[inaudible conversations] >> all this week, beginning at 7 p.m. eastern, c-span is featuring encore presentations of q & a, our hour long interview program with nonfiction writers, journalists and historians. tonight northeastern university's margaret burnham shares her book, my hand now now which examines the south and jim crow legal era that

supported it. margaret burnham tonight at 7 eastern on c-span's q & a. you can listen to q & a and all of our podcasts on our free c-span app. >> and the senate's coming in now for more work on president biden's judicial and executive nominees. votes are scheduled in about 90 minutes on the confirmation of a judge for the eastern district of california and an assistant defense secretary for health affairs. another vote series scheduled this afternoon at 1:45 eastern. taking you live now to the senate floor here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, the reverend dr. barry black, will open the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, you are not only just and holy, but your mercies endure forever. because of your goodness, we receive your forgiveness and love. forgive our past mistakes and give us new hearts that we might serve you with passion. today, bless our senators physically, spiritually, lord, strengthen them so that they wil control their thoughts, words, and ngses. give them such providential

guidance that all their decisions will be made for your glory. we pray in your mighty 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 16, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of defense, lester martinez-lopez of florida to be an assistant secretary of defense.

ukraine's water and energy infrastructure leaving millions without power, water or heat

during the coldest winter months. the u.s., eu and other alliese working together to support sanctions targeting russian entities, trade and specific economic sectors. on energy use is lead the free worlds response. we've more than doubled elegy shipments, , export record leves of crude oil and have grown our coal and refined product exports to meet the demand and break the chokehold putin has on europe. we have worked with the eu and rest of the g7 to put price caps on russian exports which is help reduce putin's revenant by more than one-third. we are responding by working with the ukrainian ministry of energy to ship emergency electricity equipment for ukrainian greek repairs, led by the department of energy. the department continues coordinated with public-private entities to deliver critical resources to europe and the ukraine. i look forward to learning more about these efforts from doctor light was with us today. approximate one quart of europe's energy is generated from natural gas and prior to the war russia's supply with the

bulk of that. throughout 2022 russia began to decreasing natural gas supplies to europe but still supplied roughly 15% of the eu's natural gas consumption in 2022. that is down from 40% the prior year. as shown on the chart behind me within six months of putin's invasion the acip more natural gas to europe via ship and russia sent by pipeline. that was an incredible feat that no one would have thought possible only one year ago. but as the chart shows also we stop a long way to go to replace the russian energy which europe has relied on. in 2023 the eu is eu's facing a supply shortfall roughly equivalent to what russia's supplied in 2022. approximately 2,000,000,000,000 ft.3. the eu has been remarkably successful in diversifying its natural gas supplies. but the shortfall means eu must continue to arrange for increased lng imports, build up

infrastructure and also look to other generation technologies to fill that gap. i was encouraged to hear that this week european commission officials met with representatives from our natural gas industry to discuss an additional export agreements. director general, we look forward to hearing from you about eu's progress and our energy industries can continue to help. now i think it's a form to point out that we the united states are not currently made to the threat of resource weaponization. at the beginning of the war we were importing 500,000 barrels of russian oil daily, despite having huge oil and gas resources domestically and our canadian friends to the north happy to send us even more. i'm proud that he merely following putin's year members of this committee bipartisan act quickly on a bipartisan basis to introduce legislation to ban

u.s. imports of russian energy. president biden followed our lead and implemented the band but still we rely on russian for the uranium needed for our zoo in mission baseload nuclear fleet and advanced nuclear reactors of the future. that is why senator barrasso, senator risch and i are introducing bills to cut our relied on russian nuclear fuel while reestablishing of uranium conversion enrichment capacity to meet our domestic nuclear fuel needs. as a superpower of the what we must eat all the way our not beholden to countries that don't share our values. least we fall victim to the same weaponization that we have seen play out over the last year. the fact is business leaders and policymakers on both sides of the atlantic have an opportunity to do much more to help ukraine. our european allies and ourselves. energy companies and shareholders must prioritize energy security which may mean focusing on growing production

before near-term profits. but that also goes for the federal government which must start balancing lofty climate goals with geopolitical needs if we're going to remain the superpower of the world were also making progress on decarbonization. my view of decarbonization includes displacing dirtier fuels sourced from around the world whether that be dirty of our mentally or politically, and with the abundant natural resources write you to do it. let's be honest, increase imports from the u.s. energy mean a cleaner fuel for our european friends. russia in its 30% more methane and more than three times as much carbon dioxide from -- than we do in the u.s. industry also needs the federal government to signal with both words and actions that will support the responsible development of all types of energy here in the united states. this means timely predictable energy permitting at it into the regulatory assault on fossil fuels which we can produce and

use clear than anywhere else. our country continues to need fossil fuels and our allies are desperate for greater access to our resources. as of today the war shows no sign come to a peaceful resolution. the u.s. and our allies must continue to work in concert to respond to prepare for the coming challenges while we continue to seek an end to these hostilities. the u.s. has the responsibility and opportunity to support our friends and allies. we must not allow russia to dictate the economic and security terms of post war europe. that is why senator murkowski and i introduced a bill that would enhance the ability of the secretary of energy to establish international partnerships to secure our supply chains while reducing our allies reliance on russian energy resources. we must create a future energy independence and security from any undemocratic regime seeking to open his energy to win a a. i appreciate eyewitnesses joining us today, to discuss important issues and look

forward to the discussion. without i will turn it over to senator barrasso for november marks. >> thanks for your incredible narcs of the open this committee appearing today want to thank you for holding hearing, thank you for opening the statement and as we know europe has learned some very hard lessons following russia's invasion of ukraine. now it are more could you need to have access to an affordable and dependable supply of energy. unfortunately president biden has not learned a a thing from putin's war of aggression and the energy crisis here. europeans understand the crucial importance of increasing u.s. oil and natural gas production and exports. the president still does not. a week after russia's invasion begin president biden delivered his 2022 state of union address. with russian rampaging through ukraine, energy prices in europe skyrocketed. president biden didn't say what of increasing american energy production, and he should have. just last week at this year's speech the president again

refused to support any policies that would increase american energy production. he would rather increased energy taxes and increase, then increased u.s. energy production. production. doesn't seem to care to him about the cost. he is focused slowly on the climate. president seems to believe we can stop producing oil and gas in just ten years. it's a dangerous fantasy. no wonder oil and gas companies are thinking twice before investing an american energy. the reality is that the world still runs on oil, natural gas and coal. they will do so for the foreseeable future, even as we reduce greenhouse gas emissions. telling american production is not going to change at that. it will just in which our adversaries and made america and our allies weaker and less secure. the president has doubled out on his zealous approach to climate. his focus on climate change above all else is hurting

american families and it is harming our national security and our national competitiveness. look at the damage that europe's climate policies have inflicted so far. they have brought the continent some of the highest energy prices in the world and to increase the continent dependence on russian energy. many in europe about to turn to wood, to pete and the garbage to heat their homes. but for president biden, europe's energy policy is a model. he believes he can oppose the same goals and policies here and similar get different results. but following europe's example means living with your results. europe's energy policy is a warning, not a model. what is that worked in your will not work here. europe's experience should also teach as the folly of turning to to tyrannical regimes or energy. the united states no longer needs to did the dawn cartels and rogue nations for our

energy. it took us decades to achieve that. but the president's assault on american energy production will surrender this vital economic and geopolitical advantage. his unrealistic renewable and electrical vehicle goals will make us much more dependent on our adversaries like china and russia for critical minerals and materials. the president's goals would require massive amounts of copper, cobalt, nickel come with them, graphite in many other minerals. china and russia control the supply chains of any of these minerals. we need more american production but it is almost impossible to get a permit for a new mine in the united states. in fact, the biden administration recently killed two u.s. compromise. president biden would prefer that we import these minerals even sending my knee to our enemies. it's a disgrace that we don't have the capability to fuel our own nuclear reactors.

