[inaudible conversations] >> this afternoon federal reserve chair jerome powell holds a press conference follinthe federal open market committee meeting. watch live coverage at 2:30 p.m. eastern on our free mobile video app, c-span now. >> a healthy democracy didn't just look like this, this looks like this, where americans can see democracy at work when citizens are truly informed our

republic thrives. get informed straight from the source on c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, word for word, from the nation's capitol to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own. this is what democracy looks like. c-span powered by cable. >> we take you live now to the capitol where the u.s. senate is about to gavel in. today lawmakers will continue work on the 2024 defense programs and policy bill. and now live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. senate will come to order. today's opening prayer will be offered by reverend richard gibbons from first presbyterian church, greenville, south carolina. the chaplain: let us join our hearts and minds together as we pray. gracious god and loving heavenly father, in seeking your presence today,

we recognizing that you are eternal in nature, infinite in love, holy in every aspect of your being, yet immanent in grace. today we ask that you would refresh and renew each senator, stimulating and sustaining within them nobility of character, focused wisdom, inspired direction, and a profound dependency on you as they seek to serve these united states. grant to this upper chamber the tender touch of your holy spirit, equipping each lawmaker with thoughtful, measured, prescient leadership, capable of prolific solutions equal to the demands of the 21st century. as senators and their staff move towards the end of this legislative session and are weary or frustrated, nourish within them a unified and energized focus on national priorities, compassionately supporting communities in need,

inspiring new generations of civic leaders, and modeling for each one credibility, integrity, and authenticity, as we seek to be "one nation under god." father, we bring our prayers to you in jesus' name. amen. president pro tempore i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the presiding officer: the president pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved.

mr. mcconnell: madam president. the presiding officer: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: the biden administration's been working overtime to sell the american people a fantasy. the president would like working families who have struggled under two years of soaring inflation, believe their refrain that bidenomics is working for america. the administration secretary said that people are feeling better about their personal finances. if only that were true. unfortunately, the american people had too many reasons to believe their financial outlook is worse today -- worse than when the president took office. according to a survey conducted last month, just 24% of voters

say the american economy is on the right track, less than a third believe this administration is bringing costs down for working families and just 22% think inflation is getting any better. so, madam president, no matter how many ways the administration officials spin the numbers, folks who work for a living and manage a family budget know that bidenomics has made their lives harder. they know that prices have risen 16.6% since the president took office because they feel it every time they pay their bills. energy prices, for example, are 38% higher than they were in january 2021. groceries are 20% more expensive. in washington state, one man reported recently that soaring

rent had forced him to move, take on a longer commute, spend more on gas and put his goal of homeownership on hold. in illinois, one woman told a reporter recently she had paid $ $90 for groceries that would feed her family of three for three days and might have to start visiting food pantries. quote, you have no choice but to sacrifice she said. so look at it this way. during the first terms of the last four administrations before this one, year-on-year inflation never cracked 4%. under president biden, it's happened 26 times. to borrow the president's own phrase, that is bidenomics in action. as one top democrat economist

put it last year, this is biden's inflation and he needs to tone. -- to own it. so it's fitting that the president is finally stlapped -- slapped his name on our country economic situation. he's right to take credit. working families won't be in this mess if he hadn't spent his first few months in office ramming $2 trillion in left-wing spending down the throat of our economy. so owning the runaway inflation washington democrats helped produce is one thing, but it's about time they focus on fixing it. now, on a different matter. tomorrow the prime minister maloni of italy will visit washington for a series of meetings. i look forward to welcoming her

to the capitol at an important time for our two country's friendship and for italy's role in the transatlantic alliance. prime minister maloni took office as europe faced its first large-scale land war in decades and italy faced economic vulnerabilities of reliance on china. by all accounts she's addressed these challenges head on. the prime minister has repeatedly asserted italy's commitment to help ukraine defeat russian aggression and rebuild its economy. and importantly, unlike some leaders, she has done so with refreshing clarity to her people in helping ukraine defend itself. earlier this spring in an address to the italian senate, she summed up the reality. she said, we are also sending

arms to ukrainians to prevent the possibility of having to use them ourselves one day. we're sending arms to ukraine also to keep the war far away from the rest of europe and our home. not vaguely defining philanthropy, just cold, hard investments in our own country. at the nato summit in vilnuis earlier this month, italy's leader rightly declared, quote, our freedom has a cost. what is vefd in -- invested in defense comes back tenfold, 100 fold in terms of defending our national interest. secretary general soltenburg has recognized her commitment to the transthis atlantic alliance and

they have expressed toward the 2% defense spending target. i hope and expect to see italy and all nato allies meet this goal. this shift in italy's approach to defense and security policy reflects what allies are recognizing across europe. it's a -- that the long holiday from history is over and that investments in hard power are overdue. but as proism maloni meets with president biden tomorrow, it's important to remember that our shared interest extend behind europe. italy is rightly concerned about growing instability, terrorism and migration flows in africa, yet another area where russian and chinese influence has played a coressive and threatening role. there is a terrible resurgence

that has followed the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. i'm also encouraged that the italian government is unraveling its involvement in china's so-called belt-and-road initiative. another indication that european allies are taking steps to protect themselves against china's economic coercion. so if we are serious about competition with the prc, we need to work more closely with allies and partners who share our interest in preserving a world of free and fair trade and insecure policy change. i'm hopeful that president biden and prime minister maloni have a successful meeting together and discussing our two nation's priorities directly. in the meantime, i'm hopeful our colleagues will continue to work diligently to provide for the common defense and equip america and our allies to meet and deter

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

quorum call: quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, today the senate will continue making progress on the ndaa, one of the most important bills of the year and something that, for

more than six decades, passed with bipartisan support. yesterday we adopted two important amendments to the ndaa, adding to the senate's work on competing -- on outcompeting the chinese government. both amendments, one by senators cornyn and casey, one by senators round and test ter, passed overwhelmingly with 91 yes votes. it's not often that 91 senators can unite on a single measure, let alone two measures. to see us unite on outcompeting the chinese government was an important demonstration that this issue remains broadly bipartisan and something will continue -- something we'll continue working on throughout the year. this morning we will hold another vote on an amendment by senators warnock and budd, halting the harassment of our servicemembers by debt collectors. i hope this will also enjoy broad support. last night, we sent an outline with a number of additional amendments. i'm hopeful we can lock in an

agreement soon to begin voting on some of them. since last wednesday, the senate has voted on eight amendments on the floor, adopted seven more by voice vote, this is how the process should work. finally, i'll also keep working with the republican leader, with chair reed and ranking member wicker on a second managers' package that will have more accomplishments both sides can embrace. i appreciate the cooperation and good faith of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle. mr. president, i've said repeatedly the ndaa is an opportunity for the senate to show we can work on the biggest issues facing our country through bipartisanship, cooperation, honest debate. that's what we've seen play out so far this year on the floor, bipartisanship. the ndaa process in this chamber is a welcome departure from the contentious, chaotic, and partisan race to the bottom we saw in the house. and, as i have also said, if we continue embracing

bipartisanship, we'll finish our work on the ndaa before the start of the august state work period. we hope to finish the ndaa as soon as we can. there is no reason for delay. we aren't quite there yet. there's still more work to be done. but we are close. i thank my colleagues for their cooperation and the senate will continue working on the ndaa until the job is done. on the ira anniversary, when we passed the inflation reduction act last year i said here on the floor that it would endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st century. just one year later the ira is paying huge dividends for the american people, for our economy, and for our environment. republicans claim the ira would make inflation worse. one of our republican colleagues claimed the ira would cut jobs and fuel inflation. but mr. president, since we passed the ira inflation has gone not up but down. we are lowering costs day by day

for the american people, with the passage of this legislation. inflation is now half what it was a few years ago. across the board cuts, costs are coming down for the american family. for the first time ever we've made it possible for medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, helping americans save at the pharmacy. because of the ira vaccines are free for medicare beneficiaries and a cap on out-of-pocket drug spending, no senior will pay more than $2,000 a year for drugs. it's coming very soon. what a relief for people, lowering costs on one of the things that bothered them the most, the high cost of prescription drugs. that's what we democrats are doing, while over there in the house the republicans are just racing to the bottom. we also capped the price of insulin for seniors on medicare to $35 a month, spurring mainly companies, like eli -- major companies to followo suit.

