engines will shut down prior to the impact with the water. the vehicle making impact with the water. >> starship is doing great so far. there's those engines relighting. what a great reorientation by starship, wow! >> all three, down to two, into the water. [cheers and applause] >> landed. >> wow, we have touchdown into the indian ocean. awesome unique cam action here. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other, since 1979 we've been your primary source for

capitol hill providing balanced unfiltered coverage of government taking you to where the policies debated and decided with the support of the america's cable companies. c-span 45 years and counting powered by cable. >> we take you live now to the u.s. senate where today members will begin the session by voting on several district court judicial nominations. later in the afternoon, members will be voting on several measures related to foreign policy, including blocking arms sales to israel and u.s. loan forgiveness for ukraine. you're watching live coverage of the senate here 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, the giver of every good and perfect gift, during this thanksgiving season, we pause to express our gratitude for the blessing you daily bestow. lord, thank you for family, friends, life, health, and strength. we praise you for the gift of your salvation that provides us with a future and a hope. we're grateful for your prevailing providence and your promise that in everything, you are working for the good of those who love you. today, use our lawmakers as instruments for your glory.

where there is hatred, let them plant love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope. we pray in your marvelous name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c. november 20,2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing

rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter f. welch, a senator from the state of vermont, 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, the clerk will report. the clerk: rebecca l. pennell, of washington, to be united states district judge for the states district judge for the

if the report is on its agenda ticket says the bipartisan house ethics committee will meet wednesday today behind closed

doors with poised to discuss its former representative matt gaetz who resigned from office last week after president-elect trump chose him as his nominee for attorney general. the state of the report is enhanced of the committee which has a reputation for being tightlipped. it's not clear if the committee will vote on whether to release the report. if there is a boat and majority of the five democrats and five republicans on the committee must approve his public disclosure. in other words, at least one republican must break party ranks to join democrats to force its release. speaker johnson was on "fox news sunday" just this past sunday talking about that ethics report and arguing they should not be released. >> i i don't know anything about the content of the report. the way the rules work speak with asp can't put his thumb on

the scale or be involved in a ethics committee report. what i do know is, it's about this being, there's a precedent for releasing reports is not exactly accurate. there are two breaches breaches of the tradition in the past under x-ray your circumstances. i don't think this meets that criteria. look, matt gaetz is a colleague of my. we've been surfing together for more than eight years. he's one of the brightest minds in washington or anywhere. he knows everything about how the department of justice has been weaponized and misused. he will be a reformer and that's why the establishment in washington is so shaken up about this pick. with regard to the report there's an important reason for the tradition and the role we always, almost always followed a bit as we don't issue investigations and ethics reports of people who are not members of congress. i'm afraid that would open a pandora's box because the jurisdiction is limited to those are serving in the institution. that's it's very purpose and i think this would be a breach of

protocol that could be dangerous for us going forward in the future. >> also on sunday delaware senator chris coons a democrat was talk about that. as a member of the senate judiciary committee and he was asked about his opinions about report. >> but to the house ethics issue you have called for it to be released. you're not the only one. the are republicans including john cornyn with you as well saying he'd be open to the subpoena. do you think it would be bipartisan support from the committee to do it you needed to do to get chance on that report? >> yes. to be clear about what speaker johnson said before, the ethics committee loses its jurisdiction to discipline a member whether no longer member on several occasions in the past the house ethics committee has released a report when someone asked matt gaetz just did resigned at the last moment and order to avoid the release of a report. some i say wiser relevant? it's relevant because the senate

has a constitutional role. its called our advice and consent role, to make sure a president-elect mostly gets their choice, their nominees but doesn't get to put people in who are unqualified or who lack the requisite character and capabilities to lead an incredible important agency like the department of justice. >> host: we're talking specifically about that report on matt gaetz come former congressman from florida who is up for attorney general. eating your calls. we'll start with david who's in michigan, democrat. >> caller: hello. absolutely we should see report. we should have full disclosure. this band is going to be the attorney general of the united states of america. how can the senate do a constitution jump without the report? we should not let republicans do a cover-up. simple. >> host: here's john in ido a republican. >> caller: good morning. i think we should release the

reports and maybe the reports on all the hush money paid out for the house and the senate for the sex stuff that they do. thank you. >> host: and there is, let me get that for you. i will pull it out. there was a tweet by marjorie taylor greene who says this. she said from my republican colleagues in the house and the senate, if we are going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own, that trump has appointed, then put it all out there for the american people to see. yes, all the ethics reports and claims including the one i filed. all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled, paying off victims with taxpayer money. the entire jeffrey epstein file, tapes, recordings and witness interviews, but not just those, there's more.

epstein wasn't/isn't the only asset. if we're going to dance let's all dance in the sunlight. i'll make sure we do. and this is debbie and wisconsin, independent line good morning. >> caller: good morning. yes, it should be released. it's kind of funny to talk about jeffrey epstein. it seems to me that his involvement with political figures, former and past, you know, i'm not going to name names but i think you know because you have probably reported the facts. is make a difference. democrat, republican. if it was the other way around and it was the democrats, you know the republicans would be asking for that. so yes, it should come everything should be released. i'm not a big fan of marjorie taylor greene but i think she's right. let it off-line. thank you. >> host: here's carmen, south florida, a democrat. >> caller: how are you doing? i believe it should be released. i feel like we vote when we

elect these people to do a job. i do not nesser think it needs to be released to the whole public, right? but every congressman right now should see that report. sorry, i got a chest cold. what the speaker of the house is saying weaponized the doj, in that case a fully qualified to do that, that's why i called because they are keeping up with is the sod that they were attacked. the doj what they do is they go after unlawful acts. and the people who are doing unlawful acts, and the doj will come after you. they do come after you because you're a republican or democrat or independent. there come at you because you did something wrong. and for him to quit right before the end, right before they're going to do the report, , it ist like suspicious. it's and a bit of truth. it's insane to the country yes,

this is a bad report, i did it, i've got to quit a slido see it so i cannot trump get get me in. so yeah you not only see the report but stop the nonsense, stop allies about about the doj. thanks. >> host: that was carmen in south florida. this is a florida sun sentinel, and editorial published. this is from matt gaetz, former district. says of this, it seems highly doubtful a senate majority would confirm dates, but the depth of one's contempt for our vital national law enforcement apparatus and his determination to use it as a blunt instrument to seek revenge on his opponents. gaetz, 42, is a provocateur who is good at delivering rhetorical red meat on the maga speaking circuit, , and trump puts a premium on performative skills. gaetz has long been a caustic critic of the justice department

that was investigating him. that's from the florida sun sentinel, and editorial. anjo on republican line in georgia, good morning. >> caller: i've been calling c-span for over 30 years. love your network. joel do a super job. i did want that my county with 81% trump as did most north georgia counties, and i think that i've told a conference trump. you'll he won an overwhelming landslide. i think gaetz ought to approved. i don't think if you start release all these reports will never get and the executive branch sticks to enforcing them. that idea's actually not new. it's written plainly into article 1 powers right in the constitution. but half a century of ceding legislative i authority legislative authority to an

unelected bureaucracy has thrown this balance offkilter. earlier this year, of course, the article 3 branch quite clearly restored the boundaries on freelance regulatory interpretation in the executive branch. but there's more work to be done to rein in washington bureaucrats' expensive interpretation of the powers over working americans. unfortunately, congress has a powerful -- and fortunately, congress has a powerful tool called the congressional review act that does exactly that. to great effect, senate republicans use the cra to scrap a slew of bureaucratic rules after eight years of runaway regulation under the obama administration. republicans worked to end a coal mining rule that threatened hundreds of thousands of

workers, including many in kentucky. we took a hammer to a pair of far-reaching and aggressive obama-era education rules. and we dramatically scaled back d.c. bureaucrats' control of lands that should be managed with local input. between 2017 and 2018, republicans used the cra16 times to impose an ambitious regulatory housecleaning that gave farmers and miners, landowners and job creators, small business and builders the certainly and confidence to stay producing on american soil. we did all of this with hardly any democratic support. so it's not surprising that

under the biden administration democrats have worked relentlessly to resurrect the obama administration's regulatory regime, from student loan socialism to job-killing energy policies to blatant infringements on property rights. literally on day one, president biden signed an executive order that began tearing down the regulatory certainty that republicans had restored. now, with just over a month left in the year, the biden administration's 2024 regulations alone amount to the second highest annual total by pages in the federal register. on the whole, president biden's agenda has imposed regulatory costs that, by one estimate, surpassed $1.8 trillion. that's trillion with a t.

so it's safe to say congress once again has an opportunity. two weeks ago, the american people gave republicans a legitimate, crystal clear mandate, and come january we ought to use it to hit the brakes on runaway regulation. now, on another matter, i'd like to take some time today to salute the outstanding senate staff who my team and i have relied on during our time, in the republican leader's office. first, i'd like to offer some fulsome thanks to the official reporters of debates, the ears of the nation here on the floor. always listening, carefully recording, and much to the relief of my staff meticulously reconciling remarks as prepared with remarks as delivered. the official reporters are

integral to the life of the senate, and central to the construction of the historical record. but by definition, they fly under the radar. bending almost intentionally into the fabric of this chamber. so i take particular pleasure today in asking to record in all caps as the live transcript goes my sincere gratitude to each of the senate's official reporters of debates for their essential work. and now, i'll turn to a final group of floor staff who deserve our sincere thanks. in both the democratic and republican cloak rooms, you'll find consummate professionals, for whom loyalty, service, and deep institutional knowledge are calling cards. much as i know that democratic

leader epps -- liens on the work of gary myrick and the cloakroom staff, i'd like to brag on the republican secretary and staff of the republican cloakroom. during my time in the senate, i've been majority leader, i've been a minority leader, majority's better. but whether it's designing the roadmap for a republican majority's agenda or trying to amend or slow down a democrat majority's agenda, i wouldn't want to navigate the senate's arcania without a procedure expert like republican secretary robert duncan by my side. duncan, in the footsteps of distinguished predecessors, has been an indispensable advisor to me and my staff. the entire republican conference rightly trusts in his deep knowledge of the rules and precedents that govern this

insti institution, and his calm manner projects confidence in even the thorniest procedural battles. so i'm so grateful to duncan for his rock-solid counsel. of course, a portfolio as broad as the cloakroom's draws on the strengths of duncan's entire team. the watchful eye of assistant secretary chris tuck whose proposals ingenuity -- procedural ingenuity steers us out of jams and smart humor brings much needed relief to long days on the floor. the air traffic control of floor assistants tony hannagan, brian canfield, and their recently departed colleague katherine foster, whose deep relationships with senators and staff across the conference keep the

important business moving swiftly and in good cheer. the agile readiness of the cloakroom assistants max boyd, matty sanborn, and charlotte ewlan, whose report keeping, conference communications and stewardship of the republican pages make the cloakroom's most essential functions appear to happen as if magic. and the managerial savvy of noel ringo, who wears a dizzying array of hats to keep the entire operation humming. cloakroom staff spend nights, weekends and every working day making the jobs of senators easier. their pride in the very unique set of professional skills makes them more of a family than coworkers. and i know the sentiment extends

entirely across the republican conference. so, to each of you, thank you for the hard work you do so extraordinarily well. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

