supplemental appropriations or insurgent national security and disaster relief priorities. we need to continue to invest in america's defense industrial base both to support our part letters in today's fight, and to help our forces deter tomorrow's threats. and as our colleagues from florida and hawaii know all too well, the communities shatter by natural disasters over the summer. so the senate reconvenes with our work cut out for us and a deadline fast approaching. i hope each of our colleagues have returned ready to do their part. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded by these companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? no, it's way more than that.

>> comcast is creating centers for wi-fi enabled listening for families can do anything. >> c-span is funded by these providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> the senate is about to gavel in and will continue work on biden administration nominations, and phillip jefferson to be vice chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system and then a vote to move forward with the nomination of gwen will cox. the chaplain: let us pray. lord, this is the day that you have made and we will rejoice

and be glad in it. thank you for the beauty of the earth and for the glory of the skies. thank you for the love from which our birth over and around us lies. be near today to our senators. infuse them with reverence for you. may this reverential awe manifest itself through their civility, humility, integrity, and faithfulness. lord, give them a respect and forbearance in all they think, say, and do as they are energized by your divine presence.

bless them and keep them and give them your peace. we pray in your sovereign name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., september 6, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, federal reserve system, philip nathan jefferson of north carolina to be vice chairman of the board of governors.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, over the past

few months, the senate appropriations process has been a shining example of how things should work in washington. these are divided times in a closely divided chamber. but nevertheless, we can summarize the senate's work of funding the government down to one word, bipartisan, one word, bipartisan. thanks to the outstanding work of appropriations chair patty murray and vice chair susan collins and many other colleagues from both sides, all 12 appropriations bills have been reported out of the committee with bipartisan responsible. some of them, many, were were unanimous bipartisan support. that doesn't mean everyone agreed to on everything. it means something more important. it means that disagreements haven't paralyzed the process. this month, one of the senate's top priorities will be to keep the government open beyond the september 30 deadline.

both parties in both chambers will have to work together if we're to avoid a shutdown. so when the house returns next week, implore -- i implore -- my republican colleagues in the house to recognize that time is short to keep the government open, and the only way to avoid a shutdown is through bipartisanship. house republicans should follow the senate's example and work with democrats to pass strong bipartisan appropriations bills. they'll have their first chance to show their commitment to bipartisanship when they return next week. the only thing americans need -- the last thing americans need right now is a pointless government shutdown. our economy has come a very long way since the darkest days of the covid pandemic. inflation is slowing down. job growth remains strong. the investments we've made through the infrastructure law, the chips and science act, and the inflation reduction act are

paying off, with new projects and new, good-paying jobs. we shouldn't squander all of that now. a shutdown is unnecessary and would harm so many american families and businesses. but if both sides work in good faith, embrace bipartisanship as we've done in the senate, and avoid all-or-nothing tactics, then there will be no shutdown, and that will be very good news for the american people, because the american people suffer most when there's a shutdown. now, on our a.i. insight forums. next week did the senate will host a gathering unlike any we've seen before here in washington when we kick off our inaugural a.i. insight forum on september 13. a gathering unlike any seen before to debate a topic unlike any other. our world is already changing in dramatic ways because of artificial intelligence, but we're likely just at the start.

so to meet the challenge of this moment, our a.i. insight fowms will convene some of america's leading voicemailses in a.i., from different walks of life and many different viewpoints, executives and civil rights leaders, researchers, advocates, voices from labor and defense and business and the arts. i'm proud to say next week's a.i. insight forum, the first of a whole series that we'll host this fall, will be high-powered, i diverse, but above all balanced. that's precisely what congress needs right now. our economies have already done great -- our economies have already done great bipartisan work on this topic. ultimately, they'll be tasked with drafting legislation. these insight forums will supercharged the committee process by getting to the root of a.i. -- where to start, wht questions to ask, how to move forward. they will help committees do the work. and let me stress something,

there is true bipartisan interest to work op a.i. here in the senate. i want to change my colleagues, senators, rounds, young, and heinrich for working with me to organize these forums as well as all my colleagues from both sides who recognize we must move quickly on this issue. legislating a.i. is not going to be easy. in fact, it will be one of the most difficult things we've ever undertaken. we cannot behave like ostriches, sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to a.i. both parties must work together and treat a.i. with the same level of seriousness as national security, job creation, our civil liberties, because very soon, if not already, a.i. will impact all these issues and more. finally, on student debt relief, last month president biden announced his new save plan for student loan borrowers, calling it the most affordable student

loan repayment plan ever created. not one day into this work period, senate republicans are trying to torpedo this new lifeline for millions of american borrowers. in the wake of the supreme court's horrendous decision earlier this year, president biden has unrolled a student debt plan that already is helping millions. it's targeted relief for those who need it most -- working class families, middle-class families, wore others of color, and remarkably four million borrowers have already enrolled. those with undergraduate loans will pay no more dhan 5% of their income. many with lower incomes will see monthly student loan payments cut in half. some will see it drop to zero. many more will save up to a thousand dollars a year on payments. think about what these savings will empower people to do -- save for a down payment on a loam, start a family, create a business, contribute to the

economy. isn't that something we should all get behind? well, apparently and unfortunately senate republicans think not. on the very same day that the administration announced four million borrowers enrolled to the save plan, senate republicans announced their plan to eliminate this lifeline. it's becoming a trend -- democrats work hard to find new ways to provide relief for borrowers in need, then republicans, instead of working with us to find a fix to our broken student loan system, immediately shoot them down. my colleagues on the other side like to talk about lowering costs, but then they turn around and oppose any attempt to give student loan borrowers the help they need. for them, that's the biggest, or one of the biggest, costs they have. they use -- the republicans use the same old tired excuse, the student loan relief only helps the few, the wealthy. that's utter nonsense. president biden's save plan will benefit the americans who need it most -- working and middle

class families, stiewbility of colors -- students of color, community college borrowers and borrowers in public service. senate democrats will strongly oppose this republican measure should it come to the floor for a vote. we'll stand with student loan borrowers as we continue to push for as much relief as possible. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the

republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to begin today by quoting a concise assessment of threats facing the united states and our interests. quote, a central continuity in history is the contest for power. three main sets of challengers, the revisionist powers of china and russia, the rogue states of yairnd and north korea, and transnationals' threat organizations, particularly jihadist terrorist groups, are actively competing against the united states and our allies and our partners. china and russia want to shape a world antithetical to u.s. values and interests. china seeks to displace the united states in the indo-pacific region, expand the reaches of its state-driven

economic model, and reorder the region in its favor. russia seeks to restore its great power status and establish fears of -- spheres of influence near its borders. end quote. that, mr. president, was the previous administration's national security strategy back in 2017. if anything, the threats it warned about at the end of the first year in office are even greater today. russia and china have both become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad. just before russia's escalation of its war against ukraine, our two most significant revisionist adversaries announced a friendship without limits. engineer the past year and a --

in the past year and a half, putin has aligned russia even more openly with rogue regimes hostile to the united states, like iran and north korea. we must not ignore this contest for power. here's another passage from the 2017 strategy, quote, to prevail we must integrate all elements of america's national power, political, economic, and military. our allies and partners must also contribute to the capabilities and demonstrate the will to confront shared threats. experience suggests that the willingness of rivals to abandon or forgo aggression depends on the perception of u.s. strength and the vitality of our alliances. in my view, the lessons are clear -- under the previous

administration, we began to rebuild america's strength with defense budget increases. under the current administration, that strength has been undermined by a disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan, desperate diplomacy toward iran, and a head-in-the-sand approach to north korea. our enemies have been encouraged by meager defense budgets across nato, including repeated budget requests by this administration that failed to even keep up with inflation. sips putin's escalation in -- since putin's escalation in ukraine, president biden has not been as decisive as many of us would have preferred. but this is no excuse for congress to compound his administration's failures with failures of our own. now, if nato -- with nato

unified and europe awakened from its defense holiday and starting to spend real money on our collective defense, it's certainly not the time to go wobbly. now with ukraine bravely defending its sovereignty and eroding russia's capacity to threaten nato, it is not the time to ease up. now, with russia and china's friendship without limits, and putin's embrace of iran and north korea, it's not the time for america to step back. so, mr. president, i'll have more to say on the conflict in ukraine and how the president hasn't been skies -- decisive enough, how our assistance isn't used to good effect, and our the industrial base and competition with china. for now, let's just be absolutely clear about a few

things. helping ukraine retake its territory means weakening -- means weakening -- one of america's biggest strategic adversaries without firing a shot, and determining another one in the process. it means investing directly in american strength, both prirlt and economic -- military and economic. our colleagues will have the opportunities to do all of these when we pass the supplemental appropriation before the month is out. now, on another matter, this week senate democrats are attempting to tip the partisan scales and weaponize a regulatory authority that impacts millions of american workers and businesses. the senate's long-standing practice is to fill democrat and republican vacancies on

important boards and commissions in tandem. but instead of pairing gwynne a. wilcox, president biden's choice for a democrat seat on the national labor relations board, with a republican counterpart, our colleagues would like to create an artificial liberal super majority. mr. president, washington democrats' runaway inflation continues to send headwinds through the american economy. credit card debt is an all-time high. in historic numbers, workers concluded that democrats' big-labor allies are not in their corner. fewer and fewer employees want to hand their hard-earned money over to union bosses. last year, just 6%, 6% of the private sector workforce belonged to a union. just this year, one major union had to fire its president for

misusing workers' dues, and officials from at least two other organizations are facing lengthy prison terms for embezzlement. all the while, committed partisans like ms. wilcox and liberals at the nrlb made it their mission to run roughshod over american floirs, stack the -- employers, stack the deck for democrats' big-labor allies, and keep corrupt and failing unions on life support with a tangled mess of regulations. the last thing our country needs is an emboldened partisan majority at the hem of the nlrb. unfortunately, that's exactly what we'll get if democrats confirm ms. wilcox's nomination all by itself. so i would strongly is urge my colleagues to join me in voting no later today.

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

this is max cohen of punchbowl news. is reports on congress and her to talk about in part deadlines coming up for congress. thanks for coming on the program. me. >> host: and the newsletter this morning the first line of punch bowl newsletter says this, a warning siren blaring in speaker kevin mccarthy direction and the message is he's in a prime position to get jammed by the senate. what's going on? >> guest: this is referring to the battle over the supplemental funding request in the white house at $40 billion in aid for ukraine, disaster relief and money to secure the southern border. kevin mccarthy and his house republican conference is to have been on board with his request but yesterday we saw mitch mcconnell the top republican in the senate back this and backed by senate democrats. what we have as a unified senate

in favor of this request and in favor of not shutting down the government at the end of september. it's a different story. >> host: first of all, ukraine spending why is a part of this package? >> guest: white house wants to give more assistance to ukraine in the spending battle. there are then some restraints on how much you can raise money and defense spending. another avenue to get more a to ukraine military economic is through this supplemental request which is one way democrats and white house and many senate republicans and more mainstream republicans want to do this but it's crucial in house to get action with freedom caucus type republicans who say we shouldn't be sending money to ukraine, focusing on the united states itself, focusing on crises they site at the border. that's the dynamic. >> host: the second part boards degree being part of that and also how that relates to disaster relief as well. >> guest: the white house was putting together a bunch of things trying to make what can win over republican support. the border security measures was

a play to set look let's get some bipartisan support. if we can get something set of priorities that republicans have maybe they'll support something seen as democratic priorities the disaster aid, wildfires recently in hawaii and elsewhere throughout the country disaster relief it is an important issue to replenish funds that fema has an cms says we need more money to help deal with these natural disasters across the country. >> host: as for the time when in the senate since a back from break what we expect to see his activity on these various measures? >> guest: it's tough to say right now because the house is a key component but what i i wod say is some expected this $40 billion supplemental request in the short-term continuing prep solution in the governance a look in a september timeline in my opinion, fractional nisan also never to stop the government shutdown. >> host: the continuing resolution, talk about it and what's the danger the government shutting down because a lack of

money? >> guest: we need to be realistic there is a danger of the government shutting down silted because there's a dimwit and house and senate on this issue. we talked to a bunch of senators last night, talking to republican senators who told me they were concerned by what they saw from house republicans in the sense house republicans are demanding some very partisan aspects in return for their vote for continuing resolution which would only be to extend the deadline from september, and of september 2 the middle of november. we are not looking to pass a false spending you yet. just punting. some house republicans said if i want to vote to continue a resolution i need an impeachment against president joe biden or i need defunding the jack smith special counsel, thinks it will not pass the senate no way. we're looking at a big difference difference in the senate as we said in the intro they are more unified than house because both republicans and democrats largely want to keep the government open but a bunch of house republicans that a

government shutdown that's okay with me if it means some of these programs we don't agree with are not funded. >> host: when it comes to that shutdown being okay, do either speaker mccarthy or minority leader mitch mcconnell buy into that? >> guest: definitely not speaker mccarthy of those he's not saying a source of asthma. mccarthy wants to govern, once to show country house republicans who only have a very narrow majority thicken govern. he doesn't want a shutdown but many members on the right of this conference would be okay. he needs to thread the needle and what he's done in past months is give some red meat to his republican members we . we saw that in the ndaa and the debt limit fight, get some concessions on conservative wish list priorities in order to get a larger bill passed. we might see vatican. >> host: max cohen our guest and here to talk about the deadlines with a come to funding issues. if you would ask to that you can do so online come democrats

