereignty against russia's unhinged aggression. the people of ukraine have reminded the entire free world about the meaning of sovereignty and the price of freedom. they fought back against the invaders with inspiring bravery. and let's be clear, the reason that a big bipartisan majority of the american people and a big bipartisan of the members of congress support continuing to assist ukraine is not primarily about inspiring speeches or desire to engage in

philanthropy. the ukrainian people are courageous and innocent and they deserve our help. president zelenskyy is an inspiring leader, but the most basic reasons for continuing to help ukraine degrade and defeat the russian invaders are cold, hard, practical american interests. helping to chip our friends into -- whip our friends into winning this war is also an investment in reducing putin's capabilities to menace america, threaten our allies an contest our core interests. defeating the russians will help prevent further security crisis in europe, it would further -- and hurt american workers and families directly. it will massively ware down the

arsenal that is available to putin for future efforts to use bullying and bloodshed to redraw still other borders down the road and it will send a stark warning to other would-be aggressors, like the people's republic of china. by assisting ukraine today, america is directly demonstrating our commitment to the basic principles of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, changing the calculus for others considering military aggression and lowering the odds of a far costlier and far more deadly future conflicts in the process. so i'll say it one more time. continuing our support -- continuing our support for ukraine is morally right, but it's not only that, it's a direct investment in cold, hard

american interests. that's why republicans rejected rejected -- that's why republicans rejected the biden administration's original request for ukraine assistance because it was insufficient. the administration's initial plan assumed there would be a lull in fighting over the winter and so the dispersement rates of weapons would actually decrease. but hoping for the best cannot mean that we failed to prepare for the worst. rather than slowing assistance, we should be speeding up international deliveries to ukraine to help them take back more territory and prepare for

whenever they next go on their next offensive. so republicans pushed hard here in the senate to increase the amount of security assistance in this bill. i'm glad our democratic colleagues came around. the agreement on the table increases weapons purchases to support ukraine beyond the president's request. this assistance is in our national security interest, but it is also in america's economic interest. these investments will help expand our defense manufacturing capacity and contribute to an industry that supports high-paying american jobs. the money is tied to strong overis a over -- oversight requirements to ensure that america's investments reach only the intended targets. there has been meaningful oversight over our ukraine assistance all along the way. including by three separate inspector general -- and the

government accountability office. and on top of that, last week's ndaa -- last week's ndaa will put in place even further expansions and oversight more in use monitoring and stricting reporting -- stricter reporting requirements. and, mr. president, the oversight won't stop there. just as senate-ranking members have worked hard to impact the assistance, the incoming republican majority in the house will use their gavels to keep a closer eye on ukraine aid and make sure that we are doing everything possible to rebuild our defense industrial base. while america is uniquely capable of leading this effort, we should not and are not doing so all by ourselves. vital eastern-front allies and

partners in poland, lativa, lithuania, estonia and finland have risen to the challenge of backing ukraine in the fate against tyranny. so too have some western european powers, and so allies across europe deserve credit for changing course, making substantial investments in their own militaries and starting it to unwind years of neglect of national defense. but some other european allies have lagged behind. they can and must do more, both to stand with ukraine today and to rebuild their own strength going forward. finally, we all know that ukraine's fight to retake its territory is neither the beginning nor the end of the west broader strategic competition with putin's russia. increasing the pressure on putin's regime can and should be

a bipartisan priority. that will take concrete steps like sanctions with teeth, not empty symbolism. if our democratic colleagues are serious about joining this effort, republicans stand ready to expose russia's long trail of wartime atrocities and meaningfullily ratchet up the political costs that russia pays for its misdeeds from ukraine to georgia to moldova to to the mie east and beyond. these threats and atrocities require more than symbols, they require concrete actions and consequences. the plight of the innocent people of ukraine is offering the world the starkest, most painful and most personal

reminder imaginable that global security and national self-determination do not uphold themselves. that peace is far from inevitable and freedom is far from self-fulfilling. that countries who benefit from global stability need to help deter countries who want chaos, but even against the barbaric horrors of a war they never asked for, even in the face of torture, executions, and inhuman attacks on infrastructure, andistickic -- and systemic terror campaigns against cities, against all these things, against the cold fate that putin has tried to deal ukraine, we have seen the warmth of the ukrainian people's spirits win out.

their love for their homeland, for their families, for their freedom. the united states congress will be honored to hear the message that their courageous president brings to us on behalf of the brave citizens he represents. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 4240 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4240, a bill to amend section 2441 of title 18, united states code to broaden the scope of individuals subject

to prosecution for war crimes. the presiding officer: without objection, the amendment is discharged, and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the durbin substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. durbin mr. president, i will --. mr. durbin: mr. president, i will come to the floor later this morning or early this afternoon to discuss this bill which senator graham joined me in cosponsoring, to say that the united states should never be a safe haven for where criminals, regardless of where they committed their crimes. i'll speak to that at a later moment. at this point i'd ask permission to give a statement, that it be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, early in my political career i learned an important lesson. if you want to succeed, you

don't go it alone. for every major decision, you need a trusted friend to turn to, someone who will be honest with you and steer you in the right direction. in my life, i've been lucky to have many friends who passed that test, including my mentors, paul douglas, united states senator from illinois, who introduced me to this world when i was a college senior; and my predecessor in the united states senate, paul simon, another illinois legend who joins the rank is jean callahan. paul simon and jean callahan were two of the hardest-working and most grounded people i have ever known. they were public servants in every sense of the word. and the two of them pioneered and approached politics i try to live up to. return every phone call, respond to every constituent, always, always, always remain true to your values. sadly, both paul simon and jean

callahan have been gone for many years, but their legacy lives on. in a public servant who has perfected their model for leadership, that public servant's name is congresswoman sheri bustos. for the past ten years she has recommend northwest and central illinois in the house and she happens to be jean callahan's daughter. since sheri was first elected in 2012, she has lived, breathed and fought for every family in the 17th district, from providing the best constituent service in the house to securing more funding for her district than any other democrat in the house, sheri quickly set her herself apart as a bright leader. she'll be retiring at the end of this congress, but before she heads home i want to take a moment to share how proud i've been to watch our mvp from east moline. sheri grew up in a family that stressed the importance of public service. her grandfather, joe callahan,

was a hog farmer and new deal democrat who represented one of illinois' most rural counties in the state general assembly. he instilled in sheri a deep appreciation for rural america and the family farms that feed our nation. whenever the state legislature was in session, grandfather joe would stay with sheri, joe and the rest of the family in springfield. it was during that same period that i met jean callahan. the two of us were working for then-lieutenant governor paul simon. jean would invite me, paul and sometimes senator alan dixon over to the house for a spirited conversation about the news of the day. it was truly a kitchen cabinet. and oftentimes when we sat at the dinner table dishing out politics, we were joined by another youngster, a participant, a young sheri callahan was around listening carefully. it was where she learned her first lesson in politics. but growing up, sheri was passionate about a lot more than politics. in high school, she was a force

to be reckoned with on the basketball court. just as importantly, she understood the value of being a team player. so much so that in college she was picked as the mvp on both her basketball and volleyball teams. that's a quality that really defines sheri bustos. from the basketball court to the floor of the house, she is a team player who is in it to win it not just for herself but more importantly for the people who are counting on her. throughout her life, sheri's passion for victory has been spaed only by her -- surpassed only by her capacity for empathy. she always listens. it's another lessen she learned from her dad jean and paul simon, all of whom like sheri had something to do with public service either by participating in journalism, public service or supporting those who do. in sheri's case she was a reporter with the quad city times for 17 years. she started on the night shift as a police reporter. it's a tough job and doesn't pay a lot, but sheri struck gold.

while working for the quad city times she met a young sheriff named jerry bustos and all these years later they're happily married with three children and two grandkids. sheri won her first election in 2007 for a seat on the east moline city council. i know she won it because i knocked on doors for her. a few years later she called mean and said i'm moving up, i want to run for congress. i'll admit my wife and i were surprised. making the leap from city council to congress is not for the faint of heart, but sheri was an obvious gnarl. -- natural. that first campaign began in the kitchen with one staffer, her nephew brad. the two of them traveled all over central illinois in his car which had no working air conditioner and was pretty much held together by duck tape. like jean that taught her, sheri showed up to every event, every town hall, every fund-raiser, every phone bank. it was a heartfelt campaign that started off on a shoestring and

that november sheri won that tough district by eight points. a couple of months after her victory, sheri and jerry made their nearly 15-hour drive to washington with a u-haul hitched to their jeep wrangler. it was the beginning of an amazing and crucial career. during the first time sheri launched a sheri on shift, her practice of working alongside constituents at their jobs. in sheri's words the sheri on shift experiment gave her quo qoach a feel --, quote, a feel for what people do for a living and how they support their families. over the past decade sheri served drinks at the golden hen cafe, planted soybeans with a farmer in galesburg and taking care of senior citizens in rockford. she has tried her hand at bee keeping. and with every sheri on shift she would ask her constituents

what do you need from me in washington. just ask her staff. the answers to those questions made all the difference in sheri's office. consider the case of a nurse in galesburg who told sheri she was so concerned about the lead pipes in her home that she was planning on dropping out of nursing school to cover the cost of replacing them. sheri told her we're going to do this right. and soon she learned it just wasn't one nurse who was suffering from lead pipes but the entire community. so sheri kept her promise to that nurse. she found the federal and state dollars to make things right in galesburg. and if you want to see the difference that can be made, look at what sherr sheri has done for the rock island arsenal. when i entered the senate it was on its last leg. i'm sorry to say there were people in the pentagon determined to close it. i was not going to let that happen, but i needed the right partner, and that partner was sheri. today rock island arsenal's future is bright. we have worked together to secure with tammy duckworth, hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and projects to

upgrade that facility. in fact, the rock island arsenal will soon be home to want largest 3-d printer in the world which will achieve lighter frames for combat military vehicles. it's one of the many ways sheri helped position illinois to lead in the future in manufacturing with union workers at the helm. just as an opportunity for all, that has been sheri's passion since she was a little girl when i first saw her at the callahan dinner table and it is the passion that defined her years in public service and her decade in congress. one of her final acts in congress is one that will have impact across america for decades to come. she passed a law to end forced arbitration for sexual assault survivors. after she steered that bill through the house, i had the honor of working on it successfully as chair of the senate judiciary committee. this law will ensure that every survivor can have their day in court, and it wouldn't have happened without sheri bustos.

