unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> we take you live now to the u.s. senate where today members of are working on two judicial nominations, a district court nominee and a circuit court nominee. and working to avoid a government shutdown. on wednesday the house was slated to vote on measure, but canceled by mike johnson who said there was disagreement in the caucus. you're watching coverage on c-span2. ...

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, our shelter in life's storms. your kingdom is above all earthly kingdoms. today, empower the members of this body with the wisdom, courage, and strength needed for our times. infuse them with the passion to act in ways that honor your name.

lord, preserve their health and strength by your mercy and power. may they find your grace sufficient for every need. bless also the citizens of this great land. give them the wisdom to pray for our government and our leaders so that all people may live quiet and peaceful lives in all goodness and holiness. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., september 12, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. 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, the judiciary, laura margarete provinzino, of minnesota, to be united states district judge for the district of minnesota.

the district court nominee in . congress is facing a funding deadline as well must pass spending legislation by september 30 to avoid a shutdown. on wednesday house speaker mike johnson announced he was pulling the ball on continued funding saying there were some disagreements in his caucus. or watching live congress on

c-span2.

>> a few hours ago speaker johnson said he delayed a vote scheduled for today on his partisan insufficient insufficient and deeply flawed seer proposal, frankly no one should be surprised the speaker johnson is having trouble with his bill, it is not a serious effort at keeping the government open, it is a political document that a subsequent born the speakers proposal suffers many fatal flaws, above all it shortchanged so many critical programs that americans rely on everyday, for one the speakers proposal underfunded department of veterans affairs by $12 billion, that means veterans

exposed to burn pits and develop cancer and other diseases will struggle to get the care that they need, the speakers proposal will also be a disaster for our own forces you cannot run a military with a six-month funding package, the secretary of defense warned it would hurt defense readiness mainstream recruitment and risk crucial investments in our industrial base and delay repairs and what modernization, again you cannot learn the military at a six-month time, the active contracts and do research and planning, the speakers proposal is also announced border security and immigration law enforcement, his bill would effectively end the crucial law enforcement effort to stop drug smuggling, cartel and money laundering. he fails to expend funding for e-verify, h2 b visas and programs that stop drugs like

fentanyl. all of this from a republican proposal the party that supposedly loves to talk about border security but talk is all it is if you take the stuff out of the bill. and of course if you're one of the tens of millions of americans who rely on social security or disability benefits, watch out the speakers proposal contains no additional funding for the social security administration operating budget which would lead to delayed benefits, understaffed or closed field offices with longer wait times for applications the speaker cr bill on healthcare would endanger the federal funding for telehealth services which is what are the most important ways role americans get access to the care that they need this cr also fails to extend funding for community health centers which is the only resource for millions of americans live in poverty or near poverty but live in the gray zone above the medicaid line with the community health

centers they get good healthcare. those would be gone. the speakers plan to do anything on the farm bill, if it expires with some farmers in december risking closure of farms and sending product like milk and cheese through the roof. it will cost the average consumer, we all know the endgame here for the hard right a six-month stopgap measure means we have a funding site all over again in march at the beginning of the new administration is pretty transparent that the hard right ones to delay this fight and telling in hopes of being able to pass the bulk of donald trump's project 2025 agenda. we all know what 2025 is about the hard right was to turn our country inside out and institute the most conservative agenda america has seen in modern history, project 2025 would mean the end of the department of

education would eliminate historic programs help millions of kids in poverty get historic in their education, funding that helps kids get free and reduced lunch at school would send the cost of childcare shooting up to exasperate make it harder for them to make a living project 2025 would also betray our veterans it would lead to disability benefits by shrinking medical conditions that qualify. it would revive the trump air commission that would refund va hospitals including the only va hospital on long island and northport va, how cruel can you get to how in the world can you think this is an okay thing to do to the brave americans who wore the uniform. project 2025 would lay the groundwork for the nightmare scenario of the national abortion ban. it would effectively clear the way for space to monitor a woman's pregnancy and threatened

the federal health funding if they don't comply. madam president this is all outlandishly sinister yet precisely what the hard right is promising the american people if donald trump returns to office. and make no mistake there is no better opportunity for republicans to read him the cool policies down american throat then the government funding fight early next march 6 month pr the one that feels to funding for programs none of which had outlined is therefore not the answer for avoiding a shutdown later this month. speaker johnson will not bother with delaying his vote he said scrap it scrap his plan and start over, speaker johnson scrap your plan don't just delay the boat, find a better one that can pass in a bipartisan way. leader jeffries, the president and i will gladly to keep the

government open just as we were earlier this year on funding levels honored our agreement from the debt ceiling debate. i hope and pray speaker johnson will acknowledge the inevitable we need a bipartisan plan to keep the government open.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now before the month is out, mr. president, both parties in both chambers must unite on the most important goal of this work period -- keeping the government open with a temporary extension of federal funding. a continuing resolution, as we all know, is not a substitute for the appropriations process, but rather a tool to give us

more time for the appropriators to do their work, and fortunately in this body at least, the democratic and republican appropriators have a very good track record of working together. in divided government, the only way congress has been able to pass c.r.'s is through bipartisan cooperation. we've seen that again and again and again these last two years. unfortunately, house republicans have regrettably forgotten that lesson. about a week ago they spruced a six-month c.r. that from the first proved to be unserious, partisan and insufficient. and given what's happened in the house in the last few days, it is becoming clearer and clearer that only a bipartisan solution will work. we've been saying this all along, but the events of the past few days even further confirm just how much it is true. a real proposal for avoiding a shutdown will be the one that both sides write together.

but house republicans wrote their c.r. behind closed doors and without any input from the democratic leader in the house, the president, myself, or any democratic appropriators. a real propose would avoid poison pills, but house republicans wrote their c.r. with poison pills front and center. they know perfectly well this approach doesn't work. a real proposal for avoiding a shutdown is one that doesn't hamstring our national defense, doesn't weaken our border security and doesn't hurt or veterans and farmers and so many others. and instead of a short-term extension of the deadline, the house republicans released a bill that kicks the can down the road for half a year. that is no way to govern, particularly on military affairs it is no way to govern. you can't run a military with six months, with a six-month funding patch like house republicans' leader proposed. it would slow down everything. insufficient resources for

recruitment and troop pay, increases and research. this six-month c.r. would hurt awarding the new, the awarding of new military contracts and cause immediate and immense uncertainty and cost increases for the old ones. so i urge speaker johnson to set aside this c.r. proposal and try again. we've already lost one week in this three-week work period. we all know what we need to do if we want to ensure the government does not shut down. we need a bipartisan bill, a temporary extension. the democratic leader in the house and i are ready and willing to work with the speaker as we've done before. now on inflation, yesterday americans got another piece of excellent news in the fight

against inflation. according to the department of labor, the consumer price index was measured at 2.5% in august compared to a year ago. this floor chart illustrates just that. two years ago, two years after we passed the inflation reduction act and chips and science, inflation has slowed to a three-year low. here's what it was in 2022. here's what it is right now. it went from 8.3% when the chips and science act and inflation reduction act were passed to 2.5% today. let me repeat -- two years after the inflation reduction act and the chips and science act, inflation slowed to a three-year low. republicans claimed investing in america would make inflation skyrocket and drive our economy into a recession. instead the house has had the

strongest -- sorry. instead the u.s. has had the strongest post covid recovery in the world. manufacturing instruction nearly tripled its peak during the last administration and inflation continues to trend lower. and inflation has slowed despite senate republicans trying to block and derail so many of the bills we've pushed in this chamber to lower costs and make life easier for american families. remember, when republicans had a chance to vote for lower prescription drug costs for seniors, they voted no. when republicans had a chance to cap insulin at $35 a month for americans on medicare, they voted no. when republicans had the chance to dramatically expand the child tax credit and cut child poverty in this country in half, they voted no. and when republicans had the chance to invest in rebuilding america and bringing advanced manufacturing jobs back to our

shores and open new factories for e.v.'s and solar and chips, many of them still voted no, though then back home they tried to take credit for these jobs. for three years republicans have proudly been the party of no. no solutions, no plans, no attempts to fix our country's problems. but today's report shows that the democratic agenda is working. this is dramatic. and despite republicans' best efforts to derail our country's recovery, we've moved forward in a very positive way. we have a lot of work still to do. people still need a lot of help to make ends meet and save for retirement and provide for their families, but we're on our way. we are on our way, as this chart shows. now on project 2025. the more people learn about donald trump's project 2025 agenda, the more they realize how devastating it would be for

our country. later today i will join with my democratic colleagues to shine a light on this revolting maga agenda. on its surface, project 2025 proposes the moecht conservative, most radical, unhinged policies in modern history. let me say that again. project 2025 proposes the most conservative, the most radical, the most unhinged collection of policies in modern history. and when you dig even deeper, project 25 is even worse than that. it reads like a hard-right wish list for some of the nastiest most harmful policies you can imagine. project 2025 would devastate american education by abolishing the department of education and eliminating head start for 2.9 million students. republicans claim they care about families, but eliminating head start means republicans want to kill a program that studies show makes it far more

likely that low-income kids will graduate high school, attend college, earn more money and lead healthier lives. that's what republicans would eliminate by killing head start. project 2025 would send the cost of health care and prescription drugs soaring, repealing the $35 cap on insulin for seniors on medicare that democrats enacted into law. the $35 cap on insulin for seniors was a lifesaving reform, literally a lifesaving reform. it will help ensure seniors don't go broke trying to manage their diabetes, but project 2025 would kill that measure and tell seniors who struggle to afford insulin that they are on their own. utter cruelty. project 2025 would intensify the gop's war on reproductive freedom by laying the groundwork for a national abortion ban and pushing states to monitor women's pregnancies.

they are pushing states to -- let me repeat that. project 2025 pushes states to monitor women's pregnancies. this is what they call freedom? give me a break. project 2025 would betray our veterans by cutting disability benefits for veterans and defunding v.a. hospitals, including the only v.a. on long island and north port v.a. could potentially, given their cuts, be defunded. and finally, 2025 would make it harder for americans to own a home by privatizing fannie mae and freddie mac causing dramatic spikes in mortgage rates. owning a home is a hallmark of the american dream. we shouldn't make it harder for people to own homes, and that's precisely what 2025 would do. so let me be clear. project 2025 is the trump agenda. its staff reads like a who's who of the first trump administration and many of them

would be part of a second trump administration and be in charge of writing policy. so make no mistake, america. if donald trump returns to the white house, project 2025 will be the playbook his staff will use for implementing the policies of his new administration. and we are all in danger should that occur. 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.

today members are working on to nominations the district court and circuit court nominee they must pass additional spending legislation by september 30 to avoid a shutdown. on wednesday house speaker mike johnson announced he was pulling the scheduled boat on continuing

funding saying some disagreements in his caucus. her watching live coverage here on c-span2 quorum call:

keeping the government open with temporary extension of federal funding, continuing resolution as we all know is not a substance mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: i'd like to begin by reminding our colleagues of a report released before the august state work period. it's a report congress commissioned in the fiscal 2022ndaa -- 20222022.

congress appointed the bipartisan commission on the national defense strategy. the commission was tasked with reviewing -- with reviewing the biden administration's national defense strategy and conducting an independent assessment of the threats and requirements of our common defense. many of our colleagues who haven't yet taken a close look at this report should. but i'd like to reiterate a few of its conclusions. as i discussed last month the appropriations committee finalized defense legislation for the coming year. this ought to grab our attention. from the report, quote, the u.s.

military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be competent it can deter and prevent -- prevail in combat. a further quote, the u.s. defense industrial base is unable to meet the equipment, technology, and munitions needed for the united states and its allies and partners. a further quote, the u.s. public are largely unaware the dangers the united states faces or the c costs, financial and otherwise, required to adequately prepare. the report doesn't flinch in assessing the full scale of the threats posed by major adversaries. the russia victory in ukraine would make moscow, quote, an

emboldened and likely stronger power requiring nato to build and deploy additional forces potentially at the expense of other locations where these resources could be applied. another quote. china is outpacing the united states and is largely negated the u.s. military advantage in the west and the pacific through two decades of focused military investment. and perhaps most alarmingly, the growing partnership and collaboration between our adver adversaries. quote, increases the likelihood that a conflict with one would expand to multiple fronts causing simultaneous demands on u.s. and allied resources. it's a sobering assessment with

some urgent recommendations to go along with it. the question now is what are we willing to do about it? congress has a constitutional duty to provide for the common defense. we have a responsibility to align resources with our requirements and our strategy, to provide funding adequate to ensure american military superiority. unfortunately, this is work congress must do without help from this administration. as one commissioner, robert zachman has observed, president biden's 2022nds mentioned neither budget nor dollar. but after a week back in

washington, congress is no longer closer -- is no closer to delivering full-year top-line defense funding than we were back on august 1. the critical increases vice chair collins secured over the president's anemic budget request are no closer to becoming law. neither is the national defense authorization act which the democratic leader has yet to schedule for floor time. so it's one thing to request expert analysis. it would be quite another to do the urgent work that analysis rightly prescribes. on another matter, one of the few details vice president harris has shared about her growing agenda is a pledge to implement price controls at the grocery store to end so-called

price gouging. the erie echoes of marxist propaganda in that talking point have already attracted attention. but we don't have to dig too far back in the history books to find an example that she may be drawing from. the biden-harris administration staff has used similar language to describe another socialist-inspired price control scheme, the one to combat supposed price gouging in the market for lifesaving pharmaceutical treatments. and so far prescription drug socialism is not working out too well. according to a recent study, nearly 3.5 million beneficiaries are expected to pay higher, higher out-of-pocket costs as a result of the administration's proposed scheme. but that hasn't stopped them. last month the administration released the maximum fair price for the first ten medicines

selected for its coercive negotiation program. of course when you dig into the details, the scheme sounds less like a negotiation than a shakedown. if the dictated maximum fair price is not feasible, drug makers have two choices. they can pay ans exorbitant excise fee or they can withdraw entirely from participating in medicaid and medicare. now, remember the real losers from this misguided policy are the vulnerable patients who are left with fewer lifesaving cures. rosch and zeneca have indicated they will be continuing certain drug trials or considering delaying launching cancer medications due to the financial penalties from the inflation

reduction act. and yet biden and harris seem largely unbothered. last month president biden went on the road to celebrate the results of the cancer moonshot initiative, an accomplishment i was proud to partner with him on. but he hasn't reckoned with estimates that the inflation reduction act would eliminate nine times the amount of funding for cancer research that the cancer moonshot created. let me say that again. he hasn't reckoned with estimates that the inflation reduction act could eliminate nine times the amount of funding for cancer research that the cancer moonshot created. vice president harris similarly blinded to the consequences of her work has recently bragged about her role in passing the inflation reduction act. i can't imagine that americans

facing rare disease diagnosis are as proud of that record as she is. mr. durbin: the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, there was a time not that long ago when families had a similar

challenge across america. what to do with mom and dad. at that time there wasn't much to turn to if you were fortunate your parents during the course of their lifetime had saved up enough money to take care of themselves. but in my family and many others, it was common to have that spare bedroom for grandma or grandpa because there was no place else to go. it was part of american family life. caused some hardship. the kids had to double up in the bedrooms and some of the activities of the family were limited. but you did it because you loved them and they needed help and they couldn't take care of themselves. in 1939 that started to change. a president named franklin roosevelt felt it was time to give relief to these families, to give dignity to seniors in their retirement years and he

created a program called social security. now one of the most popular programs in the united states. you don't hear many candidates for president standing up and saying i'm going to cut social security benefits, do you? it's worshipped and venerated and respected and followed by families across america. but the critics in the creation of social security called it socialism. socialism. too much government. leave us alone. let mom and dad live in that spare bedroom. don't give them a separate savings account they can accumulate during their lifetime. if they do it, fine. if they don't, fine, too. socialism. fast forward to the 1960's. now we had a new concern. how are we going to pay for the health care of seniors now that they're living longer because of social security? what are we going to do about it? there was a concern in washington that the cost of medical care, surgeries, and

treatment was just too expensive for the average person. and so president lyndon baines johnson created medicare. medicare was a health insurance program for senior citizens across america. when it started, it ushered in a dramatic change in health care in america. the construction of hospitals st started expanding a pace across this country. medicare made a big difference. what did they say about it in criticizing it? socialism. too much government trying to provide health care for senior citizens. and of course medicaid came on its heels as well to take care of low-income individuals facing the same challenge. socialism. we hear that time and again. this morning, the senate repu -- he called it prescription drug so

socialism. here we go again, mr. president. any effort to help the average family that is trying to get by and trying to make ends meet that involves the government is criticized as socialism. and the argument was made by the republican leader that this socialism, this lowering of prescription drug prices is ultimately going to stifle research and competition. he failed to mention one or two things. first he failed to mention that virtually every single prescription drug that is now making a difference across america started with government research, national institutes of health, the premier medical industry in the world did research for virtually every single one of these drugs. as much as i admire the private sector, and i do, the fact is if

they're honest about it, they're simply barring gaining with a government that got them started to find profitable products. the second thing i wanted to note that the republican leader did not mention this morning was that for decades now we have allowed the veterans administration to negotiate drug prices. in other words, what we're doing in medicare we've been doing for veterans. and our theory was our veterans deserve the best and we've got to be able to afford it as a government and they have to be able to afford it as individuals. so we negotiated these drug prices. i didn't hear any screams or hollers for our veterans, and doing this for veterans is happening in other countries. why do exactly the same drugs made in the united states, sold in canada for a fraction of the cost? because the canadian government negotiated, just like the veterans administration in the

united states, reasonable prices for canadian citizens. now we're doing the same thing, finally, after decades of promise, it's happening. this notion that the top ten drugs under medicare are now going to be negotiated so we can bring prices within the reach of the government and individuals is simply an extension of what we've been doing at the v.a. for years. and i have to tell you it makes a difference, a serious difference. imagine that the biden-harris proposal not only allows negotiating prices down to a reasonable level for medicare, but it also says you in medicare are limited to a $2,000 annual expenditure for prescription drugs. $2,000 is a lot of money. for a lot of people it's a hardship to come up with that kind of money. but it's within their reach for most americans to come up with that amount of money. we know that otherwise prescription drugs are too darned expensive for them.

some call it social, i call it the american approach to helping families, a realistic approach that says pharmaceutical drugs should be aaffordable. if i understand the senator from kentucky, he thinks it's a mistake. and we want to help those who are no in medicare. six years ago i visited venezuela, a once prosperous, albeit imperfect democracy suffering terrible political decline. as we drove around, the person from the embassy said, notice the belts that the people of caracas are wearing, particularly how long and how long the belt is, how many notches are put in the belt.

the people are starving because of the president maduro. i told president maduro that the election there would only be credible if it was honest. he went ahead with a dishonest election anyway. there was an exodus of millions of people fleeing oppression and economic collapse. venezuela held another election where the regime blocked key opposition candidates from the ballot and tried to undermine the preelectoral process. this is an indication of what is going on. this is a venezuela candidate who left the country even though it was clear from the results we were able to glean from the venezuelan election, he was the

winner. 10 million venezuelans had peacefully voted, it was documented by montors -- monitors shows that the opposition candidate won. instead the maduro government issued arrests. enough-this madness, enough of this outright theft of the venezuelan voters overwhelming choice for a better future. i introduced a simple two-page bill terminating all u.s. petroleum cooperation with venezuela until the legitimate results of the election are respected. i also filed it as an amendment to the nafd nafd. -- national defense authorization act. under my bill, maduro's

financial strength will end. are we going to do business as usual with a dictator who ignores the result of a freely held election? i also appealed to our democratic allies in the region, including the democracy of in the reason on. they cannot idly by for another six years of regime inflicted suffering in venezuela. our neighbors in venezuela deserve better. on a separate topic, over the past three years something profound happened on the floor of the senate. we've been building one of the most important accomplishments of the biden-harris administration, the confirmation of highly qualified, evenhanded judges for the federal bench. to date we have confirmed 208 judges to lifetime positions on the federal judiciary during my

time in the judiciary committee. we have had -- exactly divided senate in history, and i had -- have a nrao majority. this highlights the senate judiciary committee and to fill vacancies with highly qualified diverse candidates. this is an historic slate of judges we have approved who will rule with reason and restraint. they respect the rule of law, adhere to precedent and answer only to the constitution. i served on the senate judiciary committee for more than two decades including as chair for the past three and a half years. during that time i have evaluated and voted on more than 1,000 judicial nominees. the record is clear, president biden's nominees to the federal bench represent the best. every single one -- every single one of president biden's 208

judges so far has received at least a qualified rating from the american bar association, an indication that their peers find them to be high in integrity, competence and judicial temperament. something that also stands out about president biden's nominees, aside from the exceptional qualifications is the professional and demographic diversity they bring. we've made history in the senate judiciary committee and in the senate confirming more black women to the federal circuit courts than all of the previous presidents of the united states combined. and, of course, we confirmed the first ever black woman to serve on the supreme court, justice ketanji brown jackson with hispanic spanish month this weekend, i would like to celebrate hispanic judges approved. we confirmed jeanette vargas.

the senate has confirmed 37 hispanic judges under president biden, mofrn o'more than -- more than any other judge in history. in my home state, judge nancy maldanado became the first-ever hispanic judge to serve on the seventh circuit. in the past three years we've confirmed more public defenders as circuit judges than all prior presidents combined. there's nothing wrong with the former prosecutor being a federal judge. i voted for dozens of them and i'm sure they're competent and doing a good job, but if we want balance on the bench, we should make sure we have diversity and professional background. another notable aspect of this record is that the jas majority -- vast majority,

nearly 90% of the judges approved during the biden administration have been bipartisan, these includes three-quarters of the appellate nominees. i want to thank my several republican colleagues who joined us in good faith to make this happen. this focus on qualified consensus nominees will go a long way to restore trust in the judiciary, people want judges who look like america and understand america in all of its form, we are committed to above all faithfully follow the constitution. the people of america deserve nothing less. 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.

today members are working on tuesday judicial in the circuit court nominee, congress is considering a funding deadline as well and must pass funding

into spending legislation by september 30 to avoid a shutdown. wednesday house speaker mike johnson said he would pull continuing funding saying there were some disagreements in his caucus, you are watching live coverage here on c-span2. they must unite on the most important goal keeping the government open and a temporary extension for funding. we all know is not a substitute for the appropriation process but rather a tool to give us more time for the appropriators to do their work, unfortunately in this body democratic and republican appropriators have a very good track record of working together.

in divided government the only way congress has been able to pass cr is through bipartisan cooperation, we've seen that again and again, and again, the last two years. unfortunately house republicans have regrettably forgotten that lesson, about a week ago they introduced the six-month cr from the first proved to be unserious partisan and insufficient and given what's happened in the house in the last few days it is becoming clearer and clearer that only a bipartisan solution will work, we've been saying this all along but the events of the past few days even further confirm just how much it is true. a real proposal for avoiding the shutdown will be the one that both sides ride together the house republicans wrote their cr behind closed doors and without any input from the democratic leader in the house, the president, myself or any of the democratic appropriators a real proposal for avoiding the

shutdown would avoid poison pills but house republicans wrote their cr with poison pills brought in whip. center great time for me to see familiar faces and to meet new folks as well. mr. president, i spent a lot of these summer days listening because what i hear from south dakotans informs a lot of work that i do here in the united states senate. in howard, south dakota, i heard from health care professionals about some of the important programs that help them provide health care in rural areas. home builders in the sioux falls area told me about the headwinds they face from the biden-harris administration's overregulation which has made building new

homes more difficult and expensive. and agricultural producers express frustration that congress has not passed an updated farm bill, a frustration that i share. i've been pushing hard for congress to take up a bill and will continue to do everything that i can to advance this legislation. another extension is no substitute for the certainty and updated farm bill would give farmers and ranchers as they make plans for the future and getting it done should be a priority for congress. traveling around south dakota gives me the chance to meet the people who keep our communities going. i dropped in to hear from local officials in leola and i toured south dakota's state nursing simulation centers in brookings. i visited the liberty center in box elder and saw the work the

community does to make the area a welcoming place for members at ellis worth air force base. whether it's a quick bite at ricky's restaurant in roscoe or of course the tubby burger at the brown county fair i know i can always find good food to keep me fueled wherever i'm traveling in south dakota. and what would the summer be without a few celebrations? i was out in rapid city for the annual military appreciation barbecue. i joined the fourth pier 4th of july parade and i was back in my hometown of murdo celebrating the 70th anniversary of the legendary auto show in honoring the life of the museum owner who passed away earlier this year. i had the opportunity, mr. president, to travel with my family, the black hills and we made stops in spearfish canyon and hill city and keystone, lake

paktola, spearfish, among other places. mr. president, this summer was also notable for the successes of south dakota's athletes. it was great to see two south dakotans competing in the olympics and paralympics this year. sioux falls native terren clothe competed in volleyball and miles made history as the first american to medal in badminton at the paralympics bringing home the silver medal in fixed doubles. the sioux falls little league made it to the little league world series this summer and by all accounts they played well in williamsport. they should be proud of their success and i'm glad to hear they were able to befriend fellow players around the country around the world along the way. it was great to be in brookings this past weekend for the south dakota state jack rabbit's home

opener as they look to defend their back to back national titles this season. mr. president, summer is a wonderful time in south dakota and it's a privilege to be able to spend part of it exploring our great state. the sunshine on the open prairie, the smell of the ponderosa pine and the good people that i meet along the way remind me how lucky i am to be a south dakota dakotan and what an honor it is to represent this special place in the united states senate. mr. president, i yield the floor and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

terry. the partnership and collaboration between our adversaries increases the likelihood it would expand multiple fronts causing simultaneous demands on u.s. allied. it's a sobering assessment to go along. the question is, what are we

willing to do about it? our constitutional duty, we have the responsibility with our requirements and strategies to ensure purity. unfortunately what we must do for this administration. it has observed biden's either budget nor convert after delivering who your top five

funding and back on august 1. your budget request no closer to become law. the his spirit is the defense authorization act and schedule for more time so it's one thing to request expert analysis. it's another to do the project work the analysis prescribes two and so-called price gouging. the echoes already attracted

attention lead optical are back to find an example. the biden administration used similar language in combat price gouging for pharmaceutical treatment and so far socialism is not working out too well. nearly 3.5 million are expected to pay higher as a result of this proposed but that doesn't stop them. last month the administration released the price selected for its coercive program.

when you dig into the details it sounds less like a negotiation finishing the. they have two choices. they can withdraw entirely. i remember this policy in patients left with lifesaving tears. they will discontinue certain controlled trials for cancer medications and financial penalties get biden and harris

last month president biden one of the road with this initiative and i was proud to partner with them but isn't reckoned with estimates that illuminate nine times the amount for cancer research. he has a reckoned with the inflation reduction act and nine times the amount of funding for cancer research. vice president harris bragged about her role. i can't imagine a rare disease diagnosis you will is out local

parties in both chambers must unite on the most important goal keeping the government open with the temporary extension of temporary funding. not a substitute for the process but rather a tool to give time for the appropriators to do the work the only way congress has been able to pass his bipartisan flow great. we seen it again and again and again. house republicans have forgotten. be unserious partisan and insufficient.

it is becoming clear and clear. the events of the past few days confirm. we have a proposal without any input from the democrat leader in the house of the appropriators, or real close and they know this doesn't work. entering our national and in his state official extension, house

republicans to build a case can on the road for half a year. that is no way to go. slow down everything this will hurt new military contracts enclosed immense uncertainty and cost increases so i urge figure johnson to step aside to see our proposal. with lost one week. we all know what we need to do to make sure our government does not shut down. we need a bipartisan bill.ni off objection. mr. schatz: mr. president,

congress has one task over the next two weeks, and it is relatively straightforward. to keep the government open and avoid a pointless and costly shutdown that would hurt most americans. and as we do that, there is one priority that we can't afford to neglect or punt. and that is providing disaster aid to communities across the country that are still waiting. all across our country and more than 20 states and territories, millions of americans are reeling from disasters. wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods. and having lost their homes, their communities, their livelihoods, they count on the federal government to help. for people on maui, help is

needed immediately. more than a year after the deadly fires that levelled an entire town, claimed 102 lives, and stole just about everything from those lucky enough to survive, nothing is normal yet. survivors in temporary housing are being forced to move every few months. many have moved five times in the last year shattering any semblance of stability that they've been able to cobble together. meanwhile, not a single home has been rebuilt so far, not a single home has been rebuilt so far. that's a dire emergency for any community in any scenario, but it's especially worrying given temporary housing assistance

from fema is due to expire in five months. the long and difficult recovery is squeezing survivors in other ways as well. with fewer jobs and smaller paychecks, people are having to figure out whether they can afford the most basic necessities. a recent poll of maui wildfire victims found that 70% of survivors are cutting back on food and groceries. 70% cutting back on food in the united states of america. and more than half are cutting back on medicine and other health care expenses. and so it's no surprise that people whose families have lived on maui for generations are considering giving up and leaving the island altogether. and worse, thousands more are on the cusp of doing the same.

for a full recovery it needs its people. for lahaina to recover, it needs its people. what those people need right now is tangible help, help with building a home, with finding a job, with rebuilding their small businesses, the kind of help that will finally provide a reprieve from the constant worrying about what's next and hope that a better future awaits them after months of unimaginable suffering. providing that kind of help and relief to our fellow americans in their hour of need is central to the promise of the federal government. there are not that many things that the federal government absolutely must do. there are not that many things that the federal government absolutely must do, but one of them is when there is a disaster and a state or a county or an island or a reservation or a

town is devastated by a natural disaster and the impact of that natural disaster exceeds the ability for that local unit of government to handle it, the president declares a disaster. and then fema comes in. after that hud comes in with the support of the congress. through a program called community development block grants disaster recovery. what does that mean? it is flexible funding for those communities to re bbuild. fema came to the table and did the disaster response. now we have to recover. people are not recovered. people are not recovered. and so we have an opportunity not to do something extraordinary but to do something absolutely essential. we have an opportunity not to pass the civil rights act but to do the thing that congress always does.

do the thing that congress always does which is when a community get, flattened -- gets flattened, we're there. now the good news is that even though the house proposal for a continuing resolution sort of fell flat on its face for other reasons, because it was six months and because it had this other nonsense in it, it did have $10 billion for disaster recovery. now, that was a very narrow program called the disaster relief fund which absolutely needs those dollars. but the house position, the republican house position is to fund disaster relief in the continuing resolution. we've got the chair and the ranking member in the united states senate and the chair and the ranking member in the united states house of the appropriations committee saying they want to do disaster relief. we are not fighting about this as a partisan issue. we are not fighting about this as a partisan issue.

so we have an opportunity again not to do something unusual but to do the thing that we've always done. what would be unusual is to keep communities waiting for years now, years now. wildfires in new mexico. unfortunately there are some wildfires in nevada as we speak. 20 states waiting on help. mississippi, texas, florida. all over the country these communities need help. a lot of stuff we do is really hard. a lot of stuff we do is really par partisan. this is neither of those things. we just have to decide that among the things that the federal government does is that we come to the table for any american when a disaster hits. let's get this done. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins.

the clerk: mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo.

the clerk: 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. helmy. 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. 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 -- bennet, collins, graham, lujan, merkley, peters, schumer, tester. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, hagerty, johnson, lee, marshall, paul, ricketts, thune. the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye.

mr. sullivan, no. ms. hirono, aye. mrs. capito, no.

mr. durbin, aye. mr. coons, aye. mr. fetterman, aye.

ms. murkowski, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

mr. whitehouse, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye.

mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. ms. hassan, aye.

the clerk: ms. smith, aye. mr. wicker, no. mr. markey, aye.

mr. helmy, aye.

mr. tillis, no. mr. romney, no. mrs. murray, aye.

mr. kaine, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. mr. king, aye. mr. cornyn, no. mr. van hollen, aye.

mr. blumenthal, aye. mrs. shaheen, aye. ms. stabenow, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. warnerkevin gaff.

the clerk: mr. risch, no. the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye. mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. the clerk: mr. schatz, aye. mr. tuberville, no. mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: ms. butler, aye. mr. welch, aye. mr. hoeven, no. mr. sanders, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. cruz, no. the clerk: mr. daines, no.

mrs. hyde-smith, no. the clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: mr. moran, no. mr. schmitt, no. the clerk: mr. murphy, aye. mr. grassley, no.

the clerk: mr. cotton, no. mr. budd, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. wyden, aye. ms. lummis, no.

mr. manchin, aye. mr. braun, no.

mr. scott of florida, no. mr. casey, aye. mr. boozman, no.

mr. rubio, no. mr. padilla, aye.

mr. brown, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, no.

the clerk: mr. crapo, no.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. 34r mr. cassidy, no. mr. cassidy, no.

working vote:

the clerk: mr. carper, aye.

the clerk: mr. barasso, no. mr. mullin, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 54, the nays are 41 and the nomination is confirmed. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the ritz nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, kevin gafford ritz, of tennessee, to be united states circuit jujt for the -- judge for the sixth

circuit. the presiding officer: the senator for texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, it's no secret that the senate has a long to-do list this month. the national defense authorization bill, the farm bill, and all 12 appropriations bills should be signed into law before the end of this month. but with nine working days left on the schedule, we all know that's likely not to happen. but these deadlines are not a surprise. we've known about them for a long, long time, and many of them, like government funding, come up every year, as well as the ndaa, which we've done for

60-plus years in a row. but despite that, we find ourselves staring down the barrel at the end of the fiscal year without a clear direction from leader schumer on how he intends to see that the government is funded. it's astounding that the monumental task of funding the government has lingered in purgatory on the senate calendar as the democratic leader chooses to spend this limited time on political show votes and a number of partisan nominees. i would also like to remind this chamber what the democratic leader has wasted the senate's time voting on this year. we voted on things like protecting access to contraception, not in dispute. ivf, in vitro fertilization, not in dispute. neither of which are under any

kind of threat, but we had to have a show vote to try to gain political advantage in the runnup to the november 5 election. even if the narrative supporting the vote outcome is a false narrative. we also voted on sweeping tax policy in a bill that never went through a single committee in the senate and received zero input on the republican side. and we voted again on a border bill that didn't address major contributors to the massive illegal immigration we've seen during this administration. the majority leader has scheduled these show votes to give his political incumbents a political lifeline, putting politics over doing the most basic things that the senate should be doing. we've spent weeks voting on biden-harris administration

controversial nominees, many of whom are unqualified to fill the jobs that they've been nominated to. this political gamesmanship when there's so much work remains to be done wastes time and it's an opportunity cost. so let me just put this in greater context. it's not for lack of effort on behalf of senate committees, both the senate appropriations committee and the senate armed services committee have done their work in a bipartisan matter. on appropriations, chair murray and vice chair collins have made serious progress on the appropriations bills. virtually all of them have passed out of the appropriations committee with either unanimous support or strong bipartisan support. the majority leader could have put those bills on the floor

last july, not nine days before a government shutdown, but he chose not to do it. so he points the finger of blame at our colleagues in the house of representatives who are trying to figure this out but this is a wholly manmade disaster in the making and it could have been avoided. we could have been voting on funding bills months ago instead of days, weeks and be months creeping by without even an inch of progress. these are the bills, like the national defense authorization a act, for example, that pay our servicemembers, ensure government operations, big and small, continue day to day. and i would say that the work done by the senate committees on a bipartisan basis is not necessarily easy work.

it takes a lot of time and consideration by our colleagues on the appropriations and armed services committee, but the majority leader has sabotaged this productive bipartisan work by imposing a part-time work schedule in the senate. it doesn't give us much time to maneuver or much time to debate, vote on and pass legislation. when the senate is in recess, which we've just come off of for about six weeks, committees can't meet, and it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to solve the biggest problems facing our country, of which there are many. there's also this newfound phenomenon under the majority leader's schedule called recess mondays. this means the senate doesn't even come back to washington until tuesday, and then we are

gone thursday afternoon. it's hard to get real work done working part time. how on earth are members of the various committees and subcommittees supposed to debate, amend, and advance 12 funding bills when the senate's only working two and a half days a week? with this type of schedule, there simply are not enough hours for our colleague to complete the mountain of work ahead of him, and our current posture shows the folly of this approach, including today, we're only scheduled to be in session nine days before adjourning for october, the entire month of october, just after coming off of a six-week break. again, chairman murray and vice chair collins both said repeatedly they want us to return to the normal appropriations process, not this contrived narrative of an

imminent government shutdown, with all that that would entail. so, i want to say, i appreciate the good work that's been done by our colleagues on the armed services committee and on the appropriations committee. again, this is not easy. these are huge, important, challenging issues that they have debated and voted on, and produced bills that now await the majority leader's scheduling them on the senate floor. but because of the leader's inability, or rather unwillingness, to plan, we may end up kicking the can down the road in the form of a continuing resolution. for those listening, a continuing resolution just meaning the status quo. it means just moving the deadline farther down the road. we'll still have to deal with

these issues again, perhaps in december, perhaps in march, depending on how long the continuing resolution is. but it's somewhat embarrassing to be a member of the world's greatest deliberative body and to find ourselves in this situation once again. and again, this isn't a su surprise. this isn't something that just popped up. we know what the deadline, is and we know that we should have been doing our work a lot earlier. well, there's no question that stopgap bills are better than a shutdown, but just barely. it isn't a perfect solution, especially for critical missions like defense. as the presiding officer knows, during continuing resolution, the pentagon can't engage in any new starts and basically can't plan beyond the time frame of

the continuing resolution. yet we know there are wars raging in ukraine, in the middle east, and threats in the indo-pacific and in places like north korea. this is the most dangerous environment that our country has seen since world war ii. don't you think we would want to be able to fund the government on a timely basis so that the pentagon can plan, so they didn't have to worry about the government shutdowns? don't you think we would take up the national defense authorization bill that again passed out of committee months ago and has been available for floor action. this is the most basic function of the senate when it comes to national defense, is passing the

national defense authorization bill, but we're not going to do it because there simply isn't time. i appreciate our colleagues in the house trying to figure out how to handle this under difficult circumstances. again, completely unnecessary. but i think we all understand that government shutdowns are not in anybody's best interests. we know that the problem that caused the shutdown is still going to be there staring you in the face when government reopens, and the truth is it's a whole lot more expensive and disruptive than it needs to be. so the bottom line is this -- we have a duty and responsibility to pass a full-year on-time appropriation bill. that is the bare minimum of governing. short-term funding bills don't allow for long-term planning or stability when it comes to important functions like national defense, or any other aspect of the federal government. but it's unfortunate we're in

this situation, because the majority leader, who's the only person who can schedule action on the floor, has given us so few session days in which to consider these critical bills. strengthening defense, funding the government, and safeguarding our supply of food and fiber, these are essential through the welfare of our country. the way the senate has been run under the current management is no way to treat its most basic responsibilities, and i can only hope that come november there'll be a new management, elected by the american people, because they don't have to put up with the status quo. they can change it. that's one of the great things about democracy. democracies are capable of course correction. when they don't like the direction you're heading in, they can change it, and they can do that at the ballot box starting on november 5.

mr. president, i yield the

both must unite keeping the government open with temporary extension of federal funding in the resolution is not part of the process, whether a tool to give us more time to be appropriators to do their work unfortunately in this body at least democratic and republican appropriators had a very good track record of working together in divided government and the only way congress has been able to pass cr is through bipartisan cooperation we've seen that again and again, and again, the last two years, unfortunately house republicans have

regrettably forgotten that lesson, about a week ago they introduced the six-month cr from the first proved to be unserious partisan and insufficient and again, what happened in the house and the last few days it is becoming clearer and clearer that only a bipartisan solution will work. we have been saying this all along but the events of the past few days further confirm how much it is true. a new proposal for avoiding a shutdown would be the one together the house republicans with their cr behind closed doors with any input from the democratic leader in the house, the president myself or any of the democratic appropriators, real proposal for avoiding the shutdown would avoid poison pills the house republicans wrote their cr with poison pills front and center they know perfectly well this approach does not work.

a real proposal for avoiding the shutdown is one that does not hamstring our national defense. it does not weaken a border security and does not hurt our veterans and farmers and so many others. instead of a short-term extension of the deadline the house republicans released the bill that kicks the can down the road for half a year, that is no way to govern, in particular on military affairs it is no way to govern, you could not let it military with six months funding patch with house republicans need to propose, it would slow down everything, insufficient resources with recruitment and true pay increases in research, the six-month cr would hurt avoiding the awarding of new military contracts and cause immediate and immense uncertainty. and cost increases. i urge speaker johnson to set aside the cr proposal and try again with already lost one week in the three-week work.

, we all know what we need to do if we want to ensure the government does not shut down. we did a bipartisan bill, temporary extension, the democratic leader in the house and i are ready and willing to work with the speaker as we done before. now, on inflation. americans got another piece of excellent news in the fight against inflation, according to the department of labor the consumer price index is measured at 2.5% in august and the flowchart illustrates just that, two years ago two years after we passed the inflation reduction act and chips in science inflation has slowed to a

three-year low here's what was in 2022 and went from 8.3% when the chips in science act and the inflation reduction act were passed to 2.5% today. he. .

and make little easier. mental and they had, we know now. they voted no. republicans have the chance to impact jobs and open new fact in many still voted no back on the train to take these jobs. republicans without the, no plans, no attempts to fix our country's problems today's report shows democratic agenda is working for systematic.

look forward in a very positive. we have a lot of work still to do still need help make ends meet and save and provide for their families but we are on our way. on project 2025 more on about donald trump project more they realize devastating would be. shine a light on this agenda.

the most unhinged collection in modern history and when you dig even deeper part of 25 is even worse than that, it is like our great wish list, the most harmful policies imagine. eliminate his 2.9 billion student prescription drug during repealing the caps on insulin is on medicare and enacted into law

in lifesaving reform literally. brought in 2025 and it would kill the measure and report is when they are on their own. project 2025 what intensified and lay the groundwork for national portion them and monitor women's pregnancy and pushing state. and monitor women's pregnancy and freedom. give me a break. project 2025 would betray our veterans disability benefits defund the hospitals including the only da on long island.

spikes in mortgage rates. a hallmark of the american dream we should make it harder for people to own homes and that is precisely what 205. the trump agenda trump administration and many would be part of a psychic trump administration so make no mistake donald trump returns to the white house project 2025. would you and we are all in danger should that occur.

>> i like to begin by reminding our colleagues of this work. for fiscal 2022 and produce a panel that will experts the bipartisan commission on the national defense energy commission was tasked with the biden administration national defense strategy to conduct an independent assessment of the defense report should note like

and the defense station coming here. r: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is approved. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 778. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. those opposed no. the:the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it the the motion is approved. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, mary kathleen costello of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania. mr. schumer: 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 move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 778, mary kathleen costello of pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the eastern district of pennsylvania signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, september 12, be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, from the moment the maga supreme court reversed roe as donald trump promised they would, many of us warned that the hard right would not stop there in eliminating reproductive freedoms. over the past few months we've seen how ivf has become the hard right's next target. a few months ago the alabama supreme court jeopardized access to ivf within their state causing millions of americans --

millions of women and couples to fear that even their freedom to start a family was now in danger. so in june democrats brought forward legislation to ensure ivf access would never be at risk. is and expand insurance coverage for this treatment but almost every single senate republican voted against this vital legislation are to have access to ivf. republicans be can't claim to be pro-family only to block protections for ivf. the american people deserve another chance to see if republicans are for access to ivf or against it. it's that simple. so next week, mr. president, the senate will vote once again to take up the very same bill we voted on earlier this summer, establishing a nationwide right to ivf and making it easier for people to access this critical treatment. our bill should have passed in june and it is more than good enough to pass now.

so let me say it again. republicans can't claim to be pro-family on one hand only to block pro-family policies like federal protections for ivf and the child tax credit. but that's what they did this summer and i hope we get a different outcome when we vote for a second time. the american people will be watching. 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.

details pledged to implement at the grocery store and and price gouging. it echoes propaganda it's very attractive attention we don't have to go too far back. a similar language that describes another combat in the market for lifesaving treatment but so far not working out too well.

3.5 billion expected to pay higher adam cost as a result of the administration's proposed but that haven't stopped them. the first ten selected. and they have two choices participating medicaid and medicare. remember the real losers vulnerable patients lifesaving

cures. the reef inflation reduction act. last month biden went on the road on this initiative, and punishment was proud that he assessments on the inflation reduction act to eliminate funding for cancer research and say that again. he hasn't reckoned the estimates.

the role of the inflation reduction act and the kinne marriage and rare -- quorum call:

nine this started to change. the families and dignity to seniors. social security one of the most

popular in the states. respected by families across the america. the spare bedroom and if they don't. socialism actually paid for healthcare but they are living longer because of social security? what are we going to do about it?

health insurance program for senior citizens. when it started, a dramatic change in healthcare in america is country. medicare made a difference processing it -- socialism of course medicaid came on the heels as well facing the same challenge. we hear it time and again. criticize efforts to lower the total cost across america. prescription drug socialism any

effort to the average family try to get by trying to greater. it's going to stifle the position. virtually every drug difference across america started with government research the basic research for every single one of these drugs is much as i wish the pharmaceutical theory well bargaining with the government

to get them started for profitable rocks in the second thing that the republican leader did not mention it aloud veterans administration negotiate drug prices. the theory was veterans deserve the best and be able to afford as a government and as individuals helping our veterans. virtually the same thing in other countries they negotiated just like the veterans administration in the united states. now we are doing the same thing

the government and for what we are doing it makes a difference. imagine the biden-harris proposal is as you and medicare are limited to $2000 annual prescription drugs it's a lot to come up with that kind of money but within reach. we know that drugs otherwise are too expensive. call socialism.

i called the american approach to healthy families. realistic approach says suitable drug should be affordable a big mistake, i think it's a breakthrough we can express his gratitude for my remarks 2018, i visited venezuela in perfect democracy suffering little different. take a look at something you might not notice. notice how long -- s. blackburn: quorum call in. the presiding officer: we are indeed. mrs. blackburn: i ask that we dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr.

president. it is really so unfortunate and really quite sad that i have to come to the floor today and speak because today the senate democrat leadership is moving forward with a vote that undermines the long-standing bipartisan traditions that this institution relies upon to serve the american people and, indeed, for each of us to be able to serve the citizens of our state. in just a few moments, the democrat leadership is going to move forward with a cloture vote on a judicial nominee, kevin ritz, whose home state senators, which are senator hagerty and me, were not properly consulted by the white house during his nomination process. the consultation process between

home state senators and the white house on judicial nominees is essential to ensuring that a nominee is well-suited to serve on the federal bench. it is a part of our duty to provide advice and consent. of course, senator hagerty and i attempted to work in good faith with the biden-harris administration to identify highly qualified nominees to fill the vacancy -- the tennessee vacancy -- on the sixth circuit. we presented well-qualified nominees, yet contrary to bipartisan president, the white house barely even worked with us.

apparently what became quite evident was this white house, the biden-harris administration, prefer backroom deals to open deliberation. this administration prefers a backroom deal to hearing the voice of the people from a state. this administration prefers backroom deals as opposed to consi considering, considering nominees who have chosen to step forward and go through a nomination process with full transparency. to be sure, this vote is all the more painful because mr. ritz is deeply unsuited to serve on the

federal bench. that is not just something that i say. these are comments that have come to us from dozens, dozens of tennesseans. in our country, every individual accused of a crime is entitled to due process of law. that is a bedrock principle of our justice system. yet, as a federal prosecutor and u.s. attorney for the western district of tennessee, mr. ritz has repeatedly flouted basic professional ethics. mr. ritz, for example, has been accused of using highly unethical bait and switch tactics to trick indigent criminal defendants into accepting plea deals that they didn't agree to.

and when defense attorneys pushed back on him, mr. ritz has been accused of making outright false statements to the court to cover up his misdeeds. indeed, mr. ritz has chosen to surround himself with those who seemingly treat their ethical obligations with disdain. mr. ritz' deputy, for example, received a one-year probation for prosecutorial misconduct. to be clear, mr. ritz' record of unethical conduct is not my only objection to his nomination. there are tennesseans who for these same reasons have come to us to object to his nomination. now, under his watch, as the chief federal law enforcement officer, the city of memphis has

tragically become one of the most dangerous places to live in the united states. in 2023, memphis had the most homicides in its history and continues to lead the nation in homicide rates this year. now there is a reason for this, and i think it is a reason that this chamber needs to hear. and it is not a reason that is supposition. it is a reason that is grounded in statistics and fact, and it is a reason that citizens in tennessee, in shelby county, in the western district have raised to us. because they are concerned about crime, they're concerned about

what is happening in their communities. they're concerned about juvenile crime and the rapes that are there. now here is their reason. and this is instructive to the chamber as we consider this vote. as i said, memphis has become one of the most dangerous places to live in the united states of america. in 2023, memphis had the most homicides in its history and continues to lead the nation in homicide rates this year. and here comes your reason. under mr. ritz's predecessor, the u.s. attorney's office in

memphis had a policy of charging 100% of prosecutable gun crimes. they charged them all. yet, under his watch, mr. ritz has failed to uphold that prosecutorial standard which helped keep memphians and keep dangerous criminals locked up behind bars. and here is an example for you. mr. ritz's office failed to charge an individual with unlawful possession of a firearm, so this guy gets out and he goes on and he murders a memphis police officer. so when we hear about violent

crime and our, the people we represent and we love are saying do something about violent crime, they want these criminals locked up but if you're not going to charge them with prosecutable gun crimes they are not going to be locked up, and they're going to do like this criminal in memphis and they're going to go out and they're going to murder. and the unfortunate thing is in memphis they murdered a memphis police officer. no one deserves a promotion, especially to one of the highest courts in the country. a lifetime appointment with a track record like mr. ritz. just because the white house wants to ignore this fact doesn't mean that the senate should ignore this fact.

listen to the voices of tennesseans who have reached out to us and who have said to us he does not deserve this seat. i would urge all of my colleagues to oppose this reckless, unqualified nominee. 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.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i ask that we vitiate the quorum call and proceed with the roll call vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. capito: thank you. 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 the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 649, kevin gafford ritz of tennessee to be united states circuit judge for

the sixth circuit, 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 kevin gafford ritz of tennessee to be the united states circuit judge for the sixth circuit 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.

the clerk: mr. cassidy ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. 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. helmy. 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. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. 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.

the clerk: 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 -- baldwin, blumenthal, coons, cortez masto, durbin, gillibrand, hassan, murphy, murray, ossoff, peters, reed, schatz, schumer, shaheen, smith, warren, and welch. mr. carper, aye. mr. cardin, aye. mr. helmy, aye. mr. kaine, aye.

mr. brown, aye. senators voting in the negative -- blackburn, britt, budd, capito, cassidy, cotton, fischer, grassley, hyde-smith, johnson, mcconnell, mullin, murkowski, ricketts, schmitt, thune, tillis, and young. ms. collins, no. mr. barasso, no. mr. wyden, aye.

ms. lummis, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. fetterman, aye. mr. casey, aye. mr. risch, no. mr. crapo, no.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. paul, no. mr. booker, aye. mr. markey, aye. ms. hirono, aye.

mr. merkley, aye. mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye. mr. cornyn, no. mr. padilla, aye. mr. tuberville, no.

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

the clerk: mr. butler, aye. mr. van hollen, aye.

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

vote:

the clerk: ms. sinema, no.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. mr. cruz, no. mr. manchin, aye.

mr. hoeven, no. mr. whitehouse, aye. ms. klobuchar, aye.

mr. romney, no. mr. warner, aye. mr. boozman, no. mr. scott of south carolina, no.

mr. lankford, no.

mr. hagerty, no.

the clerk: mr. graham, no.

mr. king, aye. mr. hawley, no.

ms. stabenow, aye.

vote:

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

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas are 50. the nays are 42. the motion is agreed to.

the kids had some of the activities which it did because you love them and they needed help and they cannot take care of themselves. in 1935 is started to change frank and eleanor roosevelt said it's time for us to get back to her family's he created a program called social security one of the most popular programs in the united states he don't have many candidates for president standing up and saying how to cut social security benefits you it's worshiped and respected and followed by

families across america the critics in the creation of social security call it socialism, socialism, too much government, leave us alone that mom and dad live in the spare bedroom and acutely during their lifetime, they do it fine, they don't find to, socialism, fast-forward to the 1960s, now we have a new concern however, we going to pay for the healthcare seniors because they're living longer because of social security what are we going to do about it it was a concern in washington the cost of medical care senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: is the senate currently in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not, senator. mr. lankford: thank you. madam president, having been a topic of conversation for the past month or so, immigration

and the border. so i wanted to come to this body to say the immigration issues are still unresolved. but there's been a lot of rewriting of what actually has happened in the past year and all negotiations. vice president harris made a comment publicly just a few weeks ago in which she said, let me be clear. after decades in law enforcement, i know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border. the last year joe and i brought together democrats and conservative republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. i mean no disrespect to the vice president, but we had four months of negotiations. she neither initiated those negotiations nor participated in a single second of those negotiations. not one second. the vice president and staff was never involved in any of the negotiations. the negotiations took four months because the people that sat down at the table all determined we're in a very bad

place. we need to resolve the chaos that's happening at our southern border. for the first six weeks of those negotiations, the white house refused to participate at all in the negotiation, either from the president's staff, the president or the vice president or vice president's staff. so for the first six weeks of the four months of negotiations, the white house didn't want to discuss it. after six weeks, the white house then got involved in the negotiations. so it was three senators and the white house to be able to walk through that. and then again for the next three months of our negotiations, it was a constant fight to get anything agreed to to secure our southern border. what we came up with and was the final agreement wasn't everything that i wanted, but it was enough to at least begin to make a change at what was happening at our southern border. it was a pretty straightforward process. asylum is very difficult to achieve. only about 3% of the people that actually go through the hearings

actually achieve asylum, but you don't find out that until usually six or eight years after you've already been here and have already gone through this long process. so now we have thousands of people crossing our border asking for asylum not because they believe they qualify, but because they know they'll stay here somewhere between 6 and 10 years while they wait for the hearing and they at least get a decade in america and then many of them then disappear. so what we could get to agreement was when you cross the border, you would cross the border, first person each day, they would have a much faster screening that would take hours or days and they would be screened at the standard that was at the end. so instead of waiting six or eight years or ten years to get that final decision, you would get it rapidly. so the first person that would cross each day would cross, would be quickly screened under a brand-new process and then 97% of them would be deported immediately because they don't qualify for asylum, and everyone

knows the joke. so first day, first person you cross, quickly screened under a new process, deported immediately. but if we got 5,000 people crossing, we don't have enough staff to screen that many people, so we created a bored emergency authority that if you cross the border and you've got 5,000 people flooding the border and we don't have the staffing to do it, no one gets screened. you just get arrested and deported. so first person crossed, screened, deported. if we're overwhelmed by the cartels with high numbers, you just are deported immediately and no one is screened. that's what we could finally come up with in this agreement. now i have to tell you, i felt like that would dramatically slow the flow at our southern border and it would deal with the core issue that is the abuse of asylum. but there are a lot of issues i couldn't get agreement on that, quite frankly, many of my colleagues on the republican side were very frustrated that we couldn't make progress on. some of those very commonsense things.

for instance, if you're going to to request asylum, you have to request asylum at a port of entry. you can't come across the border between the ports of entry and the open desert or swim the river and then say when you get caught, oh, i want asylum. it was obvious you were trying to sneak into the country and you're saying if you're a true asylum seeker and you believe you're requesting asylum, come to a port of entry. we thought that was a pretty commonsense thing to say. we'll expedite your process if you come to a port, not if we have to chase you. i couldn't get that agreement. my democratic colleagues would not agree to that. that was a great frustration on the republican side. we wanted to be able to require the remain in mexico program. the supreme court had already spoken in and said that had to be done. it was not being done. so that if we were flooded with people, they're not waiting for eight or ten years here. they're actually waiting in another country to be able to come through the process. they would still get their appointment. my democratic colleagues would

have none of that. we also wanted an end to the two big parole programs that the biden administration has created. one of them is called cbp-1. if you come to a port of entry and tell dhs ahead of time i'm coming, then dhs, when you arrive at the port of entry will quickly give you paperwork, will give you a work permit that day and will release you into the country for a decade as you await your hearing. it was a fast-track process into the country that was actually inviting more people to illegally cross into the country. we now have 1500 people a day coming through that process. we have no idea if they qualify for asylum because they're not being screened for asylum. we wanted an end to that process because we felt like it's actually inviting more illegal immigration rather than trying to deter it. and it's not just us that's saying that. the inspector general for the department of homeland security made this statement.

they felt that cbp did not gather intelligence or conduct sufficient analysis of data generated by cbp-1 appointments to protect against fraudulent applications and misuse and public safety threats. that's not us saying that. that's the inspector general saying that. we wanted an end to that program. through the negotiations that were long and hard, i got agreement that that program would end. that we would put a stop to that program. but there was a second program called the chnv program. this is 30,000 people a month that are coming in. these are folks from cuba, haiti, nicarauga and venezuela. 30,000 a month. this was another program that was holy created out of the -- wholly created out of the biden administration that never existed in any other administration. it was a parole authority to say if you'll contact us before you come from one of these countries and someone here in the united

states will, quote-unquote, sponsor you or at least say i know them, then you can get into the country and be paroled into the country. this is not even an asylum request. this is just, you're just released into the country. we wanted to have a stop to that program as well because there's all kinds of issues with that program. but that one, my democratic colleagues would not agree to. and said no. we'll stop the cbp-1 parole program in. we won't stop the slowdown of cubans, haitians, nickans coming in -- nicaraguans coming in. the deal was supposedly that we would take in 30,000 of those folks and mexico would take in 30,000 of those folks. the problem is we've asked for the numbers that mexico has taken in, and so far state department won't give us an answer, dhs won't give us an

answer. as far as we can tell the mexican side has been zero while we have been 30,000. we felt there was a problem in the way the program was being run. and, by the way, again, we're not the only ones that think that. dhs itself shut down that program for part of this summer because they found what they called egregious fraud problems. that is some sponsors sponsoring dozens of people to be able to come in, and an overflow of individuals not being properly screened. there are major problems with the program. unfortunately the program has restarted again. why do i walk through this? i keep hearing this rewrite of history, that it was president trump himself that told all republicans it's a great deal but don't do it. there's no doubt president trump made a statement that it's not enough. he wanted everything in it, and he said don't do it. no question that statement was made.

but no question that belief was already shared by several folks on my side of the aisle saying we wanted an end to all these parole programs. we also want to stop applying between ports of entry and if you're going to apply only at ports of entry, and several of my colleagues said the house bill that was h.r. 2, it was that or nothing. they wanted everything or nothing. and suddenly this whole system falls apart. i stood here at this exact same spot saying to my colleagues on my side of the aisle we should do as much as we can do. this is as much as we can get right now with a democrat senate, with a democrat white house. let's do all we can to be able to stop it. obviously i didn't win that part of the debate. but i also don't want people rewriting history in what actually occurred in the debate, because there were serious issues that were unresolved in

the bill, that are still out there. my frustration is all of it is still out there. we still have the same issue with asylum, that this bill would have fixed. we still have the same issue between ports of entry that's still unfixed. and we still have not one of those parole programs, both of those parole programs happening. interestingly enough, in the last couple of months the numbers at the border have started slowing down. it's been very interesting. i don't know if you noticed even during the presidential debate that happened earlier this week, abc news asked vice president harris the numbers in border crossings for illegal immigration was very high during your first three years but seemed to have slowed down the closer we're getting to the election. why? she actually didn't answer that question at all. she totally skipped it, and abc news didn't follow up with her, shockingly, to be able to do a follow-up question to say you

didn't answer the initial question. you said everything else, but why? i can give you a couple of things on that. two things have occurred in this past few months. mexico has had their elections and we're having ours. and so suddenly mexico is starting to enforce their border a little better and this administration is forcing the border a little better with with the authorities they already have. when i say a little better, it's gone from 5,000 people illegally crossing a day to about 3,400 people illegally crossing a day. that number is still five times what was crossing during the obama administration. my request has been the same for president biden all along. if you won't enforce the border the same way president trump enforced it, at least enforce it the same way president obama enforced it. under president obama, we had half a million people illegally crossing a year. now we have 2.5 million people

illegally crossing in a year. same law, same exact law. enforced completely different. why is this an issue? it's not just an issue in our economy, not just an issue in our schools, not just an issue in crime in our communities. it's also a national security issue. in june, the fbi picked up eight isis-k affiliated that were in our country, had come across our southern border and asked for asylum. they were from tajikistan and they had gotten the quick review at the border and had been released like hundreds of thousands others had that same month. but these eight were different. they're isis-affiliated and they scattered around the country to philadelphia, new york, and los

angeles and began their plotting. i thankfully our fbi picked them up. but of the 2.5 million people that have crossed just last year, how many did we miss? i have been very outspoken on this issue. we move from the border issue being just an issue about how do we manage our own border and legal immigration to a national security issue. 3,400 people a day illegally crossing our border is still an epic high number. and while the media has looked away because now it's no longer 5,000 a day, 3,400 a day is still way too high. our system is still overwhelmed, and we still have tens of thousands of people coming in of what this administration calls special interest aliens.

that is folks that by their own definition are considered a national security threat. but there are so many, we don't have the opportunity to be able to follow all of them. that was those eight that were picked up that were isis affiliated. they had been designated as pegs interest aliens. -- as special interest aliens. thankfully we were later able to find them and pick them up. but there are thousands of them currently in the country. hopefully they mean us no harm. but currently we have no idea. that's something that needs to change. national security should not be a partisan issue. i understand it's an election year. this should not be a partisan issue. this should be a how do we fix this issue. this should be how do we resolve this issue.

and if the numbers are going down after i was told that the numbers were sky-high because of climate change, that was really the, what i was told by dhs. in fact, the white house in 2021 put out a report on climate change in migration, saying that we have dramatically increased numbers because of climate change. not because of lack of border enforcement. my response to them now is if the numbers are going down at the border, apparently the climate is getting better worldwide because the numbers are coming down.idea. it's not an issue of climate migration. if that occurs, the numbers go down, if it doesn't, the numbers skyrocket because we're the united states of america and people want to be able to be in the greatest country in the world, and i don't blame they we, as americans, also have the right to know that we live in security and the people that are

coming into our country, we know who they are, we know where they're from and we verify any kind of criminal background that may or may not be there. that is not an unreasonable request. one last thing. the house has passed what they call the save act and there is an ongoing debate. the save act just says if you're not legally present in the united states, you can't vote. now, it's already federal law that no one who is a noncitizen can vote in federal elections. that's already the law. that's the trust part though. there is no verify portion of this. one of the basic principles of trust and verify, right now we're all trust, it's against the law, but there is no verification. the save act just says wear only not going to trust that people who vote here, are legal, we

need to trust it. that should not be radical. that should be straightforward. i have been one of the folks to ask the current attorney general, can you show us any prosecutions or even attempt to prosecute citizens in the united states who are not legal citizens attempting to vote? we know there are those stories. we asked if they could tell us prosecutions. in oklahoma we have about 40 people every election across our state, they'll vote twice. they will do absentee voting, they show up again. you know what they get, a knock on the door from law enforcement saying you violated state law, you voted twice. we enforce our law that discourages people in the future from coming and trying that

again because they know they're being enforced so we thought it was a reasonable question to ask the attorney general how are you enforcing federal law in this area? it is not asking for something new. it is asking for something that exists, so far the attorney general after months of asking the question has not given us an answer. i look forward to the day that this body can sit down with each other and to say let'sle solve -- let's solve the national security issues. we all know they're there. we all see it. we all go through the same briefings. let's solve them and let's have an immigration system where we honor legal immigration and deter illegal immigration. that's what most countries do, but for some reason our politics has gotten in the way of us solving this. so let's be able to find a way to solve this in the days ahead.

i have no delusion that it's going to get solved in the next two weeks, but we do he need to -- we do need to sit down and resolve this in the days ahead. with that, i yield the floor.

butler bufrlt mr. president -- ms. butler: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. ms. butler: 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. ms. butler: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. 2120 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2120, a bill to direct the attorney general to

include a data field in the national missing and unidentified persons system to indicate whether the last known location of a missing person was confirmed or suspected to have been on federal land and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. butler: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. butler i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 813, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 813, honoring the life of steven d. symms,

former united states senator for the state of idaho. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senate of the united states will proceed. ms. butler: measure. i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid ton the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. butler i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 814, which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 814, designating september 2024 as national literacy month. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection.

the senate will proceed to the -- the senate will proceed. ms. butler: measure. i ask unanimous consent that 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. ms. butler: i understand that there is a bill at the desk, and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: h.r. 820, foreign -- an act to direct the federal communications commission to publish a list of entities that hold authorizations, licenses issued by the commission and have certain foreign ownership and for other are purposes. ms. butler:

and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be read for the second time on the next legislative day. ms. butler: i have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. biu- butler -- ms. butler: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate complete its business today, it stand adjourned under the provisions of s. res. 813 until 3:00 p.m. on monday, september 16. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two

leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. following the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the ritz nomination, postcloture. further, that all time be considered expired at 5:30 p.m. on monday, and that if any nominations are confirm during monday'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. so ordered. ms. butler: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under -- under the previous order following the remarks of senator mcconnell. the presiding officer: without objection.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: when i announced back in february that i'd be wrapping up my time as republican leader, i assured our colleagues that i wouldn't be bowing out of worthwhile fights any time soon, and of course i meant that. but it's never too early to tell the folks you work with that you appreciate them. there's no such thing as saying thank you too often. so this is as good a time as any to brag a bit about the team i've been so fortunate to have in my capitol office. today i'd like to focus on a number of my talented communications staff, beginning with the longest-serving member

of our team, senior research advisor david haltman. david himself has joked once or twice that he came with the furniture in the leader's office. but i'd rather not give up the credit for making such a great personnel decision myself. in a line of work where turnover and burnout aren't uncommon, david's longevity is truly remarkable. but, like me, he relishes a worthy fight. we've seen plenty of them over and there always seems to be another one just around the corner. by my count david has been on hand for the last supreme court nomination fights. time and again with tenacious focus, he's sifted through archives combed media coverage,

and lent deep institutional knowledge that equips my entire team for success. more than once, his research quite literally changed the course of confirmations. but as much as i'd like to believe this principled public servant has stuck around all this time out of personal loyalty, it's clear to anyone who knows david that what animates his work the most is the deep devotion to the senate as an institution. every last-minute project, every weekend session spent away from his lovely wife allison, all in defense of what makes the senate the senate. i know he agrees it's been worth every second. so, david, thank you so much. and that's just half of the

office's all-star research team. in any organization that's been around for a while, bringing in fresh ideas is essential. and matt burton has brought an invaluable new perspective as research director over the past year. as is so often the case with recovering house staffers, i'd like to thank -- to think matt wasted no time at all becoming a senate guy through and through. and behind his mild manner are killer political instincts and an unbeatable attention to the smallest details. these are, of course, essential qualities in a team i literally lean on for everything, from equipping a conference with background research on issues of the day, to vetting the records

of pending nominations, to catching actualalerors in ---errors of drafts in my remarks, simply nothing gets past matt burton. this speech is a rare occasion when matt hasn't seen and scoured an advanced copy. we're in uncharted territory, and i hope he'll forgive me for breaking protocol this once. matt, it's been great having you on the team. thank you for having my back. of course, the excellent work of our researchers and the whole team, it's a major leg up thanks to the talents of my digital director ryan flynn. for as long as digital media have played a major role in politics, i've been fortunate to have a maven on the team making sure we can compete in a fast-changing online landscape.

each one has brought a unique perspective and incredible talents. ryan has met this high bar and pushed it even higher. he's excelled at the job that requires him to wear multiple hats. in a single day, he's in the trenches of online messaging campaigns and racing around the capitol in real life to capture and preserve important moments for posterity. aside from a small handful of seniormost advisors, ryan is often the only one in the room with me in the highest-profile meetings with foreign heads of state and other notables. and he just takes it all in st stride. i'm grateful that ryan's wife clara allows us to occupy so much of his time. i know the team is particularly grateful for ryan's ability to lighten even the most demanding situations. sometimes with sincere

encouragement, sometimes with a practical joke. ryan, thank you for all the hard work, or as you say yourself, thanks for playing. now, ryan's not the only one with a tough job of making me look good. that task also rests in the capable hands of my broadcast media advisor, kaylie grabman. kaylie is simply the best in the business what she does. whether it's a quick radio call-in from the road or a big primetime interview in the studio, kaylie makes sure i'm armed and ready. including the occasional visual touchups she likes to refer to as glam. as our colleagues know, i'm not always a frequent flier on cable news networks, but with kaylie's help i keep a close eye on who is, and in that regard i'm

hardly the only beneficiary of her media savvy. for years now, colleagues across the republican conference have come to rely on kaylie as a clearinghouse for media advisability, helping senators get on the air with important messages and helping producers get the senators they're looking for. for the sake of their sanity, most folks there this town try to avoid too much time glued to the news. to my good fortune, kaylie doesn't have that luxury. there are a number of things i'm sure kaylie would rather do with her evenings or sunday mornings, like perhaps train for the next marathon. but i'm grateful she's been so willing to keep a watchful eye out instead. kaylie, thank you so much. now, this entire operation i've just described is rowing in the

same direction thanks to the staff director of the senate republican communications center, scott slufeman. scott is actually a two-timer on my staff. the first time around, he hitched a ride back to washington after steering my campaign's research operation through a vigorous reelection fight in 2014. it was clear from the beginning he had a knack for politics, like few people i've ever met. as it turns out, slufe felt so at home in the trenches of campaign life that we had to let him go out and win a few other races before he was ready to settle into life here in the senate. when he came back, we wanted to make him feel at home, so we lined up a couple of high-stakes supreme court confirmation battles and budget rec o reconciliation fights. through it all, slufe displayed

unflappable political instincts, and as the coordinator of the multipronged communications team he's never been afraid to bet big on the right message. time and again, his willingness to question assumptions, challenge conventional wisdom, and play devil's advocate has made his colleagues and me sharper and better prepared to take on tough challenges. so slufe, i'm glad to have you in my corner. thank you so much. now, the fine work of the communications center only makes it -- excuse me. now, the fine work of the

communications center only makes it here to the floor because we have talented wordsmiths like my deputy speech writer katherine francois on the job. from her seat in the same noisy bullpen where the rest of the team wrestles with the news cycle, katherine is engaged in a relentless process of air traffic control, digesting the law latest news and research, helping organize my thoughts on a given topic, running interference with fact-checks and for matting, and getting the best possible draft on paper by the time the senate opens every day. before doing it all over again the next day. it's a workflow that could make anyone's head spin, but kath katherine's grace amid the chaos is all the more impressive when you consider that my team managed to poach her from the

comparatively steady contemplative world of policy analysis and think tanks. so the comms center may be quite a culture shock, but the habits of a true policy wonk die hard. katherine has lent us an invaluable knack for hunting down fresh sources, interesting data, and under-discussed angles on the issues of the day. then helping me package them in a compelling way for delivery from this podium. i'm so grateful for her contributions. catherine, thank you very much. now, on my chief speech writer, dill lynn bobrick, i admit when dylan's longtime predecessor andy quinn told me he was leaving, i worried what i would

do without him. after all, the rapport with a speech writer is built on a lot of trust. i shouldn't have worried. dylan stepped right in and quickly became an invaluable partner in my preparations for all sorts of speaking engagements, especially on the topic of american leadership, which is what i focused on so heavily. dylan is a consummate professional -- loyal, reliable, and steady. he's a high-capacity, low-drama individual, an ideal combination in a job where everything's can change on you in if an instant. when we engage in daily partisan warfare, dylan's pen is as sharp as they come, but dylan carries a unique piece of his own portfolio as well. this institution is special, and the senate leaders have a responsibility to the

institution on certain occasions to speak not only for ourselves but also for our colleagues -- a funeral for a beloved colleague, a tribute to a retiring doorkeeper, a heroic congressional gold medal reci recipient, or the senate spouses who really keep all of us gro grounded. in each and every moment, dylan strikes the perfect grace note. he makes us look better than we are, and that served us all very, very well. i'm not quite sure how a young man raised in new england has managed to become an honorary son of the south, but ever since dylan came to us from our former colleague loath luther -- luther strange, he has held on to the talent to cleanly the best part the -- to chanel the

best parts of our country. somehow, his idea of unwinding on the weekend is a multi-day baking project or an offroad bike race. i'm just grateful he hasn't broken any of his typing fingers. so dylan, thank you so much. now, some of my staff can do their work from relative peace and quiet of the office, but the last two folks i'd like to thank today are dug in on the front lines. first, my deputy press secretary jerry calendar. as some of my colleagues may recall, i've had good luck hiring sharp communicates from the state of minnesota. it must be something in one of those lakes. jerry's pride in his roots, along with a wicked sense of humor, helped him hit the ground running in the busy bullpen

where much of his team spends their days. he weepsed no time becoming an essential member of the research team particularly when it came to carefully vetting nominations. it didn't take long to recognize jerry's aptitude for dealing with the press more directly, and i'm proud of the way jerry has grown as a trusted advisor i turn to as i prepare for interviews, including our weekly stakeout. appropriately, he still keeps an old hockey hell melt at his desk for days when the incoming barrage from the press corps is especially thick. jerry is fortunate his wife grace tolerates his rough and tumble day job, and as ind it she was willing to -- as i understand it, she was willing to road trip back from their wedding so he could be in the office for a busy monday. on top of it all, jerry is responsible for taking a last, careful look at just about every public statement and press

release i make. and then making sure people actually see them. i'm grateful to have his good judgment and eagle eye double-checking our work. so jerry, thank you. and finally, to folks around the senate or twitter, as i understand, this last one needs no introduction. my trusted press secretary doug andres. doug is, without a doubt, the most skilled navigator of the capitol hill press corps a senator could hope for. i hired him specifically for his reputation as an unmatched flak. over his years in the speaker's office, he had already tilted successfully with the house and executive branch press corps. and i had a feeling he would do the same here in the senate. boy, was i right.

it may have something to do with his disarming dead pan wit. it certainly helps doug is the kind of guy everyone wants to be friend with outside of work. whatever the reason, doug's got an uncanny nose for news. he's consistently able to predict stories that are still miles off and around the bend. frankly, i shutter to think how many headaches he could create for the rest of us if he wanted to simp sides -- to switch sides. for now, there's only one thing i ever worry could distract doug from his duties as my early morning system with the press, and that's his growing role of ringleader with a group of prominent figures who actually share his name. we had a doug running for president earlier this year, and another one is the second gentleman.

but there's no doubt that the heart and soul of the doug caucus is right here in the senate, and i know my entire team sleeps safer with doug on the job. so doug, thank you for everything. mr. president, on these and other speeches to adequately thank the whole time around me in the leader's office for all of their outstanding work, work that is not nearly finished, it's a great problem to have. i'll have much more to say soon.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, and pursuant to s. res. 813, the senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on mo monday, september 16, 2024. and does so as a further mark of respect to the late steven d d. symms, former senator from idaho.

presidential campaign trail after a single tuesdays abc news supporters tucson arizona starts five theory p.m. eastern and ter democratic nominee kamala harris makes a stop in north carolina. a reminder as much stands

campaign 2024 coverage our free mobile video at c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> discovered the heartbeat of democracy spans 2024. what issue is most important? >> my biggest issue this election season, i feel like we don't have adequate coverage of both parties and we just have a very leftist you. >> women's rights reproductive rights. i have two daughters and two sons in the most important thing make sure my wife is safe and every other wanted to save.

matches people's rights but everyone has a choice. >> the preservation of democracy and freedom. our freedoms are being eroded. a lot of people have paid a heavy price for freedom. >> healthcare and women's rights, a right to choose big picture, better access to healthcare. people play, people playing field. >> my top issues right now are legal. because of the border. until they are corrected, i think there will be a lot more issues. >> part of the conversation.

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