about one in every 36 people were getting injured. so is a horrendous injury rate. cdc -- >> on this monday afternoon we take you live now to the four of the u.s. senate for more work on federal spending bills ahead of a september 30, except that deadline. lawmakers plan a vote to advance the judicial nomination at 5:30 p.m. eastern. live coverage of the senate on c-span2. will now lead the senatn prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal spirit, guide our lawmakers today as they seek to do your will. deliver them from the forces tht

seek to destroy freedom. use our senators to make a bettr world, as they strive to createa planet where people can dwell together in harmony. inspire our legislators to decrease that you may increase and illuminate our world with your glory. give them the wisdom to seek you often in prayer with grateful hearts. lord, guard their hearts and minds with your peace. help them to turn their struggls into stepping stones that will glorify you. we pray in your holy name. amen.

the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., september 18, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the state of illinois, to perform te duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration

of h.r. 4366, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 198, h.r. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction, the department of veterans affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes.

you have a lot of kids and i will showcase but for policies including the in the campaign. so far we see a room alone in the is focused on early voting season new hampshire and south carolina, these are the first post that come up in 2024 and where we see most candidates putting their energy they have in their offers among the states

making business and forging a relationship when it comes down cap language and other locations but there's a lot of focus on iowa and new hampshire and south carolina to keep things active. >> we know the former president has been in the lead and continues to be in the lead but what about the candidates after him, anybody seems to find upward trajectory. >> a shift when it comes to the number two position ... keep in mind there is a difference in national polling and early state polls and some would say the focus should be on state polls since we do voting primaries state-by-state for the presidential nominating process so who comes in second, donald

trump or florida governor ron desantis occupied the spot but we are seeing some instances where there are different candidates moving in step, former south carolina governor nikki haley in the early state and across the board but a certain momentum and perhaps performance in the first gop candidate today. tim scott is showing upward momentum in some places and almost swarming so it depends on what you are looking at. a lot of those physicians occupy the top spot and how much of his lead is dependent on where you're looking. >> debates and performance and the associated press and stage placement as they seek to break out moments. >> we saw the campaign right a

letter to mcdaniel saying when it comes to center stage at the end of the month of the reagan library, it should be based primarily on early state pulling perhaps in particular pulling out of iowa. caucus in the campaign performing somewhat better so using metrics to determine center stage and just about every conversation hundred want the campaign could be a better position if the numbers are used from i will because the current gop front runner and donald trump indicated he might not participate in any primary cycle debate so it is unlikely you will be there even if he is the leader so far. >> how are the candidates doing on fundraising? >> we're coming up on the end of

another fundraising quarter so we will get another look here as to where they are but it depends on you are talking to and what stage in the campaign. the haley campaign based off her performance in the first debate next month said she had one of her best single fundraising. , based off her performance there but other campaigns say they have momentum and he's been doing well and tim scott came into the race with the most money of any candidate because he is able to bring in a lot where he has general election opposition in the recent runs and therefore a lot of money left over.

they are only air in these states they continue to introduce themselves and make arguments. >> any rumblings about republican contenders dropping out? >> operatives from supporting other candidates saying and it became concrete and he didn't make the cut so it's unknown from these other campaigns who might not make the second debate stage in there is some question whether doug burgum or asa hutchinson will be able to read the markers on the reagan library but we don't know for sure if that is going to translate for other candidates.

>> that will take place september 27. what are you watching more in the coming days and weeks? >> always watching for issues of the day and how candidates are approaching them. in the past week or so we seen house republicans mounting potential impeachment against president joe biden and the campaigns are starting to address that. it's something we've heard on the campaign trail even before the gop took place. criticism and hunter biden the gun charge case of his own they are being taken against the president and his son and continuing in their own arguments and why they should be the pig to oust president joe

biden next year. and those are things in the campaigns and they develop on capitol hill. >> on the democratic side watching for the nomination process president biden. >> what is on that side? >> there are some things about their choice or what they see as their choice for next year. there's clearly the president is the oldest president to argue private oval office so other organizations have done pulling about what it means and how they

approach that. there is some that doesn't bother them but there are others who do bring it up to something from just about every republican campaign not specific to age and pose questions about the ability to do the job. there are other democrats against the president as he seeks the nomination scheduled to hold the first of those and other candidates like robert kennedy junior spending a lot of time talking to voters. south carolina among them supported joe biden in 2020 when he saw the nomination then so it takes longer to see if the other candidates are able to make their arguments. >> you can do so if you go

follow make, or handle or ats news.com. thank you for the update.

congress reported with bloomberg government to talk about the week ahead in congress. let's pick up where we just left off. we've been talking about what was negotiated behind closed doors between the supreme caucus and the moderate mainstream. >> the house caucus or fiscally

conservative hard right part of congress, opposed kevin mccarthy speakership earlier this year. the main street caucus which is a more moderate distance from the action and they came together on this framework and put together nearly 200 pages that would/non-defense spending by 8% for the next 31 days starting end of september which would give negotiators more time september 30 deadline in the side of the government's fiscal year and the legislation that passes stop act measure or bills that seem unlikely that the government would shut down. >> what has the speaker said about how you would bring this

to the floor? >> i believe the plan is to bring up the bill on thursday the way the house works is they will come back later tonight for 6:30 p.m. vote, just make sure everybody is in attendance. house rules committee will meet to markup a resolution although normally they would keep it flat, this decreases spending some more of a back measure. the next couple days there will be a procedural quote to set the terms of debate, a rule for debate on the house for the final passage of the bill and send it over to the senate. >> is the rules committee the first hurdle for this potential deal and if so, tell us why. it is because of the makeup of the rules committee related to speaker mccarthy's position as a

leader? >> any legislation to the house that doesn't have that needs to go through the rules committee first and the simple majority and is unlikely to attract any given inclusion of measures democrats oppose, they will meet republicans only to carry the bill so the rules committee allows mccarthy's allies for the most part in the majority on this panel, i believe senate republicans for democrat and likely to oppose it but there are two members of the house freedom caucus on the rules committee so they could vote with democrats and mega tight vote in the house rules committee which would put block it and this would need to bear. the package to be sent to the senate we read post this morning

from conservatives. our to show our viewers and get your reaction so interference is a betrayal the must do better referring to funding the justice department. negotiated filing there are no policy writers and all policies from last year's appropriation and 8% nearby. there's no money for ukraine covid for ukraine i assume. another politics as usual no breaks until he passed all and

for months i have made it clear, support and this week is no different. the concert in january they would fund the government. what do you make of this? speaker mccarthy has the boat right now. >> the answer is no, his leader to team. democrats are likely to oppose this bill given the cuts to non-defense programs as well as defense programs rebel against show/. the issue is mccarthy has the majority, is stewart so that is one less room for margin of

error. when they become yes, they change on the floor and that's what we saw on the floor. >> even if the speaker were to get fist through the house, what about the senate, what are they saying on the resolution? >> the senate has said for one thing at a higher level, they don't have these deeper cuts, they are closer to this agreement reached by speaker mccarthy and the white house this year but avoided the debt and statutory caps on spending across all categories so they are going to look at the bill and say cuts are a problem and lack of supplemental aid the

white house cost for like florida and hawaii for ukraine, volodymyr zelenskyy making the case for aid as he battles is for russia both democrats and republicans say they need to pass that. >> if this were to pass the house and the senate picks up their own resolution or refuses what the house has done, there's only eight working days left, what happens? >> there is limited time to get this done. if this does come across the floor as close to the senate and the senate takes longer to clear a bill because of the role of the filibuster and a longer debate time and it could go up

until the 11th hour. the 30th deadline and the territory and it's not unusual for a bill getting down to the wire even a couple of hours and temporary furloughs or stopgaps that last a couple days against the white house for the signature and there is little time to reach a deal and get over first. >> will take your comments and questions for potential governments. 748-8000. independent (202)748-8002. text us as well, first name,

city and state 202-74-88003. join us on facebook.com or the handle at c-span. good morning. oh, i've got to push the button. go ahead, start over. >> , former fed and lived through many shutdowns and they never help anybody. and the drought to get it to this and come up with a novel thing to shut it down achieve what? nothing. >> is that current?