and, millions of people who buy their health insurance on the aca exchanges are now saving hundreds of dollars a month. indeed, we are lowering costs. that's what we promised to do. on top of these savings i also said the inflation reduction act would kick start the era of affordable clean energy and create countless, good-paying green jobs. the inflation reduction act has done just that too. from the new wind turbine facilities in new york to solar facilities in arizona, the ira is paving the way for america to lead in clean energy manufacturing, 80 new clean energy manufacturing fa filts have been announced -- facilities have been announced across the country, employing thousands of people. not just in junky, low-wage jobs, but good, high-pay, high-skill jobs, with training to boot. these facilities mean more good-paying jobs for years to come, in construction,

manufacturing, clean energy, and so much more. and, as the new jobs are being created wage growth continues to go up. it's now exceeding inflation. so the amount brought home in your paycheck pays more than the cost -- has gone up more than the cost of goods has gone up. that's a new thing. only happened in the last few years. and the policies that we have passed here in the senate, the democrats passed here in the senate frankly, are making a huge difference. of course, we're only getting started. as we continue implementing the ira, the american people will see more evidence of the democratic agenda working for them. on a.i., finally, with so much going on in the senate, i want to remind my colleagues today we will hold our third all-out senate briefing on artificial intelligence. our presenters are rick stevens, from the department of energy's argonne national lab,

dr.setaram panchanathan, from the national science foundation, and dr. kathleen fisher, from the information innovation office at darpa. our moderator, dr. jose marie griffiths, members of the national security commission on artificial intelligence. and president of dakota state university. it's a broad range of presenters. the last few briefings were well attended. i know people are busy today, but please try to make the time. the q&a was surprisingly very direct. we got a lot of answers and learned a lot. i look forward to the briefing, which surely will be illuminating and i thank everyone for their good work. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the prepares order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 2226, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 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. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last week we saw an important step to recognize the legacy of our nuclear weapons program and live up to our obligations to the people and communities still touched by that work. and no, i'm not talking about a movie. the new release may focus on part of the story, but there is another important chapter i will not let tus overlook or -- let us overlook or forget, one that

takes place in my home state of washington, one that is not over yet, and that's han ford, where men and women in my state are diligentry doing the -- diligently doing the hard, dangerous work of cleaning up one of the most hazardous nuclear waste sites on the planet. as some of my colleagues may know, during world war ii, the federal government established the hanford site in center washington state to produce the plutonium our nation needed for nuclear weapons. hanford wasn't just where they made the plutonium, it's also where they left 177 tanks, 56 million gallons of highly toxic, radioactive waste. for decades now, workers have been doing this critically important work and very dangerous work of cleaning up that site. i have fought for decades to make sure the federal government lives up to its moral and legal

obligation to support our hanford workers and clean up the handford site. that's why i meet regularly with workers from hanford to hear about the challenges they're facing and the help they need. it is exactly why i've been pushing so hard to get my beryllium test being fairness act tested -- passed. i was thrilled the senate passed last week 96-2 -2 to add this to the bill. my legislation makes sure workers are getting support to deal with one of the most dangerous threats they face at hanford, beryllium exposure. this is a serious health risk that can cause severe respiratory disease, irreversible scarring of the lungs, and lung cancer. congress passed legislation in 2000 providing care to those who have made incredible sacrifices by working on our nuclear

arsenal, and i fought to make sure that this covered the medical costs for those with chronic beryllium disease and blow vieded cash benefits to -- provided cash benefits to people diagnosed with that disease. not everyone who needs those critical medical benefits for beryllium exposure can get them today. that's because the diagnostic standard is outdated, and ute of line with current science. right now, to qualify for advanced medical monitoring you have to show an abnormal blood test. but if your blood test is borderline for beryllium sensitization, that doesn't count towards your diagnosis at all, even when you are plainly experiencing the ek effects of beryllium -- the effects of beryllium exposure or if it's your third such borderline result. that's not right, and by the way it is not consistent with today's science. workers in america who are cleaning up one of the most

toxic and radioactive nuclear sites on the planet should not have to jump through cumbersome and unnecessary hoops and have the care they need delayed or denied all because the standard is outdade -- outdated. that's why my bill will update the statute and bring it in line with the osha rule finalized under the last administration, so the three tests count as conclusive and morning workers get the care they need. let me step back to make clear why this matters. less than a year ago when i met with hanford workers to talk about my bill and hear their stories, i heard from one worker, tina. she talked about her friends and neighbors, people who power the work of hanford. she talked about how a colleague's mom got beryllium disease. then she retired and, after many years working at this site, she's now not chasing her grandkids around, she can't. she doesn't have the lung

capacity to run around and play with her grandchildren. it's heartbreaking, but it is not an uncommon story in the tricities and why this bill matters. yes, it's technical. yes, it may not seem like a big difference if you aren't involved in this kind of work day to day. but this bill will help make sure we don't lose precious time getting workers the fers suppord to manage this awful disease. mr. president, i'm glad we're on track to get this passed into law now, and there's a lot more i want to get done to make sure we are living up to the obligation to take care of those workers, but this is meaningful, important progress. they may not be telling the story of these workers on the silver screen yet, but as long as i'm in the senate you can bet their voices will be heard in the halls of our nation's capitol. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk:

-- the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

relative sponsor here it's tough to find anyone who was a close friend that we have found verifiable.

that's made in her care for quite some time because what it wanted to let them go until we can verify they will be likely i f sponsor. >> how is o.r. are evaluate its sponsorship guidelines and revelation of abuses close to release? >> as i said my father was one of those kids. there was never any problem. he could find work even as a teenager. there were occasions when he would not get paid for his labor. we've known about child labor for a long time. it's not just my good kids but certain with migrant kids but we have an obligation to do what we can and with every authority we have and beyond that we will do everything we can to provide health and safety for those the presiding officer: yes, it is. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted are. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president in 1793, george washington noted, if we desire to avoid insult, we

must be able to repel it, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known we are at all times ready for war. end quote. or in the words of another president nearly 200 years hear, and i quote, we maintain the peace through our strength, weakness only invites aggression. end quote. mr. president, the united states has a well-earned reputation for strength. strength has to be maintained, mr. president. we've not done a good job, or good enough job of that lately. five years ago the bipartisan national defense strategy released a warning that we might struggle to win a war against a major power like china. while we've made some progress since then at rebuilding our readiness, we are still a long way from where we need to be. recent u.s. war games,

envisioning a u.s.-china conflict following an attack on taiwan has had grim results showing costs on both sides. one new story noted, i quote, while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not always clear, the u.s. does better in some than others, the cost is clear. in every exercise, the u.s. uses up all of its long-range air to surface missiles in a few day with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground. end quote. let me repeat the last line. in every exercise the u.s. uses up all its long-range air to surface missiles in a few days with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground. mr. president, i don't need to tell anyone that that is a profoundly concerning position for us to be in. china's growing increasingly aggressive in the indo-pacific and also adopted an increasingly

aggressive posture toward the united states. and it's investing heavily in its military. if we want to deter china aggression, we have to ensure our military is strong enough. we can't accomplish that if we would run out of key munitions in a few days of combat. while china has to be a major focus when it comes to our defense policy, it is far from the only threat out there. russia's war of aggression in ukraine is all the reminder that we need that russia is not a peaceful nation. north korea launched two missiles just this monday. iran continues to pursue its aggressive nuclear agenda, threaten israel and attempt to seize ships in the persian gulf. the list goes on. which brings me to this year's national defense authorization act, which the senate expects to wrap-up this week. i am pleased to report that this year's ndaa makes real progress on the readiness front.

