gambling today senators are expected to vote on the nomination of doctor to be the director of the national institute of health before nomination and served as director of the national cancer institute. live coverage of the u.s. senate here on the scan tool. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. here we are again, lord, a people in need of your presence and power, in order to meet life

with courage, faith, and perseverance. today, strengthen the members of this body with a faith that will ever choose the harder right over the easy expedient. lord, give our senators wisdom to follow your example of sacrificial service, infusing them with the courage to do right as you give them the light to see it. lift from our world the burdens of loss and sorrow, when forces beyond our control invade our lives and seek to rob us of your peace. lord, bless the people of our

world with the assurance that they are never alone, for you have promised never to forsake them. we pray in your loving name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the 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.,

november 6, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the state of illinois, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the chair lays before the senate a communication of the secretary of the senate regarding a message from the president received during the adjournment of the senate. the clerk: dear mr. president, on friday, november 3, 2023, the president of the united states sent by messenger the attached sealed envelopes addressed to the president of the senate dated november 3, 2023. said to contain messages regarding the president's notification to the congress consistent with section 8 of the fisherman's protective act of 1967 as amended and regarding the continuation of the narng r national emergency with respect to the threat from securities investments that finance certain companies of the people's republic of china. the senate not being in session

on the gay the president driver r delivered this message, i accepted the message at 3:00 p.m. and present to you the president's message with accompanying parents. respectfully, secretary of the senate. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of health and human services, monica m. bert nollie -- bertagnolli of massachusetts to be director of the national institutes of health.

congress for the publication, thank you for your time as always. >> the mind of yours when it comes to how much time we have been for the federal government . >> not this friday, next friday is the deadline for congress to act. if they don't act by the end of that day the following have a shut down the if you have a trip planned to yosemite or other

things you need federal government for like getting a new passport, might want to pay more attention the next couple weeks. if you have been to do, conduit this week. >> when it comes to the house of representatives, mike johnson taken care or at least trying, what is he doing to prevent this from happening. >> he said over the weekend he's been working on a bill to keep the government open but every bill and every vote for the new speaker and hasn't done this before. a very small majority the previous speaker got tossed after he cap the government open so it's a real challenge for johnson to find a way the government open without blowing his conference apart so there's a lot of proposals loaded by various republicans including a letter cr where they have

various departments for length of time, the they will be particularly excited about that day i get and they don't want to vote for any bill ever in which case you probably need both which means you probably need a clean bill or democratic party. you put something on the floor more than four members of the conference boats, opposes, can he actually govern? we will find out in the next couple weeks. >> he expresses confidence that this will happen. johnson talking about plans to keep the government open. >> we are running out of money in a couple weeks, we have another continuing resolution? how long would it be lasting?

>> i was up late last night and worked during the weekend and recognize we may not get the appropriations bills done but we are going to continue in good faith and the difference between what we call on capitol hill continuing resolution now and what we have dealt with in years past is this would allow time continue this process. we are committed to bringing 12 bills to before as law requires congress to do. we are changing the way it works, more transparent so we are going to fight that everyday we look at ... >> talking about those bills, what is it? >> these bills basically have no chance of becoming law as is. they are under veto threats from administration and spend are less than democrats but they

were agreeing to so policy writers, they are messaging bills he needs to keep the carcass together on which will be very hard, 18 members -- isrl continues to root out the hamas terrorists who savaged innocent civilians on october 7, the political left here in america appears to be engaged in a loud public debate with itself over how exactly to differentiate indiscriminate slaughter and lawful self-defense. last week an especially radical house democrats repeated to her followers a call to eliminate the jewish state from the river

to the sea. then she attempted to explain away the undeniablability genocidal connotation of this antiisrael slogan as, quote, peaceful company existence -- coexist tense. apparently, jews can live in peace with palestinians as long as they vacate israel. unfortunately, the shameful moral equivalence that has been creeping across elite and influential corners of the left has now been embraced by a former commander in chief. just a few days ago, president obama used the same breath to express his horror at both hamas violence and a supposed israel

occupation of gaza. in reality, the only force that has occupied gaza since 2007 is hamas, not israel. the former mrs. also said, quote, all -- the former president also said, quote, all of us are complicit to some degree. that's simply false. responsibility lies with the terrorists. so, madam president, perhaps president obama has forgotten what he campaigned to defeat ayesis, over which he presided, or the destruction of cities like mosul in pursuit of medieval islamist tyrants who terror identifiesed innocent -- terrorized innocent civilians. i don't recall president obama doubting the righteousness of american efforts to support

local partners in rooting out terrorists in iraq and syria. where is that moral clarity in the face of hamas? unfortunately, that brings me to the growing number of u.s. -- of our senate colleagues who called for a ceasefire in today's terrorist war. i would remind our colleagues that israel had negotiated a ceasefire with hamas over the summer, and we all saw where that led on october 7. returning to any such arrangement right now would be amnesty for the butchers, the butchers of innocent israelis and gazans alike. once again, let's remember who the aggressor is. hamas is blocking citizens from

leaving gaza city. hamas has intentionally put its weapons caches inside schools, hospitals, and mosques, and is firing positions in the middle of civilian populations. hamas has poured countless millions of dollars of humanitarian assistance into its terror tunnels. these people are not freedom fighters. they do not want peaceful coexistence. they're salvance, sav -- sarvages, cut -- savages cut from the same cloth as isis and al qaeda. there's no room for moral equival at-batsancy. -- equivalency. fortunately, some do recognize this. the vice chancellor of germany, a member ever his country's

green party, didn't have any trouble finding the moral clarity this moment requires. in an address to the nation last week, he said, hamas does not want reconciliation with israel, but the extermination of israel, and this is why it is pivotal to make it clear that israel's right to exist must not be it relativized. israel's security is our obligation, end quote. american politicians who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the same should really be ashamed of themselves. this weekend marked 44 years since iranian revolutionaries overran the u.s. embassy in tehran and took 66 americans hostage. today, americans are once again held hostage by forces aligned

with iranian tyranny. many more israelis are held alongside them, and israel deserves the time, space, and support it needs to bring these terrorist captors to justice. in the days immediately following october 7, i warned that president biden would be pressured to withhold the support and that familiar and morally bankrupt calls for ceasefires would threatens israel's ability to see its defensive operations through. and so here we are, nearly a month later, watching the movement to grant hamas amnesty reach the highest levels of our government. war is a bloody business. that is the reality israel faces. we should be careful before

second-guessing their efforts to get innocent israelis and americans home safely and to destroy hamas' ability to wage war. now, on another matter, while the united states and our allies face terrorist and authoritarian violence abroad, the american people continue to face waves of unchecked violence here at home. just last month, a member of our colleague, senator britt's staff, was robbed at gunpoint right outside her apartment building. thankfully, this young woman was not injured, but stories like hers have become all too common in our nation's capital. according to washington metropolitan police, robbery in the city has increased by 70% this year.

70%. motor vehicle theft is up 101%. and in the midst of rising violence crime, a particularly alarming spate of anti-semitic violence has come to a head in the wake of october 7. in new york city, authorities have recorded 66 anti-semitic hey crimes in -- hate crimes in just the last month. on october 14, exactly one week after hamas' deadly attack, a 29-year-old woman was beaten on the subway in manhattan. the attacker reportedly told the victim that the reason for his attack was because, quote, you are jewish. a jewish delhi in the city was -- a jewish deli was

vandalized with multiple images of swastika symbols. and threats against jewish students at cornell have prompted an fbi investigation. in just the first two weeks after october 7, the rate of anti-semitic violence against american jews nearly quadrupled. the american left has gone out of its way to downplay the threats they face, with everything from both sides statements to outright incitement. all americans deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. it's long past time for democrats to take the historic ways of violence in america seriously -- the historic weafers of violence in america -- the historic waves of violence in america seriously.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: thank you. madam president, seven weeks ago, on september 21, the united states senate on a bipartisan basis gathered with the ukrainian president zelenskyy in

the old senate chamber. we don't often use that chamber. it's often for incidents that become embedded in history, and this was one of them. it was an historic moment. many things were said about the courage of the ukrainian people and the heroism of the troops fighting russian president vladimir putin's unjust war, but i recall one particular plea made by president zelenskyy. and he repeated it, so it was clear he wanted us to remember. i'll stress what he said, quote, without the continued financial support of the united states and nato, we will lose this war. he was unequivocal. secretary of defense austin told me clearly at last week's senate appropriations committee hearing that he agreed with zelenskyy. and secretary of state blinken added that such assistance is

critical, in thwarting not just putin, but aggressors around the world are watching and gauging our sustained commitment. i agree completely. looking at the world today, i do not believe it is a stretch to say freedom is currently under siege and fighting for its future. right now, several democracies across the globe are fighting against tyrannical power. in some cases autocratic governments, in other terrorist organization that seek to undermine the global order. but this much is clear, democrat values are under siege, and the united states and our generation has a responsibility to act. two weeks ago, president biden requested $106 billion in supplemental funding for national security. this includes money to help supply ukraine with weapons to continue its valiant fight against russian aggression. it includes money to help israel defend itself against hamas,

which on october 7 perpetrated the largest attack against jewish people in any single day since the holocaust. importantly, it also includes billions of dollars to support humanitarian needs across those conflict zones in the world, including as the crisis grows in gaza. because, as important as it is to support nations like ukraine in their struggle against tyranny, it is east coast wally as important to -- it is equally as important to support innocent civilians who become collateral damage and bear the brunt of suffering during conflict. at the appropriations committee hearing last week, secretaries blinken and austin underscored the necessity of this funding request. they made clear it is critical to deliver urgent national security priorities as laid out in the president's rhetoric. these challenges facing the world are interrelated. so it's important that we deliver aid in one unified package that speaks to america's values abroad.

i asked secretaries and blinken and austin about the recent visit by hamas leadership to, believe it or not, putin in moscow. secretary blinken was blunt, putin is allied with any effort that may distract the united states from the war in ukraine or undermines democracy and the rule of law. secretary added that other maligned actors are watching closely to assess america's reaction and resolve. that is why one comprehensive ?rument that can address -- supplemental is the only way forward. when asked about the united states role in the world, president biden explained that we have not only a financial responsibility, but the moral responsibility to support democracies worldwide. i agree. right now the global community faces profound challenges, the outcomes of which will reverberate to every corner of the world for decades to come. as a globe superpower, america

has a central role to play in protecting predom. it's not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing. last week the house led the republican-led plan to provide billions of dollars only to israel, tragically ignoring the call for leadership. madam president san francisco i just challenge everyone to take a look at how the republicans put together this package, even this aid to israel. the house bill would cynically cut funding from the internal revenue service being iewchessed to have auditors -- used to have auditors catch wealthy tax cheaters in america. the house leader wants to cut that. you and i represent thousands of illinoisans, good families who know their tax obligations. they're not happy about them, but they face them and deal with them honestly. only a handful of people are misusing their power and money to avoid tax responsibility. we need to stop that. they need to pay their fair share of taxes, particularly the

wealthy among us. how does the house republican leadership pay for aid to israel? eliminate auditors in the internal revenue service who are trying to catch these tax cheats. what are they thinking? incidentally, because that means the auditors are not recovering money for our treasury that is owed to it, theyed and to the deficit -- they add to the deficit, this bunch of fiscal hawks giving the first real act of the new speaker find a way to avoid holding tax cheaters responsible and adding to the national deficit. they need some work over there. that bill is a nonstarter that putin must be enjoying. defending american values and defending our national security interests will take bipartisan work. as long as there is a united states of america, we will be standing for freddie mac across the -- we will be standing for

freedom across the world. madam president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the national political reporter for the monitor new hampshire. welcome back to the program. >> it's great to join you.

we have our primary, we are getting close to crunch time. >> give us is that chuck, will traction the states are getting through? >> i what is getting more but you see plenty of candidates picking up. today they expect the governor kim reynolds to stand in a rally in des moines. the republican governor here said he will endorse before the primary. we know it won't be donald trump. how much it will matter is the big question.

he has appeared with tim scott and chris christie and doug burgum's up to québec but it is something we are keeping our eyes on. >> how does the only polling support compared to other republican contenders? >> we see in iowa and south carolina, president trump the overwhelming front runner. twenty-five or 30-point lead which is very formidable. former and bethany haley second-place here followed by chris christie and new jersey governor. spending all the time in new

hampshire and tim scott. >> it was reported last week, president biden will be on the ball in new hampshire, can you clarify that? >> you're right, you don't. it goes back about a year ago when he came up with a new calendar for the democrat nomination which moved new hampshire out of its position and the democratic national committee will endorse that calendar people angry. because of that and you will follow, we had the first

presidential primary and it is not sanctioned and because of that the president is not on the calendar especially with the latest contender and dean phillips of minnesota and he's running developed. >> does mr. biden enjoy strong support amongst democrats? >> there's a writing effort on the reaching his efforts there is the possibility and new hampshire is the lead, there are

some hard feelings and new hampshire. the last thing joe biden needs right now is possibility this could happen in january. >> is another debate this week reportedly, you are going to travel to cover it, how is it set apart from others? >> i'll be there in miami wednesday night and former president trump what be there. this time he will be close by, holding a rally in the former president tried to hold the spotlight a lot for ron desantis and he needs a strong performance and tim scott as

well. >> what are you watching for in the days and weeks ahead? >> the endorsement when it comes it should be interesting. the former president support, he's way ahead, how strong is the support? with got a lot of questions to go. >> fox news and the concord monitor, thank you for your time. axios reporting it is the cia

director visiting israel and other countries in the region as others government to promote war in gaza and why it matters section. part of the biden administration's ongoing engagement with key parties in an effort to get humanitarian pause and arrived in israel sunday expected to meet with benjamin netanyahu in order intelligence officials and expected to visit cutter to secure the release of hostages held by hamas and egypt and he plays a central role in efforts to get managing eight into gaza. axios reporting on it comes to secretary of state antony blinken, the post following a sunday yesterday he met with the president installed in the good

and approached israel's leaders to allow aid to get people in and out of gaza. remarks games as israel bombarded. when it comes to what's going on about a month now, you can call give us your perspective. secretary of state held a press conference and what he hopes to see in the near future here, it's just.

>> are we going to be talking about population use? i think we to focus and we need to be very clear. bring death to a solution back and creating conditions that are

different and ongoing good delusion and a cycle of violence. make sure we bring in food and water in medicine so good make sure of the conditions under think we are all committed and we need that and make sure you

bring security. >> the events over the last month between israel and hamas, your perspective for jewish americans and palestinian americans and again, 2-027-488-0000. andrea from washington d.c. starts us off. >> good morning, thank you for having me on the show. my name is andrea and i live in washington d.c. and i want to start by saying i am the granddaughter of holocaust survivors and it's relevant because never in my life, i thought in this great country i would feel so threatened as we know america is unlike any other country in the world and when there are minorities threatened

especially with a long history of fate, it is remarkable how many people stand up. unfortunately, we have so many examples black americans, asian americans and we have stood in arms with our friends and comrades but it seems when it comes to anti-semitism, festering hatred under the surface that makes a lot of people scared to stand with us and the product of history when that is unleashed in a way that exposed horrors and the depth of what humanity is and i don't know what to hope we can learn from history and understand it is a moment to change the course of what feels like we are headed quickly toward a bad and. this weekend and d.c. sent out

people gathered and calling so i hope very much the moral compass of our friends jewish and non-jewish fight and stand up in a moment it is shocking and how much hatred is out there against the jewish people. >> jewish americans, if you are palestinian american and want to give your perspective, the "wall street journal" highlights the fact that it was friday secretary of state antony blinken met with the prime minister benjamin@netanyahu and other members of the country government tel aviv and considered corners and

palestinian to get out and u.s. officials argued a pause could allow to make headway to talk to free hostages being held by hamas. israeli ambassador and the united nations on cnn this past sunday talked about it and thought they were making progress. here's a portion of on sunday. >> as far as i know we are remaining the administration closely monitoring humanitarian situation in gaza. obviously shouldn't delete or take any numbers out of gaza at face value, everything is being controlled by hamas. there is no military and gaza in coordination, we have allowed the number of trucks entering with food and medicine in 100 trucks everyday so little see

the need for humanitarian because enable hamas to regroup and prevent us to destroy these capabilities. >> you have said before there is no "humanitarian crisis" in gaza. that is kind of an amazing statement because of the problems before the war and now obviously -- take their numbers aside. >> i'm not saying life and gaza is great and obviously hamas is the only ones that should be held responsible but there is a standard, international humanitarian law "humanitarian crisis" and there is no

"humanitarian crisis" based on the military law. last everyone could watch near the hospital with electricity, cell phones, watching the movie, civilians. she's been saying i wasn't raised jewish internet on a number of heater on full display, only they were

slaughtered and always will.com/season. the editorial for a cease-fire and made cease-fire lisa humanitarian aid, civilians on a bare club who put in all of the 245 cap discriminate topic by civilians and the violations of international law. most other governments with influences to pressure acceptance and the culpability of the israel is responsible to do everything and everything we

can to do more thickly in regard to aid, that is the editors from the washington post this morning for the american institute recently took a look at pulling not only on events there and israel between israel and hamas also united states role is one of those points americans disapprove of the handling of the conflict asking of the question, how would you raise your attitude toward president biden's response to the current virus in palestine and israel? only 7% of those registering positive results, 17%, somewhat negative 27% response are negative. it also talks about opposition united states sending weapons to israel. regarding the current balance in

palestine, military supply am a 68% of those responding say it should not 21 saying it should. alabama we will hear from aaron, hello, your next. >> history written by the victors of propaganda and in the bible it talks about what is a jew? god's chosen people. the bible says god's chosen people are those who keep the commitment and have the faith of jesus. what i mean by history is led by propaganda, what is a jew? if you can define a trip jew, and you can solve the riddle. just because they are inside or

are god's chosen people? >> how did you boil it down to that? >> the bible. >> why should that serve as a basis? >> the bible is about god's chosen people and how they should live their lives so there obedient, judaism is being obedient to god's commandment but judaism started traditions and top and got away from the commitment so history got dismantled and history was rewritten so world war i hitler, can any american decide what hitler was successful in germany? >> that is apparent in alabama, it was on this program over the last week we heard from the jewish council of public affairs on the program talking at least to her about anti-semitism and

the rise in the united states as a result of the events overseas. here is a portion of what she had to say last friday. >> part of that is a result of how anti-semitism and broader extremism is extremely normalized over the last few years. after october 7, it was moving horrific increase year-over-year because we are starting from a place of crisis but particularly the last four weeks what we have seen is jews, jewish institutions, the targeted because of the actions of the government so people laney jews around the country and around the world because they hypothetically disagree but targeting jews for the anti-semitism.

some on college campuses widely reported these students who were arrested this week for making death and rape threats, we have seen a viral video in which students were barricaded in that case and other attacks physically and certain places more broadly we see everyday from repeating to other hate crimes and jewish institutions. welcome criticism for direct attacks.

my grandfather survived the holocaust. honestly, discussing what is going on. a lot of people seem to think constantly doing this. starting at 75 years ago.

ro cease-fire and anti-somatic. i am a human being first. what the palestinians are going through right now, you are right >> okay. up there in maryland. we have been asking those of you in the audience to start off the program and give your perspective there. mike joins us from seattle. go ahead. >> thank you very much. i reside in seattle however i'm from middleton, new jersey. when i graduated from high school in 2001, 9/11 happened. both of my parents were wall street traders.

second generation new york jews. when 9/11 happened, growing up in middletown, new jersey, i grew up with a lot of italian catholics, a lot of conservatives, conservative republicans there. everybody always supported each other. now, seeing what's going on, it reminds me of 9/11. i lost for my neighbors to 9/11. i decided that is really defense force. to combat terrorism. i preferred not to join the american military. my father was stationed at the air force base during vietnam. he was an air force officer.

an army artillery captain in the pacific theater. another one of my grandfathers was a prisoner of war added an army captain in nazi germany. my family has given a huge amount of service to this country and all the military careers were stifled because they were jewish. back then it during vietnam and world war ii, jews did not become generals. they barely became kernels. the funny thing is, on my father's side, his grandfather who was a pow, his brother helped build the manhattan project. >> i appreciate the history. >> one more thing. the manhattan project was done by jewish people. jewish people despite coming from a nation.

>> i appreciate the history, but how does that relate today? >> on the western side how does this apply to today? a joint construction by u.s. defense companies and israel. we are allies. we have helped america. large rural -- large plurality comes from israel. >> okay. this is lloyd coming go ahead. >> yes. i am an old guy. you have to excuse my language. eighty-two years old. i wish that you would read my book. lloyd m graham. >> okay.

as far as what you are seeing today play out especially as you called them? what do you think. >> exponentially. please read the book it will explain that the jews are not as ancient as they seem to be. >> yorty got the book out there twice. what do you think is going on? >> i think it is absolutely horrible. they are basing their facts on accepting the so-called holy land on mythology. >> okay. we will go to isaac. >> hi. good morning. how are you? >> it is an absolute catastrophe i don't see anything other than what is going on is really just a lot of pain to be conflicted

on one of the other. it really does not do the absolute justice for the description of what happened that day. i don't think a lot of people understand how that is a 9/11 moment. that is a world changing moment. if you listen to the recordings of what those guys were doing, they were calling them jews. so they are and deliberately completed jews with israelis to blur the line between the israeli government and jews. very deliberately coming back to attacking and going after jews. the idea being besieged and feeling besieged is certainly the case. aside from the war that is very necessary now, there's going to

have to be very careful trust building again. a lot of things are being said that are not necessarily against what the israeli government is doing. it is complaining against the very existence of israel. the very existence of a jewish entity. hidden behind all the typical slogans and very deep and it that you unravel and unwrap their explanations, we condemned the killing. everybody is somehow an occupier >> okay. i think they are in maryland. thank you for participating. you can continue to . we will widen those are : at this point about the modern-day

event. typical lines 202-748-8004 democrats 8014 republicans and independents 8002. you can also post on facebook, twitter and texas your thoughts as well. if you're calling in on the previous lines and still doing that, the political party. what is going on with israel and hamas in that war. 8004 democrats 8001 for republicans and independents 202 -748-8002. taking a look at international law. dealing with those aspects in the conflict going on there. international law requires militaries to make clear distinctions between civilians and militants here taking all

possible cautions. the principle of proportionality prohibits armies from inflicting civilian casualties that are " excessive in relation to the direct military advantage anticipated at the time of the strike and exact standard that requires a full investigation. how israel is selecting its target is shrouded in secrecy making it extremely hard for experts to judge their real locality. they do not know exactly how commanders are assessing the special or civilian casualties even as they publicly urge israel to minimize the debt. they will meet with leaders they are. the secretary of state continues its visit which concluded at israeli-palestinian leaders, arab leaders as well. omar and vienna virginia. hello. you are next up. go ahead.

>> i keep looking up the definition of genocide in different victories -- dictionaries. i don't understand. it feels like this is exactly what is happening when 10,000 people are being killed and discriminate lee regardless of the income patents or not, children and women, it looks like and feels like genocide. i'm not sure why we are not calling at that. >> omar was on the provide for democrats. rapid city south dakota, this is cody on the line for republicans >> hello. how is it going. >> you are on. go ahead. >> somebody mentioned before that this was a 9/11 type of antic. this conflict has been coming for thousands of years. it will only get worse in my

opinion. we are looking at world war iii basically, potentially. there is a two state solution and that is what needs to be realized. stop the hate basically is what i'm getting at. that the calling of the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: in honor of veterans' day, i would like to support thetive duty mivment -- thetive duty -- the active duty military. this is in north central iowa. this year's dean welkes.

this national award from the national vfw recognizes select local auxiliaries for their exceptional work for our servicemembers. this community's now far-reaching efforts started with a phone call. a volunteer with the brit vfw awks ri was talking to -- auxillary. she mentioned thatsome of her -- that some of her fellow crew members had not received care packages, within one week britt volunteers shipped packages to that crew.

now, that was 11 years ago. now a decade later, the britt vfw is sending care packages to crew members on the uss fitzgerald, uss mccain, and iowa national guard units deployed to kuwait and poland. they're also preparing to send packages to the uss carl vinson. volunteers fill these packages with various items, including beaded american flag key chains that they make by hand. britt vfw members gift thousands of their key chains to veterans that they cross paths with throughout the year, whether community events or even in their daily lives.

britt vfw should be a reminder to all of us of the importance of honoring our veterans and servicemembers. thank you, and we'll be doing that this weekend. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent the qoirk be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: today the united states is facing perhaps the greatest range of security threats, both here and abroad that we've seen in a long time. here at home, of course, our southern border has become a major security liability that's being exploited by terrorists, drug traffickers, and, of course, human smugglers.

in the middle east, our close ally, israel, is defending its right to exist. following a brutal and unprovoked attack by the terrorist group hamas. in europe, ukraine continues to defend itself in the wake of russia's unprovoked invasion which is -- was nearly two years ago. and in the indo-pacific, china's aggressive, belligerent behavior has threatened the stability of the entire region and the future of taiwan. so there's a lot at stake and the eyes of the world are firmly on the united states of america. i know sometimes people say well, we don't want the united states to be the world's policeman and certainly that's true, but the fact of the matter is that there is no other nation that can actually lead the democracies and the world to

greater -- to a greater path of security and safety. we know that when the united states does not lead, then that's perceived as a sign of weakness and a lack of resolution. and that, i think, has contributed to where we find ourselves today with this tremendous array of diverse threats. so there's a lot at stake. and the eyes of the world are on the united states. terrorists and dictators from kim jong-un and president xi in china and vladimir putin to the supreme leader in iran, all of them are watching to see what the united states, how it responds when our friends and our allies become victims of authoritarian aggression. will we brush these conflicts aside as meaningless regional quarrels? or will we lock arms with our friends and allies and commit to

defeating evil in all its forms? i'm glad that the overwhelming consensus in congress is that the only possible option is to respond with strength. last week the house of representatives passed a bill to strengthen america's support for ietion while cut -- for israel while cutting wasteful government spending. that legislation provided $14.3 billion in aid to israel. and i'm disappointed that president biden first thing out of the chute threatened to veto the bill and senator schumer went so far as to call it a joke. $14.3 billion for israel while it's under a perhaps an existential threat by iran and its proxies and the majority leader of the united states senate calls that $14.3 billion a joke? i don't think there's anything funny about the strong desire that most of us have to support

our ally while protecting the long-term financial health of our country. the nation's debt has skyrocketed over the last few years, and now exceeds 33.6 -- $33.6 trillion. the interest on that debt alone will cost american taxpayers more than $677 billion this year alone. increasingly, we are seeing the amount of money we have to pay to the bond holders that own our debt creep up to approach the amount of spending we provide for the department of defense. and we know this is going to get worse and worse until it gets better. congress simply cannot continue to spend and spend with no regard to the consequences. i know years ago admiral mullen who was the joint chiefs of

staff said something that at the time i found a little odd. he said our greatest national security threat is our national debt. but as we've come to see, those are wise words because as the interest we have to pay to those who own our debt continues to grow with the size of that debt, that means less and less money is available for priorities here at home and for priorities to help prevent wars and aggression around the world. so nowhere is this more apparent now than with the $677 billion that we are paying not for some plan that we can agree is all important here at home or provide border security or to help arm the ukrainians in their fight for survival against a russia invasion. that money is gone to the bond holders, the people that own

that debt. and we just cannot continue down that path without further endangering as admiral mullen wisely said years ago. this has created a national security threat that we cannot ignore as well. so we have an obligation to make tough decisions to right the ship. and this is as good an opportunity as any to start making progress. so despite the majority leader's current refusal to allow a vote on the house bill, that's his current position, one i hope will change. the fact remains we do need to take action. the senate must find a path forward to strengthen our support for israel and ukraine while making meaningful steps to address the out-of-control crisis at our southern border. senate republicans are discussing ways to do this in a thorough and thoughtful manner,

and i expect that to be -- remain a focus of our work for the next couple of weeks. this is an important and long overdue debate, but it cannot distract from our other fundamental responsibilities to support our nation's security. we have other long-standing tasks that need to be completed, starting with the national defense authorization act. that bill passed the senate in july with an overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 86-11. this year's defense bill helps replenish our stock pielings, something that has been exposed, inadequacy of our defense industrial base and our ability to replenish those stockpiles is very much in question and needs to be addressed. this year's national defense authorization act does that. it also supports modernization efforts across the board from the nuclear triad to next

generation weapons. and it will help us regain a credible military deterrent by investing in modernized aircraft, weapons, and facilities. these were the important goals when the national defense authorization bill passed the senate three months ago, and they're even more critical now. despite the fact that the senate and the house each passed a version of the ndaa as it's called, we've yet to formally begin the conference process where those differences can be worked out and where that bill can be signed into law. this legislation should have reached the president's desk earlier, but we're now a month past the due date and watching a new war unfold in the middle east. so it's absolutely critical that we get the ndaa conference moving as soon as possible. as the senate and the house prepare to iron out the differences between the two

bills, there are two items in particular that i've been fighting to include. one is called outbound investment transparency which was included in the senate bill but not the house bill. senator casey from pennsylvania and i offered our bipartisan bill as an amendment to the defense authorization bill here in the senate, and it was adopted by a vote of 91-6. the reason this measure received such strong bipartisan support is because it provides much needed visibility into a looming national security threat. we know that american investors have been sending capital, intellectual property and some of our cutting edge innovation to china by investing in that country. but unfortunately as we've learned, the chinese communist party which controls that country basically is using that

investment from american investors to fuel its economic and military rise. at the end of 2020, u.s. investments in chinese companies totaled $2.3 trillion in market value. that includes $21 billion in semiconductors, $54 billion in military companies, and a whopping $221 billion in artificial intelligence. those are enterprises that are being funded by u.s. investment in china which is now turning out to be sour near-peer competitor and a threat to stability not only in asia but worldwide. intentionally or not, american companies are investing in products and capabilities that one day could be turned against us. a recent investigation by "newsweek" uncovered another grave cause for concern. private u.s. entities aren't the

only ones fueling china's rise. taxpayer-funded research is being exploited by the chinese communist party. the scientist who is now at the forefront of china's artificial intelligence development received at least a hundred million dollars in federal grants, u.s. federal government grants through the pentagon and the national science foundation. he received this amount of funding from american taxpayers as he builds up a parallel research system in china. the united states simply stated cannot continue to bank roll china's continued economic rise. that's why this outbound transparency provision which senator casey and i authored and is included in the senate version of the ndaa is so important. this legislation requires u.s. companies to notify the department of treasury of certain investments in china and

other countries of concern. this is a targeted measure. it only applies to sensitive technologies like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonics, and other capabilities that could ultimately be used against the united states. and to be clear, this is not stopping investments from happening or interfere with the free market. it is strictly about transparency. it's about visibility. it will help us as policymakers to see and understand the threats from china and other countries of concern so we can respond accordingly. i don't care how much american investors want to build a burger king or starbucks in china, but i do care if they're investing in cut j edge -- cutting edge technology that is going to be used to compete against the united states, either economically or militarily. the second provision i'm

fighting to include as an extension of something called lend lease authority which expired at the end of september. this provision was created by legislation i introduced with senator cardin from maryland which is modeled after a similarly named program in world war ii. but this is called the ukraine democracy defense lend lease act and it was signed into law may of last year. it was rooted in the same principle as the world war ii provision which allowed the united states to supply great britain and other allies with military resources during wordle war ii. president roosevelt vowed to transform the united states into the arsenal of democracy as he called it and the lend-lease act is how he did it. as i said senator cardin and i introduced this bipartisan

legislation to remove some of the big bureaucratic hurdles that prevent us or slow us down from providing ukrainian forces with the weapons they need whether they need them. -- when they need them. the biden administration hasn't explicitly used that authority granted under that bill. but it doesn't mean it's not needed now. ukraine has committed to doing what it needs to do to defeat this invasion by russia, but it will need additional assistance from the united states and our other allies in order to succeed. we all know that ukraine's arsenal is shrinking, and it's asked the united states and other democracies around the world for additional aid. but the path forward, as we all know, is extremely is muddy. there's broad bipartisan support for the fact that america should support ukraine, but there's growing concern over the cost of

that assistance. and that's why this legislation is so important. lend-lease is not a blank check. it gives the administration the option to lease or rent defense articles to ukraine, just like we did great britain in world war ii. this legislation will allow us to answer ukraine's call to provide more of what they need and ensure it's done in a fiscally responsible way. over the last several months, the u.s. has provided ukraine with unprecedented defense aid -- javelins, stingers, grenade launchers, small arms, tanks, ammunition and much more. these weapons have allowed the brave ukrainians to punch above their weight against the russian army, which was once thought to be the -- among the strongest in the world. additional american and allied assistance is vital to ukraine's ultimate success, and we need to

reauthorize the lend-lease authority as part of the defense authorization act. this provision was included also in the house's ndaa, and i urge my colleagues in the senate to fight for its conclusion in the final -- for its inclusion in the final version of the bill. given the threats that democracies are facing around the world, there could not be a more important time to prioritize america's defense. the national defense authorization act, which i believe has been signed into law for 60 plus years in a row, should have already been signed into law before the end of the september, given the threats we face around the world. it's absolutely crucial that we finish the job as soon as possible. madam president, i note that no other senator wishes to speak, so i ask to notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the

clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

they call to eliminate the jewish state from the river to the sea. then she had jumped into explain the deniability of genocidal connotation of this long-standing anti-israel slogan as "peaceful". apparently as long as they vacate israel. unfortunately, the shameful moral equivalence that is increasing across elite and influential corners from the left has now been embraced by the former commander and chief. two days ago president obama

used the same breath to express his however at both hamas and israel occupation. in reality, the only forces occupying gaza since 2007 is hamas, not israel. the former president also said " all of us are complicit" to some degree. that is simply false. responsibility lies with the terrorists. madam president, perhaps president obama has forgotten the campaign to defeat isis which he presided or the destruction of cities in pursuit of medieval islamic tyrants who terrorized innocent civilians.

i do not recall president obama doubting american efforts to support local partners and rooting out terrorists and iraq and syria where is the moral clarity in the face of hamas. unfortunately, that brings me to the growing number of our senate colleagues that called for a cease-fire in today's terrorist war. israel had negotiated the cease-fire over the summer. and we all saw where that led on october 7. returning to any such arrangement right now would be amnesty from the butchers, the butchers of innocent israelis

alike. once again, let's remember who the aggressor is. hamas is blocking citizens from leaving gaza city, hamas has intentionally put its weapons caches inside of schools. hospitals and mosques. and physicians in the middle of civilian populations. hamas pouring countless of billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance and to error tunnels. these people are not freedom fighters. they do not want peaceful coexistence. they are savages. savages cut from the same cloth of isis and al qaeda. there is no room for moral equivalency. the good between good and evil

here is obvious. fortunately, some do recognize this. the vice chancellor of germany, his green party did not have any trouble finding the moral clarity that this moment requires. in an address to the nation last week, he said hamas does not want reconciliation with israel. but the extermination of israel and this is why it is pivotal to make it clear that israel's right to exist must not be -- israel security is our obligation". american politicians who cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the same should really be ashamed of themselves. this weekend marked 44 years since iranian revolutionaries

overran the u.s. embassy in tyrone. they took 66 americans hostage. today, americans are once again hostage with iranian tyranny. many more israelis are held alongside them. israel deserves the time, space and support it needs to bring these terrorist captors to justice. the days immediately following october 7, i warned president biden being pressured to withhold the support for the familiar and morally bankrupt calls for cease-fire to threaten israel's ability to see it defensive cooperations group. and, so, here we are nearly one month later watching the movement to grant hamas amnesty reach the highest levels of our

government. war is a bilotti business. that is the reality israel faces we should be careful we are second-guessing their efforts to get them home safely and to destroy the ability to wage war. while the united states and our allies face terrorist and authoritarian violence the american people continue to face waves of unchecked balance here at home. just last month a member of our colleague senator robbed at gunpoint right outside of her apartment building. thankfully, this young woman was not injured, but stories like hers have become all too common in our nation's capital.

robbie -- rob ring has increased 70% this year in the city. motor vehicle theft is up 101%. and in the midst of rising violent crime, particularly alarming spate of anti-semitic violence has come to a head in the wake of october 7. in new york city, authorities have recorded 66 anti-somatic hate crimes in just the last month. on october 14, exactly one week after hamas deadly attack. a woman beaten on the subway in manhattan. the attacker reportedly told the victim that the reason for the attack was because "you are

jewish". vandalize with multiple images of swastika signals and murderers against jewish students at cornell had prompted an fbi investigation. in just the first two weeks after october 7, a rate of anti-semitic violence against american jews nearly quadrupled. the american left has gone out of its way to downplay the threats that they face with everything from both side statements to outright. all americans deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. long past time for democrats to take historic waves of violence in america seriously.

i recall one particular plea made by president zelinski and he repeated it so it was clear he wanted us to remember. "without the continued financials of court of the united states and nato, we will lose this war. he was unequivocal.

secretary of defense austin told me last week at a senate corporations committee hearing that he agreed with zelinski. such assistance is critical. aggressors around the world for watching engaging in our sustained commitment. i agree completely. looking at the world today i do not believe it is a stretch to say freedom is currently under fight under seizure and fighting for future. right now the democracies across the globe are fighting against tyrannical power and in some cases other terrorist organizations that seek to undermine the global order. this much is clear. democratic values are under siege and the united states in our generation has a responsibility to act. two weeks ago president biden

requested $106 billion in supplemental funding for national security. this includes money to help supply -- apply ukraine with weapons and fight against russian aggression. it includes money to help israel defend itself against hamas which on october 7 perpetrated the largest attack against jewish people in any single day since the holocaust n a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. last week the senate judiciary committee considered of president biden's recent judicial appointments. i would have thought that they would have figured out by now that they hit rock bottom a few months ago with some of these nominees that are not out of the mainstream, but they really are far left. here's some examples. nancy abudu, she endorsed

political violence against conservatives. todd -- todd e. edelman used his authority to release a known criminal who then went on to participate in the murder of a child. marian f. gaston opposed residents restrictions for convicted child sex owe fenders. -- offenders. and d'andrea bench released violent criminals on bond only to watch them offend again. not to be outdone, the white house continued this trend with seth aframe's nomination to the first circuit. the white house doesn't have a great track record when it comes to putting a nominee forward for this seat. back in february, i came to the floor to oppose michael

delaney's nomination to the first circuit bench. you will remember that mr. delaney threatened to expose a 15-year-old sexual assault survivor if she came forward with her story. that is right, he threatened to expose a 15-year-old sexual assault survivor if she went public. well, that was a shameful debacle. everyone saw it. you would think the president's team would have learned their lessons, but i think we were wrong on that because out of all the talented attorneys and judges that are in the state of new hampshire, the president has nominated setting aframe,

who is disturbingly similar to mr. delaney in his disregard for victims. i want to walk you through two of the cases that mr. ephraim prosecuted and these cases, madam president, are things that should disqualify him from ever having a seat on the federal bench. now, the first case that we'll go to is u.s. v. carpino. this involved a criminal defendant guilty of extreme sexual violence against a 14-year-old girl with a hearing impairment. now, this defendant kidnapped this precious child and took her to an abandoned motel in

vermont, and he raped her. this defendant had just been releaseed from a 13-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting minors, in particularly violent ways. in one case he smothered a little girl with a pillows while he raped her. this is a violent repeat offender. there was no doubt this person was a clear and present danger to the community. despite all of this, mr. aframe, as the prosecutor in this case recommended a sentence far below the probation officer's suggested guidelines. can you even imagine hearing this and then saying let's go light on this guy.

let's go light, let's go easy on him. now what we've learned is that it's clear that mr. aframe wanted the low sentence, and i will tell you why, and i'm going to use his own words. madam president, i think when you hear this, you will see this is one who is not qualified for the federal bench. he wanted the low sentence. he wrote he wanted the low sentence, and i quote, he felt a low sentence will incapacitate the defendant until he is in his 60's. hopefully by that time the danger that the defendant presents will have subsided.

end quote. now think about this. he wants the low sentence because at the end of that low sentence, the guy would be in his 60's, and, you know, hopefully by then he won't be such a danger. i tell you, imagine this. hopefully, using that. can you imagine telling this little girl's family that hopefully this rapist won't do it again? bear in mind he had already been in prison for 13 years. he gets out, and he does it again. and mr. aframe is the prosecutor. what does he do? he wants a low sentence because the guy's going to be in his 60's and maybe he won't do it,

hopefully he won't do it again. hopefully he won't be a danger. hopefully he'll be too old and frail to go rape little girls. unbelievable. this is sickening, and this case alone should disqualify mr. but there's mo and let's go to this second case. mr. aframe was the prosecutor in united states v. smith. this case, reading this made me absolutely sick to my stomach. it is repulsive. mr. smith was found guilty of conduct connected to the manufacturing of child pornography.

he created not one or two, but six videos of himself sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl. six videos. the details of the case are far too disgusting to repeat aloud, but to be clear he raped a 3-year-old girl on camera. as prosecutor in this case, mr.t poignant evidence of the harm this defendant caused was, and i quote, the look of fear in the young victim's eyes. end quote. poignant evidence? the look of fear in a toddler's eyes while somebody is raping her.

despite this, mr. aframe recommended a 60-year sentence, nowhere near what this sick and depraved and disgusting human being deserved. mr. aframe noted that the perpetrator was a close friend of the victim's family. he worked to gain their trust for years just to commit these heinous acts. but mr. aframe still recommended a lenient sentence. but what did the sentencing guidelines recommend? life in prison. mr. aframe himself noted this in his sentencing memo, but when i pressed him under oath on why he refused to follow the guideline, he misrepresented the facts. so let me set the record straight.

the sentencing memo that mr. aframe wrote himself stated that the guidelines recommended a sentence of life in prison. it's what he should have gotten. and i ask that a portion of that sentencing memo be printed in the record alongside my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. i think it is so important that we include that in this. this should have been a life in prison sentence for what was done. you know, i'll say to my democratic colleagues what i said about michael delaney's nomination. for the sake of men, women, and children around this country who are victims of sexual assault, join me in opposing this nomination. if the president refuses to withdraw this nomination.

someone who has gone light on sentences that affect these children, someone that has committed crimes against these children and then they've sought to get lesser sentences against these pedophiles and predators, they have no place on the federal bench. now this week my democratic colleagues will have two opportunities to oppose individuals that i feel are unfit judicial nominees. the judiciary committee will mark up miew staff -- mustafa kaseby to serve on the district court in oregon. there is a reason mr. kaseby is

not fit. he has displayed a disstushing affinity for marxism. this is what we found in his record. someone who is displaying an affinity for marxism has no place on our federal bench, so i would ask that our colleagues vote no on him. likewise the sel vote on kenly kiya kato. in her nomination hearing, she refused to condemn racial discrimination. that should be an easy no vote for every senator. you know, madam president, when we talk about the federal judiciary, when we look at these

nominations, and the senate's job is to provide advice and consent, what we need to do is make certain that people are going to abide by the constitution, that they're going to abide by the rule of law, that they have that judicial philosophy, that they are going to stand for equal justice for all. and when you have individuals with records and writings that are in opposition to that, they are unfit to serve on the federal bench. 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.

so running the deadline and if they don't by the end of day the following day saturday shut down

trip to yosemite or federal government for a new passport, you might want to pay more attention the next couple weeks. try to do it this week. >> when it comes to the house speaker, onesie trying to do to prevent this from happening? >> he sent over the weekend he's been working on a bill to keep the government open but every bill and vote with the new speaker, he hasn't done this before, a small majority. previous speaker was tossed a few days after he kept the government open meeting democratic votes was a real challenge to find a way to keep the government open.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. durbin: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 373. the presiding officer: the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it.

the motion is agreed to. the clerk: nomination, equal employment opportunity commission, charlotte a.bros to be a member. mr. durbin: i send a can cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on on executive calendar number 373, charlotte boroughs to be a member of the equal employment opportunity commission. mr. durbin: madam president, i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion's dwreed to -- agreed to. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to

executive calendar number 310. the. the presiding officer: l -- the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: brandy r. miller of michigan to be united states district judge for the eastern district of michigan. mr. durbin: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 310, mooch -- -- mr. durbin: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. the ayes appear to have it of

the, ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. durbin: i ask to proceed to calendar number 126. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion's agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, monica ramirez, to be united states district judge for the district of california. mr. durbin: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 126, monica ramirez almadani, to be united states district judge for the district of california. mr. durbin: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the motion's agreed to. mr. durbin: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 222. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion's agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, anna delba, of california, to be united states district judge for the ninth circuit. mr. durbin: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 222, ana de alba, of california, to be united states circuit judge for the ninth

circuit. mr. durbin: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask that the mandatory quorum calls be waived. are. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lankford: madam president mrs. been a lot of conversation about border security. rightfully so. it's been the top of mind for a lot of cities, states, a lot of families, families school

districts, especially along the border states. there have been a disproportionately large number of people who have come. many of them from all over the world, many of them non-spanish speaker, literally from everywhere. "the wall street journal" detailed how hundreds of thousands of migrants all over the world are making their way to the southwest border which is causing a surge in apprehensions, but it's especially people from asia and africa. human smuggling networks are widening their reach around the world. china, india be and other distant countries tripled to 214,000 during the fiscal year that he ended in september. that was up from 70,000 just the year before. that is tripling that number. what's happening is on our southern border, the cartels are

finding it more profitable to move people from even farther, they're organizing people to go through seven or eight countries to arrive in mexico and they're moving them through in what they call donkey flights to be able to reach farther for the cartels to make more and to exploit our laws. america's always been open to people in immigration. we're a nation of legal immigrants. but we're also a nation of laws, and what we're finding at this stage is that these laws are being exploited dramatically. there's been no change in the asylum law since 2010, but in 2010, we had 21,000 people request asylum on our southern border for the yeerd. -- for the entire year of 2010. that wasn't anomaly. that was about a normal amount

of people requesting asylum on our southwest border. now we have many requests of asylum on our southwest border every three days. so it's gone from 21,000 in a year to now every three days. everyone knows this is an issue. last week secretary mayorkas was in front of the homeland security committee and i asked him about this in a public hearing. i asked him whether there were policy changes that were needed. his answer was very direct. he said yes, policy changes are needed. i asked him specifically on reforming the asylum system, knowing that that's been exploited, his exact answer was the asylum system needs to be reformed from top to bottom. i asked him about the issue of withholding a removal which now about 55% of the people that are are he leased in the country are actually released under something called withholding of removal. i asked him about that. his response was with 408ding --

withholding of removal on the companion element is the convention against torture. our system needs to be able to work efficiently and expeditiously while not compromising due process. i asked him about repatriating individuals in difficult countries that are called recalcitrant. he said our ability to repatriate individuals into the country of origin when they do not qualify under relief under our laws is a vital importance. why am i bringing this up? because it's not just me saying we need to reform the asylum process. the head of homeland security is saying we need to reform this process. and it's not just the head of homeland security saying we need to reform the asylum process. it is the administration. two weeks ago the administration requested additional dollars for the border to be able to put in the supplemental. they asked for funding for israel, for ukraine, for taiwan, and for border security, but then after they put that request

out, homeland security actually released out an op-ed into "the washington post" which it said this. to be clear the supplemental funding is like a turn wet urgely needed and critical in the short term but not a long-term solution to a deep-seated -- deep seated problem. having last gone through a major revision by congress in 1996, are severely out of date and our system is completely broken. on this everyone agrees. the administration itself just this past march put out a release dealing with what they call circumvention of lawful pathways. they did a q and a back and forth. this is one of the answers from the administration talking about what's happening currently at our border. they said such a high rate of migration risks overwhelming the department's ability to effectively process, detain, and remove as appropriate the migrants encountered.

this puts an enormous strain on already strained resources, risk overcrowding in already overcrowded u.s. border stations and border ports of entry in ways that propose significant health and safety concerns and create a situation in which large numbers of migrants only a small portion of whom are likely to be granted asylum are subject to extreme exploitation by the networks that support their movements north. i'd be glad to have written that myself. the administration sees the same thing that everyone else who looks at the border sees. if you take an honest assessment of what's happening, our system is being exploited by cartels and people from around the world are answering ads that are on tiktok and messaging services saying i can get you into the united states if you pay me enough money. that's why 45,000 people from india came last year requesting asylum in the united states because it's easier to get in to

pay the cartels than it is to go through the legal process and we are incentivizing illegal activity. and this body knows it. for a nation of laws, we should prioritize the law. we should be open to legal immigration, but we should be opposed to illegal immigration and what's happening to enrich deadly, dangerous criminal cartels in northern mexico. again the administration in their public statement they made this statement just a few months as. the current asylum system in which most migrants who are initially deemed legible to pursue their claims ultimately are not granted asylum in the subsequent immigration court proceedings. that's contributed to a growing backlog of cases awaiting review by asylum officers and immigration judges. what are they saying? the system is broken because it's packed with people who do not actually qualify for asylum

coming in to flood the system and request asylum. we all see the challenge. now, the question is are we going to do something about it? republicans in the senate this past weekend released a very simple proposal to deal with what we all know are the problems. closing the loopholes in the law that have been exploited. and, yes, it deals with asylum and yes, it deals with withholding because those are the areas that are being exploited. we see it. the administration sees it. the question is, do democrat senators see it? that's really the issue now. everyone else seems to see it and admit to it. what have we proposed? we've proposed some pretty straightforward things. one is what's called safe third country transit. these r individuals like i take the 45,000 people that came from india last year. they fly through four or five countries, including dangerous countries like france to be able to land here and to be able to

then cross the border and then to say i need to find asylum. almost everyone sees that as an exploitation. and it's not just us. there's almost no other country that does what we do. this whole issue about picking and choosing where i want to request asylum is not how asylum really works. you see asylum under international law, most people in this body know it. asylum and refugee has the same definition in international law. a refugee doesn't pick nine different countries and pick the one they want. they flee to the next safe place. that's the same national rule for slup. if you were to request asylum right now in asylum, cross the border in canada and request asylum, you know what the first question they would ask you? the first question they would ask you is did you just cross from the united states. if you answer yes, they would say did you request asylum there and were you denied? if they say i didn't request asylum, canada would turn you right back around and that's not

just canada. that's most of the e.u. if you went to us a extra yay o ya, belgium, check republic, to france to germany to hungary to ireland to luxembourg, netterlands, slovakia, slovenia to the u.k., any of those they would ask what country did you transit through and did you request asylum before you came in. if you said i didn't request asylum in the places i transited from, they would turn you around because that's not an unreasonable thing. when you go through five other countries and then request asylum in the last one, you're actually trying to immigrate to that country, not requesting asylum under international law. you're trying to pick the place and by the way, i don't blame them for picking america. it's the greatest country in the world. but that's economic opportunity. that's not asylum. so the question is, can we incentivize those individuals to not try to run a loophole

through our system but to actually go through the legal process and request to come here as a legal immigrant. we'd love to see people from all over the world as we always have coming to the united states legally, just not exploiting a loophole in the asylum law. that's the wrong way to be able to do it. the bill that republicans have proposed is also -- always deals with streamlining the process. right now it can take up to ten years just to get a hearing with an immigration judge under a standard that most people know in the administration -- and the administration has admitted people won't qualify for asylum at the end. why is that? because when you come across the border, you encounter border patrol or cbp or asylum officer. they do an initial screening and the screening is far lower than the actual standard. so you may qualify under the screening sphrd, but -- standard, but everyone knows you're not actually going to qualify for the actual standard for asylum. so there's two simple things that can be done here. one is make the screening

standard equal to the actual standard to say we all know this is what you've got to achieve. so screen for that. is it reasonable? is it even 51% chance that you're going to be able to get to that standard. if it is, then you come in. if you're not, then you're screened out. the second thing is we actually have three different screenings. many people don't know this. but we screen for asylum and then we separately screen for what's called withholding and then we separately screen for convention against torture. those three different screenings may be at three different times, sometimes across a decade of time. and everyone knows if you don't qualify for the first one, you're not likely going to qualify for the other two either but you can request it and you can run that loophole and then you're in the united states. and the cartels literally teach people exactly what to say in their last step so that they can exploit that loophole. so let's actually have the screening standard at the same standard that you're going to

have to get to and let's screen for all three of those things at the same time. that actually sounds like government efficiency. i know we're not good at that as a neighbors. if we screen for all three of those things at the same time, it air lous somebody -- it allows somebody to get due process. we want to make sure they have the opportunity to be able to go through that process. but why wouldn't we do all three of those at the same time rather than across ten years of waiting for multiple different hearings? republicans also propose something pretty simple. right now the law says that if you've committed a felony, then you're not eligible for asylum. but the problem with that is there are some crimes that are not considered a felony at the earliest days and we're still allowing in. let me give you a for instance. what if you've had three dui's? what if you're dealing meth? what if you're in a gang and a member of a gang and they can show it? what if you have a domestic violence conviction?

if you have a domestic violence conviction, you can't own a firearm in america but you could get asylum in america. where we literally invite people to be able to come in that we already know have domestic violence convictions. so we're making it pretty simple. we're saying hey, listen, let's keep the standard where it is for a felony but let's actually prevent the loopholes. why would we invite someone into the country that we know has had multiple dui convictions? why would we do that? it's not safe for our streets. do any one of you want to sit down with a dad and say your daughter was killed in a dui because we were loose on our asylum rules? i would assume not. i'm not asking for something extreme again. it's typical for many places around the world that this is how it's to be done.

all he want to do is secure the loopholes. the proposal we put forward keeps families together. i know there will be a immediate thing about separating families at the border. actually, no it's explicit that families travel together, families stay together for their hearing to be able to make sure we're protecting that family. but we're also raising a simple question. we all know we have all seen the stories and for those of us that have gone to the border, we have seen with our own eyes, children traveling with adults that we're all parents and we can see clear enough that's not really your child. where children are literally used as a free pass to be able to get into the country and to be able to expedite. we'd like to be able to protect those children and make sure children are actually not used to be a free pass into the country. there's a way to be able to prevent that and to be able to protect those families that are actually real families at the same time. we do a couple other things. we also raise just a very simple statement about the border

patrol. many people here may or may not know but the border patrol can't actually get overtime if you're at a certain left. if you're other federal law enforcement, you do get overtime but if you're border patrol, you are not. they may work 200 hours a week but for the additional hours they're working, they don't get overtime pay. that's not right. border patrol has a hard time with retention not because the job is incredibly difficult but because once they get to a certain level, the family encourages them why don't we do another federal law enforcement somewhere else, still stay in federal law enforcement but he can actually earn overtime pay rather than being punished staying in the border patrol and trying to serve. why don't we fix some of the training issues that have come up? why don't we actually try to respond to those things? why don't we provide the opportunity for the biden administration to be able to lay out a strategy for how to secure the border. we're not writing it. just give them the understand to

be able to do it. here's one thing that's been interesting i've hard heard a pushback from. talking about the border wall, what's interesting is what we actually proposed, we fulfill the border wall portion that president biden has said he's already going to do. we actually want to put it in writing so the president can't say orally i want to do this. we want to actually put it in writing to be able to do it. that's a reasonable thing to be able to do. we're not asking for crazy stuff. we're asking for what americans are asking for, just secure the border. we want to be a nation that welcomes up grants but we also want to be a nation that honors the law. we can do both. that's what we're setting in front of this body, to say when we're talking about the supplemental, let's talk about not just securing israel and ukraine and taiwan, let's also secure the united states of america. with that, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: 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 372, monica m. bertagnolli of massachusetts to be director of the national institutes of health, 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 monica m. bertagnolli of massachusetts to be grecque of the national institutes of health shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. 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 -- butler, cardin, cassidy -- worth, gillibrand, graham, hassan, heinrich, manchin, markey, marshall, murray, reed, rounds, sinema, stabenow, tester, whitehouse, wyden. senators voting in the negative --

cotton, cramer, crapo, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, paul, ricketts, rubio, vance. vote: the clerk: mr. tuberville, no.

ms. hirono, aye. the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. mr. durbin, aye. mr. casey, aye. mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: mr. warner, aye.

the clerk: mr. schatz, aye.

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye. mrs. shaheen, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. ms. smith, aye. mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. mr. hawley, no. mr. budd, no.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: ms. ernst, no. mr. cornyn, no.

mr. sanders, no.

the clerk: mr. grassley, no. mrs. fischer, no. ms. collins, aye. mr. tillis, aye. mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. daines, no. mrs. capito, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. mr. carper, aye. ms. rosen, aye. the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. moran, aye.

ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, no. mr. merkley, aye. mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. coons, aye. mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. thune, no. mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. mullin, no. mrs. hyde-smith, no. the clerk: mr. hagerty, no o.

mr. romney, aye. the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. young, no.

ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye. mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye.

. the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. ms. cantwell, aye. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, aye. vote:

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 59, the nays are 32, and the motion is agreed to. mr. merkley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: madam president, the great american laboringer,

dolores -- laboringer, dolores orgta, said every organizing opportunity, and every person is an activist, and every minute a chance to change the world. in that spirit, i rise today to bid farewell to a member of my team, dan mahr. dan, who sees every constituent as an opportunity to connect and every town hall meeting as a chance to change someone's world. i host a lot of town hall meetings in oregon, one in every one of our 36 counties every year. one time dan and i were hosting a town hall meeting in rural eastern oregon, where an older, conservative rancher was waiting in hine to talk to -- in line to talk to me and had that look on his face where you knew he was pretty unhappy and wanted to let me know why. dan noticed him too. he started chatting with him. pretty soon, that stony expression began to crack and

the conversation began to warm up. by the time that stern rancher had made it to me, he was chuckling and patting dan on the back. as we left that meeting, everyone, including our church ladies and ranchers and farmers, everyone to our rural hippies, were giving dan extra handshakes on the way out the door. that's how it was in town halls, where dan was staffing. he joined my team in 2016, seven years ago, after a decade of fighting for unions and working families across america. as my senior labor adviser, he stood up to the powerful on behalf of the working people all across our state. he's been one of my field representatives, serving folks in north central oregon, in klackamas county, sherman and gilham counties. he didn't just get the job done

in those counties. he was always the first person to volunteer to staff a town hall meeting for his teammates, no matter how far away it is across the state. he just loves being out on the road in oregon. he's driven thousands of miles, set up thousands of chairs, met thousands of oregonians. whenever a new field representative joined our team he was the first to welcome that individual to team merkley, to go with him or her to their first town halls, to lend a helping hand at the events. our work is important to him because if folks are taking their time out of busy lives to come to a town hall meeting if, he wants to give them the respect that goes with feeling welcomed and feeling heard. of course, that's exactly the attitude that i take to those meetings. well, dan's dedication to

constituent services is renowned on the team. not just for his personal touch, but also for his personal tenacity. there is a saying, a saying i like a lot, that tenacity is a superpower. i've experienced that a few times in my life. i certainly believe it's true. ever since i was first elected to the senate in 2008, i've been hearing about funding for economic development in the columbia river gorge. that funding had been authorized when the columbia river national scenic area was established in 1986. in that scenic area, every community had restrictions on what additional buildings they could create. so they felt for sure the federal government would hold up its side of the deliver and deliver that -- of the deal and deliver that money for economic development in compensation. they did get some of that money

in the 1990's, but not the full amount. they were millions of dollars short. it came up at meeting after meeting. where is that money the federal government promised us? it was an issue folks were not going to let go of. of course, i wanted to deliver that funding, but i had to have a key staff member work on it, and that key staff member was dan. working on it for tbief years -- for five years, finding strategies to get additional pieces of funding delivered, until every single dollar had made it through tricky local politics, by state politics, to help the stakeholders who lived throughout the columbia gorge. there was no silver bullet moment. it was just year after year of planning and pushing and seizing key opportunities to fulfill promise to ordinary oregonians. in the end, fulfill they did and dan secured those millions of dollars in economic development for the columbia gorge.

he was just as tenacious about protecting local services too, like when he kept open the west lynn post office. after two years of searching for a permanent site, one day in august we heard that the u.s. postal service decided to close the doors on the post office in september, right before the november election, just six weeks before the 2020 presidential election, in a state where we vote by mail, in the midst of covid, right before the holidays, the post office is going to close the doors on that post office. they'd just given up on finding a new location. that post office serves a city of 26,000 people. dan went immediately to work, orking our -- organizing our delegation, local officials, working with the postal service to find a better solution, and insisting that no way those doors could be closed. making sure everyone felt the urgency, and ultimately he

secured the extension of that post office and kept it open. then the election, people could cast their ballots and people could receive their medications and they could mail their gifts to loved ones during the holidays. there's more to the story, because the post office continued to insist on closing. well, again dan helped organize, he helped carry the message that was unacceptable, and eventually the u.s. postal service got the message, found a suitable location, and the people of west lynn, oregon, were overjoyed. but it took tenacity and that's what dan brought to the battle. he's also tenacious, by the way, when he's trying to win a game of table tennis. i can neither confirm nor deny that he ripped a pair of suit pants in a table tennis match with an unnamed united states senator. and he's been tenacious as my

labor advisor, whether working with bakers, the building trade, nurses, teachers, timber workers, public employees, everyone knows that dan is a partner they can trust. he's navigated countless labor issues to ensure that working families of oregon get the pay and benefits they've earned. a few years ago there was a difficult discussion about a major project in oregon. it would have created a lot of construction jobs, but it also would have done a lot of damage to the climate. in that situation, with this benefit and this problem, dan was a supreme professional, the supreme diplomat, ensuring full and accurate information was brought to bear and that everyone's perspectives were carefully considered and weighed. and in the end, of course not

everyone agreed with the ultimate outcome, but so many were impressed by the thorough and transparent process that dan facilitated. dan's the kind of guy who brings a positive angle to every situation. one time my team members, after driving eight hours across oregon -- big state, i know that's hard to envision on the east coast -- driving eight hours to host an event discovered the local motels were out of commission and so we would have to drive after the event to find accommodation. the team members were exhausted. they wanted to climb in bed and go to sleep, but they couldn't. but dan said let's use this as an opportunity to see oregon's only geyser. the water table had come up and the geyser was back in action, and so they went in search of

the geyser while hitting the road and they found it and they were thrilled to see it because few in oregon ever have. it was an effective pivot for an exhausted and quite cranky crew. as one of them said afterward, it was very, very cool. i'm so grateful that dan made us slow down, slow down a bit. he always encourages us to enjoy the trip, enjoy the sights, en joy each other's company. and i know he's done that for me. i remember a day after many miles and many events when we had a little bit of time before our next stop, we went by his house in hood river, sat on his porch, sat on his rocking chairs on the porch, hung out, laughed, relaxed and played with his dog. it was just what we all needed, and dan knew it. i began these remarks quoting delores werkta who said every minute is a chance to change the

world. she also said i think the importance of doing activist work is to engage people and give them hope, hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope that change is possible and that they can be part of that transformation. dan has engaged and given hope to so many ordinary people, hope for a better oregon, hope for a better community, hope for a better tomorrow. and most importantly, he has shown folks that working together, change is possible and that they can be part of that transformation. so many people i met have a great story about dan and some way that he has helped them or helped their town or just that they have enjoyed knowing him. he intoadz the best -- he embody the best spirit of team merkley. so it with deep gratitude that

team merkley and i thank dan mahr for his service to the people of oregon and we wish him all the best in his next chapter thank you, madam president.

mr. merkley: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: 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. merkley: i understand that there is a bill at the desk that

is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: h.r. 340, an act to impose sanctions with respect to foreign support for terrorist organizations, including hamas and the palestinian islamic jihad. mr. merkley: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. merkley: i understand there are two bills at the desk and i is it for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection, the clerk will read the title of the bills en bloc. the clerk: h.r. 3774, an act to impose additional sanctions with respect to the importation or facilitation of the importation of petroleum products from iran

and for other purposes. h.r. 6126, an act making a supplemental emergency appropriations, and so forth and for other purposes. mr. merkley: i now ask for a second reading, and i object to my own request all en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bills will receive their second reading on the next legislative day. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on foreign relations be discharged from further consideration of s. 41 and senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 41, a bill to reauthorize the read act. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, all those in favor say aye. those opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of calendar number 95, senate resolution 126. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 95, s. res. 126, recognizing the vital importance of the mekong river to southeast asia, and so forth. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that the merkley amendment at the desk to the committee-reported substitute amendment to the resolution be grated to, the

committee-reported substitute amendment to the resolution as amended be agreed to, the resolution be agreed to, the committee-reported substitute amendment to the preamble be agreed to, the rabble be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 451 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 451, permitting the collection of clothing, toys, food, and house wares during the holiday season for charitable purposes in senate buildings. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of senate resolution 452 which was submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 452 designating october 30, 2023, as a national day of remembrance for the workers of the nuclear weapons program of the united states. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, senate will proceed. mr. merkley: 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. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to consideration of senate resolution 396. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 396, designating the week beginning on october 8, 2023, as national wildlife refuge week. the presiding officer: is there

objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, november 7, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the bertagnolli nomination postcloture. further, that all time on the nomination be considered expired at 11:45 a.m., and following the cloture vote on the kato nomination the senate stand in recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow

for weekly caucus meetings. further, that if cloture has been invoked on the kato nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that if cloture has been invoked on the cubic kobick nomination all time exier at 2:30 p.m. if nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider are laid upon the table and the senate be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. merkley: madam president, if there is no further business to come before the senate tonight, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until u.s. senate hasn't gambled outvn nomination to be the director of national institutes of health. later this week centers are expected to vote on the final

confirmation and on several u.s. district court nominations. you've been watching live coverage of the senate on cspan2. ♪ since 1979 in partnership with the cable industry c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress. from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. he spent gives you a front row seat of how issues are debated and decided with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. ♪ and night watches c-span series in partnership with the library of congress books that shaped america will feature persons novel their eyes were

watching god. the story in central florida during the jim crow era and explores life within the african-american community, race relations, gender roles and female empowerment. the book written in 1937 is considered a harlem renaissance classic has been highly influential and african-american and women's literature. tiffany ruby patterson professor henderson history at vanderbilt university will join us on the program to discuss the book she is the author of the history of southern life. why should books that shaped america featuring their eyes were watching god tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span comments he spent now are free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. also be sure to scan the qr code to listen to our companion podcast you can learn more about the authors of the books featured. ♪ ♪ ♪ c-span now is a free mobile

app featuring your unfiltered view of what is happening in washington five and on demand keep up with today's biggest events with live screens of floor proceeding and hearing some u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with latest episodes of "washington journal" and find scheduling information for c-span key network and c-span radio plus a variety of compelling podcast. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play downloaded for free today. c-span now your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. ♪ and now combating read somewhere on a global scale with ana newberger deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology. she talks but the increased frequency of the attacks and underscores the importance of government refusing to pay ransom. this event followed a white house summit for members of the international counter ransom or