leadership in the fight against world hunger while also building new markets for our agricultural exports. the agriculture portion of this minibus appropriations package is a bipartisan, comprehensive bill, and i am proud to see it before the full senate for consideration. and i want to take just a moment here at the end to recognize the members of our subcommittee and all of their staffs for both the majority and the minority, for their incredibly tremendous efforts to negotiate this bill. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: senior senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. i'm here and pleased to join my colleague from the state of new mexico and thank him for his leadership on the ag appropriations committee and to join him in urging support for

our legislation. it did pass the full appropriations committee. and i see that our appropriations chair is here and thank -- i want to thank her for her work as well. but it did pass our full appropriations committee unanimously, so, you know, we'd like to see that -- we like to see that bipartisanship, but i think it says a lot that it came through the committee with a unanimous very pass vote.-- unas vote. i want to talk about how important it is that we are returning to regular order. i think that's incredibly important. our objective is not just to pass the bill, but through regular order, meaning an open amendment process. i think that's something that our members have very much wanted and something we're working very hard to achieve. like the senator from nume, i want -- from new mexico, i want to thank his staff, diane

neller, rachel erlbocher and hannah shoaiven for their work. we appreciate working with them. of course, my crew, morgan alma and patrick carroll, who work diligently and well together to craft the bill. i express my appreciation, as well as to senator heinrich. as he detailed, this bill represents careful consideration of the many important programs that are included in the ag appropriations bill. it reflects a balance of making the right investments in critically important programs while lowering levels in some areas that had seen supplemental increases in the past. obviously, we were given a 302-b number that we had to achieve, and that took actually reducing spending in some areas. tough decisions were made, dollar for dollar. this bill spends less than 1%

more than last year, even though obviously the cost of inflation has been significantly higher. still, we were able to provide the necessary investments in agricultural research programs, for example, to support the continued success of america's farmers, ranchers, anding a ra business. that -- and agribusiness. that has made incredible differences in terms of not only disease resistance, but also productivity gains for our farmers and ranchers. we were also able to support efforts to produce producers from things like avian influenza, chronic wasting disease, and other diseases that affect owrp crops and an -- our crops and animals. we also provided funding for the farm service agency and risk management agency to ensure our farmers and ranchers continue to

have access to important programs, to disaster assistance and crop insurance. with the fsa and rma it's vitally important they have adequate staffing to work directly with our farmers and ranchers. agriculture has become, like all businesses, more complicated and challenging. we need to make sure that assistance is in place for our producers. we fully fund the food safety and inspection service to support our nation's front line inspectors and maintain progress made in recent years to increase transparency and competition in the meat industry. there's a lot more we need to do there as well. we are making progress and need to continue to work on that important issue. we're able to provide targeted increases to the fda, the food and drug administration, in for programs that support food

safety and address critical drug and device shortages. last congress, there were significant increases for conservation and rural infrastructure programs, like broadband coverage. while usda is working to get that funding out the door, we were able to make reductions in some of these accounts, while still making substantial progress on those things. again, it required that in order to make sure that we could achieve the budget number that we were given. like i say, just 1% more than last year. we also resinlded previously -- rescinded previously appropriated discretionary dollars unspent in the department on a multiyear basis. we worked very hard to find any areas of waste and tried to reduce spending in those areas. essentially what we are doing is what americans are forced to do every single day, and that is to

do more with less, to prioritize and make sure they find savings where possible and fund priorities. essentially, we know there's more to do. we think this bill, coming through the committee unanimously, is a solid piece of work. we're ready for an open amendment process. and certainly, we welcome ideas from the entire body. again, i want to emphasize the importance of getting back to regular order. this gives us an opportunity to do that. so let's seize the day, as they say, carpe diem. let's get to work on it and make sure we also do the absolute best we can for our farmers and ranchers. one point in closing that i want to make, that is this -- we have about 16 million people involved in agriculture across this great country. we have a system of family-based small businesses in agriculture.

our farmers and ranchers largely family-based small businesses. we can't take that for granted. they produce the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world. americans spend less of their budget on food than almost any other developed country, brought to them by farmers and ranchers. so it's critically important we support them, because every american benefits every single day from what our farmers and ranchers do, and we can't take that for granted. look at the consolidation we see in so many other industries. let's make sure we continue to have that family-based small business network providing our food, fiber, and fuel every single day. and that's what this legislation is all about. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor.

i'd like to speak about how we crafted the bill and urge my colleagues to join us to debate on this package. today we are doing something many senators often calling for quite some time, things senator collins and i have been hearing about from our colleagues the moment we took over from the appropriations committee. we are keeping our foot on the gas as we continue returning

appropriations process to regular order for the first time in years. last night we began to allow the senate to consider a legislative package three strongly bipartisan funding bills let me say this again, getting here was no easy feat and i'm grateful to my partner on the appropriations committee vice chair collins working with me to make this happen and all members especially the subcommittee chairs who work on the bills in the package before us today. senator collins and i knew from the start if we wanted this to work, we had to write serious bipartisan funding bills that can be signed into law so i said it meant a few things, we are going to have to abide by the numbers set in the debt limit deal shared my personal concerns about that and have tough

choices because that was agreed on by the house and senate for all of us in the bills but president biden and speaker mccarthy shook hands, they shook hands and passed the deal in congress in a bipartisan way so the reality is we can't produce serious bills if we start by showing that out the window. i pushed at every stage of the process with my colleague to make sure we produce the strongest possible bill because we simply have to move forward, not back. we understood we were going to have to work together to find common ground. compromise was necessary to reduce spending bills to the chambers and it could.