it bolsters our security posture in the indo peasm. it re -- indo-pacific. it rejects the president's plan to shrink the navy. it also contains multiple measures to increase our supply of munitions, including the addition of six critical munitions to the pentagon's multiyear procurement program. two of these missions, tomahawk missiles play an important role. on the european front, the bill invests in russia deterrence by continuing -- it bolsters oversight to ensure u.s. funding is being used appropriately. the ndaa also holds nato members accountable for investing in their own defense by prioritizing our links with partners who meet the commitment to spend 2% of their gdp on defense. this year's bill also ensures that you our military keeps its

focus on commonsense and not decisive democrat social initiatives by eliminating so-called equity inclusion bureaucracy. above all, i'm proud to report that this year's bill authorizes full funding for the next steps of the b-21 mission, which will revolutionize our strike capabilities. i said it before and i will say it again. if we don't get national security right, the rest is conversation. if there is one area in which we cannot fail, it is providing for the defense of our nation. this year's defense national -- national defense authorization act, is not sufficient to address all of our nation's readiness issues, but it makes an important down payment on boosting our preparedness and i look forward to supporting it later this week. i hope that we will continue to

have a robust amendment process so that other important ideas can be considered appeared all members have a chance to make their voices heard. and i hope that congress will continue to make investing in our military a top priority. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

at least be provided with the safety well-being that they did before they go off. >> those are the services the department of homeland securitys do not provide. >> that's correct. >> last year our face at unprecedented number arrival of unencumbered unconventional even as they have slowed their o.r. has to be prepared to establish emergency housing, take on staff and provide services to children with regular spikes in migration occurs. so what has o.r. are learned about how to respond to influxes in unaccompanied minors and how to ensure the office computer to

provide high-quality care for children went to our high number of children crossing the border? >> one of the first things we learned is you can't wait until you see the kids coming in to try to find a safe bed, place they can go. you have to be ready for them. we are constantly making sure we have the services available for any child who comes in. we also now working close with department of homeland security to make sure no child is coming to us for example, covid positive and then interspersed with kids who are not infected. so we said great children so we can protect those who are not ill. and so we have spaces and beds that are specific for kids who are positive covid or who may have other infectious diseases or who need particular medical assistance. so we learned through the process and we have become far more efficient, and that is the really important aspect of this because process, efficiency process means the kids ultimately will be in the home

where child welfare experts say they should be, not in a congregate care setting. .. >> so what changes has orr made to the uc portal and how does this reduce risk in the portal process. >> the portal is the way to collect that information that helps us verify. we have kids in our care. we have to try to place them with a sponsor. how can we be assured that we're going to place them with a safe and prepared sponsor. that portal helps us collect a lot of that information to make sure that we ultimately, when we make that release, that discharge is going to be a good one for the child. >> secretary, thank you for your leadership, thank you for your concern and thank you for making these improvements. >> thank you. >> thank you. the gentleman yields back. now recognize the chairwoman of

the full committee, miss mcmorris rogers, for questioning. >> mr. secretary, the office of independent counsel and other investigations have flagged the office of refugee resettlement has failed to properly house and care for unaccompanied children. orr employees and contractors have reported a, quote, pervasive sense of despair among children at the facility who reported experiencing stress is and anxiety and panic attacks. in other instances children have been fully -- physically harmed due to negligence. the i.g. report found that, quote, orr eliminated critical safeguards in the sponsor screening process thereby potentially increasing children's risk of unsafe sponsors. can you guarantee that no child that you're responsible for you can say is sent to a sponsor looking to exploit their labor? can you guarantee that?

can you say yes or no that you can guarantee orr doesn't place children in households with convicted sex offenders to -- or child abusers? >> madam chair, i know you're a mom and i'm a dad. it's very difficult to say yes or no about anything about your kids. the challenges we face is to make sure those children are properly placed. we do everything we do to vet those sponsors -- >> reclaiming my time, you only conducted child abuse and neglect background checks in 9% of the cases in 2021. are you doing these checks in 100% of the cases today? yes or no? >> madam chair, we are doing the very thorough vetting process for any sponsor to make sure we understand who is asking for the opportunity to care -- >> okay. so my question is are you doing 100% background checks to insure that the children are not going into the households of convicted sex offenders and child abusers?

>> we do background checks on every potential sponsor. of we check for criminal records of every potential sponsor. >> fbi checks? >> we do background checks, and the fbi usually does a lot of those for us. >> i look forward to seeing that confirmed. there's a rot of questions i have about -- a lot of questions i have about unaccompanied minors. i do want to turn to the questions around reappointing officials including dr. fauci after their terms expiredded in december of 2021. so on may 5th, 2023, assistant secretary melanie gurin sent a letter to this committee saying the secretary appoints the directors of nih institute and center with the nih director being the recommending official. to be clear, the letter states, quote, nih ic directors are recommended for appointment by the nih director and approved for appointment by the secretary of health and human services. we then received a letter last

friday also from secretary egurin that contradicts her may 5th letter and acenterred -- asserts that the nih now believ- [inaudible] so i'm hoping to ask a simple question, one that we first asked march of last year. who appoints, who reappoints objection. mr. cornyn: mr. president, on monday, president biden's department of justice filed suit against my state, texas, over our efforts to secure our boarderings -- our border. of the 2,000-mile southern border, texas has a 1200-mile border with mexico. of course, that's been the epicenter of the humanitarian and public safety crisis that we've seen get nothing but worse over the last two years. it's almost laughable if it wasn't so serious.

the administration filed suit over what it called humanitarian concerns, which is more than a little ironic. this is the same administration whose policies have ushered in an unprecedented humanitarian and public security crisis at the southern border. i've talked previously about the 300,000 children, unaccompanied children, placed with sponsors in the interior of the united states by the biden administration during the last two and a half years, and the fact that the administration has lost track of at least 85,000 of those 300,000 children. when they were contacted, or attempted to be contacted, by the office of refugee relocation and health and human services, 30 days after they were placed with a sponsor, there was no answer, and no follow-up by the administration.

this is the same administration that turned a blind eye when countless young migrants were being exploited on american soil. "the new york times" has run two investigative pieces pointing out that essentially the administration doesn't know where any of these 300,000 unaccompanied children are, whether they're going to school, whether they're getting their health care attended to, whether they're being recruited into gangs or sexually abused or otherwise neglected. they don't know. and apparently, they don't care, because go they did care then they would take the effort to find out and do something about it. vice president harris was designated as the administration's border czar during this unprecedented crisis, which has taken a devastating toll on migrants and law enforcement, border

communities, and it's affected every city in the country, from new york to washington, d.c. to chicago, every state in a sense has been affected by the border crisis and has become a border state. vice president harris, despite her effort to do anything to address this crisis at the border, she has had the audacity to criticize governor abbott's actions as, quote, inhumane, outrageous, and un-american. of course, she can't be bothered to actually go to the border and fied out what's happening there on her own. there are a lot of misconceptions about the border. people who haven't been there haven't learned for themselves from the experts, the border patrol, the nongovernmental organizations that do their best to try to take care of these

people. vice president harris simply hasn't bothered to learn, yet she has the audacity to criticize governor abbott for doing what he has to do because of the failure of the biden administration to do its job. the unavoidable reality is we wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for president biden abdicating his responsibilities. this is an international border, as we all know. that by definition is the federal government's responsibility. but the biden administration has simply, as i said, abdicated its responsibilities with tragic consequences. unlike president biden, governor abbott took action. his constituents, my constituents, 30 million texans, insisted upon it. and he put measures in place to try to deter migrants from

attempting the dangerous journey from their home across the border into the united states. we know particularly now, with temperatures in the triple digits, that migrants face a brutal environment -- heat, dangerous waters, tresh russ -- treacherous terrain, and sadly many migrants do not survive the journey. does president biden understand that last year alone at least 748 people died making their way across the southern border? i know he's never been to brooks county, which is the location of one of the interior checkpoints, where the coyotes will drive people up from the stash houses along the border. short of the checkpoint, they'll tell the migrants get out of the vehicle and here's a gallon jug of water and maybe a candy bar and meet me on the topside, on

the north side of the border checkpoint, in order to a-- to evade the interior checkpoints. brooks county had so many migrants who died under those circumstances, making that trek around the checkpoint, they didn't have the money to actually bury the bodies. we had to try to provide additional resources to help them do that. again, the hypocrisy of the biden administration complaining about the state trying to do its best to deal with a vacuum when it comes to federal responsibility is absolutely ridiculous. 748 people, we know, died trying to come across the southern

border, and they're complaining about efforts to try to deter or dissuade people from making that dangerous thrip in the first -- trip in the first place. that's what governor abbott is trying to do, and being criticized by the very people who are not doing their job. if the president is unhappy with the actions texas has taken, there is a clear solution -- do your job. if the president and his administration did their job, there'd be no need for the state to use its resources and its tax dollars to do the job that the federal government should be doing. until then, governor abbott has every right to use the powers available to him to keep our state safe, to protect our citizens. that's his right as an elected

head of a sovereign state. i want to make a point of thanking all the countless federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, as well as the national guardsmen from texas, the department of public being safety, and others who have been deployed to the border for their tireless work to protect our state and our country. they deserve our commendation and appreciation, not criticism, particularly when it's so misguided and unfair. the biden administration may not appreciate the efforts of the state of texas, but the vast majority of us see, understand, and are grateful for everything texas guards, local law enforcement, dps and others are doing to keep our country safe. mr. president, on another matter, the senate is in the process of fulfilling one of its

most important responsibilities, and that is protecting the safety and security of our nation by advancing the national defense authorization act. i want to exphend senators -- commend senators reed and wicker, chairman and ranking member of the armed services committee for their leadership on this bill and for maintaining a bipartisan process, which has historically guided this legislation. congress has managed to overcome partisan differences to pass a defense authorization bill for each of the past 62 years. that's quite an accomplishment. i hope we can build on that record of success again this year. our colleagues on the armed service committee compiled a strong bill, and i'm glad the senate now has an opportunity to try to improve it further by offering and voting on various amendments. yesterday evening, the senate

adopted a bipartisan amendment i introduced with senator casey, the senator from ohio, to strengthen our ability to counter threats from china. it does this by providing greater visibility into certain investments american entities are making in china and other countries of concern. our amendment received overwhelming bipartisan support. it passed by a vote of 91-6, which is incredibly rare these days. i want to express my gratitude to senator casey and all my colleagues who worked together, particularly on the banking committee and others. thank them for supporting this amendment and working with us to overcome this initial hurdle. we know when this bill goes to conference with the house of representatives, there will be other discussions about this topic, but it's important that we have a strong vote on this outbound investment transparency

provision because we need to know what american companies are doing to help grow the economy of our chief competitor on the planet. which is using that strong economy, by the way, to arm itself and threaten its neighbors in the region. we need to know and this legislation will allow us to know exactly what's going on so we can consider whether other policy provisions are necessary. we know the house passed its own version of the ndaa last month, but it didn't include any provisions on the outbound investment issue. so i'm confident in the coming weeks members of the house and the senate will need to iron out the differences between our two versions, and its a i absolutely -- it's absolutely critical, that the outbound transparency that the senate supported be part of the final conference report. we all know the chinese

communist party is becoming increasingly aggressive in its efforts to gain power and influence through intellectual property theft, forced technology transfers, predatory lending practices, like the belt and road initiative. china has grown its economic power and is using the same methods to pursue global military dominance. in china there's no bright line separating the military and civilian sectors. this is part of an intentional strategy known as military civil fusion which promotes the development of dual use technology. in other words, can be used in the private sector and can be used by the people's liberation army. in short, the chinese communist party is investing its technologies that bolster both its military strength and its

economic power. and unfortunately, many american entities are fueling the success of china's military civil fusion, maybe even without knowing really what they are doing. in testimony before the senate intelligence committee, an open hearing, an unusual open hearing, i heard some concerning figures that illustrate just how big this problem is. at the end of 2020, u.s. investments in chinese companies had a total market value of $2.3 trillion. that's foreign investments from the united states into the people's republic of china worth $2.3 trillion in 2020. that included $21 billion in semiconductors, $54 billion to chinese military companies, and a whopping $221 billion in artificial intelligence.

there's been a lot of discussion here in the senate and in washington, d.c. about what's the future of artificial intelligence. well, american companies have been investing a lot of money in china and helping them develop their artificial intelligence capabilities, and we know this authoritarian country under the leadership of president xi does not have benign intentions. we need to be very careful about exactly how much and in what sectors the american business community is investing in china when they are our number one global competitor. intentionally or not, american companies are bank rolling the chinese communist party's military rise. they're pouring huge amounts of capital into capabilities that could be used against the united states and certainly against our

allies. these if you data points -- these few data points are deeply concerning but the truth is these are just a few pieces of the puzzle. we can't see the full picture, but we need to. currently there are no requirements for companies to report billion dollar investments in chinese companies. the full extent ofist investments -- of u.s. investments could be much larger and more concerning but we simply don't have the information. that's exactly why senator casey and i offered this amendment and why the senate adopted it so overwhelmingly, 91-6. the strong bipartisan support for this amendment is evidence that this bill strengthens our national security without impacting the free market. we're not interested in decoupling from china as some people have advocated. and i think secretary blinken and secretary yellen who have

used the word derisking is an appropriate use of that term. we were trying to derisk our economies in our two countries so hopefully it will never come to any open conflict. we want to make sure that we are strong enough to deter china from ever even thinking about invading taiwan, for example. but as our colleagues know, the requirement of the reporting or providing notice of u.s. base investments in china, it does not apply to every investment under the sun, the one that we just voted on. it's a highly targeted amendment and only applies to sensitive technologies, like semiconductors, artificial intelligence and hypersonics. these are the technologies and capabilities that pose the greatest national security risk

to the united states of america. and to be clear, it does not stop investments from happening or interfere with other investments by american companies in the people's republic of china. it simply requires companies or other entities to share information about investments in certain technologies. this is all about transparency. it will help the united states see and understand the threats from china and other countries of concern so we can act accordingly. some of our colleagues have said, well, we need to do more. i agree. but i think this is an important first step and certainly this -- when we say politics is the art of the possible, this is what's possible now and i would hope with additional information that's generated from these transparency measures, we can make a decision at some later

point whether different policy need to be applied. but for now this represents an important first step. the reality is things like sanctions, the restrictions to outright ban on investments don't have the political support on both sides of the aisle in both chambers that they need in order to become law. so rather than adapt -- adopt an all-or-nothing approach which will end up leaving us with nothing, we decided to again engage in the art of the possible. and this amendment demonstrates that that is achievable. the outbound investment provision promotes our national security. it protects the free market. and it provides much greater visibility into the threats posed by our most formidable potential adversaries. expwrowt bound investment -- outbound investment transparency is absolutely crucial to our ability to understand what is happening in china and to

counter any threats. i urge my colleagues in the senate and the house as well to fight to preserve this language during the conference process. but in closing, let me just again thank chairman reed and ranking member weicher and all of our colleagues on the armed services committee for all of the work that's gone into this bill so far. i no he we're not through. we're going to have a number of votes today and tomorrow. but they provided us a strong foundation and a strong base to build on. and i'm glad we -- those of us who are not on the armed services committee have a chance to offer our suggestions and improve the bill by the amendment process. mr. president, with that i yield the floor. and i'd note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call: a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i will be joined shortly by senator moran who is the rasking republican on -- ranking republican on the veterans committee, and senator blumenthal who always has been such a strong leader on many issues related to veterans. and we are here to talk about an amendment that is before the senate this week on the national defense authorization act. this is our moment. this is our moment, mr. president. i came to the floor last night and spoke on this and i am here again. and i'm here not just on behalf

of all the cosponsors of this important amendment which includes senator lindsey graham who is the lead republican on the amendment as well as, of course, the ranking republican, highest republican on the senate judiciary committee, senator coons, senator moran, senator blumenthal, senator murkowski, senator shaheen, senator wicker who i note is the ranking republican on the armed services committee, senator durbin, the chair of the judiciary committee, senator tillis and senator 'mullin and of course this bill is supported by many, many other senators. in fact the majority of the u.s. senate which sounds to me like when you have the numbers, you should be able to have a vote. and that is what i am asking for today. i am pushing this because this is our moment. we have had two years to show

the world whether or not we're going to stand with those that stood with us, two years we have worked on this bill. our colleagues have had plenty of time to look at it. they've had input. it was introduced last year. but you no he -- but you know who else is watching? our military is watching. every single one of the senators in this chamber have been approached by a member of our military, whether it's on veterans day, whether it's on memorial day, whether it's just walking down the street. those that served in afghanistan have come to us and said, hey, i wouldn't be here today if this guy hadn't stood with me on the battlefield or if this interpreter hadn't helped me out or if this guy had not put his family on the line to gather intelligence. and they have all asked us the same thing. and that is to not leave these courageous afghans who stood with our military in limbo.

we did not leave the hmong and the vietnamese that came over to our country. after that withdrawal and evacuation, we did not leave them in limbo. they were given a legal status which allowed them to work, which allowed them to pursue citizenship at some point. i know because i have the biggest population among next to california in my state. what do they do now generations later? they're police officers. they're firefighters. they're teachers. they're elected officials. they are pillars of our community. that's what we do. that's what we did when so many cubans came over to this country. we just didn't leave them in limbo. we included them in the fabric of life of our country and we are the richer for it. but this, these afghans, so many

of them vouched for by the top leaders in our military, they took bullets for us literally. and we must stand by them. the decision we make right now of whether we live up to the covenant we made to our afghan allies is going to reverberate militarily and diplomatically for longer than any of us will serve in this body because the next time we're in a conflict and we asked people to serve and to put themselves at risk and put their families at risk, you think they're not going to hear that 80,000 people are in complete limbo if we don't do something about this? this bill strengthens our national security, and i will give you a long list of generallies in a moment -- generals in a moment, famous

leaders in our military who support this bill. it does right by our afghans who worked alongside our troops and it shows the world that when the united states of america makes a promise, whether we make a covenant, that we keep it. kneerly 80,000 -- nearly 80,000 afghans who sought refuge in our country after that evacuation are in limbo. they are in our country. let me repeat this. they are here -- they are here now. we can choose to have order and a vetting process, which is why so many of my more conservative colleagues are supporting this bill. this will allow us to vet people and create some order so that they have a provisional status in this country and they don't worry that they're going to be sent back to live under the rule of the taliban, which certainly so many of them would be killed.

among them, brave translators, humanitarian workers, courageous members of the afghan military who stood shoulder to shoulder with our troops. we were right to help these people come to the united states and now it falls on us to uphold the covenant we made to them and help provide them with the stability and security they need to rebuild their lives here. we may have disagreements, of course we do, our country does on afghanistan, but those need to be put aside right now to talk about what we're going to do about the covenant that we made to these people. the bipartisan afghan adjustment act creates a more thorough system as i noted for our afghan allies to apply for permanent legal status. it requires they go through vetting. it is just as vigorous as the

vetting they would have gone through if they came to the united states as a refugee, a standard that eight former trump and former gorge bush administration national security officials called the gold standard of vetting. remember, there is no retting -- vetting right now. this is the way you get the vetting. senator graham and i worked closely with senator moran and others in this chamber and the department of defense to make sure the vetting provisions met that gold standard. in addition this uptaits the special immigrant visa program, also known as siv, to include groups that should never have been skewedded from the program -- secluded members. including those who had our backs hunting down ice combatant -- isis combatants. the entire purpose of the

special immigration visa program is to provide permanent residency to those who supported the united states abroad. and it's clear to anyone that looks at this, that these brave women should qualify. the afghan adjustment act is supported by a bipartisan group of senators, as i just noted. 11 cosponsors, with many others that have pledged their support. many others. and has earned the backing of more than 60 organizations, including the veterans of foreign wars, that's the vfw, the american legion, this bill is a top priority for these two leading veterans groups. they have contacted literally every senator about the importance of passing this bill and i hope people will and listen. who else is it supported by, some of our nation's most revered military leaders, including admiral mike mullin,

william mcspb c rch raven, james stev readus, joseph dford from the marine corps and standford crystal from the army. we can decide that the thoughts of these military leaders aren't important to us. we can decide they must not know what they're doing. i think it's the opposite. that maybe we should listen to them when they tell us this must happen. here are some of the stories. manaz, a commander of the female tactical platoon who worked closely with our military to facilitate conversations between our soldiers and the afghan women they crossed paths with in the field. amad, a pilot whose helicopter was shot down, not once, but

twice. yep, amad is in legal limbo. he said in the face of danger, we were united. we were relentless, we were we sill yent. another pilot, who wants his name not known because he is in fear of what will happen to his family who are still back in afghanistan. he spent ten years helping american soldiers identify taliban positions in the mountains of afghanistan. he said his job was to, quote, capture the bad guys like al qaeda and taliban, or there is another afghan interpreter who put his life on the line to support our troops. why? to use his words, same goal, same target and same achievement. a helicopter fighter pilot who also asked that his name not be revealed, who worked with our troops to combat the taliban in remote areas of afghanistan for eight years -- eight years, all

the while thinking there was a covenant he was going to be able to come to this country and people would protect him if needed. he survived being shot in the face by flying bullets. the story of reggie, another afghan interpreter. remember being an interpreter in afghanistan wasn't a desk job. you weren't in a conference room whispering to your boss of someone's whose language you don't understand. where the troops went, the interpreter went, if the troops got ambushed by bullets, the interpreter got bombed. that was the risk reggie took every day. on august 8, 2012, rentaly was working on -- reggie was working on patrol, suddenly a suicide

bomber approached, he protected over members of his unit, but it still detonated leaving him fighting for every bret. the explosion left -- every breath. reggie has 23 pieces of shrapnel in his chest. he still went to grover's aid. still to this day, he has problems with his left air and still can't control parts of his body. reggie and captain grover survived, but tragically several men did not. one we lost was u.s. air force walter david gray. he left behind his kids and wife heather. in august 2021, heather learned from an npr reporter that reggie was targeted by the taliban in afghanistan. she wrote about that experience

in an essay for the "dallas morning news". quote, turmoil, she said is a good way to describe the emotions i felt when i listened to the radio interview. it was reggie in afghanistan describing his service as a linguist and the danger his family was in if they didn't get out. she went on, reggie served with my husband, major walter david gray in the air force and was with him when david and three others were killed by suicide bombers on august 8, 2012. after listening, she said i called my friend captain grover to confirm that the man on the radio was our guy. with that confirmation, my family spun into action, working with others working stateside and in afghanistan to get reggie and his wife through the gauntlet and on to a military

plane. it was nearly november when reggie's family was resettled in fort worth. she said that my family traveled four hours to meet them in. as we worked alongside each other, reggie showed me scars from the battle that killed my husband. as he recounted stories in the many battles he fought alongside our servicemembers, a car back fired and he instinctively lowered to the firm. a few days later, i brought my current husband an kids to spend the holiday with reggie, despite our different religions an cultures, we we celebrated as one big family because that is what we are. reggie is among the afghan allies who needs congress to pass the afghan adjustment act. she added this, every time we see reggie, he reminds my children that their father died

a hero. this story of these afghans has too many heros to even keep track of. and it is our job now to stand to their level, to simply pass this amendment so they are put out of legal little bow, -- limbo, an amendment cosponsored with conservative republican members, an amendment cosponsored by the lead veteran on the armed services committee and on the judiciary committee. i know my colleague, senator moran is here, and is ready to speak soon, and i welcome him here and i also saw senator blumenthal. and i have more words when they have completed their remarks and including the important letters we have seen from the leading

veterans' group, the leading military generals, some of whose names i have read, including the support that we have gotten from those that served in afghanistan in our own military, and i thank senator moran and his leadership on the pact act and so many other bills, for being here. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i appreciate the comments that i heard this morning from senator klobuchar and appreciate her leadership and efforts to see that the adjustment -- afghan adjustment act becomes law. i think i'm followed by my colleague on the veterans committee, senator blumenthal, from connecticut. this has been a bipartisan effort to make certain that legislation was drafted, introduced, and that lives were protected and changed. from my perspective, one of the saddest days or few days of my

time as a united states senator, was when the united states withdrew from afghanistan not necessarily the withdrawal, but the manner in which it occurred and the number of people, some americans, many of them afghans, afghans who helped americans during our time in afghanistan, were left behind, and the manner in which those who were able to escape what they had to endure in many instances to do so. we approach the second anniversary of this disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. many of those afghans who escaped to the u.s., now face uncertainty to their lives as their original parole status is set to expire soon. most of that status for their legal presence in the united states expires two years from their arrival in the united states and that is now

august 2023. i join my colleagues -- my colleague senator klobuchar in introducing the afghan adjustment act to make certain that afghans who sought refuge in the united states are able to apply for a permanent legal residency after undergoing additional vetting. this amendment, this legislation is now amendment pending on the national defense authorization act. i hope we are able to have a vote on this amendment, that it's included, the vote occurs, and i hope that that vote is successful. this amendment establishes a pathway for our afghan partners to begin a more certain and perhaps new life. the rushed and chaotic withdrawal created a potential loophole for bad actors to be admitted to the united states. so if you're interested in our national security, which i know we all are, this amendment

establishes a critical vetting process to reduce the threats to that national security. failing to pass this amendment, failing for this bill to become law, means that none of the refugees will undergo the necessary additional vetting. undergoing that vetting then can create the opportunity for certainty in the lives of those afghan refugees who are here. for two decades countless afghans stood by our servicemembers and risked their lives and their family's lives to support our troops in afghanistan. this withdrawal and the current circumstance resulted in more than 1,000 contacts with my office asking for help in getting someone out of afghanistan, someone who served side by side with a soldier from fort riley. our hometown pastor's daughter and cuss, christian missionaries

in afghanistan looking for help to get out of afghanistan, those people who are christians in that countries. the vast majority of people in this uncertain stage were people who through our domestic operations, our opportunity to stabilize afghanistan, or our military, they are the ones now living a life of uncertainty and potential return on removal from the united states. under the present regulations, our afghan allies admitted under temporary humanitarian status can only attain permanent legal status through an overburdened, unworking, dysfunctional asylum system or the long-winded special immigrant visa process. as a result, thousands face this troubling uncertainty as they

strive to create a new life here. recently in the town we live in, manhattan, kansas, a block party was created to host afghan residents of our community. it was pleasing to see the afghan culture celebrated, and it was pleasing to see the community support their new neighbors. it is always a good thing to see when people come together. the practical help offered our afghans is priceless, but all that community support and assistance will do little good if we don't pass the opportunities that the afghan adjustment act provides these individuals. the amendment before us today will help provide certainty to many afghan partners, work to help other afghan partners who are stranded in other countries, so we have the challenge of afghans in the united states who have -- soon will have no legal

status and we have those still trying to get out of afghanistan, and finally those who escaped afghanistan to another country but can't yet migrate any further. those people are stranded. they need our assistance. we also need to make sure our vetting requirements protect our national security. this legislation does both, protects our national security and increases our opportunity to treat individuals, human beings, in a humanitarian way. i thank senator klobuchar for her invitation to join us in this -- for me to join her here today in this bipartisan effort. senator klobuchar mentioned a number of veterans organizations and veterans who endorse this legislation and thus this amendment. this issue was brought to me most directly by the iraqi and afghan veterans of america, who support this legislation and who

brought information and encouragement to me to help see that this legislation is passed. ity also supported by -- it's also supported by blue star families, the american legion, the vfw and many other veterans and veteran orangeses. those who served our -- veteran organizations. those americans who served our country care about those who helped save their lives in afghanistan, and they would like to see the united states senate take the steps that we're asking be taken today. mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. blumenthal: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i'm honored to follow my colleague from kansas and engage in this bipartisan colloquy for a measure that truly has bipartisan support. my thanks to senator klobuchar for her leadership as well. i'm going to be followed by senator coons, who dedicated himself to civil rights and liberties around the world.

this issue is one that rises above politics. every so often in this body, we are able to rise above politics, never often enough for many of us, but here is an opportunity to put down a marker, to make a statement, to show with our votes that a great nation keeps promises. america is the greatest nation in the history of the world. we need to keep our promises. i know about those promises. not only as member of the armed services committee who has visited afghanistan several times, but also as a father. my two sons served during this period of time. my oldest son, matthew, was an infantry officer in the marine corps, helmut province. my second son is a navy seal. very bluntly, as a dad, public official, as an american citizen

i want americans who are deployed overseas to be helped by people in the country whom we are fighting to serve. not only americans and our self-interests here, but also abroad when our troops are deployed and put in harm's way. they depend on exactly the kind of afghan allies whom we promised we would not abandon. and if we want to count on those kinds of allies all around the world, not only in afghanistan and iraq and that part of the world, but in africa, in south america, we need to keep our promises. if we lose that credibility and trust, our troops will be in danger, our sons and daughters will be at risk.

when they depend on those interpreters, the guards, the guides, the security aides, all of the kinds of allies that we enlisted, afghan allies who put their lives on the line and now have targets on their backs if they ever were to return. bad enough many of those allies are still in afghanistan and at risk of torture and murder, but we need to keep favorite with the afghan refugees who have come to this country. i want to salute the veterans, as did my colleague, senator moran. they have been heroes in this fight. they're championing this -- their championing this cause has made a tremendous difference, and i thank them for recognizing there is a moral imperative here. that's the reason that our

promise needs to be kept. i will just close -- there is much more i could say, but i know colleagues would like to comment as well in the limited time we have -- by saying these families, these afghan refugees are coming to this country and they are flourishing here. they are contributing to their communities. they have jobs that matter. they're learning our language. they are imparting to our people the rich cultural heritage that they bring with them, the tastes and the colors of their country, as well as their incredible history. they are enriching the united states of america. we need to keep them here, and we need to give them the security and sense of permanency that is essential for them to

continue to flourish. they can't have jobs, they can't put their children in schools, they can't keep housing if they are in limbo. so as a practical matter, we must move. we should have done it last session. we have the opportunity now. ity an obligation -- it's an obligation. let's vote on this amendment to enable our afghan allies to stay in this country as they deserve and need to do. thank you, mr. president. mr. coons: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, just about two years ago, roughly 76,000 afghans, those who served alongside american forces during two decades of conflict and their families, were evacuated here to the united states on military planes and given two years of humanitarian patrol. -- humanitarian parole. the biden administration worked to extend that parole, but we

have to ask ourselves to what end. these are our allies, those who served and fought alongside our troops, those who supported our mission and our engagement in afghanistan and who worked in an incredible array of jobs -- interpreters, medics, security guards, mechanics, intelligence officers, journalists, bomb technicians, and pilots. and i know that today one family in newark, delaware, is waiting urgently to hear that we have taken up and passed this amendment to the defense authorization act. the head of household served as a bomb technician, as an eod specialist in the afghan forces. i had a chance to have the lessing of -- the blessing of meeting the mother of a delaware soldier whose life he saved. i have heard over and over, from our veterans, from our veterans' families, from afghans, from

their families, that we have to pass this bill so that they have certainty, so that the strengths and talents they've brought to our country they can use to put down roots and to have a foundation on which to build a family in peace in our nation. an interpreter, an afghan interpreter now living in north carolina, has said permanent residency is linked to everything. what will happen to my family if our status fails? how will i provide for my family in this new country? another interpreter, living now in nebraska, describes their current situation as being trapped, tramed as if in prison. this uncertainty, this lack of clear status harms the ability of our afghan partners and friends to advance their careers, to put down roots, to start their new lives here in america with confidence. this uncertainty must end.

these are folks who believe in the promise of america and who came here confident we would keep our word. on my phone i was just looking a moment ago at a family celebration that i joined with shirra and shakira in newer, delaware. i don't want -- in newark, delaware. i don't want to give more details on them other than to say that i remember, that they and their children are waiting and watching to see what we will do here in the senate. i want to thank my colleagues, senators klobuchar and moran and blumenthal and many others, senators graham and shaheen, murkowski, durbin, wicker, and tillis, who have been cosponsors of this bill from the last congress. it also has support, support from the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, blue star families, the american legion and many other veterans groups. some of the most prominent leaders in the military, mike mullin, stan mcchrystal,

winning craven, but some of the most respected leaders in our military have endorsed this legislation. if you are worried as some colleagues have said that the folks brought here by the american military were not thoroughly vetted, this is the way to address it. it requires in-person interviews, oversight, consultations that will ensure that everyone currently here comes back in for one more in-person interview, vetting, and clearing. it also expands the opportunities for siv visas for afghan combatants and helps those still stuck in a hell outside our country that would allow families to be reunited. at the end of the day, i just have to thank two people and make one plea. i have to thank the family in delaware who continues to inspire me and push me to support senator klobuchar in her tireless work to get this bill

the vote it deserves. i want to thank my colleague, senator klobuchar, for hearing the voices of american veterans, for hearing the voices of afghans now in our country who deserve legal status, and i join her in demanding a vote on this amendment to the defense authorization act. with that, i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: thank you very much to senator coons for his strong words, mr. president. and for focusing on what matters here, which is the people of our own country, the military and those who support them, who believe that this situation is simply untenable. that these afghans that stood with us, risked at any moment being deported, not right now because of an order that president biden has in place. but that's not the only problem

about uncertainty. the problem is they can't go on with their lives, as happened with past evacuees, after cuba, i noted, after vietnam. they are part of the fabric of life in the united states of america now. so let's hear what some of these security experts have to say. i'm going to read a portion of a letter that a group of them sent to congressional leadership. the bipartisan afghan adjustment act honors our nation's commitment to its wartime allies by providing a path to permanent status for afghan evacuees. it also ensures that these evacuees are properly and scrupulously vetted prior to considering them for such status. the status quo leaves tens of thousands of evacuees in legal

limbo while failing to put to rest security concerns raised in the offers of the inspector general report. we can just pretend that report doesn't exist. we can just do nothing. how can that be the answer? how can the answer be just to put our heads in the sand while they put their lives at risk for us in the sands of afghanistan? that's why we have to vote on this amendment. they go to on to say, the security experts who have worked for a number of republican and democratic presidents, no action is not an option. we urge you to pass the afghan adjustment act. i want to repeat that last point. no action is not an option. here's another letter of support from the former ambassadors to afghanistan. eight former united states ambassadors -- think about this -- they actually served in afghanistan. and a number of us, probably

nearly everyone in this chamber who was around during that time which is many of us, have visited with these ambassadors during one president or another. these ambassadors served under presidents george w. bush, barack obama, donald trump, and joe biden. and each have an intimate understanding of the stakes for getting this right. they wrote together, we are a group of retired ambassadors all of whom served as chief of mission at the u.s. embassy in afghanistan, who have dedicated our professional lives to furthering america's interests in the world. we are writing today because we are convinced that the afghan adjustment act furthers those interests. the need is urgent and the time is short. without the afghan adjustment act, they write, the task of american diplomacy will be much more difficult. in the future our allies will be less likely to support the u.s. missions if they see that our

afghan partners are abandoned. in diplomacy, our words will have lost meaning. we urge you to act to pass the afghan adjustment act without delay. so i have spoken a lot about the afghan stories today as have my colleagues senator coons and senator blumenthal and senator moran because this is personal for those of us who meet with our military and hear the stories of those who saved their lives, for put their lives on the line. but this is also about u.s. interests abroad and the bigger story of our national security, about keeping our covenant when we make promises, about expecting other people in other lands and future conflicts to be willing to put themselves and their families at risk to stand with our soldiers. who's going to want to do that again if they hear that we made promises over decades and then when those brave people came to our country, we left them in

legal limbo. you heard the story of the sad, tragic story out of virginia a few weeks ago where someone, an afghan who had served as an interpreter who is working two jobs in legal limbo was murdered at the owe on -- a lyft driver in the middle of the night. those are the stories. if people see that brinksmanship in congress outweighs the promises we made overseas, how can we lead? finally, i want to share some words from a group of more than three dozen of our nation's most esteemed military leaders, including general joseph done fortunate of the u.s. marine corps, admiral mike mullen of the u.s. navy, general rich art myers of the u.s. air force, admiral jim staritas of the u.s. navy. general peter corelly of the u.s. army.

general stan mcchrystal of the u.s. army. general david mckieran of the u.s. army, admiral william mccraven of the u.s. navy. general austin miller of the u.s. army. general john nickelson jr., of the u.s. army. general david rodriguez of the u.s. army. general curtis skeparati of the u.s. army. general raymond thomas iii of the u.s. army. general joseph votell of the u.s. army, and general mark welch of the u.s. air force. i read the complete list last night and i do it again. that just gives you a sense of the kind of people that i think we should be listening to. it's worth my colleagues a minute of their time to sit back

and look at the people who are supporting this bill who lead our military or have led our military. they have been resolute in their support for the afghan adjustment act. and the letter they sent to congressional leadership makes that clear. in their words -- this is their words, not mine. if congress fails to enact the afghan adjustment act, the united states will be less secure. let's read that again. if congress fails to enact the afghan adjustment act, the united states will be less secure. my colleague senator moran outlined why. it's about the fact that there's no vetting in place and this puts the vetting in place. and most importantly, it is about the fact that to keep our nation's leadership and to be true to our covenant, then we have to be true to our word. and then finally, we have the stories of people who have allowed to flourish in this country will go on to do great

things. so it is on us. this is what else they wrote. potential allies will remember what happens now if our afghan allies. if we claim to support the troops and want to enable their success in wartime, we must keep our commitments today. the afghan adjustment act will go a long way. additionally, without the fix -- this is their words -- applied by the afghan adjustment act, our immigration system will be less capable, not more capable, of properly processing and vetting applicants. the enhancements that the afghan adjustment act adds to the security screening process of those who are evacuated are of critical importance to our national security. mr. president, this is a harrowing warning from our military's top brass. without the afghan adjustment act, our soldiers will face new obstacles in finding allies on the battlefield. because in the past we kept our

covenants. we kept them. we kept them no matter in the congress was democratic or republican or the president was democrat or republican. we kept our commitments. all i'm asking is that we have a vote, along with my colleagues on this amendment, and i will repeat the leading republicans on judiciary, armed services, and the veterans committee senator moran who is here today are cosponsors of this amendment and are asking for a vote. we have senator durbin, the lead chair of the judiciary committee asking for a vote. we have dozens and dozens of senators who want to get this done. we need this vote. we have republicans, democrats, military and veterans groups, national security leaders, retired u.s. ambassadors to afghanistan and flag officers

all on the same page. they're not debating the knew yangses of every -- nuances of every little word because that bill has been out there now for two years. we have strengthened it vastly in response to our colleagues. we have made changes to it. and it is ready to go. just like our afghan allies have been ready to go because they have been here for nearly two years waiting for us to keep our covenant. ones that have taken bullets to the face, ones that have lost legs, they are in our country waiting for us to keep our covenant. until we get this done, we are essentially asking our allies, those that took shrapnel across the body, those that took bullets to their face, to rebuild their lives on the top of a trap door that could fall out from under them any second. without the afghan adjustment act, all of it, their jobs, their homes, their safety, their

families could disappear. by including this amendment in the ndaa we can strengthen the national security of our country by making our vetting program more thorough. you've heard senator moran talk about that. a huge issue of senator graham's, and we worked together to use the gold standard which, as i mentioned, has been supported by leaders under every single one of the last four presidents. so let's put aside the politics and the distractions. let's do what's right for our national security, for our global reputation, and for afghan allies who shed blood alongside our troops on the battlefield. this defense bill is about what? one and foremost our nation's security. so ask yourselves, those in the gallery who have been listening the past hour, to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle support this bill, does this amendment support our national security? of course it does. the top brass, those that were

in charge during afghanistan, they have told us that it does. two, this bill that we are voting on this week and all the series of amendments, it should set a moral example to the world. that's what the united states -- that's what we have done through world war i, through world war ii. we set a moral example for the world. that's what this amendment does, too. it sets a moral example for the word. and three, we must show people everywhere that when america makes a promise, when america makes a covenant, it must be kept. the afghan adjustment amendment advances all those objections. i'm asking my colleagues simply for a vote. if they want to vote against it, it's fine. they can vote against the generals and the vfw and the american legion. they'll have differences. that's fine. but why would we deny those that took bullets for us, even the

ability to have a vote in what should be and has been called the nation's greatest deliberative body? let's be as great as we're supposed to be, which means standing by our allies and showing the world that our word that america's covenant matters. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. warnock: mr. president, i have 18 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: dually noted. mr. warnock: mr. president, i call up my amendment number 199 and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the. the clerk: will report. the clerk: the senator from georgia, mr. warnock, proposes an amendment numbered 199.

mr. warnock: mr. president, servicemembers report being harassed by predatory debt collectors at a higher rate than the civilian population. predatory and unscrupulous debt collectors send messages to commanding offices with private financial information, all in an effort to harass our men and women in uniform, the best among us standing up for us. they harass servicemembers by threatening rank reduction, the debt collectors. revocation of security clearance or punishment under the military justice code. these threats cannot be carried out by the debt collectors and these practices are manipulative. and they undermine our national security by distracting our servicemembers from focusing on their missions and caring for their families.

in fact, 2014 army reserve review found that the second leading contributing factor to servicemember suicide was financial stress. financial stress. this amendment reinforces the existing protections provided to all americans, but especially those who are putting their lives on the line to protect all of our families and our communities by restricting predatory debt collection practices aimed specifically at our -- at our servicemembers. this bipartisan amendment costs nothing. it has broad support among the nation's military and veteran community. they believe, as i do, that debt collectors should not be able to weaponize servicemembers' services. it even has the support -- listen -- the support of reputable and responsible debt collectors themselves, the very industry it would affect.

so i want to thank senators budd, cornyn, tillis, lummis, and brown for their partnership on this, and i look ford to the support of my colleagues -- i look forward to the support of my colleagues in passing this bipartisan amendment to protect our nation's servicemembers. thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none, the question is on the amendment. mr. warnock: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman.

mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer.

mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin.

mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida.

mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative, blumenthal, casey, gillibrand, heinrich, hickenlooper, kaine, king, rosen, smith, stabenow, warnock, and welch. no senator voted in the negative.

mr. cornyn, aye. ms. sinema, aye. the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. ms. baldwin, aye. mr. schumer, aye.

mrs. capito, aye. mrs. feinstein, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no.

the clerk: mr. rubio, aye. mr. boozman, aye. mr. grassley, aye. mr. lankford, aye.

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mr. paul, no.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. budd, aye. ms. cantwell, aye. ms. ernst, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. crapo, no. mr. mullin, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, aye. mr. crapo, no. mr. tester, aye. -- mr. crapo, aye. mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: mr. tuberville, aye. ms. collins, aye. mr. haul, aye.

-- mr. hawley, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, aye. mr. marshall, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: mr. thune, no.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

mr. scott of florida, no. mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. barasso, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, aye.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, aye. the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye.

the clerk: mr. hassan, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye. vote: the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. thune, aye. mr. graham, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. mrs. britt, aye. mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. cruz, aye.

mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. padilla, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. mr. rounds, aye. mr. cassidy, aye.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye.

the clerk: ms. cortez-masto, aye. mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye. the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, aye. mr. vance, aye.

the clerk: mr. menendez, aye. the clerk: mr. lee, aye. mr. schatz, aye. ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. romney, aye.

mr. warner, aye. mr. risch, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. mrs. blackburn, aye.

the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. johnson, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 9 5. the nays are 2. under the previous order, requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is agreed to. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until >> today lawmakers continue work on the 2024 defense program policy bill. also today the chamber is scheduled to recess at 3 p.m. eastern for an all-senators briefing on artificial intelligence. watch live coverage of the

senate when they return at 2:15 eastern high r -- here on >> watch live coverage on our ee mobile video app, c-span now. >> a number of former military officials testified about unidentified aerial objects before a house panel investigating an increase in sightings and the impact it has on national security. watch this tonight an eight eastern on c-span2, c-span now -- our free mobile video apg c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfilter ed view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. >> at mediacom, we believe

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