anyway, the american dream still exists. the problem with obtaining the americanth dream is if you're doing anything at all and you are making any kind of money at all you are partners with the government, state, local and you're given a third about what you make, in some cases more than that toso the government to institute these programs that really accomplish very little. most of our welfare programs create more people on welfare than it does getting more people off d welfare. -- >> the u. s. senate is returning after their party lunches for a couple more votes on nominations including on whether tos advane president biden's -- t second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto.

mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson.

mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla.

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

mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. firmsenators voting in the affirmative, collins, lujan, peters, sinema and wyden. senators voting in the negative -- boozman, britt, budd, cotton, crapo, fischer, grassley, lankford, marshall, moran,

romney, sullivan, tuberville, wicker. ms. lummis, no. mr. risch, no. the clerk: mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. rubio, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mr. kennedy, no. mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. coons, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, no. mr. warner, aye.

ms. klobuchar, aye. mr. johnson, no. mr. cassidy, no. ms. murkowski, aye. mr. hoeven, no. the clerk: mr. daines, no. ms. ernst, no. mrs. capito, no.

the clerk: mr. barasso, no. mr. cruz, no. mr. kelly, aye.

vote:

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

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

ms. smith, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. thune, no. mr. fetterman, aye. mr. king, aye. mr. murphy, aye. ms. cortez masto, aye.

mr. schatz, aye. mr. menendez, aye. mr. sanders, aye. mr. kaine, aye. mr. mullin, no. mr. padilla, aye.

mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. mr. durbin, aye.

mr. tester, aye. ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, no. mr. van hollen, aye.

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

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. lee, no. vote: the clerk: mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no. mr. carper, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye. mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye. the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. tillis, no.

the clerk: mr. vance, no.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr. reed, aye.

the clerk: mr. schumer, aye.

the clerk: ms. butler, aye. the presiding officer: the yeas are 49, the nays 46, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is made and laid upon the table, and the president will immediately be notified of the senate's action. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 117, jose javier rodriguez of florida to be an assistant secretary of labor signed by 17 senators. of. 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 jose javier rodriguez of florida to be an assistant secretary of labor 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. the clerk: 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.

the clerk: m 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.

the clerk: mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse.

mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. vote:

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative, booker, brown, cantwell, casey, cortez-masto, hirono, kaine, lujan, merkley, smith, welch. senators voting in the negative, collins, cotton, daines, hagerty, hawley, lankford, manchin, mcconnell, menendez, mullin, hpaul, rubio, schmitt, tuberville.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye. mrs. murray, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. marshall, no.

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

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. peters, aye. the clerk: mr. padilla, aye.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye.

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

ms. duckworth, aye. ms. stabenow, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. barasso, no. mr. kelly, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye.

the clerk: mr. thune, no. mrs. shaheen, aye.

the clerk: mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. mr. crapo, no. mr. wyden, aye. ms. butler, aye. ms. baldwin, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. cornyn, no.

mr. tillis, no. mr. moran, no. mrs. fischer, no. mr. cramer, no. mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. grassley, no.

the clerk: mr. vance, no.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. the clerk: mr. hoeven, no.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: mr. romney, no. the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. boozman, no. the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. mr. van hollen, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. ricketts, no.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. -- mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. the clerk: ms. murkowski, no.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: ms. ernst, no. mr. warner, aye. mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. braun, no. ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, no.

mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no.

the clerk: mr. schumer, no.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 44, the nays are 51. the motion is not dpread to. mr. schumer: mr. president, i enter a motion to reconsider. the presiding officer: the motion is entered. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to the consideration of executive calendar 379, micah w. smith to be united states district judge for the district of hawaii. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, micah w. smith of hawaii to be united states district judge for the district of hawaii. mr. schumer: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call:

we do have disorder in this country. it is not new.

more people die from that and illegal drugs. this is not a problem that we got into overnight. it will not be solved overnight. building out a treatment system that we don't currently have. that will take a while. >> serving as the initiative director at georgetown university's o'neill institute. you are the former acting director of the office of drug control policy. what is the biden administration been doing to build out those efforts, to combat this issue? >> we spent a lot of time identifying what are the top things that needed to be done. we put out our priorities in april of that year. many of which were expanding for

the first time in this country. that means having more services and programs nationwide, using opioids than they had on using heroin were actually using fentanyl. a legal fentanyl. those legal test strips help them identify what was identified so they could choose not to use. we also have expanded the treatment by removing barriers to evidence-based treatment and they are continuing to do a lot of that work today. >> talking about this before in this program. but that is enabling addiction. what do you say to those folks. >> it is all part of a continuum

substance use disorders we want to prevent it from ever happening. there are people that are not yet in treatment ion? i'm sorry. proceed. i thought that they told me the script was for some other reason. i ask consent to withdraw the request until i've made a statement and senator grassley has had the opportunity. the. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you. i'm new here. for years one of the greatest challenges facing american families is the rising costs of prescription drugs. a recent aarp survey found that the price for the top 25 medications used by seniors has tripled on average since the drugs came to market, they include xerlto, junuvo, and eli

qurch ist. they are among the most heavily advertise the products on television. you may have seen one of the ads during the thanksgiving parade that you and your family watched. every year big pharma spends more than $6 billion each year on ads. that's the size of the entire budget of the food and drug administration. in fact, we know that the most pharma companies spend more on advertising than on drug research and development of new drugs. it turns out the united states is one of only two countries in the world that allows people to run ads on television for prescription drugs. anybody want to guess the name

of the other one? new zealand. that's the only other country that allows that to occur. you want to know why they spend so much money to advertise their drugs, because it increases their products dramatically. the average american sees nine ads per day. pharma thinks if they pummel you with enough ads, you will able to spell xerlto, they'll know this is what you will need. sometimes it's easier in a ten-minute heating for a drug to write the prescription why are the drug may not be needed or a generic drug might be just as good for less money. consumers have been kept in the dark about one fact. about all of the things they chatter about at the end of these ads, the one thing they never want you to know is how much these drugs cost, the price.

this name is probably familiar to you if you watch television at all. rinvoq. sometimes it's easier with billions in targeted spending, patients are bombarded with this. rinvoq is used for arsdz right is, -- arthritis. they spent $315 million last year on tv ads for rinvoq alone, but nowhere in the ad do they tell you how much it costs. you want to guess how much it ghosts? -- costs? the cost is 6,100. while senator grassley and i think it's time to end the secrecy about the cost.

if te they're -- if they're advertising a drug, they should disclose the price up front. we introduced bipartisan legislation to include price disclosure. our plan is simple. it's passed the senate once before in 2018. in a minute we will ask consent to pass it again. here's why we think the transparency is so important. earlier this year a study found that more than two-thirds of drugs advertised on tv were considered, quote, low value. those pricey wonder drugs with ads showing people golfing and having fun, they're often no better than more affordable versions of the drug. don't you think it's worth knowing right away that rinvoq is going to costs $6,100 per month? one in five americans do not take their medications as prescribed because they cannot

afford it, they cut their pills in half or skip doses because they can't afford to take the medications as prescribed. these advertisements often ask you to ask your doctor if it's right for you. so we did. the american medical association said direct to consumer advertising inflates the demand for new and expensive drugs even when the drugs may not be appropriate. think about that. inflating demand for new and expensive drugs even if they're not the best drug the person should take. in 2018, senator grassley and i asked gao to look at the impact of these ads on television on medicare's budget. the gao found that between 2016 and 2018, the drugs accounted for 58% of medicare spending. the drugs on television are more than half of the budget of medicare. these ads ballooned medicare

spending to $320 billion over three years. humira topped the list with # $00 million in advertising in 2018, which -- $500 million in advertising in 2018. let me show you a humira chart so you have an idea of what we're talking about. i used this chart in 2017 when i first introduced this legislation, and when the monthly cost of humira was a mere $3,747 a month. guess what happened. the cost has risen to $6,900 per month. shouldn't abavi -- abvi disclose the real cost to you? our bill is supported by aarp, which speaks for seniors across america. the american medical

association, which speaks for doctors across america. the american hospital association, and 88% of americans support the concept of this bill. how can anyone object to it? hold on tight, you will find out. in fact, president trump supported it. after our bill passed the senate, it was stopped by a single house republican. president trump issued rules to are require -- to require these price tags. famous for his tweets, here's one i want to advertise. look what he said. big announcement today. drug companies have to come clean about their prices on tv ads. this is former president trump. historic transparency for american patients is here. if drug companies are ashamed of those prices, lower them. i didn't always agree with president trump, but he was right on that statement. in fact, he supported our bill. unsurprisingly, big pharma went to the courts to stop this legislation. they hate the idea of being

open, honest, and transparent with the american people about the price of their drugs because they're afraid it will cut into their profits. senator grassley has been a great partner and i want to ask him why he believes it's important to bring a dose of sunshine to the airwaves. senator grassley are. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: you just heard senator durbin say it passed the senate once. it's still not law. we're back here again and i hope my fellow senators will see that senator durbin and i don't give up on this very important issue of trying to bring a dose of sunshine to the airwaves. lowering cost of prescription drugs is a top priority of mine and most of the senators here. without prescription medication, millions of americans would not survive. as a nation, we are incredibly

blessed to live in a country where investment and innovation unlocks cures and treatments. but the escalation price of prescription drugs, partly caused by this advertisement that goes on, are a consuming concern for millions of americans, including iowans who bring up this subject regularly at my county meetings. i've come to the floor of the senate to address the sticker shock that greets consumers when they pick up their medicine at the pharmacy or open their medical bills after a hospital visit. in recent years, i worked in a bipartisan manner to pass the creates act, another bill called the patients right to know act, and another one, the right rebate act into law. each of these bills lowered

prescription drugs for patients by stopping anticompetitive practices, putting sunlight on medications for consumers at the pharmacy counter and to keep drug companies in check. i was chairman of the finance committee when we hauled big pharma in for public hearings, i partnered with the senior senator from oregon on a groundbreaking two-year investigation of insulin pricing. that investigation focuses not only on insulin manufacturers, but also powerful pharmacy benefit managers, i worked to hold bpm's accountable by working to ban their anticompetitive behavior that increases the cost to patients. rural pharmacies, and the taxpayers. in this congress i've gotten passed the prescription price

for people's act out of the judiciary committee with bipartisan support, and i hope the senate doesn't miss the opportunity to hold the federal trade commission accountable by requiring the 6-b study of drug middlemen to be produced within one year instead of the typical three to five years that it takes ftc to do something. i've also worked with the junior senator from washington state to pass the pbm transparency act out of the commerce committee with bipartisan support. the ftc can play a role in holding pbm's accountable in spread pricing and clawbacks across all health insurance. i've also contributed to and supported two finance committee markups this year that included six of my pbm accountability and transparency provisions. i'm supportive of pbm provisions that have come out of the health, education, labor,

pension committee to deal with this problem in the commercial insurance market. i hope the full senate doesn't ignore the aggressive actions the four committees have taken this congress to hold pbm's accountable. we must enact these bold committee-passed bills into law. if we're timid, we'll be right back here a few years from now still fixing the problem. on top of pbm reforms and accountability, we need price transparency. so that brings me back to where senator durbin and i are right now. with that background, iowaians now -- iowans go to the purpose of this unanimous consent request and the durbin-grassley bill to bring important price information to the drug

companies. when patients complain about the high price of drugs, it's usually because they got their bill or found out how much it cost when they were at the pharmacy counter. they didn't have the ability to know the price before they bought it. knowing what something costs before buying is common sense. so working with the senator from illinois to require the disclosure of medication list prices and advertisement makes common sense. president trump pursued this through regulation, and itself senate even passed this measure as senator durbin has already said a few years ago. each year the pharmaceutical industry spends $6 billion in direct-to-consumer drug advertising to fill the airways with ads resulting in the

average american seeing nine direct-to-consumer ads each day. studies show that these activities steer patients to more expensive drugs, even when a lower cost generic is available. the government accountability office has found that the prescription drugs advertised directly to consumers cost -- account for about 58% of medicare spending on drugs. we ought to require the disclosure of this list price so that patients can make informed choices when inunditted with drug -- inundated with drug commercials. consumers and taxpayers would benefit from a dose of sunshine by passing the drug price transparency for consumers act. we could begin the process of reforming the incentives in our prescription supply chain that reward high-cost drugs and their

manufacturers along with powerful middlemen. if you watch these commercials on television, you see a lot of information very quietly stated by the drug companies, the side effects that's possible from using some of these drugs. you get all information about what these drugs will accomplish, but you don't know what they cost and that information ought to be available to the consumer. thank you, senator durbin, for giving me this opportunity to express my view on this piece of legislation. mr. durbin: i want to thank senator grassley. he's a proud conservative. ism a in other place in the spectrum, a democrat proud of my progressive background. the two of us agree on this because it is common sense. if the drug companies are going to spend a fortune, millions of dollars, more than they spend on research for new drugs

advertising these drugs, we have a right to ask what do they cost? is that such a tough question to answer? not if you're proud of your product. not if you're proud of the price you're charging. but if you don't want the american public to know it, you conceal the price and you send senators to the floor who will object to considering this measure. now, both political parties spend an awful lot of money on political opinion surveys. what are americans thinking? you know it shows up -- you know what shows up as their number one concern year after year after year? the high cost of prescription drugs. that isn't getting any better. if you ask insurance companies why does the cost of health insurance keep going up? number one driver? the high cost of prescription drugs. you ask what are we going to do about medicare's runaway cost. you have to do something about the high cost of prescription drugs. we're addressing that issue directly, but there are only four united states senators on the floor of the senate for this occasion because we aren't going to the measure and actually debate it and consider it.

it's going to be pushed aside for a procedural reason and we'll go back to annual empty floor and an empty chamber waiting for the next roll call on a nomination. the american people have lost faith in this institution because we're afraid to tackle the real issues they care about. this is one of those issues. bipartisan matter. even approved by former president trump and i'm sitting here talking about it. it's an indication to me that this is an idea whose time has come. and so, mr. president, now at the appropriate time, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent the committee on finance be discharged, the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 1250, that the durbin amendment which is at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: mr. president, reserving the right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: mr. president, americans deserve a transparent,

affordable, and accessible prescription drug market. mr. crapo: i agree with the concerns that each of my colleagues have raised here tonight. the current system fails to meet these needs and i appreciate the intentions of my colleagues in attempting to shed light on the opaque pricing system that we now face. the problem is that the solution proposed in senate bill 1250 is the wrong solution. if you listen carefully to the debate of my colleagues, their main objection was that the prescription drug companies are advertising and promoting and creating markets for their products. their solution is to have them tell you what the price is. and what they're asking in their legislation is that the prescription drug manufacturers be required to list their -- to state their list price. but we all know that the list price is not actually the

correct price. and it will actually create confusion even further by forcing these pricing numbers to be put out into the marketplace through commercial advertising in a way that will then, i believe, undercut the major reforms that we are now undertaking in the finance committee to get the opaque system eliminated, to shed transparency on to the system, and help all consumers, including the united states government to understand what the real price is. senator grassley referenced three or four of his bills that we are working on in legislation right now in the finance committee that make major reforms to achieve this very price transparency that i'm talking about. we had a markup on that legislation just recently, and it passed 26-0 in the finance committee. it is ready to come to the floor. it will deal with many of these

things that have already been discussed here. but it will not create a mandate that the wrong price be advertised on tv. far too often heavily concentrated health plans and pbm's force consumers to pay on that list price for prescription drugs exposing seniors and working families to catastrophic costs. this bill if enacted would mandate the inclusion of these inflated figures in virtually all medication ads, reinforcing the notion of the list price as the best pricing opportunity for consumers. respectfully, i see these requirements as moving our current system in the wrong direction by affirming deceptive price points that should never be the basis for a patient's costs or decisions. a drug's list price includes none of the discounts, none of the rebates or other price concessions found in the net

price, the real price that is paid between the insurers and the pbm's and often then dealt with in pharmacies that are integrated with the insurance companies and the pbm's. a recent study showed that this gap between the list and the net price continues to inflate every year. in 2022, for instance, sticker prices for branded drugs like those you've seen charts on here grew by 3.7% whereas the net prices, the real price which was not able to be figured out by the consumer accounting for rebates and discounts remained unchanged. for medicines like insulin, the gap between the list and the net price can exceed 80%. rather than broadcast and validate list prices, congress should ensure that patients can share in the savings that are reflected in net price points

enabling both increased transparency and reduced out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter. the better act, the one i just referred to that's coming out of the finance committee with a 26-0 vote would take numerous steps toward achieving this goal with sizable cost-sharing reductions for seniors and no premium hikes. this proposal before us today by contrast would risk rubber stamping the centrality of sticker prices that no consumer should need to pay under a rational health care system. i share the concerns of scores of patients advocates and clinicians who agree with the need for more transparent pricing, but disagree with the approach taken by this bill. as many of these groups have pointed out, list price disclosures could trigger confusion for consumers and deter healthy, proactive doctor-patient discussions. in fact, i would think that the

drug manufacturers would love to have their list price, the one they want to start out asking for, be the one that is marketed. for americans with solid prescription drug coverage, list prices provide in direct insight into what a patient will actually pay for a given drug. for the population more broadly and for policymakers, the mandates in this legislation do nothing to unearth critical information on the price concessions routinely withheld from consumers. additionally, the bill's free speech concerns warrant further discussion and scrutiny, and its transformation of cms into a advertising regulator raises legal questions of agency scope. i stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reduce patient costs and to move toward more transparency in the marketplace. that said, for human reuss -- numerous reasons i cannot

support this legislation and must object to its passage. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: the senator from idaho is my friend. we've worked to together and served together and i count him as my friend. i would say arguing the list price is deceptive suggests that there is some third party, some agency perhaps of government that is creating this list price which we are asking to be on the ads that the pharmaceutical companies put on television. do you know who creates the list price, mr. president? the pharmaceutical companies emthemselves. we -- themselves. we go directly to them. give us the list price. you saw what happened over the span of a few years. the list price can double. who is creating the doubling of that price? the pharmaceutical companies themselves. and now to argue that the price they agree on, that they advertise is one that is somehow deceptive to consumers just doesn't square. and you know -- ever heard of

aarp, american association of retired persons? most of us respect them because we've worked with them over the years. they speak for seniors. they have endorsed this bill. they don't think it's confusing or deceiving to tell consumers how much these drugs actually cost. let's get down to reality. whether it's from health care providers or pharmaceutical companies, many times the starting price is not the end price. but you never know where that's going to end up. it depends on the insurance company, for example, and how much they're going to reimburse or whether there are any copays involved in it. so the one price we can stick with is a price created by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. is it so confusing to consumers that you can't state a number? they get it. what they may not understand is that mumbling that goes on at the end of the ads. don't take this drug if you're allergic to this drug. it may kill you. you listen and say how can they jam in all that information in a few seconds.

listening to the price of a drug on tv is simple, straight, very honest and transparent. pharmaceutical companies should want to join in that effort. i thank senator grassley for coming to the floor to join in this effort today. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. budd: a month and a half ago hamas terrorists committed acts of barbarism. more than 1200 innocent israelis and 23 americans were murdered in cold-blooded acts of evil. it was the deadliest massacre of the jewish penal since the holocaust and the deadliest

foreign attack on americans since 9/11. the middle east is no stranger to violence, but the october 7 attack was particularly heinous. systematically hunting down and slaughtering young people at a concert, kidnapping elderly women out of their homes, beheading babies and burning them in ovens. the line between good and evil is as clear as it's ever been. for the remaining innocent hostages currently being illegally held in gaza, the terrorists and the terror continues. while we're grateful for the release of some hostages over the weekend, our hearts remain with those still being held. this includes several americans including keith segal, a native of my home state, north carolina. so let me be as clear as i can.

hamas continued holding of these innocent hostages, it's a violation of the law and it represents a complete disrespect for the value of human life. every single one of them must be released, and all levels of our government must remain united in working to get them home. in this clash between good and evil, the question that the united states should be asking is who can we count on on to be on our side? and who stands on the side of the terrorists? this brings us to the state of qatar. this is a nation that hosts hamas' so-called political office, including hamas' leaders. from the safety of doha, these terrorists gleefully watched and celebrated the attacks on october 7. now it's important to remember that qatar is a major non-nato

ally of the united states and a host of u.s. military forces at an air base, a strategically important location for our operations in the middle east. our two nations are friends. sometimes friends must be honest with one another. you see, qatar claims that they only host hamas at the request of the united states government and in coordination with israel. there's some truth to this. since october 7, the biden administration officials such as the cia residenter -- director have beaten a path towards doha hoping hamas senior leadership would provide a pathway towards ending the hostage crisis that hamas initiated. i certainly agree that the u.s. government, including both the administration and congress, should be doing everything it can to bring the hostages home,

including working through allies and partners. and to be sure, qatar's mediation with hamas leaders, it has helped free some hostages, but at what cost and to what end? in exchange for the release of innocent women and children who were kidnapped by hamas, israel was forced to exchange three palestinian prisoners for every one innocent israeli victim. many, if not all of these prisoners were arrested, charged, and sentenced for stabbings, attempted car bombings and other heinous crimes as part of the campaign of terror. some have already returned to the fight donning the infamous hamas headband and calling for the slaughter of more jewish people. every day that goes by without a

resolution to the hostage crisis exposes qatar's decision to host hamas as both foolish and flawed. earlier this month i met with the qatari ambassador in my office. i told him in no uncertain terms that his government must pressure hamas leaders living in doha to immediately and unconditionally release all hostages. nearly two months after hamas horrific october 7 massacre, however, we need to recognize that qatar's current approach, while yielding limited success, is attempting to do something unacceptable, and that is to legitimize hamas. simply put, there is no future for gaza or the palestinians that includes hamas. in the past two months we've watched hamas leaders use qatar's hospitality to buy

time, prolonging the war and the hostage crisis from the comfort of their luxury accommodations, while palestinians suffer in gaza because of the war that hamas started, we've seen hamas leader push their genocidal agenda from doha, including multiple meetings with iran's foreign minister and even a visit to moscow. if qatar's leadership believes that any of this is consistent with what washington has asked of them, it's not. so my message to the qatari government is very simple. stop this now. you're holding a brutal and you're hosting a brutal terrorist organization with american blood on their hands who is holding american hostages. your media organization, starting with adges -- a jazeera are pushing out

appropriate began that that further inplaims tensions in the middle east. your leadership continues to speak out of both sides of its mouth. on one hand, committing to negotiate a resolution to the hostage crisis while on the other blaming israel and absolving hamas at every turn. we need to tell our friends in doha loudly and clearly, qatar is accepting significant liability with its pro-hamas policy. we must end this myth that this policy is something that washington wants and urge the qatari government to end this policy immediately. this is personal for americans, and i've met with the families of hostages right here in washington. i've heard their stories. i look at their photos every day on my desk. every day that these families have to live with the pain and uncertainty, it's unacceptable. we must stand united and say not

one more day. we must also start thinking about the day after, because there will come a day when israel will halt its military operations in gaza because they've achieved their stated goal of destroying hamas. the remaining question will then be what to do with the hamas leaders in doha. my view is that they should be extradited to the united states so that these terrorists can face justice for killing and kidnapping american citizens in a u.s. court of law. i would hope that our friend in qatar would not only be partners for peace and stability, but also partners in ensuring that hamas and its leaders are brought to justice for the despicable acts of terror that they committed. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to talk about the failures of bidenomics and to talk about the devastating impact that bidenomics has had on american families. certainly people in wyoming are worried about the high cost of groceries. i hear it every time i'm at the grocery store. people wince every time they fill up the gas tank. people are turning to either raiding their savings account or taking on increasing debt just to stay up to current cost of living. so president biden has a message for all of these people who are wincing as they fill up, worried at the cost of groceries, who are raiding their savings account. and joe biden's message to them is just this. he says don't believe your lying eyes. that's what he believes, that tomorrow the president will be in colorado and he's going to

say some things that the american people just will not believe. he'll say inflation is getting better. he'll say bidenomics is working. he'll say anyone who believes anything owner -- other than that is victim of misinformation. well, mr. president, that's not what the families of america are feeling. americans know that they are subjected day in and day out to incredibly high prices and they know that joe biden is the president of high prices. before thanksgiving, we got new inflation data and prices went up again. prices are now over 17% higher today than they were the day joe biden took office. in real terms, families are paying over $900 each and every month more now for the cost of living than they were for the same things the day joe biden came into office. americans are feeling it

everywhere, but specifically in the cost of gas, the cost of groceries, and the cost of everyday goods. and as prices continue to go up, people are falling further and further behind when it comes to trying to pay their bills. let's look at personal savings accounts. do people have more money or less in their bank accounts now than they did before? well, the answer is clearly they have less. bidenomics is forcing three out of every five americans to live paycheck to paycheck. let's look at personal debt. credit card debt now exceeds $1 trillion. this is a record high in the history of the united states. let's look at interest rates. americans are maxing out their credit cards just to get by, and they're having to do it at higher interest rates just to pay their bills, so their debt number continues to go up.

under bidenomics, americans barely have enough money to pay their bills, let alone save for the future. president biden equates bidenomics with the american dream. so what do people think about the american dream? well, for most families right now, that american dream is further and further out of reach than it's ever been before. a recent poll by nbc news says only one in five americans today feel confident that their children's lives will be better than their life was. mr. president, that's an all-time loa and this is talking about the future and the loss of hope for a better future. the president of the united states, joe biden, is disturbingly out of touch. according to nbc news, president biden is baffled, baffled that the american people are unhappy with the state of the economy.

it's not baffling. it's the definition of bidenomics. americans are unhappy with the economy because they don't like paying 20% more for food, $1 more for a gallon of gas, or 8% mortgage rates. so why is the president of the united states so disconnected from the feelings of everyday americans? hardworking americans deserve better leadership than what they've gotten out of this white house for the last three years. on issue after issue after issue, president biden's actions have made matters worse. he's continued an increase wasteful washington spending. the democrats are guilty as he is. he keeps attacking our affordable, available, reliable american energy and my home state of wyoming is america's energy breadbasket. he's pursued the costliest regulatory burden in american

history. the regulations coming out of this administration are penalizing and punishing and are costing the american people a lot. let there be no confusion that the policies of joe biden and the democrats is why families suffered the worst inflation in 40 years. democrats have done nothing to correct course or steer the economy in the right direction. instead of working to cure inflation, senate democrats tell americans to endure it. they're pushing policies that increase spending and choke off american energy, policies that keep driving prices and costs higher. two weeks ago president biden met with chinese president xi. it was their first fate-to- -- face-to-face meeting in 2023

while tensions with china continue to rise. president biden seemed more eager to impress president xi than ensure america's economy and safety. none of this lowers the cost of living. none of this makes our country stronger. the republicans have solutions to get the country back on track. our solutions will lower the cost of living, will increase wages, will reduce washington red tape, will unleash american energy, and will end our nation's dependence on china. in this congress alone republicans have put forward legislative solutions, workable, meaningful solutions to restore a strong economy. we've introduced bills to reverse these political mandates and eliminate these punishing regulations. we've introduced bills to end america's dependence on china, reduce dependence for

manufacturing, reduce dependence for medicines and to promote our own manufacturing. we've introduced bills to increase america's production of oil, gas, coal, critical minerals that would immediately lower the cost of energy and groceries for families all across america. under joe biden and the democrats, america is heading in the wrong direction, and by overwhelming numbers, the american will tell you that. republicans have solutions to make a difference, to lowering the prices, to unleashing american energy, to securing the southern border, and in time to get america back on track. the time is act is now. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, mr. president.

mr. president, so far -- so far the united states is standing behind israel, as it should, in israel's fight against hamas. so far. don't go wobbly on us, president biden. don't go wobbly on israel. but some people in washington seem confused as to why america backs israel. now, i've seen a lot of hand-wringing from folks who like to pretend that there's some kind of -- they use this

word a lot -- nuance. there's some kind of nuance we need to apply to the hamas terrorist attacks about october 7 before we can condemn hamas and hold its supporters accountable. president obama has even suggested that somehow we are all explicit -- complicit in it. and some people promoting this idea of nuance frankly believe that israel got what it deserves. now, they don't say that. but that's what they believe. they believe that israel got what it deserved. and these folks who believe that also apparently believe in

diversity, equity, inclusion, and the right to kill jews. thankfully that's not most americans. that's a lot of people here in washington, d.c. in louisiana, however, my state, we understand that the debased people who slaughtered hundreds of young people at a peace concert are the bad guys. in louisiana we understand that the odious men who raped women -- raped and sodomized women next to the bodies of their dead friends don't deserve to be on this planet. and we in louisiana understand that the dejen rats -- dejen rats -- degenerates who had kids

of holocaust survivors to post for photos next to their terrorist captors are just wrong. nothing -- nothing that the israeli government has ever done or could do warranted throwing grenades at children hiding in a bomb shelter. why some people reluctant to admit that? you don't need to read a treaties -- treaties from the middle east that only monsters with black hearts would put a baby in the oven and flip on the switch as one first responder reported. that's not nuance. that's evil.

and the evil we saw unfold when hamas butchureed butchered -- butchered israeli civilians is indefensible. those terrorists brutalized thousands of people, including dozens of our american friends and neighbors. and hearing the stories from the survivors and from the first responders, it's nauseating. it's knots nuance -- it's not nuanced. it's evil. yet, the hamas terrorists took joy -- they yelped for joy as they massacred civilians. one terrorist called his mother -- called his mother to brag to, quote, killed ten jews with my own hands.

who would brag about something like that? another hamas official celebrated it and vowed to continue to wage attacks like this, quote, again and again and again until israel no longer exists. no family in israel will be able to sleep soundly at night feels that rests -- at night until these terrorists are wiped off the face of the earth. israel has both right and it has the responsibility to defend itself, and i am proud that the united states of america is supporting israel. don't go wobbly on us, president biden. stand your ground. don't go wobbly. i'm proud it that -- i'm proud that the united states is supporting israel, and the world will be a safer place for israelis and americans alike

when hamas ceases to exist. hamas leaders told anyone who would listen -- anyone who would listen -- they told us exactly what they intended to do and wanted to do and will continue to do. they told anyone who would listen, their goal is to kill as many jewish people as possible, and that's still their goal. this wasn't a protest against israel's government. it was a massacre of jewish people, the largest since the holocaust. it's not surprising then, mr. president, that some who oppose intervention in gaza have turned to attacking jewish americans. in new york city, those people cornered jewish students in the library. they forced the librarian to

offer to hide the students in an attic. in cornell university they threatened to shoot up the kosher dining room. activists broke be a student's nose because he opposed their anti-israel demonstration. this didn't occur in new york city or cornell or tulane by accident. they targeted these areas because they're home to many americans who happen to be jewish. and that's just a fact. new york is home to the largest jewish population outside of israel, and tulane, in my state, which was the first university in the south to welcome jewish students, has a student body today that is roughly 40% jewish. it was no accident.

when confused activists twist themselves in knots trying to justify the torture and the rape and the killing of jews in the middle east, they are feeding the fires of anti-semitism here at home as well. and, unfortunately, we have seen that over the past few weeks. and let's not forget, it's hamas who is using civilians as human shields. hamas is the group also hoarding fuel and food as palestinian civilians starve. hamas is the group that dug up water pipes to turn them into rocket launchers. the truth is that the palestinian people, the people of gaza, and the israeli people all suffer because of hamas. and any suggestion that israel is culpable for this suffering plays into the hands of the

terrorists. in louisiana, mr. president, we can -- we can see through the psuedointellectual hand-wringing of israel's critics. the truth is that hamas brutalized israeli citizens and then ran home to hide behind their women and children, using those women and children as human shields. they're the lowest kind of pond scum, the lowest kind of saidests -- saddests imaginable. over the past weeks hamas has released some hostages as part of a temporary ceasefire. i'm happy for that and the american people are happy for that. and i and they hope that every hostage will be reunited about their family soon.

weeb cannot -- we cannot forget, however, we should not forget, however, that hamas vowed to continue attacking and kip napping israeli -- kidnapping israeli citizens again and again and again, and the only way to stop the cycle is to eliminate hamas. now, i was out of the country in another country when hamas attacked israel. and i did not know what position president biden would take. i didn't. he said, i'm standing with israel, and i was so relieved. and i know president biden is under -- he's under a lot of pressure from the loon wing of his party to abandon israel, to

demand a permanent cease-fire, to let hamas go unpunished. but hamas doesn't want a permanent cease-fire. hamas had a permanent cease-fire on october 6, the day before they attacked the israeli civilians, and hamas for fit it had that -- forfeited that cease-fire unilaterally. here's what hamas wants. hamas wants to terrorize israel until all of the jewish people are dead. hamas wantses -- wants to terrorize israel until all of the jewish people are dead. hamas wants to kill jews. hamas wants to kill jews and drink their blood out of a boot. that's not nuance, president obama.

that's evil. president biden needs to show the world, and frankly some members of his own party, that the united states of america and its good people will continue to stand with israel until hamas is in ruins. until hamas is dead, and we drink their blood out of a boot, until hamas' genocidal agenda is abandoned. the world will be safer on that day and it will certainly be safer because hamas is not in it. by supporting israel's efforts, americans are helping to ensure that an attack like october 7 never happens again. and i think most fair-minded americans understand that.

thank you, mr. president. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from alaska ms. murkowski: mr. president, i request proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with the presiding officer: without objection. ms. murkowski: thank you, mr. president. i have had an opportunity over the years to work with some

extraordinary leaders in our military but one of the exceptional leaders that i have recently come to know and work with is general glen d. vanhirk, the commander of american aerospace command, known as norad and the united states northern command, u.s. north com. he is preparing to retire after more than 36 years of service to our nation. and as i mentioned, he is an individual that i have come to know over the recent years, and i'm proud to have been able to work with him in parts of my career, but i want to ensure that his distinguished service which includes successful commands at every level as director of the joint staff and as a long list of u.s. air force assignments flying the f-15's, f-35's, b-2, all reflected in

the congressional record. general vanherck has led by example and served selflessly. he's always, always thought of the men and women under his command. he's thought of their families. he's thought of our future and the world that we all hope to leave for our grandchildren. i know that general vanherck and his wife maryland are -- marilyn are looking forward to his upcoming retirement. i hope he will continue to serve in a different way utilizing his extraordinary expertise and knowledge. from august 2020 to november 2023, general vanherck oversaw the most robust and dynamic trappings formation in the history of norad and northwest northcom. it enabled the commands to support the president of the united states and prime minister of canada while ensuring the defense of both homelands.

his direction single-handedly resulted in decisive national and international military operations that operationalize the commands and shifted from a reactive regional focus to a more proactive and globally integrated campaigning effort. general vanherck has also been instrumental in leading a wide range of homeland defense operations, including defense efforts against russian long range aviation, north korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, and russian and chinese out of area maritime operations. he established a clear strategic vision, focus and priorities inspiring operational excellence throughout pandemic response operations, operation allies welcome which supported over 84,000 afghan refugees, and the

first engagement over north america in the whole history of norad and northcom. he also led a collaborative effort to focus on homeland defense, the top priority of the national defense strategy. by adopting a modernized and integrated deterrence approach towards strategic competitors. prioritizing domain awareness, information dominance, decision superiority and global integration empowered norad and u.s. northcomm to successfully campaign day to day in competition and will improve the command's ability to defer, deter in crisis and defeat if necessary in conflict. his strategic foresight and collaboration with members of the highest level of government both here in the united states as well as canada guided the commands to look beyond traditional approaches and

customary missions and to examine evolving adversary actions, capabilities, and intent. recognizing an urgent need to advance norad and u.s. northcom's capabilities to outpace peer competitors and rogue nations, general vanherck operationalized the command's re-- commands reaffirming their unyielding commitment to the highest priority mission of homeland defense. in response to our adversaries' efforts to operate and train in and through the arctic region, norad executed the northern most deployment of fighter and supporting aircraft from forward operating locations in northern canada to bit pick in greenland. for its parth u.s. northcomm oversaw arctic edge, the largest exercise in alaska in 2020, deploying a joint and combined force of 800 to advance

communication, awareness, infrastructure, and sustainable presence in coordinated air, land, maritime and cyber domain field training. additionally for the first time ever, u.s.northcom led a large-scale cop bat tants command homeland against from the uss truman strike group while the strike group was under operational command. this allowed four combatant commands and norad to conduct homeland defense operations, exercise joint integration, conduct multinational operations, and straen then interoperable in command and control. throughout general vanherck clearly articulated war fighting requirements including ready, trained and well equipped foreignses that are capable of praising wherever they are needed. and that in turn has led to significant advances in arctic

capabilities for the joint force, including infrastructure upgrades at northern bases, improvements to the joint pacific alaska range complex, and facilities to support deployment of ground base air defense systems. these forward looking efforts have also led to testing cold weather technologies, developing deployable extreme cold weather expeditionary capabilities, evaluating satellite and terrestrial arctic communication solutions aboard an ice breaker and significantly increasing communications coverage in the region. and, mr. president, as one who has focused on the arctic for decades now, i can attest that general vanherck gets the arctic. he knows and understands the value and the significance of the arctic. he gets it. across decades and assignments,

general vanherck continuously demonstrated a clear strategic vision for defending the homeland and his focus and priorities consistently yielded operational success and organizational excellence. his leadership and passion have defended the people of the united states and canada and for that we are grateful. so to general vanherck, i thank you for your long and your distinguished career in the service of our nation and on the occasion ever your wel deserved retirement, i wish you and your family nothing but the very best and congratulate you for a job well done. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

[applause]

c several years ago here at ours nation's capitol one of the finest violinist in the world played during the morning rush hour. it was part of an experiment to see if anyone would notice. hundreds of commuters rushed by absorbed in the busyness of their daily lives oblivious to the beauty floating in the air around them. time and time again one particular group noticed. our during their next captivating the surprise as they heard the music. this group consistently wandered over to the violinist.

any idea who it was? 's children, that's exactly right. children are unbound by time and knows the beauty. the rich mosaic of autumn leaves piled high on an emerald blanket of grass to mesmerizing rhythm of soft powdery snow as it falls from a glistening night sky a gorgeous sound of an extraordinary violinist. if this child like marvel and awe that inspired this year's holiday theme, the magic the wonder and the joy of christmas. each room is designed to capture this true unfiltered delight and imagination. this time of year is a wondrous

sparkling eyes of children but as guests and to the east wing they walked underneath the branches. doesn't that look so amazing? [applause] >> when joe and i saw that last night i was really just mesmerized. it's a christmas tree and it pierces through the façade of the east wing. it's as if they were children again, they gazed up and wonder like we did at the twinkling lights and the soft pine needles above. the first christmas tree featured inside the white house is adored with goldstar ornaments and they are engraved or the names of the fallen servicemembers. this goldstar tree honors the

heroic and still emotional for those of you who visited and i know they are so many goldstar families who helped with that tree. the heroic men and women of our nations military, those who have played laid down their lives for our country and the families who carry on their legacy. may god bless our troops and their families. [applause] the east colonnade of the step floating above their heads reminding children and families of the delicious flavors of the holidays. lining the marble arches of the ground floor corridor are holiday messages from americans across this country, letters to santa claus magically flying in and out if vintage mailboxes ready to be sent to the north

pole with a stamp and they wish. in the library guests are transported to the nostalgic bedtime stories of holidays past and present in santa rides by the window on his sleigh. in the vermeil room we celebrate the joy that music and merriment bring us during the holidays like the sound you heard. in the china room a sweet shop with baking ingredients and cooking supplies reminds us of familiar recipes that bring generations of families together, year aft year during this season. in the east room that joyful anticipation of the holidays is front and center with advent calendars counting down the days of christmas and each door will

reveal a surprise for children of all ages to enjoy. sure to follow up on on my channels on facebook instagram x to see each day's moment of magic, wonder and joy. in the green room we honor the peace and the strength that we find in faith. it's often a quiet candlelit room where we can most clearly center ourselves and embrace the wonder of the world around us. the blue room behind me features the official white house christmas tree, a stunning creation covered in holiday cheer from across the country, and i'm sure you'll walked in and the first thing you did was look for your state, right? i did the same thing. a vintage passenger train leaves around the tree. i know the kids loved it when we

did this. the red room is filled with our favorite holiday craft, reminding guests of the limitless reaches of their machinations. and to honor our military families, the ornaments and the red room were made from the handprints and the family portraits of military connected children. yes clap for them to. [applause] in the cross hall right over there we have the official white house menorah created last year by our white house carpenters who are so special comic using reclaimed wood from the beams up this house saved from when president truman -- renovated it over 70 years ago. and finally in the state dining

room for magic wonder and the joy of the holidays all come together in a re-creation of santa's workshop. throughout the house we pay tribute to the 200th anniversary of the publication of t'was the night before christmas, a palm edge deeply into so many of our childhood memories. we work with the library of congress to bring a sampling of editions from the last 200 years here to the white house. you will also notice that this year's gingerbread house, have you all seen it? oh my gosh suzie has done such an amazing job in all of her volunteers. it creates the classic tale and in the grand foyer where we are right now santa and his reindeer fly through the air.

i'm amazed that they are made from papier-mâché. it's just so cool and it's like they are leaping from the storybook pages. i don't know how you feel but i feel it's just breathtaking. [applause] thank you. the holidays offer a time for reflection and a break from our hurried lives. it's a season to be fully present with our friends and our families. it's also a season of gratitude and i want to take a moment to thank you, the hundreds of volunteer decorators and designers. you have traveled from near and far to bring the spirit and the cheer of the holiday season to life. without your hard work and painstaking attention to detail, none of this would be possible.

i hope that this experience has been as meaningful for you as it will for the thousands of visitors and we will have over 100,000 which is amazing. everyone is going to enjoy your craftsmanship as they walked these halls. also i hope you were leaving with more than just the few friends. the kind that can only be forced together when working together to shape wire into magnificent art. [laughter] are meticulously, those gumdrops, honestly. [cheers and applause] to the gumdrop tenors. it took hours on end. thank you gumdrop tenors.

today we also thank the people who worked all year to help us stay in touch with the american people. our correspondent volunteers. [applause] i know it's a lot of work reading the mail, answering the phone that you are an important part of our democracy whether you have been voluntary for years and years are just of few months or maybe maybe a few decades like some of you. with all of my heart, thank you. magic, wonder and joy. i know that they can feel hard to find sometimes as the days grow shorter and the weather grows cold colder and as our hearts grow heavy in the face of the tumultuous world and we missed those who are no longer with us and empty seat at the table of our holiday gatherings.

it's a unique time when we are searching for hope and healing. these points of light, all of them. you know the most that we need is each other. that's when we need others the most. because children have something to teach us. if we are wise enough to listen, how to remain present even as the busy world beckons us, how to open set ourselves up for love and wonder and to marvel at every moment no matter how ordinary, and how to find beauty at a metro stop. the child's appreciation for the magic wonder in the joy this season,, i wish you a merry christmas and a very happy holidays from the biden family to all of yours. thank you so much for being

here. [applause] [cheers and applause] thank you, thank you everybody. happy holidays. ♪♪ ♪♪ [applause] ♪♪ ♪♪

she serves as the policy director at georgetown university's o'neal institute. this is the headline of a political story from last month that you are coded in, the opioid crisis has gotten much, much worse despite congress effort to stop there. what does that crisis look like in america today and what do the numbers tell us? >> the opioid overdose epidemic affects hundreds of thousands of people annually. however it's about 108,000 people that die every year from overdoses primarily driven by illegal fentanyl so fentanyl is an opioid that's illegally manufactured and that's what's driving a lot of the overdose deaths in this country. >> a quasi-getting worse? why are we not able to get a handle on this?

it's not like like we have known about it. >> right, it's the supply for the supply of drugs is a lot more lethal than it has been in the past but we do have substance abuse disorder in this country is not new. more people die from alcohol and alcohol use disorder annually than illegal drugs. really this is not a problem that we got into overnight and it's not going to be solved overnight. we need to build out the whole prevention treatment recovery system that we don't currently have and that's going to take a well. >> you mention to our viewers that you service the public policy director at georgetown university o'neal institute and we should note you were the former acting director of the national drug control policy at the white house. what has the biden administration been doing to build out those efforts to combat these issues collects in it served on the transition team d

to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each. officer without objection. mr. durbin: i have two requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask that the senate proceed to the following senate resolutions -- senate resolution 476, senate resolution 477, and senate resolution 478. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until wednesday, november 29, 10:00 a.m.

the time for the leaders be conserved for use later in the day and morning business be closed. upon conclusion of morning business the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the smith nomination. further the cloture motions filed during yesterday's session ripen at 11:30 a.m. further that if cloture is invoked on the smith nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m. and then if cloture is invoked on the semper nomination all time be considered expired at 5:45 p.m. if any nominations are confirmed during wednesday's session the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. durbin if there is no further --. mr. durbin: if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned