tv U.S. Senate CSPAN November 20, 2024 1:59pm-5:59pm EST
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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.
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mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. over the past two weeks, president trump has started to assemble an incredible team to get our country back on track. his pick to lead the federal communications commission, brendan carr will be essential to that effort. carr has led the fcc's work to ensure that every tennessean and american has access to high-speed internet regardless of their zip code. on just about every issue the fcc handles commissioner carr has been a crucial advocate for freedom, internet access, and national security. his track record speaks for itself. across his seven years on the commission, he has fought to stamp out internet censorship and to protect free speech, to
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ends the disastrous net neutrality rules that give government bureaucrats needless control over internet carriers, ren inning in big tech, addressing china's threat digital structure has been on his get it done list. in the year ahead, i look forward to working with commissioner carr on each of these issues, especially on expanding rural broadband, building out a clear spectrum pipeline, and keeping children safe online. on that last issue, i especially appreciate commissioner carr's efforts with 32 state attorneys general urging, begging congress this week to pass the kids online safety act, we know this is strong momentum to finally establish safeguards for
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president. over the past few months, we've heard from both sides of the i'll about how american families need more support. we've heard discussions about the child tax credit, child care costs, and dozens more issues that affect parents and their children. earlier this year, senator vance summed it up nicely -- what could be a mission statement for republicans to use on this issue. he said, quote, we want to provide more options so that people are raising families in a thriving and happy way in this country. madam president, my colleagues and i are here today to talk about republican solutions, and i want to talk specifically about one solution to the family leave problem, that has not just republican but also bipartisan
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support. across america only 27% of workers in the private sector have access to paid family leave. the other three-quarters have to choose between making ends meet and taking care of their fam families, whether that's welcoming a newborn or nursing an aging parent. that is not a choice that americans should have to make. my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have proposed a few ideas to solve this problem. some of them advocate for a new nationwide government entitlement program. some advocate for a mandate that would force businesses to pay out of pocket for their employees' leave. neither of those options is practical or politically re
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realistic. our nation is already trillions of dollars in debt, and a mandate, well, that would squash small businesses that simply don't have the resources to survive while paying an employee who is not at work. but there is a solution, a way to offer employees paid time off without creating a new mandatory program or forcing businesses to suffer huge losses. what i'm talking about here are the mom and pop businesses especially, main street businesses, that maybe they have one employee, two employees, maybe five, and we have a solution. there is a way to offer employees paid time off without creating a new mandatory program or forcing those small
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businesses to suffer losses. we can provide tax benefits to businesses that offer employees paid leave, which will in turn free up resources that businesses can use to pay the salaries of their workers on leave. this is a tried-and-true method. it works. i know because i've done it before. in 2017 senator angus king and i, we created the first nationwide paid family leave policy in the history of the united states. we created a tax credit for employers who voluntarily offer up to 12 weeks of paid leave to their employees, and president trump signed it into law. but that tax credit, it's going to expire, and it's going to expire at the end of 2025.
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to ensure that businesses can keep offering paid leave, we need to make sure that we make that credit permanent, as well as make it easier for businesses to qualify for it and to use it. so that's why senator king and i have again introduced the paid family medical leave tax credit extension and enhancements act. our bill makes that credit permanent, and it also expands it. it supports additional options for financing paid leave, such as paid family leave insurance. it also allows employers to begin offering paid family medical leave to workers sooner after being hired. our bill also includes a strategy for educating businesses and employees about the option to receive this
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credit, so that more people know about it. it requires the small business administration and the irs to conduct targeted outreach and technical assistance for those who need it, which will raise awareness of the credit and expand the number of americans who have paid leave. this is a republican solution, and it's one that everyone can get on board with. it already has a track record of bipartisan support here in congress, and we have the perfect opportunity to mass this tax credit -- to pass this tax credit yet again in the new year. as my colleagues on the finance committee begin working on tax policy for 2025 and onward, i would urge them to remember america's families, remember how much they need access to paid
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family leave, and remember what they voted for this past november -- an administration who will look out for parents and for kids. we have a solution for america's paid leave problem. it's just a matter of expanding it and enacting it. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i first ask unanimous consent that my legislative fellows, julia burn el, stephen randowell and brian beganer be granted floor privileges. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaine: shortly, i will ask for unanimous consent to confirm
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mark g. eskenazi and amanda wood lay how to serve on the occupational and health commission. this is an independent agency that plays a vital role in ensuring safe and healthy workplaces and working conditions for american workers. of what the commission does is provides fair and timely adjudication of workplace safety and health disputes between employers, employees, and the occupational safety and health administration. so this independent bodied a jude kates claims between -- adjudicates claims between the federal, osha, employers and employees. however, the three-member commission has lacked a quorum since april 2023, which means that for 18 months they have been unable to adjudicate these claims between employers and employees and osha. amanda wood laihow is a reapayment. she first served from january
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2020 to april 2023, when her term expired. mark g. eskenazi was nominated a few ago in june of 2024. they both received very strong and bipartisan support in the help committee on which i sit for their nominations and i urge my colleagues to join me in carpaling these well- -- in confirming these well-qualified candidates and the body to have a quorum to take up claims by workers and employers. so tore that reason -- for that reason, madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations en bloc, calendars 374 and 785, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. scott: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, reserving the right to object.
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on november 5, the american people spoke and demanded change. they demanded a wholesale revamp and review of the federal government's operations from top to bottom. i'm committed to working tirelessly to enact these in congress. just as important is the next administration's agenda. president-elect trump is in the process of selecting his administration. it would be a colossal mistake to hamstring him now in the lame duck session before he has a chance to review these nominations. i will be objecting to this today because we must preserve objections for president-elect trump and his administration to nominate his own choices for this commission and others. not rubber stamp president biden and leader schumer's preferred candidates on their way out the door. it is important to point out if these are confirmed the democrats will hold a 2-1 majority. it will ensure the commitment to dramatic and needed change.
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i look forward to ensuring the nominees in january once trump has an opportunity to decide on his nominees to serve in these roles. for these reasons, i object. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: i do not believe it's president trump being hamstrung. it's -- unless the president-elect has a current claim pending before the committee, he's not being hamstrung by creating a quorum. the absence of a quorum of a quorum is hurting american workers and i regret my colleague has objected. with that i call the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.
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what happened on monday night only curb because republicans were not here. they are my colleagues, 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 are here won't be successful. the only reason that we are here till midnight on monday night is because some of my colleagues didn't show up. i'm just saying folks this is priscilla. i spent most of my career in business. if my senior staff didn't show up or my former partners at price waterhouse to jump we would find them another job. we get this job whether we want it or not unless we resign. you can't fire us in the midterm, or in the middle of our
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terms but i can express my concern with giving chuck schumer and easy way to beat republicans who want to vote against a potentially defeat some of these very liberal judges. so all i'm saying so the press gets it right, people put words in my mouth at a private lunch, that's okay, people does 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 what a defeated chuck schumer's opportunity to do it then. if we are not here, every single day, i summary asked me when do i need to be there for the fourth circuit nominee? when is a vote could occur? i said when you're not here. we've got to show up, folks. the american people expect us to shop for a job. these are my friends, my colleagues, people i worked
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together with 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 failed to show up i'll be back to neutral my my colleagues the american people and the people that elected as an our great states want us to do our jobs. you can't do your job if you are not here. thank you, madam president. >> madam president? >> senator from georgia.
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>> madam president i rise today calling 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. sadly, the storms are becoming more frequent and becoming more destructive and we'll see again and again in 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 idalia last year and debbie in
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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 in expediting this request. i want to thank the senate appropriations committee chair 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 south east, we have seen light and darkness. as committees come together they help one another. neighbors supporting neighbors.
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i was down in augustine a few weeks ago, and it was tough to see that devastation. part of that light piercing the darkness could be seen in the eyes and in the effort of robert lanier of my neighbors meet market. i was driving, we're down the street, asked my staff to do a u-turn. and there was robert, local business owner, ménière's meat market literally providing free food and water to his neighbors. the very foodie sells every day to take care of his, , he was giving it away. to his neighbors. his neighbors like chiding editor i saw this in other towns where my office hosted security resource clinics to connect to georgians to federal officials and resources helping some 200 georgians in the process.
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equipment and in -- my team and i hit the road to deliver food, help supplies and water to our neighbors in need. i spent time with small-town mayors all across our state that were desperately in need of a response. and to date, fema has provided over $229 billion 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 leaders who make it all possible. but in my travels and in my conversations with of these small-town mayors, with
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georgians, 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 piquant grove, an estimated one-third of the states peak on crop was destroyed as well as cotton. over 100 poultry houses were damaged or destroyed, and 8 million acres of timber and america's number 143 state were impacted. all told, we're talking more than $6 billion in total damages to george's agriculture sector. too many of our farmers have taken too many hits with the storms over the years, which is why i push the president to send
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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 1 million georgians without power, 300 boil water advisory across the state, over 200,000 homes with some level of damage, and countless immunities acing a long road to recovery. both tragically that are most tragically, 228 individuals perished in howlings devastatio devastation. 34 of them were georgians. six of them were children. and so as we pray with our lips for those we lost, we must pray
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with our legs to help those still breathing and recovering from this devastation. while congress ll? the presiding officer: we are. mr. cornyn: i ask consent the quorum call be dispensedwith. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: america's credibility on the world stage has crumbled. simply put, our friends did no longer trust us. our enemies no longer fear us. the biden administration's disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan signalled to our adversaries and our alives alike that the united states could not be trusted. with deterrence a mere memory, this gave the green light to vladimir putin to continue his ambitions in ukraine and launch a full-scale invasion after invading crimea in 2014.
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this administration took the step further, though, unfreezing billions of dollars in iranian assets and allowing tehran to pour even more money behind the houthis, hezbollah, hamas, and shiite militias. its terrorist proxies operating throughout the middle east. and of course the administration did this with full knowledge of iran's nuclear ambitions. but they didn't stop there. by removing the designation of the iranian-backed houthis as a terrorist group, a decision which the president later only partially reversed, president biden practically invited them to start attacking international commerce in the red sea. the dominos were set and now we're seeing them fall.
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iran and its proxies have been emboldened and launched the most deadly terrorist attack on the people of israel shortly after on october 7. then there's north korea which has sent more than 10,000 troops to russia and some intelligence estimate they might be willing to provide up to 100,000 soldiers in the coming months as part of russia's effort to capture ukraine. then in the south china sea in another part of the world, the peoples republic of china dominated and run by the chinese communist party continued to assert excessive and illegal maritime boundary claims at times using force against our treaty ally the philippines when they've attempted to resupply
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their ship the sierra madre. so perhaps it should be no surprise to anyone given the absence of effective american leadership that president xi, the president of china, has ordered the chinese military, the peoples liberation army, to be ready and capable to take taiwan by force in 2027. that's two years from now. if china's aggression in the indo-pacific goes unchecked, president xi and the chinese communist party will continue to threaten, intimidate and ultimately invade china's neighbors. the ccp, chinese communist party, will likely ex-can a late its war against the united states by blackballing us from the biggest market in the world and starving us from critical
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minerals. it's no secret that china, russia, iran, and north korea are now working in concert to undermine the united states and our allies. it is no exaggeration to say we are perhaps at the most dangerous environment geopolitically since world war ii, and we know from history that the beginning of wars becomes only clear in retrospect. we know that from the run-up to world war ii. this is a dangerous period and environment. so the united states must reestablish deterrence and must show the world that we are serious about confronting these threats and the reality head-on. and while i admit this paints a rather grim picture, i'm confident that the united states
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is headed toward a new chapter of peace through strength, as ronald reagan said. this time with president trump as our commander in chief. i'm glad to see president trump has selected military veteran pete hegseth as the next defense secretary, representative mike waltz as the national security advisor and our friend and colleague, senator marco rubio, as secretary of state. and i'm proud that my fellow texan and fellow congressman john ratcliffe has been selected to head the intelligence agency. i am looking toured to reverse the as does as does truss -- the disastrous policies of the biden administration, but we all have our work cut out for us. i am confident that president trump picked the right people for the job.
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the first and most significant task at hand will be showing up our -- shoring up our armed forces, specifically the united states navy. a revitalization of the navy will be critical to deterring chinese aggression in the indo-pacific as well as keeping aukus, our partnership with australia and the u.k., alive and well. in order to pose a credible threat to the ccp, in order to maintain deterrence, which is our ultimate goal, we need to adequately resource the navy as well. this starts with our ship-building capabilities. secretary-designate hegseth should waste no time in working with congress on a shipbuilding plan. we also stand ready to work with the trump administration on a plan to reinvigorate our i am anning shipyards, which are struggling to attract and retain
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necessary talent. the pentagon can streamline its specifications for building maritime assets, ensuring that they are linked to war-fighting requirements. another priority must be improving military recruitment. i'm pleased to see secretary-designate hegseth's commitment to ending the politicization of our military. given the biden administration's needless focus on what divides us instead of what unites us, it's really no surprise that the number of americans voluntarily joining our military is at an all-time low. reducing the diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy will have the best of freeing up resources necessary to aid recruitment and rebuilding. by ending these culture wars and
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reorienting the pentagon toward a commitment to excellence as a top priority, we will be better positioneded to recruit a talented military ready to deter aggression anywhere around the world. and the pentagon must come to terms with our depleted arsenal of critical munitions. this includes replenishing our stock of long-range antiship missiles, joint air-to-surface standoff missiles and the advanced medium-range missiles. this can be done effectively by returning to policies that the pentagon has disregarded in recent years. mandatory fixed price commercial contracts promote cost savings for the taxpayer. contrast this with the department of defense's current model of cost-plus contracting, which is stifled innovation and
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allowed private-sector contractors to outsource r&d costs to the taxpayer. so we have a lot of work to do, as a congress and as a nation, to shore up deterrence against our adversaries. by reversing the damage done over the last four years by the biden-harris administration, we will be well on our way to a world where america's friends trust us once again and our enemies fear us once again. i look forward to working with secretary-designate hegseth, secretary-designate rubio, and president trump to move this country in a better direction. i am confident that working together with that goal in mind we can work toward a safer and more peaceful world. madam president, i yield the
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>> the citizens in my state need help and they need it now. this is why these men and women pay their taxes. this is the right as an american, and we can't leave them behind. i believe after having many conversations around the state that that is their greatest fear, of being forgotten. and i'll make my promise not to ever forget them. my promise to the people of
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western north carolina is this -- i will do everything in my power to see that you have the federal resources you need to recover and to rebuild. i stingray 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 the fellow americans to help them and help them now. ideal to the floor. >> -- i yield the floor. >> madam president? >> the senator from why madam president, on monday present by and submitted to congress an emergency supplemental funding request for nearly $100 billion to opportunities across the country recover from disasters, whether it's maui or burlington or davenport asheville.
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every community that has had the misfortune of being struck by disaster deserves help. no one is ever fully prepared for tornado or a 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 what every time a a disastr has devastated our fellow americans, congress has recognized the need for help in stepped-up to fulfill our responsibility to provide that help. sk unanimous consent that paul joto, a state department fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 118th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, rise today to discuss an issue i've been working on for 23 years -- the plight of america's dreamers. i first introduced the dream act
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more than two decades ago with republican senator orrin hatch, who was then the chairman of the senate judiciary committee. this bipartisan bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants who were brought to the united states as children and allow them to remain in this country, the only home many of them have ever known. dreamers grew up along side our kids with the same hopes and dreams of getting their first job, their driver's license, even going to college. many have gone on to serve our nation as doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, and first responders. some have shown their loyalty to this country by serving in the armed forces. yet, without congressional action, dreamers spend every day in fear of their lives being uprooted by the threat of deportation. 12 years ago in response to a bipartisan request from myself and senator richard lugar,
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president obama established the daca program. daca has protected more than 830,000 young people from deportation, all of whom were brought to this country as children, some as young as a few months old. now, i realize for many of us, the outcome of this month's election was not what we wanted, fought for, or voted for. however, my priority of providing a safe pathway to citizenship for dreamers has not changed because of the election. no matter who sits in the oval office, i will work with the president in good faith to help provide these young adults a chance finally at the american dream. i'd like to share the story of a talented dreamer. he is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice thor this country -- for this country.
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he is the 146th story of dreamers that i've highlighted on the senate floor. his name is che way chen, brought to the united states from taiwan with when he was 11 years old, grew up in new york city, and believed in the importance of community and country. eagerly registered for junior rotc in high school, enlisted in the army in 2016 and earned his associate's degree in criminal justice from queensboro community college. he was on active duty for four years stationed at fort jackson, which was then known as fort lee, before being deployed to saudi arabia and south korea. while deployed to south korea, he was unable to become a u.s. citizen. he is a proud owner of his own
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tea shop. daca opened a path for che and allowed him to pursue the american dream. daca was always intended as a temporary stopgap until congress finally got around to fixing this broken immigration system in america. in che's case, daca was the stepping stone he needed to reach his full potential. yet since president obama established the program, republicans have waged a relentless campaign to overturn daca and deport these dreamers back to many countries they have never -- they don't remember. now this program is hanging by a thread in the courts due to legal challenges from republican state attorneys general. and daca recipients are forced to live with uncertainty every day. last september a buffett julths -- a federal
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judge declared the program illegal under current decisions on appeal. dreamers live in constant fear that the next court decision will upend their lives. a litigation has also prevented at least 100,000 additional dreamers from registering for the program. madam president, our military is facing the most serious recruitment challenge in modern time. only a quarter of americans meet recruitment standards that would qualify them to serve in the military without receiving a waiver. we've seen time and again that daca holders and dreamers are ready and willing to serve america, risk their lives for this country. but despite the success of veterans like che, daca holders can no longer enlist in the military, even though they went to school in the united states, pledged allegiance to our flag for decades and know no other
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country. during his first term then-president trump tried to shut down the daca program but his effort was blocked by the supreme court. on a personal note, madam president, the first time i ever met donald trump was just minutes after he had been sworn in as president of the united states for his first term. i had a chance at a luncheon to walk up, shake his hand and congratulate him and ask him a question. my question to him was what are you going to do about the dreamers? what about these kids who are here in the united states, brought here as children, who want to be part of our future? what will you do about it, mr. president? he said don't worry, we'll take care of those kids. sadly, in the four years, the first term of president trump, that didn't happen. the opposite did. many efforts were made by his department of justice and other agencies to stop the daca program and to stop any effort to create a dreamers program. that's the sad reality. i urge my colleagues to meet with these dreamers personally.
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that's all i ask. whether you support daca, support the dream act, meet with them and hear their stories. understand the decisions were made by their family which may have violated the law, but they were kids at the time those decisions were made. they have proven with their own personal lives and commitment that they truly want to be part of the future of america. are we better served because this man decided to enlist in the military and protect our country? of course. his return to taiwan would be at the expense of the safety and security of the united states. dreamers like che have earned the right to put down roots, start their families, further their education and continue to contribute to america. it's time for congress to do something on a bipartisan basis and pass the dream act. it's not only the right thing to do, it's long overdue. madam president, i yield the floor.
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durbin madam president, i ask unanimous consent to -- mr. durbin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the roll and ask unanimous consent that the roll call vote ginl immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. fl is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin.
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thrown this balance 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 expensive interpretation of the powers of workingdi americans. and fortunately congress has a powerful tool called the congressional review act that does exactly that. two great affection republicans used 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 world that threatened hundreds of thousands of
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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 he's 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 housecleaning that 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
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democrats worked relentlessly to resurrect the obama administration regulatory regime from student loans susan to blatant on property rights. literally, on day one president biden signed an executive order that began tearing down regulatory certainty that republicans had restored. now, with just over a month left in the year, the biden administration's 2024 regulation alone amount to the second highest annual total five pages in the federal register. on the whole, president biden's diligent has imposed regulatory costs that by one estimate surpassed $1.8 trillion. that's trillion with a key. so it's safe to say congress
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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 like to take some time today to salute the outstanding senate staff whom my team and i have relied upon during our time in the republican leader's office. first i would 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
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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, a sincere gratitude to the official records of debates for their essential work. and now i turn to a final group of four staff who deserve our sincerest thanks. 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 of the democratic leans on the work of my rick and
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the democratic cloakroom 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 republican majorities agenda, or trying to slow down the democratic majorities agenda, i would want to navigate the senate arcane without a procedure expert like republican secretary robert duncan by my side. duncan in the footsteps of distinguished predecessors, has been indispensable advisor to me and my staff. ..
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i am grateful on the solid counsel and of course a portfolio grows and shrinks of duncan's entire team. and sharp wit brain and much-needed humor and long days on the floor. the air-traffic control of course in the recently departed colleagues whose deep relationships with editors and staff on the conference swiftie and in good cheer.
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the readiness of the assistance mehdi sanborn and charlie used in his record-keeping with communication of the republican pages makes it most essential functions appear to happen, the manager of the administrative assistant with the busy array of patents to keep the entire operation coming. staff spends nights and weekends every working day to make the job since editors easier. in the unique set of professional skills more of a family, i know the sediment in the colleague across the
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republic in the interview with the hardware you do so extraordinarily well, mr. president when i wrote and led passage of the bipartisanship in science act in the not-too-distant future with this legislation would bring manufacturing back to the u.s. strength international security and deliver for new york particularly upstate new york. today i'm proud to stay is precisely the kind of day i had in mind when i helped write the bipartisanship in science act, today semi conductor company global county finalize the $1.5 billion word the 1.5 billion with a b to build a new cutting-edge massive ships factory of new york and
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production and because of the law. the chips award is now locked in and sealed and delivered and now ready to deliver for a better future for upstate new york and america. importantmr the funding is protected for years to come. global foundry announcement is exciting for several reasons, means thousands of good paying manufacturing in union construction jobs around the way to capital region. as global boundaries triple its production in saratoga county. when we roast the chips in science law we wanted to make sure it was union labor that built these factories. the funds will also modernize mr. president i global facility in vermont you will be happy to
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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 take it to be gone in five years because this is a growing industry, semiconductor chips are the future of our modern economy. it is a great thing for optimism, a future for the latter step that we still believe in your 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 founders are critical to the auto industry to national defense, artificial intelligence all the way down to her smart phones, excuse me. if we want to keep prices low and prevent shortages one of the best things is build chips at
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home this funding will help make that happen, most important as i said the 1.5 billion award is cemented for new york and america as long as global boundaries meets his 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 semi conductor industry. judges today will the senate will keep working for more judicial nominee and 30 but a productive week in the senate.
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we began on monday by confirming the judge as a circuit court judge to the 11th circuit, he is the 45th circuit court judge confirmed under president biden, yesterday we kept going we confirmed two more just to judges and the district of columbia and culture on the third. we 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 immediately turn to a culture vote on the next judicial nominee to be district judge for district of columbia. we will continue working on judges throughout the day into this evening. we have a lot of excellent nominees to work through and asked my colleagues to be flexible and ready to stay late in the keep the votes moving quickly we did that the other night and we got a lot of votes done relatively fast. i spoke at length about how proud i am of the anomalies this
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majority has confirmed to the bench, over 200 judges that we have confirmed have a sweeping range of experiences and areas of expertise, whatever nominees for example has argued with 36 inches civil rights cases before the u.s. supreme court. another judge confirmed early in biden's career as a worker protection and represented workers and grocery store workers and taxi drivers and nurses she is now a circuit judge. we also had consumer protection lawyers elevated to the bench including one nominee whose job was to go after healthcare, fraud and deceptive marketing of pharmaceutical and medical devices. that is the second circuit with leading voting rights attorney. the experiences go on and on, the representative representatives while we convict and more, at the end of the day of course what matters most in the nominee is whether or not they can render impartial
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judgment based on precedent and rule of law and it's also important judges come from different walks of life, judges should not operate like thinking machines in ways, judges are better off when they can interpret the law while putting themselves in the shoes of those whom they preside from the privilege to the impoverished. judges are more likely to keep an equitable and prudent ruling if they can appreciate how their decisions will play out in society. that is more likely to happen if her bench is comprised with many different experiences from many different walks of life. i think my colleagues for their good work this week, we will keep working today, i yield the floor with the absence of a quorum. >> welcome to the "washington journal", before we get to your calls will show you this from abc news ethics committee it's not clear if though on gates report is on its agenda is says the bipartisan half at ethics
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committee will meet wednesday behind closed doors in place to discuss its report on its investigation of former representative matt gaetz who resigned from office last week after president-elect donald trump chose him as his nominee for attorney general. the state of the gates report is in the hands of the committee which has a reputation for being tightlipped and not clear if the committee will vote on whether to release the report. if there is about 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 the ethics report and arguing he should not be released.
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>> i don't know anything about the contents of the report, the way the rules work the speaker of the house cannot put them on a scale or be involved in the ethics committee report. what i know the comments about the precedent for releasing reports is not exactly accurate, there are two breaches of the tradition under very externally circumstances. i don't think that meets the criteria. matt gaetz is a colleague of mine we've been serving together for eight years is one of the brightest minds in washington or anywhere for that matter and he knows everything about how the department of justice has been baptized and misused and he will be a reformer. i think that's why the establishment in washington is shaken up about this pick but with regard to the report there is a very important reason for the tradition and the role that we've almost always followed that that we don't issue investigations and ethics reports on people who were not members of congress. i'm afraid that would open a pandora's box in the jurisdiction of the ethics committee is limited to those in the institution that the very
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purpose and i think this would be a breach of protocol that would be dangerous for us to going forward in the future. >> also on sunday delaware senator chris coons, democrat was talking about that, he is a member of the senate judiciary committee and he was asked about his opinions of the ethics report. >> the house ethics issue you've obviously called for it to be released, you're not the only one republican sigg including john cornyn with you as well saying he would be open to a subpoena, do you think there would be bipartisan support from the committee to do what you needed to do to get your hands on that report. >> asked to be clear 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, the house ethics has released a report when someone asked matt gaetz just did redesigned at the last moment in order to avoid the release of a report, some might say why is it
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relevant, it's relevant because the sun has a constitutional role the advice and consent role to make sure president-elect mostly gets their choice, their nominee but does not get to put people in who are unqualified or who lack the requisite character and capability to lead an incredibly important agency like the department of justice. >> we are talking specifically about the report on matt gaetz the former congressman from florida getting your calls we're going to start with david, democrat. >> hello absolutely we should see the report in the closure, this man will be the attorney general of the united states of america how can the senate to the constitutional job without the report we should not let the republicans to cover. it is simple. >> here is john in idaho a republican.
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>> good morning i think we should release epstein report in the report on the hush money paid out with the house in the senate for the sick stuff that they do. >> there is, let me get that for you, i'll pull that up there is a tweet by representative margie taylor greene who says this, she said from my republican colleague in the house and the senate, if were going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own that trump is appointed and put it all out there for the american people to see, yes, all the ethics reports and claims included the one that i filed. all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled paid off victims with taxpayer money, the entire jeffrey epstein file tapes, recording, witness interviews, not just those there is more, epstein was not the
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only asset. if were going to dance, let's all dance in the sunlight we will make sure that we do. this is debby in wisconsin independent line, good morning. >> you should be released, it's funny that you talk about jeffrey epstein, it seems to me that his involvement with political figures, i'm not going to name names i think you know that you probably reported in the fact it doesn't make any difference, democrat or republican if it was the other way around, the democrats, you know the republicans will be asking for that, everyone 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. >> here is carmen, south florida democrat. >> i believe it should be
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released. i feel like we vote and we elect these people to do a job. and what the speaker of the housing like they were attacked in the d.o.j. what they do they go under unlawful acts, that the d.o.j. is going to come after you, they don't come after you because you're republican or democrat or independent, they're coming after you because they did something wrong in for him to quit right before the end right before they were doing the report it isn't suspicious it's intermittent of truth it is insane to the country i guess
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this is a bad report i did it, after quit now so i have trump give me in. thanks. this is a piece of editorial from matt gaetz former district. it seems highly doubtful that a set of majority and the death of his contempt for the vital national law enforcement apparatus in a blunt instrument to seek revenge on his opponents. on the maga speaking circuit in the justice department and that
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is from the editorial. on the republican line in georgia, good morning. >> i've been calling c-span for over 30 years and you all did a super job. my county with 81% from trump from the georgia counties and i have total, and donald trump and he won overwhelmingly inside and i think gates to be approved, i don't think if you start to really sell these reports will never give trump's cabinet approved i say go ahead and confirm gates it was a huge landslide in all of the trump nominees.
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have a wonderful day. we are taking your call on the matt gaetz ethics report if you think you should be released for public, should i just go to the senators and should not be released at all, the numbers are 2,027,488,000 if you are a democrat, 2,027,488,001 if you're republican in (202)748-8002 for independence. the senate majority leader, the senate current majority leader outgoing is mitch mcconnell he addressed and concerning president trump's nominees, here's a portion from yesterday. >> the house ethics committee found the investigation. >> the constitution gives us our role in personnel with the
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advice and consent. my view that's exactly what will unfold with the nominees are actually some forward and we will treat them like we treated all others with the proper vetting. we will see having to address the issue. >> there have been all kinds of rumors but i have not address the issue. we will see how this unfolds we have six weeks actually two months. >> president trump could force the senate to take a recess and what do you think about the idea of appointing a high level cabinet positions during a
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recess and circumventing the advice and consent role. >> if you're asking the same question i just got with my answer remains we will see what happens between now and the new administration and at that point the nomination can actually be sent forward and will figure out how to handle it then. i'm confident done under both parties. >> that was set a majority leader, minority leader from yesterday, here's a couple of things from facebook, and who says what the point of the ethics committee are they able to hide the results good or bad, jeff says yes, the report is needed for the senate to fulfill the role of advice and consent.
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>> for once she is right released the results of the backyard and ethics reports. let's talk to marjorie, good morning. i'm with the other lady that says for once i would agree with marjorie taylor greene. if we want to release a go ahead and release it but release them all. the sexual assault and everybody heard all the comments about clarence thomas, that didn't work he was still confirm i may
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be 97 i'm not naïve but let's be honest if some girl was at a party and realizing the power of her sexuality among drunken men is taken advantage of, i don't think she probably was. >> hold on in this case this is an allegation the 17-year-old which means she's not old enough to give her consent, do you think it's okay and it's her fault. >> i won't say it's her fault i think she was using her newfoud
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powers and four days shy of the 18th birthday, all the sudden ten years later, i'm sorry if i offended people were actually assaulted but in this case i imagine somebody shouldn't of been a party at her age regardless of how close she was to 18, a few days being close to 18 is silly. glenn and aunt virginia a dependent line. >> i would say not to release it because more than likely it would hurt his chances of getting confirmed and i think the basic effort trump is
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putting forward if i indicated before the election he said he wanted to terminate the constitution and he needed retribution and he wanted to go after his political enemies and by bringing in people like matt gaetz and all these other folks and to be a part of the cabinet it's going to hurt trump's chances of essentially becoming the autocratic dictator that americans voted for. they want someone that will have total control over all of the different departments in social and political and military issues that come forth in people laugh at and we just are chances of someone who will follow trump write down the mine.
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>> here is made in miami, florida, democrat, good morning. >> good morning. >> go right ahead. i think they should leave it alone trump is in there and did what he did let this man be thereto. do you want to see the report. >> they haven't got the trump report out, they're all the same i don't see why this is going to cause any different, trump is in their so let this man be in here. >> here is ronald in north carolina republican. >> hello. >> i was calling i think this which of the democrat party started way back and keeps on and on itself i made up that's
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what i think. >> ronald do you not believe the allegations against former congressman matt gaetz? >> no it's all the witch-hunt lucida if it sticks on the wall that's all it is the democrat party is sick they don't have common sense, they are sick. >> okay, this is tony and riverton new jersey an independent line. >> how are you doing i would say yes it should be released, doesn't seemed like the trump administration is interested in doing any serious vetting of the candidates so someone has to look at. >> margo and 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
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choose all of his likes or cabinet. it should be released because we already know in the fact of the matter that matt gaetz is unfit and unqualified to ahead the department of justice. >> here is house minority leader hakeem jeffries on the need for transparency on that health ethics committee report. >> to discuss whether or not the report concerning the former representative matt gaetz should be made public do you feel the public should be able to see all the details at least members of congress for consideration to be part of the cabinet especially the d.o.j.
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>> yes. >> that was yesterday and this is patty in juno beach florida, republican. >> good morning. >> let's see do i think it should be released, yes. is it going to make any difference? probably not. i think you should get confirmed. i'm so sick and tired of hearing this person did this in this person did this and they seem to come out of the woodwork typically would've republican is running. why are they going to parties and being 17, why are they there, what do they look like, what are they doing, why. >> let me ask you this because another caller had sent something very similar.
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if these allegations proved to be true and the just obligations and he denied any of this happen but if this is true that these parties did take place in the sexual misconduct took place in the illegal drug use took place, would you still be in favor of him being the attorney general of the united states. >> illegal drug use, they smoke pot. >> i don't think it was pot. >> it was illegal. >> illegal drug use, i don't know i would not be surprised if most of the people in congress have done illegal drug use. >> doesn't make it okay for the attorney general. >> , do i wish he hadn't, yes. >> but it doesn't disqualify him. >> i don't think so. i don't think so we jay, we
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speed, we do stupid things, does that mean he's going to continue to do stupid things? who hasn't done really stupid things. >> cocaine is a little different than jaywalking, are you making an equivalence. >> of course it is different but i've never tried cocaine, don't want to try cocaine but i'm 70, how old is he, this is so common, it's what you did you weren't thinking back then that you were going to be doing this kind of thing, 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
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even several times, does that make you a stupid person for the rest of your life? , trump has been through so much from spying on him, listening to the fbi and the tapes in the russian gate, it is been unmerciful. >> let's go to eric in new york, democrat. >> eric, are you there, you have to mute your tv. >> dale in charlotte, north carolina, republican, good morning. >> go ahead. >> i wanted to express my views, it is important to release documentation like that but it's the same old story, were playing
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games where they don't need to play games, get the job done and trump started doing that so i say go forward and get everything accomplished that needs to be accomplished by now and this means eliminating more republicans to do the job and we have to do that. i am sorry but bottom line pays the bills for everybody no matter if you're republican or democrat and if we wait around to worry about that were never going to get the job accomplished predicted to be a mickey mouse arena again. a patient eliciting and have a good day. >> let's talk to mark next in waterville maine, independent. mark. >> i think the guy should not be in their, trump is the person i
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don't think you should be in there. >> why is that. >> is done a lot of stuff. >> i don't know what he done but he did a lot of stuff and he should be held accountable. >> a previous caller said he was doing stupid stuff, maybe he was young he is only 42, what do you think of that. >> i think you should be punished. >> he was investigated by the justice department and they did not press charges. >> robin in seymour tennessee, democrat, good morning. >> good morning. >> what do you think robin. >> i'm pretty disgusted by the whole thing. i have a couple of different views, number one, we have a
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president-elect who has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault. of course he would pick it attorney general who has done the same thing. is becoming a more clear as i listen to these people, two kinds of people exist in the united states right now which is causing a problem, number one these old white women who think that young girls are asking for it and if they were at a party they should not of been then that is their fault or their parents fault. it is not the adults fall in the room and the other kind of person like your last caller who says boys will be boys and we
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let them get away with stuff that women would never be allowed to get away with. i think we are currently supporting sex offenders as the leaders of our country, don't you guys think that that's going to encourage other pedophiles say that doesn't matter i can be president. i don't understand how you can do an ethics report when there is no more ethics. i personally do not know what to think about the majority of our country saying women don't matter, women's rights don't matter, little girls, little boys, their sexuality starts whenever men say it does.
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i am just disgusted because people think it's okay for a 30 something-year-old to screw a 17-year-old or even an 18-year-old. there at parties with cocaine and whatnot and they're not even 21 or allowed to drink. i think our country has priority problems and i think the ethics is out the window. i am so sorry that people allowed this kind of hate toward women and girls. i hate it, i am so sorry. >> this is a republican senator tommy tuberville was on the senate floor urging his senate republican colleagues to get in line. >> in addition to sitting president trump back to the white house, americans deliver the mandate to every single senate republican they want president trump america first
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agenda and they want it now. as a result senate republicans should embrace this mandate in support everything one of president trump's cabinet picks, you would think that this would be a no-brainer. not one democrat broke from the party in supporting joe biden's nominees in 2021. not one. however, over the last few days i heard some of my senate republican colleagues expressed concerns about who president trump is picking for his team. i would expect this from my colleagues on the left, not on the right, what is surprising to me i am hearing grumblings from republicans, my advice to them is get on board or get out of the way. >> we got this on next who says of course they should release the dirty laundry on all members
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of congress anything rumored, alleged or lied about should be fair game, wasn't there once some funding that paid members accusers, bring it all out, epstein comes to mind. should the victims of sexual assault get justice? and judy santos' tax from waynesburg pennsylvania release the report so matt can point out his heirs and get rid of rumors. here is a republican in new exhibit. >> good morning i wanted to respond to the topic of matt gaetz being approved. i believe he should, i don't believe there is a necessity to open up these files, he was accused of this see years ago when he was already on behalf of the republican party in the state of florida to support donald trump's presidency. this in my mind if people do their homework and look at it, he was found innocent, okay, you
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want to go and bring this up, that is fine, you wouldn't talk about cocaine at a party and there was a 17-year-old there, that is absolutely probably accurate, however, we had just endured how many months of finding cocaine at the white house, in the white house and nobody did any homework, nobody cares, that has to be critical to. to the one previous caller's point, yes i'm not saying it's acceptable but it happened, if a party happened and there's drugs there, yes, you want to open the guys files, fine, go to pelosi find out what happened to paul pelosi, there are so many incidents that are shoved under the rug because it's another party other than republicans.
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>> mary in pensacola florida, good morning. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call. and yes, i do feel like matt gaetz should be exposed. i followed every since trump came into office and i've been listening to everything every single day. another thing i wanted to say they may put a man on the moon, mars, whatever you want to put them in they may buy a ticket to go to mars or the moon or whatever but i wanted tell you one thing you cannot buy a ticket to heaven. if you are religious christian person you know who's right and who's wrong you've seen too much on this tv to shut your eyes and say it is okay, all these things that are coming out and all these people that are put in all these offices that trump is going to put them in, you know that they're not qualified people, you need to wake up,
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this is crazy. other countries are going to take over user like russia and they are playing trump just like he is a puppet. i think elon musk is going to get rid of trump. i really do. i hate that. >> i would eat elon musk rid of trump. >> the reason i think elon musk is a very very intelligent person or else he wouldn't be where he is, look at trump, he's really not that intelligent at all, he really isn't. i think all these votes that's how they won the election. >> mary this is ruth and plymouth indiana, an independent line. >> it used to be that we held our people in congress to higher
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standards but is obviously not the case anymore, they should release whatever they know about any of them because we need to know. matt gaetz got up there, i don't know why he's lying about it now when he talked about his party and what he did in the fun he had, if that's not true why is he denying it. a few weeks ago you had a question as to whether morals or policies was more important and i was stunned and upset that three quarters of your callers called in and said morals didn't matter anymore that policy did, that's how low our country has fallen. >> tell us why you think morals are important. >> it makes people do the right thing and serve their people, we have such soft serving people up
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there now, i am still stunned at the results of the election that people would elect this man who has been involved in every criminal activity that he could begin and he will get away with all of it, you and i would be in jail if we did the first thing that this man has done. i like to see us get back to moral standards and help one another and so forth, i am just disgusted with the government and the people that we send up their when you vote you should look at who you're voting for instead of pulling the tabs we do have some good people up there. but it seems like the morally bankrupt are winning out. it is a shame. >> here is tom i republican ohio. hello. >> how are you today. >> i think anybody who does
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stuff like us here and is proven, it's gotta be proven should not be in office. bill clinton got a puffer in the white house and they make a hero out of him. and that was a young girl, that wasn't 17 but he was a young girl that he took advantage of its like making the white house horror house. thank you. >> this is the new york times has this article a hacker gained access to file with damaging testimony about matt gaetz. this is a computer file is said to contain testimony from the woman who said she had with matt gaetz, president-elect donald trump's choice for the attorney general when she was 17. he says the unidentified hacker has gained access to computer file shared in a secure link among lawyers whose clients have given damaging testimony related to matt gaetz.
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this is a file of 24 exhibits is set to include sworn testimony by a woman who said she had sex with mr. gates in 2017 when she was 17 as well as cooperating testimony by a second woman who said she witnessed the encounter. that's at the new york times and this is carol and i was in the iowa, democrat, good morning. >> good morning, trump has certainly hit the bottom of the barrel with all of his appointments yet matt gaetz is definitely at the top. i think probably the records are going to come out whether he likes it, trump likes it or not. but most of it has already been on tv, a hacker has already put out some of the stuff. i don't think this is anything new all these people that go into office with a high-powered place with the money and the and
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they deny which trump has done his entire life, this did not happen, look at me i am okay. he is going to fix it, he will fix it in the rest of the country for the next four years and all you republicans who voted for him, you better watch out for your social security, your medicare and anything else you think you might've been getting from trump. it is not coming, all he wanted was your vote, he got the vote and now you sit there at your table and you try to figure out how you're going to go on for the rest of your life. thank you. >> annette and independent in massapequa new york. >> we lost annette, let's try david of minnesota. a republican. >> when everybody says all this,
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it surprises me. it seems to me the all president back had to sexual scandals and the white house and then if you go beyond the white house how many times has he done this stuff. i think people should actually wake up and look at the allegations and if matt gaetz was per se and already had the reviews on him, has he actually been convicted, they should convicted him back then instead of having all this stuff come out now. like everything else that they have done, they blame everybody but when it comes down to it
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there is not much to it as they say, thank you and have a good day. >> and in new york state, democrat. you are next. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call, three quick points on this topic. number one tommy tuberville, it was reported when he got into the senate that he could not even name the three branches of coequal branches of government, that is a stunning level of it ignorance that should disqualify him. two, trump barely won the popular vote, he did not even reach 50%, he came close but would not over 50% so we hardly has a landslide nor a mandate. and three i am old enough to remember when not paying taxes on your nanny or accepting a car from a donor was enough to disqualify somebody from being a cabinet member, oh how far we have fallen. thank you. >> let's talk to jack in
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tallahassee, florida. independent, good morning. >> good morning, little nervous i called in about once a month now and this dates situation, when i was growing up i was told you did not want to bring shame upon your name and you would step aside and wait for whatever the commotion of whatever it is is over and i'm 87 years old and it is a shame how this country is going from what it used to be to what it is today. it does not matter what you do today, everything is fine. in my observation this is not an opinion, my observation is this
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country is in real deep trouble. but the people that are going to be running our country in january the 20th. thank you that is all i have to say. >> thank you, this is fox news that said this, matt gaetz is working the phone speaking to gop senators despite difficult confirmation, matt gaetz is dedicated to winning the support of senators for his nomination for the attorney general. you can read that fox news. here is david in sacramento, california, republican. >> yes, ma'am i would like to say one thing i bet there's a lot of people who can't cast a stone.
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>> do you think that biblical principle applies to a confirmation hearing were cabinet position. >> i believe we should quit playing penn the tail on the donkey. that's basically what you're saying you don't play penn the tail on the donkey, there's a lot of donkeys out there, there's not that many people who can throw a stone either. >> here is tommy in virginia, democrat. >> can you hear me. >> already had. >> my comments are a couple powers a while back reference president clinton, furthermore monica lewinsky was of legal age and he was impeached. another thing, matt gaetz, whether he committed a crime or
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not, what he did was unethical him for the attorney general you should be of the upmost character, he is not a piece can open up other people then you should have an investigation on him in as much is required, that's all i got. >> this is chris in philadelphia, independent line. >> good morning. i am just driving to work, what i've been thinking my head i want to compare to george santos. when i look at the actions of george santos, they all voted to get him out and who knows where he's at now, hopefully he's writing a book somewhere, but speak about that, is there any comparison to matt gaetz action. when i look at george santos,
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there was no accusations, there was no minors, there were no nothing, no drugs involved, he clearly lied and there was mismanagement of the funds from what i believe. but i'm sure they look hard enough under matt gaetz funding i'm sure there's a mismanagement of funds as well, they are selective on who they turn into they want, that is part of the problem as well. i just given up on the selection i voted for kamala harris but i have a lot of respect for kamala harris but i feel like biden should've resigned and gave her the throne before this all happened. it would've showed more unity and things like that but hopefully a third party will emerge not the trump whatever
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that is ridiculous. anybody that lives in the south i asked them to go to atlantic city, walked the streets of atlantic city new jersey and look at what the gentleman if that's what you want to call it did there. i have worked for companies up in the area that were bankrupt, they did not get, he owes thousands and thousands of dollars for seafood and linens and he just didn't pay. he did not pay a penny on the penny if that makes any sense. my point you all have been misled you're drinking the kool-aid and where the hell is jd vance, nobody voted for elon musk, where is he at. >> are right republican senator markwayne mullin was on meet the press over the weekend and he says senators should have access to the report.
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>> there's no question that matt gaetz and i have had our differences, that is no secret, moving forward i do respect president trump's right to appoint these individuals. underneath article two section two congress has advise and consent and matt gaetz will go to the same scrutiny as every other individual and i will give him a fair shot every other individual adapted to the day the senate has to confirm him. i think it is a very, very tough role and i have a tough situation and i have to set my personal opinions, they're really not opinions. i have to set my personal situation with matt to the side and look at the facts if you qualify disqualify. to be quite frank i did not even know he was an attorney until after he was appointed attorney general and add to do my research. i know that is crazy because i served with him but i never did the dig to find out his actual degree what it was in. >> speaking of digging into his background the house ethics was
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about to release the findings of the investigation and allegations of misconduct by former congressman gaetz and he resigned before that could happen. a number of your colleagues included the senate judiciary have said that they would like to see that report, should the house ethics release that report senator? >> absolutely. i believe the senate should have access to that, should he be released to the public or not, i guess that'll be part of the negotiation but that should be part of her decision-making. >> we are taking your calls for another five minutes previous caller asked about jd vance, here is politico saint jd vance is bringing some of trump's controversial cabinet picks to be with republicans on the hill, the meetings will take place on wednesday and thursday, today and tomorrow. here is kelly in clements north carolina, republican.
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>> first i want to say before i address the question. i was really surprised with the hearing that they had yesterday in the house on sex trafficking and we found out that the health and human services and our government has been in cahoots with cartels down at the border. in doing sex trafficking of children, the 320 something thousand children that are missing that they cannot find because they did not do anything to find out if the people that they were with were even their parents and they're not doing dna on the sponsors that are picking them up. some of them were found out to be ms 13.
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why that is not on this morning instead of matt gaetz i don't know because that is much worse than matt gaetz. >> what is your comment on matt gaetz. >> i don't think the report should be out there simply because the d.o.j. did not find him guilty of anything, they drop the charges, why would they drop the charges, because they could not find evidence, you can say and put rumors out there about him, you can do whatever you wish and people say he's guilty, how do you know he is guilty, did god come down and tell you he was guilty, i don't think so so leave the ethics report alone. and i feel like this gentleman a while ago those without sin cast the first stone, we all know
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leaders starting with christian. i notice a lot of people talk like are you doing? that kind of stuff. they're the ones missing this country of some of the beatitudes, will find christ is what patients are supposed to do. act like christ that's why you are a christian. i always thought was about idea. they don't allow the fence 90% after the war slowly but surely it can been away with social
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security will think about that. why is that feeling is gone happy. their income? why is by the way to everything. it should be illegal to have that much money. he loved ones symptoms of trump of the are legitimate because the president. like i is occur, he can't even play the game of golf without cheating. this is where putting it into, our topical? our country plus got a big problem. talk to stop each other and start loving each other.
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the clerk: ms. ernst, no. the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 50, the place that are -- the nays are 49,n't nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will immediately be notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to senate will proceed to amy willgoing
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hamas attacked israel on october 7, killing more jews than any time since the holocaust. what were they up to? their pledge to destroy the jewish state, their religious -- they're religious nazis. if you don't believe me, listen to what they said. it was barbaric. they slaughtered entire families. they decapitated children's heads, they raped women in front of their own family, and they filmed it to create hard hearts throughout the world and the region. the nazis hid their crimes. hamas filmed it so you could see it.
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why? october 7, in large part, not completely, was designed to stop efforts to have saudi arabia and israel recognize each other and virtually end the arab-israeli conflict. i have been to the region seven or eight times since october 7. i went with a group of five republicans and five democrats right after october 7 to deliver two messages. i went to saudi arabia, the biggest power in the islamic world, and i went to israel. and to our friends in israel, i said we will give you -- at reese from my view, the ability to make sure there is no second holocaust and the weapons we provided to israel has resulted in the destruction of hamas. there is no way forward for the palestinians until you reform the p.a., which is run by a
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bunch of corrupt old guys, and make sure hamas never comes back. the most radicalized pop laths on the -- population on the planet are young people in gaza. from the time they're are born -- they're born to the time they die, they are taught to hate the jews. look at their education system. how do we change that? somebody other than israel has to come in and take over gaza and reform the west bank to give the palestinians a better life. it will not be the united states. we can't do that. it certainly is not going to be israel. who would it be? it would be the arab world. the crowned prince of saudi arabia has a vision for his country and the region, we've had our problems in the past, but women can drive, which is a big thing even though it doesn't sound like it, women can go out to dinner without a male escort. it doesn't sound like a big thing, but it really is.
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38% of the people working in saudi arabia are young women. he has a vision to change his country and build on the accords. president trump and his team was able to get six anations to recognize -- six nations to recognize israel, the emrate nations and others. so for the past two and a half years, i have been going to saudi arabia and israel working with the biden administration to try to build out the abraham accords and the big prize would be to have saudi arabia make peace with israel, take over gaza in the west bank with other people in the religious freedomon and give -- region and give the people in pal steena -- pal tina, a better life. give them sovereignty, self-government, the ability to live dignified lives.
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october 7 was designed by hamas to stop what was imminent. i'm here to tell you that in october -- october 6, by the way, there were discussions about how to roll out the normalization deal. along comes october 7. ever since that day we've been dealing with this horrible situation. the rape and torture and destruction of 1200 jewish people, the response by israel that's resulted in thousands of people being killed, a lot of terrorists but a lot of children, a lot of innocent people. there are a lot of photos being presented. i want to introduce two photos. ask unanimous consent if i may. this is a photo of hiroshima. two photos, actually. this is what happens when you drop a nuclear weapon on people. it's not good. now, why did we do that? after pearl harbor, we and the
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civilized world weren't to war against the nazis and imperial japan. millions of people lost their lives, but it was the goal of the united states to defeat nazi germany and imperial japan and we were able to do that. out of the ashes of that terrible, horrible war we now have two democracies. japan and germany are good allies of the united states. they're productive members of the international community. it took a generation-plus to change the radicalization of the german population through the nazis and the same in imperial japan. what will happen is if we can find normalization between saudi arabia and israel, there will be help for the palestinians i have not seen before. those who want a two-state solution, we've got to sit down and talk about how you do that after october 7. but i do believe without resolving the palestinian issue where the palestinian people
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have a hopeful life versus a glorious death will never move forward. i really do believe after october 7 israel needs security more than ever. what's the key? the arabs. the crown prince of saudi arabia and the united emirates i think hold the key to this. if we can create a political horizon for the pals that you will have self-governance, that you'll be independent and convince the israelis that this new entity will not threaten you, there could never be another october 7, then we're well on our way to a new region. this resolution today no matter how sincere undercuts all this. israel has had to respond to an attack that was the most vicious since world war ii against the jewish peep. i blame hamas -- jewish people.
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i blame hamas more than any other group about the loss of gaza because they use their own people as human shields. this commitment of the united states to give israel what they need to win a war they can't afford to lose has to be uncompromising. but what's not uncompromising is the day after. we're getting to the point now that with the destruction of hamas, we've got to think about how can we prevent them from coming back. israel cannot occupy gaza. the west bank needs to be reformed, but it has to be done with the arab world leading the charge. so what i'd like to do with president biden before he leaves office is work with president trump, the incoming president, and president biden, the outgoing president, to find a solution. can we lock down a normalization agreement between saudi arabia and israel that protects saudi arabia, a defense agreement with the united states so they're --
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they'll be in our column and have an antidote to iranian aggression and can we create a political horizon for the palestinians to have help where there is despair? yes, we can. but now is not the time to send this signal. this signal will be seen by the enemies of israel and the enemies of peace as if they just stick with it they will win. if you want peace, you have to destroy those who hate peace. this is not a bb problem. this is a problem where the islamic terrorist, hamas, hezbollah, and iran, want to kill all the jews, not just bibi. why do they want to do that? they're religious nazis. the ayatollah has a couple of things in mind:the purification
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of islam which means that sunni islam will bend to his will. if you don't believe me, ask the crown prince of saudi arabia. the other goal is destroy the jewish state and to drive us out of the mideast. the religious doctrine of the shiites in charge compel them to kill all the jews. it's a commandment from god. here's what i know. that's not what islam teaches most muslims, but they believe it and when we ignored hitler, we did so not only at our own peril but the peril of millions of people. what have i learned from history? when someone threatens to kill you because you're of a particular race or religion, you should take that seriously. so how do we end this conflict? we end this conflict with a complete decimation of hamas, a plan for the day after that will
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replace hamas in gaza, reform the p.a., try to get a cease-fire in lebanon and reduce the impact that hezbollah has on the lebanese people. all of the shiite iranian-backed militia have as their goal disruption, upheaval, and tyranny. they want to control the region and remake it in their own image. look what they're doing in syria. look what they're doing in yemen. look what they're doing in lebanon. we have a historic opportunity here to give israel what they need to finish the war they can't afford to lose, come up with a day after plan that will replace hamas with a better life, try to get lebanon in a better space, and build on the abraham accords. this effort by my colleagues undercuts all that. you have every right to say anything you want to say in this
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body, but i've been there a lot and none of you have gone with me. making peace is hard. we haven't done this together. i've been with senator van hollen to israel. i've been with senator van hollen before in the region. i think he wants to help the palestinians, and i don't think he's anti-semitic. i just think there's an opportunity here, and it's not about bibi folks. it's about a strain of islam that will kill every jew, including bibi and come after us unless they're defeated. so my goal is not only to reject this idea but to work with president biden and president trump and their teams before the next president takes offices, to have a day-after plan that will allow israel to withdraw and there will be no more october 7's. and allow gaza and the west bank
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to be rebuilt with dignity and hope. that is my goal. this resolution undercuts my goal. i would urge you to vote no. and i will be going back next week to saudi arabia, and i'm going to keep working with the biden administration and incoming trump administration to the last hour, the last minute of the last day to find a solution. and i would end with this. if we fail to find a day-after plan that allows israel to withdraw and be secure and fails to deliver a political horizon for the palestinians, god help us all. this will repeat itself. iran will come back. hezbollah and hamas will reemerge. we have a moment in time to change the region and change the world, and i would ask all of us to seize that moment in this
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resolution -- and this resolution is counter to what we're trying to achieve. i would urge a no vote because peace and a dignified life with the palestinians rest with a viable day-after plan. and what is the proper response to people who want to kill you and your family and destroy your way of life? i can tell you what the united states did. we went to war. we dropped two atomic bombs to end a war we couldn't afford to lose. what is the right response to those who want to kill all the jews? make sure they don't have the capability to do it. thank you. i yield. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. a senator: madam president, i rise in support of the joint resolution of as approval that the senate is considering today on the sales of certain offensive weapons to the
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netanyahu government. mr. van hollen: and to be clear, i do not support an arms embargo on israel. but i do believe that the united states should pause the delivery of offensive weapons until the netanyahu government meets the requirements of u.s. law and policy. with respect to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, civilians in gaza, and the use of american weapons there. so this is not about abandoning support for israel. this is about making sure americans support for israel complies with american laws and policies and values. we would not be on this floor considering these resolutions if that was happening today. and these votes will be the one opportunity that members of the senate have to send that message. and i urge my colleagues to support them. following the hamas attacks of
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october 7, i have as probably every senator has, supported israel's right to defend itself, in fact argued that they have a duty to defend themselves, and end hamas' control of gaza. and i him steadfast in that support to this moment. there must be no more october 7's. at the same time u.s. taxpayer-funded assistance should not come in the form of a blank check, even to our closest allies. we need to ensure that u.s. interests, values, and priorities will be respected by foreign governments that receive u.s. assistance. that is why our security assistance to many countries includes various conditions to encourage progress on human rights. in some cases as in the case of ukraine, we have limited the use of certain systems to align with u.s. national security
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interests. in other cases, including even some nato allies, we have prevented the transfer of certain advanced weapons systems when our policy goals do not align. the one minimum standard that we must apply to all recipients of american security assistance is compliance with american laws. and it is compliance with that minimum standard that we're talking about here today. nothing more. nothing less. and the netanyahu government should not be exempt from that universal requirement of american law. the united states has provided billions and billions of dollars of american taxpayer-financed bombs and other offensive weapons systems, but we've seen prime minister netanyahu repeatedly violate the terms of american security assistance, disregard u.s. priorities, and ignore our sws only to be -- our
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requests only to be rewarded by more bombs and more money. that pattern undermines the credibility of the united states around the world and creates an unacceptable double standard that our adversaries are exploiting. two of the conditions that every recipient of u.s. security assistance must meet are, one, they must facilitate and not arbitrarily restrict the delivery of humanitarian assistance into war zones where those u.s. weapons are being used, war zones like ukraine and war zones like gaza. and, two, they must use american supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law, which was well developed after world war ii and what senator graham spoke to. the netanyahu government is violating both of these requirements in gaza. and by refusing to take action,
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the president and the united states are complicit in those viola violations of american laws and american values. let's look at the unacceptable restrictions being placed by the netanyahu government on the delivery of humanitarian aid to desperately needed civilians in gaza right now. it has been well documented that there was some improvement in the delivery of humanitarian supplies in gaza last april around the time that the biden administration had to submit the nsm-20 report to congress. but since then, levels have been on a downhill slide and precipitous drop. and the accumulative impact of severe restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid has worsened an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in gaza. and senator sanders spoke to the conditions there. in fact, that's why president biden directly called on prime minister netanyahu to increase
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aid to gaza on many occasions, most recently in an early october call. that's why on october 13, secretaries austin and blinken expressly reminded israeli government officials in a letter that i have here of their obligations under u.s. and international law. they specifically cited section 620-i of the foreign assistance act and national security memorandum 20 to facilitate and not arbitrarily restrict the delivery of humanitarian assistance. here's what our secretaries wrote. quote, we are particularly concerned that recent actions by the israeli government including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern gaza in september, and then they go on to list a number of other things, are, quote, contributing to an accelerated deterioration
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of the condition in gaza. and then secretaries austin and blinken laid out a series of key measures against which they said the united states was going to measure the netanyahu government's compliance. they mentioned enabling a minimum of 350 trucks per day to enter gaza. they mentioned instituting adequate humanitarian pauses across gaza to enable humanitarian activities. they mentioned reinstating a minimum of 50 to 100 commercial trucks per day. they had a long list of items. so what do eight very respected international ngo's that conduct humanitarian relief in gaza and monitor it have to say about whether those conditions were met? well, they've compiled a scorecard. i've got it right here. and what they say on the specific items i mentioned was that the netanyahu government
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failed. in fact, the overall report card concludes that israel fails to comply with access demands in gaza. in fact, they determined that not only did the netanyahu government, quote, fail to meet u.s. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the conditions on the ground, particularly in northern gaza. they said the situation is even more dire today than a month ago. in other words, because of those actions that were taken, the situation was worse than when secretary austin and blinken sent their letter. indeed, an independent "washington post" analysis found that, quote, israel has largely failed to comply with the three demands of the u.s. letter, unquote. in that november 12 "washington post" article, they also pointed out the following, and i quote,
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israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has refused to publicly disavow the plan which calls for the military to take control of the north by starving the civilian population and treating everyone who remains as combatants, unquote. the story goes on to say, and i quote, the idf says it has been given no such orders and is focused on dismantling hamas, but the ongoing military operation in the north appears to have much in common with the strategy, unquote. called the generals' strategy. a leading israeli newspaper haaretz editorialized. it is a view that's been echoed by many israeli human rights organizations and i commend them
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on all the work that they do every day. and i find it extraordinary that so many of our colleagues come to this floor to talk about human rights abuses across the world. they cite human rights watch. they cite human rights international. but when they report human rights violations conducted by the israeli government in oh, no they run away from that. let's look at what others have said in terms of monitoring the situation right now in gaza. on november 1, the principles of the interagency including the worl world food programme and unicef director katherine russell, two american leaders, said, and i quote, the situation in northern gaza is apocalyptic, unquote. and they said, quote, the entire
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palestinian population in north gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence, humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked from reaching people in need, unquote. they say, quote, rescue teams have been deliberately attacked and thwarted in their attempts to pull people bauerried under the -- buried under the rubble of their homes, unquote. and yet we keep sending more bombs. in that statement, the u.n. and humanitarian leaders also issued this call. quote, member states must use their leverage to ensure respect for international law. that includes withholding arms transfers where there is a clear risk that such arms will be used in violation of international law. unquote. so let's look at the use of american weapons. in its may 20 nsm report to
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congress or, the biden administration concluded, and i quote, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under nsm 20 have been used by israeli forces in instances inconsistent with international humanitarian law obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm. and in that report, and i urge my colleagues to look at it, the administration identified a sampling of cases of civilian harm incidents where u.s. weapons were used and they said there's some ongoing investigations, and we're still waiting for answers from the netanyahu government. well, just a few weeks ago there was a report that we now have 500 cases of civilian harm where u.s. weapons were used under review. and if you look at the most recent letter from secretaries blinken and austin, you will see
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that they reference at the bottom of their report the following -- and i want to read this because their letter says, quote, lastly, it is crucial that our government's establish a new channel to raise and discuss incidents of civilian harm. our previous engagements have not achieved the necessary outcomes. we request the initial virtual meeting forethat channel to be held by the end of october. this is more than a year into the war, and here you have the secretary of defense and the secretary of state saying, they're not getting enough everything ins from the netanyahu -- enough information from the netanyahu government to be ail to make decisions about whether or not u.s. weapons have been used in violation of international humanitarian law. and yet despite not getting that information, the administration has continued to send those taxpayer-financed offensive weapons. and it's very clear that the netanyahu government continues
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to conduct operations in gaza in a way that results in large numbers of civilian casualties, and i think our colleagues know that the fact that hamas violates international law and does despicable tactics by operating from amongst civilians does not ab solve israel of the duty to avoid civilian harm and avoid the destruction of civilian infrastructure. since president biden's recent call with prime minister netanyahu last month, we have seen continued high rates of civilian deaths and human rights organizations continue to document cases of weapons being used in violation of international humanitarian law. now, madam president, that october 13 letter not only warned the netanyahu government about unacceptable restrictions on humanitarian aid in gaza and not only warn them about illegal
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use of american weapons, they also raised two other issues. one, they said that israel is required by international law to allow the international committee of the red cross access to political prisoners who were detained without any charges. and yet, despite them sending the letter, no change there. and that means over 3,000 palestinian prisoners who have been in prison without charge under administrative detention are not -- the icrc does not have access to them. they also warn in their letter about pending legislation before the knesset that would cripple unrwa and here's what secretaries austin and blinking said. they warn that quote, enactment of such restrictions would devastate the gaza humanitarian response at this critical moment and deny vital education and social services to tens of
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thousands of palestinian in the west bank and east jerusalem which could have implications under relevant u.s. law and policy, unquote. within days of the united states government sending that letter, twos bills were passed by the knesset to ban unrwa. so what we see, madam president, is a continued pattern. president biden makes certain demands that are routinely ignored without consequence. in fact, they're rewarded. and this is an ineffective use of american leverage to accomplish our policy goals and ensure that america law -- american law is abided by. i want to just mention a couple others and senator sanders referenced them. but we know that prime minister netanyahu has repeatedly obstructed president biden's plan for a cease-fire and the return of hostages, both in washington and in israel. i've met with families of
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hostages who are experiencing unthinkable pain. i just met with the father of a soldier who is being held right now in gaza. -- as a hostage. they have stressed that prime minister netanyahu has repeatedly obstructed president biden's plan to bring home their loved ones. in fact, in his farewell address just two weeks ago, former israeli defense minister gallant noted that one of the dekey disagreements leading to his firing is, quote, our moral obligation to bring our kidnapped sons and daughters back home as quickly as possible with ail many alive as possible to their families. he went on to say, based on my role, experience, and the military achievements of the past year, with a clear-eyed view of reality, i state that this is an achievable but involves painful compromises that israel can bear and that the idf can deal with.
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this is and will not be any atonement -- there is and will not be any atonement for abandoning the captives. this is former defense minister galant, fired by netanyahu. i heard senator graham speak a will the about the day-after plan. well, president biden has proposed a day-after plan. it is to have an authority form the nucleus of authority in gaza. the netanyahu government led by smotrich not only opposes president biden's plan, but they have worked to systematically weaken president biden's plan by reducing the revenues that it collects on behalf of the palestinian people. what's more, prime minister netanyahu rebuked president biden's plan to create a path to a two-state solution even bragging that he had long blocked that outcome, something i heard senator graham refer to something that was needed.
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so the netanyahu government has refused to comply with other requests as well, trying to change rules of engagement on the west bank in order to prevent the killing of innocent civilians, including the deaths of some american citizens. and contrary to long-standing policy in american government, republicans and democrats alikes, about not having expanded settlements in the west bank, something secretary blinken agreed was inconsistent with international law, we've seen a record number of settlements forwarded by netanyahu government. in fact one when secretary blinken was there in israel. so, madam president, the issue here is not whether or not the united states is supporting israel. the issue is whether or not, as we provide that support, we have
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a two-way street, a partnership should be a two-way street, not a one-way blank check. and at a minimum, the netanyahu government should comply with american law as we talked about today. and when they're not, we have an obligation to the american people and american taxpayers to make sure that we withhold that support until netanyahu comes into compliance. that's what we're saying here. just meet the requirements of american law and all of us have an obligation to american taxpayers to make sure that we are not complicit in violating american law and american values. so, madam president, that's why i encourage my colleagues to support these joint resolutions, to send that message. this is the one opportunity we have to do so. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont.
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mr. welch: i ask unanimous consent that -- mr. sanders: i ask unanimous consent [inaudible]. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. budd: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. budd: i rise to voice my strong opinion. i don't dare denigrate my colleague's intent here or motives, but i believe the effect is reckless and i believe it is dangerous. and i believe it will lead to the loss of even more lives. we need to remember some basic facts about the difference between the two sides of the conflict here. israel is middle east's only democracy. they've been a force for stability in the region that has historically -- that is historically beset by chaos. they've been america's strongest friend in good times and bad. israel is an unmistakable force for good. then you have the terrorists of hamas.
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even their founding charter calls for the destruction of the state of israel. hamas' largest benefactor, iran, lends it's material and financial support to this cause each and every day. they intentionally target civilians. they l target civilians. they fire rockets into crowded markets and they preach not just death to israel and to the jewish people, but death to america. and then came october 7. on october 7, 2023, hamas terrorists launched an unprovoked series of terrorist attacks inside israel. the level of barbarism that we witnessed was not shotgun of evil incarnate. the mass slaughter of innocent civilians, unmistakable and unspeakable violence against women, children and the elderly, the deadliest massacre of jewish people since the holocaust. these crimes against humanity were also visited upon american
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citizens as well. hamas murdered 46 americans. they kidnapped 12. seven u.s. hostages, seven u.s. citizens remain hostage in gaza. the state of israel has every right to root out the genocidal terrorists to eliminate the threat once and for all. israel is carrying out this military action with precision thanks in part to munitions from the united states. for example, one of the systems that we sell to the israelis is tail kits with gps receivers. these kits convert guided or unguided free-fall bombs instead into precision-guided bombs. put simply, these kits turn dumb bombs into smart bombs. but senator sanders' proposals blocking the sale of these systems to the israelis and apparently senator sanders would prefer that israelis use less accurate weapons to eliminate terrorists.
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it doesn't take anything more than common sense to realize that this would make collateral damage even more likely. in senator sanders's zeal to undermine our ally, he would make it more likely that palestinian civilians who hamas intentionally uses as human shields, civilians could be killed. the bottom line is this -- cutting off u.s. support for an ally in their time of need is just unbecoming of our country. to hamstring the very nation trying to defeat the perpetrators of the october 7 carnage is insulting to the americans who were murdered and those who are still held hostage. it's just wrong in every conceivable way. all these resolutions should be soundly rejected and this body should stand shoulder to shoulder with israel as they take the fight to hamas. i yield the floor. mr. schumer: madam president,
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the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i come to the floor to speak on the resolutions we will be voting on shortly. to share why i strongly oppose them. israel is surrounded by enemies dedicated to its annihilation from hamas to hezbollah to the houthis to most threateningly of all, iran. these threats sadly have been around for a long time and will persist for many years into the future. israel needs to protect itself not just today, but also tomorrow and next year and beyond. it has been a cornerstone of american policy to give israel the resources it needs to defend against its enemies. we should not stray from that policy today. many of the arm sales in question today will not reach israel until years from now.
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we have no idea what kind of threats israel will face by then. it could be an even more emboldened iran or a strengthened hezbollah or some other threat. there are few, if any, who imagine the barbaric assault perpetrated by hamas on october 7. the twisted and hateful ideology that underpins that violence from places like iran will sadly continue in the region for some time to come. israel will need to be fully prepared to face those threats, so voting to block assistance today could well very embolden hamas and hezbollah and iran and endanger israel's security on into the future. i know there are many in this chamber who have been strongly critical of prime minister netanyahu's policies.
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i am certainly one of them, as i made clear right here on the senate floor where i clearly stated the urgent need to diligently pursue a two-state solution. i've also made clear that israel must do more to reduce the suffering of innocent civilians in gaza and do more to get humanitarian aid to where it is urgently needed. however, our security assistance to israel transcends any one prime minister or any one government. this is about israel's long-term security and honoring a cornerstone of united states policy that we will give israel a democracy and a steadfastally, the resources it needs to protect itself in a difficult world. there are ways to express criticism and to work on addressing these criticisms without impacting israel's
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security. so this is why i will be voting no. again, while it is it is perfectly legitimate to objections with a netanyahu government -- and i know many of my colleagues wish to express their disapproval -- i believe these resolutions are the wrong way and the wrong strategy to voice those objections. i vote no and urge others to do the same. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. welch: first of all, i want to thank the majority leader not only for his leadership on this issue and his straightforward, direct, embrace of the cause of israel, but also your openness for a debate in the senate about what is the best pathway forward. madam president, i also want to acknowledge that i had to listen carefully to the words of senator schumer, senator rosen, senator budd.
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they have given eloquent arguments in favor of opposing this resolution, and they've raised the question that i have had to ask myself. can i as a united states senator, who is a strong supporter of israel as a jewish and democratic state, can i as a united states senator who is absolutely appalled at what hamas did on october 7, can i as a united states senator who attended a presentation by the israeli embassy to display the horror of the rapes and the assaults on women who were taken captive, and can i as a united states senator who believes in a two-state solution, vote in favor of stopping the delivery of offensive weapons for israel to use in gaza?
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and my answer is yes. and it's for two reasons. first, we're into our 14th month in gaza, and what has happened is over 43,000 people have been killed. many hamas, including the hamas leadership, has been killed. good riddance. but many, many thousands of innocent palestinians, including women and children, have been killed. over 100,000 have been maimed and injured. 60% to 70% of the structures in gaza have been destroyed. that includes the schools. young gazans have not been in schools for 14 months. hospitals have been destroyed. the humanitarian catastrophe in gaza is unparalleled and it's
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being inflicted on innocent palestinians. there's a second reason that i am going to support these joint resolutions. i believe the continuation of the military action in gaza is not only jeopardizing what hostages still are alive, but it can only make israel weaker, not stronger. their own recently fired defense minister said there is no further military purpose of offensive action in gaza. if there is no further reason for offensive military action in gaza, why is there a need for the united states to be providing more offensive weapons for the netanyahu government to
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be used in gaza? that's the question we face. we talk about the signals that will be sent to hamas, to iran, to israel. there's another reality that can't be escaped, and it isn't answered by inquiring as to what, quote, signals are being sent. it is what is going to happen to these kids. what is going to happen to these families that are continuing to live under bombardment, where they can't be safe anywhere in part because hamas will go anywhere they can to try to use them as human shields? but even without that, being told that they can be safe here, but then bombed, and being told they can be safe there, many of these families have been dislocated six to seven times. the humanitarian catastrophe is grinding on. it comes, of course, at a cost,
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enormous cost to palestinian families. it's come at a cost to the state of israel which we support, with their further isolation in the international community. so, madam president, the question before us is what's the right thing to do, not just by way of limiting and hopefully ending the humanitarian catastrophe, but what is the right thing for the united states to do with its ally israel in pursuit of the two goals we have always had with israel, and that is to advocate and defend and support israel as a democratic, secure, jewish st state. and because we believe this is important to make that happen,
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that we have an independent, secure palestinian state, a two-state solution. so the question that i have is will u.s. arms to be used offensively in gaza at this time and with this government, enhance american policy that has been the policy of the united states through republican and democratic administrations? madam president, the answer i have come to, the judgment i have come to as a united states senator is that it would harm our goals for that jewish democratic state for the easing of humanitarian suffering, for compliance with international law and the leahy law, and for
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what is the goal that has to be the touchstone of our policy, and that is doing everything we can to achieve a two-state solution for a secure, democratic, independent israel and a secure, disarmed, not armed palestinian state side by side. madam president, i sinemaed to support -- i intend to support these resolutions and i yield back. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the following colleague from my office -- mr. jaymerson sheanne, be granted floor privileges until november 21, 2024. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you,
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madam president. madam president, senator welch is my friend, and he's very elo eloquent. i just listened to his eloquent remarks in support of senator sanders' resolution. and senator sanders is my friend, but he's wrong. he's wrong. senator welch, talked, as he should have, about the right thing to do. the right thing to do, and the smart thing to do, is not to pass senator sanders' resolution. i don't know why this is, madam president, if i make it to heaven, i'm going to ask.
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but there are some people in this world, they're not mixed up, they're not confused, they're not sick. it's not their their mama or daddy didn't love them enough, they're just bad people. and they hurt other people and they take other people's stuff. why? because they can. and some of them are running coun countries, and they hate america. they hate americans. they want to kill us and drink our blood out of a boot. it's just a fact. now, you do not have to be einstein's cousin to see what's going on in the world. president xi in china is working
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with president putin in russia who is working with the ayatollah in iran. sometimes they allow kim jong-un from north korea to come along, but mostly as a mascot to get them coffee. president xi's running the show, but that doesn't mean that president putin of russia, and especially the ayatollah in iran are not right there by his side. what is their objective? their objective is to have russia dominate central and eastern europe. their objective is to have china dominate the -- the indo-pacific, which i will speak about in a moment and to have
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china dominate sub-sahara africa, and to roam free in south america. and their objective is to have the ayatollah dominate the middle east, which it has done until israel decided to fight back, which it has done through hamas and hezbollah and the houthis rebels. now that's just a fact. and one of our best friends in the world, maybe on some days our only friend in the world, israel -- patient people, principled people, but realistic people. they have decided to stand up to iran. and in standing up to iran, we're finding out very quickly, they're also standing up china and russia, but i'll save that subject for another day.
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they have decided to stand up to iran. they have beaten hamas in gaza, they're beating hezbollah in lebanon. they had to do it despite the obstacles thrown up against them every step of the way by president biden and vice president harris. and if we support them, israel will beat the ayatollah in iran. israel will cause a regime change because i can tell you the people of iran, not its leadership, but the people of iran are fed up with their leadership. we have a duty, not a legal duty, a moral duty to support our friend israel. we've agreed to do it, but beside that, we have a moral duty to do it. and my friend senator sanders'
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resolution would turn our back on one of the few friends that i think america -- real friends that america has in the world. and it would -- it would precipitate a foreign policy crisis. i don't say these words very often. but we ought to listen to the words of my friend, senator schumer, who's going to vote against senator sanders' resolution. senator schumer's right. even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. senator schumer's right. we need to defeat this resolution. it will precipitate a foreign policy crisis. it's not the only one we would have in the world. i want to talk for just a few minutes about another crisis that's going on quietly as we
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speak. in the indian ocean, madam president, as you well know. one of the most important parts of the world. here's china. here's india. china's trying to dominate all of these sea lanes for military reasons and for commercial rea reasons. here in the middle of indian ocean is a group. you may not have heard of them. i haven't before i was alerted to this crisis. america has a military base in the sagos islands, they're about
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40 to 60 islands. one of the islands is called diego garcia, and we built a military base here and it is not just any military base. it is an extraordinarily important military base. our military base is one of the few in the world where our military can reload submarines. hugely important. our military base on diego garcia in the chagos islands houses a number of navy ships. our military base there houses long-range bombers that we use to carry out missions around the world. now, we have to -- we in the --
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and the united kingdom, i will explain why the u.k. is involved in a moment. we have to work every day to police our military base. not just the base itself, but the land -- rather, the water surrounding it because china -- china knows how important this military base is, the -- to the security of the world. china is constantly sending craft trying to spy on our military base there. and we and the united kingdom, again, i will mention in a second, explain in a second the united kingdom's ref lens -- reason for having to fight off china. in fact, china has breached the security of america's military bases over 100 times in the last few years. they're very aggressive. now, why am i talking about this
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military base? because president biden and vice president harris, as we're all working here trying like -- like a bunch of ants in a sugar bowl, trying to wrap-up our work for the year, president biden and vice president harris are giving away this military base. they're giving it away. the chagos islands is a -- it -- is a territory of the united kingdom. the united kingdom gave america permission to build our military base here. now, the chagos islands has a rich history.
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it has a relationship with another island in the indian ocean, marisas. you have to understand the relationship here. marisas and the chagos islands used to be partners, the chagos islands was a dependency of marisias was a colony of france. and while mauritius was a colony of france, mauritius established a relationship with the chagos
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islands. beginning in 1814, france said, look, we're going to cedemauritius and chagos islands. mauritius and the chagos were close, but they're not today. it they don't share the same culture, they don't speak the same language. they don't visit each other. many from chagos lived in the united kingdom. here's what president biden and vice president harris is doing. they say we need to grant independence to the chagos islands, but not the people of the chagos islands run their country. we need to give the chagos islands back to mauritius.
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why? i mean, no offense, but that's stupid. why -- mauritius and the chagos islands don't have a relationship anymore and we've got a military base here. i'll tell you why. the united nations -- the united nations, and particularly the international court of justice, which has no jurisdiction over the united states of america and no jurisdiction over the united kingdom, which currently controls the chagos islands. they have scolded the united kingdom. they said the united kingdom is a colonizer, and the united kingdom, the people of the united kingdom are bad people. now, remember this is coming from the united nations. this is the same united nations that has the following countries
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on its -- on its human rights council, somalia, iraq, venezuela, china. that's who thinks we should get rid of this military base. i mean, this is not some act of justice here. but in any event, the united nations is saying the united kingdom, you bad people, give back -- give the chagos islands back, but not let the chagos be free, they want to give the chagos islands back to mauritius. and president biden could stop it and so could vice president harris, but they're for it. all in an effort to curry favor with the people at the united nations who walk around with their npr tote bags and their organic broccoli and have great relationships with members of
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the media who -- who they think write history. why on god's green earth would we do that? why? china, of course, is delighted. why is china delighted? now -- now, the united nations says, okay, we don't want to be too mean spirited here. the -- america can keep its military base for 99 years, but you've got to sign a lease and we've got to start paying maritius to stay there. china says, fine, that sounds good to us. why? because number one china has start currying favor with maritius and number two maritius will be in charge of the chagos and our military basin the waters
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