ended in terms of our participation. they enrich 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 to my disappointment which i expressed at the time failed to veto a resolution that did for my perspective exactly that, and attempt to delegitimize the state of visual 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 s president vetoed similar resolutions as signaled out israel, delegitimize its action of self-defense and play down the role of hamas and other organizations thatat undermined the prospect for p?de >> senator, i believe deeply that the human -- >> we are leaving this year to

keep our over for your commitment to gavel to gavel coverage ofre congress. the u.s. senate returning to continue work on jack lew confirmation to be u.s. ambassador to israel. a vote is scheduled shortly after 2:30 p.m. eastern. live coverage of the senate on c-span2. israel is now at war and on the verge of what could be its bloodiest battle in a generation. and this struggle is not only fighting gaza and hamas', it's fighting iran-trained and armed organizations. to palestinian-islamic jihad in the west bank, iran is besieging israel by proxy. at the same time iran is conducting extensive attacks against americans in the region. since joe biden took office, iran and its proxies have attacked american forces more than 100 times. let me say that again. 100 times.

that's why we need a person of strength as the u.s. ambassador in israel. we need an ambassador who is a champion of the american-israeli relationship who can bridge the democratic divides in the alliance. we need an ambassador who is clear-eyed about the iranian threat and compared to confront it. instead president biden has nominated jack lew who at times since a better friend to tehran than to jerusalem. the united states senate should reject this nomination to be ambassador to israel. a vote for him is a vote to subvert, not strengthen our ally in its time of need. as president obama's treasury, he was the leading opponent of the disastrous nuclear iran deal, the deal that delivered more than $100 billion to the ayatollahs. mr. lew called the agreement a strong deal and said it will make our country safer and make

our allies saver and it will make the world safer. he apparently didn't consult our allies, though, before making that statement because our allies in israel certainly didn't agree. in fact, primakov netanyahu called the agreement a very bad deal. one poll found that 73% of jewish israelis believe the deal posed an existential threat to the jewish state. the primakov -- prime minister netanyahu was so opposed which mr. lew championed that he traveled to the united states and addressed a joint session of this congress to urge our opposition. mr. lew condemned prime minister netanyahu's speech as beyond the pail and a huge mistake. mr. lew also did not consult our own democratic leader, the senator from new york, who also voted against the disastrous

iran dealing. worst still, he stood with president obama when he refused to veto a united nations security council resolution condemning israel. this was nothing but an act of spite by barack obama against israel's leadership. yet mr. lew stood by his boss dismissively asserting that i don't think it's a great thing for israel to always have only the united states standing between it and condemnation. so according to mr. lew, i guess it's better to have israel condemned than to have israel's back. mr. lew apparently doesn't understand that doing what's right is sometimes lonely business. the next american ambassador to israel must be prepared for the hard and lonely work of sometimes standing up against the rest of the region and indeed the rest of the world in

defense of american and israeli interests. mr. lew's glib comments demonstrate that he lacks either the nerve or the will to stand up for israel when it really matters and the chips are down as they are today. but mr. lew didn't just advocate on behalf of the iran nuclear deal or attack its israelly critics. he lied to congress to protect the deal, indeed to go beyond what the nuclear deal required. mr. lew told the senate foreign relations committee in the summer of 2015 that iran would, quote, continue to be denied access to the american financial and commercial market, end quote. mr. lew also testified that iranian banks, quote, will continue to be denied access to the world's largest financial and commercial market.

but seven months later in early 2016, jack lew's treasure department granted a license to convert almost $6 billion of iranian assets into american currency using our financial system. this was not required by the iran nuclear deal. this went over and above the dictates of that deal. but apparently barack obama and jack lew felt bad for the murderous ayatollah, because they weren't getting enough economic benefit out of the deal. he even pressured two american banks to complete the transaction and they patriotically said no thanks. we don't want to touch iran's blood money. that's not lying to congress, i don't really know what is. but in addition to lying,

mr. liewg neglected to inform congress that his department was sending its representatives around the world to encourage foreign countries and companies to do business with iran. according to a senate committee-reported authored by former senator robert portman, the treasury and state department conducted more than 200 so-called road shows in foreign cities to encourage economic engagement with take ran. again, -- with tehran. again, this is not required by the nuclear deal with iran. nothing said jack lew and his agent at treasury had to act as the de facto investment bankers and business agents for the murderous ayatollahs. he apparently felt so much sympathy for the ayatollahs that he and john kerry, secretary of state, would send their agents all around the world hustling up business for iran's terror

regime. and now this is the man who is going tolew supporters have clad that although flawed, we need an ambassador to israel during this show our support for israel. i would turn that around and say we have to defeat mr. lew ea nomination to show that we are serious about confronting the ayatollahs in iran and there is no clear or immediate action that senators can take to show a new direction for u.s. policy in iran than to reject the nomination of one of the architects of the iran nuclear

deal. both the united states and israel deserve a lot better than jack lew. i urge my colleagues to oppose his nomination. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to speak for up to two minutes and senator cardin be permitted to speak up to five minutes prior to the scheduled roll call vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. risch: mr. president. the presiding officer: senator the senator from idaho. mr. risch: i rise in opposition to this nomination and i rise in support of our strong support for israel. i understand it's important to move as quickly as we can to have an ambassador in jerusalem. we are at an important moment in history with the events in israel. this makes the stakes so much higher and important that we get