202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001. and independence 202-748-8002. if you want to text that you can do that at 202-748-8903. in light of his various bills coming from the same what's the sales pitch that speaker mccarthy has to is very sanctioned in-house? >> guest: they're making the opposite claim in terms of his actions. nursing we need something in this bill to make us look for it. they do want to see the senate is something you want to accept. there's this very big diversion between house republicans and senate republicans are many issues. senate republicans by larger more willing to play ball with democrats. we see mcconnell do that and more establishment friendly republicans do this you. house republicans a we have a majority in the house, and equal branch of this congress, why should we give in? the sales page for mccarthy would be look, we want to keep the government open because want to keep our majority and if

voters think we are shutdown party that might hurt us next year, and will say maybe i will give you an impeachment inquiry vote opening up an impeachment investigation not impeachment itself at say hey, let's vote on this thing which many freedom caucus republicans have said this is important for us. we think joe biden has done -- that's been praised by some like marjorie taylor green as acceptable compromise for them to fund the government for short period of time. >> host: if a shutdown what's the preparation as far as the house and senate doing as far as actually preparing for a shutdown? >> guest: we are not there yet. we're still in early september so they are not serious conversations happening now. what i would say is to your last question how was mccarthy pitching this, he will say to his members in addition we want more time to pass our very conservative spending cut full-year fiscal 2024 year spending bill. that might be his also rhetoric

is that you guys want to cut spending, a huge priority for house republicans. we can get there but we need more time to pass all appropriation bills through the house because so far very few have passed in-house. >> host: kathleen is in mississippi. she joined us on a democrat's line for max cohen a punchbowl news. extra calling. go ahead. >> caller: the problem is we should not be working on daylight saving times till dark. we should not be have to go and get payday loans and people work in education system driving bus and doing labor, get paid once monthly. it is sad that they are cutting off everybody on medicaid, chips, medicaid expansion. we are here.

and viewer is, this is going global. stop killing us and our children. thank you. >> guest: i think medicaid funding was mentioned there. that's something democrats have tried to claim republicans are trying to cut. that would be a campaign issue and the issuance spending fights to come. democrats and republicans in the shutdown would wreak havoc on many programs vulnerable americans rely on and expect that kind of rhetoric and those arguments to come to the fore as a close we get to a government shutdown. democrat argument is the shutdown has the biggest impact on the course in society, the ones who depend on government programs the most. >> host: therese in tennessee, republican, good morning. >> caller: good morning. how are you? >> host: you are on with our guest comic first of all, i don't like the way joe biden is extorting this country saying you either approve my ukraine

finding or you don't get no disaster aid. why is he not, why is he putting them altogether? it's like back mail to republicans. he knows they don't support funding ukraine as much as he does but he's going to so that disaster aid in with the and then border security? you really think joe biden is going to secure the border? what does he need more money for border security for? and then another thing on kevin mccarthy, if republicans can't get rid of kevin mccarthy we will vote him out. i would rather lose the house then have kevin mccarthy go in with republicans and doing everything joe biden wants, and then mitch mcconnell wanting every penny, like agreeing to every penny that joe biden says for $40 billion, and and now you know why joe biden, and said i hope mitch mitch mcconnell stays healthy. he needs them long enough to get that stupid bill.

it's, it's ridiculous. it's ridiculous. and $700 to the people who lost their lives in hawaii? it's just crazy. >> host: you put a lockout for guests and relate them respond he wishes. >> guest: in terms of our start with a ukrainian disaster relief. this is another argument for a lot of conservative republicans lately is why put the two things together they would support a clean bill just as ashley park you don't support ukraine funding. i would say this is is that anything get in washington. parties and politicians twin together parties to build a coalition of votes. but i do think the white house might have stronger hand her because they're such a need to get disaster relief out that many politicians might say i don't support as much aid to ukraine but there are community suffering so may be a smart political play. interestingly the kevin mccarthy points, including a lot of angst amongst the

republican base against the speaker and callers like that of also members and mccarthy's own conference are not totally happy with his child performs and that explains a lot in my opinion his action a speaker of the house, he's worried about a conservative revolt, the motion to vacate is always thrown up in these instances. we saw the case last night threatened to out mccarthy if he doesn't get his priorities. it's a difficult job mccarthy has to both satisfy the right of his comforts and remember as mention he'll has a five seat majority and to protect his vulnerable incumbents who will be in tough reelection races in 2024. >> host: hill in ohio, independent line. >> caller: hello, max. i was wondering if you could help me out if i i got some bd information or something. you were talking about fema requesting more funding. when we heard on the report the fema responders were staying and five-star resorts and kind of

wasting money is seems like. why couldn't they stay nmr and expensive cheaper hotel tracer i can't speak to that because i'm not familiar with the report of them staying in certain accommodation but what it would say is that i think the problem with the money is larger than a certain number of nights in a hotel. i think that to respond to these disasters requires billions of dollars, i think it's $12 billion the government, government is requesting for fema sort talk about a larger picture in terms of responding to these devastating wildfires and floods. >> host: 16 billion is actual figure. again it's tied to that of the things you've been talking about max cohen or guess a lot of things going on with the senate back this week. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans and independents 202-748-8002. max cohen i want to play a a t from the white house press briefing yesterday. the supplemental request at

least the white house desire to see that happening and giving the case for it. here's a bit of what she had to say. >> will ask for today is basically anomalies. fessler called, see our anomalies just to be clear about that and give it you a bit of rundown. on august 10 we sent congress a supplemental request for critical emergency funding as you just asked. that includes funding for disaster relief, $12 billion as you've heard from the administrator and also from liz moments ago supporting the people of ukraine and combating the fentanyl presses which is all an incredibly important. today omb set a technical package to congress called anomalies to avoid disruptions to government programs during a continuing resolution. that include an adjustment to with the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children. without this adjustment states would be forced to implement waiting lists causing women and children to go hungry and

pushing global families into poverty. so just for some clarity this is what congress should pass. they should pass both the supplemental request and the technical package as i laid out s consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, we recently passed the first anniversary of the so-called inflation reduction act. despite the white house's showy anniversary celebration, this legislation is not aging well. and that's not exactly a surprise, mr. president. it was clear from the beginning that this bill had problems. it was called the inflation reduction act yet before the bill had been signed into law, the nonpartisan pen whorton budget model was noting that the bill's impact on inflation was, quote, statistically ingrchable from zero. in other words, the inflation reduction act would do nothing to reduce inflation.

even president biden has essentially admitted that the bill's name was misleading. it was also clear from the outset that the bill's claims of deficit reduction were extremely shaky relying on accounting gimmicks and fuzzy math. then of course there were the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes on american wayses -- businesses, rarely i might add a strategy that produces economic growth or benefits for, working americans. there was a massive funding infusion into the irs focusing not on improving taxpayer services, interestingly enough, but on increasing audits to help fund the democrats' green new deal agenda. and more. the best that could be said for the inflation reduction act when it passed which isn't much was that it was less damaging than the staggering multitrillion dollar spending spree democrats had originally tried to implement their so-called build back better act. so it's not exactly a surprise

that the inflation reduction act isn't aging well, mr. president. it's become clear over the past year that the bill is even worse than it appeared originally. it was already an expensive piece of legislation, but the bill's costs have ballooned alarmingly. the bill's green new deal provisions which were originally projected to cost around $400 billion now expected to cost somewhere in the range of $660 billion to more than $1 trillion. let me repeat that, mr. president, the bill's green new deal provisions which were originally projected to cost around $400 billion are now expected to cost somewhere in the range of $660 billion to more than $1 trillion. if democrats reduction claims for this bill were shaky before, they are really, really shaky now. it's not hard to imagine that the steep increase in the bill's

costs could mean that it ends up adding to the deficit instead of reducing it. and now it's emerged that some of the biggest beneficiaries of the bill's green energy subsidies are not american companies but foreign companies. not only that, billion dollar companies are expected to receive the lion share of the bill's green energy -- or green energy tax subsidies. ironic for a president who claims he wants to make big companies, quote, pay their fair share. it also turns out that the bill's provisions are actually driving up the cost of green energy projects and inflating the cost of project materials and labor. it's no wonder that president biden recently said of the inflation reduction act, and i quote, i wish i hadn't called it that, end quote. and, mr. president, i haven't even mentioned other aspects of this legislation, like the bill's price controls for prescription drugs which will

curtail medical innovation and development of new medications. when the biden administration originally proposed this policy, research from the university of chicago projected that price controls on prescription drugs and medicare would result in 135 fewer new drugs available to patients. now we're seeing those projections come to fruition and multiple drug companies have indicated that they are halting research into new treatments for cancer and other diseases as a result of the inflation reduction act. mr. president, president biden has been spending a lot of time recently talking about his economic philosophy or lack thereof which he's taken to calling bidenomics. according to the white house, it's a philosophy based on, and i quote, growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up. while also spending responsibly, end quote. it's a nice sounding vision, mr. president, but it has little to

do with the economic reality in the biden administration. so-called american rescue plan act, the massive democrat spending spree that helped plunge our comoi into a two-year + inflation crisis is proof enough that, quote, spending bonsably is not exactly the mow dis operandi for democrats and for president biden. and as for, quote, growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, well, if the president really thinks he's doing that, i have a nice piece of ocean front property in south dakota to sell him. in fact, mr. president, it's lower adle middle inco-- lower and middle-income americans who have suffered the most in the biden economy. prices have increased by 15% since the president took office, 20% for groceries and inflation is costing the average household more than $900 per month. $900 per month.

show me a working family who finds that affordable. bidenomics, according to the president, is supposed to be lifting up working families, but in reality working families in the biden economy are struggling just to get by. a grim line in a new story the other day noted and i quote, with 60% of people in the united states living paycheck to paycheck, households are turning to credit cards and retirement savings as lifelines. with 60% of people in the united states living paycheck to paycheck, households are turning to credit cards and retirement savings as lifelines. that, mr. president, is the reality of life under bidenomics. but you only need to listen to one of the president's speeches to know that the president isn't overly troubled by economic reality. lately the president has been taking credit for the recent

moderation in the inflation rate. well, that takes a lot of gall. it is a little like punching a hole in a boat and then taking credit for rescuing the occupants from drowning except that in this case, the president isn't even doing the rescuing. the rate inflation has slowed in spite of the white house not because of it. in fact, if the president had his way, congress would have passed a lot more reckless spending and inflation would likely have gotten even worse. as it is, americans are having to deal not only with the ongoing effects of democrats' self-inflicted inflation crisis, but with the steep rate hikes the federal reserve has imposed to dig us out of the democrats' inflation mess. these rate hikes have made borrowing more expensive putting the dream of homeownership or necessities like replayersing an aging car oh owe replacing an aging car out of reach for many

americans. and there may be more economic pain on the way if democrats have their way. the democrat leader recently promised or perhaps, i should say, threatened to pass an even bigger green new deal bill than the inflation reduction act if democrats regain full control of washington in the next election. i don't even want to think about how much that kind of legislation could cost taxpayers or what damage that kind of legislation could do to our economy. mr. president, the president can talk all he wants about bidenomics as building the economy from bottom up and the middle out. to americans who have lived under the biden economy, bidenomics means something very different. perhaps the president should check in with the 58% of workers who say the economy has gotten worse over the past two years before he gives his next

celebratory speech. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president, i would ask to dispense with the calling of the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: mr. president, i rise this morning to discuss the promotions of our military

leaders. during the past month, i had the opportunity, as many of my colleagues did, to visit our troops overseas and around the country. as always, i was moved by the selflessness and courage and i was impressed by the knowledge and skill of our military leaders. we ask much of our servicemembers and their families, and they deserve our gratitude and support. so although i was proud to spend time with our troops and their families this past month, i was appalled by the hardship and respect many of them areexperie. while congress had a month of recess, hundreds of military officers were denied their promotions, hundreds ever military families played as political pawns, and our national security was undermined. all because one senator disagrees with the legal health care policy. for more than six months, the

senior senator from alabama has blocked every senior military promotion. now totaling nearly 300 officers. in his bid to extort the pentagon he is dangerously wrong. the secretary of defense and every member of the joint chiefs of staff has condemned as a whole and describe the damage he's inflicting on u.s. military leadership. seven retired secretaries of defense both republican and democrat have condemned the senator's actions and urged him to drop ãjust yesterday secretaries of the army navy and air force rebuked alabama senator and the damage he's causing to our military

awareness. the senator "has prevented the defense department from placing almost 300 of our most experienced and battled texas leaders into critical posts around the world. many of our most important offices are being blocked indeed if you look at the photo behind me you will see ãã instead, a consistent group of leaders there are notable absences. eventually, if the senator persists, this whole board will be full of blank spaces.we will have no effect of military leadership. three of these faces as you noticed our blank. because of the senator's goal. for the first time in the history of the army, navy, and marine corps are without top leaders present he's blocking

the confirmation of general eric's next, the next, not from the marine corps and general randy george the next chief of staff of the united states army. next week we will hold confirmation hearings for admiral lisa friend shelley the first female officer to be the ,chief of naval operations and general david alvin the next chief of staff of the air force. the senator has indicated he will block both of these nominations. at the end of september the chairman of the joint chief of staff general millie is legally required to retire. the joint chief consist of eight offices the chairman, vice-chairman and the service chief of the army, navy, air force marine corps 's and the chief of the national guard bureau. if the senator does not come to his senses before general millie retires, half of the joint chiefs of staff our nation's most vital military

leaders will be empty. concern the senator it does not appreciate the gravity of the situation. these positions cannot simply be filled by other officers. they can only be temporarily covered by their vice chiefs who must also continue to cover their own jobs. and at this level, most jobs is 24/7. having 224 seven jobs is quite demanding. these are extraordinarily challenging times and jobs are vice chiefs are just as important and challenging as those of the chief of staff for chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the senator is flirting with disaster to force these offices to fill two enormous jobs simultaneously. dozens of key commanders are also being held the senator is

blocking nomination of the commander of cyber command. who also serves as the director of the national security agency. will know how much cyber has become an integral and perhaps divisive decisive part of our military strategy. and to leave that position blank is to leave ourselves vulnerable to the cyber operations of multiple adversaries and criminal banks and to leave us in a void when it comes to improving and looking forward years ahead with vision to what we must do to be not only competitive but to be dominant in the cyberspace. is blocking nomination of the next commander of the navy seventh fleet i hear so many

times my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to particularly the other side argue about how we have to do more to protect taiwan. we have to do more to resist china's incursions one thing you don't want to do is have an ad hoc arrangement in ecommand of this fleet and that's exactly what we have. is blocking the nomination of the next commander of the navy fleet critical points and particularly again with my colleagues with good cause against the iranians if we do not have confident consistent confirm leadership in fleet and running the risk of giving an advantage to the iranians and not an advantage to the united states and its allies.

during a time when nato continues to provide critical support to ukraine in its war against russia. as nato itself is expanding to counter the threats posed by russia, when i troubled europe last month i met with the leaders of the security assistance group ukraine or sag you. the newly established command dedicated coordinating tracking and expediting security assistance to ukraine during my visit i saw firsthand a tremendous job that air force is doing to train and equip the ukrainians. however, i was disappointed to learn that the deputy command of the sag view is being blocked from avpotion by the senator from alabama. not having confirmed deputy first i you during this time the complex and consequential situation is simply unacceptable. we are trying to assess the he

ukrainians in defending their freedom but more importantly, to send the signals throughout the entire world that our top receives will be ifdefeated by democracies. if that message is not successful then you will see problems not just in europe, which will become increasingly more dominated by putin but you will see across the globe and china also. where their lesson will be you just last long tenough and the divisions within the united states take hold, you will succeed. of the 852 general offices and our military we expect that 650 of them will need to pass through the senate for promotion or we are assigned by the end of this year. an additional 110 offices will be forced to perform two jobs

simultaneously. nearly 90% of our general offices our most senior military leaders will be affected by the senator from alabama. he has achieved what america's enemies could only dream of. instability in the ranks of our military leadership. united states military is one of the finest mirror correctly sees in the world. our service members swear an oath to the constitution rather than a party or leader. they can be confident that with hard work, skill and character they will be successful in their military careers. rising to the top of this meritocracy to the rank of general or admiral demands remarkable talent and leadership and dedication to the military of service above self. american senior officers place faith in congress to do its job

to approve their promotions based on merit in a timely manner. will the senator from alabama to deny these offices they are merit-based promotions for own political gain is simply disgraceful. after six months it seems that neither reason nor any other factor will sway him. my colleagues indeed settle my colleagues i believe on the other side have offered compromises but he has rejected each one. the senator on service committee considered legislation to appeal the policy which was rejected by the committee. right here on the floor the senator had the opportunity and the chance to vote on an amendment to the mda that would have repealed a policy, he rejected that choice. instead he continues to change his demand. at this point one has to wonder

if the senator actually wants to achieve his demands or if you just wants to stay in the spotlight. indeed as he recently admitted to a right-wing podcast "i don't care if they promote anybody, to be honest with you. the same way that military officers are expected to hold each other to account my republican colleagues must challenge their colleagues to do what they know is right. they must say publicly what they miadmit many times in private. has behavior is damaging to our national security. many senate republicans know what it means to serve in uniform. i've traveled the combat zones around the world with them and i know they understand what our servicemembers need from congress to achieve the missions we asked them to do. it is now time for republicans to do what's right and

necessary and and this blockade. specifically, the senator claims that the pentagon reproductive health care alpoli is illegal. he is wrong. the department of justice examined pentagons policy and found it to be entirely legal, consistent with 40 years of precedent through both republican and democratic administrations. no lawsuits have been filed against the department because no lawyer seriously believes the policy is illegal. further, tathe secretary of defense and every uniform a political member of the joint chiefs of staff have endorsed the policy as appropriate and necessary, particularly in regard to readiness. every institution in this country is responsible for overseeing the pentagon has reviewed its policy upheld its legality and disproven arguments y.to contrary. finally, and most disturbing,

the senator claims he is not harming military families. he knows that isn't true. hundreds of fmilitary families children and spouses, cannot move to new duty stations enroll in new schools or seek new jobs. hundreds of offices are facing genuine financial stress because they have to relocate their family or unexpectedly maintain two residences. beyond the service committee has heard from any of these families like most other americans families august is the month when many military families move, began new schools, and join sports teams. regrettably, because of the senator's role, we know many military students who have been disenrolled from their current schools and anticipation of a move but now cannot be enrolled in new schools. we know of many children who have already missed out on fall

sports season we know of families who pay out-of-pocket to move duty stations in hthe hopes of reuniting with their servicemember whenever the senator sees reason. we know sfamilies who are losin literally thousands of dollars a month because the offices are assuming the duties of higher positions without holding higher ranks. every civil day the senator continues his hold military families suffered. he is punishing those who least deserve it in fact, for the sacrifice and service to the nation they should be rewarded or punished. as a retired secretary to the defense road republican administrations " we can think of two things as a responsible and uncaring as harming the families who those who serve our nation in uniform. senator from alabama knows he has lost his argument on the

merit. he knows the policy he disagrees with it is legal. he knows he has legislative tools available to try to change the policy but he also knows he likely does not have the vote to prevail. so he has chartered the men of the women of the military itself and their families he knows the damage he's calling don't cause into our military families and national security it appears he simply does not care. for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle it question is, how long will a single senator be allowed to cause such damage to s our military. when will my colleagues on the other side of the aisle speak out and act. republicans must call and their colleague and and this shameful charade. mr. president, if this continues, all of most of these

pictures will be blank. general brown might retain his chief of staff of the air force but he will not be chairman. general millie will depart. we can't tolerate this. again, we all have to come together for the men and women who serve and their families and with that, i yield the floor. >> clerk, call the role

