longer live with brutal hamas nazis on her border. we will not have savage isis hamas death squads invading our homeland again. israel's operation in gaza is not, i reiterate, is not a response to october 7th, it's an act of self-defense to ensure our future. mr. president, the israeli people are strong. we are unbreakable, and we are going nowhere. many, many have tried to destroy us, the babylonians, the greeks, the romans, and the nazis to name just a few, but none have succeeded and the iranian reich will be no different. israel will prevail, god willing, we will bring our hostages home and the citizens of the jewish state will live in peace and freedom. thank you, mr. president.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies, including midco. ♪♪ midco supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> the u.s. senate gavelling in for more votes on president biden's executive and judicial nominations, including jack lu to be the next u.s. ambassador to israel. live to the senate floor 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: let us pray. mighty god, thank you for the gifts of compassion, tolerance, and understanding that can help us navigate during these difficult times. may our lawmakers enable these gifts to help them feel the winds of pain, anguish, and despair blowing in our nation and world. as our senators trust your sovereignty in sunshine and in shadows, show them the right

road to follow, guide them with your precepts, and protect them with your wisdom. lord, fill them with such reverence for you that they shall stand for right and lead the -- leave the consequences to you. bring peace to our troubled world. we pray in your powerful 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, october 31, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership previous order, the leadership

>> the senate foreign relations today's hearing is great

important for the united states, for israel and the region. the attacks by hamas just over ten days ago in israel marked the deadliest day for jews since the holocaust. abducting elderly in wheelchairs, burning people alive, killing babies in front of parents. it was not only horrific, and barbaric, but methodically planned and carried out. hamas has started a war. given the danger state of emergency that israel faces, the united states needs a confirmed u.s. ambassador in jerusalem. we need someone there to reinforce the message that the united states stands shoulder to shoulder with the state of israel as a response to the unprecedented terrorist attack. we need someone to lead the remarkable selfless u.s. personnel who will be working nonstop admission israel. we need at ambassador who can work with our israeli partners

and help provide services to over 600,000 american citizens here. so secretary lew, it was with great urgency that we hold this nomination hearing today. i am committed to giving you n place in israel as soon as possible. i want to thank senator risch for working with me so we could expedite this hearing today. i thank him for that. i think we both agree speed is of the essence and having a confirmed ambassador to israel. so i would ask the cooperation of our colleagues. i'm going as the question for the record be subdued by close of business today and will make every effort to make sure that we get those responses to you by this weekend. we have scheduled this is a spin for next week with a vote on this nomination. i asked the committee cooperation because of the urgency of voting on a confirmed ambassador for the state of israel. since october 7, hamas has killed more than 1000 1000t people and injured thousands more. they are

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: first, mr. president, just a little

housekeeping, i understand there is a bill at the desk due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 3168, a bill making appropriations for assistance in israel and for the fiscal year ending 2024 and for other purposes. the presiding mr. schumer: in order to mace the bill on the calendar, i would -- place the bill on the calendar, i object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, on the business of today. today the senate appropriations committee hears testimony from the secretary of defense and the secretary of state on president biden's emergency supplemental request sent to congress to address the national security threats happening around the world. the right path forward for congress is clear. we must stand with our allies in

israel. we must send humanitarian aid to innocent civilians in gaza. we must give aid to ukraine and hold the line against vladimir putin and we must rebuff the aimretions of -- aggressions of the chinese communist party in the indo-pacific. as has been true from the start of the congress, bipartisanship cooperation is the only way anything gets to the president's desk. so i'm deeply troubled that yesterday house republicans released a partisan and wefully inadequate package with no aid to ukraine, no humanitarian assistance for gaza, no funding for the indo-pacific, and in addition poison pills that increase the deficit and help wealthy tax cheating avoid paying their fair share. the house gop bill is woefully

inadequate. it makes aid for israel, who has just faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, contingent on poison pills that rewards tax cheats. in short, it makes it much, much harder to pass aid for israel. it's insulting that the hard right is trying to exploit the crisis in israel to try to reward the ultra rich. the new speaker knows perfectly well if you want to help israel, you can't propose legislation that is full of poison pills and this partisan legislation sends the wrong message to our allies around the world. it's almost as if the real goal of this gop package is not to help israel but to get tax relief for the super wealthy while leaving out ukraine aid, leaving out humanitarian aid for gaza and leaving out funding for

the indo-pacific. instead of defending ukraine and providing humanitarian aid, this house gop proposal -- instead of advancing a serious proposal to defend israel, defend ukraine and provide humanitarian aid, this house gop proposal is clearly designed to divide congress on a partisan basis, not unite it. the speaker's allies have said as much to the press. i hope the new speaker realizes that this is a grave mistake and quickly changes course. to protect americans against anyone of these foreign threats, we must protect against them all. you can be sure president xi will watch what america does in uke, just as much as they do watch what we do in israel and the indo-pacific, and every where else. the last thing republicans in congress should be doing is exploiting the crisis in israel

to sneak a highly partisan provision that caters to the ultrarich as the gop package blatantly does. as i mentioned, when he spoke to speaker johnson the night of his election, the only way we'll get anything done is in a bipartisan way. unfortunately, in his first major decision as speaker, speaker johnson has ignored that advice. now, on a.i., mr. president, yesterday president biden announced the first ever artificial intelligence executive order that will keep america in the lead on a.i. later this morning, the senate's bipartisan a.i. gang, senators rounds, heinrich, young, and i, will go to the white house to meet with president biden to discuss how we can work together to pursue bipartisan a.i. legislation. i applaud president biden for doing the right thing by issuing yesterday's executive order. it outlines a number of

