>> this of be like someone following you every single day as you walk down the street watching what you do, where you go, for how long and with whom you are with. >> from all of us at c-span we would like to express our gratitude to the teachers, parents, and mentors who supported and encouraged their students throughout the competition. congratulationso all of the winners, and be sure to stay tuned,he top 20 when winning entries will air on c-span starting april 1. you can also watch every winning studentcam docent ring anytime online at studentcam.org. >> see spanish unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> are you thinking this is use command center? no. it's way more than that. comcast is partnering with 1002

messages to create wi-fi enabled lift zones so students from low-income fans can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front-row seat to democracy. >> today senate lawmakers will continue working on a bill to repeal existing authorizations for repeal existing authorization for use of military force against iraq, and later confirmation vote for gordon gallagher to be adjusted to court judge for colorado. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order.

the chaplain will open the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, you are our mighty fortress. thank you for your mercies which are fresh eah day. your spirit restores us to newness of life. because of you, we have a new joy, a new song, and a new hope. today, bless our senators. guide their steps and inspire their hearts. may they use their talents to make the nation and world better. lord, be their strength and shield from every danger, as you

fill their hearts with a peace that the world can't give or tae away. we pray in your wonderful 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., march 22, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable angus kin,

a senator from the state of maine, 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, the judiciary. gordon p. gallagher of colorado to be united states district judge for the district of colorado.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: on aumf first. mr. president, two days -- sorry. two decades after the start of the iraq war, the senate this week debates legislation to repeal the authority that commenced the war to begin with. by a large vote, 67-28, the senate yesterday sent a clear message that the time has come to repeal the aumf's of 2002 and 1990. at this point repealing the iraq aumf's in the senate is not a matter of if, but rather of when. i hope, given such strong bipartisan vote yesterday, we can move quickly. there should be no needless delay or dilatory tactics on something the majority of

senators support. we're in the process of negotiating amendments. we want to be reasonable. but this process is going to proceed as quickly as we can. allowing these aumf's to remain on the books is just asking for arrest future administration to abuse them and, god forbid, bumble us into a new conflict in the middle east. war powers belong in the hands of congress, and we should use and exert that authority by bringing these aumf's to a close. it's my hope that both sides can reach an agreement to accelerate this process very soon. in the meantime, once again, thanks, kudos to senators kaine and young, chairman menendez and risch, and ranking member risch, and all of the cosponsors, there are many, of this legislation. now, on trains, after last month's terrible derailment in east palestine, norfolk southern ceo allen shaw has a chance today too prove before the senate commerce committee that

his company is ready to fix the damage they have created. during his testimony, i hope mr. shaw will answer -- will offer some candid answers to a number of very troubling questions. for example, if mr. shaw and rail executives truly care about safety, why did they spend years, years lobbying the republican administration to claw away at regulations intended to keep people safe? what is norfolk southern doing to prevent future accidents like the one in east palestine? and god forbid another one happens, how will norfolk southern ensure communities get the resources they need? i also want to hear mr. shaw explain why his company has engorged itself with stock bye backs when that money could have been spent on safety. listen to this, norfolk southern has more than doubled the amount they spent on stock buybacks in the five years after the trump tax law compared to the five

years before it. in the same period, they cut jobs by thousands and lowered capital investments by billions. how is that justifiable? i understand that ntsb chair homedy is offering testimony as well. i hope we hear from her that the ntsb is ready to conduct a full veation, not just into norfolk southern but into all -- a full investigation, not just into norfolk southern but all freight rail companies as i asked her to do. such an examination could shed light on the number of rail accidents if they occurred in populated areas, which toxic chemicals were released? a full investigation could tell us which of these occurred because of tracks that were degraded or poorly designed. a full investigation from the ntsb can tell us which policies contributed to the 2700 deaths in recent years and if any of these could have been prevented. the senate deserves

explanations, americans and communities like east palestine want answers. i hope today's hearing provides some so we can prevent rail disasters like the one in ohio from happening again. on house republican comments at their retreat on debt ceiling, undermining the full faith and credit of the united states is never a good idea, but in the aftermath of a bank collapse it is supremely reckless. but that's precisely what some house republicans, including the very chairman of the house budget committee are doing right now. during house republicans annual retreat, the committee and other hard right-wingers said, quote, now is the best time to double down on debt seeing brinksmanship, as news of svc's collapse is front of mind. that is reckless and truly clueless. it's both reckless and clueless. instead of calling for calm,

house republicans are sowing chaos by threatening default at a time when banks need stability. again, instead of calling for calm, house republicans are sowing chaos by threatening default at a time when banks need stabilities. it goes to show you how fringed and unserious the house gop has become. our republican colleagues should remember it was poor supervision and a rush under trump to deregulate that cuesed the -- caused the banking crisis. banks that are well managed are not in crisis, even though they're dealing with the same macroeconomic conditions as everyone else. what republicans are saying is not only ridiculous and false, but dangerous. if you're a small business owner, worried about keeping the lights on and paying your employees, what are you supposed to think when republicans threaten default at a time like this with markets on end? if you're near retirement and

spent your life setting aside a little to retire with dignity, how would you feel if republicans threatened your life savings by risking default? the right answer is for republicans in the house to stop saber rattling, drop the hostage-taking and brinksmanship and work together, work in a bipartisan way, to extend the debt ceiling without strings attached, without brinksmanship, without hostage-taking. but that will only happen once republicans stop ducking from the american people and show us their plan. republicans, show us your plan. today's march 22. the debt ceiling date is getting closer and closer. speaker mccarthy, is been long enough. where's your plan? your congress says it wants cuts. they've threatened default unless they get their cuts. so where's the plan? instead of making radical comments that threaten even more financial turmoil, republicans should focus more on solving the debt crisis by working with democrats to ensure default

never occurs. finally, mr. president, yesterday we learned the sad news of the passing of one of the greatest new york knick legends of all times, the captain, willis read reed. you -- willis reed. you can't write the story without willis reed. he was a giant on and off the court, ferocious commit tors and leader of leaders. in game seven of the 1970 finals, willis reed authored one ever the most memorable moments in sports history, by hobbling out of the tunnel, walking onto the court minutes before the tipoff. that night, he gave a legendary performance against the lakers, while leading his team to one of two knick titles. we hope maybe it will happen again soon. willis reed embodied what it meant to be a knick, a new yorker, a champion, and a legend. our thoughts are with his

family, friends, and teammates. may he rest in peace. and a little bit of good news, today we, the 118th congress, will confirm president biden's 118th judge, the 118th congress will confirm president biden's 118th judge. as you know, we have confirmed more judges at this point in a president's term than any of the previous three administrations. we are proud of how far we have come, and we're just getting started. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

>> we have been taking a closer look at china and is going military, economic and you political influence in the world. closing out this week today we're going to talk about rights record with the senior researcher for human rights watch. thank you very much for being here. how would you describe the current situation come human rights situation in china?

>> guest: i was a very bad and getting worse and worse. it has been getting worse and worse since president xi came to power in late 2012. >> host: why? where is it happening? who is it happening to? >> guest: i think it's happening to everyone in china, and nudges people in in china but also people outside of china since president xi came to power in late 2012 he tightened the grip of over chinese society come over all aspects. it's the internet, there's more censorship on the internet. it's the jailing of journalists come human rights lawyers, activists. it's the deployment and advancement mass surveillance. it's the control of the press. that the kind of operation on chinese which is a majority ethnic group in china. let's not forget to mention the

tibetan region and the uyghur region. i think the weaker region you see the one gets most attention because the most egregious violations in the uyghur region. there's 13 million people, 13 million people live in xinjiang. the government has carried human rights called crisis to get you menard in the region, a million people are estimated to be in prison in those camps and the people are subject to massive surveillance. so just lets not to also forget to mention hong kong. the government has imposed a draconian national security on the city and there is been all kinds of control over the population. >> host: you mentioned the uyghur population. last year the united nations

human rights report said china was responsible for serious human rights violations in this region, that you were just talking about. explain what the pipe fiven is, who these people are and why the focus on them. why is china's leadership focusing on them? >> guest: the uyghur people are mostly minority and they mostly live in xinjiang. it's very big area in northwest china. there is probably 13 million people there. why is the government cracking down on them? it's because they are not chinese. they speak a different kind of language. they practice it print culture. they have a different religion. chinese government doesn't like that and chinese government wants the ethnic groups are targeted. the uyghurs have traditionally been a group that enjoys some

autonomy, practice or a religion, speak their own language in the government doesn't like it. so in order to change that it is instituted that kind of massive control, massive human rights violations in order to transfer the population into more look like me. >> you said this gets the most attention but is a getting enough attention? >> guest: i'm glad it's increased attention but don't think it's enough attention just because the scale of the violation, the degree of violation. but the world is paying more attention, and also doing more to try to address this issue. so in the way i'm happy to see this change. >> host: you said the scale of the abuses, according to the

ohchr, the crime, the abuses include crimes against humanity, anti-extremism, arbitrary detention, forced labor, forced medication medication, and sexual abuse. has the chinese government met outside observers in to the area? >> guest: no, not at all. not in any genuine way. journalists from big outlets, from international media are not allowed. you know, if, you know, you can go there, and the government follows you, right? so when you try to interview a person on the street, then there will be the government agents try to stop you. it's very, very hard to do any kind of investigation by journalists or by scholars. so there's no genuine access to the region at all. >> host: we are talking about china and human rights abuses this money. part of our weeklong series,

looking at china and its increasing military, economic and geopolitical influence in the world. we want to take your question, your comments on the human rights part of this conversation this morning. .. joining us on facebook.com/c-span and you can send it, c-span wj. during the first house select committee on china hearing, chinese humans rights advocate tom yi talked about her experience in a labor camp after being convicted of disturbing social order for her ties to democracy activist. take a look.

>> 1993 began assisting and interpreting, leading dissidents who have been released as part of the ccb bid for the 2000 summer olympic games. urging of the us to condition on human rights performance. i interpreted for his meetings with isn't -- senator john kerry, congress and chris smith and assistant secretary of state, our meeting alarmed and redeemed and we will arrest soon afterward. in the detention sector in beijing in the wee hours of many mornings, police interrogated me about what was said to the dignitaries. they were afraid the us might listen. you can imagine my disappointment when i heard on a

loudspeaker in my detention cell that president clinton decided to d-link the issue of human rights and trade. i was handed a 21/2 year sentence, disturbing social order and sent to a forced labor camp. in the labor camp the food was poor, we worked 12 hours a day. technically illegal under chinese law. i protested and for that, authorities organized others to beat me up. the beatings were terrible for two nights and tapered off. eventually, i was able with the help of a fellow inmate, a note about my condition, a human rights organization in new york. other media picked it up.

mr. shattuck asked for me on his next trip to beijing and my treatment in the camp improved dramatically. >> she is a senior china researcher for human rights watch, listening to that, how common is it? >> very common, if you speak to the chinese government, you are detained, you can be imprisoned and when you are in prison your often tortured. you can see if the inmates have the western part of the story, western politicians press for change, at least the change can happen in the prison, she was tortured when a politician went to china and her condition changed.

the message is i wish the us government, governments around the world speak up for the political activists in china. >> it was almost by luck that she got her story out, sneaking a note out. how many are able to do that and get their story told? >> especially now. in the west, when you commit a crime, you have the lawyer you choose and can speak on behalf of -- nanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, before i begin my remarks, just a quick observation, i know the majority leader comes down on a fairly regular basis an attacks republicans, particularly house republicans, for not producing a budget, and, you know, obviously house republicans, that's their prerogative over there and it's, you know, there's going to be a

budget. it's probably going to be -- it's going to be a budget that's put together by the house majority. but i think it kind of misses the broader point, and that is at least here in the senate, which is our domain, our realm of responsibility, it is up to the majority to put a budget on the floor. they control the floor. it they have the ball here and if they want to put together a budget, they could. one place to start obviously is the president's budget. the president submitted a budget which by any estimation is a massive expansion of -- of the federal government with lots of new spending, 5 interested in new -- $5 trillion in new taxes most on job creators and small businesses, at the end of the budget, he would add $17 trillion to the debt. budget windows typically cover a

window of ten years. the president's budget as put forward at the end of the ten-year period would add $17 trillion to the federal debt and also dramatically increase spending. spending pre-pandemic was about $4 trillion a year all -- all in federal spending. and, of course, during the pandemic that increased in a bipartisan way. there were some decisions made to support and increase spending in some areas that were designed to combat and deal with a lot of adverse impacts of the pandemic. now the pandemic's behind us, a lot of that spending should have been temporary. a lot of that spending shouldn't have been incorporated in the baseline. what the democrats have done is incorporated that into the baseline so this year the amount of spending in the president's budget of about $6.9 trillion is about 55% more than the baseline spending back in 2019 pre-pandemic. at a time when the population of

the country has increased by only 1.8%. you could argue,cy suppose if you had a massive increase in population, a lot more people in the country, that federal spending would increase it. but increasing federal spending 55% at a time when you have 1.8% population growth in the country seems like a lot of excessive spending spent on expanding and growing the size of the footprint of the federal government. interestingly enough, at the end of that ten-year period -- at the end of the ten-year period, the budget window covers ten years -- spending under the president's budget would be $9.9 trillion -- $9.9 trillion. 2019, $4.4 trillion, at the end of the ten-year window covered by the president's budget, $9.9 trillion. more than double, way more than

double the amount of spending that we had prior to the pandemic in 2019 and where some of the additional spending that was added at the time was and should have been temporary. so, mr. president, that's the -- that's the kind of -- kind of the con tiewrs of the president -- contours of the president's budget, that's his plan. and senate democrats, obviously, could put that on the floor or they could come up with a different budget. but the point very simply is, they're the majority. that's their responsibility. if they want to put a budget out, if they want to put a budget out, put a budget on the floor. we would be happy to vote on it and we would have amendments to it and they would be amendments on our side less spending, less government, and not the massive tax increases contemplated by the president's budget. just a point i wanted to clarify, as we have this

conversation around the burnlgt of -- budget, of whose responsibility it is to advance the budget in the united states senate. so far the majority has not to undertake that task and perhaps more importantly, i don't think probably wants to vote on the president's budget, which, as i said, adds $17 trillion to the debt, which makes the debt at the end of that ten-year period, the ten-year window, by the way, $50 trillion. $50 trillion. that's what the president's budgeted would have us at total debt, cumulative debt at the end of the ten-year period, but it adds $17 trillion during that ten-year window and increases spending from $4.4 trillion pre-pandemic, 2019, to $9.9 trillion, plan. pretty stunning, really. but that isn't what i came here to talk about today. mr. president, i wanted to discuss, because there's been a lot of talk about tiktok in the

halls of congress lately and i think with good reason. tiktok poses national security concerns many tiktok and its parent company have ties to the chinese communist party. after a chinese spy balloon floated over our country a few months ago, it is obvious that the chinese communist party is hostile to the interest of the united states and spies on american citizens. and i can think of few better or easier ways to spy on american citizens or manipulate american public opinion than to make use after popular app that is used by over 100 million americans. in the united states, of course, we have the fourth attempted to the constitution to protect the data americans provide to apps from being seized by the government. but the chinese communist party has no such restraints. chinese law requires social media and technology companies to provide information, including individually

identifiable personal information to the chinese government when asked. so there's no legal framework in china to effectively protect tiktok users or users of any china-based app from having the information turned over to the chinese communist party. there are signs that tiktok information is not secured. bike dance had -- from particular tiktok users in the united states despite tiktok's claims to the contrary. in december of 2022, it was found that bike dance employees used the app to locate journalists who worked on stories highlighting the national security risk it this has implications for the americans' national security and provides yim. it raises questions about how the chinese communist party could use tiktok for their

personal ends, if they could use if for espionage or for the communist party's agenda. tiktok is not the first time technology from a who's style nation has posed a security concern. before tiktok, we had to engage in a protracted effort to remove technology from chinese companies huawei from telecommunications networks after finding that u.a.w.way and zte's equipment was built with back doors giving the chinese communist party -- it comes with substantial new threats, not the least of which is a who's style foreign government exploiting the technology for nefarious purposes. we are talking about hardware produced by companies from who's style nations and affiliated

with who's style governments. the communication technology space, many of them subject to the control of hostile governments have gained market share. current law provides remedies for confronting the danger these companies present. the committee on foreign investment can block attempted investments from these companies go they are posing a national security threat. but the thoirts the federal government currently has were fashioned in pla predigital age and not designed for the specific threats posed by digital technology performed by other nations. the federal government is limited of what it can do in situations like the one we face with tiktok. what is needed is a comprehensive framework for responding to national security risks posed by foreign

adversary-owned digital technology, whether it is tiktok or some other app or internet hardware. the reality is the mere presence of a technology from a foreign adversary in the united states, does not trigger a cfius review. it does not require or merge with a company, cfius review does not apply. so, for example, we chat, the other app president trump sought to ban, is not subject to cfius review. legislation is necessary to fill this important gap in authority. that's why earlier this month, democrat senator mark warner, chairman of the senate intelligence committee, and i introduced the restricting the emergence of security threats that risk information and technology act, or the acronym, the restrict act, which has the

support of 18 senators from both parties. our legislation creates a comprehensive process based at the department of commerce for identifying and mitigating foreign threats to information and communications technology products and services. i want to emphasize that the authorities of the restrict act only apply to six foreign adversary countries -- china, russia, north korea, iran, venezuela, and cuba. under our bill, the department of commerce would review any information and communications technology product from these countries that is deemed to present a possible security threat with an emphasis on products used in critical telecommunications infrastructure or with serious national security implications. the secretary of commerce would be required to develop a range of measures to mitigate the danger posed by these products, up to and including a total ban on the product in question.

the bill would also ensure transparency by requiring the commerce secretary to coordinate with the director of national intelligence to provide declassified information on why any measures taken against foreign adversary owned technology products were necessary in the first place. importantly, the restrict act also requires the secretary of commerce to act within 180 days after initiating a review. a common complaint about the ongoing cfius review of tiktok is it has been open-ended and taken years to complete. by comparison, the restrict act requires quick action to take the necessary steps to mitigate an undue risk from technology of a foreign adversary nation. mr. president, there is bipartisan acknowledgment that tiktok poses a national security threat, and the restrict act

provides a framework for confronting both current and future risks. i'm grateful to both republican and democrat colleagues for joining senator warner and me to introduce this bill. it's time to update our laws to ensure that we are able to confront the national security threats posed by foreign adversary technology. i look forward to working with colleagues from both parties, in both chambers, to advance the restrict act and get it to the president's desk. 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:

mrs. capito: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to talk about -- the presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mrs. capito: mr. president, i ask that we vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. capito: thank you. mr. president, i rise to talk about a constant issue in front of the american people, and that is -- and that has haunted and

will haunt this president during his tenure in the white house. it's a subject my republican colleagues and i have highlighted in in chamber. we did several weeks ago. this is the continued lack and disregard for border security in our country. last week, the white house press secretary said that when it comes to the biden administration and border security, quote, we're going to secure the border and do the work. well, i wonder what it was that has caused this newfound urgency at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. why has it taken 785 days for the press secretary to acknowledge the problem? maybe it's the record 2.7 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022 or could it be the more than 4.9 million illegal border crossings since president biden took office? or how about for the first time

in history monthly apprehensions at the southern border surpassed 150,000 for 24 consecutive months? or that in a season when illegal borders crossings are typically lower, customs and border protection encounters rose 2% last month, with heroin seizures increasing 99% and fentanyl seizures increasing 58%. whatever the reason, whatever the reason, i sure would like to welcome the white house to the same page that we as republicans have been on since day one of this administration. while my colleagues and i have been sounding constant alarms about the porousness of our border, the biden administration has, number one, stopped making needed updates to our physical border system, leaving gates inoperational and open. they have halted deportations and have been inconsistent in

implementing effective policies that kept illegal border crossings under that 150,000 level for four consecutive years prior. there's no denying that this crisis is a self-manufactured crisis. maybe most encompassing of their priorities, regarding the security of our country, is that the department of departd security is one of the few agencies, and they're the ones tasked with this difficult issue, is one of the few agencies facing an overall budget cut in the president's latest budget proposal. remember, a budget is your priorities, it's where you want to do your work. in an age where it seems that the president and congressional democrats cannot spend enough, they decide to make room for more spending and their radical priorities by putting the agency in charge of defending our homeland on the chopping block first. i don't know about you, but that

doesn't seem like something an administration who is going to security the border should be doing. perhaps even more alarming are the comments made by the dhs secretary regarding their budget allotment. secretary me orkas out-- mayorkas outlines six priorities in the budget summary that he claims the agency can work to accomplish with the help of the budget. toward the top of the list? this is the department of deparf homeland security, towards the top of the list, invest in climate. the second-to-last priority? help secure the border. that's simply unacceptable. especially as migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2023 were already outpacing the reports set in 2022. my colleagues and i hear the biden administration quite cleas not been and never will be a priority for this president or

his department of homeland security. what makes this submission so devastating is that while the administration continues to balk and serious attempts to secure the southern border, countless americans are dying at the hands of the illicit drugs that make their way into our communities through that same southern border. last year -- last month alone, 2280 pounds of fentanyl, which we know is lethal and extremely -- in extremely small doses and 10,333 pounds of methamphetamine were seized at the southern border. that amount of fentanyl is the equivalent to 517 million lethal doses. with our border patrol stretched unfathomably thin, with very little support from the administration, there's no telling how many, the amount of

drugs that are getting through undetected. i was just talking about the ones that we got. last month i spoke in this chamber regarding a recent drug bust in my home state of west virginia. as investigators from the u.s. attorney's office in the northern district of west virginia, they recovered cocaine, meth, and fentanyl, they discovered that these deadly substances had been shipped directly through the u.s.-mexican border to ohio via a tractor-trailer. the connection between the southern border crisis and our addiction epidemic back home could not be any clearer. i said it before, i'll say it again -- every state, my state, is a border state. while president biden and his administration continue to put confusing and often confusing words before action, if they even take action, my colleagues and i continue to make it a con -- a concerted effort to get

to the bottom of the this chaos. this past weekend i joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers to travel to mexico sit cly, where -- mexico city, where we met in quite lengthy meetings with mexico's president lopez obrador. we health meetings on the united states security posture with regard to mexico, the chaos at our border, devastating impacts of fentanyl in our communities, and the violence and trafficking perpetrated by the mexican cartels. all these issues are top concerns to us in this country. it is clear that mexico needs to continue to address corruption of their ports of entry and the president emphasized this. they need to focus on the fentanyl precursors coming from china that are coming into our country. very excited and happy that we secured a commitment from president lopez obrador that

their administration will confront china regarding fentanyl precursors being shipped into their country this is a major step in cutting fentanyl trafficking in the u.s. at its source, and is needed to alleviate the chaos and corruption currently happening at the border between our two countries. there is no way to deny that both the united states and mexico, that border, has stressed our countries beyond belief. i think we serve as partners with mexico. we need to be partners and good partners with mexico to solve this problem. we are facing historic levels of illegal immigration. we must continue to meet these challenges with urgency and a willingness to work together, and we certainly got that message conveyed to the mexican president and a reciprocal message from him and his administration. as my republican colleagues and i will continue to make clear today, republicans stand for

solutions and not just spending. we stand for action, and we also stand for border security. i encourage president biden to join us in this effort and work towards bipartisan border solutions that are effective, that support our border patrol officers, and that also in the end will save countless lives. with that, i yield the floor. thank you.

mrs. capito: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the vote on the previous issue begin immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the nomination. mrs. capito: i'd like to have the yeas and nays. if the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: vote:

vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 53, the nays are 43. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the under the previous order, the

>> senate lawmakers are working on a bill to repeal existing authorizations for the use of military force against iraq. earlier a confirmation vote was held for gordon gallagher to be a u.s. district court judge for colorado. currently the senate is in recess until 2:15 p.m. eastern today for their weekly party lunches. when they come back we will have live coverage right here on c-span2. >> c-span c-span3 unfilterf government. we are funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. >> at media, , we believe whethr you live here or right here, are wet in the middle of anywhere, you should have access to fast reliable internet. that's why we're leading the way to take you to 10g. >> mediacom supports c-span is a publ