more powerful forms of drugs. the last piece that you raised about social media and you know, adolescents have increased rates of overdose deaths in the last few years. at the same time that their drug use has leveled off and that's primarily because they're getting-- >> and we leave this to honor our more than 40-year commitment of live gavel to gavel coverage of congress. more work on judicial nominations in the senate today. two votes are scheduled at 11:30 a.m. eastern, one whether to confirm a district court judge for oregon and other advancing nomination for a judge for the district of columbia. for more votes are set for later in the day. take you live to the senate on c-span2. hd492(cc1) #2419 hd492(cc1) #2419 the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. o god, source of knowledge and wisdom, give us your truth. open our eyes to see your truth. strengthen our hearts to face your truth. illuminate our spirits to understand your truth. fortify our minds that we will remember your truth. give your senators today the determination to obey your trut. show them what to believe and what to do. lord, help us all to listen carefully

to your wise counsel and store p knowledge that transforms lives. we pray in your holy name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge f 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., february 15 , 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 stae of vermont, to perform the dutis of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

thanks for joining us today. >> thank you so much for inviting me. >> on both of those fronts you advocating for something called a guaranteed basic income. can you talk about that push from both of those titles that hold currently? >> sure. first of all it's important to remember this isn't a new idea. martin luther king in the 1960s talked about the importance of providing an economic floor for our people guaranteed basic income and the black panthers talked about either guaranteed employment or guaranteed income for residents in the united states. this is an old idea that is gotten currency recently and lots of pilots at the city level, municipal level and we're organizing at the county level those engaged in this work and,

of course, we're doing it in cook county, doing it in los angeles. at the event week we heard from people in minnesota who are engaged in this work. all over the country counties and municipalities are piloting modeling guaranteed income programs. >> host: the cook county, talk about the experience of getting that thing started and what is been the reaction to it? >> guest: first of all let me thank my chief of staff because when american rescue plan dollars came to us, we spent a year trying to figure out what with the best investments we could make of that money. we didn't start spending immediately. let's be thoughtful about this. one of the ideas with guaranteed income. again i want to thank mayor tabs form a tabs of stockton, california, who in 2019 i think had the first guaranteed income pilot program in the country. that i'm aware of any way.

it was a year-long pilot investing by lottery in the residence of stockton. they did some academic evaluation of participants and found that people invested in their own education and support for their children. took some time to try to reflect on whether wanted to go, and at the end the participants in the program as opposed to the control group were more likely to be employed, more likely to have pursued their education, more likely to pursue education and support for the children. all of the positive outcomes you would hope and expect from a program like this. our program was authorized by our board of commissioners, our legislature in the fall. we got the first checks out in january. 3250 participants, $500 a month for two years. we are going to continue the program with her own resources when the american rescue plan

act dollars are exhausted so we've made a long-term commitment to this. it's a $42 million program which program which i believe is a largest government-sponsored program in the country. >> host: if i read this in cook county any area 230,000 plus people applied to be in cook counties program. what were the requirements that you offered going into it and once to get the money do they have any requirements as far as what they do with it? >> guest: 250% of poverty was the threshold. 233,000 people applied and actually about a quarter of a residence in cook county were eligible for the program. 233,000 individuals and families applied and, unfortunately, we were only able to support 3250. there's clearly a great need for this kind of support, and, frankly, those of us at the local level whether it cities or counties are trying to make the case that the states and the

federal government has to step up and it does work because they have more resources than we do. in the meantime we will approve the concept by engaging in her own pilots and models. >> host: as for us once they get the money other required to do anything with it or spend on certain things? >> guest: no. i mean the government give social security payments to senior citizens with greater like me. nobody tells us how our wonderful colleague from california, senator dianne feinstein, an announced that she will retire at the end of her term. i'm careful not to throw the word legend around too often in this chamber as it truly befits so few, but dianne feinstein is precisely that. she's a legend. she's a legend in california where she shattered innumerable glass ceilings as the first woman senator from the state, and we even forget how even 20, 30 years ago the barriers which are still in front of women were

even stronger. it took a strong, tough, resolute woman to break them, and she did. she is a legend here in the senate. the longest serving woman serving in u.s. history. she built a reputation as an expert legislator and a leader on so many issues -- gun violence, the environment, women's rights, so much more. i first got to know diane when she led the effort to pass the 1994 ban on assaults -- assault weapons in the senate. i led it in the house. i have always been amazed by the sheer depth of her knowledge on the issues and how careful she is about learning all of the facts before she goes forward, and then her seemingly innate ability to convince people on both sides of the aisle to work together. that's why her list of accomplishments is so long. the assault weapons ban, protecting oversight authority,

championing vie lance against women act and the list goes on and on and on. perhaps her greatest legacy is how she blazed a trail for women and girls everywhere. today there are 25 women serving in this chamber. there are 25 women serving in this chamber, all of whom stand on diane's shoulders. so we're all very glad we have another year and a half with her to fight the good fight, and i know she'll use that time to fiercely advocate for women's rights in all aspects of life and unwaveringly represent the people of california. now on implementation. as president biden pointed out last week during his state of the union address, the democratic agenda is already bearing fruit across this country. there will be tens of thousands of projects funded. last week, for instance, i joined with president biden to talk about gateway in new york, something new yorkers have waited for for decades and is vital to continuing the health of our bistate new york-new

jersey economy as well as the economy of the northeast. when the president came and we actually started working on the project, you could feel exultation and excitement in the city. that's going to start happening again and again everywhere in urban, suburban and ruler areas as democrats make it a priority to get the word out about all the good things that are coming the american people's way. it's one thing for americans to read about things that congress has passed, but what they can actually feel and see these accomplishments play out in their communities it makes a world of difference. we have a responsibility to make the connection between what happens in this chamber and what's going on in people's backyards. this morning, i sent out a dear colleague with senator stabenow about how we're going to implement this agenda in the coming weeks. we have a great story to tell the american people, and no shortage of examples of how our agenda is making the country stronger and making americans' lives better. let me give a few examples.

seniors on medicare, for instance, can now already take advantage of democrats' historic $35 a month cap on insulin. after years of hard work, this is no longer an aspiration. a $35 insulin cap is now the law of the land. seniors, up nights worrying how to pay $400, $500, $600, $700 a month can now breathe easy. millions of people, the seniors and families and friends can breathe easier because of what we've done. now, let's not forget we should be expanding the cap to all americans, not just those over 65. and in this congress, democrats are going to work hard, try to work with our republican colleagues, we hope they'll join us to make that happen. here's another one, very few people know of this, but we're spreading the word, seniors on medicaid can take advantage of free shingles vaccines.

these two benefits alone, the insulin cap and free shingles vaccines, could mean hundreds in savings every year for seniors on medicaid and so many seniors are. on the infrastructure front, communities across the country can now apply for new grant funding to fix their roads, their bridges, their highways. these are perhaps the most obvious examples of our agenda at work. people are going to start seeing more orange vests, more hardhats, good-paying union jobs in their communities as the communities get the updates they sorely need. and the inflation reduction act is already doing exactly what its name suggests, saving people money. the tax credits alone can give families as much as $14,000 for making their homes energy efficient. people can put in heat pumps, get help to get those heat pumps, and their heating bills go down. it's a great thing. the examples go on. democrats are going to make

implementation a top priority in this congress. after everything we've been through over the past three years, americans deserve to hear some good news about how their leaders are working hard for them. that's precisely what we will focus on in the coming years. now, chaos over there in the house on the republican side. each day that passes in washington, two things hold trur to default but no closer to a republican plan to lift the debt ceiling. i repeat once again, house republicans, speaker mccarthy, show us your plan. it's been more than a month since speaker mccarthy and house republicans began threatening the entire u.s. economy in order to secure drastic spending cuts that, in all likelihood, will hurt the american people badly. but in all this time, nobody can seem to get an answer to the $64,000 question -- what cuts exactly are the republicans proposing? show us your plan.

some of the things we're hearing from the maga wing is the stuff of nightmares. later this afternoon, i'll join with a number of senate colleagues to shine a light on how devastating the radical maga cuts would be for americans families, if the maga republicans got their way. but where is the house republican plan? how are they going to lift the debt ceiling? after months of no answers, now speaker mccarthy has recently claimed republican leadership is trying to come up with a plan right now. i'm glad he's at least saying he wants to answer our question. frankly, it's a lot easier said than done, and i don't think speaker mccarthy will be able to unify his conference. it takes 218 votes, as we know, to pass anything in the house, and with a razor-thin gop majority paralyzed by internal division, and with the strong hold the maga republicans have on the speaker, speaker mccarthy will have a very difficult time getting everyone on the same page, if he can to

it at all -- if he can do it at all. to quote from punch bowl this morning, house republicans, quote, face an intractable political math challenge as they seek to reduce the $1.4 trillion deficit, unquote. for one, speaker mccarthy has insisted republicans will only pro serve the full faith and -- preserve the full faith and cretdity of the united states if they secure drastic spej cuts first. maga hard liners have demanded speaker mccarthy balance the budget over the next ten years, one of the conditions for supporting his leadership. at the same time, speaker mccarthy has also claimed republicans won't touch social security and medicare. i'll believe that when i see it, because so many republicans, not just a handful, so many have spent years going on record calling for cuts and changes and privatization of these programs. all this leads to a terrible conclusion, mr. president. if speaker mccarthy is going to meet these goals, republicans

