by the natural reintroduction of natural fire. >> caller is jasmine in washington dc, you are on. >> thank you for taking my call. thank you professor gonzales for your work and research. i'm curious what's on your radar when it comes to other types of research or innovations that are working toward preventing climate disasters. if there is any work to use other disasters to support certain ããi was in the midsouth and there was torrential rain and thunderstorms and i wondered, i wish this was water you could use to put fires out. i'm curious if there's anything in that space. thank you. >> climate change. the fundamental way to prevent

future disastrous wildfire catastrophic wildfires is to cut the carbon pollution from cars, power plants and human sources that causes climate change so the floods you mentioned. >> we are going to leave washington journal but you can continue washing if you go to work website spend one. senate lawmakers are about to gamble in on this monday, considering anomaly elizabeth allen to be under secretary of state for public diplomacy. vote to limit debate set for 5:30 p.m. eastern today. live now to the senate floor here on c-span2. >> the senate will come to order. ......

may they look to you as the one constituent they must please. touch us all with your unfailing love, particularly the many staffers and other unsung heroes and heroines who labor long hours in the background for liberty. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, june 12, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the state of illinois, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding. the clerk: nomination, elizabeth

allen, of new york, to be under secretary of state for public diplomacy. test.

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independence (202)748-8002. our first caller is on the republican line in new jersey. >> i have two points to make. the first one was about your guest, found out he had classified documents. though it was about 40, 50 years ago and had no right to have that. he wasn't the president. he was a son and vice president have that time he is a senator. that's legal. he took them legally. president trump to declassified. i am curious about that. >> our guess is no longer here. we are in open forum but that

was joe calling in with his thoughts on that topic in louisiana, democrat line. you are on the line. >> , the alert military veteran, i did two tours in vietnam and 68 and 69. this antigovernment stuff and i don't know why all of these right-wingers talking, it's ridiculous. it is ridiculous. thank you. >> all right. we appreciate your service. jane is ourcc next caller in battle creek, michigan. independently. into reports indicate that the armed forces of ukraine have begun their long planned counteroffensive in earnest.

having bluntd putin's unprovoked escalation last year, ukraine is driving russian forces back and out of occupied ukrainian territory on multimg fronts. reaching this point in the conflict is, of course, due in large measure to the heroism of the brave ukrainians defending their homeland. but their success is also -- also a credit to the tangible support of the united states, nato allies, and friends around the globe who value the same sovereignty and terror yalg integrity which is -- terror yalg integrity. the acute threat of russian

aggression helped wake many of our european friends from a holg day from his -- from a holg day from history. putin escalation drove mg of us allies to start investing more seriously in their own defense and contribute more readily to collective security. this is, of course, a positive vesmght and a krit -- investment and a krit kalg one as we -- krit kalg one as we look toward deterring aggression from china. at the same timing, america's support for ukraine has done much more than sustain their defense. as i've said repeatedly, sending leeth yalg west -- lethal western xaiblghts -- -- first

putting our friends on the front lines to defend our sefltion is a far cheaper -- selfs is a far cheaper effort. second, ukraine's effective defense of its territory is teaching us how to img prove the -- img prove the defenses of china. it is no surprise they our ielings are supporting our ability to defeat russia. third, most of the money that's been appropriated for ukraine's security assistance doesn't

tiewlgly go -- actually go to ukraine, it funds new funds and munitions to replace the oalgder -- the older material we provided to ukraine. let me be clear, this means more jobs for american workers and newer weapons for american servicemembers. i know that media reports about u.s. assistance to ukraine have been really quite confusing. so, has the biden administration's messaging. last week, for example, the administration announced what it called a, quote, new, end quote, package of security assistance to ukraine. in reality this is the latest assistance, it's not a new appropriation. it's just the latest in a slow and steady disbursement of

perhaps too slow and too steady of assistance previously approved by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in congress. ask madam madam president, e to say as ukraine continues to push putin's forces backwards, and senate republicans will continue our efforts to invest in america's own national security. now, on an entirely different matter, last week senate democrats back tracked on plans to confirm dale ho to the southern district of new york. apparently, our colleagues didn't yet have enough votes for the self-described, wild-eyed leftist president biden would like to give a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. i've talked about mr. ho's criticism of the fraternal order of police, his history of attacking our colleagues on

twitter. i've discussed his apparent dismay that fidelity to the constitution as it was written doesn't really produce progressive outcomes. but as you might expect, the rap sheet on a nominee too radical for senate democrats goes on. mr. ho has also vocally opposed laws that ban ballot harvesting. he's railed against commonsense voter i.d. requirements that 80% of americans support. senate democrats will have to think hard about whether they're ready to ram mr. ho's nomination through after all of this, but in the meantime two more of president biden's left-wing nominees are up for a vote this week. first is hernan d. vera, nominated to the bench in the central district of california.

mr. vera's nomination comes with the ringing endorsement of the left's dark money operation and review of his record certainly shows why. throughout his legal career, mr. vera has made no effort to hide his willingness to pick progressive activism over the rule of law. he's asserted publicly that the need for greater security at our southwest border is actually a myth and supported efforts to prevent ice from conducting enforcement operations in county jails. in other words, mr. vera doesn't just oppose enforcing immigration laws. he opposes enforcing laws illegal immigrants have broken after they've arrived. the senate will also vote this week on the nomination of patrick pitts to the northern district of california.

mr. pitts helped organize student protests against military recruiters on campus when he was at yale, but he publicly fawned over a leftist judge who later faced a reckoning over his decades of sexual harassment. apparently, the army was unseemly, but a notorious harasser was an inspiration. and aside from being a bad judge of character, mr. putts has spent his legal career -- mr. pitts has spent his legal career making life easier for democrats' big-labor allies. he worked to give union bosses more political influence over american workers, especially those who would rather be free from union thuggery. so, i'll be opposing each of these nominations and would urge our colleagues to do the same.

i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

good morning. >> good morning. i have two points. the first one was joe biden, the classified documents. that was about 40, 50 years ago and he had no right to have them. his a senate and vice president and had that from the time he was seven. that's illegal. he took them illegally. president trump every right to take the documents home, declassified. i'm curious on that.

>> our guess is no longer here but that was his thoughts in louisiana, you're on. >> in 1966 and this whole antigovernment stuff and i don't know why everyone is so right wing and it is ridiculous. >> appreciate your service. james is our next caller in battle creek, michigan. independently. >> i want to think about mccain, you talked about a democrat and

the publican, i would like to see cheney and hillary. >> all right. appreciate your call this morning let's go to teresa from dandridge, tennessee on the republican line. >> nice to speak with you. the way i see it, it was the national archives to drop the ball and may have committed the crime and the national archive offers to every president leaving office. obama had 33 million documents the national archives accounted for, 18 wheelers moved it with police escort to where they are being held and it was paid for

by taxpayers. reagan, bush, everyone of them had this service except for trump. it was not offered to him and i want to know why he was not given the same benefit all other presidents were given. >> vincent is calling on the democratic line from brooklyn, new york. >> good morning, freethinkers. a lifelong democrat, i want to bring up the facts of the democrat party -- the joint chiefs, general mark milley, spoke at the normandy american cemetery and memorial in france. in the audience were veterans, some over 100 years old, who stormed those beaches 79 years ago on d-day. d-day was a critical moment in