though it saddens me that sheri is leaving at the end of this term, it is worth noting that at returning home she is remaining troupe to those who -- true to those who sent her here. she is a strong believer in stepping out of your comfort zone. she says it's where the magic happens. every ten years ago, sheri switches gears from journalism, to health care, to city congress, and now i don't know what the next step will be. i think i speak for every resident in illinois' 17th district in saying we can't wait to see what you achieve next. my wife and i are amazing -- amazed but not surprised. we trusted you for a long time when you were a baby sitter for our kids, a graduate for illinois school of leadership, to one of the most accomplished legislators and subsequent constituent advocates in the house of representatives. somewhere out there jean and her

father are beej with pride. i want to wish a wonderful holiday to sheri, her sister, their three kids tony, nick and joey. now that you're retiring, i'm sure you'll have plenty of time for dancing to stevie wonder under the christmas tree. mr. president, i ask that the statement i'm about to submit be placed in the record in a separate spot. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, as a resident of a rural state, expanding rural broadband access has long been a priority of mine, and i'm not the only one. over the years, congress dedicated significant resources to closing the digital divide, and that has been especially true over the past three years. congress appropriated a lot, a lot of money for broadband lately, a whopping $79 billion to be precise, dedicated solely to broadband-related projects. $79 billion on top of the billions the federal communications commission disperses annually under its

universal service fund. that is an unprecedented amount of money. with that much, we ought to be able to deliver gold and diamond-laced broadband to every household in the united states. but mr. president, appropriating money is not enough. we could throw trillions of dollars at the rural broadband problem and still not close the digital divide. all the money in the world is useless if not spent the right way. we have enough money we ought to deploy gold and diamond-laced broadband across the country, but i have serious questions about whether this is going to meanfully move us to closing the digital divide. the money we currently have, as much as it is, it is pred out over -- is spread out over 15 separate agencies and 133 programs. 133 programs. to say that that is not conducive to a coherent rural broadband strategy would be an

understaple. the -- understatement. the lion's share goes through one agency, the ntia. but if is an agency with a very poor record of efficiently dispersing broadband funding. the last time congress provided ntia with a big infusion of broadband funding, a fraction of what it is now responsible for, the agency struggled with implementation and ended up overbuilding existing broadband networks, resulting in billions of taxpayer dollars spent with little to show. i've seen very little to convince me that ntia is likely to do much better this time around. in july last year, ntia called for volunteers, volunteers to help determine how to allocate $1.5 billion that congress provided to ntia to improve broadband access. volunteers, mr. president. yet congress now put the agency in charge of distributing the

$42.5 billion in the broadband equity access and deployment program. i am deeply concerned that without serious oversight, ntia will make, and is already making, similar mistakes when managing current broadband programs. which is why earlier this month, i began an oversight effort to review the numerous broadband programs, oversight of how the dollars are spent is necessary to ensure that agencies aren't misusing billions of taxpayer dollars and, most importantly, to make sure the funding is going to the areas that are actually underserved. i've already requested input from a diverse group of stakeholders to identify ways that we can improve broadband programs, and broadband policy more generally, as we head into the 118th congress. i've requested that federal agencies provide information on their efforts to improve broadband infrastructure citing, a key deployment of deploying

baud band networks. in the new years, i will work on compiling these responses and present stakeholders' concerns to ntia, the federal communications commission, department of agriculture and the treasury department. if changes need to be made to the programs congress established, i will do everything that i can to hold congress and federal agencies accountable for making those changes so that all of these programs work as effectively as possible and as congress intended. mr. president, to expand rural broadband access and actuall close the digital divide it's not enough to just appropriate money. we also need to make sure that money is spent in the right way. i am committed to doing everything i can to ensure that the money appropriated for rural broadband actually goes to expanding access to those who are currently unserved. mr. president, i yield the floor.

mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington state. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. i have had the honor over the past several years to lead the health, education, labor and pensions committee. it is a committee that i truly feel represents the heart and soul of our country's values, and as i prepare to hand over the gavel now to my colleague, senator sanders and the new congress, i want to take a moment today to reflect on the incredible work we have done on our committee and recognize the many people who have made it all possible, especially my colleagues on the committee over the last eight years who worked time and time again across the aisle to solve tough problems together. from health care to education to supporting workers and retirees and working to ensure everyone

can live with dignity and respect, the issues that we tackle are the issues families across our country face in their everyday lives. they are the issues i constantly hear about when talking with people back home in washington state, and during my time as the top democrat on this committee, spanning three presidential administrations, we have had so much to talk about. after all, a lot can happen in eight years, especially when you push every day to work with your colleagues and make progress for our families. we have made sweeping changes to help students and families, defended and expanded health care coverage, and worked to bring down drug costs. we updated and expanded worker training. we helped to expedite and expand our national efforts to bring cutting-edge medicine to

millions. we addressed the unfair practice of surprise medical bills, and more, all before we worked to face the covid pandemic. during our covid response efforts we were able to bring about the largest federal investment in child care ever. we provided significant resources to get all kids safely back in the classroom and address students' academic and mental health needs, which the pandemic worsened. we made historic investments to ensure seniors and people with disabilities can get the care they need to live independently. and we saved the pensions of over a half a million workers and retirees, and counting. but mr. president, if i had to pick one moment that set the tone for my time leading this committee, i would have to say it was right after the 2014 election when i was preparing to

take over as ranking member and senator alexander was the incoming chair. as every colleague in this chamber knows, senator alexander was a true partner in always wanting to sit down and find solutions to problems, and for six years we continued the longstanding help tradition of fining bipartisan solution to issues large and small. early on, we sat down and found we both were hearing from schooled a educators -- schools, educators and parents who all agreed the no child left behind law was not working. we had to be better. it was time to replace the no child left behind act. now, senator alexander, my partner across the dais for six years, has said before he had initially been thinking of just moving forward on a partisan bill. thank goodness that did not happen. he chose to work with me. together we followed his old

80-20 rule of finding the 80% where we could agree and working on that to help families. instead of staking out partisan positions, we staked out common ground with a bipartisan draft bill which ultimately became the every student succeeds act. that was one of the first of many bipartisan break-throughs help has made over the last eight years. following that model, it was far from last. in fact, one year and three days after president obama signed essa into law, he was siepg another massive bipartisan help bill -- signing another massive bipartisan help bill, the 21st century cures act, focused on advancing biomedical innovation for patients and families. our bill also included sweeping mental health reforms, championed by senator murphy and cassidy. it focused on addressing the

opioid crisis, and it created the beau biden cancer moon shot. we built on that work even further with our 2017 fda user fee package, and even now senator burr and i are strengthening that legacy in our end-of-the-year package. senator alexander and i also worked with senator casey, senator enzi, and others to strengthen our workforce with a bipartisan reauthorization of the perkins career and technical education act, which invests in students and workers by giving them the education, skills, and training they need, so they can get better jobs and higher wages. and includes accountability measures to help improve programs and ensure that people aren't falling through the cracks. and working with senators hassan and senator cassidy, we passed the no surprises act to finally end surprise medical bills and establish new price transparency rules for hospitals.

our legislation has already stopped millions of people from getting hit with exorbitant bills for the care they thought was covered, include two million patients in washington state. senator alexander anded i also passed the support for patients and communities act to fight the opioid crisis and help those on the front lines of those efforts. it is painfully clear, in light of the sharp rise in youth mental health crisis and the deadly new threat of fentanyl, there's more to do here. which is why senator burr and i have been working around the clock this year on the bipartisan package of mental health and substance use disorder policies that are now included in the omnibus. and then, of course, there was covid-19. on the help committee, we worked quickly to respond to the pandemic in the spring of 2020, with historic bipartisan relief bills, and regular bipartisan briefings and oversight hearings to press the administration

better the issues with our pandemic response. the many packages we put together addressed so many facets of our response, from getting shots into arms, getting kids safely back in school for in-person learning, getting our businesses open, and getting people back to their daily lives. and senator burr and i have continued to work to provide oversight of our covid response and craft bipartisan legislation to make sure we fully learn the lessons of this pandemic. that has been a life passion for him, even before the pandemic senator burr was a leader on these issues. as a hearing witness once put it, he is the papa of papa. the bill, which is the foundation of our public health and pandemic preparedness system. i could not have asked for a per partner across the aisle to work with me on strengthing that foundation these last two years. i will mess senator burr and his

passion and desire to get things done. i join all of my colleagues engineer wishing him -- i join all of my colleagues in wishing him the best as he gets some well-earned grandparent time, and being jealous of how much fishing he is going to fit in over the next few years. thanks to our joint focus, we were able to include most of our bipartisan prevent pandemics act in this end-of-the-year omnibus, along with an impress of suite of other bipartisan bills, like the fda package i alluded to earlier, which, among other steps, includes policies to address the infant formula shortage. to reform accelerated aprostles, and improve -- approvals and improve diversity in clinical trials. our fda package includes bipartisan cosmetics reform as well. this is something we have been trying to get done since senator kennedy was chair of this committee, and i am so glad we are finally getting it across the finish line. the omnibus also includes

bipartisan deals we negotiated to bolster families' financial security, through greater access to retirement plans, better information about fees and lump-sum pension buyouts, and new emergency savings accounts. and to reintond to our nation's -- to respond to our nation's mental health crisis which the rise of fentanyl made so much worse, this is so posh. i have heard -- this is so important. i have heard from so many heartbroken parents who lost a child to suicide or drug use, too many first reintonders feeling overwhelmed by the sharp rise in overdoses, too many kids struggling with depression and stress and anxiety. getting them help has been a priority for me all year. in the -- in in the new package, it strengthens the 988 suicide

hotline, making it -- helps to tack tackle the opioid crisis and critical support for mental health for our kids and more. and amid all of this work on the help committee, i've been fortunate to have senator blunt ask my partner on the lhs subcommittee, we worked on a parallel track in a bipartisan way to prepare historical support for biomedical research, fund new cdc programs to look at issues and doubling pell grants and more. i am honored to have played a part in so much progress over the past few years, and of course i could not have done it without willing partners on the dais and across the aisle. i didn't always agree with

senator election or senator -- senator alex ander or -- alexander or senator blunt, but i always counted on them to make an effort to find common ground. speaking of common ground, senator burr had several lessons he shared in his farewell speech and i want to heed one of those lessons. thank your staff. they are actually the reason you are here. it isn't you. well, i couldn't agree more. we couldn't hold a single hearing or confirm a single nominee or pass a single bill without them. simply put, we couldn't do our jobs without the many staff members who are so dedicated to doing theirs. so i want to thank the nonpartisan committee staff led by the chief clerk chung shek

who helped us to put together so much hearings and to make unprecedented adaptations during the covid pandemic. i want to thank the staffs of senators alexander and burr and in particular david cleary and linda simon and i want to thank the many, many members of my team, past and present who have done so much. there are way too many to name. i will name a a few. i will submit the full list. nick bath, kara marcion, amanda perez, kendra isakson, amanda lowe, carly rush, my oversight lead and general counsel and aligria, my help communications

director and so many others, current and past. i want to thank them all. they have been precious to me. i appreciate their friendship, hard work and all they do to help the american people. and, of course, i i want to thak our fearless leaders, my staff director, evan schatz and devon ryder, hoos done a fan tass -- who have done a fantastic job. i am so grateful for what you have done for me and what you have done for all the american people. it is clear that you understand we aren't just writing words on a page. we are writing policies that shape the lives of families across our country and the future of our nation. and that means so much to me because i know what it's like to be one of those families who's hanging by a thread. i know just you how personal the help committee's work can be, what it's like to try and get by on a tight budget. you see, my dad got sick with wh

m.s. when i was young. thank goodness the v.a. covered the medical bills. while he was sick, my mother had to work while raising seven kids and she was able to take advantage of a federal work program so she could get a decent job as a bookkeeper, and my brothers and sisters and i were all able to afford college thanks to federal grants and student loans. so i'm here because our government had our back. i also remember in the days before roe, a friend who was not able to safely get an abortion, and ultimate ultimately she losr ability to have kids because politicians put their ideology ahead of her health. as a mom in tennis shoes, i got into politics to advocate for a

preschool program that my kids were in that the state was threatening to cut. as a former preschool teacher, as a mother, as a grandmother, it has meant so much to me to have this opportunity to lead us forward on so many issues that motivated me to get involved in politics in the first place. and now i look forward to it continuing that work in the new congress, both as a member of the help committee under chair sanders and ranking member cassidy, and as the chair of the appropriations committee working alongside my friend senator collins. i plan to tackle that new role with the same approach that has proven so effective over the last eight years leading the help committee because there's still much work to be done to ensure that health care is truly a right, not a privilege. that every kid can get a high-quality public education, that every parent can get child care, that every worker has a living wage and a safe workplace and paid leave and a secure

future. and that every woman can get abortion care and make their own health care decisions, and to tackle the harsh realities of unequal or downright unfair systems that held too many families back. mr. president, our nation is facing so many crises, the mental health crisis, the economic challenge of recovering from this pandemic, global challenges, like supporting our allies and standing up for democracy. and, mr. president, we are not going to solve them by fighting each other. our best bet for meaningful progress next congress is to work together and to listen to each other. so i'm going to continue listening to the people of washington state, bringing their voices and their concerns to washington, d.c., and urging my colleagues to work with me to

focus on making their lives a little easier and i'm going to continue coming to work every day asking, how do we help the people that we all represent? how do we solve problems for everyone? and who is willing to work with me? thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the certificate of election to fill the unexpired term created by the resignation of former senator cam harris of californi, and it is in the form suggested by the senate. hearing no objection, the reading of the certificate will be waived and be printed in full in the record. and if the senator-elect will now present himself to the desk, the chair will administer the oath of office.

the president pro tempore: do you solemnly swear to support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, take this obligation freely -- so help you god. mr. padilla: i do.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new york. mr. schumer: before the help staff leaves, i just want to thank all of you and of course chair murray for the amazing job you have done over the last two years. i know many of you you will cone to help people with their health, their education, their labor policies, but it's been a great two years for the senate and it couldn't have been

without patty's leadership and your great staffing of that committee. so thank you all. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. menendez: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: i ask unanimous consent that i be able to complete my remarks before the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: mr. president, i dominate floor today to highlight the importance of the -- to the floor to highlight the importance of the vote on lynne tracy, ambassador to russia. i'm humbled that we will welcome

president zelenskyy to address congress later tonight. as president zelenskyy will no doubt underscore, putin's war is one of the greatest challenges we face today. putin is targeting ukrainian civilians. he is bombing the electricity grid and their water supplies as winter sets in. that's in essence from my perspective a war crime. we haven't seen anything like this in europe since the second world war. ukrainians are fighting for their lives, for their freedom, for the future of their country and their children. but even as putin presses forward with this brutal war, the united states needs an ambassador who can represent us in moscow, and that's why we need ambassador lynne tracy to assume her post without delay. she is a career diplomat with an exceptional record of leadership in public service. she has the courage to carry out her duties in the face of a hostile government and represent america beyond the kremlin walls. and she has the experience to

lead the mission in one of the most challenging and difficult places our diplomats work today. our personnel in moscow are braving harsh conditions, separation from their families and are largely cut off from the world all to serve their country, to serve americans who need them. and in spite of that, we have diplomats who are raising their hands saying send me. ambassador tracy is one of them. our nation needs a strong voice to stand up for our values, from the larger russian public, many of whom feel isolated and betrayed by their leaders' war of aggression. to the american detainees who putin still holds in his prisons, to the russian opposition activists who are fighting for a different way forward in russia. ambassador tracy will not shy away from confronting putin's abuses. america needs her in her post, europe needs her in her post, ukraine needs her in her post. so i urge this body to confirm

ambassador tracy today. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the confirmation of the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this

vote, the ayes are 393, -- 93, the nays are 2, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate will resume legislative session. the clerk will report the pending business. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 2617, an act to amend section 1115 of title 31, united states code and so forth and for other purposes.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: thank you, mr. president. as we work in these remaining days of the 117th congress, i rise today to ask the chamber to take needed action on a critical priority before we close out this congress. for all that we've achieved this session, much of it on a bipartisan basis, i would argue that our inability to move or our failure to move on this critical issue is a moral failure on our watch.

a failure to get done that which is most basic to who we are in democracy, to vigorously defend the right to vote. yesterday our colleagues in the house of representatives presented their final findings regarding the tragic attack on our united states capitol on january 6, 2022, i commend their work and dedication on this issue to help ensure that something like january 6, a day that almost broke our democracy never happens again. mr. president, i believe in democracy. in fact, as a man of faith, i believe that democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. this notion that each of us within us a spark of the divine and therefore we ought to have a voice.