>> there are classes of federal employees and one is quote central and one is quote nonessential. a central employees do the job and it's so critical to think about security. there are members of the federal government that are nonessential that can go on furlough and those folks might then go home -- madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, the lesson of the past few years has been that bipartisanship is key to getting things done in the senate. even in these divided times. a few months ago bipartisan majorities in both chambers passed an agreement on

appropriation top lines for the fiscal year of 2024, and avoided a catastrophic default, which would have been so danieling to america. since then, senate appropriators, led by chair patty murray and vice chair susan collins, have drafted legislation honoring this bipartisan agreement. it took months of work and a lot of compromise, but all 12 appropriation bills have made it true the committee -- through the committee. all of them bipartisan, and many with unanimous support. nobody got everything they wanted, but disagreements did not stymie progress. so again, bipartisanship is getting things done. that's been proven over and over again in recent years. but the reverse is also true. when a small band of senators chooses partisanship over progress, when they mimic the chaos of the house freedom caucus, it threatens the good work of this chamber. that's what happened last

thursday, when one senator's objections prevented ups from moving forward with the -- us from moving forward with the appropriations process. one member, mimicking the house freedom caucus, has derailed the senate and prevented us from considering amendments, including republican amendments. it's a reminder that in both chambers a small band of hard-right republicans are dead set on grinding down the gears of government. for these maga republicans, it's as if gridlock is a virtue and cooperation a crime. i ask this small group of republican senators, what happened to wanting to do appropriation bills regular order? we have put a minibus on the floor with the cooperation and guidance of republican senate appropriators. these stunts by this very small band only serve to undermine regular order in the first place and fly in the face of what our

republican colleagues asked us to do. maga extremism only produces chaos. last week maga extremists in the house prevented even a defense bill from moving forward. it's a scary pattern we're seeing emerge on the hard right. extremism at all costs even at the cost of our national defense. i urge my republican colleagues to resist the senate's hard work. a great majority of senators from both parties want to see us move forward. in the coming days, i'll work with my colleagues on getting the appropriations process back on track so we can finish processing these appropriation bills and get a step closer to funding the government. because we all know if the government shuts down, it will hurt millions and millions and millions of americans who did

nothing wrong. the c.r., september 30 is only 12 days away. if partisanship is allowed to work, we can avoid a government shutdown before then. sadly things in the house are not off to a good start. last night gop members released what they call a deal for the c.r., but it reads like hard-right screed. house republicans want to cut all defense spending by a devastating 8%. 8% cuts to law enforcement, cancer research, and other critical priorities. not one penalty is dedicated to the president's disaster relief request. no attempt to reauthorize the faa. and with no ukraine funding, the proposal is an insult to ukraine and a gift to putin. i cannot think of a worse

welcome for president zelenskyy who visits us this week than this house proposal which ignores ukraine entirely. last night's proposals -- last night's proposal in the house can be boiled down to two words, slapdash, reckless. slapdash because it's not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown and reckless because if passed it would cause immense harms to so many american people. this is not a serious proposal for avoiding a government shutdown and if passed would never have enough votes to make it through the senate. to his credit, the speaker knows a shutdown would be a terrible outcome. when i spoke with him in late july, we had a very encouraging conversation about the need for bipartisanship to avoid a shutdown. we both recognized that a bipartisan c.r. would be the way forward. two months later, a bipartisan

c.r. is still the only answer for avoiding a government shutdown. i urge speaker mccarthy as well as reasonable house republicans to resist the 30 or so extremists within their ranks who seem dead set on provoking a crisis. the house freedom caucus cannot be allowed to bully the rest of the house into submission, as hard as they might try. time is short to finish the job. if both sides embrace bipartisanship, the shutdown will be avoided, if the hard right is given a license to avoid a show, the shutdown is inevitable. on the uaw strike. today the united auto workers enters another day of strike for safer conditions and better health care. the u.a.w. helped to build and strengthen the middle class and

it has been a leader in the fight for workers' rights and fair labor standards. it's no surprise that the uaw is once again leading the way with the historic strike on the big three car companies. the uaw's demands to these companies are simple. better pay, better benefits, better working conditions. surely that is not too much to ask of these car companies who brought in record profits over the last few years. the workers helped create those profits. there's -- they're largely there's a reason there are such profits and now they deserve to get some of the benefits. i stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters at the uaw and hope that they will reach a contract that will be fair and equitable to workers. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

they don't care. the deficit of $8 trillion. they come for the deficit. >> when they are in power. >> the house appropriations

committee and the senate appropriations committee broke the government spending bills and a time to get an agreement but on these bills they do set it and it is indicative especially house republicans of a trajectory of federal debt which is determined not just by government spending bring in and willfully more knowledgeable on this issue but really republicans want to cut government spending and we are seeing that as well which needs the majority of house republican caucuses. the tricky part is mentioned in emergency cases, public pandemic were yes, the deficit is under republican leadership and republicans control the senate as well as the white house so the time where the economy is not where inflation is cooling, it's not unusual to see

republicans releasing the house trying to use that lever to cut spending in the name of reducing the debt. >> it was announced recently that there would be impeachment inquiry into president biden, how does that play out? >> not much has changed on that front. in actuality, the three pursuing allegations of crime and the biden family, some of which are playing out, hunter biden which we could talk about, those committees and house judiciary committee and ways and means have been investigating a potential nexus not proven between hunter biden's business dealings and reduction of this impeachment inquiry serves two purposes. one allows house republicans if

they issue a subpoena against the white house or other entities in the case where they should be answered as they seek more about hunter biden and a potential relationship with joe biden or former vice president joe biden and president biden. the issue, other members said they would not support a government funding bill on impeachment and kevin mccarthy came back from the august recess and one thing he announced in marjorie taylor greene came out of his office in support of the government funding bill so as the deadline gets closer and closer mccarthy thought this might be opportunity to create support at least in the short term but that is more complicated.

>> good morning, go ahead. >> good morning. i want to say, i was, i am a retired federal employee and i was always in as essential because i worked in the national security. i've been through at least a dozen of these. and i want to say never seen in all the times i was working and federal employees had vacations, congress started to reimburse them for staying home and upset as we were working twice as hard because a lot of the people didn't have to come in and those of us who did have to come in to pick up slack for the people who work there.

>> as i mentioned, there are classes of federal employees and i thanked them for their service in government. certainly there are members who are furloughed, if they have the savings to go on vacation, they are within their rights but there are other families who rely on that pay, a single income household certainly, reimbursing for a time where it would have been working but they were not getting pay but it does. this system where you got members and federal employees who continue to work while others are on furlough which creates economic hardship for those who are not. >> also this week on capitol hill attorney general merrick garland will be testifying,

where will he be testifying and what will he be asked? >> the house judiciary committee as well as the senate last week but hasn't been following that. republicans have been bringing this host of issues, a wide range portfolio on a regular basis. >> it is related to these negotiations over a potential government shutdown and marjorie taylor greene and her weaponization of the justice department so they don't want to include funding for the justice department. >> that's right. there is language in the spending bill that would cut funding for the investigation into the trump business and

multiple federal indictments and one of the first things they did was create a subcommittee of the house share committee by congressman jim jordan of ohio. >> will be before the house judiciary committee with me wednesday 10:00 a.m. eastern time and you will hear testimony walked on c-span three, c-span now free video will and on our website c-span.org. mccarthy knows his impeachment inquiry doomed and will hurt him politically it will cost him more pain from the right flank. the thoughts? >> this is the struggle he's had the last couple of months, to competing parts of the

conference to contend with, members of the more than dozen districts elected as republicans they voted for president joe biden in 2020 and will continue the bipartisan outreach we hear from those folks who are not to move forward and have not seen biden doing anything in a high crime or misdemeanor of impeachment or impeachment inquiry because there are voters who voted and would like to see him reelected in 2024 and the other side you've got members and much more republican districts who are only concerned with a primary, general election for the conclusion. currently at two straddle these issues a long time the house is not voting on the impeachment inquiry during impeachment of

former president donald trump is there simply are not the there he is taking this initial step to ramp up probe of the biden family without putting it on notice in a way that could hurt them politically. >> a lot to follow this weekend you can do so by following zach . thank you for the conversation.

mr. mcconnell: madam president, i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: today, five american hostages are on their way home from unjust detention in iran. unfortunately, the deal that secured their release may very well be the latest example of president biden rewarding and incentivizing tehran's bad behavior. over the past two and a half years, the administration's weakness and desperation have embodiened, em-- emboldened a

state sponsor of terror and would be a nuclear arm aggressor. take the $6 billion the united states has reportedly just released to the iranian regime. administration officials have insisted that this money is subject to strict oversight and may only be used for humanitarian purposes. iran's president on the other hand understands that money is fungible. he said, and this is the exact quote, humanitarian means whatever the iranian people need. and the needs of the iranian people will be decided and determined by the iranian government. end quote. well, madam president, we know quite well that the iranian people's needs and iranian regime's priorities rarely overlap. for example, protesters continue

to take to the streets across iran to denounce the regime's one year after the so-called morality police killed a young woman for not wearing her head scarf correctly. brave iranians are taking greater and greater risks to speak out for freedom from the brutality of a corrupt neo contractic ra -- theocratic regime. meanwhile, as the regime meets these protests at home with force, it focuses abroad -- its focus abroad remains on exporting oppression, terror, and economic interference throughout the region and beyond. tehran continues to accelerate its enrichment of weapons-grade uranium and stonewall international inspectors seeking the truth about iran's weaponization work. just last week the regime

borrowed -- barred several u.n. inspectors from conducting scheduled oversight across the country. the regime is racing to ramp up production of the weaponized drones it uses against arab and israeli civilians to supply russian violence in iran -- in ukraine. iran-backed militia continue to threaten u.s. servicemembers in iraq and in syria. tehran continues to funnel resources to terrorist proxies, like hezbollah and lebanon and hamas and gaza that attack israel. and the regime has even plotted to kill u.s. officials and dissidents here on american soil. and last week the irgc seized two more tankerships in the arabian gulf and detained their

civilian crews, part of a longer campaign to threaten freedom of navigation and the entire global economy. this growing threat has led to u.s. military to deploy 3,000 additional marines to the red sea and prepare to put u.s. personnel on commercial vessels to try to deter iranian aggression. by every measure, iran poses a greater threat to its neighbors and to the united states than it did two and a half years ago. the biden administration's record of appeasement and squandered leverage has left americans less secure. the urgent question now is when the president will finally decide to change course because so far his administration's obsession with reviving a flawed nuclear deal actually suggesting otherwise.