world war ii. it was the beginning of the liberation of europe and it was the beginning of the end of nazi tyranny. looking out over a sea of head stones of fallen american patriots, secretary austin said and i quote, it's easy to forget how desperate the battle was but on d-day, courage won over terror, daring over cruelty, and liberty won over tyranny. today that same eternal battle is being fought in another place in the ukraine which has begun a heroic counteroffensive to finally drive out vladimir putin and the russian invaders and to preserve democracy in that nation. next months senator shaheen of new hampshire and i will travel to the naipt toe summit in -- nato summit in lithuania, a nation that was once under soviet occupation and it's historic and poignant. success in ukraine's counteroffensive and the country's long-term security will once again be on top of the

nato agenda. we also will welcome the security alliance's newest member, finland. i hope by the time we convene in lithuania, hungary and turkey will have ratify sweden's secession without delay. let me also state clearly that i believe ukraine's future is in the european union and the nato alliance and until the day that ukraine can join nato, the u.s. and other key allies must help ukraine with security guarantees as we do with other key nonnato allies. it is clear that ukraine can never trust russia. it is in the interest of the united states and democracy itself that we ensure ukraine can always defend itself, that any aggressor will think twice before ever trying to threaten its people or its territory. president biden knows what's at stake in this fight against tyranny. so do our nato allies and i want to particularly note minority

leader mcconnell echoing ronald reagan, senator mcconnell has spoken forcefully about the need for continued bipartisan support for ukraine. that is the ultimate strength of the american role in the nato alliance that we speak with one voice. and of course ukrainian president zelenskyy understands what's at stake in ukraine is bigger than just his nation. it is literally a battle for freedom and democracy themselves. his remarks at normandy last week, secretary austin said free soldiers will fight more bravely than the armies of tie rants. he's correct. but the free people of the ukraine must not be left to fight this war alone. the united states and nations of the free world must provide the resources and equipment and training necessary for them to prevail against putin and his cowardly enablers. the free people and soldiers of ukraine are fighting today to preserve the peace and international order for which those young americans gave their

lives at d-day. we must stand with them with resolve until ukraine is free again. madam president, i ask that the next statement be placed in a separate part in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, on an issue that you know so well, let me say this. last week the white house launched a new website, invest.gov. it shows the historic investments that have been announced across america since president biden took office. we should not forget that under the previous president, there were four years of promises and four years where they failed to produce. under president biden, we have a bipartisan infrastructure bill that is changing the nation of america preparing our economy for the 21st century. invest.gov shows the historic investments that have been announced across america under president biden and provides a state-by-state overview of those investments. in a little more than for years

illinois, our state, has received more than $9 billion in infrastructure funding, more than $1 billion to support the creation of clean energy jobs, and we are creating thousands of new manufacturing jobs at this very moment. today i want to tell you about one particular project near and dear to us in illinois. it is a project our leaders have been talking about for literally six decades. since the time of the john f. kennedy administration. and one that i hope will be able to add to this senate's long list of accomplishments. it is called the southwest corridor -- pardon me -- southwest connector and it will be vital to my state's economic as well as that ever the neighboring state of missouri. i requested congressional spending support for this project the next fiscal year t. will expand illinois state highways 127, 154, and 3 from two to four lanes and create a much desired rural expressway between st. louis and southern illinois. madam president, i can remember

when i was new to this business and in the first campaign working for a man named paul davis who was our senator at the time, i went to southern illinois with him in the 1960's fresh out of college and heard him tell the story about the valiant efforts that they made to build up southern illinois and to restore a broken economy. part of that was involved in creating lakes and water supplies which still serve the region and are effective in their future view of where we must go as a nation and state. now we must do the same thing with transportation. expanding the two-lane highways to four lanes will boost economic development in southern illinois and missouri by creating jobs and enabling the region to better compete. several sections of the comp nectors plan route rank in the top 5% of the most dangerous two-lane highways in our state of illinois. the connector would improve traffic safety by separating lines of traffic with a 50en --

50-foot median and improve mobility for emergency vehicles and provide faster access to health care facilities. the project would also benefit the national guard armories in sparta and mur fridays burrow whose activation has been crucial during floods in the region. when congress passed the bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021, the largest investment in our infrastructure since president eisenhower created the interstate highway system, it was proof that we could get big things done on batch of the american people. we have a chance to do it again by moving forward on the southwest connector. i want to particularly thank mayor will stevens who visited both of our offices. he's been working hard to make the conflector a reality despite the fact the concept of the connector really started years before he was born. there are countless local leaders across america like mayor stevens who are committed to improving our communities but who have been forced to wait on washington to provide the funding. let's mott make them wait any

longer. congress needs to return to regular order in a timely manner to carry out the annual appropriations process and fulfill the authorizations and the bipartisan infrastructure law. and to consider earmarks for community projects that have the opportunity to transform rural communities across america. as a member of the senate appropriations committee, i'm committed to working with my colleagues under the leadership, bipartisan leadership of chair murray and ranking member collins to pass our 12 annual appropriations bills on time. madam president, i know this is near and dear to you as well as myself. to see this project move forward is going to change the face of southern illinois at a time when they need this infusion of economic activity and opportunity. i hope this project can be included in our projects that are authorized and appropriated this -- in this year's bill. i'll be working toward that goal

convinced including long for santos and former south carolina governor nikki haley has

verbiage around weaponization of department of justice, republicans questioning the biden administration's take on not only from a president from the opposing party but also potentially biden's rival for the 2024 presidential race. piercing some form of conduct governor calling on trump to come out of the race saying is something republicans for the country in general need to deal with in terms of an election here but then there are other who have not only joined others condemning this weaponization of the judicial system so there's a difference of opinion among republicans alongside this nomination against trump,

similar to what we heard, a first wave of not only support for trump in terms of sending alongside him saying is something that should have been brought but the overall questioning of the system under which it was being brought so we will continue to see how it evolves and it's interesting we heard from a lot of candidates and fellow were publicans across the country, the news of the indictment came out but then the details were made public, not as loud perhaps in terms of details and seeing what it is the department of justice is alleging, is a little different than the reaction. >> you also contributed to press coverage of the weekend as president trump held events in

georgia and north carolina which were the first public event since the recent indictment was announced, what was your impression of how he handled his campaign handling these developments? >> i think we heard from donald trump over the weekend pretty much what we would expect. not announcing these himself on social media platforms, he has been loud in his condemnation and strong in his defense of himself but we heard characterization of these charges that are baseless without merit and then he took the opportunity not only to go after the department of justice in their case but the biden administration at large depositing the charges against hillary clinton in 2016 using the investigation into the

information she had in her position as well so i think we are hearing from the former president but we would expect in terms of characterizations in the case against him and considering we will see -- not seeing him directly but he will be in federal court this week on these charges, i think we can expect we will continue to hear the same characterization from him, he will address supporters when he returned back to jersey after the court appearance in miami tuesday and i would anticipate we will hear a lot of the same messaging. >> do we know yet if the indictment announcement had any impact on fundraising for former president trump? >> i think we have yet to see officially exactly how much money but i would be sure once there is a figure, we will hear from the campaign. in the hours and days in the

manhattan indictment earlier this year, there was more than $10 million in his associated committees in terms of what they have brought in so this fundraising and showing support among those is something i would think that they are going to want for the rest of us. the new york times has photos of the third candidates of president and we see the republicans already have candidates including former president trump, three new insurances last week that mike pence, former new jersey governor chris christie and north carolina, north dakota governor, has the indictment overshadows the message of other candidates taking the air out of the room as they try to break