commonsense guardrails that will increase american leadership on safeguards and better protect americans against all sorts of risk, from sign beer security to bio -- cybersecurity to bio and nuclear threats. the order was welcome news, but everyone knows we can and must do more here in congress. the president's action yesterday importunes us to act, to augment and expand his executive order with bipartisan legislation. congress must act with a accepts of urgency when it -- must act with a sense of urgency when it comes to a.i., because a.i. is already changing our world in dramatic ways, and other countries are trying to gain ground on us. tomorrow, the senate will continue our bipartisan work on a.i. with our third and fourth a.i. insight forums. in the morning, the a.i. insight forum will begin at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow and focus on our workforce, both the risks and opportunities that a.i. presents to american workers and our

economy. we'll hear from leaders in labor, tech, civil rights and business on how congress can best protect workers from the changes that a.i. will bring. the afternoon a.i. insight forum will bringer another diverse gp to don't how congress can impact high-impact areas. we'll be careful to pay attention to potential bias when a.i. is used. for the information of senators, tomorrow's a.i. insight forums will take place in the kennedy caucus room. each will last approximately two hours. i encourage everyone on both sides to attend, and i thank senators rounds, heinrich and young for their help making these bipartisan a.i. insight forums possible. now, on jack lew, it's going to be a busy day here in the senate. before the end of the day, the u.s. senate will confirm jack lew as the next ambassador to israel.

for the information of senators, we'll have a cloture vote on mr. lew's nomination this morning, with a final vote on confirmation in the early afternoon. i urge my colleagues to vote in favor of sending an american ambassador to israel today. with everything happening in israel right now, confirming jack lew at this moment will be one of the most important and consequential nomination votes the senate has taken in a long time. the need to confirm mr. lew is plain and irrefutable. israel's in crisis. america needs to stand with her. a most urgent and obvious step is to ensure we have an ambassador in place. as the senate takes this important vote later today, i want to applaud the remarkable team at the u.s. embassy in israel, all of whom have done ceptional work under the most difficult circumstances. when i went to israel with my senate colleagues, i got to see the embassy's incredible work up close, especially the outstanding charge d'affaires. i thank them all for their

dedication in these hard times. it was clear israel needs an ambassador from the u.s., especially at this time. i hope we will get as large a vote for mr. lew as possible. i want to thank my colleagues on the senate foreign relations committee who approved mr. lew on a 12-9 basis. lew has a strong, long, proven record as a public servant and ferocious ally of israel, and it will help send a powerful message of support to israel to have this appointment filled asap. finally, on the minibus, on the legislative front, the senate will move forward this week op bipartisan -- on bipartisan appropriations legislation. i would note we are the only bipartisan appropriations legislation in town. the house has passed a series of very, very partisan bills, filled with poison pills, cutting deeply, way below the agreement that was made in the

deficit -- in the last resolution, when we dealt with avoiding default. last week we began holding votes on a large number of amendments here in the senate, offered by -- on both sides of the aisle. in fact, when all is said and done, we will have considered 40 amendments, 40, here on the floor. if both sides coops, it's my hope we can pass these -- if both sides cooperate, it's my hope we can pass these three bills by tomorrow. when that happens, these will be the only bills to pass either chamber with bipartisan support, which is the only way we are going to get any funding passed in divided government. 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.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: brutal terrorist attacks of october 7 poured gasoline on the flames of anti-semitic hatred around the world. take the alarming reports this weekend out of russia, a country

with a long, troubled history of anti-semitism. after weeks of pro-hamas propaganda spewed from the kremlin, an angry mob overran a provincial airport and surrounded a plane that had just arrived from israel. chillingly, the mob went person to person, checking passports and asking if they were muslim or jew, a modern day pogrom in southern russia. vladimir putin is usually quick to accuse other countries of imagined atrocities, but he's issued no such condemnation of hamas for the very real savagery inflicted on innocent israelis.

in fact, as this latest despicable episode of anti-semitic unfolded on russian soil, putin's regime welcomed a delegation of hamas terrorists to the kremlin. the russian government's policy is to demand that israel agree to a ceasefire. a de facto amnesty of the terrorist aggressors who slaughtered children in their homes a few weeks ago. in that regard, street protestors across the west have found common cause with the russian dictator. no major power has done more to turbocharge iran's terrorist network in the middle east than putin's russia. the kremlin's intervention in syria allowed tehran to

establish a massive corridor of resources to terrorist proxies like hezbollah and hamas. so it should surprise no one that iran has happily provided russia with a kamikaze drone to fire at ukrainian cities. russia, iran, and china do not share an ideology, but they do share interests. they see themselves in conflict with the west and especially with america. russia would love to see iran iranian-backed terrorists in the middle east weaken america and our allies. iran would love to see a russian victory against ukraine that divides the west and deepens its own defense cooperation with moscow. and china for its part would

love to see america's resolve to stand with european and israeli allies and reestablish actual deterrence against russia and iran crumble. so at the rink of repeating myself, the threats facing america and our allies are serious and they're intertwined. if we ignore that fact, we do so at our own peril. the biden administration's defense budget requests have systematically ignored these growing threats. the president's supplemental request to address multiple crises that have unfolded on his watch is a recognition of this failure. our colleagues on the appropriations committee now have a chance to pro provide critical resources that our military and defense industrial base need to keep pace with growing threats and support our

partners. congress also has an opportunity to force the administration to start treating our southern border like the sovereign legal boundary that it is. the southern border crisis is not a problem of insufficient resources. it is not the zero sum alternative to deterring our adversaries overseas. it is the direct result of misguided policies that have incentivized record illegal migration. it doesn't take tens of billions of dollars to fix this problem. it just takes common sense. and i would urge our democratic colleagues to show some common sense by working with republicans to stop the border crisis, rebuild american military strength, and stand with our friends in ukraine, israel, and asia. now, on a related matter, i

spoke recently about alarming reactions to the october 7 attacks coming from america's top universities. we've seen student radicals spew outright hate and campus leaders respond with agonizing equivocating statements. but it appears that neither thickheaded young activists nor mealy-mouthed administrators can hold a candle to university faculties when it comes to moral obtuseness. so here are a few examples -- after a student group at columbia published a letter describing hamas' savage attacks as the -- listen to this -- struggle for freedom, end quote, occupied people's who have the right to resist occupation, over 100 faculty members signed a

