including comcast. >> do you think this is just a community center, no, it is way more than that suet comcast is partnering to create wi-fi enabled for students from low-income families so we can get that think they need to be ready for anything comcast support cspan as public service along these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> u.s. senate is back in session today continuing to work on judicial nominations, will be all of the nominees throughout the day and tonight congressional republicans and democrats will face-off manual baseball game, for charity wi-fi coverage of the game starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern, are cspan now live before the senate hearing "c-span2". eternal spirit, your great name keeps us from harm.

we remember all your gifts and praise you for your protection. today, guide our senators. make their plans succeed as they find wisdom by following your directions. when they don't know what to do, teach them to be still until you make your will clear. when they feel alone and fearful, remind them that you will never abandon them, no matter how difficult the challenge. lord, help them to focus on the things that are excellent, commendable, true, honorable,

right, pure, lovely and admirable. we pray in your holy name. amen. the president pro tempore: 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 president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed, under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nominees, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, p. casey pitts, of

california, to be united states district journal for the northern district of california.

a disaster there's turn adversity into every state due to a border state in just over a few years, under secretary marcus, more people interact and the 12 years of the obama coming on the trump administration's combined, and this includes, more than 5.2 million apprehensions of the southwest border and more than 6.1 million prevention stock in americans maritime borders and at least 1.5 million, known cutaways and illegal aliens use across our border without being

taught in our large in the united states addition terrify every american, border patrol statistics of criminal aliens, they do catch cutaways conclude as many as 1180, indians guilty of - 285 guilty of assault and more than 3000 of the of murder. in us fall they killed florida church deputy before fleeing the scene, the aliens had entered the country illegally in october of 2021 coming in texas and was back to mexico and someone come up the country got away an unknown number of national security threats morning across her quarter, each everyday. and since last year, the patrol has reportedly nearly 10000 russ, two chinese nationals who have illegally southwest border. the number continues to increase every month. and i have confirmed that some of the chinese nationalist coming in the chinese communist

party, and people's liberation army and they been released into the united states going through this point, we only classified briefing near future for all members dhs has no way to verify entities the reference of these individuals must always quickly release and almost always quickly release into the interior of our country to do who knows what. and this is a height of embedded individuals to our nation's most dangerous adversaries into our local community that is what sectarian marcus is doing. each and every one of these individuals my hope is national security risk. newest law states for most duties, securities to control the board of the united states that surrendered control the southwest to the mexican cartels nothing is in route cardinals knowledge and massive approval season full control pushing out

just the numbers of illegal aliens across drugs like fentanyl, which filled with in 2021, and horrific new record and now the leading cause of death for americans ages 18 - 49 children, arching the funerals of their friends, who died poisoning. one recent study more than 1500 kids under the age of 20, dying from fentanyl poisoning just 2021, more than four times as many as in 2018 secretaries put all families at risk even families visiting from overseas, the family from france, tragically lost their 19 -month-old daughter nora, divisional poisoning the not vacationing in florida, this beautiful little girl was exposed to developing the previous occupant of the rental unit and have any family in america feel safe when state hotel on vp, the death of a child. i devastating consequences do not stop there, so the

secretary's open border policy conclude the following, more than 350,000 and covers and coming writers in the administration's control of 85000 of these children, and tragically many of the traffic to, and abused and exploited according to new york times at the station, many of these to do dangerous jobs violate the child labor laws all because of the decision to stop venting the sponsors from october 1 - 2020 or march of 2023 border patrol reported nearly any thousand rest of illegal aliens with criminal background proximally 2000 rest of the previous for years combined. these numbers do not include data from states like texas which is apprehended hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens in 27000 russ of criminal illegal aliens itself. fy 20 went border patrol

discovered 568 migrants for the southwest border. nearly double 254 printed fy 20. in fy 22 the number jumped up to 853, 1700 migrants have died in u.s. oil well trying to this country illegally is lunch break people he encouraged to make the journey. mayor adams of new york, recently stated the avenue of the hotel rooms to the field illegal any of the cities like chicago opening illegal aliens ahead of their own citizens millions of dollars 2000 care for those arriving to their city, infuriating residents and neighbors like south shore who won't get those resources enemy chicago mayor stated, we simply have no more shelters predict medication and emergency medical services for illegal aliens, more than double 20, fy 21 from around 3 billion, 7 billion.

the suffering and the death fall squarely on the shoulders of the secretary of homeland security man who has been derelict in his duty to protect america since his first in office secretary marcus to undermine immigration laws and security and were in extreme open borders in his placing a bet about crossing over see, punching to work cp does not have enough funding. they're coming for economic reasons, the coming in record numbers because mark and he left the door open. unlocked. those individuals to put process no legitimate claims and under prior and ministration both republican most women quickly deported and the difference now, is eunice policies and yet not once has he taken responsibility for this mess. the mountain of evidence this committee has gotten provides that he has been derelict in the

duty as the duty of department of secretary, skid units in the office immediately reversing effective policies the last two demonstrations replacing of the open border mass casualties and also repeatedly violated the laws passed by this congress in our investigation today's uncovered nearly a dozen violations of statutes and court orders consider just a few examples on the evidence shows that marcus is repeatedly violent blog roll aliens in the country this tension makes clear, pearls only to be granted on a case-by-case temporary basis for humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit and instead, he has done the opposite directing overseeing a release of hundreds of thousands of aliens via mass grown just two years various programs including recently alejandro mayorkas exact and evidence also shows alejandro mayorkas has

violated the clear language of national of the act requiring illegal aliens retained on the claims are result in his direction millions of illegal aliens have been released and referred through preventive alternative tension the other mass parole for the notice to appear in court and dhs is the own data shows that when illegal aliens are not obtained or only contained for short time, and release into the interior, they are almost never removed it and alejandro mayorkas it is claimed that we simply do not have tension space for the historic number really and it's been brought border bias disastrous policies which is the epitome of circular reasoning. you do not get to break the law in order to fix the consequences of your reckless decisions. in the evidence further shows that alejandro mayorkas is violated the laws regarding the deportation of illegal aliens in the illegally entry system will be portable fence and alejandro mayorkas is deciding enforcing the law is optional. as michael was that he could

just get optional. and firstly's issued guidance making it harder for isis to detain and deport vets and really only the country and as a result, deportation has plummeted in the number of illegal aliens on isis 90 team docket escrow by 12 million people in two years gets worse, alejandro mayorkas flagrantly filing gone through pouring him to detain criminal illegal aliens going his own acting ice director, topo is able nice actually been releasing hundreds of illegal aliens into the country criminal and into her country and blessed i checked we are a nation of laws way. sean: pursuit follow the laws congress passes those who failed to do so should be exposed to face the consequences constitution is clear, congress writes a lot and officers mr. alejandro mayorkas are sworn to enforcement nobody is above the law and not even the secretary of homeland security and his failure to oppose a poll

is open from the lockman is been the driving force behind the disastrous border and alejandro mayorkas has consistently made statements to congress in the people to demonstrate either dishonest or gross incompetence and perhaps even both. anything release 19 suppertime, some variations of border security to maybe telling members. of the aisle, for the first of a series of all-senate briefings solely dedicated to the subject of a.i. yesterday's a.i. briefing was a huge success. we had a really strong turnout, from both parties, and it was an important moment for everyone to get into a room and build a foundation of knowledge on this pressing issue. if i had to describe our mindset leaving yesterday's briefing, it was a mix of urgency and humility. urgency because a.i. is develop so damn fast and humility because a.i. is stupendously complex. congress has only a limited amount of time to stay proactive on artificial intelligence, and

i think yesterday's briefing made that clear. the potential societal benefits from a.i. are astounding, from medical advances in innovative materials to fusion energy, and so much more. but we also must recognize that a.i. poses monstrously complex challenges, even top a.i. developers will admit they don't have a firm grip on how this technology works now and even less of a grip on how it will work in the future. one of the topics that's come up in my discussions with experts is explainability, or the challenge of making a.i.'s black box inner workings understandable. even this is no trivial matter. it is a cutting-edge technological research question, and it will require immense cooperation between legislators, developers, researchers, academics and advocates to strike the right balance. i hope all my colleagues join for the next two a.i. briefings next would be period, where

we'll examine where this technology is headed in the near future and get briefed in the scif on national security threats that a.i. already poses. again, thank you to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are already getting to work on this issue, both on their own and in committee. the range of proposals show the senate is taking this matter seriously, and thank you again to senators rounds, heinrich, and young for making these briefings possible. on fort johnson, one of the greatsest -- greatest things of our country is the rich legacy of americans who dedicated their lives to serving fellow citizens, especially on the battlefield. for every memory that lives on, count levers others are heroes in anonymity. that's why today i celebrate the list -- legacy of sergeant henry johnson, harlem hell fighter. yesterday, fort polk in louisiana was renamed in his

honor. after years of advocacy, research and fierce push from my office to make sure this new yorker got the recognition if he has long deserved. over a century ago, sergeant johnson enlisted to fight with the allies in world war i. because of segregation, he served under french command. he was wounded in the battle during a german advance. he saved the lives of his fellow soldiers, but was permanently disabled. and sergeant johnson never received the recognition he deserved in life because of the color of his skin. i was honored to lead the push in congress to have the white house posthumously award the medal of honor to sergeant johnson. i wrote to former secretary hagel, got on the phone with army secretary mchugh and met with senior pentagon officials. and i made a push in 2014 to waive the time restrictions to receive the medal of honor, ad my staff amazingly went deep, deep, deep in the pentagon archives and discovered

previously unknown writings of sergeant johnson's acts on the battlefield, by his own foxhole partner. even general pershing commented on his bravery, because you needed contemporaneous views of how great sergeant johnson was to get the medal of honor. and then, much to the delight and happiness of veterans groups in the capitol region, albany, in new york, and around new york panned the country, president obama awarded sergeant johnson the medal of honor in 2015. when congress authorized the naming commission to provide new names to bases originally named after confederate leaders, i knew that henry johnson was a perfect candidate for this this honor. i'm overjoyed sergeant johnson received the revered company of american heroes whose names are affixed to our military bases. now a black american hero is taking the place of a confederate commander in the south. it is correcting history in a

good way. fort johnson will forever stand proud as an inspiration for generations to come. finally, on the republican tax plan, yesterday, the republican-led house ways and means committee advanced a sweeping array of new tax giveaways that reward the wealthy and well connected and leave ordinary families out to dry. with this latest gop tax scam republicans are showing exactly where their priorities lie, with large corporations, big oil polluters and ultrahigh-earning households. after the trump tax law blew a nearly $2 trillion hole in our national deficit, this new republican proposal would increase the deficit by another trillion dollars. this hypocrisy, mr. president, is just astounding. we -- two, three weeks ago we heard well, we got to reduce the deficit. debt is our big problem. we should even default before we would deal with that problem. now, all of a sudden, they pass a bill that increases the

deficit by another trillion dollars. the hypocrisy of that is bouncing around the walls here. how do they look themselves in the mirror? how do they look themselves in the mirror, by bringing us to the brink of default because they wanted the deficit down and debt down, and now increase it by a trillion dollars, simply to help their ultra-rich friends and the biggest, wealthiest corporations who don't pay a fair share of taxes? republicans push our country to the brink of default in the name of fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, but now the same republicans want to blow a trillion-dollar hole into the deficit without so much as batting an eye. you know what it shows you? those republicans, not all, but them, it shows you they really don't care about the deficit. they simply resent the idea of making the ultra, ultrawealthy

and biggest corporations pay their fair share. the republicans' latest tax scam is also bad news for anyone who worries about protecting our planet in future generations. their proposal cuts billions in clean energy investments railroad creating millions of good-paying green jobs. the inflation reduction act created new good-paying jocks with many coming in the -- good-paying jobs with many coming. republicans want to cut those investments. why? big oil. big oil. they'd get a $10 billion tax break under the republican plan. we all know that the republican party, in the house and senate, is under the thumb of big oil. it's clear that this latest gop tax scam is more of the same -- giveaways to large corporations, giveaways to big oil, and another massive hole in the deficit. i yield the floor.

mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to resume my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: one more stuck page to the last one. this is on nosm nations. -- nominations. it's been another busy week on the senate floor, on nominations. yesterday, we confirmed hernan d. vera to serve as district judge for the central district of california and jared bernstein to be chairman of the cea, council of economic advisers. today, the senate will continue our work by voting to confirm another district judge, casey pitts for the northern district of california, and advance two more district judges today, dale ho of the southern district of new york, and nusrat jahan choudhury of the eastern district of new york. this week we'll also advance the nominations of julie rikelman to be circuit court judge for the first circuit. ity a big week for judges here in the -- it's a big week for judges here in the senate. i thank my colleagues for their work.

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

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the biden administration has been sending

the senate a dizzying list of radical and unqualified nominees to both the executive branch and the federal bench. in several cases the president's picks have been so far outside the mainstream that this chamber's democratic majority hasn't even been willing to confirm them. right now our democratic colleagues are struggling to convince one another to confirm the state employment commissioner who is responsible for tens of billions of dollars in unemployment insurance pavements -- payments and this nominee has been recommended by

the administration for secretary of labor. they've had a hard time agreeing for give a lifetime judgeship to a self-described, wide eyed leftist who liken hate for conservative americans to righteous indignation and moral clarity. and all the while the docket of down right radical nominees continues to fill. this week the democratic leader filed cloture on two new nominations to the federal bench. first, nusrat choudhury is president biden's latest pick to join the eastern district of new york. this nominee has made statements

ranging from reckless suggestions that crimes like theft do not threaten public safety to false and inflammatory assertions that police kill black men every day in america. unsurprisingly, these statements have drawn the ire and opposition of law enforcement groups across our country. and second, julie rikelman is nominated to the first circuit court of appeals. ms. rikelman has described efforts to limit abortion as a vicious assault by hostile politicians and has even objected to restrictions on reprehensible practices like sex selection abortions. so, mr. president, these are the

nominees of a president who promised to unify our country. i would urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting each of them. now, on an entirely different matter, as i discussed repeeltedly, lad mir putin's brutal escalation in creak has prompted america's european allies to take their commitments to collective defense entirely more seriously. meanwhile, on the other side of the world, russia's authoritarian aggression has reinforced a reality our friends in the indo-pacific understand all too well. from communist china's backyard, america's partners in japan, taiwan, and elsewhere see the clear connection between ukraine's fight against putin's russia and the threats they face

closer to home. and they haven't been shy about calling it out. last year japanese prime minister said, quote, ukraine might be east asia tomorrow. we may show there are consequences to the attack. the japanese defense minister put it this way. if the international community somehow allows or condones russia's aggression, it might send a wrong message that such actions can be tolerated in other parts of the world. last month taiwan's imaferred delivered the same message. support for ukraine is relevant to us because it helps to deter. it imposes costs on the aggressor. and taiwan's deputy foreign

minister was even more specific. he recently said support for ukraine is, quote, the best way, the best way to deter china and that beijing is, quote, waiting to see whether the western democratic camp will be able to hold their position. so, mr. president, take it from our friends with their most -- from chinese aggression. ukraine's fight is not a distraction. it's fundamental to deterring china. of course, our friends in the indo-pacific aren't just telling us. they're showing us. japan has committed more than $7 billion to the ukrainian cause, including drone technology, mine detection systems, support for critical infrastructure, as well as humanitarian aid.

and prime minister kishida made a special effort to travel to kyiv in march. taiwan has provided tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian relief to ukraine. and the island's businesses are stepping up to send lifesaving technologies to the front lines. let's not forget the brave citizens of taiwan who have literally volunteered for frontline service in ukraine. taiwanese citizens going to ukraine on the front lines. so, mr. president, america's indo-pacific partners are standing with the west against today's authoritarian aggression. and our combined efforts are helping the entire free world prepare to meet tomorrow's threats. as taiwan's foreign minister pointed out today in prague, we're drawing critical lessons from ukraine's successful

defense of its territory allowing vulnerable partners to adjust training, procurement, and tactics accordingly. we're investing in our own defense industries' capacity. here in america, to improve our ability to compete with china and to enhance deterrence and importantly, america's friends in europe and the indo-pacific are forging closer ties with one another. europe increasingly understands that nato has global interests, that the world's key theaters of competition are connected, and that the challenges we all face from china are simply not confined to asia. our european allies will be affected by instability or conflict in asia as much as the

united states, if not actually more so. so i'm encouraged by the way nato is thinking about the scope of the challenges posed by the prc's aggression. in particular, i'm glad that nato has invited our friends in japan, south korea, australia, and new zealand to join the united states and our allies at the summit next month. china may have proxies but the united states and our allies are friends with shared interests. to paraphrase nato general stoltenberg, it's better, better to have friends.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. and the covid pandemic showed us how painfully true that is when it comes to public health. our public health system is our frontline defense, not only against deadly diseases and pandemics, it also aids in addressing the opioid and fentanyl crisis, preventing chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, protecting our food and water supply, and a lot more. but despite our public health

system's central role in protecting our communities, keeping our families safe and healthy, and preventing major disruptions in our lives, our public health system was sorely underfunded before covid struck, and it has been seriously overwhelmed ever since. we have, thank goodness, gotten a much better grasp on covid, but who in their right mind would look at the last few years and think funding public health is probably something we can put on the back burner. we have to do better, mr. president. we have to apply the lessons we learned and start thinking ahead now so we are never caught unprepared again. we have to end this cycle of crisis and complacency when it comes to building and maintaining strong public health infrastructure. because the simple fact of the matter is, public health infrastructure saves lives. and the better funded and

prepared our hubl health system is before a crisis, the more lives we'll save during one. make no mistake, the question is not whether there will be a new threat. it is when is the next crisis going to strike? will we be ready next time? we cannot afford to treat public health like a one and done issue which is why i'm leer today re-- here today reintroducing my bill to provide $4.5 billion in dedicated annual funding to support core public health capabilities at every level so we can protect our public health system from complace si -- complacency and hostage taking and drastic cuts. the saves plierves acts would make much needed invests at the cdc and crucially it would establish a grant program to support health departments all across our country. this funding would meet a wide variety of needs in communities

across america. health departments could use it to make sure they do robust contact tracing, stop outbreaks in their tracks, have adequate lab capacity to address public health threats, and have a surge workforce available in an emergency to save lives. this funding would impoe wur other public health departments to make sure lifesaving information reaches everyone. people who don't speak english, people with disabilities, people who don't have access to the internet. it would help officials conduct public awareness campaigns and fight misinformation and get really basic but essential information out like when and where to find a vaccine clinic. public health departments could also use this funding as they update their i.t. and data systems to help them more quickly identify threats before they become full blown outbreaks. and it would help us collect

more consistent, comprehensive demographic data so we can see and address gaps in our responses and get the resources where they are needed the most. it would also help our departments hire and train and retain the people they need. that's really important. a recent survey actually showed that nearly half of all our state and public health workers left their jobs between 2017 and 2020 wyatting harassment -- citing harassment or retirement. post covid public health workers are more burnt out than ever and in dire need of reinforcements. this funding will help provide that and a lot more. and critically, this would be dedicated annual funding. that would do so much to help take the possibility of cuts and chaos off the table and put us on track to build the kind of world class public health system that our communities deserve, the kind our families need to keep them safe.

and here's the thing. every dollar that we invest now saves us much more in the long run. when we tackle public health threats now, staving off major outbreaks, major disruption, we save in a really big way down the line. we should all know by now we can't take public health for granted. we've seen real momentum and support for this from communities who understand all too well we need a strong public health system at every level. it is time for congress to show we get it, too. it's time for us to invest in prevention, invest in public health in a serious way. because whether we say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, we are talking about stopping the next global pandemic and the next global economic crisis in its tracks which will save lives and livelihoods. so let's not make public health funding partisan. i urge my republican colleagues to support this legislation.

if you're skeptical, talk to me, a normal investment in public health will keep our families safe and healthy. it seems like a pretty good deal to me. i hope we can work together and pass the public health infrastructure save lives act. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, when it comes to what's happening in washington, d.c., it's p often the legislation that congress is

considering that gets the lion's share of attention. just as significant are the regulations put out by the executive branch. regulations may not seem as significant legislation, but they can have as far-reaching as any law and radically shift federal policy. the regulations can tell you a lot about an administration's approach to government. the biden administration has built legislation that reflects big government priorities. take the president's student loan giveaway, if it's not overturned by the supreme court, it will cost taxpayers nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. or take his overreaching waters of the united states rule, which, if enforced, would give government jurisdiction over most private property, including things like irrigation ditches,

ephemeral streams and even prairie potholes. the ability to create legislation gives the presidential administration to a lot of power and a chance to do a lot of damage. one check is provided by the ketjanial review act. -- congressional review act. the president has to sign. a senator: the -- the president has to sign the resolution to go into effect. but the tool can be used to check excessive use of regulatory power. and senate republicans have been making use of the congressional review act to address some egregious biden administration regulations. we passed nine disapproval actions so far this year, every

single one of which has been bipartisan, which goes to show how extreme the actions in question will are. i mentioned senator capito's resolution to overturn the administration's water of the united states rule. as i mentioned, if enforced, this rule would give the federal government jurisdiction over private property, including irrigation ditches and prairie potholes, something we're familiar with in my part of the country. private landowners can see part of their land rendered useless while the federal government determines what restrictions to impose. landowners could be faced with huge compliance costs and the value of their land could plummet. nine democrats in the house and five in the senate joined republicans to pass a resolution

disapproving the president's wotus rule, the president vetoed the resolution. but in a victory for landowners, the supreme court recently ruled to clarify and limit the federal government's reach under the clean water act which effectively overturns the president's wotus rule. i mentioned the president's student loan giveaway. the forgiveness part of the president's sloan giveaway would cost -- student loan would cost americans half a million dollars over the next decade and the authority to forgive student loan debt is dubious, not to mention those who paid off their loans or those who never pursued college in the first place to take on the debt for those who took out loans for college or graduate school and agree to pay them pack.

with senator cassidy's help, we passed a resolution disapproving of the student loan forgiveness overreach, but the president vetoed it. however, the president's forgiveness plan could still be overruled by the supreme court which is set to release its decision on two student loan forgiveness cases as soon as this week. mr. president, another terrible biden administration regulation that republicans, through senator braun's efforts, have attempted to check, is the president's rule that allows pension plan fisheries, those -- fiduciaries, those are the people who manage the retirement accounts, to consider so-called environmental, social and government factors in not just the rate of return when investing their customers' money. in other words, the individuals who manage $11.7 trillion of america's retirement are no longer required to make investment decisions based

solely on maximizing return. it might come as a surprise to many of the people out there who have funds invested. instead, they will now be able to opt for a less valuable investment if they prefer it's environmental profile. the house and senate republicans passed pa resolution disapproving of this rule, but unfortunately, again, the president vetoed it, meaning for now retirees may have to accept that environmental goals can come ahead of giving them a secure retirement. but it was important to bring your attention to this regulation, one of a number of radical environmental regulations from the biden administration. mr. president, senate republicans have also passed resolutions from senators mul and marshall -- mullin and marshall with the over use of the endangered species act and

the critical habitat which could have negative consequences for landowners and businesses, a refs from senator fischer disapproving of an epa rule on truck emission also that could drive some trucking companies out of business entirely. and more. we have more resolutions of disapproval in the pipeline. mr. president, while unfortunately president biden has predictably vetoed attempts to check his administration's aggressive use of federal power, we have had some successes. when senator capito announced her intention to challenge a federal highway administration memo from states considering pursuing highway projects and funding projects for reducing emissions, there was a revised version without the problematic language, which was a win for infrastructure and investments in rural areas. and, as i mentioned, while the president vetoed the resolution

disapproving of his overreaching waters of the united states rule, the supreme court's recent decision effectively overturning this regulation is a win for farmers, for ranchers, and for other landowners, and honest ily, -- honestly, mr. president, for commence. while it wasn't a biden administration regulation, senator hagerty led a successful charge in the senate to overturn washington, d.c.,'s crime bill that would have weakened penalties for a number of crimes. congress, of course, has the legal authority to block d.c. ordinances thanks to are federal legislation rooted in the constitution which gives congress charge over the seat of government, namely, washington, d.c., and republicans' effort to overturn d.c.'s dangerous new crime bill ultimately persuaded the president to change his mind and sign the resolution of disapproval. mr. president, as we move forward, republicans will continue to use the

congressional review act to push back against overreaching regulations from the biden administration. we may not always be successful, but at the very least, we can highlight the true cost of the biden administration's regulations and the burdens that they place on our economy and on hardworking merntion. -- hardworking americans. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

to do more to restore access to asylum after the last administrations effectively cut it off. immigration attorney with vast experience and expertise in this field, i want to talk with you and set

the record straight. claiming asylum at a port of entry is lawful, correct? >> absolutely. >> claiming asylum after being encountered by border patrol is lawful, too, correct? >> absolutely, yes. >> patrolling migrants, rolling migrants is lawful and within the authority of the secretary of homeland security, correct? >> yes, sir. >> no administration has ever detained anyone encountered at the border, isn't that right? >> that is right. >> and that includes the trump administration, correct? >> absolutely. >> so title 42 cause terrible harm to asylum seekers which you saw firsthand on your visit to the border. title 42 was also detrimental to border security, isn't that right? >> absolutely. >> least explained that to the committee. >> as a mention in my testimony,

title 42 encourage repeat entrance. it did not have immigration consequences. it also pushed populations that used to go and seek asylum at ports of entry to end up having to cross the twin ports of entry because not just for weeks but for months and months and years and years there was no way to actually crossed the border. the change in numbers we seen a believe is a confirmation of what an absolute disaster title 42 was from so many ways. asylum seekers that we met at the border were trying to use the cbp one app. and how that works for those of you who haven't seen it, is it asks people to provide information that the government receives and actually reviews in advance. what of our concerns about the cbp one app is that it can be used to actually meet her and limit the number of asylum seekers allowed to legally seek asylum. in addition, i would say that

we're also concerned about asylum seekers who are trying to approach ports of entry for not being allowed to do so now, either because the cbp or mexican government authority is not letting them do so. >> thank you. mr. chair, i would like to include in the record gao decision that mr. wolf indeed served in that capacity of secretary illegally. i would also like to include a review requested by the department and affirmed by gao again that mr. wolf served in that capacity illegally. i would also like to submit for the record -- also ruled that mr. wolf was serving illegally in that position. >> without objection, so ordere ordered. >> mr. chairman, i object.

>> we have an objection. nomination of ambassador elizabeth richard to be coordinator for counterterrorism. ambassador richard is an imminently qualified candz date, and it is -- candidate, and it is well past time we confirm her nomination. having already served our country as u.s. ambassador to lebanon, ambassador richard is deeply familiar with the geostrategic and counterterrorism issues facing the middle east. throughout her career, she's worked across the region to advance u.s. national security interests and support the safety of the american people. that's why i believe she's exceptionally qualified to serve as the coordinator for counterterrorism, and it is a role that needs to be filled urgently. the counterterrorism challenges that we currently face, and could face in the future, are crystallized in the detention and displaced persons camps in

syria. mingle together in camps across northeastern syria are an estimated 12,000 suspected isis fighters and 60,000 women and children who have possible isis affiliation. the humanitarian conditions in those detainee camps are dire, and compounding the pressure of isis extreme ifses are inadequate -- are inadequate medical facility, inadequate sanitation and lack of schooling. last year, forces supported by u.s. troops completed a 24-day security operation which yielded 300 isis operative arrests and freed six women from slavery. this is a crisis waiting to happen. i have heard very directly from general carilla, the head of centcom about his concerns at the detainee camps. this is another reason we

urgently need a senior official in place to lead the us government's efforts to work towards closing the camps, to address the humanitarian and security concerns in the camps, and to coalesce the international support that's needed to achieve the enduring defees of -- defeat of isis. under the biden administration, the coordinator for current terrorism has also served -- for counterterrorism also served as isis detainee coordinator. that's a role which, by bipartisan legislation, this act would codify, along with senators graham, menendez, and risch, i introduced this legislation to ensure that the u.s. government has a senior official working to coordinate all lines of effort to address the causes and consequences of the isis detainee camps in syria. the creation of this position was originally a recommendation of the syria study group, and it would empower the coordinator to lead on all diplomatic

engagements and the planning regarding the future of isis detainees. but as ambassador richard's nomination to be the coordinator for counterterrorism has been stalled by republicans, this important position has been unfilled. you know, right now we have hundreds of general officers who are being held up by one of our republican colleagues who can't take their promotions and move on to their next deployments, because they're being held up. we have multiple ambassadorial nominees who are being held up, like ambassador richard. we hear that one of our colleagues from ohio is planning to hold up all nominees to the justice department. these are not games we're playing here.

these are not games. these are serious issues that affect the ability of the united states to compete in a global environment. and holding up the people who we need in positions to address the critical challenges facing this country is really just unacceptable. i hope we can move ambassador richard's nomination, just as i hope our colleagues are going to stop their obstructionism and let us move on the other nominees who are critical to ensuring our national security. so, with that in mind, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination, calendar number 144, elizabeth h. richard, to be coordinator for counterterrorism, that the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, that go confirmed the

motion to consider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. cruz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: reserving the right to object. i agree with the senator from new hampshire that this position at the state department is important, and it should be filled by someone qualified and someone who will use the position to stand up to the terrorists who target americans all across the world. unfortunately, ms. richard, her record makes her singularly unqualified for this post. the biden administration has put forward many troubling and radical nominees during the past two and a half years. indeed, the nominees that have been put forth by this president are more extreme or more radical than any nominees i have ever seen in my lifetime. i will say unfortunately our democrat colleagues will

rubber-stamp whatever radical is put on this floor, and they have demonstrated an unwillingness to stand up and reject even the most extreme nominees submitted. if you look at ms. richard's record, and in particular her time as ambassador to lebanon, her record catastrophically, when it concerns terrorists, is to downplay the threat of terrorists, to apiece the -- to appease the terrorists, and even astonishingly to fund the tripses. while in lebanon, ms. richard established a clear record of effectively boosting the iran-backed terrorist group hezbollah. for all practical matters, her tenure as ambassador demonstrates that she aided and assisted hezbollah rather than standing strong against them.

let me give you three examples to demonstrate these points. elizabeth richard shielded hezbollah while we were fighting for ahmir facari's release. ms. richard consistently sought to downplay the threat posed by hezbollah. take the case of ahmir facari, an american citizen held hostage by the hezbollah-controlled lebanese government while he was dying of cancer. the senator from new hampshire knows this case well because mr. facari and his family are constituents of hers in the state of new hampshire, and she and i worked together closely, aggressively, fighting to secure his release from captivity. ahmir facari was an american citizen, beloved family man and

small-business owner who traveled to lebanon in september of 2019. while there, he was abducted, illegally detained, beaten and held hostage. he was suffering from stage 4 cancer, and his symptoms were exacerbated by the beatings that he received at the hands of lebanese security officials who were looking to extract a false confession. the senator from new hampshire and i came together to pressure the lebanese government to free mr. facari. together, we introduced legislation to impose sanctions that would have brought down the lebanese political class, unless they immediately released him. when it became public that senator shaheen and i together were advancing our legislation towards passage in the senate, mr. facari was freed. good news.

success. a bipartisan success, freeing an american hostage in captivity in lebanon. unfortunately, mr. fakhoury passed away from cancer, just five months after he came home from the united states. but at least, together, we were able to ensure that he did so surrounded by his family and not by the hezbollah-controlled lebanese government thugs who had held him hostage. mr. president, why did it take senator shaheen and me coming together on the floor of the senate to target the lebanese government and force them to release an american hostage? well, one of the significant reasons it took action at the senate level is because the u.s. evcy in bay route, and our -- the u.s. embassy in beirut and

our people there, faxes were fighting against us, and effectively running interference for hezbollah. who was our ambassador at the time? elizabeth richard. i want to read you what mr. fakhoury's family says about that, and what they say about president biden's nomination of ms. richard. they've said, quote, as the family of the late u.s. hostage amer fakhoury we are shocked by the news that ambassador richard is being confirmed as theness counterterrorism czar in the state department. our father would still be here today if the u.s. embassy under ambassador richard prioritized an american citizen's life first, instead of catering to the hezbollah-backed lebanese

government. these are the words of the family of amer fakhoury, who you see here, constituents of the senator from new hampshire, and this is what they say about the senate and about the nominee that the senate is being asked to confirm, that this is a not knee who was -- nominee who was responsible for accelerating the death of their father because she refused to stand up to hezbollah. second example, ms. richard did not just establish a record of downplaying hezbollah's terrorism. she also consistently thought to appease theoin-controlled -- the iranian-controlled terror group. at the begin of 2020, the united states armed forces killed kasam salamani, an iranian regime arch terrorist with blood

on his hands of hundreds of american servicemembers he murdered. i'll note that the senate subsequently passed language that i authored, specifically praising president trump and our armed forces for the operation taking out kasam salamani. the vote on the floor of the senate was 64-34. one of the yea votes was my colleague from new hampshire, senator shaheen. meanwhile, the trump administration sent a quick-response force to our embassy in lebanon to protect it from retaliation by iran and hezbollah. yet again, american citizens' lives were in danger. and what did ms. richard do? she secretly sent them away. in defiance of the political

leadership of the state department and behind the backs of secretary pompeo and the state department's number two officer. both of whom had been confirmed by this body. she secretly sent them away, directly endangering the lives of the men and women in our embassy. now, why did she do that? well, this deeply troubling incident was first reported by politico, and politico explained her reasoning. first and foremost, she said, she didn't want to antagonize hezbollah. despite threats to the embassy and despite the obligation to protect the lives of americans who work there, ms. richard left it exposed and vulnerable because her policy over and over again was to apiece and -- appease and avoid confronting

hezbollah. and finally, ms. richard does not just downplay an apleas terrorism. in some cases during her tenure in lebanon, she actively funded hezbollah allies. mr. president, one of the many corrupt branches of the lebanese government is the internal security forces or isf. according to one lebanon expert who recently wrote about the group, they are, quote, the hezbollah auxiliary forces who run counterintelligence for the terror group. they do hezbollah's, quote, counterintelligence dirty work. what does that mean in plain language? it means that they break up the israeli spy networks and espionage rings that the ally uses to threat iran's threats. that's what they do. that's what they've always done. just recently they announced

they had broken up 17 israeli networks. the damage was incalculable to the safety and security of our friend and ally the state of israel and also to the safety and security of america. and in 2022, hezbollah publicly heaped praise on the isf for all the work they do. but what did ms. richard do when she was in lebanon? she pushed for policies to fund and boost the isf with american taxpayer dollars. she even oversaw the building of the isf academy funded by american tax dollars. mr. president, i wish we had a nominee for this post whom i could enthusiastically support. i wish i were not obliged to

come down and object to an extreme nominee whose record demonstrates she is unfit and unqualified to serve in this post. but unfortunately, president biden has not given me that choice. having examined ms. richard's record, the only conclusion is that her approach to counterterrorism consistently is to downplay terrorism to appease the terrorists and even to fund terrorist groups and their enablers. that approach is utterly disqualifying for a nominee for coordinator of counterterrorism. it's a policy that has had terrible consequences when she pursued it in the middle east and it would have terrible consequences if she took it from lebanon and applied it globally appeasing not just hezbollah but every other terrorist on earth. the ie rain ya regime -- iranian

regime right now, the ayatollah right now is pursuing murderous terrorism, including against americans right now. the ayatollah right now has hired a hit team with the intention of murdering the former secretary of state of the united states, mike pompeo. secretary blinken confirmed to the senate foreign relations committee on my questioning that the state department is spending $2 million a month providing security to secretary pompeo because iran is actively trying to murder him. we need a coordinator of counterterrorism who will stand up to iran, who will stand up to hezbollah, who will stand up to hamas, who will stand up to al qaeda, who will stand up to isis, who will stand up to every terrorist in the world that seeks to murder american

citizens. we need a coordinator for counterterrorism whose record is not so extreme that the grieving family of a hostage is tell be the senate our father would still be here today if the u.s. embassy under ambassador richard prioritized an american citizen's life first instead of catering to the hezbollah-backed lebanese government. for these reasons i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i'm very disappointed that senator cruz continues to hold up a nomination that's so critical to our national security. we need a counterterrorism coordinator in place. we need that to ensure that the complex issues that require a

whole of government approach have the attention and focus that are needed to advance u.s. policy and to protect this country. and this isn't a partisan issue. as you pointed out, i voted with the majority to condemn soleimani and to support the strike that took him out. but we've been without a senate-confirmed coordinator for over two years, and it's past time that we confirm ambassador richard. i think my colleague is punishing ambassador richard who served for most of her tenure under a republican administration, under former president trump. so if you didn't agree with what she was doing, that was the trump administration that was in place during most of her years. and i am very familiar with the tragic case of amer fakhoury who is a constituent of mine and his family. i still continue to be in touch

with. i worked very hard with his family, with robert o'brien, the national security adviser under the trump administration, and i appreciated senator cruz' help on that sanctions legislation, but i don't remember you, senator cruz, on all of those calls that we had almost weekly with ambassador richard to talk about what else we might be able to do to be able to free amer fakhoury. it is a tragic case but punishing a former ambassador for u.s. policy in lebanon is not the way to empower future diplomats to do what we need to have them do. it's ensuring that they get into their position and that they support the policies. and i'm afraid that your opposition just like all of the opposition that we're hearing

from our colleague senator tuberville on the military promotions, that we're hearing from our colleague jd vance holding up judicial appointments, it's going to have a chilling effect on our ability for our diplomats to do what they need to do. and in fact on ambassador richard's watch, the u.s. imposed more sanctions designations on hezbollah individuals and entities than it had ever done previously. so i'm just going to read some of these because i think they're telling as you talk about how weak she was on terrorists. in january of -- 9 of 2017, alley damoush and moustafi were sanctioned for support for hezbollah. on february 3, i'm going to have

trouble reading all of these names but again hassan eastbounder heaney who is an rigc official who was based in lebanon at the time. mohammad farat, al hajh and several companies in lebanon were sanctioned for a support network. on may 16, barley offshore, a lebanese front company to support transactions from syria was sanctioned. on may 19, hashan was sanctioned for serving as a senior leader in hezbollah. on november 1, the department maintained and amended a prior designation of the brigade as a foreign terrorist organization citing its role in the 2014 attacks in lebanon. that was in 2017. in 2018 on february 2,

lebanon-based jihad mohammad, alley mohammad consu, and two others, an iraq-based for acting for or on behalf of hezbollah member and financier, his company, evening yearing and contracting were sanctioned. on aich 18, baricat transactional criminal organization also known as alien smuggling organization. syria, lebanon, united arab emirates, panama, mexico for smuggling syrians in lebanese into the united states across the southwestern u.s. border. on may 15, kasar mohammad, mohammad jafor, for acting on

behalf of hezbollah and working with the rigc l to transfer funds. i'm sure you remember that, the secretary-general of hezbollah alongside others for their roles in hezbollah. the primary decision-making body in hezbollah were sanctioned. on may 17 -- these go on for three more pages. all of the designations of sanctions that were made during ambassador richard's tenure. so i don't -- i think the senator from texas has a different understanding of what happened in lebanon. i don't think these are the action, of someone who is soft on hezbollah.

but as i said earlier, unfortunately ambassador richard's nomination is not an outlier. around the world the united states faces reduced diplomatic influence because of partisan obstruction by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. and when ambassadors are not in place to advance u.s. interests, it's the american people who pay the price because without confirmed ambassadors, we cannot effectively advocate on behalf of u.s. businesses who need support to advance democratic reform agendas, to secure investments overseas. without confirmed ambassadors, we cannot advance our national security interests. some countries refuse to speak to the united states representatives without an ambassador in place. and without confirmed ambassadors, we cannot effectively help detain imprisoned americans overseas. ambassador richard did everything in her capacity to

secure the release of my constituent mr. fakhoury. as i said, you may not recognize this because you weren't on those calls that we did with the ambassador on a regular basis, but i can tell you that she did everything she could amid a challenging political environment to bring mr. fakhoury home. but instead of confirming ambassadors, senator cruz, i think you would rather prevent american diplomats from doing their jobs. and i would add one other very concerning trend about all of these ambassadors who are on hold. and that is that so many of them are women. at one point earlier in the administration, senator cruz was holding the nominations of 23

women, including those nominated to be ambassadors to france, spain, and nato as well as the heads of education and cultural affairs bureau. at a time when we should be swiftly confirming our ambassadors, we just had a hearing in the state and foreign ops appropriations subcommittee. and we were talking about the challenges that we face competing with the prc and china. as we look at the money that they have to spend around the world. and one of the points that our colleague from south carolina lindsey graham made, he quoted former general mattis who -- former secretary of defense who pointed out that if we don't have soft power, if we don't have these ambassadors in place

-- that's my addition -- then we need more bullets because we don't have the capability to do the diplomacy that deters conflict. and that's why we need this nominee in place. that's why we need to move forward. and that's why we need to ensure that we protect the national security of the united states. and i'm disappointed because, as my colleague points out, he and i worked on a number of issues around national security. so i would have hoped that he would have been more supportive of guesting a nominee in place who could address counterterrorism. so, mr. president, with that, i will yield the floor and continue to come down to support efforts to put in place the ambassadors we need to fight back against our adversaries around the world. thank you. i yield the floor.

mr. young: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. young: i ask for unanimous consent to speak for up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled roll call votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. young: mr. president, i often speak of hoosiers whose service, patriotism, and sacrifice capture the spirit we celebrate on civic holidays. for flag day, however, i rise to share the story of a hoosier who didn't merely embody the occasion, she helped to establish it. and she made history, too. alice sanger played such an important part in bing minute harrison -- benjamin harrison's campaign as a stenographer that he made her an important part of

his presidential staff. so alice left her home in indianapolis for washington, d.c., to become the first woman ever to serve on a president's staff. the historic distinction doesn't quite capture the breadth of alice's service to the president and to our nation, though. neither did her title of clerk or contemporary reporters' descriptions of her which often dwelled on her lacks and clothes -- her looks and clothes. so let me share with you what this clarke did in the white house. it's -- what this clerk did in the white house. it's quite remarkable. a renaissance woman who was skilled with a paint brush and had an ear for music, alice could take dictation on 200 words a minute without a single misspelling. she had discretion, seldom seen

in washington -- now and then -- and she was known as a jewel of secrecy in the white house. not only did she type president harrison's annual address to congress, she was given sole responsibility of safe keeping it until it was sent here to the capitol. she personally read through all of the president's and first lady caroline harrison's correspondence, and she answered much of it in her own hand. during the late 19th century, no woman's signature was better known in america than alice's. in 1893, after losing his bid for reelection, harrison left the white house, but alice remained. you see, she was so essential to the executive branch's function that the new president, grover

pleased, from a different -- gloved cleveland, from a different political party, asked her to stay on. in 1894, she moved to the post office department, which was then a significant cap net-level -- cabinet-level agency. she is no less indispensable in that capacity u -- in that capacity. for decades she managed budgets and advertising, she kept track of regulations and postal laws, and she assembled the 700-page directive that guided the operations of every post office in america. she was a masterful organizer. she planned war bond drives, donations to the red cross, and holiday celebrations, including the one we mark today. now, the idea of commemorating the day in 1777 when the continental congress created our

national banner was not her own. celebrations of the american flag were staged periodically around the country dating back to the 1860's. but in 1908, alice, as part of her responsibilities at the post office, planned and staged a grand celebration for flag day. the sound of bands and distinguished speakers lifted out of the old post office building's courtyard where an american flag hung. in the years that followed, other government departments joined in the celebration with their own flag day festivities, in large part due to alice's efforts. states followed suit, many with input from alice herself. -- who advised local post offices on appropriate celebrations. presidents wilson and coolidge

recognized flag day with proclamations, and in 1949, the 81st congress passed and harry truman signed legislation formally establishing its observance. you see, there's some harmony between alice's career and her work to promote flag day. when we look up at the stars and stripes, we catch america's reflection. it's a symbol of our ideals, after all. wherever it waves, on battlefields where we have defended it, alongside the graves of those who had died for it, in front of the places where its democracy lives, courthouses in our towns, statehouses in our cities, the dome under which we meet, and from the homes across the republic for which it

stands, our flag represents the promise of freedom and self-government; that any man or woman can live their life in pursuit of happiness. but it also is a reminder that the work of honoring those ideals goes on. it's fitting then that on flag day we remember indiana's alice sanger. this hoosier served her country so faithfully in an era where pathways for women to do so were so few. so on flag day we raise a pair of salutes, one to old glory. for every may she fly. and a second to the trailblazing spirit of americans like alice. long may it live. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 41, p. casey pitts of california to be united states district judge for the northern district of california, 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 p. casey pitts of california to be united states district judge for the northern district of california shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 53, the nays are 46. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 26, dale e. ho of new york, to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york, 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 dale e. ho of new york to be the united states district judge for the southern district of new york shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 50, the nays are 49. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the

judiciary. dale e. ho of new york to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to talk about something that is unseen but really impacts every aspect of our daily lives. something that has major implications on the future of my state and many rural states, just like yours, mr. president, in your rural areas, and that is reliable broadband connections and the implementation of service in our unserved and underserved areas. internet connection is something that we often take for granted, certainly in the d.c. area we do, especially in our cities in our urban communities. it is a mainstay of so many

facets of our life. so just think about it. we rely on internet connection for our communication with our family and friends, our emergency services, obtaining information -- boy, i've already done that about five times today getting some additional information. banking, conducting business, and as we experienced firsthand during the pandemic, essential aspects of our workforce participation, the education of our children, and i'd add in health care here. even as we transition back to in-person work and school post-pandemic, these capabilities are so much -- so essential and greatly beneficial. in west virginia our state is the only state entirely encompassed by appalachia, and we're recognized across the world for our mountainous terrain. so we love our mountains in west virginia.

our topography in west virginia has dealt us a challenging hand when it comes to adopting needed advancements to connect people to the internet. so we know one thing -- it's expensive and it's a lot easier said than done. but this lack of broadband connectivity and reliability is one of the biggest concerns that i hear every time i travel in the states. that's because our homes, our schools, our hospitals, our health clinics, our churches, our businesses -- if they lack the appropriate level of connectivity or lack it you're . you're behind. you're not participating. you can't get the help that you need. you can't communicate the way you want to. and in a lot of cases, you're not going to live in a place that doesn't have connectivity. so this is something that must change and something that i'm committed to changing. so one of my first initiatives as united states senator was

launching my capito connect plan to help bridge this digital divide that we see in the country. the plan served as a road map for bringing affordable high high-speed internet connection and access to our homes, our businesses, and our classrooms throughout the state. since launching this initiative, we've made a lot of progress. we have, connecting our communities a -- nd our -- and our state. we bridge add loot of what we thought -- a lot of when we thought would be impossible. we expanded service in pawpaw, a very rural area. we've secured millions of dollars in broadband funding, investments through the usda programs. and we've hosted multiple visits with our fcc officials to bring attention to our state's broadband needs. increasing rural broadband has been something that -- increasing rural broadband funding has been a focus of the

appalachian regional commission. i've also supported major broadband bills, like zeo, their commitment to construct a broadband network through our state. we've also had listening sessions in owl in all 50 -- in all 55 counties. also when we were doing the effort for the bipartisan infrastructure law, i made sure along with many others that this was included because this is an essential part of our infrastructure, and we're making a difference. so we've made a lot of advances -- we have, but there's still much more work to accomplish. now is not the too i am to look back and see what we could have done and how we could do it better. now is the time to see where ware we are and where we're going to be.

we're in a very critical moment here. we have all prioritized funding and provided funding for broadband and many different pieces of legislation. we've done that every year in appropriations, appeared i'm on -- and i'm on appropriations. and i've personally made sure we've included this in the bipartisan infrastructure package. so on monday i was back home in west virginia, got the chaens to speak to some of the -- got the chaens to speak to -- got the chance to speak to some of the greatest young men and women in west virginia girls state and west virginia boys state. it is clear that our best and brightest are unlikely to stay in a state -- our state -- if they don't have this reliable broadband. it just doesn't make sense. the lack of internet connectivity will impact how they join the workforce, how they further their education, or perform the tasks of everyday

living that have become so dependent upon broadband. so congress has a needed, much-needed and very important role to play here. and i'm confident in our ability to rise to this occasion in the face of this challenge. but in order to distribute the unprecedented funding that is coming from the bipartisan infrastructure law to the communities and states that need it, we have got to have accurate data, and this has been a flaw in the system. that's why ntia and the fcc have been tasked with developing broadband -- the national broadband map to determine where the unserved and the underserved communities were located. why is that important? because much of the funding, as it should be, is not to up your service in an urban area or up my service in charleston, west virginia, in a more, i would say, suburban type area.

but it's to go to these unserved and underserved areas. we have to have accurate data. so with accurate data that we can then work and distribute the funding as we should, as it's proper. there's no doubt that the first maps that came out in november were inaccurate. they failed to properly account for the connectivity needs i know -- i can speak for my state, but i'm sure it's the same all across the country. and this is something that our state of west virginia, we really took it personally because we know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to really get it right. so they invited challenges. they said, if you think that you're -- if you can identify a home or business or residence that is shown as being served and you're unserved or underserved, then you can challenge the map to say that's an inaccurate recording of the status of my broadband connectivity. so, we had over 1240,000 -- 120,000 challenges of which

86,000 of these were accepted. that means they went back and looked and working with our state broadband council, who's done a phenomenal jobs job -- job, they went back and found that 86,000 homes or businesses that were recorded as being served in actuality either had had no service or very little service, something that was considered underserved. so this is going to help us as the distribution of the larger sums of money come to actually provide the dollars to get to those places. so with these developments are encouraging and the fcc will continue to improve this, and two future versions are being planned. the need for connectivity remains. updated mapping shows that over 271,000 locations in my state now remain without service, and i think some people watching this would probably say, that can't possibly be that you don't

have service. but if you get to some of these more remote areas, and sometimes they're not even that remote, you get out into some of the more rural areas where be -- where there's maybe one provider or no competition, it's not an economic model to serve where you home that's 10, 15 miles away. so there are people. if i can get a show of hands in one classroom in west virginia, i get at least 20% to 30% a of those do not get good service. they can't do their homework when they get home. most of it depends on information that you get from the internet. so it really puts those students, those families behind. while funding will be allocated by the end of this month, we have to make sure also that it's not wasted. sadly, we've seen this happen in our own state in 23010. money -- in 2010. money was wasted when our first chance came around to be able to connect more people. so we have to make sure that

that doesn't happen, and that's why i have introduced the rural broadband protection act. it's a bill with broad bipartisan support that would improve government programs. mr. mcconnell: for connecting -- responsible for connecting people. and i -- mrs. capito: i look afford forward to half mashing up this legislation. west virginians have been quite patient but now very frustrated throughout the process, and they can always expect the same from me. however they're feel something now i'm going to feel. so i will continue my efforts for these broadband capabilities to go to that last house, that last home, that last business in this mountain state. we're on the cusp, i think, of a mayor break this through peer. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

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to start handing over the documents, the statements of witnesses and the information that they rely upon during the trial whatever it might take place. a lot of these are classified documents. on the defense side the defense team is good have to submit themselves for background security purposes. they will have to be given classified access to classified documents. then they will have to set up a room or a skiff for the documents will be held where the defense team can come in look at them, take notes in a secure safe area to defense to look at. and the title to see the evidence against him. to be a question of how we get the process in place so the

defendant in the defense team can look at things sitting on the outside as the codefendant, yesterday he had an initial appearance. he did not have his legal team in place. he's not been arraigned. until his arraigned as a codefendant that's been arrested so to speak in the case is caulk isn't going to take serve the district court judge will not have set a trial date. an interesting date for everybody to pay attention to is when he appears in court with his lawyers and enters his guilty plea of them will get the first trial date. >> you know better than most florida has been known to have a speedy process when it comes to trial what is the timeline potential trial look like. >> this was a normal case we know it's not normal case in a get set for trial until there's

a motion to continue within the next 75 days of whenever it is arraigned perhaps two weeks from now the case will get the first trial setting an issue trial order in the case to move forward. in normal case will be a second one and the matter will get set up for the actual trial in about six months from now in the case will go to trial in it to be resolved and that will be the end of it and other cases as long assignments and the trial in the sentencing. in this particular case we will be lucky if the pretrial motion is heard within the next nine months. from there adverse hearings from the government it's getting up to the circuit court and there will be north hearings and more

delays and for all apparent reasons, it looks like the case won't be trial setting until summer in the midst of the convention, who knows where and when this case will be tried. >> how does that factoring the legal defense team that the president was having trouble developing a legal defense team. is there an issue as far as the full complement of people that you need and how this gets meted out. >> you need to have a lawyer or two lawyers that are permanently entering however, else you stack your legal team whether with experts behind-the-scenes. whether with other lawyers who are helping you to prepare the case for trial that is up to you, once you have a permanent counsel and the president has

that it does not matter when you get to the judge and say i haven't assembled the other lawyers on my team. you have a lawyer, he needs to get a lawyer one that's admitted to practice in the southern district of florida and will enter a permanent notice of appearance district court judges ran a tight rein and never permanent appearance he or she needs to get ready and do whatever it is for the day the judge says this is when the child is going to take place. >> he talked about the documents and evidence in question how that will be traded or seen by both sides. their sensitive documents involved with that be a certain declassification. >> not necessarily. the documents, to my knowledge based on the way that they are listed in the account of the indictment and the way that they refer to them, they are continued read actions in regard to the indictment itself are

still classified per people are entitled to look at classified documents if they have the proper security clearance and. what will need to happen the government lawyers have the security clearance. if they don't have it now the hobbit again when the reviewing the documents but the counsel for the president will have to go to the same screening process. they'll be investigated and backgrounds will get them cleared and then the be given the appropriate security clearance to look at the documents. when you get the clearance we are obligated to look at them and not take them out where they're supposed to be and hold that knowledge. and heather addressed in a trial in evidentiary hearing. when the public can't see much if any at all if it's on these documents and there has to be potential hearings on the presence of the general public

and with regard to classified information. it's going to be interesting as a side event how they will continue to treat the documents that are classified. if you are right it could declassify them now but that's not going to change the nature of what they were classified at the time they were possessed by the former president and places outside of a secured area. >> david weinstein our guest if you want to ask questions about the legal matters concerning the former president and the not guilty plea yesterday. 202,748,001 for republicans 2,027,488,000 for democrats and independents 2,027,488,000, texas your questions or comments at 2,027,488,000. how much of a role did she play going forward? she plays a very central and pivotal role in this matter

she's the district court judge. she is a quick trial and enable us matter and assisted by a magistrate judge who is paired with her and she very well may refer the pulmonary matters to the magistrate judge and he will conduct a hearing and a recommendation after her and she will be in charge of granting motions to continue. she will be in charge of deciding not only the pretrial motions to suppress, dismiss and further motions that we call limiting certain evidence and testimony that's going to come into the case and go into questioning. she will be the person that takes the raw pallet of evidence that is out there in regard to what's going to be admitted mor,

along with a number of my other colleagues, who understand the importance of broadband access, especially to rural america. a recent study by the university of kansas found that up to a million kansans live in regions that lack high-speed broadband services. often rural areas have the worst quality broadband or as is too often the case, they have no access to broadband. the benefits of access to high-quality broadband, they're clear, they're known. we are engaged in the issue of making sure that all americans have access to this service. broadband access is correlated with more jobs, better economic growth, better health care outcomes and increased occasional performance. this means our country will be weaker as we confront the economic and security challenges we're facing, including krm stem

shortcomings and lagging leadership in key technology areas. when millions are without broadband, we limit our potential as a nation. so lack of access or lack of access to good quality broadband, it's certainly a local issue, it's an individual issue, it's a local business, local school, local library issue, those schools without broadband service is a detriment to our nation. recognizing the importance of access to high-quality broadband, congress has helped to bridge the digital divide. but the first step in appropriately allocating those resources is knowing where the money needs to go. i sponsored the broadband data act to require the fcc to use granular data to better target areas so we know where the new

investments are needed. getting these maps right is critical and has not been easy. with the first time i saw the maps that were developed, this doesn't reflect at all about what i know-my home state of kansas. congress has devoted significant resources, we were involved in the effort to allocate additional dollars so broadband maps could be updated, the data improved, and hopefully get the information correct. we've been working on this since 2020. if the fcc maps aren't accurate, a large portion of funding will be used in areas that won't get the access required to have access to broadband. millions of dollars for new resources in kansas rely on the accuracy of the maps. it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars if the outcome is that we are providing service to places that already have quality

broadband service and foregoing those that don't. the fcc is required to allow americans to challenge the inaccuracies within the maps and making certain the maps improve over time. after receiving feedback from kansans over the last few weeks, months, a second version of a map was released at the end of may, and i understand from talking to kansans, this map is more accurate. the continued work by the fcc will be necessary and i will continue to work with my colleagues in those efforts. now that we know where the need exists, we need to make certain that investments are appropriately stargtd to those most in -- targeted on those most in need and we must ensure that the program requirements have broadband -- and do not burden them with requirements that do not line up with

congressional intent. i want to make sure that all of the money allocated to broadband dmoiment goes to broadband deployment and not treasury. we need to make sure that the broadband grants are not taxable income. it is particularly important as critical broadband deployment programs at the department of commerce allocate the funds at the end of this month, just a few days from now. every dollar taken back by treasury means a community is disconnected. i need my colleagues to work with me so this is not the case. as the ranking member of the commerce justice, science appropriations subcommittee, i invited the commerce secretary ms. romano. she heard from a county commissioner the benefits of broadband access, what it's

brought to meade county, and she heard from a host of telecom providers about what they need to successfully deploy broadband across kansas. during this visit, secretary ra mannedo and i -- raimondo, and i, i appreciate her coming to my state to hear and see what is the circumstance. but during this visit, secretary raimondo reiterated her commitment to provide kansans to have high-quality prod band service. i look forward to working with federal and state officials to make certain that kansas and particularly rural kansans are connected to quality broadband service. of all of the things in my world to make sure that kansans have a bright future, one of the

important ones is to make sure that we have the technologies of today and tomorrow. madam president, thank you. a senator: madam president. are. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. budd: madam president, over the last several years, much has been made over the digital divide here in america. the more digital the economy becomes, the bigger the divide between big cities and small towns. as someone who still lives on a family farm in north carolina, i always made it a priority to stand up for north carolinians who don't have the advantage of large population centers. rural americans across our state appeared our nation shouldn't have their economic opportunity diminished because of their zip code. one of the biggest challenges that we face in bridging the digital divide is a little bittation. an -- politicalization. one of this is the deployment

program. this program provides over $42 billion to expand high-speed internet access by providing funding, planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs, end quote, across the country. but once the biden administration got a hold of this funding, they began funneling it toward their liberal wish list instead of commonsense broadband deployment. another example is the biden administration's notice of funding opportunity, which gives favorable treatment to the government-owned networks over private ones and they load it up with mandates that drive up costs. this is fundamentally the wrong approach. at the end of the day, what rural americans are looking for is pretty straightforward. that they want the highest quality internet for the most affordable price as quickly as possible. madam president, this is not the time or place for social agenda or partisan distractions, we

have to keep our eye on bridging the digital divide so rural americans can achieve their god-given potential and this is one more way we can build a strong nation. which yield back. -- i yield back. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: madam president, i join my republican colleagues on the floor today in support of expanding broadband access across rural america. i recently had the honor of becoming ranking member of the agriculture committee, subcommittee on rural development and energy, which has jurisdiction over the u.s. department of agriculture's broadband programs. my top priority as ranking member is expanding broadband access to unserved populations

who need it most so our rural communities are not left behind. in today's economy, people need fast and reliable internet to work, to go to school, virtual meetings, and even see their doctor through telemedicine. our farmers need an internet signal to operate their farms, their facilities, drive tractors, irrigate crops, apply pesticides and apply precision agricultural technologies without they do not have an opportunity to compete. recently the usda increased the requirements for sufficient broadband access from speeds of 25 over 3 mega biets per second to 100 over 25 megabites per secretary. yet, one out of ten people in my state of -- state of alabama

don't meet the 25 over 3 threshold. so why change it? either don't change it or build better broadband. i'm grateful to the chairman of the rural development subcommittee, senator well much of vermont -- welch, of vermont for his work on this bipartisan issue. the subcommittee recently held our first meeting and it was a success. and it was exactly what we needed. we had a great discussion with witnesses and colleagues on the importance of broadband. later this year, we'll have a farm bill coming up in congress, very important. we need to ensure that expanding rural broadband is included in this year's farm bill. also earlier this year, i was proud to join a bipartisan group of my colleagues to introduce the broadband grant tax treatment act. this bill would amend the tax

code to enis sure that federal -- to ensure that this is not taxable income. it doesn't make sense to expand broadband and tax broadband users for using it. i want to thank my colleagues for their support and i encourage all of my colleagues to join us in this effort. rural broadband is vital for the success of our rural communities and for the entire economy. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: thank you, madam president. for the past six years, my staff, my family and i traveled to every corner of the state. we crisscrossed it multiple times. we've been in every county in kansas multiple times, town halls, round tables, listening sessions, the last week we were on break, we made a dozen stops and at every one of those stops, at every one of those round tables, i can guarantee you the subject of high-risk group-speed internet came -- high-speed internet came up. together we've built hospitals,

municipal water facilities, grocery stores and critical infrastructure in our state's communities. but despite all of these achievements, many kansans agree one job is still not finished and that's the crucial task of building a high-speed broadband connectivity to every portion of the state. nothing highlighted this problem more than the covid-19 locksdowns. our schools and businesses were shut down. hundreds of thousands of kansans were sent home to do their jobs and schoolwork. a lackluster internet connection impacted children's education across the state, and many families' ability to keep up with remote work. rural broadband's impacts go far beyond the classroom for kansas communities. in today's quickly evolving cyber world, adequate internet connection is a necessity,