through? >> it is going to be tricky for anybody getting into the race particularly last week and maybe this week to compete against the news coverage of the former president and the federal case. certainly we have tried to see aiming the campaign as usual while still being asked by reporters how you feel about this and what is your reaction? they are trying to manage their own campaign and raise money and talk to donors and voters. mike pence outside north carolina gop convention as a former president saturday addressing delegates earlier in the day so they are on the trail and i'll be with tim scott later today in south carolina where he's rolling out more than 100 state officials and traveling to iowa this week, nikki haley and tim scott according to the california raising money this weekend ron for santos of

florida making stops on the campaign trail as well heading to nevada so is candidates have to deal with a lot of these tensions on the former president. i think they already knew regardless of the case against donald trump, he was still going to occupy media and attention in the race so it's complicated even further by pending charges against them but from what we seek, they are trying to get on the campaign trail to continue their own messaging and do the best they can in the current environment. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> all right, we will get back to open form and feel free to give us a call to weigh in on the news of the day. republicans (202)748-8001. democrat -- (202)748-8000 and independence, (202)748-8002.

we got curving on the line from texas, independent. go ahead. >> whatever party and they vote against interest. if they find out their kids are doing something wrong, they will take them to the jailhouse but if they're doing wrong and they support their interest, i've it i wish everybody would turn to the lord and see what the lord is saying and vote for the right candidate. thank you. >> let's go to fort river new

jersey on the republican line. >> good morning. i was just wondering, 1023 document that showed hunter biden $5 million from the burisma ukraine thing, when biden in 2018 said the prosecutor has to be fired but biden won't give ukraine $1 billion, is that a quid pro quo because biden threatened ukraine would not get that billing dollars in less the investigator, the prosecutor from ukraine was fired but was investigating burisma? is and that quid pro quo? the 1023 document that shows joe and hunter got $5 million from burisma, is that legal? i just have to know.

>> donald is in pennsylvania, democrat line. >> good morning. i am calling today in regard to yesterday's bombshell and it also has to do with earlier, you are talking about third-party candidates. university on the -- he was discussing third-party candidate and he was going off al gore -- i'm sorry, the election in 2000 and the reason for that is al gore in the home state of tennessee electoral votes to 77

for florida to begin with so al gore off the election on his home state. he did not even get any electoral votes so how did he affect the outcome? that needs to be corrected. thank you. >> our next caller in pennsylvania on the independent line. >> hi. i was going to say unfortunately, things are not going to change with this new generation of politicians and the. some of the middle aged politicians change but the way it is now, it is crazy the party

both whatever party, so my thing is he would need an independent mind, democrat and republican to speak up for him, nominate him and say he's the first guy, why don't we all come together? as far as trying to do it alone, help from democrat and republican, a third party will not get in the way, it's crazy the way people follow. for the budget. you're telling me out of all republicans, you can't find one, two, three people thing right is

right and wrong is wrong? going to vote this way because it will help my people and it's the right thing to do. they just fall in line but it's crazy the way this country is. an independent person believe democrats and some publicans to step out and say let's vote for this guy. >> all right. ray. let's go to minnesota now, republican line. another ray. >> good morning. i listened and a lot of democrats like the one who called earlier and was all upset he could be elected even though scott indictments or something like that. the indictments, a ham sandwich, the democrats already have criminal and so -- i don't know

why they don't see that, why they have no concern over the stuff he's done they are all on trump and am still trying to figure out what the crime czar that trump has done. maybe one of your callers when they call in, you could ask, could you name the crimes he's committed? i have no idea what they are. it's all stuff they make up and the news media pushes stuff that's not real and has not been proven just like the russia stuff. remember the russia stuff that cost of 30 million tax dollars when hillary clinton did all this stuff? that's the truth the democrats have -- just lies. that's all i've got right now. >> arnold is our next caller on the democrat line in new york. >> good morning. i have a question for

republicans who keep calling. why did donald trump have all these documents? the most disturbing thing is we talk about we are proud of this country, he stored most precious secrets in the trash. here's a man cheated on his wife and said he will live, you will steal. somebody call and tell me why this man had all these documents. joe biden found out had to stop and promptly forgot he even had. said come take a look. he didn't try to hide it, he didn't have his lawyers and one

thing about donald trump, he hired criminal lawyers because you have to be a criminal first. that's all i have to say. >> let's go to the independent line, charlotte, michigan. >> are you there? can you hear me? >> yes. go ahead. >> i would like to see at least a similar amount of time is given for falsified orchestrated stories about donald trump, i'd like to see you give the same amount of time the investigations going on with joe and hunter biden. starting to sound more like cnn every day, it's starting to bother me. that's all i have to say, goodbye. >> we have guests on all the time showing different sides of the conversations. remember to check out our extensive library for all types

of viewpoints. the republican line calling from overgaard, arizona. >> thank you for taking my call. i would like to congratulate the gentleman that talked about the woman calling in and saying 37 indictments, how can you run for president -- you explained it pretty well but what she didn't, i don't think got across to her is indictment is not conviction. that's where the grand jury said trial. during the grand jury, there isn't a defense, there's nobody there representing trump. it's prosecutors saying this is what we've got.

only 12 of them have to say go ahead with the trial. these are people voting, do they have a basic concept of our laws that you can determine who's going to represent us? all the lies like another woman who called in and said biden got this huge social security increased but this depends on inflation which biden brought inflation through the roof so social security is a big bump. people need to understand what is true.

people like constantly. thank you for taking my call. >> let's go to loretta in freeport, louisiana, democrat line. >> my name is loretta w francis and i live at 5930 yukon drive and my daughter's name -- but her real name is that you draw the net and my son's name is timothy g wiggins and i have two kids and my brother same is henry wiggins junior, he was in vietnam and i'm calling on his behalf.

...

i used to be a republican years ago with ronald reagan but not anymore. the republican party needs to be changed, it's out of control the way isee it . i have a quote fromsteve eisenhower , march six 1956.

i think this is what the situation is right now with the republican party . the party does not have its foundation and the determination to advance the cause is right and that is moral. then it is not our political party, merely conspiracy to seize power and i have a feeling what eisenhower felt about his party at that particular time and that's the way i feel about the particular political party right now and the american people need to understand the situation as it is. >> and we are in open for him right now, republicans 202-748-8000, 748-8000 and independence 202 748 8002. let's go to the republican line. randy is calling from

kentucky. >> deputy mayor: what irony is going on here. i was reporting biting on the doj investigation of trump. when is he going to have his campaign rally saying locked him up? locked him up and right there beside him lock him up. you'd think he was insane. thank you. >> our next caller is ted in hawaii on the democratic line . >> deputy mayor: hello. >> mayor: hi ted. >> caller: i want you guys a lot. everybody on both sides keeps

talking about lies. everybody has a gut instinct is what tells you what the truth is and i think because of all theback-and-forth lies , this and that people will have to rely on their gut instinct. they can look at donald trump walking across the stage, look at joe biden and look at their history. i can just see it's going to be a gut instinct call for most of us because you can't hardly believe what you hear on a lot of television so we need to rely on our gut instinct. i was in the air force during the vietnam war and you rely on your got instinct to survive and i believe that's where we are right now. everybody needs to think with their gut instinct and go with that because there's too much one side lying, the other sideline and unfortunately we're going to have to rely on our gut instinct to get tothe truth .