in this government-funding legislation, we're working to pass, the senate is preparing to take action toward the same aim of protecting our democracy, to prevent future subversion in our presidential elections by passing the electoral count reform act. i commend my colleagues for their bipartisan work that will clarify the role of the vice president in certifying our presidential elections, strengthening our ability to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. that's part of what makes us america. and i look forward to voting in favor of the legislation along with the rest of the government funding bill which will send critical funding investment, investments i fought for that will help people in every corner of my home state of georgia. but, mr. president, we must be very clear that there is more than one way to subvert an election and to silence the

voices of the people. and while the senate takes action to protect presidential elections and the integrity of the electoral college, in georgia right now, during our most recent election, we had to sue officials of the state of georgia just to allow people to vote on the saturday that began the runoff period. voters waited in long lines, lines that would have been even longer had i not sued the officials of the state of georgia. people stood in line for hours and hours and hours in the cold and in the rain to cast their ballots. now some folks might be fine with that, but i'm not. you can have a right to the vote and yet be denied access. georgia voters decided that

their voices would not be silenced. they did show up in record numbers, thank god, but that does not m that voter suppression does not exist. it just means that the people refused to have their voices silenced. we cannot in good conscience abhor election subversion in our presidential elections while at the same time turning a blind eye when the voices of voters are suppressed and subverted on a local and state level. it is a contradiction that i cannot abide. and so while we do the important work today of passing the electoral count reform act, we must also pass the freedom to vote john r. lewis act, which will, one, restore bedrock voting protections established by the voting rights act of 1965. two, set a federal baseline for voting standards to ensure every eligible voter has access to the

ballot, no matter where they live, no matter their zip code. and, three, we have to protect our elections from subversion by craven politicians. voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around. it doesn't matter if your votes are properly counted if you can barely cast your vote in the first place. the electoral count reform act, while important to pass, will not protect voters from long lines. it the not prevent efforts to sow confusion through mass challenges of voter registration, and it will not stop state politicians from trying to take over local election administration. i would encourage my colleagues to google quipman county. see what happened there a few years ago, and you will see that our struggle continues. so as we prepare now to

celebrate dr. king next month, we must remember his words which are as true now as they were back then -- justice delayed is justice denied. and i will never stop fighting to protect our democracy and the sacred right to vote. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany h.r. 5746, that the motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to the bill be considered and agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, mr. president. reserving the right to object. this is one of those election takeover bills. last january our colleagues on the other side of the aisle tried to break senate rules to ram this bill through congress. the american people do not want the federal takeover of

anything, and our founders yod that -- founders understood that. that's why anything not enumerated in the constitution goes to state and local government. the institutions that are closest to the people that they represent. that is transparency. that is fairness. the best election laws are the ones that make it easy to vote but hard to cheat, and we already know that this is possible. with georgia's new law in place, the state set a new record for most ballots ever cast in a midterm election. both early voting and mail-in voting broke the all-timed, all-time midterm records. these republican-led states got it right. their critics got it wrong.

this election takeover bill, which the senate has already rejected, is not going to be passed today. therefore, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. warnock: mr. president, i would yield some of my time to the gentlewoman from the great state of minnesota. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: thank you, mr. president, and i'm so honored to join my colleague, senator warnock, to speak on the urgent need to pass this legislation, the freedom to vote john r. lewis act. no one speaks better to this than reverend warnock. i've often told the story that we were out on the steps of the supreme court after a number of voter suppression laws had been introduced, passed around the country, and i gave what i thought was an excellent speech, and then he came in and just said a few words, and they were these -- some people don't

want some people to vote. and i thought all those words i said, it really just comes down to that. our country has always believed in the freedom to vote. for years this has been a bipartisan issue with voting rights acts, with george bush doing press conferences declaring his support for voting rights act. so the reauthorization of the john lewis bill and the changes made to that bill are necessary, but so is the freedom to vote act because it sets the stage so that every person in america, regardless of their zip code, has the ability to drop off a ballot in a ballot box or send in their ballot by mail or do it without having to have a notary sign for their ballot. all of this for many of us is about the reason we came here, which is to uphold our

democracy. and i want to thank senator warnock for hosting the rules committee in atlanta for the first field hearing in 20 years. and i will end with a story of what i heard that day, and that was when hose -- jose cigarra told us how he took his neighbors to vote early, and this was in the last election, but they gave up because there was a line wrapped around the block. then he went back to vote, and he waited for hours in the hot sun. he is a veteran. he served in the air force during operation desert storm. and i asked him whether when he signed up to serve there was a waiting line, and he said no, ma'am. but when i came home and i had to vote and i wanted to exercise my freedom that i fought for on the battlefield, i had to wait in line for hours.

it's not just about his, reverend warnock has pointed out, making it impossible for people to vote. sometimes it's just making it really hard for them to vote, and that's what we're fighting against with this bill. i thank him. i look forward to working with senator fischer. she was a strong supporter of the electoral count act. she is a new incoming member of the rules committee, and i know we will do great work together. but i stand in support of reverend warnock's unanimous consent motion. i yield the floor. mr. warnock: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: my distinguished colleague, senator fischer is no longer her. what i want to ask her is whether she thinks the 1965 voting law was a federal takeover of state elections and local elections. i submit without the 1965 voting rights law, i would not be standing here. and so i think we should have a

principled conversation about that. and more recently, i had to sue the state of georgia so we could vote on saturday. i would call on the senate to live up to its obligation as article 1, and the senate must pass substantive voting rights legislation, and know this -- i will not rest until we live up to that moral obligation and do what the people of america sent us here to do. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. hagerty: mr. president, last month the federal judge in washington, d.c. ruled that the department of homeland security could not continue to use title 42 pandemic-related authority to expedite the removal of aliens who enter our country illegally. that's effective as of december 21. that's today. though it's been temporarily

halted while the supreme court hears an emergency appeal, title 42 is hanging by a thread. it's unconscionable for congress to stand aside and do nothing to preserve it. title 42 authority was initially based on the pandemic, and while i agree that the pandemic is over, the border crisis is worse than ever. whether to keep effective border security policies in place should not depend on bl there is a pandemic. there's another epidemic plaguing our nation, one that demands immediate attention. deadly fentanyl produced with the help of the chinese communist party and smuggled across our southern border by deadly drug cartels has flooded our communities across america. more than 100,000 americans died of drug offenders in the last -- drug overdoses died in the last 12 month, most from synthetic opioids like fentanyl. it's the number one cause of death for american adults aged

18 to 45. the rise in fentanyl overdoses and deaths affects every state and congressional district. it kills the young and the old, the rich, and the poor. people in cities and people in small towns alike. it's not a partisan issue, and finding a solution should not be partisan either. when i talk to tennessee sheriffs, they tell me that fentanyl is becoming more and more lethal. how a so-called bad batch can kill dozens of people in an instant. once this deadly substance arrest riefers in american communities, it's too late. we've got to stop it before it crosses our borders. that's why i've introduced legislation that allows for the use of title 42 authority to stop the smuggling of illicit and illegal drugs like fentanyl. when i crastled to the border in april, border patrol agents told me cartels used waves of illegal border crossings as a cover to transport fentanyl and

other deadly narcotics. while border patrol agents are focused on managing caravans, the gap in coverage is exploited by the smugglers. in many cases, these are well-planned and coordinated occurrences. the agents told me that the people don't stay at the border and the drugs don't either. title 42 is the last tool border patrol has left to partially slow the ongoing tidal wave of illegal crossings. without this tool, our border patrol agents will have no way to slow down the massive increase in illegal immigration, which will get far worse as a result. mr. president, americans will pay the price. that's why given the potential expiration of title 42 within hours or days, passing my legislation today is enter alternative. -- imperative. letting title 42 in without creating a permanent new authority to replace it empowers

drug cartels. it enables them to send migrants across the border at strategic points bogging down boarm agents with processing, processing that takes five times longer without title 42. cartels will then use the longer and more frequent enforcement gaps to move more fentanyl across our border. we cannot allow this to happen. my legislation simply adds drug smuggling as an for using title 42 authority. it's called the stop fentanyl border crossings act. it would allow the use of title 42 to stop this across the border. it would give border patrol a necessary tool to stop drug traffickers. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on health, education, labor and pensions be discharged from further consideration of s. 3959 and the senate proceed to its 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 objection? if. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you. i share my colleague's determination to address the opioid crisis. i worked in a bipartisan way with senator burr to insure this end-of-the-year spending bill includes serious steps to help our communities. we worked year around on bipartisan policies to support states as they tackle the fentanyl and worsening opioid crisis, to help people get treatment for substance use disorders and a lot more. so i sincerely hope the senator from tennessee will join us in voting to get this across the finish line. this is really important to help folks on the front lines of this fight, and of course we have more work to do here, and i will keep pushing with everything i've got to help fight the opioid crisis. it but as i have reminded my colleague before, title 42 is a

public health tool, and how it is used should be guided by public health experts looking at data, looking at science, not politicians looking to score political points. drug trafficking is a serious problem, and one we have law enforcement agencies who are responsible for. we should leave that work to them and support their efforts, and we can do that by passing the omnibus bill, which increases their funding. so while i welcome the opportunity to work with my republican colleagues on this serious issue, bipartisan solutions are needed to address drug trafficking, we need to build on the strong steps we are taking in the omnibus to fight fentanyl. so at this time, it i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. hagerty: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. hagerty: mr. president, we're experiencing a tidal wave at our southern border of illegal immigration, and that will turn into a tsunami the minute title 42 is dropped. title 42 may be removed at any

minute, at any hour. it's under a temporary hold after today. more than 100,000 americans are dying every year because of poisoning from fentanyl coming across our southern border. i find it inteal disheartenges that my colleagues are not willing to allow disregsry -- discretionary authority to limit border crossings when necessary to combat substantial and illegal drug smuggling. even the biden administration is already preparing for a tidal wave across this border. yet, my democrat colleagues can't even agree on a commonsense policy to address this imlairg problem. my -- this glaring problem. my legislation works immediately to address this problem. border patrol agents are predicting daily crossings will roughly double to 15,000 to 18,000 a day as soon as this is lifted. this is going to be truly overwhelming on the border and the results are predictable. more young americans will die, and i don't know how bad this crisis has to get before