it right. i believe it means we should take the time to get it right. this appointment that's been made is very disappointing. as my colleague just mentioned, it really ignores the fact that the underlying problem here is our policy and policies towards iran. certainly we all talk about hamas. they have done horrible things. the horrific attack on israel where they beheaded babies, killed innocent men and women in their beds sometimes. really, really deserves a response. but it also deserves for us to look at the underlying problem here which is iran. hamas would not exist if it was not for iran. iran arms them, trains them, finances them, and directs them. we all know that. so how does that fit in with this particular appointment? well, mr. lew did some thinks which were very much contrary, i believe, to what needs to be

done in order for us to redo our policies towards iran. whether it came to the jcpoa which is, we all know, there was a difference between our side of the aisle and the other side of the aisle on whether he with do the jcpoa or not, mr. lew was heavily involved in that. he promised us in the committee that he would not allow iran to have access to the u.s. financial system. we know for a fact that after that, although he denied it, he did in fact attempt his very best to have iran have access to the u.s. financial system. this is borne out by an official report of the united states senate, by the permanent subcommittee on investigations. they interviewed the banks that he -- that mr. lew's attempts to twist their arms to give iran access to the financial system.

there was a very detailed investigation that was done on the fact. the facts are contained in this report. my good friends will say oh, by that wasn't a bipartisan report. it is an official report by the permanent subcommittee on investigations. my friends on the other side of the aisle, though, will not deny the facts that are in this report and the facts are that mr. lew was involved in this as i described. i want to support israel. i think everybody on this floor wants to support israel. the last thing we need is somebody who is very contrary to our view on how iran should be handled. mr. lew's response to this was, well, everybody knew what obama's policies were. therefore, everybody should have known that we would do anything to blindly support the policies. that's wrong. this is the wrong way to go about it. this is the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong place. we should vote no and support

israel. thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. mr. cardin: mr. president, a little over a week ago i was in israel with ten u.s. senators meeting with the israeli leadership. and i must tell you they are very much looking forward to having a confirmed ambassador from the united states in jerusalem to help in regards to the challenges they're now facing as a result of hamas' attack -- terrorist attack in israel. and they're very much looking forward to jack lew being that ambassador. we heard that directly. his nomination has been welcomed by the israelis, including israel's foreign minister who said he looks forward to working with. the former israeli ambassador to the united states wrote that lew is, quote, a true statesman and a passionate jew, a mench in

every sense of the word. he has the support of the jerusalem post, orthodox union advocacy center, antidefamation leek and the list goes on and on and on. why? because he is so well qualified for this position. he's been confirmed by the senate as the secretary -- former secretary of treasury, as a deputy secretary of state, as an omb director. the list goes on and on and on. confirmed by overwhelming majority. it gives us the person as our representative to israel that has the gravitas to stand shoulder and shoulder with israel as u.s. partners in the challenges they're facing today. there should be no question about his qualifications no question about his presence being welcomed by our israeli friends, no question about his knowledge and commitment to these issues. he's worked almost his entire

life part to strength the u.s.-israeli partnership. he knows the values. he testified to that durin iran, it was to comply opposed . i helped work with senator

corker, then chairman of the these negotiations, that we would have input into these negotiations. that process passed the senate by in-depth discussions with the obamancluding secretary moniz and others who shared with us exactly what was being negotiated. we knew that there was going to be transfer funds in regards to the jcpoa. we recognized that the banking system would be limited purpose. that's not misleading us. that's telling us exactly just e misled us. he did not. and the report they're referring to was a partisan report, in

taking on one of the greatest struggles in their history from the terrorist hamas, what they did on october 7. we need confirmed ambassadors confirmed so they can represent over half a million americans currently in israel. we need jack lew's expertise to help us get the hostages back safely on the ground in israel. i want to thank secretary lew for being willing at this time, at this critical moment to serve his country in this critically important position, and i would hope my colleagues would vote for his confirmation, recognizing that we could not have a more qualified individual to represent america as our ambassador to israel. with that, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the

question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. vote: the clerk: mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt.

mr. brown. mr. budd. the clerk: 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. 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 -- baldwin, bennet, blumenthal, butler, cardin, carper, casey, coons, durbin, hassan, cain, kelly, lujan, manchin, menendez, padilla, peters, shaheen, smith, warner, warren, welch, and whitehouse. senators voting in the negative -- barrasso, capito, collins, daines, ernst, fischer, hoeven, mcconnell, risch, romney, rounds, schmitt, scott of south carolina, and thune.

-- schmitt and thune. mr. cornyn, no. mr. tester, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. mr. heinrich, aye. mr. merkley, aye. ms. hirono, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. rubio, no. mr. ossoff, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: mr. cotton, no, mr. moran, no. mr. grassley, no. the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. the clerk: mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

vote: the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye.

mr. tuberville, no. mr. mcconnell, no.

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

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye.

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

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

the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

ms. duckworth, aye. ms. cantwell, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no. mr. hagerty, no.

mr. cassidy, no. the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mr. lankford, no. mr. reed, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, no. vote: the clerk: mr. wicker, no. mr. johnson, no.