>> host: ted from hawaii, now let's goto northern virginia . on the independent line. >> caller: thanks c-span, thanks for taking my call. definitely in the political environment i think one of the colors earlier said that at the end of the day the mishandling of documents by whatever they're calling them, classified documents needs to be prosecuted and i think a lot of callers don't quite appreciate the fact that there's a lot of effort to make these things secure and ensure that any violation of that again should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and it's unfortunate maybe some of the previous politicians also may or may not have done some of

these things aren't prosecuted as well. they should all be prosecuted equally and i think that's one of the biggest issues that we see and then just in general the idea that you just can't, we all have responsibilities wherever you are or what you're doing, you have to live up to them and i think all this politicized nation across the board. hopefully there's a lot of callers referencing today there's a desire for greater truth and parity and i would hope the government can work harder with that and provide that transparency so voters can make informed decisions about character, about individuals and who they want

in office. thanks for taking the call and thanks for what you do and trying as hard as you can to report what's happening. so thank you very much. >> host: we're still in open forum. i want to bring up today's wall street journal front page that it references the indictment of donald trump . trump special counsel early strategies and it said arraignment set for tuesday in a legal battle that comes in the 24 primary.i want to start with the second paragraph that says trumps legal team is likely to seize on two key factors as it melts its courtroom defense against the 37 count indictment brought by jack smith. this past president power to

declassify documents and the looming 2024 trump is the early can runner. it will also seek to benefit from the trial for the that of former president trumps strategy as he prepares for his first appearance in court on tuesday open forum continues. our next caller is all about line. joe in cleveland, go ahead. >> i just want to say when president trump was in charge i could go to sleep at night and can't wait for the next morning to listen to the news . now that we have joe biden in the house i'm afraid to see what he has done this night. i just think he's the worst or have.

i don't care what anyone says . he's falling, he's tripping. he walks like he's going to fall forward. i don't see any sentence of this and when trump was in charge, my interest rates were low. now i then bailed out the banks and all my cards, the interest rates went sky high so he made a mistake and he should have never ever raised our interest. if you look at your cards and your interest they are skyhigh. nobody cares about the little guy. if trump was in charge we never would have had all this emotion and all those people in the federal that were supposed to be looking over the banks , they all should be fired.

then i hear no one has ever been fired from the federal government which is a shock to me. i can't believe it. they are all that honest? >> host: that should do it for open forum. we are back with washington journal and climate scientist university of california berkeley president patrick gonzalez talks to us about wildfires. good morning professor gonzalez. >> guest: good morning. >> host: i have an article called up by the guardian that i'm going to read the first paragraph. ongoing wildfire season is a harbinger of our climate officials say. the fires are", fierce sign of climate change with mohammed, a researcher at yale university in montrcal who is also a close associate

at the african institute of technology. it says research shows that climate change has already exacerbated wildfires dramatically. my question is do youagree with that hypothesis ? >> guest: absolutely. published research shows that climate change is exacerbating wildfire. wildfire is caused by a complex mix of factors so let me briefly set the stage describe the context. it sends out small trees and incipient poor health. fire naturally occurs every 10 to 20 years and only 100 to 300 years.

and in the western us we have updated policies to deal with wildfires, even natural ones caused by natural accumulations of fuel. in canada, roads and cost natural, unnatural increases in emission. at the same time climate change intensifies the heat that rises from wildfires. and specific scientific analysis called detection and attribution has looked at all the different factors that go into wildfires . these analysis concluded human caused climate change is lengthened the fire season around the world up to two months. in the western united states human caused climate change

double the area of wildfires since 1984 and in british columbia canada in the extreme fire year of 2017 human caused climate change increased the burned area 7 to 11 times over natural levels so in summary relation of local factors is a human caused climate change has increased the area burned by wildfires. >> and i'm bringing up some data from the natural fire center. it shows the number of fires is in acres burned can vary greatly very year-to-year. what other factors are causing that fluctuation you talk about the human impact why do we see so much fluctuation from year-to-year recently? >> because both temperatures,

rainfall and snowfall very year-to-year. they bounced up and down naturally . but human caused climate change is causing a long-term increase in the temperature so in some years, the snowfall or rainfall is very high so the landscape is moist. so we have less fire, fewer fires and other years rainfall drops and its dryer. that's superimposed on this long-term increase in those years like this year in canada wildfire composes. >> we want you to call in with either questions or for professor gonzalez or any thoughts about wildfires and climate change.

so those numbers are if you are in the eastern or central time zones, we want you to call us at 202 748 8000. if you are in the house and work is time zones, call us at 202 748 8001. so again user accessible to to seven 48,000 thousand and 202 748-8000 one before we get to the call i want to ask youprofessor gonzalez , you're in california you said has experienced wildfires decreasing over the past year recently went but wildfire in canada impacted the northeast corner, new york, washington dc, it seemed like public interest increasedgreatly . did you notice that and has caused frustration with fulton california who said

we've been talking about this for years and you work paying attention to you more. >> is good when the case notes wherever the public is the hazards of climate change or how it's exacerbating wildfire and other impacts around the world. this recent episode in the eastern us is expanded the awareness of the influx of climatechange . >> where talking with university of california berkeley professor patrick gonzalez. ready for your questionsor comments . first is an in oklahoma. i think we lost an. that quickly. we will wait and get back to the phone lines you mentioned the floodwaters in snow.

this is from the california department of water resources and it says that there is the manual survey reported 126.5 inches of snow depth in the snow water equivalent of 54 inches which is 221 of average for this location that was in early april quote says this year's quote, this year's beer storms and flying is the latest example california's climate is becoming more extreme that the water resources director harlan nevins. after the last three years on record and devastating drought impacts to communities across the state water resources has rapidly shifted to flood response in forecasting for the upcoming snow melts. so we've been talking about climate change but some people will say you were saying wildfires were an issue, now are talking about

wildfires, flooding, how can both be an impact to climate change? >> a list scientific research shows that human caused climate change is increasing the amount of energy in the atmosphere and this energy is redistributed in unusual ways such that temperature extremes and rainfall extremes have been occurring. so the drought that california experienced. the severe drought from 2012. is actually part of a larger worldwide spread across the southwestern us been the most severe sense the 1500s. and then climate change in the most recent redistribution of atmospheric energy in some time brings extreme storms.

extreme rainfall. her with the atmospheric records so that was actually good news of wildfire the landscape being as moist as it is as i said previously climate change is causing extreme rainfall. sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down paul's post on this long-term. >> let's go to the phone lines. roberts is in susanville california. go ahead with your question or comment robert c4 thank you for my comments. out here in california i've worked for the forest service and part of the problem is how their policy is on fighting fires. and when i used to work from 35, 40 years of day actually tried to put fires out. stand that the underbrush

growth and that kind of thing does need to be taken care of but their problem is now with these huge fires burn or months at a time, that's the problem. they don't try to put them out. they tried to control the burn and eventually we get a windy day. it blows over there fire times like paradise. my uncle was turned out of paradise. regional three years ago for the dixie fire now with older houses will because they decided to meet. i understand yes, one has a lot to do it. so does population. fires used to burn before in really remote areas, now they are not so remote .

i feel i've watched him, i used to work with this run supplies to watch the firefighters literally sitting around waiting and watching just as the firebirds once one u special i'll go out and throw some dirt on this fire. >> let's let professor gonzalez respond. >> and damage from wildfires varies. published scientific research shows that the most effective means of preventing those gaps and damage in the future is to restore the natural fire regimes that have been unnaturally suppressed over a century of allocated policy. so the federal agencies have a national wildfire plan operational plans for each fire.

and if fires are naturally ignited and remote, then the fire crews monitor thefire . let it burn, let the natural fire. >> last friday the department of justice announced donald trump had been indicted on 37 counts related to business handling of classified documents when only has to listen to the statements from national security adviser john bolton calls attorney general

machine-learning experts in the country. someone exceptionally skilled at breaking down the complexities of a.i. in a simple way. i strongly urge all of my colleagues to attend the briefing. elected representatives in the 21st century cannot ignore

a.i. anymore more than civil liberties. it is imperative we take time to educate ourselves on a.i. and its implications so we can be sure it becomes a force for prosperity. i urge my colleagues to attend the other two a.i. briefings happening in the coming weeks. our second briefing will focus on where a.i. is headed in the future and how america can remain a leader in the field. our third classified briefing on a.i., the first ever on the subject, will focus on how our adversaries will use a.i. against us and how the dod and intelligence community are using this technology is keep americans safe. i look forward to attending the briefing tomorrow, and i thank senators rounds, heinrich and young for their work on this issue. on the nominations front, last week after confirming several highly qualified nominees like dilawar syed, i filed cloture on

two more executive nominees and two district judges. we will soon consider the nominations of hernan vera and casey pitts to serve as district judge for the northern district of california. for the information of senators, i will file cloture on more nominees later this evening. now, on the republican tax plan. with the predictability of -- predictability, republicans do what they do best to benefit the wealthy while telling working families to take a hike. last friday the house republicans released new tax giveaways that double down on some of the worst part of the 2017 trump tax law. this latest gop tax scam feels like a bad rerun. the biggest winners are

billion-dollar companies and high-income households. the biggest losers are vulnerable families and anyone who worries about protecting our planet for future generations. the bulk of these new business tax giveaways will flow directly to the largest corporations in the country. half of the ten million dollars in interest deduction benefits will flow to companies with revenues of over a billion dollars annually. the republicans latest proposal will gut billions in clean energy investments, essential for creating millions of good-paying green jobs. in months the inflation reduction act created 142,000 new good-paying jobs, more are coming in the next few months and years, but republicans want to gut those investments. big oil polluters, meanwhile under the republican plan, would get a $10 billion tax break. it's almost too pesk that

republicans unroll this big oil tax giveaway as millions of americans endure toxic air pollution exacerbated by climate change. this tax giveaway by the republicans will mean next to nothing for too many americans who aren't among the top percentage of earners and for all the consternation we heard from republicans about lowering the deficit. this latest tax package will do what tax packages have done in the past, blow another hole in our deficit. independent forecasters said that the republicans' proposal would increase the deficit by a trillion dollars. this is the same republicans who nearly defaulted us because they were worried about the dweft and debt and now -- deficit and debt and now they are making a proposal that increases the debt by a trillion dollars. what hib chrissie. -- hypocrisy.

republicans like to talk about deficit reduction when it suits them, when they push for tax breaks for the ultra rich, they switch their tune. republicans claim that these tax cuts pay for themselves as if by magic. but the gop has been claiming for decades that their tax cuts pay for themselves only to have the actual economic facts repute them over and over and over again. merntion know by now that account -- americans know by now cutting taxes for the rich while ignoring american families is a trickle down approach that republicans seem to have love. but they seem not to love from experience. the last time a republican tax scam was passed under president trump, the winners turned out to be wealthy shareholders and corporations, not families and big corporations use their wind fall to spend trillions of

dollars on corporate stock buybacks. the latest tax scam is more of the same. and another massive hole in the deficit. the good news americans saw through the plan. in 2018 they hardly mentioned it because america was aware that it was not for them but for the wealthiest people. and the american people once again see through it just as clearly, see through this tax scam just as clearly today. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. i yield the floor.

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 those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 26. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, dale e. ho of 2340rbg to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to

bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar 26, dale e. ho of new york to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent 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 question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 29. the presiding officer: the question is on the notion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, nusrat jahan choudhury of new york to be united states district judge for the eastern district of new york. mr. schumer: i send a cloture

motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 29, nusrat jahan choudhury of new york to be united states district judge for the eastern district of new york signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent 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 question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 23. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the

judiciary, julie rikelman of massachusetts to be united states circuit judge for the first circuit. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 23, julie rikelman of massachusetts to be united states circuit judge for the first circuit signed by 17 nors -- senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent 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, june 12, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor.

mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, last month the majority leader announced an effort to compile what he called china bill 2.5 a-- 2.0 alluding to the chips and science act we dealt with last year dealing with the vulnerability of our supply chains and semiconductors which were overwhelmingly manufactured in asia, 60% in taiwan alone. to pursue this china bill 2.0, senator schumer directed committee chairman to work on legislation that takes aim from everything from u.s. investment in china to a security threat against taiwan. as each of us know, these are some of the most urgent threats

facing the united states and our allies today. the chinese communist party has become increasingly aggressive in recent years. it's rapidly growing and modernizing its military. it's cozying up to russia. it's bullying and harassing its neighbors in the indo-pacific. yes, there is a clear and urgent need to counter threats from china, but there's a better way than china 2.0. as we've seen in the past, our democratic colleagues can't resist the urge to mix partisan politics along with urgent national security legislation. so every one of these bills tends to become a vehicle for unrelated items. we saw this during consideration of the u.s. innovation and competition act two years ago when our colleagues attached prevailing wage legislation to

the chips provision. they injected partisan labor policy into private construction projects that would benefit from national security concerns. but we won't outcompete china by pursuing a liberal domestic social policy. our democratic colleagues have shown themselves unwilling to separate themselves from the left's wish list from our most urgent national security priorities. if the true goal is to counter threats from china, the majority leader doesn't need a new working group to draft a bill from scratch because there's already a strong bipartisan effort under way. our colleagues on the armed services committee are working around the clock to prepare this year's defense authorization bill. this is literally been something congress has done for the last 61 years without interruption.

this legislation is not negotiated in a back room by a handpicked group of members. it isn't thrown together in a matter of days and then pushed to the floor for a vote without the opportunity to offer amendments. it is slowly and thoughtfully drafted over a period of months, including multiple hearings, votes, and hundreds of amendments. year after year all 100 members of the united states senate are given an opportunity to shape the national defense authorization bill in some way. as a result, the defense authorization bill has maintained strong bipartisan support for more than six decades. the armed services committee is set to consider the 2024 national defense authorization act just next week. as it stands right now, the committee should be able to complete its work by the end of

the month and put the senate in a great position to pass a strong and on-time defense bill. this legislation is all about supporting our servicemembers, motd nicing our -- modernizing our military and addressing the biggest security threats, including those posed by the chinese communist party. the bipartisan national defense authorization bill should be the centerpiece of our efforts to counter threats from russia, not a bill put together behind closed doors with members having only the chance to vote yes or no in final passage. senators on both sides will have an opportunity. in contrast under the ndaa, to offer amendments and to be able to shape that bill. so it will truly represent a bipartisan consensus of all 100 members of the u.s. senate. and i plan to offer several amendments that will strengthen our ability to counter threats

from china. one of those bills that i intend to offer takes aim at china and other adversaries who are trying to take advantage of loopholes to influence u.s. policy. what i'm talking about is the foreign agent registration act. that law requires individuals engaged in lobbying activities on behalf of foreign governments to disclose that information publicly. but there are two major loopholes that are being abused by our adversaries. as a result, foreign agents are able to influence u.s. policy unbeknownst to members of congress because they don't have to disclose who is actually paying them. so rather than engage in the people's business, the people of the united states, we could find ourselves being lobbied by somebody who's representing a foreign government with interests that are completely different from those of the united states.

lobbyists for american entities are required to adhere to strict disclosure requirements. we want to know who they're working for, and there's no reason our adversaries should be subject to more lenient standard which they are now. in other words, it's easy to hide the ball. come in and lobby on behalf of a foreign government and not let members of congress or the american people know who they are lobbying on behalf of. senator whitehouse and i have introduced a bill we call the paid off act to help close those loopholes in our lobbying system that are being abused by some of our adversaries. it would require foreign agents lobbying on behalf of china, russia, cuba, or other countries of concern to register and disclose their political activities to the department of justice, just as the law originally intended before these loopholes were identified and exploited. as our colleagues know, there's

never been a more important time to protect our country from the secret and malign influence of some foreign governments. this is a goal democrats and republicans should share alike, and i hope this legislation will be adopted as an amendment to this year's national defense authorization act. another amendment i plan to offer is the national critical capabilities defense act, which has become -- has been a joint effort with senator casey, the senator from pennsylvania. we first introduced this legislation last year to help understand our greatest national security risks. we know that american companies have been investing in china for many years, including some defense and technology capabilities now at an alarming scale. at the end of 2020, u.s. investments in chinese companies totaled $2.3 trillion in market

value. that is u.s. companies investing in china have basically built the china company -- the chinese company which now put them as a peer adversary both in terms of our economies and in terms of our military capabilities. so that $2.3 trillion in market value by american companies who invest in china includes $21 billion in semiconductors, $54 billion for chinese military companies, and a whopping $221 billion in artificial intelligence. american companies are bank rolling the capabilities and assets that the chinese communist party could soon use against the united states and our allies. right now the u.s. is flying blind. we don't have a full understanding of the vulnerabilities this creates, and this legislation is exactly

what we hope will begin to change that situation and provide more transparent and thus ability for united states members of congress and other leaders to evaluate whether and how some of these investments made by u.s. companies in china are affecting our national security. the national critical capabilities defense act would ensure that we have better awareness of the biggest national security risks so we can plan and prepare accordingly. just as it's critical for the united states to add visibility into the political rinks, it's -- risks, it's also important for the average american to understand how chinese aggression can impact their own finances and our economy. president xi has made no desire of his descrier to invade taiwan and has said he wants to be ready to go by the year 2027,

just four years from now. if ar or when that happens, the global response will be swift and severe. it will affect business' cash flow, manufacturing operations, please, assets, business relationships, and so much more. so stockholders for whom the companies owe a fiduciary duty, investors' need to know whether it's a teachers' retirement fund or or a union pension retirement fund, those investors need to know how much risk these investments in chinese companies carry. i think i have this like the warning box on a box of cigarettes that says smoking causes heart disease, cancer, and emphysema and may plicate

pregnancies. they're at least presented with clear risks about their decision. american investors and teachers and firefighters pension funds, union pension funds, they deserve the same transparency when it comes to the dangers of military conflict in the indo-pacific. i'm finalizing legislation that will require public companies, investment taxpayers, investment advisors and tax-exempt organizations to disclose the risk posed by a potential military conflict in the indo-pacific. a chinese invasion of taiwan poses a material risk to many americans' livelihoods and retirements and investment investments and that information should be disclosed and transparent. so, madam president, these are just a few of the bipartisan bills that are aimed at

countering china and that i hope will be included in in the ndaa. i appreciate. a senator: wicker and senator -- mr. cornyn: i appreciate senator wicker and senator reid for their effort to make it an open process. this is what we call regular order around here, as contrasted with the backroom negotiations which only a handful of people get to participate in and basically where ranking-and-file members are excluded. but this also would reaffirm that the national defense authorization act should be the pillar of our efforts to counter china. i fear that a china 2. 0 bill will turn into another partisan billment. it will lead good bipartisan bills to be held hostage by unrelated partisan demands. we cannot allow the competition with china to become so

politicized. the answer of course is a national defense authorization act which has a long and proud history of bipartisanship and i hope we can continue to build on that success this year. once the armed services committee completes its work, i hope the majority leader will prioritize consideration of that bill on the senate floor. we can't afford to repeat last year's draw ma when senator schumer allowed the ndaa to languish on the senate dash for more than five months without any action. if the majority leader truly cares about countering threats from china, he'll abandon his partisan china 2.0 bill and allow the senate to pass a strong and on-time national defense authorization act. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: last week i came

here to speak to my colleagues about the biden administration and the fbi playing games with the american people by hiding the fbi-generated 1023 document from congress. and the american people. director wray was going to be held in contempt for refusing to produce the 1023 that i told chairman comer about, and i think i had that first conversation with chairman comer about three weeks ago. then instead of contempt, the fbi committed to the showing the 10923 and related document -- the 1023 and related documents to the whole congress. by the way, i thank chairman comer for his cooperation with me and how he's pursued this issue, because we know a heck of

a lot more now than if he hadn't been involved in this whole effort. so the fbi showed, after the fbi committed to showing this document, they showed but it didn't provide possession of the 1023 to the house oversight committee last week and, by the way, 1023 is unclassified. so why shouldn't the entire country know about what's in this 1023? as the public knows, that 1023 involves an allegeed bribery scheme between then-vice president biden, hunter biden, and a foreign national. the same allegations that chairman comer and i made public on may 3 of this year. and on the very same day that

the fbi provided a redacted version of the 1023 to the house oversight committee, the justice department then announced that former president trump had been indicted and charged with 37 crimes related to his alleged mishandling of classified records. attorney general garland signed off on prosecuting trump for conduct similar to what joe biden and hillary clinton engaged in. two standards of justice in this country will turn our constitutional republic upside down. thanks to the political infections within the biden justice department and the fbi, we were well along the road for that to happen. this senator will do all that he can to fight political infection

in the department of justice and the fbi. and you fight it then by bringing transparency to what this government does. the public's business ought to be public. transparency brings accountability. with respect to the 1023 shown to that house oversight committee, from what which i've been told by folks who've reviewed it, it's filled with redactions. now, the document that comer and i read had maybe two or three half-inch redactions, not whole sentences redacted, as i'm told the document in the scif is. so director wray placed redactions on a document that's

already unclassified. as i've said before, unclassified. more than that the fbi made congress review a redacted unclassified document in a classified facility. that goes toss show you -- that goes to show you the disrespect that the fbi has for congress. on a previous time on this senate floor, i think i told my fellow senators that what's so unusual about an unclassified document being given to the public when i think it was may 18 of this year there was leaked to "the new york times" a classified document and even the name of a confirmed shall human

-- confidential human source. so we're kind of in a strange situation here. classified document can be leaked to "the new york times" but an unclassified document can't be made public to 300 million americans, if they're interested in reading it. now, accordingly, congress still lacks a full and complete picture with respect to what that document really says. that's why it's important that the document be made public without unnecessary redactions for the american people to see. can you believe redacting an unclassified document? so now let me assist for the purposes of more transparency on this subject. the 1023 produced to the house

committee's redacted reference that the foreign national who allegedly bribed joe and hunter biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversation with them. 17 such recordings. according to the 1023, the foreign national possesses 15 audio recordings of phone calls between him and hunter biden. according to the 1023, the foreign national possesses two audio recordings of phone calls between him and then-vice president joe biden. these recordings were allegedly kept as a sort of insurance policy for the foreign national in case that he got into a tight spot. the 1023 also indicates that then-vice president joe biden may have been involved in

burisma employing hunter biden. based on the facts known to the congress and the public, it's clear that the justice department, the fbi haven't nearly had the same laser focus on on the biden family. special counsel jack smith has used a recording against former president trump. well, what is u.s. attorney weiss doing with respect to these alleged joe and hunter biden recordings that are apparently relevant to the high-stakes bribery scheme? getting a full and complete 1023 is critical for the american people to know and understand the true nature of the document and to hold the justice department and the fbi accountable.

it's also important for asserting congressional constitutional -- constitutional congressional oversight powers against an out-of-control executive branch obviously drunk with political infection. remember, congress has received 1023's in the past, and they've been made public. so asking for this 1023 to be turned over to the american people to read is not an unusual thing that goes on with 10 2's. -- with 1023's. congress owes it to the american people and the brave and heroic whistleblowers to continue to fight for transparency in this matter and make this document public without unnecessary redactions. and i want everybody to remember that i have read the unredacted

version, except for a couple -- or three half-inch redactions, i'd say. thank you very much. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mrs. blackburn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president.

the biden administration has spent the better part of three years claiming that its border policies are humane and just. we know this isn't the case. under joe biden, the mexican cartels are acting with impunity because the president would rather cave to the desires of the far left than admit that a country without a border is indeed an open border because it has no borders at all. because of this open-border policy, and the fact that they are not recognizing the southern border as a border, they have turned every town into a border down, every state into a border state, and this has made us vulnerable to drug smugglers,

human traffickers, and violent criminals looking for their next victim. in april border patrol reported more than 182,000 encounters with migrants trying to cross the southern border. 182,000. when you combine that with the numbers from the first quarter of this year, you come up with more than 602,000 encounters. that doesn't include the tens of thousands of got-aways who disappeared into the country before they could be apprehended. when you add that to the 22,000 pounds of drugs that have been seized, almost 40,000 criminals that have been caught, and 49 suspected terrorists apprehended, you must conclude that the biden administration

hasn't just lost control of the border, they have relinquished it. as i said, madam president, the border policy is to have no policy, to have an open border. interesting. and it is something that my colleagues across the aisle refuse to admit is taking place. our southern border is wide open. the people benefiting are the cartels, who are in control of the border on the mexico side. 49 suspected terrorists, 22,000 pounds of drugs, 40,000 criminal illegal aliens apprehended.

and as i said, that is just in the 602,000 that have been apprehended so far this year. that's right, so far this year. and in the got-aways, the tens of thousands of got-aways, how many more pounds of drugs? how many more criminals? how many more terrorists have come into this country? while our border is open, the cartels are monetizing joe biden's refusal to secure the country. they have turned human trafficking into a $13 billion a year business. it's amazing, $13 billion on human trafficking alone.

for years illegal immigrants have taken advantage of the fact that if they cross the border with a minor, they will more likely than not be released into the u.s. while their immigration cases are processed. but under joe biden human traffickers have made this complacency a part of their expected business model. they're now engaging in a practice that is horrendous. it is called child recycling. it is a disgusting process. in this child recycling process, the same child is exploited repeatedly by illegal aliens attempting to enter the united states. once one criminal escapes into the country, they ship the child back across the border and into the hands of another abuser.

the trump administration fought back against this practice and mandated that asylum seekers with accompanying minors take dna tests to prove that they were indeed a family unit. and like many of the trump-era border policies, this worked. we have the data to prove it. just ask the border patrol. in one pilot program, 30% of those rapid dna tests showed that the adult trying to enter the country bore no relation to the child they brought with them. 30%. the dna testing program saved a lot of lives. so, i would ask my colleagues this question --

is it fair, is it fair to ask the biden administration, is it worth saving the lives of these children? this administration ended dna testing of illegal immigrants last month, two weeks after title 42 ended. so madam president, is it fair to ask why they will not implement dna testing? why will they not agree to save the lives of as many as 30% of the children that are being presented at the southern border? see, it wasn't a policy decision. you've just got to believe that. it had to be a political

decision, and we just cannot allow this to stand. earlier this year i introduced the end child trafficking now act. that would imnallize child repsych -- criminalize child recycling, reinstate the dna testing program, and put in place harsh penalties for migrants who try to skirt the law. this legislation would require adult migrants trying to enter the country with a minor to prove they are indeed the child's relative or guardian. they will be able to do that by providing paperwork and sworn witness testimony or by taking the dna test. now, if their paperwork doesn't check out, madam president, and we know the cartels have started to forge documents and do fraudulent paperwork, we're aware of that, that's why if their paperwork doesn't pan out,

the dna test is mandatory. if the dna test proves that migrant is lying, hhs would step in and process the child as an unaccompanied minor. and the trafficker would face a maximum ten-year prison sentence for falsely posing as a family. this legislation would also require dhs to deport illegal aliens who refuse to take the dna test. this is a commonsense bill that every senator in this chamber should get behind. i call on my democratic colleagues to either join me in moving this important legislation forward or explain to the american people why they would stonewall a program, a test, and it only takes 45

minutes. why would they stonewall this when it would keep children out of these human trafficking rings? this horrific practice will not stop unless we stop it, and if we don't catch it at the border we need to catch it as these criminals move across the country. child recycling is a problem, but i think we all know that not every child forced across our border is sent back home. labor and sex trafficking within the united states is real and it is happening in our communities. this horrible reality, particularly affects girls and young women, which is why i introduced the save girls act. this bipartisan legislation, which i introduced with senator

klobuchar, creates a $50 million grant program to provide states, local itses and -- localities and nongovernmental organizations with the resources they need to catch traffickers and to support the children, the women that survive this horrific practice. this is not a republican or a democrat issue. this is a human rights issue, and i am so grateful to my colleagues for working with me to put the safety of these women and girls first. i hope the rest of the members of this chamber will follow the lead and help us pass the save girls act and the end child trafficking now act. because, if we don't, things will get much, much worse for these children and these women that are being trafficked. i yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mrs. blackburn: i ask to suspends the quorum call. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent -- the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: that the following member of my staff be it granted floor privileges for the remainder of the congress, steven soushe. the presiding officer: without objection.

test.

# a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that gwynn shelly, an intern in my office, be granted floor privileges until june 13, 2023. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: madam president, social security is a sacred trust between the american people and the american government. for the worker who's about to retire with no savings other than social security, the woman

who relies on social security to pay for medications, they need to know that the government is not going to break this sacred trust. that's why i've been leading a bipartisan group of over a dozen senators to develop a solution, and we have what we call the big idea. but before describing the big idea, i have to tell you right now it does not matter what big ideas or any ideas are being discussed. president biden made it clear in his state of the union speech that he was going to run for reelection, attacking republicans on the issue of social security. he has not introduced legislation on social security himself. he spoke about one in his previous campaign, but it was not serious, and the money that he said he would use for his unserious man plan, he has spent. president biden has not

acknowledged the problem that social security faces, but in a bipartisan sense, let's be fair, he's not alone. former president trump refuses to acknowledge the issue. he never worked or sought to work with congress when he was president and he criticizes anyone who suggests that social security might be going insolvent, but unfortunately social security is going insolvent. it is not me who says this, it is the actuaries, those who are to come before the american people and tell what is the current state of social security. they say in nine years it will be insolvent. at that point bishes will see a -- beneficiaries will see a 24% cut in the amount they are receiving. there's no grandfathering in, when that deadline hits, 2033, 27% cut for those currently

receiving. poverty among the he would lerly -- among the elderly doubles. even though it's against the law to borrow money to pay the difference between what is coming in and going out, let's imagine that we did. if we do decide to break the law and borrow that money, it would end up causing a $562 trillion debt to pay these benefits over the next 75 years. that would give us a debt-to-g.d.p. ratio similar to greece and venezuela and that is independent to the money required for medicare benefits and other such benefits. so what does our big idea do? our big idea avoids this problem by setting up an investment fund separate from social security, no social security money whatsoever, an investment fund in which we place money and allow it to grow over 75 years

and in so doing we address 75% of the issue. we don't raise the retirement age to 70, as people suggest, we make sure that no one has a disruption and their benefits that they are promised to receive and in our plan, we have work incentives and we work to address issues of gop and poverty among the elderly. it's an idea that can work and pass congress, but there's been zero presidential leadership and we've got no engagement from this president and there is no engagement from the previous president. so a few weeks ago, we decided to take our issue to the people and we call it bill on the hill. kind of a nice rhyme. i took a walk around the capitol grounds and spoke to americans

visiting the nation's capitol. there's a couple from louisiana, a family from pennsylvania and several others who gave their unvarnished opinions on what they want washington to do about social security. the bottom line, americans want to see social security saved. they, we, deserve a real solution, not grandstanding. one blue collar i spoke to from rural pennsylvania told me, jobs -- i'm going to try to imitate his voice. jobs i've had haven't necessarily had retirement plans. he said it's very discouraging to hear a 24% cut is coming if we do nothing. there's a doctor who has as much gray hair as i do, if you can marriage, he was one of my former students.

apoolosa is where i'm from. he said doing nothing means that poverty among his patients would double. among the population in general. he says the people he knows would have to start choosing between medicines and food. these are people who rely on social security, who put faith in that sacred trust that they would not have to choose between meppedz and food, and -- medicine and food, and yet that's the choice they will be forced to if we do nothing. there is dr. paul kim, a pastor, a veteran who was up here for a convention from massachusetts, and he told me what he wanted from a president. quote, he has to be honest and keep the promise of social security. dr. kim is right. the president needs to be honest with the american people about social security, but this

president is not. he refuses to even acknowledge that the problem exists. the fact is, as i've already mentioned, social security, according to the actuaries, the people we entrust to tell us the state of it is going insolvent in nine years, but president biden is steadfast in his position that there's nothing wrong, there's no need for a serious plan. yes, he introduced plan when he was on the campaign trail, has done nothing since, and the money he would use for this unserious plan he has proposed to use on other things. $5.4 trillion pro posed for new taxes and not a dime going to social security. it's not just president biden, even president trump did nothing. he criticizes people who wish to do something. it appears that the biden-trump plan is the same. it is a plan to do nothing and

demagogue those who choose to responsibly address the issue. when i told one of these folks, the woman from opelousas, louisiana, that president biden and donald trump have the same plan, she was like, oh, that's something. when she heard it was a plan to do nothing, her reaction was i want to laugh and i want to cry at the same time. americans are watching as washington flownders as the dead -- flounders as retirees get a 47% cut -- 24% cut approaches. when people understand that the program is going insolvent in nine years, the very liberal and very conservative thinks that we should address the issue now. that's the american people speaking, but that's not our

leading presidential candidates. we owe it to the measurable american people -- to the american people to take this sacred trust seriously, we owe it to them to save social security before it's too late. i'm open to discussing my big idea, anyone else's idea, you name it, but there has to be a serious conversation, since it has to be signed into law, a participate must be the -- participant must be a president of the united states. we need the political courage from those who aspire to be our nation's leader to show leadership. with that, i yield. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. menendez: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that my -- i be table to make my full statement prior to the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. menendez: madam president, i come to the floor today to urge

my colleagues to vote for cloture for elizabeth allen, the president's nominee for under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. when we think about russia's illegal, unprovoked invasion of ukraine, we have to realize we are in competition with more than just conventional militaries or economic prowess. we are at a battle over what kind of world we want to live in. and we want to live in a world where people are free to speak their minds, free to start a business are free to worship as they choose and marry the person they love. these are the fundamental freedom that's shape the united states and the values that drive our foreign policy. whether it comes to explaining american values and our policy to the world, one of the best toolts we have is our public -- tools we have is our public diplomacy programs. at a time when our adversaries

are pouring billions of dollars into propaganda, tarn getted disinformation and misinformation campaigns often about the united states, we need an empowered bureau of global public affairs to tell the truth about u.s. foreign policy. we need to highlight the millions of dollars americans invest in public health, infrastructure projects, and humanitarian relief around the world. we need programs like the international leadership visitor program that exposes rising leaders from across the world to america's systems of governance and democracy. leaders who share our vision of a free and open world. with we need programs that bring foreign students to american universities, not only affirming the excellence of our higher education system but bringing billions of dollars into the u.s. economy. and i could go on. our public diplomacy tools are simply the best bang for our

buck when it comes to making sure we expose people around the world to american values, culture, and the truth about our foreign policy efforts. and we need capable, qualified leadership of the department of state to lead these efforts. that's why we must confirm ms. allen as under secretary of state for public diplomacy without delay. as the current senior official for public diplomacy and public affairs at the department of state, she has already advanced numerous objectives and is a highly qualified professional with a distinguished career and extensive experience in both public and private sectors. ms. allen is a nominee who will hit the ground running. she began her career at the department of state in the office of global women's issues and the bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement. she served with distinction in the obama-biden administration for eight years, including as white house deputy communications director and deputy assistant to the

president. and as she talked about during her confirmation hearing, she comes from a family who knows what it means to serve the american people. the granddaughter of two veterans, two veterans of world war ii, the daughter of parents who value public service regardless of party. ms. allen understands the importance of making institutional changes to better educate our diplomats and integrate public diplomacy tools into policymaking. so, madam president, i urge this body to support cloture on ms. allen's nomination so we can get her confirmed without delay and spread the good word of american foreign policy throughout the world. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the

nomination of executive calendar number 157, elizabeth allen of new york to be under secretary of state for public diplomacy signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of elizabeth allen of new york to be the under secretary of state for public diplomacy shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 66, the nays are 29, and the motion is agreed to.

the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, june 13, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. following the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the allen nomination, postcloture. further, that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and following the cloture vote on the nomination, the senate

rerecess until 2:15. at 2:15 the senate vote on the motion to up voke -- invoke cloture on the bernstein nomination. further, that if cloture has been invoked at 5:00 p.m. the senate vote on confirmation of the vera and bernstein nominations in the order listed. that the. vote: on the pitts nomination occur at a time to be determined during wednesday's session. if the nominations are confirmed during tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. smith minimum wage if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned under the previous order, until

10:00 a.m. tomorrow.