mr. reed: i request the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. wicker: does the distinguished chairman wish to speak on the motion? mr. president, this represents another degree of cooperation. this comes to us by unanimous consent. according to the rules we must have a vote of the yeas and nays. we are approaching the finish line and out of consideration for whose who have travel plans tonight, i hope we can stick to the ten-minute rules. i urge passage of this important managers package. the presiding officer: the question -- managers' package. the presiding officer: the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. the clerk: 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.

senators voting in the affirmative, baldwin, bennet, blackburn, brown, budd, cassidy, cornyn, cortez masto, cotton, cramer, cruz, daines, ernst, feinstein, fischer, grassley, hagerty, hassan, hickenlooper, hirono, hoeven, hyde-smith, johnson, kennedy, king, lee, lujan, marshall, menendez, murphy, murray, ossoff, padilla, reed, ricketts, risch, romney, rosen, rounds, rubio, schatz, schumer, scott of florida, shaheen, smith, sullivan, tester, tillis, van hollen,

warner, warren, wicker, wyden and young. mr. paul voted in the negative. mr. cardin, aye. mr. braun, aye. mr. blumenthal, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye. mr. warnock, aye. mr. heinrich, aye. mr. merkley, aye, mr. welch, aye, ms. asian, aye. mr. peters, aye. mr. markey, no. mr. lankford, aye. mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. sanders, no. the clerk: mr. vance, aye.

mr. tuberville, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, aye. mr. crapo, aye.

the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mrs. capito, aye. mr. schmitt, aye. mr. manchin, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye.

ms. cantwell, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. mr. barasso, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. thune, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. mr. mullin, aye. ms. murkowski, aye. ms. collins, aye. mr. haul, aye. ------ mr. hallly, aye. ms. britt, aye. mr. hawley, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. coons, aye. the presiding officer: the ayes are 94. the nays is 3. the amendment is agreed to. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. schumer: let me give the order. we're almost done. we're about to vote. first i have to do unanimous consent request to vitiate cloture. i'm going to speak on the ndaa bill, on the pages, and yield to leader mcconnell to follow me and then we vote. so first, i ask unanimous consent to modify the previous order so cloture motions with respect to the substitute amendment 935 as amended and the underlying bill s. 226 be withdrawn, that the schumer

amendment 936 be withdrawn, that the substitute amendment 935 as amended be agreed to. further, that the bill as amended be considered read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the bill as amended with 60 affirmative votes required for passage, that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with up to ten minutes for debate equally divided prior to the vote on passage with all previous provisions remaining in effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. schumer: it's been a long day but a very successful day. the ndaa is a prime example of both side coming together, crafting a strong bipartisan defense bill that will strengthen america's national security, take care of our servicemembers, and keep the united states the leader in innovation for years to come.

this was a bipartisan process through and through. i want to thank chairman reed and ranking member wicker and all the members for their good work on this. and a bipartisan process is precisely what the american people are yearning for. in a fractured congress, democrats, republicans coming together to provide something as critical as our national defense. the ndaa and the bipartisan process we went through to get here should be a glimmer of hope for the american people, a sign that bipartisanship is alive and well in the senate, but it's not the only glimmer. we also came together to avert a first ever default a few months ago and we're currently making great progress on the appropriations bill. we're almost miraculously under leadership of senator murray and senator collins, they've advanced all 12 bills out of committee with bipartisan support.

i hope what's happened on this bill, the ndaa bill and these other bills can be a metaphor for future bills down the road. the two of our -- these are two of our highest responsibilities, appropriations and national defense, and we made great progress in these last few months. it's been a really good senate that the american people can be proud of. okay. it was a good process on and off the floor. listen to this. 98 amendments. we talk about how we don't do amendments. 98. 44 democrat, 44 republican, and the rest bipartisan. and that's what an ndaa bill should look like. a full floor process with input and debate from both sides. as a result, there are many critical provisions in these ndaa -- in this ndaa bill as well that we should be proud of. we made critical downpayments on our effort to outcompete the china government by limiting the flow of investment and advanced

technology to china. we're passing the first piece of legislation related to artificial intelligence, including important provisions to increase data sharing with the dod and increased reporting on a.i.'s use and financial services. and maybe most important to everyone here, aware of this fentanyl crisis, we passed -- we are boosting resources in a major way to tackle the fentanyl crisis by including the fentanyl act. senators brown, scott, and many others led to that legislation. this act gives the president more powers to stop any country, china, mexico from sending the precursor materials that are made into fentanyl to kill our children. together all of these provisions provide a strong foundation for the safety and security of our country. one more point. it's a stark contrast from the

partisan race to the bottom we saw in the house. house republicans should look to the bipartisan senate to see how to get things done. we are passing important bipartisan legislation. they're throwing partisan legislation on the floor that has no chance of passing. the contrast is glaring. and if the house of representatives would look how we're working here in the senate and emulate us a little more, they could be far more productive. now, on a final note and a serious note. today is the final day for this page class. it's been a busy session. the pages can help make this place run smoothly. they're here when we need them. and they have served this institution with grace. however, i understand that late last night a member of the house majority thought it appropriate to curse at some of these young people, these teenagers, in the rotunda. i was shocked when i heard about

it. and i am further shocked at his refusal to apologize to these young people. i can't speak for the house of representatives, but i do not think that one member's disrespect is shared by this body, by leader mcconnell and myself. so i would like to take a moment to thank these pages for their assistance these many weeks. we wish them well as they return to their homes and families. [applause] mr. schumer: now turn to leader mcconnell. the presiding officer: the republican leader mcconnell mr. president, i want to associate myself with the remarks of the majority leader. everybody on this side of the aisle feels exactly the same way. mr. mcconnell: i also want to offer my congratulations to

those deeply involved in passing this important ndaa. we kempt our record -- we kept our record. this is the 63rd year i guess and a good way to wrap up this session. this is really important for our country. mr. schumer: thank you, leader mcconnell. i ask for the yeas and nays on final passage of the ndaa. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the cloture motions are withdrawn. amendment number 936 is withdrawn. and amendment number 935 as amended is agreed to. the bill as amended is considered read a third time. the question occurs on passage of the bill as amended. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso.

the clerk:

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. senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, barrasso, bennet, blackburn, blumenthal, boozman, britt, brown, budd, capito, cardin, carper, cassidy, collins, cornyn, cortez masto, cotton, cramer, crapo, cruz, daines, duckworth, ernst, feinstein, fetterman, fisher,

gillibrand, graham, grassley, hagerty, hassan, hawley, heinrich, hickenlooper, hirono, hoeven, hyde-smith, johnson, kaine, kelly, kennedy, king, klobuchar, lankford, lujan, lummis, manchin, marshall, mcconnell, menendez, moran, mullin, murkowski, murphy, murray, ossoff, padilla, peters, reed, ricketts, risch, romney, rosen, rounds, rubio, schatz, schumer, scott of florida, shaheen, sinema, smith, stabenow, sullivan, tester, thune, tillis, tuberville, van hollen, warnock, whitehouse, wicker, and young. ms. cantwell, aye.

mr. coons, aye. senators voting in the negative -- booker, braun, merkley, paul, sanders, vance, warren, and welch.

the clerk: mr. wyden, no. mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, no.

the clerk: mr. warner, i would aye. -- mr. warner, aye.

vote:

.

the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 86, the nays are 1 1. the 60 vote threshold having been achieved, the bill is passed. under the previous order, senate will consider h.r. 7670. which the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 2670, an act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities of the department of defense, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, a substitute amendment which is the text of s. 2226 as passed is agreed to.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, a substitute amendment which is the text of s. 22626 as passed is agreed to and the bill as amended is considered read thaird time and passed and the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table. under the previous order, s. 226 is indefinitely postponed.

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that chloe jackson in my office be granted floor privileges until july 28, 2023. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: mr. president, i now would like to congratulate my colleagues in the senate for passing a very important national defense authorization act for the year, fiscal year 2024. i see that my distinguished chairman has come back to the floor, and i want to thank him for his cooperation. i want to thank every member of the committee and yef -- every member of the senate for their cooperation. as the public has learned, we do much of this through unanimous consent, and it is a tribute that we have gotten as far as we have.

and it's july 27, with another full two months to go before the the end of the fiscal year. i think we're on the right track. this year's national defense authorization act will help meet the dangerous national security moment we face. it will equip our military with many of the tools necessary to implement the national defense strategy. every year, as has been mentioned, we pass the ndaa. this is the 63rd time we have done so, and it is a lasting, continual testament to congress' commitment to our servicemembers and our security. to be sure, our threats were much greater than they were back in 1961, when the first ndaa passed. today the united states faces undoubtedly the most complex and dangerous security situation since world war ii. this year's ndaa is an important step forward, and our quest to

build our arrests -- arsenal. ideally we would have an annual 3% to 5% boost above inflation. we were not able to come to an agreement on that, but even without that budget increase, our committee has advanced a strong bipartisan product that contains numerous important provisions. let me summarize just a few. the bill authorizes a 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers and includes a host of other quality-of-life improvements for our troops and their families. the bill contains provisions that will help the military solve its recruiting crisis. we included a massive expansion of the junior rotc program, a citizenship builder in our high schools. we also included support for our submarine programs. we need to more in that regard. the legislation addresses the ongoing maintenance delays by sending funds to our shipyards.

it expands durnt capabilities with sea-launched nuclear cruise missiles and hall louse us to make good to the united kingdom and australia, commonly treeferred as the -- referred to as the aukus agreement. the bill makes munitions availability for the procurement contracts. these multiyear commitments send a clear signal to our industrial base, and we will produce these arms at home here in the united states. equipping american troops with american-made weapons and ammunition. notably, we have fully authorized the construction of the next amphibious ship, the lpd-33. our committee realizes military competition in the 21st century will be decided by our willingness to harness emerging technology. this ndaa accelerates the development of artificial

intelligence, hypersonics and unmanned platforms because we intend to lap beijing in the hundred-year innovation marathon. we are authorizing a new pentagon authority with the office of strategic capital. as always, partnerships with our allies act as a force multiplier on all tools we are providing american soldiers. i'm glad this bill enhances security cooperation with allies in every part of the free world. from the baltics to the pacific. starting in january, the armed services committee held countless hearings, briefings, and oversight hearings of the department. this is one of the most encompassing bills as a result of our work which began in january. the committee mark included

1,217 provisions. of that, 504 were the result of member inputs. during the committee markup an additional 240 amendments were considered. throughout the process, my colleague and teammate, senator jack reed of rhode island, has been a gentleman in every way and a patriot, as demonstrated by his service in the military and his service in the house and senate, and i thank him for helping to make this process exceedingly smooth. to take a moment, let me thank the following staff members who were so essential in getting this done smoothly and efficiently. rick berger, brendan gavin, james mazel, greg lilly, brad

patoo, owe life yeah -- olivia trusty, kevin kim, adam barker, sean o'keefe, katie magnus, eric lofgren, pat thompson, katie romain, jack byrer and phillip waller, and all of these people on my side of the dais were led effectively by a veteran staff member from the house and senate, my staff director, john keist. thank you to all of these people and thank you once again to my colleague, senator reed. mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: first, let me commend the senator bho worked as the ranking member for his cooperation, thoughtfulness and insight throughout this entire process. as a result this evening we

passed on an overwhelming vote a bipartisan piece of legislation that confronts the challenges we face today in a very, very difficult world. the first thing we did was took care of the troops. we have a 5.2% increase in pay, one of the largest in decades. and we also took care of the troops by investing in the best possible platforms in technology in many dimensions -- underwater submarines, in the air. we are recapitalizing our triads. we are looking closely at space, what we can do there both to defend ourselves and prevent space from undermining our national security. all of these things were done on a collaborative basis. hundreds of amendments were considered in both the committee, here on the floor. as a result we have legislation, i think, we're all very, very proud of. i would also like to thank and

commend leader schumer and leader mcconnell because they allowed us to conduct a develop open process on the floor, to entertain amendments, to work closely so that we could have the conclusion we did this evening. a strong, strong bipartisan vote. and i'm confident that what we've done will provide the department of defense and our military men and women with the resources they need to meet and overcome the challenges of a dangerous world. like my colleague, i recognize that the work of others made our work much easier. indeed, the work of our staffs made this bill possible. and so let me thank first my staff director elizabeth king and also thank john keist, staff director for senator wicker, who has done an extraordinary job. together they are a formidable team and consummate professionals. as my colleague has done, let me recognize the staff members

on my side of the aisle. jody bennett, who made a very, very strong contribution to this effort. carolyn shutter, john clark, jenny davis, jonathan epstein, kevin gates, gary lee land, kirk mcconnell, maggie cooper, john quirk, andy scott, cole stevens, alison warnock, megan lustik, griffin cannon, sophia kamaly, jessica lewis, zachary vope and once again my staff director elizabeth king, who deserves great credit for this. let me also thank the floor staff and the leadership staff who have been part of this process and who have been able to keep the floor open so we could conclude this bill. this is an important, important

step, and now i look forward to joining my colleague senator wicker and our colleagues on the committee to go to conference to work out a bill that we can support as vigorously on a bipartisan basis as we have this senate legislation. and with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: mr. president, in a moment i will put forward a unanimous consent request to pass the securing the u.s. organ and transplantation network act. i want to ask unanimous consent that the finance committee team be granted floor privileges. joshua houser, alexandra

chulack, maya ward. shraya gungler. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: before i make unanimous consent request on this important bipartisan, bicameral bill, i wish to talk for a moment about why it is so critical that the senate pass this urgently needed legislation. for hundreds of ths of americans waiting for a transplant, this is not an abstract issue, mr. president. we're talking about life and death. more than 100,000 people are on the waiting list to receive a transplant and on average 100 people day a day. more than 2,200 americans died while waiting for the transplant. the inadequacies are especially

harmful to minority populations who are -- they on average wait longer for a transplant and are at a higher risk of death when waiting. i would say to my colleagues, this is morally repugnant and this legislation begins, finally, to root out this bias against our minority communities. the last 40 years, the same contractor had a stronghold on this contract. the lack of competition has not been in the best interest of patients and this fall the contract will be up for renewal. in last year's bipartisan investigation, the finance committee found shocking failures with the current contractor who oversees the entire system. long wait times for patients on transplant lists, viable organs lost or damaged in transit. mr. president, we saw pictures

of organs lying around in airport hangars, there have been technology failures an even patient death. the last place anyone wants to hear about gross mismanagement and incompetence is in the business of saving lives. it's time for real accountability and real change. this bill would build on the administration's recently announced plans to modernize the program and clarify that there's the ability to award multiple contracts for these key functions. this would create real competition for these contracts and ensure that the best in class organizations can be awarded contracts to support this critical system. the bill, which passed in the other body last week, would bring much needed change and modern diswhraition in the -- modernization in the oregon transplant system by codifying in the black letter law modernization efforts where we aren't going to turn back the

clock. we're not going to go back, we're going to go forward. i would like to thank a number of members on both sides of the aisle who have been on the front lines in the fight, particularly senators grassley, cardin and young, who always worked in a bipartisan way. senator grassley in particular has been a long-time leader on this issue, an outspoken advocate for fixing a broken oregon transplant system. i believe he had a challenging schedule, as many senators did tonight, but i wanted to thank senator grassley, and i want to also thank my friend from vermont, senator sanders and his very talented staff for their commitment to help us get to this point and we're going do continue to work in the future. so let's be clear what's on offer. every member of congress wants americans to have the best in class organ plans plant -- transplant system.

our legislation is written from top to bottom to ensure that competition for technical functions like those that will help this program perform to the highest possible level. i'd say we're going to pull out all the stops to get this passed because the patients deserve it, mr. president. this is the final stop. all of these years of foot dragging and excuses and tonight this is the final stop. let's send the securing the surmt organ -- sewering the organ -- securing the organ and transplant act today. i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 2544, which is at the desk, further that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. sanders: reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont.

mr. sanders: let me begin by thanking senator wyden on changing the organ transplant program. bipartisan investigation found, quote, lapses in patient safety, misuse of taxpayer dollars, and tens of thousands of organs going unrecovered or not transplanted, resulting in fraud, waste, and abuse of our nation's medicare program and americans' taxpayer dollar. end of quote. that is unacceptable and that has to change. the legislation that senator wyden would like to pass today by unanimous consent, while not perfect, it includes current reforms to the system i support, once signed into law, there may need to be some technical changes to it that i look forward to working with chairman wyden and my other colleagues on. all of us believe the administration should have the flexibility it needs to fix the

current system and that the corporation should hot be able to make an outrageous -- not be able to make an outrageous profit. my friend from oregon knows this is the jurisdiction of the help committee. before i with draw my objection, i want to raise an issue of enormous importance to the american people. that is to address the serious primary care crisis in america and the massive shortage of doctors, nurses, mental health professionals and dentists in america. as my colleague from oregon knows well, tens of millions of americans are unable to access the primary care, dental care and mental health they need. we don't have enough nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, dental worker, home care workers in our country. as the senator from oregon knows very well, on september 30, mandatory funding for community

health services, the teaching health centers will expire unless congress acts, and congress must act. the help committee is working on bipartisan legislation not only to reauthorize these critical programs but to significantly expand them. we need a major expansion of community health centers in america in to make -- in america to make sure that tens of millions of underserved americans not only receive the primary care they need but also receive the mental health care and dental care. we need programs for doctors who are prepared to work in our nation's most underserved areas. we need a major expansion of the teaching health center program, the nurse corps and the nurse faculty loan program, among many other things. of particular concern is an issue i heard about from every

single major medical organization in our country, and that is that over the next decade, our nation faces a shortage of more than 120,000 doctors, including a major shortage of primary care doctors. i don't know how we can grow the number of doctors in america without expanding the medicare graduate medical education gme program, a program that is within the jurisdiction of the finance committee. and let's be clear. the problem is not so much about the number of krs graduating from -- doctors graduating from medical school. the bottleneck is that some 6,800 applicants for a residency program don't match into a program due to a shortage of spots. and as my colleague from oregon knows, if a doctor graduates from medical school but cannot get a residency slot, that

person cannot practice medicine in the united states. in my view, it is critically important that we expand the gme program. there is bipartisan legislation that does this, s. 1302, the resident physician reduction act of 2023, led by senators boozman, schumer, and collins would raise the number of physicians by 14,000 over the next seven years, last congress i believe that a significant percent yanl of these additional -- percentage of these additional slots should be dedicated to primary care and mental health care. the gme program is within the jurisdiction of the finance committee and the other programs i mentioned are within the jurisdiction of the help committee. so i ask my good friend and colleague from oregon, will you

commit today that as chairman of the finance committee, you will do everything within your ability to pass bipartisan legislation in the senate that includes a major expansion of the chair graduate medical education program. mr. wyden: i thank my colleague for all of his leadership and i am certainly planning to speak on the very strong merits of what you've described and if you'd like to continue, we'll go through that shortly. would the gentleman like to yield to me? mr. sanders: sure. mr. wyden: great. i want to thank my colleague for being our leader here in the congress and frankly for this nation. because he has consistently made the point that given the demographics where we're going to have so many more older people, where we have so many young people at risk, we des platly -- desperately need to do

what you're talking about, senator sanders, which is to address the massive shortage of health care workers. addressing health care workers shortages means that we will have to have fresh ideas to get these workers all across our country and it is vitally important that we address several of the biggest ideas chairman sanders and i are talking about. for example, expanding funding for the medicare graduate medical education program, gme, would grow the number of doctors, especially primary care physicians and psychiatrists. so this evening, chairman sanders, i want to make it clear that our two committees, yours doing important work, what's known as help, ours on the finance committee, we're committed to bipartisan legislation that's going to increase investments in the medicare graduate medical education program. we're also going to focuses on

incentivize of incentivizing health care partners to develop health care professionals for medical assistance to advance practice nurses. we're also going to have to address expanding the number of behavioral health care providers because we have an enormous mental health challenge in america, so we've got to increase access to maternal health care, to ensure the health and safety of older americans and those with disabilities. so what senator sanders is talking about is an all hands on deck approach with our two committees, the two lead committees in the health care area, working together to increase the number of workers so tonight, chairman sanders, as chair of the finance committee, i want to make clear day that intend to work very -- clear that i intend to work very

closely with you, and be partners in the finance and help committee to bring forward legislation in the fault to address the health care workforce crisis in america and i want to hear the rest of your remarks and hope then we can have a lifting of the objection and pass the bill. mr. sanders: well, my remarks will be brief. i just want to thank the chairman, senator wyden, of the finance committee for his committee and for his leadership on these issues and i look forward to working with him to expand access to primary care in america and to address the major shortage of health care workers in america. mr. president, with that commitment, i will not object. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.

mr. coons: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i rise to share with my colleagues and our country my enthusiastic support for julie su, my gratitude for her work as secretary of labor and support by president biden -- of julie su to lead. as an advocate for traffic garment workers, running our nation's largest state-level labor department. two years ago, this senate confirmed her to serve as deputy secretary of labor. and as deputy to secretary marty walsh, she helped to lead a resurgence in workforce training, expanding apprentice ships in trucking, teaching, and cybersecurity, building path way -- path ways to clean energy and semiconductors. ensuring our country has the workforce it needs to meet the

needs of our economy an ensuring they are good jobs of she has led the department for five months and continued on creating -- excuse me. has continued her focus on creating good jobs, empowering workers. she worked tireless to avoid -- to keep our ports up and running and our economy moving forward. this is the kind of leadership that we need on labor issues and the -- in the department of labor and across our country. someone who will persevere through tense negotiations and work through challenging issues and drive outcomes that are good for our countries. julie has done this, even while facing unwarranted attacks on her record, a coordinated campaign of misrepresentation, about a dedicated public serve and. i'm confident her toughness and drive to serve will allow her to

endure this opposition and continue to do right by the american people and american workers. her time as deputy secretary, now acting secretary, julie su has proven to this senator and the senate as a whole that it was wise of president biden to nominate her and for this senate to confirm her two years ago. i urge my senate colleagues to once again support julie su and empower her to lead the department with the experience, expertise, and deeply held values she brings to the job. mr. president. i rise this evening to speak about 17 nominees who will be confirmed in the wrap-up of this evening's session. 17 nominees to serve as ambassadors to the tuns around the world or to represent us in international objections. i -- in international organizations. i'm grateful we've reached an agreement with those senators who have been blocking their confirmation. i wish we had been clear even

further. there are 38 ambassadorial or senior position nominees waiting for action on this floor. it's my hope when we return in september we'll clear the remaining ones. this evening, mr. president, i wanted to speak about one nominee in particular, the honorable jack markell, who has been nominated and will this evening be confirmed to serve as u.s. ambassador to italy and san marino. i've known jack and his wife, karla, more than three decades. as jack likes to say when governor, delaware is a state of neighbors, and no one better epitomizes that friendly attitude, that commitment to each other's well-being than our former governor, jack markell. as treasurer, governor, businessman, now as ambassador to the oecd, the organization for economic cooperation and development, jack is used to working cooperatively with others, to get things done and to do things the right way. as governor, he steered our state through an incredibly difficult and demanding fiscal

crisis, getting us back on track. he expanded opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, he created a national model for workplace experience and college credit opportunities, and launched a much-lauded kindergarten language immersion program. as white house coordinator for operation allies worldwide, he facilitated the vetting and resettlement of afghans who served alongside us during conflicts. now as ambassador to oecd he worked with our partner nations to emphasize energy security, sustainable development goals and to support ukraine against a brutal russian invasion. italy is obviously a key nato ally, and it'sly is facing some of its biggest challenges in decades and has come out the stronger for it. italy is a committed partner in nato to the united states and to ukraine as a nation fiepting on the front lines of -- fighting on the front lines of freedom. today i had the honor of joining

leader schumer and republican leader mcconnell with prime minister merloni of italy, when she met with our president biden, to talk about how we can further deepen and strengthen the transatlantic alliance. i was grateful to hear the strong bipartisan support of this chamber's two leaders for the continued effort to arm, to equip and support ukraine in its important fight against russian aggression. i am also thrilled that in just a few moments this chamber will confirm the nomination of jack markell to serve as ambassador to italy and san marino. this position has been vacant more than two years, and we cannot ignore such a vital post any longer. in these uncertain times, the united states has found greater strength in allies and partner nations, and jack is the consummate bridge builder who understands how important alliances are. he'll bring a little bit of the delaware way of working across the aisle, of finding

commonsense solutions and solving world problems to rome. to a deadity cated -- dedicated and capable public servant, to a friend of decades, congratulations. to governor markell, ambassador markell, as you embark on this next k4579er in service to our nation. thank you, mr. president. with that i yield the floor. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from greene utah. mr. lee: mr. president, as we wrap up our work on the national defense authorization act, we need to address an issue, an issue that's been the focus of a lot of controversy. it's been the focus of a lot of heated words. now, i understand heated words

happen around here. it occurs. people feel passionate about things. but when heated words become untrue words, defamatory words, fighting words, sometimes the record needs to be corrected. this, mr. president, is one of those times. moments ago, the president of the united states, who to put it mildly has not had a good week, made some comments that i regard as not only insensitive, inflammatory, but also downright misleading and unfair. he's made them about and directed them toward a member of this body, our friend and colleague, the senator from alabama, senator tuberville. these attacks against senator tuberville have been relentless, relentless all because he's chosen to take a stand, a stand against what he properly,

legitimately, understandably perceives as a violation of the spirit, if not also the letter, of the law. the law in question is codified in 10 usc section 1093. 10 usc 1093, in a nutshell, says that the u.s. department of defense may not spend department of defense funds to perform an abortion, and it may not use department of defense property, facilities, to perform an abortion. this has been in place for a long time, for decades. this, you see, mr. president, represents something of an island oasis in the debate of abortion, this idea about government funding. it's one of the last bastions of overwhelming bipartisan agreement when it comes to abortion in america, which is to say regardless how people feel about abortion in general, whether they support it or are against it, in what

circumstances they might recognize it as something that can appropriately be legal or not, what yu nights them and overwhelmingly, along bipartisan lines is this, that in part because of the widespread disagreement among the american people, about abortion, federal funds shouldn't be performing abortions, they shouldn't be used to promote or conduct or perform abortions. it's a very simple matter. this can and does unite americans across party lines and overwhelmingly so. so it was with good reason in another national defense authorization act, we just finished up the national defense authorization act for 2024, at least the initial senate version of it, but it was in another national defense authorization act a few decades ago that i understand 10 usc 1093 came to be law, because the american

people agreed then, as they agree now, but that regardless how people feel about abortion we ought not be using federal funds, particularly in the military, but also otherwise, to perform abortions. well, late last year the u.s. department of defense started considering a measure to get around 10 usc 1093 for a method that was at once really creative and too cute by half. i say too cute by half not as a compliment. i indeed mean it as a criticism. because it cleverly attempts to step around the stated purpose, intent and spirit of 10 usc 1093. one can argue that you avoid the technical grip of its tal

lons -- talons if you do what the department of defense started considering doing last year. they started thinking about saying okay, well, let's say that we will give three weeks of paid leave time and reimburse travel expenses to any military woman who wants to get an abortion and needs to travel interstate to do it. we will pay for their interstate travel, lodgings, meals, and three weeks of paid leave. it's understandable why this would cause cause consternation, because the only purpose could be to throughout, to circumvent the stated purpose and affect of 10 usc 1093. technically speaking, one could argue, yeah, this is not performing an abortion, so you can get away with it. sometimes in the military it's not just about getting away with it. sometimes in the military, there

ought to be some concern for where the american people have a voice in this, and the fact that their elected representatives have tried to take things like this off the table and not let them do that. so senator tuberville saw this coming. he also understood, as i think anyone rationally looking at it has the ability to understand, that the distinction between this and performing -- providing funding for the performance of an abortion is really difficult to differentiate. if you add up the value, the economic value of the three weeks of paid leave and add to that interstate travel, in many cases interstate air travel and lodgings, meals, per diem, for that period of time, at the end of the day the performs of the

abortion is going to be dwarfed by that cost. it's almost the afterthought in it, it's the least expensive part of all of that. so yeah, can you say that you have evaded the letter of the law? agree, i think you can make that argument. but it is too cute by half, and they're trying deliberately to throughout this law while claiming that they're respecting it. so what did senator tuberville do? well, senator tuberville serves on the senate armed services committee, and in that capacity he has oversight authority, oversight responsibilities over the department of defense. so he did what he thought was appropriate, and what i think was appropriate, and he decided to sit down with the secretary of defense and just talk it out with him, rather than relying on the rumor mill to either confirm or dispel what might be happening. he articulated his concerns. he said look, if you were to do

this, it's just a poke in the eye. you're doing it balls you can get away with it for the -- you're doing it because you can get away with it for the time being, so don't do it. if you do, there will be consequences, then he spelled out those consequences. you see, in the senate, when we confirm people, particularly when we confirm people who are up for consideration for a military promotion, there's a custom and practice that we don't require the full procedures to be followed, the full procedures, which takes some time. so senators typically agree to expedite that process so that these military promotions can be considered as a group, en bloc, and on a really fast-track basis. it is, nonetheless, a senatorial courtesy is, something we choose

to do. it is our choice. it is the choice of either senator individually. any one senator can decide for him or herself when, whether, to what extent to allow that courtesy, and where to withhold it. and so what senator tuberville told secretary lloyd austin, the secretary of defense was simple -- if you do this, i had not any longer be able to justify giving expedited treatment to military promotions for flag officers, you know, admirals and generals. i won't do that, so don't do it, because you will be throughouting the law, you will be flouting the law in a way that may take a significant amount of time. through litigation, if it follows that course, or through legislation, probably be able to run out the clock through the end of this administration. senator tuberville thought that

would be an unfortunate result and wanted to give secretary austin the chance to avoid it. he said don't do it, but do if you do it, it will take you a whole lot longer to confirm your admirals and generals. well, what happened then? a month or two later, lo and behold, the department of defense released that policy. three weeks of paid leave and compensated, reimbursed travel expenses, and per diem for the purpose of getting an abortion. sure, they tried to dress it up in other language, this isn't about abortion, this is about dobbs, this administration doesn't like the dobbs decision, it's mad that the supreme court of the united states stood up for the plain text of the constitution, the plain text of the constitution does not make abortion itself cat goskly a -- categorically a federal issue. and doesn't prohibit to the states the authority to protect

unborn human life. it doesn't take that away. because it doesn't take that away, it's not an issue that nine lawyers wearing wearing ron just decide. it's grafted on the constitution. so the dobbs court reached that conclusion. whether you agree with the dobbs court or not, it is the supreme court's ruling. this is a temper tantrum, mr. president. it's a temper tantrum by the department of defense and the biden administration. they're still mad that they lost the dobbs ruling. that's what this is. so they proceed with it. and coach tuberville said i told you what i would do and stand up for what i would do. this isn't right. you're encouraging, you're facilitating abortions. and it sends the wrong message alltogether. it's not something we're comfortable with the department of defense doing. we made that clear in law decades ago. and you're doing this for the sole purpose of flouting it, of

circumventing it. so don't do it. now, it is clear as a bell this doesn't stop anyone from getting confirmed. there's not one person who is stopped from getting confirmed simply because any one senator decides that he or she isn't going to continue to expedite the process. every one of these people can be confirmed. essentially every one of them could be confirmed in not a whole lot of time but it would be some time consuming processes they'd have to go through. but it's not overwhelming. in the meantime all this pressure has mounted. the message from the white house and from the pentagon has been to put the blame entirely, as senator -- at senator tuberville's feet and to say all kinds of horrible things are going to happen, dogs and cats

living together in the streets. apocalyptic stuff is going to happen and it's all senator tommy tuberville's fault. this is nonsense. for those who have made that argument within this body, it's uncollegial. for the president of the united states to jump on this bandwagon and do the same thing, the president of the united states, a long time member of this body who never served with senator tuberville, but if he had, he would have known him and he would have liked him. they would have been friends. senator biden i have no doubt would have respected as a matter of senatorial courtesy what senator tuberville is doing because we respect each other's procedural rights, especially when standing on a sincerely held conviction. but that's not what president biden is doing. he gave a speech just a little while ago.

he begins with the words something dangerous is happening. a few sentences later he says the republican party used to support the military but today they're undermining the military. the senior senator from alabama who claims to support our troops is now blocking more than 300 military operations with his extreme political agenda. let's talk for a moment about what's extreme. it's extreme to take u.s. taxpayer dollars and use them to facilitate, promote, and encourage abortion. that is extreme. it is also extreme for this administration to refuse, even to consider the possibility that maybe they overstepped. now, there is dispute among people in the military as to whether or to what extent any

delay in the promotion of these members as a matter of national security. i understand there are disagreements on that. there are also no fewer than 5,000 veterans who have signed on to support senator tuberville's pentagon holds, 5,000 who say that senator tuberville's decision to place these holds is absolute play right and that he's not to blame and that there are no circumstances in which senator tuberville should be blamed for any impact on military readiness. now, let's step back for a minute and let's just assume. let's assume for purposes of argument here. we're living in a world in which there are legitimate significance security ramifications flowing from the nonconfirmation of any or all the roughly 300 promotions that we're talking about.

let's assume that into existence. if that's the case, to whatever extent that is true, what's true for the goose is also good -- true for the gander. it is not something that you can put solely on senator tuberville, especially given the fact that we could promote and confirm the promotions of every single one of these people right now, within the next five minutes. we could do it if only this administration would stop trying to advance its radical proabortion agenda through every climb, every jurisdiction, every department, every agency. it's an all-of-government thing. they don't care. they're going to promote abortion in whatever way possible. all they would have to say is, you know, let's set that aside in the interest of national security. let's do that. it's not as if members of the military choosing to get an abortion are prohibited from

doing so. it's not as though members of the military choosing to seek an abortion are denied leave or denied the ability to do this. so what exactly are we fighting for and to whatever degree this in and impacting national security, who exactly is doing this? the president of the united states and secretary austin both independently have at their disposal the ability to end this now. so national security, not national security threat? to the extent it is, it's on you, president biden. and you certainly can't put this entirely at senator tuberville's feet. this is your doing. you have chosen this route. he warned you. the federal law itself cautioned against it and you did it anyway. he goes on a few sentences later. the partisan freeze is already

harming military readiness, security and leadership and troop morale. he goes on again. quote, freezing pay, freezing people in place. military families who have already sacrificed so much unsure of where or when they change stations, unable to get housing, or start their kids in the new school because they are not there yet. here again, i get it. it would be great to get those people confirmed. it really would. i would like to see them confirmed. so even though this wasn't my decision, i wasn't in his shoes, i wasn't one who chose this particular option, but he's my friend. he's my colleague. and he's a united states senator who holds an election certificate just like the rest of us. and just like president biden did for the many decades he served in this body, he has every right to decide when and

when not to extend the courtesy of expediting these confirmations. he went about it in a gentlemanly courtesy way giving advanced notice. he rested his theory on a law, a law that's been in place for decades that is being throughouted. and the president of the united states has the audacity to lay at his feet any suffering, any misfortune, any unhappiness among these families, any military readiness that may flow from it when he himself knows darn well that in order to score cheap political points with the abortion lobby, he's willing to bring these things on. then has the audacity to blame this on one senator from alabama. shame on you, rbi. shame -- shame on you, president biden. shame on you.

he goes on. quote, military spouses forced to take critical career decisions not knowing where or if they can apply for a new job, a growing cascade of damage and disruption all because one senator from alabama and 48 republicans refused to stand up to him, to lift the blockade over the pentagon policy offering service men and women and their families access to reproductive health care rights they deserve if they're stationed in states that deny it, close quote. he can dress that up all he wants. this still is on him. he can call this health care all he wants, but he's talking about a procedure that has only one burn and that is to -- purpose and that is to culminate in the cessation of unborn life. i find that difficult to take. difficult to take, especially in the face of 10 usc which makes clear on its face that the american people don't want and

have outlawed the use of military funds and facilities to perform abortions, and if that, why should we be willing to tolerate something that indirectly in a way that's way too -- by at least half openly throughouts the intended purpose and -- throughouts -- flouts the intended purpose of that law. i think this is outrageous. i think it's outrageous but don't just take it from me. hundreds of military spouses petitioned to end the extreme blockade. one spouse referring to the senator from alabama said, quote, this isn't a football game. this nonsense must stop right now. enough. close quote. you know, the military spouse he quoted is right.

this isn't a football game. it's much more serious than that, in fact. far more serious. this is about the law. this is about maintaining military readiness. this is about making sure that our laws aren't openly flouted by those charged with managing and directing the affairs of what is our largest department and one of the most central key parts of the federal government. it's one of the main reasons for existing. it's not a football game. and this business of openly flouting the law and the business of law in which we work is also not a game. you see, the fact is secretary

austin made a grave miscalculation when he decided he was going to make policy and make policy utterly at odds with the policy embodied in enacted law. you see, you can't legislate from the e-ring of the pentagon. it can't be done. my copy of the constitution, the very first operative provision of that document, article 1, section 1, clause 1 says, quote, all legislative powers here granted shall be invested in the congress of the united states which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives. article 1, section 7, quotes additional -- puts additional meat on the bones, makes abundantly clear what's teed up in article 1, section 1, clause 1. it says in order to make a law within the federal government, it has to be through congress. in order to make a law, you have to pass it through the house and pass it through the senate. then once you pass the same text through both houses of congress, it's got to be presented to the

president for signature, veto, or acquiescence. make he didn't get the memo on article 1. make he needs to be reminded of the fact he doesn't get to make law. it's not within his prerogative. he openly, brazenly, and i believe very, very deliberately sought to undermine the stated purpose, intent, effect, and spirit of 10 usc 1093. he chose to do that. what's sad in this day and age and a government as big as ours, a government that unwisely gives as much deference as it do to the executive branch, not just to the president himself but those who serve him in various capacities and in executive

branch agencies and departments. in this day and age, it's almost natural goes to the -- natural gas to the expression nine-tenths of the law. as long as he remains in charge of the department of defense, he can say -- he's surrounded by people who literally salute him every day and people who follow those orders and unless or until congress does something about it, he may get away with openly flouting the law. that doesn't mean that nobody in the senate can have anything to say about it. and it certainly does not entitle the secretary of defense or the president of the united states to have every member of the united states senate agree to continue to reward them with continued deference and a grant

of expedited consideration of all military promotions, whether flag officers or otherwise. this is not something they're entitled to the. it's something that senators truly freely choose to give or withhold. here he's chosen to withhold it. the beginning of the end of his speech says, quote, i urge senate republicans to do what they know is right, close quote. mr. president, on that point, i agree, and we will. thank you, madam president.

mr. welch: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. welch: i'd like to address the house and describe the situation in vermont. on july 10, we had a catastrophic flood that affected parts of the entire state. what i'd like to speak about today are a couple of things. one, where vermont stands in the recovery and, two, to describe specifically damages to our agriculture community and our farming community. before i do start, i want to express my gratitude to the biden administration, to the

fema folks who visited, to secretary of transportation, who's visited, and to the staff at fema, who have been working tirelessly to help vermonters go through the very difficult process, folks who've lost their homes or suffered significant damage to their homes, folks who've lost their businesses. we saw when i was here originally a photograph of montpelier where the entire downtown district was flooded. and the individuals in the farming community who have seen all of their work and all of their crops destroyed. senator sanders and congresswoman balint and i are working as closely as we possibly can with governor scott, whose administration is totally dedicated to trying to help vermonters recover. what did happen in vermont affected homes, it affected infrastructure, it affected

businesses, but it also affected the farming communities. earlier this week, governor scott and i visited the farm of paul maza. paul has been farming about 40 years, since he was 11 years old. and the farmland that we see here along the river, you can see, has risen up so that it covered much of the acreage. the acreage included raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, crops that neighbors and vermonters from all around look forward to coming to the maza farm and self-harvesting. and as paul said, paul maza said to governor scott and to me, the people of he is sex and the people -- of essex and the

people of vermont need the farm. it was a custom to go to the maza farm and do their own picking. and he has about 40 acres that are dedicated to those extraordinary crops that have been destroyed. we walked that farm inside of the devastation. when the flooded waters rose up above the crops and then receded, it left a residue, which makes those crops -- it destroys them. he also has almost 300 acres of corn, feed corn, and about 250 acres of that was destroyed as well. and what we understand is about 100,000 acres of forests and cropland has been affected by the flood. about 10,000 of those acres are in direct agricultural activity

-- vegetable crops from our small farmers whose work is only paid for at the end of the season when they harvest and sell those crops. those crops are destroyed. so many of our smaller vegetable farmers who are so important to community life, so important to getting good, nutritious food, those crops have been destroyed. and the question is whether those farmers are going to be able to get back in business and we're going to be able to need to help them, if that's going to happen. i have a couple of things i'd like to say. one, to vermonters and to vermont farmers -- report, report, report. in order for us here in washington to be able to make the case for the aid that we need and you need, we have to document what the damages are. and some folks in vermont are hesitant to make that report thinking it might adversely

effect their neighbor's abet to get aid -- ability to get aid. that's not the case. we need to document how much loss has been suffered by every vermonter. so, please, especially our farmers, our home owners, call 211 and let us know what the damage is where you live. it could be anything from driveway damage to paul mazza's crop damage of a couple of hundred acres. second, senator sanders and i will be asking at some point when we know what that damage is for the assistance of our colleagues to help out vermonters who have been the victims of this natural disaster, this catastrophic flood that occurred 17 days ago. but before i finish, i want to express the inspiring response that vermonters have had. you know, we're 17 days into

this, and immediately after the flood, there was an outpouring of support from volunteers, other vermonters to come to help businesses that were flooded, to help homeowners that were flooded, and even to help our farmers. people are going back to their lives, but vermonters still want to help. and some of the stories that so inspired me -- dill a. give one. -- dill a. give one. in -- i'll give one. michelle edelman mccormick, she thought she was running a country store. well, on the day of the storm, in marshfield, it was absolutely devastating. she took in three dozen people who stayed at her store and she sheltered them. and i just can't believe the generosity of this person to fellow vermonters in need, taking three dozen people in, sleeping on the floor, doing

whatever they could to get through the night and the next day. the damage was enormous. marshfield where the country store is lost three bridges and a fourth was severely damaged. the small town of johnson, a sewer main was taken out when the line that was attached to it, it was on the bottom of a bridge, was ripped away by a car that was floating down the river, and the wastewater treatment facility in johnson was totally destroyed. it suffered eight feet of water in the plant itself. and across vermont we lost 33 wastewater treatment plants. in the small town of cabot, fame us for the cabot cheese. every single road was damaged and people were stranded within the community because you couldn't get out and you couldn't get in.

from cambridge and jeffersonville, these small towns were completely cut off during the flood. a senior low-income housing project was lost to the flood. so we are now in that stage where the initial trauma of that flood on july 10 is behind us, but the very hard work that is required to try to get that business back on its feet, for that homeowner to find shelter, for that farmer, paul mazza, and his daughter katie and the folks who work so hard on the mazza farm, they have to do the day-by-day, step-by-step recovery because we want folks to be back in their homes, we want folks to be back in their farms, and we want folks to be back in their businesses. vermonters are going to do

everything they possibly can and the governor's response be, the legislative response is important. and there's public and private activity that's going on to help vermonters get back on their feet. but we in the federal government have to do our part. vermonters have always, always been there to help other parts of our country that have suffered natural disasters. that's through no fault of anyone's, but the folks who are on the receiving end -- in this case a flood, in other cases a hurricane, a other cases a wildfire -- we have to help each other and vermonters have always helped others. and my hope -- and i'm confident on the basis of the very supportive comments that my completion have made to -- colleagues have made to senator sanders and me -- that we'll get the help that we need for vermonters. i'm inspired by how vermonters have helped each other, and my hope is is that we will help them get back fully recovered as

soon as possible. madam president, i yield the floor. i yield the balance of my time.

:

[inaudible] okay. good evening everybody. thank you for coming. [inaudible] in a bipartisan manner. congress can work together with the american people. we have a very divided country. a very divided congress but nonetheless, we were able to come together and overwhelmingly on one of the most important issues this is a loan we came together antiquated default with the appropriations committee had 12 bills here in the senate. a bipartisan. in stark contrast to the house. the house looked to get things done instead of just throwing

out partisan bills that had no chance of passing. now the nda is a down payment on one of the most important issues facing the country today. jack is going to speak on the floor and then come back. there are so many good provisions in this bill in terms of helping our troops and giving them the pay raises making our defense stronger and let's not forget that there were other provisions added in that were important. at the top of my list is the act on a fentanyl. more young people died of ativan in auto crashes. our bill allows the president to impose sanctions with the use of the national emergency and prevents china from sending the precursor drugs to mexico and it will be sanctioned on both of the countries if they don't

stop. it's pretty severe. we also passed great stuff on ai. as you know, we have in a bipartisan way attempted to deal with ai and we make sure in the bill we have a lot of provisions. we have the bounty program's incentives for ethical hackers. we are conducting risk studies on the use of ai. we've done some good stuff to deal with the excesses of chinese government including limiting the flow of investments and advanced technology to china typical of the bipartisan nature, it is a casey quan an amendment and a so much of this was done bipartisan. i think we have done a total of 98 amendments. forty-four democrats, 44 republicans and the remainder bipartisan. we have the amendment process work as well which is just

amazing. we are sending a strong message that we are united in our security efforts. and now let me go over a few other things that we care about. what are we going to do when we come back in september? it's going to be all hands on deck. first and foremost we must fund the government and as i said, today we took an incredible step forward. we have 12 appropriation bills that have been reported out of committee a feat unheard of and i give a great deal of credit to patty murray and senator susan collins. this is a divided country. you say our politics are divided into get to 12 appropriation bills passed in a bipartisan way out of the committee. incredible. we are also going to build on the history of confirming more judges to make the judicial system more reflective. it's a very high priority and we are not stopping when we get back i'm going to file cloture

on the three nominees and the fcc commissioner as well as the three fed nominees to fill up the fed. we are flailing those up tonight for immediate votes when we return. and i have very good news. it looks like we are going to confirm more than a dozen ambassadors. right now the number is 16, to make it a little higher or lower as you know they were holding up the ambassadors and we are getting able to move. we have lots of other things we want to do when we get back. a safety, a very high priority. senator brown is relentlessly leading the charge. i spoke to his colleague in the senate tonight, and they are working together to build up enough support. we are working very hard and making progress on 35-dollar insulin for everybody that will be a high priority when we get back. the faa bill, the senate bill

senator cantwell is working on, so i expect we will get an faa bill and we are making good progress on safe banking which as you know has always been a priority for me. as well as on the most important thing we get back from in the government appropriations process. the bill passed 86-11 and we are continuing through the tradition of doing it on time and in a timely way with virtually if you watch the floor almost no animus or acrimony, which says something. that's the leader i try to be. number one goal, get things done for the american people. cut costs, grow the middle class. these bills do that. second, try to work in a

bipartisan way as much as possible to get things done. this senate is an example of how bipartisanship can work and again let me just reiterate the contrast with the house, where the republicans don't work in a bipartisan way and just throw stuff on the floor they know has no chance of passing doesn't help the american people one bit so i'm looking forward to the house looking to the senate and as to how to get america moving. with that, i will answer your questions. >> [inaudible] i hope there won't be another government shutdown. there are some of the hard right that want to shut down but again, given what the senate has done with of the 12 appropriation bills passed in a

bipartisan way, i am very hopeful the house will succeed to the senate. basically the house, there was a lot of talk of letting us default, came over and basically came much closer to what we and the senate wanted. yes. >> it was just awful what happened. these are kids, teenagers, they come here bright i had ready to learn about america and meet people from around the country and serve their senators and serve the senate which they do. they are invaluable to us. what that congressman did last night was utterly despicable, and it's even, not worse but compounding the injury, he doesn't even apologize to them. what is the matter with him. i'm glad leader mcconnell and i today, tonight told the pages how much we value them and that

this was a horrible outlier. yes. >> [inaudible] not one bit. this is the responsibility of the republican senate caucus. leader mcconnell has condemned what he has done. leader or deputy leader thune has condemned it. it's up to them. now i think in august, pressure is going to mount on him and i offered if he wanted to put the ernst amendment on the floor, go ahead. so he's boxing himself into a corner. it's the republicans responsibility, theirs and theirs alone. yes.

>> [inaudible] we are working all the time. look at how much we are getting done in the last month and a half, a bill huge with ramifications in many areas. the 12 appropriation bills and i would say in a month and a half that is a good record. because it works. go ahead. the good news is chairman cantwell is making progress on faa and the bill she's working towards i think is better than the house bill, particularly in safety and passenger protections, but it's not that different and i think that we are very optimistic we will get an faa bill when we return.

yes. >> [inaudible] >> thank you for the compliment. [laughter] >> [inaudible] yes, and i saw him last night at the major-league baseball owners dinner and i said i'm so glad you're here and he gave a very good speech. we defend what we think are our values. our values are not the same. but we know when we can work together it is for the good of the country and we found a number of remarkable things we can work together on and i am very, very pleased that the republican caucus in the senate have not gone the way of the republican caucus and the includ

house. authorization act tonight and something that will help us fight -- something that will help us fight the scourge of illicit fentanyl in the united states of america, an urgent public health crisis is gripping our state and many other parts of the united states. and i want to thank my colleague, senator scott, from south carolina and senator brown from ohio for bipartisan legislation the fend act. the fentanyl crisis is having a direct impact on families. in the past 12 months more than 65,000 americans have died by overdosing on synthetic opioids like fentanyl. that's why so important tonight is the fend act and that is part of a response that we need to have to take this national crisis seriously.

this legislation declares the international trafficking of fentanyl and its precursors needed to make it a national emergency. this gives the president and us the focus that we need to try, as it says in the legislation, quote, an unusual and extraordinary threat to our national security, to our foreign policy and to the economy of the united states. end quote. a crisis of this magnitude demands a robust federal response and that's why this legislation provides the president with new tools to stop the illicit fentanyl flooding our borders and those that are trying to transport it into our country. first, the new tools in this legislation are sanctions targeting at transnational criminal organizations and foreigners engaged in international fentanyl trafficking. the bill specifically calls out eight known cartels in mexico,

which means that treasury can investigate suspicious activities involved here an declare sanctions. it recognizes that these traffickers, once identified, can have sanctions imposed and can have forfeiture of their property. recognizing that fentanyl production is not simply these entities, but also diverse network of players, this legislation helps us go after those. sanctions will enable the united states government to try to disrupt the flow of this product. the distributors, the brokers, the wholesalers, the retailers, the sellers of precursors, anyone involved in trafficking these deadly pills can now be targeted. second, the legislation goes after institution that's participate in money laundering. once caught, the money cans used

by the department of justice and state and local law enforcement to help participate in additional investigations. and this legislation also empowers treasury to use special measures to pursue fentanyl-related other types of drug laundering activity. for example, a foreign financial institution engaged in fentanyl money laundering, it can impose restrictions on those banks and u.s. banks doing business with those foreign entities. the bottom line is there are new tools, once this legislation makes it to the president's desk, and through the finish of our colleagues working together on a final house and senate ndaa package, it will give the united states government agencies more tools to disrupt the illicit fentanyl trafficking and the supply chains that exist internationally. severely penalizing those engaged in fentanyl trafficking

is just one step. according to the centers for disease control and prevention, my state, washington, experienced the single highest increase among u.s. states and reported drug overdoses last year, an increase of more than 21%. hundreds of traumatized families that will never be the same, thousands of first responders struggling to cope with the daily tragedy. the statics are -- statistics are stunning an tragic. sometimes it's hard to listen to the stories, but i have been going around my state listening to the people affected by this crisis and talking to those in my state about the opportunities to do something. the heart-wrenching stories of individuals who basically have been impacted by this, a mother whose son went off to clenl and -- college and didn't come home, a believed brother who got

hope to kick heroin and got his life back but then succumbed to fentanyl, a woman struggling with addiction, who needed help, couldn't find a bed available for detox, only to hear time and again that such a bed did not exist. a young man who took a single pill he thought was perk -- percocet who died with fentanyl. in afigures we -- in addition, we need to do more with the supply. in the tri-cities, a police officer told me that local task forces have seized over 2,000 fentanyl pills this year. statewide we have surpassed the number of fentanyl seizures in awful last year. law enforcement in washington has already seized more than 1.6 million fentanyl pills this year compared to a total of

1.3 million in all of last year. so the united states drug enforcement agency has seized over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl. that's last year. that's more than enough supply in the united states. we need to do something now to also aid in the stopping and obstruction 0 to -- to make sure we are preventing this from happening in the rest of the united states and to stop it in my state of washington. i plan to work with tsa and dea to make sure that we strengthen the laws that allows for the investigation of fentanyl distribution at our airnts to make sure -- airports to make sure we're tracking the spry -- the supply and investigating and giving our law enforcement any tool they can use to help stop the movement of this product. i'm also grateful that our

colleagues tonight acted in a bipartisan way, and i hope they'll act in a bipartisan way in the future. there are other things that we need to do to stop the sighingle of addiction, as one doctor told me, we could access to recovery be as easy as, quote, access to the drug, but it's not. end quote. we have heard from people all over the state from our firefighters, from our police officers, from our courts, to our health care treatment centers, and we have seen unbelievable pilot programs that are being used to try to tackle this product. we have seen fire stations use new equipment and first responders so they can quickly get to the scene and have the tools in place. we've heard from our state and from our health care officials, doctor banta green, from the university of washington, who lass helped to understand and pioneer a program that people

can walk into a facility that is community based and get access to care and treatment immediately. so no more of trying to respond every day or where to go or having a first responder having to go back to the same place, but giving people a place that they can go. i hope our colleagues will look at some of these innovative prevention measures that my state is trying to undertake. i hope that we can work in a bipartisan effort to give more tools to dea, but i hope tonight we'll be happy that we're now declaring this a national emergency, that we've given the president and treasury and our officials new tools to stop the trafficking of this product and to pursue those who are involved in it in an aggressive way around the world. i thank the president and i

position of one republican senator not a single general or officer has been confirmed, not one. all because that senator disagrees with a policy that is designed to ensure safe and reasonable access for all service members to reproductive health care regardless of where the military chooses to assign them. last week the defense department legal advisors and subject experts came before the armed service committee to brief us on the policy and answer members questions. they laid out clear plain facts that explained the legality and appropriateness of the policy.

as i stated publicly after the briefing concluded, no one with an ounce of intellectual honesty can deny the department's policy is legal and is in fact rooted in decades of precedent through administrations of both parties. colleagues on the other side feels strongly about this issue but until congress passes a law to overturn 40 years of legal precedent, the department of defense has a responsibility to manage the health, welfare and readiness of the force. within the legal authorities available to it, the departments experts also outline in detail the long existing statutory authority that allows the department to provide fees travel and lead to benefits and that's all they are, travel and lead policies that have been on the books and various fashions

for decades. to rescind the policy recognizing publicly after the briefing that the policy is legal. i will note my respect for senator ernst. she stayed until the end of the briefing and listed everything the department had to say and formed her opinion accordingly. to take a profoundly different approach the nomination blocking has no objections against it and have all been confirmed by unanimous approval in the committee including by the senator from alabama. these are not controversial nominations. for many decades, military promotions have been a bipartisan routine piece of

senate. now they've been turned into a political sideshow by the senator from alabama. he is getting a lot of personal benefit out of this and i suppose to seek to the backs of any is a disgrace. the accountability to say that we should just vote on these nominations. but he knows that this is a ludicrous idea. let me explain again it's virtually impossible for the senate to process this volume of nomination through the procedures. as the majority leader and i explained before, it would literally take the rest of this congress to move through the nominations we have now not even accounting for the 100 still to come. the senator from alabama knows this. so he doesn't really want to just to vote. he wants to grind the senate to a halt on a series of nonstop

99-1 roll call votes. .. originally just wanted a call from the secretary of defense. once he got it he changes demand again. when he asked for a vote to repeal the policy we did so during the defense authorization act mark up. again he changed his demands again. he is now calling for the complete capitulation of the apartment from this point you have to wonder if the act was to achieve his demands or just wants to stay in the spotlight? we will soon enter the seventh month of this nonsense.

this does not just affect the 273 officers stuck on the floor thousands of spouses in children's which will discuss in a moment. on the officers coming up behind them. some of who could be assigned it but for the fact the officer who sits ahead of them awaiting senate confirmation before they can move it. according to the department of defense 405 officers assumed new positions including 35 who could not move it because they are assigned rank goals with the position. for which have been nominated. another 10 officers are held by one of those 25. twenty-two officers have been selected for the first star will have to assume the duties the higher grade while serving as a field grade officer. the officers are losing up $2600

per month through no fault of their own. similarly 20 officers selected to the degree of two stars will assume the duties of the highest will in their current grade the officers are losing nearly 2000 per month while this blockade continues. and contrary to the misinformation from the senator from alabama there'll be no pay for these officers. no backpay at all. the pay is tied to the rank was is tied to the appointment to that rank that cannot occur until the senate provides that consent. while the sender is trying to enhance his notoriety these officers are losing pay. 213 and four star officers have had their retirements deferred to ensure continuity of command. after 30 or 40 years of uniformed service, countless

missed birthdays and anniversaries, countless missed sports games at musical recitals, these officers have been told their lives are less important than one senator's ego. it was heartbreaking effects on the family have been impacted by these i will describe just a few of the stories. because the center from alabama was hold the marine corps was forced to cancel coast-to-coast move for major general and his family. families household goods had already been shipped and are now waiting in storage at their general covers the duty of the three-star at a temporary station. two air force officers sold their home in anticipation of moves living in temporary housing and paying storage out of their own pockets. they have no clarity about the length of time that nominations will remain on hold as they're forced to continue their service

and their current assignments to ensure continuity. a naval officer wake officers ford overseas assignment has been cotton setters hold. this officer's spouse was a teacher with fairfax county public schools in virginia. since anticipate overseas assignment with her spouse, this teacher entered her contract with the police employable she has been unable to accept a new contract at the overseas location returned to fairfax county public school due to the uncertainty from hold. she is stuck in limbo. two children work just enrolled from the current schools due to expected change but now they cannot enroll in a new school because the center from alabama has blocked their movement. three officers have chosen to move their families at their own expense without the option to be reimbursed to ensure the children will be enrolled in

school and the hope they will be reunited with their families after the sender from alabama comes with senses. finally, yesterday we were repod by the largest statewide news organization alabama a physician i ship it to petition sound by five to 50 military spouses was alerted to the center calling on him to end his blockade and the harp it is doing to military families. the petition organized by the secure families initiative called on center leadership to quote reiterate the dangers and ramifications of the political grandstanding. work together to solve ideological disagreements outside the military space and expeditiously confirm all promotions until existing vacancies. these are but a few of the tragic family because being afflicted with these stories will increase significantly as we go into august for

traditionally among the many military families moved to do duty station, and start new schools. all of these effects are but the tip of the iceberg, snapshots and stories the true impact of the actions what house on the political nature of military service is what keeps me up at night. the impact on our national security is incalculable. united states military there's a total 852 general officers. by the end of this year, we expect 650 of them will need to pass through promotion or reassignment additional 110 officers will perform two jobs simultaneously or will be assigned to a temporary position as a result of the setters hold.

thus most senior military leaders will be affected by the senator from alabama told. right now, our nation faces unparalleled threats from china and violent unstable russia threatening all of our nato allies did not have our military leaders ready to command at a moments notice is to flirt with disaster the center from alabama has achieved something xi jinping and vladimir putin can only have dreamed of. i am sure they would've paid good money to achieve that but they do not have too. what disappoints me the most to the not care question rick many of them do many disagree with what he is doing. why are they not down here right

now military families to stand with us to help to senate traditions. tonight my colleagues at lite will discuss every military denomination on the executive council will read the names of each officers whose nominations are blocked by the senate for matt alabama love a little bit about the background. each of these officers have served jackets in uniform something the senator and alabama is nothing about. their lives have not been easy even the best of times is difficult physically and mentally and spiritually.

for 20 years the global war on terror and many of them fought in wars before that. they fought the other americans including most of us in this chamber would not have too. never had a generation of military whose entire professional development occurred of constant conflict. is it with each of these i was struck by the recognition and manifestation of the service. i will hear from the senator from alabama blocking the promotion of officers has been awarded a purple heart, silverstar, blog bronze star, and the thing was flying horse and every other significant award or recognition hypoxia promotion of officer numerous combat tours of duty those have been injured in combat.

he is blocking the nomination of an air force officer who is an astronaut in nassau. he's blocking the promotion of pilots tens of thousands of flying hours in combat flying time. with pilots we know too well also the option flying commercially. cannot compete always competed in admissions. if it's compromise patriotism will only carry one so far. particularly as a senate inaction is literally impacting the direct earnings of many of the nominees. private section options out even more attractive of a military career proceeds. blocking the promotion of combat commanders at all levels have risen to the ranks with the hope

of leading and mentoring the next generation of combat leaders. to enjoy the highest jets of american military expertise and ethical conduct is passed on praise now after confirmation of three members a joint chiefs of staff. general cq brown the nominee to be the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general eric smith the next home and of the marine corps general randy george the next chief of staff are on top of this historical nomination the first female officer to the chief of naval operations. we just received today nomination for the next chief of staff of the air force. blocking nominations at a critical combatant commander on a cyber command is the director of national security. solvent intelligence is not a place a nation should accept any additional risk. blocking the nomination next commander of the navy fleet the

largest of the four deployed fleet which has responsibilities in the end of pacific area of operation. he is blocking the nomination of the commanders physically responsible for naval and combined maritime forces. persian gulf and sea. mr. schumer: madam president. if or is it going to become mr. president in a minute? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the names of the current pages be participated at the appropriate place in the record. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar numbers 256. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed? the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, philip nathan jefferson of north carolina to be vice chairman of the board of governors. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, with no intervening action or debate -- do hereby move to bring to close it debate on calendar number 256, 256, siy

17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 260. the presiding officer: all in favor, say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk: guinn east a. wilcox to be a member. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the clerk: 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 260, gwynne a. wilcox of new york to be a member of the national labor relations board signed by 18 senators as follows.

mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 255. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, lisa denell cook of michigan to be a member of the board of governors. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the nomination. 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 255, lisa denell cook of michigan to be a member of the board of governors of the

federal reserve system signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 257. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, adriana debora kugler of maryland to be a member of the board of governors. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 257, adriana debora kugler of maryland to be a

member of the board of moves of the federal reserve system signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 253. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nobody nation. the clerk: nomination, federal communications commission, anna m. gomez of virginia to be a member. mr. schumer: i ask -- i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 253, anna m. gomez of

virginia to be a member ever the federal communications commission signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, july 27, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations enclock, calendars 146, 147, 149, 150, 152, 1554, 2010, 211, 215, 218, 219, 221, 273, 277, 278, 279, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye.

all opposed. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations, all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, foreign service, marine corps and navy, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that the president be notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, -- mr. president, i have three 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. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if made by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the senate, the president of the senate, the president president pro tempore and majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments, to commissions, committees, boards, conferences or interparliamentary conferences authorized by house, concurrent action ever the two houses or by order of the senate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the junior senator from illinois, the junior senator from maryland, the junior senator from virginia be authorized to sign dually enrolled bills or joint resolutions from july 28, 2023, through september 4, 2023. but correction. we ask unanimous consent the senior senator from illinois and then the senior senator from maryland, the junior senator from virginia be authorized to

sign dually enrolled bills or joint resolutions from july 28, 2023 through september 4, 2023. you're starting from the top of this request. i ask unanimous consent that the senior -- the junior senator from illinois, the senior senator from maryland, and the junior senator from virginia be thosh rised to sign dually -- authorized to sign dually enrolled bills or joint resolutions from july 28, 2023 through september 4, 2023. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that on tuesday, august 22 from 12:00 noon until 2:00 p.m., committees be authorized to report legislative and executive matters.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that s. 2226 as passed by the senate be printed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed en bloc to consideration of the following senate resolutions. s. res. 323, s. res. 324, s. res. 325. s. res. 326. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles where applicable be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 93, s. 1528. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 93, s. 1528, a bill to streamline the sharing of information among federal disaster assistance

agencies and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i further ask the committee-reported amendments be considered and agreed to, the peters amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 157, s. 1858. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 157, s. 1858, a bill to amend the robert t. stafford disaster relief and emergency assistance act and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i further ask that the peters amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no

intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on environment and public works be discharged from further consideration of s. 788 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 788, a bill to amend the permanent electronic duck stamp act of 2013 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the boozman substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on environment and public works be discharged from further consideration of s. 992

and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 992, a bill to amend the intermodal surface transportation efficiency act of 1991 and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the cruz substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on environment and public works be discharged from further consideration of s. 1608 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 1608, a bill to provide for the expansion of the star commargo bridge near rio grande city, texas and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will

proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: clerk will call the roll. the clerk: baldwin. quorum call:

oversight and accountability member of transportation infrastructure committee serving his third term in congress. let's talk about the hearing on capitol hill yesterday. some media, many in that media will reap furring too as a big ufo hearing. but the word used yesterday largely was the unidentified aerial phenomena. you ap. the headlight in the "washington post," witnesses that ufos no

joking matter would you agree? was i would agree one 100%. i helped spearhead that. we had to excellent witnesses and my staff did a great job of getting folks repaired. we've got some of the best pilots in the world and our military is not tiktok everybody's going to say hey boomer it's tiktok. notes it chinese propaganda tiktok like the little candies with the sheeplike. one of the gentleman who chased those wing man filmed him. and just some incredible testimony. cooks what did you hear for those who missed the hearing? >> we are not alone basically. mrs. kraft we have no idea how they function basically. they have no heat signature. they can do speeds that are unheard of.

if there's a human in that they would be dead because of the geforce it would liquefy their bodies. they are just incredible. we had sworn testimony we were covered craft which has been rumored for years. and i dug into it a little bit and i knew these answers but i wanted them i knew if we had these craft there kept out of the public eye. you have got your pentagon folks who are craving every dollar they can get they've not passed an audit the lose over billion dollars a year their assets are unaccountable. and yet no one in congress questions it. and now there's legislation that's been filed in the senate asking for more money for them so they can study it. to my point and your point as a journalist we need transparency.

just let us see what they have got. i'm tired of look at redacted files they tell us they do not exist. i filed legislation on the faa reauthorization which basically said if you are an airline pilot you spot something in the air that is a ufo, you ap is a term they have come up with that confuses the facts. a spot these things when they make the report that report can be made to congress. if the intelligence community i was told not the committee the intelligence community block that piece of legislation they're not able to have a vote because of that. he got the pentagon on one side saying they don't exist the other side saying hey send us some money, let us study it. my point is this we've been dealing with this since at least 1947. ever every major country in the world has evidence that's been

covered up. the american public is tired of it. i have a t-shirt on my website more people believe in ufos in congress. it's a big seller it's a big belief. the recent polls show room 58% of the population believes we are not alone. >> what are these things that you are referring to? >> i do not know that's the big question. i don't come up myself, matt gates and representative went to florida they are both from florida. we were told will get to see photographs, talk to pilots. when we got down that we are briefed in the skiff it's a james bond then you cannot take your cell phone or fitbit or any electronic device similar to the type of device of the apparatus where the cocaine at the white

house was found in everybody's seen those pictures you know what i'm talking about. so we go in and we are briefed on some pretty terrifying stuff that was going on in our country. but nothing on the ufos matt gates said this is not acceptable. we left to the generals conference room or whatever they set a separate pentagon and called people in charge matt was able to explain to them we did in fact have the clearance should get unelected bureaucrats telling your elected body what they can and cannot see that is not right for. >> used to solvency anything. >> then wind up going and in talking to the pilot they brought in some pilots and i have seen things yes, but at that instance we were not afforded what they said we are

going to see. i have seen things that defy anything. these are folks ma'am, there is no reason for them to like the e only thing got from this is a blemish on the record. these pilots when they come forward, we are told by tyler pilots they will destroy the video because when they come back they are supposed to be debriefed and in fact they are in terror get up to eight hours and taken up the flight line they get a blemish on the record. there is a lot going on with this issue. >> assume that washington post soap our government officials say none of the fighting has led to the discovery of extraterrestrial life. >> are talking out of both sides of their mouth. pilots in their own tapes they released it's not magic there something or some being controlling them. >> how'd you know when check of

proof? ecstasy a jet flying over right now three jets actually. i don't see the pilots in them but i know soma is flying them and i talked to too many eyewitnesses that have brought this back. and i have seen the pictures. i've talked to people that have been there and i've seen the videos. something does exist. the federal government is covering this up completely. imagine if you had a craft like this that shows no heat signature yet can travel these incredible speeds. anyone can see the videos now if you just going to youtube and look at tiktok video. you got to realize to the military said these tapes did not exist. and then they were released, they were leaked and they said their fakes. the pilots came forward and said in fact these are not real.

>> is there another explanation? >> what if it is the chinese? if it was the chinese they would own. if it was the russians they would not be bogged down. if it was us we've had 14 document this document relates to another committee. fourteen documented near miss incidents with our aircraft these are 50 million-dollar aircraft why it would be flying experimental aircraft and not alerting our pilots that it could have a midair collision with? that does not make any sense. your only other conclusion is that something that is not from this world. >> have not washing tort postmortem several congressional officials with previous testimony at the whistleblower gavel: yesterday provided in a classified hearing had said they were unable to substantiate or

corroborate his claim the u.s. government secretly runs a program to recover and reverse engineer crash of alien vessels. >> we asked to go into the skiff with that individual and we were denied that. >> wondered which individual? >> the one they are talking i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm with no sleep a. >> that was a boy heard from? >> yes, ma'am. >> you have to go into a skiff with him and who denied that? david yes by officials at the capitol. we were told his security clearance is no longer valid which we have yet to substantiate. we try to have these hearings, ma'am, people backed out because of pressure from the pentagon. we have settlement affiliated every which way with nasa and they backed out. an out nasa is saying it did not

happen. i was stonewalled by staff members for opens stonewalled by congress. president carter president they had a sighting of ufo. there is a lot going on. and i get it. i would appreciate some of the those giving the negative comments that will not go on the record. when you start looking at their financial disclosures. we need to look on both sides of the aisle of who is making these contributions. these large contributions and why are they sitting in decision-making positions on the intelligence committees? i think that would be very telling. quick salute to our calls and just a minute i want to show yesterday from the hearing. u.s. congressman nancy maser

mazerpumpkin north carolina questioning the witness that your target uap recovery efforts by the u.s. been detailed to the national reconnaissance office for those who do not know the agencies operates the u.s. spy satellite, take a look. >> he said the government is in possession of potentially nonhuman spacecraft. based on your experience and extensive conversations with experts, do you believe our government has made contacts with intelligent extraterrestrials? cook something i cannot discuss in a public setting. looks okay i can't ask when you think this occurred. if you believe you have crashed craft stated earlier the bodies of the pilots of this craft? >> i've stated public already might you say should interview biologic schema some of these recoveries yes. >> i guess with the human or nonhuman biologics? >> nonhuman that was the assessment of people with direct

knowledge of the program i talk to the currently still the program. >> and was this document video photos, eyewitness? how would that be determined? what the specific documentation i had to talk to you in the skiff about. >> congressman, your reaction to the line of questioning is answered. >> i'm not an attorney but attorney told me one time never ask a question you don't love the answer to and already knew the question the answer to that question as i stated i've studied this issue for many years and i guess i was responsible myself. and my buddy jared and a representative responsible for getting this committee together. the man is a decorated veteran may be in washington d.c. that does not mean a whole lot but in tennessee it means a whole lot. this man had nothing to lose.

he has had his home broken into bread he has been threatened. he had his life threatened. this is real. this is real. i don't mind people being detractors because they should. if it is not real we are expending a lot of energy to destroy people and to get in the way of meaningful legislation. >> more from the "washington post" so far government officials say none of the sightings have led to the discovery of extraterrestrials earlier this year although nominally determined nearly 200 of 3066 recently reported sightings were unremarkable possibly can be attributed to routine objects found in the air including drones, balloons, clutter. >> yes, ma'am i'm seeing all those. as a matter fact the two gentlemen heading up this program from the pentagon came over to the intelligence

committee which it had an open meeting i was allowed to go too. these fellows could not even spell ufo. they had no idea they were career bureaucrats and patriotic americans it's a classic compartmentalization. they were asked about serious questions about an event that happened over in a nuclear facility that shut down. and they had no idea. they said we can't tell you that in the setting. and i walked out for is only member of congress who is not a member of the committee i was invited they were told i was told is going to get to ask a question is going to line them up i got a text that said you cannot ask a question. i walked out in the press asked me what i thought and i said we got hosed and we did the american public got hosed. they just pat us on the head these folks are not group going away they are not going away and i am not going away this members

of congress over on that committee are not going away. we are going to start getting some answers. the lose a billion dollars a year they are audited every year end they never processing the video in person but ma'am that is ridiculous. i support our military they just want bigger budgets and no oversight. and it is ridiculous. >> recovered yesterday's hearing. >> thank you all for doing that. >> you can find on our website in case you missed it. let's go to dayton, ohio for your questioner, dorothy. dorothy got a mute your television. please listen and talk to your phone, okay? >> okay here come the callers. cooks dorothy are you ready questioner question comments for congressman tim. >> hello ma'am the air? >> issue are. >> okay congressman, first i went to sam calling in on the

republican line. but i absently identify as a conservative. it is very distressing to me that while i appreciate that it is interesting and everything, my question to you is representative, why are you not defending the whistleblowers who were trying to expose the corruption in the biden administration? why are so many gop leaders on this ufo diversion story when the absolute most important story of the year is taking judicial committee. cooks dorothy, can i have the congressman respond to that question? >> that is a valid question, thank you very much. i not on a judiciary committee i am on the oversight committee.

the chairman and the speaker instructed us this is what they wanted us to be on and to do and we are doing that. we have 50 million-dollar $50 md americans put in harm's way that are saying something is going on. the people want to get to the bottom of it. the pentagon requesting more money senator schumer is apparently requesting money and we just like transparency. we don't think he's recovered of any further. imagine if we had an energy source like was on tiktok video. i can heat our homes in the summer. i provided endless energy that imagine what that would do. it would be out of business we would go these worthless wars and all these other countries.

we can start working on peace instead of war. that would be an incredible find that maybe a little bit out there for a lot of folks. you start digging deep enough you're going to start finding these folks. us to move any further ahead and some people enjoy the fact we are in this. but you are right. hunter bite in that situation i am on the committee oversight, german cobras done a good job. this is a committee of jurisdiction for this issue. it's like transportation dealing with the roads, trains, and airplanes. which i also serve on. this is our committee of jurisdiction. >> good morning to both of you. i have a couple questions. one is the hearing yesterday create enough support gave you enough horsepower to create a center even in tennessee where

people both the military and civilian pilots and citizens can call into a research center get out of washington and the intelligence people. and number two i washed the whole hearing yesterday. mr. gross responding to a question from congresswoman cortez pretty said he was going to provide her with the list of names and places after the hearing with the reverse engineering that if he did that you get to see it. >> thank you. that will be done in the skiff whatever that stands for i always forget. but you know i'm only on to our sleep. we can do a secure briefing oil from the prying eyes of the press and the general public. which is unfortunate actually expression this incident. i am sorry the first question?

talk support for research center. >> is already enough research out there. we need the government to turn loose these files and quit sending us into the skiff to read files that are redacted that looks like someone shot it with a 12 gauge shotgun because it is so blocked out of everything that is vital. i mean for goodness sakes, present candy was shot and killed over 60 years ago? they still will not release that and no one -- that deals with this is just about arrogance, power and control and money. and that is what runs this town. >> skiff stands for sensitive compartmented information facility. karen and alabaster, alabama republican. >> yes, good morning. my question is it's very as long as their friend that i do not know why the military would be hiding it all these years.

i knew someone. someone i trusted who was stationed at the building before the two thousands i do not want to give a specific date. he actually flew b-52s. so he may have known some of these pilots appeared at that time i was really interested in ufos and one if there out there. it's a place called the mountains and in that mountain there is it big radar. he said that radar monitors the skype 24/7 on the whole world. we constantly watch it there's nothing out there we cannot identify. he said that i was said okay. now this is coming up and i am wondering if this a settlement i don't think what ever lied to me. i am just curious we think that? >> of course we have secret installations all over the country.

and all over north america actually. we know it flies into our airspace this is been captured many times. we were also told about 5% of reports are reported just because of the fact pilots do not want the blemish on the record, even commercial pilots. we have what's called whistleblower protection but there again military intelligence gets involved. military intelligence as a whole lot like congressional ethics. it probably does not exist. >> you said why would these people came forward lie about this? but why would the government cover it up? >> our control, reverse engineering if they would they e they had these vehicles public would not be able to hand it off to certain industries that would greatly profit from it. it would be reverse engineering.

somehow following the answer. talk about a little more. >> oxbow they not turn over to us? >> went up the transparency he said that upping transparent. >> if you have this incredible invention i knew could profit from it, why would you? give areas of the government that at hand at this over it we think which was outlined in the line of questioning, to the business world or whatever in certain areas and that removes it from protection i cannot get freedom of information act. we have got secrets and i understand that we have secrets and we are not allowed. it's like when there during the intelligence committee questions were asked of the two jobs were from the pentagon was one was the capabilities of flying underwater.

and he said i cannot answer that in this because it is secret and obviously there is a defense element of that too. >> was the evidence companies are profiting from what has been in your opinion discovered? >> their private corporations ma'am. there is not a whole lot we can do other than what we are told by these witnesses, these experts at told us yesterday in my line of questioning i narrow that down pretty tight. again they were not allowed to tell us except in the skiff and note were not allowed to go into the skiff so it's a kind of a catch-22. it is a cat and mouse game and we know it is a whack a mole. eventually somebody's going to walk out there's just too much information. i've talked to too many military people, too many pentagon people who have seen something. talk to people in the military the late 50s early 60s an

incident that occurred. and again why would they lie about it? >> going to skip and connecticut come democrat color. >> hi. here's something you think about. we do not have the intelligence to go into another galaxy. so if we are getting visited by unidentified flying objects davis have superior intelligence over us to reach our galaxy. >> congressman? >> i cannot argue that i was had the capabilities of the pilot just said we sought and we could not believe it. in that video and audio you will hear them laughing about it because it's like can you believe this? it is miraculous.

i can say it's not of this world because there is no way that if we had that we wouldn't control the skies and brick work for sean from cleveland, ohio independent. >> how are you doing? in 2017, i own a martial arts school i was sleeping in there and i woke up there are footprints i had locked my doors in my school and i have an alarm system i had turned on when i woke up in the morning they were alien footprints tracks at that whit across the floor. i videotaped it and had two witnesses come there they will all take a polygraph test. my question is -- and by the way the video and all the evidence i sent because this happened in 2017 the beginning of 2018 i sent that and was surprised to see you did an interview with him he talks exactly about that. every time someone asks them are the things of threat?

that's exactly what happened to me the evidence that i sent him is exactly what he describes. you go to sleep, you wake up there's footprints across the floor you lock your doors and turned on by these things are threat questioning i am the person who sent that information and like i said mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that when the senate xreets its -- expleets its business today -- completes its business to convene for pro forma sessions only and that following each pro forma session, the senate adjourn until the next pro forma session. friday, july 28, 11:45am tuesday, aug 1, 2:15pm friday, aug 4, 12:00pm tuesday, aug 8, 10:00am friday, aug 11, 9:00am tuesday, aug 15, tbd friday, aug 18, 1:00pm tuesday, aug 22, 2:00pm friday, august 25, at 12 noon,

tuesday, aug 29, 11:45am friday, sept 1, 11:45am further, that when the senate adjourns on friday, september 1, it stand adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on tuesday, september 5, on tuesday, following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. following the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the jefferson nomination. further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the

the senate now begins its august estate work. will return for votes after the labor day holiday in september. earlier centers to pass the 2024 defense programs and policy bill. the house approved its version of the ledge version known as the national defense authorization act for mda earlier this month. differences between the two bills will now be worked out in a house-senate conference committee but live coverage of the senate when they next return here on cspan2. >> if you ever miss any of c-span coverage you can find it in the time online at c-span.org. videos of key hearings, debates and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlights. these points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen to hit play unselect

videos this timeline makes it easy to quickly get an idea of what was debated and decided in washington. scroll through and spend a few minutes of c-span's points of interest. ♪ american history tv, saturdays on cspan2 exploring the people at events that tell the american story. at 3:00 p.m. east of the calvin coolidge centennial conference host some of the calvin coolidge a presidential foundation and library of congress, the event marks the centennial of the 30th ascension to the white house and at 9:30 p.m. eastern on the presidency, a discussionn remembering first lady pat dixon and betty ford who served back-to-back terms in the white house from 1969 until 1977 for exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturdays on cspan2 but a full schedule of your program guide or watch online anytime at

c-span.org/history. ♪ c-span is your unfiltered view of governments. funded by these television companies and more including cox. ♪ is extremely rare. but friends don't have to be. when you are connected, you are not alone. ♪ cox support sees fit as a public service month these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democracy. senate majority leader chuck schumer spoke with reporters following senate passage of the 2024 defense programs and policy bill. leader schumer discussed the legislation and the achievements of the july work. as lawmakers now begin a month-long recess back in their home states.