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

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. warnock, aye.

mr. braun, no. ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mr. paul, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye, mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. hawley, no. mr. budd, no. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, no. the presiding officer: the ayes are 53, the nays are 43, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action.

the majority leader. mr. schumer: the senate, i'm proud to say, has now taken an extremely important step in our support of israel. we have approved, with bipartisan support, jack lew to serve as u.s. ambassador to israel. with israel defending itself against hamas, this ambassadorship is as important and timely as any nomination that the senate has confirmed in a long time. mr. lew is the right man for the job of ambassador to israel. he's a capable public servant, a fierce ally to israel, and commands a broad base of trust and respect, and he is a decent and humane man. when my colleagues and i met with the israeli government, we promised to send them an ambassador as soon as possible, and today the senate has kept that promise. having an ambassador in israel means stronger diplomatic ties between the u.s. and israel at a time when these bonds matter most. it means israel's messages will

be conveyed appropriately to our government, but it also means our government's messages will be sent appropriately to the israeli government. so it helps the two-way street of communication, so important right now. and having an ambassador ensures america can work with israel and communicate with israel in both directions at the highest level, as the fight against hamas continues. i thank my colleagues for confirming mr. lew on a bipartisan basis. thank you to chairman cardin and the senate foreign relations committee who championed mr. lew's nomination. finally, i want to applaud the remarkable team at the u.s. embassy in israel, all of whom have done exceptional 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, but we also saw the need, the vacancy, the hold there during the time of crisis when we didn't have an ambassador and saw how much we needed one. we're easing the short-staff embassy's burden by sending a fully appointed ambassador so they can continue carrying out their mission with excellence during this pivotal moment. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: resume legislative session and consideration of h.r. 4366, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 198, h.r. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. hawley: mr. president, i call up my amendment number 1200 and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the amendment by number. the clerk: the senator from missouri, mr. hawley, proposed

amendment 1200 to 1292. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be two minutes for debate equally divided. mr. hawley: the appropriations bills we're now considering, appropriate a total of $280 billion, $280 billion in taxpayer money, money that will be used by agencies ranging from the department of veterans affairs to transportation and agriculture, and this amendment does something very simple. whatever other disagreements we may have about the spending in these bills, surely we can agree that this money ought to go to americans and american companies and our allies. so all this amendment does is it says that none of the money we are appropriating can go to china, it can't go to chinese companies or companies owned and controlled by china. that's it. it's simple. no american taxpayer dollars to the people's republic of china. this should be an easy vote, mr. president. i urge a yes vote.

the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i want to make clear, i also worry about the influence of chinese entities, but this amendment isn't the answer. this amendment could have far-reaching, unintended consequences that would affect our agency's ability to fulfill their missions amount serve people. if this amendment passed, v.a. could face challenges in obtaining products for essential mission needs, like pharmaceuticals or medical devices and i.t. this amendment could negatively impact pro ciewrmtd of meat for the -- procurement of meat for the school meal program. this amendment would prohibit usda from purchasing hogs from any u.s.-based farmers owned by smithfield. is that what we want? it could also prevent americans from understanding the security challenges related to chinese-made drones, because this amendment would mean the faa would no longer be able to purchase drones made by chinese

entities to conduct critical counter-uas research, testing analysis or training. mr. president, we should have more time to carefully consider the impact of this amendment and the serious, unintended consequences it could have before adding it to this legislation. i urge a no vote. mr. hawley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. hawley: do i have any time remaining? the presiding officer: 15 seconds, sir. mr. hawley: do we want to be buying school lunches from china? do we want to be buying pharmaceuticals from china, be dependent on them? i think not, mr. president. let's bring these resources to the united states of america. let's fund americans and american companies. i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: 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. butler. 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. 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.

vote:

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- capito, cassidy, cortez masto, cramer, crapo, grassley, hagerty, hawley, johnson, marshall, romney, scott of

florida, sinema, sullivan, tester, young. mr. risch, aye. senators voting in the negative -- booker, cardin, carper, coons, durbin, hirono, kaine, murray, padilla, paul, reed, sanders, schatz, smith, stabenow, welch, whitehouse. mrs. gillibrand, no.

mrs. fischer, aye. mr. wicker, aye. mr. graham, aye. ms. collins, aye.

mr. merkley, no.

the clerk: mr. budd, aye. mr. wyden, no.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, no.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye. mr. brown, aye. mrs. blackburn, aye. mr. blumenthal, no.

mrs. shaheen, no.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye. mr. lankford, aye. mr. kelly, no. mr. ossoff, no.

the clerk: mr. rounds, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye. mr. barrasso, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

vote::

vote:

the clerk: mr. mullin, aye. mr. thune, aye.

mr. mcconnell, aye. vote:

the clerk: ms. warren, no. mr. daines, aye. mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, no. ms. rosen, aye.

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

ms. butler, no. ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no.

mr. cruz, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, no.

the clerk: mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, aye. the clerk: ms. ernst, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, no.

the clerk: mr. vance, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 61, the nays are 36. the amendment is agreed to. # the senator from --

the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i rise to speak about the need to -- the presiding officer: will the senate call up his amendment? mr. cruz: mr. president, i call up my amendment numbered 1296 and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from texas, mr. cruz, for himself and ms. lummis, proposes amendment numbered 1296 to amendment 1092. the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be ten minutes of debate equally divided. the senator from texas. mr. cruz: i rise to speak about the need to protect senate's constitutional authority to advice and consent on nominees. with acting officials to perform senior roles that would -- president biden is deliberately circumventing the senate and the nomination process.