democrats will join me to acknowledge it and work to stop it. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: company i come to the floor to address the ability of women who have given birth to a child to be able to sustain

breast feeding by being able to pump breast milk when they return to work. we adopted this law in oregon. it was universally successful. when i came here to the senate, i proposed we do the same across the nation, and 12 years ago we passed that bill, the break time for nursing mothers. it enabled 49 million women of childbearing age to know that if they wanted to breast feed, they would have a cooperative employer, giving them privacy and flexible break times to be able to pump breast milk. it was a triple win. a triple win for the babies, it was a triple win for the mothers, and it turned out to be a big win for the employer as well, because employers found that their employees were more likely to come back to work and they felt appreciated because the employer recognized the importance of that mother trying to do the very best by their newborn. we know that half of women in america return to work within

three months of giving birth. we know that about one in four will return to work after just two weeks. that's why this is so important. when i first raised this idea here in the senate, i thought that there would be significant opposition. but an unexpected champion was senator coburn, of oklahoma, and senate coburn said that senator merkley had not begun to list all the ways that breast feeding works to the benefit of the baby and the mother. he went on to list all the health benefits, and we passed the amendment unanimously in the help committee. democrats and republicans working together for new moms and for our children to get the best launch into life. i will have a unanimous consent request in a moment, but i want to turn to the cosponsor of our bill.

i so much appreciate senator murkowski of alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: i join my colleague to speak about the pump act, providing urgent maternal protections for nursing mothers act. senator merkley has outlined, i think well, the benefits of this bill, but effectively what this act does is it fixes an oversight which unintentionally excluded about nine million working moms from being ableo pump breast milk while at work. we recognize, as senator merkley has said, women want to come -- so many want to come back to the workforce after giving birth, but they also want to be able to provide their infant, their child with the significant benefits that come with a

mother's milk. these working moms are a significant part of our workforce. i think it's incumbent upon us to make sure that they can pump well at work without imposing burdensome requirements on businesses. i have been the lead republican on the pump act now, working with senator merkley for a couple years, couple years working to get to this point, and it is so unfortunate that at this late date on the calendar, as we're looking to close out, that this measure, this important measure, important for mothers, important for babies, important for employers, but it's so unfortunate that it is being held at this moment. it is unfortunate, because i think what we have in front of us now is a fair and a balanced proposal. it allows moms to pump at work

while ensuring that, again, businesses around saddled with burdensome and costly regulation. the chamber of commerce has endorsed the measure. this is too posh to not continue the good work, and i want to acknowledge not only the work of senator merkley on this, but to thank senators murray, senator burr, cantwell and wicker. they worked with us, they negotiated in good faith to get the text to a good place and to really help to develop the support for this bill. but i do think that the work that has come to this point, the very important discussions that have gone forward, the agreements that have been made have put us in a good place. senator merkley, i truly appreciate your willingness to negotiate and to get us to a

point where we can legislate to improve the lives of millions of women across the nation. so, i would urge those who continue to oppose this measure to reconsider that, and i would yield at this moment to the senator from washington. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i'm here today to urge all of my colleagues to let us make life just a little bit easier for working moms by passing this bipartisan pump act. this is really straightforward. when new moms return to work, they should have the time and space they need to pump and breast feed their baby. it's not new. it's not controversial. it's actually common sense and basic human decency. right now, there is this loophole that means nearly nine million working moms are not covered by federal protections.

nine million working moms do not have the simple right to a reasonable break time and a private place to pump when they're breast feeding. that's plain wrong, mr. president. right now, we have a chance to change that. right now, we can pass the pump act. we can help close this loophole and make sure moms are covered, so they can keep their jobs and keep breast feeding their baseballs. it should not be controversial. this is a bipartisan bill, and i am really thankful to my colleagues, senator merkley and senator murkowski, for their relentless work on this. they have worked nonstop to get this done. we have, by the way, made great progress. the bill passed the house in a bipartisan vote, with huge marge margin,s, 276-49. it passed the committee by voice vote. let's get it to the president's desk. it is so simple. moms deserve to return to work and still breast feed. they deserve a reasonable break

and a private space to pump. and they actually are watching us right now to see if we can deliver on this really straightforward bill. so i urge my colleagues, don't stand in the way. stand with moms. let us pass this bill. thank you. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: much appreciation for the majority and minority sides of the question committee for doing so much work on this, and really in senator burr, senator wicker, senator lummis all added a lot to getting us to this point. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 65, senate bill 1658, further that the committee-reported substitute be withdrawn and the merkley-murkowski amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. paul: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky.

mr. paul: reserving the right to object. this bill is a perfect example of the government taking a one size fits all approach on every workplace in america. it's the approach of those who think that the only way to get people to do the right thing to pass a law and mandate it. let's just look at one industry, the motor coaches. unlike other commercial modes of transportation, motor coaches function with only one employer onboard, the driver, who's responsible for picking up the passengers on time, getting them to their destinations safely. almost by definition, bus routes depend on schedules and sticking to those schedules for customers in a safe and consistent way. now, if you think the hammer of government is the only way to get people to do the right thing, would probably assume that the motor coach operators just exploit their nursing employees and don't give them any accommodations. but you'd be wrong. under the law as it exists today, employers routinely offer

alternative, temporary duties to their drivers who are nursing. this is what happens with the motor coaches. they are accommodating and doing the right thing as most people in the workplace are. this bill prohibits solutions like that and make it more difficult for motor coach to accommodate workers by allowing them to have alternative duties. even when they're mutually agreed upon between employer and employee. there's already a national driver shortage. so operators have a built-in incentive to keep the drivers they have making mutually beneficial arrangements. there is a federal law on the books to provide a private area for their nonexempt nursing employees. in addition, some 32 states, including my state of kentucky, have passed their own laws on this issue and some have even

extended how long nursing mothers are covered by the law. since all of these accommodations already exist at the federal and state level, before we impose any new mandates on the whole country, we ought to study whether there is actually a need for more legislation in this area. i have an amendment to strike these new man mandates and instd ask the government accountability office to study this issue and report back within a year. i would ask my colleagues to agree to this amendment so we can determine if more laws are needed before we rush to put new burdens on american businesses. so, mr. president, i would ask that the senator modify his request so that the paul amendment, which would require a study to explore the severity of the problem at the desk be considered and agreed to. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you very much.

reserving the right to object. our bill does address the motor coach situation. clarifies because of the conversations we've had with that industry, and that no additional expense be required, no additional driver, and we know that already under the accommodations of the disability act, there are rights that exist to drivers as well. but we here have a very limited provision because we make it clear that it does not require the employer to incur any significant expense such as removal of any affected seats -- -- -- this is now eight years that this topic has been before us. it has not just been studied in some academic sense. it has been studied in real life. we still have thousands of women who have great difficulty

getting to pump breast milk when they return to work. those who have been accommodated say it makes a big difference in their life, about bonding with their child. we have this in place for 49 million american women. why have we left nine million out? by the way, in my state, swee have a hardship waiver that says any company that finds that this is too difficult to implement can seek an accommodation and, you know what? nobody applied because they can all figure it out. it's time to embrace the fact that we need to do right by our children and so senator paul's amendment, which guts this bill and says let's study it, is not an answer for the millions of women seeking to do the best by their children and so therefore i object.

the presiding officer: the objection is heard. is there any objection to the original request? mr. paul: i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: so my colleague doesn't share the view that many of us have reached on both sides of the aisle, and that is actually what the legislative process embraces, that people come to this floor and share their different views and then we hold a vote. and he has really been a champion for holding votes on amendments, probably has had more amendments before this body than any other senator. and so therefore i would say to my colleague that i'll provide an additional unanimous consent request that will enable us to have a vote on this bill, and he can weigh in as he like and his side may carry the day.

but i think it's important that a question of such magnitude and so many new moms across this country be considered and not simply tossed in the waste bin. i will ask consent on the vote for the pump act. i ask that the senate proceed to the consideration of senate bill 65, that the merkley substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. paul: mr. mr. president. the presiding mr. paul: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. merkley: i will conclude by noting that we are all better off when issues can be debated and voted on this floor. there's tremendous frustration in the chamber right now. we have a very thick bill

awaiting action. why is it so thick? because so few bills can get debated and voted on this floor. i would ask my colleague from kentucky, who i worked with on many issues, think about this a little bit and maybe come back and say, yes, you're right, we should have a debate and a vote. this should not be something that any one individual suppresses. thank you. mr. toomey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: thank you, mr. president. you know, it brings me no joy to rise and say i told you so, but for nearly five years now americans have been paying the price, quite literally for the trump-biden tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. let me just remind my that tariff is just a word we use to off sophisticate the fact that -- os if i skate the act -- os if i skate the fact on

something that has the tariff material in it. i want to make three points about this today. first, that taxes generally, and these taxes in particular, do tremendous economic harm. secondly, these taxes have been imposed by presidents from both parties and imposed unilaterally increasingly and without so much as a vote by the congress. and, third, this is all about to get much worse. this is what happens when congress willfully abrogates its constitutional responsibilities over trade and tax policy to the executive branch. let me start with the economic cost. the fact is there's no serious dispute in the economic world, these tariffs, these taxes do much more harm than good. now, i know, supporters of these tariffs, including now the biden administration, they will argue this is necessary to protect american jobs. that's what they'll say.

well, there are roughly 140,000 workers directly employed in the steel industry in the united states. that's a big number. 140,000. but there are literally millions of american workers in industries that use steel or steel inputs made of steel and their jobs are jeopardized by the higher cost that's created when with we tax these -- when we tax these products. by the way, these millions of americans that work in the industries that use steel, they outnumber steelworkers by a ratio of roughly 80-1. that's what we're talking about here. the peterson institute estimated, by every cent saved on the trump tax, the cost to consumers was $760,000. much times more than the average

steel workerrer's salary. this is -- worker's salary. this is all paid by consumers. the job losses from these tariffs alone have been as high as 75,000 jobs. this included a lot of jobs, thousands of jobs in my state of pennsylvania. i ask my colleagues a simple question. is it ever really fair for the government to intervene in the economy in a way that ranks one person's right to earn a living higher than another person? is that really what this government should get to do, decide who gets to have a job and who doesn't? that's not the right call. it is wrong to -- wrong for the government to decide who gets to work and who doesn't. that's happening here. and the unit lat unilaterally py this is being done with a

dishonest issue. the presidents hide behind a security rational. they say these taxes have been imposed not through an act of congress, but by executive fiat based on a false premise. why is this the case? because there is a deep flaw in a cold war era war called the 1962 trade act, it is called 232, and that section permits the president to impose these tariffs or taxes on a product if his commerce secretary decides that the protect product is a po the -- is a threat to the national security of the united states. that sounds like a reasonable idea. it's been applied in ridiculous ways. mr. president, i would suggest it is ludicrous to suggest that

our national security is hurt by importing from mexico, the e.u., australia, japan, and many others. you don't have to take my word for it. you can take the word from someone who an expert on national security, former defense security mattis. in a memo, he opposed to restrict this. he urged that the u.s. military's need for steel and aluminum is met with 3% of production of those mills. what we manufacture domestically, the steel and aluminum that we make in america is more than 30 times what our military needs, our defense needs. how could you possibly argue that these small quantities that

we import on top of all that we make is a national security risk? it's ridiculous. by the way, over the past decade, we've consistently produced anywhere from 70% to 90% of the steel we consume. let me say that again. when you look at all the steel we consume in the entire united states of america, for all purposes, and it's a very long list, we make 70% to 90% of that steel. and there's a national security threat to import these small other quantities to supplement what we produce? of course it's not. it's disingenuous. invoking national security to impose these taxes on americans is a slap in the face. it's a slap in the face to small businesses struggling to stay afloat who have to buy the steel with these taxes on it which

they sometimes can't afford, the manufacturers who are laid off as the prices are no longer competitive. the exports who see it shut off because other countries retaliate. here's another problem with this, mr. president. it's reasonable to ask a question. if the president can falsely invoke national security for the sake of imposing these taxes on steel and aluminum, is there anything that he can't put a tariff on using this justification? if he can use a false justification, you can falsely allege almost anything is related to national security, i suppose. recent court decisions have implied that if there is a limiting factor, the administration certainly hasn't found it. in fact, the previous president seemed to think that after imposing tariffs, he could go back and double them or maybe triple them for any reason or

for no reason at all. this is what's happening. that's exactly what the former president did when he doubled the tariffs he had earlier imposed on turkish steel and aluminum. when this was challenged in court, a majority gave him a pass, but one judge disagreed in writing and said, i quote, i fear the majority decision effectively accomplishes what congress cannot legitimately do, to reassign to the president its constitutionally vested power over the tariff, i dissent. end quote. that judge is exactly right. he's exactly right. there's a separate instance where a judge wanting to underscore the lack of any limiting principle on a president's ability to misuse this section 232, he asked during an oral argument if the president could invoke national security under section 232 to put tariffs on peanut butter.

the lawyer defending the tariffs for the administration either couldn't or wouldn't direct i will answer that question. i know why he wouldn't answer the question. the reason is they didn't want to acknowledge the possibility there could be any limits on a president's ability to misuse the national security clause from section 232, even if it's on peanut butter. where does that leave us today? i regret to inform my colleagues that this complete abandonment of pretext for security for the purposes of imposing these tariffs, the pretense is gone when the hypothetical case of peanut butter but now it's arrived in reality and it's worse than peanut butter. the president is imposing it on carbon carbon dioxide emissions.

the u.s. trade represent has proposed a preliminary agreement with the european union for a, quote, they call it carbon intensity regime for steel and aluminum trade. the new regime would use the threat of ultra high tariffs on the steel and aluminum from other countries as a way to coerce them into implementing the administration's preferred climate policies. it's beginning to look a lot like chris christmas. there is a new trade club for countries with so-called steel and aluminum. even though they don't admit it, they're using section 232 to justify this. for countries to join, they need to prove that their carbon emissions for steel and aluminum fall between in level that the administration will conjure up.

second, they need to implement low and zero emission requirements for steel and aluminum and government procurement. thirdly, they need to demonstrate that they're taking a hard line on trade remedies. now, if a country qualifies for this club, congratulations. you're -- your steel and aluminum will be subject to taxes on american consumers of between zero and 25% depending upon your emissions. if you don't join the club either because you can't qualify or you don't want to be saddled with these costs, by then americans will be taxed much more severely. for countries outside the club who want to sell steel and aluminum, americans will have to pay 25% to 70% taxes on those purchases. mr. president, this idea has all kinds of very serious problems. first and foremost, it is a completely unbridled overreach of authority by the executive branch. the office of the u.s. trade rep

is clearly asserting that that office has power to establish carbon emissions policy for the u.s. and our trading partners. last time i checked even the epa doesn't have that authority. where does the ustr come up with this? there are also -- they're also abusing the conditionally delegated national security powers to enact this sweeping tariff policy which is the responsibility of congress. second is that the economic calm from this proposal is going to significantly compound the harm inflicted by the current 232 tariffs that are already in place. first, it will result in a regime of increasingly managed trade and steel and aluminum that will probably benefit a handful of select producers and a huge loss to everyone else. it will hit many of our allies with increased tariffs and that will result in retaliation against american exports. it will devastate american manufacturers and downstream users who rely on steel and

aluminum inputs for their business. and most importantly, it's going to dramatically raise prices for consumers at a time when inflation is still out of control. what makes this whole scenario really particularly egregious is that congress never once voted on it, not once. not one of my colleagues in this body or the other had the opportunity to go on record either for or against these, in fact had any meaningful say in this. now, i suspect some of my colleagues are perfectly okay with that. mr. president, as i warn my colleagues on both sides of the aisle years ago, this abuse of section 232 will haunt us like a protectionist frankenstein unless congress reins executive abuse of this law. i want to be clear. it's never appropriate for a president of either party to use national security authorities to achieve unrelated policy goals. to be dishonest about what's

really going on here is not acceptable. past presidents used to understand this. prior to president trump, the last time a u.s. president used section 232 to restrict trade was back in 1986. since the trump administration, we've seen these national security investigations which is the precursor they need to check their box so that they can impose these tariffs. we've seen these investigations on uranium, tie obtain yowm sponge, power transformer components, magnets, and then perhaps most absurdly, automobiles and car parts. i suppose if you drive a toit in subburr -- toyota in suburban, that makes you a threat. -- la mandating executive overreach of this very section of our trade law, he said what's next? a tariff on peanut butter? turns out we already have pretty high tariffs on peanut butter.

but now we're going to raise taxes even higher on steel and aluminum. and use trade law to enact climate policy while we're at it. mr. president, it is well past time for congress to reassert and to accept its constitutional responsibility over trade and tariffs. we can do that by requiring that the new section 232 tariffs, including the biden administration's carbon plan, that before they go into effect, they have to be approved by congress. what's wrong with that? the constitution says it's our responsibility. why not require an up-or-down vote in congress before these taxes can go into force. i've introduced bipartisan legislation that would do exactly that, but if we fail to act, our constituents are going to keep on paying ever more expensive prices. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 657, s. 1541. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 657, s. 1541, a bill to amend the communications act of 1934 and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding with the measure? without objection. mr. padilla: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. i also ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 659, s. 3405.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 659, s. 3405, a bill to require the federal communications commission to issue a rule and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president, i also ask unanimous consent that the committee on indian affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 897 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 897, an act to take certain lands in california into trust and so forth and for other purposes.

the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. padilla: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent 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 objection? without objection. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. i also ask unanimous consent that the committee on indian affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 4439 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4439, a bill to take certain federal land and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent 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 objection? without objection. mr. padilla: thank you, mr. president. i yield. a senator: mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you very much, mr. president. i appreciate your kindness and the respect with which you give the great garden state. mr. president, i would like to talk a bit and then ask for unanimous consent on the south asian heart health awareness and research act. i'm really proud of this work in a bipartisan effort. in general heart disease is widely prevalent. it's an alarming statistic that i want to reveal to every june -- everyone that every 36 seconds a person in the united states dies of cardiovascular disease. this is a national crisis. but when you break down the data by racial and ethnic group, it is the south asian americans who have the highest death rate from heart disease. almost two-thirds of middle aged south asian americans are at intermediate or high risk for heart failure within the next ten years. compared to the general population, south asians are

four times more likely to have heart disease and have a much greater chance of having a heart attack before the age of 50. the prevalence of type ii diabetes, a leading cause of heart disease, is the highest in america amongst south asians. some of these heightened risks are connected to social determine nantz of -- determinants of health, the conditions that people have to face every day of their lives. for some south asian americans, language barriers even make visits to the doctors more difficult. other immigrants who are adjusting to this nation trying to make a living, working multiple jobs or off -- or often neglecting their personal health experience as well. that makes it all the more important that congress step in and act to promote better understanding, awareness, and research of heart disease. because of that reason, i am proud to lead the senate version of the south asian heart health awareness research act. for each year between 2023 and

