getting you a front row seat to democracy. >> watch video on demand anytime online at c-span.org and try our points of interest feature, a timeline tool that uses markers for interesting highlights of our key coverage. use points of interest anytime online at c-span.org. >> and the u.s. senate gavelling in to work on more of president biden's executive and judicial nominations. today senators are expected to continue work on the nomination of david crane to be undersecretary of energy for infrastructure. members will also consider the nomination of dale ho to be a u.s. district judge for new york. and later senate is expected to go to party lunches. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer.

the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, we acknowledge you have been our help in ages past. you are our hope for the years to come. you are our shelter in the time of storms. thank you for seasons of sowing and reaping, for color and fragrance. thank you for the time of harvest when our labors and dreams are rewarded. today, bless our lawmakers. illumine their lives to keep them on the right paths. may the creative power of your

word produce in them a stronger faith and brighter hope. keep them from stumbling. fill them with courage, as you show them your unfailing love. we pray in your precious name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. 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 clerk will read a

communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., june 7, 2023, to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. 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 energy, david crane, of new jersey, to be under secretary.

test.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: this morning, our nation's capital and much of the northeast, including much of the whole of my state new york, woke up once again under a veil of smog. as we speak wildfires continue to blaze in canada sending toxic air over the border and in mexican cities. new york city, which usually has good air quality has some of the lowest air quality in the world thanks to these wildfires. and the problem he is even worse in upstate new york. i urge every single canadian and american impacted by the smog to take precautions to stay safe. follow public safety guidelines

in their communities. these canadian wildfires are truly unprecedented and we cannot ignore that climate change continues to make these disasters worse. warmer temperatures and severe droughts mean forests burn faster, burn hotter, and burn bigger, and the warming is happening at a faster pace in countries with higher latitudes. none of this -- none of this is coincidence. this smoke and fog over new york and the rest of the northeast is a warning from nature that we have a lot of work to do to reverse the destruction of climate change. every time we see a wildfire in canada or in the west or a hurricane in the southeast or a blizzard in texas, it's a reminder that time is short to reverse the impacts of a warming planet. and democrats are proud of the progress we've made it to

accelerate america's transition to clean energy through the inflation reduction act, but both parties -- both parties have an obligation to do more. the work to protect our climate is far from over and we're dangerously behind. again, i'm proud of the historic work democrats did last year to move us in the right direction. but i implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to look up at the smog today and recognize we must -- we must do more. at the top of the list is a good transmission bill which will greatly enhance our nation's ability to bring clean energy, like wind and solar, to large population centers and reduce the carbon that is thrown into the atmosphere. now on trains and safety on the tracks. after the tragic derailment in east palestine in february and several other derailments in recent months, i called on the

fra to launch an investigation into the safety practices of all class one freight railroads. the fra has just announced that they will heed my call and do a thorough investigation of safety practices within of class one freight railroads. they will investigate the culture of misconduct within the class one rail companies an issue a report on their findings just as they did for norfolk southern. i thank them for their attention on this very critical issue. these assessments by the fra will be a good first step to identifying the problems in individual rail companies as well as the problems permeating across the industry. in the last five years alone there have been over 26,500 accidents and injures and over

2,750 fatalities. that's close to ten a day. but instead of prioritizing -- no, it's not close to ten day because it's over the last five years, but it's a lot. but instead of prioritizing safety, the rail industry has cut over 30,000 employees from the workforce. roughly 20%. instead of prioritizing safety, the rail industry has prioritized stock buybacks to wealthy stock shareholders and lobbied for loosened regulations. billions of dollars in stock buybacks instead of money going to safety, instead of money going to higher than necessary employees to keep the rail safe. so it's clear there's an alarming trend of the rail industry putting profits over people which reinforces the need for a full audit of industry

practice. so i hope that the rail companies will take heed of the fra's assessment and make changes needed to protect our communities. in the time to time, i want to -- in the meantime, i want to thank my colleagues senators brown and vance and casey and fetterman for the railway safety act. this was reported out of committee last month and i look forward to working with colleagues on both sides to move it forward. now on nominations, later the senate will proceed to confirm david crane to be the under secretary for infrastructure at the department of energy, a crucial post for implementing the historic clean energy investments secured through the infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act. the under secretary of infrastructure is a new role at the department of energy, created by the biden administration with a very important mission. ensure our infrastructure. make sure the dollars translate

to lower energy costs, new energy, new clean energy manufacturing jobs, and a more resilient energy grid. once confirmed, mr. crane will be especially important for overseeing programs that help americans lower their energy bills. to take just one example, he'll lead the implementation of a $9 billion consumer rebate program to help americans better afford energy efficient appliances for their homes. mr. crane will also manage the investments we've made to update america's electric grid which after recent blackouts like the ones in texas is absolutely crucial. mr. crane is more than up to the job. he has a wealth of knowledge from the private sector as a former ceo of a leading energy company and is one of america's leading voices in the fight for clean energy. he received strong bipartisan support in committee, and i expect that to continue here on the floor.

i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

i very good wednesday morning. you can start calling in now. the story is a a lead story oe front page of today's "wall street journal." here's how they began their coverage. golf the saudi backed up start this into industry into chaos when it teed off last year has agreed to a stunning merger that in the divide the dominate the sport for the past year. the deal was saudi money and pga tour name and connections after months of litigation and accusation consolidates the biggest assets and professional golf at a time when the justice department is investigating golf bodies including the tour for

antitrust violations. it effectively makes the saudis investors in u.s. golf legacy powerhouse. that from the "wall street journal." immediate reaction from capitol hill yesterday including from the chairman of the senate finance committee ron wyden putting out this tweet yesterday afternoon, hypocrisy doesn't begin to describe this brazen shameless cash grab. i'm going to dive into the piece of saudi arabia's deal with the pga. u.s. officials need to consider whether a deal will give the saudi regime inappropriate control access to u.s. real estate. other members of the senate weighing in as well. we will get to some of that reaction to want to show you part of the interview from p. j. commissioner monahan yesterday was on cnbc along with the head of saudi arabia's public investment fund who is a key part of this merger talking about the public response. >> what are your expectations

for when the public learns about this, the players, the fans? do you think they're going to respond positively? you are describing a scenario under which they could have the majority of the economics, correct me if i'm wrong, of this entity, essentially the saudis say they control golf around the world. i'm curious as to what you think the response will be? >> listen, a lot of people have been reading about the tension. we have talked a lot and i said previously that we were going down our path, they were going down theirs. and today that tension goes away. the litigation is dropped. we are announcing to the world that on behalf of this game we are coming together. it's less about how people respond today and it's all about how people respond in ten years. when they see the impact we are having on this game together, there would be a lot of smiles

on people's faces and will be a lot more people playing this game all over the world. if you're a young player the wants to get to the highest level of the game today you will be more inspired than you've ever been before. >> host: pga tour commissioner yesterday on cnbc. getting to reaction this morning and showing you some of the reaction from up here on capitol hill from around the country. here's reaction from the left and right when it comes to news websites from the right from breitbart. is a headline. what about the morality? p. pga tour gaze and merges wih saudi the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: for someone who campaigned as a moderate and promised the country, president biden has chose ton staff his administration with a roster of -- a roster of alarmingly

radical or unqualified personnel personnel. in recent weeks, the president's nominees who have made the biggest headlines have been the ones so far outside the mainstream that even a democratic senate majority would not confirm them. like the appeals court nominee who defended a school against a teenage victim of sexual assault or the traffic safety nominee whose real passion turned out to be extreme environmental regulations. well, this week the senate is considering yet another slate of radical nominations that are entirely unworthy of

confirmation. first, the nomination of david crane, a self-described, quote, climate activist, end quote. president biden would like him to serve as under secretary for infrastructure at the department of energy. mr. crane's nomination is bad news for kentucky, for coal country, and for any american who enjoys making their own choices about which cars to drive, which products to consume, and how to earn a living. this nominee has been outspoken about his so-called, quote, green dream, end quote, to force a massive chunk of the world's economy to go carbon free in eight years, eight years, and

then use their influence to, quote, compel society, end quote, to follow suit. he even observed that democratic presidential nominees hadn't made extreme climate policy enough of a priority in their campaigns. in other words, hillary clinton who once bragged that, quote, we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, was not radical enough, not radical enough for david crane. so we're talking about an unabashed top-down social planner. as we've learned over the past two years, that's exactly what the biden administration ordered when it handed the keys to the american energy policy to the radical left. unfortunately, mr. crane is not the only nominee on this week's

agenda with a reputation for wearing his radical liberal -- on his sleeve. the senate will also vote on the nomination of dale ho to serve on the southern bench for the southern district of new york. mr. ho has described himself -- listen to this -- as, quote, a wild eyed leftist, end quote. let me say that again. president biden would like a self-identified wide eyed leftist to rule on cases in the largest federal court in the country. mr. ho's legal record indicates does this -- that radical sympathy runs very deep. this is a nominee who has publicly admitted, quote, originalism is not a method of constitutional interpretation that can reliably lend itself to

progressive outcomes. imagine that. turns out that actually following and applying our laws and our constitution as they were written is not a oneway ticket to left-wing utopia. and by the way, that should be an argument for the radical left sidelining their bad ideas, not an argument for sidelining the constitution. somebody who wants a lifetime appointment as an impartial judge must be committed to putting the rule of law ahead of personal policy views, not the other way around. but mr. ho hasn't limited his public criticism to the basic legal principles that underpin the federal judiciary. during the obama administration, he railed against the fraternal order of police for expressing

their concerns about a particularly anticop justice department nominee. he called it fop's opposition a disgrace. he's also taken to attacking members of the judiciary committee on twitter. and throughout his career, mr. ho has been outspoken, outspoken in denigrating basic mainstream efforts to ensure the integrity of american elections. he likened overwhelmingly popular practices like voter i.d. requirements to be a very thinly veiled call for racial profiling. so, mr. president, let me be absolutely clear. senate republicans who will not participate in rubber stamping

radical nominees. i would urge our colleagues to join me in rejecting each of these unfit nominations this week. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

and you can take the golf courses way or put low income houses, this is marlowe tallahassee, florida, good morning. go ahead. >> caller: good morning. my thoughts are a little different. i felt it's about unity, about everybody coming together as one, not separation and you know we have to move past the race and the past and things that we had before. unity is what in looking for in my life. come together to work together. >> guest: marlowe in florida. a few more comments from social media from facebook.

this is what capitalism is and the highest bidders will always win the trophy. america's no longer the leader when it comes to sports sponsorship. steve on facebook, it signals to the rest of the world it's okay to paper over human rights abuses with sports. it shouldn't be normalized just because dictators or states have deep pockets to pay for it. that's steve on twitter. about 15 minutes left in the segment, getting your comment again on this pga tour saudi backed liv golf merger, a surprise announcement yesterday. getting a reaction and it's gotten some reaction on capitol hill including promises from the chairman of the senate finance committee to scrutinize this deal to look into every aspect of this deal. in today's "washington post" here's more of what he writes in his column. the merger announced on tuesday between pga tour and the upstart liv golf will allow the newlyweds to implement a plan to grow these combined commercial

businesses. combining and growing commercial business he writes requires capital which is a fancy word for money, of which the sprawling saudi royal family has more than it knows what to do with. the family also has a problem with making friends, a problem rooted in its widely oppressive style of routing the oil soaked kingdom. rich people with poor social skills have always found refuge on the links, where golfers can spend hours together without exchanging words were substantial been nice drive and i thought that was going in, too bad. with all the subtlety of rodney dangerfield scared or in caddy shack, the house of saud barged in on the pga tour showering capital in every direction lowering players to earn more while competing less and he did make many friends at the capital wanted, people willing to pretend to be their friends. that's today's "washington post." this is miles house in omaha, nebraska. good morning. >> caller: good morning to

you. your thoughts. go ahead. >> caller: harold varner at the third $4 million playing three rounds of golf, he made $15 million from the saudis. that's the most money he has made in less than a year and half then he made in the pga tour. those guys are upset over things like that. those guys that are on liv golf made a business decision. kavanaugh is a reckless golfer. he made more money on the liv golf tournament than he did in the pga. and so it was a great business decision. their families are happy. most importantly, the caddies are happy. yes, you get to drink beer and have barbecue at that liv golf tournament. they really work hard at that craft, but the thing is it is a stress-free tournament.

those guys are upset about the money that they are making. but at the same time it is a business decision. no matter what the saudis did, they made a business decision to make things better fiscally for themselves. >> host: that's miles in omaha, nebraska. this is brent back in louisiana. what do you think? >> caller: how y'all doing? >> host: doing well. go ahead. >> caller: my question is the politicians like chris christie and several of the others, what have you been doing since they are not a politician to make a living? do they live off everybody's political donations? is at how they live? just curious. >> host: we can get into that. chris christie make his formal presidential announcement yesterday but any thoughts on this merger wave in talking about? >> caller: i'm all for it.

i think it's great. i think it's going to make golf a lot better and it's going to give a lot more people opportunity to play all over the world. >> host: brent thinks it's great and former president donald trump thinks it's great. great news from liv golf, is what he sent out yesterday in his true social account calling it a big beautiful and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf saying congrats to all on this deal. he stated yesterday. jack from ohio. what do you think about this merger? >> caller: yes, i am definitely against it. you got people seem to forget things very quickly. you start sucking up to these people and is going to get worse and worse and worse. why do you think as soon as they think the almighty dollar, people go crazy and lose their common sense. take this, you're going to regret it. believe me. >> host: to rock hill, south

carolina, faces timothy. what do do you think about this deal? >> caller: yes. the pga tour -- [inaudible] , timothy in south carolina. comments yesterday we shared some from capitol hill and plenty of statements yesterday from other groups as well including this from the families of victims of 9/11. 9/11 families united is the name of the group putting up a statement our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by commissioner monahan and the pga as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely windowdressing in their quest for money. that's one of the statements put at yesterday. about ten minutes left in ine segment getting your reaction to this merger between pga tour and saudi backed liv golf as it's called. for those who support the merger it is 202-748-8000. for those who oppose the merger,

202-748-8001. also looking for your text as well, 202-748-8003. one of our callers brought up chris christie making his official presidential campaign announcement yesterday, was in new hampshire in a town hall style format. here's some of what chris christie had to say. >> it was a mistake in 2016 not to confront donald trump early. because i knew that so much of what he said was complete baloney. like i knew it. i'm going to build the greatest most wonderful wall across the entire mexico border in mexico will pay for it. well, like, i knew as someone who had governed that that was complete bull. i was like, people are not going to believe that. they're not going to believe that. mistake. but guess what? you got no excuse now. he was there for four years, to

of them with a republican congress, he got a quarter of a wall built in mexico hasn't given us our first peso. we pay for all of it and only for a quarter of it. when you watch illegal immigration poring over our southern border, don't wonder whose fault it is. it's his. it's his fault because he never change one immigration law in the two years that the republican control of congress, not one immigration law did he change. he didn't build the wall like he told us and mexico is laughing at us at the idea they were going to pay for a wall on their border. and if you listen to him he will tell you, i totally succeeded and now biden, biden is a reason that this is not happening. well, biden has made it worse but if the wall was there, like he promised as, biden wouldn't be able to be doing this. he wouldn't be in office if it wasn't for trump. joe biden never beat anybody outside the state of delaware in

the five years except for one guy, donald j. trump. i'll say to you tonight, that i can't guarantee you success and what i'm about to do, but i guarantee you that at the end of it, you will have no doubt in your mind who i am and what i stand for and whether i deserve it. so that's why i came back to ste back to manchester, and that's why came back to new hampshire to tell all of you that i intend to seek the republican nomination for president of the united states in 2024 and i want your support. [applause] >> host: chris christie yesterday, former new jersey governor launching his second presidential bid on the day after he launched that bid peter navarro former trump white house manufacturing czar with this column in today's "washington

times." it's trump 2024 versus the never trump cartel, the win for the crew is a win for the unit party as he describes it. if you want to read his column in today's "washington times." less than ten minutes left in just this first segment of the "washington journal" but plenty to talk about today in the second we've been talking about the surprise announcement yesterday pga tour that's emerge with a saudi backed liv golf. it earned immediate reaction from capitol hill including from the chairman of the senate finance committee who said he would be investigating or looking into every aspect of this deal. want to hear your thoughts again our phone line for those who support or oppose this merger. ashland, kentucky, on that fine for those who support it. good morning. >> caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am totally support the move. whenever we accept the nba playing in china and have no

problem with that whatsoever and the nba making all their money, and why can't the golf do the same thing? the violations are the same on both sides, so, therefore, i think it's only fair that they should be able to continue with their deal. that's all i have to say. thank you. >> host: decatur alabama, good morning. you are next. >> caller: yes. i don't support it at all. i have two cousins that were born here in the united states, and one of my cousins married a saudi man, and when it went to saudi and they have been able to come back to the united states since. i mean, they have lots of american citizens still in saudi arabia that can't come back to united states. and i'm an avid golfer. i play a lot of golf but i

guarantee you this, i will never, never go to another pga tour event as long as i live, as long as the saudis are backing the golf league, i want nothing to do with it. >> host: comedy pga tour events have you been to in your lifetime traffic oh, my god i can't, i don't have enough fingers on my hand. i've been playing golf since, 40 years, and i used to live in atlanta and they use to go to a lot of pga tour events, but i will never go to one again. i will never participate and i will never pay pga tour fees for anything as long as they are backing thesis audis and the way the saudis, human rights against americans and women in anything like that, i will never have anything else to do with that.

>> host: has your opinion of favorite player change or any of your favorite players go over to liv golf in the past year? >> caller: yes. mickelson, and all those guys, harold barner, all those guys. they sold their soul to the devil. i mean, they sold, , they sold o the devil about money. when you go to bed with those saudis, you're going to pay the price for it. i just, i just can't believe the pga turned their back on tiger woods and roy mcelroy and the way they stood up for the pga tour and then they turn around and shoot them in the back. thank you, sir. >> host: the "new york times" story on the merger notes the litigation between the tour and the liv golf that's been going on for the past year is going to end under the terms of equipment that were announced yesterday. for this year the world professional golfers unlikely to

see seismic changes in their schedules or playing formats with the liv and pga tour expects to hold their event is planned. there may be more consequential changes later, chiefly because the new pga tour controlled company will determine whether and how liv team oriented format might be blended together with the more familiar golf offerings. again that's a threat from the "new york times." this is chris ashburn virginia good morning. what do you think of this merger? >> caller: good morning. i don't believe unity is a real factor here. i don't think the saudis have much interest in unity for the sake of unity. i guess my real question is when does morality, when does morality step in and overtake the business decision? i understand the previous coach said this was a great business decision for a lot of guys but it seems like all too often morality especially with some of these large corporations and

professional sports organizations has taken a backseat to the almighty dollar. i think it's a horrible thing. >> host: the headline we should earlier from the "wall street journal," the money wins again in golf. money wins, it's a pc line from the magnet and immediate offer succession and us ever been more apt in the business of sports than it is today as a pga tour announces its merger with liv golf. what do you think, money always wins? >> caller: yes. i mean, look at history with anything going on with this country. not just in athletics but politics. money is winning. we have become a nation so fixated on the dollar, and listen don't get me wrong, it's good to be a wealthy nation but, but it's really influencing decisions in a way that hurts people, hurt organizations and quite honestly hurts our country. >> host: chris, ashburn, virginia. have you ever played at the

trump golf course out your weight in virginia? >> caller: i don't make for enough money for that. >> host: how often do you get to play? >> caller: i played a couple times a month. i used to frequent the memorial tournament often when i lived in columbus, ohio, but i suspect that will probably be changing. >> host: do you have a favorite player integer player get caught up in the decision whether to leave or go to liv? >> caller: yeah, i used to be a big phil mickelson fan. haven't called him much since he left. >> host: who do you follow now? >> caller: don't watch much of it anymore. >> host: chris in virginia this morning. a sensible regardless morning, morning, a shorter opening segment this morning just until about 7:30 eastern time in that time at 7:30 and if humans will be joined by congressman french hill to talk about the latest on capitol hill republican from arkansas financial service

committee vice chair in the house. today the house is in canadian eastern. for sin is in at 10 a.m. eastern and plenty of offerings on the c-span networks throughout the day. at 9 a.m. eastern adhering on national security i partisanship, former lawmakers who served on the house intelligence committee discussed those issues, you can watch live on c-span3. also in c-span.org and the free c-span app, and also today 3:30 3:30 p.m. eastern adhering on election security. concerns ahead of the 2024 election, testimony by the election assistance commission or. >> you can watch it again c-span3, the c-span now apple and c-span.org. a minute or so left and plenty of comments from you from social media. have been stacked appear. want to get through a few of them on this pga tour liv golf merger.

robert douglas wrote and about 20 minutes ago, the saudi merger of liv golf i would ask unanimos consent the quorum be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: last week, congress successfully passed legislation, the fiscal responsibility act to raise the debt ceiling and divert a default. i'm pleased that the final legislation paired an increase in the debt ceiling with real spending reforms. i don't need to tell anyone things came down to the wire. president biden wasted months refusing to negotiate on a debt ceiling deal before finally yielding to the political realities of divided government and coming to the negotiating table. while we got about as good of an agreement as we could have hoped for in the situation, again, including meaningful spending reforms that democrats initially rejected, things didn't need to come to this crisis point. president had president bide negotiating table sooner, we might not have been passing the fiscal responsibility act days

before our nation would have defaulted. mr. president, this isn't the first crisis of inaction in this presidency. president biden has made a habit of ignoring or failing to meet crisis situations with predictably problematic results. the border crisis is one notable example. it took two years, two years of record-breaking numbers of illegal crossings at our southern border before the president made any real move to even begin to address the crisis. two years. two years in which he mostly pretended that the border crisis didn't even exist. the president didn't want there to be a border crisis, presumably because he knew it would serve as inindictment of his open-border policies. so he simply ignored the reality. unfortunately, agents and our overwhelmed communities didn't have that option. they've had to spend two-plus years dealing with all the

ramifications of unchecked, illegal immigration at our southern border. while it's a good thing that the president finally made moves to address the crisis, his inaction has taken a terrible toll on border patrol agents and our border communities and on migrants themselves. mr. president, we've seen a similar situation with inflation. even as it became clear the democrats' so-called american rescue plan helped set off a serious inflation crisis, the president and his administration dismissed the problem, and they didn't just dismiss the problem. they doubled down on the strategy that got our country into this mess in the first place. while the president was eventually forced to at least half-heartedly acknowledge our inflation crisis, he still, still can't bring himself to acknowledge what caused it, and that's democrats' big-spending priorities. and he's continued to pursue new

government spending, from his nearly trillion-dollar student loan giveaway to a budget that in a few short years would have us spending $10 trillion annually. mr. president, perhaps the most devastating example of the president's failure to recognize and act on the realities of a situation came with his disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. even as it was becoming appallingly clear afghanistan was headed for takeover by the taliban, the president delayed or simply failed to take the necessary steps to withdraw american citizens and the afghan allies who aided us. the result was a chaotic evacuation that saw the deaths of 13 u.s. servicemembers and scores, literally scores of afghanistan civilians and left both u.s. citizens and thousands of our afghan allies behind as the taliban took over the country. mr. president, it is fortunate

that the months president biden spent refusing to acknowledge the need to negotiate on a debt ceiling agreement did not result in serious consequences for our country. things were not looking good for a while, but the president ultimately recognized that divided government requires negotiation and compromise. but a lot of his other leadership failures have had serious and permanent consequences. the president's failure to acknowledge and address the reality of the border crisis allowed hundreds of thousands of individuals to evade law enforcement and enter our country illegally, left border communities and american cities struggling to provide for the massive influx of migrants, and undoubtedly facilitated the flow of cross-border criminal activity, like fentanyl trafficking. as i said, the prtz's failure to rec -- the president's failure to recognize the situation in afghanistan, including by

ignoring the state department dissent cable resulted in the deaths of american servicemembers and afghan civilians. meanwhile, the president's persistent failure to fully recognize the realities of inflation and its roots and democrats' reckless spending continues to leave our economy and american families vulnerable to more of democrats' big-spending priorities. or policies, i should say. mr. president, they're around -- there are around 18 months left in the president's current term, and a lot of challenges for our nation to address. i hope that the debt ceiling negotiations mark the start of a new era, one in which the president spends more time dealing with things as they are and less time pursuing an agenda divorced from the reality of the economic and security challenges that our nation faces. because our country and the american people cannot afford a

repeat of the first two years of this president's administration. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, when it comes to safeguarding the american people, the united

states has multiple layers of defense. we have, of course, the world's most powerful military, whose ranks are filled with courageous and dedicated servicemembers. our military is equipped with cutting-edge technology, whether it has to do with weapons systems, aircraft, ships, submarines, all the tools necessary to defend our country and our country's freedoms. but an important part of our defenses is our intelligence community, the 17 agencies that make up what is known colloquially as the intelligence community. it is the intelligence community that collects and analyzes information from around the world, to make sure we can always remain at least one step ahead of our adversaries. this information gathering is an invaluable part of our national

defense, and that critical national security information is of course carefully safeguarded under what is known as the classification system, secrets. classification gives us an invaluable edge when it comes to the ability to plan and prepare for threats over the horizon. it strengthens our relationship with our allies around the world, with whom we share much of this information. and it prevents consequential information from falling into the wrong hands. it also protects, and these are the keys to the kingdom when it comes to classified information, it protects sources and methods. in other words, the way that our intelligence community collects information and the people from whom that information is acquired are among the most

important secrets maintained by the government. because, many times, if that were revealed either our adversaries would be able to cut off that access to information or, frankly, maybe even go so far as to kill the sources of that information, in the case of human intelligence. so, protecting sources and methods is absolutely critical. closely guarded intelligence information is vital to our national security, but there is a very fine line between strategic classification and excessive secrecy. if too much information is withheld from the public, it can sow distrust. people use their -- their minds run away with them, they wonder what's going on, conspiracy theories and the like. more fundamentally, the american people will question what their

government is actually doing and how it's using the vast powers that they've delegated to the government. consent of the governed has always been the foundation of our democratic system of government, and the legitimacy of government action, and of course the people cannot consent to something that is withheld from them. so, there is a very fragile balance here between what is necessarily kept classified and secret and the information that should be made public. because, without transparency, there's no political accountability. without accountability, there's no confidence that the government is actually acting in the best interest of the people. i've long been an advocate for reforms to the freedom of information act. in other words, the public's right to know.

former senator pat leahey, he was chairman of the senate judiciary committee, he and i were sort of the odd couple when it came to freedom of information reforms. senator leahy was one of the more liberal members of the united states senate, and i one of the more conservative members of the senate. we found common cause when it came to the public's right to know, because it's too easy for bureaucrats to hide behind a classification system that is -- that results in overclassification. when that bureaucrat can hide, or bury that information using an overly broad classification system, there can be no accountability. and thus, the public's confidence in the people who actually are governing is compromised. so, we need to figure out how to

make sure our classification system is right-sized, that it covers the things that it must cover in the interest of our nam security -- interest of our national security. and we need to figure out what represents overreach or overclassification, which undermines the public's right to know and the political accountability that should come with it. which is a fundamental basis for our form of government. america's classification system has been ripe for reform for many years. daniel patrick moynihan chaired a committee that made recommendations but unfortunately, those recommendations made many years ago were put on a bookshelf somewhere and basically ignored. but the problems have not gone away, and we've seen in recent days the focus come back to how classified documents are handled

and what exactly represents our nation's secrets, what should be protected and what should not be because it is really not important to our national security. earlier this year, a trove of highly sensitive military documents began appearing online. these documents included classified assessments of the war in ukraine, including tactical information about the expected offensive. they detailed conversations between world leaders and intelligence on adversaries and allies alike. these documents didn't just reveal intelligence itself but also the methods by which the united states collected intelligence. this information, of course, was supposed to be kept confidential because it was intended for high-level military and intelligence leaders and policymakers, not a global audience.

based on the nature of the leaked documents, there was widespread speculation that the source was a high-level military or intelligence professional, but we now know that was not the case. the course of the leak has been identified as a 21-year-old member of the massachusetts air national guard. he was an airman first class in the 102nd intelligence wing where he worked as an information technology specialist. so the first question that arose when the leaker was identified is how in the world did this relatively low ranking 21-year-old information technology specialist have access to some of our nation's most guarded secrets? how was he able to view, transcribe, photograph, and remove these documents from a secure setting? and if this young man who had a history of violent and racist remarks was granted access to

our top secret national security information, is that some indication that maybe too many others had been granted access to this information? and that maybe too many individuals have security clearances authorizing them to view this information? well, at last count there were about 4.2 million americans in this country, 4.2 million americans who had -- who have security clearances. now that number strikes me as incredibly large, and i think is some evidence that too many people have been getting too many security clearances because too much information is classified when it shouldn't be, when it doesn't need to be. that 4.2 million people with security clearances includes more than 1.2 million with access to top secret

information. the issue isn't that just -- isn't just that too many people have access to classified information but also too much information is classified. as members of the senate intelligence committee, my colleagues and i regularly receive classified briefings and review documents that are highly confidential. there have been many times when i left one of these briefings thinking this is something that any reasonably informed person already knows. all they need to do is read the major newspapers or watch television, television news in particular. so many times we are presented with information which is deemed classified in a secure setting which is, frankly, common knowledge. that's another indication that our classification system is working in overdrive and needs to be right sized.

we're presented with information which could be just as easily learned by watching the news or reading the newspaper, as i said. still, these documents are classified at the same level that sensitive military documents and intelligence analysis has been classified. and honestly, i think one reason why we see not only president trump but president biden, vice president pence, a concern about access to classified information outside of a secure setting is because many people who have access to classified information recognize that we have an overclassification problem. and so they let down their guard and they say well, this is information that's not particularly secret because a reasonably informed person would already know it or have access to it. so i submit, mr. president, we have an overclassification

problem, plain and simple. and we're not doing nearly enough to declassify information for the public or our allies. and make it available to the american people. there are many circumstances in which declassification safeguards our national security. we can't just be an absolutist about this. we need to be careful. one great example is the way we declassified and shared information with our allies in the runup to russia's invasion of ukraine. that gave ukraine enough battlefield awareness to push back against the initial attack and save countless lives. that also unified western response leading to quick condemnation of russia's attack and resources for the ukrainian forces. declassification is an important way to share valuable intelligence with our friends and allies around the world when we can, and it promotes

cooperation which is key to combating the threats we face today like the ukrainians are facing with the russian invasion. but it's also a crucial way to show the american people what their government is doing on their behalf, declassification, that is. our ability to govern ourselves depends on public access to information. as i said earlier, you can't consent to something you don't know anything about, and consent of the governed is the foundation of our system. the american people have a right to know what their government is doing. declassification builds trust and transparency. it inspires confidence in the incredible work our intelligence professionals are doing, and it equips scholars with the information to conduct academic research that informs decision-making. by looking back on our history and looking from those lessons of history. as all of our colleagues know,

this is a very delicate balance between transparency and secrecy, but it's time that we tune up the system. we need to examine and refine the processes that govern the classification and declassification of sensitive information, and make for some long overdue reforms. last month the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, senator warner and i introduced a bill called the sensible classification act which includes critical reforms to modernize america's classification system. this legislation would increase accountability and oversight. it would require training to promote sensible classification and also promote efficient declassification. and it would direct federal agencies to justify the security clearance requirements so only those individuals who need

access given the nature of their job are given access to classified information. this legislation has already garnered broad bipartisan support and a long list of cosponsors include senators moran, wyden, collins, king, round, heinrich, lankford, and casey. as the senate intelligence committee prepares the intelligence authorization act, i've offered this legislation as an amendment to that bill which hopefully will be included as part of the national defense authorization act. when the committee votes to advance the bill in the coming weeks, i hope this legislation will be included. this is an example of broad bipartisan cooperation and the result of many conversations that we've had with leading intelligence and national security experts in the united states. i'm confident that this legislation will both protect the integrity of the -- of america's classification system and help restore needed trust

and confidence in the government. recent headlines have shown a -- shone a light on the flaws of our classification system. it's overwhelmed and in need of reform. that's what the classification act aims to fix. so i look forward to working with all of our senate colleagues as we fight to restore transparency and accountability and preserve our ability to classify the most sensitive national security secrets in our -- as part of our layered national defense. we can and should and must do both. mr. president, i yield the floor. i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, i ask we vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ernst: thank you. and, mr. president, i ask consent to speak for up to six minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ernst: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today as the ranking member of the senate small business committee in opposition to the president's nomination for mr. dilawar syed to serve as the deputy administrator of the u.s. small business administration. the deputy administrator is often referred to as the coo of the sba with the critical job of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the agency.

from addressing fraud and recooping funds and improving the agency's responsiveness, to ensuring small businesses are not drowning in unnecessary red tape, there's a lot of work that needs to be done to improve the sba's most basic functions. unfortunately, following mr. syed's appearance before the small business committee, i do not believe that he is the right person for the job. this nomination was delayed last congress due to the nominee's failure to voluntarily disclose his company's ppp and idle loans from the sba. as the nominee to help lead the agency responsible for small business pandemic relief funding, i believe mr. syed should have been forthcoming in disclosing his interest in an sba program.

unfortunately, there were false statements and errors in the applications and disclosures signed by mr. syed on behalf of his company which further delayed the committee's consideration of his nomination. the lack of transparency and the resistance in providing requested information to the committee does not inspire confidence that he will be transparent and forthcoming with congress about the sba's programs and ongoing challenges. based on the track record of this nominee, it is not clear he would reverse the sba's failure to give committee members details on key policy matters squarely in the committee's jurisdiction. the agency's continued lack of responsiveness under the biden

administration is a key part of why i stand before you in opposition of this nominee. i recently questioned mr. syed on whether he believes that overregulation stifles innovation and entrepreneurship. he could not give me a direct answer. this is unacceptable to iowa's entrepreneurs who are struggling in biden's economy and drowning in ever-changing regulation. as i'm crisscrossing iowa, small businesses continually list washington red tape and regulation as a top issue keeping them from growing and in too many cases simply surviving. i'm not convinced mr. syed is willing and ready to change the

sba's culture and bring much-needed accountability to the agency. it is estimated by the investigative community that there is more than $100 billion in suspected fraud in ppp and eidl. addressing this abuse by holding individuals accountable and recovering taxpayer dollars provided to ineligible businesses must be a top priority. -- for this agency. i've received commitments from mr. syed that he would make every effort on fraud recovery and prevention. he also informed me that he believed sba administrator guzman is prioritizing fraud prevention. but the reality is, the sba

decided not to pursue borrowers with unpaid loans less than $100 thousand, giving them a -- $100,000, giving them a free pass. should syed be confirmed, i will hold him accountable to his commitment and ensure that the agency is taking a larger role in administrative recoveries. further, should mr. syed be confirmed today, i urge him to do all he can to protect the integrity of the 7a loan program at all costs. recently, the sba finalized two lending rules that, if not addressed, would pose serious risks to the longer-term health of sba's lending programs, create predatory underwriting standards, and enable the same fintech companies that were responsible for fueling rampant ppp fraud to participate in this

critical program. this, too, is unacceptable. i join chairman cardin, house small business chairman roger williams, and ranking member valdez in asking to pause the complementation of these -- implementation of these laws. the administrator didn't even have the courtesy to respond to our letter before plowing ahead and opening up the application period for new fintech firms. based on our experience with mr. syed over the past two and a half years while his nomination has been under consideration, he has resisted full transparency at every turn. unfortunately, all evidence suggests that he will just be more of the same ongoing problem

as part of the leadership team at sba. thank you, mr. president. and i reserve the remainder of my time. i suggest the absence of a quorum, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the ho nomination be withdrawn and the cloture vote on the syed nomination occur at 2:30 p.m. today. further, that the senate recess following the confirmation vote on the crane nomination until 2:15 to allow for the week weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the crane nomination. 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 presiding officer: the yeas are 56. 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 actions. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until 2:15 p.m. on china,

reproductive rights, and the debt ceiling.