>> caller: it's all fake, almeida. that's what i think. >> host: waddled, do not believe the allegations against former congressman gaetz? >> caller: no. it's wholly witch hunt. they're doing anything, slinging mud and seeing the sticks on the wall. that's all it is. the democrat party is sick and you don't have common sense. they are sick. >> host: okay. and this is tony in new jersey, independent line. >> caller: i would say yes, it should be released because it seems like the trump administration is not doing any series of vetting other candidates. someone has to look at it. >> host: and margot in indiana. democrat. >> caller: good morning, america. absolutely it should be released. and the fact of the matter is why wouldn't a criminal

assaulter go ahead and choose all of his likes for a cabinet? so it should be absolutely release because we already know there is no innuendo, the fact that the matter is that gaetz is certainly unfit and unqualified to be the head of the department of justice. >> host: and here is house minority leader hakeem jeffries on the need for transparency on that house ethics committee report. >> do you feel the public should be able to see all of these details or at least members of congress for consideration to be part of a cabinet? especially doj? >> yes.

>> host: that was yesterday and this is patty in juno beach florida a republican. >> caller: good morning. well, let's he come to it should be released? yes. is it going to make any difference? probably not. i think he should get confirmed. i'm so sick and tired of hearing this person, you know, did this, this person did this and he seemed to come out of the woodwork typically when a republican is running. you know, why are they going to parties and being 17? 17? why are they there? what do they look like? what are they doing? why? >> host: patty, let me ask you this. because another caller had said something very similar.

if these allegations prove to be true, they're just allegations and he has denied any of this happened, but if this is true that these parties did take place, that the sexual misconduct took place, that the illegal drug use took place, would you still be in favor well, mr. president -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, when i wrote and led passage of the bipartisan chips and science act, i often spoke about days in the not too distant future when this legislation would bring manufacturing back to the u.s., strengthen our national security, and deliver big for new york. particularly upstate york. today i'm proud to say it's precisely the kind of day i had in mind when i helped write the bipartisan chips and science

act. today semiconductor company global foundries finalized the $1.5 billion, that's $1.# 5 billion -- $1.5 billion with a b to build a new cutting edge massive chip fracturery in walton, new york, and expand production in the capital region of new york. this award was made possible precisely because of the law i wrote and passed. this chips award is now locked in. the agreement is signed, sealed, and delivered. in fact, ready to deliver a better future for upstate new york and for america. importantly, this funding is protected for years to come. global foundries' announcement is exciting for several reasons. first, it means thousands of new, good-paying manufacturing and union construction jobs are on the way to the capital region. as global foundries triples its

production in saratoga, county. when we wrote the chips and science law, we wanted to make sure that it was union labor that built these factories. the funds will also modernize, mr. president, a global foundries facility in vermont. you'll be happy to know. these are jobs that will help transform the region, jobs that even the children and grandchildren of workers today will hold decades from now. when your kid gets one of these jobs, you're not going to think oh, it will be gone in five years because this is a growing, burgeoning industry. chips is part of our modern economy. it's a great thing for optimism, the future, those ladders up that we so believe in here in america. second this funding will help create a strong domestic supply of essential chips that america needs for our national and economic security. the chips made by global foundries are critical to the auto industry, to national

defense, to artificial intelligence, all the way down to our smartphones,ful we want to keep prices low and prevent shortages, one of the best things we can do is build chips here at home. this funding will help make that happen. most importantly, as i said, the $1.5 billion award is cemented for new york and for america. as long as global foundries meets its project milestones. upstate new york, the capital region, can rest assured that the funding announced today will be there in the years to come. so today is a great day for the capital region, a great day for new york, a great day for americans leadership -- american leadership in the global semiconductor industry. now on judges. today -- today the senate will

keep working to confirm more of president biden's judicial nominees. it's already been a very productive week here in the senate. we began on monday by confirming judge kidd to serve as a circuit court judge to the 11th circuit. he's the 45th circuit court judge confirmed under president biden. and yesterday we kept going. we confirmed two more district judges to seats in oregon and the district of columbia and invoked cloture on the third. and we'll continue going forward today. this morning we will vote on the confir make of rebecca pennell to be district judge for the eastern district of washington state. we'll then immediately turn to a cloture vote on the next judicial nominee amir ali to be district judge for the district of columbia. we'll continue working on judges throughout the day and into this evening. we have a lot of excellent nominees to work through so i

ask my colleagues to be flexible, to be ready to stay late, and to keep the votes moving quickly. we did that the other night and we got a lot of votes done relatively fast. i've spoken at length about how proud i am of the nominees this majority has confirmed to the bench. the over 200 judges we've confirmed have a sweeping range of experiences and areas of expertise. one of our nominees, for example, has argued and won three historic civil rights cases before the u.s. supreme court. another judge confirmed early in biden's term built her career as an expert in worker protections and represented factory workers and grocery store workers and taxi drivers and nurses. she's now a circuit judge. we've also had consumer protection lawyers elevated to the bench, including one nominee whose job was to grow -- go after health care, fraud, and deceptive marketing of pharmaceutical and medical devices. i've been proud to support nominees to the second circuit

who have been leading voting rights attorneys and the experiences go on and on. our nominees have represented children who faced abused, individuals wrongly convicted and more. at the end of the day, of course, what matters most in a nominee is whether or not they can render impartial judgment based on precedent and rule of law. but it's also important that judges come from different walks of life. judges should not operate like cold, unthinking machines, nor is the work of a justice a mere theoretical exercise. judges are better off when they can interpret the law while putting themselves in the shoes of those over whom they preside, from the privileged to the impoverished. judges are more likely to reach an equitable and prudent ruling if they can appreciate how their decisions will play out in society. and that is more likely to happen if our benches comprised of jurists with many different experiences from many different walks of life. so i thank my colleagues for their good work this week, and we'll keep working today. 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.

>> congress writes the nation laws and executive branch sticks to enforcing them. that idea is actually not new. it is written plane into article

one powers right in the constitution. but half a century of seating legislative authority to an unelected bureaucracy has thrown this balance offkilter. earlier this year of course the article iii article iii branch quite clearly restored the boundaries on free lunch regulatory interpretation in the executive branch. but there's more work to be done to rein in washington bureaucrats expensive interpretations of the powers of working americans. unfortunately powerful has a -- congress has a powerful tool called the congressional review act that does exactly that. affections use the cra to scrap us with the bureaucratic rules

after eight years of runaway regulations under the obama administration. republicans worked to end a coal mining role that threaten hundreds of thousands of workers, including many in kentucky. we took a hammer to a fair, far-reaching, and aggressive obama era education rules. and we dramatically scaled back the bureaucrats land that should be managed with local input. between 2017-2018, the republicans used the cra 16 times to impose an ambitious regulatory -- they gave farmers and miners, land owners and job creators, small business and builders the certainty and

confidence to stay producing on american soil. we did all this with hardly any democratic support. so it's not surprising that under the biden administration democrats have worked relentlessly to resurrect the obama administration regulatory regime from student loan socialism to job killing energy policies, to property rights. literally, on day one president biden signed an executive order that begin turning down the regulatory certainty that republicans had restored. now, with just over a month left in the year, the biden administration's 2024 regulations alone amount to the second-highest annual total by pages in the federal register.

on the whole, president biden's agent has imposed regulatory cost by one estimate surpass $1.8 trillion. that's trillion with a tee. so it's safe to say congress once again has an opportunity. two weeks ago the american people gave republicans illegitimate crystal clear mandate, and come january we ought to use it to hit the brakes on runaway regulation. now, on another matter i would like to take some time today to salute the outstanding senate staff who my team and i have relied on during our time in an republican leader's office. first of like to offer some fulsome thanks to the official reporters of debates, the ears of the nation here on the floor.

always listening, carefully recording, and much to three of my staff, meticulously reconciling remarks as prepared with remarks as delivered. the official reporters are integral to the life of the senate, and central to the construction of the historical record. but by definition they fly under the radar. bending almost intentionally into the fabric of this chamber. so i take particular pleasure today and asking to record in all caps as the live transcript goes, my sincere gratitude to each of the said it's official recorders of debates for their central work. and now i turn to find a group of four staff who deserve our sincere thanks. both the democratic and republican cloak rooms, you will

find professionals, from loyalty service and deep institutional knowledge our calling cards. much as i know the democratic leader leaned on the work of gary merrick and democratic cloak room staff, i would like to brag for a few minutes on the senate republican secretary and the staff of the republican cloak room. during my time in the senate i have been a majority leader, i've been a minority leader, majority is better. but whether it's designing the roadmap for a republican majority agenda, or trying to an end or slowed and a democratic majorities agenda, , i would wat to navigate the senates without a procedural expert like republican secretary robert duncan by my side. duncan, in the footsteps of

distinguished predecessors, has been an indispensable advisor to me and my staff. the entire republican conference rightly trusted with his deep knowledge of the rules and precedents that govern this institution, and his call matter projects confidence in even the thorniest procedural battles. so i'm so grateful to duncan for his rocksolid counsel. and, of course, a portfolio as broad as the cloak room is, draws on duncans entire team. the watchful eye of assistant secretary chris tock whose procedural ingenuity steers the senate out of jams and whose sharp wit brings much needed humor the long days on the floor. the air traffic control of floor

assistance, tony hennigan, brian canfield, and recently departed colleague kathleen foster whose deep relationships with senators and staff acrossid the conferene suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, it's been clear for a while that an enduring legacy of a biden-harris is the crisis at the border. i don't use the word historic lightly, but it's appropriate. they resided over record-breaking illegal immigration at our southern border. that's right. the four highest years of the legal -- illegal immigration ever recorded at our southern border have occurred on president biden and vice president harris's watch. i say it occurred on their watch, but of course this record breaking illegal immigration

just didn't occur on their watch. the biden-harris administration created this crisis. from the day he took office, the president began dismantling president trump policies, illegal immigration resurged in response. and kept on surging. between u.s. officials and known got-aways, individuals the border patrol saw but unable to apprehend there has been ten million encounters during this innings. i put that number in perspective that. is larger than the population of the vast majority of u.s. states. and that's just the individuals we know about. there are undoubtedly individuals who made their way into our country over the past four years who have neither been seen or apprehended. mr. president, the past four years has displayed the problems with unchecked illegal immigration.

shelters are overwhelmed, border cities are overwhelmed. blue cities, far from the border, are overwhelmed. the border patrol is sprechd thin. agents pulled off field work to process the massive numbers of migrants and the list goes on. of course, it's essential to remember that the situation at the border doesn't just affect the border. cities far from the border have struggled to deal with an influx of migrants. there have been crimes committed far from the southern border. the effects of cross border illegal activity are felt all around the country. my state of south dakota is about as far from our southern border as you can get, but law enforcement officials consistently tell me in larger and smaller communities that the deadly drugs they're dealing with have entered the country across our southern border.

and then there are the national security issues. the june arrest of eight that jebbing stand -- tejekastan who illegally entered the country are just two examples of the kind of threats that we face. and the dangers of the chaos that president biden and vice president harris have allowed to rage and unleashed at our intoefrmentd since october 2020370 individuals on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended, attempting to cross our southern border between ports of entry. 387 individuals on the terrorist watch list. those are the ones we caught. how many have come in who have

been unobserved? how many terrorists or other dangerous individuals have made their way across without being apprehended. immigration officials are preparing for a possible final surge before president trump takes office, a clear sign, if one were needed, that migrants regard president biden as the open-border president. the final surge or no final surge, the days of this border crisis are numbered. securing the border are at the top of president trump's priority list. and the republican congress is committed to doing everything it can to help it. for the sake of our security, and for the sake of our rule of law, we sometimes forget that aspect, propose, the rule of law. but the area of immigration should not be an exception for the principle. the law has to be respected.

migrants have played and continue to play a vital role in this country. and that won't change. but immigration, mr. president, has to be legal. we need to end the negotiation that -- notion is a way to take up residence in this country and we will end that notion under president trump. the biden-harris herded the start of a -- heralded the start of the crisis, the trump administration will end it. two more months. two more months, mr. president. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: ms. baldwin.

>> when i wrote and led passage of the bipartisan chips and science act i often spoke about days in the not-too-distant the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask that we commence with the roll call vote immediately. the presiding officer: without

objection. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there is. there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. ms. bennet, mr. blumenthal, mr. booker, mr. boozman, mrs. britt, mr. brown mr. budd, mrs. capito, mr. casey, mr. cassidy, ms. collins, mr. coons, mr. cornyn, ms. cortez masto, mr. cotton. 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.

senators voting in the affirmative -- durbin, warner, welch and whitehouse. senators voting in the negative -- daines, rubio, scott of florida, tuberville, and young. mr. warnock, aye. mr. wicker, no. mr. marshall, no.

ms. smith, aye. mr. paul, no.

mrs. capito, no. mr. tillis, no.

ms. stabenow, aye.

mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. hoeven, no. mr. boozman, no.

mr. moran, no. mrs. blackburn, no.

mr. cotton, no.

mr. crapo, no. mrs. britt, no. vote:

the clerk: mr. lujan, aye. mr. hickenlooper, aye. mr. schmitt, no. mr. cramer, no. mr. van hollen, aye.

mr. barrasso, no. ms. baldwin, aye. mr. ricketts, no. mr. padilla, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye.

mr. johnson, no. the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. ms. collins, no. the clerk: mr. wyden, aye.

mr. schumer, aye.

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

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. mr. manchin, no.

mr. rounds, no. mr. thune, no.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. ms. warren, aye. mr. reed, aye. mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: ms. cortez masto,

aye. the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. mr. tester, aye.

mr. grassley, no. mr. casey, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no. mr. risch, no. vote:

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. the clerk: mrs. murray, aye. mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

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

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. helmy, aye.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, no.

the clerk: mr. cardin, aye.

the clerk: mr. vance, no. mr. graham, no. mr. budd, no. the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

ms. hirono, aye. vote: the clerk: mrs. fischer, no.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, aye. ms. ernst, no.

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

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

the clerk: mr. schatz, aye.

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

ms. hassan, aye. mr. blumenthal, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

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

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

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

the clerk: mr. mullin, no.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye. mr. lankford, no. the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye.

the clerk: will -- mr. hagerty, no. the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 48. the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered madeland upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call with respect to the ali nomination, cloture motion, be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: 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 539, amir h. ali of the district of columbia to beious district judge for the district of columbia. 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 amir h. ali of the district of columbia to be united states district judge for the district of columbia 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. the clerk: mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.

mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines.

ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. 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. that idea is actually not new. it's written plainly into article one powers right in the but half a century of seating legislative authority to an unelected bureaucracy throws this offkilter. earlier this year of course the article iii branch quite clearly restored the boundaries on freelance regulatory interpretation in the executive branch. but there's more work to be done to rein in washington bureaucrats expenses interpretations of the powers of working americans.

fortunately, congress has a powerful tool called the congressional review act that does exactly that. republicans used the cra to scrap a slow bureaucratic rules after eight years of runaway regulation under the obamalu administration. republicans worked to end a coal mining role that threatened hundreds of thousands of workers including many in kentucky. we took a hammer to a pair of far-reaching and aggressive obama era education rules. and we dramatically scaled back d.c. bureaucrats control of lands that should be managed with local input. between 2017-2018, republicans used the cra 16 times to impose

an ambitious regulatory house funding they gave farmers and miners, landowners and job creators, small business and builders the certainty and confidence to stay producing on american soil. we did all this with hardly any democratic support. so it's not surprising that under the biden administration democrats have worked relentlessly to resurrect the obama administration regulatory regime from student loan socialism to job killing energy policies to blatant interference on property rights. literally, on day one president biden signed an executive order that begin tearing down regulatory certainty that republicans had restored. now with just over a month left

in the year, the biden administration's 2024 regulations alone amount to the second-highest annual total by pages in the federal register. on the whole, president biden's agenda has imposed regulatory cost by one estimate surpassed $1.8 trillion. that's trillion with ap. so it's safe to say congress once again has an opportunity. two weeks ago the american people gave republicans a legitimate rest of clear mandate, and come january we ought to use it to hit the brakes on runaway regulation. now, on another matter i would like to take some time today to salute the outstanding senate staff who my team and i have relied on during our time in the

republican leader's office. first i like to offer some fulsome thanks to the official reporters of debates, the ears of the nation here on the floor. always listening, carefully recording, and much to the relief of my staff, meticulously reconciling remarks as prepared with remarks as delivered. the official reporters are integral to the life of the senate, and central to the selection of the historical record. but by definition they fly under the radar, bending almost intentionally into the fabric of this chamber. so i take particular pleasure today and asking to record, in all caps, as the live transcript

goes, my sincere gratitude to each of the senates officials at an official reporters of debates for the work. now entered a final group of floor staff who deserve our sincerest thanks. in both the democratic and republican cloak rooms you will find consummate professionals for whom loyalty service and deep institutional knowledge are calling cards. much as i know that democratic leader leaned on the work of gary myrick in the democratic cloak room staff, i would like to brag for a few minutes on the senates republican secretary and the staff of the republican cloak room. during my time in the senate i have been majority leader, i've been a minority leader. majority is better. but whether it's designing the roadmap for republican majorities agenda or trying to amend or slow down a democratic

majority agenda would want to navigate the senates arcane act without a procedural expert without robert duncan by my side. duncan in the footsteps of distinguished predecessors has been an indispensable advisor to me and my staff. the entire republican conference rightly trusts in his deep knowledge of the rules and precedents that govern this institution. and his calm manner, projects confidence in even the thorniest procedural battles. so i'm so grateful to duncan for his rock solid counsel. and, of course, the portfolio as broad as the cloak rooms draws on duncan's entire team. the watchful eye of assistant secretary chris chuck, whose

procedural ingenuity steers the senate out of jams and his sharp wit brings much-needed humor too long days on the floor. the air traffic control of floor assistance, tony hennigan, brian canfield, and the recently departed colleague kathleen foster whose deep relationships with senators and staff across the conference keep important business moving swiftly and in good cheer. the ad showed readiness of the cloak room assistance, max boyd, maddie, and charlotte whose record-keeping, conference committee geisha and an stewardship of the republican pages make the cloak room most essential functions appear to happen as if magic. and the managerial savvy of administrative assistant who

wears an array of hats to keep the entire operation humming. cloak room staff has spent nights, weekends and every working day making the jobs of senators easier. their pride and very unique set of professional skills makes them more of a family than coworkers. and i know that sentiments extend to colleagues all across the republican conference. so to each of you, thank you for the hard work you do so extraordinarily well. >> now, mr. president, when i wrote and led passage of the bipartisan chips and science act i often spoke about days and the not-too-distant future when this legislation would bring manufacturing back to the u.s. can strengthen our national security and deliver big for new

york, particularly upstate new york. today, comics disney, today i'm proud to say it's precisely the kind of day i had in mind when he helped write the bipartisan chips and science act. today, semiconductor company global foundries finalized a $1.5 billion award billion dollars award, that's 1.5 billion with a b, to build a new cutting edge massive chip factory in new york and expand production in the capital region of new york. this award was made possible precisely because of the law i wrote and passed. this chips award is now locked in. the agreement is signed, sealed and delivered. in fact, ready to deliver a better future for upstate new york and four america. importantly, this funding is protected for years to come.

global foundries announcement is exciting for several reasons. first, it means thousands of new good paying manufacturing and union construction jobs of representative are on the way to the capital region. as they triple their production in saratoga county. when we wrote the chips and science law we wanted to make sure that it was union labor that build these factories. the funds will also modernize, mr. president, a global foundries facility in vermont. you will be happy to know. these are jobs that will help transform the region, jobs that even the children and grandchildren of workers today will hold decades from now when your kid gets one of these jobs are not going to think oh, it will be gone in five years. because this is a growing burgeoning industry. semiconductor chips on the future of our modern economy. so it's a great thing for optimism for a future for those ladders up that we so believe in

here in america. second, this funding will help create a stone domestic supply of essential chips that america needs for our national and economic security. the chips made by global foundries are critical to the auto industry, the national defense, to artificial intelligence, all the way down to our smartphones. excuse me. if you want to keep rice is low and prevent shortages, one of the best things we can do is build chips here at home. this funding will help make that happen. most important, as i said, the 1.5 billion award is submitted for new york and four america, as long as global foundries meets its project milestones. upstate new york, the capital region, can rest assured that the funding announced today will be there in the years to come. so today is a great day for the capital region, a great day for new york, a great day for

american leadership in the global semiconductor industry. now on judges, today -- 4-four. [phone ringing] -- today, the senate will keep working to confirm more of president biden's judicial nominees. it's already been a very productive week here in the senate. we began on monday by confirming judge get to serve as circuit court judge to the 11th circuit. he's a 45th circuit court judge confirmed under president biden and yesterday we kept going. we confirmed to make artistic judges in seats in oregon and the dishes, albeit and invoke cloture on a third. period and will continue going forward today. this morning we will vote on the confirmation of rebecca pennell to be district judge for the eastern district of washington

state we will then immediately turn to a cloture vote on the next judicial nominee, amir ali, to be district judge for district of columbia. we will continue working on judges about the day and into this evening. we have a lot of excellent nominees to work through so i ask why collects to be flexible, to be ready to stay late, and to keep the votes moving quickly. we did that the other night, and we got a lot of votes done relatively fast. i have spoken at length about how proud i am of the nominees this majority has confirmed to the bench. over 200 judge was confirmed have sweeping range of experiences and areas of expertise. one of our nominees, for example, has argued and 13 the stork civil rights cases for the u.s. supreme court. another judge confirmed earlier and biden sturm built a career as an expert in worker protections and represented factory workers and grocery store workers and taxi drivers and nurses. she is now a circuit judge.

we've also had consumer protection lawyers elevated to the bench including one nominate whose job was to go after health care fraud and deceptive marketing in pharmaceutical and medical devices. i've been proud to support nominees to the second circuit who'd been leading voting rights attorneys. and the experiences go on and on. our nominees have represented children, faced abuse individuals wrongly convicted and more. at the end of the day of course what matters most in a nominate is whether or not they can render impartial judgment based on precedent and rule of law. but it's also important judges come from different walks of life. judges should not operate like cold under thinking machines nor is a work of adjusters and your theoretical exercise. judges are better off when they can interpret the law by putting themselves in the shoes of those over whom they preside from a privilege to the impoverished. judges are more likely to reach prudent really if they can appreciate how their decisions

will play out in society. and that is more likely happen if our benches comprise of jurists with many different expenses from many different walks of life.ed so i think my call it for the good work this week and we'll keep working today. i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. >> mr. president, it's been clear for a while now that an enduring legacy of the biden-harris administration would be historic immigration crisis at her southern border. i don't use the word historic lightly. but it's appropriate. they preside over four years of record-breaking illegal immigration at our southern border. that's right, the five highest years of illegal immigration ever recorded at our southern border have occurred on president biden and vice president harris watch. i say it occurred on the watch courses record-breaking -- the

biden-harris administration created this crisis. they took office the present begin to spend present tense border security policies and illegal immigration began searching. and kept on searching. between official use customs and border protection counters and known gotaways, individuals and border patrol but was unable to apprehend there been somewhere around 10 million, 10 million migrant encounters at her southern border during this administration. how to put the numbers into perspective, that's larger than the population of the vast majority of u.s. states. and that's just the ones we know about. there are undoubtedly individuals who made their a country over the past four years we've been neither seen nor apprehended. the past four years have displayed the problem with unchecked illegal immigration. shelters are overwhelmed.

border cities are overwhelmed. blue cities, far from the border, are overwhelmed. the border patrol is stretched thin. agents pulled off fieldwork to process the massive numbers of migrants, and the list goes on. and, of course, isn't soon to remove that the situation at the board doesn't just affect the border. as i said, cities far from the border have struggled to deal with an influx of migrants. criminals who have made their way illegally into the country have committed crimes far from southern border. at the effects of cross-border illegal activity are felt all around the country. my state of south dakota is about as far from our southern border as you can get that law enforcement officials consistently come in larger and smaller communities that the deadly drugs they're thh have entered the country across our southern border.

and then there are the national security issues. the june arrest of eight mojica stan nationals with suspected ties to isolate illegally end the country as well as the dedication of more than 100 migrants who use isis affiliated network to struggle networks in the states are two back examples of the kind of threats we face, and the dangers of the chaos that president biden and vice president harris have allowed to rage and have unleashed at her southern border. since october 2020, 387 individuals on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended attempting to cross our southern border between ports of entry. 387 individuals on the terrorist watch list. those are the ones we caught. how many have come in that of

been unobserved? how many terrorists or other dangerous individuals have made their way across without being apprehended? try to immigration officials are curtly preparing for a possible final surge before president trump takes office, a clear sign, if one were needed, that migrants regard president biden as the open border president. the final surge or no final surge, the days of this border crisis are numbered. securing our border and removing those who entered our country illegally are at the top of president trump's priority list. the republican congress is committed to doing everything he can to help. for the sake of our security, and for the sake of our rule of law, we sometimes forget that aspect, mr. president, the rule of law but the area of immigration should not be an exception to the principal allied has to be respected. immigrants have played and

continue to play a vital role in this country. and that won't change. but emigration, mr. president has to be legal. we need in the notion that illegal pathways are viable way to take up residence in this country. and we will end that notion under president trump. biden-harris administration heralded the start of a border crisis. the trump vance administration will herald the end of it. two more months, two months, mr. president. i yield the floor.

the clerk: mr. thune, no. mr. markey, aye.

mr. rubio, no. mrs. britt, no. >> "washington journal" before we get your calls also read this from abc news that says ethics committee to meet but it's not clear if vote on gaetz reported on its agenda. it's as a bipartisan house ethics committee will meet wednesday today behind closed doors where it's poised to discuss its report on its investigation former representative matt gaetz who resigned from office last week after prez elect trump chose him as his nominee for attorney

general. the fate of the partisan head of the committee which has a reputation for being tightlipped picus equity committee will vote on whether to release the report. if there is a vote a majority of the five democrats and five republicans on the committee must approve its public disclosure. in other words, at least one republican must break party ranks to join democrats to force its release. speaker johnson was on "fox news sunday" just this past sunday talking about that ethics report and arguing it should not be released. >> i don't know anything about the content of the report because the way the rules work the speaker of the house can't put a thumb of skill or be involved in an ethics committee report. what i do know is the comments about this being there's a precedent for releasing the report is not exactly i could. there are two reaches of the tradition in the past under

extreme circumstances. i don't think this meets that criteria. look, matt gaetz is a colleague of mine. we have served together for more than a cures, one of the brightest minds in washington or anywhere for that matter and it is everything about how the department of justice has been weaponized and misused. he will be a reform at a think that's why establishment in washington is so shaken up about this pick. with regard to the report there's an important reason for the tradition and rule we always have almost always followed and that is we don't issue investigations and ethics reports by people who are not members of congress. i'm afraid that would open a pandora's box because the jurisdiction of the ethics committee is limited to those who are serving in the institution. at its very purpose and to think this would be a breach of protocol that could be dangerous for us going forward in the future. >> host: and also on sunday, delaware senator chris coons a democrat was talked about that, he's a member of the senate

judiciary committee and is asked about his opinions of that ethics report. >> the house ethics issue, give called for it to be released, there are republicans including john cornyn with you as well saying he would be open to the subpoena. he think it a bipartisan support from the committee to do what you needed to do to get your hands on that report? >> yes. to be clear about what speaker johnson said before, the ethics committee loses its jurisdiction to discipline a member when they're no longer a member on several occasions in the past house ethics committee has released a report when someone as matt gaetz adjusted, resigned at the last moment in order to avoid the release of a report that some might say why is irrelevant now? it's relevant because the senate has a constitutional role. its called our advice and consent role, to make sure that a president elect mostly gets their choice, the nominees doesn't get to put people in your unqualified or who lack the

requisite character and capabilities to lead. incredibly important agency like the department of justice. >> host: were talking specifically about that report on matt gaetz, former congressman from florida who is up for attorney general. getting your calls. we will start with david in michigan. democrat. , hello. absolutely we should see the report. we should a full disclosure. this man is going to be the attorney general of the united states of america. how can the senate to the constitutional job without the reported? we should not let the republicans do a cover-up. it's simple. >> host: here is john in idaho a republican. >> caller: i think we should release the epstein reports and maybe the reports on all the hush money payout for the house and the senate for the sex stuff that they do. thank you.

