>> watch video on demand anytime online at c-span.org. and try our points of interest feature, a timeline tool that uses markers to guide you to interest key coverage. use anytime online at c-span.org. >> and the u. senate is about to gavel in. senators will continue work on more of president biden's judicial nominations for u.s. district and circuit courts. votes are scheduled for 11:15 this morning and ler this afternoon. we take you now to the senate floor. live cerage on c-span2. th chaplain: let usray. god most high, your faith

fullnessndures through all generations. hear our prayer. yo desire truth and justice, d are you true to your promises. let your presence be felt today on capitol hill. rd, open the hearts of our lawmakers to the guidance of your spirit as you emper them to serve with faithullness. -- fah fullness, dwell in them and those who support their labors, making them productive for the glory of your name. may our senators hear your call to rise and follow where you obedient to your perfect wl.

lord, give them patience with those who oppose themnd may theyrust in your perfect love whh never fails. we pray in you glorious name. amen. the presidt pro tempore: please of allegiance to our flag.edge i pledge allegiance tohe flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation uer god, indivisible, with liberty and justice r all. # # the president pro teore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

# jurors a american people to arrive at the outcome that is ju. >> we need morelassification system. that's a question that i ink is better directed at the moment to top democratn the intel committeeim hines who as i understand it will connue t engage in a bipartisan discussion. ill at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the stielt of -- title of the bill for the secon me. the clerk:.r. 1615, an act to gas stoves.ral funds to band mr. humer: under the

provisions of rule 14, i object the presiding officer: objection have having bee heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. . schumer: the tale of two parties continues in this congress. this week, house republicans advanced a massive tax package showing precisely where their loyalties lie, helping large big corporatio, big oil polluters, those at the very, very top. reminding people where the democrats' interests lie, those entities that nickel and time people. president biden used the associate of t union address to call out banks, hotel resorts and travel. tooled he's holding a roundtable discussion with compaes at the white house on the progress they made, eliminating surprise fees.

i cannot tell y how many times people come up to me in new york ex exasperated by junk fees, many times they know nothing about them until ty are asked to pay them. it's precisely the kind of abuse that frurates americans to no d and which the fedal government can address. it's why in the house i autred legislation to protect americans from surprise expenses in their kret cret card bills. they call it the schumer box, a nickname i'm proud that stuck. and junk fs are everywhere. you want to switch your cell phone company, a termination fee could cost y $250. many peopl think that the phone companies ask it so you don't switch. listed at $300, you get the bill and the real price is higher.

more tn a third of hotel guests have paia hidden fee. this is exactly what americans want to focus on and the major differen between the two parties, republicans think it's best to spendime on cutting taxes for the very largest billion-dollar corporations who often don'tay their fair share. but democratsant to focus on things that ordinary families have to deal with every single day. we can all relate to the frustration of hidden fees, we can all relate to driving to work on dilapidated roads ande can look out the window and see that wildfires -- we can all look out the window and see that events are are harming our -- are harming our communities. these are what democrats have legislated. on nominations. nominations here on the floor.

this monger thsenate will proud to recommend t president biden to serve a a district judge for new york' easrn district. when presidentiden nomined ms. choudary, she made history. d today she will make history as the first beng la dishian confirmed to the bench. she will be the first as a federal judge.d of to serve shs a history maker in more ways than one. she's also a shing example of th american dream. the daughter of immigrant parents, a graduate of columbia, partnershipston, and yale. miss choudhury has dedicated her career to making sure allan have their voices heard in court. it's a great day for our

country. our courts are at their strongt when they mirror our democracy. we have a vibrant bangladeshi community in new york and the united states. i'm confident miss choudhury will make an excellent judge. yesterday, the senate also confirmed another ex lenlts judge, dale -- excellent judge, dale ho, who i was proud to recommend to be distrt judge for the southern districts of new york. as voting rights come under attack, it's fitting we elevated a top voting rights expert to the bench, to safeguard our democracy and preserve our most fundamental right as citizens. when mr. -- with mr. ho a ms. choudhury, we will have confirmed 21 asian americans to the bench. again, with these two new nominations, we will have confirmed 21 asian americans to the bench. a demographic that has been historically underrepresented in the judiciary. i'm proud of this majority's record of increasing both the demographic and professional

diversity on the bench. this is how we strgthen the public's trust in our judiciary and our work will continue. i yield the floor. thpresiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the sete will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk willeport. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, nups nusrat han choudhury, of new yk, to be united states district dge for the etern district of w york.

>> lawmakers voting on whether to eliminate a debate and julie rickleman for the united states first circuit based in boston. she's been litigation director for the center of litigation rights since 2011. >> makes it hard to breathe when being active outside. many people close to me have asthma and what make this is sadder, according to a recent study from 2004-2022, new jersey rate payers including myself have paid over $60 million in renewable subsidies and this doesn't sit well with me. doesn't sit well with me for my communities, family and myself. we've been paying senators to pollute us basically and sacrifice us to a slow death. the current disposal of plastic waste in the communities is a

man festivus tace of environmental -- manifestation of the rates and the industries in communities similar to mine throughout the country and we collectively urge this body to take proactive stance to address the plastic problem we have and alleviate the burden on our communities facing. thank you for your time and for asking me to testify here today. [ applause ]. >> thank you very much for bringing insights from new jersey. our next witness is kevin sunday, director of government tag affairs at pennsylvania chamber of business and industry. mr. sunday, the microphone is yours. >> good afternoon. it's an honor to appear before you this morning.

misname is kevin sunday, director of government affairs with the chamber of business and industry and largest broad based business in the commonwealth representing nearly 10,000 members of all sizes and from all industrial and commercial sectors. our state is the no. two producer of natural gas and exporter of electricity in the u.s. and producers of construction materials, sued, and life sustaining products and they have important advances underway to establish the minimiization of the waste. policy must expand opportunity for all our citizens advance sustainability and support economic growth. high energy prices are regressive tax on most vulnerable and domestic energy development to addressing energy poverty here and abroad. one of the key cree tearier in defining -- criteria is the percentage of households or individual in poverty and these want jobs and we must embrace

and pursue tax and regulatory policy that doesn't drive investment away from the communities. have a# robust cpi reliable supply of energy and life sustaining products and i'm proud to represent a stays that's improved the nation's energy security and put it at leader boards for the reductions and they're measuring entertainment through the domestic energy and all max criteria pollutants and positioned zuckerberg as second leading state for greenhouse gas reduction and shell production is expect mated to be responsible for more than 60% of total domestic greenhouse gas reductions since 2005- ficer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: as i've discussed all week, the war in

ukraine has forced some ever america's closest allies to sober up and start investing more seriously in their own defense. defense. .. germany's government released a comprehensive security strategy, another important step forward for a key member of the transatlantic alliance. but as i mentioned at the munich security conference, questions remain about whether the encouraging changes in germany will be sufficient or enduring. some of these questions are being answered. germany's national security

strategy is an ink mental shift. it's the product of a rather divided government like our own reaching difficult consensus. except with three different sometimes internally divided political parties rather than just two. but just consider where our german allies were before putin's escalation. europe's most powerful economy had let the major portion of its military fall into literal despair. -- complete disrepair. germany's military spending reached barely halfway, halfway to nato's target of 2% of gdp. and the country's precarious reliance on russian energy was

actually only increasing. but as ukraine dug in for a fight last february, germany changed course. in the last 18 months berlin has made major contributions of key lethal capabilities to the ukrainian cause and is on track to provide even more. the new german security strategy is clear-eyed about the russian threat and in light of hard learned lessons, it prioritizes reducing dependence on foreign energy and integrated economic and security policy. as foreign minister bev rock put it this week, we paid for every cubic meter of russian gas

twofold and threefold with our national security. none of us should want to make the same mistake when it comes to beijing, and in this regard germany's strategy indicates incompetent men progress toward a more realistic challenge of the systemic rival like china poses not only to neighbors but to the west as well. germany's governing coalition continues to debate its approach to the prc and answers to how germany plans to manage it are still forthcoming. the world will want to know how germany will balance growing realism about beijing's behavior with its stated desire with its stated desire for economic partnership with china.

they want to know what germany is prepared to do to assist vulnerable asian countries who are the most threatened by the prc's military aggression, espionage, and economic or diplomatic pressure. of course these same questions can still be asked about our own government's approach to the prc. more broadly, i'm encouraged that germany's strategy explicitly recognizes robust defense as a pillar, a pillar of german security. i've criticized germany's slow pace of defense spending to meet urgent needs, but i'm encouraged by germany's new minister of defense who has a focus on rebuilding germany military and cutting through its calls

identified -- calcified military bureaucracy. to be successful, he will need to cross party political -- he'll need cross party political support and sustained defense, spending above 2% of germany's gdp. this new strategy does not necessarily guarantee such a commitment. ultimately the biggest question for our german allies is whether their strategy sufficiently defines the priorities of their government and whether it provides the resources necessary to execute it. the very same question still applies to america's own national security strategy. now, on a totally different matter, in the coming days the supreme court will rule on president biden's plan to impose student loan socialism on millions of working families across america.

the court's decision will settle whether the president is allowed to use two decade old emergency authorities dating back to the early days of the war on terror to put $430 billion in debt on the american taxpayers without congressional approval. but the american people don't need to wait for the supreme court to explain to them why heading wealthy people dine and dash doesn't make sense. they know the biden administration's plan adds up to a raw deal. almost a third of all student debt in america is held by the wealthiest 20% of households. only 8%, 8% is held by the bottom 20% of households. sure enough, one prominent analysis found that more than

70% of president biden's so-called loan forgiveness could go to the top 60% of earners. it's no surprise when you consider that the median annual income of young college graduates is 55% higher than folks working with high school diplomas. in some cases americans who choose to go to college already have an extra leg up. more students at the nation's most elite colleges have parents among the top 1% of earners than the bottom 50%. the facts are so clear, so clear that even a former top obama administration economist has admitted, quote, across the board student loan forgiveness is regressing. student loan forgiveness is

regressing. so, mr. president, it's really pretty simple. millions of americans choose, choose to take on student loan debt and unlock higher earning potential. millions of other americans choose not to take on debt and make sacrifices to avoid it. the biden administration wants to take that basic choice away and impose student loan socialism instead. they want working americans to take on $430 billion in debt they didn't sign up for. just to pad the pockets of washington democrats' base. what a raw deal. senate republicans know that complex issues require thoughtful solutions, not partisan hatchet jobs.

that's why several of our colleagues are working hard on legislation that actually gets to the root of the soaring tuition costs. senator cassidy, grassley, cornyn, daines, tuberville, and tim scott have put forward ideas to increase transparency before students sign up for massive debt. to streamline repayment payments, and to go after the advanced degree loans that are particularly responsible for driving up prices. i'm grateful to our colleagues for their work on real solutions. on the other hand, the biden administration student loan socialism plan is painfully, painfully unfair. and very soon we'll find out if it isn't just downright illegal.

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

and we are dying with cancer, and one time we had like two or three funerals in one week. work i wondered why and then i started doing the work and i found out about all of the lukens. because with 12 industries within a ten-mile radius. we are sandwiched in, people

over there are sick. people of asthma. children are being born emus. women are having miscarriages and you can't breathe the air. just back in one of the slides, you could see more with the yellow sulfur, it's open. when you pass by that plant you get a whiff of that odor and it goes in your nostrils of ghost at your throat and your throat is irritated. and my daughter had to move because she was always going to the doctor for sinus, ear infections, and my other daughter had to move because she's always having headaches. i'm still there. my three children are still there. the other three left. and my neighbors, people are dying and our little area is like a skeleton count because our public officials allow industry to come in the fifth district. >> i will submit for the record if there's no objection a number of articles that show much higher concentration of cancer

rates and other disease rates near these facilities then far away. so i think your observed experience is very well documented in the scientific literature. >> thank you. >> thank you. i like to turn to ms. tandazo. you mention the burning of plastics as a strategy for disposal and then i think you said three incinerators in new jersey. you also mentioned the new jersey environmental law, and is that while a response to some of these challenges? didn't improve the situation? >> thank you for the question. yes, the law was in response and by middle injustices communities in jersey, particularly in environment similar to what she mentioned, it has five plus industrial facilities all of which are located within a

five-mile radius next to an entire neighborhood. the folks and organizers that fought for the asian law came out from his neighbors and it has been, it was a 20 year old battle. we've been pushing for this law, and this landmark law, it just got, the rules just got past and now we have regulations. and right now we're preparing to see what's going to happen. so far it seems that the law is triggering a lot of facilities that are trying to be cited all over new jersey episodes rakhine beasts cited in commute of color particularly. you are not going to suburbs. not going to the rural areas. they're going to urban city for communities of color that took so we're preparing ourselves to fight these proposals. the law not give support to do

that because the law will allow, will not allow any facility that at any additional pollution to the area where they're trying to fight. >> thank you. so my time has expired. when i come back i'm going to pick up where we left off because what i will want to understand is how is it that these incinerators continued operating after filing the air permits more than 1400 times? and also why they were given $69 in renewable energy subsidies for the purpose of creating burning plastic and creating pollution court we will turn out to cochair senator baldwin. >> thank you, chairman. ms. bradford, an adjustment did anything to write a joy to end all plastic manufacturing? >> i said the plastics and she must be stopped. >> so does that mean plastic manufacturing? >> in my dream world sure but i think -- go ahead.

>> i don't mean to be condescending here. i just point out what's going to place your glasses? >> i do know -- >> like the glasses around her o face are made of plastic. >> may be. i don't know what they're made out of. >> they are. i would just point out some things because i just want to be realistic when you are having conversations because when statements are made like this i want to open people's eyes and say okay, that's easy to say what's the solution? your water bottle in front of you. >> this one? >> yes. is that plastic? >> no. >> the lid is. that's plastic. >> right. so i would say to your question that i would first be concerned about single use plastic and then we can talk about alternatives. >> your cell phone there. is a plastic? >> the case is but it's glass because of broken. >> the components are not plastic? they are. the water that you fill the water bottle up with, where did

you fill out water bottle up at? >> a water filling station. >> and it was delivered by a drink station that was plastic? >> i didn't check. >> at the edges are. the piping coming to it, now you have a couple choice of the piping. we could go back to using would but then you have to chemicals. or we could go back and use led because we stem step waterg that was led here that was harmful to us. we go back to galvanized but galvanized rust and the discoloration. we can go back to copper but copper has to the mind and it would once to stop mining in the u.s. so use plastic rum calling? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president -- the presiding officer: i advise the majority whip we're in a quorum. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum calling be suspended.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: in june our nation celebrates national immigrant heritage month, with the exception of native americans and the descendants of enslaved people, every one of us share something in common with the families arriving in america today and that is the fact that our own ancestors once traveled far and wide to reach this land of liberty and opportunity. in my case it was my grandmother. the year was 1911, she was forced to flee her home in lithuania. she boarded a ship in germany, bound for america, carrying two things in her arms, her catholic prayer book and my infant mother had she arrived in this country with the same hopes as every immigrant who comes to america, from the communities in illinois to all of the immigrant farm

workers who keep food on our tables. today the month of june is not only a chance to celebrate america's heritage as a nation of immigrants, it should serve as a call to action for us in congress. that is because today, june 15, marks the 11th anniversary of a life changing program for a group of young people who share my mother's story, the deferred action for childhood arrival program, daca. in 2010, the late richard lugar ar and i asked president biden to use his your point of order as -- to use his power to help protect hundreds of thousands of young people who arrived as infants and toddlers like my mom. president biden responded. he said he would use his executive authority to create the daca program. these young people had known

generally as dreamers. they've grown up alongside our kids and grandkids. they pledge allegiance as you said so many times to the same american flag and many have gone on to serve our nation as members of the united states armed forces, first responders and much more. over the years, dreamers have become a household name. they touched the hearts of americans because in them we see ourselves, our own history, our own families. dreamers have earned their place in the american story, but right now they're still waiting on this congress to finish the job that president biden started with daca. -- president obama started with daca. this was supposed to be a temporary solution. the permanent solution is obvious, enact legislation, bipartisan legislation that was introduced more than two decades ago, the dream act. it would provide a path to

citizenship for dreamers all across america. without the protections of the dream act, these young people have been forced to live a life of uncertainty they have to renew their status every two years, which means they can only plan their lives in two-year installments. today i want to tell you the story about one dreamer. her name is sambol sandiki, this is the 136th dreamer story i shared on the floor. her family moved to the state of georgia from pakistan when she was 4 years old. with most relatives out of the country, she relied on neighbors in georgia. she was a star student growing up. she spent hours in the library,

learned to play the viola and learned to play the arts. in her mind she was like every other kid until she started to apply for college and discovered she was not an american citizen. even though she graduated from high school with the highest honors, is she feared that her immigration status would prevent her from pursuing a college education. fortunately, it did not. she was awarded a private merit scholarship to attend agnes scott college. she was accepted into the daca program. she worked four jobs to cover the cost of tuition, graduated still a semester early with honors. she even found time to volunteer at a free-health clinic, it was in this role that she found her professional calling, medicine.

so she decided to apply to a medical school that had supported dreamers since the beginning of daca. i'm proud to say it's the loyola university college of medicine in chicago. back in 2012, the college of medicine made a brave commitment, they were the first medical school to adjust its admission policy to welcome dreamers. since, nearly 40 dreamers have graduated from their medical school. last week, dr. siddiqui graduated from that school. she and her graduating class, -- with her medical degree, she plans to dedicate her career to serving families in the chicago land area. soon she will begin her residency at the university of chicago where she will focus on

supporting underserved communities. ask yourself a basic question. would america be better off if dr. siddiqui and dreamers like her were unable to work in the united states when our country is in desperate need of doctors and nurses? of course not. earlier this year, i reduced the dream act with my friend republican senator lindsey graham. we have been on the cusp of passing the dream act for years, but time and again congress has failed to finish the job. right now this legislation is more important than ever. that's because one judge in texas who has repeatedly ruled against daca could soon end protections for nearly 600,000 dreamers like siddiqui. that would be a disaster. isn't it time for congress to step up and meet our responsibility to dreamers as

well as responsibility for america's future on a bipartisan basis? i think that time is long overdue and i hope we meet our obligation as lawmakers to solve this problem, not just for this wonderful young woman and the ambition she's shown to make a better life for ter hef, but for -- for herself, but for the future of our own country. mr. president, i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: i ask that the quorum calling be lifted are. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, the threat that china poses is widely recognized, recent events have laid bear the chinese communist party's interest on spying on americans. the china military has brown in the indo-pacific and china is

aligning itself with other adversaries like russia whose war against ukraine china has helped support. we need to make the right decisions now to ensure that the united states is able to counter china from a position of strength, which brings me to the majority leader's current china proposal. last month the democratic leader launched an initiative called china competition bill 2.0, a lot of republicans are skeptical of this initiative. leader schumer's last china initiative massively ballooned in costs and now it is a vehicle for advancing progressive policies. i'm not a loan in fearing that the democrats' latest initiative will turn out to be more of the same. if democrats are serious about competing with china, one thing they should do is make passage of a robust national defense authorization act a priority. unfortunately the ndaa has not

been a priority for the democrat leader over the past two years. in fact, last year senator schumer refused to bring the bipartisan senate armed services committee passed bill to the froor. this critical legislation was allowed to languish for months before a negotiated bill with the house and senate finally passed in december of last year. our national security should not be an 11th hour concern. i'm encouraged that the senate markup of the ndaa is occurring next week and that the majority leader is inclined to bring it to the floor in july. and i hope, mr. president, that that holds. china has made investment in its military a priority. over the last ten years china's defense budget doubled. this year it will increase by more than 7% for the second year in a row, not counting any additional defense funding china hides. it should come as no surprise china is outpacing our military

in hypersonic missiles and has amassed a larger navy. recent u.s. war games posited a u.s.-china conflict following an attack on taiwan have had grim results, showing enormous if military and economic costs on both sides. these war games also made clear that the united states would run through its inventory of munitions, especially for long-range strike, in a matter of weeks, blunting our ability to sustain a protracted conflict. mr. president, the united states along with our allies and partners needs to maintain a credible deterrence to ensure that the cost is hoe hibtively -- is prohibitively high and the odds of success extremely slim for china to attack across the taiwan strait or further attempt to assert any absolute control within the so-called first island chain. to do that, we have work to do

on boosting our military's resources and readiness. at the very least that starts with taking up each year's defense authorization and appropriations bills in a timely fashion. besides building up our military, one of the best ways to ensure competitiveness with china is to strengthen american industry so we continue to lead in the breakthroughs, innovations, and advanced technologies that will define the future. how we attempt to do that matters. the president and democrats in congress have shown their preference for heavy-handed and often costly industrial policy that bestows taxpayer funded subsidies on certain select industries. we'd be wise to ask where this will put us in the next five, ten, and 20 years. will it stifle innovation in our most important engines of growth? what will be the result of

government picking winners and losers? will small businesses and new enterprises be able to compete with large, established, and government-subsidized firms? the way the biden administration has so far been implementing its subsidy programs makes me suspect we're well on our way to having government bureaucrats play outsized role in our economy with correspondingly negative effects. look no further than the strings that the commerce department attached to funding for semiconductor manufacturers. the department is giving preference to companies using union workers and in some cases conditioning funding on companies offering employee benefits that align with the biden administration's agenda. it's the opposite of creating a level playing field. mr. president, america succeeds when innovators and entrepreneurs are empowered to do what they do best and

government steps out of the way. government should be focused not on heavy-handed regulation or picking winners and losers, but on creating the conditions in which all businesses, large and small, can thrive. republicans have shown how pro-growth policies like this lead to greater investment, more opportunities for workers and a stronger economy for all. take our 2017 tax reform legislation. the tax cuts and jobs act lowered tax rates for owners of small and medium-sized businesses, farms, ranches, and made it easier for them to recover the cost of vifg in their businesses, which in turn -- investing in their businesses, which in turn freed up cash to invest in workers. it lowered our country's sky-high corporate tax rate to make american businesses more competitive in the global economy. and it brought our international tax system into the 21st century so that american businesses no longer operated at a disadvantage to their foreign

counterparts. and it worked. in the wake of the tax cuts and jobs act, incomes grew, unemployment fell to a 50-year low, the income gap in this country narrowed, and the list goes on. business investment increased. inversions, which is tax speak for companies moving their headquarters overseas, stopped. companies created new jobs and invested in their employees. and they opened new opportunities for american workers by moving production and capital into the united states and bringing substantially more than a trillion dollars in offshore funds home. and one major thing, one major thing we could do to help boost our economy, increase competitiveness with china is to extend the expiring provisions of the tax cuts and jobs act to give certainty to american businesses and entrepreneurs. and in dems' -- democrats' case,

commit to not repealing tax cuts and jobs act. in the defense base, we can enhance certainty for businesses by authorizing more multiyear acquisition contracts for key munitions like those used by the b-1 bomber, something that would both enhance economic growth and strengthen our nation's defense. mr. president, we also need to resume a real and robust trade policy. for the last two and a half years, the biden administration has put trade on the back burner to the detriment of our economy and our place in the world. trade opened new jobs and opportunities for american workers. it helps businesses and agriculture producers access new markets, which grows our economy. and it provides an opportunity to develop important strategic relationships, foster ties with our allies, and advance u.s. priorities abroad. under the biden administration

the u.s. has been essentially inactive, inactive on trade. but the rest of the world has not. china, for one, is currently negotiating or implementing a number of new trade agreements, adding to its already large portfolio of trading partners. these agreements aren't just economically advantageous. they're allowing china to build, sometimes predatory relationships that serve to expand its fear of influence. one of the most important things we can to to en-- can do to ensure we remain competitive with china is to reengage on the trade front and get to work on trade deals that expand market access and strengthen our relationships with other countries, particularly those that neighbor china. mr. president, there are a number of other steps we can take to boost our competitiveness with china. things like unleashing american energy production to increase

our energy security and to boost american industry. developing critical mineral resources here at home, instead of relying on china for shoach of our critical -- for so much of our critical mineral supply. expanding our security and technological partnership to have a more agile and resilient supply chain. and more. if the democrat leader is serious about improving our competitiveness with china, and not just funding progressive priorities, these are the kinds of things that he should focus on for his bill. mr. president, there is no question in my mind that the united states can successfully compete with and deter aggression from china. but to do that we have to make sure we're doing the right things to build up our military and ensure that american industry can thrive. and i hope that as we move forward we will make securing our competitiveness with china a

priority and ensure that any china initiative does not simply become a vehicle for more spending on pro dressive fant -- progressive fanltsies -- progressive fantasies. 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:

mr. heinrich: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. heinrich: i would ask unanimous consent to evitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. heinrich: i would also ask unanimous consent to is that right the regularly scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without

objection. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 50, the nays are 49, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of

the senates action. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following associates who are working with me this summer in my office be granted floor privileges until june 16, 2023. ms. lauren gekasen and ms. jolie simpson. the presiding officer: without objection. ?oo mr. kennedy: with me today, mr. president, is mr. james shay, who is one of my

colleagues. mr. president, the american people, as we all know, are facing many serious, one might describe them as grave issues, some of which fall under the purview of our united states department of energy. average gas prices remain well above $3 a gallon. that's a hardship on a lot of americans. that's up 50% since president biden took office. average electricity prices -- that's something we have to deal with every day -- they have increased 14.5% since 2022. our aging power grid remains at risk for devastating

cybersecurity attacks. and while china's nuclear stockpile is growing, ours is getting older and it's getting smaller. these are weighty problems, mr. president. you know that as well, if not better than i do. these problems cost the american people a lot of money and they place our national security at risk, and they're all impacted by the united states department of energy and the policy that it creates. but instead of trying to get control over our gas prices or the national security issues that i just mentioned, president biden's administration and his energy department, frankly, seems more concerned about americans' basic kitchen

appliances. and suddenly dishwashers seem to be enemy number one. the department of energy recently announced that it would be proposing a new rule, mr. president, to regulate the amount of water and the amount of energy used by dishwashing machines nationwide. under the proposed rule -- i want to describe it fairly. under the proposed rule, dishwashers woinl be able to -- will only be able to use 3.2 gallons of water per cycle. right now the rule allows, though dishwashers don't use this much, but the rule allows dishwashers to use five gallons

of water per cycle. no person with a brain above a single-crem -- single cell organism, mr. president, has asked for this change. no reasonable circumstance demands it. instead the department of energy and president biden's administration has hearkened to the extreme climate activists who, frankly, we have learned from bitter experience will find any reason to micromanage the lives of americans, by force if necessary. let me give you a case in point. most american dishwashers already use less than five gallons of water than is allowed under current regulations.

in fact, most american dishwashers use not five, which is allowed, but 3.5 gallons of water per cycle. why? because the epa -- the environmental protection agency -- gave its, quote, energy star standard seal of approval to any dishwasher that will use 3.5 gallons or less. so even though a dishwasher can use up to 5 to get the seal of ap -- approval which most dishwashers have and most manufacturers want, uch to use 3.5 or less. despite being epa approved, the d.o.e.'s new rule will force manufacturers to abandon these efficient designs that we're already using to placate people

who arbitrarily want not 3.5, but 3.2 gallons of water per cycle. and you may be thinking, mr. president, okay, we will save 3 gallons per cycle. we will not. president obama -- i want to sidetrack a moment, but this is relevant. during president obama's administration, his regulators imposed a similar restriction. the results were disastrous. his rule was adopted in 2012, some may recall. increase the price of dishwashers by $100. that's $100 in 2012 dollars. it's more today. in exchange for those higher prices, the regulation that president obama promulgated forced americans to buy machines

that don't wash their dishes nearly as well as the older machines, and that will prove the case with this new rule that is being promulgated by the department of energy. now, if you have one of these dishwashers -- not the ones yet to be approved by the department of energy, but the ones mandated under president obama, you know how it goes. you have to prewash the dishes. i mean, it defeats the whole purpose of a dishwasher. if you don't prewash the dishes, half the gravy is still going to be on the plate after the first run. and so that leaves families with a choice. you can run the dishwasher twice, which uses twice as much

water in order to get your dishes clean, or you have to hand wash your dishes, which is going to use about 17 gallons of water. both of these options -- and once again, this is not the new rule yet. we're under president obama's restrictive but less restrictive rule. both of these options waste more water than the older washers. now, the department of energy itself admits that 20% of families who own a dishwasher never use it. why is that? it's not because dish washing is fun. it's because they don't want to taste last night's jambalaya in their morning cheerios when these weaker machines don't do their job. so now instead of having

dishwashers use enough water the first time to actually clean dishes, we're going to have even more families opting to use an average of 17 gallons of water per night to wash by hand. let me restate this. under president obama's regulation, which will be made even worse by the proposed regulation by president biden, if you wash your dishes the first time, they don't get clean. and those of you who use a dishwasher know what i'm talking about. you do save water the first round, but your dishes aren't clean. so you're forced to use the dishwasher a second time, which uses even more water. or you're forced to wash your dishes by hand, which uses

three times more water. now you don't need to be euclid to see that this does not add up to water savings, and it makes even less sense when you consider the savings in electricity. the department of energy's new rule would, it says it will cut the amount of energy the dishwashers can use by 27%. well, we ought to all be for that. it will cut the amount of electricity energy from 307 kilowatt hours annually to 223 kilowatt hours. that's for a standard dishwasher the department of energy under president biden says that this will help reduce, quote, carbon pollution, and it's going to save the american people money. in reality, it won't. by decreasing the amount of

allowed energy use by 27% under this new proposed rule, the new rule will save 84 kilowatt hours annually. that's fewer kilowatt hours than it takes to run an led light bulb for a years. we're not talking about serious energy savings. how much will it save the american people? using the very generous estimates of the department of energy, it's going to save americans about $17 annually, every year. that's not even enough for a tank of gas under president biden's inflation. however, once again i'll draw a parallel to the so-called water savings. once again, the lesser performance capacity in these energy-efficient machines is

going to result in more americans choosing to run the machine twice or to hand wash the dishes just to get the plates clean. it's important to consider the context too, mr. president. louisianians, let me talk about my state. i know my state best. just as you know, mr. president, your wonderful state best. louisianians are paying an extra $740 a month. not a year -- a month -- because of president biden's inflation. that's almost $9,000 a year. and most of my people are not wealthy people. let me just -- let me just read you -- these are not my numbers. these are the numbers compiled by president biden's own government.

electricity is up 20%. gas 48%. eggs -- i know they would come down a little bit, thank god, they're still up 67%. potato chips, 28%. bread 27%, coffee 30%, rice 28%, flour is up 24%, milk is up 20%, ice cream is up 21%, chicken is up 21%, bacon -- i don't want to live in a world without bacon -- it's up 10%. i could keep going. i mean the american people and my people are burning through their savings, and they're getting priced out of the housing market, but president biden's administration seems to be obsessed with robbing our people of access to affordable appliances that actually get the job done.

and i can't think of any better evidence, the fact that in too many instances this administration has a fatal attraction to nutty ideas. i'm not against regulation. i mean, i think the world's complicated and in some cases dangerous. and if we can makedchendoraicapt to do it, but you have to weigh the cost and the benefit. you have to weigh the cost and the benefit. this is what we know after doing that under this proposed new rule, the new rule is not going to save water, it's not going to save a significant amount of energy, it's not going to save the american people money. in fact, it's going to cost money. this new policy's not going to be a win for america, but i'll

tell you who it will be a win for, the people's republic of china. china, the world's largest producer of co2 emissions, we are reducing our co2 emissions, china is increasing its co2 emissions. china stands to benefit from this rule because it produces about 70% of the world's dishwashers, and china's probably going to produce 70% of the new dishwashers mandated by the department of energy. more business for china. the dishwasher manufacturers in china are delighted. now, these manufacturers in china, their factories, they don't run on solar panels. they don't run-off of wind

energy. they're not powered by fairy dust or unicorn urine. nor do the ships that have to bring the dishwashers from china to the american consumer, they run on fossil fuels. some of these manufacturers in china that our department of energy is giving business to run-off coal. look, i care about our planet, and i know you do too, mr. president. i want clean air. i want bright water. we all do, but this new pro posed rule -- proposed rule by the department of energy is not

going to help anything or anybody, it's only going to make the american people spend more money on less efficient machines. the costs outweigh the benefit. it's going to make most of them stop using their dishwasher or use it twice, using twice as much water and energy or frustrate them to say, i'll wash the dishes by hand, using three times the amount of water. it's not just dish watchers, -- dishwashers, if it were just dishwashers, i would chalg is up to -- chalk it up to something else. in the past few months, the biden administration has -- proposed new -- for ovens,

refrigerators, for furnace yass -- frn furnaces, for air conditioners, for light bulbs. get ready. in fact, the biden administration added more than 110 regulations since its been in office on appliances and equipment during two years. most of this these policies, if you weigh the costs and the benefits, make no sense, not in terms of co2 emissions, not in terms of energy savings, not in terms of water savings, and certainly not in terms of the pocketbook of the american people, they are the sops of the

woke wing of the democratic party. not all democrats. i'm not going to paint with a broad bush here, -- broad brush here, not all, but there are some in the democratic party who think that we would all be better off if we had a rule for everything and they think that the american people are not capable of running their own lives. these new regulations will do little, if anything, to help the planet. but they do harm regular americans, the americans who get up every day, go to work, obey the law, pay their taxes, try to do the right thing by their children and try to save a little money for retirement. that's who these regulations are going to hurt. they just -- all of these -- all these folks want is for their

dishwashers to work. they want to spend less time on dishes because they want to spend time with their families. they don't want to have to hand wash the dishes every night. that's what they bought a dishwasher for. now, surely the regulators who are proposing this know that and that's why they're going to downplay, they already are, the dishwasher regulations, it's why they're going to act confused if the federal government is going to unhook their gas stroafs -- gas stoves next. we heard members from the biden administration say, if you like your gas stove, you can keep your gas stove. not true. i'm sorry. it's just not true. this administration is willing

to regulate and try to control every aspect of american life. there are people in this administration that believe that. why? to avoid empty criticism from a liewn -- from the left, which often ignores science and insists on more control. don't listen to what politicians do or say. don't. never listen to what a politician says. you can listen to them, but you've got to compare it to what they do. what you do is what you believe. everything else is just cottage cheese. president biden and his administration are saddling americans with harmful, maybe even hateful, regulations because they care more about what the activists say on tiktok

than they do about the quiet suffering of every day americans all over this country. they have a blind spot for the lives and concerns of ordinary americans, and it's why this administration is more worried about dishwashers and gas stoves than the fact that the average louisiana family is paying $740 more a month, not a year, because of inflation. it's why they'll kill american jobs while continuing to buy solar panels and new dishwashers from the polluters in china. it's why they'll give rich people tax credits to buy

electric cars. how many poor people do you know driving electric cars? it's why they'll give rich people tax credits to buy electric cars while people in rural areas in rural america struggle to pay for a full tank of gas and can't even dream of buying a used car because the used cars cost 30% more since president biden took office. to some it may be amusing, but its not free. there's no free lunch, and you don't get one now. it costs money -- money that americans don't have and it causes them pain that they don't deserve, mr. president. the new rule on dishwashers isn't yet settled. there's -- there's still time

for my colleagues at the department of energy to scrap this rule and walk away from this nonsense. and i hope that they will. thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, i wanted -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum calling. mr. cornyn: i ask consent the quorum calling be dispensed

with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: i wanted to come to the senate floor this afternoon to talk about a scandal of incredible proportion. since president biden became president of the united states, 300,000 unaccompanied children have been encountered at the border and then placed with sponsors inside the interior of the united states -- 300,000. ordinarily they would be -- there would be a process by which health and human services would attempt to contact those minor children in the custody of those sponsors for a wellness check 30 days after they were placed with them.

"the new york times" has documented that at least 85,000 of those 300,000 children cannot even be reached, no response to the phone call or any other outreach. so under the biden administration's policies, an untold number of minor children have been placed with sponsors in the interior of the united states, and the biden administration can't tell you where they are, the administration can't tell you what their condition is, whether they're being sent to school,

whether they're be recruited into gangs, whether they're being sexually or otherwise physicalicly -- physically assaulted. they don't know. now, i know it takes a lot to get people's attention these days because there's so much competing for our attention. so many different types of outrage, but the fact that this hasn't been front page news for a long time now or hasn't been moat motivated -- been motivated, the biden administration to do anything to actually change this situation, leads me to the conclusion that president biden simply doesn't care. he doesn't care. he doesn't care what happens to these children. if he did care, he would do

something about it. but he doesn't apparently care. these are some of the most vulnerable individuals encountered at the border. they come to the united states not in the care of their parents but in the care of transnational criminal organizations, the cartels, is the coyotes as they're called, who treat them like a commodity. they don't treat them like a human being. they treat them like a commodity. because the only thing these cartels care about is cold, hard cash. and this is a huge cash cow. and it's not just the children. it's the other five million

migrants encountered at the border as well. all of them pay these criminal organizations to transport them here to the united states. i mentioned previously, when i went to yuma, arizona, with a bipartisan group of senators, the border patrol sector chief greeted us by saying, welcome to the yuma sector. it's a sleepy little agricultural community. he said we encounter people from 176 countries, speaking 200 languages. so people are literally being transported around the world to show up at our border and claim a right to be ads mitted, and -- to bed a minuted, and the biden administration continues to roll out the welcome mat and not deter illegal immigration by people who cannot qualify, who we know will not qualify, for

any legal relief. the children in particular endure a dangerous and long journey to our country, and they're often exploited en route. we heard from one of the witnesses in the judiciary committee yesterday about them p.m. -- about them being particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking. but we know they're subjected to violence, other forms of exploitation as well. you would hope that once these children arrive at the border they'd be safe. i think that's our obligation, to make sure they're safe. over the last few years, we've seen mounting evidence that show that tens of thousands of these migrant children, who show up at our border without a parent or legal guardian, are placed with sponsor and are essentially lost by the administration.

again, they don't know where they are. they don't know what's happening to them. and of course, we all should be concerned that they're being taken advantage of in a multitude of ways, and being damaged in ways that we don't want to even imagine. an august 2021, bloomberg reported that federal law enforcement was investigating unaccompanied migrant children released to labor traffickers. this is kind of like modern-day slavery. the reporting uncovered situations where dozens of children were released to the same sponsor. dozens of children, to the same person. you think that would have raised some questions? maybe they'd tap the brake a

little bit and investigate further? apparently not, because this same individual then exploited them for labor in poultry processing facilities. it's impossible for me to understand why the administration wouldn't see the warning signs. about a year later, reuters reported on another deeply concerned discovery. federal and local officials were struggling to locate a dozen migrant children in houston. they simply lost them. the health and human services refugee office conducted an emergency review and found that 57 migrant children had been reported missing in houston since the year prior.

lost by the biden administration. as bad as those two reports are, the story does not get any better. recent reporting by "the new york times" has confirmed that these aren't juches -- aren't just the exception, these are part of a deeply disturbing trend, and shows what bad things can happen to innocent children when their own government doesn't even care. of course, many of these are migrant children, so technically, i guess, the united states isn't their government, but we owe them a duty while they are in our country to protect them, from the predators and the exploiters, the traffickers. in february, "the new york times" published its first story

detailing widespread exploitation of migrant children. it includes countless stories of unaccompanied migrants who are working dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws. a 15-year-old girl, for example, who package serial at -- cereal at night in a factory. a 14-year-old boy working on a construction job. a 13-year-old day laborer, children working at a meat processing plant, commercial bakeries, and suppliers for automakers. these are not after-school jobs. these are grueling and dangerous full-time jobs that are meant not for children but for adults. two months later the "times" published another story that detailed the extent to which the biden administration officials

knew, knew about these abuses and chose to ignore them. willful ignorance. the health and human services department received warning after warning that some of these migrant children were at risk. these warnings came through government staffers, outside contractors, and on the department's own hotline established for that purpose. but not only were whistleblowers ignored, many were silenced, pushed out of their jobs. they were retaliated against for trying to protect these vulnerable children. these concerns made their way to the highest echelons of the biden administration. health and human services

secretary javier basserra was -- becerra was aware, but continued to push for expedited placement of migrants with sponsors, with no regard for the dangers that presented. at one point, he reportedly told his employees if henry ford had seen this in his plants, he would have never become famous and rich. this is not the way you do an assembly line, closed quote. so here is the highest-level government official, the secretary of health and human services, a member of president biden's cab net -- cabinet, who considers placing vulnerable migrant children in a dangerous situation as he regards -- he regards it as an assembly line. then labor secretary marty walsh

was aware of the situation as well. last year, the department's investigators identified major instances of child labor violations that took place in auto part factories and meatpacking plants. former secretary walsh even confirmed that the department included details about these situations in its weekly reports to the white house. at least secretary walsh was appearing to do his job by reporting this to the top level officials at the white house. until last month, susan rice served as the director of white house domestic policy council, where she oversaw virtually every aspect of domestic policy matters, including the placement of migrant children. when the border crisis reached a fever pitch during the summer of 2021, ms. rice's team received a

memo from health and human services managers about possible labor trafficking. two people confirmed that mips rice was told about the con -- that ms. rice was told about the contents of the memo, but the white house now disputes that claim. high-ranking biden officials saw clear warning that children were in danger, and chose willful blindness. they did nothing to rescue these children from a dangerous situation or prevent more young migrants from meeting the same fate. in the wake of these damning reports, we've yet to see a thorough investigation or explanation of how this happened. how could the administration fail these children so badly? over and over and over again.

how could they not act on credible reports that children were being exploited? this is a disgusting failure of leadership. and it's dangerous. and we tbleed to get answers -- and we need to get answers and accountabilities. and we need to fix it. something the biden administration apparently does not care enough to do. if they did care, they would fix it. but they obviously don't care. following the second "new york times" report, i wrote a letter to chairman durbin of the judiciary committee, cosigned by every republican. we urged him to invite these three biden administration leaders who failed to act in the face of these warnings to testify in front of the judiciary committee. that included secretary becerra, former labor secretary walsh,

and former white house adviser susan rice. the judiciary committee, on which i'm privileged to serve, is charged with oversight of the unaccompanied children program, and we have a duty to ensure that these children are treated humanely. we need to know who made the decision to loosen vetting requirements for sponsors, and why those decisions were made. we need to hear from the current and former administration officials who knew about the widespread abuse of migrant children and yet chose not to act. we need a thorough explanation of how the department is changing its policies, assuming it is, to prevent more children from being placed with dangerous sponsors. and we need to know how those responsible for these grotesque

abuses will be held accountable. but in the judiciary committee hearing yesterday, we didn't get any of that information. none of the officials that i mentioned, that we requested, actually testified. they didn't show up. not only have they neglected the cries of these vulnerable children, to do something, anything, they didn't even care enough to show up at the judiciary committee yesterday to explain why they failed to act in the face of these cries for help. we didn't hear from a single current or former biden administration official. there was not one witness on the five-person panel who could shed light on the decisions that caused so many of these migrant children to be exploited.

if our democratic colleagues are as disturbed as i am about what i've described, i hope they'll join republicans in a bipartisan push to get secretary becerra, secretary walsh, former white house domestic policy adviser susan rice to testify under oath before the judiciary committee, and before the rest of the country. these senior administration officials saw the warning signs, and they chose to ignore them. they continued to press for the rapid placement of these children with sponsors, and they didn't apparently care enough to make sure that they could track where these children were and what was happening to them. so now they need to explain their decisions on behalf of the biden administration to the senate.

i can't imagine the biden administration doing a worse job responding to this border crisis than it has. if you set out to design a system that would fail, it would look something like the current policies of the biden administration. by refusing to secure the border, the administration has allowed criminal organizations to smuggle fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the country. it's enabled more than 1.5 million got-aways to evade border patrol and slip into the united states. and it's released hundreds of thousands of migrants before we had sufficient information about who they were, where they were going, and when they needed to report to court. migrants in some cities wait as

long as ten years to claim an asylum before an immigration judge. we know 15 max, 20% of them will be able to legitimately show a right to asylum. so the 80% to 85% have had to wait in line for ten years -- or 15% or so with valid claims had to wait in line for ten years because of the 80% to 85% who can't qualify. even people with legitimate claims can't get hurt. now we're seeing how the administration looked the other way and allowed migrant children to be exploited on american soil. so my question, mr. president, is how long will we have to go before our colleagues join us in demanding a change. because failure to do something

is in fact a choice. are we going to choose to let this exploitation of these migrant children continue? when the u.s. government who placed them with these sponsors doesn't even know where they are, whether they're getting a good education, whether their health care needs are being tended to or whether they're being recruited in gangs, sex traffic, exploited, neglected. i started out by saying i don't -- i don't believe the biden administration cares, but i do believe members of this body care. and it's within our power to change it. that is a choice in and of itself. now, some of my colleagues like the chairman of the judiciary committee said, yeah, we need to get together and talk about comprehensive immigration

reform. well, we've had those conversations the entire time i've been in the united states senate. we cannot leverage these innocent children for other unrelated measures. same problem with the fentanyl and drugs coming across the border. people say, well, we need to do something. well, we can't do it until we do comprehensive immigration reform. the daca population, the deferred action on childhood arrival, these young people who came here as children who now are in a boxed cannion -- canyon not of their making but because president obama overreached and created a program without working with congress. each of those problems i think deserves to be addressed on its own merits. but you can't tell me that you're serious about solving the problem if you say well, we can't do this. we can't fix those problems

until we deal with all the immigration issues as a whole. because i don't see that happening any time soon. meanwhile, these children will be languishing, being exploited, and worse. the young people who are uncertain about their future because they received this deferred action on childhood arrivals but now has been held illegal, unconstitutional by a federal judge in the southern district of texas. and the families that are grieving because their loved ones took a pill they thought was relatively innocuous but it was contaminated with fentanyl, and their son or daughter lost their life. you want to tell these people to keep waiting? just wait until we pass a massive immigration reform bill

containing other matters. you wait. they shouldn't have to wait. and we shouldn't let the neglect and the willful blindness of the biden administration prevent us from doing our duty, republican and democratic senators alike. it is within our power to do it. but doing nothing is a choice, too, and i hope that's not a choice we will make. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. heinrich: i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of both the majority and the north leaders. the presiding officer: duly

noted. mr. heinrich: mr. president, i would ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. heinrich: mr. president, in the mountains of new mexico, there is a stunning 13-mile wide crater that was created by a collapsed super volcano. what's now known as the national preserve is home to deep valleys, cool vannic cinder cones, crystal clear trout streams and some of the best elk habitat in north america. the national preserve is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. but for many, many decades, most new mexicans could only peer into its edge from the side of a road. it was privately owned. that has since changed. in 2000 we used the land and water conservation fund to

purchase it but it took nearly a decade and a half after that to see truly meaningful public access. one new mexican deserves an enormous amount of credit for unlocking the area and its scenic hiking trails and trout fishing. that new mexican is kent salazar. as a member of the new mexico game commission, kent fought to undo a system that allowed wealthy and out-of-state hunters to purchase greater access to elk hunting than everyday new mexicans or americans. in the face of big money opposition, kent pushed to establish a fair and equal lottery system that honored the principle of one person, one chance. and he succeeded. i have personally harvested two elk thanks in part to the

changes that kent made. then after president obama appointed kent to lead the valles caldera board of trustees, he quickly became a champion for transitioning the caldera to a national park service managed preserve. this change has expanded public access and made it possible for many more new mexicans and for visitors from around the world to experience this incredible landscape. it also protected the public's fair access to both hunting and fishing, and none of this would have been possible without the determination, leadership, and vision of my friend kent salazar. a lifelong new mexican, kent has dedicated himself to the idea that the outdoors are for every one, not just -- not just those with wealth or connections. from an early age kent found

time spent outdoors brought him a sense of renewal. and ever since he has worked to make sure that all new mexicans and all americans can build a connection with nature. for 20 years as a public administrator, kent worked to make our land and air and water safer and healthier at the city of albuquerque's environmental health department. an avid hunter, angler and outdoorsman, kent also breathed new life into the new mexico wildlife federation. the legendary conservationist eldo leopold founded the organization that became the new mexico wildlife federation more than a century ago. but when kent took the reins, the organization had no staff and no real driving mission. even so, kent saw the incredible potential if he could reinvigorate the organization and that he did. under kent's leadership, the new

mexico wildlife federation grew its membership dramatically and hired professional staff. today the new mexico wildlife federation is one of the most influential grassroots organizations in our state. the organization has become much more active and much more effective in protecting iconic new mexico landscapes, including the vidal, the wilderness and rio grand dell norte national monument. the impact of kent's leadership has also grown nationally. three years ago kent was elected unanimously to serve as the chairman of the national wildlife federation's board of directors. with the national wildlife federation, kent helped to lead the charge to secure permanent and dedicated funding for the land and water conservation fund and passed historic investments in landscape restoration as part of the inflation reduction act.

and he is still helping us today as we work to pass the bipartisan recovering america's wildlife act. kent also helped to found the green leadership trust and hispanics enjoying camping, hunting, and the outdoors. through all of this i have especially appreciated kent's kindness and passion. his pragmatism and knowledge, his devoted focus on making the conservation movement more inclusive and mentoring the next generation of conservation leaders. the way he keeps an open mind, listens to others, and always seems to drive the whole room in a more productive direction. kent's name might not make it to the newspaper that often, but it should. he is one of the most effective conservation leaders of our time. kent once said, if we get the right people involved, we can

accomplish a lot and help our communities and our future, our children. he's absolutely right. we are all better off because kent is involved serving our communities, our future, and our children. i am extraordinarily grateful to have worked with and learned from kent for all these years. and i am honored to call him a friend. kent, we cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done to inspire new mexicans and to care for the land of enchantment. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. a senator: mr. president, i rise

today to extend a warm welcome to his excellency nahan modi. the prime minister of the republic of india. next week we'll be honored to have him address a joint meaning of congress underscoring the significance of the relationship between the united states and india. mrs. hyde-smith: the bond between india and the united states is not just an alliance. it is a strategic and global partnership. our two nations' relationship is built on the strong foundation of shared values, democracy, freedom, and respect for the rule of law. india and the united states have long recognized the power of collaboration in fostering peace, prosperity, and global stability. u.s.-india diplomatic relations have only grown since india gained its independence 75 years ago. in the face of global challenges ranging from education to energy

to agricultural and health, the prime minister has worked with the united states to address these issues and continues to work towards solutions that benefit not just our countries but the entire world. prime minister modi's visit to washington, d.c. is an occasion to celebrate that progress and to reaffirm our commitment to further strengthen this vital partnership. i've had the opportunity to learn more about this partnership from dr. cocarni, the indian consulate general in indiana and a friend of mine and also a friend of my state director. so prime minister modi's visit is an opportunity to deepen our collaboration in areas such as trade, defense, technology, and health care which will shape the future trajectory of our nations. i encourage my colleagues to join me in extending a warm

welcome to the prime minister as he visits our great nation. i yield the floor, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i take this time -- i'll be making a unanimous consent request in regards to the superintendent of the u.s. naval academy, but i first want to acknowledge my responsibilities on behalf of this body. you see, i serve on the board of visitors in the united states naval academy. i was selected to be one of the senate representatives on the u.s. naval academy board of visitors. we are extremely proud of what that academy has produced and today it's producing the next generation of military leaders. it's consistently ranked as one of the top colleges in the united states. and it should be for training the next generation of leaders

for our military. i'll just give you one example. the u.s. naval academy is prepared to deal with the challenges of a.i. and cybersecurity. it has new facilities there, and is training experts to help defend our national security in that regard. i also want to acknowledge admiral buck, the current superintendent has retiring. he's done an incredible service to our nation as the superintendent of the u.s. naval academy and now has completed 40 years of service to this country. rear admiral yvette davies is qualified for the next superintendent of the u.s. naval academy. admiral davis is a career professional military officer who has sworn oath to support and defend the constitution and our country. she has consistently put service before self and the constitution before politics. admiral davis graduated from the

u.s. naval academy in 1989 with a bs in ocean graphic and was commissioned as an ensign. she later received an ma in national security and strategic studies from the naval war college in 2002 and an ms in national resource strategies from the industrial college of the armed forces in 2012. she had a distinguished career at sea highlighted by commanding multiple u.s. warships as well as a carrier strike group. she as served in increasing roles of importance including as a military advisor at the state department and as the chief of staff at the u.s. southern command. admiral davis has led men and women in combat and her extensive experience will be vital to leading our next generation of officers at the naval academy. admiral davis' confirmation as the next superintendent would be the culmination of a 34-year career dedicated to defending our country, and it will be

historic as she will become the first woman to lead the naval academy. mr. president, the incoming class of 2027 reports to the naval academy for induction on june 29, just a few days from now. and the fall semester begins on august 24. admiral davis should be confirmed as superintendent without delay in order to complete the turnover with the ongoing superintendent and prepare for the fall semester. the last time the naval academy superintendent did not have a summer change of command was over 59 years ago. it occurred in 1964 when the incumbent superintendent had a heart attack that resulted in early retirement. the senate needs to confirm the promotion of rear admiral davis now. u.s. naval academy superintendent is in charge with the moral, mental, and physical development of our 4,500 naval

academy midshipmen across four classes who represent nearly one-third of naval officers who we commission each fiscal year. the position provides direct oversight to the commandant of midshipmen and soup vices all military and military training at the brigade and direct oversight to civilian academic dean who manages the programs and student facilities at the u.s. naval academy. the superintendent is the public face and the premier academic institution and consistently hosts government officials, international symposiums and is a liaison. if rear admiral davis is not confirmed, it would force things not in the best interest. it could include temporarily

assigning another flag officer. the options do not provide the continent and seniority needed. the other option could be to require involuntary extension of the current superintendent of the academy who has already selflessly served this country for over 30 years ago. i think we all recognize that the united states naval academy is a unique institution. it provides us the trained leadership for future generations in our military. it is an academic institution that needs the full-time attention of a ceo to manage all the aspects that go on at the naval academy. we need to have that person in place before the beginning of this academic year, which is just a few days off. delaying this promotion will adversely affect the morale and readiness of the naval academy. delaying in promotion is unfair

to the youngs men and women already at orienteering the naval academy who had a signed up to put themselves in harm's way. delaying this promotion is a gratuitous self-inflicted wound to our national security. so, mr. president, i'm going to make this unanimous consent request. i do that, as i said earlier, with my experience on the board of visitors representing this institution, charged with doing everything we can to make sure that we are as supportive as possible to our men and women who wear the uniform of this nation and to those that are attending the u.s. naval academy, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination -- calendar number 192, rear admiral yvette m. davis to be vice admiral, that the senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate, that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider 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. tuberville: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: reserving the right to object, this is the ninth time that my colleagues on the left have come to the floor to try to break my hold on the department of defense nominees. this is the ninth time i've come to the floor to keep my word. since the last time we did this, nothing has changed, and so my hold will remain in place. i want to be clear about this because my democratic colleagues have been spreading a little bit of disinformation. i'm not blocking anyone from getting confirmed. i'm not blocking a single vote. i'm only blocking unanimous consent. if the democrats want to vote on these nominees one at a time, i'm all for it and will probably vote for them. i understand that senator cardin is a strong supporter of this nominee. i am a strong supporter of the naval academy. i had several relatives that have gone to the naval academy.

it's possible that when these come up, i will vote on all of them. but so far, let me just respond to some of the false claims that i've been -- that have been made against me in the press and even on this floor in the last week or so. yesterday the white house press secretary was asked why they haven't reached out to me at all from the white house. she said, i do not know. i do not know when the last time is that the white house has talked to the senator. i'll tell you when the last time was -- never. the white house has not reached out to me once in four months. no one has contacted me. there's not been one conversation, not one path forward. i have spoken to secretary austin outside of the armed services hearing exactly once in

the last two years. he made absolutely no effort to find a compromise in our situation. i've never once heard from chairman reed on this issue, of the armed services committee. absolutely no discussion regarding my concerns. instead, chairman reed has attacked me on this floor, and i have never once heard from senator schumer. instead, senator schumer has attacked me six or seven times on this floor in his seat. many of the claims made about me have been completely false. this is no way to negotiate with a colleague. i don't understand it. especially not in this body, the united states senate. frankly, this kind of behavior just steels my resolve. the more false claims that my colleagues on the left make about me, the more it makes me

inclined to just hold my holds in place. i've already laid out the reasons why these claims do not add up. i don't need to repeat them all as we speak. we don't need to waste time. but i would note that yesterday a new story reported correctly that these military positions are being fulfilled by acting officials. these jobs are being done as we speak. they're not empty. four months ago into this situation that is obvious that people are doing the job. it is not affecting our readiness. anyone to says otherwise is wrong. so let me just say this one more time, because i keep getting asked the same question over and over again. i will keep my hold until the pentagon follows the law and congress changes the law. that's the way we do it here in the senate. a show vote in committee is not

good enough. we can do that all we want, but it's not going to make any difference. an amendment that gets stripped out on the floor by senator schumer is not good enough. what which i've said from the beginning -- what i've said from the beginning, either follow the law or change it. follow the law that we have made in this body or change the law. the burden is not on me. it's not on me to pass this legislation. this is an illegal policy that they've changed to. so let's in this body discuss it and go one way or the other. the burden is on the administration to stop break breaking the law, and that's exactly what's going on here. there are two conditions that would get me to stop this and drop this hold. and i think everybody knows those conditions. so because of that, mr. president, i object.

mr. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, obviously i'm deeply disappointed by an is there objection being heard here, but i real real really feel compelled to -- but i really feel compelled to explain one factor of my colleague's comments. we don't want the military involved in politics. we do everything we can to keep them insulated from the internal politics of the congress, of the senate and the house. and that's exactly what my colleague is doing by this hold. we're responsible to make sure that we support our men and women in harm's way. having the military academies properly managed is part of our responsibility so that they have the tools they need to defend our nation. and one last point that was mentioned by my colleague about having up-and-down votes on these nominations, that he would

not hold that up. well, he is. he's requiring to break a filibuster. what he's suggest something that he's not letting us have an up-or-down vote. that's what my unanimous consent would have allowed. so we don't have to have a cloture motion, which is exactly what my colleague is suggesting we need to go through, in order to vote on hundreds of these promotions in the commitment, that if -- in the military, that if we followed the course that he is suggesting, those plebes that are entering this month, they will be around their second year before we get around to the nominations. i regret that we are playing politics with our military and affecting our ability to defend our nation. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the request he is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is disagreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 30. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. natasha c. merle of new york ton united states district judge for the eastern district of new york. mr. schumer: i move -- i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report.

the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 30, natasha c. merle 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 those opposed nay. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session tor consider executive calendar number number 1 treaty document 112-8. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. owe potioned nay -- opposed nay. the yiez have it.

the motion greasht. -- the motion is agreed to. the clerk: treaty doc 112-8, tax qeks with chill chile. mr. schumer: i ask the resolution and advice and consent to ratification. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i send apcloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on calendar number 1, treaty document 112-8, tax convention with chile and a resolution of advice and consent to ratification with two reservations and two declarations signed by 18 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 the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, june 15, be

waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent -- the senator from illinois be given ten minutes to speak immediately and following her five minutes, the senator from massachusetts. the presiding officer: without objection. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. ms. duckworth: mr. president, i rise today as both chair of the subcommittee on aviation safety but more importantly as a pilot who is only alive because of the swift actions of an experienced flight crew. i have lived the experience of piloting a black hawk that was struck by a rocket propelled grenade in flight and entered into flight conditions immediately that flight similarities taught me would be catastrophic. but experience gained flying in the toughest conditions showed me that that was not the case. i have probably spent more hours in the most sophisticated flight

simulators than any other senator of this body short of, of course, senator kelly, our astronaut. in my over a decade of training as a military pilot, every time, every single time that we simulated total loss of all aircraft avionics would follow on total loss of hydraulic power, we died in that simulator, and we did this every year and we simulated it over and over. it was not survivorrable. and we never simulated an rpg explosion in the lap of one of the pilots that any of the crew could survive. why did we never simulate that condition? nobody ever imagined that it would ever happen and have the crew survive or that the aircraft would not break apart in flight. and yet on that day in iraq, on that day when that rocket propelled grenade landed in my lap and exploded, we did.

the aircraft held together, and we survived it. and we were ten feet above the trees and we looked and we had no avionics and we could tell hydraulics were next. if we had relied on our simulator training we would have done what dark pilot humor always said which is you're going to die anyway. let's trade spots and leave a mystery for investigators to figure out what the heck happened. but we didn't. we fought to fly that aircraft because out trading in the cockpit, in real-world flight conditions taught us that we could do it. and led by the expertise of my pilot in command, we landed that aircraft and saved our entire flight crew. i would not be alive today but for the in-cockpit experience gained through many hard-earned flight hours over a decade of training. it was actual real-world experience, not a flight

simulation, that made us prepared and ready to respond to a life-threatening emergency with level heads and swift action, with instinct. of course my experience is not unique. when the hero of the hudson, captain sully sullenberger implores congress to understand that the combined 40,000-plus flight hours between him and his first officers were critical in saving 155 lives on that january 15, 2009, day we should slinch. do you think that prior to that day flrp flight simulations of a dual engine failure followed by ditching in the hudson river by any airline, by any flight school? no. in fact, when that very simulation was run after the miracle on the hudson, even with the flight crews experience and expecting the scenario, they still crashed time after time that simulated emergency. it was pilot and cockpit flying

experience that saved the miracle on the hudson. my experience as both a pilot responsible for the lives of my crew and passengers and the most hazardous conditions along with my commitment to my leadership role on the aviation safety subcommittee means that i cannot be complicit in efforts to compromise on safety for the flying public. there has never been a worst time to consider weakening pilot certification requirements to produce less experienced pilots. 2023 has already been a chilling year for our civil aviation system. we've witnessed a disturbing rise of near-deadly close calls that led the federal aviation administration to convene an unprecedented safety summit where the acting administrator warned that the entire aviation strip need not, need to not grow complacent because complacency kills. ntsb is treating the recent uptick and near misses as a

national crisis and investigating to determine whether systemic problems are a cause. some of observers believe the hiring that was necessary to address the storm of prepandemic buy out and post-covid travel boom resulted in a workforce more prone to mistakes. we must treat these unnerving near misses as red flags and be proactive in strengthening safety requirements to make sure that these close calls do not become precursor events or catastrophic incidents. the last thing we should be doing is weakening part 121 certification standards. we have had seven close calls most recently and the answer is not let's reduce pilot training. it's the pilot who prevented those close calls from becoming accidents in the first place. as a pilot, i learned the value of real-world experience. trust me, hours in that cockpit in the sky matter. similarities are a -- simulators are a valuable

training tool. i applaud them and make use of them but they are no substitute for the real thing. life-saichg instinct are earned through hours of dedication through the craft of piloting a real aircraft with real stakes. look, i know the experience of perfect storm of major carriers buying out thousands of their most experienced pilots followed by a postpandemic surge and air travel demand that created a temporary shortage of pilots and first officers especially for regional airlines. the consequences for communities, especially in rural airports, has been real and painful. i see them myself in my own home state. i understand the temptation to cut corners or chase the false promise of a conviction fix to a systemic challenge but weakening a pillar of postcovid reforms won't solve the need for more pilots. believe me, i've asked for the specifics. if we reduce minimum flight hours from 1500 to 1,000 how many more pilots will be available in the following calendar year?

what about 800 hours? what if we dropped to 500 or 250? how many more pilots would much then? i received no precise estimates let alone credible projections. at this point i question whether the special interests pushing to weaken the 1500 hour rule even have a methodology or model to measure the relationship between certain certification standards and the availability of pilots. i'm not the only one who has stress tested industry assertions and come away with more questions than answers. louisiana year faa -- last year federal aviation administration explicitly stated, and i quote, the faa previously concluded the argument that an exemption would observe to address project shortage is overly simplistic and does not present a persuasive argument, end quote. foreign carriers not subject to the 15 hour rule also are experiencing workforce challenges poacht pandemic and yet they are not reducing their

requirements. this bolsters faa's conclusion. simply put, reducing hours even just for restricted atp's represent a serious risk with no reward. it represents an unacceptable backsliding, a dangerous complacency in an industry where complacency kills. as chair of the aviation safety subcommittee, as a professional aviator, as a privately pilot, i am holding the line on safety. i want to encourage my colleagues to focus on the long list of other more urgent aviation issues facing our country. now is not the time to go backwards on our safety system and there has not been a single aviation fatality due to pilot error since the 1500 hour rule was put into effect. now is not the time to put corporate profits ahead of the lives of our constituents who may want to board a commercial flight in the future. a vote to reduce a 1500 hour rule for pilot training will

mean blood on your hands when neffable accidents occurs -- inevitable accident occurs as the result of an improperly trained crew. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: mr. president, i come to the floor today to speak in support of the confirmation of julie rikelman to the united states court of appeals for the first circuit. in just a few minutes the senate will vote to invoke cloture on jibing -- julie rikelman's nomination and soon after we will vote on her confirmation. julie rikelman has a distinctively american story. in 1979 her family emigrated toa

new culture and maim naturalized united states citizens. ms. rikelman's experience as a political refugee shaped her lifelong commitment and to true justice for all and to the fundamental principles of the rule of law. with 25 years of experience, her legal career has been nothing short of stellar, she attended harvard law school and clerked on the alaska supreme court and on the u.s. court of appeals for the third circuit. she has worked in private practice and litigated a range

of issues from reproductive rights cases across the country to civil and criminal cases at both the trial and appellate levels. she has experience in securities law, antitrust law and constitutional law. ms. rikelman's federal and state cases involve deaf defamation, and -- involve defamation and employment legal claims. she has deep experience on issues commonly before the first circuit. julie rikelman has protected the americans' fundamental rights including the right to liberty and privacy, distinguishing herself as one of the nation's leading reproductive rights attorneys. in 2021, she argued the supreme court case dobbs v. jackson health organization, the

seminole case in the history of our highest court considering that issue. i have complete confidence that ms. rikelman will have have deep -- will bring deep knowledge to the bench. my office has received letters of support of ms. rikelman's nomination from dozens of individuals and organizations, including members of the alaska state bar, current and former prosecutors, law enforcement officials, the national council of jiewish women and many -- jewish women and many of her former colleagues. she is described as brilliant, committed to the rule of law and deeply devoted to honoring the constitution and protecting our civil rights and civil liberties. these are precisely the qualities we are looking for in a nominee to the federal appeals court. we have them in julie rikelman. it is essential that we have

diversity and she would be the first immigrant woman and the first jewish woman to serve in the first court of appeals. that's what this nation is all about. so senator warren and i are proud and enthusiastically recommend julie rikelman's nomination to president biden and are proud to speak in favor of her nomination in front of the full senate today. she will make an exceptional addition to the first circuit. i urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on cloture and then on her confirmation. mr. president, i yield back. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motions 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 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 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum calling has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of julie rikelman, of massachusetts, to be the united states circuit judge for the first circuit 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: on this vote, the yeas are 53, the nays are 45. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, julie rikelman of massachusetts to be united states circuit judge for the first circuit.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: just parenthetically, true to trish's dedication to the job, she just sat down and whispered to me, we're not in a quorum call. that will probably be one of the last of about 100,000 proper right instructions she has given me over the years that she has been here, given all of us. so i thought that was a moment to remember.

anyway, today i want to take a moment to honor one of the, the, the most beloved members of the senate team, and that is trish engle, who will be leaving the democratic cloakroom after 26 years of service. that means you started about a year before me, 1998? >> 1997. mr. schumer: i came here in late -- early 1999. she is the mom of two boys, william and garrison. who's older, william or garrison? william. very nice. both in their nice blue shirts. and -- who are here with us today and i'm sure they're looking -- are you looking forward to spending more time with their mom? i'm saying you are. i'm not quite sure at your age. that is exactly the case. but i'm sure it's good quality time knowing trish. trish's mom melva is here in the

gallery. ail glad he had -- i'm glad her family is here. we all know that trish is one of the most familiar faces in the senate. but even then it's easy to miss just how important, just how critical she's been to making the senate agenda come to limelight there are so many -- and trish is at the top of this list of unsung heroes who make the place work. no one notices them, no one praises them, but without them, this place might collapse, it might even get to be like the house -- no, i won't say that a without trish, the democratic caucus wasn't have accomplished a fraction -- that is true -- a fraction of all the amazing things that we've gotten down on the years. drug reform, infrastructure, cares act, aca, the list goes on and on. the list of bills she's had us hand in literally spans decades. every senator on our side of the aisle, every single one -- and

many of those who have retired -- can think of some accomplishment we've been proud of at one point or another. you can bet that trish was the one who helped make that accomplishment happen on the floor. because it's trish to come come -- comes up with these brilliant parliamentary maneuvers. she's always writing the scripts that speed up the voting process. she is unique, a legislative artist who knows the inner workings of this body like few others in this body. there are probably fewer than ten people who know as much as trish in the all -- how many? -- eight billion people on earth. that's pretty good. she worked wonders serving -- i met her when daschle was leader. he loved her and depended on her. she's worked her magic under harry reid. he loved her and depended on her. and today i want to express how

grateful i am for all the good work you have done during my time as leader. like so many parents around here, trish had to juggle with a very demanding job where she is sea almost on did all -- where she's almost on call all the time while making sure her wonderful family got all they needed. during all this time she's like superwoman. she earned an mba and m.a. from john's hopkins while working on the senate floor. and to do that from any college is amazing. to do it from johns hopkins, no slouch are you, trish. doing it all. doing it all. but these are only some of the wonderful reasons we'll miss her. we'll miss her because of her wonderful sense of humor. we'll miss her because few people put up with senators so regularly and never -- i don't think i ever saw you get mad. anybody? everyone disagree? >> mrs. murray: we're not

laughing. mr. schumer: oh, you got mad at amy once. i understand. [laughary] -- laughter] mr. schumer: we'll miss her because she is a wonderful person to work with, no matter the day, no matter the issue, no matter the outcome. she's the best. on behalf of the senate, trish, of all of us, the whole big senate family, we thank you for everything you've done, for this institution and drivively for our country. we love you. we'll miss you. and you will always have is a home here in this chamber. we wish you and your wonderful family the very best. i yield the floor. [applause] mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore. mrs. murray: i -- if i could, i want to he can quo the majority leader's words.

all of us are grateful for her tremendous service to each and every one of us. as one of the few senators that was here when she first started that is still here, i want to tell you, the senate will not be the senate without trish. her smile, her ability to work with us, her knowledge of the rules, being at our back, helping us understand the process has really helped laws pass, changed lives and made a difference for all of us. trish, we are going to miss you and i just with aens to personal will i through -- and i just want to personally through the chair thank you and wish you all the best. america --. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i want to share the perspective of individual senators who at various moments who are stressed over getting their amendments considered or how to deal with a particular issue that's coming up. there have been moments, for example, not so far back into last year when i really wanted an amendment up.

i was coming to trish, how do i do this? how do i position this to get this done? i know that many of us, when we're trying to do something we consider important or are concerned about something happening that is detrimental, our emotions are high. and every time that i've been in that position, you've been a calm and steady presence, facilitating our efforts, maybe raising an eyebrow now and then about whether this was the right moment or the right process, but giving sound guidance and taking our levels of anxiety and stress down a few notches and helping us get the job done. for all of us who in moments, critical moments here have come to you and asked for your help and your insights on how to proceed, thank you for being wise and sober, calming counsel to us. and wish you all the best in your next chapter.

the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i am thrilled to join people across washington state and across the country in recognizing pride month. pride is an opportunity every year for people across our country and across the world to mark the progress we have made and the work left to do and to celebrate the lgbtq community. it is a joyful, beautiful thing, and it stands in stark contrast to the bigotry some voices on the far right have been fanning. it's impossible to watch a pride

parade today without seeing just how far we have come as a nation. and unfortunately it's also impossible to follow the news without seeing a reminder of how far we still have to go and how hard a bigoted minority of people is fighting to pull us back. some far-right provocateurs have been twisting the most basic mundane gestures of inclusion into so-called controversies through blatant distortion and demonization. i mean, imagine calling for an investigation into a private company because they just sent their product to a trans person with a massive online audience. imagine being outraged because a company cares about having a diverse, equitable, inclusive workplace. imagine getting worked up because of rainbow logos or pride sale or an adorable little

baby onesie. i've got a news flash for everyone trying to to act for companies trying to sell their products to every company they can is some new nefarious conspiracy. get this, gay and trans people eat beverages, they eat food, they buy things. and for suddenly everyone to be outraged over some cute baby clothes, you know what? lgbtq have families too. they are parents, they are aunts and uncles and grandparents. where have you been? they are queer, they are here, and they have been for years, and get used fo -- to it. they are not going anywhere. these attacks on the lgbtq community are not just ridiculous, they are dangerous, because we aren't just talking about a handful of far-right voices complaining about companies. there is a truly insidious and ugly effort to demonize and

ostracize and erase the lgbtq community and our trans friends, neighbors and loved ones in particular. far-right lawmakers across our nation and across different levels of government are spewing some of the most hateful rhetoric, peddling some of the most bigoted conspiracies and passing some of the most hateful anti-lgbtq laws i have seen in a long while. over the past few years these far-right politicians have taken books with lgbtq characters off the shelves. they've demonizing drag performers with dangerous rhetoric. they have investigated parents for helping their kids get the care that they need and blocked kids from that care. it is extreme, cynical, and hateful to a degree that is even hard to believe. far-right legislators are happy to ignore the first amendment to ban books and keep kids away

from their entirely made-up danger of drag shows, but they are nowhere to be found when it comes to a serious discussion of the second amendment and protecting kids from gun violence and actual public health thret and the leading cause of death for children in the united states. one republican presidential candidate is shamelessly and falsely suggesting that trans kids participating in youth sports might be to blame for the teen mental health crisis and insidiously ignoring the reality that the same kids they are using as a political punching bag face some of the highest rates of depression and suicide of anyone. another republican presidential candidate championed a bill that is silencing and erasing lgbtq kids and parents and teachers from schools by banning discussion about gender identity and sexual orientation and banning books for the slightest

acknowledgment that lgbtq people even exist. one school district in florida even banned a kids book about a penguin, a penguin with two dads. seriously? then there is a wave of laws we are seeing meant to cut kids off from age-appropriate, gender-affirming health care that they rely on, like the law that passed in idaho right across the border from my state that criminalizes doctors for providing kids with a gender-affirming care that they need, care that is overwhelmingly recommended by medical experts as safe and even lifesaving. or the vile effort to falsely accuse loving parents whose kids are getting this care they need of child abuse. i've said it before, mr. president. it truly feels like far-right republican lawmakers are in a race to the bottom in pursuit of the most extreme hateful agenda they can think of. and their attacks have been

especially cruel to the trans community and to trans kids. there are real consequences to this hateful rhetoric. we know the trans community is more likely to face suicide and homelessness and violence, and yet far-right lawmakers are using their megaphones and their positions of power to bully kids. that's what it comes down to. they are attacking people, attacking kids for being different, for being themselves. i said it last year on the senate floor. i am here again because i still have to say it. we -- we -- all have a responsibility to stand up and make clear that this is not right. trans people are our friends, they are our neighbors, they are our family. they deserve to be kids, just kids, to play sports and go to school and see a doctor and get health care. they should be able to get the same opportunities as any other

kid, to learn and grow and play and thrive free from fear and discrimination. and parents deserve to be able to make their own parenting decisions with their medical providers to do what is best for their kids' health. they should not have to worry about what a right-wing politician thinks is best for their child. and they definitely should not live in fear that a state legislature is going to intervene in that i were parenting decisions -- in their parenting decisions and hurt their child. we have got to push back against these attacks on trans kids every way we can in the courts, with legislation, through executive action, and by speaking out and speaking up, which is why i am here today, to tell everyone facing these hateful attacks, you are not alone and you have so many people in your community and in your corner. i'm proud to stand with these kids and their families and the

whole lgbtq community. this pride month we commit ourselves to making sure these kids are not just safe in our country, not just welcome in our country, but allowed to be themselves here, allowed to be joyful and confident about who they are in every part of our country. and in that spirit, i want to share some wisdom from stella. she's a young trans activist in washington state who spoke with me last year about the dangerous laws targeting trans community. i will quote her. opinions cannot stop us from existing. they cannot stop me from living my dream to the fullest and following all of my dreams. and opinions do not change who we are as transgender and nonbinary people. end quote. i certainly am proud to be a voice for young people like stella here in the united states senate. stella, i hope you're having a great pride. and, mr. president, my message today to everyone who's been

encouraging or complicit in the attacks on the lgbtq community is simple. first, leave kids and families alone. you are not their doctor, you are not their parent. you have no idea what they are going through, what they have gone through, or what is best for them. it is not your say and it is not your business. second, be kind. be kind. you do not have to bully people because they are different. you do not have to champion hatred and fear or anger. you can make a different choice. it's really not that hard to listen, to learn, to respect, and accept people for who they are, to have compassion. and i promise it will make your world brighter and your heart will be lighter. finally, if you do continue down this dangerous path, bullying kids, erasing lgbtq people and demonizing them with

dangerous rhetoric, i will rise against you every step of the way and i will do so with pride. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mrs. murray: mr. president, 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. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 256, submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 256, recognizing fathers' day and the role of father engagement and improving the overall health and life outcomes for both the mother and baby. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that

the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 257 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 257, designating july 19, 2023, as glioblastoma glioblastoma awareness day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection,so ordered, the senate will proceed. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned to convene for a pro forma session with no business being conducted on friday, june 16 at 10 a.m. and that when the senate adjourns on friday it

stand adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on tuesday, june 20. on tuesday following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour 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 rikelman nomination postcloture, all time be considered expired at 5:30 p.m. and further that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen on wednesday, june 21. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mrs. murray: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senator schmitt. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator is recognized. mr. schmitt: thank you, mr. president. father's day is coming up. father's is this sunday and as a day, two of my

daughters coming into the gallery right now, it's a time for reflection and for gratitude, quite frankly. i delivered my maiden speech earlier this week on tuesday and a big part of that is the influence my father had on my life, seeing him work seven days a week, going to events and being a great role model for me is something that i am eternally grateful for. i've had different positions, jobs or titles, but the most important one i'll ever have is being a father to my son steven and to my two daughters sofa and olivia. steven was born with a rare genetic condition, he suffers from epilepsy, he's nonverbal, he has given me a perspective on what is important and what my focus is. and i know a lot of dads out there being a father is -- -- it

keeps them grounded. it's the most important thing they'll ever do. we have important business to do even in this place, but being a dad is paramount. i have my two daughters, i talk about steven a lot, he has profound medical challenges, my wife and i, she is here as well, and if steve were here, he would give her big hugs, he's a great kid, and my daughters are incredible. sophia is a great kid, great swimmer and olivia was asking thoughtful questions on the way here and so we know the statistics are just simply undeniable. that's my story but i know across the board in the larger sense, the litany of research related to the positive outcomes that fathers have that involve their child, higher academic

achievement, greater social awareness, increased father awareness can improve maternal health care. addressing maternal mortality, morbidity in the united states, bettering the development of the child and long-term growth of the child. it was an honor to sponsor this resolution with the senator from georgia, my friend, as we share what we hawt was really important to -- thought was really important to come before this chamber in advance of father's day. the presence of a strong father helps a child in insurmountable ways, we all know that intuitively. it's important that we recognize that and celebrate on this father's day. so to all the dads out there, have a great father's day. i don't know what's on your wish list, but i hope you enjoy it and we all have a greater sense of gratitude for the most important job we'll ever have in

your lives. i yield back, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned. -- adjourned until when? -- adjourned until when?

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