you mention it, mr. chairman. ensuring the secures a plot of american uranium for existing and advanced reactors is a top priority of mine. yesterday our chairman senator manchin as well as senator risch and i introduced legislation to do just that. we also plan to introduce a bill to ban russian uranium imports we cannot allow president biden to throw away america's hard-won energy independence and increase our reliance on china and russia. russia. europe's plight make it abundantly clear that this would be a colossal mistake. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator barrasso. i would like to turn to eyewitnesses and will begin with assistant secretary dr. andrew light who will be followed by director jennifer energy of european commission, ms. jorgensen and finally fellow and energy studies at rice university doctor. thank you all for joining us, especially director general

jorgensen for traveling so far and may be the jet lag, you will be able to get around so quick and will affect you. but i do appreciate the effort you've made to beer and it's a pleasure. so assistant secretary like we will begin with your opening remarks. >> chairman manchin, ranking member barrasso, and members of the committee, it's an honor to appear before you today to discuss energy security in europe and the role the us department of energy and supporting ukraine. nearly one year ago today putin's russia brutally illegal and immoral it again its full-scale invasion of ukraine. even for russia attacked with tanks and troops it'll reduce energy as a weapon to terrorize the ukrainian people, actions which were expanded to europe and the rest of the world. let me be clear. russia's use of energy as weapon has backfired. it has been international response unprecedented in history of global energy cooperation and the united states has been a leader in that response.

nonetheless, the current status of inconsistent in ukraine is dire. over the last four months an estimated 700 russian missiles of it energy facilities throughout the country. the ukraine grid operators using rolling blackouts to beat more about 75% of normal customer demand sometimes losing up to 50% of generation. make no mistake russia's attack on energies grid are brutalizing his of a publisher just department of a special relationship with the ukrainian counterpart across a range of issues. secretary granholm of the u.s. presidential delegation to tf in august 2020 want to attend the ceremonies marking the 30th 30th anniversary of independence at a relationship has been very close. this relationship enabled the department of labor indispensable assistance quickly after russia's further invasion of ukraine. before the war congress appropriate my office $39 to assist ukraine in creating a permanent and a connection with european energy grid and eventually, eventual capacity to

export electricity to neighboring countries. following russia's attacks, we begin delivering some $15 billion worth of critical energy infrastructure equipment starting last december primarily from a surplus supplies in the u.s. by early march we will deliver the third tranche of this. we are monitoring ukraine's nuclear power infrastructure and work in close with the international atomic energy agency to ensure proper safeguards remain in place. finally d.o.e. at our national labs are working to ukraine build a secure resilient independent and adaptable energy system with an invested 10 million international labs to multiply ukraine's future energy system post reconstruction. it's clear to us that energy security and the energy transition are two sides of the same coin. there can be no lasting energy security without the first-line energy supply including expanding the use of clean energy. recognize the danger posed by russia's position energy market

the president took action and direct the administration to take all available measure to work with our allies in europe and around the world to ensure a surge of allergy and pipeline gas was available for europe as a chairman indicated. last year some two-thirds of years lng shipments went to europe more than doubling the volumes volume exported to europe in 2021. president biden also launched the u.s.-eu task force on energy security with president to help the eu reduce world demand for natural gas and to more quickly decarbonized. just yesterday secretary granholm cochaired the meeting on the current natural gas crisis in europe with over 40 countries through the international energy agency took of her options to ensure european and global natural gas security consistent with net zero transitions to the 2023-2020 for winter. make no four winter. make no mistake next winter will almost certainly be harder with china ramping back to pre-covid consumption levels and no russian gas in european storage. over the past or the dreaded has

led court needed efforts to ensure a secure supply of oil to the global market by working with partners and allies on a court needed release of 270 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves around the world. we have worked to limit russia's profits from oil sales through our efforts with the g7 partners, the eu and us feel you on a price cap crude oil and now on refined products. however, energy security is not only about oil and gas and is that only about russia. overreliance on a single supplier any supplier leads the united states and the rest of the world vulnerable to other countries. china produces about 75% of a lithium ion batteries and controls most of the midst incapacity for battery supply sd make the american people proud. the senate spoke in one voice condemning the chinese communist party for brazenly violating

american policy with share surveillance balloons earlier this month. our resolution, bipartisan, championed by senators tester and collins, sends a clear message that china's belligerence, their near endless escalating tactics and scornful disregard for american sovereignty is unacceptable. i want to thank senator tester above all. he's been the leader in this whole country on this issue, and i appreciate senator collins working with him, and i appreciate both of their good work putting this resolution together, with strok bipartisan unity -- strong bipartisan unity. mr. president, this resolution condemning china is precisely the kind of bipartisanship americans expect at a time like this. instead of each party attacking each other, we're united in this resolution, in condemning china, exactly as we should be. and last night's resolution is just one step. senator tester is also taking the lead on a bipartisan effort

to get to the bottom of why we didn't learn about these balloons sooner. this is a very important question that the american people deserve answers to, and i'm fully, fully supportive of this effort. again, this is the kind of bipartisanship the country expects. when china is pushing the boundaries. they don't want democrats and republicans pointing finners at -- fingers at each other. they don't want any premature attacks. they want us to come together to respond to the threats posed by ccp, and that's just what we did last night. now, yesterday's resolution was not the only way the senate was focused on standing firm against the ccp. we also yesterday had a briefing from the department of defense on our ongoing competition with china. i want to thank the briefing team for their hard and ongoing work. while all the details are

classified, i want to make a few points. first, the united states is competing with china at every level -- economically, militariliy, geopolitically, technologically. in terms of our fundamental values, and more. it won't be enough to outcompete china in any single area. we must be ready to compete with them on all of these fronts, because that is what china is trying to do. second, china's main goal with respect to the u.s. is to displace us. their moan goal with respect to -- their main goal with respect to the u.s. is to displace us, displace nato and europe, and displace our allies, as the world leaders on the military and geopolitical side and on driving the innovations of tomorrow, many of which affect our national security --

a.i., quantum computing, 5g, and other advanced communications technologies, biomanufacturing, clean tech, and especially, especially the next generation of semiconductors. china wants to be ahead of us on everything, because if they do they'll be the ones writing the rules of the road on these technologies. an autocracy writing these rules, an autocracy that often uses these technologies to oppress its people and spy on them. that would have dangerous consequences for the world's democratic nations. changing those rules, with china in the lead, would make the world a safe haven, unfortunately, for autocracy. and finally, the chinese communist party is not constraining itself in pursuit of these goals. they're all in. they'll do whatever it takes to beat us. if we do not respond in kind, we won't be able to keep up.

so yesterday's briefings made a couple of things exceedingly clear for the senate and, frankly, for the house. most importantly, yesterday's briefing on our competition with china reaffirmed the need for congress to work together and pass a clean debt limit without brinksmanship, without hostage-taking. few things would hand the world over to the chinese communist party more than a first-ever default by the united states. defaulting would send a loud-and-clear message to the world that america cannot be trusted, that squabbling democracies are incapable of governing, and that the best days of our country are squarely behind us. to prevent china from overtaking us, we must raise the debt ceiling on a bipartisan basis as soon as we can. no chaos, no brinksmanship, no

default. yesterday's briefing also made clear that the kind of cuts that maga republicans are pushing would be a disaster for staying ahead on china. china would love to see the kind of cuts that the maga wing of the republican party is pushing. it would guarantee they'd overtake us across the board, on defense and military preparedness, on innovation, on american manufacturing, science, and workforce, and so much more. so much more. so let me say it again. china would love nothing more than to see the kinds of cuts across the board that maga republicans are pushing. the kind of cuts republicans are talking about are dangerous. instead, congress must complete the appropriations process as we have in the last two years. china is all in on beating us. they're going to do whatever it takes, and the chinese communist party, as the chinese communist party drives their country

forward, the worst thing we can do is put america in reverse with funding levels from two years ago. it would be malpractice, given what's at stake. now, we've done some good, important work to outcompete china in the last few years. under this democratic-led senate. infrastructure, chips and science, the ira and last year's omnibus bill. but we shouldn't stop there. we need to ensure all of those bipartisan efforts are funded. we need to keep pushing ahead. there is no doubt that the u.s. and our allies and partners remain leaders, if that is to continue, the united states must be all in -- all in on outcompeting china and make it clear to president xi that his autocracy campaign to dominate the 21st century will not succeed. now on another important issue.

i have a few very important things to talk about today. including the bill we passed last year and the briefing and the affect on what we should do in terms of debt ceiling and our budget. but here's another one, medicaid. yesterday i joined with a few of my colleagues to shine light on how rad radical out of touch maa republicans are. in the house budget they are putting pen to paper on promise that would devastate american families and slash the program that millions of people rely on. these are not abstract issues. they would cause immense pain to thousands of americans. republicans have been scrambling over the past few days to try to convince the american people that that they won't touch medicare or social security even though we have years' worth of statements and speeches that show many of them believe just the opposite.

another critical question remains unanswered and must be addressed. are republicans also going to target medicaid? medicaid is one of the most important programs in the country. one in four americans rely on medicaid to cover their health care needs. let me say that again. one in four americans rely on medicaid to cover health care needs. it's not just low-income americans that benefit from medicaid, as important as helping them is, which of course it is, it's also middle-class families who have to pay, for instance, to put their parents in nursing homes. a couple in their mid-40's who have parents in nursing homes or assisted living would have a huge burden placed upon them if medicaid were slashed. these families work hard. cutting medicaid would put a huge economic burden on them as they struggle and work to stay in the middle class. and medicaid helps others too. people with disabilities,

pregnant women, children, and so many more. led me say -- let me say again, medicaid is a middle-class issue in addition to helping low-income americans and we on our side want to help both. are americans going to strip away coverage for one in four americans? we really don't know because republicans won't show us their plan. americans are right to be worried about their medicaid benefits because she's maga proposals are coming right at them at their expense. we must work to strengthen programs like medicaid, not put them on the chopping block. dpienlly, esg. -- finally esg. republicans will introduce a measure targeting a new rule from the department of labor that allows, not requires, allows, fisheries to consider the im -- if i if i deutsche fin

making decisions. hard-right legislatures are are up a in arms trying to stop investment funds from working with money managers who dare commit the heinous offense of looking at the big picture when making investments, including how climate change and other issues can prevent and present financial risks. i just want to point out the obvious. nothing in this dol rule imposes any requirement on anyone. let me say that again. nothing in the dol rule that they seek to repeal imposes any requirement on anyone. in fact, it goes out of its way to make sure decision-making remains solely in the hands of the fiduciary, republicans like to talk about small government and letting the private sector do its work, but their obsession with eliminating esg would do just the opposite. many companies realize as we

move to clean energy, their path to profitability depends on adapting to those changes. hard-right maga republicans, climate deniers are trying to strait jacket those companies from ideological exemptions and try to adop them for their own -- adopt them for their own good and for the good of the country. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

>> i know that's a lot in one question but do the best you can. >> thank you. thank you very much, senator. first of all, we've expanded our import capacity. just want to mention their significant additional capacity to import lng as a response to the crisis. so we are able to offtake in additional supplies that will come online globally. secondly as you have said long-term contracts are an important feature of the global natural gas market and in particular the global lng market and it is a commercial position for companies whether they want to sign long-term contracts and i think one consideration is the extreme volatility and certain in global markets is certainly not helpful in that regard. we see an interest in long-term contracts to provide the

security of supply, the stability in market we see some concert a number of units suppliers have signed long-term contracts with the chinese buyers and so we are following that market very closely and looking at what can we do from european levels come from the european commission and member states to further support the development of long-term, stable markets and offtake. one of the things we've done as a to disestablish and energy platform that we will work on joint purchasing and curly working both with suppliers but also with energy companies in europe to see how to best support development there to get more stability into the market and what is the role of long-term contracts in that context. >> this morning's price of you are about $17. we are about $2.50 but it's come down tremendously but there still multiples. where is your sweet spot? where are you looking for as far as your economy and also stability for your economy? >> i would not be able to put a specific price level on that but

i do think we've seen the worst in a volatility. last year we had injured our gas prices, artemisinin into march were about 350 and now down close to 50. so in other words, went out of the very worst volatility extreme in high prices we've done what we can to avoid a. >> can you talk about the esg versus basic geopolitical risk about the geopolitical risk has cost? am understanding uk has thrown caution to the went completely just trying to get through difficult times. >> so esg remains an important factor to guide our investors to the extent that want to have a green profile or a green portfolio or green funds and that is useful in itself. that does not mean investment into security, secure supply are not relevant. it's an important selling point as well if you will from its sector perspective. the way we look at in terms of

our public financing our european financing is that we will be defined as the more into the inner transition but financing into security of supply has been a high priority not least this last year which is why we have helped fund a number of the new infrastructures that is, unless. >> the european which are basically helped tremendously i think with your supply chain and also your resource. what are you all into spending for next works are you preparing for next winter, next winter 2020? >> yes. this winter we were indeed help a somewhat milder weather but it's not that unusual myopic it was milder and i was a good thing in the current circumstances we were helped by our measures and storage philly, on demand reduction, on price stabilization mechanisms and solidarity mechanisms mr. mcconnell: the growing share of american citizens across the political spectrum say tackling rampant crime must

be a top priority. and it's certainly no mystery why they feel that way. just take my own hometown. one neighborhood in east louisville endured 30 burglaries in 30 days. last year washington, d.c., saw 203 203 203 homicides. it colluded 18 children, a -- included 18 children and 2023 is already off to a worse start. homicides and car carjackings ae already ahead of last year's pace. last week the city's crime wave touched congress directly. a congresswoman from minnesota, representative angie craig was attacked in the elevator of her own apartment building in --

most recently, the man was arrested for assaulting a met metropolitan police officer, but there he was, this career criminal just out roaming the street. as the congresswoman put it herself afterwards, we have to get the repeat defenders off the street. you're darn right we do. unfortunately the radical local government here is doing precisely the opposite. the d.c. council has responded to the crime wave with a new bill to make the city even softer on crime. it lowers maximum penalties for violent crimes and creates new ways to shorten the sentences of incarcerated felons. well, the good news is the constitution actually gives the united states congress final says over issues in our nation's

capital. when members of congress can't go about their daily lives without being attacked, when families cannot come to visit our capitol in safety, then it's about time the federal government provides some adult supervision. senate republicans, led by our colleague from tennessee, bill hagerty are leading congress to address this emergency. last week the republican house passed their companion bill as well and things have gotten so undeniably bad that more than 30 house democrats crossed the aisle to help support it. i hope the democratic leader will turn to senator hagerty. on an entirely different matter, putin's brutal war on ukraine has forced all of us to take a

long, hard look at our country's commitments to military spending and self-defense. nato and the west have led important -- have let important capabilities actually at if at f i -- at row if i over time, like looking at our defense industry base which creates good jobs and secures our own security and allows us to be the arsenal for our friends and allies. it serves america's core national interests for us to exercise strong leadership in the world. our security and europe's security are interleaked -- interlinked, our economies are intertwined, but the rest of nato must do more to follow our lead, increase defense spending, upgrade their capabilities and put skin in the game. tomorrow i'll be taking this message directly to our european friends in person.

with a number of our colleagues i will travel to the munich security conference, i will come with homework assignments for our european friends. i'll speak as a friend, but frankly. hard power is what kept the peace during the cold war. our allies simply have to reinvest in hard power .in the short time, america and our allies need to invest in the munitions and weapons systems that will help ukraine defeat the invasion. but this chapter of realism and resolve can't end with ukraine. because the long-term threats and challenges that we face actually go much deeper, a nuclear-armed russia poses a threat to the united states and to nato and china poses even greater threat still to american interest and those of our allies.

these challenges are multifaceted. they're global, and they are actually only growing. so i look forward to talking to our allies in munich, both about america's resolve to lead and europe's responsibility to shoulder more of the load. on one final matter, yesterday the judiciary committee witnessed another disaster of a performance from one of president biden's nominees. this time the president wants a lifetime appointment for a new hampshire lawyer who represented an ultra elite private high school against a 15-year-old girl who was suing the school after she'd been sexually assaulted on campus. lawyers serve unpopular clients all the time. but while representing the powerful prep school, michael delaney subjected the teenage victim and her family to

unusually hardball tactics that were frankly shocking. the young lady and her family hoped to file a lawsuit anonomously as jane doe and persuade the school change its ways. that was the -- that was a pass to accountability but mr. delane y used anonymity as a weapon against her and said she would only be allowed to remain anonymous as a gag order and threatened if the family went to trial, he would ask the court to reveal her name. in other words, delaney tried to turn a teenage victim's privacy into a hostage to help a prep school avoid accountability. the girl's father saw delaney's behavior for what it was. he called it a threat. the victim says she spoke to the biden department of justice while vetting mr. delaney.

apparently the administration ignored her. so apparently did her two senators. according to the boston globe, the victim's parents pleaded their case against delaney to both our colleagues from new hampshire. but instead of taking the family's pain to heart, both of their senators returned blue slips anyway. they even personally introduced delaney at his hearing. democrats have long claimed they want empathy for their judges. i prefer, frankly, neutrality and faithfulness to the constitution myself, but empathy is what liberals say they want. i defy anyone to watch yesterday's hearing and find one ounce of empathy from delaney from his child victim. my colleagues across the aisle will have to catch a rerun because almost none of the judiciary democrats could even bring themselves to show up for yesterday's hearing. they avoided the hearing.

they didn't want to hear it. guess who did attend? the brave young woman's family was there. they wanted delaney to know they'll never forget how he treated their daughter. so i would urge the president to reconsider this nomination and urge my colleagues to reject it. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

do you think governments should dictate governance priorities for private businesses or should we generally leave that to the market and to the board of those businesses to make those decisions? >> those decisions our business decisions, and for companies government rolled away we've approached it in europe is to set a guidance of what consider being investment. that's our taxonomy but it's from -- >> basically a standard and leave the decisions to the

businesses of themselves? >> indeed. not a binding standard. type of guidance. >> dr. light, u.s. utilities to build on imports of russian enriched uranium for about 20% of their needs and our fleet of commercial nuclear reactor plants. that enriched uranium as we heard from the ranking member comes from russ saddam. which was exposed as he mentioned in the press recently as providing materials and other support to russia's war effort in ukraine. in addition to potential domestic ban on imports of russian uranium what you think it's highly appropriate what else could viewers be doing internationally to ensure that other nations don't indirectly support russia's war effort through their nuclear sectors? >> thanks for the question. there's a number of things. while it is true for example, take some of the legacy soviet built plants in eastern europe that it's been on a particular version of nuclear full, we are

seeing u.s. providers was near us in particular of moving into that market and trying to develop capacity and signing a number of m.o.u.s included with ukraine to displace the fuel so that's a good signal. number two by office has been working with the state department with commerce with others to build increase u.s. competitiveness on the market, a new clip out and not just on the fuel seven also on power generation itself. replaces a we just recently saw this great deal emirates between u.s. and poland to build the first three of the first six of a nuclear reactors which is going to be a $45 billion deal, worth 130,000 american jobs. third it is a supply chain at home but also the supply chain when of the country where we can rely on them as good partners. diversification doesn't only mean independence but also means having reliable partners around the world and through different international forms were trying to create the capacity they are so we can stand together --

>> so we should leverage our allies to create that independent? >> yeah, i think that's a great way putting it. we have to leverage our allies, leverage of relationships. that's why our engagement in the world on energy in the midst of a struggle or even outside the current energy struggle is so important. >> in june of last year the biden administration announced a partnership a partnership for global infrastructure and investment with the g7. as part of that initiative the government our government provide $14 million to support the first of its kind deployment of new scale hours small modular reactor in romania. what role do you see smrs playing to support our eu allies transition away from russian fossil gas, russian fossil fuels broadly? and what are the hurdles deployment in europe that we may be able to assist with? >> this is the most exciting thing at the web on the energy price right now is a final emergence of smrs as a real

viable possibility. i have been absolutely impressed with the fact part of the world i focus on the most with respect to who will deploy smrs first is eastern and central europe. that was before the war started. it's not only interesting bulgari, interest in polling throughout the region what have the expertise and the comfort of this kind of technology and seeing the advantage of smrs only for electricity but for industrial decarbonization. we have many providers. we've been incubating with your support for decades now and they're ready to unleash. we have got to with these countries on the regulatory side making sure they're ready for this technology in the becoming regional hubs and with various programs many different international platforms we have been working on with our partners at state and commerce and others to help create that groundwork so countries can accelerate the import of that technology as he's become available. it's incredibly exciting.

>> thank you, mr. chairman, thank you all for being here today. this is most helpful and we certainly appreciate the efforts you made to get here. it's amazing that we are approaching the one-year anniversary of the invasion and the effects of that has been and the continued russian the presiding officer: yes. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, it was good to hear president biden acknowledging in his state of the union speech last week that we still need oil. he's right. and while i'm a big supporter of clean energy and am proud to come from a state that gets the majority of our electricity generation from renewables, the fact of the matter is that even in states like mine, conventional energy sourses like oil and natural gas are essential to maintaining an affordable, stable and reliable energy supply. renewable technologies have come a long way but they still have a

ways to go. and we literally wouldn't be able to keep the lights on in this country without conventional energy sources like natural gas and coal. so it was good to hear the president acknowledge that we still depend on affordable and reliable legacy sources like oil. but it would be even better if he pursued an agenda that acknowledged instead of an agenda that is actively hostile to conventional energy production. from canceling the keystone xl pipeline on day one to hiking tax on oil and gas companies and making it more difficult to develop oil and gas, the president's agenda seems designed to do everything it can to discourage production of the oil the president says that we need. and then, mr. president, there is esg. the biden administration has been attempting to use the long arm of regulation to implement esg policies.

environmental, social, and governance policies, to advance its climate agenda. the president's regulations are designed to choke off investment to the oil and gas industries and to other essential industries like farming and ranching due to methane emissions. take, for example, the securities and exchange commission rule. this regulation would require publicly traded companies to disclose information not only about their own greenhouse gas emissions but also in many cases about those of their suppliers and even their customers. it would also require companies to determine the effects of climate related risks on each line item of their consolidated financial statements. now there are multiple problems with this rule. one notable problem being the fact that it is a totally unworkable regulation. companies have zero control over the emissions of their suppliers and customers and little to no

ability to accurately gauge those emissions. but leaving aside the unworkability factor, the major problem with this proposed rule is that it is clearly designed to coerce companies to sever or reconsider their ties with certain industries, notably of course the conventional energy industry, but also with other industries like agriculture. mr. president, private companies of course have the right to consider whatever factors they want when determining what companies they will do byes with -- do byes with and what they will invest in. but the federal government should not be putting its thumb on the scale. and the sec rule is one of the regulations the biden administration has put forward designed to discourage investment in industries that aren't part of democrats' green new deal vision. there's the biden administration's proposed federal contractor rule which, like the sec rule, would require companies applying for certain federal contracts to

disclose not only their direct and indirect emissions, but also in some cases potentially related emissions over which the contractor has no control. the the federal reserve stepped outside its statutorily role and developed a pilot program for the nation's largest banks. the office of the comptroller of the currency, the federal deposit insurance corporation and the fed have all put forward principles for large banks on, quote, climate-related financial risk management, end quote. and the list goes on. and there's the department of labor. in november the department of labor issued a new rule that would allow pension plan fiduciaries the individuals, these individuals who manage americans' retirement accounts,

to consider esg -- in other words environmental, social, governance factors -- and not just the rate of return when investing their customers' money. in other words, the individualst this, the individuals who manage $11.7 trillion of americans' retirement will no longer be required to make investment decisions based solely on maximizing return. instead they will now be allowed to opt for a less valuable investment if they prefer its environmental profile. i want you just, just let that sink in for a minute, mr. president. the biden administration has essentially announced that its top goal is not giving americans a secure retirement. it's giving them a retirement that supports the biden administration's environmental agenda.

the biden administration's apparently happy to let your retirement money suffer as long as the investments are advancing its green new deal goals. mr. president, the very idea that the government is encouraging fiduciaries to consider anything but maximizing return on americans' retirement investments is outrageous. i am very pleased to join all of my republican colleagues on senator braun's resolution to overturn this rule. at this also introduced legislation to require regulators, like the securities and exchange commission to estimate the impact their rules would have on gas, food, and energy prices and prevent them from imposing any rule that would drive up these prices when the economy is struggling with high inflation. which gets to the heart of the matter here. , mr. president, and that's the impact the

president's seg rules are going to have on hardworking americans. leaving aside the question of whether or not the government has any business using financial regulation to advance its environmental agenda, the fact of the matter is that choking off investment to the oil and gas industries could seriously impair our oil and gas supply. and that would mean two things -- higher prices for americans and a less reliable supply of energy. and that's a big problems. americans have had a tough two years in the biden economy. the last thing they need is higher energy bills for the long term. and the last thing our country needs is a less reliable energy supply that forces us to rely on foreign energy sources or forces americans to deal with regular

blackouts and other supply problems. mr. president, president biden talks about building an economy that works for working families. unfortunately, so far his policies have pretty much succeeded in doing just the opposite. and if the president continues, if the president continues to pursue his with radical seg , working families once again will be the ones who pay the price. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

from ownership of resources through processing and through the creation of modules and other supports of clean energy components. >> why would you want to make us more dependent? >> to make sure we diversify the supply chains resource many of them and create sound relationships with non-chinese suppliers that it is absolutely a top priority of this administration. >> here's what you've done. you came to office. you took us from being an energy independent nation to being energy dependent nation. you have made us more dependent. now this an administration has gone begging to opec and the

kids all around the world. you've made us less energy secure now you're making us thank you mr. you all for being here, it is a lively discussion. let me start with you. ten years ago it would've been impossible to imagine anyone responding to acute energy shock. primarily by accelerating a move to renewable energy. but i think that is what was seen over the past 12 months it. we have got a map here that shows a small sampling of headlines from across europe over the past year wind, solar,

ev, records being set almost monthly permitting reforms to accelerate the first of kind of projects having clean technologies like floating offshore wind and green hydrogen. what is made of modern renewable and other clean technologies as the best tools for heading off acute energy crisis we are dealing with now? thanks thank you, senator. the first part of my response is geology and geography. we do not have the abundance of energy sources in europe to very significant extent. in other words becoming completely dependent is not possible. we were in need to rely on partners like the united states for secure energy. we also need to become as resilient as possible within that reality. one of the aspects and the independence is renewable energy. solar, wind, geothermal, those the most used ones as well as a

bio fuels and in the european union. it's necessity for our security, for our independence and resiliency. those are two objectives security of supply go hand in hand. it is necessary. the other aspect i want to flag briefly is the fact the technology for new removable energy has the first offshore wind turbines established about three decades ago or essentially turbines put out into the water and see how it works. it worked with the fairly limited production generation. now they are not specifically reduced technology is very significant. there's a quantity energy coming from our renewable resources offshore winds. cooks as you say it is able to

allow geographies that don't have traditional access to their own energy resources to create energy resources were there did not exist before. laster lng experts provided vital light line tour european outline. europe's need for l and g is acute now and will remain so for the near midterm who knows how long with the long looks like a somewhat uncertain. what should the u.s. be doing now to best support europe's energy security while planning for the range of possible futures. join us in the question? the situation is quite different than the european situation is

currently available once the energy supply. renewable energy provides electricity. it is not reliable yet. that provides an issue for economic development. it does create an issue of what kind of power we want. until then we will be relying on fossil fuel as we know and nuclear energy and geothermal or hydro. that should look at all of the above. researchers now are well developed. make sure not only for ourselves but can supply our allies. as we have seen by definition of

the director general of our allies want to build resources. the question is what you put out there what is the length of the short-term or medium-term that they need it for? we do not know that. >> i agree. i'm out of timing. went to thank you for all of your work i do agree having more solutions, more energy resources makes our country and the world more resilience. so keep up the good work. >> sorry. and now have center daines for. >> chair thank you the past year the last 11 months i've traveled to europe several times and visited 10 countries across the constant ukraine, romania, journey, lithuania, moldova, slovakia and hungary. one lesson stood out in every single country i visited, energy

security is national security pigment high level leaders in government and industry they all told me about the importance of reducing dependence on russian energy in the critical role the united states complaint. in lithuania i had a chance to visit the new import terminal. by the way the big ship has the process on top is called the independence for good reason. because they cannot turn away from russia i ask unanimous conse quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, for the second time in four seasons, the kansas city chiefs are the super bowl champions. head coach andy reid, patrick mahomes, and travis kelsey cemented their hall of fame careers with another incredible season and super bowl lvii victory. i want to acknowledge chief owner clark hunt and chiefs president mark donovan for

running an exceptional organization and building the foundation for this remarkable team. chiefs kingdom, ranging from kansas to missouri and sometimes its one of the few things that kansans and missourans agree on, or at least we pretend to agree on or disagree on other things, chiefs kingdom, raising -- ranging from kansas to missouri and all across the midwest, has the best fans in the nfl, and i look forward to the fan base growing even bigger as the chiefs continue their dynasty for many years to come. i congratulate kathy nelson with the kansas city sports commission and kansas city mayor beginsin lucas on a -- beginsen lucas -- quinton lucas on a successful parade with more than 1 million people in attendance. congratulations also to the training and medical staff from the university of kansas health

systems, for getting the chiefs players healthy and ready to win super bowl lvii. kansas city will again be in the spotlight soon as we host the nfl draft this april. i look forward to showcasing what kansas and kansas city has to offer as we continue to grow our region. congratulations to the entire kansas city chiefs organization, and i yield to the -- my colleague and friend, the senior senator from missouri. mr. hawley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. hawley: thanks to senator moran for the opportunity to say a few words. congratulations to the kansas city chiefs and all of chiefs kingdom. i want to add my words of congratulations to the hunt family, to clark and tavia and all of their kids. thank you for your friendship and tremendous leadership. congratulations to the president of the chiefs, mark donovan, to andy reid and particularly i want to add a word of claition to my friend harris -- word of congratulations to my friend

harrison butkur to had the game-winning kick, in the super bowl. had a tremendous season. on a personal note, harrison, well done, man. as you would say, to the heights. claition to all of the team, anf the team, and i look forward to seeing this resolution and memorialization of the victory epted into the "congressional record." with that, i yield back to the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i thank my colleague from missouri. mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 71, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator resolution 71, congratulating the kansas city chiefs on their victory in super bowl lvii. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution

be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without the presiding officer: without

pre would be very happy to have a meeting with your staff to talk about those questions and get a good answer. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you to the panel members who are here today. assistant secretary, both you and director general jorgensen, your testimony discuss the need for the u.s. and european union to work together to secure reliable access to critical

mineral supply chains. and as you know secretary was in northern nevada last week to announce a 2 billion-dollar loan guarantee to help to face red with materials manufacturer recycle critical components of the lithium ion batteries could well know this abettors applicable supply crucial role in expanding clean energy economy. these investments are possible due in part to the creation of the program that was created here's part of the bipartisan infrastructure law. something i absently supported and will continue to and we need to continue to support the processing and refining we have done here through the programs we have passed. nevada, i cannot stress this enough, is really the great nexus for clean energy critical mineral future. it is the only state in the u.s. that encompasses every facet of

the critical mineral and advanced economy for the reminding of the critical mineral deposits to the research and development to processing, manufacturing filing to the recycling operations. this a perfect example of the economy we believe should be investing in. so let me ask you this and start assistant secretary. one is the programs we have been talking about and authorities to address these international supply chains and then how do you envision the cooperation between two of even talking about. >> thanks very much center for the question. i have the secretary very much enjoyed her trip to nevada. as you said just a great object lesson on how we can see the future all of it is done. to refining and it goes on to higher supply chain. using the authority and funds provided by the bipartisan

infrastructure legislation we are doing a number of things fruit we have already issued number of awards and announcements including 74 million and funding and reuse. 50 million for project 30 million for energy storage lab calls. 12 million for lithium construction goes on and on and on for the people working on that part of the building over the greatest jobs to get to be as creative as possible on this to make sure as center points out responded to china which is already a way out in front and very dangerous way. on gas supply. we got to stop that we're deploying everything we can to create the supply chain here on those credits. like this globally, internationally as part of the european commission for platforms -- mixed separate

platforms up from middle security partnership. how can we combine resources on acquisition to advance work through different platforms work on recycling and these other measures to increase diversification of supply and critical technologies. i'm very proud to say one of the achievements of the minister at last create a new voluntary stockpiling program for critical minerals in the international agency. now we're going to look at stockpiling critical minerals as wellin case we get these bottlenecks whether they happen by bottlenecks or intentionally. >> director general tiny thoughts on the collaboration what we should be thinking about here? >> first of all that operation with partners and allies is it essential for our energy security. it particular materials and

energy storage essentially we work together proof got her own program will presenting in just a few weeks the critical raw materials act within the european union as will the net zero act. that is our european part of it and link to that is the international with the critical wrong materials alliance. we are going to continue. also in the context of the energy context a few months from now. >> thank you i know my time is just about up. i will submit the rest of my questions for the record, thank you again for the panel members that are here today. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, senator murkowski. thank you, mr. chairman. i wanted to come and talk a little bit about significant and serious problem the u.s. is facing and i'm going to ask

about it a little bit. first about let me set the stage for this. the world collectively relies on russia for the fuel supply chain one third of conversion and half of the enrichment capacity coming out of russia. this is for electric facilities u.s. receives about 20% of its enriched uranium from russia which is not currently sanctioned. we have almost no domestic processing with no conversion only one active enrichment facility. we cannot currently produce the enriched uranium to supply the current nuclear fleet that we have and the research and obviously for national defense needs. idaho most of you know it's the birthplace flagship lab for nuclear energy. indeed in the world and in the universe. we generate the first electricity for nuclear energy.

since then we found the cutting-edge of that. right now all of us are familiar with the fact what russia has done. this illegal war that it is pursuing against ukraine. it's absolute lack of judgments of conducting its affairs in the world is really remaking the face of europe when it comes to supply chains and a lot of matters. when this war is over it won't be over. we along with content other countries to push back against russia we kind of went to sleep as we went along over the decades. when the iron curtain came down russia was going to more or less behave itself and join the international players, may be poison if you people once in a while that's what they do and they elections as what they do. but other countries do that to

we start doing business with them. as it did europe and it got entitled even more than we did. nobody believed there start the war in the 21st century. but that is where we are. our relationship with russia is not going to repair for a long, long time. it is not going to be a reconciliation commission we all get together. with these with the russians have done in ukraine is a barbaric it is unforgivable. it's going to be decades and decades and you want is in the right mind to do business with a rush again. that brings me to the problem that we have. now the ranking member and chairman and i have produced legislation we are going to get

in. and try to resolve this problem to a degree. this is a serious problem. for your question since you are in charge of international affairs at the department of energy what would you do tomorrow if you got to the office and someone handed you a pink slip and said the russians called they are done. they're not giving us anymore supply. what plan do you have to respond to that situation? >> can i say sir the way you articulate where we are at the russia and the problems going forward i could not agree more. 1000% you are right it is astonishing what has happened. >> it changes the world. [inaudible] having lived through a cold war can't believe you're here again. i won't take up your time with that. if we have that pink slips there

i hope we have your legislation in hand to already start the process wesley have to make strategic to it shut off we've got to be there. already in the legislation we can respond about. also have to look at technology of the future of these the reactors which are so encouraging and so fantastic. >> those of the future. >> those are the future. again we do not find ourselves in a position where the united states stopped producing its own. making a move towards nuclear fuel independence. >> thank you and i'm sure you

