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unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> work continues in the senate today on a package of three federal spending bills, agriculture, hud transportation and military construction veterans affairs. votes are also planned on president biden's dominations for two u.s. district court judges, one for connecticut, the other for california. now live to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god of us all, who is above all, yet in us all,

make us ever sensitive to all the expressions of your grace. thank you for the glory of a sunrise and sunset, for the refreshment of the breezes that invigorate, and for the technicolor in trees, shrubs, sky, and sea. may the challenges of these times never blind us to life's wonders. prepare our lawmakers for today's journey. may they strive to stay within the circle of your will, as you guide their steps. lord, help them to be ready to solve problems,

receiving inspiration from the creative power of your love. let business be done on capitol hill that will address itself to the real issues and not to games. may the work of our senators become an expression of your truth, righteousness, and justice. we pray in your great name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of 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 19, 2023, to the senate under provisions of rule one, paragraph three of the rules of the senate i hereby appoint the honorable raphael warnock. the presiding officer: under the previous order, leadership time is reserved, 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: vernon d. oliver to be united states district judge for the district of connecticut.

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mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, we're days away from another maga government shutdown. avoiding one will require the house majority to quickly accept a bipartisan solution. yet, this week house republicans are trying everything but bipartisanship. everyone knows that the gop's proposed c.r. is a nonstarter here in the senate. let me say that again. everyone knows that the house gop's proposed c.r. will not pass the senate. because, instead of even pretending to aim for

bipartisanship, this bill has zero, zero, democratic input. it calls for a crushing 8% cut to virtually all nondefense spending. 8%. the house republican proposal, drafted and put together by the maga hard right wing, is slapdash, reckless, and cruel. it includes cutting investments to the social security administration. , to law enforcement, to nutrition assistance, to k through 12 education, to small business, to rural communities, to protections for drinking water, to lifesaving medical research, cancer and other research, and much more. the american people need to know just how bad this maga republican c.r. truly is. this slapdash c.r. would

decimate investments in lifesaving research, hollowing out the national institute of health. this reckless c.r. would lower public safety, cutting back on drug and food inspection, weakening wildfire prevention, and eliminating law enforcement officers in the federal government, weakening our battle against violent crime and the scourge of fentanyl. this cruel c.r. would gut investments in k-12 education, slash resources for suicide support services, upend tribal investments, and cut loans to small business in rural communities. slapdash, reckless, cruel. that is the hallmark of this maga republican proposal in the house. then there's ukraine, which the house gop bill completely abandons. at the very same time that

president zelenskyy comes to the united states to make the case for standing firm against putin, the republican leadership in the house of representatives is essentially telling him you're on your own. nothing would make putin happier right now than to see the united states waver in our support for the ukrainian people. nothing would make putin happier. providing aid is not just a matter of ukrainian security, but of american security too. because a victorious putin would be an emboldened putin, and that would make the world less safe for democracy and for america. for maga republicans to oppose ukrainian aid is a terrible, dangerous mistake that could come back to haunt u.s. security. ukrainian aid could have been an opportunity for bipartisanship, but the hard right, against what i imagine is the majority of republicans in the house, has

prevented that from happening too. let me say it again -- the house package is slapdash, reckless, and cruel, and everyone knows it has no chance of passing the senate. the more time house republicans waste trying to pass this maga wish list, while ignoring chances for real bipartisanship, the greater the odds they will push us into a costly government shutdown. mr. president, the last government shutdown lasted 35 days and began when then-president trump said to me and speaker pelosi in the oval office, i'm proud to shut down the government. that's what he said. in the two years that democrats held the house, the senate, and the white house, we didn't have a government shutdown. we didn't have a debt limit crisis. we didn't have the kind of chaos that we see when maga republicans seem to control so

much of the republican agenda. and this year we have already seen both, a debt limit crisis and a looming shutdown crisis just months apart. only one thing has changed since last year where there was none of this chaos -- a house controlled by maga republicans. they're back to their old ways. of course, former president trump is trying to add to the crisis. it's typical of what he always does. practically commanding his maga house sycophants to, quote, shut down the government if they can't make an appropriate deal, absolutely. this is the problem with maga extremism it's not capable of governing, but only of chaos. this year, sadly, chaos has reigned in the house. it doesn't have to be that way. it doesn't have to be a maga republican only bill. it doesn't have to be the maga way or a shutdown. house republicans have a choice in the matter, between pursuing

real chances for bipartisanship and catering to the hard right. each time they have chosen to empower the hard right. they've chosen dysfunction and chaos. they have chosen to ignore bipartisanship. but what was true months ago remains true today -- there is no scenario where we avoid a shutdown without bipartisanship. if democrats tried to do it only our way, there'd be no bill. but now republicans are trying to do it their way. democrats are not. and there are plenty of members on both sides of the aisle who, despite our disagreements, would like to give bipartisan a chance. that's what the american people would want us to do as well. we only have a few days left for house republicans to come to their senses and choose the more fruitful way. i urge them to reject chaos and

choose to work with democrats. there are real people with real lives at stake here, hundreds of thousands of federal workers all across the country could be furloughed. services that millions of americans count on could be disrupted. our communities will be less safe, and our fellow americans suffering from disasters less provided for. those are a few of the tragic and uns in outcomes -- and unnecessary outcomes in the republicans in the house let the maga extreme control their agenda. the matter is simple, simple -- if both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be avoided. if house republicans reject bipartisanship, if the hard right is given license to run the show, a maga shutdown will be almost inevitable. now, on the minibus, while chaos seems to define everything the republican-controlled house does, here in the senate we have

shown that bipartisanship is key to getting things done. and tomorrow, democrats and republicans will get a chance to make sure that that bipartisanship continues. unfortunately, last thursday, a lone senator, representing a very small group in this chamber, tried to undermine the bipartisanship appropriations process with procedural hurdles. yesterday, my colleague, senator murray, the chair of the appropriations committee, moved to get things back on track with a motion to suspend rule 16, and filed cloture on that motion. we'll vote on that motion tomorrow. i believe that a clear majority of senators want to see us continue on the appropriations process. i hope they vote to keep the appropriations process going tomorrow. our colleagues on the other side have asked for regular order, and we have worked with them to make sure that that happens just as it did on the ndaa bill. our colleagues on the other side have asked for amendments, and

we have worked with them to consider amendments. in fact, senators collins and murray had a list of amendments that was going to go forward, with the okay, i believe, of both the minority and majority leaders, until senator johnson threw the log in the tracks. our republican and democratic leaders of the appropriations committee have asked to consider appropriations bills on the floor, and it is with their cooperation that these three bills -- milcon v.a., agriculture, and transportation-hud -- have been brought to the floor for consideration. democrats want to work with our republican colleagues whenever possible. no one pretends that we -- like we don't have disagreements. we do. but the important part is that, so far, disagreements have not stymied the process. tomorrow's vote will be a chance to ensure that we keep that bipartisan going. i thank my colleagues on the

appropriations committee, especially chair murray and vice chair collins, for their excellent work, and hope we can see strong support tomorrow to continue the appropriations process here on the floor. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: in the past two months, the chinese government has reminded the world just how an authoritarian communist state operates. in july president xi announced he'd replaced the prc's foreign minister after the official hadn't been seen in public in a month. then the senior official responsible for the pla strategic missile force who hadn't been seen for even longer was replaced.

and then the chinese defense minister went missing for weeks before beijing announced he'd been fired and detained for investigation. the purge of senior leaders, growing economic volatility, foreign policy, these are developments in a country with a reputation for repression at home and beligerance abroad. china's neighbors and global powers alike are increasingly skeptical of official economic and budget numbers from a dictatorship that suppresses free speech, mocks the rule of law, and simply disappears its

senior leaders and rightly so. one thing has long been certain the prc is arming itself at an alarming rate. recent estimates suggest china spends close to $700 billion per year on defense. that's concerning for a number of reasons. first, a much larger percentage of china's defense budget than ours goes to modernization and capabilities. further, since chinese geo strategic ambitions, for now at least, are focused primarily on challenging the status quo in its immediate region, the prc doesn't face the resource constraints that the united states does due to our global interests and power projection

requirements. beijing's decades-long modernization campaign has paid dividends for the prc. just last week "the wall street journal" detailed the significant progress china has made in testing and fielding hypersonic weapons. and how such efforts have outpaced those of our own country. america also lags in shipbuilding. the infrastructure constraints that keep us from building more ships, testing more hypersonic vehicles, and training more pilots are well known. but the cold truth is that china which has a shipbuilding capacity of more than 200 times that of the united states is set to reach 400 ships in two years while the u.s. navy is aiming for 350 ships -- listen to this