would need to cut 85% of all discretionary spending in order to balance the budget in ten years. let me say that again. if speaker mccarthy and house republicans are serious about balancing the budget without touching -- in their ten-year plan, without touching medicare and social security, they will need to cut 85% of all discretionary spending. that would be republican austerity at an apock apocalc left. teachers, police officers, nurses, all kiss federal funding goodbye. funding for research, so vital in our competition with china, would likely disappear. child hunger would spike without federal nutrition programs. housing programs, we'd be thrust into a greater housing crisis than we now have. my point is this, speaker mccarthy is not going to be able to keep his promise to balance the budget at ten years while at the same time leaving social security and medicare

untouched. the math doesn't add up. very soon the maga bringing'd will -- bringing aide will see that the speaker made a bunch of promise that he can't keep. i worry that the dangers of slipping into default will only increase as the toxic dynamic in the house gop gets worse day by day. that's why it's so important that now, early on, the house republicans show us their plan. on esg and china, two more items, mr. president. first, reports are out that republicans will reintroduce a measure targeting a new rule from the department of labor that allows, repeat, allows, but not requires fiduciaries to consider the impacts of climate change and other esg issues when making investment decisions. across the country, hard-right state legislatures are up in arms trying to stop state investment funds from working with money managers who dare commit the oh, so heinous offense of looking at the big

picture and future when making investments, including how climate change and other issues can present financial risks. i just wants to point out the obvious, nothing in this dol rule imposes any requirement on anyone. it is not a requirement. in fact, it goes out of the way to make sure decision-making remains solely in the hand of the fiduciary. republicans talk about small government. they like to talk about letting the private sector do its work. but their on section with eliminating esg, their sort of ostrich-like view about climate change and the damage that carbon presents when going into the atmosphere would do just the opposite. finally, on the china surveillance balloon and what happened over the weekend. after yesterday's briefing, it's clear our defense and intelligence agencies remain laser focused op gathering every piece of -- on gathering every piece of information about what happened over u.s. and canadian air space. white house press secretary john

kirby said these most recent objects did not pose any direct threat to the people on the ground. that's very important. people should not worry about that. of course, we have much more to learn. today we'll have another all-senate briefing on the state of u.s. defense readiness with respect to china. i'm sure that will include a discussion of the military, but also of our surveillance abilities. republicans eager to score political points right at this moment are doing nothing more than engaging in premature attacks. it's precipitous, it's no time for premature partisanship. we need to work together in congress to get to the bottom of what happened, which senator tester is taking the lead on here in the senate. i thank him and all my colleagues of good faith for working together. i yield the floor. no, i do not. little housekeeping. i understand that there's a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 424, a bill to protect the seniors of the united states and for other purposes. mr. schumer: in order to place the bill on the calendar under provisions of rule 14, i object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar.

test.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday the longest-serving female senator in american history announced she plans to retire at the end of her record fifth full term. my good friend diane feinstein was the first woman to represent cal in the senate. but, of course, both her notch for historic firsts and her commitment to fellow golden staters were well established by the time she arrived here in

washington. diane's career in politics began, and for many do, at the local level. but for diane that happened to mean shattering glass ceilings in a major met pollan area -- metropolitan area. she served for the san francisco board of supervisors, she endured a failed attempt to bomb her home, and then her predecessor's mayor was athat's assassinated and that's when she became the first female mayor and then badly beat an attempted recall. by the time this trailblazer became senator feinstein, there was practically nothing that could phase her. diane has been the top democrat on the rules committee, the intelligence committee, and the judiciary committee. for decades she's been one of our country's most formidable

legislators across numerous subjects. and somehow amid it all, this battle-tested veterans states woman has maintained a warmth and collegiality that cuts through even the tensest debates. elaine and i have been fortunate to count diane a friend for many years. elaine and dick served on a board together in the private sector years ago. frequently when dick was in town, the four of us would go out to dinner. she had a genuine friendship. so, as you can imagine, we hated to lose dick recently, but the good news is diane will be here for two more years as our colleague, and that's very, very good news for elaine and for me.

now on an entirely different matter. last week president biden spent part of the state of the union speech to celebrate what he seemed to think was a victory over the inflation. another wave of numbers -- the democrats' football spiking was premature, the american people are hurting badly. the cpi rose another half point last month, even faster than predicted for an overall price hike of 6.4% year on year. now, mind you, that's not 6.4% inflation since president biden was sworn in. that's an additional 6.4% just since february of last year. since february of last year. a baseline that's already had an earn tire previous year of historic and unacceptable inflation already baked into it.

the overall biden inflation rate is 14.4%. the overall biden inflation rate, 14.4% from january of 2021 to today. rents are up 12.7% since president biden took office. grocery prices are up 19.6%, energy prices up 38% after two years of total democratic control here in washington. prices are still rising out of control and even worse the rate of increases is speeding pack up again -- back up again. this last month was the hottest for inflation since october. we've had 21 straight months of 25% inflation. what does the white house have to say about it? well, yesterday the president's press secretary proclaimed,

quote, the president's economic plan is, indeed, working. so i guess the official white house position is that democrats' calls for all of this crushing inflation on purpose. this is the kind of insanity that has left just 16% of americans saying they're in better financial position than they were two years ago. that has nearly two-thirds of americans saying they're living literally paycheck to paycheck. so much preventible pain because democrats gambled away families' securitieses on their radical plans and their reckless spending. now on one final matter, yesterday president biden and senate democratic leader took time to boast about their judicial confirmations. it was something interesting, strange and telling about their statements. both the president and the democratic leader focused their

comments overwhelmingly on identity politics and demographic box checking. the president's statements spent literally one part of one sentence paying lip service to the question of legal qualifications. the remaining five paragraphs were devoted solely to these new judges' demographic characteristics. it was really quite bizarre. president biden informed the american people that a particular district court in puerto rico will now have its first judge who is not heterosexual. he pointed out that men have been a small minority of his judicial nominees. that certain percentages of his nominees fit into certain demographic categories. he went on and on and on like this. mr. president, most americans want our country to keep moving forward in a direction where

people's physical characteristics do not define us. do you know what share of americans believe race or ethnicity should be a major factor in university administrations? -- admissions? 7%. do you know what percentage of universities believe gender should be a major factor in university admissions? 4%. but when these democrats talk about our sacred legal system, they sound like the h.r. department at some liberal university. the white house statement singled out three judges by name. in all three cases, the president belabored some aspect of the judges' identity. in zero, zero of the three cases did the president have anything

to say about their knowledge, intellect or professional distinction. it's offensive to all americans to have a president seeming it to view our judiciary as some kind of crude, sociological math problem. this is just the kind of thing our constitution cuts against. ironically, when it came to how these new judges actually think, both the president and the democratic leader went out of their way to celebrate the lack of diversity in their thinking. they bragged about their coordinated and deliberate effort to stuff the judiciary with an unprecedented volume of former criminal defense attorneys. democrats have long said they want judges to have empathy. well, that's good news if you happen to be the party for whom the judge has a special bias. not so good, however, if you're the other party and you're looking if for that fair trial. now, democrats are telling us

who they want judges to empathize with, accused criminals, not innocent victims. now, mr. president, nobody is saying we shouldn't have any public with it -- public defenders on the bench. but even "the new york times" admits the democrats' sweeping effort to tilt the playing field in one direction is, quote, a sea change in the world of judicial nominations. when republicans held the presidency and the senate, we spent four years confirming staggeringly qualified and brilliant men and women to the courts from widely diverse educational credentials. back then even the very liberal

box dot-com reported, quote, based solely on objective legal credentials -- objective legal credentials, the average appointee has a far more important resume than any past president's nominees. that was then. so where are we? these days things are different. to name just one example, significantly smaller chairs of the president's nominees have achieved clerkships at the supreme court or the appellate level. to name another example, one person president biden has put up for a lifetime appointment could not tell the judiciary committee what's in article 2 or article 5. of the constitution.

look, our courts uphold the rule of law and protect our citizens' rights. the american people deserve a judiciary that contains the smartest, most formidable and most qualified legal all stars in our country. and they deserve a president who takes this seriously. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, adrienne c. nelson of oregon to be united states district judge for the district of oregon. mr. mcconnell: i suggest the

absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: at every chokepoint including holding accountable the big tech companies allow the ability of drugs on a platforms.

he called for increasing the number of first responders and other professionals who could respond to mental health and substance abuse challenges. thanks to hard work of our law enforcement officers receiving record amounts of fentanyl and other drugs and domestic alone deny drug traffickers $9 billion in profits last you. while arrest art critic important this problem does not begin or end at the united states border. that's why working close with our international partners especially mexico along the india canada and others. the bilateral relationship between the united states and the prc is complex and characterized by competition,, yet there are areas in which we can cooperate and counter-narcotics. we are urging the prc to join us in this action rather than demonstrate global leadership by engaging in efforts to rein in illicit precursor production trafficking and issuer prc plays and outsize role the prc is to

not engage. i want to be clear and nation that seeks to demonstrate global leadership must act as a global leader on global issues. we're security prosperity and allies around the world are at stake there's no excuse for inaction and the united states will continue to lead in the global coalition against illicit fentanyl with or without the prc. north america leader summit in mexico city for instance, president biden made illicit fentanyl a main topic of the conversation. he pressed president lópez obrador to act with a shared sense of responsibility. all of us have work with mexico to drive results. at home president biden has led public health efforts to tackle this epidemic as well. we're expanding access to naloxone a treatment focusing evidence-based prevention and supporting people in recovery. critically we work closely with republicans and democrats in congress remove barriers for

treatment. we will save lives as implement this historic legislation in partnership with dea and hhs. we're showing the country we can come what we can help us when work together. as a cbc just bounce we're now seeing six straight report were numbers of decreased or been flat. that's run 3000 people who have died and instead are at the dinner table each night. the opioid crisis not a red state of list a problem. the president knows as all of you know it will take all of us working together to solve it, all of us. this is a time to put politics aside and make life better for american people. to this in my request to you and to congress is to fully fund president biden's budget which will be soon and hope for to working with congress to accomplish our shared goals to save american lives and keep our community is healthy and safe. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. administrator. >> thank you for the privilege of testifying before the committee today. every single day while walking to dea headquarters in

arlington, virginia, i walk past the faces of fentanyl memorial wall that we have built. starting last summer we had found his across the. >> translator: wanted to share with us a photo of one of their loved ones that they have lost to fentanyl poisoning. we started with about 100 photos in the first week last may. to date are 4895 photos that line of headquarters walls at dea in arlington. the wall is a memorial to the live set of been lost and it is a call to action for the men and women of dea that at this moment in time we have to do everything we can to save american lives. the youngest person on that wall is serenity, for over 17 months old. and the oldest is james cox, for ever 70 years old. those are just some of the lives lost and we know between august of 2021 and august of 2022,