-- suggests otherwise. on another matter, on the biden administration's watch, america's southern border has descended into humanitarian disaster. and across the country democrats' open border policies have turned every state into a border state. the fentanyl traffic to cross the southern border has become the leading cause of death among americans 18 to 45. of the 2135 overdose deaths in my home state last year, fentanyl was the most prevalent drug involved. and nationwide synthetic opioids contributed to about 75,000 of the nearly 110,000 overdose deaths. but the painful ripple effects of washington democrats' failure to address the border crisis

extend even further. in major cities all across the country the flow of illegal migrants is testing the patience of even the most liberal mayors. the number of arrivals in new york city is now close to 10,000 a month. mayor adams has said that the city's response will cost $12 billion over the next three years if the flow continues at the same rate. being a sanctuary city, it's starting to come at a price. meanwhile, the biden administration has continued to sit on resources that were already paid for during the previous administration. the army corps of engineers is paying $160,000 per month to store more than 20,000 used border wall panels that have already been paid for by the

taxpayer. but instead of finally starting to enforce our immigration laws, the biden administration apparently wants to respond by gutting the agency tasked with doing so, immigration and customs enforcement. the junior senator for tennessee, senator hagerty wrote recent by about how the administration's recent supplemental funding proposal included a provision to redirect ice funding toward paying community-based residual facilities, airplane tickets, and hotel rooms. as our colleague put it, quote, this would effectively convert i.c.e. from a law enforcement agency into a u.s. travel agency where illegal aliens -- for illegal aliens. so washington democrats' neglect to shatter america's border security. now they want to make life even harder for the men and women working hard to clean up this

mess. the american people need security, not another attack on

both chambers passed in agreements and appropriation top lines in 2024 canister. since then senate appropriators led by chair patty and vice

chair susan collins address legislation honoring this bipartisan agreement. months of work and a lot of optimize the appropriation bills miti. all of them are partisan in many with unanimous support. the disagreement did not sign congressman from a bipartisanship is getting things done that's been proven over and over again in recent years but the reverse is also true. when a small bag chooses partisanship over progress may mimic chaos of the house freedom caucus and threatened the good work of this chamber. that's what happened last thursday when one senators objections prevented us from moving forward in the appropriations process, one member mimicking the house freedom caucus that derailed the senate that prevented us from considering the moments including republican amendments

and a reminder -- the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: no, we are not. mr. schumer: in a moment, senator murray will move to suspend rule 16 and file cloture on that motion. this is an effort to move forward on the minibus and keep the appropriations process on track here in the senate. it's unfortunate that one member

who does not represent the views of most senators prevented us from moving forward last week. but i believe a majority of senators want to keep moving forward. our republican colleagues have asked for regular order, and we have worked with them to let that happen. it was with the cooperation and guidance of republican appropriators that we brought these three appropriations bills to the floor, and we have said we will allow amendments. in short, we're doing what our republican colleagues have properly asked for -- pursuing regular order. so i hope senators from both sides will vote to allow the appropriations process to continue. a deep debt of gratitude and thank you for the hard work to chair murray, vice chair collins, and appropriators on both sides of the aisle. so now, madam president, i withdraw my motion to commit h.r. 4366 to the appropriations committee. the presiding officer: the

senator has thatreavement the motion is withdrawn. -- the senator has that right. the motion is withdrawn. the senate pro tempore. mrs. murray: i move to suspend rule 16 for the consideration of amendment number 1092 to h.r. 4366 and i send a cloture motion to otodesk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 suspend the rules under rule 5 of the standing rules of the senate -- mrs. murray: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: the will clerk continue to readed motion. the clerk: railroad to calendar number 198, h.r. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction and so forth and for other purposes. as printed in the congresses congress on september 14 -- in the "congressional record" on

settlement 14, 2023 -- mrs. murray: i now ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to commit h.r. 4366 to the appropriations committee with instructions to report back forth with with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, moves to commit the bill h.r. 4366 to the appropriations committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment number 1230o. at the end of division c add the following -- section 422 effective date -- mr. schumer: i ask consent to withdraw the reading. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: madam president. the presiding officer: the president pro tempore. mrs. murray: for the information of all senators, last week an overwhelming 91

senators voted to begin debate on the bipartisan appropriations package. this is a package of bills which each one of them passed the appropriations committee unanimously, and we have been working very hard in a bipartisan effort in good faith to set up a very robust process for amendments and for debate. unfortunately, a few senators decided to object to us last week, and now, madam president, we are moving forward. and i would just say, a lot of senators have come to me and to others and have spoken on the floor about how much they hate doing a gigantic omnibus at the end of the year. and we have been working really hard on this package to make sure we don't get stuck doing that once again. so if everyone is serious about wanting to show this place can actually work, well, now is the time to come together to make sure we can do that a. we, madam president, cannot let a few senators toss out months

of hard work to move us closer to regular order and abandon an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort to do something as basic as funding our government. and then put us 0en a collision course for another huge omnibus. so that is why we are filing for a necessary procedural vote today that we will vote on later this week that will keep this bipartisan process on track. and, madam president, i would inform senators that as we wait for this vote to ripen, we are continuing to work through a list of amendments and a package of amendments that we can approve as soon as we can get the necessary votes to get back on the bill. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, what you just witnessed here is, we hope, a new day in the united states senate. you see, we have the responsibility of appropriating the money for the federal government. we do it in 12 different bills. the total cost to the taxpayers and the resources for the government come to in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars, so it is a big undertaking. for five years we failed to pass those 12 bills individually. we passed them in a group known as an omnibus. it's usually done either at the end of the fiscal year, which ends september 30, or a few weeks or months thereafter. so this year we decided in the senate to do it differently, do it better, and what we've done through the appropriations committee, which i serve on, is to take up each individual bill

of the 12 bills, and we're trying to pass them on a bipartisan basis. because this body is divided 51 democrats and 49 republicans. we picked two of the best legislators in the senate to accomplish this -- senator patty murray who just spoke from the state of washington, a democrat, and senator susan collins, a republican from maine. the two of them did miracle work in the committee. they got all 12 bills individually passed. so we're in the process of trying to consider three of those bills at a time, three of those bills now, and that's what we were embarking on last week. in order for us to take up these bills, we needed to suspend the rules of the senate because of the procedure that we face. so when we tried to do that, one senator, a republican senator from wisconsin, objected. and because of his objection and the nature of the senate, we were back to the starting point

and it led to what we saw today -- senator schumer, the democratic leader, and senator murray, the president pro tempore, and the chairman of the senate appropriations committee, has asked for permission to take up those three bills and to amend them and debate them and pass them. in order to do that, we have to suspend the rules of the senate, not an easy thing. usually we do it by saying, do i have unanimous consent to suspend the rules, and it happens. this time when we said, do we have unanimous consent, that one senator objected. he has his own reasons. he can explain them. but it meant that we had to come back here today and start the suspend the rules. it takes two-thirds votes, 67 votes in the senate. so, you see, this isn't an easy chamber to get things done. but i think we're on the right track, and it is a bipartisan undertaking, and we're considering each of the bills and subjecting this emto amendments, just the way -- and subjecting them to amendments,

just the way it used to be for many decades. i think it's better. contrast that what's going on in the house of representatives. at this point, they couldn't pass any bills. they couldn't pass any appropriations bills, and now they're considering a bill for short-term funding for our government, and speaker mccarthy has said he will call it for a vote this week. i don't know if it will pass or not. there is quite a feud going on over there. so we are following an orderly, bipartisan process. i think this is the right way to do it. i hope that the republican leadership in the house of representatives can get their act together. we'll find out this week. that's not the reason i came to the floor, but i wanted to make sure we made a point of what senator murray said. i think the american people more than anything want us to get along and work together and solve some problems. this will be a step in that direction. so that's what we just went through. now, madam president, i ask to

make a statement in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. welcome back. madam president, each year the united nations in new york has a general assembly meet ping and countries come with their leaders from all around the world. many people, myself included, watched "60 minutes" on sunday. so last night "60 minutes" volodymyr zelenskyy, the president of ukraine, talked about what he's facing with this russian invasion by putin and what it's meant to his country, and he said that he's coming to new york to make a presentation to the united nations. i think it's important that he does this. i want him to remind the american people who through the nato alliance have been steadfast in supporting the ukrainian people, what's at stake. vladimir putin has said that he wants to restore russia's

so-called lost glory. that is the twisted rationale behind his invasion of ukraine, one that has led to half a million ukrainians and russians being killed simply for putin's blood-thirst city ambition. putin will not be traveling. it is because the international criminal court, when it looked at the activity of the russian invaders in ukraine, ended up branding vladimir putin a war criminal. why would they call him a war criminal? because they killed innocent civilians certainly, but equally because they had a mass abduction of ukrainian children into russia, something that has hardly ever happened in history, but putin has done it. so they issued an arrest warrant for putin over war crimes. it is the first time in history for a leader of one of the

permanent members of the united nations security council has been charged. it is so surprise when you see what he has done and threatens to do. putin has isolated russia. he has arrested russians for political descent, quashed the freedom of the press and he is destroying the russian economy. despite these clearly tragic outcomes, he is doubling down even further. in a move by my delaware colleague, senator coons, aptly calls the devil's deal. you see, international sanctions, global isolation, and a determined ukrainian military have left putin scrambling for military supplies and weapons. he first turned for help from one of the worst's worst rogue nations. the iranian government was beating and murdering mass protesters who were demanding basic freedoms, putin was there hat in hand pleading for military weapons. and just last week, what a class

