infant health, public health along with disaster response. and first lady jill ben will spk. and watch outgng nga chair new jersey governor phil murphy and incoming phil cox makes an appearance. and coverage continues transition of nga leadership and discussion on civil public discourse. watch comprehensive coverage of the national governor's meeting live on c-span 3 and friday on washington journal. or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded bye these investigation companies and more, including sparklight. >> the greatest town on earth is the place you call home.

at sparklight, it's our home, too, and right now we're facing our greatest challenge. that's why sparklight is working around the clock to keep you connected. we're doing our part so it's easier to do yours. >> and it's along with other television providers, giving you a front row seat is democracy. >> on this wednesday morning, the u.s. senate is about to gavel in three point series are planned today including a vote at 11:30 eastern to confirm tiffany court wright as a district court judge in washington state. now live to the senate floor on c-span2. the cape will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, whose inward fellowship means cleansing,

forgiveness, peace, and power, dissolve the barriers that keep our lawmakers from you. take away the barrier of self-sufficiency that tempts them to live independent of your will. and way. remove the obstacle of spiritual blindness that makes them unaware of invisible and eternal resources. lord, take our senators over the hurdle of compromise that prompts them to deviate from integrity and to forget that you're the only constituent they must please. give them the grace of receptive hearts and humble dependence on you.

we pray in your sacred name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., july 12, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable margaret wood hassan, a senator from the state of new hampshire, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each.

test:

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: earlier this year, i had the opportunity to deliver an important message directly to our european allies in munich. i told our friends that leading republicans were as committed as ever to american leadership and a robust transatlantic alliance. i emfa spiesed our resolve --

emphasized our refor helping ukraine defeat russian aggression. not because of some vague moral obligation, but because of what it means for america's own core national interests. letting putin's brutality succeed would mean putting some of america's closest trading partners one border closer to a violent and authoritarian regime. it would mean emboldening putin's, quote, friend without limits, president xi engineer beijing, to assert even more aggressive influence over on the other side of the world. i spoke yesterday about how our

allies have recognized what's at stake in ukraine and about how europe's biggest economies have woken up from holidays from history. and made serious commitments to helping ukraine actually win. for some perspective on this important progress, more than half of the javelin anti-tank weapons ukraine has received have come from countries other than the united states. in fact, we now rate 13th in terms of assistance as a percentage of gdp. open as america -- even as america continues to provide critical assistance to ukraine, some nations are digging even deeper into their own arsenals and making a much greater

relative investment of supports. russian aggression has spurred our european allies to heightened vigilance and greater resolve. here at home, the american people overwhelmingly share that resolve. according to a recent survey, three in four americans -- three in four americans, including big majorities in each party, think it's important to us, to the united states, that ukraine win the war. a clear majority also support sending u.s. military aid to ukraine. and more generally, 85% of americans say a strong u.s. military is essential to maintaining peace and prosperity. so, madam president, the american people's view of our

national security is really quite clear. but here in washington, providing for the common defense remains our biggest and most pressing piece of unfinished business. president biden's defense budget request is wolfey in-- is woefully inadequate, especially as we look at the growing military requirements to deter or defend against chinese aggression. , folks in washington are using the threat of china to justify all sorts of other policies and initiatives, but the reality is the primary area of geopolitical competition is hard power. the growing threat makes our work on funding america's armed forces especially important, but the process of setting the

senate's national security priorities begins with a long-overdue annual defense authorization. i'm hopeful that the democratic leader is taking the necessary step to bring the ndaa to the senate floor next week. i'm hopeful this legislation will receive the thorough amendment process that it deserves. the sooner we deliver on the ndaa, the sooner we can deliver the robust, hard power investments our armed forces need to replenish stocks, support our allies and partners, and deter growing threats to american security all around the world. on another matter, last month the supreme court included in its most consequential rulings of the term a major blow to the biden administration's sprawling conception of executive branch power. for years, the administration

grasped for a way to deliver a big dose of catnip that washington democrats' wealthy blue state base in the form of student loan socialism. they had dreamed up a reverse robin hood system of taking from working families to pay off the student loans of highly educated professionals, moving hundreds of billions of dollars in outstanding debt from high-earning dockettors and lawyers on -- doctors and lawyers on to the taxpayers' tab. so madam president, the median college graduate earns 55% more than the median worker who holds a high school diploma. and the wealthiest households in the country hold a disproportionate share of america's student debt. but democrats are hellbent on forgiving that debt at the expense of folks who carefully saved, paid off their debt, or

avoided it altogether. of all the ways washington democrats have dreamed up to waste taxpayer dollars and betray the trust of working americans, this one may well have taken the cake. but when the biden administration picked an especially outlandish vehicle for enacting these -- this particular scheme, the supreme court ended up being involved. just a couple of weeks ago the court ruled that 20-year-old emergency authorities, designed during the war on terror, did not permit the president to ignore congress and unilaterally cancel debt for his party's most reliable supporters. as chief justice roberts put it in the opinion of the court, the administration's plan, quote, modified the cited provisions of

existing authorities only in the same sense that the french revolution modified the status of the french nobility. washington democrats tried to serve working families a raw deal, and by all accounts they'll probably try it again. but senate republicans will continue to stand against radical student loan socialism in whatever form it may take. :

benjamin friedman policy director at defense priorities. mr. friedman first the summit began yesterday. what we should take away from day one? >> guest: it's a kind of predictable disappointment for .

the big issue, a few different things going on, sweden's likely a session at a a nato but the biggest issue is ukraine and what the alliance is going to do for ukraine. ukraine wants to be a full member of nato. they want that membership as soon as possible, and it appears that what happened at some is essentially the camp was kicked down the road and the status quo which was ukraine is told they can join nato at some obscure future point remains. it's a big disappointment to ukraine and its most ardent followers but it means the united states is not going to be on the hook for defending ukraine anytime soon other than the arms we get to it. >> host: a headline from today's "washington times" but similar headlines across all the major papers, zelensky pillars nato leaders. were we expecting a firm date on this? >> guest: i don't think a firm date was something the way nato

functions but offered zelensky. understandably he's frustrated but that's just the way this alliance has that unanimous consent to move forward on any decision it makes. there is pretty clear popular support within nato members to bring ukraine into the fold eventually, that at this stage at this time while there's an active or i think a firm date is something that would be beyond possibility. >> host: is a something we knew something before yesterday? ukraine would be in the fold eventually, with a consensus on that before this? >> guest: i think privately yes. when you hear instructed follow the discussions that are coming out a very european capitals, the president, our presidents statements were not helpful. he could've taken a much more positive stance. the position he took in the statements were not helpful. in the near term. i don't think that will change the trajectory of ukraine eventually, a nato member country. i more i are interested alg how china is reacting also.

>> host: let me come back to the frustration expressed by president zelensky. this was the wording of his tweet. it's unprecedented and absurd when timeframe is not set nidus for the invitation nor for ukraine's membership. at the same time vague wording about conditions added even for inviting ukraine, it seems there's no readiness either to invite ukraine to nato go to make it a member of the alliance. this means a window of opportunity is being left to bargain ukraine's membership and nato in negotiations with russia and for russia this means motivation to continue its terror. your reading of that. >> guest: it would be unprecedented if we put ukraine on a direct path and nato not knowing when the war would end. >> host: does that mean upon their entry article six would automatically happen? >> guest: article v. >> host: forgive me. >> guest: you can't internet without article v. quorum.

mr. schumer: thank you. the presiding officer: the senator is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you. first, madam president, i want to reiterate a point i made yesterday about senator tuberville's military holds. the bottom line is very, very simple. republican leaders and many of senator tuberville's republican colleagues oppose what senator tuberville is doing because it puts at such serious risk our military preparedness, our military security, our national security. very simply, the onus is on republican senators to prevail on senator tuberville and get him to back off his reckless pursuit. that is the crux of the matter. it's on the back of his republican colleagues to get senator tuberville to back off. it's hurting our military security. it's dangerous, unprecedented,

and they have the power and the ability to stop him from doing it. on inflation, let me begin with some welcome news for the american people. this morning reports came out with new signs that inflation came down last month. the price of gas has come down over 25% since last year and wages are now up also. wage growth is significantly above inflation for the first time since the spring of 2021, right after president biden took office. this news means one thing. more money in people's pockets, greater financial security, and affirmation that democrats' agenda is working. we made a promise to lower costs, and today we have proof that we are making progress towards keeping that promise. now on the a.i. briefing,

yesterday the senate held its first ever, its first ever classified briefing on the national security implications of international atomic energy agency. it was an -- on artificial intelligence. many of us spent a lot of time educating ourselves on a.i., talking with experts, holding hearings, but yesterday's briefing was a candid wake-up call on how truly complicated a.i. is and how much work, hard work we have before us. this will be an ongoing effort. we want to move quickly but not too quickly. we need to move quickly so bad countries, authoritarian countries, and bad actors -- not countries themselves -- don't get ahead of us. but we can't move too quickly because we have to get this right and it's very complicated. a.i. action will not be a matter of weeks nor of years, but rather of months. i want to thank my colleagues

who attended yesterday's briefings. we had a terrific turnout of roughly 70 members, even better than the first. i want to thank the briefers by name. dr. orida pravokar, avril haines, director of national intelligence, kath hicks, deputy secretary of defense, vice admiral ray whitworth, and dr. craig martell, chief digital and a.i. officer at dod. each individual was clear, concise and informative and i was gratified my republican colleagues came out of the briefing and said this was a real back and forth, not just people reading a piece of paper and not answering questions. for sure we're not done. very soon i will announce the timing for our third all-senate briefing and urge my colleagues to attend, especially those who couldn't make the first two briefings. learning as many as we can about

a.i. as quickly as possible is essential. a.i. is unlike anything congress has dealt with before. it moves and changes so quickly. it's going to affect our world so dramatically. it's so much deeper in its complexity, and lies so far outside our expertise. coming up with legislative solutions will be one of the most difficult things congress has ever, ever faced. so these briefings are an important initial step. and i don't kid myself on how difficult this is going to be. some people said why did i decide to take this on. well, just because an issue is difficult or unfamiliar to congress is no excuse to turn away, especially when it is so important and is going to have such a huge effect on every american and every person in the world's lives. we can't throw our hands in the air and hope someone else figures it out. one of the many things yesterday's briefing made clear

is one of them was that government must play a role in making sure a.i. works for society's benefit. the private sector has made stunning progress innovating on a.i., and congress needs to be careful not to curb or hinder that innovation. but we're going to need guardrails, and that is only the only agent that can do that is government. yes, some companies may put guardrails on on their own, but when another company refuses to put on those guardrails, that company, the original company will feel the pressure, political, or more importantly, economic and say, look, we can't have those guardrails either. even if many developers have good intentions there are always going to be rogue actors, unscrupulous companies and foreign adversaries that seek to harm us and discard any guardrails at all. and we can't expect companies to adopt guardrails, as i said,

if their competitors won't be be forced to do so as well. it's only a task that government can do with help and input from the experts, and that was made clear at the hearings yesterday. and even those a.i. companies that are way out front on this now admit that they need some government action, some kinds of guardrails. later this year congress will host the first ever a.i. insight forums to bring the best developers, is experts and legislators in one room to identify the areas where we can take action, to make sure we're asking the right questions to begin with, ensuring our national security and safety will be one of the most important issues we discuss. and i want to thank everyone who attended yesterday. it was bipartisan, and we must keep this issue bipartisan. how to deal with a.i. is not a republican issue, it's not a democratic issue. it's a national issue. and i really want to thank our little group of senators

heinrich, rounds, young, for helping organize these briefings. i look forward to the third briefing soon. now on forum shopping in the judiciary. madam president, our federal judiciary is built on the trust and confidence of the american people, but right now, sadly, americans face in the judicial system is at an all-time low thanks to the hijacking of our courts by the maga hard right and the unfair practice known as forum shopping. forum shopping essentially allows litigants in certain cases to handpick judges sympathetic to their cause. at its core forum shopping undermines the spirit of a fair and balanced judiciary. that's why earlier this week i sent a letter with 18 of my democratic colleagues to the chair of the advisory committee on civil rights calling on the judicial conference to consider reforms that would put an end to forum shopping. if americans want to see a clear example of why forum shopping is

a serious problem, consider the northern district of texas. in that district, civil cases are often assigned to a single judge, if not one of just a few. it's so happens one of those judges is infamous, infamous for his well-documented opposition to freedom of choice. you know who knew that, madam president? the maga republicans. so when maga republicans sought to strip away access to fda-approved abortion medication widely available for decades, they intentionally targeted the northern district of texas, where only one judge sat. they knew which judge they would get. to those who don't follow judiciary procedure, in most districts, there are a bunch of judges, and they put the case on a wheel and they spin the wheel around and whoever the arrow lands on gets the case. you can't pick your judge. but in this case, you can pick

your judge, and in this case, it is an extreme maga judge who we know has views that are so, so deeply held that no unbiased bistandard would think a fair trial -- bystander would think a fair trial would be held. that marked the first time that a judge has ordered a drug be taken off the nationwide -- doesn't just affect amarillo and northern texas, it affects the whole country. this isn't equal justice. this isn't a fair or impartial application of the rule of law. this is extremists using forum shopping to pull a fast one on the saturday majority of the americans who -- vast majority of americans who oppose this ruling. and of course freedom of choice isn't the only issue at stake. when extremists can manipulate our judiciary to get judges of their preference, it endangers

everything -- from health care reform, common sense gun safety. it will only worsen america's crises of confidence in the judiciary. now on nominations, today we'll confirm two more district judges, tiffany cartwright to serve? the western district of washington, and myong j. joun to serve? the district of massachusetts. we'll also move forward on two executive nominations, david you will man and kalpana kotagal. ms. kotagal is exceptionally well qualified to serve on the eeoc and if confirmed would shift the balance of the commission. so it is going to be a busy day on the floor with several votes on nominees. i thank my colleagues for their

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

the presiding officer: the republican whip. mr. thune: madam president, is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: madam president, summer has arrived, which means congress is turning its attention to appropriations

bills for the coming year. my hope is that this year congress will consider all 12 appropriations bills under regular order. now, what do i mean by regular order? regular order refers to allowing bills to go through the committee process, including hearings and a markup, where members of the committee have a chance to amend and improve the bill, and then a referral by the committee to the senate as a whole. bills are then considered on the senate floor. some bills pass the senate by unanimous consent while others under go a full debate, including amendment votes, before being voted on by the senate as a whole. then if necessary the bill goes to a conference committee sore passed back-and-forth between the house and national to reconcile any differences between the house and senate bills before the amended versions are then put to the house and senate. that, madam president, is what

is considered the regular order process. and it is generally the best way to make laws. regular order allows for a truly deliberative process, it provides the time to fully consider all aspects of legislation and to hear ann put from a broad array of members, it promotes collaboration and a sense of ownership of the final legislation which makes bills more likely to pass. and it is a transparent process, one that ensures that both senators and the american people can see how the legislation in question is made and have ample time to digest it t not to mention the fee fact that by ensuring -- the key fact that by ensuring the input of senators, regular order ensures that a broader swath of the american people is represented in any final legislation. regular order is something that i think most members generally aspire to, but the actual use of

regular order has all too frequently been in short supply around here in recent years. too often the major legislation has been written behind closed doors and dropped on members at the last minute, bypass ago the chairman, the ranking member, and senators who sit on the committees of jurisdiction and would otherwise have the opportunity to consider and amend the legislation in committee. before being brought up for a floor vote with little or no opportunity to offer amendments. madam president, 50 years ago most bills were going through regular order. in fact, 83% of the legislation considered on the senate floor during the 1970's was a product of the committee process. but by the 2010's, those numbers had dropped sharply, along with the number of senate floor votes on amendments. but of course, madam president, even while the use of regular order has addressed, some legislation does still go through the regular order process. and i can personally attest to

the fact that it can bring legislative successes. i focused on promoting collaboration and ensuring that bills in our committee's jurisdiction went through the regular order process. and we accomplished a lot. the first reauthorization of the federal communications commission in more than a century. the first reauthorization of the surface transportation board in its 20-year history. multiple bills to advance the development and adoption of 5g. the longest surface transportation reauthorization since 1998, the longest reauthorization of the faa since 1982, the first law to hold websites accountable for facilitating sex trafficking, and lots more. and the vast majority of the bills that i just named ended up passing the senate by strong

bipartisan margins. and of course those are just examples of what was then my committee, our committee's jurisdiction. there are plenty of others. for example, democrats are more often associated with imposing burden 13 some government regulations than with lifting them. senator crapo's 2018 bill easing the regulatory burden for banks and credit unions went through the regular order process and ultimately 17 democrats joined republicans to support the bill. in 2015, the help committee passed one of the largest rewrites of our nation's k-12 laws, the every student succeeds act, which returned more to you are to states when it comes to how kids are educated, by holding numerous hearings and multiple days of markups and considering dozens of amendments. in the end, that law passed with 85 votes in the united states senate. the 2018 farm bill which

authorized important safety net programs passed a the senate with the 87 votes following rebust consideration by the agriculture committee, amendment votes on the senate floor, and a conference complete. -- conference committee. madam president, the list goes on. regular order promotes collaborative, bipartisan, and successful results. as i indicated, regular order has been in somewhat short supply in the senate in recent years. but i am encouraged by the fact that there seems to be a growing desire to return to regular order and that at democrat chair and republican vice chair of the senate appropriations committee have expressed a shared commitment to considering all 12 appropriations bills this year through the regular order process. but there are concerning signs, too, madam president. the senate health, education, labor, and pensions committee recently held its first partisan markup since the affordable care

act in 2009. that defeats the whole idea of a committee process that can yield a bipartisan result on the senate floor, and it suggests the democrats are still too entrenched in the partisan far-left mind-set that saw them force legislation like the so-called american rescue plan act through congress. that was the bill that helped plunge our nation in its current inflation crisis. perhaps even more concerning recently the majority leader, when he referring to his plans on artificial intelligence, actually claimed that congress will need, and i quote, too invent a new process to seal the right policies to -- to develop the right policies to implement our framework because the committee process, quote, won't suffice. i wonder how his committee chairs feel about that? and i would venture to suggest, madam president, that the committee process has worked

pretty well to develop all sorts of important legislation and to get buy-in from senators. as we continue with the appropriations process, i hope that the determination expressed by the democrat chair of the senate appropriations committee to pass all 12 appropriations bills through regular order will prevail. and i hope that this same attitude will be applied to other legislation that the senate must consider this year, like the national defense authorization act, the federal aviation administration reauthorization, the farm bill, and more. if we want to get anything done in divided government, we are going to have to compromise, and the regular order process promotes the kind of bipartisan, collaborative action that will allow us to accomplish real things for the american people. madam president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

because russia is impressively incompetent. they have shown that in ukraine. ukraine is able to stop the pacific whether or not we call it a deity or something like that, they have the ability to be a buffer. what was the first question again? [inaudible conversations] on nato terms come whether countries can come and go. >> guest: right. no. there's no terms but but a y can always leave an alliance to an official act. we take the u.s. senate here.

but on the other hand, you can always you say we are not doing this anymore, even if you are officially in it and kind of quick. you can't so people out because it functions by consensus. now within people will say something like we have to fill turkey out but how are you going to get turkey to agree to be thrown out? what you could do was say look as a political matter we are not planning to defendant anymore, not applying article five to them. >> host: what about not living up to obligations? the numbers, 11, 31 countries are meeting their existing commitment to spend 2% of gdp on defense. >> guest: this goes back to the record not bearing out nato has been an inherently offensive organization. it's led to an atrophy of many of these western european countries defense industrial base to include our own. because they see they have the nato coat to protect them. they see strength in numbers. they didn't say a threat that

merited a reaction. .. realizing they don't have munitions, they cop don't have equipment to defend their own borders the meet their obligation to nato. >> host: this is something that donald trump got a lot offed prodding for, was he correct in doing it? >> guest: i think he was not actually unique in that that. there's a long history of

presidents, secretaries of defense, robert gates famously, of saying things only more politely -- >> host: rather uniquely. >> guest: he had a rude way of doing it, but he was saying something similar continue tent wise to what other people had said. i would just say i think that it's been i agree that there was free riding by nato allies, or you know, the united states is protecting new zealand, help change that turns out that's happening slowly. they say we'll get to 2%, maybe next year. they've kind of kicking the can down the road on that, and nato came right out and said we're going to go from a 40,000-ready force to 3030,000 -- 300,000 and then silence.

i haven't heard anything even at the summit about getting to that 30 to ,000 ready force that could go somewhere and fight a war. and i think the reason for all that is twofold. one, look, the united states is still carrying us. they sent 20,000 new forces to europe with, so now we have 100,000 about, and, you know, we're doing a lion's share of the aid to ukraine. and secondly, the second reason is, as i said before, russia that goinged -- bogged down. they can't get across the dnipro river, let alone to poland. so the threat, i think, you're seeing in berlin is not as great as you maybe thought it was back in february 2022. so it sort of makes sense that they say, okay, we're not in as much of a rush to get to 2% to or or manager like that. >> host: with the role of the secretary general of nato, and is jens stoltenberg going to go down as an effective, strong secretary general? >> guest: i think so far his track record's been very

effective and my perspective. again, this is not nato -- [inaudible] another collective of like-minded countries providing and giving munitions. but his support and his ushering in finland and hopefully sweden shortly and maybe in the near future, you know, setting out a very explicit track for ukraine to to come into nato, i think that would be what he's judged on in the future. right now it's looking like he's been very effective. >> host: do you agree? >> guest: no. i think he has an impossible job to get consensus among 30-plus members, it's more or less impossible. so i think he's done a good job in kind of, you know, lassoing the different parts of nato and moving forward on those expansions as we just heard. but, you know, i don't agree with him policy wise. he's a big advocate of adding new members. i'm less concerned about sweden and funland, but he seems to be very interest -- finland. he seems to be interested in putting ukraine in, nato

expanded to montenegro under his watch which seemed pretty pointless to me. so, you know, i don't agree with him on policy very much. he's very into this idea that nato should be doing something about china which i disagree with. so, you know, he's effective in the things he's doing, but i don't agree with a lot of what he's doing. >> host: you've got randy in kentucky, republic line. good morning. >> caller: good morning, thank you. [inaudible] about the size and population of the country of mexico. are we just wanting to try to colonize everybody in the world? are we wanting -- are we so paranoid that we think that russia is urging them to take over the world or europe or whatever? are we just trying to make sure that we take away -- [inaudible] their defense around their country. i don't know. i mean, it just seems like we are so aggressive in things that we do around the world, we cause

so much trouble. maybe it's just me. but i think that we e didn't like colonizing the world. i thought we wanted to get away from all of that and it was a bad thing. >> guest: colonization's expensive and doesn't help national interest very well, so i don't see that, certainly not in my living memory going back to the early '80 and late '70s, it's something that the united states' policies are in its best interests. that being said, the russian regime, soviet and now under putin, the nature of it has actually been one of brutalism k. and that's played out, the eastern european allies we have there have called for a much more unified approach, pushback on nato because they lived under the yoke of the soviets and russian trues. they know what they're dealing with. they're looking to the united states and its allies to help secure their sovereignty. what's really going on and when you listen to -- and, unfortunately, it doesn't get enough play on the english front, but when you listen to

what their experience is, there's a reason. the prime minister for estonia said it very well about their experience and what they think the future importance of having a -yard line in nato -- a ukraine in nato is and why the movement for sweden and finland was so important or, because they understand the nature of what they're dealing with and the russian strategic culture and their psyche. the other thing is when you look across do the world and and you see reports of u.s. activities, most of it is react ty, and that's unfortunate -- reactive, and and that's unfortunate because it leads to waste, it leads to bad decisions and unnecessary suffering, human suffering, too often. the united states needs a much more to proactive approach that goes after its national interests first and foremost. but i'd also point out russian organizes like wagner have been active, there's a presence of chinese and russians in cuba that once again is becoming of interest, this is weakness in regimes working in proxies in african countries that's also

harmful to u.s. interests and also untold human suffering. and just to point out while russia may not have the military might the take over ukraine writ large or to threaten western europe, it can threaten wholesale destruction and a lot of human misery through long-range missiles, its weapons systems. and that may be enough to get what it wants and to meet its own self-interests. it's important to make clear to moscow that that is not something they can get away with and that they will not suffer significant consequences if they do on that path. >> host: mr. friedman, you were jotting down some notes dug that. that. >> guest: i don't agree with the word colonialism objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, since the president of the united states, president biden, took office, america's southern border has faced unprecedented challenges. unfortunately, none of these struggles seems to have captured president biden's attention.

not the 5.4 million border crossings or more than 1.5 million got-aways. not the 1.6 million pounds of illicit drugs seized by border patrol, the 108,000 americans who died last year from drug overdoses. not the tractor-trailers filled with the bodies of dead migrants or city side walks -- sidewalks lined with people who have nowhere to go. not even the fact that the cartels are making a fortune off the backs of vulnerable migrants and fueling america's drug crisis. the american people have been stunned by the scope and the scale of president biden's border crisis, and i call it that because it's a result of his policies. but it's been going on for two and a half years now, and the

biden administration doesn't seem to care. the administration's tried to deflect, distract, even deceive the american people into thinking things just they're not that bad or maybe they could be worse. but the spin doctors can only accomplish so much. we've continued to learn about the many ways the biden administration has fumbled its mission at the southern border and the consequences have been absolutely devastating. reporting from "the new york times" earlier this year looked at what's happened to unaccompanied migrant children once they arrive into the united states. since president biden took office, 300,000 -- 300,000 unaccompanied children have

arrived at the border. to be clear, these children did not cross the border with their parents, but they did get some help. mainly the coyotes or the human smugglers who, for a fee, will smuggle people into the united states. but these children, as we might expect, are particularly vulnerable, and they make this dangerous journey north in the custody of these criminal organizations. the sad reality is that many come to the united states in the care of these criminals and parents who pay smugglers thousands of dollars to bring their children to the united states are taking an incredible risk with their children. but we know this journey is not safe and it's not easy. many children are subjected to violence, exploitation, even

sexual abuse at the hands of these criminal smugglers. many, as you might expect, arrive in the united states traumatized and in poor physical health. now, you would think that once these children have made this dangerous journey across the southern border, and they are taken from the custody of the cartels to that of the u.s. government, that they would be safe. unfortunately, we know that is not the case. of the more than 300,000 migrant children who arrived in the united states on president biden's watch, roughly 85,000 could not be accounted for 30 days after they were placed with

a sponsor. just to be clear, the process is the border patrol receives these unaccompanied children and has a responsibility to turn them over to health and human services and the obviously of refugee relocation, or orr, who then proceeds to identify a sponsor in the united states where this child may be sent, to await an asylum hearing that will likely never occur. but the problem is not just that this asylum hearing will not likely ever be held, it's that these children may never be heard from again. as far as the federal government is concerned. so, the practice is 30 days after sponsors, the children were placed with sponsors, the federal agency in charge is

supposed to make a call, a wellness call, to see how the child is doing. but, as this chart indicates, one out of three -- in one out of three of these cases there is no answer. nobody responds, and that is the last contact or attempted contacts that the biden administration would have with these children or their sponsor. because beyond that, they say, our job's done. sits up to the child -- it's up to the child protective services agencies in the various states to take care of these children. but we know they are already overwhelmed with foster children and others just coming from the united states, much less adding

another 300,000 to that list. so the administration, of the 300,000, has placed children with 85,000 sponsors where the child and the sponsor has never been heard from again. we don't know where these children are. the biden administration doesn't know where they are. we don't know whether they're being fed. we don't know whether they're going to school. we don't know whether they're being recruited into gangs. we don't know whether they're you the being be abused, neglected or sexually exploited, and the biden administration is fine with that because they don't care. i know that my sound harsh, but

the fact is if they did care, they could fix it, but they refuse to do so. the biden administration has no idea what's happened to these migrant children, and it has effectively abandoned them. the obvious question is how did this happen? aren't there policies in place that are designed to prevent this from happening? in short, the answer is yes, there are, but nearly all of those guidelines are set by the agencies involved, not by congress. the biden administration has full discretion to change its policies regarding the placement of migrant children. they don't need to wait on congress to tell them. they can do it themselves. they have the ability to determine who can actually

sponsor these children and the sort of vetting or background checks that would be necessary for the sponsors to pass. they have the ability to set guidelines for follow-up calls and wellness visits and other services that would assure that is -- these children are not being exploited and they're not being neglected. the biden administration has complete authority to remove children from the custody of a sponsor if the sponsor refuses to cooperate or presents any sort of risk to the child. in other words, the biden administration made 85,000 phone calls to sponsors with children they had placed with that sponsor, and there is no answer, and the sponsor has cut off contact with the agency.

the biden administration could go take those children away from the sponsor because they have violated their agreement to cooperate with the u.s. government. well, they haven't done that. the short answer is the biden administration could do as much or as little as it wants to protect these vulnerable children, and clearly it's done, it's made the decision to do as little as possible to protect them. unsurprisingly, the administration's negligence has led to widespread mistreatment of migrant children. "the new york times" documented story after story of young people who were working in dangerous jobs in violation of state labor, child labor laws.

children working in meat processing plants, construction sites, factories, other dangerous jobs that are meant for adults, not children. these children obviously aren't going to school. they're not furthering their education. they're being forced into labor in violation of state child labor laws. "the new york times" has documented. we also know from "the new york times" investigative stories that the health and human services department, the agency responsible for this program, has received warning after warning that these children are at risk. these warnings came through government staffers, outside contractors and the department's own hotline.

not only were whistleblowers ignored, many were silenced. they were pushed out of their jobs. some were retaliated against for trying to protect these vulnerable migrant children. and, yes, once again the biden administration was well aware of this. health and human services secretary xavier becerra knew about credible reports of trafficking and abuse but continued to push for speedy placement of migrants with sponsors with little regard for the dangers that that created. in other words, when the biden administration had a public relations problem, when we saw the crush of humanity at the border, their first reaction is let's move these migrants out of the border region as fast as we can, and our public relations problem will go away.

and so rather than making sure these children were protected, they actually relaxed the vetting requirement for the sponsors. they haven't even gone so far as to require background checks, criminal background checks or otherwise of other people living in the same household as these children. they may have checked the sponsor himself or herself, but if a house is full of other people, they need to check everybody in the howrld to make sure they're not a registered sex offender or they don't have a background of abusing or neglecting children or otherwise. so to solve the administration's public relations problem, they just decided to move these kids through the system as fast as possible and then wash their

hands. then labor secretary marty walsh was well aware of this situation. last year the department's investigators identified major instances of child labor violations that took place in auto parts factories and meat-packing plants, and all of this information was made available to the white house. until recently, susan rice served as the director of the white house's domestic policy council, where her job required her to oversee virtually every aspect of domestic policy matters, including the placement of migrant children. both health and human services and the labor department shared concerns about labor trafficking and child labor violations, but those reports were either ignored by the white house or intentionally swept under the

rug. the biden administration knew that countless numbers of migrant children were in danger and did absolutely nothing. now the administration didn't just turn a blind eye, it intentionally tried to cover up the widespread exploitation of migrant children. a coverup. in the wake of these damning reports, i wrote a letter to chairman durbin of the senate judiciary committee that was cosigned by every republican l member of that committee asking for a hearing on this matter. we urged him to invite biden administration leaders who failed to act on these warnings to testify in person in front of the committee, under oath. that includes secretary

becerra, former labor secretary walsh, and former white house advisor susan rice. the chairman scheduled the hearing last month, but none, none of these officials bothered to show up. further indicating that they simply don't care. in fact, this so-called oversight hearing did not include a single biden administration witness. how do you hold people accountable for their negligence or their intentional acts that harm innocent, vulnerable children if they can't be held accountable to show up for a hearing and testify if they're proud of what they did, to the committee and the american people about what they did to protect these vulnerable children. but they didn't bother to show up, indicating once again that they simply don't care.

now after we pointed out to the chairman that the biden administration witnesses were no shows, he promised to hold a follow-up hearing to make sure that biden administration witnesses appeared. and i intend to hold him to that promise. i look forward to the opportunity. i actually said thank you very much for doing that. he didn't have to do that, but i think chairman durbin understands that this is the right thing to do, so i appreciate him, his willingness to hold a follow-up hearing with biden administration witnesses. and i look forward to the opportunity to ask those officials charged with the care and custody of these vulnerable children why they shirked their responsibilities. the biden administration may be fine, with abandoning migrant

children in order to avoid a bad news cycle, but i am not. and i think all fair-minded members of this senate and the congress are not. i really question whether people are aware of what the situation is, which is why i'm here on the floor of the senate today to talk about it. and i hope that once they become aware, they become, like me, concerned that something has to change, that people need to be held accountable and that these children need to be protected. if you were an american citizen and you treated that american citizen child like the biden administration has treated these migrant children from other countries, you would be charged and convicted of reckless endangerment of a child, or human trafficking. in other words, you'd go to

jail or prison if you treated an american citizen child this way. so how is it that the biden administration gets off with treating these migrant children any less, with any less dignity and safety? in light of all this reporting in "the new york times" and elsewhere, we need answers, we need accountability, we need policy changes to ensure that these practices come to an end. the biden administration owes the american people answers, not just members of congress, not just members of the senate judiciary committee. they need to tell us what is being done to keep track of these children, how are they ensuring their welfare, what's going to change to ensure that these migrant children are not victims of inhumane labor practices, or worse. given everything that's happened in the last two and a half years, i have no candidate

confidence that secretary becerra, secretary mayorkas or president biden, because they know about the problem, they were warned about the problem, but they didn't do anything about it, which tells me they just don't care. president biden lives in a very nice government-provided house, the white house. he's not personally affected by this unprecedented level of human migration and the baffling pace of drug trafficking. he is not personally affected by the fact that 108,000 americans died last year consuming drugs that came across our southwestern border. and he certainly is not

personally affected by the mistreatment of these migrant children. but it is his job, it's his responsibility, and it's our responsibility to make sure that this comes to an end, because this is simply unacceptable. children endure abuse and exploitation on their journey to the united states. the current system is not compassionate. but they sure shouldn't be met here on american soil with more of the same. we need to prioritize the safety of these children as they await nature immigration court -- their immigration court hearings. president biden and his administration must change and take responsibility for this gross exploitation of these

vulnerable children, and they neaped to take immediate action to end it. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president. i would ask -- the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. markey: i would ask for vitiating the quorum call and recognition to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. markey: thank you, mr. president. i come to speak in support of

the confirmation of myong j. joun to the united states court for the district of massachusetts. in a few minutes the senate will vote to invoke cloture on judge jon's nomination and this afternoon, once we have invoked cloture we will vote on his confirmation. when judge jon was a -- joun, his family immigrated to the united states from south korea. he was raised by a single mother who earned a living as a seamstress. he served in the massachusetts national guard and graduated from the university of massachusetts boston and suf suffolk university. he litigated extensionively before the massachusetts state and federal courts, eventually becoming a justice of the boston municipal court. he has shown a steadfast commitment to civil rights and

access to justice .in private practice he took on cases involving policemen conduct, wage thefts and housing violations. as one of the many colleagues who wrote to us on his behalf, judge jo nurch's professional life has been to help those who are unable to navigate the system because of barriers. he has also consistently and generously given his time to service, holding leadership roles in organizations such as the asian americans lawyer association, the massachusetts bar association and national lawyers gild. for many years, he has taught child advocacy to law stants -- students. he has -- he is a dedicated public servant who will bring

knowledge, experience and compassion to the massachusetts federal district court as the first asian american man and first korean american to serve on the district court of massachusetts. judge joun will be a trail trailblazer, he will continue to serve the people of massachusetts with distinction and i look forward to his confirmation. senator warren and i absolutely endorse his candidacy with the strongest possible recommendation to the full senate and i urge all of my colleagues to vote yes on cloture and on his nomination. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent to speak for 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask that carmen

be granted floor privileges. the presiding officer: without objection. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, tiffany m. cartwright, of washington, to be united states district judge for the western district of washington. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: is the yeas are 51, a the nays are 46ment 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.

the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 34, myong j. joun of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of myong j. joun of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 51. the nays are 46. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, myong j. joun of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, all time on the joun amendment be considered expired, the confirmation vote on the joun amendment occur at 4:00 p.m. that the -- confirmation vote on the joun nomination occur at 4:00 p.m.

the cloture motion motions on the kotagal, uhlmann and bloomekatz reichen upon disposition of the joun nomination and that the order with respect to the postcloture time on the kotagal amendment be vitiated. the presiding officer: is there an objection? mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar 119, s. 2226. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar none 119, s. 2226, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to exich session to resume consideration of the -- executive session to resume

consideration of the kotagal nomination. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. the clerk: nomination, equal employment opportunity commission, kalpana kotagal of ohio to be a member. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. a senator: thank you, madam president. i rise to talk about something we've been hearing a lot about recently and that's bidenomics.

the president and his cabinet have been traveling the country trying to convince the american people into believing that the president's economic vision for the country has our nation on the right path. mrs. capito: well, i can assure you after being home for the last two weeks that these false messages are not really resonating with the american public. polling data between june 6 and july 7 of this year shows that on average, two-thirds of americans believe that our nation is going on the wrong track. and if you spend a few minutes at a supermarket or car dealership, a retail store, or if you're looking to purchase or rent a home, or if you face energy and utility bills or the prices at the pump that middle-class american families are having to pay, everybody is paying, there should be no surprise. what exactly is bidenomics? well, let me break down a couple of definitions of this term as they relate to american folks

outside of the beltway and certainly those would include people that i represent in west virginia which i consider the backbone of our country. bidenomics means you are getting less while spending more. according to data from the bureau of labor statistics, since president biden took office, grocery prices have increased 20%. energy prices have increased 38%. prices for fuel oil has increased 45%. gasoline prices have increased 52%. natural gas prices have increased tweng%. -- 20%. electricity prices have increased 26%. prices for used cars and trucks have increased 35%. prices for new vehicles have increased 20%. apparel prices have increased

10%. and airline fairs have increased 39%. but the list goes on and on. bidenomics means that inflation is just a part of everyday life. today's inflation report marks the 30 rght straight month that -- 30th straight month that year over year inflation is over the target rate of 2%. the president is touting this decreasing inflation as something to celebrate but there's really nothing to celebrate here. americans have felt the blunt and unapologetic force of inflation for over two years. while bidenomics is certainly not a science, if it were, it would be a shifting one. remember when inflation was only supposed to be transitory. the individual who voiced that opinion who himself is not an economist got a promotion from the president. and is now the chair of the

council of economic advisers. bidenomics means if you're looking to rent or buy a home, you might just be out of luck. rampant spending from the american rescue plan and the inflation reduction act were main contributors of high inflation and in turn the source of soaring interest rates. so on top of that, rental prices for a primary residence have increased 15%. furniture prices have increased 19%. the average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage is now 7.22%. and just this may home prices hit record highs. all this combined leaves the prospect of buying a home seemingly unattainable to many american families and comp moists the american dream. now, i would adhere young families -- add here that young families can't get in the game

of buying a house, fixing it up, living there for a while, moving on to a little bit nicer, better, bigger home as their family grows. bidenomics means that if you have a small business, it will be harder to maintain and grow. and if you want to start a small business, it's nearly out of the question. increased taxes felt directly by mom and pop shops combined with skyrocketing costs have made it very difficult to support a business along our main streets. increased prices on consumer goods and basic needs means that wage growth cannot keep up with floiees -- floiers -- employers rising costs. bidenomics means the destruction of the financial health of a lot of our american families. the fed's economic well-being of families report was released monday and it stated, quote, overall financial well-being declined markedly over the past

year. and that one-third of americans say they are worse off financially than they were the year before. these are devastating statistics, but, unfortunately you they show the dire straits of an economy that has a 71% probability of recession, according to the new york federal reserve's recession probability model. one aspect of bidenomics that really baffles me is the president's willing ins to take credit for the current state of our economy and his efforts to make this the centerpiece of his white house. there's a long list of achievements that the president -- our president has failed to adequately address and accept accountability for. certainly the crisis at the southern border is one. the weakened status of our military, another. or the out-of-control spending that has defined his time in power.

yet surprisingly, president biden is more than happy to accept responsibility for the state of our nation's economy, and in this one instance, he does have the right of ownership, because they're his policies that have been put into place. so for my state of west virginia, bidenomics is costing west virginia families an additional $713 -- that's not a year, that's a month. that is a month. when president biden and his administration continue to lead our country down the wrong path, but if we look at republican-led states, where republican governors are in charge and have been able to prove their resilience against that's enormous headwinds, increased respiration in states like north carolina, booming manufacturing sectors in states like florida or texas, or states with record surpluses, like my own state of west virginia, where republican

leadership is leading the way. so moving forward our republican colleagues and i will continue to fight for proven solutions that rein in unnecessary spending, that bring down inflation, that increase market competition, that lower tax burdens on our small businesses, and spur the economic development that every state in this nation needs. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. mrs. fischer: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: thank you, madam president.

when it comes to the economy, we hear a lot about numbers, the inflation rate, how much more groceries cost or how many businesses are struggling to find employees. those numbers are important. they tell us the big-picture story of where our country -- our economy is and where it's going and right now that's not a pretty picture. but as elected representatives, we work for our people. it is critical that we listen to the voices of the people who live in our states and who are being deeply affected by the numbers we read in bloomberg or "the wall street journal." in a speech he made last week, president biden promised that his economic policy is helping across the board, quote, in rural america, the heartland, all across america, end quote.

he claimed that bidenomics is the silver bullet for financial struggles among middle-class americans around the country. i don't know who the president is talking to, but my experience hearing from americans in the heartland is a lot different than what he said in that speech. many nebraskans are struggling under unforgiving load of inflation, kickstarted by this administration's almost $2 trillion stimulus package in 2021. so today let's zoom in on nebraska. when which i'm back in my home state, i'm constantly hearing stories of hardship from my fellow nebraskans, whether they're farmers, teachers, or small business owners. it is truly painful to hear about some of the experiences

people are having due to inflation. so let me tell you about bidenomics in nebraska. when i stopped by a coffee shop in 2022, the owner told me his electric bill had skyrocketed from $40 a month to over $300 a month. and that coffee shop owner is now gone. he couldn't afford bidenomics, and he closed his shop. that is bidenomics in nebraska. a year later not much has changed. as one of our nebraska farmers told me a few weeks ago, quote, prices take the elevator up but the stairs down, end quote.

inflation causes costs to rise quickly, and they stay up there for a long time. one big economically irresponsible move from the administration, well, that sets the stage for years of struggle. that is bidenomics in nebraska. several rural businesses in the state shared their struggles with the local newspaper earlier this year. many of these business owners feel, quote, at a loss for what to do as their livelihoods crumble under the pressure. a honey farmer shared that consistently rising prices squeezed his family into a difficult position when doing things as simple as putting their honey in jars.

sometimes they could only afford to get the container. sometimes they could only afford to get the lids, but not both. he said, quote, we're kind of forgotten about way out here, end quote. that is bidenomics in nebraska. that doesn't line up with the president's boasts of an economy that works for middle-class americans in the heartland. instead, while the biden administration chatters on about its support for the middle class, thousands of people in that category are pulling out all the stops to pay their necessary expenses. the salvation army of lincoln nebraska reported a couple months ago that it has seen a 50% increase in service requests

in just a year. people are going to charities to get help paying rent and utilities as the economy suffers. a salvation army officer said, quote, for people who are on medical equipment, having their electricity on is a very important aspect, end quote. that is bidenomics in nebraska. the president has a middle-class problem. average americans are hollowing out their savings, and they're taking on record debt just to keep up with these stunning levels of inflation, or, as the white house likes to call it, biden nominatics. the president said last week,

quote, bidenomics is just another way of restoring the american dream, end quote. wrong. since when does the american dream include taking a second job just to be able to afford rent or having to choose between containers and lids for honey jars or wracking your brain for ways to catch up on an electricity bill that will not stop rising? the president should step off the podium. he should stop delivering empty promises. and he should actually get down to business fixing the bloated economy that he has created.

nebraskans are not listening to the administration's inflated claims about helping the middle class, but they are listening to the mortgage increases and to their dwindling savings accounts. americans know what bidenomics look like, and it looks like failed leadership. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. grassley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: we just heard my friend from nebraska say that biden wants bidenomics to be all about restoring the american dream. well, for most americans, it's

turning out to be a nightmare. inflation brought on by the biden administration's misguided policies has americans try to figure out how to afford everyday necessities. one thing that they are not buying is the biden administration's latest catchwords -- bidenomics. over the 4th of july break, i held meetings in 24 of iowa's 99 counties. there is a very common theme there. that common theme was that families and businesses are struggling with the economic impact of inflation. it's not just iowans who are feeling the pain from the economy under the biden administration. according to a recent associated press survey, only 34% of

americans approve of president biden's handling of our economy. president biden's message to these americans is, don't believe your bank accounts. well, madam president, that message doesn't resonate. iowa families are hit with ballooning bills and higher prices at every corner. for two years, iowans have been stretched thin because of decades' high inflation stoked by democrats' reckless $2 trillion spending spree, a spending spree that would not have happened if they had listened to their own democrat economists, particularly the outstanding harvard economist and former secretary of treasury in the clinton administration

and economic advisers to other democratic presidents, their own larry summers told them before this president took over that the economy was already turning around; don't spend anymore money or you will have inflation. so what do we see? on average, american consumers are facing prices that are 16% higher today than when biden took office. while prices have climbed, wages have failed to keep up. american workers have seen their paychecks shrink by more than 3% in real terms. now, we heard the word transitory, that inflation was going to be transitory so you didn't need to worry about it. and this was as the biden administration claimed when