>> let me start with the basic fact that inflation is still far too high. >> we are leaving this year to keep our 40 year commitment to live gal to gal coverage. the senate is returning after in all briefing on artificial intelligence and national security by national intelligence director admiral haynes and other administration officials. three more votes on president biden's nominees plan at 4:30 p.m. eastern today and that would include director of the justice department's office on violence against women. now live to the u.s. senate on c-span2.

mr. cruz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: mr. president, many americans remember waking up on saturday morning to watch their favorite cartoons, including shows like "the jetsons." as i look at the senate pages that are here, i suspect none of you have any memory of "the jetsons." for those of who are under 40, in the chamber watching at home,

"the jetsons" was a futuristic cartoon. it depicted a family from the future who had fun, imaginative technologies like hollow grams and video calls and robot vacuums and smartwatches and flying cars. well, we're still waiting to see those flying cars in the air. we already have a lot of the jetsons' technology enable to us now. in many cases even better than what was depicted in the cartoon on the show. today in internet-equity connected smart devices are commonly used in american households. light bulbs, air flyers, coffee makers, kitchen faucets, refrigerates and more are all becoming, quote-unquote, smart and we're able to control them with our phones or voice

commands. a lot of that is is really cool. it's expected that in a few years nearly 70% of american households, more than 80 million households, will own at least one smart home product. and this is by and large a good thing. smart devices can help us improve our quality of life and compete -- and complete daily tasks more easily. but with any technological advancement there can be trade-offs. and for smart devices, one of the potential trade-offs is our privacy. in texas, we've become very aware of that cost. the past few years, smart thermostats have allowed electric companies to control the temperature in your own home from afar in the name of

conserving energy. furthermore, a lot of americans don't realize or expect that the growing number of smart household devices and appliances have cameras on them and microphones that can surrepetitiously record families and transmit data. in other words, when you're buying a new refrigerator, you don't expect your fridge to record you or listen to you or to spy on you without your knowledge. and while some manufacturers have responsively taken steps to more clearly label their products and to let consumers know they contain listening devices or cameras, others have not. and so i've introduced bipartisan legislation, which i authored alongside senator cantwell of washington, a democrat and the chairman of the ranking member. i'm the -- the chairman of the

commerce committee. our legislation would ensure that this is clearly to consumers s. now, i expect in a minute we're going to hear opposition to my bill, opposition focused on the proposition that any mandate pentagon on a private company is -- put on a private company is somehow a burden and it is a mandate to require your refrigerator manufacturer to tell you if your fridge is spying on you. now, i'm sympathetic to the argument that there are too many mandates from government and that many of the mandates are unnecessary and burdensome and costly. but requiring a manufacturer to tell you if they're spying on

you does not fall into that category. and i have to say, in assessing the minimal burden, the disclosure burden against the harm, i fall down on the side of individual liberty, i fall down on the side of privacy. i don't think the american people want their air fryer spying on them, and at a minimum they have a right to know if their air fryer is spying on them. now, i would note, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle agree. the presiding officer today serves on the commerce committee. this legislation passed the commerce committee by voice vote, with bipartisan support from both sides of the aisle. this should be a simple, easy, pro-privacy step to protect

consumers. for that reason, as in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on commerce, science, and transportation be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 538 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. further, that the cruz-cantwell substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. paul: mr. president, reserving the right to object, far too often congress operates under the delusion that we know what is best for the american consumer instead of allowing market participants to determine the information they want, we seek to manipulate the free market to impose our preferences

on private actors. as i'm sure my colleague will agree, the federal government is far too large. additional regulation and the associated penalties and cost is not appropriate. this is a case of industry committing fraud or making misrepresentations about their products. this bill mandates what manufacturers must tell consumers because it assumes that consumers are not sophisticated enough to make the judgment themselves. if american consumers want more information about a product, they can be sure they will make it known. if a manufacturer wants to sell more of their products, you can be sure they will listen to the consumers. congress doesn't need to insert itself into every equation. i object. the presiding officer: objection is noted. mr. cruz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i have listened to the objections of my friend from kentucky, and i use that word, as many do on this floor -- although he's not listening to my response, but that's his

choice. the first time i ever spoke on the floor was in support of senator paul's filibuster in 20 2013. senator paul is fond of telling his constituents that he's a libertarian, that he defends privacy. i'm not quite a libertarian. i am a conservative. but i have strong libertarian leanings. and i want to note the irony that senator paul, who's devoted his entire public career to defending liberty and defending privacy, just objected to protecting the privacy of over 300 million americans. just objected to americans knowing whether they're being spied on at home. i have to admit it's truly flabbergasting. i'd luke to invite my -- i'd

like to invite my colleague, senator paul, to join me in front of a gathering of libertarians and let's discuss with libertarians which side of the aisle you want to be on. do you want to be on the side of big business surrepetitiously tape recording, photographing and videotaping you in your home in your bedroom without you knowing it, or is a mild and nominal disclosure requirement simply saying if you're going to tape record someone or videotape them in their house, you go the to tell them -- you got to tell them -- is that a justifiable burden? i hope that in time reason will prevail because we ought to be protecting privacy. this is a bill, if we vote on the senate floor, i'm confidence the vote would be 99-1. i am confident every senator, except the senator who just

objected, would support this bill. protecting people's privacy is a good idea, and i hope the senate can get there as a body. i yield the floor. mr. cruz: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

if it is not political parties, then it will just be charismatic autocrats or chaos. political parties structure,

both majorities a legislator to mobilize voters. they build coalition. building the connect live work of modern representative democracy. without parties, we don't really have representative democracy. basically, a chaotic mess. >> take us back to how the role and duties have changed in american politics in the country. >> you know that the framers did not like political parties when they were writing the constitution. political parties will cause division. we need to find a way to organize our legislature without political party. turns out that when they got into congress very quickly they realized that they were essential to organizing

they all form political parties. when you are out of government, easy to say, we should approach every issue independently. suddenly want to pass or oppose bills. you need to start organizing a team. those teams quickly become political parties. you want to run for reelection. you want to coordinate between multiple candidates. you need a political party to do that. very quickly, the foreign political parties after he's in government, political parties are kind of good and important things for a democracy. there is this sort of. in the u.s. that is specifically called the first party system about the first election from

1788 -- 1790, you know and onward. through the 1820s and we know it as hamilton versus jefferson as democratic republicans of jefferson and madison versus federalists. it is kind of an even contest for a little while. mostly in a lead affair. but fighting over some real issues. central banks, whether the u.s. is allied with france or not. 1800 is really a nasty election. a lot although adams and jefferson became friends later. corresponding with each other

until the end. by about 1820, about 1820, the u.s. had collapsed. a unique. in the u.s. 1820-1824 election. one party politics, when you get to, i am sorry, 1860 and then by 1824 you have all of these competing. you have an election of 1824 and winning the most votes. he does it, but he does not win a majority in the electoral college. jackson and martin van buren are starting to organize democratic party. there is some opposition organized. that, eventually becomes a party

where the party collapses in the 1850s over slavery. the party by 1860 and for the last 160 years, democrats and republicans. >> a gallop poll from this past may, party identification in the country. 34% responded saying they identify as republicans. 25% say they identify as democrats. 21% say they identify independent. do you believe that these numbers are accurate? >> when you ask people how they identify, a lot of people identify as independent spirit a lot of people like to call themselves that. rt for the westn district of washington.the westn tiffany m. cartwright who president biden nominated well over a year ago. and kymberly evanson also nominated last year.

i'm proud to say i recommended both of these women after they were vetted and endorsed by a nonpartisan committee made up of democratic and republican legal experts. since 2021 the senate confirmed five judges to the western district each of whom were supported by the same committee. with ms. cartwright and misevanson they have done it again. these are two qualified nominees whose records show they have a passion for fairness for everyone and appreciation for how their decisions will affect the lives of people across washington state. tiffany m. cartwright grew up in kissup county in washington and received her law degree from stanford university. she clerked on both the alaska supreme court for justice dana faab and the ninth circuit court of appeals for justice betty b. fletcher. today she's a partner for a

leading civil rights firm in the pacific northwest. as a trial lawyer in seattle, ms. cartwright established herself as a preeminent civil rights attorney. she has represented employees who face discrimination in the workplace, farm workers who were denied the overtime they earned, voters seeking to ensure their vote was counted, and the families of victims of mrs. misconduct. she's argued cases in state and federal court includes before the washington supreme court and also has earned the support of law enforcement officers, including a washington state correction officer, an atf special agent, both pf whom spoke to her dedication to their cases and her commitment to justice. for six years ms. cartwright also served on the local rules committee for the western district of washington offering

unique expertise to consider some of the region's thorniest legal issues. she also served on the board of directors for legal voice, an organization that's focused on women's rights. ms. cartwright is a tested and proven civil rights attorney with extensive federal court experience and a track record of seeking justice for people who have faced discrimination, police misconduct and more. importantly, she is someone who will apply the law fairly and impartially and will make an excellent addition to the bench in washington state. as will kymberly evanson. ms. evanson was raised by two washington state public school teerns and dedicated her career to serving the state. after attending law school in georgetown and clerking for judge emmet sullivan on the u.s. district court in the district of columbia, she returned home to washington state where she has practiced law for many years with did is timpg shun. throughout -- distinction. she has earned the respect of her peers and opposing counsel through her work on cases of public importance.

as a partner at pacific, a law group, she has represented state, municipal, private and nonprofit clients on a range of complicated legal issues. in her work in seattle, she regularly advises clients on constitutional and statutory questions around the first amendment, complaints under the american with disabilities act, and more. not to mention her pro bono work. she have has lent her time, services and expertise to the seattle clemency project and the western district of washington's federal civil rights legal clinic. to provide legal counsel in cases involving access to justice, employment discrimination, housing discrimination and more. the aba has rated her well qualified and it's easy to see why. she has shown she has the expertise to work through the most complicated legal matters and the compassion to understand the stakes of these matters for people's everyday lives all of which will serve her and the people of washington state well on the bench of the western

district. mr. president, the people of washington state deserve a court system that delivers justice for everyone, not just the powerful and well connected. they deserve judges who will carefully review each case on the merits and show respect for the law and everyone that appears before them. based on their records of service in my state, i believe those are exactly the kind of judges that ms. cartwright and ms. evanson will be. these appointments are well deserved and confirmation is well overdue. so i urge my colleagues to join me in voting for these highly qualified nominees, and i was pleased to see that both of them received bipartisan support in the judiciary committee. i hope to see that continue here on the senate floor. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: i ask the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: mr. president, i come to the floor, i'm pretty sure i'm joining my colleague from washington who probably spoke on the same subject, but i come to the floor to support the nominations of two very exceptional nominees to serve as u.s. district court for the -- judges for district court western district of washington. kymberly evanson born and raised in our state grew up in grays harbor before attending tacoma high school in tacoma and she attended seattle university and went on to graduate from georgetown university law center. nearly her entire legal career has been spent in the western district of washington and the district in which she will serve if confirmed. she is nearly 15 years of experience in constitutional and federal law procedure, making

her the american bar association, quote, qualified for the federal bench. ms. evanson has dedicated her free time to supporting her community through volunteer work and since 2013 she's been a regular volunteer with western district of washington's federal civil rights clinic. there she provides legal advice to residents who face employment district judges, disability, housing, prison misconduct and excessive force claims. ms. evanson's commitment to ensuring legal service in counsel is available to all regardless of income, shows her dedication to fair and inclusive justice system. i urge my colleagues to confirm evanson to the district, western district of washington court without delay. i also, mr. president, want to urge my colleagues to vote to confirm stephanie cartwright for western district of washington. this is an historic nomination. if confirmed, ms. cartwright

would be the first woman to serve as federal district judge from the tacoma courthouse. she went on to urge a bachelor's of art from stanford and a jurist doctorate from stanford law school. she has served as law clerk in the alaska state supreme court and has served as the federal law clerk for the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit. ms. cartwright currently serves as a civil rights attorney in seattle where she focuses on police misconduct and gender discrimination and in addition, she serves on the local rules committee for the federal bar association. she has made it a priority to improve the accessibility of the courts. in her free time she served as pro bono counsel for those involving women and lgbtq rights

and had has -- has helped reduce bias in the workforce. a real champion for her community and civil rights. she would make an outstanding addition to the u.s. district court in the western district of washington, and, again, i urge my colleagues to confirm tiffany cartwright for the western district of washington. i thank the president and yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the confirmation -- the vote on the rosemarie hidalgo confirmation. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays are 42, 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 senate's action. under the previous order, the question is on the evanson nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be so. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: is the yeas are 50, a the nays are 42. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid it on the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the -- the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: to close debate on debate on tiffany m. cartwright of washington to be united states district judge for the western district of washington. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of tiffany m. cartwright of washington to be united states district judge for

the western district of washington shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays are 42. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, tiffany m. cartwright, of washington, to be united states district judge for the western district of washington.

test.

# #

#

ms. murkowski: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. ms. murkowski: i ask unanimous consent that privileges of the floor be granted to my

second-session summer interns, zeff, mckinley rhodes, cameron pazon, and my senate committee on indian affairs for the month of july 23 as well as my coast guard fellow for the duration of that 118th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, more is happening with minerals around the world than ever before. we're seeing global demand driven by growth and technology, legislation regulation, everything is just skyrocketing, yet global supply is often tenuous and it's very thoroughly dominated by china and there are clear warning signs that we, near the united states, urgently need to reduce our foreign dependence by rebuilding our domestic supply chains. as we stand here today, our

nation's lack of mineral security is a glaring vulnerability and it's a threat to our security, it's a threat to our competitiveness, it is a threat to our geopolitical power and our ability to lead on industries of the future. so the obvious solution is to do a lot more in this space. that makes sense. but it starts with mining, and until we have achieved stable, affordable supplies of as many minerals here at home, that vulnerability will continue. we have begun to put a framework in place to do that. we did this through the legislation hi introduced, the american mineral security act. we also did some with the bipartisan infrastructure law, the provisions that chairman manchin added to the inflation reduction act. these are a good start. they're a good start, but there's no shortage of minerals where meaningful action is still needed. so we could talk about copper,

the metal of electrification as my friend dr. jergon puts it. i would be the first one to acknowledge that we cannot produce copper everywhere it is found. i think there's a few places that are too sensitive, but need to make up for this by approving projects in locations where it does make sense. and that's simply not happening right now. we could also talk about galium and uranium. before the 4th of july, china announced export controls for both of these critical minerals as part of their escalating war over semiconductors. what was our domestic reaction to that? well, it's not independence. it's become more of a scramble.

we've seen with the department of interior, they have delayed a project that would provide access to long-term supplies of both gemanium and galium. we are giving china leverage. they have seized on it in what could be a pattern across dozens of minerals and materials and in many real sense, we are giving them bullets to the gun that they will hold us hostage to. we saw in the back we saw china cut off supplies of rare earth to japan in an effort to utilize that leverage. today, mr. president, i've come to the floor to discuss a different type of critical mineral, and that is graphite. graphite is described by the

u.s. geological survey as a soft crystal form of carbon that occurs naturally in rocks such as marble. graphite has the properties of a metal and nonmetal which has electrical conduct activity. graphite is valued because it's relatively lightweight and yet it's very dense, it's a good semiconductor, good conductor and stable man many of the alternatives. most of us are familiar with the graphite in pencil. it is also used in things like brake lining, steel-making headphones and today most crucially, advanced rechargeable batteries and fuel cells. if you care about smartphones, if you care about e.v.'s and

climate change and energy transition, there's really knoll way around it. you will need to care a lot more about graphite than you probably currently do. lithium ion batteries typically require far more graphite than lithium, up to 15 times more. graphite can account for more than a quarter of those batteries' weight, up to 95% of their materials. that makes graphite both fundamental to our mineral security and really very irreplaceable for many technologies. now, i'm not a terms scientist -- materials scientist and i think most aren't. bloomberg's liam denny recently said graphite is the main material for the batteries' anoid which takes in and holds lithium ions during charging and then released them when -- releases them when energy is

needed. graphite's combination of high therlal and conductivity with chemical inearthness makes it useful when you want to cycle through lots of energy flows without stuff degrading or blowing up. a typical 60 kilowatt hour e.v. battery might hold 1630 pounds of great fight compared to 20 pounds of lithium. while the exact mix of others, the catt thoid may change. graphites place in the anode is more or less fixed. more technical than most of us would want. just to put it in very simple terms, if we want more smartphones, and we want more e.v.'s on the roads, we're going to need a lot more graphite for them. and that's one of the main reasons that chairman manchin and i along with senators risch and cassidy urged president biden back in march of last year

to declare graphite and other key battery minerals as essential to the national defense under the defense production act of 1950. and i appreciate and i thank the president for doing just that. and then worked with us to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal appropriations for projects to produce them. my view is we don't have any more time to waste here. one rough estimate is that every additional one million e.v.'s will require 80,000 tons of great fight. that's why benchmark minerals projects the world will need 97 new graphite mines by 2035 compared to just over 70 that are operating today. and it's why the international energy agency, the iea, projects that demand for graphite from clean energy technologies could increase 25 fold. that's 2500 percent by the year

2040. so you have to ask the question, are we on track to produce any of that? the answer is no, not even remotely. a country cool assistancey by the name of project blue has projected a deficit by 85,000 tons by 2030. the anticipated demand can be filled by synthetic graphite which is made byes for til fuels but a large portion will need to come from newly mined natural graphite. and here's the first problem with that. the united states has not produced natural graphite for about three decades now. since at least 1990, perhaps as far back as 1950 depending on your source. instead the united states is entirely import dependent, bringing in 100% of our supply each year. last year that amounted to

82,000 metric tons of natural graphite and where did we get it from? china was the number one source of our imports. at least 100% foreign dependence. so you might think it can't get any worse than that but trust me, it can and it is. we can always import more volume and that's exactly what's happening. according to usgs, after a few down years in 2019 and 2020, our natural graphite imports rose by 48% in 2021. by 55% in 2022. so we're just -- we need the stuff. where we're getting it, going to import it? where are we imboarding it from? china. another part of the problem is even if the u.s. begins to produce graphite again, we won't know exactly what to do with it. that's because we also lack the processing capabilities to turn natural graphite into useful advanced material for batteries

and other products. this is again another area where china leads and we're paying very little attention here. it will take a sustained effort to catch up on geographer fight processing -- graphite processing. the question is how long is this going to take, what will it cost, who will our partners in these efforts be? there's been some speculation that china's warning shot on gal yum -- gallium might be a precursor for something that really hurts us like restrictions on graphite. according to benchmark minerals china is responsible for 61% of global graphite production and 98% of processed geographer fight materials -- graphite materials. e.v.'s previously failed because the technology just wasn't there and yet it's hard to -- it isn't hard to imagine them failing again because the minerals and the materials aren't there. so if you're thinking okay, this is bad, you're right.

it's bad. but there is hope. there is hope on the horizon in the form of graphite one. this is a project in northwest alaska. this is about 37 miles outside of the community of nome, alaska. this is not a picture of nome, alaska, although in the wintertime it could be just about that white. what i want to demonstrate here is what could be considered a crude writing utensil. i'll just write my name there. this is a husk of graphite -- hunk of graphite, solid. gets your fingers a little bit dirty. this is a piece of graphite that i picked up at the mine site in

nome. if i were to give you this piece of graphite and you were to hold it in one hand and you were to hold your cell phone in the other hand, you would be holding two pieces of graphite. this is graphite. this is graphite. but this graphite from alaska would probably be the first piece of american graphite, of domestic graphite, that you've ever held in your life because there's nothing domestic about the graphite that goes into our cell phones today. so this is -- this is just a small part, a small sample of what we can glean from graphite one project which usgs reports is north america's largest natural graphite deposit. it's a world class deposit. it's absolutely massive compared to others around the word. so -- world. i mentioned i was out there in nome three days ago on saturday. i was on the graphite one

property. it consists of well over 100 mining claims on nonfederal land. this is -- this graphite -- this mine project is not new. they actually mined this back in the early 1900's and then stopped production some time ago. but i was able to visit the base camp there in nome. the graphite creek field camp as well as a drill pad where the core samples are being taken as part of the summer season, for summer in alaska out there that region is when the mosquitoes are the most intense. but it was eye opening to see how graphite one is moving forward as they are doing further exploration with this absolutely critical resource. i've always supported graphite one and what they're doing in alaska, but really after my site visit there on saturday, i'm convinced that this is a project that every one of us, those of

us here in the congress, the biden administration, all of us needs to support. graphite one's vision is to build a complete domestic supply chain for natural graphite. their project would be anchored by responsible mining of the graphite creek deposit producing tens of thousands of metric tons a year, but it would also extend to a battery anoid manufacturing facility in washington state which would be colocated with a battery recycling plant which is why their ceo anthony houston often describes graphite one as a technology company that mines graphite. this, mr. president, is a major opportunity for us. now, previously i have expressed some disappointment to secretary granholm that the biden administration is as heavily subsidizing a graphite processing plant in louisiana

that imports graphite. they import graphite from mozambique with a poor human rights record, a region where there's been significant labor unrest. isis is reportedly active. it's not too late to realize the immense value that graphite one holds for our economy and our security. this project will give us a significant domestic supply breaking our wholesale dependence on imports. this will be a secure supply of natural graphite from day one. this stuff is pretty pure. let me tell you. this was not just a random piece of graphite. this graphite is literally under your very feet that you pick up with your hands and it is solid, solid material. it will be a secure supply of natural graphite from day one

without the political and the security risks associated with so many projects that are located abroad. the health and environmental standards for graphite one will both be exceedingly high and fully transparent. the company's leadership is working hard to ensure that the project creates opportunities for the people who live in the region, in nome as well as the nuclear power inupiak communities, mary's igloo and teller. this is where i want to end my comments. during the tour, i saw firsthand how even in its developmental stages, this project is already benefiting these alaskan native communities. graphite one is committed to alaska higher. they're working with a program they call arctic access to help placed disadvantaged individuals into meaningful jobs. so we were able to visit a

little bit about that program. but one of the individuals that really struck me was a gentleman by the name of john. he was from brevik anything. he had been the operator -- water treatment person. he was hired to run graphite one's very sophisticated water and wastewater system. and he told -- john told me, he says he knew next to nothing about the state-of-the-art system there which could have been disqualifying in some places but at graphite one, it didn't matter. rather than hiring somebody from the lower 48, they hired people to train him. and he is now succeeding. the guy was just beaming from ear to ear about the opportunities and the excitement that he has not only for the job but what this mine meant for the region. so for people like john and other alaskans, graphite one is doing it right. i'm proud to have them operating

in alaska. this is an opportunity for us as a country again when we think about our dependence, when we think about our vulnerability on others for critical minerals and particularly our growing vulnerability on one country, china, for these, everything that we can do to responsibly address this is a step forward. and alaska has a significant opportunity in front of us. i would hope that every member of the senate, every member of the administration will look at these as opportunities and join in doing everything we can to support this important work. with that, mr. president, i thank you. i yield the floor. and would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture

time on the cartwright nomination be considered expired and a confirmation vote happen at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the republican leader. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session, be in a period of morning business, with senators permitsed to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority leader and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on agriculture, nutrition, and forestry be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 284, and the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions, senate res. 284, ?eas rez 289, senate res. 290. 2. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, the committee is discharged.

and the senate will proceed to the en bloc consideration of the resolution. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m., wednesday, july 12, that following the prayer and the pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up it tone minutes each -- for up to ten minutes each. at 1130 many at senate proceed to examination -- at 11:30 a.m., the senate proceed to vote on the cartwright nomination. that the cloture motions ripen following the disposition of the cartwright nomination. that all time be considered expired at 12:30 p.m. -- at 2:3s

invoked on the nomination, all time be considered expired at 35:30 p.m. -- at 5:30 p.m. the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: for the information of the senate, members should expect two two votes at 11:30 a.m., two at 2:30 p.m., two at 5:30 p.m. if there's no further business before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> u.s. senate wrapping up a busy dayhat included six votes on president biden's nominees. this included a vote confirming former new mexico democratic congresswoman torres small to be deputy agriculture secretary. setors also attended a

briefing on artificial intelligence and national security with national intelligence director avril haines and other administration officials. more executive and judicial nominations are expected on senate floor tomorrow. as always, live coverage of the senate on c-span2. >> order your copy of the 118th congressional directory now available at c-span shop.org it is your access to federal government with bio and contact information for every senate member and congressional committees president cabinet federal agencies and state governors. scan the code to order today and go to c-span shop.org 29.95 and help support our nonprofit operations. >> if you ever miss any of c-span coverage you can find it any time online at c-span.org.

videos of key hearings, debate and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and news worthy highlight these points of interest markers appear on the right hand side of your screen when you hit play on select videos. this time line toll makes it easily to get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington scroll through and spend minutes on c-span points of interest. ♪ ♪ c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers. then we're just getting started building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. charter communications sport c-spans a public service. along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy.