government with bio and contact information for every house and senate member. important information on congressional committees. the president's cabinet, federal agencies and state governor. scan the code at the right for eaprin delivery. it's 29.95 plus shipping and handling and every supports our nonprofit operation at c-span shop.org. >> senate lawmakers today are working off the floor setting committee assignments for the 118th congress, a floor vote is need today approve them. today senate majority leader chuck schumer is in new york city with president biden discussing railway infrastructure projects. the senate about to begin its session live on c-span2. esidie senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. spirit of love, enlarge our horizons. give to us this day perspectives that go beyond pessimism and negativity. enable us to lift our eyes to you, our provider, sustainer, and friend. may we refuse to permit today's challenges to make us forget how powerfully you have led us in the past. bless our legislative branch today with your wisdom. help our senators to follow the path

that leads to the fulfillment of your purposes. inspire our lawmakers to fowcus on the priorities that will cause justice to roll down like waters. we pray in your marvelous name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, january 31, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. under the previous order -- thank you.

>> caller: today on npr, i forced myself to listen then and it forced myself to watch msnbc and cnn maybe 15, 20 minutes a day. i think those items that you just quoted will be even referenced. it was not today on npr was not an adult expected to be on msnbc and cnn. although there are important issues. if donald j today npr is all about donald j and stormy daniels. not all about but that's what they quoted. that was their story today this morning on politics.

>> host: that is great in pennsylvania. storyline from democrats david in las vegas a good morning thanks for being up early. >> caller: yes good morning. thank you. i'm a first-time caller. i appreciate what you guys to do. the biggest problem facing america today has got much to do with economic indignity, political disenfranchisement. and i think that race has less to do with it than those root problems. i think for the first time in history we really do have the ability to do something about it, creating an worldwide middle-class with properly regulated capitalism working with harmony with social democracy. it's not that difficult if we only could achieve the will to make it so. >> host: how long if you don't mind me asking how long have been watching this program?

>> years, why is today the first time he decided to call in? >> sometimes it's difficult to get through. sometimes the questions are not suggest a burning. sometimes you get so angry at the answers i have to scroll on. today i thought would get to the root. with got to discover a new vocabulary, i knew way of looking at things. it starts with education, critical thinking, less to do with location -- vocational training the special today and our high schools. systemically its economic indignity, it's a lot of political enfranchisement. and voting i think that's a lot to do with some of the solution. we're getting there. i'm not a pessimist. i am slowly but surely we're moving forward. i'll leave you with one question. why do these murders in memphis with these five cops, this was black on black violence. the question, isn't really an

issue about race or was this scorpion unit contaminated by a deeper socioeconomic bias? >> host: we will be focusing on that in our next segment of the "washington journal" 8 a.m. eastern joint by former congresswoman val demings a former police chief in orlando before her time in congress, left congress at the end of the 117th congress but working on police reform issues and we will focus a lot on that topic. stick around for that discussion. thanks for calling in. you can call it once every 30 days as an sure you know. patrick in ladylike florida independent good morning your next. >> caller: good morning. i'm kind of surprised foreign policy, are lowering -- lousy foreign policy is turning south america -- and we make no the effort to clean that up. israel just did a drone strike

in iran. he think that's going to lead to anything good? let me talk about the history of iran a little bit. when saddam hussein was reagan's bff he gassed the kurds three times because he thought they were fighting on the side of iran. he gassed the iranians three times, when iran went to the national u.n. security council to get sanctions against iraq, the reagan administration vetoed that it's a maybe that's why the want a a nuclear program so yu don't get pushed around and gassed anymore without any ramifications. south korea is barely a 30-year-old democracy. we are supposed fight for them? taiwan, we're supposed to fight for then? but we don't lift a finger in south america to wipe out the

drug gangs and help them get some type of stability. >> host: after, the gallup poll was a top problems facing the u.s. we mention the top five already, the government and poor leadership, inflation, immigration, the economy in general, unifying the country is in race relations and racism, poverty, hunger and homelessness. crime and violence and then the ethical or family and moral decline in this country round out the top ten. those with a top ten answers on the pole and begin the government and poor leadership at 21%, up markedly from november and december when this poll was last in the field when it was at just 15%. elizabeth city north carolina this is rate a republican. good morning. >> caller: hello, yes good morning and thank you for taking my call. i would say number one issue that would be the national debt because we have over

30 trillion-dollar national debt and that the facts everybody come doesn't matter if you're republican, democrat. and that national debt keeps on increasing. so i totally agree come totally agree with mccarthy and calling for spending cuts. there should be a lot of areas in government that could be cut spending to get the national debt down because eventually that that is going to have to be paid. and so it's like a big huge elephant in the room. no one is really look at. >> host: if you want to watch the u.s. debt in real time, usdebtclock.org is a website where often chew on this program.

$31,524,234,000,000 and counting. the caller was talking about republican calls for spending cuts on the floor of the senate yesterday. senate majority leader chuck schumer calling on republicans to spell out their spending cuts. this is some of what he had to say. >> according to some reports republicans are significant cuts across the board, but from where? is funding our troops safe? we don't know. republicans, show was the plan. is funding for police and firefighters and first responders safe? republicans, show us the plan. is funny for social security and medicare safe? with some in the party particularly on the maga wing section should be cut, we don't know. show us the plan. silence is unacceptable. because the american people have a right to know whether they're going to see crucial services suddenly dry up. if republicans don't get their

way, americans have a right to know whether, whether or not the hard right gop years are really prepared to lead the house republican conference to push the u.s. to fall the weather republican house led by mccarthy will follow them over at that devastating cliff, sending costs spike of inhibiting from credit cards to auto loans to mortgages. we've seen in real time how dangerous it is for speaker mccarthy to have empowered the most extreme elements of the gop to set the agenda in the house. the maga wing of the gop will just set the rules on how the house should run has left no doubt that under their watch no form of funding, however necessary, is a. >> host: that was senate majority leader chuck schumer yesterday. you can watch the house here on c-span, the senate on c-span2 as

the sun rises over the united states capital. as we ask you what's the top problem facing this country? walter, waldorf maryland democrat what do you think? >> caller: how're you doing? i think the biggest problem facing this country is the educational constituents here it seems to follow off over the last 20 or 30 years, and that's why we have this partisan bickering that's going on and the hatemongering is going on between the parties pick a spree much all i want to say. thank you. >> host: plantation florida, republican good morning. >> caller: good morning. i think positive leadership in the area of race is the biggest problem but i just want to make one comment. every time schumer opens his mouth i blow up.

he's talking about a plan. well, donald trump had a ten year plan for balancing the budget. the democrats after all of this funny money that they passed in congress, they don't even know what a balanced budget is. so i wish he would just shut up about plan. they don't have anything, any idea what a plan is, but my main concern is lack of positive leadership in the black community, all of martin luther king. martin luther king was a positive person. always said we could get there, and today a voice like that is totally absent and it's greatly needed. happening with the black race and the united states is racism any quality is being embedded in the minds of young black men, and it shouldn't be.

for for a black man, black pee fear saying things are better. they want to hold on to the inequality. it's their security blanket. >> host: that's just an plantation, florida. this is eric in massachusetts, independent, good morning. >> caller: good morning. i think the number one issue is a government because it is so pervasive in everything we do. our taxes, on income, everything you buy is typically taxed. your home is taxed. your car is taxed, yada, yada, yada and it goes on and on and on. you know, immigration is part of that because we are paying you know for immigrants quote-unquote migrants, they like to change the moniker, but

they come, they are over here. we sent into other cities like for instance, new york city and the mayor goes and tours a big fancy facility that we have set up with pdas and phones and hot showers. and where was he five years, you know, where was he or any mayor of a large city? why weren't we taking care of our own homeless? now we are bringing people in that we already know are going to be homeless. so that's all part of government. and a lot of people talking about oh, you know, our credit card bill, well, the credit card bill, i have to pay off the top 27% of my income to the federal government for nothing. what are they giving me? nothing at all. and and then one more thing, race relations, okay? if you look at the numbers, and they talk about police violence

against blacks, if you really look at the numbers, blacks are less likely to get abuse and shot unarmed done a white person. and i also say this, i have never known a person that complied with orders that got shot by a cop, ever. >> host: that is eric in massachusetts. race relations, racism. the number of americans who say that's the top problem in this country according to that gallup poll released yesterday, that's up to 5%. it was at 3% in november and december of last year. the latest gallup poll come out yesterday allowing us to ask this question to this morning, what do you think is a is p problem facing this country? this is dan and the badger state in bloomington, democrat good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you doing? well, i think it's in front of her face every day we wake up.

we deface our white house so bad so internationale be so bad for us to catch up every talk to wall street they will say boy, our politics is making it hard to keep us number one worldwide. defacing our white house which in other words, donald trump is her number one problem we have domestically. internationally, i guess we turn back to russia again. we just follow the same old history repeats itself. we are going to put china on the back burner because we'll probably need their goods because nobody wants to record anymore in america. i tell you what, russia will have to be our number one goal again. it's like back to the cold war days. >> host: do you think donald trump is -- do you think donald trump is the biggest bomb in this country? even though is not in the white house anymore. >> guest: . >> caller: yes. look how he can why don't you ask everyone to invest in america and how america wants to

invest internationally. what just wall street? it has been hard at a think that's my last word i guess. >> host: dan in wisconsin. we'll head up to richmond maine rod blum republican good morning. >> caller: good morning. i would say it's a mixture, i hate of what all, i'm sorry. so anyway i think it's a mixture between the media and the government, the current government in place. have you heard of hamilton 68? 68? do you know what that is, john? >> host: what is hamilton 68, riding? >> caller: hamilton 68 is a fake website slash dashboard that over 1000 news media outlets use as a source for government, for russian disinformation. and you really wish you guys

would cover the twitter files, and hamilton 68 is atrocious. 1000 different stories were written using that as a source, and it was all false. so that's the kind of information we're getting. that's about all i have to say i guess. hamilton 68 everybody everybody. look it up. >> host: that is riding in maine. a different ball not the gallup poll but another poll on americans views about their government and their leaders. this out from nbc news, anyone above americans are concerned about the classified documents found in president joe biden's position and and former president trump's possession according to a sunday, written sunday by nbc news. 67% said they find the discovery of the biden documents either very concerning are somewhat concerning while identical 60s of simpson held the same view about the discovery of the trump documents. other numbers, 50% of

respondents disapprove of biden's java performance compared to 45% 45% who app. 55% said they believed the house republicans will spend too much time investigating biden rather than focusing on other priorities when it comes investigating president biden, james colmer is head of the oversight and with giving advice and if we dash the president nominates somebody whom he thinks ought to serve on the federal bench, and then the nominee comes here to the senate for a job interview. sometimes these job interviews make news because they go spectacularly well. when the judiciary committee subjected nominee amy coney barrett to a battery of

questions a little over two years ago, she dazzled the country with her force of intellect. at one point hours in her hearing after being asked multipart questions about constitutional law, now-justice barrett was asked to hold up the notepad to keep everything straight. and it was completely blank. she hadn't even touched it. justice barrett is an intellectual outliier but she is an an appropriate stand by your ad-in for the nominees the senate has confirmed from 2017 through 2020. as one left-wing analysis admitted in 2020, quote, based solely on objective legal credentials, the last administration's average pick for the federal bench had a far

more impressive resume than any past president's nominees. they had more circuit court clerkships, more supreme court clerkships, objectively more experience in the federal judiciary. under president biden, though, with his nominees -- well, you might say things have gone somewhat differently. last week our colleague on the judiciary committee from louisiana, senator kennedy, was quizzing a panel of president biden's nominees. he decided to try some very simple questions that should have been beyond basic for anybody nominated to serve as a u.s. district judge. he asked one nominee currently a supreme court judge in spokane county, washington, to simply explain what article 5 of the constitution says.

that would be the article that explains how the constitution gets amended. here was the nominee's response -- quote, adamn -- article 5 is not coming to mind at the moment was the response. senator kennedy came back with another even more basic request -- how about article 2? as high schoolers across america learn each year, article 2 sets up the presidency and the executive branch. it establishes the president's powers, including the power to nominate the person for the vacancy in question. but this sitting judge drew another blank. article 2 wasn't coming to mind either. goodness gracious p then she flunked yet another question about legal philosophy and then she flunked yet another question about the most controversial

supreme court case this term. apparently when this particular nominee had been asked to list the top 10 more impactful cases she litigated in court she could only come up with six. at no stage of her professional career has the judge focused on federal law. at no point has she ever even appeared in federal court. so, get this -- in one of these six most significant cases she took, she lost to a defendant who forewent legal counsel and took the risky step of representing herself. this wasn't some rookie mistake either. the nominee was over a decade out of law school when she lost to anion represented party in one of her biggest cases. is this the caliber of legal expert with which president biden is filling the federal

bench? -- for lifetime appointments? is it the bar for merit and excellent -- is the bar for merit and excellence really set this low? for years now washington democrat's rhetoric has actually treated qualifications aces an afterthought. democrats are not particularly impressed or moved by top-shelf professional excellence or the academic brilliance that the last republican administration's nominees possessed literally in spades, and apparently they don't count those qualities as particularly high qualities now that they're the ones doing the nominating. the american people deserve the finest legal minds our country has to offer. the american people deserve the best and the brightest. alas, but sadly, the biden

administration's questionable constitutional judgment is not limited to some of their judicial nominations. in one important constitutional case after another, the biden administration and its lawyers have come down on the wrong side of the american people's rights and liberties and have gotten slapped down in court as a result. this last year, for example, in the bruin case, the biden administration threw its weight behind an unconstitutional new york state restrictions on the second amendment that plainly violated citizens' rights to keep and bear arms. president biden sent one of his top lawyers to help with the oral arguments. but the democrats got the constitution backwards and lost the case. in west virginia v. epa, president biden went all in trying to defend massive unconstitutional overreach by his own environmental protection agency. his solicitor general argued the

case herself, but the administration lost badly. the plain meaning of our laws and our constitution actually won out. in carson v. makin, president biden fought maintain -- again, they lost and the american people and the constitution won. washington democrats had their blatantly unconstitutional vacancy mandate for the private sector tossed out by the supreme court. they had their obviously illegal top-down mask mandate for transportation tossed out by a district judge. oh, and by the way, the judge was nominated. democrats howled she was unqualified but with a supreme court clerkship under her belt, she had more experience in federal court than the nominee who failed senator kennedy's bar

exam. offered and over on issue after issue -- over and over on issue after issue, this democratic administration sides against the american people, against the constitution, against the rule of law enforcement the american people deserve an administration that respects their rights and liberties, that understands our constitution, that chooses both policies and nominees accordingly. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> in the form of soaring prices in their heating and electricity bills, at the gas pump, as well as at the grocery store here fortunately millions of working americans were fed up last november and decided to put an end to democrats told control in washington. republicans will stand strong on the side of american energy

dominance, on the side of national security, on the side of american workers, american families, and america's future. >> host: senator mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate yesterday. we will talk more about energy issues coming up at about 8:45 a.m. eastern. we will be joined by john curtis, republican of utah, member of the energy and commerce committee and the conservative climate caucus. so much more on that topic coming up in a pool over an hour from now but in the first hour we've been asking you what is a top problem facing this country. we've been asking you to call in on phone lines as usual for democrats, republicans in the defense. we've been looking for your tweets and text messages. here's a few of those. karen from ohio the biggest problem in the united states is domestic terrorism and mass shootings. frank in oregon, and my pain in the number one problem is

government corruption. the two-party system special interest groups and even brainwashed college students are all issues, and that's it short list. brad saying right now the extreme spike in violent crime followed by severe inflation biden keeps exacerbating. this from chase in georgia. leaders who were not truly serving the people over the own self interest is the biggest problem. the number one problem is frustrated males with ar-15s and availability of assault weapons. just a few of, some social media and from our text messaging service. 202-748-8003 is a number you can send us a text on. a call out of louisville, independent, good morning, good morning. thank you for accepting my call. one of the biggest problems we have, i have to back to 2010, i believe it was when the supreme court approved fec versus

citizens united. that meant political action committees could donate an unlimited amount of cash to the political system, which means you've got both politicians on both sides of the aisle that are going after these special interest groups trying to please those groups trying to get that money. that is our biggest problem because that seems really controlling the politicians. it's not we the constituents that vote for the politicians. it is their greed in trying to get that. if that really were overruled or repealed, you know they repealed roe v. wade, you can repeal that. if we put a watch, a a closer watch on money going in, because they approved that thing in the supreme court because they said many, financial donations are a form of speech which i totally disagree with. >> host: do you think this

supreme court would overturn that decision? >> caller: i i would like to e them, if they overturn roe v. wade i don't know what would be holding them back but a really seriously doubt it because guess what, the supreme court is also benefiting from it. >> host: that is the bluegrass state. this is lupe in the lone star state, democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. two of things, the media, the general public knows what the media reports. the gentleman caller earlier mention all the networks. he forgot to mention fox news. that's another one. that's one of our problems. the general republican knows what the media reports that the other issue is in texas we didn't elect ted cruz or i don't even know who the democratic senator in texas, what is he

doing in washington. what are they doing? are they just of the talking about each other criticizing each other? democrat first republican, republican president democrat. while congress are doing absolutely nothing to address the real issues of this country. they don't take time for that. they are too busy investigating the investigators. >> host: what would you prefer john cornyn and ted cruz talk about in the united states senate as representative of the state of texas? >> caller: how about the texas problems? i'm speaking only, i know the problem if the nation is all the same. we all have the same problems. that's inflation. i go to the store, i get three bags of groceries $80. what's going on? how come nobody is controlling that? john cornyn and ted cruz should be doing, trying to do something. they were elected to do, ask her to take care of their

constituents have come not to go out and talk about each other and criticize. ted cruz is out there talking loblaw blob loblaw like he does knew anything. mitch mcconnell which is, i love what he said. i love what mitch mcconnell said what are they going to do anything about it or are they just want to talk about it? >> host: lupe in texas. back to the gallup poll, on some issues you bring up, lupe, his poor of the findings dig into it. the high prices come with high price of persistent inflation remains the second most cited problem by americans, 50% said inflation is a biggest problem. amid elevated tensions that the southern border illegal immigration is up three points over the past two months. pleasure and integration are each side by 18% 18% of reps while mentions of inflation, the economy in general and race relations trail the government as the biggest problem among democrats. democrats are more likely than republicans to view unify the country and the environment as

top problems facing this nation. that caliber for come up yesterday allowing us to ask this question today, , simply wt his biggest problem facing the united states? mike, bessemer city north carolina republican good morning. >> caller: good morning. yes. where can i start at? there's three things in my opinion. first is the demonization of our police officers, yeah, objection. mr. thune: mr. president, it only took two years, two years for the president to acknowledge the crisis that has been raging along our southern border, almost since the day he took office. over the two years, mr. president, we've seen record numbers of migrants attempting to cross our southern border. we've seen record numbers of migrants die -- die attempting the dangerous crossing of our southern border. we've seen the border patrol

overwhelmed and dangerous drugs cross our border and reach communities around the nation. and yet for months and months, the president did essentially nothing. in fact, he acted as if the crisis didn't even exist. i'm glad that at long last the president seems to be acknowledging this crisis even if his recent visit it to the border was scripted and controlled. but it is appalling to think of how much human misery could have been avoided if the president lived up to his national security obligations and addressed the border descrasser many -- disaster many months ago. it's not a surprises that he didn't want to draw attention to it it from the moment he took office, and even before, president biden made it clear that border security was at the

bottom of his list. he rescinded -- he halted construction of the border wall. he revoked a trump administration order that called for the government to faithfully execute our immigration laws. and his department of homeland security issued guidelines pausing deportations except under certain conditions. and that was all on his first day in office. well, needless to say the effect of all of this was to declare to the world that the united states borders were effectively open. we've seen the result. two years of soaring illegal immigration, since president biden took office, there have been more than 4.5 million attempted illegal border crossings. now, to you put that number in perspective, mr. president, that is equal roughly to the entire population of south dakota, plus the entire population of

delaware, wyoming, and nebraska, and then some. last month 251,841841 migrants e apprehended. of course, mr. president, these numbers just refer to individuals, customs and board protection manage -- border protection managed to apprehend. there have been a staggering 1.2 million known gottaways since president biden took office, individuals that the border patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. mr. president, president biden has talked about wanting a safe, orderly and humane immigration system. up until now, he has failed on all fronts. encouraging illegal immigration as the president's policies have done is the opposite of passionate and humane. there is nothing compassionate about policies that encourage

people to attempted the dangerous trip across our southern border to run the risk of disease and exposure and death. nor is it compassionate to condemn border cities to dealing with a never ending flood of illegal immigration and other illegal immigration activity. on top of that, the kind of unchecked illegal immigration we've been seeing is an open invitation to drug traffickers, human smugglers and other dangerous individuals. our nation is currently in the midst of a serious fentanyl crisis. in fact, right now, fentanyl overdosed is the leading cause of death united states of unite. where is it coming from? most of it is trackedded from the -- trafficked from the southern border.

let's be clear, drug trafficking across our southern border doesn't just affect border states. it affects communities around our country. i've talked to sheriffs in south dakota. almost as far from our southern border as you can get for dealing with fentanyl trafficked across the border from mexico. last year sheriff mike millstead estimated that 90% of fentanyl and methamphetamine in our state, the state of south dakota, comes from mexico. i wouldn't be surprised if the chaos at the border hasn't facilitated that trafficking. our country has been shaped by immigrants from around the world and i'm a strong supporter of legal immigration. i have legislation to have

individuals coming here to work here in the united states when employers can't secure enough domestic labor. but, mr. president, immigration has to be legal. it has to be legal for security reasons, for humanitarian reasons, and because we have a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. i'm thankful that the president finally seems to be at least half-heartedly acknowledging our border crisis, and he has recognized therrors on -- errors that successfully took pressure off the border. let's see how he follows through. there are things congress can do to strengthen our border security, deter abuse of our asylum system and provide resources to those serving on the front lines of trafficking and smuggling. we can find ways to address some of the economic factors by

leveraging legal pathways to allow immigrants to fill jobs that american employers are struggling to fill. but the fact of the matter is, mr. president, while there are things congress can do to help, the president of the united states doesn't need an act of congress to move forward on securing the border. the president just needs to enforce the law. and for the sake of our national security, our overwhelmed border communities and the individuals attempted to make the dangerous journey across the border, let's hope he does so. mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> val demings joints for discussion on policing and race after leaving congress to join the national policing institute new initiative on police reform. explain the mission of this project you are working on now and how you got involved in it. >> good morning, john, and good morning to your listeners. for viewers. it's good to be back with you. this is work to the national police and institute that has gone on for two years. we initially thought maybe it would be about three months but we realized that there was so much that we needed to look at. it was research-based which is a good thing. it is all not only law enforcement but safe communities, other committees, social service representatives. i believe we were able to last two years to do some good work. ..

the death of george floyd , the focus has been on police reform. the national institute for 50 years the commission has always been to look at policeing and race. the council came together, we looked at everything from policy and procedures, hiring standards, specialized units, community based programs that could reduce crime and the overall mission was to look at public safety in a more holistic way and public safety is not just the response ability of the police but takes a community to be involved to keep us safe and

build stronger communities. >> reporter: the same day that the op-ed pages of the washington post, police leaders must reform themselves, she will talk about it for the next 35 minutes or so. the phone line to colin, 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8001, independents, 8002. we have all seen the tyre nichols videos. what stands out to you, what is your reaction to those videos? >> as a law-enforcement officer, chief of police, someone who worked as a social worker before becoming a police officer, i saw the video and it was shocking

and appalling and i think every good person, every decent person, every good and decent police officer and executive should see the video as shocking and appalling. i certainly had an opportunity to review it and look at what happened and what occurred, what did the person do to dictate the actions of the police. actions dictate the response of the police. i have looked and i know the investigation is ongoing but the video is pretty clear and we should not ask anyone to not believe there line, the video is

pretty clear, off the rails, i have not been able and chief davis, trying to find justification of stock in the first place. i've not been able to see any justification. let me say this. this is a tough subject but we've got to get this writer. what happened to tyre nichols, his family, his community, what every decent person is going through, we have got to come together and put processes and programs and legislation that can prevent things like this from happening again. >> host: as seventh officer linked to tyre nichols has been relieved of duty and as you talked about, the specialized units, receiving scrutiny in the wake of the videos being released, why do we have

specialized policeing units? should departments have these kinds of units? >> specialized units at the orlando police department. when i was appointed an all-time high in orlando or murder rate, other violent crime and citizens of orlando wanted the police to do something about it. we had specialized units, their purpose as i said in orlando, the target of the worst of the worst of the gang members, those who were committing gun violence. we knew who they were. they target the worst of the worst behavior, something that citizens appreciated because they wanted crime reduced, i

remember getting calls from our seniors, retirees in certain neighborhoods and having to wade through the drug dealers to get to church, tired of see their grandchildren walk to the bus stop and be accosted by drug dealers. everyone regardless of who they are or gang members regardless who they are deserves to live in safe and secure communities. i had a specialized unit, the department has a certain mission and policies and procedures but also within some specialized unit, the department culture was one of safety, some specialized units can develop their own toxic culture. i had to disband one of our units.

you have to have the most highly trained, highly seasoned officers within those units, you have to be sure you are getting proper supervision. one thing that is important is not to leave these officers there, it is high-risk, high stress, you have to roll tape, men and women in those specialized units. >> host: the so-called scorpion unit to restore peace in our neighborhoods, created in late 2021, shut down on saturday, a day after the police chief had defended it. calls for reform, a lot of focus on the george floyd justice and policing actor that passed congress, did not passed the senate. what does that do and if that had been passed is there anything that you think would have prevented what happened here?

>> you know, john, i was disappointed the george floyd justice and policing act failed in the u.s. senate. it is not perfect legislation. we all know that. it was not perfect, some areas i didn't necessarily agree with. but we must do something, in action seldom protects anyone. national standards that will help give police departments the tools that they need, we had 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country, god bless the men and women who do the job right every day. it is it is a tough job. police departments that are 36,000 police departments that are as as few as that. developments of national

standards in terms of hiring, training, in terms of proper use of equipment from the federal government, modifying policies, let me go back to hiring, the brightest and the best. we have to have men and women who have temperament for the job. giving police to permit additional funding, to expand their scope, to hire people with the right temperament but and it is still important, training, we know police departments dependent on their size and have different training budgets. this would have allowed minimum standard training or training standard that could give men and women the tools to protect themselves.

to better be able to protect members of the community modifying policies like choke holds and no knock warrants. we have a policy that said you cannot strike a person above the shoulders unless you were justified in using deadly force because strike above the shoulder could cause great bodily harm. we saw in memphis what we all saw with our own eyes, officers that kicked tyre nichols in the head, they punched him in the face, beat him with the baton, modifying those policies, having a national database, fired from one agency, in another state. that they could not have just

cause, to go on the other side of town and get hired at another agency. increasing accountability. a good police officer is not afraid of that. increased accountability is a good thing. when officers, bad officers know they are held accountable and pay consequences for bad behavior, our hope is that his performance and -- the act was not perfect but was a step in the right direction. that is why legislation passed in the house, don't think there's as much of an appetite in congress, or much of an appetite to protect members of congress who have been threatened. that is why i believe it is important for my brothers and

sisters to step up and take matters into their own hands. i called several police executives and said you don't want the federal government telling you what to do, look internally and take action to modify your own policies, many of them did that. many did not. look at where we are today. we've got to do something. this cannot continue to happen. >> host: you are currently co-chair on the council on policing reform and race to the national policing institute, the council on policing reforms.org if you want to check out there were, plenty of calls for you. we start in illinois. christina, good morning, you are on with val deming's. >> reporter: a quick question. do they ever test these officers? i am blind but i heard what was

going on and sounds like a pack of wild jackals. i thought maybe testosterone, rage from steroids, might be a problem. what do you think of that? >> guest: thank you for your question and let me say this. whenever a person uses a already in a horrific way, certainly when it results in the death of any individual i would call any of them a wild jackal. i will start with that. i believe going back to the hiring, we've got to take greater steps to hire the right people to do the job. as chief of police, getting 40,000 applications in a year, and only 20 individuals. a lot of applications to get 20. getting the best people is

important. i also believe we have to have in recruitment process, the hiring process should involve psychological evaluation. we can't just stop there. one of my first deals, law enforcement wellness act that made sure, a tough job, officers go for a lot. let's do regular checkups to make sure we are taking care of their mental issues, their physical issues and their spiritual issues if that is the case. let's make sure we do so. let's also do these wellness checks on our officers to make sure they have what they need to survive which protects the innocent. >> host: nick in delray, beach, good morning.

>> caller: this word salad we are listening to will do nothing to solve any of the senate has never done anything to solve any of this. the police reform is only half of it. we need people reform. what i mean by that is we need to stop with this disrespect we have in this country for law enforcement. people would be so much better off, i do this in my personal life. i have been pulled over by police. when i got pulled over i put my hazard lights on, put down every window in the car before they approach so they can see inside. put my hand on the steering wheel and say yes, sir, no, sir, and answer their questions. we need to have respect and it has to start in the home with val demings does not want to talk about, it to start in the schools, people need to be

taught in driver education classes instead of transgender bathrooms and all the other idiocy people like val demings want to talk about. >> host: i will let you respond. >> guest: good morning. let me just say this. i grew up in florida, in jacksonville, two parents in the home, taught me to be respectful and taught many people, parents teach their children to be respectful. i heard your earlier segments when we were talking about general lack of morality and respect. it is not just on the street involving police officers, get back to respecting each other, different political parties. let me say this.

a lack of respect, that may mean something to different people, but nobody, nobody deserves to be beaten to death by a police officer. i did the job. i know the job. i love the men and women who do the job. we send a message that everybody counts. everybody is accountable. i am sure that nick viewed the same video i did. i cannot find anything tyre nichols said or anything tyre nichols did that show a level of disrespect to the officers. as a matter of fact, officers are trained, de-escalation is

very important. we want it to be a national standard that all police officers teach how to de-escalate situations. the only person on the scene, listen and watch, the only person on the scene in memphis that night trying to de-escalate the situation was tyre nichols. >> host: from new york, denise, good morning. >> caller: i run an emergency department. i have an uncle who was a police officer and another who is a new york state trooper. but 10, 15 years ago, i felt police did not read deserve my respect. i was in a snowstorm heading to work at 10:30 at night and went to a red light, didn't see until i was upon it and slipped

through it but end up, police officer in amherst, i a well to do area, stop and yell at me that i should be off the road, without giving me the respect of why are you on the road? there was no respect and another time i had an officer come to a car accident and yell because we had no right calling -- i didn't like officers. i went to work in an emergency department and i see the fine work most of them do. even there i had a city officer blow up blowup about waiting too long, he has an unstable patient, screaming in the middle of a waiting room at me, i never had that experience with a state trooper. my point is we need to see what the state troopers are doing, what how they recruit people,

how they train people, they are always respectful. it' s a different level and shouldn't be. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. copper correspondent are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. cornyn: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, over the past few days we've seen a number of headlines with surprising announcements about the impact the biden administration's new border policies have had. reuters, for example, ran a story last week titled "u.s. arrests of cuban, haitian, nicaraguaian, and venezuelan migrants plummet." the dallas morning news had a story titled "biden administration says illegal border crossings already falling under new policies." and then "the wall street journal" ran a story over the weekend with the headline, "migrant arrests fell by roughly half in january after new

enforcement measures." well, by reading those headlines alone, you might assume that the administration had finally done something it has refused to do over the last two years, that is take action to address the migration crisis that's been occurring at our southern border. you might think that they started using authorities they already had under existing law to own force those laws at the southern border and deter would-be migrants from making the dangerous journey north. well, if you made those assumptions, you would be wrong. that's not the case at all. as we know, the border has been operating at a state of crisis for at least the last two years. last year alone, u.s. customs and border protection encountered 2.4 million migrants

completely shattering previous records. and last month we broke the record for monthly encounters. the agency logged more than a quarter of a million -- more than 250,000 -- border crossings in december alone. here's the ugly little secret that the biden administration so far has failed to acknowledge. when vice president kamala harris talks about going to central america, talks about root causes of the migration crisis, secretary blinken talks about root causes assuming that this is a regional matter affecting mexico and central america and that it's primarily people who are coming to the united states strictly for economic reasons or to flee violence. but the fact of the matter is, people are coming from all over

the world to our doorstep and seeking asylum. a couple of weeks ago when we had a bipartisan congressional trip to el paso, an urban area, and then we went to yuma, arizona, which is a sleepy little agricultural community right there along the border of arizona and california, the acting border patrol chief told us that they had people from 176 countries speaking 200 languages seeking asylum coming to the yuma port of entry. you might ask, how in the world is that possible? that doesn't sound like root causes. that sounds like a global network of human smuggling that's exploiting our asylum laws to gain industry moo the united states.

-- industry -- to gain entry into the united states. well, senator mark kelly, said mexicali, a relatively large city, has an airport and presumably people are flying into mexicali from disparate places around the world because they know that if they show up at this port port of entry in yuma, they're likely to gain entry into the united states by claiming asylum. and they know because of the backlog in asylum cases that their case is not likely to be heard for literally years. and that if they did ultimately appear in front of an immigration judge that their chances of successfully gaining asylum, according to the legal standard under american law, was about 10%. and so it doesn't surprise

anybody that many of them don't show up for their court hearing but simply hope to evade detection and be able to permanently settle in the united states. this is what the border patrol calls no consequences associated with illegal immigration. and what they've told me and anybody else who will listen is that if there are no consequences to coming to the united states and exploiting our asylum system or illegally coming to the united states, then people are going to keep coming. and, indeed, that's what we've seen with an absolute lack of deterrence because of nonenforcement and because of the biden administration's border policies. so people all over the world are taking advantage of the biden administration's weak policies. they're crossing our southern border at an alarming rate,

imposing huge burdens on on the border communities in states like mine, texas, that do not have the resources to meet the demands of this crisis. it wasn't that long ago that del rio, texas, a small community of 35,000 people, had 15,000 haitians arrive in their city and claimed asylum. as it turned out, many of those haitians had been living in south america, having fled haiti previously. but they'd been living more and less peacefully in south america. but because they saw an opportunity to come to the united states and exploit this same asylum system, that they showed up in del rio, texas, 35,000 people, 15,000 of them overwhelming the capacity of that small city to deal with them. until recently, the

administration saw two options when it can a i am to migrants a -- when it came to migrants a. option one was to use the authorities granted under title 42 to expel these immigrants to mexico. of course, that is a public health title that's been in place because of covid. now, option number two was to parole them. basically, that means to grant them permission to enter into the united states, where they would await immigration court proceedings, which as i said, because of the backlog, because of the sheer volume, will take years. under the administration's so-called new plan, there's now another option for cubans, haitians, nicaraguans, and venezuelans. so that's four countries. there's a new option for people coming from those four countries. i'm not -- it apparently doesn't apply to the other 172 countries

that the united states of america -- that the yuma border patrol chief says they have encountered. but under the new plan, there is an option for cubans, haitians, nicaraguans, and venezuelans that will allow them to stay in the united states for two years and receive work authorization. what more of a magnet do you need for people to come to the united states than to give them a work permit and to say that you can stay here legally for two years while you await your court proceeding? all they have to do is submit information online before crossing the border and wait for the administration to give them the green light. well, border patrol in educating me and others about what's happening at the border, they talk about push factors and they talk about pull factors. and the push factors we all

understand. that's poverty, violence, people wanting a better life. we don't begrudge people who want a better life, who want a piece of the american dream. but we do -- we should insist that they come to the country through legal means, not illiterate legal means, not exploiting vulnerabilities in our asylum system. but there's no greater pull factor than this idea that there will be no consequences to come to the united states, that you will successfully make your way into the united states, into the interior, and you'll be able to stay. that's the ultimate pull factor, and that's the reason there is zero deterrence under president biden's open-border policies and apparently he wants to continue that when it comes to people coming from these four countries. well, there are several problems with this plan that i alluded to. first of all, it's not a solution to the open-border

policies that currently exist. it doesn't discourage migrants from making the long, dangerous journey. it just artificially lowers the numbers. and here's what i mean by that a -- and here's what i mean by that. the before this so-called new policy, if a migrant from one of these four countries was apprehended at the border, they would be apprehended and either removed, repatriated, or paroled into the country. every month customs and border protection reports a total number of migrants who are released into the united states, giving us an understanding of just how big, what the magnitude of this crisis truly is. last month, for example, more than 130,000 migrants were paroled into the united states. 130,000. given the paperwork to move into

the united states. the administration's taken a lot of heat for the fact that it's engaging in catch and release at an unprecedented pace. basically what that means is that rather than being detained while your asylum status is determined, and as i said, the vast majority will not ultimately qualify if they appear in front of an immigration judge, catch and release just makes this worse. rather than stop the practice and actually detain and remove migrants without legitimate asylum claims, the biden administration came up with this new policy to in effect cook the books. 30,000 migrants a month who entered the u.s. as part of this new program won't even be included in the monthly statistics that have become a huge political albatross for president biden.

if migrants enter the united states on a legal basis, which is exactly what this program provides, they will never be tallied as part of the migration crisis. they've taken 30,000 people and said, okay, we're going to make your entry into the country legal, so by definition it's no longer illegal immigration, by a wave of the magic wand. in short, this new policy lets the administration roll out the welcome mat for tens of thousands of migrants while making it seem like the numbers have actually gone down, which they have not. problem number two is any progress is all but guaranteed to be temporary. according to the administration, we've seen a 97% drop in the number of illegal crossings for migrants from these four countries. and as i said, these are just four of the 176 countries

represented by the folks who show up at the one yuma border patrol crossing currently. so it's just four countries. it appears now that there are thousands of migrants who would have previously arrived at the border who are now waiting for the biden administration to approve their online application. but what happens after those 30,000 spots are filled? what happens when it takes months rather than weeks for migrants to receive the green light? i can tell you exactly what will happen. migrants from these four countries will start coming across the border illegally once again. will they be expelled under title 42? will they be paroled into the interior? only time will tell. but one thing is for sure, once

the line gets too long, we'll be right back where we started, only with an added challenge. there will be a new population of tens or even hundreds of thousands of people living and working in the united states on what is supposed to be a temporary basis. as ronald reagan once noted, he said there's nothing so permanent as a temporary government program. third, the new program normalizes migrants coming to the united states based on facts that would not quaff them -- that would not qualify them under our current law, current laws for asylum. the administration's description of urgent humanitarian reasons that would qualify a haitian migrant for the program, for example, points to gang violence, the aftermath of an earthquake or a cholera breakout

that worsened political, economic, or social conditions. now we can all agree these are terrible conditions, but they don't meet the standard for a valid asylum claim. that leads to perhaps the biggest problem of all, that the administration circumvented, did an end run around congress, to implement this policy which has basically teed up an even bigger headache. president biden is following the footsteps of president obama by creating a new category of immigrants without consulting with or getting the agreement of congress. as we saw with president obama and the deferred action on childhood arrivals, his use of executive action ten years ago has now created more problems for this population of young people who came here as children and who are now adults, because

the courts have so far said that president obama didn't have the authority to do what he purported to do. by the way, you go back and do an internet search and see what president obama said shortly before he granted this deferred action of childhood arrivals, i think he said perhaps as many as 17 times -- i could be off a little bit -- that he did not have the authority. he said he did not have the authority to do what he ultimately did. and unfortunately, now the courts are agreeing with him, putting the livelihood and future of these young people in jeopardy. it's been more than a decade since daca was established, and the fate of these young people are still being litigated in court. it's a terrible circumstance to find themselves in, and this won't be any different. the biden policies will allow migrants to live and work in the

united states for two years, and then what? well, will they leave voluntarily? i doubt it. will they be apprehended and removed by immigration and customs enforcement? no, i doubt that. or will this be another group of migrants who will live in the shadows? there's no question or immigration system is broken. i have yet to find a person, a responsible person who thinks or immigration system is working the way it should. it's big, it's outdated, it's inefficient, and it's not serving our nation's interests well. but if the president wants to undertake immigration reform as he says he does, this is not the way to go, by end running congress to try to establish new categories of immigrants, he's poisoning the well. he's making it harder for us to

do what many of us would like to do, and that is to take on the monumental task of securing the border and creating a legal immigration system that serves our nation's interests and one that we can be proud of. but by poisoning the well, the president is not gaining new allies. he's just ensuring that more people will resist any potential legislation that we might take up soon. so despite what the initial data may suggest and what the spin doctors here in washington have been selling to the news media, which is been accepting that as if this is somehow a big deal or a negative trend in terms of illegal immigration, it's not so. the president hadn't solved the problem. he's just swept it under the

rug, and he's arguably made it worse. this crisis is complex, but the solution isn't. the administration needs to engage with congress and enforce our immigration laws that are on the books and those that are being exploited by the international criminal networks that are smuggling people into the united states on a daily basis, we need to work together to address those gaps that are being exploited. if migrants from any countries see the u.s. is quickly detaining and removing people who do not have legal basis to remain in our country, the flow of illegal immigration will drop dramatically. that's the only viable path forward and where the administration should focus its time and effort. mr. president, i yield the floor.

ms. cantwell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i rise today to applaud the combiem in their -- the biden administration in their historic step to protect bristol bay yam -- bay of alaska. the environmental protection agency is finalize a clean water protection that will protect bristol bay. no company will ever be able to stick a mine on some of the best salmon habitat in the world. salmon fishermen from alaska and my home state of washington will continue to earn their livelihoods from business to bay salmon as they have for generations. no bristol bay salmon will ever have to swim through toxic soup to get to its spawning grounds, and this scientific decision today by the environmental protection agency puts a final nail in this mine's proposal. it's difficult to understand,

to really know the importance of bristol bay. in an average year, 40 million to 60 million sockeye salmon swim in or out of the bay. last year was a blockbuster run. nearly 80 million sockeye salmon returned to bristol bay. that is why bristol bay is known as the holy grail of salmon. today bristol bay salmon fisheries are a $2.2 billion annual industry. they support over 15,000 jobs in the pacific northwest and nationwide. that is through commercial fishing, recreational fishing, tourism, seafood, restaurants, shipbuilding, and other associated industries. i know the presiding officer knows this well because northern california also benefits from these salmon sectors and the

salmon industry. salmon are one of the most important products that we in the pacific northwest have. it is the symbol of our region. so bristol bay salmon being a powerhouse and supporting nearly half of the sockeye salmon harvested around the globe is certainly worth fighting for. so as you can imagine, when a mining corporation decided to try to build a mine in the headwaters of this most powerful salmon run on the planet, fishermen in my state and many other states were outraged. estuaries and mines really don't mix, and they certainly don't belong together at the headwaters of one of the most important salmon runs and spawning grounds in the nation. for fishermen, the destruction wrought by pebble mine would have swept away their businesses, their way of life, and they certainly raised their voices and came to ask me and

others in washington for help. in 2011, i was proud to stand with fishermen and tribes from my state and from alaska to speak out against pebble mine and to call for permanent protections under the clean water act if the science showed that the mine would have irreversible impacts on salmon. well, sure enough the science is damning, and that is what is being released as part of this decision today. in 2020, the environmental protection agency found that more than 185 miles of streams and over 3,800 acres of wetlands would be permanently damaged or destroyed by pebble mine due to its toxic waste and habitat destruction. and that's just if the mine operated the way it was supposed to. that wasn't considering the kind of degradation that could happen if an accident happened.

those statistics don't account for potential mine disaster that could really wipe out this irreplaceable ecosystem. so despite the clear science, the mining company has continued to claim that protecting bristol bay is a partisan government overreach. their executives believe that stripping all the gold and copper out of bristol bay is a worthy goal more important than our wild salmon or more important than the generation of washington and alaska fishermen who earn their livelihood from that. protecting our fishing economy should not be a partisan issue, and that is why congress created a fail-safe clean water act provision called section 404-c. this provision says that if disposal of dredging in a waterway would destroy a fishery, municipal water or other serious impacts, the

environmental agency could step in to stop the project. it's a simple concept really. let's not destroy a profitable, sustainable industry that keeps the water clean for the sake of just temporary extracting. still, this authority on 404-c isn't used lightly. since 1972, millions of clean water act permits have been approved and compared to only 14 times that this provision has been used to stop major projects like the one today that is being stopped at pebble mine. republican republican presidents have used this clean water 404 clrch authority 11 -- c authority 11 times. 11 times it was used by a

republican president. ronald reagan alone used the clean water act 404 authority eight times. so there was a time when people believed in this conservation. they believed in making sure that we preserve what is so unique about our planet. to sum it up, a multinational corporation thought that it could go to one of the most iconic salmon runs on the planet and decimate those jobs that we rely on in bristol bay and tear a hole in the culture of our northwest fabric and fishermen and we here said no. i'm proud of the scientific work done under the pa environmental protection agency by president biden, the university of washington and so many environmental partners that fought so hard to stop this project. i'm proud to have stood with the

fishermen and tribes of bristol bay in saying we need to protect this unique place forever. i want to thank some of our greatest champions, the united tribes of bristol bay, the bristol bay native corporation, the fishing families in alaska and washington. i want to thank my staff, nicky tushell, anette and jeff waters, who through a decade continued this fight to make sure that every administration was listening to this cause. it seemed like a david and gloith many times. but we know today that the voices of the fishermen at bristol bay provided the leadership we needed to preserve this area forever and said no to this project. fishermen know that the pacific northwest salmon is worth more than copper and it is worth more

than gold. it is our pacific way of life and thanks to this administration, it will be protected. i thank the president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> while we wait for senator to come to the floor to speak, here's an update what is happening in congress, lawmakers are working off the floor, setting committee assignments for the 118th congress, for vote will be needed to approve them. chuck schumer is in new york city today with president biden discussing railway infrastructure project. house lawmakers are working on four pandemic related bills, two would end the national emergency is declared by donald trump in 2020, the other measures would end the healthcare worker vaccination will not require federal employees to return to the office. watch live coverage of the house on c-span and see the senate on c-span2. you can watch both networks on our website, c-span.org and our free mobile video apps, c-span now.

>> host: utah republican congress when john curtis, member of the energy and commerce committee, the 118th congress, chair of the conservative climate caucus. what are your priorities for the 118th congress when it comes to energy and climate legislation? >> we hope to show that we don't have to sacrifice energy independence, we don't have to sacrifice affordable prices and reduce emissions but we have a formula to do that. >> host: what is the formula to make that happen? >> guest: it is not complicated. we need every energy source we have with an emphasis on affordability, reliability, and that the marketplace drive those factors and i'm confident the marketplace will take us in a good direction.

>> host: what happens when clean isn't affordable or one of those other priorities gets in the way? >> guest: the answer is europe. you see what happens when you get those priorities out of alignment. not only did they sacrifice affordability and reliability, they are not even clean. we want to make sure the us doesn't go in the same direction. >> host: the conservative climate caucus, you started it, you are the chair of the caucus. what is it, why did you start it? >> it surprises people to find out one of the largest republican conferences in washington is republicans talking about climate. the whole point is to get republicans engaged, republicans told people what we don't like, it is important to articulate what we do like and the important thing is there are strong conservative principles that are reliable and clean. >> host: why would it reap surprise people? >> guest: historically

republicans have not engaged in the climate conversation and part of that is they are turned off by the extremism, take your head off to fix your headache ideas and that is a mistake. >> host: how do you get republicans to engage now and how do you get democrats to engage with you on these issues? >> guest: i'm pleased with my democratic colleagues who have embraced what we are doing and reached out to us, a warm reception with my democratic colleagues. as far as getting more republicans engaged it is helping them understand they don't need to check their conservative credentials at the door to be good at this. >> host: do you foresee a day the country no longer needs fossil fuels? if so, how far away is that they? >> guest: i don't know a single

energy expert who doesn't tell you fossil fuels will be with us for a long time. do you hate fossil fuels or do you hate emissions? there's a strong role for fossil fuels and reducing emissions and no better example of that than what happened in the united states where we reduce dramatic emissions using us natural gas. natural gas is cleaner than russian and there is a role in fossil fuels to be part of the solution. >> host: is the air a role for coal-fired power plants? >> guest: there is not a single energy source we won't be using. can we do it affordably, reliably and clean? is great technology out there, carbon sequestration, other technologies that likely will play a role in the answer to your question. >> host: congressman john curtis with us for another 20 minutes.

if you want to join in the conversation about the climate and energy, phone lines are open. democrats 202-748-8,000, republicans 202-748-8,000 one, independents 202-748-8,002, john curtis, a member of the energy and commerce committee in the 118th congress and vice chair of the subcommittee like energy, climate and security, what is good security, grouped together? >> as far as climate energy, rogers is pointing out, separating climate from energy, and everyone will tell you if you don't have a secure, reliable grid, the energy and climate side. we need the grid to be more resilient, more efficient than we currently have.

>> host: when it comes to the grid, what is keeping us from being efficient or reliable? >> guest: the same thing pulling us back on in a energy and climate goal, permitting reform. for republicans and democrats, i don't care what your climate goal is, and if we work that out, we will struggle on the energy side and the climate side. >> host: for someone understanding the permitting process, how long does it take, how many agencies are involved in energy permitting processes? >> guest: there are a lot of layers. it depends on what you are trying to do, to permit on federal land, to take up to 9 years. that has also many layers of complications where the permit of issues, or lawsuits, and two

problems, it takes too long to get an answer. want to comes there is no certainty because of lawsuits that go on for many years. tightening that up, not compromising any environmental standards, simply give an answer quickly or make it more assured, one of the most important things we do with committee reform. >> host: talking to congressman john curtis, asking for your questions via phone, text, e-mail, monitoring all of it. bobby is at first out of west virginia. line for democrats, you're on with congressman curtis. >> caller: i'm a retired coalminer from west virginia. from west virginia, you can recall the massacre, my question

to you, we powered this nation through several wars, and if it happens been for coal, especially west virginia call, we've not been able to make airplanes or whatever. at that time, world war ii, the factories, and because we needed it. my problem, we know that coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels that there is, and it is quite expensive. hillary clinton when she was running it -- almost $11 billion to be sent to call operators, for power plants, to upgrade them and clean them but we have future generations. i don't think coal can be

eliminated because that first package the biden administration when they first went in had to do with reconstruction on highways and bridges and you need met call because they haven't done it with so many source of energy get, he has a higher btu and it makes steel. i don't hear the guys up there talking in the energy business, maybe you have a good answer. >> host: let's let the congressman jump in. >> guest: i represent carbon county. you can imagine carbon county is like west virginia in what they do and what they make their livelihood. what i regret most about this debate is the demonization, not just of coal but of the people who for decades and decades

sacrificed their health and safety so we can fight wars, build cars, have our homes at 70 °. i regret this conversation demonizes these people. the future for coal lies in its ability to do three things, be affordable, reliable, and clean. all fuel sources need to take a hard look at that with carbon sequestration and other techniques. it is possible that coal could compete in our future world and the question is can they maintain and affordable price to keep affordability and i think they can and our future will show those three factors, affordable, reliable and clean, dictate who is the dominant power source.

>> guest: provo city is about an hour and half from carbon county but as the mayor we were inducible power city, and when i probably close to 80% coal was our source. we had a bit hydro and so i watch this very closely and watch this debate for a very long time tremont to turn as mirrors. fourth term in congress. represent utah's third district taking your phone calls for about the next 50 minutes. this is top in portland, oregon, republican. good morning. you're were on with congressman curtis. >> caller: yes. yes, i was going to ask you do you realize that maybe the sun

and wind and all these other energy sources might be available in about 40 40 or r 60 years? so there's no climate change going on. i mean, floods, hurricanes and fires, whatever else, we've helped it by the industrial age, but it's natural. so we don't need to be worried or sitting here talking about climate, climate. just get back to nuclear, hydrogen, coal, natural gas. >> host: congressman.

>> guest: so i think you could probably join me on this level, and that is less pollution is better than more pollution. i think all of us can agree with that and that's why i feel like i and clear in what will be important moving forward. the good news is we don't need to historically tom, you been told you to sacrifice energy independence, sacrifice local total prices and a suspect that's why you push back. i would, too. the good news is we don't need to do that. we can be smarter than that and also be clean at the same time one . >> host: , how much u.s. coal is sold to china? >> guest: i think china, i can't tell you the exact number, a large percentage of the call from sources not in the united states but i can tell you this. going back to my carbon county for coal power plant is a biggest way right now is the

coal that his mind just a few miles away from them, is now four times the price that it was last you because it's going overseas in and being used primarily in europe. >> host: one of the question on a different source. much natural gas is available in the u.s.? how expensive should natural gas be? this from dg on twitter. >> guest: i think it's important to point out that u.s. natural gas is clear that almost all other sources in the world and its understand i understand produce 40% clear than russian natural gas. we should be making an emphasis if you want to reduce emissions around the world on exporting u.s. natural gas but we've got many blocks and in one way o that. some of it is a permitting reforms are mentioned and here in the united states, natural gas is responsible for us reducing emissions more that depends on exact timeframe more than about the next ten information reducing countries

combined. a great source of fuel. it's an expensive of these relatively speaking and i think it's a very important part of our energy future. >> host: ten minutes left with john curtis. this is steve in florida. independent. good morning. >> caller: good morning. yet, if the glaciers dugout the great lakes, how can you all say this man-made? >> guest: i don't think anybody said that this morning. i look at a pivot back to the point i made with the previous caller, and steve i suspect you would join me in saying hey look, i want to leave this earth better than i found it. i have grandkids. you may have kids and grandkids e suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, it took 15 votes for kevin mccarthy to become speaker of the house of representatives. it may not have been historic, but it was a sight to behold. to finally become speak, kevin

mccarthy made all kinds of commitments to the maga extremists in his republican party. one of the promises he made to the hard right holdouts in order to become speak was that house republicans will use their razor-thin majority in the house to try to freeze federal spending in fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2022 levels. let me bring that down in plain english. this means cutting $130 billion out of the federal budget that congress just passed last month. $130 billion is nothing to sneeze at. how are they going to do it? what's on the republican agenda in terms of cuts? speak mccarthy won't say, neither will the house republicans. what they have said is they plan to use the debt ceiling as leverage to try to get their way. what is the debt ceiling?

let me give an example. last night, you went to a restaurant with your family. you had a wonderful meal, and you paid for it with a credit card. in a couple weeks, you're going to get a bill from your credit card company saying now it's time to pay for that wonderful meal. that's our debt ceiling. if we don't pay those bills on a timly basis -- on a timely basis, it raises a question whether we're credible or reliable, and those people who loan us money, if they worry about whether the united states is going to pay its debts, are going to demand higher interest rates to protect their purchase of u.s. securities. that's the bottom line. we have never, underline never, defaulted on our national debt and debt ceiling in our history. as a consequence, the united states enjoys a solid reputation for financial stability. well, speak mccarthy decided to put that on the chopping block.

let's get right up to the 11th hour and see if we're going to extend the debt ceiling. it's within his power to stop it, and that's his threat. we've said to him is ■if you hav something, a plan, for cutting spending or raising taxes, which is unlikely, if you have a plan for cutting spending, be honest with us, tell us what it is. some of the proposals are incredible. there's an actual proposal to create a federal, that's national, sales tax of -- liste. 30% sales tax. so if that loaf of bread costs $5 at the grocery store, and in springfield, some of them do, instead of paying $5, you'll pay $6.50. did you think prices were already going up for food in the grocery store? tack on 30%, see how it feels. the problem with this is not just the notion of a national sales tax of 30%. the problem is who will pay it. do you think the richest people

in the world give a toot about grocery bills? they don't. but folks struggling paycheck to paycheck, trying to feed hungry kids, do. they can tell you week to week what's going on in the grocery store, and it's not very encouraging. one of the republican plans for reducing federal spending is creating a national sales tax before 30%. i'm not making this up. that is one of the proposals which speaker mccarthy agreed to call as part of his response to the debt of the united states. maga republicans are threatening to use the creditworthiness of the united states as a bargaining chip in a political debate here on capitol hill. and, i'm sorry to say, if they go the direction we expect they will, it will go beyond a national sales tax. they're talking about cuts in some of the most important entitlement programs in our budget. what are those programs? social security, medicare,

medicaid, veterans' benefits. the list goes on, and it gets down to the heart of this economy. it gets down to whether or not the vast majority of retirees in the united states of america will have enough money to get by. their food bills are going up. their gasoline bills have gone up in the past. and this idea we're going to cut social security benefits, the republicans are on the wrong track. refusing to pay america's bills for the first time actually won't cut the national debt. it will end up increasing interest rates and will increase the debt by $150 billion. and that's just the start. millions of americans can lose their jobs, it can push us into a recession if we default on the debt. workers with 401-k plans would see huge losses in their retirement savings, and a new 30-year mortgage on a home would cost an additional $130,000, on average. people going to buy homes?

not likely. people who own homes will see the value of those homes diminished. all because of this reckless strategy of confrontation by speaker mccarthy. mr. speaker, one-quarter of our entire national debt, that's drul 8 trillion -- $8 trillion, was accumulated during the administration of donald trump. one-fourth of the entire debt of the united states in its 230 years of existence accumulated in those four years. of course, there is money spent on the covid crisis. i understand that. but there was also a $2 trillion tax cut under president donald trump. who got the tax cut? most of it went to the wealthiest people in america and the biggest corporations. it's the tried-and-true republican approach -- cut taxes on the rich and hope for the best. the last time the u.s. had a balanced federal budget, incidentally, was it under a republican president? no, it was a democrat, bill

clinton. the fiscal year 2001 federal budget had $128 billion surplus. remember what republicans fear about the deficit was back then? they told us, the republicans claim that paying down the national debt too quickly would hurt the economy. they were critical of us in either direction. either too much debt or not enough. instead of using fiscal year 2001 surplus as a down payment on the national debt, republicans, you guessed it, passed a huge tax cut in those days, overwhelmingly benefiting rich people and powerful corporations. they said, they always say this, those tax cuts will pay for themselves. the same bogus claim they make about all their big tax cuts for the wealthy. instead, seven years later, the last budget george w. bush sent to congress contained a $1.4 trillion deficit. same thing happened when ronald reagan was president.

republicans passed huge tax cuts to the wealthy and promised that they would pay for themselves, if we can just get the rich a little richer, then working families will be better off. instead, they produced the biggest budget deficits america had ever seen. do they have credibility gap on that side of the aisle when it comes to deficits? they sure do. but rich lowery, the editor and chief of "national review" once the bible of americans conservatives commented on what the maga strategy means nfl -- means. he wrote, it's very strange not to seriously pursue a deeply held goal when you have unified control of washington, than to achieve much of it in one fell swoop when you barely have control of one chamber. congress, but here we are, this is the republican pattern. in the last fiscal year under president biden and a democratic majority, we actually reduced the deficit by $1.4 trillion, the largest one-year drop in

american history. under president biden. democrats passed the inflation reduction act to reduce the cost of health care, prescription drugs, and energy for american families, and to strengthen our nation's energy independence with safe, new energy solutions. the inflation reduction act also cuts the deficit by more than $300 billion. we're not ignoring the problems -- we're trying to address it seriously. the smart way to reduce the deficit, cut where you can, invest where you must, make sure it's fair for middle-class and lower income families. not a boondoggle for the super rich in america. president biden kept his promise to not raise taxes on anyone making over $400,000. democrats added a 15% minimum tax for wealthy corporations. it was hard to take that these wealthy corporations and profitable courses were paying nothing in taxes -- that's right, nothing -- leaving the middle class to pick up the tab in america. compare that to the new maga

majority in the house. during their first week on the job, house republicans proposed to increase the budget deficit by $100 billion, by making it easier for wealthy individuals and big corporations to cheat on their taxes. think about this -- the center on budget and policy priorities says the irs has 2,284 fewer skilled auditors to handle sophisticated returns of wealthy taxpayers than it did in 1954. 70 years ago. we have fewer auditors at the irs. believe the -- i believe the vast majority of americans do their level best to pay their fair share of taxes. it boils my blood and theirs too to think the tax cheaters are off the hook. historically republicans take away those auditors, take away the checks on the big, wealthy individuals and corporations and they of course are tempted to

cheat. why let that happen when the vast majority of american families are doing the right thing? house republicans just voted for a bill that will add $100 billion to the deficit to take away these auditors. that is not a way to balance a budget and it's not fair to american taxpayers. if that's not enough, as part of the deal, speaker mccarthy also promised maga hard-liners the house would vote on that jumbo sized national sales tax which i spoke about. as grover norquist, who is quite a conservative and quite a man on the issue of taxes, said, it's a political gift to biden and the democrats to consider a national sales tax. we say if this is a gift, no thanks. in the last two years america's economy broke records and created 11 million jobs, the strongest job creation in the history of this nation. the unemployment rate is at a 50 year low, gas prices are coming down, inflation is starting to ease, and the deficit is going

down. we need to keep the country and economy moving in the right direction, not devastate social security and medicare and certainly not impose a national 30% sales tax. speaker mccarthy is meeting with president biden tomorrow for the first time since he became speaker. he needs to show up not just with platitudes but with a plan in writing as to what the republicans want to put on the table. what is the republican plan? are they going to cut social security and medicare? mr. mccarthy said no way on a sunday talk show this weekend but the math doesn't add up for his fiscal goals unless he goes after the entitlement programs. if you're going to do that speaker mccarthy, be honest with the american people. are republicans planning to slash money for education, health care, veterans, transportation, clean water? in the first two decades of this century thanks in large part it to the national institutes of health, cancer deaths went down almost one-third in the united

states, saving an estimated 3.5 million lives. are we going to cut medical research, mr. speaker? speaker mccarthy's maga republicans need to level with the american people. speaker mccarthy, my ask is very simple -- put your plan on the table. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. speaker. the presiding officer: yes. mr. durbin: i have one request for committees to meet during the today's session and it has the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. today i rise to highlight the need to strengthen our alliances, as bad actors around the world continue to threaten peace and global stability. in august my senate colleagues

and i took a critical step to bolster our defense by ratifying finland and sweden as nato members. this was the right action to take. it's time for all remaining nato members, these countries, to follow this example and approve expanding our trans-atlantic alliance by adding two very valuable and reliable partners. in just a few short weeks we are, we'll be marking a grim milestone of the one-year anniversary of russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine. russia's brutal actions in ukraine coupled with its increasing escalatory rhetoric and continued aggression have shown us and our allies that we must strengthen our collective ability to maintain global stability. given their proximity to russia, finland and sweden are investing in their capabilities to prevent a similar attack.

the finns demonstrated their ability to enhance nato's military strength by significantly increasing military spending above nato requirements, participating in joint military training exercises, and strengthening its air power with upgrades to an f-35 fleet under the foreign military sales program. finland has been one of nato's most active partners and a strong contributor to nato-led operations and missions in the balkans, afghanistan, and iraq. the finns also delivered crucial support to ukraine by providing hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid in addition to providing critical humanitarian assistance. finland's large, well-trained ground force and increasingly capable air force are interoperable with nato. the finns also have extensive experience monitoring russian

activities along their 833-mile border, and its addition would make defending the baltic states so much easier. earlier this month i visited finland and met with defense leaders who reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral cooperation and the value they would bring to nato. as a member of nato, i have no doubt finland would be a net contributor of security, not a taker. i strongly urge the remaining members to join the u.s. and approve finland and sweden's succession to nato to confront evolving security challenges and the ongoing threat by russia's aggression against ukraine. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. a senator: mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: mr. president, today i want to begin by recognizing a former colleague of mine and some of alabama's student athletes. the saint james academy trojans in montgomery, alabama, won the class 3-a football state championship for the first time in school history. the team no doubt put in many long hours on and off the field to prepare for this great historic achievement. winning is always fun, but the lessons learned about dedication, discipline, perseverance will stay with these young men and coaches forever. i also want to extend a special congraduates to the trojans' coach jimmy perry on this state championship and his recent retirement announcement. what a way to go out. i first met coach perry when i

hired him in 1999 to be the director of football operations at auburn university. it was clear then that he had a very bright future ahead of him in the world of coaching, and it's fitting that his coaching career ended with this historic victory. so congratulations to coach perry and his team at saint james academy. i wish them all the best, and coach all the best in future endeavors. mr. president, last week i spent time on the floor urging my colleagues to prioritize freedom in the 118th congress by learning from the mistakes of overregulation in the past, we can focus on creating a brighter future and a more prosperous future for all americans. we should be doing everything we can to fix the problems created

by the government and get americans back on their feet by unleashing our economic potential and opening doors of opportunity. unfortunately, too many here in washington are still focused on growing the size of government and adding regulations they say will save the environment. however, very rarely does making a government larger benefit the american taxpayers and american citizens in this country. for decades fans of big government have used climate change warnings to grow their power. decades, as long as i can remember. they have claimed we're near the edge of a climate cliff. a prediction they know is impossible to prove and has

never come true. of course they claim the only solution to this cooked up crisis is for you, the american taxpayer, to sacrifice even more of your freedom to tackle this so-called climate dilemma. this sacrifice won't come from the elites who flew their private jets to switzerland just a few weeks ago, the ones that are crowing about this. they flew just a couple of weeks ago to lectures, and they're lecturing while they're there the working families of this country. no, these sacrifices are expected to be made by average, hardworking american taxpayers. that's what they want. they want you to give up your affordable gas for imported fuel that's triple the cost. they want you to give up your

ground beef for overpriced and underwemg meat substitutes. they want you to give up affordable, abundant clean energy we could produce right here in america for the enormous cost of grown energy policies. they even want you to be banned from cooking on gas stoves because how you cook in your own kitchen is now the government's business. they want our farmers to cut back and worry about emissions while they're focused on feeding the country and the rest of the world. which is a huge priority. and most importantly, they expect you, the american taxpayer, to foot the bill for their radical climate agenda.

obviously. well, i think i speak for most americans when they say no way. we should say no way to overpriced electric cars that are made with cobalt processed and sold by china and plugged into a challenger that's powerer that's powered by fossil fuels anyway. how do we come up with electricity? by fossil fuels. no to make meats -- to fake meats, products that taste as bad as their price and will eventually kill our livestock producers' way of life. what are we trying to do? put our farmers out of business? exactly. that's what the climate agenda is about. even though, as we all know, our food security is national security and we should be promoting domestic food production by protecting our

nation's farmers in every possible way we can. every way. we say no to unreliable energy sources and the skyrocketing utility bills we're seeing today. because america cannot operate and achieve economic success without fossil fuels. it is impossible. i don't know what we're trying to prove. it will come back, but hopefully it's not the sacrifice of the american taxpayer. and no to trillions and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent on an agenda that's based only on the rantings of failed candidates like al gore and john kerry, global elites at a ski resort, and a european teenager who needs to go back to school and learn to read and write and

math and stay out of politics at her age. that agenda is based solely on fearmongering and unproven theories, unproven. but that's how the left likes it. that's how they use fear, is to push policy. and their agenda ignores reliable clean energy sources like nuclear and natural gas. it should be viable, but it does not fit their narrative. that's the reason they don't talk about it. this he know nuclear energy -- they know nuclear energy is the answer, but the climate change group that continues to bark about this, they don't want answers. they don't want to talk about nuclear, because the problem itself is too valuable for their pocketbooks and politicians'

ambitions. instead their narrative has created a growing, growing group of americans and people around the world who now genuinely believe they should live in fear every day. we're teaching it in our schools. we're teaching it in clubs. and it's wrong. these are the folks who throw soup at famous paintings while griewg themselves to the -- gluing themselves to the wall and shut down major streets and city highways, calling themselves climate act vipses. -- activists. we're standing here on the senate floor calling this out, and some may call me a climate change denier. i want to be clear. as a conservative, i believe in protecting our environment, conserving our natural resources, and doing what we can

to make sure americans live in a clean, safe environment, in clean communities that will last for generations to come. but i could do not believe te need to give up our livelihoods, our way of life, our access to affordable food and energy because of false claims that we are years, and just a few years, from extinction. these claims are simply not true, and repeating them is dangerous. instead, i believe we should be investing, investing heavily in american energy production, because we already produce some of the cleanest energy on the face of the earth, and giving up our cars, our farms, and our affordable gas prices will do nothing, will do nothing to stop the changing climate.

it has done it for millions of years, and nothing we can do is going to stop that. in fact, in recent years, the united states has only been responsible for about 11% of world's greenhouse gas emissions. 11%. in comparison, china, a country with zero plans to cut back, is responsible for 27% of global emissions. china's total emissions of greenhouse gasses in 2019 were more than our country and every developed country in the world combined. and our adversaries, like the chinese, have no plans -- they have no plans to cut back their usage, because their economies are growing thanks to affordable new york ranger. in 2020 -- thanks to affordable energy. in 2020 alone china invested nearly $470 470 million in coal

projects, in addition to the 1100 coal-powered plants they already have in use, and almost four times the number that we have in the united states. guess what -- they're building 350 as we speak. they're not slowing down, and their emissions level will continue, they're going to continue to increase rapidly. meanwhile, our country's emissions have fallen by about 17% since 2005, thanks -- now, think about this -- thanks in part to our turn to abundant cleaner sources, such as natural gas, which we have a 200-year supply already under the ground in this country as we speak. we couldn't use it in 200 years, but we refuse to dig for it, and we refuse to use it. not only can we produce the world's cleanest natural gas, we also have the ability to produce the cleanest nuclear power in

all of the world. the cleanest. we refuse to use it. we want to import the dirtiest oil, refine it here in our country, pollute our country, because we are too stubborn to use our own. that will eventually change. it always goes back around. but we will use our energy, and in just a short period of time. but the climate extremists running the current administration's energy policies would rather beg foreign countries and make deals with dictators whose countries produce all that dirtier oil. makes no sense. blaming the united states for a global problem we didn't create is unfair to who? the american taxpayers. importantly, the energy that we can and should produce at home is terrible for our own economy.

that's what they're saying. it makes no sense. we have to be able to do two things at once -- help our economy thrive, and to promote innovation that leads to a cleaner energy production. we can do two things at one time. but a cult-like obsession with climate alarmism is making us weaker and poorer in the name of a problem created by politicians. i am calling for commonsense solutions. let american companies produce more energy. recognize the benefits of clean energy, like natural gas and nuclear. that is the answer. stop scaring people into depression by warning of the great climate extinction. fear is a terrible thing to use. it's not true, and we should

focus on solutions that will actually help our people. last year i introduced the restoring american energy independence act. this bill would have reversed president biden's shutdown of american energy and returned american energy to full production. of course, it went nowhere, with a democrat-controlled senate. didn't get to first base. i hope to see this legislation and other sensible energy solutions put forth in this congress. sooner or later, we're going to use common sense, we're going to start looking after our country and the american taxpayer, and we're going to get off this high horse of thinking that we have all the answers, when we do have them here and it's our american energy. i hope to see this legislation and other sensible energy legislation and solutions put forth in this congress. we have to do something.

we can't keep punishing the american citizen and the american taxpayer, because if we keep our energy policies woke we're going to go broke. this country is going to go flat broke. we're going to lose our farmers. we're going to lose small businesses. our prices are going to continue to rise. and it seems like nobody cares. we better start taking care of the american people. but if we unleash domestic production, we can produce clean energy and we can make it more affordable and we can make life a lot simpler and better for the american people, and also our allies. let's wake up and smell the roses. mr. president, i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. tuberville: mr. president, i'd like to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until senate republicans hold their weekly party lunches today. democrats will hold their party caucuses tomorrow. floor setting committee assignments for the 118th congress. a floor vote is needed to approve them. senate majority leader chuck schumer is in new york city with president biden for an event marking federal funding for the gateway tunnel, and once that event begins in just a couple of minutes we will have live coverage here on c-span2. when the senate returns, a a reminder that we will have live coverage here on c-spa