-- by 2045. this is precisely why senate republicans led by senator shelby and senator wicker pushed for an amendment to the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure framework to create a defense infrastructure fund and expand our capacity for testing, training, and production. unfortunately, the democratic leader did not allow this amendment to receive a vote. for what it's worth, i appreciate the pentagon's recent efforts to catch up. for example, the deputy secretary of defense recently announced an initiative to dramatically accelerate production of autonomous systems to help level the playing field with the pla. her remarks were titled the urgency to innovate.

but closing the gap with china and outcompeting our biggest strategic adversary will require more than innovation, theater, or speeches about revolutions and military affairs. real progress will require real investments in long-range strike capabilities, real expansion of our defense production capacity, real defense technology, cooperation with our closest allies who increasingly share our concerns about the pla. the conflict in ukraine has finally motivated efforts in america, europe, and asia to invest in our defense industrial bases, but if we truly take computation with the -- competition with the prc seriously, there's a lot more that needs to be done. aukus, our technology sharing partnership with australia and

the united kingdom is a step in the right direction. in fact, it will hopefully serve as a model for expanding defense cooperation with other allies, but these efforts cannot come at the expense of properly funding america's own requirements for crucial systems, like attack submarines. the partners interest in hypersonic weapons and long-range fire is welcome, but the pentagon needs to move at the speed of relevance to feel these -- field these capabilities as soon as possible. and the biden administration needs to stop sending congress defense budget requests that cut funding after inflation and start prioritizing serious investments in the weapons that we actually need. on an entirely different matter,

in a speech last month president biden claimed that american wages were growing faster than inflation. that's bidenomics. unfortunately, for working families the truth of bidenomics is twiet the opposite. even -- quite the opposite. even as nominal wages continue to rise, inflation is actually rising faster. for the third straight year, real median household income is declining. according to the census bureau, inflation-adjusted income declined last year -- listen to this -- last year alone by $1750. in other words, washington democrats' historic inflation has swallowed the gains of a tight labor market and stuck workers across the country with a massive pay cut. worst of all, bidenomics tax is hitting low-income workers the

hardest. the wealthiest 5% of households are earning 4.1% less than they were four years ago. but listen to this. but the poorest 10% are earning 6.3% less and wage gains for manufacturing workers are lagging even further behind those of other industries. one contract worker in michigan said of his job at the hardware store, quote, every time my wage goes up, the price of everything else goes up. and it does me no good. and yet the price of some construction materials are only beginning to come down by cents whether they need to -- when they need to come up dollars. so, mr. president, that's bidenomics and working americans have every reason to be sick of

it.

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days away from hipaa a government shutdown. avoiding one will require house majority to quickly except a solution. yet, this week house republicans are trying everything but bipartisanship. everyone knows that the gop's propose cr is a nonstarter here in the senate. let me say that again. everyone knows that the house gop's propose cr will not pass the senate. because instead of eating or attending to aim for bipartisanship, this bill had zero, zero democratic input. it calls for a crushing 8% cut

to virtually all nondefense spending. 8%. the house republican proposal, drafted and put together by the maga hard right wing, is slapdash, reckless, and cruel. it includes cutting investments to the social security administration call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. thune: mr. president, thank you. there is nothing like summertime in south dakota, while i'm in sue falls, summer gives me time to spend more time at home and to meet with constituents and have important conversations that shape a lot of what i work on here in the senate. it's a busy month. and, mr. president, we cover a lot of ground this august, both figuratively and literally. to begin with august is fair season in south dakota, i made

it to the turner county fair, the brown county fair where i got my usual tubby burger and to the sue county fair. it's especially big for our agricultural community. whether i'm serving lunch to those at the agricultural day. i appreciate opportunities to hear directly from farmers and ranchers. i do this every year but it's especially important in a farm bill year like this one. many of my farm bill priorities come directly from these discussions. in fact, these discussions can often get into the weeds on policies, but the bottom line from farmers and ranchers was simple. we need to get it done. they need to know that the will

be there for them. it is important for the agenda. agriculture is the lifeblood of south dakota but there's a lot more that keeps south dakota moving. this august i had the chance to meet with electric cooperatives that provide power in south dakota communities, i joined midco communication which will bring faster internet to more homes. i was on hand for if the new i- i-29 exit ribbon cutting in lookings, south dakota. i visited a lot of local businesses and talked with local business owners from across the state. i visited show place cabinet tri, low key manufacturing in elk point, demmick cheese, and i met with start-up leaders in sue falls. we had some important conversations, mr. president.

and it was clear that business owners are facing headwinds at the moment. business leaders discussed challenges arising from the workforce shortages in south dakota, with unemployment at 1.9% in south dakota, there are workforce challenges in just about every sector, with we talked about the importance of trade and how the bings has put expanding market access on the backburner, unfortunately. and business owners across the state expressed frustration with high interest rates and higher costs, we learned last week that inflation has ticked back up. gas prices are on the rise as well. and a majority of americans say the biden administration has made the economy worse. bidenomics is making life a lot harder for south dakota families and businesses and for families and businesses around the country. and if the president really wanted to help working families,

he would abandon the tax and spending agenda that has been the hallmark of his administration for the last two and a half years. mr. president, as i traveled around south dakota, i know i can depend on south dakotans to keep me informed and south dakota restaurants to keep me fueled. often august becomes a bit of a tour or a bit of i should say a bit of a trade of south dakota tour, i describe it as eating my way across south dakota, a milkshake from mr. bob's drive-in at selby. there's nothing like south dakota hospitality and a good meal to keep you going during long days. mr. president, as much as i love summer in south dakota, i always get particularly excited when summer turns to fall because there are few things i enjoy more than cheering on south dakota's athletes. kids get back to high school,

college teams start competing, my grandkids' sports season has begun, i made it to the south dakota state university to support the jackrabbits and the coyotes in a couple of big wins. it's not long until pheasant season comes around. winter, spring, summer or fall there is always something to look forward to in south dakota. mr. president, i am lucky to be a son of our state i. yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk

we are days away from a maga government shutdown. avoiding one will require the house majority to quickly except a bipartisan solution. yet, this week house republicans are trying everything but bipartisanship. everyone knows that the gop's proposed cr is a nonstarter here in the senate. let me say that again. anyone knows that the house gop's proposed cr will not pass the senate. because instead of eating pretending to aim for bipartisanship, this bill has zero, zero democratic input. it calls for a crushing 8% cut to virtually all nondefense spending. 8%. the house republican proposal, drafted to put together by the maga hard right wing, is slapdash, reckless, and cruel.

it includes cutting investments to thequ social security administration, to law enforcement, to nutrition assistance, to k-12 education, the small business, to rural communities, to protections for drinking water, to life-saving medical research, cancer and other research, and much more. the american people need to know just how bad this maga republican cr truly is. this slapdash cr would decimate investments in life-saving research, hollowing out the national institute of health. ..

the house gop built completely abandoned. at the same time present zelenskyy comes to the united states to make the case for standing firm against putin, the republican leadership in the house of representatives is essentially telling him you're on your own. nothing would make putin happier than to see the united states waiver and support for ukrainian people. think would make them happier

providing it is not just a matter of ukrainian security but american security because victorious putin would be emboldened and that would make the world less pay for democracy and for america. for maga house republicans to propose ukrainian aid is a terrible dangerous mistake that could come back to haunt u.s. security. ukrainian aid could have been an opportunity but the hard right against what i imagine is the majority of republicans in the house prevented that from happening. let me say again, the house package is reckless and cruel and everyone knows it has no chance to pass in the house. the more time trying to pass this while ignoring chances for real bipartisanship, the greater the odds it will push us into

costly government shutdown. the last government shutdown lasted 35 days and begin with the then president trump said to me and speaker pelosi in the oval office, i'm proud to shut down the government. that's what he said. in the two years democrats held, we didn't have a government shutdown, we didn't have the debt limit crisis, we didn't have the kind of chaos we see when maga republicans to control so much of the republican agenda. this year we are using both, that limit crisis and looming shutdown crisis just months apart. only one thing has changed and/or where there was none of the scales, the house controlled by maga republicans and back to their old ways. of course former president trump

is trying to add. difficult but he always does practically commanding his longer house to quote shut down the government if they can't make an appropriate deal. this is the problem with maga extremism, is not capable of governing, only capable of chaos in this year have the chaos has rained in the house. it doesn't have to be that way. it doesn't have to be maga republican will. it doesn't have to be maga way or shutdown. house republicans have a choice in the matter between pursuing real chances for bipartisanship and catering to the hard right. each time they have chosen to empower the hard right. they have chosen dysfunction entails a new door bipartisanship but what was true months ago remains true today. there's no scenario where we

avoided shutdown without bipartisanship. if democrats try to do it only our way, it would be no bill but now republicans are trying to do it their way. democrats are not. there are plenty of members on both sides of the aisle, despite our disagreements, would like to give bipartisan a chance and that's with the american people would want us to do as well. we only have a few days left for house republicans to come to their senses and choose the fruitful way. choose to work with democrats. there are real people with real lives, hundreds of thousands of workers across the country reload. services millions of americans disrupt our communities will be less safe and fellow americans suffering from disasters. those are a few of the tragic

and necessary unnecessary outcomes if republicans in the house let margaret extreme control the agenda. it is simple. if both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be what it. if the hard right is given license to run the show, maga shutdown will be almost inevitable. while chaos seems to guide everything republican-controlled house does here in the senate we have shown bipartisanship is key to get things done tomorrow democrats and republicans will get a chance to make sure that bipartisanship continues. unfortunately last thursday alone senator representing a very small group in his chamber undermined process with procedural hurdles. yesterday my colleague, chair of

the appropriations committee will get things back on track with rule 16 and file cloture on the motion. we will go to matt tomorrow. i believe a clear majority of senators want to see us continue on the appropriations process. i hope the book to keep it. our colleagues on the other side asked for regular order we have worked with them to make sure that happens just as we did on the ndaa bill. our colleagues on the other side have asked for amendment and we have worked with them to consider a moment. senator collins and murray have a list that was going to go forward with the okay i believe with the minority and majority leaders until senator johnson threw along the tracks. our republican and democratic leaders of the appropriations

committee is for bills on the floor and it's with their cooperation these three have been brought to the floor for consideration. democrats will work with our republican colleagues whenever possible. no one pretends like we don't have disagreements. we do but the important part is so far disagreements have not gotten the process. tomorrow's vote will be a chance to ensure we keep that bipartisanship going. i think my colleagues especially chair murray for their excellent work and hope we can see strong support tomorrow to continue appropriations process here on the floor and i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. >> in the past two months, chinese government reminded the world just how an authoritarian

communist state operates. in july president xi jinping announced it replaced the foreign minister after the official hasn't been seen in a month. then the senior official responsible for strategic missile force who hadn't been seen for even longer was placed. the chinese defense manager went missing for weeks before beijing announced he'd been detained for investigation. the senior leaders growing economic volatility foreign policy, these are concerning developments in the country with a reputation for repression at

home and belligerent overall. china's neighbors are increasingly skeptical of official economic numbers from the dictatorship that suppresses free speech, marks the rule of law and senior leaders and rightly so. one thing the prc is arming itself at an alarming rate. recent estimates, $700 billion a year on defense. that's concerning for a number of reasons. first, a larger percentage of china's defense budget, hours

goes to modernization and capabilities. further, since chinese geostrategic ambitions for now at least are focused primarily on challenging the status quo and the region prc doesn't place constraints, either are will interest these requirements. decades long campaign pays dividends with the prc. last week "wall street journal" detailed china has made in testing and fielding episodic weapons and how should efforts have outpaced those of our own country. the infrastructure contains

people going ships, testing her personaba vehicles. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, this is my third year serving on the senate ag committee. this is my first time of getting to work on a farm bill. farm bill comes around every five years. it sets national policy on agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry. in less than two weeks, at the ends of this physical year, the current farm bill will expire. in 2018, this bill had a price tag of $867 billion. that's right, $867 billion, five years ago, in 2018.

now, we used to think that was a lot of money. but the upcoming farm bill is almost double that amount, at roughly $1.5 trillion. this is the first trillion-dollar farm bill in our nation's history. the enormous price tag of the bill is driven by an 84% increase in snap, or federal nutrition assistance, and a 58% increase in conservation programs. in other words, a huge increase in welfare and climate spending. most of this new spending is nor support, of our farmers. the $559 billion increase in snap funding was done directly by the department of agriculture through updates to the thrifty

food plan. in other words, nobody engineer congress voted for this. the $35 billion in conservation funding was done through the inflation reduction act of last year. democrats are pushing through priorities that cater to climate activists and lead americans to become dependent on welfare benefits. approximately 82% of the upcoming farm bill goes to snap, commonly known as food stamps. 4% goes to conservation. just yesterday, we hit $33 trillion in debt for this country. yeah, i said that, $33 trillion. that will be picked up, this tab, by our grandkids and their kids. now, this graft here, developed by the farm bureau federation,

showcases the enormous increase in nutrition spending and the steady decline of farm spending over the last 50 years. as you can see, snap spending is almost double what it was five years ago. how is this even possible? has poverty doubled in our country in the last five years? of course it hadn't. the poverty rate has been between 10% and 20% during my lifetime. 10% and 20%. we spent $20 trillion in the war on poverty, and we have not even moved the needle. what does that mean? that means we're not doing our job. all we're doing is we're paying

for somebody else to do it. so it doesn't work. yet i've never -- yet i never hear about democrat colleagues consider the way we fight poverty. we just give out money. if my colleagues on the left cared about poverty, then they would want better results. but nobody wants better results here. they want votes. welfare spending, if we'd ever get in our heads, welfare spending does not lift people out of poverty. are we ever going to realize that? it simply makes people more comfortable remaining in poverty poverty, and that makes it wrong. it makes it wrong for this body that we continue down this path of poverty and not helping poverty. food stamps are supposed to help

people stay afloat while they work to become self-sufficient, help them get through tough times, not a free walk in society. it should not be an incentive to stay home other than to train and want to get a job. but that's exactly what it's done. making someone dependent on government is not helping them. it's hurting them. the whole purpose of the farm bill is supposed to be to help farmers. what an idea. yet seven out of eight dollars, again seven out of eight dollars in the farm bill is for something else. our farmers depend on crop insurance, commodity programs such as the agriculture risk

program, the arc as we call it, and price lost coverage which is the plc program and disaster programs to help them deal with difficult crop yields, markets, and rising input costs. farmers can't control the weather or the price, and that's the reason they need help. we have to remember farmers put food on the table, but there's a lot of people that don't understand that. these are some of the hardest working people in america, and they have too little to show for it. back home in my state of alabama, i have heard the struggles facing our row croppers and our specialty crop producers. they need help to deal with

inflation, and rising input costs. farm production costs have increased, have increased 28% since joe biden took office less than three years ago. that's embarrassing. how in the world can we increase prices 28% in this country in two and a half years and expect the people of this country to survive, the hardworking people? farmers, included. fuel and fertilizer are 60% to 130% higher than they were in 2021. folks, we can't survive with that. but my colleagues on the left are not concerned about it, not one bit. we're just going to cut back on digging oil and gas and buy from other countries and charge the heck out of taxpayers in the united states of america for oil

and gas that we could produce here. other farm expenses like land, cash rents, labor, and equipment are all adding up. as a result, net farm income is projected to decrease by roughly 23% this year. cofntioners up. in-- costs are up. incomes are down and farmers are struggling to survive. we are on a direct collision in this country of closing our farmers out and having to completely depend on other countries for our food and other things that we eat. think about that. completely depend on other countries. we just found out going through this covid crisis that we were completely dependent on other countries for our drugs. we said we've got to overinto

that. we've got -- overcome that we've got to redo that now we're doing the same thing to our farmers. we do away with our food, it's over. you think prices are high now, they'll be completely a lot higher than they are now. the only thing that's keeping our farmers afloat is called the farm safety net. but the current support levels for title one commodity programs like cotton, peanuts, and soybeans are not high enough to sustain our farmers for over the next five years. in other words, this safety net is a level of pricing if the price goes under a certain amount, we help our farmers overcome that cutback where they can survive. the problem is that safety net price has not been risen since

2012. and we don't think the prices haven't gone up? we've lost our mind. in we don't raise these reference prices, and right now my colleagues on the left don't want to raise those reference prices for our farmers, we're going to be buying all of our food and everything that we eat from other countries. it's coming. we have got to raise our reference prices. we've got to help out our farmers. these programs, these reference prices allow our farmers to continue clothing, feeding, and fueling every citizen in this country and a lot of other countries. now, we don't need to idly sit by while our hardworking producers work tirelessly and barely survive under this joe biden economy. i ask my colleagues, i beg my

colleagues on the left to wake up, open europe eyes -- open your eyes and support our farers and fight for this farm bill. raise the reference prices. help them out because if we don't, there won't be a need for another farm bill. our nation's food security is going to depend on it, and the lives of all american citizens are going to depend on it. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

the deal announced on the republican side between the freedom caucus and mainstream artists come about only through the end of october so back at doing this in october. >> we be back doing this in october to avoid a government

shutdown and would avoid hundreds of thousands of furlongs in temporary cessation of government services so better than a shutdown. >> on the republican side and house packet. >> he does not seem to think he has the support on the republican side seem to be headed for calculated strategy putting measures and for potentially watching them fail and letting it be of to the constituent to put pressure on these numbers and put the card in a position of isolating them and blame them for any consequence. >> what roughly would be the number on your account of the republican side of the house on this issue right now? >> republican to oppose the speaker and viewers, it's consequential because he can lose no more than are members of his own party, partisan basis.

>> between the republican side, it would cut 8.1% of the spending except it would be done defense spending for emergency aid. do republicans hope the 8.1% will carry to the end of the year into the new fiscal year? >> there are a number of publicans who have that will promote the group that wanted to go back for the 2022 spending levels but one of the ways the larger package, pulling money from programs funded and interior.

mr. reed: i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt.

mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king.

ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. the clerk: mr. lee.

the clerk: mr. lew -- the clerk: mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall.

mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray.

the clerk: mr. ossoff. the clerk: mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds.

mr. rubio.

the clerk: 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.

the clerk: 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.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- lujan, murray, padilla, reed, schumer, tester, warnock, whitehouse. senators voting in the negative -- bozeman, capito, cramer, crapo, daines, kennedy, lankford, ricketts, rounds, rubio, tuberville, wicker. mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: mr. mr. cassidy, no. mrs. fischer, no. mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

the clerk: mr. graham, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. coons, aye. ms. scab now, aye. -- ms. stabenow, aye.

mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye. mr. cornyn, no. mr. manchin, aye. ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. mr. hagerty, no. ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye. ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, no. vote:

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

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. mr. menendez, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. welch, aye. mr. budd, no.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no. the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. mr. durbin, aye. mr. vance, no.

mr. carper, aye. mr. cotton, no. mr. marshall, no. mr. schatz, aye. mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no. mr. thune, no. mr. moran, no. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye. ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. the clerk: mr. hoeven, no.

ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. mr. sanders, aye. mr. markey, aye.

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

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, no. the clerk: mr. grassley, no.

mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. romney, no. mr. mullin, no. mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. barrasso, no. mr. lee, no. mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. tillis, aye. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 53, the nays are 44. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 37, rita f. lin of california to be united states district judge for the northern district of california, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived.

the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of rita f. lin of california to be united states district judge for the northern district of california 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.

mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand.

mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin.

ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen.

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

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- collins, coons, cortez masto, gillibrand, graham, heinrich, hickenlooper, sanders, sinema, and welch. senators voting in the negative -- cotton, crapo, grassley, marshall, mullin, ricketts, thune, and tillis.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye. mr. paul, no.

mr. young, no. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. cornyn, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. lee, no. mr. blumenthal, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye.

mr. cramer, no.

mr. kennedy, no. the clerk: mr. moran, no.

ms. duckworth, aye. mr. mcconnell, no. mr. cardin, aye. mr. budd, no. mrs. shaheen, aye.

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

vote:

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye.

the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. mr. boozman, no. mr. wicker, no. mr. durbin, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no.

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

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. padilla, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

mr. schatz, aye. mr. merkley, aye. ms. cantwell, aye. mr. van hollen, aye. mr. fitterman, aye. mr. mr. fetterman, aye. mr. king, aye. mrs. capito, no.

the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. daines, no. mr. johnson, no. plb rounds mr. rounds, no. the clerk: mr. vance, no.

mr. hagerty, no. ms. ernst, no. mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. the clerk: mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. tester, aye. mr. markey, aye. vote:

vote:

the clerk: mr. warner, aye. mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. vot:

vote:

the clerk: mr. lankford, no. ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the presiding officer: the ayes are 52, the nays are 45. the motion is agreed to. under the previous order, the senate stands in recess until

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