in some instances, these are vacancies of president biden's own making. he has routinely nominated individuals with no relevant experience to key safety positions. and when threatened with a rejection of these unqualified nominees, president biden simply with draws their name from consideration and instead installs them in the senate-confirmed positions in an acting capacity. julie su's tenure as the head of the department of labor is a notable example. the recently reported elevation of laura daniel davis to acting deputy secretary at the department department of the interior is another. but i speak today about yet another case of this gamesmanship at a key safety agency where a rejected nominee has been giive the -- given the reins, the national traffic

highway administration. ann carlson was nominated and she has written for decades on how unelected bureaucrats should make major changes to american society in the name of combating global warming many but nntsa is a safety agency to make american roads safer, it is not the epa and ms. carlson has zero road safety experience. it was immediately obvious to many, including myself, that she was not qualified for this position. and in the face of opposition from every republican on the commerce committee and dozens of stakeholders because of her lack of experience, the president withdrew ms. carlson's nomination just two months after he submitted it. president biden could have followed his withdrawal of ms. carlson's nomination with

the appointment of a call -- qualified individual to lead ntsa, he did that with the faa last month and that nominee was confirmed. instead president biden turned around and appointed ms. carlson to the same position in an acting compass i did in -- capacity in july. she led the charge to effectively mandate expensive electric vehicles by proposing standards that stretched the agency's authority far beyond what the law allows. she has been involved in helping a for-profit law firm file dozens of nuisance suits across the country to try to bankrupt american energy companies. when it was pointed out how she used her position and law school students to help she tried to cover it up.

-- it up. the stakes are significant. they threaten to make our nation less secure as we rely on supplies controlled by china. less productive as autoworkers fear for their jobs. less competitive as automakers seek to stay afloat after unprofitable investments. ford is losing a whopping $36,000 on every single e.v. sold and less prosperous as families pay more for cars they don't actually want or even worse, see their tax dollars spent on yet more bailouts. congress must have a roll in these kinds of far-reaching policies and the officials who implement them. the appointments clause of the constitution is a critical check on executive power. the senate must protect its prerogative to review the president's nominees to powerful

unelected positions in the federal government. some important protections already exist in law. the vacancies act sets rules for how a president may temporarily fill posts with acting officials. one of the restrictions it imposes is that a person may not serve as an acting official once the president submits his or her nomination to the senate for the same position. this rule protects the senate's constitutional role. it applies to ms. carlson's withdrawn nomination and the limited exceptions to the rule do not allow her to serve as the acting head of nhtsa. the presiding officer: the senator's time is expired. mr. cruz: this bill would enforce our advice and consent authority. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: mr. president, this is a personal attack on a public servant and should be rejected. to be clear, ann carlson is

legally authorized to serve as under the federal vacancies reform act. what this amendment would do is send an alarming precedent in the senate that if you have a political or policy disagreement with a particular administration policy, that you can take the public servant who is in charge of implementing it and take their salary hostage, and if the issue is that she hasn't been confirmed by the senate, let's remember that in the last administration, we had two different acting administrators working for months without being senate confirmed and it is no surprise that the ranking member of the commerce committee didn't object to them because he agreed with their policy. it is fine for you to disagree with fuel efficient standards. it is fine for you to never want to move on from the internal combugs -- combustion engine. that's final.

what is not okay is the united states senate coming in and defunding a position of an administrator with whom you disagree. and i want you all to think about this, republicans. i want you all to think about this, democrats. there will be times as claire mccaskill used to say, the door swings both ways in washington. let's think very carefully about whether we want to set a precedent where the united states senate defunds public servants with whom we disagree. this amendment should be rejected. the presiding officer: there is no further debate, the question is on the amendment. is there a sufficient second? there appears so. 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. the clerk: 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. 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. si 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 -- braun, britt, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, crapo, cruz, daines, ernst, grassley, hawley, hoeven, hyde-smith, mullin, ricketts, schmitt, sullivan, thune, tuberville, and young.

senators voting in the negative -- blumenthal, cardin, coons, fetterman, gillibrand, heinrich, hirono, manchin, menendez, merkley, murray, peters, sanders, schatz, warren, and welch. mr. bennet, no. mr. reed, no. mr. durbin, no.

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

mr. risch, aye. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, no.

the clerk: mr. carper, no. ms. sinema, no. the clerk: mr. lujan, no.

the clerk: mr. romney, aye. mr. king, no. mr. casey, no. mr. murphy, no. mr. rounds, aye. mr. warner, no.

mr. collins, aye.

the clerk: mr. cain, no. -- mr. kaine, no. the clerk: ms. baldwin, no.

the clerk: mr. padilla, no. mrs. capito aye. the clerk: mr. wyden, no. mr. kelly, no. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. budd, aye. mr. warnock, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no. mrs. shaheen, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye. mr. schumer, no. mr. tester, no.

the clerk: mr. marshall, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, aye. mr. moran, aye. ms. klobuchar, no. mr. paul, aye.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, no. mr. markey, no. mr. rubio, aye. the clerk: mr. whitehouse, no.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn,

aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, aye ms. cortez masto, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, aye.

the clerk: ms. smith, no. ms. cantwell, no. clerk: mr. jo.

the clerk: mr. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, no.

the clerk: ms. rosen, no. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, no.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, no.

ses

the presiding officer: the ayes are 47, the nays are 49. the amendment is not agreed to. the senator from maine. order. ms. collins: i call up senator

blackburn's amendment numbered 1349 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from maine, ms. collins, for mrs. blackburn, proposes numbered 1339 to amendment numbered 1092. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. all in favor say aye. all opposed say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to.

the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. budd: i call up my amendment numbered 1243 and ask it be reported are. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from south carolina, mr. budd, proposes amendment numbered 439 to amendment -- mr. budd: i ask for up to ten minutes of debate equally divided before the scheduled roll call vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. budd: mr. president, on this -- his 47th days president, the president directed the head of every federal agency to submit to plan to promote voter registration and participation. the problem is the order mandates that all federal agencies partner with approved third-party organizations to provide these services on

federal agency property across the nation. the presiding officer: could we have order, please. mr. budd: determining which third-party organizations will be determined by whom and based on what criteria is missing from the order. in spite of congressional oversight attempts and freedom of information act lawsuits, the biden administration has refused to release copies of these agency plans. the prospect of the biden administration writing their own rules and using taxpayer money to partner with liberal get out the vote organizations is wildly inappropriate. as a matter of principle, i don't believe the federal government should be using official taxpayer resources to advance partisan politics. further, mandating that every federal agency engage in election engineering on the taxpayers' dime raises serious ethical and legal concerns. simply put, this executive order is further weaponization of the

federal government's power to boost one side of the aisle over another. my amendment would defund this ethical and legally dubious scheme and restore faith in our elections. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: interesting in our democracy two different political parties and attitudes toward registration and voting. many of us on this side of the aisle believe that expanding the number of voters makes the democracy stronger and so does president biden and his executive order was -- message was help where you can and make sure voting is accessible to americans across the board. example? they decided that v.a. health facilities would be registration sites for disabled veterans. does that sound like some radical idea? it sounds to me like common sense. that's the kind of thing we should support and i urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. 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. 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.

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 -- britt, budd, collins, cotton, cramer, cruz, hagerty, hawley, hyde-smith, johnson, kennedy, paul, rubio, and young. senators voting in the negative -- booker, duckworth, durbin, fetterman, hassan, hirono, kaine, manchin, murphy, murray, ossoff, rosen, sanders, schatz, shaheen, and stabenow. ms. butler, no. mrs. blackburn, aye.

ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, no. mr. menendez, no.

the clerk: mr. marshall, aye.

the clerk: mr. reed, no.

the clerk: mr. brown, no. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. cornyn, aye.

the clerk: mr. cardin, no. mr. whitehouse, no. mr. peters, no.

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

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, no. ms. car teas masto, no.

-- ms. cortez masto, no.

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

the clerk: mr. crapo, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, no. the clerk: ms. baldwin, no. mr. grassley, aye. ms. cantwell, no.

the clerk: mr. wicker, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

the clerk: ms. smith, no. the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. moran, aye. mr. ricketts, aye.

mr. romney, aye. mrs. fischer, aye. mr. braun, aye. mr. barrasso, aye. mrs. capito, aye. ms. sinema, no. mr. mullin, aye.

the clerk: mr. tubber virginia, aye. the clerk: mr. tuberville, aye. mr. kelly, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. wyden, no. mr. lujan, no.

the clerk: ms. ernst, aye. mr. carper, no.

the clerk: mr. coons, no.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, no. the clerk: mr. warnock, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, no.

the clerk: ms. warren, no. the clerk: mr. boozman, aye. mr. casey, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. mr. risch, aye.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. the clerk: mr. king, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. daines, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, aye.

the clerk: mr. padilla, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye. mr. hoeven, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. schumer, no.

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 45, the nays a 50. the amendment is not agreed to.

ms. ernst: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to speak for up to six minutes on my amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ernst: thank you, mr. president. i call up my amendment number 1177 amends isn't that it be reported by -- and ask that it be report by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: ms. ernst proposes an amendment numbered 1177 to amendment number 1092. ms. ernst: mr. president, thousands of calls to the v.a. from veterans seeking mental health care went unanswered over the past year, and that was just at the atlanta v.a. one veteran in the midst of a mental health crisis called ten times over a three-month period

and could not get the care she needed, much less anyone to answer her calls. so she ended up in an emergency room. other veterans who made v.a. appointments say their therapists didn't even show up. meanwhile, a manager at the atlanta v.a. responsible for overseeing the scheduling of veterans' appointments actually called in to a meeting from a bubble bath and posted this selfie on social media with the caption "my office for the next hour." another v.a. staffer lamented, quote, it's almost as if this employee is making a mockery of all the veterans. i can sit here in my tub and

relax, and you just have to wait. and that is exactly what is happening. while this bill provides nearly $320 billion for the v.a., what good is it to give the agency all of this money if the v.a. isn't even answering the phone or showing up for appointments with our veterans? this isn't just a problem at the v.a. either. desperate travelers are waiting hours on the phone or in line hoping to speak with someone at the state department about passport delays that are causing vacation cancellations. and seniors calling the social security administration are increasingly having their calls go unanswered altogether, as the agency shifts towards remote work.

frustrated americans are sick and tired of being put on hold while many federal employees are phoning it in "working" from home. in his 2022 state of the union address, president biden pledged that, quote, the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person. a year and a half later, government employee unions are still fighting off efforts to bring their bureaucrats back. only one out of every three bureaucrats is fully back in the office, according to a recent office of personnel management survey. some said they never report to a physical office. 75% or more of the office space at the headquarters of most

federal agencies is not even being used. taxpayers are picking up the cost of maintaining these mostly empty buildings. if federal employees can't be found at their desks exactly where are they? the work locations of over 281 ,000 employees were redacted by the biden administration to a freedom of information request filed by the nonprofit group open the books. well, folks, time's up for biden's game of bureaucrat hide-and-seek. i am offering an amendment making the biden administration account for the location of

every bureaucrat who works for the v.a. and every other department funded by this bill. my amendment also requires taxpayers to be told the financial and environmental costs of maintaining empty offices and the impact remote work is having on veterans' care and the response times of other government services. to all of my senate colleagues, don't claim that you are taking care of veterans just because there is a spending increase for the v.a. in this bill. we need to work together to ensure that the v.a. is actually showing up and caring for our veterans. my amendment will provide some

much-needed accountability to monitor if that is happening. our veterans answered the call of duty. now it's time for federal employees to do the same. thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i know of no further debate on my amendment. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, the question is on the amendment. all in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the amendment is agreed to. earns earns --. ms. ernst: thank you, mr. president. ms. warren: mr. president, i ask consent that my chief of staff john donenberg be allowed to join me on the floor here. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. warren: thank you, mr. president.

