mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, blumenthal, brown, cantwell, capito, cardin, carper, casey, collins, cortez masto, hassan, heinrich, hirono, king, klobuchar, markey, murray, ossoff, padilla, peters, reed, rounds, sanders, schatz, shaheen, sinema, smith, stabenow, tester, van hollen, welch, wyden, and young. in the negative, barrasso, braun, britt, budd, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, cramer, crapo, cruz, ernst, fischer, grassley,

hoven, hyde-smith, kennedy, lankford, lee, lummis, marshall, paul, ricketts, risch, schmitt, scott of florida, sullivan, thune, tillis, tuberville, vance, and wicker. mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. wasn't, aye mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. mr. menendez, aye. mr. romney, no.

the clerk: mrs. feinstein, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. coons, aye. is the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. graham, no.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. ms. rosen, aye. mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

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

the clerk: mr. mullin, no.

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

mr. warner, aye. mr. merkley, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. mr. boozman, no. the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

?oo vote:

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

the presiding officer: the ayes are 55, the nays are 43, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be notified of the senate's action. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore. mrs. murray: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business for five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president, last month the gray and oregon road wildfires in eastern washington caused serious devastation and forced thousands of people to evacuate, including members of my family and members of my staffs. while folks on the ground are still assessing the awful scope of the damage and what resources our communities need to recover

and rebuild in the aftermath, we already know that is fires -- that these fires destroyed hundreds of building including over 350 homes and tragically the fires were responsible for two deaths. my heart goes out to the many families whose lives have been upended by these horrific fires including our selfless firefighters, some of whom lost their homes to the flames while they were working hard to defend others. i'm incredibly grateful to all of our firefighters who have worked around the clock for weeks to get these fires under control. and i'm also grateful to so many other first responders who helped keep our families safe from the blazes, law enforcement who raced door to door warning people as the fires approached, dispatchers who worked so quickly to coordinate emergency response efforts, and everyone who helped those in danger from evacuateing families

to conducting boat rescues to all the volunteers who chipped in for the recovery effort. we're all released -- relieves those fires are under control. the communities in eastern washington have a long way to go on the road to recovery, so i will absolutely be staying in close touch with folks in my state and on the front lines and making sure that our families and communities have the support they need to get through this. i'm also going to continue to push to bolster our national efforts to prevent and mitigate and respond to wildfires and other extreme weather events. mr. president, that has to include more action on climate change, because it's painfully clear, and it has been for awhile now, the climate crisis continues to make wildfires like this more common and more severe. beyond the recent fires in eastern washington, my state has diseefn stating fires in the sour dough fires in the

cascades, fires in the peninsula, tribal lands, columbia river gorge and high risks for catastrophic fires in literally every corner of my state. over the last few years washington state has seen dryer and hotter summers, which means longer and more dangerous fire seasons. and we're not alone. my heart breaks for the communities in hawaii where the presiding officer has seen the impact firsthand. they were hit hard by devastating unprecedented wildfires month and still suffering from that damage. we have to do more to address the climate crisis that is driving increasingly severe disasters. and on another important note, we absolutely must provide more resources for the critical work being done by fema and our federal wild land firefighters to respond to fires across the country. fema's disaster relief fund is running dry. the agency has already been forced to begin prioritizing immediate response efforts over

longer-term recovery projects, so it's absolutely essential that we deliver the additional resources fema needs as soon as possible. because leaving behind communities struck by disaster is simply not an option. and we absolutely cannot let federal inaction result in a salary cut for federal wildland firefighters at the end of this month. after all they do for our communities, the last thing our firefighters need is to see their pay slashed. i nope there is bipartisan support for providing the resources fema desperately needs in making sure wildland firefighters do not face a pay cut. i'm talking with colleagues on both sides of the aisle about how we can get this done by the end of the month. but, mr. president, as you know, people are hurting right now. but they are also coming together to support survivors and gather donations and rebuild our communities. we need congress to come together as well so we can

tackle the climate crisis, support our wildland firefighters, continue to build on our investments in wildfire prevention and mitigation in a big way, and make sure fema has the resources it needs to help our communities. as you well know, when there is a fire you don't ask what someone's politics are. you grab a bucket and go to work. that's what we need to do. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, mr. president. before talking about some good news, i think, for so many of us across the country, i want to just thank senator murray for all of her leadership and the

devastation she's describing in washington state. i know our presiding officer and what is happening in maui and the people in hawaii are so fortunate to have you and senator hirono that are out every day describing what needs to happen and pushing hard to make it happen. we have a lot of issues that are really important, a lot of devastation and extreme weather events. we certainly understand the climate crisis is adding to all of what we are seeing right now and the devastation. it's critical, it's critical that we keep focused on that. i want to take a moment, mr. president, today to talk about what is going right. we have a lot of challenges to work on. at the same time i'm really excited about the fact that we are seeing evidence of the right policies, the right funding that are actually creating jobs in my home state of michigan and

across the country. all across our country, manufacturing facilities are opening, and we're seeing a lot of those in michigan. i've always said we don't have an economy unless somebody makes something and somebody grows something. that's what we do in michigan. that's what we traditionally have done in america, but we have lost over decades so many of those jobs going overseas for a number of reasons. now we're bringing them back, and that's exciting to see. last month 187,000 jobs were created just in august. 13.5 million jobs since president biden has taken office. this is good news. over 800,000 of those are in manufacturing. in fact, we are witnessing a rebirth of american manufacturing. this is part of how we're going to also tackle the climate crisis, with the clean energy efforts and the new opportunities for us in

good-paying jobs that also address clean energy. unemployment has been under 4% for 19 months in a row. i'm not sure when else i could have stood on the floor to say 19 months in a row, unemployment under 4%. longest stretch in over 50 years. we're seeing the lowest unemployment rate for american women in 70 years. as a caveat, mr. president, i would say that if we address child care costs, unemployment would be even lower for women who want and need to work in the workplace. and the highest share of americans age 25 to 54 are now in the workforce, the highest share since may of 2002. quite a while ago. so wages are up and costs for the things people need continue to go down. we've got more work to do. i'm not saying we're done by any stretch of the imagination, but things are moving in the right direction. and certainly in lowering costs.

i am so proud of what we have done regarding prescription drugs. $35 cap on insulin for seniors and others on medicare. $35 a month. not $600, not $800, $1,000. $35. we are seeing a cap on overall out-of-pocket costs for seniors. next year it goes down to $3200 cap all together and then after that $2,000 for everything. not the $14,000, that is the average right now in america. a $2,000 cap for a year of prescriptions. huge difference. huge, huge difference. and i have to say i'm proud of the fact that we have taken on one of the most powerful special interests in our country, big pharma.

pharmaceutical companies made sure that we are lowering prices for people in our country. more to do. it is disappointing, mr. president, for me to say that not one of our republican colleagues joined us in that effort. not one. but we're continuing to push forward and lower costs. i would also say none of this is by accident. it's a very different way of viewing the economy and what's good for americans. democrats are growing our economy from the middle out, the bottom up. not top down. it's the opposite of trickle-down economics that for decades we've been hearing if we only give it to the top, wait, wait, wait, wait, it will trick trickle down. and people in michigan are still waiting, mr. president, for that to trickle down. we're doing something different. we are aiming at the middle class of our country, making smart investments in america, bringing jobs home from

overseas. we're empowering workers with higher wages and better training, more support for unions that can do collective bargaining, that can make workplaces safer and raise wages as well. and it's so interesting to see that job satisfaction surveys are saying they're at the highest ever recorded. right now we're enjoying one of the strongest job-creating periods in the history of our country. not by accident. it's a different view. our friends on the other side of the aisle basically, if the economy is up, we need a tax cut. if the economy is down, we need a tax cut. which ever problem there is, a tax cut for the wealthy will solve it. it's not worked. what we're saying is why don't we actually directly address the cost that families are feeling, take on the special interests

and bring those costs down and invest in the opportunity to rebuild america, create a manufacturing renaissance, bring jobs home. that's what's happening right now. it's a lot of hard work, and certainly we are not done. but i'm excited that we are moving in the direction that we are, with 13.5 million new jobs coming out of a worldwide pandemic. 13.5 million new jobs since president biden took ossments -- since president biden took office. that's why it is so important that we work together, democrats and republicans, to keep our government running, to keep our government open. as a reminder, government funding runs out on september 30. that's not very far away. i'm so proud of the bipartisan work in the senate, the effort to put out all 12 appropriations

bills out of committee, most of them unanimous, very few with a single no vote. i have to give a particular shoutout to senator murray and senator collins. again, not by accident. i would say, mr. president, this is the first time we've had two women leading that effort. just saying, and it's on time and on budget so i'm very proud of their leadership and their work. but what is so worrisome is what the house republicans are doing. well, actually they're not doing anything this week because they're still in recess. but when they get back, keeping the government open is not on their to-do list, and that's really terrible news for american families. now, in fairness, i'm not sure speaker mccarthy wants the government to shut down. in fact, he and president biden shook hands and made a

commitment to move forward on an agreed upon spending level, which we in the senate on a bipartisan basis, are abiding by. but while speaker mccarthy is speaker, it's the fringe of his caucus that seems to be doing all the talking. they're making all sorts of ridiculous and radical demands that will go nowhere in the senate. certainly are not things that the american people want to have happen, and meanwhile we know what will happen if these extremists wins and the government shuts down, it will take us in the exact opposite direction of the good news i've been talking about today. seniors will worry about receiving the services they depend on. members of our military who put their lives on the line to guard the country will go without pay. millions of hardworking employ eyes will worry. small businesses will struggle

to get loans or help with red tape and other issues. food safety and rail safety inspections will happen less frequently, making us all less safe. air travel may go from a hassle to a nightmare. and michigan families who are getting away for one last weekend while the weather is still nice, will find that the national park they plan to attend is closed down. beyond the individual pain, and i could go on and on and on about what this means for individuals, for americans, but beyond the pain that would cause, the cost of government shutting down is enormous. the congressional budget office estimated the last time the government shut down, it cost our economy $11 billion. i have to tell you i'm in the middle as a member of the agriculture, forest and

nutrition committee, and i think my ranking member senator rosen would say, we could use that to invest for our farmers and rural america to be able to get this done. a republican government shutdown will completely undermine our government's and our country's progress. we are moving -- we're out of the pandemic, we're moving forward. we're creating jobs, with we're creating new opportunities. we're moving in the right direction and this will completely undermine it. you have to wonder if that's exactly what those folks are aiming to do actually. it's time to come together in a bipartisan basis like we are doing in the senate. keep our government open and build on the progress we've already made. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. cornyn: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from texas. mr. cornyn: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i find it ironic that we're talking about government shutdowns when it is as a result of senator schumer's handling of this matter that we find ourselves here two weeks before the end of the fiscal year without having a chance to vote on appropriations bills. this is by design. this is not a bug. this is a feature of his strategy. these bipartisan appropriation bills were passed out of the senate appropriations committee weeks ago, and then senator schumer put the senate in a 40-day recess during the month

of august, and now with the clock ticking, september 30 just right around the corner, we will start with a minibus appropriation bill next week, but we won't be able to finish. we won't be able to reconcile the house and senate version before the end of the fiscal year, so we'll be forced to do some sort of continuing resolution. you might ask why would the majority leader of the senate sabotage the normal expected procedure by which the appropriations process should work. well, one, it maximizes his power because he knows only a handful of people will ultimately negotiate the final product, and it will disempower 98 members of the u.s. senate, rank and file members who will

not have a chance to debate, vote, and amend various appropriation bills as they come across the floor. so this is a -- part of senator schumer's strategy. his political strategy is to create this crisis and then to blame somebody else, namely the house of representatives. and you've heard it from our friend from michigan, the senator from michigan, this is all about -- talking about shutdowns. well, we tried that before and we figured out it doesn't really work because when you reopen, the same problems that caused -- that you found difficult to deal with beforehand are still in front of you. so we need to do our work here, but we need to do it on a basis where we can actually have an opportunity to shape these

appropriation bills and not go through this unnecessary but entirely predictable drama because the majority leader refused to give us an opportunity to put these bills on the floor and to go through them in an orderly and transparent way. our national debt's about $38 trillion -- excuse me. i forgot what the exact number is, but it is an historic high. and one reason that spending is out of control is because of this gamesmanship, so we need to do better. but, mr. president, with the government funding deadline just a few weeks away, the biden administration has adopted a puzzling messaging strategy. this week the white house launched an attack against house republicans accusing them of turning a blind eye to the

fentanyl crisis. well, it's tough to peel back the many layers of irony and hypocrisy in that accusation. afterall, this administration has been asleep at the wheel for more than two and a half years as fentanyl has continued to pour across our borders. last year alone, 71,000 americans died of fentanyl poisoning. we know where it comes from, we know what we need to do to stop it, but the administration has done none of those things to try to save the lives of americans, and now has the temerity, audacity, really, to blame house republicans for its own failure. how hypocritical is that? now, in the last 12 months,

customs and border protection has seized 20,000 pounds of fentanyl. i know you will see in social media, people will say, well, good for them, they got it. and i agree, good for them. but that's only a fraction of the fentanyl that's come across the borders. we know about 1.5 million migrants got away from law enforcement, ran away from law enforcement, we'll never know what they were carrying on their persons, and this fentanyl powder is so powerful that even small amounts that can be contained in a backpack, or in some similar carrying case, can kill hundreds of thousands of people. and we know from the sad fact that 71,000 americans died of fentanyl poisoning last year, that notwithstanding their

heroic efforts that customs and border protection is unable to stop it. a lethal amount of fentanyl is able to fit on the tip of a sharpened end of a pencil. when you consider the fact that the customs and border protection has seized nearly 28,000 pounds, it's enough to wipe out nearly the entire u.s. population 20 times over. i've been in too many sad meetings with too many grieving parents who lost their teenaged son or daughter to fentanyl poisoning. one of those fathers gave me this wristband that i still wear that he's handed out to others in memory of his daughter. it says one pill can kill. these kids don't know they're taking this deadly drug. they think they're taking something like a xanax or perk

set, but it is a counterfeit pill contaminated with this poison that kills them. i'm grateful to the brave men and women who work hard to stop these drugs every day, but we know they aren't able to interdict all of the contraband that comes across the border. but thanks to president biden's border strategy, otherwise known as the biden border crisis, their already tough job has become even more challenging. over the last couple of years, the unprecedented border crisis has affected all of our commissions at the southern border, even though that have nothing to do with immigration. law enforcement has been shifted from the front lines in order to process the migrants that continue to come in the millions. instead of stopping dangerous

drugs and criminals, many agents are now pushing paper, changing diapers and arranging for transportation. so they're not able to be on the front lines to stop this scourge of illegal drugs, including fentanyl. of course, no one profits more from the status quo than the drug cartels. with fewer agents on the front lines, these cartels have a clear and easy path to move fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and other deadly drugs into the united states. our communities are being ravaged by this overdose epidemic, and the biden administration apparently does not care. because if they did care, they would do something different. by ignoring the border crisis for more than two and a half

years, president biden has given the cartels a clear and easy pathway to move drugs into the united states. the fact that the white house has decided that the best defense is an offense and to turn around and try to attack house republicans isn't just dishonest, it's completely incoherent. it's cynical, and it's wrong. in this memo, the white house cited a morning consult pull that 60% of congress wants to make fentanyl a top priority. this may have surprised the white house, but it isn't news to anybody else in america who is keeping track of the fentanyl epidemic. as i said, the fentanyl epidemic is terrorizing our communities. no one, no community is safe.

this doesn't respect how rich you are, how poor you are, the color of your skin, your ethnicity, all of our country is being affected. since president biden took office, he's made every effort to ignore, underplay, or misrepresent what's happening at the border. over the last few months we've seen another effort to try and downplay his failure to meet the challenge at the border. when title 42, for example, the public health title that allowed the border patrol to expel people for public health reasons, when it expired, the biden administration tried to assure the american people that it had a plan to manage the crisis and there's no reason to worry. and for the first few weeks, we

saw a drop in border crossings, and the administration was quick to declare victory. the department of homeland security bracked that the biden administration border plan was working as intended. well, as i and others pointed out at the time, the dip was likely to be only temporary. there's a lot of uncertainty how cases will be handled in a post-title 42 world and it made sense that my groontses, but even -- migrants, but even more so the criminal organizations that smuggle these migrants would take a wait and see approach, sort of get a lay of the land before they decide the next method they would use. and as an added deterrent, the growing summer heat made the journey to and across our border even more dangerous. either way it was tough to tell how much things had really

changed as a result of the administration's gimmicky accounting. earlier this year the administration stood up a new program that allows migrants from four countries to enter and remain in the united states for up to two years and receive work permits. all they have to do is submit their information online and wait for the administration to give them a green light. now, this is not a small program. you would think after the seven million migrants that have crossed our border since president biden became president he would try to tamp down the flow of even more mai grants across the border. but this program is up to 30,000 individuals a month. that's 360,000 migrants a year.

until recently the american people had a pretty good idea about the number of migrants across the border each month. the administration is required to report the number of apprehensions each month, and this data provides a great snapshot of what the facts actually are. by standing up a new program, the administration effectively opened an additional loophole that allows it to hide the true scale of this crisis. they just basically quit counting some people. they said, well, we're creating a program where 30,000 people a month can come across under this program so we're going to cut them from the total so that makes us look like we're doing better. and we do not know the full extent of the administration's program -- properly mattic use -- to hide their nonenforcement

policies. what that means is even if people do not claim asylum when they come to the border, the biden administration is simply waving them through granting what is known in immigration law as parole, not based on individual circumstance but by the hundreds and thousands. they simply are refusing to enforce the immigration laws that congress passed on the books. despite the smoke and mirrors accounting and the range of other factors that contribute to the post title 42 decrease, the administration had the temerity to declare victory, but it's becoming clear there was no reason to celebrate. preliminary data published in "the washington post" shows that last month a record number of families illegally crossed the southern border, a record number. in august alone, border patrol

detained more than 91,000 my grants who ended up in the united states as part of a family unit. this is the highest number we've ever seen in a single month. but it's not just with what's -- not just what's called family units. apprehension numbers have decreased dramatically over the last couple of months. we've gone to just under 100,000 in june to 132,000 in july to more than 177,000 in august. to be clear, these are not overall encounters. these are just the arrests by border patrol 6789 i already -- patrol. i already mentioned since president biden became president, there have been one and a half million got-aways, people who are evading law enforcement, up to no good, i'm sure. we won't see the full picture until the administration releases its data later this

month, but "the washington post" is estimating roughly 230,000 migrant encounters in august when you include migrants processed through the land ports of entry. this would make it the busiest month for border crossings this year. time and time again the biden administration has refused to accept responsibility. the administration has cooked the books, manipulated the numbers in order to hide the pace of border crossings. it's ignored frontline officers' plea for support. it's attacked states like mine for providing transportation to migrants to help them reach other states rather than to have them settle in our state. and now it's trying to blame house republicans for turning a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis.

this is a new low, a new low, even for the biden administration. the reason so many americans see, understand, and care about fentanyl is because the crisis has ballooned under president biden's watch. it's going to continue to get worse, not better. under this administration fentanyl has poured across the southern border and into our communities across america. if anyone should be named and shamed for ignoring this crisis, it's not the house of representatives. it's the gentleman sitting at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. i yield the floor and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

the roof. as we know inflation reduction act did nothing to reduce inflation. by one estimate the government price controls created it cost the american economy 676,000

jobs. mr. president, before democrats ran and they were stable but that didn't stop the biden administration for the federal paragraph. let's be clear companies that don't comply with the administration will be forced to pay unprecedented excessive fine or withdrawal medicare coverage. lifesaving treatments. meanwhile, they will have less certainty to dedicate years to

creating high quality consumer friendly affordable medications in the industry. research from the university estimates socialism to result in 135 fewer drugs. 135 fewer. 188 fewer new treatments and 663 crime and innovative research and development. 60% of communications on the market today and inevitably freeze innovation on these treatments. to make it worse, limit price increases in manufacturers -- : r

service. now, 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 261. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the clerk will report the nomination. mr. schumer: i send a -- the clerk: nomination, tanya j. bradsher of virginia to be deputy secretary. 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 261, tanya j. bradsher of virginia to be dependency secretary of veterans affairs 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 those in favor say aye. opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to the -- to executive session to consider calendar 21 -- 124. the presiding officer: all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, jeffrey irvine cummings of illinois to be united states district judge for the northern district of illinois. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion -- 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 124, jeffrey irvine cummings, of illinois, to be united states district judge for the northern district of illinois, signed by 20 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the name be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed toive session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to h.r. 4366. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to 1988, h.r. 4366, for appropriations for military construction, department of veteran affairs, so forth and for other purposes. 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 motion to proceed to calendar

number 198, h.r. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction, the department of veterans affairs, and so forth and for other purposes, signed by 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 ask nawct the mandatory quorums for the cloture motions filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i have five requests for committees to meet today, during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority leader and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on monday, september 11, that following the prayer and pledge the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders reserved for use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the brad sher nomination. further, that the cloture

motions filed today ripen at 5:30 p.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there's no further business to come before the senate, ski that it stand adjourned -- i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators cardin, lankford and lee. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. mr. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. 60 years ago last week, monday, august 28, hundreds of thousands of men and women desended on or nation's capital for the march on washington for jobs and freedom. the march has become synonymous with dr. reverend martin luther king jr.'s i have a dream speech, which he delivered from the steps of the lincoln memorial. it's become a central rallying theme for civil rights movement. dr. king was prophetic, beginning by saying that the day will go down in history as the

greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. to this day, it is the standard by which every other march and rally in washington is judged. i thank all the marylanders who attended the march and want to give a special thanks to those who joined the reenactment last week in annapolis, which was kicked off by the morgan state marching band. had he lived to see the progress that has been made and sometimes lost six decades later, i am confident dr. king would have been uneasy and deeply frustrated that we are still fighting many of the same battles against bigotry and racism, as well as economic repression and hate-fueled gun violence. yet i am sure he would have leaned into the words he spoke on march 31, 1968, just days before i had assassination, when he said we shall overcome because the arc of the moral

universe is long, but it bends towards justice. of course, dr. king knew we cannot leave it to fate to bend the arc of the moral universe on its own. we must work together for justice, equality and democracy, so that all people in this great nation can be free. as dr. king said, all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. labor leader a. phillip randolph's opening speech at the march, also explicit in the broad demands of the moment, we want a free, democratic society, dedicated to the political, economic, and social advancement of men along moral lines. to that end, for many years the united states senate, i have been humbled to lead the fight for a number of key civil rights measures that would move the arc in the right direction of progress. these are basic measures that

rebuke the structural racism that has been so deeply ingrained in our legal, social, and economic systems for generations. all of these legislative measures have healthy democratic support, but regrettably, with few exceptions, they're not yet bipartisan. so let me go through some of these efforts. first, the end racial and religious profiling act, would bran discriminatory profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement nationwide. prohibited behavior includes targeting based on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation orientation. this covers federal, state, and law enforcement agencies carrying out criminal, immigration or custom laws. nothing in this bill would keep law enforcement officers from pursuing suspects based on legitimate descriptions, including their race and ethnicity, etc. but the days of targeting groups

of people solely on how they look would end. my legislation was included in the broader george floyd justice and policing act, and i was pleased to see the u.s. department of justice recently strengthen their guidance against discriminatory profiling. next in my efforts, the democracy restoration acts, which finally ends the permanent denial of voting rights nationwide for individuals with criminal constrictions -- convictions released from incarceration. the bill eliminates the complicated patchwork of state laws, many harkening back to the jim crow era. the current system worsens racial disparities, ac searches to the ballot box and contributes to confusion and misinformation regarding voting rights. in early august, the federal appeals court issued a decision stating that the mississippi lifetime ban for voting, for some individuals from voting,

convicted on some felonies, violates the eighth amendment prohibition against cruel and unusually punishment. as described by the brennan center for justice, the remarkable 2-1 ruling by the u.s. court of appeals for the fifth circuit reenfran chileses tens of -- reenfranchises tens of thousands of people. on voting rights, i joined a bipartisan working group to help pass the electoral count reform act to address some of the tactics used to attempt to overthrow the 2020 elections, which led to the january 6 insurrection at the capitol. congress still needs to take up and pass the john lewis voting rights reauthorization act to begin to repair the damage done by the supreme court and curtailing the rights to vote and the use of voter suppression tactics, particularly against minority communities. when to comes to the -- when it

comes to the lower district and circuit courts, i continue to work with the biden administration to recommend highly qualified and diverse federal judges for lifetime appointments, who believe in equal justice under the law that protects all americans. in regards to equal rights for women, we still have unfinished business. in may of this year, a bipartisan majority of the united states senate voted to remove the arbitrary deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment, making it the 28th amendment to our constitution. i was proud to lead the effort on this historic vote, along with my partner in this effort, senator lisa murkowski of alaska. for more than a decade, i've been working with the full grassroots army of women and men who understand that institutional equality will not be reality until the equal rights amendment is recognized and ratified.

i first introduced a similar resolution in dweflt. at that time, i had -- in 2012. at that time, i had only 17 co-responsiblors and we were still three states short of ratification. today, we have a bipartisan majority of senators affirming that 38 states have ratified the e.r.a. thanks to virginia's ratification as the 38th state in 2020. this vote was decades in the making. i served in the maryland house of delegates in 1973 when the maryland general assembly voted to ratify the e.r.a. for my wife, daughter, granddaughters i've been working to complete the ratification of the e.r.a. to protect their rights and the rights of all people across this nation. the e.r.a. simply states that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or any state on account of sex. that's it. that's the very straightforward text of what the equal rights amendment to the constitution says. ratification would affirm women's equality by enshrining

the principles of women's equality and explicitly prohibiting against sex discrimination in our nation's founding document. most americans think the e.r.a. already is part of our constitution. nearly three-quarters support it. a majority of states covering a supermajority of americans have equal rights or gender equality provisions in their state constitution, as does maryland, but millions are still left behind. at the federal level, the only current explicit guaranteed right in the united states constitution based on sex is the 19th amendment, the right to vote. that was proposed by congress in 1919, shortly after the end of world war i, and ratified by the states in 1920. clearly exiting -- existing legal protections against sex discrimination falwell short of addressing the -- fall well short of addressing the systemic discrimination in our society. congress ratified the e.r.a. in

1972 and sent to the states for ratification. in 1972 an arbitrary deadline of seven years was included in enabling legislation for the e.r.a. the deadline is not in the amendment itself. congress extended the deadline to a full ten years when it was clear 38 states would not complete the ratification in time. we're now trying to follow that precedent and change that deadline again, actually, we want to remove that deadline. with virginia's ratification in 2020, the states completed their work. it's now up to congress to remove any doubt about the e.r.a. being part of our constitution. this has been a struggle, but we must make it to the finish line. our resolution has clarified once and for all that the e.r.a. has met all the requirements of article 5 of our constitution. as the 28th amendment, the e.r.a. will serve as a new tool for congress, federal agencies, and in the courts to advance

equality in the fields of workforce and pay, pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment and violence, reproductive autonomy and protect of lgbtq plus individuals. it's also a signal to the courts they should apply a more rigorous-level review to laws that discriminate on the basis of sex. that's what the e.r.a. is all about, equality, most fundamental of american values. i am dispoimed by the outcome -- disappointed by the outcome of this vote in may. this is not the end. i let my colleagues -- before the vote, i led my colleagues to support the e.r.a. and our resolution to affirm the ratification. not one opponent showed up to don't the merits of the resolution or equal rights. no one. it tells me we're on the right side of history and they know it. make no mistake, this march towards equality on account of sex continues. we will not rest until the

e.r.a. is in the constitution of the united states. the states have done their job. we will get the necessary votes to make that a reality. my life of public service was inspired by my faith, but also by the civil rights movement and elected leaders of the 1960's. i was first elected to congress in 1986, sworn into office in 1987, along with congressman john lewis, of georgia, who had become a lifelong friend and mentor. years earlier, john was one of the original freedom riders and served as chairman of the student nonviolence coordinating committee. he was one of the major organizers of the 1963 march on washington. for john, the movement for freedom, justice, and equality, economically, socially, and all aspects of life was not merely a movement, it was his life's work. as times change and struggle for equality took on new forms, his commitment never faltered. he marched on washington through

selma and the hawlings of the united states -- and halls of the united states capitol with the same faith, curve ball, and con -- same faith, courage, and conviction. this past weekend, tens of thousands marched on the national mall. harking back to those who stood on the same ground six decades earlier. dr. king's daughter-in-law, andrea walters-king, described to the crowd, we are here to deliberate the soul of the nation, the soul of democracy from the forces who would have us all go backwards, impair us, rather than to go forward as sisters and brothers. as president biden said, it is a promise derived from the very idea of america that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally through our entire lives. while we'll never fully live up to you that promise, we'll never, thank god, fully walk away from it, for our

administration with your help, it means pushing back against voter suppression, election subversion and hate-fueled violence. so,mr. president, my message to our colleagues is let us work together to do the work necessary to make sure that the moral arc of the universe moves towards justice. we must carry out that mission. with that, i would yield the floor.

mr. cardin: mr. president. the presiding officer: senior senator from maryland.

the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. cardin: oh, i -- the presiding officer: we are not in a quorum call. mr. cardin: i ask that the banking committee be discharged from s. 294 -- >> the clerk: s. 294, a bill to amend the security exchange act of in the 1934 and so forth and for other purposes o. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. and the senate have proceed e. mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 2747 introduced by senator klobuchar and fischer. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2747, a bill to amend the federal election campaign act of 1971 sand so

forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. cardin: mr. president, i ask that the bill be considered read three times u. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the question is on the passage of the bill. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill spaed. mr. cardin: i further ask that the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: i yield the floor.

mr. lankford: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: mr. president, many americans may not know and many in the senate chamber may not know that this week we actually passed a milestone on immigration in the united states. this week less than three years into president biden's term we've now had more people illegally cross the border in the less than three years under the biden administration that we had under the eight years of the obama administration and the four years of the trump administration. if you count both terms of the obama administration and the trump administration, that was six million people that illegally crossed the border. under this president in less than that he years, not 12 -- in

less than three we've had more than six million cross the border. we had a hearing this week, dhs folks to talk about what is going on. we met not with the policymakers because the policymakers won't meet with us. we met with the folks that is on the line to say, what is the process? how are things actually working? what steps are actually taken and then what happens from here? we also had the opportunity to be able to look at some of the budget issues and other things coming up. but i want to be able to walk through where we are. since the expiration of title 42 in the days that followed that in makers the administration announced, look, the numbers are dramatically down and for a month the numbers were down some. but then they popped right back up, so much so that "the washington post" last week had a headline that read, "highest number of illegal family

crossings in the history of the country was in august of this year." most folks just turned away and they heard the administration say, looks, the numbers went down, so they looked way. but our numbers are at the highest ever and the complication of how they're being treated is the highest ever. let me walk through some of the things that cape up -- that came up in the hearing because when you cross the border, there are lots of options and the options are designed by the department of homeland security and by the white house not to deter people from crossing the border but to facilitate a more rapid crossing. so there's multiple processes that have been set up that are entirely new. number one, if you come to a port of entry, before you get to a port of entry, you can actually check in ahead of time to make your process of checking in faster. it is an app that you can get on your phone called the wbp app.

you down load where you're from, then when you get to the border, you'll be expedited. if you are within of those folks, you'll be quickly screened. according to the testimony that we heard yesterday, 90% of those folks are released almost immediately into the country and within 30 days they have a work permit. now, these are not folks that have applied for a visa. these are not folks that have gone through the h-1b or h-2b. these are folks that have come from all over the world, have filled out an app right before they came across the border and then they were facilitated right into the country. and if you think these are folks that are coming in from guatemala and h1n1 and mexico -- and honduras and mexico, more than 150 countries have crossed the border this year. i'll walk through some of those numbers in just is a minute.

one option that you have to be quickly expedited into the country without seeking prior approval is just to fill out the app ahead of time and then your paperwork is done. second option is, you actually don't fill out the form. you just show up at the port of entry. the response at that point is, it'll take you a little longer to process. several hours longer to go through and fill the things out o you'll still be released, given parole that the country, still get a work permit within 30 days to be in the country. not because you applied for a work permit or went through a legal process, not because there are tens of thousands of people all over the world who want to work in the united states, so they approach the issue. these are folks who just approach the port of bring. unlimited numbers f third group -- third group are the folks

that actually come before betwee port of entry. these are the folks that crossed, got into the country, some of them bolted and ran from border patrol, some of them turned themselves in. it kind of depends where they are. these individuals not between the ports of entry haven't done anything ahead of time. they're treated much different. these individuals are actually picked up between the ports of entry is taken to a border patrol station where they process their paperwork. they fill out all the information and then they release them into the country. but the consequence is, because they didn't come to a port of entry, it'll take them two months to get a work permit, two months. not one month. so let me review. if you come to a port of entry, no matter who you are, no matter

where you're from, they'll check and see if if you're on a terror watch list. if you are not, then they're going to allow you in. they'll set up a court hearing whether you cross between the ports of entry or whether you cross at the port of entry. they'll set up a court hearing for you to be able to plead for asylum or to be able to ask for your patrol extension or whatever what may be, what's called a change of statistic us a. let's do some of the court hearing dates to be able toll walk through where we are. if you come before the port of entry and you ask for asylum as soon as you coos the border and you're caught in the desert, you say i want to plead asylum. i have fear in my country. they'll line up a hearing after you'reless ared into the countries and let's say you want to go to new york city. you can go anywhere with you want to. you say i want to go to new york city. that's where i want to land. over 100,000 people recently have asked to go to new york estimate they transfer, go to make it city. right now they'll set up the

next hearing date for you. let me look at the list here. the next hearing date for you to get a hearing on your asylum claim and your notice to appear is in october of 2032. october 2032. that's the next open hearing today that they have available. so let mimi run this past -- so let me run this past us. right out in on our southern border as of this exact instant, some people are checking in. they're getting paroled. within three days they're released to get into the country with a work permit, traveling anywhere they want to in the country. we have no background for these individuals, and they're told to check in at a hearing nine years from now. anybody want to guess how many folks are going to show up at that hearing nine years from now?

i mentioned before many of these individuals are not from the central america. in fact, just this year, just this year we've had 15,000 people that have illegally crossed the border, many in the open desert area from china. when i talk to the folks from the oklahoma bureau back home, they tell me that most of the criminal organizations that are growing illegal marijuana and facilitating drug trafficking in my state are kleins nationals that have -- are chinese nationals that have illegally crossed the border and are partnering with chinese criminal organizations to drug trafficking in my state. those ports were checked in at a border patrol station and waved into my country and they're now running criminal operations in my state. 15,000 chinese nationals just

this year. we're right at 10,000 citizens of moratania that have illegally crossed our border this year that we know of. bonus points to anyone in this room who can point out moratania without looking at a map right now. it is a fast-growing area in west africa where al qaeda is quickly accelerating in that area. we have 15,000 individuals who came from that country just this across the border, we have no criminal information exchange with moratania. we don't know if they committed crimes in their own country, why they left, we have no information about them, in an area that is literally a hotbed for al qaeda, we have

facilitated through a process set up by this white house, 10,000 individuals into our country. media reported this week that an isis affiliate has been working with cartels in mexico to facilitate citizens of uzbekistan into our country across the border from mexico into our country. those individuals have crossed into our country, and under this process, were released and we currently know where they are. now, can someone explain to me why an isis affiliate is working with usbek citizens -- usbek citizens, and under the policy of this administration, they are

being released into this country unsupervised. yesterday in the hearing, i asked several simple questions because i've heard over and over again, individuals that are being released into the country, some of them are giving what is called alternative to detention. it is a device, it's a gps device, that is able to track their whereabouts, it is great to say that we have a tracking device, except when i followup with a question saying, how long until their hearing, somewhere between five and ten years, how long do they have the tracking device? and the answer is 130 days. they're tracked for the first 130 days, and then they turn that in, and after that, we have no idea where they are. we have no idea what they're doing. but we gave them a work permit, and we lease -- we released them

into the country and they're anywhere they want to go at this point. interestingly enough, if you're an individual right now anywhere in the world and you want to work in the greatest country in the world, that is the united states, and you've got a family member here or whatever it may be and they can line up a job for you and you're going to apply for one of our work visas, and if you go through the process of applying for a work visa, it will take you months to years to get it or you could just cross the border in the desert, across the river, at a port of entry and you will have unlimited work permits immediately, within 30 to 60 days you will be given that and you can land anywhere with you want to in the united states, unchecked, unfettered, no background check, no criminal check for any individual.

our nation was built on legal immigration. it is one of the moments that i love to do as a united states senator, and that's go to naturalization ceremonies and be a part of watching individuals literally raise their right hand, denounce the country they were born in and become a citizen of the united states. it's an absolutely beautiful experience to watch new americans be born right in front of you. as i traveled around my state in august, not a single person said to me, not one, that they're opposed to legal immigration. but i had person after person of all political perspectives, right, left, center, that said to me this makes them nervous. six million people in less than three years that we know almost nothing about them are currently in our country going anywhere they want to, doing whatever

they want to because this administration is not focused on deterring people from coming into the country illegally. they're focused on speeding up the process of people coming into the country illegally. this needs to stop. this body has to have a serious conversation about defining asylum because this administration is abusing the term asylum. they're making it mean something no one's ever meant it mean. we need to clarify what the word asylum means so this administration can't abuse that word asylum and no future administration can. we need to increase the number of legal visas that we have as a nation so that people who want to work can come work in this country, be can a -- can be a part of our economy, but we know who they are and they have been vetted. it is a different process.

people in this room know that many of the folks who cross the border show up with no paperwork at all -- at all. in fact, it's very common for chinese citizens, when they show up, they show up a photo copy of a passport, not the actual passport, they show up with a photo copy of the passport and say this is me. and we have no idea if that's actually their passport photo, their details, how that photo copy has been doctored, others show up with no birth ser certificate, they say a name and country and they were told by the department, write down your name, process them into the country, hand them this new i.d. and they can travel anywhere in the country they want to go. we have lost our mind.

that's not what it's supposed to be like to do immigration in the united states. so what do we need to do about it? fix the definition of asylum. i need colleagues on both sides of the aisle to actually talk to this administration and to say, why is the democrat party becoming the party of illegal activity? this needs to be fixed so that we're back to being a party about legal activity, not celebrating what's illegal. and the third thing, we've got to fix a budget request. in the next few weeks we're going to be dealing with a continuing resolution that will extend the budget to make sure the government stays open. i don't like government shutdowns, in fact, i have a nonpartisan bill, many members of this party are on it right

now that ends government shutdowns. government shutdowns do not help us as a nation. i want to see an end to a government shutdown and there is a practical, nonpartisan way to do that that republicans, democrats, and independents are all on that bill right now. i'll talk about that sometime next week. there's been a request from the white house in the meantime to say extend this, also add this little piece giving us flexibility on border funding, and i want to just read this to you the request that the white house has made for the border. they made this request. they want flexibility for operations and support in this and any other act so that they can use funds that community-based residential facilities, which they don't define, to provide services and support to refugees, asylum seekers, or other migrants,

including, clearly this budget piece is getting me choked up. they want to allow this money to go to fiewrnlings, asylum -- refugees, asylum seekers, and others including the provision of medical care, treatment, programming, access to counsel, educational services, counseling, referral for other services, and other, quote unquote, related programs. what does this mean? they are asking to take dhs funds and for the first time ever to be able to give legal counsel to every person that crosses the border. they want to give housing to every person who crosses the border that are community-based residential facilities, to provide housing and medical care for every person that crosses the border. we provide emergency medical care, we are a humanitarian

nation, but this is open-ended for housing, open-ended for medical care, open-ended for occasional care, and open -- educational care and open-ended for legal counsel. this is a huge shift this administration is looking for. they're not only looking for a way to facilitate more people to come in, they are looking for a way to take dhs dollars, which were allocated to prevent people from legally crossing the border to actually use those instead to help those who have actually crossed the border to have howfg, long-term medical care, long-term educational issues, on and on and on. this is entirely new. this is not one just to slip into a bill. this is a huge change. i'm not opposed to immigration. i'm opposed to illegal crossings. and i'm opposed to whatever it

takes to move people fast across the border to get into the interior of the country. that's not what we're supposed to do. for our national security reasons, for state of our economy, let's do immigration right. let's honor what we've been as a nation and continue to welcome people from all over the world, but to actually do it the legal way. with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, the american people are sharply divided on some issues, and one of those issues is abortion. one group of people has a different idea about when human life begins and if it's worth protecting, it's difficult to reconcile the views of those who are in sharp contrast with each other given that one group thinks that human life begins earlier, much earlier, than the

other group. as difficult as it can be to reconcile those competing viewpoints where americans are so sharply divided, there is an issue related to abortion on which americans are overwhelmingly and refreshingly united. that is because both sides tend to recognize that a number of americans are uncomfortable with abortion to the extent that we are. americans overwhelmingly agree with a vast supermajority in agreement that the federal government should not use u.s. taxpayer funds for abortions. to that end, congress has passed laws providing just that. one specific law deals specifically with the u.s. department of defense, codified at 10u.s.c.1093, which has been on the books for decades, says that you may not use department of defense funding or facilities

for abortions. well, late last year rumors started circulating to the effect that the u.s. department of defense was considering adopting policies, policies that would fund abortion travel, allowing u.s. military personnel seeking abortion in a neighboring state or a different state than where they were living or stationed, to receive three weeks of paid leave time and compensated travel, air travel or otherwise, lodging accommodations, per deim, extra, for an abortion. senator tuberville sits on the armed services committee in the senate, he visited with defense secretary lloyd austin and expressed his concerns about this rumored policy. he said, you shouldn't do this, this is inconsistent with the

spirit of 10 usc-1093. there will be consequences, i will be forced into a decision of delaying flag officer military promotions. regrettably, a couple of months later, secretary austin completely -- completely ignoring federal law and what senator tuberville told him, proceeded with the policy anyway. by so doing, he made a decision to openly flout federal law. the sole purpose of this policy is to find a cute and tricky route around what this considers, with the spirit of the federal law. there has been debate on the senate floor, words have been exchanged, people have strong views about this approach, but i'll make no mistake, all senator tuberville is doing is saying in the past, i along with

every other senator typically moved heaven and earth to expedite the confirmation of these military promotions to allow them to occur quickly, most of them are not consequential. that is the norm. they require i ask unanimous consent. it requires anonymity. means any one senator can make an objection that makes expedited nomination not possible. it doesn't stop it. all it does is require extra steps. it takes more time. yesterday we had a statement, a statement that was unfortunate, a statement that brings me to the senate floor today, a statement made by secretary carlos del toro, the secretary of the united states navy. secretary del toro whom i've worked on other matters in the past and for whom i've had great respect made a very unfortunate and inappropriate statement. here's what he said. quote, i would have never imagined that one of our own senators would actually be

aiding and abetting communists and other autocratic regimes around the world. close quote. this statement, to be clear, was talking only about senator tuberville saying in light of this policy which i believe is incompatible with federal law, i'm not going to facilitate the expedited confirmation of the nominees in question. that's all he said. and yet for that he was accused by the secretary of the united states navy, quote, aiding and abetting communists and area autocratic regimes around the world. this is strange. this is unacceptable. and this body should emphatically, unambiguously reject the ad hominem attack against senator tuberville by secretary del toro. look, i get it. sometimes passions are inflamed. sometimes people feel really strongly about things. i hope and expect secretary del

toro will see the error of this and retract and apologize this statement. because he's essentially accused a member of our body, a distinguished friend to the united states, to the people of alabama, and to me personally of treason, of directly jeopardizing the security of the united states and putting it at risk by aiding and abetting communists and other autocratic regimes around the world. personal attacks against members of congress or other people based on policy feuds, policy disagreements, here procedural strategic disagreements certainly violate the high standard of decorum that has long been honored and it is typically held and exhibited by the leadership of the united states armed forces.

now, look, there are important things to consider when you evaluate this policy, this policy designed to throughout federal law. -- flout federal law. we have three branches of government. one branch where we work makes the law. the executive branch where the pentagon exists and the white house exists and all the executive branch agencies exist, they're there to enforce the law. then you have the judicial branch across the street headed by the supreme court interprets the law where people disagree to the law's meaning. we're the only branch that gets to make the law. the very, very first operative provision, the first clause of the first section of the first article of the constitution makes clear all legislative power is herein granted should be vetioned in the congress -- vested in the congress of the united states which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. article one, section 7 makes clear even clearer how this works. you cannot make a federal law without passing the same legislation through the house and through the senate,

identical language, than submitting that to the president, presenting it as we say, for signature, veto or acquiescence. if you don't follow the formula of article 1, section 7, you have not made a federal law. once a federal law is made, it cannot be changed or unmade without throwing through that same process. but here the department of defense seems not to have gotten the memo. and by the memo, i mean the united states constitution. now, this oath of office that i have right here, this is an oath of office that is a prerequisite. it's required of all those elected or appointed to civil service or uniform service that they have to take before assuming their duties in question. here's what it says. i do solemnly swear or affirm that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or percent of evasion and that i will well and faithfully

discharge the duties of the office of which i'm about to enter, so help me god. that codified into federal law, adopted by congress in five usc, section 3331. look, by swearing to support and uphold the constitution as this oath requires, as we're required to do under federal statute, anyone taking this oath understands that our constitution expressly, explicitly, unambiguously, and excludes ifl -- exclusively empowers congress to make the laws. only congress has the law making power. only congress may change the law. only congress may repeal the law. the other branches can't do that. now, the outrage from secretary del toro and i would add from some other pentagon officials, including but not limited to defense secretary lloyd austin,

sort of has a tendency to make it appear as though they've written a new oath as it were. so when we look at this, we can imagine perhaps what they might be thinking, whether they've gone to the trouble of rewriting it in this fashion or not, essentially what they've done is to come up with president biden's own pentagon specific oath of office. it says -- it's as though they say i do solemnly swear and affirm that i will make all laws that i determine necessary and proper, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same laws that i have decided to make within the executive branch, that i take this op gaition freely -- obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. and i will legislate from the e-ring of the pentagon which i'm about to enter so help me god. that, of course, is not the real oath. that oath, of course, is an abomination and is an affront to this body, to the other chamber

of congress, and to the constitution itself. this is an oath that rejects the constitution, that empowers unelected and unaccountable officials, officials who have never been elected to make laws as supreme lawmakers. secretary austin and the civilian leadership of the service branches want us to believe that the sky is falling and that the falling sky has been prompted to fall by senator tuberville and that senator tuberville himself is somehow empowering communists and other autocratic regimes throughout the world imperiling and endangering the united states. these are not just fighting words, mr. president. these are words tantamount to an accusation of treason, words that are unfounded or it's made with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for their truthfulness or it's that

disregard is what's actually happening here. this is not appropriate. these are way over the line. in reality if this is where truly and aiding and abetting comnibses and other autocratic regimes are concerned, if that's really what we were facing, if that's really where we were, american national security is being impaired to the manner and degree that these people have suggested, including and especially secretary del toro, we'd be looking at a very different outcome here. because in they really believe this, which they do not and we know that they don't believe it because if we were in that situation, there are only one, two, maybe three possible outcomes at that moment. either the department of defense would ideally just suspend its attempt to circumvent federal

law and end its abortion travel policy. if they suspended this right now, either indefinitely or until such time as they could change the law to do what they want to do, that's the fastest way to do that. i have it on good authority that senator tuberville would release his hold immediately. and that these people could move forward very, very quickly on an un-- on an expedited basis. if that's what -- if they want these people confirmed, that's what they can do. suspend the policy. i would bet and i'm not a betting man, he would lift it today. possibility number two, senator schumer and the senate democrats if we really were in that environment where national security were being imperiled and we were strengthening the hofnedz r hands of hostile regime -- the hands of hostile regimes over the world, if that's where we really were because it was requiring the full process rather than expedited consideration of these

nominees, well, then senator schumer and the senate democrats would take the time to bring these nominees up for a vote on the floor. you see, there are procedures by which we can bring them to the floor even with a lot. a hold is not a veto. all it says is i'm not going to give my consent to which every member of the united states senate has to consent to expedite consideration. they could still do it but they're not. so one of those two outcomes or some variation of them, that's what we would be facing. but instead what are we looking at? well, just the day before yesterday the senate held its first vote, its first vote in 40 days. and it appears very, very likely that within just an hour or two, maybe three the senate will be recessing for the weekend and not voting again until monday. so we have the ability to move nominees forward. senator schumer and the senate democrats have the ability to put them on the calendar. just take some additional steps. it takes time. but they're not doing it.

they're not budging. why? because they know their words aren't true. they know the spewing of invective, unfair, defamatory accusations relate to facts that they don't even believe because if they believed them, we'd be in a very different procedural posture. look, whether you agree or not agree with senator tuberville's strategic decision here, whether you as the united states senator or onlooker would have made the same decision regardless of how you come down on that, regardless of where you are on the position of abortion or government funding for abortion, senator tuberville is well within his rights. these are rights that each individual senator holds and owns uniquely. it's personal to them. this is consistent with his assignment on the senate armed service committee. he's doing the job the way he believes he should do his job. and in a manner consistent with the voters in the great state of

alabama feel. so we have and we respect these rules and we respected them for centuries. respecting the rules and the institution requires us to respect those with whom we disagree. whether it comes to procedural decisions like this one. we need to respect them not just in spite of disagreement but especially in the face of a disagreement if we're going to uphold these rules which have lasted for centuries and helped propel this body to the status i hope it can live up to more completely as is the world's greatest deliberative legislative body. and yet it's interesting, to show that we're really not in that place where we would be if they took these things seriously. just yesterday, senator schumer, the senate majority leader himself, commented when asked about or in reference to his own refusal to put the confirmation

of c.q. brown to be the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff on the senate floor for a vote. here's what he said. quote, this is a problem created by republicans and it's up to them to solve it. we're not going to shift the burden to democrats when this is a republican cause problem. close quote. this is nuts. what he's saying here is that, yeah, in the past we would have expected to vote on the confirmation of the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. in the 12 and a half years i've served in this body, i think we have voted on the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff individually and not as part of some massive en bloc confirmation package. and yet he's not even willing to move the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. it's not even that long of a process to get this person on the calendar. he's not willing to even do that. why? well, he told us why. because he's having too much fun

blaming republicans for it. he holds the tools to get people confirmed. he's not willing to move them. he's not willing to budge an inch 6789 -- an inch. look, while americans may disagree on the legality of abortion and they do, there's long been this overwhelming bipartisan supermajority understanding first and foremost among the american people at large and there hasn't until very lately even been that bipartisan overwhelming supermajority consensus among federal elected lawmakers that americans are against tacitly supporting abortion with their taxpayer dollars. the last time i read the constitution, i noticed that, you know, as i noted earlier, it's congress that makes the laws, not the department of defense. senator tuberville is right to oppose this egregious policy and he is well within his rights as

a member of the united states senate to take this position. we should commend his courage and applaud his dedication to upholding his oath of office and his commitment to the constitution standing for those who cannot stand, let alone speak for themselves. even if you don't agree with senator tuberville on abortion or on federal funding for abortion or on his particular use of this particular procedural remedy, you should at least respect him. if you can't respect him and show respect for his decisions, you're showing disrespect for this institution, for its rules, for our governing documents including the constitution, and for the entity it the customs and traditions that have helped preserve our unique form of

constitutional representative government in america. let this message to secretary austin and secretary dell toro be clear -- if you want to make laws, run for congress, you can't legislate from the e-ring of the pentagon. until then, stand down and leave the lawmaking to the lawmakers a -- to the lawmakers. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. monday.

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