letter of their own expressing a desire to, quote, preserve columbia university as a beacon for fostering critical thinking and opening minds to different points of view. needless to say, i'm a staunch supporter of the first amendment. people are entitled to different points of view. but they aren't entitled to different facts. and the only group that's occupied gaza since 2007 is hamas. besides, america's higher education system has a long way to go when it comes to protecting free speech and fostering diverse viewpoints. just ask any right-of-center academic. but of all places to start on their journey of freedom of expression they choose to support terrorism? terrorism? meanwhile, the university of

pennsylvania is facing a donor revolt or campus protests and anti-semitic literary festival that predated october 7. but that didn't stop the local chapter of essentially its professors union from issuing a six-page letter denouncing the university administration's pro-israeli views. the schools painfully nuanced attempts at moral equivalency are apparently an erasure of palestinian voices. donors' outrage at radical calls for pogrom or coercive threats that demand their removal from all university boards? mr. president, let's remember who is doing the agreeing here. there's an open fbi investigation into online threats encouraging the murder, the murder of jewish students at

cornell. the universities have had to bring in police to help protect the kosher dining hall on campus and many jewish students are opting to stay in their rooms for safety. until recently the tenured left-wing apparatchiks of america's elite university might have expected donors to keep on writing checks no matter which sort of unhinged post modern hate they ginned up. one aluminous' call to boycott the school spread like wildfire precipitating a crisis at one account put at a billion dollar hole in the university's books. at least a dozen ceo's have pledged to not hire any members of the harvard student groups who blamed israel for the murder of its children. and elite law firms have started

rescinding job offers for law students who regurgitate terrorist talking points. some are even competing with each other to fund relief efforts in israel. so activists, professors are entitled to their own opinions but money is also protected speech and they aren't entitled to donors' pocketbooks. that's not how the real world works. america and our allies have wokenned up from a holiday from history. american business and philanthropists are starting to do the very same thing. let's hope it continues. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

and i believe that we kept iran from becoming part of that system and a happy to discuss the implication of the jcpoa. i know you and i may not agree on the policy of speedy that's an understatement. >> the jcpoa, but what we did is we have committed a policy that was transparent that i testified before this committee on in terms of what was being done. we negotiated with iran to have them roll back their nuclear program in exchange for which they would get access to money that was their money that we had frozen. all we did was facilitate that transaction.

so we did not welcome them back in to the u.s. financial system. >> did you on february 24, 2016, issue specific license to make moscow authorizing a ring acids with roughly 5.7 billion to flow through the united states financial system? >> we did issue a license -- do not recall, do not recall whether those licenses with the vehicle through which funds moved. i don't believe they were the concern was we had made an agreement to return money transparently in this committee and returning that money was the bargain for nuclear deal. that's all we did. >> are you telling us you notified us that on february 24, 2016 you authorized that specific license to make speedy mr. chairman, that was a specific license and there's not a practice of notifying specific licenses. general licenses are published. specific licenses are not. >> i want to quote one of the

objectives when they said there was a gigantic breakthrough which has assured iran of almost full global financial inclusion. that was in response to the license you issued on february 24, 2016. >> mr. chairman, i can't speak to whether someone at the bank of dust that what i can tell he is the government of iran believe that we did not give them what they expected, which was full access to the world financial system. they complained that my actions are what kept them from getting full access to the world financial system here i know some of you are going to ask me questions about what my team said when he went around the world. my team win around the world telling banks all over the world we did not lift the sanctions on terrorism. we did not lift the sanctions on human rights violations. we did not lift the sanctions on regional destabilization. be careful. i ran thought that kept him from getting what they thought they

should get. we did the lid of the agreement, gave them what was agreed to in the jcpoa, nothing more. >> my time is almost up. i had to tell you that this is something we knew nothing about at the time that you issued that license. and we believe that that was a direct contravention of what you told us here in this committee in july 2015. to be honest with you, i am deeply disappointed with that. as i said, to me this whole thing is about iran. and holding hands with the rent under the table doesn't work for me. and i'm deeply disappointed that you issued that license got deeply disappointed that you didn't tell us about it, , deepy disappointed that you misled us on july when we had that meeting. meeting. my time is up, mr. chairman, ideal, underwhelmed and unpersuaded. thank you. >> senator menendez. >> mr. secretary, congratulations on your

nomination. it comes at incredible article type in the u.s.-israel relationship or i want to go through a few things than five minutes i have. do you agree iran is next essential threat to the state of the? >> yes, i do. >> do you agree with me their nuclear program where their enrichment is not any commercial grade purpose, if continued, is an existential threat to the state of his? >> i have believed that the enrichment of uranium in iran is a threat to israel around the world and that is why i supported the jcpoa because it created a bigger wall of time. i think we're closer to do that because the jcpoa has been ended in terms of our participation. they enriched more. >> you are aware that there are many efforts to delegitimize the state of israel, particularly at the united nations. in 2016, the obama

administration, through my disappointment which express the time, fail to veto the resolution that did for my perspective exactly that, an attempt to delegitimize the state of israel at the united nations. if you were to be confirmed, under these present circumstances and assuming that it was such a resolution, would you recommend the president vetoes similar resolutions that signal out israel, delegitimize its actions of self-defense and play down the role of hamas and other organizations that undermined the prospect of the? >> senator, i believe deeply that the u.n. needs to be fair and not condemn israel and ignore the actions of terrorist organizations like hamas. i do not believe it's right for the u.n. to adopt resolutions and single israel out, and i've always believed that the u.n. needs to be more evenhanded here i can't comment on hypothetical

resolution. i would only note that when the decision was made, it was made by president obama after very much worse resolution had been substantially modified. and that was speedy a worse resolution doesn't make a bad resolution any better. >> i understand that but there's always a dynamic in the united nations -- >> the point is that at the u.n., israel is constantly vilified. it is constantly made the central focus, when other countries in the world who have significant human rights violations go untouched. and so you are not going to be at the u.n. you are going to be part of a national security team as ambassador to israel that is going to have input in administration picks on trying to understand where you will come from. >> i consider if i'm confronted ambassador to israel, i will have a single focus on how i

approach these questions that is different from the focus that you have in other roles. i will be an advocate for doing the things the united states should do to protect israel, including at the u.s. >> thank you. let me ask you, what do you see your role if confirmed as a relates to the challenges of the palestinian people, hamas visitors organization coffee e barbaric. there's a question about that. and israel must do what is nesser to wipe them off the face of the earth. having said that, the palestinian people in and of themselves are not hamas. so what do you see a role as the u.s. ambassador as it relates to finding a a better future for? >> senator, as i sit in my opening remarks, i am keeping focus not just on today but where we go after the conflict, war in spirit at a think we have

to be back in a place where questions are being asked about how to have a sustainable peace? how do you have security for israel and palestinian citizens? my heart goes out to innocent civilians who were injured, whether it was, the gruesome atrocities on that saturday or innocent civilians who are living in areas where hamas is hiding and they get killed because of collateral damage. this has to end, but it has to end with israel's security being guaranteed. and it's a very difficult moment to remember that we're going to get beyond this current state of affairs, , and hopefully, hopefully coming out of this that would be some more willingness and parties able to have conversations about building a better future. we need to worry about refugees. i have been heartened some of the progress i've read about in the last 24 hours on humanitarian corridors, i'm s. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be

lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. 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: mom nation, the judiciary, matthew james maddox of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland. mr. thune: mr. president, hamas' brutal attack on israel on october 7 has thrust not just hamas but iran into the spotlight. why? because while hamas may have carried out the attack, iran enabled it and is currently enabling terrorist organizations throughout the middle east. there's hamas which gets approximately 90% of its military budget from iran that benefits from iranian training and weapons. then there's hezbollah, the terrorist organization on israel's northern bored with

lebanon which is also armed and financed by iran. then there's the houthis in yemen, who fired missiles and drones -- headed in the direction of israel likely at vaughn iran's -- likely at iran's direction. palestinian islamic jihad, and the list literally goes on. as i said on the floor last week, through its proxies iran is literally getting away with murder. one has to wonder what the middle east would looks like today if iran hadn't spent decades funding and arming terrorist organizations. nor are iran's maligned activities confined to the middle east. iran has provided russia with drones to use in its war of aggression against ukraine. and now it appears that iran is helping russia to build a drone

manufacturing facility to dramatically increase russia's drone supply. meanwhile, russia's foreign minister was in iran last week and met with iranian president. a writers article on the meeting reported and i quote, russia and iran are firming up bilateral relations in a trusting atmosphere russian foreign ministry said. end quote. mr. president, iran doesn't just represent a danger to peace in the middle east and beyond, it is directly responsible for much of the strife that we see there. and in the wake of the october 7 attack in israeli's military response -- and israel's military response, iran has threaten israel with escalation on and i quote multiple fronts. it's time to make clear iran that its deadly activities can't continue. the biden administration must clearly articulate to the iranians that if they do not

stand down or if they green-light any escalation against israel, the united states and our allies will respond. in the meantime, the administration should be exploring all avenues for ending iran's career as a state sponsor of terror. israel and the arab world deserve a chance to move forward free of iran's maligned meddling. president biden and his administration do not have the strongest track record on iran. witness their misguided attempts to reboot the obama administration's problematic nuclear deal and town freeze $6 billion in iranian funds to free american prisoners. the president did finally listen to calls from myself and others to once again freeze that $6 billion. and the administration was right to move more u.s. forces into the region to deter escalation and to respond to attacks on

u.s. troops. but, mr. president, it's clear that a lot more needs to be done if we want to stop iran from funding terror. i'm disappointed that the president has continued in his choice of jack lew as ambassador to israel. mr. lew played a key role in developing and carrying out the obama administration's misguided nuclear deal. and his nominees does not exactly -- nomination does not exactly send the message to iran that the biden administration will be cracking down on iranian warmongering. mr. president, 33 americans died as a result of hamas' october 7 attack and as many as ten americans are likely trapped as hostages with hundreds of other americans still stuck in gaza. meanwhile, a number of american military personnel have been injured in drone attacks in iraq and syria carried out by iran-backed groups. add the more than 1400

individuals who died in hamas' october 7 attack and hundreds of other deaths in the middle east, and it becomes very clear that iran's hands are stained with the blood of thousands. if there is to be any hope of peace in the middle east, if there is to be any hope for a brighter and more secure future for israelis, palestinians and many others, than iran's career as a state sponsor of terror must be ended. and i will do everything i can with my colleagues in congress to see that that is accomplished. and i hope the biden administration will do the same. it's time to end iran's reign of terror. mr. president, before i yield the floor, i want to take just a moment to talk about the disturbing displays of anti-semitism we are seeing around the world and appallingly -- appallingly right here at home. from celebrations of hamas'

attack to threats of violence directed against jewish individuals and organizations and a united states senator, the weeks since october 7 have contained horrifying echos of a very dark time in human history. the spectacle of a mob storming a runway to hunt for jewish passengers is a sight i never thought i would see in my lifetime. and i pray it is a sight that we will never see again. but preventing this kind of evil from expanding its foothold is going to require action on our part, a willingness to stand up and to call it out and to affirm that this kind of hatred has no place in a civilized society. and in the days to come i hope that leaders around the world will make it very clear that

anti-semitism's day is over and that neither our nation nor the world community will ever allow the dark history of the 20th century to be repeated in the 21st. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask that privileges of the floor be granted to the following interns of senator kelly for today, allison bonn, emily forewell, alexander parker, jesus silva. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, last night i announced that the senate judiciary committee, which i chair, will vote to subpoena harlan crow, robin arkley and leonard leo, billionaires who sit at the center of the ethical crisis currently gripping the united states supreme court. this vote is the next step in

the committee's ongoing investigation of the ethics of the supreme court. it comes only after mr. crow refused to comply with committee requests and mr. leo and arkly stonewalled the committee. for years, years, mr. president, reports of ethical misconduct by justices on the court have raised serious concerns, but over the past year, a series of investigative reports have brought the long-simmering issue to a boil. story after story has emerged about lavish gifts and luxury trips that supreme court justices shamelessly accepted and failed to disclose. the reported behavior is unworthy of anyone in public office and it is led -- it has led to an historic loss of public confidence in the supreme court. some background here is

necessary. harlan crow is a billionaire and a republican mega donor. he first met justice clarence thomas in the mid-1990's after thomas' confirmation to the supreme court. not long after they met, crow began to shower justice thomas with lavish gifts, flights on his private jet, invitations to an an all-male invitation only private club, a $19,000 bible that once belonged to douglas -- he disclosed them. but those disclosures abruptly stopped in 2004, almost 20 years ago, after a "los angeles times" report questioned their propriety. we since learned that justice thomas continued to accept gifts from crow that are staggering in

both their number and value, from additional flights on crow's private jets so nearly annual stays at crow's luxury camps and private clubs to vacations on crow's super yacht, justice thomas simply stopped disclosing these gifts to the american people. but harlan crow is not the only billionaire bankrolling the lavish lifestyle of a supreme court justice and justice clarence thomas is not the only justice to take gifts. let's turn to robert arkly, he hosted justice alito in their family lodge, there he fished, flew on the planes and enjoyed wine costing up to $1,000 a bottle. justice alito disclosed none of this on his financial disclosure. that 2008 luxury fishing trip

was arranged by leonard leo, he has been a long-time leader of the federalist society and other far-right organizations. he is the key architect of the campaign to take over the federal courts, facilitating relationships between political donors and justices, championing political causes and yielding a shadow -- how can a supreme court justice accept such lavish gifts, let alone fail to disclose them to the american people? the answer is very simple. the supreme court of the united states, the highest court in the land does not have an enforceable code of conduct. unlike employees of the executive and legislative branches, virtually all of them, unlike all members of congress and all federal justices, the

nine supreme court justices decide what is and is not appropriate. more than 11 years ago i asked chief justice roberts to conduct a code of conduct for supreme court justices, i repeated that request repeatedly this year including last month when i sat next to the chief justice and spoke at the judicial conference. some have called for an ethics code. i believe a majority of the justices on the supreme court are embarrassed by these disclosures and want this to come to an end. the chief justice roberts and the court have failed to do anything. in pt face of the supreme court failure, the judiciary committee has exercised its right and duty to investigate this ethical crisis in order to craft and advance legislation to address it. beginning in may, the committee has sent letters to mawm of this these billionaires activists and

organizations connected to the undisclosed gifts and travel. i am sorry to say we have seen a small amount of the lavish gifts of gifts -- lavish gifts that have gone to the supreme court thanks to jurmists and the senate finance committee that discovered some of these things. i believe there is more out there. we are seeking details about what exactly has been given to these supreme court justices as well as how certain individuals and groups that have business before the court gain access to the private lives of these justices. getting this information is critical. while there's been reporting on the ethical failures, there's more information we need to find. just last week, listen to this, the senate finance committee revealed that yet another wealthy benefactor, anthony

welters, had forgiven a $267,000 interest-only loan to justice thomas to purchase a luxury r.v. justice thomas failed to disclose that. so you understand what happened, the justice who seems to fancy these r.v.'s had his eye on one that cost over a quarter of a million dollars. mr. welters agreed to loan him the money to buy the r.v. justice thomas made one annual payment of interest on that debt, and then the debt was forgiven. so the r.v. is his, a gift from mr. welters. while the loan itself had been the subject of prior reporting, it was only through the finance committee's investigation, and the cooperation of mr. welters, let me add that the favorable terms of the loan and ultimate forgiveness came to light. in contrast to mr. welters' willing cooperation, leonard leo, harlan crow, and robin

arkley, these phony billionaires produced no substantive response and otherwise stalled the judiciary committee's investigation. instead, their responses offer a host of waysless arguments that ignores the -- baseless arguments that ignores the authority to inform its legislative efforts. their defensive and dismissive response make you wonder, what are they trying to hide? i'm not going to stand idly by as these phony billionaires with interest before the court use their immense wealth to buy private access to the justices and then deny that -- deny the senate judiciary committee information to which we're lawfully entitled. that is why the committee will authorize subpoenas to these individuals. this has been a long battle for us. my colleague, senator whitehouse, has shown extraordinary leadership on this issue as well. 11 years ago, it came to my attention that the supreme court just didn't have a code of

conduct. how can we justify this? nine justices on the highest court in the land, no code of conduct. what about the other federal justices? they're bound by a code of conduct. if the justices on the supreme court merely assume the same type of conduct, with some modifications, we would say they're making a step in the right direction. but they ignored it and resisted it. in fact, justice alito and justice thomas have been belligerent when confronted with these issues, that it's no one's business but their own what they do with their private lives. unfortunately, when you accept a post in public service, that is not the case. our private lives become part of that public service. certainly, if there's in i suggestion of a -- if there's any suggestion of a conflict, where individuals, billionaires with an interest before the court, are buying access and time with these justices, that is certainly relevant to our work in the senate judiciary

committee. mr. president, as a member of the committee, you understand we've gone through this process very deliberately and patiently and slowly and reached a point where we believe subpoenaing this information is the only way to get the facts before the american people. i am hoping this is successful. i hope it becomes bipartisan. i hope we bring to this court the type of reputation which is enjoyed -- which it has enjoyed over the years. i yield the floor.

a master of the united states and although there are many qualified career officers in the current month we need and ambassador i hope this committee will take it up seriously. if you could speak how you would work limit i think with the goal and terrorizing the population to prevent recognition between israel and saudi arabia and abraham accords, how would you sustain that movement and how would you limit the attacks from developing into a conflict -- fo express my strong, very strong support for israel. on october 7, israel was

suddenly and deliberately attacked by a group of terrorists. now, they didn't attack military institutions. they attacked citizens, citizens in israel. it's been described by some as israel's 9/11 or israel's pearl harbor. they killed women and children. they filmed themselves, and they broadcast it on the internet. they were proud. they were very proud of what they were doing. they killed more than 1400 innocent people. this includes more than 30 americans. sometimes that's forgotten by our mainstream media. this is the largest terrorist killing of americans since 9/11. more than 100 people, 100 people are still hostage by hamas. and this also includes

americans. so, we need to do two things -- first, we need to get the hostages out. that's very, very important. it's been too long. then we need to ensure that this never happens again. israel can do both of these things. israel has a highly, a very highly advanced military and a highly advanced economy. the only way to ensure that hamas cannot ever attack again, as recall says, is to wipe them from the face of the earth. this is israel's mission, and we hear this from their leaders every day. the role of the united states in this conflict should be to support and supply. so let's first talk about support. over the last two weeks, we've seen the left wing protests

against israel and support of hamas. it's hard to believe, but it's very, very, very true. we have seen them overseas in london and in sydney, but we've also seen them here in the united states on college campuses. to me, that's absolutely disgusting. i'll just mention a few examples. students at harvard, at harvard mind you, defended hamas of what they did. next they'll be complaining about not being able to get jobs. i wonder why they won't be able to get jobs, especially on places like wall street. students at the university of california long beach handed out fliers with pictures of hamas. the list goes on and on, but this tells us a lot about the state of our education in this country. i was involved in education for 40 years, and i can understand

it. these kids don't know the first thing about the middle east or about foreign policy. a lot are not taught this. but they have been marinated in woke ideology since grade school, in a lot of our public schools. left wing groups are siding with terrorists because of this. today, there are protests happening here at the capitol, right here on capitol hill. the appropriations hearings with secretary austin and secretary blinken have been repeatedly, repeatedly, every few minutes, interrupted by left-wing pro-hamas protestors. pro-hamas leftists shut down a building in the house just a couple of weeks ago. shut it down. now they want to shut down the appropriations committee. many of these groups are funded by democrat dark money groups.

these left-wing groups are calling for a ceasefire over in gaza. this is like calling for a ceasefire after pearl harbor, as some of the leaders in israel have said. to me, a ceasefire is a surrender. a ceasefire means hamas gets to kill civilians without any consequences, after what they did on october 7. every single democrat in the senate needs to condemn these left wing groups. everybody. we all need to con democrat these -- condemn these groups. the left is making excuses for these terrorists. it's immoral and it's un-american of what's going on across our country and with these protests. we need to ensure that terrorists never, ever attack anybody like this again. this requires, again, wiping off

hamas from the mountain. as you listen to the israeli leaders, that's exactly what they plan to do. israel's going to be able to do this. they're going to be able to do it themselves. they're not going to need our help, but they will need supplies. we need to ensure that they have what they need to wipe hamas off from existence. i support sending israel more weapons, if they need them, but unfortunately there's already an effort to tie israel funding to ukraine funding, right here in this building. president biden sent over a request for supplemental funding bill just this past week. it includes $14 billion for israel, but it also includes $60 billion for ukraine. that's $230 million a day.

that's four times as much for ukraine than it is for israel. the war in ukraine has nothing to do with the war in israel. israel is our number one ally. sometimes people forget that. ukraine is not our number one ally. they're not even in nato. the war in israel is about killing terrorists who want to kill not only people in countries like israel but also americans. there is no reason ukraine and israel aid need to be in the same bill. i'm against that. i'm for funding israel, first and foremost. so we need to vote on them separately. we ought to support israel, and we need to supply israel. we need to stand with them as they take on the terrorists. it's going to be a very, very tough and grueling job, but we

support them. i also come to the floor today to talk about something a little bit different. this weekend, americans are going to fall back. daylight savings time is coming to an end. this should be the last time we ever have to fall back. senator rubio and i have introduced legislation in the last two years that would do just that. it's called the sunshine protection act, supported by a lot of people. over the past two years, i have received countless calls from all over the state of alabama to make daylight savings time permanent. we're living in the past. many alabamians including parents, senior sense, -- citizens, farmers, many have called my office in support with more sunshine in the evening. this is probably one of the top

issues that i get phone calls about, and we deal with a lot of them. but this is -- it's amazing how many phone calls that we do get over this one topic. people across america agree, agree that changing our clocks back and forth twice a year really makes no sense. it makes no sense sometimes and as i said earlier, people call and say they're just sick of it. the idea of daylight savings was originally known as wartime. that's when it was started. it was first introduced as a temporary measure to save energy during world war i. many studies have proven that extra sunlight in the evening has benefits of mental health, physical fitness, economic growth, and overall well-being. it's a simple way we can

positively impact the day-to-day life of all americans. this bill is also a way to get something done that a lot of people care about. it affects everybody's life in this country. shifting clocks can disrupt sleep patterns. it's kind of like a jet lag. we're giving the entire country jet lag twice a year but a permanent daylight savings time will help americans maintain a consistent sleep schedule. studies show disrupting sleep patterns increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and other diseases. northwest medical center school found that the fall back and spring forward comes with a 9% spike in fatal car accidents and 24% higher risk of heart attacks. the long-term effects of sleep disruption include weight gain, headaches, and depression. the time to switch in the fall

increases seasonal affective disorder. one study found the transition from daylight savings time to standard time increases the number of hospital visits of depression by 11%. you would think we would listen to that. permanent daylight savings time with extra sunlight in the evening will also encourage more physical activity. kids will be able to enjoy the outdoors more. older americans will be able to increase their vitamin d. longer daylight hours in the evening have been proven to stimulate economic activity. people are more likely to shop, dine out, and participate in group activities when the light is outside. but one thing is really affects our summers. more sunshine during working hours means more time to work in the fields which can translate

to more profits which our farmers desperately need. permanent daylight savings could help farmers save energy. in my state of alabama along with 17 other states, they've already passed legislation to end outdated practice of changing the clocks, but the federal government must act to i a lou these state laws to go into -- to allow these state laws to go into effect. making daylight saving would improve our health, bolster our economy, benefit our farmers, and put america on the path to a brighter future. it makes a lot of sense. so it's time to move america forward and stop falling back. every mr. -- mr. president, i yd the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor in support of jacob lew to be our ambassador to israel. we'll have a chance to vote on that in a few moments. first the cloture and hopefully the confirmation with the cloture being imposed. the attack by hamas on israel earlier this month was heinous. it was evil. it was indescribably brutal. i was just in israel with ten senators, five democrats, five republicans, and saw firsthand the scars and devastation. i saw the grief and the shock. we were there to make it clear that israel has the right to defend itself. it has the obligation to defend itself. we recognize that the ground campaign has started to

eliminate hamas. hamas is evil. they're equivalent to isis and maybe in some cases worse. israel's security depends upon the demise of hamas as does the palestinians' future in gaza depend upon hamas being eliminated. we have ongoing challenges. 200-plus hostages are being held by hamas. their safe return is one of our highest priorities. we're all working very hard. president biden has made it clear with positioning of u.s. assets as well as his engagement in the middle east to prevent escalation of this conflict. for those enemy ofs of the united states and israel trying to take advantage of the combat in gaza to escalate the conflict. we have to make sure that does not happen. we have a real challenge with the humanitarian assistance through the palestinians in gaza

that are trying to escape the brutality of hamas. we are now fortunate that we're able to start getting trucks, humanitarian trucks into gaza. we hope to be at about a hundred trucks a day. we need to provide the medical needs, safe passage for palestinians trying to avoid the conflict. all this is made much more difficult because of hamas. these challenges require a u.s. partnership. we need a confirmed ambassador. we need to work together on operations. we need to work together on tactics. we need to work together on strategy with israel. it's so much more difficult for us to been to do that -- for us to be able to do that without a confirmed ambassador in jerusalem. how are we going to

diplomatically engage at the highest levels in the region if we don't have a confirmed ambassador? it makes it much more difficult. who's going to lead our mission to help the more than a half a million american citizens who live in israel? made much more difficult without a confirmed ambassador. mr. president, i want to make it clear. our shar carge is doing a phenol job and they deserve our thanks, appreciation for being on the front line to represent america's interests. there's no question about their loyalty and their dedication to the mission. the u.s. team in israel is the best in the field, but there's no substitute for a confirmed ambassador. jacob lew is eminently qualified to serve in this post. he has extensive experience. he has the political acumen that

we need for our ambassador at this time. he has the respect of the israeli officials. the foreign minister tweeted that they look forward to working with jack lew in, quote, the spirit of our close cooperation and alliance. the jerusalem post quoted said jack lew is a worthy nominee. support for his nomination ranges from the orthodox union advocacy center to the antidefamation league. last week he advanced out of the foreign relations committee on a bipartisan vote. i want to thank my colleagues who worked so hard to get him through the committee. of course, this would not be the first time that secretary lew has had the support of the senate. he has been nominated for a number of positions and this body has confirmed him with overwhelming support in the past. and now with israel at war, with

hamas holding hostages in their tunnels in gaza, with the entire world watching, given the stakes of the situation, given that israel is fighting to defend itself, given that american lives are at risk, we cannot afford any delay. israel cannot afford a delay. mr. president, i urge my colleagues to support cloture on jack lew's nomination so we can get the confirmation vote without delay. and i hope that you would support these efforts. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

soldiers have been reportedly found with documents detailing this is killed as many as possible as well as capture hostages. over 4000 dead, 31 americans and others taken hostage to debate how to best get them home -- sk t that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, for the information of the senate, when the senate resumes consideration of h.r. 4366, the following amendments are expected to be made pending as provided under the order of october 24. hawley number 1200.

cruz number 1296. blackburn-warner number 1349. and budd number 1243. mr. president, i further ask unanimous consent that there be up to ten minutes for debate equally divided prior to the vote on amendment number 1296. with all previous provisions remaining in effect. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: mr. president, for the information of the senate and senators should expect four roll call votes beginning at 2:30 p.m. today. and with that, mr. president, i would ask consent that the vote scheduled for 11:30 this morning begin immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. 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. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey.

the clerk: 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. 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.

the clerk: mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall.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.

senators voting in the affirmative -- cardin is gillibrand, hassan is kaine, lujan, markey, murray, padilla, reed, rosen, sinema. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, braun, cassidy, hagerty, lummis, paul, romney, it unerville. -- tuberville.

vote:

the clerk: mr. johnson, no. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.

the clerk: mr. thune, no.

the clerk: mr. mullin, no. mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. risch, no.

mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. ms. cantwell, aye. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. mr. graham, aye. mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

mr. durbin, aye. the clerk: mr. cotton, no. mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, no. mr. coons, aye. mr. crapo, no.

the clerk: mr. marshall, no. mr. wicker, no.

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. ms. collins, aye. the clerk: ms. smith, aye.

mr. tester, aye. mr. rubio, no. mr. menendez, aye. mrs. capito, no. mr. cramer, no. ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. mcconnell, no. mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye. the clerk: mr. moran, no. kathleen holland

vote: the clerk: mr. king, aye. the clerk: mr. schatz, aye.

mr. grassley, no.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no. mr. barrasso, no. the clerk: mr. cornyn, no.

the clerk: ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. the clerk: mr. carper, aye. ms. ernst, no. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. mrs. hide-smith, no. -- mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye. the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. ms. cortez masto, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye. ms. baldwin, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mr. daines, no.

mr. casey, aye. the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. the clerk: mr. vance, no.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

this is a

vote: the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, no.

the clerk: mr. young, no. the presiding officer: the yeas are 55. the nays are 42. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 370, jacob j. lew of new york to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to the state of israel 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 jacob jmplet lew -- jacob jf lew of new york to be ambassador extraordinary and plenty of united states of america to the state of israel shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the rule. 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. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. the clerk: mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz.

mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. 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. senators voting in the affirmative -- blumenthal, brown, cortez masto. durbin, graham, heinrich, hickenlooper, kaine, manchin, reed, sanders, stabenow, tester, and whitehouse. mrs. shaheen, aye. senators voting in the negative. blackburn, boozman, braun, collins, cornyn, crapo, ernst, grassley, hoeven, kennedy, lankford, marshall, mullin, rounds, rubio, schmitt, wicker, and young.

the clerk: mr. daines, no. mr. thune, no. the clerk: mr. vance, no. mr. mcconnell, no. mr. romney, no.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no. mr. lujan, aye. mr. welch, aye. mr. merkley, aye. mr. sullivan, no. mr. barrasso, no. ms. lummis, no. mr. markey, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye.

mr. cotton, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no. mr. budd, no. mr. wyden, aye.

ms. baldwin, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. carper, aye. mr. moran, no. mr. paul, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mrs. capito, no. ms. smith, aye. mr. murphy, aye. the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye. mrs. fischer, no.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. cassidy, no. the clerk: mr. kelly, aye. mr. king, aye.

mr. fetterman, aye. mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. johnson, no. mr. casey, aye. mr. cramer, no.

mr. schatz, aye. mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. the clerk: ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no.

vote: the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, no.

the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

the clerk: mr. risch, no. the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye.

mr. booker, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.

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

vote:

the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. tuberville, no. the clerk: mrs. britt, no. mr. hagerty, no.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 53, the nays are 44. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of state, jacob j. lew of new york to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the united states of america to the state of israel. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands in recess

charter is to be recognized as one of the best providers we started thousand miles of new infrastructure electronic communications service along with other you

wrote to marcy. tonight christopher wray : security secretary : hunter mayorkas talks about the u.s. watch the entire hearing in the homeland security government affairs committee o'clock eastern on c-span2 50 now, free mobile online at c-span.org. >> a healthy democracy doesn't just look like this. like this. americans can teach citizens are truly informed, or public drives. get informed straight from the source c-span, unfiltered, unbiased, capital wherever you are, it is the most.

>> shortly after the senate returns from recess, confirmation to be ambassador to israel, process and donated they will ring you can watch all c-span don't work. right now as part of the hearing. on lincoln is really doing me

today are my wife and my children the immediate focus to expand abraham accords in this region and remains supportive of the dream of working toward peaceful behavior. as always, knowing they are behind me the core of my ability to serve. i cannot remember a time when israel struggled for security not at the forefront of my mind. came of age in a family that combined belief in zionism. i was 12 the age of my oldest grandchild now. we follow daily reports of work closely is equipped with daily newspapers and broadcast news.

1973, fear came to washington as a young man i learned are most solemn day of prayer and worried deeply about the survival of the state of israel. horrific terroristae attacks das ago shattered another holy day running again an attack on israel and experience i never to repeat. at this moment there is no greater mission and to be asked to strengthen ties between the state and israel to work for peace in the region known so much for the savage attack of the worldnation and president biden has made clear united states stands with israel and efforts to defend itself. i will do my utmost to end horrific attacks by, in short israel has what it needs to

defend itself. american citizens to return safely and work to the families rewards of the heinous crimes. all work to prevent other states or nonstate actors expand this conflict and i will coordinate with international address "humanitarian crisis" for civilians in gaza used as shieldsum by hamas. mr. chairman, members of thehe committee, i will declare, iran is a threat to regional stability and israel's. i will uphold president biden's commitment to deny iran a nuclear weapon and warning to the region anyone is thinking of taking advantage of the current crisis, i will work to

strengthen israel's security, israel is our closest partner in the region and in security is paramount. the president has been clear the u.s. commitment to israel is ironclad demonstrated will fight our memorandum of understanding. in the midst of war, long-term strategic objective must remain clear. if confirmed, i will work to advance comprehensive lasting easter negotiated two state solution to the palestinian conflict probably, built upon the abraham accords and promote more integration, formalization" across the region i look forward to deepening relationships, enhancing cooperation and economic security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence ... cooperation on n

investment direct management. if confirmed, i will continue to oppose all efforts to isolate and delegitimize israel internationally and support the global fight against antisemitism. i will advance the tireless work of this administration to firmly reject the boycott and sanctions divestment movement while respecting the rights of all americans to free speech. i will work to reenforce all efforts to combat anti-semitism, building upon the president's efforts to counter anti-semitism, including the movements that have formed in the wake of the hamas attacks on october 7. more broadly, if confirmed, i will work to further strengthen our 75-year-old partnership with israel and deepen bonds between our people. finally, as someone who has dedicated much of my life to

public service, i thank the talented and committed foreign service officers, civil servants and foreign nationals who are doing an extraordinary job at a at a time of violence and war, revisiting the united just watching this morning are able dcm standing beside the president knowing that her family and families of all of our people who are over there have been shaken by the last ten days. i have personal cost citizen i personal dedication, courage, and i think their service deserves admiration, respect of all of us and all of the american people. mr. chairman,, ranking member rish thank you for the opportunity to testify here today and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. before we start the five-minute rounds i have the obligatory

question to ask all of should be answered by either a yes or no. do you agree to appear before this committee and make officials from office available to the committee designated staff when a fighter? >> yes. >> you commit to keep this committee fully and currently informed about the activities under your purview? >> yes. >> the committee engaging in meaningful consultation while policies are being developed not just providing notification after-the-fact? >> yes. >> do d you commit to promptly responding to requests for briefings and information entrusted by the committee and its designee staff? >> yes. >> you've answered all those questions correctly. thank you very much. >> i've done it before, mr. chairman. >> were off to a good start. now for five-minute rounds. let me ask you a question about your view of use israel relation. 1948 president truman did something that the state department quite frankly did not recommend that you do.