107,735 american lives were lost to drug poisoning. perhaps the most important thing i can tell this committee today is that we know who is responsible. this sent a low cartel and jalisco cartel both cartels in mexico are responsible for the vast majority of fentanyl that is coming into the united states. it is white dea has made the feeding those cartels are top operational priority. to explain a little more, those two cartels, the entire global fentanyl supply chain. they start in china where they are purchasing precursor chemicals to make fentanyl. they then take those chemicals into mexico where they are mass-producing fentanyl. first, fentanyl powder, and second, they are pressing a great deal of that powder into fake prescription pills in

mexico. those pills look identical to real american international medicines come things like oxycodone, percocet, xanax but they have no real medicine in them. they are fentanyl and filler. the cartels then with the fentanyl powder and the fake bills into the united states. they sell a lot of it on social media and in other ways across our country. we are now seeing fentanyl in all 50 50 states and it is te deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced. after the cartels sell those drugs in the u.s. they work to get the profits back to mexico. and they do that through illicit finance how often today we see through chinese money laundry organizations that are operating both in the united states and in mexico. for all these reasons our top operational priority right now

is to defeat these two cartels. first we have taken a network-based approach to the cartels. we can no longer just target the high-value targets the people at the top of the cartels and expect that we will see a change. so we are targeting the entire networks from precursor chemical companies in china to the chemists and the members of the cartel mass-producing fentanyl in mexico to the people transporting the fentanyl into the united states selling the fentanyl in the united states, and then moving the money back into mexico. second, we formed this past september 2 counter threat teams here right now on top of all of dea our 332 offices worldwide in 69 countries we have one counter threat team devoted solely to defeating the center nola cartel and one devoted to the jalisco cartel. on those teams with special agents come with intelligence analysts, we have target is, we

where did a scientist and with subject matter experts like chemists and expert on illicit finance in chinese precursors. those teams are mapping these cartels worldwide. we have now to date identified those two cartels in more than 40 countries around the world. in addition to mapping those cartels, they're analyzing those cartels to identify the keynotes that we can use to defeat the cartels, and they are also targeting the cartels. we have already begun sending out target packages across the united states. in addition to all of that work we are working in our. we know drug-related violence has increased and we have seen the devastation of drug poisoning deaths. and finally we're working on public awareness. and i know so many members of this committee are doing the same but we believe that every american has understand that one pill can kill at the fentanyl is a deadliest threat facing our country today.

i want to close by saying that as you hear me talk today you will hear anger, frustration and sadness in my voice. and i admit that i feel all of those things, but what drives me is not that. what drives me is the belief, the knowledge that working together we can defeat these two cartels, we can make our communities safe and healthy, and we can save american lives. thank you for the privilege of being with you today. >> thank you, madam chair administrator. secretary robinson. >> chairman menendez, ranking member and members of the committee thank you for the opportunity to testify today. synthetic drugs including fentanyl are shared global challenge requiring global approach to this is a top early for president biden and the administration as he stated during the last weeks state of the union address. i sure the president commitment to stop fentanyl production, sale and trafficking here secretary of state lincoln also

has made clear we must bring the full power of american diplomacy to this challenge. we are engaging our foreign partners to protect national security and global health by disrupting the illicit synthetic drug supply chain and supporting the effective invention, treatment, and recovery in this epidemic and save american lives. synthetic drugs can be produced virtually anywhere often using legal chemicals and equipment. traffickers adapt quickly to the regulatory controls and we must stay ahead of the curve with a more agile and comprehensive approach. we will treat this as both the security and public health threat. we will bring new partners on board including countries that may soon be affected as well as the private sector, and we will approach countries and other partners through the lens of joint responsibility for action. most fentanyl sees in the united states is synthesized in mexico

using precursor chemicals sourced primarily from the prc fn traffic via the u.s. southern border. our enduring security cooperation with mexico is critical to our efforts to address that no trafficking. the u.s.-mexico bicentennial framework in the north american drug dialogue guide our work to disrupt the synthetic drug supply chain and promote public health. both countries sees historic amounts of fentanyl in 2022. inl donated k-9s in mexico sees to help -- from january to august 2022. meanwhile, mexico created a watchlist to flag chemicals that can be diverted to illicit drug production and expanded this list from 14 to 69 chemicals. we we help mexico will invest more in combating this threat from prevention, treatment, and recovery to the investigations and prosecutions. the united states remains

committed to meaningful counter-narcotics cooperation with the prc, despite the prc is limited willingness to engage on the issue, on the issue of late. past cooperation has proven to be fruitful and effective. the prc decision to schedule fentanyl related substances as a class in 2019 essentially ended prc origin shipments to the united states. transnational criminal organizations adapted and now use prc sourced precursor chemicals to synthesize the fentanyl in mexico. the prc can't and must do more as a global partner to limit criminal access to these -- can -- we continue to press him to take meaningful concrete actions to curb criminal diversion of precursor chemicals, improve information sharing on global chemical flows, strengthen enforcement of customs manifesting agreements, and

implement know your customer standards to restrict sales of precursor chemicals. foreign partners look to the united states for leadership on this issue. the 2022 u.n. commission on narcotic drugs at u.s. purging unanimously decided to internationally control three emerging fentanyl precursor chemicals. at the same u.n. meeting the united states also secured agreement to redouble action on diversion and trafficking in unscheduled and designer precursors. we support global tools that facilitate international law enforcement cooperation established best practices for denying criminals access to the tools of modern commerce, and strengthen norms to prevent the sale of precursor chemicals and equipment. private industry must also play a role since many precursor chemicals used in illicit drug production have legitimate uses here we will partner with a

variety of industries to disrupt synthetic drug supply chains. finally, congress can play a role, a vital role, and supporting our efforts. we need congress to look at permanently controlling fentanyl related substances as a class. synthetic drugs are an urgent priority for us and we're committed to working with all partners, including congress, to develop solutions. thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today, and i look forward to your question. >> thank you all, and we will start a round of questions. administrator milgram, is it fair to say the vast majority of fentanyl trafficking comes into our nation through official ports of entry? >> thank you, senator for the question. as you know the department homeland security is responsible for the american border and the ports of entry, so dea is not engaged at the border or the ports of entry.

.. in california and arizona, but again, i would deeper conversational questions about the port to dhs. >> to the extent that you know, are they coming through the hands of vulnerable people seeking, fleeing their country? >> i would have to defer that to the department of homeland security, thank you. >> let me ask a question maybe you can answer and that is in mexico dealing with this problem without a partner in mexico is not possible. the two cartels you mentioned

emanate from mexico. it is impossible to tackle fentanyl trafficking without a partnership with mexico but there are obstacles to improving cooperation. mexico's increased politicized national prosecutor's office showed little appetite to prosecute fentanyl related cases. collusion between cartels and mexican authorities is a recurring challenge. and mexican authorities seem unwilling to acknowledge the vast majority of those entering the united states manufacturing and clandestine lapse in mexico. so what is it that we are doing with the lopez obrador government to change that? as you look for these cartels, do you -- is that your

assessment that primary obstacles to improving cooperation with mexican authorities to combat fentanyl trafficking, we don't have a willing partner or the state itself is infiltrated by the cartels? >> thank you for that question. we believe mexico needs to do more to stop the harm that we are seeing. what we are seeing is these two cartels in next echo, dominating and controlling the entire global supply chains, this in a lower cartel is operating, and and mexico in the past worked

relentlessly from 2012-2015 to disrupt the violent criminal networks in mexico, they are effective at dismantling that cartel. we want mexico to do the same thing, to make the top operational priority to defeat the two cartels for the fentanyl as well as methamphetamines that is responsible for the loss of american lives. >> that's not the present state of mexico? >> >> mexico is willing to do more. they are engaging with us, with the us bicentennial framework where they committed to doing more. they committed to doing more about the discussions in the

north american drug dialogue. what we've been asking mexico to do is put more resources into this effort which is obviously for mexico and the mexican government a domestic issue. for us it is an international issue, national security issue, the amount of resources they put into this effort is for them a domestic issue and something we are trying to deal with. >> i don't see it. i just don't see it. i don't see the willingness, don't see the urgency, don't see the commitment, i don't see the actions that would indicate mexico is being a good partner. is he engaged in this? >> yes and yes. >> hope he is vigorous on the

issue because we need to create an international coalition that pressures china, they promote themselves as counter narcotics nation. quite the contrary, from my perspective and we have our next door neighbor, this is a critical issue and i don't see it happening and i have to be honest with you, the good overtures to try to get them to act is not working, there has to be other considerations. i think we work with our mexican friends with kid gloves on this issue and it is fundamentally wrong, don't know how many more lives have to be last for mexico to get engaged. if this was in the reverse they would be all over us. in this regard. lastly, can you work? can your people work freely with

mexican counterparts? are you concerned about the information, the intelligence, the security they are trying to do? >> thank you for the question. there are three ways we would like to see mexico cooperate with dea and the united states. this is under the bicentennial framework, the first is information sharing. we are not getting information on fentanyl seizures. and precursor chemicals. that kind of information is vital for both countries, mexico and the united states. second, we are concerned about the clandestine labs across mexico and we have offered and continue to offer and stand ready to work in partnership with mexican authorities to dismantle and take down the clandestine labs through mexico jointly and to be of any service

we can. finally, the last point, the garcia luna trial, the trial is ongoing in the eastern district of new york, one of the things we are looking for mexico to do is to arrest and extradite more individuals to the united states. last year mexico extradited 24 drug-related defendants to the united states but there are 232 drug-related defendants awaiting extradition. this is a critical part of our work. we are working globally as we are tracking these cartels in 40 countries but it is vital that we be able to work in mexico as well. >> ambassador robinson, i have the president's readout from this conversation with xi jinping on november 14th.

and what struck me was there is not one mention do you know whether or not the president raise this with xi jinping when he raised this? >> i don't know if they were able to get to it during your conversation, and there were a lot of issues, they are both keenly aware, at the state department, and international partners to work as closely as possible with them. >> complex as the ways you can see it regarding the

relationship, and they are stiff arming you. and using drugs and that's the end of it. is that your experience of it, >> and ambassador burns in beijing, some conversations, and and china takes responsibility for the issues like this. and from china to the united states. >> most people are aware of that.

and we are back to where we were before. and >> my impression was, and they are not taking right now. we make more transparent the labeling of chemicals leaving the country and they exchange more information with us and they could follow the trail and make sure companies that are exporting these chemicals know who the chemicals are going to, they are not doing that now, not talking to us about it. but they should.

if they did, we think this would go a long way towards helping to get at the issue. >> that is an accurate description. we need to get to something. it isn't working right now, i want to associate myself with the marks of the chairman regarding our impression of what mexico is not doing, causing us to have a problem, we are appearing here today, what is happening or not happening, putting blame where it belongs to underscore what needs to be done, what was done very

clearly, and there's other action. and and america does not believe the border is secure with thousands of people coming across. do you agree that this catastrophe we have on the border is contributing to the problem of drugs coming into the country? >> thank you for that question. the dea does not operate border or ports of entry. >> that's not your fault. >> we don't operate the border or ports of entry. i would deeper questions to them. at dea we view that as offense as targeting cartels worldwide

to do everything we can, and the methamphetamine and deadly drugs. they entered the united states. they are safe and healthy by stopping drug-related violence and drug poisonings. we view dhs's role that they have the primary mission of playing defense, stopping fentanyl from entering at the border. we know that is a vital part of the conversation. last year we seized that year's end the final calculation with 57 million faith fentanyl pills and more than 13,000 pounds of fentanyl. that's the equivalent of 410 million potential deadly doses we seized in the united states of america. >> you should keep pressure on

those we know their primary obligation is to secure the border. one quick question about the social media aspect of this. we look at the social media platforms. once it gets here, it is a real scourge for disturbing stuff. >> thank you for the question, we view social media, if i could just take a moment, it would seem i'm going off social media but coming right back. the question in the public more than any other would why would these cartels kill their customers and fentanyl is so addictive the cartels are using

it to drive addiction. for them, if a user dies it is a cost of doing business. we are in a different position than we were 20 years ago before social media existed, someone who might be selling narcotics had more of a personal relationship with a person who is dying. the cartels understand that if someone dies from taking deadly fentanyl, that they can sell their drugs to. there are more than 150 million american users on facebook and instagram they can sell their drugs to. social media is the superhighway of drugs. i welcome a visit from members of the committee to dea headquarters and i can show you the faces of american lives lost from fake pills purchased on snapchat or facebook or instagram and tick-tock and other sites. the short answer -- the long

answer coming to the short closing is the social media sites are not doing nearly enough and we would welcome the opportunity to work with this committee to make sure the social media companies are held accountable and become more fully transparent and what they are doing. >> >> arbor day using customers. >> what is happening on the decades since the internet and globalization, vast number of americans on social media and those transactions where cartels and traffickers are marketing and selling fake prescription pills and other drugs all over social media. we see that on a daily basis. i see that the cartels will take

it to the next potential buyer on social media platforms. there are many americans on those social media platforms. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me add to the bipartisan consensus on this panel. are witnesses have to be diplomatic in the way they talk about mexico. let's be honest, mexico is not taking this crisis seriously enough. the mexican government or significant parts of it are looking at the other way or complicit with the cartels. that is just the truth. to answer senator menendez's question, it is true the vast majority of fentanyl coming into the united states is coming through the ports. as the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds our border operations, that is why we are putting forces to catch it. it is your job to know where and

how the drugs are coming across the border. it is true the ports in mexico are a big problem and i don't think it's realistic we will defeat the mexican drug cartels in the next 5 years. maybe you think differently but concentrating efforts on those ports, the mexican ports which are often controlled by those cartels is an interesting place to start, so administrator, i want to ask that question. what our level of integration to online the construction at the ports? is that a logical place for us to target resources, that that is where the precursor is showing up and transferred to the cartels. >> thank you for that question. if i could, let me start by talking about corruption.

what we see is corruption is part of narcotics trafficking worldwide. there are many examples we could give. dea was the lead investigative agency that we talked about in the garcia luna case. we did the investigation that led to charges against the current venezuelan president. >> talking about the ports. >> let me say two things, the first is that you are correct in saying that the vast majority of precursor chemicals for methamphetamines are coming in at mexican ports. i would see it differently on the fentanyl precursors. we see many of those coming into the airports. >> land and sea. >> what is happening, i would describe this a little bit, the precursor chemicals necessary for methamphetamines are enormously big. the precursor chemicals necessary for fentanyl are much smaller and we know the tiny amount that fits on the tip of a

pencil are potentially deadly for fentanyl and precursors needed to make that amount are far smaller. are we focused on the ports and the airports and overland through latin america? yes, we are. >> could i jump in? let me turn to another topic i want to get one more in. in a meeting i had with the chinese foreign minister, secretary robinson, hopefully you are the right person to answer this. they made a claim that our coordination has been limited by a set of sanctions the commerce department applied for forensic science, public security and national narcotics laboratory, these were sanctions connected to human rights violations authorized by congress. is there any validity that these

sanctions have impacted our ability, that the claim is that if we were to lift those particular sanctions we would open up new avenues of cooperation on this question of precursor exporting to mexico? >> thank you, the short answer is no. the facility is a large facility, one part of that facility was sanctioned by the commerce department, and and the prc is using this, not to engage on this issue. >> i will submit this question for the record. it is important to understand that what happens at the mexican border with these cartels, american guns going south, chinese and mexican drug this coming north.

i congratulate -- and money. i congratulate this congress, we put $50 million specifically towards the work of interrupting the gun trade, the firearms trade going south. this full circle of this trade, and and to be bought through background checks and inspections. >> >> if it was a 24-year-old mom who died in 2021, of fentanyl overdoses. you never forget her. she drew people's attention the moment she walked into the room.

the day she died she was out with friends, uphill shop was laced with fentanyl. that is what killed her. her youngest daughter was 6 months old when her mother died, and has a 5-year-old half-sister. you have to get to know her through pictures. fentanyl robs children, robs parents of the children. and we go from china, and the week border enforcement, to the us. and it is easier than ever, last

year, last fiscal year the cvp sees 14,700 pounds of the fentanyl. the last two years of the administration we saw the amount of fentanyl, methamphetamine, double, triple, quintuple, as the state patrol confiscated came through the state. until the biden administration takes action to secure the southern border to sell illegal aggression in drugs, i am afraid this will be a bigger problem in the future. my question is for doctor goop the. the cvp reported one hundred 56,274 enforcement encounters on the border only last month. a large amount of unregulated activity and moving people, is even possible to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border? it seems there's more drugs coming across the border, the biden at menstruation is not stopping them from crossing the border.

what is the biden administration's plan for this? >> the fact is all the elements we have, most of the drugs coming through our through port s of entry, through commercial traffic, private traffic, individuals. we do not scan enough of that traffic. and making sure we have technology in place and scan everything that needs scanning. we increase fentanyl because we are applying technology. to have that technology, coming in. it does not begin or end at the border. and the coast guard, the mexican navy, the control of the ports,

they prepare the product as well. >> a couple times as governor, one thing talking to, they said that the cartels push across the group of illegal immigrants in one location dry resources, pushing fentanyl in a different location. coming through the ports, when i was on the border that is not what i was hearing. >> got to understand one basic pretext. these are dispassionate businessmen working, going after profits. when they deployed these technologies and tactics to do all these things, every time we see them we deny them the profits. going through the unforgiving terrain, they want their retail product to get into market and make money and that is what ports of entry make sense.

we need to deny them just enough so it is no longer profitable and no longer supports their operating capital. that is the strategy that is important to understand, working where they are dependent on products to get through is what needs to disrupt that. >> we talk about the ccp and the supply chain. what is the biden administration's thought on how we stop the ccp from violating our space and spy balloons but also precursors and deadly drugs? >> i have been several times to the border, i will be going again. i have seen the subterranean tunnels and marine drones and other aspects. we provide those resources to women and men at customs and border protection for technology, infrastructure, and resources to go after and that is what the president will be asking for in his budget release soon but it is why having those

additional scanners, large scanners will be so important on ports of entry. >> senator cardin. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me assure my colleagues whether it is nebraska or maryland, the fentanyl crisis is a crisis. we are losing citizens every day to fentanyl, the tragedy here is there are lots of innocent users dying, not expecting it to be laced with fentanyl so this is an urgent issue in our nation, thank you for holding an early hearing. because it is not an easy issue. we talk about supply and demand, demand is sizable but challenging because as the senator from nebraska pointed out, people do not expect they will be dealing with fentanyl laced product. we will always deal with demand

but let's talk supply. supply is complicated because we have cartels and distribution networks and then the supply of the precursors taking over from the fentanyl itself manufactured through the precursors. you mentioned the cartels and the task force to deal with them. what do you need from us in order for us to make a real impact on the viability of these cartels. we operate in trapping ago drugs and so many activities, anything they can make money off of but without the cartels the network would be much less dangerous to our country. >> let me start by thanking congress, we are pleased and feel fortunate to have gotten additional funding from congress and the last budget, $40 million that allows us to expand our counter threat teams that are

operating worldwide to target these cartels. it also allows us to build vital infrastructure around data and technology to integrate the information we have at dea. let me say thank you for that. as you point out, a couple things, the first is that right now we have pivoted to a world of synthetic drugs where the fentanyl we are talking about and the methamphetamines we are talking about made by these cartels, sent a low and jalisco, is entirely man-made and right now there is no limit on how much of those drugs can be made. the only limit our the amount of precursor chemicals the cartels can get access to. first of all, working to have china do more -- >> i want to get to the precursors, the challenge here, you may want to elaborate and others also, particularly mr. robinson. ination. is there a sufficient second?

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

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 52, the nays are 46. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and late upon the table, and the the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 10, anna c.reyes of the district of columbia to be united states district judge for the district of columbia, signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.

the question is is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of ana c. reyes of the district of columbia to be united states district judge for the district of columbia shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote: vote: vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 52, the nays 47. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, ana c. reyes, of the district of columbia, to be united states district judge for the district of columbia.

>> well, mr. president, yesterday our wonderful colleague from california, senator ty the january feinstein, announced that she will retire at the end of her term. i'm careful not to throw the word legend around too often in this chamber, as it truly befits so few. but dianne feinstein is precisely that, she's a legend. she's a legend in california where she shattered innumerable glass ceilings as the first woman senator from the state, and we even forget how many, how even 20 the, 30 years ago the barriers which are still many the front of women were even stronger. so it took a strong, tough, resolute woman to break them, and she did. she's a legend here in the senate. thest serving woman senator in u.s. history.

she built a legacy as a leader on so many issues. i first got to know diane when she led the effort to pass the 1994 ban on assault weapons in the senate. i led it in the house. i've always been amazed by the sheer depth of her knowledge on the issues and is how careful she is about learning all of the facts before she goes forward, and hen the her seemingly innate ability to convince hemo-- people on both sides of the aisle to work together. that's why her list of accomplishments is so long. the assault weapons ban, protecting oversight authority during the investigation into u.s. torture, championing violence against women act, and the list goes on and on and on. but perhaps her greatest legacy is how is she blazed a trail for women and girls s for committees to meet. they have the approval of the

majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. padilla: madam president, before i begin, some remarks, i'd like to advise the desk that i will deliver a portion of my remarks in spanish. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. padilla: thank you. madam president, i rise today profoundly humbled by the people of california for placing their trust in me to serve and represent them for a full term in the united states senate. it's a tremendous honor to return to this body and i also recognize it is also a tremendous responsibility. to the people of california, thank you and please note that i will record every single -- work hard every single day to uphold that trust. and to my colleagues who have helped me hit the ground running since my first day in the senate two years ago, thank you.

and that includes california's senior senator dianne feinstein who has served the state of california for over three decades as a trailblazing public servant and a model for principled leadership whom i've been honored to serve alongside. i'll always be thankful for my parents, santos and lupa. mr. padilla: for all they did for my brother, my sister, and me growing up. and of course i could not be here without the love and support and often the patience and understanding of my wife, angela, and our three boys, roman, alex, and diego. now, as the first latino elected to represent california in our state's history, it's not lost on me what this moment means for millions of people back home. i understand that my family's story is a reflection of would

so many other hardworking families have experienced. as i've shared many times before, my pairntszs im-- parents immigrated from mexico. they came to the united states in search of a better life. for 40 years my dad worked as a short order cook and my mom cleaned houses as they raised the three of us in the proud working class community in california in the san fernando valley. i'm proud of our family's journey, but it wasn't without our share of challenges. i remember what it looked like to see our neighborhood neglected, navigating everything from buckled sidewalks to drug dealers as we walked to and from school. i remember what it was like for our family to live paycheck to paycheck. my mom at times bartering the mechanic offering some of her

homemade tacos for just a little bit more time to pay the bill. and when it came time to figure out how i was going to pay for college, i remember filling out the financial aid forms and realizing that tuition alone at m.i.t. was a larger amount than my dad's w2. but it's because of their hard work and sacrifices that i stand here today. the very idea that a first generation son of a short order cook and a housekeeper is now serving in the united states senate is proof of the american dream. but that dream has never been about passive participation. it's made possible by those who work for it and by those willing to defend it and expand it. it's about hopeful goals for a

better future and the ambition to work towards them. it's about the drive to get up each morning before the sun rises to put on a white apron and push through tired eyes and a sore back because you know that some day your kids can have it better. and if my parents are my inspiration for being here, then my children are my motivation for fighting to keep the dream alive. madam president, i'm one of the few members of this body blessed to still have young kids at home. so when we talk about the future of our country or the future of our planet, it is not in the abstract. i think of roman, alex, and diego and their generation. they are the generation who will carry on these monumental tasks and fight for equality and

opportunity in the future. so colleagues, we have to be focused on doing the work today to make sure the american dream is alive if them -- alive for them tomorrow. so i ask who's willing to defend the dream? and what are we willing to do to defend it? [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] in my first two years in the senate, we've made real progress to keep the dream alive for millions of americans. from giving families the extra support they needed to get through a once in a century

pandemic to lowering health care costs, to passing the largest investment in history to confront the climate crisis. but we can't stop now. american prosperity over the next six years, the survival of the american dream means keeping up the fight to level the playing field. and that's -- that starts with addressing some of the most urgent threats standing in the way of that dream. just last month over the course of three days, three days, my home state experienced three back-to-back-to-back mass shootings that claimed the lives of 19 californians. i was returning home from visiting a victims resource center in monterey park, california, when i received word

of the two additional shootings in half moon bay. americans are sick and tired of the republican excuses and the gun lobby rhetoric. no one can deny that we have a gun violence problem in america. when gun violence is the leading cause of death for children, how can we say they have the opportunity to achieve their dreams? i refuse to grow numb to the epidemic of gun violence. and i still have hope that we can prevent future tragedies with commonsense policies, like universal background checks and an assault weapons ban that's been proven to save lives. this winter california also experienced a relentless string

of severe weather -- rainstorms, flooding and mudslides that's caused over a billion of dollars in damage. i welcome president biden and vice president harris to survey storm damage in california, and they've been exemplary partners, both in disaster response as well as in our efforts to rebuild our communities. but the progress to rebuild is ongoing and we'll need to work together to get the impacted areas the resources they need. madam president, let me be clear that despite the record rainfall, california and our fellow western states are still suffering from the crippling drought. californians know all too well that natural disasters and extreme weather whiplash have become the new normal in the 21st century. each year we embrace -- excuse

me, each year we brace for increasingly frequent and devastating wildfires, catastrophic flooding and mudslides and a searing drought. they all point to one thing -- the need for climate action. our very survival depends on our ability to combat the climate crisis. we must continue to step up our efforts to protect the planet. yes, that means eliminating carbon pollution and transitioning to a clean energy economy. it also means fighting for clean air and water, particularly for the more vulnerable communities disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution. and it means protecting and managing our federal lands and waterways. in -- and at times it means may being difficult and innovative

decisions to preserve and protect our communities. for western states that rely on the colorado river, that means coming together to find consensus on a water agreement that prevents disaster and preserves the human right to water. we must also reform our outdated immigration system and do so in a way that better reflects our values. that means creating a pathway to citizenship for the hundreds of thousands of dreamers who live in daily fear of deportation from the only home they've ever known. and for all the essential workers who kept us safe and our economy going throughout the pandemic. it means making sorely needed updates to our legal migration system by addressing the crippling case of backlogs that keep families apart and deny our

economy the workforce that it needs. and it means ensuring that individuals and families who are fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries and seeking asylum in the united states are treated humanely and provided due process. our nation is also confronting a serious mental health crisis. this crisis existed well before covid, but we saw the pandemic exacerbate the crisis. demand for health care is way up while we have an increasing shortage of health care professionals available. and this is also critical -- and this is also a critical opportunity to end the stigma surrounding mental health. if a family member or friend breaks an arm or leg, we don't judge them for going to the hospital to seek help. nobody looks down on somebody

for going to the dentist for regular checkups. we need to treat mental health the same way. and finally, at a time of rising nationalism around the world, we must secure the foundations of democracy. for those who say that legislation to protect the sacred right to vote in america is too partisan, they're only right in the sense that attacks on our right to vote are partisan. we must denounce republican candidates across the country who choose to divide the american people with lies and conspiracy theories. as long as republican-led state legislatures work to pass voter suppression laws across the nation or election deniers put our election workers in danger, we have more work to do.