ms. warren: mr. president, i rise today to recognize an extraordinary public servant who is leaving my office for a new role. john donnenberg has been one of my most trusted senior advisors since 2011 when i first ran for the united states senate. mr. president after his stint advising me on policy, i asked john to be serve as my first legislative director in my senate office. john was my l.d. for six years, then senior policy for war and for president. for the last four years he has

served as my chief of staff. after nearly a dozen years of working together, i have come to know john pretty well, so i can say with some authority that he is one of the best policy nerds and sharpest minds on economic policy in the business. when i arrived in the senate, i knew more than pretty much anybody else in the world about a very specific slice of commercial law. i also spent a lot of time thinking about how middle-class families were getting crushed by an economy that didn't work for them and thinking through how to fix it. and this was a good start. but being a senator means doing work on a much, much broader range of issues. jon was the person i tender to for counsel as i developed that broader agenda, drawing on his deep expertise with policy, his facility for digging into dait and his formidable technical training. also importantly jon has good values. the long-standing belief that

government is here stoamb not the richest and most powerful, not those who can hire armies of lobbyists but here to build a future for themselves and their families. jon and i were a good match, and i will say that. what i'm not saying as part of that, that we always saw our next moves the same way. but he has a lightning-quick mind, a staggering command of domestic and foreign policy topics and instincts honed by years of working in congress. and those qualities allowed him to see around corners i didn't even know existed. he's good with numbers and he's never been afraid to change his mind based on what the data show him. our relationship has always been energetic. jon hasn't been afraid to tangle with me when he thought i was getting something wrong. he would tell me i was making a mistake and i would tell him he

didn't know what he was talking about. we would size each other up and i would start lobbing balls at him like i was in the classroom trying to figure out if a student had done the reading and was on solid ground in their argument. jon of course has always done the reading. he would grab those fast balls out of the air and zing them at me with a spinning often highlighting an aspect of the issue i failed to consider. sometimes i would try a new angle, play the devil's advocate to see if he could defend his position, back and forth until i had often in the space of 10 or 15 minutes pressure tested an argument more thoroughly than seemed possible. i'm not saying jon won all those arguments, but i give him a 50-50 lifetime record, which is pretty respectable in my book. and i'd also say this, 100% of the time my thinking about an issue got deeper and sharper as a result of running my views

through the gauntlet of jon's scrutiny. given all these attributes, it should come as no surprise that jon had a very specialized skill that is rarely employed among adults outside elected office. jon was a wiz at debate prep. he has worked with me and several other senators during our races, helping candidates prepare for preelection debates. he put all of us through our paces, forcing us to confront the frustration and the opportunities of butting heads with our opponents and doing it in one-minute chunks. for all of us who managed to survive those debates far better than we expected, we owe jon our thanks. when he came to work for me, jon brought with him years of experience in congress before joining my office, jon served as chief counsel to senator

richard blumenthal. before then he served as health law advisor to representative henry waxman on the house oversight and government reform committee, and the house energy and commerce committee. i asked henry waxman for a few words about jon, and he had this to say, quote, jon started his congressional career as a precocious young staffer in my office working on the affordable care act. he's leaving senator warren's staff as a veteran chief of staff with many distinguished legislative accomplishments. what's been constant is the gratitude and respect he has earned from everyone who has been lucky enough to work with him along the way. jon's first experience working in congress has a special resonance for me. jon was a legal fellow for senator ted kennedy, the senior senator from massachusetts, who served for 47 years in the seat i now hold.

i think senator kennedy would be pleased to know that the young man he first brought in for work in the federal legislature ended up contributing so much to this work. there is one more aspect of jon's leadership that i want to make sure to highlight. he is a dedicated mentor who has trained scores of policy staffers in how to make this country work better for families who don't always have someone in government looking out for them. year after year itch observed -- i have observed as john invests in the staff on my team and throughout government, supporting them, teaching them and challenging them, and always, always, always making them better at what they do. congress is a hard place to work in a lot of ways. jon often tells me that trying to make change by working in the senate can feel a lot like running face first into a brick

wall over and over and over again. you have to keep standing up and sprinting back at the wall because even though history suggests you're going to smack right into it just like last time, the only way you'll ever smash through the bricks is by taking one more run at it. jon is the kind of colleague who makes you want to take one more run at knocking down the wall that has never been knocked down before, the one who will help you dust yourself off and then sprint along bow side you. i've watched as these staffers who jon has trained have transformed from eager, gifted beginners into seasoned strategists. jon and i have stood proudly side by side as we've seen them leave our office and take their talents to go make change somewhere else. jon's commitment to mentorship means that today we have more

dedicated public servants doing top-notch work all around the country and doing it better because of their time learning from him. now john is the one -- now jon is taking his talents to another public servant post. he is headed to the white house to serve as deputy director of the national economic council. i know jon will bring with him to this position an abiding commitment to helping working families as well as one of the best policy brains in the business. one last note. jon is a good man. he is honest, he is principled, he is generous, he is funny, he cares about people, he loves his family deeply, and he is always there for his friends. he tries to live his life every day according to deeply held moral values. i admire him.