2027, this bill would authorize additional funding and grant money to promote awareness of the increasing prevalence of heart disease in disproportionately affected communities. it authorizes the center for disease control to develop culturally appropriate materials to promote health, support community groups involved in heart health promission and support conferences and research workshops dedicated to the issue. finally, it establishes a central source of information on heart health to help patients access research -- resources quickly if need be. this bill again is a bipartisan bill. it's a bipartisan approach. it's a bicameral approach to address a clear heart health and research gap. with the leadership of representatives paul and wilson in the house of representatives, this legislation has already passed one chamber of congress twice, twice already. it's now up to the senate to pass this commonsense bill and

take a step towards addressing disproportionately impact that heart disease has on south asian americans. as a representative of new jersey, one of the states with the largest south asian communities in the country, i have the chance to interact often with constituents from pakistan, india, bangladesh, and other south asian countries. they are such critical aspects of the american story, the american fabric. and i urge us all today to not let this opportunity slip by and i now ask for unanimous consent to pass the south asian heart health awareness and research act. i ask unanimous consent that the help committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 3771 and that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. i ask unanimous consent that the booker amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, the title amendment at

the desk be considered and agreed to, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. paul: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: thank you very much to the senator from california, the presiding officer. it's good to see you there. i wish you a very merry christmas. we have seen a rise in homicide rates if all corners of our nation, by 30% in urban areas and 25% in our rural areas. much of this increase can be traced to gun violence epidemic that plagues america. but today i rise to ask my colleagues to join me in passing a bill that will address violent crime and bring perpetrators to justice at a time when our assistance is so desperately needed. each instance of violence and each death is especially painful

for family and friends and for the loved ones of victims. nothing can ever replace losing a loved one, but some semblance of closure can be provided to victims' families when the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice. it's time to do more. the data indicates that these crimes are committed repeated will i by the same individuals. less than 1% of the population is responsible for over 60% of gun crimes in this country. a 2017 analysis of shootings in oakland revealed that just 0.1% of the city's population was responsible for most of the homicides. yet the homicide clearance rate defined as the percentage of those crimes that are solved have dramatically declined recently. falling 7% from 2019 to 2020. about half the murdered in the united states, half, are ultimately solved. for every murder and nonfatal shooting that goes unsolved, the public is put at greater danger.

the pattern of dismal clearance rates in this country are disproportionately impacting minority communities. it is a tragedy that we can solve. police need the resources to solve homicides, crimes of gun violence nationwide. police need the resources that evidence demonstrates if they had they could vastly improve their clearance rates. this past july, the house passed a bipartisan bill, the violent incident clearance and technological investigation methods act, or the victim act. this bill would establish a new grant program through the department of justice to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies improving their clearance rates for homicides and nonfatal shootings. at a time that this wrongful, erroneous language about anybody in this body wanting to defund the police, this is a chance to apply police resources, give the

police more resources to ultimately solve the crimes that are most savaging and hurting our neighborhoods. this is a critical bill. it's a bipartisan bill. it's a bicameral bill. and it would provide the kind of grants that we have seen to help dramatically solve violent homicides. the victim act has been endorsed by the largest police groups in the country -- the fraternal order of police, the international association of chiefs of police, the major cities chiefs of police, and others. they are telling us they need these additional resources to help make our communities safer. it is unacceptable that we have this level of murder in our country. communities are being shattered, and law enforcement agencies don't have the resources necessary to bring the victims to and -- the victims and their families the justice they deserve. so today, i ask unanimous

consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 5768 which has been received from the house and is at the desk. ford, that the bill be -- further, that the bill be read add third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. paul: mr. president, reserving the right to object, our federal debt is now over $31 trillion with no end in sight. the legislation before us authorizes a billion dollars in new spending. this bill comes just after in the dead of night at 1:30 in the morning the leadership of this body released a 4,000-page bill that spends $1.7 trillion and will add over a trillion dollars in new debt to the country. we've learned the hard way that profligate federal spending

comes at a great cost. the trillions of supposedly free money that congress spent over the pandemic was not free at all. inflation continues to eat away the purchasing power of every american family, regardless of income. the least fortunate among us are worse off because of our spending. the working-class, those who live on fixed income, are the ones who are hurt worst by inflationment. inflation comes from spending money you don't have. this is why i offered to modify the request. we should study this issue. and before we add any dollars to it, we should study this issue further. so i've asked that the comptroller general of the united states conduct a study of crime and crime clearance rates by jurisdiction, identify specific technological methods that improve clearance rates, and determine whether one approach yields higher clearance rates than others. this report should also discern whether efforts to defund the

police have adversely impacted those rates and explore fee-based mechanisms to pay for federal grants to reduce violent crime after the completion of this study. it's time we stopped forcing one-size-fits-all policies on states and local law enforcement. each jurisdiction is unique and deserves to implement the most appropriate practices for their constituents and communities. therefore, i encourage the passage of my amendment. so still reserving the right to object, i ask unanimous consent that the senator modify his request to include my amendment which would allow for this report, which is at the desk. that the amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered and read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: does the senator so modify the request? mr. booker: mr. president, this might be seen sasse a

christmas -- as a christmas miracle, but i am grateful for that suggestion. i am ptsded that he does not -- i am disappointed that he does not accept this bill. it gives him opportunities for resources that they can apply for. it is going to help us actually lower the cost for local communities because one murder in one community causes such economic damage. you can't put a price on human life. but i do feel a sense of gratitude that the senator from kentucky might be willing to work with me on finding a way forward and that there is some area of common ground. so i don't accept his amendment now, but i look forward in the new year, in the next congress, in finding a way to perhaps work together to some accord. so, no, i object to the modification. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. paul: i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard.

mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: today, right now, christopher bass sits in a jail cell in jess up, georgia. he has spent 19 years in that jail cell. tarians stanton sits in a jail cell in wildwood, florida. he spent the last eight years in that jail cell. across our country,,000 people sit in jail cells who should have left a long time ago. many have been there for years and will be there for years to come. christopher and terrence are just two of the people languishing behind bars because of a mistake congress made 36 years ago. their families are two of the thousands of families who are not reconnected with their families during the holiday season, who are not reunited with their children because of this mistake. in 1986 congress passed a law which created add 100-1 sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. this decision to enact this decision was not based on

science or data. crack cocaine and powder cocaine are farm logically the same substance. they have the same effects. they are identical. that is science. but the one which was more prevalent in poor communities, in black and brown communities, was punished 100 times more harshly. it was only in 2010 that congress reduced but not eliminated this disparity 18-1. but yes, why 81-1? again, there is no reason behind this ratio of the same exact scientifically farm logically -- pharmacology logically substance. this continues to ruin the lives of hundreds of people convicted for nonviolent crack offenses because they received punishments 18 times longer than those are the powder. those of you who know me will understand that this is an urgency i feel because we are a nation that believes that

liberty is one of the mossack crow sanction -- most sacrosanct ideals. to take a person's liberty is an affront to our constitutional principles that we swear an edge to when we say we are one nation under god, with liberty and justice for all. i believe we must deal with this. we know that this is an urgency. we know that this is wrong. in fact, the bill, the equal act, which was passed overwhelmingly in the house of representatives, passed with a vote of 361-66. republicans and democrats joined together all across the political spectrum to say that this was wrong, that we should make these pharmacology logically identifiable substances have the same punishment. here in the united states senate, 11 republicans have joined as cosponsors of the

equal act legislation. this is supported bicamerally, bipartisanly, and yet we can't get this gone. this -- get this done. this bill gathers momentum. it's advocated for by police groups all the way to think tanks on both sides of the aisle. i believe now is the time, as we approach the holidays, to end this this justice for native survivors of sexual violence act, to restore -- to end this injustice, to restore liberty in this nation. therefore, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 1693, and that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. further, 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? mr. cotton: mr. president, reserving the right to object, every american has heard about our drug death crisis.

many have sadly experienced it first or secondhand seeing loved ones and friends struggle with addiction. it is not just opioids. in the past year more than 25,000 of our fellow citizens died by cocaine. that's more than a 25% increasee biden took office. more than double overdoses in 2016. at the same time, murders and other violent crime rates are skyrocketing as we heard earlier from the senator from new jersey. the murder rate has hit levels not seenl since the 1990's. gangs and cartels are emboldened, since they know that many prosecutors in the garland department of justice will treat them with kid gloves. this so-called equal act will go easier on crack cocaine traffickers, including members of gangs and cartels. this will only exacerbate our problems. why do that now?

of all times, given these facts. crack cocaine and powder cocaine, while true, are the same primary chemicals, are different drugs. their delivery is different. crack is more addictive. typical method of trafficking and sale are more dangerous. according to the sentencing commission, crack coke iaea traffickers are more likely to involve weapons, and the most likely of any type of trafficker to be rearrested. nearly 60% of crack coke iaea traffickers are rearrested, for for violent offenses. disproportionately minorities and individuals in low-income areas bear the brunt of the violence of this trafficking. that's why i have to remind everyone congress passed laws with enhanced penalties for crack cocaine trafficking in the

first place. and i have to remind everyone that those laws passed almost unanimously decades ago when the senator from new jersey and i were just kids, and they were supported by, among other people, the congressional black caucus. senator durbin, senator leahy, senator schumer, and then senator, now president, joe biden. this is not an accident. this was a deliberate policy choice for the reasons i have stated. the equal act, though, would not just reduce sentences for those dealing drugs now. it would also retroactively allow crack cocaine traffickers in federal prison to seek early release. nevertheless, i've heard, as we heard today, for years, about the so-called disparity, as if it were an accident or unintentional, a loophole in the law, rather than people like

senator schumer and senator leahy and then-senator biden and the congressional black caucus seeking it as a deliberate policy choice. oftentimes it is attributed to racism. again, the disparity is in if the law because of the facts i've cited. however, i'm willing to try to meet the other side halfway. i have a different plan to eliminate -- i have a different plan to eliminate the disparity. rather than reduce the sentences, i propose that we increase sentences for powder cocaine trafficking to eliminate this disparity. especially with cocaine overdoses on the rise now, we should start enforcing the law even more rigorously so innocent americans don't die. so, mr. president, still reserving the right to object, i ask unanimous consent that the senator modify his request to include my amendment, which is at the desk, the amendment be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered

read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: does the senator so modify his request? mr. booker: reserving the right to object, i question some of the comments that were made that over a generation ago when congress acted wrongly, the senators that he named from the president of the united states, former senator, to dick durbin, objection to members of the congressional black caucus have all said publicly that they think it was a mis-stake. there are things that body has done before, generations, a like this that future congresses said enough is enough. this law -- this congress passed laws on gender it on lgbtq americans that later congresses said that was a mistake. the beautiful thing about this is it's not a partisan group of people saying it was a mistake. you have dozens of democrats and republicans who were there 30 years ago who said it was a mistake. you now have this loud chorus of

conviction that says this was wrong. and the senator from arkansas, i respect him deeply and consider him somebody that has helped to make me a better senator, but if you look at what we call recidivism rates, the data my colleague from arkansas cites talks about other technology violation as recidivism. and often it's people returning to low-income communities that are more heavily policed. we know we have more interactions with police, and a more likelihood for rearrest. this doesn't take away from the ideal that i talked about, an ideal to which my colleague and i both have this fierce fealty to, which is liberty. right now in prisons all over america, there are people that have been in jail for a decade or two decades for nonviolent

crack-cocaine offenses, while people with more cocaine, more weightier drugs that affect more people have come in and out of jail. the people that are in jail for crack cocaine happen to be disproportionately african american. at the time when congress made this mistake, which republicans and democrats in both houses say was a mistake, there was a terrible fear that was gripping this country with a new drug coming along. it was that fear that drove us to do something that has now had people in prison for years and years and years. and so i do object to what my colleague and friend proposes, and i know that this will be corrected. mark my words. the arc of the moral universe is

long. we will get to one to one. i am confident of that. but why should people have to languish in prison for yet another year, two years, another congress separated from families, separated from their children? god, at this time of the holidays where so many people are being reunited, this is not only an act of justice, it would be an act of mercy. i object to my colleague's unanimous consent request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. is there objection to the original request? mr. cotton: mr. president, reserving the right to object. just to be clear, powder cocaine sentences are here, crack cocaine sentences are here. the bill in question would reduce these sentences to eliminate the so-called disparity. my amendment would raise sentences for powder cocaine dealing. so i would suggest the issue here is not so much the disparity but tough sentences for crimes whatsoever. so i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard.

the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: mr. president. mr. president, i am joined today with two of my he is -- esteemed colleagues from my office, mr. bubbe guesser and mr. henson webster. i am here in thanksgiving. i know it's not thanksgiving. it's christmas. but i'm here in thanksgiving with a small t. and i want to thank congress on behalf of the american people. i want to talk to you a second about the mississippi river gulf outlet. we call it mr. go.

here it is here, this straight channel, a canal you might call it. this is the mississippi river here. in the 1950, in the 1960's, congress authorized the corps of engineers to build the mississippi river gulf outlet, to dig it. the idea at the time -- and it seemed a good one -- was that the mississippi river gulf outlet being 75 miles long and a straight line, would make it cheaper, easier, and more efficient for ships rather than going up the mississippi river, which winds a good bit, they could go up the mr. go, as we

call it, straight line, 75 miles, and they could save money by getting to the port of new orleans quicker. the original canal, or channel -- could i ask for order, mr. chairman. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. the original mr. go was about 650 feet wide. as i said, we thought it was a good idea. i'm not blaming the corps of engineers. the corps of engineers was asked to do this. our decision to dig the mr. go turned out to be a mitigated disaster in more ways than one. first, the mr. go got bigger. it got deeper and it got wider. the original 600 feet in some places became 3,000 feet.

it was a huge undertaking, and it caused massive destruction to our wetlands. we dug out more dirt to build mr. go, once again right here. here's the mississippi river. than they dug out to build the panama canal, and we destroyed tens of thousands of acres of wetlands. in addition, because it was pretty much a straight line and there was no current, unlike the mississippi river, salt water began to move up the mississippi river gulf outlet, mr. go, causing enormous erosion and salt water intrusion

and when we had hurricane katrina in the early 200's -- 2000's, 2005, mr. go became a super highway for storm surge. the surge just came straight up this outlet, mr. go, swamping st. bernard par kansas sh swamping, new orleans, breaking the levees. there have been estimates that mr. go increased the storm surge and the destruction by 25%. we made a mistake building mr. go. after katrina, we tried to correct our mistake, and we've been well on the way to correcting it. first, congress directed the

corps of engineers to block the mr. go. it's still there, but we built about 1,000 feet of bury here of rock. once again, this is mr. go, here's the mississippi river. we blocked the channel so nobody can use it, but still that wasn't enough. congress also directed the corps of engineers to come up with a mississippi river gulf outlet restoration plan. how are we going to get rid of mr. go and repair the damage that it did. and that's why i'm grateful, mr. president. in our water resources development act, which this senate just passed along with the national defense authorization act, we have at long last done something that i've been working on since i got here from day one, and i know senator cassidy, my colleague,

has been working hard on. we authorized the corps of engineers to begin implementing the mississippi river gulf outlet restoration plan. what does that mean? that means that the corps is going to fill it in and try to start repairing the wetlands and other ecological and environmental damage that was done when we built this channel. and it will thought cost the people of louisiana -- and it will not cost the people of louisiana one single penny. the corps of engineers has agreed to fund the entire project. so i am -- that's why i say i rise in gratitude and thanksgiving. i want to thank this congress and i want to thank the corps of engineers. in the last few minutes i have, mr. president, i just, i'm still in gratitude and

thanksgiving. most of my people in louisiana celebrate christmas. and to those who do, i just want to wish them a merry christmas. i'm so proud of my state. we don't take it for granted. god has blessed louisiana, and having blessed us once, i think god blessed us a second time. we're at the top of the gulf coast. we're in the middle of the gulf south. we straddle one of the mightiest rivers in the entire world -- the mississippi river, right here. we have more oil and gas than most nations. my people are experts in endeavors like oil and gas exploration, petrochemical manufacturing, shipbuilding,

agriculture, aqua culture, tourism, food, manufacturing, education, health care, and i could continue. and my people, i have lived in five other states and a foreign country, mr. president, and i have never ever met people like my people in louisiana. they are hard working, they're god fearing, and they are fun loving. i kid my two colleagues from texas, senator cruz and senator cornyn, all the time. i say, senators -- actually i say cruz and cornyn, but we're supposed to refer to them as senators. i say ted and john, you know,

you represent texas. i love texas, wonderful state. texas gets an extraordinary amount of good publicity, and i'm happy for them. god bless it. but i also tell my friends, senator cruz and cornyn, look at it another way. texas is five and a half times bigger than louisiana, but we're ten and a half times more interesting. and that's because of my people, the people of louisiana. so my wish this christmas to my people is, first, enjoy your family, worship your god, worship our god, and may your sunrises be full of hope and your sunsets be full of peace. mr. president, i yield.

the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i come to the floor this afternoon with requests to confirm a highly qualified nominee, dr. brent neiman is nominated to serve as assistant secretary of the treasury for international finance and development. finance committee members voted in november of last year. let me repeat. november of 2021, more than 13 months ago, over a year, to approve dr. neiman's nomination on a strong bipartisan basis. this is not a controversial nominee. his nomination has waited long enough, and there's a lot of challenges waiting for him at the treasury department. for example, china's lockdowns are creating a ripple effect

throughout international supply chains. it's one of the major causes of the inflation that has been clobbering family budgets in oregon and across the country the last few years. dr. neiman will also have a role to play in dealing with the fallout of russia's brutal and illegal invasion of ukraine. he'll directly address the economic impact of sanctions and the price cap on russian oil. he'll be involved in maybe tang maximum pressure to hold -- in maintaining maximum pressure to hold putin accountable for the horrors of the unprovoked, unjustified war that vladimir putin started. dr. neiman will also work on the critically important issue of currency manipulation by foreign governments, and this is a subject that