and as long as millions of eligible americans have yet to exercise their right to vote, including the roughly 80 million who did not vote or were unable to vote in an otherwise record-setting 2020 election, we have more work to do. and that work includes bolstering our cybersecurity efforts, not just to secure the infrastructure of elections but to combat disinformation from bad-faith actors. now, i'm not naive about the challenges ahead. after two years of historic achievements, an extreme wing of republicans now hold progress in the house of representatives hostage. this group has shown that they'd rather undermine our democracy than defend it. they'd rather risk a first of ever default by -- a first-ever default by the federal government than serve the

interests of the american people. at stake for millions of americans are programs that they've spent being dids paying -- spent decades paying into like medicare and social security. american institutions that define how we take care of one another and how we provide dignity for seniors. and they've set the crosshairs about a woman's trite to make decisions about her own body. so we have a tall task ahead of us. but to the people of california, please know that i didn't seek out this office because i thought it would be easy. i did so because the issues are too important. and i'm ready, i'm ready for the difficult fights ahead because today we have a responsibility to write the next chapter of american progress into history, to join so many who came before us who made the american dream

possible. when huddled masses came to our shores with the belief in a better future, immigrants put in the work to build our country and our economy and to make the dream a reality. when we celebrate america as the land of freedom and equality, we recognize generations of civil right -- civil rights activists who risked everything for the right to vote and to expand access toss those denied. and for those in search of a better life, it was them, santos and lupa, who tailed and sacrificed for the treme for their children. they are the american story. they are the american dream. madam president, in closing, i

just with aens to share -- i just want to share that over the last two years countless people have asked me if becoming a united states senator is a dream come true. my honest answer is no. you see, for me, when i was a kid growing up, i never dreamt that anything like this was possible. but now that i'm here, i promise i will not take a single day for granted. and i'll never stop fighting to keep the dream alive for future generations. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mrs. capito: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, madam president. i rise today to discuss yet another one of the consequences of this president's failed policies -- and that is out-of-control crime. many democrats have championed a soft shaft on-crime agenda that has contributed to soaring crime rates. do, to the major cities -- according to the major cities chiefs association beings, violent crime is is up 26%, aggravated assault is up 34% and homicides are up a staggering 43%. this is not only unacceptable, it's terrifying. repeated calls to defund the police for open borders and rereduced sentencing or bail requirements has led to a crime increase so overwhelming that

america's fear regarding crime in their communities is sat a 50-year lie. -- 50-year high. though president biden bears ultimate responsibility here in many ways he's following the direction of his party when it comes to crime. we've seen a lack of leadership from the white house, an overly politicized department of justice and district attorneys who refuse to prosecute crimes. the biden administration has insisted on nominating radical soft-on-crime advocates to federal judgeships. while this is an -- it is a trend that we've seen over the last two years. despite previous efforts to defund the police, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are now walking back their claims that less law enforcement makes you are safer. as many democrat-led cities across the country heeded these calls, the united states experienced the biggest rise in

murder since the start of national recordkeeping in 1960. on top of this, we are experiencing record numbers of police officers who are quitting their profession or they're heading for retirement seattle has lost more than one quart of its police force in the last two and a half years. just a short drive from here in d.c. in fairfax county, virginia, their police chief declared a personnel emergency and staff shortage last june. and installed mandatory overtime to keep their communities protected. small communities across this country have seen their entire police force quit all at once and perhaps very alarming new york -- the new york city police department saw 37 in police

officers retire. the most since 9/11. you know my small state of west virginia is not exempt from these challenges as well. in 2021,the morgantown police department began dealing with a 20% reduction in staffing. our police chief said this was due to the danger associated with being an officer and an overall growing stigma of officers being aggressive or biased. the west virginia university police department is experiencing a similar shortage with a turnover rate that is still much higher than it was previous to the pandemic. i live in charleston, west virginia, the charleston police department has been offering incentives to attract officers they desperately need. and our west virginia state police continues to struggle to keep our state troopers. we rely on our police for a multitude of services and protection in this era of

out-of-control crime we cannot afford these shortages to continue. on top of all this had the border crisis continues to fuel the fire of crime and spread illicit narcotics in our communities. last year we seized almost 15,000 pounds of fentanyl at our border. in this first quarter we have already kneed 12.5,000 pounds. i see the ramifications of biden's border crisis in my state, which is impacted by the fentanyl and addiction crisis. in 2022, we sadly lost 1,135 west virginians to overdoses. we have the highest rate of overdose deaths per capita than any other state in the union. there were 6,916 emergency room visits related to overdoses, with our erms teams responding

to another 9,205 suspected overdose calls. last week in wheeling, west virginia, local prosecutors indicted drug traffickers that served as one of the largest suppliers of illicit substances to west virginia. according to our u.s. attorneys office of the northern district, and i congratulate bill islandfeld in that office, there was an original drug bust last october that recovered approximately 75 pounds of cocaine, 19 pounds of methamphetamine, and nearly five pounds of fentanyl, which is very lethal in very small doses. investigators found that these traffickers had drugs shipped from the u.s.-mexico border to ohio via tractor-trailer or they used cash payments for people who flew from california to the pittsburgh international airport. the connection between the crisis at our border and the drug epidemic we're at home

doesn't get any clearer than that. d.c. city's council is attempting a dangerous and irresponsible rewrite of their criminal code. reducing the penalties for violent crimes, carjackings, robberies and even homicides as these numbers rise is incredibly tone-deaf to local calls for increased safety and plits -- policing. this is happening right in the president's backyard. i commend my colleague senator bill hagerty of tennessee for introducing a resolution of disapproval to block the d.c. city council's dangerous and irresponsible criminal code act of 2022 from taking effect. the d.c. council's legislation is the complete opposite of what we need to to control this out-of-control crime. while i've been talking about the services for the types of crimes we can see there are increasing threats for crimes

that can be described as unseen. these threats emphasize the vulnerability of our children as recent years have pushed their lives into an increasingly digital space. because of the pandemic children are learning digitally and have more access to devices than ever before putting them at increased risk for luring and exploitation. the data here is incredibly disturbing. one in 20 children will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. that statistic increases for young girls with one in five experiencing some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. 90% of child abuse victims know their abuser, and 60% of child sexual abuse victims never tell anyone. i'm a mother of three and a grandmother of eight now, and this is incredibly upsetting to me. we must safeguard our children from things that no child should ever have to experience.

so i would ask president biden, i hope these statistics are a wake-up call. now more than ever american families are asking for law and order in their communities and peace of mind in their neighborhoods. we as republicans stand ready to continue our push for solutions that make our country safer and a stronger place to live. with that, i yield back. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: i ask permission to let these comments be made before the vote and i'll keep them brief. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. braun: thank you. yesterday i spoke about a new law passed by the d.c. city council. this law lowers penalties for crimes like carjacking and robbery. thankfully congress is stepping

in to stop this legislation. d.c., washington, here should be an example of our american ideals. sadly it is becoming an example of the crime we're experiencing across the country in our larger cities -- chicago midwest, new records broken in the wrong way each week. new york, even places like my state capital, indianapolis. it should be a wake-up call to crack down, and yet city governments keep going the other way. the first priority of any government should be the safety of its citizens, especially at the local level where you live each day. we know a big part of this is not about the laws we have. we have a lot of laws on the books. they're not enforced. in my state capital of indianapolis, we have a prosecutor that will not enforce

those laws. and even in the heart of our country, the midwest, you have the same issue. i guess the most disturbing part of all of this is the hatred for our police. they place their safety and hazard to protect ours. too often they pay the ultimate price in doing so. indiana has lost several officers in the line of duty in the last two years like terre haute officer greg ferensy and richmond officer sierra burton. i'd like to say a few words about elwood police officer noah seanovitz killed in the line of duty last year in a little town in indiana. only 24 years old. he was shot during a routine traffic stop by a violent career

criminal who should have been behind bars. his parents, laurie and matt, remembered their son to my office with these words. all that noah ever wanted to do is help others. society has been robbed of the many positive impacts he would have had on our world. when a police officer is killed in the line of duty, it sends a shock wave through the community, and it's happening in far too many places. i decided after his death that i wanted to take the lead in reintroducing the thin blue line act. this bill would make targeting police officers an aggravating factor in favor of the maximum sentence. it's already passed through the house of representatives once

before. we need to do it again in this congress and get it through the senate as well. supporting our police shouldn't be a partisan issue. this law wouldn't apply in every case, but it would make criminals think twice before targeting our police. we have to do everything we can to protect those who protect us. the one thing we can do to fight back against crime is to support those on the front line. we need to give them the resources they need and send a clear message to those who wish to do them harm. if you target a police officer, you're going to pay the highest price possible. we need to get that done. i want to point out one other thing. we lost a hoosier recently who spent seven years fighting als. i was proud here, along with senator coons, to start the als

caucus. it is one of those diseases when you're diagnosed with it, it's not a very good prognosis. three to four years, maybe sometimes corey poland from indiana was able to stretch it out to seven years, and fought valiantly along the way, was involved in trying to take his cause and help others. currently there is no cure. there is severely limited access to treatment options. and since i've been here, i've been trying to reform health care in general, and that is a task when you've got one side of the aisle that doesn't think there's anything interested or anything to do there, interested in it. the other side maybe wanting to do more government where i think we need to reform it in an underlying way, make it more

transparent, more competitive. remove barriers to entry so you've got doctors and nurses that want to come into the profession. let's take this part of it. this is, along with other diseases that once you're diagnosed, you do not have time. and you'll be set be a cumbersome process that keeps people from getting into it and even staying in treatment. we need to fix that to where through the promising pathways act that i've had out there gaining stride, we need to make an exception for those ailments that have treatments in progress and where the individual suffering from them are willing to take the risk. because they want to do that because there's no other option, especially when there are promising treatments that you're working with. in corey's case, his journey began in october 2015.

he was hiking with his wife jennifer in arizona, and on that, he kind of hurt his ankle and noticed more. he was then returning to his hometown and wanted to look into it further. that's when he got that bleak diagnosis. and all along the journey, as his condition was getting worse, he was out there to help others with it. and his main goal for us here in congress was to get something like the promising pathways act across the finish line that would give hope to him and all the others and with similar diseases that are frustrated by the fabt that we can't move quickly enough, especially when there's stuff in the works that looks like it's going to be someday, if not a cure, at least to mitigate the disease. we weren't able to get that

done. this is something i would ask my fellow senators and someone else in the house to carry it. we need to get this across the finish line. a panel of fda advisors voted 7-2 that there was enough evidence to do something different, and that gave hope to people like corey and others that something would get done, but it hasn't happened and we've got this under our own drol get -- own drol get it done. it's well past time to get it done. i've been here going on now into my fifth year and we've been dragging our feet. i'm going to roll up my sleeves to get it done. we're going to keep pursuing this effort through our als caucus. senator coons and i have done it, and we've made headway. but why wouldn't we, when we've been dawdling with this issue for so long not give the benefit

of the doubt to treatments that are promising and get it across the finish line for these individuals that have no other hope but us to get it done? madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 11, daniel j. calabretta of california to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california. signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of daniel j. calabretta of california to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.

the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 52. the nays are 46. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: daniel j. calabretta of california to be united states district judge for the we were district of california. -- for the eastern district of california. mr. sanders: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i ask that the vote on confirmation of the calabretta confirmation occur at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, thursday you february 16. that the cloture vote on the martinez-lopez nomination occur following disposition of the reyes nomination and that if cloture is invoked on on the martinez-lopez nomination, the confirmation vote occur following disposition of the calabretta nomination, the vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the kahn nomination be at

1:45 p.m. following my remarks, the senate stand in recess until 4:00 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: senators should expect two roll call votes at 4:30 p.m. today and three roll call votes tomorrow. madam president, there is a lot of discussion in our country about how divided we are as a people, and there is no question that on many issues, that is absolutely true. but it turns out that on one of the most important matters facing the american people, democrats, republicans, independents, progressives, moderates, and conservatives are all united, and they are united on the need to take on the

outrageous corporate greed in the pharmaceutical industry and to substantially lower the incredibly high prices we pay for prescription drugs in this country. on that issue, the american people are quite united. today, millions of americans are forced to make the unacceptable choice between feeding their families or buying the medicine they need to ease their pain or to stay alive. seniors from vermont to alaska are forced to split their pills in half because they don't have enough money to fill their prescriptions. nobody really knows how many people die each year because they lack the medicine that their doctors prescribe. but a 2020 study by west health

found that by the year 2030, over 100,000 medicare recipients could die prematurely every year because they cannot afford to buy their lifesaving medicine. 100,000 seniors every year. madam president, all over this country, in every state in this country, the american people are asking some pretty simple questions. they want to know how does it happen that in the united states, we pay, by far -- not even close -- the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs? how does that happen? why is it people -- why is it, people are asking, that nearly one out of every four americans cannot afford the prescriptions

that their doctors write? think about how crazy that is. people walk into a doctor's office to get a diagnosis. the doctor writes out a script. they can't afford to fill that prescription. they get sick or maybe they end up in the emergency room. maybe they end up in the hospital. maybe they die. people are asking, how does it happen that nearly half of all new drugs in the united states cost more than $150,000 a year? $150,000 a year. madam president, a few years ago i took a busload of people dealing with diabetes from detroit, michigan, over the canadian border to a drugstore in windsor, ontario. i think the trip took us maybe 45 minutes. and there in windsor, canada,

people on the bus -- diabetics -- were able to purchase the same insulin products that they bought in the united states for one-tenth the price. 45-minute trip, same product, one-tenth the price. i'll never forget -- tears coming down the eyes of people who were buying their products, couldn't believe how much money they were saving. in 1999, i took another busload of people, this time women in northern vermont who were suffering with breast cancer. we took them to a pharmacy in montreal, canada. and, one again, they -- and, once again, they paid one-tenth the price for at that mox fin, a

-- tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug. how does this happen that in canada, same exact medications, manufactured by the same companies, are sold for a fraction of the price that we pay in america? simple question. a question democrats, republicans, independents -- everybody wants and an end to that. we will, the truth is the answer to that question, in my view, is not any complicated. and in fact it can be summed up in just through words, and that is unacceptable corporate greed. unacceptable corporate greed. madam president, over the past 25 years, the pharmaceutical industry has spent $8.5 billion on lobbying -- $8.5 billion on lobbying -- and over $745

million on campaign contributions so that they can continue to pay -- that we can continue to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. incredibly, last year drug companies hired over 1,700 lobbyists to knock on every door in the capitol, 1,700 lobbyists, former leaders of the democratic party, former leaders of the republican party. there are 535 members of congress, they got 1,700 lobbyists from the pharmaceutical industry, three lobbyists for every member of congress. meanwhile, as americans die because they cannot afford the medications they need, the pharmaceutical industry makes higher profits every year than

other major industries. year after year after year, they lead the index in terms of their profits. between the years 2000 and 2018, drug companies in this country made over $8 trillion -- that's with a "t" -- $8 trillion in profits. in fact, in 2021, just ten pharmaceutical companies in the united states made a total of more than $102 billion in profits, up 137% from the previous year. madam president, it is the greed that we are seeing manifests itself not just in corporate profits. it also manifests itself in the exorbitant, exorbitant

compensation packages that the pharmaceutical industry has given to its ceo's and other top executives within the industry. and i hope that people who are listening to us this afternoon, people who can't afford to pay for their prescription drugs, hear this, and that is, according to a report done by the health, education, labor, pension committee staff of which i chair, at least today, in 2021 while hundreds of thousands of americans died from covid, 50 -- 5-0 -- pharmaceutical executives in just ten companies made $1.9 billion in total compensation. 50 executives, $1.9 billion. and these same 50 executives are in line to receive up to $2.8 billion in golden parachutes once they leave their companies. met me give you just a few

examples. abbvie executive made nearly $62 million in total compensation in one year. the ceo of eli lilly, david reduction, made more than $67 million in one year. incredibly, the ceo of regeneron pharmaceuticals, leonard schlyfer, made nearly $453 million in total compensation in one year. $453 million. in one year. meanwhile, madam president, while we are told over and over again that the reason we have such high drug prices in america is because of the need of the drug companies to invest in research and development -- that's what we're told over and over again, we need to charge you outrage house prices so that

we can use that money to invest in research and development for new drugs. well, it is turns out that over the past decade, 14 major pharmaceutical companies spent $747 billion not to research and develop lifesaving drugs but to make their wealthy shareholders even wealthier by buying back their own stock and handing out huge dividends. it turns out, amazingly enough -- or maybe not amazingly -- that the drug companies spent $87 billion more on stock buybacks and dividends than they spent on research and development. so when you hear about all of the need for high prices for research and development, they spent $87 billion more on stock buybacks and dividends than on research and development.

madam president, the truth is, we are dealing here today not just with an economic issue in terms of the high price of prescription drugs. it's a very, very important economic issue. but we are dealing with something even more profound. and that is the moral issue. and at question i think that americans should be asking themselves, is it morally acceptable that tens of thousands of people die each year in our country because they cannot afford the medicine their doctors prescribe while at the same time the drug companies make billions in profits and provide their ceo's with huge

compensation packages? is it morally acceptable that at a time when the taxpayers is it morally acceptable that at a time when taxpayers of this company spend billions a year on research and development for lifesaving drugs that many of these same taxpayers who help fund the research and development for new drugs are unable to afford those drugs? is it morally acceptable that the business model of the pharmaceutical industry today is primarily not to create the lifesaving drugs we need for cancer, alzheimer's, heart disease, diabetes, and so many other terrible illnesses, but rather through their excessive

greed to make as much money as they possibly can. madam president, i should point out that it has not always been that way. there was once a time when the inventors of lifesaving drugs were not obsessed with making huge sums of money but were instead obsessed with ending the terrible illnesses that plagued humanity. in the 1950's, for example, there was dr. jonas salk who invented the vaccine for polio. salk's work saved millions of lives and prevented millions more from suffering paralysis. it has been estimated that if

dr. salk had chosen to patent the polio vaccine, he would have made billions of dollars, but he did not. when asked who owns the patent to this vaccine, this is what dr. salk said. quote, well, the people, i would say. there is no patent. could you patent the sun? end of quote. what dr. salk understood was that the purpose of the vaccine he invented was to save lives, to make sure that as many people all over the world were able to receive it and not to make himself object -- obscenely rich. and salk, among other great scientists, was not alone. in 1928, alexander fleming, a

scientist from scotland, discovered penicillin at st. mary's hospital in london. fleming's discovery of penicillin changed the medical world and saved millions of lives. i am sure that alexander fleming could also have become a multibillionaire if he chose to own the exclusive rights to this antibiotic, but he did not. when fleming was asked about his role, he did not talk about the outrageous fortune he could have made through his discovery. instead he said, quote, i did not invent penicillin, nature did that. i discovered it by accident. there was dr. banting from canada. he and two others from toronto invented insulin.

when dr. banting was asked why he wouldn't patent insulin and why he sold the rights to his invention for $1 -- $1 -- he replied, quote, insulin does not belong to me. it belongs to the world, end of quote. frederick banting. it has been estimated that dr. banting's invention of insulin saved some 300 million lives. once again, in dr. banting we saw a great scientist making clear that his purpose in life was to help humanity, prevent suffering, save liembtion not just to make -- save lives, not just to make billions for himself. meanwhile, madam president, while dr. banting sold his patents of insulin for $1 so

that humanity could benefit from his discovery, i should point out that eli lilly, one of our nation's largest drug companies, has increased the price of insulin by 1,200% over the past 27 years to $275 while it costs just $8 to manufacture. selling it for $275, costs $8 to manufacture. not quite the spirit of frederick banting. now let's fast forward to the covid pandemic. this horrible moment in our history where we have lost over one million americans and tens of millions have suffered various levels of illness. moderna, a drug company in massachusetts, worked alongside the national institutes of health to develop the vaccine

that so many of our people have effectively used, used by millions of people effectively. it is widely acknowledged that both the company and the national institutes of health, nih, were responsible for the creation of this vaccine. they worked together. after the company received billions of dollars from the federal government to research, develop, and distribute the covid vaccine, guess what happened. it turns out that the ceo of moderna, stephan bansell became a billionaire overnight and is now worth $5.7 billion. further, the two cofounders of moderna also became billionaires

and are now both worth $2 billion each. and one of the founding investors in moderna, kim springer, is worth $2.5 billion. none of them were billionaires before the taxpayers of our country funded the research and development for the covid-19 vaccine, and collectively this handful of people at moderna are now worth over $11 billion. and meanwhile, moderna as a whole made over $19 billion in profits during the pandemic. given that reality, given the enormous amount of taxpayer support, how has the ceo of this country thanked the taxpayers of america for the huge profits that moderna has experienced and for the incredible wealth that he and his other executives have experienced? well, he is thanking them by

proposing to quadruple the price of the covid vaccine to about $130 once the government stockpile runs out. and let us be clear, by the way, this is a vaccine that costs just $2.85 to manufacture. madam president, on march 22, the senate health, education, labor, and pension committee will be holding a hearing to discuss this subject. and bottom line that we will be discussing, does moderna think that it is appropriate to quadruple prices for the vaccine after receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer support. madam president, while moderna may be a poster child for contemporary corporate greed, certainly they are not alone. a number of years ago the former

ceo of gilead became a billionaire by charging $1,000 for savaldi, a hepatitis c drug discovered by scientists at the veterans administration. this drug cost just $1 to manufacture and could be purchased in india for $4. a japanese drugmaker acalis which made a billion dollars in profits in 2021 raised the price of the prostate cancer drug by more than 75% in the united states to nearly $190,000. this is a drug that was invented by federally funded scientists at ucla and can be purchased in canada for one-sixth the price charged in america. taxpayers fund the development of the drug and now pay six

times more than canadians do for the same product. and it goes on and on and on. madam president, there is no rational reason why the hiv treatment costs over $45,000 here in the u.s. but only $7,500 in france and why a weekly dose of an autoimmune medicine costs over $1700 in the u.s. but just over $300 in canada. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, it goes on and on and on. madam president, the american people, regardless of their political affiliations, are sick and tired of being ripped off by the pharmaceutical industry. now is the time for us to have the courage to taking -- to

take on the 1,700 lobbyists all over capitol hill, to take on the unlimited financial resources of that industry. now is the time to stand with the american people and substantially lower prescription drug prices in our country and the health, education, labor, pension committee is going to be actively involved in that process. thank you, madam president. with that, i yield the floor.

mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor today to talk about the threat posed by china. on february 4, our air force shot down a chinese spy balloon. they did it over the coast of south carolina. the balloon had spied upon the united states for up to a week. one of the places that it monitored and hovered over was my home state of wyoming. joe biden did absolutely nothing until the balloon had already crossed thousands of miles of the united states. to me, this is another national failure from a president who already brought us surrender in afghanistan. people in montana could see the balloon from the ground. that's the way america found out about it. it wasn't from the administration. it wasn't from the military.

it was from a reporter on the ground with a telephoto lens. the man took the picture from his driveway. i'm not convinced that joe biden would have done anything if that photographer in montana hadn't published those pictures online. hard to imagine any other president letting a spy balloon fly over our country for nearly a week. imagine john kennedy allowing soviet spy plane over the united states. to me, it's unimaginable. no president, republican or democrat, would tolerate this until joe biden. on thursday the senate received a classified briefing on the spy balloons. i'm not alone when i say i was disturbed and disquieted about what we learned. to me, joe biden did too little too late. and then he did what he always does. he bragged about it. he said he had done everything

right. to quote him, he said we did the right thing. no, no, joe biden did the weak thing, as usual. he had to be shamed into shooting down the balloon way too late. on thursday, joe biden defended himself again. he said the balloon was not a major breach. not a major breach. it remind me when joe biden signaled he let vladimir putin make a minor incursion into ukraine. president biden is defending the indefensivible. days after, he gave his annual state of the union. we were there. there were a number of bizarre moments in the president's speech. one of the most bizarre to me was when he talked about china. he said no world leader would want to be xi jinping. no world leader would want to be xi jinping.

he actually yelled it several times. what was he trying to say? does he still think that china is not a threat? communist communist china ir one geopolitical threat. they are a rival. they have the second largest economy in the world. they have over two million active military personnel. they have the largest navy in the world. china plans to build more than 100 new ships, 300 missile silos, and hundreds of nuclear missiles by the end of this decade. china is working day and night to get stronger. china's working to challenge the united states as the world's superpower. and joe biden seems to be doing the opposite. he's making our own country weaker, poorer, and less prepared. china isn't the one opening the

border to the whole world to come in. china isn't the one spending themselves into it bankruptcy. china isn't the one shutting down their energy production. it's joe biden who's doing those things, a president who is soft on china. now, he's been soft on china his entire career. when he was in the senate, he helped china join the world trade organization. he helped china pay low tariffs under bill clinton. this helped china flood our country with cheap, poorly made consumer goods. by the time he was vice president, the threat from china was obvious, but he was still soft on china. when he was vice president, joe biden said the growth of china is overwhelmingly in our interests. joe biden as vice president. he should tell that to the factory workers who lost their jobs all across america. he should tell that to the families who buried their children because of chinese

fentanyl. when he was running for president, joe biden repeatedly downplayed any threat from china. he said of china, in his announcement to run for president, he said china's not bad, folks. now, he should tell that to the one million uighurs living as slaves and forced to work in the west of china. as a candidate, joe biden said china is, quote, not competition for us. i've got news for joe biden -- china's economy has grown 12-fold in the last 20 years. china now has more missile launchers than we do. it is painfully obvious china is trying to compete with us. joe biden is the only one who doesn't get it. on friday, former senator max backus who i served with, from montana, revealed that china wanted joe biden to be president. now, senator backus was a member of this body, then he was tapped

to be president obama's ambassador to china. senator backus knows a lot about china. he knows a number of chinese officials. on friday, he admitted chinese officials told him that china wanted joe biden to be elected president. of course they did. in recent weeks, we found out that joe biden kept classified information at his home and in his private office. so where is this private office? well, the office was at something called the penn biden center at the university of pennsylvania. university paid joe biden a million dollars, nearly a million dollars, to do virtually nothing. joe biden says he was a professor. yet never taught a single class. and he left classified documents at the penn biden center. now, reportedly, these documents were related to ukraine and iran. i haven't seen the documents, but those are the reports.

what's the relationship with china in this center? well, chinese donors gave $61 million to the university between 2017 and 2020. both the house and senate need to investigate whether these donations were legal, and we need to know if chinese money is influencing the biden administration's policies. on thursday, i came to the floor and spoke about how joe biden's energy policies are helping china. later at that day, we found out yet another connection between joe biden's energy policies and china. we found out that the white house and the secretary of energy met with an environmental group with ties to china. the group is interestingly called the rocky mountain institute, and the group was paid by the chinese government to study green energy. now, second of energy jennifer granholm wants their advice too. enough is enough.

it's time to act with strength against china. the sanctions that the administration announced are just a slap on the wrist. the house passed a resolution condemning china for violating our air space. the vote was unanimous. every republican voted for it, and every democrat voted for it. why aren't we taking it up here in the senate? a whole host of legislation we need to pass here in the senate to stand up to china. i've introduced legislation to ban administration officials from going to work for china. the top lawyer today, the top lawyer today in our intelligence community used to work for china. before that, he worked in the obama white house. revolving door. democrat administration, china. democrat administration. he worked for the obama white house, worked for huawei, we

know that's a telecommunications company controlled by the chinese government. now he's one of the top lawyers on the payroll of joe biden. there's much more that needs to be done in relation to china. china's going to try to spy on us again. china's going to keep challenging us. it's time for us to stand up to the challenge. now, what happened with this spay balloon? it can never be allowed to happen again. america cannot afford joe biden's policies of weakness. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate previous order, the senate

♪♪ >> since 1979 in partnership with the cable industry c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are abated and decided with no commentary, no interruption and completely unfiltered. ♪♪ >> c spends unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more including charter communications.

♪♪ giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> janet yellen discussed biden administration's economic recovery efforts in response to the covid-19 pandemic. she describes some the american rescue plant played the foundation for investment and infrastructure. semiconductor manufacturing and clean energy. >> welcome nato president -- [applause] [applause]