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: i ask consent to end the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cotton: i rise today to

honor keith stokes, a beloved arckian and trusted aide. on august 18 i august 18 tragically passed away from a heart attack he's in our prayers along with the entire stokes family especially his wife julie and his children chip and abby. keith wasn't only calling he was a close family friend. they lived just up the road from the structures in alchemy julian my mother worked together in the middle school for years. keith was a pillar of the direct-mail community from the school board to the hospital board mentoring young athletes to cooking meals for teachers charities and even the football pressbox my father included. ayer into my turn of the senate i heard keith was looking for a new job. i jumped at the opportunity to hire him as an agricultural advisor i knew how much he cared about arkansas's farmers foresters ranchers it was one

of the best decisions i made as senator. keith understood the arkansans lace up their boots in the morning and work with their hands who aren't afraid to get dirty to get the job done. the men and women who shower at the end of the day not at the beginning. he understood them because hhe was one of them. he lived on a farm he worked in the pork and forestry industries for years and cultivated an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from the crops in the field to the beatles and the fourth animal hunting season. he knew everything about arkansas from the soil to the people keith could go into a town within hours and learn what was wearing the farmers he had a way of making everyone feel important.even if he was just getting a quick breakfast at a diner he would venture to say something nice to the waitress and make the person behind the counter left. keith knew that kindness cost

nothing but its value is priceless. he was often the smartest man in the room even if he didn't admit it and usually tried to conceal it. he never bragged or drew attention from others he was always eager to listen and give credit ronald reagan had a famous small plaque on his desk in the oval office that read there is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit. you live by that creed keith embodied it. keith was a trusted advisor and study had during difficult times. at 59 he was a bit older than most congressional aides but the extra years of experience on full display when it was needed most. he navigated high stress situations with poise humor and ãwhen a tornado best in the town of lindisfarne he was among the first people on the ground. he remained in constant communication with the mayor and other state and local officials anytime someone had a

question about who to contact or what was going on or what the locals needed we knew we could just ask keith. he was great at ishis job. but that wasn't the most important thing about keith that people who work with him. to work with keith was like being adopted into the stokes family. some areas got a second father while others got a fifth grandparent. keeps coworkers would often get a text message in the morning from keith just checking and saying hello if you didn't reply you could be ldsure he would follow up quickly. each year my aides across the state have a christmas party and each year keith would insist on barbecuing for the whole office. each year he would cut too much and end up feeding much of the rest of the building too. during covid one of his coworkers had to cancel a planned wedding shower. he drove across the state he

stopped where he thought was an impromptu visit only to find that keith had organized a surprise wedding shower and for every pair in our office keith would get their kid sizes and begin a one-man recruitment campaign to make them fans of the university of arkansas. many razorback onesies made their way through our offices. one coworker lost her father and mentioned she would miss talking to him on the phone each day, keith began to call her every day even on weekends. he only missed one call in three years. when she was stuck in an ice storm without water and couldn't drive her car keith drove over two hours at night in the bad erweather to deliver water and a smile. one another coworker tragically lost a child keith was there in that time of loss to provide comfort and prayers.

coworkers used words like humble honest loving caring professional god-fearing gentlemen. one put it well when she said they don't make them like keith anymore. there's a reason that when the senate staffers came to arkansas to visit they fought over who would get to ride in the car with keith. while coworkers knew keith as a beloved friend and colleague, most arkansans knew keith as the guy who raised task. for those who don't know and you all showed, let's be honest, task is the live mascot at the university of arkansas. other universities have easy safe kodaly mascots to raise like the oregon beavers, the georgia bulldogs, or the minnesota gophers. not arkansas and not keith. we have a razorback at 300 pound wild boar with giant tusks and a well-deserved reputation for a bad attitude.

for that reason the university of arkansas had long settled for a, frankly, embarrassing little pig in the last mascot. a small trailer with little fanfare about 25 years erago so former university of arkansas football players decided to get a real live razorback mascot. turned to keith who had experience working hogs. they also asked for his help designing a large and impressive trailer for the new mascots travel in style. keith took on the challenge with his usual enthusiasm determination and positive attitude. ever since keith and his family have raised task one through task five and i doubt any animals have ever been better treated or trained. keith devoted thousands of hours of his time to domesticate the tasks so they could travel and safely

interact with the fans. keith would have tusks follow him around everywhere on the farm and even raised a baby razorback in his home to acclimate it to human company. keith was such a good handler of the young fans could safely feed grapes to the giant boars. risktakers could edput an apple in their teeth and jet ããat risk of getting some slobber on them. they became celebrities in our state arkansans from every walk of life enjoyed seeing keith's truck and giant trailer with the razorback logo and tusks riding in the back. the stokes family saw it as their responsibility to the state to take care of arkansas's prized mascot. selflessly gave his time to razorback fans pacing patiently answering their plquestions abo tusks letting them play with tusks, even handing out task autographs. if you've heard you had

attended a razorback game he got you tickets if you hurt your kid had outgrown the last rays of church he sent a replacement would soon be on the way. he show the same kindness and generosity to strangers when he heard a young fan with down syndrome is also a fan of task, keith went out of his way to be sure he got ããone former arkansas football player said keith stokes was tusks and that he gave as much to the razorbacks as any player or coach. as much as keith loved his friends, our state and the arkansas the razorbacks, he loved his family most of all. keith and julie were inseparable and brightened each other's .lives for 39 wonderful years of marriage. he was always so proud of his son chip his daughter abby he joyfully welcomed his daughter-in-law lori and son-in-law tanner to the stokes

family. he walked abby down the aisle just this summer. and of course he adored his grandchildren colt and caroline who called him george. he love them all dearly and they all loved him. keith was a truly extraordinary man, it's hard to believe that he had time to do all the things he did, few people who live full and long lives do as much good and spread as much joy as keith stokes did in his too short 59 years with us. i do have to say that keith wasn't always right. one of his common jokes is that only six people would show up for his funeral and they would all be the pallbearers. i was there and boy was he wrong. it wasn't just six or a dozen or hundreds more than 1200 people came to mourn keith's laws and pay respects to his family. and keep the part of the funeral as he would have wanted instead of a traditional hearse

has bright arkansas a red casket rested in the bed of the truck he used the transport task.attendees were encouraged to wear red and in accordance with his wishes arkansas fight song took him to his final resting place. keith's final act was once again to add a small smile to his friends and family spaces even in the depths of their sadness. i was blessed to know keith i know he's looking down from heaven right now blushing from all the attention. it and his family and friends down here deeply miss him. thank you mr. president, i give you the floor.

>> mr. president, senator from kansas courts i ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks prior to scheduled roll call. i rise today to honor the life and mourn the passing of a kansan who i was privileged to know to know for many years and to work with for many years bill r fuller, mr. fuller touched lives the lives of everyone who knew him and he left the world and our state in a better place. he is in many ways traditional typical kansan he was raised on a family farm in rural ottawa county bill new as farmers do as kids growing up on farms no he knew the value of hard work

he knew the volume of several and he practiced that and he preached that. he had tended he was the chapter president of his ffa chapter he participated in band and choir and a member of the national honor society a member of the mile relay team and set a new record the case state indoor meet. wheat harvest was an important part of obill's life an important part of his early life and during his childhood years his family was selected to be part of the harvest brigade during world war ii agreeing to follow harvest across the country with two harris model 21 new technology harvesting machines something with alcohol, after graduating from kansas state university with a degree in agriculture, bill moved his young family to macbeth to continue working on the family farm and to be a teacher. years later he was elected in

1979 to serve in the kansas house of representatives, the kansas legislature, it's where here that i first met him. he had a really close working relationship with the senator that i served with in the state senate senator ross doyon of concordia, they served and work together on issues and committees related to agriculture and livestock and where he bill fuller would later become its chairman. after leaving the legislature he took a position as assistant director of public saffairs wit the kansas farm bureau. bill was known and respected as a champion of agriculture and the heart is the ããall of the congress house and later appointed by president george west bush as the executive director of usda kansas farm service agency fsa and there he supervised more than 500 employees managed $41 million budget administered for 30 programs conservation farm

loans and disaster relief and benefits to kansas farmers and ranchers. 2007 he was selected to receive the administrator's honor award march 12, 2001 and retired january 29 and the date of our state and 2009 he served two full terms as fsa director. bill worked tirelessly to make government work better for farmers and ranchers aacross c give us ããacross kansas and we enjoyed working with him on behalf of agriculture in kansas. bill also took the time to inspire many young people to be involved in agriculture both as a teacher and later with the kansas farm bureau. members of my staff have been students of bills and i'm grateful for his willingness to mentor and teach the next generation of farmers and those creating foreign policy. i know i will speak for many others when i say we will all miss his wisdom, his knowledge,

but also his kindness and caring just the joy to be with him. in kansas we know the value of community and rely upon our neighbors in the time of need bill demonstrated his connection with his neighborhood with his community as a member of the lions club is a leader of the lions club and his work as a volunteer in the rural fire department. rural fire districts are very important state and bill understood the value and spent much of his free time repairing and constructing firefighting equipment. bills life as an example of the difference that a person can make i'm i'glad he lived the li he lived i'm glad he made the difference he made and i know his legacy will live on in the agricultural community in the state that he loved. my prayers are with his wife janice has three children and the entire fuller family. and all in kansas who knew and loved him, mr. president i yield the loor.

>> the question occurs on the nomination. >> i asked for yeas and nays. >> there appears to be a second. clerk will call the roll [roll call]

senators voting in the affirmative. [roll call] f florida, tuberville.

vote: the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, aye, ms. ernst, aye. the clerk: mr. rubio, aye. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. schatz, aye. mr. merkley, aye.

mr. van hollen, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mr. welch, aye.

mr. carper, aye.

the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, no. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mrs. murray, aye. ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. mr. daines, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. wyden, aye.

the clerk: mrs. capito, aye. mr. cramer, aye. mr. blument, aye. -- mr. blumenthal, aye. mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mrs. fischer aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. the clerk: mr. brown, aye. mr. kaine, aye.

mr. braun, no. the clerk: mrs. blackburn, aye.

mr. scott of south carolina, aye. mr. menendez, aye. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

mr. cruz, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, aye.

the clerk: mr. crapo, aye. mr. grassley, aye.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. mr. warnock, aye. mr. risch, aye. ms. warren, aye.

claip --. the clerk: mr. rounds, aye.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, aye. the clerk: mr. lankford, no. mr. hoeven, aye. mr. reed, aye.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. boozman, aye. mr. paul, no. mrs. feinstein, aye.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. barasso, aye.

mr. kennedy, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, aye. mr. romney, aye. the clerk: mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. padilla, aye.

the presiding officer: the ayes are 88. the nays are 10. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 260, gwynne a. wilcox of new york to be a member of the national labor relations board signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of gwynne a. wilcox of new york to be a member of the national labor relations board shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory

under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito.

mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin.

ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith.

mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray.

mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker.

mr. wyden. mr. young. vote: the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative, bennet, blumenthal, cantwell, coons,

heinrich, hickenlooper, hirono, kaine, king, menendez, padilla, reed, sanders, schatz, sinema, stabenow, and welch. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. carper, aye. senators voting in the negative, braun, budd, capito, collins, cornyn, crapo, cruz, fischer, graham, grassley, hoeven, hyde-smith, kennedy, lankford, lummis, manchin, mcconnell, moran, mullin, paul, romney, rubio, thune, tillis, tuberville, wicker, and young. mr. ricketts, no. mr. barrasso, no. ms. warren, aye.

mr. markey, aye. mr. wyden, aye. the clerk: ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: mr. smith, no. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye. mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, no. mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. mr. durbin, aye. mrs. feinstein, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. ms. cortez-masto, aye. mr. vance, no. mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. ms. baldwin, aye. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, no. mr. lujan, aye. mr. daines, no. mr. cassidy, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye. the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mrs. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mr. risch, no. mr. schumer, aye. mr. johnson, no.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. ms. brit, no. mrs. britt, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.

vote: vote: vote:

vote:

vote:

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the presiding officer: the motion is agreed to. on this, the the yeas are 49,e motion is agreed to. under the previous order, the under the previous order, the this morning they voted to confirm philip jeffeon to be vice chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system andt took a procedural

vote on win well conscious of a gwynne wilcox to supranational labor relations board. a final vote on her nomination will be held at 2:15 p.m. when they they return from the recess. follow live live senate coe on c-span2. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. >> at mediacom we believe that whether you live here or right here, or when out in the middle of anywhere you should have access to fast reliable internet. that's why we are leading the way to taking you to gingery. >> mediacom supports c-span is a public service alo with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> earlier today immigration officials testified on homeland security department procedures for migrants encountered at the u.s. southern border.

the hearing comes nearly four months after the expiration of that title 42 emergency order allowing border patrol officers to turn away asylum seeker for public health reasons. watch tonight at eight eastern on c-span2, c-span now our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> this fall want c-span's new series of books that shaped america. join us as we embark on a captivating journey in partnership with the library of congress which first created a books that shaped america list to explore key works of literature from american history, the books featured have provoked thoughts, won awards, led to significant societal changes and parcel talked about today. hear from featured renowned experts who will shed light on the profound impact of these iconic works in virtual journeys to significant locations across the country.

among our featured books, common sense by thomas paine, huckleberry finn by mark twain, "their eyes were watching god" by zora neale hurston and free to choose by milton and grow friedman. watch our ten part series books that shaped american starting monday, september 18 at 9 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now are free mobile video app and online at c-span.org. >> and join us thursday for a preview of books that shaped america with library of congress carla hayden and historian and the song author douglas brinkley life from the library of congress auditory or carla hayden is a 14th librarian of congress and has been in office since 2016. douglas brinkley teaches at rice university and its author or editor books on several presidents or famous americans an many other topics. watch the preview of our new series books that shaped america

thursday livet 7 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span now are free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. >> host: this is max cohen of punchbowl news. he reports on congress and here to talk about in part deadlines coming up for congress. thanks for coming on the program. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> host: in the newsletter they cameth out the first line f punch bowl newsletter said this, there's a warning siren blaring mr. speaker kevin mccarthy extraction and the message is he's in a prime position to get jammed by the senate. what's going on? >> guest: this is referring to the battle over the supplemental funding request of the white house that $40 billion in aid for ukraine, disaster relief and also money to secure the southern border. kevin mccarthy and his house republican conference have not been on board with this request but yesterday we saw senate minority leader mitch mcconnell back this and also

strongly backed by senate democrats. we have a unified senate in favor of this request and also in favor of not shutting down the government at the end of september, it's a very different story in the house. >> host: first of all, ukraine spending come twice a part of this package? >> guest: the white house wants to give more assistance to ukraine in the spending battle, there are then some restraints on how m much you can raise mony and defense spending. another avenue to get more aid to ukraine military economic is to the supplemental request and that's one way democrats and the white house and also many senate republicans and more mainstream republicans want to do this but it's crucial in-house to take action of the freedom caucus type republicans who say we should be sending money to ukraine, should be focusing on the united states, focusing on crises they cite at the border. that's the kind of dynamic. >> host: the second part border security being part of that and also we've been had that relates to disaster relief as well. >> guest: the white house was tweening together things what

can and when of republican support. the border security measures what a play by the white house to say look let's get some bipartisan support. if we can get something set of priorities that republicans have maybe that willyb support something seen as democratic priorities. thee disaster aid, wildfires recently in hawaii and elsewhere throughout the country, disaster relief is an important issue to replenish funds that fema has an fema says they need more money to help deal with these natural disasters across the country. >> host: as far as a time when in the senate since her back from break what to expect to see as far as activity on these various measures? >> guest: it's tough to say right now because the house is a key component of whats it would say is some expect this $40 billion supplemental request to between and with a short-term continuing resolution to fund the government so militant kind of a timeline for action on thin and also an effort to stop. >> host: thego continuing resolution, talk about it and

what's the danger of the government actually shutting down because of lack of money? >> guest: we need to be realistic that there is a real danger of theut government shutting down simply because there's a difference in the house and senate on this issue. we talked to a bunch of senators last night, i was talking to republican senators who told me they were concerned about this offer him house republicanse sense house republicans are demanding some very partisan aspects in return for their vote for continuing resolution which would only be to extend the deadline from the end of september to the middle of november. we're not looking to pass a full year spending bill yet. just punting a little bit. some of the house republicans at say that want to vote to continue resolution i need impeachment inquiry against president biden or i need defunding the jax smith special counsel, things which will not pass the senate, no way. we are looking at a big difference in the senate as we sit in intro. they are more unified in-house because both republicans and democrats largely want to keep

the government open but a bunch of house republicans said a government shutdown, that's okay with me if it means some of these programs are not funded. >> host: when it comes to that shut down being okay, do either speaker mccarthy or minority leader mcconnell buy into that? >> guest: definitely not mcconnell and i was a deathly not speaker mccarthy although he's not saying it has forcefully. mccarthy wants to govern and show that country that house republicans who have a very narrow majority that they can lead the country and govern. hehe doesn't want to shut down t many members underwrite of this conference be okay with that. he needs to thread the needle and what he's done in past months is give some red meat to his republican members we saw that in the ndaa and the debt limit fight, get some concessions on conservative wish list priorities and order to get a larger bill passed. we might see that he can. >> host: max cohen our guest and who to talk about those deadlines when it comes to funding issues. if you want to ask questions related to that you can do so on

the line, democrats 202-748-8000. republicans 202-748-8001. and independents 202-748-8002. if you want to text as you can do that at 202-748-8003. in light of these various bills coming from the senate, once the sales pitch the speaker mccarthy has to make to various factions in the house? >> guest: they are making the opposite claim in terms of his factions, they're saying we need something this bill to make us look for it. they don't want to see the senate as something they want to accept. there is at this very big diversion betweenbl house republicans and senate republicans. senate republicans by a large more willing to play ball with democrats. we see mcconnell do that and more establishment friendly republicans do that this year and house republicans say we have the majority in-house, we are an equal branch of this congress why shall be given? the sales page for macarthur

would be look,k, we want to keep the government open because want to keep our majorities and if voters think where shutdown party that might hurtmi us next year. he will say maybe i will give you an impeachment inquiry vote, opening up an impeachment investigation that impeachment itself but sayay hey, let's vote in this thing which many freedom caucus republicans have said this is important for us, we think joe biden has done excellent and we can get in on that later but that's been framed by some such as marjorie taylor green as an acceptable compromise for them to find the government for short period of time. >> host: what's the preparation as far as the house and senate doing as far as actually preparing for a shutdown? >> guest: we are not therere yet. we are still in early september so they're not serious conversations happening now but what it would say is back to last question, mccarthy will say to his members in addition we want more time to pass are very conservative spending cut

full-year fiscal 2020 four-year spending bill. that might be his also rhetoric is that you guys want to get spinney, a hugeri priority for house republicans, we can get there but we need more time to pass all our appropriation bills through the house to go so far very few have passed in the house and the senate looking to move a a couple. >> host: kathleen is in mississippi.hl she joined us on her democrat's line for max cohen a punchbowl news. kathleen thanks for calling. go ahead. >> caller: the problem is we should not be working on daylight saving times too dark. we should not be, have to go and get payday loans and people working in the education system driving bus getting paid less money. it is sad that they're cutting off everybody on medicaid, chips, medicaid expansion. we are here.

everywhere, this is going global. stop killing us and our children. thank you. >> guest: i think medicaid funding was mentioned t there. that's something democrats have tried to claim republicans are trying to cut and that would be a campaign issue. democrats say republicans in the shutdown would really wreak havoc on medicaid programs, vulnerable americans rely on and expect thatha kind of rhetoric d orthose arguments to come to the floor as as a g close we geto government shutdown or democrat argument is the shutdown has the biggest impact on the force of society, the ones who depend on government programs thern most. >> host: republican line from teresa in tennessee. good morning, good morning. how are you? >> host: i will. you, were on with our guest. >> caller: i have a few points. first of all i don't like the way joe biden is extorting this

country saying you either approve my ukraine funding or you don't get no disaster aid. why is he not, why is he putting them all together? it'sth like blackmail the republicans. he knows they don't support funding ukraine as much as he does but he's going to throw that disaster aid in with the pier and thin border security? to think joe biden is going to secure the border? what does he need more money for border security for? and then another thing on kevin mccarthy, it republicans can't get rid of kevin mccarthy, we will vote him out. i would rather lose the house then have kevin mccarthy going with republicans and j doing everything -- >> we are leading to. >> a to keep are over 40-year commitment to live coverage of congress. the u.s. senate returning now from the recess for votes.