>> host: and there is, let me get that for you. i will pull it up. there was a tweet by marjorie taylor greene who says this, she said from my republican colleagues in the house and the senate, if we're going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own, that trump has appointed, then put it all out there for the american people to see. yes, all the ethics reports and claims including the one i filed. all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled paying off of victims with taxpayer money. the entire jeffrey epstein files, tapes, recordings, with his interviews but not just those, there's more. epstein wasn't/isn't the only asset. if we're going to dance, let's all dance in the sunlight. i'll make sure we do. and this is debbie in wisconsin, independent line. good morning.

>> caller: it should be released. it's kind of funny to talk about jeffrey epstein. it seems to me that his involvement with a lyrical figures, former and passed you know, not going to name names but i think you know because you probably reported the fact. it does make any difference. democrat republican come for was the other way around and it was the democrat, you know the republicans would be asking for that. yes everything should be released. i'm not a big fan of marjorie taylor greene but i think she's right. let it all fly. thank you. >> host: and here is carmen,, south florida a democrat. >> caller: how're you doing? i believe it should be released. i feel like we vote and we elected these people to do a job. i don't necessarily think like it needs to be released to the whole public, right? but every congressman right now should see that report.

sorry, i got a chest cold. so what the speaker of the house the same weaponized the doj and matt gaetz is fully qualified to do that, that's what i called. because they're keeping up with this façade that like they were attacked. the doj what they do is they go after unlawful acts. the people who do unlawful acts, the doj will come after you get it to come at you because you're republican or democrat or independent. they are come after you because you did something wrong. and for him to quit right before the end, right before they're going to do the report, it isn't likey, suspicious. it's an admittance of truth. it's him saying to the country i guess this is a bad report, i did, i got a slido see it so i can have trump help me. so not only see the report but stop the nonsense can , stops about the doj. thanks.

>> host: and that's carmen in south florida. this is the florida sun sentinel, a piece of the editorial published. this is from matt gaetz former district this as it seems highly doubtful a senate majority would confirm gaetz but his selection lays bare the depth of trump's content for our vital national law enforcement apparatus and his determination to use it as a blunt instrument to seek revenge on his opponents. gaetz, 42, of niceville come is a a provocateur who's good at delivering rhetorical red meat on the maga speaking circuit, and trump puts a premium on performative skills. he has long been a caustic critic of the justice department that was investigating him. >> bats from the florida sun sentinel, and editorial. anjo on the republican line in georgia, good morning. >> caller: i've been calling c-span for over 30 years.

love the network. y'all do a super job. i want to say my county went 81% for trump as did most north georgia counties and i think i have total confidence control. he won an overwhelming landslide. i think gaetz ought to be approved. i don't think he's going to release all these reports we will never get trump's cabinet approved so i say go ahead and confirmed gaetz and all of trump's nominees. he was elected in a huge landslide, so the american taxpayers deserve to have the people that trump wants to put in office. so i'm certainly supporting matt gaetz and all of the trump nominees. >> host: ended up in maryland, sarah. >> caller: yes good morning. i think they should just release it and then we can all see who this person is in private life and that's all had to say. thank you. >> host: and mary is in the bronx, democrat peer good

morning, mary. >> caller: good morning. how are you? you do a wonderful job. i love your show. listen, i'm calling because yes, gaetz files should be released, okay, number one. and the white house should be changed from the white house to the celebrity house. because he's got all these celebrities now coming out, okay, and this is, i never heard of such a thing. in all the years that there was a president i never heard of such a thing of all these people, all these actors, actresses, you know, to be an office, you know? i never heard of such a thing. but anyway, thank you very much and have a wonderful day. >> host: and where taking your calls this morning on the matt gaetz ethics report. if you think it should be released, should be public, shortages go to the senators, should it not be released at all?

the numbers are 202-748-8000 if you're a democrat. it's 202-748-8001 if you are a republican. and 202-748-8002 for independents. the senate majority leader the current senate majority leader outgoing is mitch mcconnell. he addressed the process for confirming president-elect trump's nominees. here's a portion from yesterday. >> how important the attorney general nomination is. shouldn't senators have access to all the information to include everything house ethics committee found in his investigation in him? >> look, the constitution gives us a role in personnel, called advice and consent. my view is that's exactly what will unfold here when these nominees are actually sent forward. and we will treat them like we

treat all others, with proper vetting. >> you recode of the week and think that would be no recess appointment. could you clarify what you said in what you meant. >> as well, we'll see. i don't happen to address that issue. >> in any capacity? >> no. there's been all kinds of rumors floating around but i haven't addressed that issue. we will just see how this unfolds, six weeks here, or actually two months. >> would you oppose any efforts -- >> as a practical matter do think president trump could force the senate to take a recess and what you think about the idea of appointing some of these high-level cabinet positions during a recess circumventing the stead of advice and consent role. >> was well, if you're asking basic the same question i just got. my answer remains we will see what happens between now and the new administration. and at that point, nominations

can actually be sent forward and we will figure out how to handle it then. and i'm confident that we will engage the same kind of vetting process that we have historically done under both parties for these nominees. >> host: that was senate majority leader, sorry minority leader mitch mcconnell from yesterday. and just a couple things we've gotten from facebook. simple answer, yes. what's the point of an ethics committee if you're able to just hide the results, good or bad? and jeff says yes, the report is dated for the senate to fulfill the role of advice and consent. however, the report will be released and gaetz shouldn't be confirmed. and karen says no, if you're in this position you would want information that has not been confirmed in a court of law to be released about you. and greg says for once marjorie taylor greene is correct.

elisa results of all backgrounds and ethics reports. let's talk to marjorie in pennsylvania, republican. good morning. >> caller: good morning. i'm with that other lady, but for once i would agree with marjorie taylor greene. if you want to release it, go ahead and release of the release them all. this sexual assault thing seems to have become the third rail, so to speak. everybody heard all the comments and all the things about clarence thomas, it didn't work. he still was confirmed. also brett kavanaugh was still confirmed. so i feel it's a last-ditch effort thing. i'm 87. i'm not naïve, but let's be honest.

if some girl was at a party realizing the power of her, shall we say, sexuality among drunken man, is taken advantage of, and i don't think she probably was --, hold on. so in this case, this is, delegation is a 17 year old, which means she's got old enough to give her consent. do you still think it's okay and it is her fault? >> caller: i i won't say it's her fault. i think she was using her newfound powers. and four days days shy of her 18th birthday, and you know. it definite, it all of a sudden she gets religion ten years

later. you know, i'm sorry if i offend people that are actually assaulted, but in this case i imagine this, somebody shouldn't have been at a party at her age, regardless of how close she was to 18. a few days to being close to age 18 18 is just silly. >> host: all right, marjorie. glenn in roanoke virginia independent line. >> caller: i would say not to release it because more than likely hurt his chances of getting confirmed. i think the basic effort trump is putting forward is, had indicated before the election he said he wanted to terminate the constitution. he felt that he needed some retribution. he wanted to go after his

political enemies. and so by bringing in people like gaetz and all of these other folks that were presented to be a part of the cabinet, it's going to hurt trump's chances of essentially becoming the autocrat and dictator that americans voted for. they want someone that's going to be a strong man who is total control over all of the different departments and social and political and military issues that come forth. people want that. so releasing this would just hurt chances of someone who's going to follow trump right down the line. >> host: and here's mike, sorry, may in miami, florida, democrat. >> caller: good morning. >> host: go right ahead. >> caller: i think they should leave it alone. trump is in there and did what he did. let this man be there, too.

>> host: so do you want to see the report or do you say it should be -- >> caller: the report should be, they got trump, they got all the trump spoke pulled out so that all did the same. i do see where this is going to cause indy difference. trump is in there so that this man be in there. but the rest of them be there. >> host: okay. and here is ronald in north carolina, a republican. >> caller: hello. >> host: high. >> caller: hey, i'm calling, i think this witch hunt the democratic party started way back and he keeps on and on and on. it's all fake, almeida. that's what i think. >> host: do you not believe the allegations against former congressman gates traffic no. it's all a witch hunt. they are doing anything,

slinging mud and shiva sticks on the wall. that's all it is. the democratic party is sick and didn't have commonsense. they are sick. >> host: okay. and this is tony in riverton new jersey, independent line, how you doing? i would suggest that should be released. it doesn't seem like the trump administration is interested in doing any serious vetting of the candidates. someone has to look at that. >> host: and margot in highland indiana democrat, good morning, america. absolutely it should be released. the fact of the matter is why wouldn't a criminal go ahead and choose all of his likes for a cabinet? so it should be absolutely released because we already

know, there's no innuendo, the fact of the matter is that gaetz individual is certainly unfit and unqualified to be the head of the department of justice. >> host: and here is house minority leader hakeem jeffries on the need for transparency on the house ethics committee report. >> -- to discuss whether or not the report concerning the former should be made public. to feel that the public should be able to see all of the details of these members of congress passes bans being put up for consideration as part of the cabinet, especially your j? >> yes. >> host: that was yesterday, and this is patty in june of each florida republican. >> caller: good morning. well let's see come to think it's being released?

yes. is it going to make any difference? probably not. i think he should get confirmed. i'm so sick and tired of hearing this person did this, this person did this, and they seem to come out of the woodwork typically when a republican is running. you know, why are they going to parties and being 17? 17? why are they there? what did he look like? what are they doing? why? >> host: so let me ask you this. because another caller had said something very similar, i heard it. >> host: if these allegations proved to be true and there just allegations and he has denied that he had this happened, but if this is true that these parties did take place, that the sexual misconduct took place,

that the drug, , illegal drug ue took place, would you still be in favor of them being the attorney general of the united states? >> caller: illegal drug use, they smoke pot. i mean pot --, i don't think it was pot, but yes, go ahead. it was illegal, just. >> guest: illegal drug use, i mean i don't know how many, it wouldn't surprise me if most of the people in congress have done illegal drug use. >> host: doesn't make it okay for the attorney general? >> caller: oh, no. while i mean, do i wish he hadn't? yes. but -- >> host: but it doesn't disqualify him? >> caller: i don't think so. i don't think so. i mean, we jaywalk. we speed. we do stupid things. doesn't mean he's going to convince do stupid things? i mean who hasn't done really

stupid things? , but cocaine is a little different though than jaywalking. are you making an equivalent? >> caller: no. i mean of course is different, but i've never tried cocaine, don't want to try cocaine, but i mean that, i mean i am 70. i mean, how old is he? i i made this -- >> host: 42. >> caller: this was so common. i made it was just like it's just what you did. you weren't thinking back then. but you're going to be doing this kind of thing. i mean you were just stupid. but does that mean he would not hold the line and continue to do stupid things because you did a stupid thing even several times? does that make you a stupid person for the rest of your life? i mean, trump has been through so much. i mean, from spying on him,

listening, to the fbi and the tapes and the russia gate. i mean, it's just been unmerciful. >> host: let's go to eric in new york, democrat. eric, are you there? you have to mute your tv, eric. dale in charlotte, north carolina, a republican. >> caller: good morning. >> host: go ahead, yes. i just wanted to express my view that it is important to release document a shocked at what it's of the same old story. we are playing games. we don't need to play a game. just get the job done and trump is already started doing that. so i say go forward, get everything to help us and needs to be accomplished right now. if it meets a limited more

republicans from a -- [inaudible] to do the job and we have to do that. i'm sorry, but bottom line, bottom line is everybody where the republican or democrat. never going to get the job accomplished. mickey mouse arena again. so appreciate you listening and have a good day. >> host: let's talk to mark next in waterville, maine, independent. mark. >> caller: hey. >> host: hey. >> caller: i think the guy should be in there with trump's personal. i don't think he should be in there. >> host: why is that? >> caller: because he done a lot of stuff. i don't know what he done but he does a lot of stuff. he should be hold accountable.

>> host: a previous caller said he was just doing stupid stuff. maybe that he was young, he's only 42. what you think of that, mark? >> caller: i think he should be punished. , okay. he was investigated by the justice department and they did not press charges. so -- >> caller: oh. >> host: robin in tennessee, democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> host: what do you think, robin? >> caller: i'm ready disgusted by the whole thing. i have a couple of different views, like number one, we have a president-elect who has been repeatedly accused of sexual

assault. of course he would pick and attorney general who has done the same thing. it's becoming more ande more clear to me as i listen to these nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, amir h. ali o theistrict of columbia to be united states district judge for the district of columbia. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: mr. president, i would like to start by thanking senator warnock for letting me jump ahead in the speaking order today. i think appreciate it. i am only going to take a couple minutes. yesterday in the press report i had a report at what the said at lunch for the news about me talking about a simple concept. i don't know, i think the american people is on board with

me. we have to show up for work, right? i think we have to. the reason we had 1 votes o monday night is because some of my cleagues on my side of the aisle, folks -- it is not partisan -- ended up focusing on my colleagues. you've got to show up for work. we've got work to do hear i understand -- there are all kinds of good reasons, but there's no reason to let chuck schumer force these judicial nominations down our throat. what happened on monday night only occurred because republicans were not here. they are my colleagues. they are my friends. but they are business associates first who have a job of making sure we prevent chuck schumer from driving a lot of these judicial nominations, that if we're here won'ting successful. the -- won't be successful. the only reason we were here until midnight on monday night is because some of my colleagues didn't show up. this is pretty simple. i spent most of my career in business. if my senior staff didn't show up or my former partners at

price waterhouse didn't show up, we'd get them a different job. you can't fire us in midterm -- in the middle of our terms, but i can express my concern about giving chuck schumer an easy way to beat republicans who want to vote against and potentially defeat some of these very liberal judges. so all i'm saying, so that the press gets it right -- people put words in my mouth at a private lunch. that's all right. people do that around here. i don't. but let me say what i said at lunch. 90% of success is showing up. if we were here on monday night, we wouldn't have been here until midnight because we would have defeated chuck schumer's opportunity to do it again. if we're not here every single day -- i had somebody ask me, well, when do i need to be there for that fourth circuit nominee?

when is that vote going to occur? he -- i said, when you're not here. these are people i work together w but they let me down on monday. they better not let me down for the rest of the session or every time we fail because we fail to show up. i'll be back down here to remind my colleagues. the american people and the people that elected us in our great states, want us to do our jobs. you can't do your job if you're not here. thank you, madam president.

the presiding office the t. senator from georgia. mr. warnock: madam prident, i riseoday calli on the united states senate to immediately, immediately approve the supplemental disaster assistance request sent to us by the president earlier this week so we can get georgians and americans all across our country the support they so desperately need following the two recent storms. hurricanes helene and hilton -- milton. sadly, these storms are becoming more frequent and becoming more destructive, and we will see again and again the need of the senate to respond with the urgency that this demands. i was pushing for additional

disaster assistance for georgians reeling from past storms before hurricane helene landed in our state; namely, following hurricane adahlia last year and debbie in august of this year. my office was on the front lines of the federal response to hurricane helene in georgia, and i was proud to work with a bipartisan group of my colleagues, including senator tillis and senator budd of north carolina, to kickstart this disaster funding process. i want to thank the president for listening to the people of our state? expediting this request. i want to thank patty murray for acting on this priority today. it's something she and i have talked about over the last several weeks. since these storms tore through

georgia and much of the southeast, we have seen light in darkness, as communities come together to help one another, neighbors supporting neighbors. i was down in augusta a few weeks ago, and it was tough to see that devastation. part of that light piercing the darkness. it could be seen in the eyes and in the effort of robert lanier of lanier's meat market. i was driving -- we were driving down the streechlt i asked my staff to do a there was lanier's meat market literally providing free food and water to his neighbors, the very food he sells every day to take care of his family. he was giving it away. -- to his neighbors.

a light shining in his office. i saw this in gibson where my office hosted community resource clinics to connect georgians to resources helping some 200,000 georgians in the process. in valdosta, my team and i hit the road to deliver food, health care supplies and water to our neighbors in need. i spent time with small-town may be all a -- mayors all across our state that were desperately need of a response. to date fema that is provided over $229 million in individual and household assistance to georgians in need and continues to operate numerous disaster recovery and other assistance centers across the state. i'm proud of the great work being done, and i applaud the public servants and the

community leader whose make -- who make it all possible. but in my travels and in my conversations with these small-town mayors, with georgians, with folks especially in our rural areas, it is clear that more needs to be done, and that help cannot come soon enough. in ray city, i joined president biden to survey a damaged pecan grove. an estimated one-third of the state's pecan crop was destroyed as well as cotton. over 100 poultry houses were damaged or destroyed, and eight million acres of timber in america's number-one forestry state were impacted. all told, we are talking about -- all tolled, we are talking about more than $

billion in total damages to georgia's agriculture sector. too many of our farmers have taken too many hits with these storms over the years, which is why i pushed the president to send to congress a request for additional funding immediately so we can give a lifeline to our hurting agriculture industry. at its peak, helene left more than one million georgians without power, 300 boil water advisories across the state, over 200,000 homes with some level of damage and countless communities facing a long road to recovery. most tragically, 228 individuals parished in helene's devastation. 34 of them were georgians, six

of them were children. and so as we provide with our lips for those we lost, we must pray with our legs to help those still reeling and recovering from this devastation. while congress was out of session last month, because i understood the urgency, i called on the senate to come back to washington to pass additional disaster assistance funding. weeks have passed since then, but the urgency remains. while it may not be in the headlines, georgians who were at the center of this devastation are living this every single day. while i'm here to remind my colleagues of the more urgency to act, i know families and farmers back home still recovering. they are the ones who understand the dire circumstances, clearly.

there's one family in augusta, georgia, a married couple with two young elementary school-i am anned kids -- school-aged kids who following helene, listen, are still residing in a house deemed 95% damaged. it is practically unlivable. their home. but they are still waiting on federal support to move to either a temporary who are a long-term housing solution. imagine that, waking up every day in a home that is 95% damaged. and as they navigate the stress and trauma of this turmoil, the father continues showing up to work. he goes to work every day in order to provide for his family

and then returns to their damaged home waiting on us to show up to work. and get the job done. if we expect hardworking georgians to do their job in the midst of a as doesster, they should expect us to do ours. it is reasonable service. it is the least we can do. the disaster assistance proposal before us would deliver a lifesaver for so many families providing over ozzed 20 billion to help farmers address crop and orchard losses, more than $600 million to help them rehabilitate damaged land, $375 million to support rural communities with housing, power, water, health care, and more, and $40 billion for fema's disaster relief fund, the primary source of federal assistance for georgians

impacted by hurricane helene. there's also critical funding to fix our damaged roads and highways, support our small businesses harmed by the storages and invest in public water and sewer system upgrades. the only question is, what are we waiting for? there's no time for games, no time for delay, no time for partisanship or politics. we must center the human beings, members of our families who are impacted by our policy, and the time to act is now. we must approve this additional funding with bipartisan and bicameral support is and i will continue top do all i can until we get this done. and every dollar we allocate

gets to ototaxpayers -- gets to the taxpayers -- after all, this is the taxpayers' money -- and hardworking families frying to pick up the pieces of their lives. this is the work we must do, and it cannot happen soon enough. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. budd: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. budd: madam president, i rise today to talk about the road ahead for western north carolina after the devastation of hurricane helene. i appreciate my colleague from one of the mountain states, georgia, particularly northern georgia, and am reminded that we are rebuilding together. for us here in north carolina, hurricane helene represented one of the worst natural disasters to ever strike my home state,

and i've seen a lot of natural disasters in north carolina. for hurricane helene, more than 100 people just in our state were killed. hundreds more were injured and some are still missing. thousands of north carolinians lost that every homes -- lost their homes, lost their businesses. for small mountain communities this horrific ordeal began friday morning of november 27 when the storm hit an already rain-soaked area, the situation escalated to life and death in a few moments. in bat cave, north carolina, population -- the town's fire chief was at home with his wife. in advance of the storm, steve parked his first car, a 1967 mustang. he put it on higher ground on the shed above the family shed.

they felt the house shake. he went out and found that the car had been swept downhill with the shed and then he saw his ford pickup get taken away. he saw a mud slide pouring down. the collapsing shed took his feet out from behind him, his head was pinned by a backhoe, his wife thought he was dead. he credits to the grace of almighty god, steve had of enough room to get his head out and went back inside to his wife. they escaped the area and steve said, i had my near-death experience, and that's when i knew that god was here for me.

what is even more extraordinary is that after this heroing experience, the chief began working for the safety of his community. others might have called it quits, but he went to work. his firefighters mapped out the area and started digging people out. he is one of the hundreds of heroic north carolinians who leapt into harm's way to help others. that's the thing about the people of north carolina, they are not justify tough, they're mountain tough. i went to appalachia state years ago, if you spent any amount of time up there, you learn how strong the people are in the mountains. these are proud and self-sufficient people. they're generous people. take the story of ann fowler of -- ethan fowler, when he saw

storm debris that needed cleaning, he jumped on his own heavy-duty machines and others offered to help pay for it, he said it's just dirt. others came to clean up places, this story is a perfect testament of the people of north carolina. there are. so of the most resilient people around. they don't look for handouts, they don't complain. the truth is they need us right now. our government must be there to help them. that's why it's incredibly disturbing to hear reports on the ground that they're still struggling to get in touch with representatives from fema. i don't want to denigrate the hard work of these officials who are trying to do the right

thing. when you hear the same story of a scatter-spot response and you hear the same story over and over again, you know something is dreadfully wrong. you know something is wrong when we hear from a whistleblower from fema who claims that federal officials had a colossal event -- this sort of weaponization of the people in their time of need is disgusting and it's wrong. there's going to be accountability for it. as we hold these agencies accountable, we in congress have work to do and no time to waste. i'm again calling on this body to quickly approve a supplemental bill to help the citizens of north carolina. congress should take up the bill without further dlachlt those of us from the region, regardless of party, i believe, support this. now, i realize coming from someone like me, a dedicated

fiscal conservative, asking for this, it might sound to some out of place, but, madam president, disaster relief is one of the essential functions of this government. times like these are precisely why we shouldn't overspend or waste taxpayer dollars in more prosperous times. like any family or small business, we ought to be saving for a rainy day. ladies and gentlemen, that rainy day is today. in western north carolina, the temperatures are falling fast. many people in my state are facing a winter without heat because the storm destroyed the only kerr teen station -- kerotene station, we have restaurants and hotels who rely on tourism to operate, some of those folks will be forced to

shudder their business forever. we have large sections of an interstate highway that is damaged beyond repair. we have communities mourning the unimaginable loss of first responders and law enforcement. we have some towns we have v visited like springville and others that are swimming in mudslides and towns like chimney rock that is mostly gone. i was stunned by the enormity of the danning. it was unlike anything i had seen. this is not a situation where our government has the luxury of hand-wringing or deferring action after another long recess. the citizens in my state, they need help and need it now. this is why these men and women pay their taxes. this is their right as an american and we can't leave them behind. i believe, after having many

conversations around the state, that that's their greatest fear of being forgotten. i'll make my promise not to ever forget them m. my promise to the people of western north carolina is this, i will do everything in my power to see that you have the federal resources that you need to recover and rebuild. i stand ready to work with my senate colleagues and president-elect trump to cut through the delays and provide the people of western north carolina with the resources they need as quickly as possible. we owe it to these fellow americans to help them and help them now. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: madam president, on monday president biden submitted to congress an emergency supplemental funding request for nearly $100 billion to help

communities across the country recover from disasters. whether it's lain -- lahaina, maui or davenport or asheville, every community who has had the misfortune of being struck by disaster needs help. no one is fully prepared for a tornado, flood or fire, but everyone has to go through the long and difficult and painful process of rebuilding, rebuilding their life, rebuilding their home, rebuilding their store, rebuilding their community, which is why every time a disaster has devastated our fellow americans, congress has recognizeded the need for help and stepped up to fulfill our responsibility to provide that help. we don't first check to see if it's a blue or a red or a purple state or county. and today disaster survivors in

almost 40 states, including my own are counting on us to do exactly that. they've had their lives turned upside down and in the wake of awful death and destruction, they're trying to find some semblance ever stability and peace in their lives, but to recover quickly and fully, they need our help. it's been more than 15 months since lahaina burned down to the ground. in a matter of hours by ferocious fires. more than 4,000 homes were destroyed. and, yet, as of today, just one home has been rebuilt. one home. 4,000 homes gone, 12,000 people without a house, 2,200 structures incinerated, one home rebuilt. even before the fires, lahaina

was a working-class town where people were mostly renters. while a disaster of this scale is tremendous, helping the survivors is especially acute. everyone is doing the best they can to recover. they are working so hard. they have pulled together so much. they have summoned courage and compassion and persistence. they have plowed through every barrier put in front of them. they have saved each other ee lives. they are trying to rebuild this beautiful historic pluralistic, joyful, multicultural town. but they need our help. and this is a core responsibility of the united states federal government. there are certain things that we should be arguing about.

there are lots of things that we should be arguing about. and among those things is, what does the ferng do exactly? what is the federal government's role exactly in education, health care, in transportation? one thing we cannot argue with each other about is this -- when your fellow americans are in a situation where their county, their church, their community, their state is just simply overwhelmed and cannot recover without the resources of the federal government, and the federal government steps up and does their job. and so we are about to wrap this week up before thanksgiving break and then we have a tight little work period to get a hell of a lot done. the one thing we cannot leave

undone in december, the one thing we cannot leave undone in december is disaster aid, not just for the people of maui, but for people all across the country. if the federal government is for anything, it has to be for this. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: thank you, madam president. a few weeks ago the american people spoke loud and clear. they rejected the policies that we've been seeing through this current administration. but today i rise to talk about vision my republican colleagues and i have for this future and

the many solutions that we are eager to get back to work on that i believe will help get this country back on track. first things first, this newly formed republican senate majority is ready to close the previous chapter. it's a chapter i think that none of us really want to go through again, and soon the resolute desk will change hands, and the senate under the guidance of my friend and colleague and soon to be majority leader, john thune, will get to work. and we have the full support of the incoming president, president-elect trump. the american public want to see real action. back home in my state of west virginia, people have conveyed to me that they are ready for real representation, a government of, by, and for the people. senate republicans will deliver responsive and responsible solutions for the american people. the task ahead is this --

unshackling the american economy, securing the border, unleashing our american energy, reducing crime and lawlessness, and restoring american strength and deterrence on the world stage. these are the issues on which the voters place their faith in us. and i also believe that the central to this mandate for new american leadership is the idea that people really did feel better and preferred their lives under the presidency of president trump. i know for sure i did. and so as the senate fulfills its responsibility to pass legislation to get this country back on track, let's look no further than the previous trump administration for the road map. president trump unleashed american energy production, rolling back burdensome permitting rules and red tape.

republicans slashed regulations that canceled pipelines. we erased barriers to our new ones. america sits on the greatest treasure trove of natural resources in the world, and a republican-led energy policy will not squander that. west virginia knows the difference between good and bad energy policy oh too well. we are an energy state. we've been blessed with a lot of natural resources, and we know that our economy and people's jobs and people's lives and people's families depend on us unleashing that energy. the jobs that president trump saved, a lot of those jobs were west virginia energy jobs. so we can get back to a cheaper, more secure, more reliable world by our unleashing of american energy once again. so the republican solution is america first energy policies that can result in energy

dominance and our own self-reliance. no more depending on fuels from dictators who hate america or no more reliance on green energy from chinese communist party-backed supply chains. so it's going to take an all-of-the-above approach, including overwhelming up projects like the mountain valley pipeline so we can deliver energy in projects, promoting carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear energy as the market sees fit. in a few months i'll be chairman of the environment and public works committee. i'm excited about this opportunity and cannot stress enough how important these items are to the agenda. my senate republican colleagues and i are prepared to bring forward legislative solutions to help fuel american growth.

and i hope our democrat colleagues will join us at moving these solutions forward in the next congress. on the economy, residents from my state and the entire country are still reeling from the elevated costs on all things, from housing, energy, food, and every other, almost every other everyday essential. personal finances are stretched so thin right now, for instance, in my state of west virginia, west virginians are spending on average an additional $930 a month or more than $25,000 a year due to inflation since 2021. actually that's a total, $25,000 since 2021. the plan to get the american energy back on track is a tried and true formula of energy dominance, repealing burdensome

regulations, and lowering taxes. it's pretty simple. you should keep more of your own paycheck and the government should stay out of the way. i'm looking forward to taking up legislation proposed by me and my other senate colleagues towards these ends, including an extension of the reauthorization of the tax cuts and jobs act that we passed in 2017, including some of the most pro-growth tax reform policies that we have seen as well as other potential budget solutions. crime and the border go hand in hand. president trump's first administration both were managed but now they're not. look no further than the example of the addiction crisis, a direct product of lawlessness and free reign of mexican cartels. last friday i convened state and community leaders in west

virginia for a summit focused on combatting the addiction crisis. the correlation between wide-open barriers and the raging drug crisis was mentioned repeatedly at this summit, especially during the presentation and discussion with our law enforcement panel. here is the fentanyl crisis by the numbers -- cbp seized 27,000 pounds of fentanyl in the fiscal year 2023. that's only a fraction of the real amount that crosses our border. and keep in mind, a minuscule amount of fentanyl can have a deadly effect. of the over 107,000 drug overdoses that occurred in the united states in 2023 -- i'll repeat that number -- 107,000. that's almost double the size of the capital city of west virginia, in charleston, where i live. almost 75,000 of those involved

fentanyl. this out-of-control drug trafficking must end. it's a lawless scourge that takes more west virginians and more americans -- that takes more west virginians per capita than any other state in the union. in sheer numbers, the death toll and calamity eclipses any other modern drug epidemic. we know what works because the rise in fentanyl overdose deaths stalled under president trump. the bottom line, we've got to close the border and end the lawlessness. yet again republicans have the road map. we did it once, and we can do it again. a heightened sense and appreciation for law and order from the border to the inner cities, to everywhere back home will feature prominently in this next republican administration. president trump presided over a

relatively peaceful period of history unmatched in our national history. after crushing isis, the trump-led world order went larnlly untested by the world's dictators and demagogues. the same cannot be said about the world today. china manipulates the biden administration every day, while burr rogue deep into our -- burrowing into our infrastructure and growing its military. iran and its terrorist proatrioc waged war against israel. and of course the ongoing war in the ukraine. this is the world on the biden-harris administration's watch. in what seems like the most trying confluence of geopolitical struggles in a generation, america must lead through strength. indecision and weakness have emboldened our adversaries. republicans can start the next congress by restoring deterrence

against iran and reinstating trump's maximum pressure campaign. we should cut off iran's funding sources so that they can't continue to support these attacks against our u.s. servicemembers. just last week the houthis fired at least eight drones, five ballistic missiles, and three antiship cruise missiles against our u.s. navy ships. it was barely even news because this is now just a regular occurrence under this current administration. the administration apparently has no clue that our troops are under constant attack on land and sea since our current vice president in her campaign said that she didn't think any u.s. forces were in combat. america must protect our 134e78s and put -- our servicemembers and put iran on notice that their weapons dealing business is over. more broadly, a unified

republican government will be prepared to restore our military strength, refocus our dod on lethality and restock our critical munitions. i've detailed but a few of the ideas and solutions to this dangerous, costly disordered world that we are inheriting. in a challenge fit for a strong government and even stronger leadership, and it's good that we have a change for who's in charge. until then, i suggest the best course of action this body can take is to work diligently on the outl standing priorities that we have in front of i'm talking about the ndaa, the defense authorization bill, the government funding bills, and the farm bill. that way the next congress can stand at full attention, ready to advance policies to make our country safer, stronger, and a more resilient place. and with that, i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. two weeks ago president trump was reelected and the senate republicans reclaimed the senate majority. as we prepare for the 119th congress, i join my colleagues today to discuss republican solutions to the challenges our nation faces. among these important efforts, we will work with president trump to unleash more american energy and not only make our country energy independent once again, but actually make the united states energy dominant.

we'll do that by cutting the red tape that has handcuffed our energy industry. and instead of strangling regulations, we're going to boost innovation. that's the right kind of approach for energy policy in our nation. energy security directly impacts our economic and national security. and that's why we must act on day one to reverse the biden administration's regulatory onslaught. from the very beginning of his tenure, president biden has sought to curtail american energy. i'd like to take a moment to recap some of these harmful regulatory policies. just last week the biden administration finished implementing a new natural gas tax. think about that, a tax on natural gas at a time when the country has been fighting inflation. that natural gas tax was

authorized as part of the democrat partisan tax and spend bill. importantly, i intend to introduce a congressional review act resolution of disapproval to block the biden administration's new natural gas tax rule and will work with president trump to repeal it. again, this is part of reducing an inflation that affects every single american. this costly tax comes in addition to new burdensome rules and higher fees on federal energy production imposed by the department of interior bureau of land management. but the biden administration isn't just increasing costs for producers, they're working to outright prevent the development of vast amounts of taxpayer-owned energy resources on public lands. this year blm issued a new public lands rule enabling radical environmental groups to lock away more of our energy

reserves under a so-called conservation leasing approach. in my state of north dakota the biden administration is proposing to leash off 45% of federal oil and gas acreage and 95% of federal coal acreage. let me repeat that. in my state of north dakota -- we're one of the largest energy-producing states in the country. we're an energy powerhouse for this country. in my state, the biden administration is proposing to close off leasing to 45% of federal oil and gas acreage and 95% of federal coal acreage. at the same time the biden administration's regulatory agenda is making electricity more expensive and less reliable. think about that. we need more electricity, not less. this preventses us from producing -- prevents us from producing more electricity.

the biden administration has overreached power in sector regulations with balances of dollars in compliance costs. these burdensome regulations could for ours the premature retirement of reliable baseload power plants and we need it to maintain the integrity of the nationwide electric grid. the north american electric reliability operation, or nerk are sounding the alarm of a coming reliability crisis. each of the actions by the biden administration were designed to make traditional energy more expensive and to produce less of it. that's why in partnership with the incoming trump administration, we will take off the handcuffs of our energy producers and empower them to increase supply and bring could down -- bring down prices for american families and

businesses. i would also like to thank president trump and offer my congratulations to doug burgum to serve as secretary of the interior and head of the national energy council. the interior is -- department of interior is important to north dakota and western states, overseeing 270 million acres of federal land and approximately 30% of america's minerals. he has the background to lead the new administration's energy efforts. he has been a great partner to make north dakota -- an energy powerhouse and he will bring that experience to bear in a positive way for our country. he will use our states for energy development, recreation, tourism and and all the multiple

uses that we enjoy. i look forward to continuing our efforts together and he will be in a tremendous position to help us roll back the harmful policies of the last few years to make the best use of our nation's abundant energy resources, including oil, gas, and coal reserves and will produce more energy with better environmental is stewardship. that's the right way to do it. like i said at the beginning, we are not just going to medicare our nation -- make our nation energy independent, we will make it energy dominant. madam president, with that, i madam president, with that, i

members will be voting on measures related to foreign policy. from vermont independent senator. ? the presiding officer: no, we are not. mrs. blackburn: after four years of biden-harris administration, the republicans will take over the whitehouse starting next year and the top of our agenda

will be securing the southern border. until then, though, the biden-harris open bothered remains a -- border remains a threat to our communities and our country. congress should waste no time in taking action to protect this nation. since taking office, the biden-harris administration has apprehended, get this number, they apprehended nearly 400 suspected terrorists at the southern border. now, that's a 3,000% increase compared with all four years of the trump administration. they also released nearly 100 individuals on the terrorist watch list into the country. unfortunately, these are just the terrorist suspects that we know about.

under this administration, there have been more than two million known got-aways, illegal aliens who have invaded -- they have entered this country, they evaded apprehension by law enforcement and we do not know who they are, we do not know where they have gone, but we know that they are here from the border patrol accounts. now, on top of all of this, 400 suspected terrorists, a 3,000% increase over the trump years, nearly 100 that are on the terrorist watch list, and the two million got-aways, there are more than 1.7 million -- what

are called special interest aliens -- who have come from countries that pose a national security threat to our nation, including iran. of course, this is the same regime that helped plan the horrific october 7 terrorist attack on israel that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, including 46 american citizens. iran-backed hamas terrorists also took more than 250 people hostage, including a dozen american citizens, four of whom remain in captivity. no one connected to these barbaric egg tax should be allowed -- barbaric attacks should be allowed in this country. yet, under president biden and vice president harris, that risk remains sky high.

earlier this year, canada began issuing visas to gaza, meaning that aliens with potential ties to hamas could enter our country. not only from the southern border but also from the northern border. instead of droefg the -- addressing the address, president biden issued an executive order that eliminates many from being deported. a growing terror threat it would be bad enough, under this administration, we have seen tens of thousands of criminal illegal aliens reach our border. these are people who have been committed -- they committed crimes, some of the worst imaginable, homicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and more. as a result of of this influx, we're seeing a surge in violent

gang activity across america, including my state of tennessee. just last week, the tennessee bureau of investigation warned that the violent venezuelan gang we're all hearing about is ramping up its human trafficking operations in tennessee's largest cities. this is the same gang that has taken over entire apartment complexes from san antonio to colorado for drug dealing, sex trafficking and other violent crimes. make no mistake, our country cannot afford two more months of this administration's broken immigration policy, which, by the way, that is why you're seeing all of this influx. all the numbers we've talked about, the 400 suspected terrorists, the nearly 100 that

have been released into this country, 55,000 criminal illegal aliens, people that are convicted of these crimes. 2200 gang members. why does it happen? because this administration's border policy is an open border. that's their policy. and last week, reports emerged that human traffickers and these human trafficking cartels in mexico, they're telling everybody, you better be running to that border right now and get in before biden leaves office. thankfully, the senate can pass legislation today that would secure our border and protect our country from terrorists and criminals many here's some pieces -- criminals many here's some pieces of legislation i

have. the prince act, which i introduced last year would combat trafficking by giving border patrol the authority to fingerprint not citizens under the age of 14 so we can protect them from being trafficked. the container act, which i introduced in january, would empower border states, like texas, to place temporary barriers on federal land in order to protect their communities. the clear act, which i introduced in march, would ensure that state and local law enforcement officials have the tools they need to help the federal government deport criminal illegal aliens. the bipartisan no immigration benefits for hamas terrorists, which i recently introduced alongside senator rosen, who is currently serving madam

president, would ensure that no migrant tied to hamas and the horrific terrorist attack on october 7 is ever allowed to set foot in this country. and the bipartisan border smu smuggling crackdown act which i introduced last alongside senator ossoff would ensure human smugglers are held accountable for are every -- for every life they endanger, with a growing surge of illegal immigrants ahead of ainauguration day, we should pass this legislation immediately. i ask unanimous consent that the next portion of my remarks be placed separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection.