my colleague senator john kennedy is sponsoring that straight up reauthorization and that straight-up reauthorization is important for at least maintaining that minimum of coverage. but we also have to make it affordable again. and right now it is unaffordable. it's unaffordable when it doesn't have to be unaffordable. at the heart of the problem is something called risk rating 2.0. risk rating 2.0 is a way in which fema is adjusting premiums, not to make sure they're still affordable but to basically pay back a $20 billion debt that was accumulated after hurricane katrina and there were so many claims upon the system. people in louisiana consider that a little bit unjust of the it was decided by a federal judge that those levies failed in new orleans by a faulty design by the army corps of

engineers. but there were claims and premiums are rising in order to pay back that debt. now, as those premiums have increased, they've become too expensive for some who dropped their coverage because premiums are too expensive. but when people who are least likely to flood drop their coverage, the risk is concentrated on fewer which means the premium rises even more, premiums go even higher and a few more drop off. if we don't work to make this program affordable, it will enter into what is called an act waral -- actuarial death spiral. fewer are insured. the risk is concentrated on the remaining which they cannot afford, and the program falls apart. and this street, this street is

out of luck in cherry grove, south carolina. or perhaps in lafourche parish, louisiana, or perhaps even in a place in nevada where the senate president is from. so 44 states have had over $50 million in nfib claims. multiple states have had over $1 billion in nfip claims since 1978. this is not just a local issue. this is a national issue. and so my message to colleagues who represent -- here you see it -- greater than $1 billion in

the dark. greater than $50 million is the inbetween color between the light, and notably, again the senate president is from nervings which you think of being a relatively arrid state, but they've had over $50 until their state -- $50 million of claims in their state a but these are over a billion. so i'm just asking colleagues to recognize that just as a firefighter, as a nurse, as a sheriff helps a neighbor in the middle of a trying time, the national flood insurance program is a way that americans help fellow americans after a trying time. and wherever you see a color here, there are fellow americans who have been helped by this program. we are 12 days away from the september 30 expiration date. i would ask that we reauthorize

and reform the national flood insurance program before the opportunity has passed. reauthorizing gives us time we need to find the right solution. we can reauthorize before the end of the year and find the right solution maybe this congress, it may be next congress, but it is something we must do. it must be bipartisan. it must reflect the interests of states across the nation. but it is something that is the epitome of americans helping fellow americans. i look forward to fellow members and their staff speaking to my staff and i about this. let's solve this problem. and with that, i yield back.

the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: mr. president, let me take just a couple minutes here at the close of the evening to speak about an anniversary. today is the 40th anniversary of the arctic research policy act. it's known as arpa. we use the acronym arpa around here quite frequently. we talk about arpa-e and arpa-h. but the original was the arpa research policy act. it is legislation that was

actually drafted by the previous senator murkowski from alaska. it was one of the first pieces of legislation that frank murkowski introduced and got passed into law. it was signed by president reagan. it was cosponsored by the likes of ted stevens and "scoop" jackson, warren magnuson. on the house side, congressman young. and it was significant in that it laid a foundation for the policies that we are seeing put in place today and over these past 40 years. it's been laying out much of the knowledge and the understanding and the policy for alaska. i talk a lot about the arctic,

coming from the state that makes us an arctic nation. but i think it's important to recognize that many of our allies around the world, many of those who are not our friends around the world are also talking about the interests, and taking a teen interest in the arctic. there is hale a lot of focus -- there's a lot of focus this week because we're seeing levels of engagement from the russians up in the alaska adas, and the area in the high north. we have seen exercises -- joint exercises with the russians and the chinese, both in the air and on the waters in our northern waters. there is a level of focus and intensity about what may be heating up in a cool place, not something -- not something is that we like.

-- not something that we like. but it is foreign recognize that when we -- but it is important to recognize that when we speak about the arctic, it is not just its geostrategic location on the job that makes it a key place for defense and strategic defense. it is the role that the arctic plays when it comes to just the health of our planet. some describe it as kind of a big thermostat up north, and we see down here on the east coast and parts of the country where when you have arctic weather coming down, pushing things in different directions, everything kind of goes out of whack and we're all starting to pay attention to what is going on with the weather and where it is coming from. well, the science that comes to us in better understanding what is happening in the arctic, much

of this came about as a result of the arctic research and policy act. so leading in these areas has been important for all the right reasons, whether it's been environmental, whether again it's been just from a geostrategic perfect -- perspective, whether it's been the health of the indigenous peoples, whether it's understanding the extraordinary science that is unique to the area, understanding the impacts of a thawing permafrost and what that may mean, understanding the impacts within our oceans. but it's also better understanding that geography, with the mapping that we have seen that has been spurred from noaa and both gsps, we have been able to identify an area north of the shore of alaska, an area -- well, two times bigger

than the state of california that we identify as part of our outer continental shelf and allowing us to submit a claim to that territory. the real-world advances that we are seeing in understanding more about the arctic come about because of good legislation that began so many years ago. there is a reception probably going on right now with many of those who have been involved with the u.s. arctic research commission over the years and their partner agencies. there is some 18 partner agencies that participate. several of the commissioners who have served currently and who have served in the past are present and are speaking about the contributions.

two of the former commissioners, heads of the u.s. arctic research commission, actually both former lieutenant governors for the state of alaska, fisherman ol -- fran olmer being one. they penned an op-ed last month. i want to read one paragraph because i think it really sums up what we have seen as a result of the framework. they state, our nation's longest running arctic research programs in the noaa and usgs provide the data to claim new rights to an offshore land area larger than two californias. the law has added momentum effort tos to build new powerful icebreakers and to increase our arctic presence as russia and china increase there. it laid the groundwork for safe shipping and research development in the arctic by

identifying methods to reduce risk. it helped evolve oured understanding of continental drift and the plate tectonic evolution of the arctic ocean basin. arctic health research is informing policy to improve outcomes and to reduce disparities. 40 years of purposeful, coordinated, u.s. arctic effort involving resources is, partners across the arctic region and alaskans is something to celebrate and take pride in. and so i just wanted to include just again a few short moments in the "congressional record" today about this anniversary, with a recognition that it's important to recognize the accomplishments of what we have built, the foundation that guides our science andness of our policy -- andness of our policy which we use -- andness of our policy -- and informs our

policy. it also needs to be an impetus to keep our foot on the gas, so to speak, to keep moving forward because we need to be a nation, we need to be more than a nation in the arctic that has the title. we need to be that active participant. we need to be the leader in the arctic space. and so what more does that mean? it means confirming our nominee to be the first-ever ambassador at-large. a gentleman who is currently the head of the u.s. arctic research commission. we need to get -- we need to get him confirmed because of the immediacy of so many of the -- of these arctic issues that are playing out now. every time we have national

conferences and other arctic ambassadors are there, there's a void in the u.s. space. we need to make progress on matters that have been long-standing. it has been decades now, decades that several of us have been working to advance progress on ratification of the law of the sea treaty. some on my side still have a little bit of older history, at a time when -- actually during the reagan years when there were some concerns about ratification. i think we've tried to address them over the years, but the world has changed up there. when i say the world has changed, the world has opened up. -- opened up in the arctic. the levels of commerce that we're seeing, again, the levels of engagement from a national security perspective.

other countries, china, looking to it the arctic waters for resources there whether it be fisheries or whether it be minerals. it has changed. and so our active participation as a member of that important treaty i think needs to be an imperative. we got we've got to -- do better. we have authorized six icebreakers. we have funded, we have appropriated to three, and we still have nothing, nothing that is moving forward fast enough to satisfy anybody out there. other nations are not sitting still while we're trying to literally get our act together on this. this is an area where we have to keep moving. we've got to keep building out our arctic infrastructure. we're moving forward with a deep-water port in nome. that's critically important.

there are other aspects of infrastructure we cannot assume are in place, whether it's adequate housing, water, wastewater, broadband, all of the infrastructure that's so important to live in a cold and remote area. and then recognizing the significance of the people who live and work and raise their families there, and have since time in memorial and want to do for generations going forward, making sure we're paying attention to education, health care, housing, economy and jobs. so today, i have introduced legislation that would amend the arctic research and policy act, very fancy title of arctic research and policy amendments act of 2024. i don't go for the big acronyms or the titles, but what we're doing is broadening the scope of the act to account for the arctic's increasing role in national homeland defense, to

strengthen climate and environmental research, and we establish an annual award for excellence in the arctic research. we need to support and recognize those doing the great work. then to reflect the essential role of the indigenous people, incorporating the wisdom and the experience of those who have lived there for millennia. it's good to work with the commission. they continue to do great work, and it's something that i appreciate colleagues here also waking up to the fact that this is the age of the arctic. how we embrace it, how we embrace our leadership role is critical. mr. president, before i conclude, i'm -- i would like to just acknowledge for the record an individual who is being recognized as we speak over at the library of congress. this is reverend dr. trimble

gilbert. he is one of ten honorees that has been named a national heritage fellow by the national endowment for the arts. this is an extraordinarily high honor. it is the -- it's one of the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, recognizing artistic excellence, supporting contributions to traditional arts heritage. and i had an opportunity in january to travel to an ac tufshic pass where -- to anaqtvik pass where dr. gilbert calls home and to surprise him with the news that he was questioning this recognition and would receive this honor. at that time, we didn't have a date. he's now flown from alaska to be here as part of, again, an extraordinary tribute. but this is a native leader and

elder who is a master gwitchen fiddler and highly esteemed culture bearer. what he brings to the conversation in the arts is deeply cultural, deeply spiritual, and with an intellectual knowledge that is so extensive, you are just humbled to be in the man's presence. his -- it was stated in a local newspaper today, his life is a walking testament to the cultural values, practices, traditions and knowledge of the gwitchen people. i'm proud to be able to acknowledge the fine work of reverend dr. trimble gilbert of arctic village, and to offer him my personal congratulations yet this evening. with that, mr. president, i

to call upon the majority leader to bring the appropriations bill to the senate floor. we have the last two weeks.

we have time voting on issues that were not nearly as time-sensitive. by the end of july, the senate appropriations committee had held full committee markup and reported for consideration by the full senate 11 of the 12 appropriations bills. roughly 96% of the discretionary funding committed. all of the bills, all of them received strong bipartisan support. we advanced sixth of the bills unanimously. the unanimous support for any bill in today's senate is no small feat and a testament to the hard work and seriousness of

our committee members on both sides of the aisle led by our chairman, archers the senior senator from washington. but what has happened after the committee reported this bill, nothing. they have languished on the senate calendar. instead of taking up the senate committee passed bill including bills that passed unanimously that we passed earlier in the summer, the senate has this month processing nominations and taking show votes aimed at scoring political points. we had another of those just yesterday. we voted for the second time on the exact same bill on ivf.

that's not what the senate should be doing at this critical time. that was simply an attempt by the majority speaker to score political points. and i think that's highly unfortunate. we need to get back to legislating and funding our government. it's an imperative. the founders envisioned the senate as an institution. as i indicated, by the july the senate appropriations committee had advanced the fiscal year 2025 defense appropriations bill by a vote of 28-0. it was unanimous. the bill would provide our military with the resources it needs to confront the global threats facing the united states which combatant commanders have

described to me as being the worst and most dangerous in 50 years. our bill rejects the administrations budget that would have led to the smallest airports and would have yielded to the growing chinese navy. the committee instead called for 3.3% increase in defense funding levels compared to last year. our bill strengthens our military across all air land and sea, space and cyberspace. our bill would also provide our brave men and women in uniform a pay benefits they deserve. it would fund a 45% pay increase for most of our servicemen and women and a the 5.5% pay increase for the most junior enlisted personnel.

these are just some of the highlights of the bill. our bill includes $37 million for navy shipbuilding, the largest shipbuilding budget ever. it begins to reverse the dangerous decline in the number of navy ships. for the airport airports, the bill provides additional funding to make nearly 500 more aircraft available than the president's budget budget request would have allowed but the bill addresses the changing face of warfare with a billion dollars per counter drone capability, to address this evolving threat. the growing use of drones by iran and its proxies as well as russia and its attacks in ukraine have demonstrated that warfare has changed and so must our strategy and budget. ..

consent of the continuing resolution, one of the letters is from the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. one is from the secretary of defense. one is from the chief of naval operations but what is from the common debt of the marine corps. what is from the secretary of the navy. one is a white paper from the department of the army. one is the white paper from the department of the air force. what is the letter from the military coalition representing

more than 5.5 million current and former service members are families and caregivers. what is from aerospace industry association. i could go on and on i do ask unanimous consent those who place at the end. >> without objection. what's mr. president here's my point it does not have to be this way. if the senate majority leader had prioritized bringing appropriation bills to the floor we could be in conference now with our senate colleagues on some of the most important funding bills and send them prior to the october 1 start of the fiscal year. these senate is not doing its job.

we should be considering these bills not engaging in showboat. mr. president i will yield the floor. >> mr. president? alexa senator from washington. >> mr. president i really patient my colleague wanting to oneintimate partner for your funding bill after the absolute urgency the senator from maine just talked about. this is critical work that must get done for the american people. i have to say the first order of business i hope all four corners of congress can quickly come together soon as possible to hammer out a reasonable bipartisan cr but we try to keep the government open and avert a needless and disastrous er. i want my colleagues to know i look forward to working with them on the other side on a strongly bipartisan fashion to pass all 12 of a full year

spending bills for the end of this year our committee has worked really hard to get bipartisan bills. they are ready it's frustrating to all of us was funding for the military, the va services under bills from childcare to food safety inspection. proficient mcculloch speaking out on this today i assure them i will keep working with them actually voice of the senate is heard and we do the job and get it done. thank you, mr. president. >> a center for mississippi. >> thank you, mr. president. i want to join my colleagues in expressing regret we do not have the important national security business and clearly it is

important to do a nomination. every few days. the election is approaching and are some show votes. my side of the aisle and that that sortof thing in the years . it is such a shame we face the axis of aggressors like we have never faced in 50 years. everett national security official whether a retired four-star for someone who's no longer in service but is giving us good advice. he's never had such a threat from china, from russia which is engaged in a shooting war having

invaded the sovereign space of the next-door neighbor. to at least the three terrorist groups have on israel and then a very unstable leadership in north korea. the axis of aggressors is signaling they don't fear an invasion of taiwan and three short years. with that it publicly. while all of that is going on, our leadership to distinguish td majority leader from the work has not let us bring the appropriation bill to the floor. has not let us bring the authorization bill which we must pass all of these bills every year the two essential bills

that cannot go without being taken care of every fiscal year. i will say to you, mr. president and my colleagues and two others paying attention this has been bipartisan, but i point the finger to the one person on the face of the earth bring a bill to the floor and that is the majority leader. senator reid the chairman of the armed services committee we have been putting together a manager's package for this year's national security authorization act. it would have been much better had we brought the bill to the floor it had 100 amendments work to back and forth together as we should be doing open votes so people of the united states could see how it said in this

room made to mississippi on the west coast to the east stand on important issues affecting the united states military. we have not been able to do that we are working together senator reid and i on a plan and who worked until nearly 100 variations to the legislation was passed months and months ago at the armed services committee resolved wishes of local and state interests. involving how quickly we can get our industrial base going to meet the needs that frankly we are not meeting at the present time want to get ahead of the game so we can prevent war. we can have enough strength to reaganesque peace through strength we enjoyed in the 80s and early 90s the appropriation bills are just as

important if not more important than the authorization bills they can take funding increases we need to prevent our airports from shrinking. we know the chinese navy is expanding enormously our navy is shrinking literally shrinking mr. president. so it is regrettable here we all work must break for the election this english majority leader senator schumer is not brought any of this legislation before the full senate. the bills that have been ready since july. also i want to commend my colleague from maine the distinguished ranking member of the appropriations committee for accommodating the chairman of the appropriations committee. fred prepared today to come down here on support senator collins in an effort to have unanimous

consent. to bring the bill to the floor. what else are we doing? look at us. in a matter to continue the great working relationship of these two senior senators have had senator collins refrained from them. we are not asking for it unanimous consent and requiring some from the other side to come and objected that we will continue to work. but what is absolute sure is the fiscal year will begin in just a few days. the appropriation for what we need to do at the pentagon what new things we need to do will not be passed will be stocked with last year's priorities. as a result at a time when we need to be putting more

resources into national security and sending new direction that are out there, at that time will be wasting money at the tax payers. by having a priorities still extended for another three months. hopefully it is only three months rather than putting the resources they are that the experts tell us. and that we have learned are necessary for the next fiscal year. my colleague pervade would like to speak of my time i would gladly give to her. but if not i am prepared to yield the floor and just regret so profoundly that our leadership is not allowed us to do the work the taxpayers expect us to do.

>> mr. president? mr. president, i just want to thank the distinguished ranking member of the senate armed services committee for his extruder leadership. he has charted a future or defense spending that recognizes externally threat that we face. it has been a real honor to work with him. i would now yield to the senator from alabama. >> mr. president? what's a senator from alabama. >> thank you very much. today i rise to discuss something that is extremely disturbing. the fact we have less than two weeks before the end of the fiscal year and yet we have not put any of our preparation bills on the floor. by week, we stopped the appropriations committee that's

actually right on majority leader chuck schumer. he decides what comes to the floor that he decides when we do it and yet he has not prioritized our men and women in uniform. i think today that is exactly what we should be doing. but instead i am sure he'll either conjure up a new showboat like we saw yesterday or put another partisan nominee on the floor. instead of considering these appropriation bills, that seems to be what we are doing. now i want to be really clear for everyone in the gallery we have members of the appropriation committee both democrat and republican sit and work together. did the job to fund the government we are supposed to do it by september 30. we have a marked up 11 out of 12 of those bills extremely bipartisan fashion. yet those bills still sit on chuck schumer's desk he has not brought one of them to the

floor. we could be doing is putting the ones that match up on this floor sending them but instead we are doing nothing. this is exactly what chuck schumer did last year as well you patty murray and susan collins of different parties working together in a bipartisan fashion to figure out a path forward. i commend them for that. last year we did 12 out of 12 bills marked up out of senate committee were allowed to be amended in front of a public by july 27 but yet those bills sat. chuck schumer rendered 27 days they'd been marked up. after that we saw the next bill come onto the floor.

174 days in to the fiscal year last year. that is only fiscally irresponsible it is morally responsible. people send us up here to do a job. my question to the majority leader today is why aren't you letting us actually do it? i'm externally disappointed not a single one of these bills again this year seem to find their way on the floor he seems has no plan to do that only plan seems to be to kick the can down the road. as my distinguished college from colic for mississippi said every time he did that our men and women pay the price. secretary austin, obviously appointed by president biden confirmed by this body has said acr will hurt our men and women in uniform. so what we should be doing is figure out a path forward to

fund defense and fund our veterans. so today standing up and saying let's get the chamber back to doing the critical work we were sent here to do. long overdue. for those who do not know i am new in this body. i've been here less than two years. esther asked the question when is the last time we actually did our job on time for the american people? you heard me say it took us wondered 74 days into the fiscal year last year to actually do our job. every time we do that ever to make the can down the road to the sea are the continuing resolution cost the taxpayers more. you're halting everything or halting bidding processes have any of you ever had to rebid something? when you rebid something does the price go up or does it go

down? we know it does not go down. rethink your responsible with taxpayer dollars. but yet again that seems to be year to year to year year after year after year. a former staffer came out in me and wanted to get to work was the last time we actually did our job? boss and we did our job on time listen to this, that's why 97. the last i went in on time by passing bills individually through regular order fy 95. salt of the senate pages clearly were not even born yet. that is 30 years ago for everyone in the chamber during the math, 30 years of kicking the can down the road. the american people deserve

better. and yet somehow we cannot get the media to cover this. we cannot get them to cover leader schumer has refused to lead but used his time on a show vote yesterday he was trying to put i am proud to work my state is done to protect quickly and effectively and from the governor. once again ivf is accessible and legal in every single state and across our great nation. but do not chuck schumer to coat his time doing yesterday? creating a showboat for commercials for men and women on the other side of the aisles that are vulnerable states instead of putting the american people mr. president american people are sick of that bottom line they deserve better and keep pushing this issue keep moving it to the front to getting back to doing the work

the american people sent us up here to do. thank you i yield my time. >> the senator from maine. >> mr. president, i just want to thank the senator from alabama for her eloquent words, her passion and her leadership. she is absolute correct there is no reason for us to be in the situation that we find ourselves in a bit just 12 days before the start of the new fiscal year. there is no reason the defense appropriation bill the military construction that cjs bill i could go on and on. there's no reason why the senate appropriations approved bills could not have been brought to

the senate floor. they are important. funding the government is critical. as a distinguished center from alabama points out, wouldn't we go on to continuing resolution would cause enormous harm, which is why i entered into the record all of those letters from the department of defense and other organizations. and here is the other point as the senator from alabama pointed out we end up spending more money. it causes us more money. new starts are delayed. that should be trimmed back to or eliminated continued to be funded. this just is not how the senate should operate.

i implored the majority leader more than once to bring the appropriation bills to the senate floor. and it is harmful to our nation to our national defense. that these bills were not brought to the polls. thank you, mr. president, i yield the floor.

election season is part of the dark side of politics for john adams, which smear campaigns against each other during the election from 1800. andrew jackson john quincy adams exchange accusations of murder and impropriety in the election of 1820h questions about grover cleveland activity and campaign election in 1884. all to say 30 campaign tricks are not foreign to politics. former president trump and this lie has real life consequences. in recent weeks false claims have been circulating on social media, members of the haitian immigrant community, springfield, ohio were objecting

killing and eating people's pets former president made this claim during his debate. this claim is not only outrageous and patently false but both city officials and law enforcement confirming they have received zero criminal reports of such conduct. it is now becoming a safety concern for the entire springfield, ohio community. despite this the former president and his running mate have continued to knowingly spread this lie. shockingly in an interview with cnn this week, senator vance admitted he was willing to quote create stories" to get media attention. that is exactly what he and former president trump have done. first on social media, then during last week's debate to an audience of 67 million americans. and then on national news.

think about that. a man who is seeking to become vice president of the united states admitted he was willing to spread vicious lies, simply to get media attempt tension. but these allies have real consequences for patient immigrants of springfield, ohio and across the country. since the smear campaign began, there been multiple evacuations of schools, government buildings and medical abilities in springfield, ohio because of bomb and shooting threats related to these lies. i want to take ohio governor mike dewine a republican and former senate colleague for stepping up to debunk to these allies and protect the people of the state. yet, these candidates have doubled down for their willing to spread lives for the entire community to amplify anti- immigrant platform. this behavior is not a surprise. for years the former president has engaged in bigoted fear

mongering especially when it comes the topic of immigration. one incident his approach well. january of 2018, then president trump, myself and other lawmakers bipartisan immigration that i negotiated from thomas. billions of dollars to securing the border and giving protection to dreamers young immigrants who grew up in this country the former president was not interested. he completed lead to more immigration to haiti which are youdismissed in profane terms repeat on the floor of the senate. i was stunned. his words were a hate filled, vile, and racist. i could not believe that the president of the united states of america, not only held these views but felt comfortable

enough to speak them aloud in the oval office, but he did. so it's hardly surprisingly presented with the opportunity to continue to fuel his anti- haitian hate, the former president has taken that opportunity. i speak on the floor today to tell haitian immigrants and haitian americans in the entire immigrant community there's no place for hate in america. no place for hate. you are a critical piece of american leadership. you make our communities and our nation stronger. just look at the attorney general of my home state of illinois. a dear friend of mine is the son of patient immigrants. in service to the state of illinois and the nation is invaluable. he too has condemned the former presidents fear mongering but look at captain alex a top member of his class, a graduate of west point was a pilot for the united states army.

he was born in haiti he rose to national prominence in 2016 after a photo showed him with tears streaming down his face at the west point graduation. his tears he explained were a representation of the american dream. for patients who have arctic springs of violence and instability in their native country, the lies the former president was spreading only make their lives in america some where they hope to be a safe place, more dangerous. it disheartened me in the year 2024 i must come to the floor of the senate to condemn the lives of the former president who's running yet another campaign fueled by fear mongering and hate. immigrants make our nation stronger and any attempt to score cheap political points suggesting otherwise should be met with swift condemnation from both sides of the aisle. mr. president it is ironic at the time when these dehumanizing remarks have been made about

immigrant in springfield, ohio is a press conference yesterday in st. louis, missouri. called out to the attention of everyone. st. louis is a town i know well. i grew up across the river in east st. louis, illinois and i spent many a day in st. louis, missouri. the town has seen its problems and challenges. >> more than st. louis. well, yesterday there was an announcement by the chamber of commerce. it was an extraordinary announcement that they have attracted some 30,000 immigrants to that is city. they believe that it means that they can move forward now with economic development. it was a plan by the chamber of commerce. contrast those two remarks, the remarks of former president donald trump and his vice president, candidate, j.d. vance, about immigration,

dehumanizing these individuals and suggesting they are not only unnecessary in the unite, but actually negative -- in the united states, but actually negative in their impact. they're wrong many spring iffield, ohio, they're clearly wrong in zillion, missouri, they are wrong in america. we are a nation of immigrants, and i would say quite boldly, i'm damn proud of it. my mother was an immigrant to this country brought here at the age of 2. i'm glad that my grandparents, whom i never knew, had the courage to make that journey to the united states. because of that courage and determination, like so many other immigrants, because of it i'm standing here today as a senator representing the great state the of illinois. however in the world can we continue to allow this rhetoric to come from trump and vance in terms of the immigrants' impact on america? we can see before our eyes it makes a difference. the diverse the city of our population is you are strength -- diversity. and that strength should be capitalized on.

to think that young people who are dreamers brought here by their families run the risk of being deported at some point because of this rhetoric makes me sick to my stomach. these are wonderful young people, extraordinary contributors to america's future. and we should applaud them and not hate them. i can tell you for a fact i know a little bit about the senate, and i've served here for a number of years. there's meshes of the senate can be members of the senate on the other side of the aisle who want not one single new immigrant to come to america. i believe there should be an orderly process. that's why i was one of the gang of eight to create the commencive immigration reform bill which passed in the senate quite a few years ago and should pass again. we should have an orderly process of immigration capitalize on the benefits that they bring to this country and build our economy on those. to say that we are opposed to the all immigrants is just plain unfair, it's wrong and it's the

un-american american. st. louis now realizes that. with the work force, they can start to rebuild their economy k and they're applauding that. immigration is part of the solution if t it's done in the proper, orderly manner, and we can do it that way if we pass comprehensive immigration reform. the notion of deporting11 million people from the united states is a fantasy. it cannot, it should not ever happen. these people have made a great contribution to this country. this, does president trump want to say that if you have a woman, for example, who's a mother who is undocumented in a house full of documented citizens she should be deported? or everyone in the house should be deported? it isn't going to happen, it should never happen. we should capitalize on comprehensive immigration reform and make it a viable part of america's future. i yield the floor and suggest --

madam president, in a few weeks' times, we will mark the one-year

anniversary of the war in the middle east. it has been almost one year since hamas' horrific terrorist rampage on october 7th which killed 1200 innocent israelis and took hundreds of hostages including americans. and as i have said many times, israel had an absolute right to defend itself and respond to the hamas if attack. but tragically, prime minister net an ya hue's extremist government has not simply waged war against a hamas, it has waged all-out war against the palestinian people. israel has conducted this war with little regard for innocent civilians bombing indiscriminately and severely restricting the humanitarian relief operation needed by desperate people. after nearly one year of this

carnage out of a population of some 2.if 32 the million -- 2.2 million people, more than 41,000 palestinians have been killed, and nearly 95,000 the inred -- injured. 60% whom are women, children or elderly people. let me repeat. 60% of whom are women, children or elderly people. madam president, netanyahu's policies have trampled on international law, made life unlivable in gaza and created one of the worst i humanitarian disasters in modern history. we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the scale of the suffering caused by this all-out war against the palestinian

people, most of who are civilians. 90% of gauze saabs -- gazans have been displaced from their home, 1.9 million people. many families have been displaced again and again and again, forced to uproot their lives and pick their way across a war zone with their children and what little they can carry. these are poor people. going from place to place amid bombing and total destruction. when these families find, finally, a safe place to seek

refuge, perhaps if setting up a tent in a so-called safe zone, their -- they're often then forced to evacuate due to renewed israeli bombing. madam president, few of these people even have homes to ever return to. more than 60% of gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed including 221,000 housing units than been cleat my -- completely destroyed. imagine going from place to place knowing that you're never going to be able to return to the your home. today, as a result of the def -- devastation of housing in gaza is, more than 1 million people are homeless. and i would ask my colleagues to try to think for a moment what it means to be carrying your

children from place to place in the heat without food, without water knowing that your home that you came from has been destroyed. and that's what's going on today. madam president, what we are witnessing now is not just the loss of human life, it's the -- as terrible as that is. gaza's civilian infrastructure has been devastated including water and sewage systems. raw sewage runs through the streets spreading disease. clean water is still in short supply. most of the roads many gaza is are impassable -- in gaza are passable, torn up by bombing and bulldozers, and there is virtually no electricity right now. but it's not just gaza a's infrastructure. gaza's infrastructure.

the netanyahu government has systematically, systematically -- and i've talked to doctors about this -- devastated the health care system in gaza. knocking 19 hospitalsous of service -- hospitals out of service and killing more than 800 health care workers. you've got 95,000 people have been injured including a lot of children, and you have 19 hospitals that have been knocked out of service. the world health organization has recorded thousands of attacks on health care facilities. not surprisingly, with the collapse of the health care system under the strains, diseases like hepatitis, dysentery, polio and other infections have taken hold. madam president, gaza has 12 universities. every single one of them has been bombed as have hundreds of

schools. 88 of all school buildings in -- 88 of all school build buildings in gaza have been damaged, and more than 5000 people have been killed -- 500 people have been killed while sheltering in u.n. schools. there are many, many hundreds of thousands of children in gaza. it's a young palestinian population, by and large, young, a lot of children. virtually none of them have been in school since this war began. and, madam president, as horrific and unspeakable as all of this is there is something even worse taking place in gaza now, and that is as a result of israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid, people in gaza are now starving to death.

leading experts from the u.n. and and other aid organizations estimate -- mrs. hassan: 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, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire is recognized and without objection, the senate will proceed. sch mrs. hassan: i have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. the presiding officer: duly noted. mrs. hassan: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to s. res. 829 at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: designating october 8, 2024, as national hydrogen and fuel cell day. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed to the measure. mrs. hassan: 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: is there objection? without objection. mrs. hassan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 196, s. 1871. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 196, s. 1871, a bill to create intergovernmental coordination between state, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding? without objection. mrs. hassan: mr. president, i further ask that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn, the peters substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hassan: i understand that

there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5613, an act to require whether entities subject to certain sanctions through inclusion on certain sanctionses list should also be subject to the imposition of other sanctions and included on other sanction lists. mrs. hassan: in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. mrs. hassan: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on thursday, september 19. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for 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 jenkins nomination. further, that the cloture motion with respect to the jenkins nomination ripen at 1:45 p.m. finally that if any nominations are confirmed during thursday's session the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hassan: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. >> the senate today confirmed michelle williams as a judge in central california a margaret taylor as state department legal adviser. the legal adviser ptas been without a confirmedffial since 29. also expected in the coming days, debate on a short-term federal spending bill. current federal funding expires in 12 day o september 30th. watch live coverage of the

>> tonight, a faceoff to behe washington state's next golf to ple governor jay inslee. theebe is hosted by the associationf business. watch live on c-span2 the, c-span now pur free mobile video app or online at c-span.org of. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers, and we're just getting started. building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television