so, jon, i am grateful down to my toes for the years that we have worked together. i will miss having you by my side, but i know that the president, the nation, and the world will be better off because of the challenges you will help tackle in this new role. thank you for your work both past and present and future. thank you. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: i first would like to ask unanimous consent that my senior colleague and i from maine may engage in a colloquy. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. king: mr. president, i've often asked particularly around here why maine is so pegs --

special, why maine people are always so connected to our state no matter where they may roam. and i always have the same answer, that maine is a big small town with very long streets. we know each other, we care about each other. there's a fabric of our community. it is a beloved community. and we go through storms, we go through all of the vicissitudes of life together, supporting one another and caring about one another. a week ago there was a tear in the fabric of our community. a lone gunman visited two places, a bowling alley and a bar and grill, and killed 18 people, 18 innocent beautiful people, and injured another 13.

we're going to have a lot of time around here to talk about policy and what to do about this problem and what our policies can and should be, but tonight my colleague and i simply want to remember the people that lost their lives last wednesday night in lewiston maine. and lewiston is a microcosm of that maine community. it's a community where people are close, where they know one another, where they grew up together. it's a diverse community. it was largely formed over 100 years ago by immigrants coming to this country from canada. it's one of the most vital and vibrant communities in our state. i now want to ask my colleague for her thoughts. she and i are going to remember those that we lost. ms. collins: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from maine.

ms. collins: mr. president, let me first thank senator king for inviting me to join him in this colloquy this evening. tonight, we honor and remember our fellow mainers who lost their lives in a senseless tragedy, a senseless act of violence, as well as those who were wounded in this heinous attack, and we also remember the family members and the loved ones who grieve for them. we want to recognize the people of this proud community of lewiston, who have rallied together to support each other during these dark and difficult days. first responders, law

enforcement, health care providers, especially at central maine medical center, businesses and community members who provided food for law enforcement, state and local officials, federal agents -- so many people deserve our thanks. those efforts and more will be acknowledged by the city of lewiston tomorrow as it hosts an act of kindness and gratitude day. the city intends for this to be an annual occasion for the community to come together and celebrate the spirit of kindness and unity which characterizes our wonderful state. as the phrase lewiston strong echos across our state and our country, the grit, resolve, and

compassion of the people of lewiston have rallied and inspired the nation. no words can diminish the pain, shock, and understandable anger felt by the families who lost loved ones. nevertheless, it is my hope that they will find solace and strength in knowing that they are in the hearts of so many. mr. president, as my colleague from maine has just said, maine in many ways is a small town, a place of caring communities where people know their neighbors. one of my staffers in my lewiston office knew nine of the 18 people who lost their lives

that horrible day. members of the close-knit deaf community had gathered at a local restaurant to play cornhole that night. four members of that community lost their rives in the -- lost their lives in the attack. one of the families taught me the american sign language symbol for i love you. it reminds me of this proverb -- death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory that no one can steal. in their memory, let us support one another through this difficult grieving period and hope for brighter days. senator king and i will now read the names of those who lost

their lives. tricia asselin. age 53 was a part-time employee at just-in-time recreation and was fatally shot while calling 911. she was a mother who worked three jobs and an accomplished athlete and terrific volunteer. payton brewer-ross. peyton, 40, was a new father and a pipe fitter at bath iron works. he enjoyed playing cornhole and often brought beanbags to family gatherings, according to his brother. he was described as the life of the party. william frank brackell. william was 48. he was part of the gathering of deaf people who were playing

cornhole. he was known for his ability to help place those who are deaf in the workplace. he had just celebrated his third wedding anniversary with his wife in august, and leaves behind a 2 1/2-year-old daughter. thomas ryan conrad. thomas, 34, was manager of just-in-time recreation and was an army veteran who served tours in iraq. he had just returned to the state of maine to be closer to his daughter, and he was one of the brave individuals who attempted to stop the shooter. michael deslauriers. michael was fatally shot trying to rush the gunman at

just-in-time recreation. his close friend, jason walker, was also killed in the bowling alley. the two men made sure that their wives and children were under cover before charging at the killer. maxx hathaway. maxx was 35 and a stay-at-home father. he and his wife were expecting their third child in a little more than a month. he was described as a goofy down-to-earth person who always had an uplifting attitude, no matter what was going on. he was working on completing his degree in business administration at the university of southern maine. bryan macfar lane. brian, 41, had recently moved

back to maine to be closer to his mother. he was playing in the cornhole tournament for the deaf community at the restaurant and bar. he loved the outdoors and was one of the first deaf people in vermont to earn his commercial driver's license. he was often accompanied on the road by his beloved dog, m & m. michael -- i'm sorry, keith macneir. keith was 64 and lived in florida. he was visiting maine to celebrate his 64th birthday with his son. he most recently worked as chief of maintenance at the virgin islands national park. ronald morin.

ronald, 55, was a dedicated husband and father of two and was described by his family and friends as having an infectious personality. he was the sales merchandiser for coca-cola and was an avid cornhole player. now senator king will resume the reading of the rest of those who lost their lives. mr. king: mr. president, senator collins mentioned that one of the most poignant parts of this tragedy was that there were four members of the maine deaf community who happened to be at this restaurant playing cornhole, recreation, having fun. and one of them was joshua seal. he was 36 years old, a member of the deaf community, regularly went to the bar and grill to play cornhole.

during the pandemic, this gentleman served as the american sign language interpreter for our head of our cdc, who had press conferences practically every day. he became one of the best-known people in maine. he was director of interpreting services, he coordinated summer camps for the deaf and hard of hearing, and he was the father to four children. arthur strout, 42, was playing pool, imagine, at a bar and grill, with his father. the father, blessedly, left before the shooting occurred. arthur was the husband and father of five children, described as a christmas person who started decorating for christmas around halloween. steve vozzella, 45, was a letter carrier for the u.s. postal service and also an active member of the deaf community.

a letter carrier, a mailman. he was playing in the cornhole tournament for the deaf at the restaurant when the shooting happened. he was the father of two and was preparing to celebrate his one-year anniversary with his wife next month. lucille violette, 73, was a valued member of the business office of the lewiston public schools. she was well-known in the community, worked in the community for over 52 years, fatally shot alongside of her husband, bob violette, at the bowling alley. bob was 76. he was a dedicated volunteer coach and a youth -- in a youth bowling league. he was shot and died along with his wife while out for a night of bowling. joseph lawrence walker, 57, was the manager of the bar and

grill. his father is a city croinl in auburn -- a city councilor in auburn. he recounted his son's final moments were spent trying to save lives during the shooting. jason adam walker. jason walker, 51, a father and husband who was shot at the bowling alley. his close friend, michael deslauriers was also killed. the two of them charged the gunman to try to make others safe. as my colleague mentioned, they made sure their wives and children were safe before they took their last risk. william young, bill young, 44, auto mechanic, father to a 14-year-old son. he was described as the rock of the family. and perhaps most poignantly, that 14-year-old son, aaron, was

also killed. he was a high school honor student, proud of his grades, an avid bowler, and he lost his life that night in this tragedy. senator collins and i on sunday night were at a vigil at the magnificent catholic basilica in lewiston. there were well over a thousand people in that church. i went outside afterwards, there were well over a thousand on a cold night in maine. watching and listening to the service. one of the most poignant moments in the service, for me, was when a member of the deaf community gave his address in sign language, and it was the reverse of what we usually see, where a person is speaking and there's an interpreter. in this case, the person was giving the signs and the interpreter was giving us the words that we could hear.

one of the signs we learned was this. it means love. there's another sign in american sign language, for love. it's this. this community will never recover from this tragedy, but it will heal. but it will only heal as long as we remember and understand that this was a tragedy. and we have to resolve ourselves to move forward to find a way to prevent tragedies like this, and to always remember those people that gave their lives on a night of fun, on a night of recreation, on a night when there was no expectation of such an event occurring. and we just have to remember all of these wonderful people, these

beloved people that we lost that night. we love lewiston. we love the state of maine. and we will always remember, not only the events of that night but these beloved people of maine. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. schumer: mr. president, are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar number 334. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is gray towed. -- is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the navy. for appointment as chief of naval options, an appointment to admiral, lisa m.princhetti. mr. schumer: i send a motion to invoke cloture closing to the desk. the presiding officer: the

clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 334, admiral lisa m. african chet tee for appointment as chief of naval operations while assigned to a position of importance and responsibility to be admiral, signed by 18 senators as follows -- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 329. the presiding officer: the question on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the air force. gerald david w. alvin for appointment as chief of staff and to be general. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 329, general david w. alvin for appointment as chief of staff, united states air force and appointment in the united states air force to the great indicator while assigned to a position of responsibility. the presiding officer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection w. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. 6 all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 333. the presiding officer: question on the motion. all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, marine corps, lieutenant general christopher j. mahoney for appointment as commandant and appointment to be general. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desks. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. 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 333, lieutenant general christopher j. mahone for appointment as assistant commandant fost marine corps and appointment to the grade indicated while assigned to a position of importance and responsibility to be general. signed by 18 senatorsals follows

-- mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, october 31, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, a few moments ago i filed cloture on the president's nominees for chief of naval operations and air force chief of staff, the remaining vacancies on the joint chiefs of staff. i've also filed cloture on the nomination of lieutenant general christopher mahoney to serve as assistant commandant for the u.s. marine corps. lieutenant general mahoney's confirmation is urgent in light of the fritessenning news that general eric smith, confirmed last month was hospitalized sunday after serious medical emergency. we pray for general smith's recovery. our thoughts are with him and his family. this scary incident involving general smith shows why it's supremely risky it to play

politics with military appointments as senator tuberville is doing. emergencies happen, and when they do the chain of command must be able to respond. but thanks to senator tuberville, there is no current number two at the marine corps to fill in. the situation at the marine corps is precisely the kind of avoidable emergency that as if in morning business tuberville has provoked through his blanket holds. lieutenant general mahoney should have been appointmented a long time ago but is one of 300 nominees that senator tuberville is brazenly blocking to advance his extreme agenda. every day that senator tuberville continues his blanket holds, our military preparedness is worse off, our military families suffer, our military appointments risk being further ensnared in partisan politics, which is a point of no return. we must never cross in the senate. senator tuberville should drop his blanket holds at once and in

the meantime the senate will proceed to confirm these nominations that should have been swiftly approved long ago as has been the custom in the senate for decades. now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i have two requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 442 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 442, designating october 2023 as national country music month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made

and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 443, which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. is reserve 443, designating october 2023 as national form-too-school month. -- farm had-to-school amongst. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 206,' 447. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 447, a bill to establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris

and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the hickenlooper substitute amendment at the desk to the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to, the committee-reported substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of dash 209, s. 1648. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: tarp 209, s. 1648, a bill to facilitate access to the electromagnetic spectrum for commercial space reentries and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the

committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be l. considered read a third time and passed, understand that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on wednesday, november 1, 245 l fog the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate resume consideration of calendar 198, h.r. 4366. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: there will be two roll call votes at 11:30 a.m. on paul amendments 1217, 1347 as provided under the order of october 24. with additional roll call votes in the afternoon so we can complete action on the minibus. if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the

senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.