classic photograph -- what classic photographs these are -- he turned and asked for help from kim jong un, the leader of north korea. while the iranian government was doing these things, he's pleading for weapons and now he's met with north korean dictator kim jong un, with a further request for weapons. he is pleading for help from two despots. that's the thing that we've got to keep in mind that has been achieved by this war. there is more unity in the nato alliance than at any time in its history. in fact, for the first time in recent history, we have expanded nato to include sweden and finland. it has been my good fortune to

attend the munich security council in germany this spring and to meet again the president of finland. this morning's "new york times" has an article that i commend to you. i ask unanimous consent to include it in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: september 18, "new york times." the finish finnish leader made an historic decision to ask for membership in nato. he is a wonderful man, on his second term, extremely popular in his country. and he asked to join the nato alliance so that we can stand up against putin. he reminds us in this article that finland has great experience with its neighbor, russia. and an 830-mile border with the russian leadership. he recalls finland's numerous wars with moscow, including the 1939 winter war and world war ii when the finns fought off the

soviets but had to cede territory. european countries that less down their defenses made a grave mistake. he's asked to join the alliance. i was in a meeting with president ninisto and he said he called vladimir putin in moscow. he said i told him point-blank i'm joining the nato alliance. putin said you don't have to, i'm not going to invade your country. he said i can't trust you anymore after what you've done in ukraine. that's a message that zelenskyy was delivering last night on "60 minutes" putin is not going to stop his ambition to acquire other countries, and there are many that are in fragile, dangerous situations. i'm blessed to represent the state of illinois and city of chicago, as the presiding officer does, and there are some wonderful groups of people

who have come to that state and that city and have made us what we are dood. among -- what we are today. among them are the polish people. they say that chicago has the second-largest polish city in the world next to war saw. it's probably true. they are great folks. i'm honored to represent them. they know what soviet occupation through the warsaw pact meant to poland and they understand the danger if putin is successful in ukraine. the neighbors to poland feel the same way, the baltic nations of estonia, latvia and lithuania. i have a special connection there, my mother was born in lithuania. i have been there many times and admire the people of all the baltic states but they are small countries. they couldn't stand a chance of fighting off vladimir putin if they decided to invade them. the point made by ninisto, point made by the nato alliance, the point president biden is making and many republican leaders like senator

mcconnell is it is in our best interest to stop putin now in ukraine because he has ambitions to reach far beyond the borders of that country. the united states is not sending troops. we are sending military equipment, artillery, ammunition, and we're giving advice to the ukrainians so that they can win this battle. this battle is not just for the ukraine sovereignty. it's for our own protection in the years to come. this week in washington we'll be visited by president zelenskyy of ukraine. he'll go to new york first to address the united nations general assembly. i think he'll come through with a clear message to global leaders, to nato and to congress and to the american people. quite simply, ukraine is fighting with the lives of its own people against a nuclear state -- russia -- that threatens the world. if ukraine falls, putin will certainly go further to poland, to the baltic states, and

trigger an even wider war. putin cannot be changed, but he can be stopped in ukraine. the ukrainian people are showing extraordinary courage and determination. i agree with president zelenskyy. we must continue our support for these brave people fighting for their country and against russian tyranny that threatens the world. we can start by passing the biden administration's funding request. i'm going to do my part to make sure we get that done and call on my colleagues to do the same. i will say to president zelenskyy your message was delivered on "60 minutes." you are looking for allies who will stand up against the war criminal vladimir putin. the united states and nato will be those allies. madam president, i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, the end of the fiscal year is just 12 days away, and the senate has not yet voted on a single one of the 12 appropriations bills that have passed on a bipartisan basis out of the appropriations committee. the majority leader, who controls the agenda of the senate and the timing at which we consider matters, has had all year to plan and prepare for this september 30 deadline. but here we are, less than two weeks before a shutdown with no clear path to funding the government. at the start of last week this chamber was preparing to take up

three, a three-bill minibus. in other words, having not started to vote on any single bill, the majority leader put a bill on the floor that combines three of those 12 appropriations bills. this is something the senate has done before, but to be clear, this is not a feature of the regular order of things. following the regular order involves taking up and passing each appropriations bill one at a time. had the majority leader taken this process seriously, he would have had time to do that. the appropriations committee passed the first funding bills on june 22, which is nearly three months ago. the senate could have been processing those funding bills at any point over the summer. we could have followed the regular order and debated, amended, and passed all 12

bills ahead of the september 30 deadline. sadly, that didn't happen, which is now why we find ourselves in this situation. it didn't have to be this way, but apparently the majority leader, senator schumer, the senator from new york, wanted it this way. diverging from regular order to take up a minibus requires unanimous consent because it's in violation of rule 16 of the standing rules of the senate. and we know there are objections to waiving the provisions of rule 16. hence, we are where we are today. in politics, we sometimes talk about the art of the possible. we take stock of different members' positions, time constraints, procedural hurdles, and determine what's possible, what's feasible. plan af -- plan a should have

been to fog the regular order and pass these bills one at a time through regular order, as i said, consistent with the standing rules of the senate. but since that ship has sailed, we now have to figure out what plan b is. like many of my colleagues, i want the senate to work the way the rules provide for, and i'd like -- finding ourselves in the predicament we're in which is entirely predictable, i think the best course of action is to move forward with all three of these bills. each of these bills passed the appropriations committee unanimously, products of a thorough bipartisan committee process and they're ready for a thorough bipartisan floor process. unfortunately we know that with only 12 days to go, how this movie will end. ultimately there's two choices.

one is we'll pass a continuing resolution to give the house and senate more time to work on the underlying appropriations bill. or we'll end up in a government shutdown. it didn't have to be this way. but if it's not possible to move forward on all three of those bills contained in the minibus, which it currently is not possible, we need to move forward with the military construction-v.a. funding bill. there's no objection to doing that, and we are wasting valuable time but not processing that appropriations bill. but with just 12 days before the end of the fiscal year, i know we're all anxiously watching the calendar, because our country is barreling toward a shutdown and the american people are confounded by the fact that the united states senate has not even yet, even with all this time, has not even yet started

to vote on any funding bills. again, this was not inevitable. we didn't have to deal with it this way. senator schumer could have put the first appropriations bill on the floor in june, july, august, but here we are on september 18 trying to map out the process for the first funding bill. there is bipartisan bewilderment at why we have landed here. after all, the appropriations committee put us in the strongest possible position to advance these funding bills on a timely basis. senator murray and senator collins, the chairman and ranking member of the senate appropriations committee, promised to return to regular order, and that's exactly what they delivered. what they didn't figure on is that their principal obstacle would prove to be the majority leader of the senate who

sabotaged their bipartisan regular order efforts by not bringing these bills to the floor on a timely basis. as i said, all of the appropriations process happened in june and july, and there's no reason why it should have taken this long for the majority leader to start mapping out the floor process. this is no way to run a railroad, much less the united states senate, and i'm frustrated we find ourselves just 12 days before a government shutdown. so i hope we'll be able to find a path to process appropriations bill. but if that's not possible, we need to do what we can while we can. one bill is better than nothing, which seems to be senator schumer's preferred out come -- nothing. so if there is a shutdown, which i hope there's not, it doesn't serve the interest of the american people or either of the political parties, the

house or the senate. but if there is, then it has to be called a schumer shutdown. madam president, on another matter, last week marked the 22nd anniversary of the terrible terrorist attacks against the united states of america on september 11, 2001. the 9/11 attacks are one of those events that we will always remember where we are and what we were doing, juster -- just like i remember when i was 11 years old when john f. kennedy was assassinated in dallas, texas. even though more than two decades have passed since 9/11, the pain our nation endured on that day is still fresh in the mind of many americans, and certainly all of us who are old enough to remember it.

we remember the images that covered the front pages of the newspaper and the scenes we saw depicted on our television sets. we remember the bravery of the firefighters who ran into the buildings and the good samaritans who put their lives on the line to save others. but most of all, we remember the people who lost their lives that day, the 2,977 innocent lives, the thousands more who were injured and the countless people whose lives were changed in an instant. as a country, we came together and vowed to never forget the events of september 11 and ensure that those responsible would be brought to justice. as part of that commitment, senator schumer introduced legislation called the justice against sponsors of terrorism

act, or jasta, which became law in 2016. it amended the federal law so that foreign sponsors of terrorist attacks could be held accountable. what this meant in practical terms was that the people impacted the most, who lost families, loved ones, property, or businesses could bring a civil suit against a foreign nation that sponsored and financed terrorist attacks on our soil on that day. this includes the parents who lost their children, wives who lost their husbands. this legislation provided a path forward for families who lost everything so they could have their day in court. this law made clear that any country, any person or entity that finances terrorists for attacks on american soil could be expected to be hailed into a u.s. court to face justice.

there was a sigh of relief from the victims of 9/11, but over the last several years it has become clear that the law needs technical fixes. some deforts, including countries -- some defendants including countries accused of financing terrorism have exploited loopholes in the law to claim total -- this flies in the face of the intent of this law and prevents the 9/11 families and survivors from pursuing justice. earlier this year, senator menendez, the chairman ever the senate foreign relations committee and i introduced new legislation to make important technical corrections to jsta. i think the law doesn't need a correction, but it does deserve a clarification where a court

listening to an argument made by a country that perhaps financed these terrorists say, oh, it doesn't include some categories of recovery for damages. our bill simply clarifies who can sue and who can be sued to ensure jsta operates the way we originally intended it to back in 2016. so when congress debated jsta, there were two distinct camps. on one camp were the supporters of the bill, this includes the families of the 9/11 victims, they wanted foreign entities to be held liable if they aided appeared a -- and abet terrorists. the majority of our colleagues in congress, democrats and

republicans fell into that one camp, we wanted to see justice for the 9/11 families. in another camp, let's call it camp two, were opponents of this law, this included the kingdom of saudi arabia, which did not want to be held accountable for any role it might have played in spreading terrorism or financing these attacks on american soil. it launched an extensive lobbying campaign and promoted bogus narratives in an attempt to weaken support for jsta. sadly, camp two included some members of the obama administration, which par rotted a lot of the talking points and tried to stop the bill from becoming law. as a matter of fact president obama vee toyed -- vetoed jsta, that it gave support to the veto

overried of the -- override of the obama administration. president biden still hasn't taken a public position on fixing jsta, but his administration seems to be leaning toward camp two, siding with the saudis over the 9/11 families. high-ranking biden officials have dusted off the saudi talking points that we once heard from the obama administration. one of the arts i've heard against this bill is that we do not lack laws that affect pending legislations. that is not true, it alters litigation until we state it is pro state. jsta -- relating to the ability yif of the 9/11 plaintiffs to sue them under the tort

exception to the sovereign immunities act. jsta itself is the example of congress viewing errors and judicial interpretation and stepping in to fix them. it's the law we passed and we need to see that our congressional intent is actually enforced by the courts. nobody complained that we were doing this then and every member of this body who was serving in 2016 vowed for jsta. it passed twice, 100-0. jsta maintains strong bipartisan support today. my bill, with senator menendez, to make technical corrections has that same strong bipartisan support. president biden and his administration need to make a decision. is he in camp one or camp two? the foreign government that's accused of helping out the deadliest attack on american soil or the thousands of americans and families that lost

everything on 9/11? it's embarrassing that this is even a question because the correct choice is so obvious. earlier this month, the families of the 9/11 victims sent a letter urging congress to pass this legislation to, as they wrote, quote, fulfill congress's promise to the american people, close quote. that letter had more than 4,000 signatures. i want to thank two women in particular who have been fierce advocates of this legislation, terry strata and angela mistruli. they both lost loved ones on 9/11 and they made it their mission in life to make sure that victims involved in terrorism will have their day in court. i know they will not stop fighting until they get justice, and it's been an honor to stand

alongside them and hold sponsors of terrorism accountable. i'm disappointed that the senate was not table to pass this bill aread of the -- ahead of the anniversary of september 11, but that doesn't mean the urgency has gone away. the majority leader, despite our differences on other things, like the appropriations process, the majority leader was my partner on jsta several years ago and he's an original cosponsor of the legislation i'm talking about today that would make these critical technical fixes, i know he's committed to this legislation and i hope he will put this bill on the floor soon so we can keep our promise that we made to the 9/11 families and to the american people. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

why are we in this position we are in right now? >> the covid crisis in the great recession before that included a lot at one time borrowing that got us far from our historical average of 50% to 100%. we keep passing new tax cuts and new increases that widen our deficit. aging of the population and rising healthcare costs that put pressure on some of our oldest programs like social security and medicare to continue growing over time. >> are we paying our credit card >> we are paying our credit card with new credit cards.

we will probably borrow $2 trillion this year of new stuff plus we will borrow additional lead to roll over some of the debt from previous years. >> according to this new report put out last week from the organization, the deficit is rising faster than expected. why? >> last year's deficit effectively was 1 trillion. this year will be 2 trillion. have to remove some weird student debt stuff that never happened. it has doubled. part of the reason is as it turns out a high water point. we had a great year in terms of tax collection from capital gains from wages because inflation had gone into income first. now, things are normal. 2 trillion is the new normal. adding to that, the cost of social security and medicare went up pretty sharply because of medication and our interest costs are as high as they have ever been, at least since the '90s with the average interest

rate on new debt four, 5%, five and a half in some cases. >> who is to blame for this? >> we all are. we the voters need to take some responsibility because we love to have low taxes. we love government services and benefits. the politicians keep make promises they cannot afford. they keep telling us not to worry about the borrowing because it will pay for itself or this new spending program is so important we don't have to worry about the debt. many of the economists are to blame because when interest rates were low, they said, well, borrowing is cheap, let's do it. it did not occur to them that interest rates would rise and we would roll all whole that over into being very expensive debt. >> it shows the divergence between spending and revenue over the years. what can you tell us about this? what has been happening?

>> well, two things are happening. the one is we keep cutting taxes a built in growth to it. as income goes up, prelate to have should be growing. we keep in christ saying spending. new government programs. the second is onetime relief. some of it made sense, some of it did not. and the third is we have allowed some of our largest programs. continuing to grow basically completely unfettered. many have trust funds headed towards insolvency. headed toward social security now it is not able to take full benefits starting in 10 years under the law because it will be insolvent. we have done nothing to bring the costs under control or to raise more revenue in order to

finance them. >> it is hard. it is very fun to tell people i gave you a tax cut. i protected your social security benefits. it is hard to say we will have to raise the retirement age by one month every two years. you will have to pay a little bit more taxes on your income. we can do it, especially together, and not to beat each other over the head, but it is politically tough. no one wants to pay more taxes. no one wants more benefits. >> the latest round came during the trump administration. president trumps and republicans were in control. they passed tax cuts. there was a report in the paper last week about how much of those tax cuts will stay in place because president biden has said that no one making less

than 400,000 can see a tax increase. so, they are reporting said that much of president trumps tax-cut package stays in place. >> very possible. we cut taxes, republicans cut taxes by $2 trillion every 10 years in the trump administration. they joined him to increase spending and cut taxes by a combined almost 3 trillion more. now, many of those tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025 and although there has been some nice talk of paying for extensions, we have not actually seen how they will do it. it is a big risk that the parties join together. not in the interest of responsibility, not by making hard choices by extending these tax cuts. >> what do you think happens on the spending side? eight working days away from a possible government shutdown. republicans in the house,

conservative republicans are saying we need to address the spending now. exactly what you are talking about. 115 billion less than what the president and speaker mccarthy agreed to and may. >> the fiscal responsibility act , that may agreement, i think it was really good start to get our spending under control. they came together on a plan to essentially freeze spending levels for one year. growing really slowly next year. that would not solve our debt but it would save one- $2 trillion over a decade. i think that we ought to go forward with that deal and then work together on how to build on it. what is happening now is the house wants to spend below the deal. the senate wants to spend above the deal. they are taking the stuff and declaring it as emergency even though it is ordinary spending. then let's go back for more.

>> i want to talk about that in a minute here. let me ask our viewers to join in this conversation this morning. republicans 2,027,488,001. independent 2,027,488,002. include your first name city and state. mark all wine is our desk here this morning. talking about that and deficits. let me ask you this. if we were to continue, mark, continuing this trend we have seen over the next decade, where would that put us? >> an ugly place. that is about 100% of the economy. the u.s. record is 106%. right after world war ii. we had a plan to phase out. if we continue in our current

trajectory within 10 years, we will be at 115-130%. within 30 years somewhere between 180 and 300% of gdp. there is no historical examples of that working. there are not any international cases. the closest is japan on that low end. that is a recipe for slow and stagnant growth, rising interest costs, or bouts of inflation and hopefully not but possibly a fiscally creative financial crisis. >> what would it take to get out of that type of situation? how long would it take to get out of it? >> we should start now. if we were to put about $6 trillion of deficit reduction over the next decade, that would hold our debt below the size of the economy. that would be an unbelievably important start. not easy, it would mean we would have to cut tax breaks are raise

revenue, we would have to do more to restrict growth and we would have to get serious about getting healthcare costs under control and restoring social security insolvency. we could do it if we act now. if we wait until the crisis moment, it will require devastating abrupt cuts that could put us in a recession and certainly not feeling good to the folks relying on various programs and past provisions. >> democratic caller. >> yes. thank you. i have a question. it may seem a little off topic. this morning it was reported that we spent or gave iran $6 billion for the hostages. i don't understand about it, it shows that the money was gained through oil sales. the accounts were set under the trump administration. shell or their oil? i don't know.

>> mark goldman, i don't think so. that is pretty specific. but, to his point about spending money on aid to foreign countries, we have that debate happening right now with his continuing resolution. should it include an additional 20 billion for ukraine? on top of a billion that this government has been given to that country so far in their fight against russia. >> i think what they are asking about is we owe iran all this money from a period of time we were not in conflict. i think that the agreement here was to sort of release some of those funds. as to the broader point, 1% of the budget. we should have serious debate over whether it is worth it or not. we should scrutinize every dollar and spend it efficiently, but we will not fix our debt by cutting foreign aid or by getting rid of waste or sending billionaires to pay the taxes

that we opiate really fixing the debt will require doing things that some people feel. changes to the tax code, reform to healthcare. we cannot get it from these tiny pots of money alone. >> has the committee looked at what needs to be done on social security? if so, what does your group recommend? >> we have a very cool tool called the social security reform appeared basically it allows anyone to design their own reform plan. high schoolers have used a, members of congress have used it for their legislation. the cool thing about social security is there's only a few levers. your retirement age, your tax rate, how much income is subject to the tax, the structure of the benefit formula in the cost-of-living adjustment. you can basically tinker with any or all of those to reform it me, personally, i am in all the above approach. i do think we need more revenue into the program. i also think we need to adjust the formula and adjust the age.

we can do all of this in a way that encourages economic growth he had we just put out a study late last week that said if you do progrowth thoughtful social security reform you can boost average income by $10,000 per person 30 years from now. if we do this right, there is a tremendous upside. >> what about healthcare? you mentioned that is one of the drivers of our nation's deficit and debt. what do you propose to do about that? >> the united states spends about 50% more on healthcare than the next highest spending country. there is incredible amount of waste in our system. overpayment, some of it is excess complexity, some of it is bad incentives. we can start with a bunch of policies at both president obama and trump have supported. for example, right now the medicare program pays more if you see a doctor in a hospital versus if you see the exact same doctor in a private doctors

clinic. that makes no sense. we can equalize that with site neutral payment. another example, a private alternative to medicare called medicare advantage. in many ways, it is more efficient than medicare and get a cost of federal government more money because it is the way they are recording their costs. just getting rid of some of that fraud and miss recording could save hundreds of billions of dollars over a decade. >> long -- john in lake geneva wisconsin. independent. >> thank you for taking my call. i personally do not have an issue with the government shutdown over this spending. in my opinion the federal government has two jobs that help me. securing the border and the sovereignty of our country is the first one and the second one would be to protect and -- the

homeland with a strong military. all the other taxes i pay in wisconsin locally go towards, you know, all of my services that i receive locally. that is just my opinion on the deal. i would just like to know what your guest has to respond about that. >> okay. >> the three largest government programs are social security, medicare and the fourth-largest is medicaid. all of these serve a large swath of people. it does not mean there is not incredible ways both in the programs and outside of them. we should find spending cuts where we can. most of the social security program is sent people checks. after the government shutdown, unfortunately, this will not resolve any of that. we will never have a permanent shutdown. if they shutdown it may be for a week or month. and then we will go back and pay the federal employees were not

working over that time. it is an incredible waste with no actual upside. unless it means to serious policy change. >> and you say get won't. >> well, it could. you never know how negotiations will go. the shutdown itself does not do anything. the only good that could come out of a shutdown as it leads to an unrelated policy change. leverage point to y lead to improvement of policy are. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense withed quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent that the following interns from my office be granted floor privileges for the rest of this congress. heyly acton, sedry owe orentes, madeleine katz. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. before i begin my remarks today, i want to mention that it's the 76th anniversary of the united states air force. and on behalf of all

tennesseans, i want to recognize the brave men and women who are serving at arnold air force base, our air national guard members, and the air force veterans who call tennessee home. we thank them for their service. you know, madam president, last week the majority leader hosted a forum on artificial intelligence. that meeting really complemented the hearings that we have been having on this issue and indeed two hearings, one in commerce committee and one in judiciary committee that we held last week. it is vital that we develop an understanding of what it's going to take to put the guardrails in place for a.i. and we're going to need to continue regular discussions between policymakers and the industry.

and we've seen this model work in our favor. in 2019 and 2020, i led the judiciary committee's technology task force, and this brought experts to the table so that we at the judiciary committee could sit down with them, talk with them, learn more about how their technology worked and the dangers that it may pose. and we did this with several of our emerging technology sectors. and these discussions really yielded great results and the body became more engaged on technology issues. but we must stay focused and remember that a.i. raises the same concerns that plague other technological innovations. i was disappointed with how little the executives who

participated in last week's forum had to say about data privacy because in our committee hearings and with those witnesses, they have engaged on that issue, and they have talked about how we need to have that federal privacy law before we move forward with quantum computing, before we have more utilization of black chain, and of course before we move forward with a.i. we have to remember when you are online, when you are on an open-source platform, you and your data, you are the product. it is virtually impossible to talk about new technology without also talking about how to protect a customer's data. i like to call that the virtual

you. how do you protect yourself and your information online? and for an entire decade, i have called for comprehensive data privacy legislation. i brought it up again in last week's commerce hearing. many of my colleagues agreed. this is something we cannot continue to ignore, and so i would ask them to stay focused on that. we heard the same thing from our witnesses. you cannot ignore online privacy. you're going to have to deal with this issue. artificial intelligence is the most powerful technological innovation we have seen since the inception of the internet, and it is already taking over many of the digital systems that we use every single day. those systems depend on enormous

amounts of data to function. if we don't protect our data online and reinject control over how these systems exploit our data, we're going to lose the ability to do so. now, think about this because a.i. systems have to be trained. they are trained on your data. let's take, for instance, what happens when anenttainer. -- with an entertainer. let's say you're a singer-songwriter out of tennessee. let's say that you've written a hit. let's say that an a.i. system, such as jukebox, which is there on gpt, let's say you're going to train that system to sound

like one of our nashville hit makers. then that means you're going to use their name, their image, their likeness, their voice. it's a concept called voice cloning, and it is something that we should be paying attention to. is there good that can come from artificial intelligence? of course there is. think about what can happen as you're using it for predictive diagnoses in medicine is, as you are avenue using using it for -e using it for predictive disease analysis in medicine. think about how you can use it for remote surgeries. there are good uses. same thing for logistics. same thing for manufacturing, all of which we see in our state. but there's also harm that can come for entertainers, for singers, for songwriters, for authors, for publishers, and we

need to realize that there can be good, but there also can be harm. we also know that regimes that are hostile to the united states are doing everything that they can right this minute to exploit that technology. another of the adverse uses of artificial intelligence. here's an example -- china has long used social media platforms like tiktok to push propaganda in the united states. now the chinese communist party, the dear old ccp, they're at it again, using it generative models to make these campaigns even more convincing, and it's not just those of us in congress that see this. microsoft recently released a report showing us exactly how

the chinese communist party is doing it. we also know that authoritarian regimes will use a.i. to enhance their surveillance capabilities. the ccp again is already doing this. they're using it to surveil the uighurs, tracking them. they're doing the same with the tibetans, the mongolians. and then you look at iran. they are avenue using it -- they're using this to track and follow and use facial recognition to identify women, making certain that they are properly dressed and wearing that hijab this public. if they're willing to weaponize it against their own people -- think about it. they have weaponized this the technology. they're tracking and following and monitoring and surveilling

individuals in their daily lives. if they're doing it to them, of course they're going to do it to us. before we lead on a.i., the u.s. must be technologically superior. but even the tech execs who came to capitol hill last week admit that there is a role for congress to play in addressing privacy, national security, and other concerns. u.s. regulations must not hurt the ability of u.s. companies to dominate, but the lack of any governing standards can be just as damaging. for example, because the u.s. doesn't have a data privacy law, we've fallen behind our counterparts in the european union on a.i. regulation. back in february, commissioner

vestorberg described for me in a meeting that we had how the gdpr has allowed the e.u. to move forward on a.i. the difficulty of installing guardrails while still encouraging freedom and innovation is not unique to a.i. we have done this in the past, and we are going to need to do it again so that we retain that superiority in artificial intelligence and quantum computing. 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.

now free from imprisonment for detention from iran, iran, is in now in doha and route back to the united states reunited with their loved ones. five of the seven detained some for years and to others prevented from leaving around. i can tell you for them, for me an emotional conversation. the work we do every day in foreign policy and other countries and forgetting the

heart of everything we do is therefore the freedom of these americans unjustly imprisoned and seeing some pretty basic things. and grandparents and see each other again and deal with each other again. our partners and switzerland, cutter, united kingdom each displaying an important role.

the state department and throughout the united states working to achieve this for years. the freedom of fellow citizens and we are thinking about those not among them and presumed deceased. an important tool to crack down and deter taking americans unlawfully. one thing i heard with fellow citizens, their own determination and conviction we

have now brought these comments home from places around the world, that work will continue. same time we are going to work every day to take steps to make this practice more and more difficult and they engage and with other countries to do just that. today for this moment, it's very good to be able to say our fellow citizens are free after enduring something difficult for any of us to imagine and families will soon have him back.

president biden demonstrated the tough decision. there unjustly detained and will continue that work. >> will there be and through the intermediary.

>> first let me be very clear this process engagements necessary in this engagement. in the nuclear agreement will focus on working independently so it doesn't speak to anything else in the relationship. what are sorry deal with erections by an and when it comes to the number one issue of concern to get sustainable effective results with this

agreement and get there opportunities not engaged in that so we will see but it has been clear admitted to ensuring iran. >> i wouldn't anticipate anything this week. we are focused on the keys have endured what most of us can't possibly imagine. the years unjustly and that is what we are focusing. >> an audible question in all of. [inaudible]

[inaudible] met with our colleagues and having said that as i mentioned to countries in particular played a vital role in this is for the over the past minnesota and each and every one of them

and wrongfully detained americans in this effort. with regard to this resource, to be clear what this involved this involved the axis as a result of oil sales which were lawful at the time and from day one hour sanctions have always exempt use of resources for these purposes. with this regime.

and used for humanitarian purposes but they weren't able to access these were they were so they removed where we have absolute oversight and can only be used for humanitarian purposes and we have confidence that is set up in the previous administration set of the similar mechanism never used for these purposes so we are confident the iranians are more easily available as a result of these actions and will be used for managing purposes. >> thanks very much.

mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i ask that the quorum call be lifted. are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: yes, we are. without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you. the presiding officer: under the

previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. vernon d. oliver of connecticut to be united states district judge for the district of connecticut. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i'm very pleased and proud to speak to my colleagues today about vernon oliver whose nomination is before us. we will vote on it shortly. i anticipate that he will be approved, and i hope it will be with bipartisan support because vernon oliver represents exactly the kind of jurist, lawyer, public servant whom we want on the federal bench. judges on our federal trial courts are often the face and voice of justice. all too often litigants are

there for justice, and it is the end of the road for them one way or the other because they don't have the resources to appeal to the courts of appeals which sit in other states, far away often, requiring expenditure of resources. and so that district judge sitting in the court where often they live is the person who represents justice, the face and voice of justice for them. vernon oliver is exactly the kind of person who will be trust ed to give justice. he grew up in bridgeport. not a lot in his home in the way of financial resources. worked hard, went to the university of connecticut for his b.a. and then for his j.d., university of connecticut prepared him for a life of

public service, and that's what he has done with a brief break for private practice and as a temporary assistant clerk for the hartford judicial district. he joined the connecticut division of criminal justice, serving in the office of the chief state attorney and then as a prosecutor in the bristol superior court. and then i had the great honor to hire vernon oliver to be an assistant attorney general. and i say i had the great honor because when i knew him first, when i met him, i knew he was the kind of person who would be a really superior, extraordinary assistant attorney general. he went to work in the child protection unit, which

essentially tries to protect children from abuse and neglect, tries to hold families together or reach some resolution when there is violence or other kind of dispute that divide them. and here's what i learned about vernon oliver. he has a strong mind. he has a big heart, and he has a passion for justice. he handled dozens, hundreds, thousands of those cases over the time that he served as an assistant attorney general. and each one of them required him to focus his mind and his heart on that passion for justice. and he took every one of them seriously, the same seriousness for every one. they are often extremely demanding not just intellectually but emotionally,

and he stepped up. he showed the fiber of his character. he was nominated in 2009 to be a judge on the connecticut superior court. his nomination was done by a republican governor, jodi rell. and throughout his 15 years on the bench, he's presided over aluminum civil and criminal case s, approximately 30 bench trials, approximately 20 jury trials, thousands of hearings. so you don't really need to listen to me about vernon oliver. you can go to his colleagues, the legal community in connecticut, group of connecticut attorneys, many of whom have practiced in front of judge oliver wrote that he has, quote, an exceptionally keen legal mind, end quote and is, quote, committed to the fair and impartial administration of

justice, end quote. the george w. crawford black bar association noted that, quote, judge oliver's decisions are well reasoned and thoughtful and that, quote, put simply, he is a phenomenal judge. he's a phenomenal person, not just an extraordinary judge. and that's why connecticut state representative carpino, a republican, wrote this to the committee, our committee, the judiciary committee. judge oliver's breadth of knowledge in both criminal and civil law as well as the diversity of his judicial assignments makes him uniquely qualified to be appointed to the federal bench, end quote and that, quote, he has the demeanor one could only hope all jurists possess. i take this time to talk to my colleagues because i think we need to be mindful of a

standard, a standard of excellence on our federal bench. i thank and commend president biden for this nomination because he's recognized the importance of diversity as well as high performance intellectual ly. and he has enabled us, i think, to raise that standard. judge oliver is a perfect example of how that standard, and he is the gold standard we are seeking to achieve and i believe we are achieving when we confirm him and others who have those same qualities. thank you a -- thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 2665 -- 265, vernon d.

oliver, to be united states district judge for the district of connecticut. the presiding officer: the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of vernon d. oliver, of connecticut, to be united states district judge for the district of connecticut, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

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

mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.

the clerk: mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton.

mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer.

mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper.

ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee.

mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey.

the clerk: mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray.

mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen.

the clerk: mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer.

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

vote:

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- blumenthal, carper, casey, collins, coons, duckworth, gillibrand, lujan, manchin, ossoff, smith, tester, van hollen, wyden. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, crapo, 450eud

smith, johnson, lankford, lee, mullin, rubio, scott of florida, vance, wicker. mr. kennedy, no. mr. schmitt, no. mr. hickenlooper, aye. mrs. feinstein, aye. ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, no.

the clerk: mr. grassley, no.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. mr. cornyn, no. mr. welch, aye. ms. sinema, aye. mr. paul, no.

mr. markey, aye. mr. warner, aye. mr. ricketts, no. mrs. capito, no.

ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. daines, no. mr. cassidy, no. mrs. murray, aye. mr. fetterman, aye. mrs. shaheen, aye. ms. ernst, no. mr. durbin, aye. mr. booker, aye. mr. schatz, aye.

ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. mr. thune, no. ms. baldwin, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, no.

mr. budd, no. mr. cardin, aye. mr. tuberville, no. mr. tillis, no. mr. padilla, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. ms. lummis, no. mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. ms. warren, aye.

mr. schumer, aye. mr. hawley, no. mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no.

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

mr. hassan, aye. mr. kaine, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. graham, aye. the clerk: mr. king, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. romney, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. vote: the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. marshall, no.

the clerk: mr. young, no. mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: the yeas are 54, the nays are 40. the motion is agreed to.

:

have emboldened state-sponsored chair would be nuclear armed aggressor. take the $60 billion united states reportedly just released to the iranian regime. the administration officials have insisted this money is subject to strict oversight and may only be used for humanitarian purposes. iran's president on the other hand understands money is fungible. he said and this is the exact

quote, humanitarian means or whatever the iranian people need. and the needs of the iranian people need to determine by the iranian government." well, madam president, we know quite well the iranian people's needs and the iranian regime priorities rarely overlap. for example protesters continued to take to the streets across iran to denounce the regimes one year after the so-called morality police killed a young woman for not wearing her head start scarf correctly. brave iranians are taking greater and greater risks to speak out for freedom, from the brutality of a corrupt regime. meanwhile as the regime meets

these protests at home with force, it focuses abroad remains on exporting repression, terror, economic interference throughout the region and beyond. jeron continues to accelerate its enrichment of weapons grade uranium and stonewall international inspectors seeking the truth about iran's weaponization. just last week the regime barred several un inspectors from conducting scheduled oversights across the country. the regime to ramp up production of that weaponize drone to use against arab and israeli civilians to supply russian violence in iraq, in ukraine. iran back to the militia militis to threaten u.s. service members in iraq and syria.

tehran continues to funnel resources to terrorist proxies. like his of all, lebanon and gaza. that attack israel. the regime has plotted to kill u.s. officials and dissidents here on american soil. and last week the ir gc seized two more tanker ships and the arabian gulf and detained their civilian crews part of a longer campaign to threaten freedom of navigation and the entire global economy. this growing threat has led the u.s. military to deploy 3000 additional marines to the red redsea prepared too but u.s. personnel on commercial vessels to try to deter iranian aggression. by every measure iran pose the greatest threat to its neighbors into the united states that it

did two and half years ago. the biden administration record of appeasement and squandered a leverage has left americans less secure. the urgent question now is when the president will finally presy decide to change course. because so far his administration's obsession with reviving a flawed nuclear deal actually suggests otherwise. on another matter on the biden administration's watch, america's southern border has descended into humanitarian disaster. across the country democrat open border policies turned every state into a border state. the fentanyl traffic to cross the southern border has become the leading cause of death upon americans 18 -- 45.

the 2135 overdose deaths in my home state last year, sentinel was the most prevalent drug involved. and nationwide synthetic opioids attributed to about 75000 of the nearly 100 10,000 overdose deaths. the painful ripple effects washington democrats failure to address the order crisis extend even further. at major cities all across the country the flow of illegal migrants is testing the patient's even the most liberal mayors. and new york city is close to 10,000 a month. mayor adams has said the city's response will cost $12 billion over the next three years if the flow continues at the same

rates. being a sanctuary city is starting to come at a price. meanwhile, the biden administration continue sit on resources that were already paid for during the previous administration. the army corps of engineers saved one or 60000 per month to store more than 20000 used border wall panels that have already been paid for by the taxpayer. but instead of finally starting to enforce our immigration laws, the biden administration apparently wants to respond by gutting the agency tasked with doing so, immigrations and customs enforcement. the junior senator from tennessee wrote recently about how the administration supplemental funding proposal included a provision to redirect ice funding towards paying for community based residual facilities, airplane tickets,

and hotel rooms. i was our colleague put it quote this would effectively convert ice from a law enforcement agency into a u.s. travel agency for illegal aliens. washington democrats shatter border security. now they want to make life even harder for the men and women working hard.

bipartisanship is key to get think that it is said it. bipartisan majority in both chambers pass an agreement on appropriation top lines for the fiscal year of 2024. avoided a catastrophic default which would have been so damaging to america. since then senate appropriators led by chair patty murray and vice chair susan collins have drafted legislation honoring the bipartisan agreement. it took months of work and a lot of compromise all 12 appropriation bills have made it through the committee. all of them bipartisan and many with unanimous support. nobody got everything they wanted but that disagreements

did not stymie progress. so again bipartisanship is getting things done. but as an improvement over and over again in recent years but the reverse is also true. when a small band of senators chooses partisanship over progress, when they mimic the chaos the house freedom caucus it threatens the good work of this chamber but that is what happened last thursday at one the sender's objection prevented us from moving forward at the preparations process. one member mimicking the house freedom caucus has derailed the senate and prevented us from considering amendments including republican amendments. it is a reminder that in both chambers of small band of hard right republicans are dead set on grinding down the gears of government. for these maga republicans it is as if good luck is a virtue and cooperation is a crime. i ask this small group of senate

republicans what happened to wanting to do appropriation bills regular order? we said we would allow amendments but we put a minibus on the floor at the cooperation and guidance of senate republican appropriators. these stunts by this very small band only serve to undermine regular order in the first place flight in the face of what our arepublican colleagues asked us to do. that is the danger of maga extremism is incapable of governing. it only produces chaos. it is so bad last week maga extremists in the house prevented even a defense bill. even a defense bill for moving forward. it is a scary pattern we see emerge with some on the hard right. extremism at all cost even at the cost of our national defense but i urge my republican colleagues to resist and reject the hardline attempt to derail the sentence work. a great majority of senators from both parties want to see us

move forward. in the coming days i will work with my colleagues on getting the appropriations back on track so we can finish processing these appropriation bills and get us one step closer to funding the government. because we all know if the government shuts down it will hurt millions and millions and millions of americans who did nothing wrong. the cr. september 30 is only 12 days away. if a bipartisanship is allowed to work we can avoid a government shutdown before then. sadly things in the house are not off to a good start. last night house gop members release what they called the deal for acr. but in reality it's a hard right. instead of working with democrats to keep government open house republicans want to cut virtually all non-defense spending by a devastating 8%.

8%. 8% cuts to law enforcement, cancer research and other critical priorities. not 1 penny is dedicated to the presidents disaster relief request despite the anguish in so many states. though have no health accidents are included no attempt to reauthorize the faa. and with no ukraine funding the proposal is an insult to ukraine and a gift to pollutant. i cannot think of a worse welcome for president zelenskyyy who visits us this week. in this house proposal which ignores ukraine entirely. last nights proposals can be boiled down -- less ice proposal in the house can be boiled down to two words slap -- and it rankles a set in a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown and reckless because it if passed would cause immense harm to so many priorities to help the american people. again this freedom caucus a wish list is not a serious proposal for avoiding a government

shutdown. in the past it would never have enough votes to make it to the senate. to his credit the speaker knows a shutdown will be a terrible outcome. when i spoke with him and late july we had a very encouraging conversation about the need for bipartisanship to avoid a shutdown. we both recognized a bipartisan cr would be the way forward. two months later a bipartisan cr is the only answer for avoiding a government shutdown. i urge speaker mccarthy as well as reasonable house republicans to resist the 30 or so extremists within their ranks who seem dead set on provoking a crisis for the house freedom caucus could not be allowed to bully the rest of the house into submission. as hard as they might try it. time is short to finish the job. if both sides and brace bipartisanship a shutdown will be avoided if the hard right is given a license to run the show

a shutdown is almost inevitable. it is that simple. now on the uaw strike. too that united auto workers enters its fourth day on it strike for better wages, health benefits safer working conditions. america would not be what it is today without strong unions about the uaw. uaw help build and strengthen the middle class. and for decades uaw has been a leader in the fight for workers rights and fair labor standards. so it is no surprise uaw is once again leading the way with this historic strike on the big three car companies. uaw's demands for these companies are simple. better pay, better benefits, better working conditions. surely that is not too much to ask of these car companies who brought in record profits over the past few years. the workers helped create those profits. they are largely the reason there is such profits and now they deserve to get some of the

benefits of. i stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters of the uaw and urge the big three car companies to bargain in good faith to quickly reach a new contract that is a fair and equitable for workers. i yield the floor.

what the associated press. let's begin with the state of play for camping 2024 on the republican side. give us an update. >> we have seen candidates all across the board in the past month especially the past week. we saw a lot of candidates gathering in iowa for a bigot big gettogether were a lot of tm showcased what they are putting forth as their most conservative tendencies on policies including abortion and other big issues at play here in the campaign.

so far what we are seeing from a lot of candidates as they focus on the early voting states in iowa, new hampshire and here in south carolina where i report and live it. the boats that come up in 2024 months of the canids putting their energy pre-taking what they have in their campaign coffers. in terms of ad buys making visits on some will be betting fitting them but comes onto the votes early next year. was he a lot of attention there are events happening in other locations. so far this a lot of focus on iowa. a lot of focus on new hampshire and also in south carolina. >> we know the former president has been in the lead. assuming he continues to be in the lead. what about the candidates after him? is anyone seeing upward trajectory? axel bit of a shift when it comes to the number to two

prediction in the polls. this a difference in national polling and early state polls specifically when i mention for iowa, south carolina and new hampshire but some would say a lot of the focus should be on the early states since we do vote in primary state and caucuses. state-by-state for the presidential nominating process in. when who comes in second. for a long time for that governor desantis is occupied that spot. we are seeing some instances where there are different candidates moving up into that spot one is former self kinda governor nikki haley has been campaigning hard and all the early states that across the board. it's been a bit of search and momentum with the first gop debate senator tim scott is also showing a bit of upward momentum in some places as his biotech entrepreneur vivek ramaswamy. it depends which surveys you are

looking at. while the former president much of the lead is dependent upon great-looking and over whom and the second place spot. >> speaking of debates and performance and scott once new rules for a breakout moment. >> that's right was how the scott campaign write a letter to gop chairman mcdaniel and saying when it comes to who is center stage in that debate coming up at the end of the month at the reagan library they argue that placement should be based primarily off of early state polling and perhaps in particular pulling out of iowa. which holds the lead off caucus. and where the scott campaign has been performing better in weeks. to determine who is at the center of the stage and part of just about every that happens on

that campaign could be in a better position if some numbers are used from iowa. because let's rub the current gop at front right of the former president donald trump has indicated he might not participate in any debate. ask how are these candidates doing on fundraising? >> we are coming up on the end of another fundraising quarter. shortly as to where the coffers are. what stage in the campaign the haley campaign based on her performance in the first debate last month said she had one of her best to single fundraising periods are goodly they say based off of her performance there. but some of the other campaign say they are having bumps and momentum sprayed the desantis campaign has been out think he's doing well based on that debate. tim scott came into the race with some of the most money of

any candidate because he was able to bring in a lot from his senate coffers. i have not faced a lot of general opposition in his most recent run and have a lot of money left over. he said his fundraising has been doing well. so, so far they are continuing to bring in a money pit will see exactly how much here shortly. we are seeing all that transfer into more ad buys. candidates being able to stay up on the air particularly in the early voting states and continue to introduce themselves to make and makethe argument. >> any rumblings about someone or some republican contenders dropping out? >> there is always the conversation from operatives, perhaps people supporting other candidates. saying i wonder how long it is until we don't see x candidate anymore. after the qualifications for the first debate became concrete we did see miami mayor and

suspending his campaign because he did not make the cut. it is unknown if we will see that from some the other campaigns who might not make the second debate stage. there is some question as to whether north dakota governor or former arkansas governor will be able to meet the markers needed to be on the stage at the reagan library. but we do not know for sure if that's actually what you translate into suspensions for other candidates a very. >> that debate will be taking place september 27. what else are you watching for in the coming days and weeks?

but now that there are some actual actions being taken against the president and his son also in court, those are things that republicans at least some of the campaigns are continuing to use in terms of making their own arguments as to why they should be the pick to oust for joe biden as democratic nominee heading into next year and also the economy, continued concerns about potential

what are the polls showing and what are people talking about on that side? s. >> clearly the president is the oldest president to occupy the oval office and ap and other office has done polling on what it means to voters and, of course, there are some that doesn't bother them and trusted experience but there are others who do bring it up and something that we hear continually from every republican campaign, perhaps not specific to age but if they post questions about doing his job. so, you know, they are making sure that voters on the

democratic side of thing know they too have a choice in next year's election but there are a lot of -- south carolina among them that supported joe biden in 2020, so it'll just take more months for us to see if those other candidates can make their arguments in a persuasive way. >> you can do if you go to meg kinnnard at ap or apnews.com. thank you for the -- mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak

therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 347 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 347 designating the week beginning on september 11, 2023, as national hispanic-serving institutions week. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble 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. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 348, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the 348 s. regs 348, designating the week of september 4-30, 2023 as gold

star families remembrance week. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the committee on judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. res. 344. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 34 had, recognizing september -- 344 recognizing september 7, 2023 as a national day of service and remembrance. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and the mowings to reconsider be considered made and laid lain the table with no intervening action or don't. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m.,

tuesday, september 19, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, and 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the oliver nomination postcloture. further, that all time be considered expired at 1:10 a.m. and following the cloture -- 11:30 a.m., and following the cloture nomination on the lin vote, the senate recess until 2:30 p.m. for the weekly caucus meetings. upon disposition of the lin nomination, the senate resume legislative session and the consideration of h.r. 4366. timely, that if any nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous

order. the presiding officer: the >> the u.s. senate is continuing work on spending bills, lawmakers are al considering the nomination of vernon oliver to be u.s. district court judge in connecticut. as always live coverage of the senate on c-span2. >> c-span sun filtered view of government where funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center, no, it's way more than that. comcast support c-span as public service along with these other television providers giving you a front-row seat to democracy.

>> join us tonight for the premier of c-span's new series, books that shaped america. in partnership with the library of congress, we will explore books that promote thoughts, won awards, led to significant societal change and are still talked about today. this week we will feature common sense, 47-page pamphlet at the height of tensions. watch books that shaped america featuring thomas payne commonsense, tonight at 9:00 on eastern c-span, c-span.org. be sure to scan the qr code to

listen to our companion podcast where you can learn more about the authors of the book feature. healthy democracy doesn't just look like this, it looks like this where americans can see democracy at work when citizens are truly informed, a republic thrive, get informed straight from the source. on c-span, unfiltered, unbias word for word from the nation's capitol to wherever you are because your opinion is what matters the most, this is what democracy looks like. c-span, powered by cable. >> joining us this morning is zach owen, congress reporting, talking about week ahead in congress, zach, let's pick up where we just left off in the washington journal. for the first hour we have been talking about what was negotiated behind