third, we understood it was important we give each and every one of our colleagues a chance to weigh in on these bills and the american public the chance to see us work on that. we held over 40 hearings this spring to assess our nation's needs. we sought input from our colleagues including what's best for ashley district and could advocate crucial to the state. for members on both sides and we televised markups for the first time ever so people could follow the debate from home. the result is we passed all 12 bills out of committee for the first time in five years and did it with overwhelming bipartisan support. all three bills included in the package considered passed the

committee unanimously. as i detailed yesterday, the bills provide programs that all of our communities rely on. funding to shore up military installation and improve quality of life for service members is make sure we live up to our obligation to get veterans the care they need. the fda built buns our food supply is safe and secure getting families the support they need and helping farmers stay ahead of global competition. the third bill provides crucial investment to keep people living in the homes, not on the street and make sure we can get people in quickly and safely where they need to go. i look forward to each of these bill and it's crucial to support

our families growing our economy and securing our future as we continue to debate this package. just as important, i look forward to hearing from all of our colleagues during this time as well. i hope everyone come to the floor to talk about these bills and what it means for your state and constituent, what your priorities here are and i invite all of our colleagues to talk to me, senator collings if you have an idea for how we can make the bills better. senator collins and i are working to clear the managers back at. staff is working hard and we are happy to work with your team to pass the strongest bill possible. we've been working closely from day one to run an open bipartisan process to get input and make sure everyone can make their constituents voice is heard. we know our work is not done but we are committed to show the

american people that this place can actually work. different viewpoints can actually come together in a timely responsible our communities resources they need and help people and solve problems house so many of us got into politics in the first place. american people are watching, let's show them we are listening. let's pass this and continue to get our job here done. the summer we produced bipartisan roadmap to fund the government with serious bills that can be signed into law. i'm glad here in the senate we are moving these bills now, i urge colleagues to work with us to get this done. thank you and i yield to the floor.

the budget office as we call it, the physical response ability asked for safe americans one and a half trillion dollars over the next ten years.

i say good because for this to hold through, congress must adhere to spending caps as imposed. the ceos latest long-term budget outlook shows in 30 years our national debt will be $11 trillion lower than previously projected. this is large part thanks to this bill passed this year fiscal responsibility act. $11 trillion is certainly a large sum, the drop in the bucket compared to 118 trillion in debt the u.s. is expected to chop up over those same 30 years so of course, the school path we are on is not sustainable.

you take that by public, it's about as large as the annual u.s. economic output. in six years focused that will be historically high, 107% of gdp. the previous record was set in the wake of world war ii. one record is broken, public debt would hold faster than the economy with no end in sight as you can see from the chart on display. public hold large amounts of debt, it nationally reduces national income and increases

inflation. it leads to ballooning interest costs at a two-year high already. based on current trajectory, here's a snapshot of years ahead. within five years, the united states will spend more on interest than national defense. within eight years, interest payments will surpass spending on nondefense discretionary programs. over the next ten years, interest on that will cost lower than ten and four tenths trillion dollars. at ten and four tenths trillion

that could be used to improve the lives of americans. instead, it will pass the pockets of nations creditors is including foreign adversaries like china which considers investment in the national debt to be a good investment. in 30 years, interest payments will reach 5 trillion a year and would like into single largest annual government spending surpassing most social security and medicare. everybody listening and not listening, those we can't nations maxed out credit card we cross our fingers three pandemic

interest rates to return. families, farmers and small businesses make trade-offs everyday to stay on budget. they have developed their check books besides staying on budget. the challenge will rule and who will recently will downgrade its

that a reading last night will both fiscal as possible government decision is has the responsibility and duty demonstrate fiscal responsibility and good government and do it now as we work to find federal agencies and programs for this upcoming fiscal year. the chairman paul walker told congress 1980s cutting spending appears to be most painful part of the job but unconvinced the pain will be ultimately much greater if it is not accomplished.

also prices even more activated than ever because national spending and national debt is much greater than it was in his time. we need to stop governing crisis to crisis and return to regular order like we are today on the appropriations bills before the united states senate. that means restoring key component of senate procedures. real robust debate on spending decisions. the senate has only debated one for all corporations those rural seven times since 2008. the last time was five years ago, 2018. otherwise 2018 to last year we

operated under this appropriations bill process where and debate and the bill was reported. until december 23. all regular funding bills for the senate appropriations committee. now is the full sims turn so let's get the job done.

test.

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if you have any questions, we'll have those. >> i considered my age and the fact that end of second term i would be in my mid- 80s and i think it's time for guys like me to get out of the way and the next generation to step forward because they are going to be living it and over the last couple of decades people my age, boomers voted for all sorts of benefits and programs for us and i think the people coming along

next want to say and how we leave the earth and prepare for the future they are going to live in. >> do you feel like you are on the ballot next year. >> there was a recent poll showed strong numbers, i was very pleased, all agree with me but they respect people and i appreciate the crude i just don't think you need another person in their 80s. the issues of today, climate change, a.i. and of the guys in their 80s. >> you mentioned your age is one reason, is not a nice way to say your colleagues who are older,

they should step down as well? >> everybody will make their own decision and consider their own circumstances, i'm just looking at my age and where i am, i knew i was going to be like grassy and vigorous and dynamic into my 90s but you never know but i do think the times we are living in demand the next generation to step up and express their views and make the decisions that will shape american politics over the coming century and a bunch of guys around, baby boomers in the postwar era, we are not the ones making decisions for tomorrow. >> speak to her to republican party all the house of representatives, you feel about this donald trump? >> in the shadow of donald trump, he's the leader of the

greatest portion of the republic and party. i believe the demagogue portion, i represent a small thing of hard. i don't believe we are going away, we will see a resurgence back into leadership. talks about policy and issues all make a difference. compass marketing even and selling scores and revisiting the 2020 election. one of the policy for the future? first i want to share a brief update on the situation on maui. we are a month on from the devastating wildfires that killed 115 people and leveled the down of lahaina. after a week long search and recovery effort for remains, we

entered a new phase of a response. the environmental protection agency has begun to remove toxic household materials and waste so residents can return to their homes safely. it's a painstaking process that's likely to take several months to complete. life is lahaina is still not normal. 42 people still missing, that's down from an initial count of nearly 3,000. more than 7,000 people are living in temporary housing like hotels and air -- small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, hundreds of people, sprawnt workers, helicopter tour operators are being laid off. more than 10,000 people filed for unemployment in the three weeks following the fires. in total the economic impact of the fires is estimated at nearly

$2 million through next year. that is the economic impact. it is hard to overstate how much the people of maui need. more than 15,000 people have applied for fema assistance. that is a narrow snapshot of what is needed. people need basic items like phones and new i.d.'s. long term they will need permanent solutions for housing and schools. in the meantime damaged infrastructure like roads, highways, schools, and health care centers will need to be rebuilt. the road to recovery will be long and it will require billions of dollars in federal aid to get the job done. congress has a responsibility to provide relief and to deliver it quickly. now, i want to turn to the appropriations bills. these bills make critical advancement to our nation's health and safety for ensuring

housing for 10 million people, protecting our food supply, supporting the readiness of our armed forces and more. it's vital that we pass them. each bill was unanimously passed out of committee by a vote of 29-0. unanimously passed out of committee by a vote of 29 of -- 29-0. i want to thank chair murray in particular and vice chair collins as well as majority leader schumer and minority leader mcconnell for their leadership in helping to restore the appropriations are process to regular order. i'm looking at any good friend from connecticut. we entered the senate i think only 13 aparts from each other. people have been talking about regular order for a long time. to the point where sometimes it results in an eye roll. we should do regular order, with we should do regular order.

easier said than do. it took the two women chairs, chair and vice chair of the appropriations committee to get us on the floor to have not an omnibus, but a minibus, and to have it marked up on be a bipartisan basis and to have amendments. this is a significant moment for the senate in trying to restore its reputation as the world's greatest deliberative body. the transportation housing urban development and many agencies, t-hud portion of this package, where i am the chair and i work so closely with the vice chair, senator hyde-smith, provides $99 billion for homeless assistance, infrastructure development, the operations of the faa and amtrak and safety oversight of our transportation systems. it does not include everything we wanted because it was negotiated to be in line with the spending caps set by the

debt ceiling budget agreement. but it still makes meaningful investments to improve housing access and the reliability and safety of transportation nationwide. i want to thank again my counterpart on the t-hud committee, ranking member cindy hyde-smith, and i want to thank the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle, the leadership staff, our personal office staff, we come out here and it's our name on the door and bumper sticker and we're going to talk about the work that's being done, but anybody who knows the legislative process, we know we're not the ones actually executing, we're not drafting the legislative text. it doesn't mean we don't play a role, but there are dozens of people who make personal sacrifices to be here and do this work and produce an incredibly strong bill. it is no secret that we have a

housing crisis in america that affects millions of americans in every state. day by day more and more people are falling into homelessness. the homeless population is aging with more complicated medical conditions that make it harder to serve. that's why we're protecting assistance housing, we are targeting resources to improve coordination between housing and health services, building capacity between service providers and communities. the bill also maintains funding levels for the home investment partnership and community development block grant programs. both of these are popular and important tools that enable state and local governments to support the construction of more housing and the commune needs around it. the second year of the yes in my backyard program, we are removing regulatory barriers to

increase housing stock. we need to continue to use every tool at our disposal to address this national housing shortage. one more on the yes in my backyard initiative. there is no a. of money that we could put in this bill that would solve the housing problem unless we deal with the barriers. we are creating shortage of housing at the state and county level. it's the only thing i ever thought of in the government where the government creates a shortage and the policymakers stroke their chins and think, what should we do about the shortage? this is to incentivize jurisdictions to unleash private sector investment and increase the supply of housing, yes, permanent supportive housing is important, the housing voucher program is important, all of

that matters and we should fund it at high of a level as we can possibly stomach. but the truth is even that won't be enough until we allow people to do what they wish with their appropriate and -- property and build more housing. we have improved funding for native american housing program, something thatcy am pleased about -- something that i am pleased about. native residents are more than twice as likely to live in poverty or an overcrowded condition compared to other u.s. households, this funding is just the start and we will need more to address it fully. transportation, the bill will support the traitional needs of the -- transportation needs of the faa, including the equipment to restore hiring and modernization efforts that were frozen during the pandemic. my colleagues and i are

separately working to reauthorize the faa and this funding is complementary to those efforts. this bill maintenance our commitment to build on the infrastructure and jobs act to improve our aging transportation systems across america. for instance, it aims to address the rail safety issue in the east palestinian ohio derailment, looking into technologies. tens of millions of americans across the country, kriewfg -- including our veterans will benefit from the investments we made in this bill in terms of how they live and get around and the food that we eat. it is critical that we pass these bills. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mrs. hyde-smith: mr. president, i am pleased that the senate is beginning consideration of the military construction veterans affair agriculture transportation and housing and urban development appropriations bills. i thank chairman murray and vice chairman collins for their strong leadership in advancing these bills through committee and now to the senate floor. this returns to regular order, which is long overdue and it is a testament to what we can accomplish through a committed bipartisanship. i also want to thank senator schatz. he's been a delight to work with and has been very, very pleasant to go through this and help me. the fiscal year 2024 transportation housing and urban development and related agencies appropriations bill is a

bipartisan and fiscally responsible bill that has passed unanimously a 29-0 vote in july by the full appropriations committee. there are few important aspects of the bill i would like to highlight. first i want to stress that this bipartisan bill incorporates input and requests from more than 80 senators from boarts side of -- from both sides of the aisle. the bill provides adequate resources from the department of transportation and the department of housing and urban development to administer the many important programs and activities under their jurisdictions. these programs protect public health and safety, promote economic growth, and improve the overall quality of life for all americans. the bill includes $28.5 billion for d.o.t. and $73 billion for hud as well as funding for small

independent agencies like the federal maritime commission and the national transportation safety board. with this bill we are continuing to foster and grow the safest and most reliable transportation system in the world. the bill makes key investments in our transportation, infrastructure, including $800 million for the popular rays grant program and $1.2 billion for important bridge repair and rehabilitation program. we also fully fund critical aviation needs, such as funding for 1800 new air traffic controllers and for modernizing our legacy air space systems. the popular consolidated rail infrastructure and safety improvement grant program is funded at $500 million. and amtrak is funded at $2.5 billion which will continue to

provide upgrades and service to rural communities as well as the northeast corridor. in addition to transportation programs, this bill maintains existing rental assistance for more than 4.6 million households. this includes working families, seniors, people with disabilities, and those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. additional investments are made to support aiding veterans and youth homelessness as well as to develop more permanent supportive housing. ending cycles of dependency requires promoting self-sufficiency and financial literacy tools, which i am pleased that the bill includes $198 million for hud self-sufficiency programs. finally, the bill continues to fund the cdbg program at $3.3 billion which continues to be one of the most requested

programs in this bill by members from both parties to help state and local governments across the country promote economic development and job creation. in closing, given the wide array of projects and activities funded by this bill, the subcommittee received a substantial amount of member requests and has worked to try to address as many member priorities as possible. the fiscal year 2024 transparency, housing, and urban development and related agencies appropriations bill is worthy of consideration and passage by the full senate. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the investments in this bill to support families and communities across this country as well as the military, construction, v.a., and agriculture bills to make up this mini bus.

thank you and i yield the floor, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. ms. lummis: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my intern aiden shaketta be granted floor privileges until september 14, 2023. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. lummis: thank you, mr. president. i begin my remarks today with the words from a song. there's this one particular harbor so far yet so near where i see the days as they fade away and finally disappear. when a timeless iconic american passes away, reflection sets in. perhaps more so for those of us

who are contemporaries to that timeless american's gift to our culture. to america as we know it, live it and find joy in it. mr. president, today i rise to pay tribute to jimmy jimmy buffa legendary singer/songwriter, author and iconic american who created an incredible and uniquely american genre that inspired us to celebrate life with joy, to celebrate everything from a cheeseburger in paradise to a pencil-thin mustache to this one particular harbor. jimmy buffett's unique contribution to american culture spans its early career bourbon street performances in new orleans to sold out red rock's amphitheater inspiring

generations of parrot heads that were drawn in by his extraordinary american perspective. from remarkable creations like one particular harbor, fins, we are the people our parents warned us about. son of a son of a sailor, jolly man, cowboy in the jungle, stars on the water, livingston saturday night and of course come monday and margaritaville. jimmy buffett chronicled an american life of sunny gulf coast days, the sound of steel drums, extended happy hours, and all the joys of the seas and the islands. commuting from cheyenne to laramie during law school and in need of a break from law school lectures on cassette, i would pop in jimmy buffett, roll down the windows and be lost in

lyrics like forget your blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition, plowing straight ahead come what may. in an instant julyy buffet could transport a ranch girl in wyoming to a sandy beach in a wave-licked paradise surrounded by friends, sporting a tan earned over countless days of deep sea fishing. he invites us to escape the weight of the world reminding us that it's always 5:00 somewhere. when you are by yourself and you cannot wipe the smile off your face because of a song, that's pure jimmy buffett. what is so remarkable about jimmy buffett's music is its ability to to reach and relate to generations of people from all different times of life. to be with jimmy buffett and the

choral reefer band in concert, the sound of steel drums floating on a breezy summer night sky watching giant beach balls bouncing among parrot heads wearing hawaiian shirts and shorts, parents and grandparents with children on their shoulders all of whom are singing every worked to every -- every word to every song. that was also pure jimmy. when so many voices are driving americans apart, jimmy's voice called americans back together. so here's to jimmy buffett and his enduring legacy. sailing in the sky alongside dolphins and the many manatees he saved through his charities. i conclude with jimmy's own words from jollyman. the night was filled with magic. they bid the sea goodbye.

they swam into the heavens. they stayed up in the sky. and all the island people when they wished upon a star see the dolphins and the jollyman who tell them where they were. o jollyman sing, o make the heavens ring. i thank jimmy's friends eric and lisa icenner and my brother dellum miss for helping with his tribute to jimmy -- with this tribute to jimmy buffett.

good afternoon. this was an amazing and historic

experience where we learned so much, where we began our quest to deal with this important looming issue, a.i. we had a diverse group of participants. everyone learns from everyone else i am pleased some of the people who came out. we got some consensus on some things. first, i asked everyone in the room, is government needed to play a role in regulating a.i.? ...

bil gates talked about feeding the hungry and one of the other ones talked about strengthening our national security and defense in feeding the hungry. but one person said we need a lot of me 32 billion is a transformational innovation the kind that maximizes the benefits. but it was also clear that we needed real help and sustainable innovation. that's minimizing the negative set ai could emerge from ai. whether it's enshrining bias or the loss of jobs for a doomsday scenario mentioned in the room and only government can be there to put up the guardrails. even though some of the

companies in this room said they would try to implement some of these things themselves and many have joined the voluntary guidelines that the white house issued, it's clear there will be rogue companies and other companies that will not go along on their own and that will bring down everybody. it will seek the lowest common denominator so it's 100% clear that we also need maybe even more government innovation in coming up with sustainable guidelines which means the government putting guardrails in place to deal with issues like bias and worker education and jobs and some of the more doomsday scenarios that were presented. finally i think there was a consensus we need to figure out a way to balance the two. you don't want one to get into much of the way of the other. you want to be able to maximize

the benefits and minimize the harm and that will be our difficult job. over 60 senators came which showed interest. we don't usually get 60 senators at an event like this and the senators, one of the best things about it but the vast majority of the senate walked out of that room knowing about more about how we deal with ai bend when they walked in. acolla and mike rounds. >> thank you senator schumer and todd yeung. this was a bipartisan effort. the idea here was to educate as many members as they possibly could and we had some great teachers in there. we had folks who had opinions that they made their wealth and ai and others were looking at it from the point of view of individual workers and the challenges that it brought.

ai is not going away. it's going to be here for a long time. the challenge we have is will we try to catch up on first about the development here in the united states to stay ahead of the rest of the world and can we leave the rest of the world and second of all can we do it in such a fashion that are people truly benefit and that means it not just in terms of new jobs and opportunity the quality of life for the next generation. can we cure cancer? i think we can. can we create new opportunities for young people and literally can we bring other people in here with marvelous talents and have them participate in artificial intelligence types of jobs in the future in such a fashion that everybody benefits. these folks who came in here and the people on this panel with us they spoke very frankly about what the opportunities were and they were very frank about the challenges as well. this is the first of this series we will be doing. we will continue this afternoon and hopefully a step forward in

terms of us doing the right thing to provide the right balance between incentives, to keep ai development here in the united states and also appropriate regulatory oversight so everybody sees a fair playing field and the privacy and the rights of transparency that our citizens demand is achieved. thank you. >> senator heinrich. >> i guess what i appreciated about the conversation is how nuanced it was. these are folks from very different perspectives. a lot of shared values and shared agreement in terms of what our northstar should be and it really was not a conversation that fell into or partisan lines and anyway so if we can continue that, and i think this group has strived for it for sometime now,

that i think will be able to do exciting things around ai. >> today is a historic day with a gathering of the best minds of artificial intelligence technology and many other important leaders. they all came together. we had some spirited conversations about the development of this technology and its impact on americans and humanity more generally that i was struck by the extent to which there is common agreement about the need for government to play an important role to regulate some concerns individuals have in common agreement about the importance of investing in our workforce so everyone can play a meaningful part in and enjoy a handsome portion of the benefits associated with artificial intelligence. government involvement and continuing to invest in basic research in this area of ai, something senator schumer and i

had worked on together in the past. right now the incentives are aligned towards those who deploy models quickly to consumers. it's a testament to the individuals representing businesses in their that many of them have withheld and refrain from deploying those models to put together a regulatory atmosphere consistent with our values. the last thing we agreed on is that values the united states of america that should be embedded in to inform the development of these technologies and not the values and i will say this not the values of the communist party and so to the extent we can develop a regulatory structure and realized all the upside benefits of new technology while ensuring america continues to lead the way in development of ai is going to be an important objective.

>> this hearing made a giant stride towards dealing with the most significant issue that we will face in the next generation and that gave us some really good ideas about how to maximize the enormous benefits that ai could bring while minimizing the very very serious risks that ai could bring us well. i will call on her first. >> two questions for you. elon musk told me outside that he did not believe that congress is ready to regulate ai. what is your response to what he just said? >> well-versed in the room he said it was a tremendous hearing and a giant step forward and second look it's a big challenge. this is the hardest thing i think we have ever undertaken but we can't be like ostriches and put our heads in the sand because if we don't step forward things will be a lot worse. next, next.

>> do have any conversations on the licensing of ai? >> some ancient testing in other ways of regulation. this afternoon we will get more deeply into that and we will have further insight forums to go into specifics. this was a broader discussion and it the consensus was government must get involved and must get involved on both sides on enhancing the benefits and decreasing the liabilities and there were various suggestions on how to do it. no consensus just yet. >> in terms of an educational lesson learned effort before offering legislation on ai some of her colleagues don't seem like they are willing to wait. they are lot of bills that are starting to percolate across-the-board on a lot of issues. the judiciary committee came out with a framework on what they'd like to see. would you tell them to pump the brakes a little bit? >> there will be lots of ideas outre there. weeks before i was

on the floor visiting with myas colleagues about the federal reserve's response to the failure of the silicon valley bank and i again am here today to in more specific terms indicate there needs to a pause in banking regulations. i asked for and would again reiterate the importance of an independent review and indicate that that review should be done prior to it the enactment of new capital requirements in order to ensure that these new regulations are properly tailored. led by a nonpartisan financial expert uninvolved in the response, an investigation would provide a clear picture of what reforms are truly necessary. instead, new capital requirements are largely based upon the fed's, quote, holistic view -- who holistic review, the

origins of which are vague at best. regulatorshave proposed a host of new requirements for midsized banks to conform to those of the largest lenders, lumping regional lenders in with larger banks ignore the congressional intent laid out in the bipartisan piece of legislation s. 2155. independent oversight might reveal these regulations to be an overprescribed or plainly unnecessary response to svb's failure. while some measured regulations might be in order, but some may do little to prevent a similar crisis. healthy regulations regulationsf attention paid to down stream effects is concerning. this is a sentiment that is shared -- my sentiment and it is shared by multiple federal reserve board governors. youmeaningful oversight requires

objectivity and must be done without having a predetermined outcome in mind. the fed's remedy does virtually nothing to address the root cause of poor bank management. instead, i worry that the regulations set in motion will serve as an opportunity to push a preestablished agenda that will dry up lending. that's why i will acknowledge that the requirements -- with interest rates near a 20-year peak, access to credit for families and businesses is already shrinking. the draft proposal from the federal reserve would drive up the cost of homeownership for low-income households, underserved borrowers, and those unable to afford large down payments. affordable housing is in short supply and with midsize lenders forced to pull back, mortgage lending will continue to be

pushed outside the banking system. with continued labor shortages and elevated supply backlogs, less credit availability is the last thing our housing market needs. to put it simply you there should be no new regulations until an independent review of silicon valley bank's failure is completed. we need to know what we're doing before we attempt to do it. regulations that significant warrant increased transparency from the fed. we need that transparency. an additional review would alleviate concerns about the impartiality of the review. the federal reserve itself recognized in its recent financial stability report that american banks as a whole were already well capitalized. tightening capital requirements at the expense of lending will not prevent another svb-type failure. a comprehensive response from policymakers and regulators would address the glaring supervisory shortfalls that

preceded silicon valley bangles collapse. mr. president, i yield the floor.

test.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> you guys have seen the statement that i put out.

if you have any questions i'm happy to respond to those. [inaudible] >> you know i considered my age and the fact at the end of the second term it be in my mid-80s and they think it's time for guys like me to get out of the way and have people at the next-generation step forward because they will be shaping the world they will be living in and over the last couple of decades people my age the boomers have done well for ourselves. we voted for all sorts of benefits and programs for us and we have to pay for them. i think some of the people that are coming along next want to have a say in how we leave the earth and how we prepare for the future we will live in. >> you feel like if you were on the ballot next year would give you trouble in re-election? that there is a recent poll in utah which had me showing strong

numbers and i was very pleased to see that think the people of utah don't all agree with me in the posture took with regards regards to donald trump that they respect people who vote their conscience and i appreciate that and my fellow citizens and i don't have any question my mind if i run again i just don't think if we get another person in their 80s. we don't need more like me and issues of the day relate to china climate change ai and the lot of guys in their 80s haven't dealt with those issues. >> you mentioned her age is a reason for not running for re-election is at a nice way to to say that some of her colleagues that may be over it maybe time for them to step down as well? >> everybody? >> everybody had to make their own decision of course and consider their own circumstances. i just look at my age and 4:00 a.m. and if i knew i was going to be like chuck grassley and may be able to be bigger than dynamic into my 90s i might have reached a different decision but you never know. i do think the times we are

living in it demands the next generation to step up and express their point of view and to make the decisions that will shape american politics over the coming century and just having a bunch of guys who are around the baby boomers around in the post-war era where at the right to make decisions for tomorrow. >> in you speak to where the republican party is. particularly the house of representatives. do you feel this is the republican party does behold and to donald trump? >> there's no question the republican party today is in the shadow of donald trump. he is the leader of the greatest portion of the republican party. it's a populist and i believe demagogue portion of the party but i represent a small wing of the party. i collect the wise wing of the republican party and i don't believe we are going away and ultimately we will see a resurgence and come back into leadership of the party. look we talk about policy and issues that will make a

difference in the lives of the american people. the trump wing of the party talks about resentments of various kinds and getting even and settling scores and revisiting the 2020 election. what are the policies for the future and my party will only be successful getting young people to vote for us if we talk about the future and that's not happening so far in their wing. >> you are fighting that wing of the party and stepping aside and you have said the party simply does not believe in competition. what did you mean by that? >> i was in a rally where someone said to me if you are elected will you close down a d.c. -- abc, nbc and cbs because they are setting out the truth and this was in the republican party. really? there's no question there's some portion about the opposition

party who think we need a strong man to put aside the constitution and for that matter president trump former president trump said we should put aside the constitution to reinstall him as president. there's some people who believe that and i believe they are wrong and i believe the majority of the american people believe they are wrong and in terms of what i'm going to be doing look i want to get more young people voting and involved in the political process and that something i will devote myself to after the next year and a half. >> who do you plan to endorse [inaudible] and why not say what you believe in? >> in part because i believe we want some young people coming in to make those decisions. i don't in 10 to make endorsements. i think endorsements -- who the

heck cares who endorsed to? you make your decision as a voter about what you think about the candidate and their point of view in their vision and you don't care about what some other person says. i don't have a comment. i hope we get a strong contender and someone who is younger than me. >> do you think you're too old and do you think they should run? >> it would be a great thing of president biden and former president trump or to stand aside and let their respective party pick someone from the next generation. president biden when he was running he said he was a transitional figure for the next generation. well it's time to transition. david ignatius made a strong argument that we should see that kind of a change and i think both parties would be far better served if they were representative by people other than those of us from the baby boom generation.

>> he talked about bipartisan accomplishments in your statement, you concerned about the ranks of senators who are at the table? >> we had a group of 10 of us in that group dissipated a bit. rob portman is gone and susan collins is the ranking member in appropriate since that has got to be her focus and then sinema manchin and tester on the democratic side so we are all pulling in different directions that coming together like we had was a very unusual thing but i recognize i had an embarrassment of riches initially as a first-term senator. i got together with a group of other folks and we got a lot of stuff done. i quoted the relief package at the white house and speaker pelosi couldn't get one done for the infrastructure bill the electoral count act their religious liberty protections in the marriage act, gun safety

legislation. we got a lot done which was a lot of fun and it was kind of unusual and looking forward i think it will be more challenging. >> are you going to seek election again before you run for high office, high up this? >> i never imagined i'd be running this time and i can imagine doing it again. there's a one in a million shot so you say there's a chance but i'm not planning on that. i have no future campaigns in mind. >> your colleagues on both sides in the eye when it comes to your position on these issues and something you are in part a potentially is another impeachment trial in the senate but what is your response to that? >> i have been heartened today as i received a text from a great number of my colleagues saying they are going to miss me and i appreciate that. i was heartened by the polling utah couple of weeks ago and that was very encouraging as

well and a very positive approval rating. that feels good but you know following the george costanza leads elite when they are laughing and leave when they are wishing you would stay and i don't want to be in an institution where people are saying why is he still hanging around? so i'm going to continue to work over the next year and a half to address three or four issues of immigration, the level of debt we have and climate change strategy and a strategy to deal with china. [inaudible] >> i know the house is beginning an inquiry. i haven't heard any allegations of something that would rise to the level. i think it would be unusual to see a referral of impeachment. i don't expect that to happen. they can inquire and see if there's evidence to show something else. i don't think we will find that and i don't know. there've been no allegations

were any hint of that by the president so i'm not expecting that to occur. >> you talk to your legacy. what would you say to your colleagues asked him if were laughing at george costanzo. they were laughing at me too but that's a different matter. >> what would you say to mitch mcconnell -- and their health diagnoses? >> in their position for instant take mitch mcconnell he's the leader of the republican caucus. what he is able to do at his age is really extraordinary. i'm a first term senator. even as a second term senator i would not be a committee chair or ranking member. i'd be a senior person trying to get stuff done and fight to the regular order process but i was able to break through this when this gang came together but he's in a position to make a real difference at his age would just die were a geordie leader of the

senate i might reach a different decision too but i'm not. [inaudible] are you disappointed by the leadership you've seen in the republican party and with the impeachment trial? >> actually have a great deal of respect for leader mcconnell and one of the mysteries to me is why he's so unpopular in the national polls. i don't understand that. he is the singular reason we have a conservative supreme court and people recognize that. he also is a very effective leader of a buyer group. when you have 50 people in the republican group basically 50 of those every one of us think that to be president. how you lead people like that and he's done it with skill and plumb over to the number of years the. there's nothing that i know of that was written that's critical

of the leader. and i've had personal and private conversations and public pronouncements great i've been nothing but impressed. [inaudible] >> i'm not going to talk about those because those were echoes from a member of my staff who quoted back that. the point was with were to that leader mcconnell that was not a great idea on the part of donald trump to be critical of jury members at the time they were deliberating. >> what about cruz and hawley? >> look i believe many of the people in leadership being

elected officials who claim that 2020 was a stolen election and we need to recount the ballots or whatever other than the normal judicial process i think they would do better and i have expressed that numerous times. it's not a surprise. >> democracy requires belief in credibility in elections so people who are casting aspersions on our election process are threatening one of the bases of our very foundation. i was critical of that and i continue to be and i'm sure they'd be surprised to hear it again. [inaudible] >> after the next election whatever happens there'll be plenty of people around the capitol capitol to make sure that doesn't happen again. [inaudible] i saw an article in the atlantic which pointed out young people are not warming to them message and i think that's true.

there'll be some that follows donald trump and follows in his footsteps and the same populist pattern. i don't think it will be successful long-term because people are paying far more attention and won't be pulled into the populist notions so i think her party goes back to if you will the wise wing of the republican party as time goes on. >> trump is dominating in the polls and will probably be the nominee. >> i'm not talking about the next two years that i'm talking about the next decade or so. populism doesn't work. that mlb mencken lined with every problem there's a solution which is simple, clear and wrong and unfortunate that's what we are hearing and again the trampling of the party i haven't heard policies other than saying we are going to build a wall by

the way he was president for four years. he built 50 miles. what did he get done? why without the tax change? the tax change is paul ryan. he had a health care plan and everybody was going to have low cost health insurance? never proposed, never saw. he was there for four years so it's not a policy centric approach and if you don't have policy to match her rhetoric ultimately it's not going to be successful. >> senator in the article you mentioned for its mentioned you have spoken to joe manchin about a third political party and is there any interest in that? >> that was several months ago. who knows what might happen? the think senator manchin is looking for no labels at this stage. i can't speak for him that joe and i speak a good deal and i raised ideas with him.

i actually think a third-party candidate would make it more likely it's a spoiler and would not be successful in electing someone. and >> you say he wants to step aside and let the new generation come in. what are you doing about that? >> what am i doing about that? stepping aside. >> how are you getting young people into the party? >> wanted things i intend to do is to go to college campuses and speak at college campuses and to encourage young people to run for office and to vote. i don't think there's a way to mandate this. i like colleges and universities to insist that the young people vote. have voting booth on campus and make sure we get more young people because of the world they are inheriting. thanks, guys. >> have you talked to president biden and have you spoken to the president today?

>> yeah, thank you. i was asked whether i had spoken to president biden and the answer was yes and he was generous and kind in his comments. >> senator, thank you. >> thank you congressman. [inaudible conversations] >> thank you for your service.

,

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> good afternoon everyone. happy wednesday. especially to all those who traveled more than 18,000 miles around the world. the president met with more than 20 world leaders visited two countries and in the words of my friend who is not here some of us pulled all night or spray to help everyone has gotten some rest and to all those who stay back here at home i hope you had a quieter few days and it's good to see all of you again. as i said the trip was highly successful and the president showed america's leadership on the world stage iv the president is looking forward to a major economic speech tomorrow and continuing to deliver results to the american people here at home. before i turn it over to jared bernstein i will say a couple of

things to add. earlier this year president tightening congressional congressional leaders reached a bipartisan budget agreement that set a framework to keep the government open and protect critical priorities for the american people. the deal is a deal to the president, house democrats and senate democrats and senate republicans have stood by that agreement with bipartisan movement in the senate today. speaker mccarthy and house republicans have taken a different approach ignoring the agreement that the majority of them voted for an advancing extreme partisan bills to breach their promise and got investments in america. these bills would be devastating , increasing costs for families hurting student seniors and rural communities, slashing law enforcement, undermining manufacturing and so

much more. and they are distracting from top priorities like delivering disaster relief and helping ukraine fight russia's illegal war. house republican should keep their word and do their job, fund the government and we are talking about important key vital programs to the american people. next up is a match at we have jared bernstein who has joined us several times before at the podium but but this is the first time he will be doing it in a key role as chair of the council of economic advisers. jared is going to talk about the latest economic data that all of you have reported on this morning and previewed the presents major economic speech and with that jared over to you. >> after brief comment about this morning's cpr report i'm going to see if you words about

how bidenomics is working but also why it's working and wide as president biden will highlight in his speech tomorrow and is the record shows trickle-down economics doesn't. headline cpi rose 0.6% last month driven by a spike in price of gas per at headline inflation has fallen substantially, down by 60% over the last year but we know less months increasing gas prices put a strain on family budgets. core cpi inflation which omits putting gas prices was up 0.3% in august. over the past three marks cpi were at an annualized rate of 2.4% the lowest rate since march of 2020 when in close to its pre-pandemic level. this is important progress. by omitting highly volatile gas and food prices it provides a cleaner signal as to where and inflation is likely headed. this figure, this figure

compares the contribution of gas and apparel to monthly inflation and it paints a clear picture of the volatility of the gas prices that i think the yellow bar going up and down with various colors and the contribution is the red line so you get the point about all a of gas prices. turning to bidenomics we started with a position of strength. the u.s. economy had real gdp growth supported by strong consumer spending that is itself supported by a strong labor market delivering wage gains accounting for inflation. the next figure is showing the extent to which we see inflation coming down and wages meeting prices for all workers and middle wage workers are this figure includes today's inflation report not only has inflation come down it's now

growing more slowly than the pay of him low and middle wage workers meaning their buying power has increased. our work isn't done for sure. wages are outpacing inflation gets breathing room the president talked about. what does that have today with bidenomics? rising wages for middle and low age warners is at the heart of our middle out and bottom-up growth. our gdp is almost 70% consumer spending still in the middle class is doing well the overall economy prosperous. that's also the reason why trickle-down doesn't work. disproportionately helps those who don't need the help and thereby are less likely day to get consent to let us movey to afford on the minibus. we're not there yet, but we hope we can get there tomorrow. in the meantime, for the information of senators, we're going to have a vote on the motion to proceed to the minibus at 10:30 tomorrow morning. again, thank you to the appropriators, particularly senators murray and collins, and

all the committee on both sides of the aisle. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

% madam president, i ask ask unanimous consent that the comer call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 2795 introduced earlier today by senators tester and moran. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2795, a bill to amend title 38, united states code to extend and modify certain authorities and requirements relating to the department of the veterans affairs and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there an objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mrs. murray: madam president, i ask that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: if there is foe no further debate, question is on 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 is passed.

mrs. murray: i ask the motion to reconsider be considered and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 341 submitted earlier today u. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 341 is recognizing september 19, 2023, as national voter registration day. the presiding officer: is there an objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mrs. murray: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, september 14. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time

for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to calendar 19 19, h.r. 4366, postcloture, further, that all time be considered expired at 10:30 a.m. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: if there is no further business come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the

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