will agree with me as the ranking member on sherman and i believe this is not a partisan issue. this is an american issue. this is an issue that is of critical importance. more important than that the issue does not lend itself well to the pace of a move around here. thank you for your thoughts in that regard i hope you will join us during our best to get the legislation passed byrd park thank you, senator, senator kelly. >> thank you, mr. chairman. there's some u.s. oil companies that are still operating in russia despite pledges to wind down their operations. national oil which is a u.s. company based in houston has oilfield services in russia so after announcing in the press release a year ago it was actively examining our

alternatives including potential to further curtail activity. in march of last year, 2022 announced it another quote immediately suspend new investments in technology, supplement to russian operations. but just seven months later they're still in russia caught distributing military drafted notices to 9000 of its russian employees to supply forces to putin's mass mobilization effort. so for some of these companies but sounds just business as usual in russia. in may i wrote a letter to secretary granholm to secretary gallen asking them to evaluate companies that are still

operating in russia. so could the department please take a closer look into this? and provide me withti a report a nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, daniel j. calabretta, of california, to be united states district judge for the eastern district of california. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. a senator: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 15,the nays are 45. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the

motion to reinquire is considered -- to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the question is on the martinez-lopez nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. there is a sufficient second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. the presiding officer: the yeas are 61, the nays 34. the nomination is confirmed. the presidingunder the previouse motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no.

the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 16. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. those, nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, gentleman march k. walker, of virginia, to be united states district judge for virginia. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 16, jamark. walker, of virginia, to be united states district judge for the district of virginia. the presidingmr. schumer: i asks consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 17. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, nay. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the presiding officer: jamal m. whitehead, to be united states district judge for the washington much. the presiding. the presiding. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on? the nomination of executive calendar number 17, jamal n. whitehead, of washington, to be united states district judge for the western district of washington. mr. schumer: i ask that the

reading of the names be waived. the presiding mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: all in favor say aye. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 14. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, nay. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, a r a -- mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 14, oalg oalg to be united states district judge for the district of california.

mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed, nay. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to consider calendar number 13. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, margaret r. guzman, to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 13, margaret r. guzman, of massachusetts, to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts, signed by 18 senators as follows. the presiding officer: i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, february 16, be waived are. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the roll. quorum call: quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, on the first floor of the federal building in amarillo, across the street from a grassy park and a few blocks away from the local minor league baseball stadium is the united states district courtroom for the northern district of texas. presiding over that courtroom is a lifelong right-wing activist, a partisan, an ideologue, an antiabortion zealot who was handpicked by donald trump and the federalist society to pretend to be impartial on the bench and instead what he's doing is delivering favorable

rulings on the cases his fellow right-wing ideologues funnel his way. his name is judge matthew cass kazmirak confirmed on a party line vote. he is going to issue a ruling on a case so absurd and so meritless that it doesn't deserve a single breath of argument in his courtroom. the case is the so-called alliance for hippocratic medicine v. u.s. food and drug administration. if we allow it, his ruling could deal the next devastating blow to the right to privacy in america and the right of all women across the country to control their own bodies. mr. president, not just in texas texas, all 50 states, every

single one. today i'm going to describe this dangerous new political scheme playing out in the courtroom. mr. president, i call this scheme court washing and i'm going to talk about what the president and food and drug administration should do when the ruling comes down. the lawsuit in texas aims to undo the food and drug administration's 2000 approval of a medication called mifepristone, one of the two drugs that's used in a medication abortion. the drug has a record of being very safe and effective. it's used in more than 50% of abortions nationwide. it's been on the market and used for this important treatment for three decades. anyone who calls its safety into question is just ignoring the factual record.

i've got a long history of working on policy relating to mifepristone. i was one of the first elected officials to advocate for its use in our country. in 1990 i chaired the first ever congressional hearing on mifepristone before the house small business committee. but then, like today, right-wing extremists pulled out all the stops to keep the drug from being approved. they campaigned on the politics of fear, threatened lives, and just lied about the drug's safety. they even once deployed a small bomb at a conference where the chemists behind the medicine was scheduled to speak. their efforts worked at first. the food and drug administration imposed an import alert on the drug that hindered research on its uses outside abortion. i fought that import alert and

introduced the bill that removed the restriction. the food and drug administration finally approved the drug in 2000. my advocacy around this issue and the drug has never been based on some political agenda but just science and fact. so let's look at the fakes. not the -- facts. not the fiction you hear from the plaintiffs in the case. it's the facts that this medication is key to ensuring fundamental rights, including the right to privacy and the right to make your own reproductive choices. medication abortions allow for women to end a pregnancy at home in a way that's safe. it's a fact that mifepristone has fewer complications than tylenol, a wealth of evidence demonstrates the drug's safety and effectiveness. it's a fact, mr. president, that

republicans on the supreme court have said the issue of abortion should be returned to the states, that the country shouldn't have a one-size-fits-all policy on this issue. so the question to ask is how did it become possible for one single judge in texas to be on the verge of blocking access to a drug that a duly authorized federal agency has said is safe for over 20 years and yet that judge could very soon block access to the drug nationwide. toe answer that, it's appropriate to tell a little history. congress long ago empowered the food and drug administration, made up -- made up of scientists to approve or disapprove the use

of new drugs, not the states and certainly not activist judges. the food and drug administration approved mifepristone 23 years ago. for those looking to challenge that approval, a little late. the statue of limits allows challenges to food and drug procedures for six years. if that wasn't clear enough, congress cemented its approval again in 2007. as part of an amendment of the food and drug act, any drug, any drug previously approved by the agency was deemed to be in compliance with new rules governing the food and drug administration. mifepristone is covered by that amendment made by the legislative branch. there is no reasonable argument to the contrary. nevertheless, the plaintiffs in this case want judge kacsmaryk

to reach back through time, mr. president, bust through the statute of limits and intent and toss out the fda's legal approval. furthermore, the plaintiffs in the case have no standing to bring the suit. to establish standing, a plaintiff has to show actual harm or injury to demonstrate a direct impact by the actions of the defendants. the plaintiffs are extreme antiabortion groups and their doctors. here is the absurd claim they're putting forward. they argue define science and fact, that some unknown future patient may take mifepristone, experience a highly unlikely side effect, and then somehow find their way into one of their exam rooms for treatment. if a standing claim that

ridiculous, and overly broad passes muster, then i think it's time to rip up the legal textbooks in america and start over. that could mean anybody can wander into federal court and seek relief against anybody based on wild dreamed up scenarios, hypothesizing that somehow, some way somebody might be injured in the future. legal logic bedamned. the plaintiffs know that judge kacsmaryk is sure not going to let pesky objects get in the way of their agenda that she share. that's because donald trump and conservative activists planted him to be on that bench in the amarillo courtroom right now. they know he has spent his whole career fighting shoulder to shoulder with them against lgbt equality, abortion,

contraception. he is there, mr. president, for one reason, and i call it court washing and the court washing scheme, the judge has the role of giving the appearance of judicial legitimacy, judicial legitimacy to the outcomes that the right-wing activists know they're going to get as soon as their cases show up on his docket. in the few years that judge kacsmaryk has been on the federal district court, he has learned -- earned the title of the most lawless judge in america. it's tough to earn that kind of infamy in a short time but his rulings have justified it. he has issued constitutionally dubious and extraordinarily contentious opinions. he's defied precedent on protecting lgbtq employees and attacked the right to

contraception by restricting minors' access to it. now he has a case on access to abortion medication that is directly intertwined with the rights of privacy and choice. the plaintiffs who have no legitimate standing have handpicked him to hear this case that has no merit because they know what they're going to get with judge kacsmaryk. they've gone to him for court washing. the plaintiffs want mifepristone outlawed in every single state in america, and with this judge, they found a way to make it happen. because of how judges in this federal district in texas are assigned, the plaintiffs could use a procedural loophole and hot-wire the judicial branch. they could ensure kacsmaryk was the only judge to get the case. no shot of it getting assigned to anybody else.

to make this more frightening, if and when kacsmaryk tosses out fda approval, americans can't count on the appellate courts to step in and do what's right, do what's constitutional. the appeal would land at the activists fifth circuit court of appeals. this is the same court that allowed texas bill sb8, effectively an abortion ban to go into effect before the supreme court ruled on dobbs. from there any appeal would presumably head to the very same republican majority on the supreme court that overturned roe. the roberts court doesn't even wince at revoking constitutional rights and upending decades of precedent on legal grounds that are flimsy. by the way, at this point i want to note it's a fairly recent phenomenon that a single judge even had the authority to issue

a nationwide injunction. until 1976 three-judge courts were required to enjoin federal and state laws. even after that there was -- even after that was no longer required, it was relatively uncommon until about a decade ago to see federal laws and policies blocked in their entirety by the ruling of one district court judge. now it's true that these type of injunctions have been used against both democratic and republican administrations. the difference here is that the appellate courts and particularly the supreme court are aiding these polarization efforts but only for one side. so some numbers. on 41 occasions the trump administration asked the supreme court to put on hold an adverse lower court ruling for the duration of the government's appeal. in 28 of those cases the supreme court granted the trump administration relief.

in comparison, the biden administration has sought emergency relief from the supreme court nine times. the supreme courts granted it on only two occasions and incredibly the court has granted emergency relief against the biden administration four times, something that didn't happen during the lawless days of the trump administration. so would does that mean for the case in texas? well, if and when judge kacsmaryk issues a ruling that he was handpicked to deliver, mr. president, the court washing is on. the fifth circuit which has little respect for precedent will almost certainly uphold his ruling. then the roberts court will almost certainly leave the ruling in place through the long, arduous appellate process. all the while millions of women will suffer grave danger. the harm that will result from this decision can't be

overstated. cut off from care they need, mr. president, women will die. while this wouldn't be the first time a judicial decision has caused irreparable harm, this case is particularly offensive. it will come from a lawless judge, picked by the litigants with no standing to bring a case that should be barred by the statute of limits and has absolutely no merit. so i'm here, mr. president, because to some -- to sum it all up. americans and their leaders must look at circumstances like this and say enough, not we'll see what congress might dorks how the appeals -- might do, how the appeals process is going to play out. whats a he needed now is to just say -- what's needed now is to just say enough. the power of the judiciary begins and ends with the legitimacy in the eyes of the public. it doesn't have the military

backing of the executive branch or congress powers of the purse. a judge's ruling stands because it has been aagreed this abiding by them is necessary to to uphold the rule of law as part of our social contract. but, the judiciary must uphold its end of the social contract, too. it's got to follow the rule of law and earn the confidence of the american people every single day. recently, that confidence has eroded. no secret why. look at the dobbs decision overturning roe. look at what's happening in texas now. parts of the judiciary seem to have morphed into a mob of maga extremists willing to do the willing of every right-wing group or former president that appears before it no matter the cost to life and liberty.

the awful cruelty from the moment this case -- the awful reality from the moment this case landed in front of judge kacsmaryk, it's been a rigged game. so here's what must happen if and when judge kacsmaryk issues his nationwide injunction -- nationwide. all this business that at states have rights -- uh-uh. this has nationwide implications to halt mifepristone. president biden and the food and drug administration must ignore a nationwide injunction from judge kacsmaryk. don't give in to the court-washing. protect the fundamental rights and well-being of all women in america. the food and drug administration ought to go on just as it has to

be the last 23 years since it first approved mifepristone. the food and drug administration needs to keep this medication on the market without interruption, regardless of what this ruling says. doctors and pharmacies should go about their jobs like nothing has changed. american leaders who care about pentagon right to privacy and the lives of women in this country must not let an illegitimate ruling in this case stand. it's just not possible to hide from this fight any longer that the right--- any longer. let the right-wing extremists stand up and explain why they lied -- why they lied, mr. president -- when they said the dobbs case is just going to be about returning abortion law to the states. in the face of a court-washing strategy whose outcome is almost certainly predetermined, you can't possibly say we're just

going to wait around and see what happens with congress and the appeals process. too much is at stake and this case will not be in the hands of public servants who are staying true to their oath of office. women in america need to know that they're not going to be cut off from their privacy rights and the conveyor that they seek, and -- and the care that they seek and they have a legal right to obtain, not for a year, not for a month, not for a day. if that's what the the rule would do, the answer is to ignore it at least until there's a final ruling on the underlying matter by the supreme court. let me close with this, mr. president and colleagues -- i don't say this lightly. i have never said anything quite like this before. i believe in the three branches of government and respect the role of the judicial branch. i've had the honor to represent

oregon in the united states congress for more than 40 years, first in the house and for the last 27 years in the senate. i've raised my hand, taken an oath to uphold the constitution of the united states. i do not intend to dishonor that oath, which is why i'm standing here this afternoon. this judge is not upholding the oath he took. he's not adhering to the constitution. he is stomping all over the privacy rights of millions of women in this country and ignoring the rule of law, and something needs to be done about it. let me close by saying, this wouldn't be the first time a political leader or an elected official has called on others to ignore a court ruling. lincoln did it after the dred scott ruling, which ruled that

black people could never be citizens of the united states. lincoln called the decision an abomination. he pointed to the bias in the decision, that it was based on assumed historical facts which weren't true, that it was one opinion that couldn't be considered precedent. sound kind of familiar, mr. president? lincoln's directive in refons the case was that it's the constitutional duty of elected officials to resist unconstitutional decisions of the courts, even the supreme court, if the rulings will harm the nation and its people. mr. president, these cases are obviously different with very different circumstances is, and nothing -- nothing -- compares with the horrors of slavery. nevertheless, these cases do have something in common. it's a question of the advancement of rights versus the deprivation of rights.

the advancement of individual rights is at the core of our national character and history. this case before judge kacsmaryk rejects that. it is clearly part of an effort to backtrack on a century of progress for american women and deprive them of fundamental rights, the right to privacy, the right right to control their own bodies, and stemming from that, a the right to live and work and participate in american life fully and equally. that will be the outcome if the court-washing strategy succeeds. if judge kazakhstan meric -- kacsmaryk can violate his oath, if the fifth circuit and supreme court bless such a ruling as legitimate, we are going to see

an affront to the constitution. as lincoln told his fellow americans, the supreme court is not the constitution. neither is judge kacsmaryk. the constitution and the rights it affords american women are what this country must defend. i'm here to say, enough and defend it. mr. president, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.

mr. wyden: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote occur immediately. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.

the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: [inaudible] the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of maria araujo kahn of connecticut to be united states circuit judge for the second circuit shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.

vote:

vote: