the republic of georgia as opposed to the state. a final point that, i was doing a joint parachute jump. the pentagon has the sense of humor putting them together. >> we will break away from this program for live coverage and now of the u.s. senate after the thanksgiving break. today lawmakers at 5:30 p.m. eastern will vote on whether to confirm i use district court judge for central california. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray.

eternal god, we give you our lives, for you alone are our mighty fortress. you have been our help in ages past. you continue to be our hope for the years to come. remind us that those who trust you are on the road to peace, you though us the past of integrate the path of integrity and point out the way that we should follow. lord, continue to lead our lawmakers by your truth, for you are the god who sustains them. may they find delight in the knowledge of your holiness so that their lives

will glorify you. guide them as they seek to find common ground. we pray in your great name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., december 2, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy duckworth, a senator from the

state of illinois, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, anne hwang of california to be united states district judge for the central district of california.

.

affordable and available in all forms. [cheering and applauding] made clear the insurance company can't deny coverage for abscess. the hiv community and shameful

practices. educating the public about the latest transmission and provision of care. so many of you have been leading the way. seven best way three weeks ago as a pioneer. together are you hiv civilization most withdraw the country but not in proud to announce services for science

and technology, it's pretty good that will around today and all of you survivors, heroes who have never given up. lives lost. look what you've already done. save lives around the world. it's the power of memory. keep going. we are the united states of america and there's nothing beyond our capacity.

when the 119th congress commences next year, one of the first great tasks of this body will be fulfilling our constitutional duty to provide advise and consent regarding the president-elect's nominees. the advise and consent authority is a cornerstone of the senate's constitutional mandate, a power central to preserving america's system of checks and balances. the founding fathers knew firsthand the great danger of allowing unchecked executives to appoint individuals to positions of power without any guardrails. in fact, this was one of their greatest grievances against the british crown. very soon, the senate will be called upon to exercise its advise and consent authority once again, as a new administration enters office next year. the senate's advise and consent power will be especially

important next year, given that the president-elect has, at times, made statements about potentially working around the senate to appoint his nominees. hopefully this doesn't become an issue. but nevertheless, it will be the responsibility of the incoming republican majority to protect the senate against any attempt to erode its authority. so today, i sent a letter to incoming republican leader thune, urging him to uphold the senate's constitutional duty to provide advise and concept on the president's -- advise and consent on the president's nominations. i said democrats will be ready to work with republicans in a bipartisan way on the nominations process, and give each nominee the same fair and thorough consideration previous nominees of both parties have received. we should hold hearings, with the nominees, mark-ups in committee, and senators should be given the chance to vote on nominees here on the senate floor. the american people deserve

public servants who put the needs of the country ahead of the political needs of any individual, republican or democrat. the american people deserve public servants whose judgment, sharkeder -- character and experience inspires confidence and reflect our nation's highest ideals. most of all, the american people deserve public servants who will uphold their oaths to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. the best mechanism for ensuring the president appoints qualified, capable, and ethical officials somewhere precisely the advise and consent power of the senate, around it will be the -- and it will be the responsibility of the incoming majority and incoming minority leader to ensure that the authority of the senate is carried out and preserved. i urge incoming leader thune and senate republicans to work with democrats to protect the

senate's authorities under the constitution. now, on senator business -- now, on senate business. we're at the beginning of a very busy december. there's a lot the senate has to do, both on the nominations and the legislative side, and not a lot of time to do them. let me begin with the nominations. we're picking up where we left off before thanksgiving, conf confirming more of the president's nominees to the bench and federal agencies of great importance to the american people. later this afternoon, the senate will vote to confirm the nomination of anne hwang to be district judge for the central district of california. as the week progresses, members should be advised we will aim to hold additional confirmation votes on the nominees that we invoke cloture on before the thanksgiving break. we hope to move to them as soon as possible. on the legislative side, the senate also has a handful of priorities we must deal with before the year is out.

the annual defense authorization bill, the ndaa, and the legislation to prevent a shutdown right before christmas. on government funding, both sides are making progress negotiating on a bill that will pass the house and senate with bipartisan support. we need to keep divisive and unnecessary provisions out of any government funning extension, or -- funding extension, or it will get harder to pass a c.r. in time. for now, i'm pleased negotiations are on the right track. i thank the negotiators in both chambers for their good work. on the ndaa, i'm hopeful we're close to beginning the process of moving a bipartisan bill through both chambers. the nba has been passed without fail for decades, with the cooperation of both sides, and i hope this year . few priorities -- taking care of our troops in uniform and their families. finally, senate democrats will keep pushing to work on a

financial aid package. the president sent us his request last month and spelled out in very clear detail of the disastrous consequences should congress fail to act. i remain hopeful we can get a disaster package done soon. not disasters affect red states and blue states and purple states and everything in between. we have a long tradition in this chamber of coming together when it comes to disaster aid, with very few exceptions. we should come together again at the end of the year to get disaster aid done or we may not be ready to respond the next time mother nature wreaks havoc in our communities. and finally, on snowfall in western new york and upstate. first, let me say, my team is monitoring the heavy lake effect snowfall that has pummelled western new york. there are numerous reports of

people left stranded in their cars, facing terrifying conditions and utter chaos on the road. in at least one instance, first responders saved the lives of one couple trapped on the road in the middle of the snowstorm. the governor has issued a state of emergency for a number of local counties and i urge everyone impacted by the snowfall to stay off the road as much as they can. there's more heavy snowfall on the way. but amidst all the snow, madam president, there was one happy element -- last night all of america got to witness the beauty of buffalo on national television, seeing the buffalo bills clinch the afc championship. what happened in orchard park was out of a storybook, a snow globe game for the ages. despite fridged temperatures, mounds of snow, and a tough opponent, the buffalo bills came out with a huge 35 who have 10

victory over the -- 35 who have 10 victory -- 35-10 victory. josh allen set the franchise record for the most total touchdowns and became the first quarterback ever -- the first quarterback ever to throw a touchdown, run for a touchdown, and catch a touchdown in the same game, an unthinkable hattrick. how impressive is that? the bill's mafia was out in full force supporting the team, shovelling snow to get to their seats, and cheering even the harshest conditions -- in the harshest conditions. they continue to show why the bill's mafia is the most passionate and most loyal fan base in the league. now with their fifth straight division title, it is clear the buffalo bills are treeuly the beast of the east. so i only have two words to say -- go bills!

i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

how do you describe the abundance? >> we are a nonprofit of the various and reaching their full potential. we focus primarily on technology and artificial intelligence. >> what areas do you envision? >> a great question. with energy policy in

particular, there's a whole big we could talk about at the federal or state level by the. there's pending regulation in terms of a.i. to misbehave or criminal conduct you have others that will do accountable. they have new technologies and fears about nuclear technology. >> what you politically? >> we are nonpartisan so it seemed electric and everything we do is oriented here regulation catering to evaluate here and coming to market.

mr. mcconnell: well, the senate has three weeks to complete some of the most important business of the year, and at this late hour, we'll have to act on legislation that comes to us over from the house. but let's be absolutely clear. december draw ma is -- drama is not the way to demonstrate we're serious about our most basic governing responsibilities. with the exception of urgent supplemental assistance to states and communities hit hard by natural disasters in recent months, essential and predictable annual assignments like the ndaa and government funding are now well overdue. our colleagues on the armed

services committee completed their work on the ndaa back in june. they conducted extensive hearings, considered a wide array of amendments, thanks to the work of ranking member wicker, secured an increase to top-line authorization and they did it with bipartisan support. they handed the legislation off to the democratic leader with months to spare. similarly, over in the appropriations committee, they worked diligently to present a full funding bill ahead of the start of the fiscal year. i'm particularly proud of the work of committee republicans under vice chair collins' leadership to secure higher top-line funding for national defense.

the most important power in the senate is the power to set our agenda. only the majority leader holds that power. and last year the majority leader said publicly that, quote, the united states is ready to compete vigorously with the prc. the overwhelming consensus of u.s. national security experts contraintelligence committee dids that view. -- contradicts that view. but even if we were once ready to compete and deter aggression from the adversaries working together to threaten us, letting critical national security legislation collect dust for months while the senate rubber stamps radical nominees is one health care of a way to -- is one heck of a way to project

american resolve. the full senate was denied a chance to work its will on the ndaa. as a result, the ranking member of the armed services committee was forced to negotiate against the house's much lower top-line for defense spending from a much weaker position. the same is true for defense appropriations, and vice chair collins' efforts. as ranking member with wicker pointed out we have a lot to do repair our defense industrial base and finishing urgent business in december is no cause for celebration.

it will be the end of an utterly avoidable delay. on another matter, just before thanksgiving the senate reached a deal on judicial nominees. republicans would forego procedural roadblocks on nominations to district courts which have the votes to be confirmed. in exchange the majority leader wouldn't bring remaining nominations to circuit courts to the noor because they don't -- to the floor because they don't have the votes to be confirmed. as a result, president biden is getting around a dozen more district judges and the next president will get four more circuits to fill. at least i expect he will. we've already seen two partisan democrat district judges, quote,

unretire, end quote, after the american people voted to fire democrats last month. this is noteworthy. looking to our history are, only two judges have ever, ever un-retired after a presidential election. one democrat in 2004 and one republican in 2009. but now in just a matter of weeks, democrats have already met that all-time record. it's hard to conclude that this is anything other than open partisanship. they roll the dice for a democrat to replace them and now he won't. they're changing that i were plans to keep a republican -- they're changing their plans to keep a republican from doing it. it is an admission and the incoming administration would be wise to explore available

recusal options with these judges because it is clear now they have a political finger on the scale. this sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary. it exposes bold democratic blue where there should only be black robes. but it would be alarming if either of the two circuit judges whose announced retirements created these vacancies currently pending before the senate in tennessee and north carolina were actually to follow suit. never, never before has a circuit judge un-retired after a presidential election. it's literally unprecedented. and to create such a precedent would fly in the face of rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies. it is no surprise to hear "the

new york times" bemoan the deal, but its editorial didn't doubt that these vacancies now properly belong to the next president. to borrow from president obama, elections have consequences. but these consequences are for the political branches of government, judges to change retirement plans because of the election results or the executive calendar puts them in three zip codes away from their proper judicial role. if these circuit judges unretire because they don't like who won the election, i can only assume they will face significant ethics complaints based on canon 2 and 5, all about serial recusal demands from the department of justice.

and they'll have earned it. as i repeatedly warned the judiciary on other matters, if you play political games, expect political prizes. so let's hope these judges do the right thing and enjoy their well-earned retirements and leave the politics to the political branches. we have just demonstrated that even on an issue as contentious as judicial nominations, both sides can still come together for a good deal. mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, as chairman of the senate judiciary committee, the filling of judicial vacancies has been the focal point of my political attention now for four years. there are roughly 800 to 900

federal judges at the district court level, the lower court level, and the circuit court level. and then of course nine on the supreme court. filling those vacancies is part of our responsibility. people decide to retire, they pass away, for various reasons they leave the bench and we need to make sure the courts still have people to do their professional job. i listened carefully to my colleague from kentucky explain his concerns about the filling of four circuit court vacancies and the possibility -- and i don't know with any certainty -- but the possibility that two of those four judges have decided no the -- not to retire but to stay on the bench, and he raises the question of whether fair. i'd like to call the senate's attention to the fact that there was a moment in time when we were shocked to learn that supreme court justice antonin scalia died on aing hunting

trip. i believe it was in the month of january or february. i don't have any notes on it here, but i think it was january or february of that year. and it was the last year that president obama's presidency, the second term. and so the president, president obama, said he was going to set out to fill the vacancy created by the death of antonin scalia, and he was proposing his nominee, merrick garland, the judge then at the time who is now attorney general. the decision was made almost instantly by the senator from kentucky, the same senator who just talked about delay in filling vacancies, the decision was made by him not to fill the supreme court vacancy. this was in february of the last year of obama's presidency. and in fact, it wasn't filled until the new president, in this case donald trump, came in in his first term. senator mcconnell instructed his

republican senators not to meet with merrick garland, president obama's nominee, to wait almost an entire calendar year to fill that vacancy. and he succeeded in that effort, so that donald trump was able to fill that vacancy, and not the situation where president obama would have that option. so when i hear the senator come to the floor, from kentucky, and talk about whether there is any gamesmanship going on, i don't know. but i can tell you we saw it at the highest possible level in filling the vacancy on the supreme court when antonin scalia passed away. you think what the american people -- i think what the american people are looking for is fair play. i'm happy to report that well over 50% of the nominees that have gone through under the biden administration for the federal courts have been bipartisan. i'm going to check on the exact number and enter it into the

record at this point. but it's a dramatic majority that have been bipartisan. and every single federal nominee from president obama has been judged well qualified or better by the american bar association. that was not the case under the previous administration of president trump, and it makes a difference whether the person has the quality, background and the integrity to serve on the court. so i'm proud of what we achieved and i hope we can close the year with an understanding that even more will be filling vacancies on the bench. madam president, my major reason for coming to the floor in addition to that important topic, is to discuss an issue which i have been bringing to the attention of the senate for some time. predatory higher education schools that are deceiving and swindling p students and burying them in mountains of debt, many of the students in high school looking for a college don't reeldz that there are several -- realize there are several different categories of schools available. some of their families have

never had a college experience for the young people, it's the first one in the family to try it, and they're deluged with all sorts of brochures and advertising for school. the ones that send the most advertising are the for-profit schools. these are schools that are not public and private universities, not for private operations. they are for profit. they are called for profit and they enroll 8% of all american college students. remember that number -- 8% of american college students go to for-profit schools. they account for, those 8%, they account for 30% of all federal student loan defaults. almost four times the number of defaults as the ampling college student. -- average college student. why would those students going to for-profit colleges and universities default on their loans? they do because they're getting

worthless diplomas from too many worthless schools. let me tell you the story of one constituent of mine and what happened to her. jacqueline is from carlisle, illinois, a small town down in southern illinois, and she was lured into attending a now defunct for profit college known as brooks institute. it really has changed her life what happened to her next. she dreamed of being a photographer. that was her goal. she thought someday she could work for the smithsonian institution which is outside our door way. so she applied to college and laid out the pros and cons of attending each school. on her list was brooks institute in santa barbara, california, and it sounded like a perfect fit. brooks sent her dozens of beautiful brochures with lists of its partner employers. it boasted about its 10% acceptance rate at school and its career services department

that placed 89% of graduates. there was one thing that held jacqueline back -- the price tag. $50,000 for brooks institute in santa barbara, california, to teach her how to be a professional photographer. she called and discussed it with the counselors at the school. the admissions office reassured her that brooks graduates earned a starting salary of $50,000. that salaries actually went up from there and that jacqueline easily would be able to pay off her loans within just a few years. she was convinced. she signed up. she soon learned that brooks institute in california was spewing lie after lie. brooks inflated their graduation rate, exaggerated their job placement rates, and starting salaries and had no connections to the employers listed in the brochures. it was a classic case of bait and switch. the cost of brooks also was

significantly higher than $50,000. after taking out federal and private student loans and watching those loans pile up, jacqueline threw in the towel. she was no longer able to afford attending brooks institute. she dropped out with no degree and thousands of dollars in debt. she tried to make the best of her bad situation, so she took her 90 credit hours from brooks to other places. she ran into the same reaction wherever she went. too many students who had gone to for-profit colleges don't realize that the credit hours that they supposedly earn are virtually worthless. reputable public and private nonprofit colleges wouldn't recognize she had gone to school there. to complete her degree, she had to start over. jacqueline's story is not uncommon. her husband matthew also was conned by this school. too many for-profit colleges prey on students spinning a false story to get them to

enroll and leaving them with debt, useless credit and wasted time. don't blame jacqueline. she went to brooks believing it was a good school. they told her lie after lie to convince her of that. meanwhile she's realizing a federal pell grant might be in her future too. wait a minute, if the federal government recognizes brooks institute maybe everything they're saying is true and too many young people with no experience with colleges make the wrong decision. she was one of them. now jacqueline and her husband matthew cannot qualify for ordinary loans that people turn to as they mature. a mortgage on a home, a car loan. matthew's wages were garnished to pay back these loans to brooks institute and they were forced to close their photography business, sell all their equipment, removing a sebd stream of income. the last chance of hope was to apply of something known as boro

defense through the u.s. department of education. the biden administration has worked to discharge student loans for people like jacqueline and matthew who were defrauded by predatory colleges. under the biden administration the department discharged thousands of student loans, more than $18.7 billion in loans for borrowers which were intended some of the worst for-profit schools such as corinthian college and westwood college college. madam president, i'm sure you can say this as well. we know the names well. many of these borrowers have not seen their loans discharged. it is critical that the biden administration in the closing seven weeks discharge these loans as quickly as possible as well as issue and process group borrower defense discharges for students who attended schools with documented fraud like brooks institute and in the remaining days the department

must continue to process these applications, this would bring real relief for them. why is this so urgent? let me tell you, when president trump was going through his first time, his education secretary was betsy dovoss, she all but stopped this for years, she called it free money gavaway. once the courts finally forced devoss the trump administration in his first term to process borrow defense applications, the secretary created a factory system for denial. department employees who processed applications that were hundreds of pages long were eligible for bonuses while employees who took the time to read the application were at risk of being fired. in her final year, the the company department of education rejected 130,000 claims, a far

cry from only 9,000 claims rejected over the previous five years. in contrast, the biden administration prioritized the most vulnerable borrowers by issuing group discharges for those ripped off by the worst schools. history shows us that a second trump administration is likely to do everything in its power to prevent these students from receiving relief again. our nation's students who are trying to better their lives deserve better. before the next president is sworn into office, let's make sure that the borrowers who have been waiting for relief receive it. i've met so many of these students. they were trying to do the right thiveng. their whole -- thing. they were told go to college, get an education, you will make more money and be happier. they sign up for the for-profit schools and don't understand their rip-offs start to finish. they see all of these federal

programs investing in the school and think it is a real college. turns out-years later, deeply in dent they have -- debt their lives are basically over. those in their 30's living in mom and dad's basement with nowhere to go. this is ridiculous. in the -- in the meantime we're in a situation where these students deeply in debt from these terrible schools have no place to turn but this borrower defense. i'm urging the biden administration in the closing hours of their administration, the last seven weeks come to the rescue of these students as quickly as possible. madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: >>

our first guest is skye paramedic, president and ceo of the organization talking

about the incoming trumpet administration. how would you describe your group to other people? >> we are a nonpartisan legal organization founded in the wake of the election last time when it became clear in the early days of the first trumpet administration there were a range of things the administration was pursuing that were harmful in communities so our organization is ostensibly a legal one. we go to court and represent people in communities defending their rights . >> the new york times when describing your group is calling you a liberal legal group, is that the accurate description? >> people give us all kinds of labels but we work as i diverse array of people in communities across the country with teachers, parents, doctors , researchers, conservationists , really all across the board representing the vast diverse array of the american people. >>. >> how would you breakthat down amongst those that support you . >> on the continuum we will be more on the progressive side but what we've seen is in this new era is there's a lot uniting traditional

conservatives, traditional liberals, traditional progressives, a commitment to democracy and the rule of law so we find ourselves with interesting coalitions representing people much more conservative on the spectrum and at times representing people that are much more liberal . >> overall the coalition is concerned about the incoming administration, how would you characterize those concerns? >> we have a concern that the president-elect's campaign on a platform where he distanced himself from some very extreme proposals such as the heritage foundation back project 20/25 because the american whether liberal conservative or independent really rejected that type of extremism but now we're already seeing in the early days of the transition to a number of appointments coming out of that project 2025 playbook so we are concerned for all people in the country that this administration they accelerate the very things that the president elect fought to distance himself from in the campaign to we've been working on preparing to

respond to that on behalf of communities across the country using all the tools our courts provided cost vision for my class give us something you see as a possibility we see headlines about plans to call hollow out the united states civil service. that is either individual that swear an oath to the constitution to protect and do the work of the american people . everybody wants government to work more efficiently, we all do but what we know is in countries like ours where there is a robust civil service it's much more efficient and less known to corruption and in countries where our civil service are politicized or swear a loyalty oath . if that type of policy were implemented for another type of policies we believe there are legal problems with that and we would intend on taking legal action if they ignore the law and try to undermine the ability of our government to work class was the main legal

problem in your mind? >> there are multiple legal problems, we don't know how they will go about doing it but there are protections in place that congress has put in place including additional protections of the biden administration to put in place in april. in addition to having outsiders from government billionaire outsiders advising the government is something you have to follow a lot of processes in order to be able to do . we have transparency laws in this country that really require that if people are influencing government policy there be certain disclosures and policies and it's not clear that the ministration will abide by those laws so those are the kind of things we are watching . >> there is a legal issue when you have this not a full-fledged department in the government, is there regulations with the existence of the body itself? >> we believe first of all that money doesn't exist and they are saying it does exist

which is a problem on our range of issues but certainly if there was an attempt to create some kind of body that would influence government, these commissions there are a number of corrupt and unlawful commissions the first trumpet administration set up that people were successfully able to challenge in court so those are the kind of things we will be watching on behalf of many people around the country. >> if you want to ask her a question about these efforts of her group will also malign, 202-748-8000, republicans 202-748-8000 for democrats and independents 202-748-8000two. you can text us at 202-748-8000 three or post on social sites, facebook and text as well. how did the group get started

in this effort particularly with this last election, what was the strategy after the election going forward ? >> we viewed what we saw in the first trumpet administration and of course it was epitomized january 6 as a deeplyconcerning brett not just to policies that people care about , that people may disagree on what to our overall system of government and our democracy and the american people as a whole . several years ago we started looking at monitoring the sort of coalition of very far right groups, many of them you see in that project 2025 heritage foundation plan to understand what they were planning should they seek to obtain and influence in the highest office of the country in the presidential election. that resulted in a lot of groups coming together with concerns that there would be the threats to the american people, to kitchen table issues such as worker protections. wages, fair wages , education so we just began thinking about what types of responses the american people when half. of

course one response they have is the voting booth and we saw that in this last election where when americans of all stripes rejected project 2025 it became a toxic lightning rod. we saw the president-elect distanced himself from the campaign trail saying he didn't know who these groups were and of course now we're seeing him go back on that word though i'm glad that you people are thinking about how we would use the tools of our constitution provides to enable people in communities across the country to respond . >> what is the legal team you are forming? >> we had a number of lawyers who went on to court for the last 7 to 8 years on behalf of the american people in the federal level and state and local communities and then there are hundreds of organizations who are lending their efforts to this. there

organizations that are concerned about environmental climate quality, organizations that are concerned about individual rights and the ability of people to express the views that may not be popular . so all those groups are planning their own strategies and coordinating with one another to make sure the ground is covered for people.>> so any action by the president that your group doesn't agree with they will have lawyers in court to push back. >>

losses of over 200 per acre. for some producers this is the second or third consecutive year of negative cash flow. this means many farm families -- farm families are ending 2024 in the red, unable to pay off this year's operating loan, unable to get the loan to farm in 2025 and face the reality of being the just generation to have lost the

family farm due to extreme market conditions beyond their control. one arkansas farmer recently shared that he had the best crop yield of his career, but he is still under water because commodity prices are well below the cost of production. even for producers who haven't seen severe losses in 2024, the concern for 2025 continues to escalate as margins are forecast to remain poor. in the last few months there's been a significant shift in the spirit of our farmers. after years of unprecedented challenges, they're discouraged and pleading for stronger tools to help survive these conditions. farm groups are sounding the alarm. the american farm bureau says there are clear economic warning signs of need in rural america. the agriculture of arkansas

president nathan reed described the conditions in the state that farmers are naysing, quote, virtually impossible but anything of a significant loss regardless of crop, yield or safety coverage, end quote. the seriousness of these losses have left many questioning if they have a future in farming. established farmers are hesitant to risk what little equity remains while young and beginning farmers don't have the capital necessary to survive these conditions. the southwest coins of a agribusiness expressed concerns about the full time farm and ranch families unable to continue and the consequences that would result with those farm, quote, being lost or forced into consolidation, end quote. the usda whens acknowledged the hardships. some producers are experiencing

as a result of natural disasters but it's not enough. federal assistance must support agriculture producers facing market losses and it needs to happen quickly. producers need an efficient mechanism to provide 2024 economic assistance and certainly for 2025 through an improved farm safety yet. it's an understanding that's feigning support on both sides of the capital and our appropriations committee hearing last month, senator hyde-smith called for robust and swift delivery of emergency assistance to agriculture producers because of adverse market conditions. i appreciate the leadership of the house agriculture committee, the chairman and congressman trent kelly for recognizing the urgent need and proposing a sol solution. congress should provide significant economic assistance

to producers before the end of the year. we need to provide producers with the certainty and the predictability to been to -- to be able to go to the bank and have confidence that help is on the way so that they can continue farming. in recent meetings with members of the texas farm bureau, midwest council on agriculture, usa rice and arkansas farm bureau who have been growing food and fiber for generations, they're worried about what the -- will say when they go to get credit for the 2025 crop year and what that means to their future in the industry. if congress does not act appropriately, i worry many of these producers may not be around next year. agriculture is an important part of our country's heritage and our economy. our producers grow an abundant and affordable supply of food and fiber. they must have the tools that they need to manage this

extremely difficult market. we must help our farmers recover from the sizable losses they realized in 2024 and give them certainty for 2025. this assistance is crucial to the viability of agriculture in the united states. and i yield back.

mr. cornyn: i know we enjoyed a little bit of time with our friends and family but here we are back with 18 days until the funding for the federal government runs out and we certainly have our work cut out for us. of course, i expect this sort of drama to end next year when we have new management, both as a

new president as well as the senate and house majorities. because frankly the way that the majority leader here in the senate has managed to cram all this unfinished business into the last 18 days is by design. and it does not serve the best interest either of the senate or of the american people. this cannot be and will not be the new normal. so before we recess for christmas, we must extend the farm bill which you just heard from the ranking member soon to be chairman of the agriculture committee on that issue. we need to pass a national defense authorization act bill, something we've done 63 years in a row. and as i mentioned a moment ago, we need to keep the lights on. the u.s. government runs out of money in 18 days. all of these are entirely preventable. and we find ourselves in this

uncomfortable and embarrassing situation purely by design. starting with the farm bill, unfortunately the partisan proposal released by the chair of the agriculture committee last month is not what we need in a new farm bill. i guess rather than actually do the hard work of sitting down and trying to negotiate it, a bipartisan farm bill, the soon to be departing chairman of the agriculture committee, the senator from michigan, just decided to lay down a partisan farm bill and blame republicans for not capitulating, even when she refused to negotiate a bipartisan outcome. but i'm grateful to the rasking member, again soon to be chairman senator boozman from arkansas for continuing to press for a fair, effective farm bill that's actually focused on the american people and farmers, and

not enshrining the liberal wish list on their way on the the door, as our democratic colleagues seem determined to try to do. as senator boozman likes to say, we need to put the farm back in the farm bill, which are true words. only about 20% of the farm bill actually benefits farmers. the rest of it is nutrition programs and other mandatory spending that is part of this alliance between urban and rural interests but has produced, frankly, an unworkable process where farmers and our agriculture producers are harmed by the fact that so little of the attention, so little of the policies is actually directed at them and their ability to put food on our tables. texas is home to more than 230,000 farms and ranches, more than any other state in the

country. one out of every seven texans is in an ag related job. that's one out of every seven of 30 million people are in an ag-related job in texas. of course the farm bill is important for all the reasons you just heard, but primarily because it provides safety net programs and funding for things like crop insurance. farming is hard work, and you're also dependent on mother nature. and sometimes mother nature can be pretty cruel. through droughts, hurricanes, all sorts of weather conditions that make it impossible to produce a crop. and of course these are essential lifelines to countless producers. our ag producers have to borrow the money by and large to plant their seed, to plant their crop, and then harvest it and sell it in order to pay the bank back for the money they just

borrowed. if they don't have a crop because they have bad weather or a hurricane or drought, they don't have the capability to keep going. and fewer and fewer of our younger farmers in particular are able to stay -- able to sustain this very, very difficult and challenging life given the exigencies that exist. but this farm bill is critical to managing the considerable risks associated with this critical industry. a strong and untime -- on time farm bill is essential for the health and to the people and the economy. as i indicated earlier, it's absolutely imperative for texas. now, how did we find ourselves without passing a farm bill in a timely basis with basically three weeks to go? we know the farm bill comes up

every five years so there's no surprise. it is our duty to get it done on a timely basis, as soon as possible. but the 2018 farm bill has already been extended once. it hasn't been updated to current conditions. frankly because it hasn't been a priority for the majority leader. partisan proposals and a complete lack of interest there the majority leader have made this process to pass a new farm bill an insult to the hardworking farmers and ranchers in my state and around the country. but of course the farm bill isn't the only last-minute task we have hanging over our head. we need to pass the national defense authorization act. again, this is not a surprise. we need to do this every year. and now of all times is not the time to delay this critical legislation because we are experiencing the most dangerous

world since world war ii. we're living in one of the most dangerous eras since that -- the last 70 years. china, russia, iran, and north korea are working in concert to undermine the west and the united states in particular. this national defense authorization bill which we need to take up and pass each year is designed to ensure that our military has what it needs in order to achieve its missions of today and rise to the challenges of tomorrow. now is not the time to play hooky on our national defense obligations. furthermore, this legislation is typically the vehicle we use to ensure that our servicemembers and their families and our all-volunteer military are adequately provided for. in texas alone, there are roughly 225,000 servicemembers stationed at places like fort

bliss and joint base san antonio just to name a few. the national defense authorization act was completed by the arm d ed services commit in july, more than four months ago. what are we doing here three weeks before christmas? having to jam this through somehow, some way without full debate and amendment and deliberation? well, it's purely by design because it obviously was not a top priority for the majority leader or he would have put this on the floor months ago rather than leave it one of the last things we need to do. nevertheless, chairman reed of the armed services committee, ranking member wicker and all of the members on the committee have done yeoman's work to put this bill on the floofrment but the majority leader, by design,

made sure we are unable to do that in a way that will allow all 100 senators to participate in the process. again, this is the most important thing we have to do to protect the safety and security of the american people. and this bill would go a long way to modernize america's defense and establish deterrence, which is just another way of saying to keep the peace. we have passed an ndaa for 63 years in a row, and it's among the most important jobs we have to do. if we don't get it done by the end of the year, senator schumer's legacy as majority leader will be that he broke the 63-year tradition of supporting our military and maintaining peace through strength. finally, as i started out by saying, the last thing on our list before we head out for

christmas is government funding. the annual appropriations process is designed to move through the appropriations comm committees, which it has on a bipartisan basis, and then to reconcile the differences between the house version and the senate version and get them on the president's desk by the end of september. that was last september. but when that doesn't happen, then we end up passing continuing resolutions, which means we tread water until we can get around to doing something we should have done many months ago. senator collins and senator murray and everyone on the appropriations committee did their job by passing all 12 appropriations bills months ago. senator schumer could have but didn't schedule these four floor votes months ago. instead, he chose to leave it for the last three weeks, alopping with everything --

along with everything else we need to do. national security seems to not be a priority. we should have finished all of this work a long time ago and certainly with plenty of time before christmas. but what did we do instead? well, when we were actually here voting, we had show votes. what i mean by a show vote is a vote that has no real merit, that he knows is not going to pass but which is purely designed to try to embarrass other members of the senate and maybe create a narrative that could be used in the lengths. -- in the election. senator schumer held a series of partisan messaging votes leading up to the election, which he knew would never pass. they were designed solely to force republican senators to take votes on bogus bills to gain some sort of perceived political messaging advantage. it mattered little to the majority leader that the premise

of these votes was false to begin with. we had votes on issues like in vitro fertilization access, which wasn't at risk in the first place. then senator schumer held votes on a tax package that had a not -- had not gone through the appropriate committee of jurisdiction, the finance committee that i sit on, as well as a border bill that did not go through the judiciary committee. it hungary even been considered -- it hadn't even been considered by the senate committees of jurisdiction. which, in other words, means they were not ready for prime time. not one of these votes had input from the broader senate, nor were they intended to be any sort of good-faith effort to actually solve a problem. and the week before thanksgiving, after the entire month-long recess in october, senator schumer kept us here late at night burning the midnight oil.

but none of these votes tackled any of the mountain of work that i have a a just described. -- that i have just described. we were into the here voting late, as i know we would be happy to do, to advance the farm bill or the defense authorization bill, or funding to keep the government open. but instead we were here to confirm partisan nominees to oto -- to the judicial branch. and if you look at the details of some of these judges' background oz, it is an embarrassment that they were ever able to receive a majority of votes in the united states senate. one of them, a judge kasubhai, has a habit of as an amazing historian and author. ebrim xkendi. and then there's judge

sooknanan, who served as a board member for a group that vehemently opposed sending police officers to schools in order to prevent school shootings and maintain say. -- maintain safety. is this really what the united states senate should be spending its time on when tax when texas have their lives in jeopardy because of an unpassed national defense authorization act and a farm bill? thanks to several of our colleagues, we were able to finally secure an agreement to prevent some of the most egregious of these judges from lifetime appointments to the federal bench. those will be filled by president trump starting next year. but if this abuse of senate floor time to confirm unqualified nominees to the federal bench was not enough, now we awoke to the news that president biden has shamelessly decided in the final weeks of

his presidency to do something he said he would not do, which is to pardon his son hunter for corrupt business practices and criminal activities. after months, months of the president, his ssess -- his press secretary and others telling us that of course he wouldn't do this he simply went back on his word. this is blatant corruption and an abuse of the office. and a blatant example by president biden of him continuing to mislead and lie to the american people. justice means nothing if it's not applied evenhandedly. the notion that someone could be above the law simply because his father happens to be president is an affront to law-abiding citizens. it's a terrible example because without any accountability for people breaking the law, getting

a pass, in other words, there is no deterrent effect or no accountability that teaches our young people and others that, yes, you need to follow the law and, yes, there are consequences if you don't. it's frankly absurd and contrary to all available facts for president biden to claim that his son was selectively and unfairly prosecuted, especially after a sweetheart deal that was almost struck in his favor. but for the timely and pointed questions of a judge that was asked to pass on a plea deal that ultimately blew up, they would have gotten away with it, and there wouldn't have been any pardon because there wouldn't have been any conviction. no, hunter biden was rightfully prosecuted for committing crimes and breaking the law, and it's unfair and selective for this president to single out his son

for a pardon, and it sets a horrible example for future administrations. so any future administration could simply point back to this and say, well, apparently it is okay for the president to do whatever the president wants to do without with regard to the law or the pledge it sends to the nation -- or the message it sends to the nation or nations around the world. we need to restore respect for the rule of law within the department of justice and the fbi and confirm more qualified judges to our courts. but i must say that i'm disappointed and dismayed that senator schumer continues to lecture republicans about the importance of bipartisanship, which he does son a regular basis -- on a regular basis, while he himself is engaged in a partisan show of procrastination. the people of texas and of america for that matter deserve better.

madam president, i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call: >> one of the first great

test of this body will to provide advice and consent regarding the president-elect's nominees . the advise and consent authority is the cornerstone of the constitutional mandate, a power central to preserving america's checks and balances. the founding fathers knew firsthand the great danger of following unchecked executives to appoint individuals in positions of power without any guardrails. in fact this was one of their greatest grievances against the british crown . very soon, the senate will be called upon to exercise its advise and consent authority once again as a new administration enters office next year. the senate advise

and consent power will be especially important next year given the president elect has at times made statements about potentially working around the senate to appoint his nominees. hopefully this doesn't become an issue but nevertheless it will be the responsibility of the incoming republican majority to protect the senate against any attempt to erode its authority so today i send a letter to incoming republican leader urging to him to oppose the senate's constitutional duty to provide advise and consent on the president's nominees . i said democrats will be ready to work with republicans in a bipartisan way on the nominations process and give each nominee the same fair and thorough consideration that previous nominees of both parties have received. we should hold hearings with the nominees, markups in committee and senators should be given the chance to vote on nominees here on the senate floor. the american people deserve public

servants who put the needs of the country i had of the political needs of any individual . republican or democrat. the american people deserve public servants whose judgment, character and experience inspires confidence and reflects our nation's highest ideals. most of all the american people deserve public servants who will uphold their oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. the best mechanism for ensuring the president appoints qualified capable and ethical officials is precisely the advise and consent power of the senate and it will be the responsibility of the incoming majority and incoming majority leader to ensure the authority of the senate is carried out and preserved. i urge incoming leader thune and senate republicans to work with democrats to protect the senate's authority under the constitution . now on senate

business, we are at the beginning of what will be a busy december . there's a lot the senate has to do on the nominations on the legislative side and not a lot of time to do that. let me begin with the nominations. we're picking up where we left off before thanksgiving confirming more of the president's nominees to the bench and federal agencies of great importance to the american people . later this afternoon the senate will vote to confirm the nomination of antoine to be district judge for the central district of california . as the week progresses numbers should be advised we will hold additional confirmation votes on the nominees that we invoke cloture onbefore the thanksgiving break. we hope to move to them as soon as possible . on the legislative side the senate also has a handful of priorities we must deal with

before the year is out. the annual defense authorization bill, and the aa and legislation to prevent the shutdown right before christmas . on government funding both sides are making progress negotiating on a bill that can pass the house and senate with bipartisan support . we need to keep divisive and unnecessary provisions out of any government funding extension or else it will get harder to pass the cr in time. for now i'm pleased negotiations are on the right track and i thank the appropriators in both chambers for their good work. now on the nda i'm hopeful we are close to beginning the process of moving a bipartisan bill into both chambers. the nda has advanced without fail for decades with the cooperation from both sides and i will this year is no exception. few priorities matter more than providing for our national defense and taking care of our troops in uniform and their families . finally senate democrats will be pushing to finish work on a

disaster aid package to replenish the many relief programs that are dangerously low on resources . the president sent us his request last month and spelled out in clear detail the disaster consequences should congress failed to act. i remain hopeful we can get a disaster package done soon . national disasters affect red states and blue states and purple states and everything in between. we have a long tradition of coming together when it comes to disaster aid with few exceptions. we should come together again at the end of the year to get disaster aid done or we may not be ready to respond the next time mother nature wreaks havoc on our communities. and finally on snowfall in western new york and upstate first let me say my team is monitoring the heavy lake effect snow fall that has pummeled western new york. just as new yorkers were driving home from thanksgiving . there are numerous people, reports of

people left stranded in their cars facing terrifying conditions and utter chaos on the road. in at least once instance first responders in the lives of one couple in the middle of the stole snowstorm . the governor has issued a state of emergency for a number oflocal counties and i urge everyone impacted by the snowfall to follow local guidelines to stay off the road as much as they can . there's more heavy snowfall on the way but amidst all the snow mme. pres. there was one heavy element . last night all of america got to witness the beauty of buffalo on national television seeing the buffalo billsclinch the afc east championship amidst a deluge of snow . what happened in orchard park was out of thestorybook . a snow globe game for the ages. despite frigid temperatures mounds of snow and a tough opponent the

buffalo bills came out with a huge 35 to 10 victory over over the 49ers . it was an amazing game to watch, i watched the whole thing . josh allen did it all really set a franchise record for most total touchdowns and became the first quarterback ever, first quarterback ever to throw a touchdown run for a touchdown and catch a touchdown in the same game . an unthinkable hat trick . how impressive is that and of course as always the bills mafia was out in full force supporting the team, shoveling snow to get to their seats and cheering even the harshest conditions they continue to show why the bills mafia is the most passionate and loyal fan base in the league . now with their fifth straight division title it's clear the buffalo bills are truly the team to be in the east side have two words to say. though

bills . i yield the floor and not the absence of a quorum . >> the senate has three weeks to complete some of the most important business of the year and at this late hour we will have to act on legislation over from the house. but let's be absolutely clear. these dramas are not the way to demonstrate we are serious about our most basic governing responsibilities. with the exception of urgent supplemental assistance the states and communities hit hard by natural disasters in recent months the essential and unpredictable annual assignments like the nda a and government funding are now well overdue. our colleagues on the armed services committee completed their work on the nda a back

in june. they conducted extensive hearings , considered a wide array of amendments thanks to the work of ranking member wicker secured an increase to topline authorization and they did it withbipartisan support . they handed the legislation off to the democratic leader with months to spare. some over in the appropriations committee they work diligently to present a funding bill ahead of the start to the fiscal year. i'm particularly proud of the work the committee republicans and vice chair collins leadership to secure higher topline funding for national defense.

most important power in the senate is the power to set our agenda. under the majority leader, only the majority leader holds that power and last year the majority leader said publicly the united states is ready to work vigorously with the dnc so the overwhelming consensus of national security experts contradicts that view. but even if we were once ready to compete to deter aggression from the adversaries working together to threaten us, letting critical national security legislation collect dust four months while the senate rubberstamps radical nominees is one heck of a way to sustain that elusive readiness or project american

resolve. the full senate did not have a chance to work as well on the nda a . as a result if the ranking member of the armed services committee was forced to negotiate against the house at a much lower topline or defense spending on a much weaker position. the same is true for defense appropriations . as vice chair collins accepted. as ranking member wicker has pointed out repeatedly, we've got a lot of work to do to repair america's military and rebuild our defense industrial base. and finishing urgent business in december certainly is no cause for celebration. it will be just the end of an utterly unavoidable delay.

now on another matter just before thanksgiving the senate reached a deal on judicial nominees . republicans would forgo our available procedural roadblocks on the remaining nominations to district courts which have the most to be confirmed . in exchange the democratic leader wouldn't bring any of the remaining honors of the circuit courts to the floor because they don't have the votes to be confirmed. as a result pres. biden is getting around a dozen more district judges in the next president will get more circuits to fill. at least i expect he will . we've already seen two parties of democratic district judges not retire after the american people

voted to retire democrats last month. this is noteworthy . throughout history only two judges have ever on the retired after a presidential election. one democrat in 2004 and one republican in 2009. but now in just a matter of weeks democrats have already met that all-time record. the majority concludes this is anything other than open partisanship . they roll the dice that a democrat could replace them, and now he won't. they're changing their plans to keep republicans from doing it. it's a bracing admission and the incoming administration would be wise to explore all

recusal options for these judges because it's clear now they have a political finger on the scale . this sort of partisan behavior undermines the integrity of the judiciary and exposes both democratic blue where there should only be black robes. but it would be essentially alarming if either of the two circuit judges whose announced retirement created vacancies pending before the senate in tennessee and in north carolina were actually to follow suit.never before has a circuit judge on retired after a presidential election. it's literally unprecedented. and to create such a president would fly in the face of rare bipartisan compromise on the disposition of these vacancies. i am surprised to hear the new york times bemoan the deal is editorial didn't

doubt that these vacancies now properly belong to the next president. to borrow from pres. obama elections have consequences. but these consequences are the political practice of government.

let's help the judges do the right thing. politics, with just demonstrated the judicial nomination, both sides can still come together will for a good deal.

[applause] you know. i hope you can find comfort. one thing is never lost, your love for them and their love for you. cap as others for your collective and individual courage for the trust to put an honest. the special obligation to ensure everyone is seen and that's why

-- the presiding officer: the majority leader. schumer shurnl i ask unanimous consent -- mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to executive session to consider calendar number 842. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. the ayes appear to have it, the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: anthony j.b wrench disi of new york to be northern district judge of new york. mr. schumer: i send's cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned

senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on, cloture motion cloture motion, anthony j.bri dmfrn disi to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york. mr. schumer: i ask that the reading of the names and waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in dpaifr say aye. theites appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 843. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, elizabeth v. coombe, of new york, to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york. the presiding officer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned

senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on, cloture motion cloture motion -- cloture motion cloture motion elizabeth c. coombe, of new york to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york. mr. schumer: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: opposed no, the ayes appear to have it. the negotiation is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 844. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion agreed to. the clerk will report. colombia nomination, the judiciary, sarah morgan davenport, of enemy, to be united states district judge for the district of enemy -- new mexico. ra mr. schumer: i send a he cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: will report.

we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on, cloture motion cloture motion, sarah morgan davenport of new mexico to be united states district judge for the district of new mexico. mr. schumer: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 845. the presiding officer: the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, tiffany rene johnson of georgia, to be united states district judge for the northern district of georgia. mr. schumer: i send's cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. colombia we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar

number 845, tiffany re nefrn johnson, of georgia, to be united states district judge for the district of georgia. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor aye. opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 846. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, keli ma ri neary to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22, do hereby bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 846, keli ma ri neary, of

pennsylvania to be united states district judge for the middle district of pennsylvania. mr. schumer: i ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: madam president, before the attending holiday, my colleagues, we voted late into the night, and i have no problem with that, ever voting on meaningful legislation, but that's not what we've been doing. we're voting on last-minute lame-duck biden-harris nominees, but there are nominations sent to the senate waiting for a vote, i'm speaking of the social security fairness act which appeals the windfall and the government pension offset.

wep and gpo. it affects my state and the president of the senate's state, california, are particularly affected, but so is texas, illinois, massachusetts, maine, new york, new jersey. both blue and red states, and it recognizes first that social security is a sacred trust between generations. a promise to workers that when they retire, they will not live in poverty. but right now social security's future is in danger. according to the people who run this program, if social security does nothing, the social security trust fund will be busted in nine years, flat bankrupt, and then there will be an automatic 20% to 24% cut in benefits for everyone receiving social and those who will receive it in the future. someone said won't i be beganed fathered in -- grandfathered in.

no. if you're already on social you get a 24% cut. i will state here we must strengthen, secure social security and i'm pleased to say there's a plan to do so. but one thing what we cannot do as we work to save social security is to pet yate an unfairness -- an unjustice that began decades ago. it targets people who have dedicated their lives to serving communities on a state or local level such as first responders and teachers. so today we can take a step toward that fairness. we can repeal two unfair social security provisions with the social security fairness act if the majority leader schedules a vote.

weapon gpo penalizes families and i already mentioned particularly in states like louisiana, california, maine, texas who have worked a public service job for part of their career with a separate pension from social security. we're talking about first responders, the police officers, the firefighters, but also the teachers and other public employees who are being punished for serving their communities. how did we get here? weapon gop were introduced decades ago to address qualities in the social security system but they've had the opposite effect of creating real, tangible inequalities. my firefighters, police officers, and teachers in louisiana have a second job or a second career or getting married, they're being unfairly punished receiving far less from social security than if they had never worked in public service at all. and that's not right.

reducing the earned social security benefits of individuals who already receive a pension from a non-social security job. this resulted in thousands who have paid into the system during their career receiving a significantly reduced social security benefit when they retire. gpo reduces earned social security spousal or survivor benefits for individuals who also receive a government pension. this prevention can reduce or even eliminate the social security benefits that a spouse or widow might have expected and relied upon. public servant spouses would receive more than if they had never worked at all. let me repeat that. you have a teacher, married to someone who's got a great job. he dies. and she doesn't receive but a fraction of the social security benefit that she would have received from her husband's social security benefit. as a guy who used to work in a hospital for the uninsured, run

by the state, i worked for lots of nurses, i consistently hear from the people i work ed for ad constituents, that they feel like they're being punished for serving community. and that's in louisiana. but it's for public servants across the country who feel the exact same way. wep and gop affect americans in every single state and there's no excuse to treat our public servants this way. it should never become law but we have an opportunity to fix it. the house of representatives passed the social security fairness act. as a long time original cosponsor of the senate version, i've been waiting to proudly vote yes and find the repeal wep and gpo. senate democrats have focused their attention on ramming through partisan nominees rather than passing serious legislation. and if it sounds like i'm frustrated, i am. we owe it to every public

servant who has taught our children, run into the streets and a burning bill and more to pass this bill. the time for theater is through. it's time to get serious and vote on legislation that matters. i am ready to vote yes on the social security fairness act and repeal wep and gpo for people in louisiana and across the country. i call for the majority leader to schedule a vote on the social security fairness act and i urge colleagues to join in supporting. with that i-year-old. with that i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. cassidy: i note the absence

advice and consent regarding the nominee. the constitutional mandate, the power to pursue america's systems. the founding fathers firsthand to appoint individuals in positions of power without any guardrails. the biggest grievances against the british crown. the senate will be called upon to exercise its authority once again. a new administration this next year. given that the president-elect about potentially working around the senate for five qualities.

hopefully it doesn't become an issue but nevertheless it is the responsibility of the incoming republican majority to protect the senate against any content for more it's going. today is a letter to opposing positive ability to provide on the president's nomination. democrats will be ready for the republicans in a bipartisan way on the nominations process of the nominee for consideration the parties have received. we should full year's nominees centers to be given the chance to vote on nominees here on the senate four. american people deserve public servants have you on the

condition of the foregoing for democrat. the american people deserve seventh of care for full-size office in the morning will multiple people deserve the holder 065 independent the constitution of the united states. the best mechanism for ensuring the president appoints legal and ethical additional precisely the rising power of the senate and the responsibility of incoming majority the majority leader you sure the authority of the senate is preserved. density will democrats protect selectable prosecution will

appear at the beginning of what will be a busy december. it's on the nomination if the legislative what level of time to do them. we are thinking we left off before thanksgiving, and the president's nominees thanks in the federal agencies in the american people. it is avenue attorney denomination listed judge for the district of california. members should be advised relational confirmation votes on the nominees before the thanksgiving break. we hope to move as soon as possible. while legislative side a handful priority deal before the year is out. all government funding, what is

making progress negotiating an adult was invented bipartisan support. we need to keep in necessary provisions out the new government spending extensive in the car to pass inside. i'm hopeful here folks to beginning the process of the microsystem. on both sides and i hope this year is no exception. few primaries matter more than providing for national defense and taking care of troops and their families. finish work on a disaster gave package to replenish the president dangerously low resources. pitch is possible so long.

he still -- unanimous consent t we vitiated quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: i would ask that the scheduled vote begin immediately. the presiding officer: without objection. under the previous order, the question occurs on the hwang nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. qom. coombe. tart start

vote: turkey and pie and all the things. we start with opening thoughts. tonight secretary will travel. one appears to discuss transatlantic. the fight against russia's aggression and cooperation with neighborhood partners including

in the morning. we join support for ukraine's back and integration. in the brutal attack in the place united states intercept and destroy dream will support interoperability and security will focus on helping ukraine in the strongest position possible to ensure they defend itself now and over the long-term. the 31st tomr review the area

economics, environmental and affairs. it's is peace secretary blinken will meet up with officials to host their year as chair in office. >> it is the government is blue late last year for lake. >> so every time unions including you all will, of

course it includes the summit. you will need to stop evaluating progress and will continue to do that. we continue to pursue to make sure ukraine can work this talk about reforms and i don't want to. any at this meeting but certainly every time we can get together and talk with our ukrainian counterparts. it is the policy the production

and minority groups are policy remains the same, the political process is to resolution 2254. facilitated by the united nations to negotiate a path forward. that's what we want to see long-term short-term who want to see the de-escalation.

>> more influence than any other long. >> i'm not going to. ♪♪ stay had with countries in the region. we continue every country could use any influence an as he actually. we don't want any other in the situation and want to see all kinds of influence to push for de-escalation and in political process. >> what is policy? >> nothing has changed with respect to our policy.

ultimately what we want to see is a path forward inflation security council for the process in this endeavor and we call on all countries and a path forward. it's helpful if russia and iran stopped the influence.

>> it is the biggest ally. >> certainly we want to see. we are not talking between syria and iran. we are talking therein continuing. all will will along the route

again it is tough question. as a been potentially. now have a relationship in this position. >> with respect to our attention, all it remains in the regime has shown no change in behavior that would indicate. second thing is we have seen partners and normalize their relations. if you recall, you are quite

clear when they normalized those that we did not think it was a step forward and countries should not normalize relations with no change in the has to be change in behavior. >> the shouldn't normalize relations but now they have all. >> of course we look at every country in the regime will push for 2254. we will push to engage with its own people. a dialogue in a political process and continue to engage.

>> they renew not in the administration's position. >> i can't review any steps but all of our sanctions. mountains is it has been that he has to go. you're saying he is a dictator but not outright saying -- >> there has been no change in respect to the regime but ultimately it is a decision for people and why we are going for the process resolution 2254

determining the path forward. >> with influence over each other. >> we have been very clear with anyone they should use that leverage to push the situation. the secretary told to the prime minister of turkey yesterday. i can assure you that all conversations any influence they have.

>> i believe turkey has a lot of ambition in a occupied 11. >> ultimately we want to see a path forward to determine their future. no other country outside or anywhere in the world for anyone. >> you are against hhd is. insurance 30 still all we will

hold involving her table the the united states and certainly long will you back organization in any way shape that will. i gave great camerawork, get them and it could not be further from the truth. >> you have been supporting. >> there are good to have reported. coalitions in syria and iraq despite the growth and continue to support a network great how

emerging interest in the region but ultimately in the united states and we are committed to being contained and defeated was there for all.

anytime for nearly anytime of this nature you have claimed violations of the cease-fire especially in the opening weeks. fragile for real violations so will we are doing this engaging and looking at these reports and

violations of this fire and absolutely will do. >> it is the cease-fire agreement. >> it was not part of it but we've always made clear to the government of lebanon that they want to see a president elected as soon as possible. we have been pushing for several years now well before october 7 and before the intensification between israel and hezbollah december of this year end continue to push strengthening

lebanese. >> we are not taking sides. we have been clear from day one. you've heard us say this publicly and privately as well lebanon letter to the united states or any actor. >> when you see it is successful, what usage? >> obviously when you have cease-fire, you can see violations of the end the

mechanism in the first place. and you see various violations of time. we'd not seen the cease-fire break down. when we get reports, we have a mechanism in place and look at potential violations and determine if they are in fact violations and engage if they are repeated this is the mechanism an appropriate blood that lewis was probably will talk about the results of the and it's not just the u.s., the government of france as well.

>> is it adjudicated or just concern? >> i will speak other than what i just said. if we do see violations, we want to see the successful and returned to the home. >> do they have the right to action that's any sort of operation? >> first of all, there is a mechanism and before i get to the front is, it's important to mechanism be allowed to determine our violations every country was israel -- every country including lebanon as

well has the right to self-defense under national law. that was before it remains a fact that all countries have the right. >> there are reports that they intend to strike level on projectiles within the confines. >> not going to reports of possible or hypothetical action and whether they would adhere. we have channels set up to do that. >> formalizes. >> that would allow either side

to pull in potential violations? >> it allows both sides and allows us and our partners. >> but the difference between now and then she? we will just have another round. because of that. >> i think it's a little too early to make predictions going forward. we are left with a week in this cease-fire.

on we see violations and risk of violations. following tell you will cease-fire to be fully committed in the early stages of the next 55, 54 days ago was because being you at that stage. we need to see the mechanism work through its procedures to

make sure violations are dealt with as they should be and see lebanese forces the boy in a meaningful way in the cease-fire. wills are meaningful differences lesson will begin maybe it's too early to make suggestions. >> just be patient, i spent. i come to you every day. you know i'm going to come. hold your horses. >> will i know you spend asked this. you open and condition will is

that? >> losing no change in behavior. answering broadly will and sanctions that we proposal will be permanent. imposed sanctions as a consequence of behavior by other countries and their actors. we want them to change their behavior and anytime the change behavior we are open to our sanctions. hold you see no indication of change of behavior. are you open? 's. >> it is not take no anything.

we only change our sanctions when they change their behavior. refusing to engage intimate violence against their own people and force terrorism around the region. they have not changed their behavior. they have the change the behavior.

>> i will let the room working out. >> the defense minister says in northern gaza. >> we have engaged about its actions in northern gaza. they said to us and we have made clear to them that we would fundamentally reject any such

policy. when it comes to potential violations and we have our ongoing assessments. >> was going on. the left 25000 people. the u.s. has recognize what's going on. do you disagree? >> we have been very clear what we want to see happen. everyone was from their home having the opportunity to go back to their neighborhood and

rebuild and support from the international unity to rebuild and continue to engage network to get cease-fire. and allow them to do that. >> in the kitchen. they are committed. 35000 people and there was another thing.

>> one of the people killed this october 7 and i would be traveling there are others who died in that and we push for cease-fire. he will continue to express the position of the united states that we need to cease-fire and hostages released and implement plans for the day after that would allow or establish government security and ought to be an urgent priority. ...

>> we're going to continue to make clear to every party and every country who engages with partiesraise the isis flags and

locals. don't you see them as future security in the region and going to make the secretary of the under score going for them and it's on the lineup. it's going to investigate yesterday. going to take for ukraine to get that push this week. >> nato is on a path to -- i'm

sorry. ukraine is on a path to nato and on the path to ukraine's inclusion. we made it clear at a number of nato meeting ands outlined natural tests that ukraine has to pursue to further strengthen the anticorruption measures for the internal reforms and they've made great progress and more work they need to co. but ultimately their future is in nato. >> yeah, the except on this path, update of the war to discuss this and say. occupying ukraine. >> those are comments or decisions for him to make. not for the united states.

>> you report on them when we do but even that said, you have already seen us impose sanctions and government restrictions and take other actions to spend $95 million we provided to the georgian government. we've made very clear we're concerned with the steps they've taken to move away from the path towards greater integration we've got on and the georgian people are going for it.

>> also, the sanction of going for the legislature and going with the sanction who's side is this really on? >> supporting artillery shares for them and how do you think

these routines for ukraine watching that? >> we've seen north korea and russia escalate ukraine by introducing the north korean forces into engaged in direct combat.

>> any information on the number of korean casualties and wounded? >> we do not but that said, we've been very clear that any north korean soldier that was introduced on to the battlefield is of course a legitimate target. >> there's been things in many parts of the world and they're worried on this ability and he's partnering in front and the ability saying he'll not do that. >> some of the officials

in the meeting go r for politics and the technology such as communication and going for the assistant and physically going with them to go to provide these two>> in that case and the

concerning applications from it. okay. go ahead. >> the actions russia has taken both to invade ukraine and strengthen security partnership with north korea, which they needed to do because of the difficult positions they face at

times inside ukraine. joe request yo provide more names of the hostages that were released and have they returned to china? >> have they returned to china? look, i cannot -- i'm not going to speak to that publicly. obviously anyone who has been released has the wrongfully

detained in china and pressed for release ask we were determined to get them released before the administration left office. we have been able to accomplish that and now there's no wrongfully detained in china. we'll continue to work to secure the release of wrongfully detained americans in the world. >> that's going to be fair to say that china's travel advisories going to have three arbitrary detention or it was banned? >> of course. all of them when it cops to determining the travel advisories, we look at p behavior of the countries.

wrongfully detained americans going for them and going for the country whether they are going for them and china was going to move up to a level three. they're no longer wrongfully detaining americans and it's true for china and any country in the world going for them to be ready. going for them on the team.

going for them on this them. going for them and it's on the matchup. going for them. going for them on the protests that are peaceful and we want to see the governor of pakistan and true with any government around the world to going for

afghanistan and that's going for the line and it's going touchdown catch for them to go to the russian thing with taliban bounty to kill the u.s. soldiers. the friendship was believed it was true because of my 2020, evidence of infection would not follow up on that question. do you think the department didn't understand that was true? they did pay the taliban well? >> with all do respect, that's a story that predates my time in this position and also the biden administration. i'll have to take it back.

>> it's true. just last thing, please. afghanistan just started a short video this morning of the outline going for the taliban pipeline in india. grateful pakistan relationship. do you see the growing taliban expansion? it's the mentality and half of the population going without e education and that's the stop. >> we've made quite clear the position on taliban and women and girls. a few more and i have to go. ryan.

>> i'm 23409 making the judgments from leer before they have a opportunity to work through the questions and we set it up in the first place and can do so in a diligent way and that's what they'll do. we believe it's in the interest of israel and lebanon the ceasefire hold. the israel per spect and i have 70,000 israeli st.s that have been forced from their homes don't get to return home if the ceasefire collapses.

>> is it in the public interest to make sure everybody is toeing the line to actually see what is going on? >> there's a vigorous monitoring mechanism in place to make sure everyone toes the line and we'll enforce it. >> last question. the banking line between israel and palestinian authority.

>> obviously the revocation of this agreement would have had disastrous effects of palestinians in the west bank. the point we kept impressing on the governor of israel is the disastrous implications for the public and it's not in israel's interest to see further instability in the west bank. it's not in israel's interest to see the economy of the west bank collapse.

>> for example fears about nuclear technology. >> before we go too far, coming to the institute itself, what are you politically going to take? >> we're nonpartisan and governed by a resource and team of experts and ai and energy and everything we do and write and produce is oriented by our mission to prevent regulations and saddle barriers from keeping emerging technologies from coming to market. >> would you say you're pro industry versus pro regulation? >> how would you defend that? >> it's focused on abundance and whatever creates the most economic abundance and improvements for quality life in americans, that's the answer we want. we make enemies all over the place and friends all over the place and the main mission is economic prosperity. >> how are you funded in >> mix

of individual foundation and shell corporations. >> when it cops to energy policy itself, how would you describing the current administration's approach and

president elect trump should focus on letting innovators and entrepreneurs build and >> natural gas is the

dominant fossil fuel for generating fossil fuel and going for them and we should continue on production with sound regulations that they prevent negative externalities using term from occurring and harm for other people and particulate matter in the air but at the same time we should also be ensuring the nuclear power plants and small and nuclear power plants and geothermal nuclear energy and solar power maintaining technological advances and doing all these at the same time and if we have the proper low regulatory barriers and we'll see fossil fuels edge out as new energy technologies become cheaper and more prevalent in the economy. >> is there a time line in the future where the united states

can handle an all above approach and weaning itself off of petroleum products? >> this is a crucial four years here and that's one of the reasons i wrote the opportunistic and he had reason we're doing the work we are at abundance institute and push hard now because we're at an inflection point and seems to be appetite amongst the american people and politically to try new things and really unleash energy abundant future. we like to say the path to prosperity is through energy abundance. if we make fixes, we should start now. >> 20274880001 for republicans, 202-47-8800 for democrats and independents (202)748-8002. if you want to text us your thoughts on energy policy and ask our questions ask him questions, (202)748-8003 and post on the social sites as well and talking about other types of

energy. spared to other like coal power, it causes injury and the rest of

them and going in the backyard and it's going to deal with that. >> how would you like to see the trump administration streamline those hurdles? >> the main -- the lack of difference hurdles.

thousands of pages of compliance and by some sec tourist and going for technology and having sound regulations to go along with it.

>> there's a tradeoff here. it's all over the place. >> newer cleaner technology is not available and that's going for them and it's uncover ago sweet spot in regulatory policy where if there's zero regulation that increase resident and can oppressive and too much regulation that, can provide its own risk by new technologies and not being developed and deployed.

believe senator from arizona. mr. kelly: i ask the chair to execute the order of november 20 with respect to the murphy nomination. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the judiciary, brian edward murphy of massachusetts to be united states district judge for the district of massachusetts. the presiding officer: the question occurs on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso.

clerk mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins.

mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. the clerk: mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan.

mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. helmy. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell.

mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance.

mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- bennet, blumenthal, booker, brown, butler, duckworth, durbin, gillibrand, heinrich, helmy, kaine, kelly, klobuchar, lujan, padilla, reed, rosen, schatz, shaheen, smith, van hollen, and welch.

mr. murphy, aye. senators voting in the negative -- barrasso, boozman, braun, britt, budd, capito, cassidy, collins, cornyn, cotton, cruz, fischer, grassley, hagerty, hawley, hyde-smith, johnson, kennedy, lankford, lee, lummis, marshall, mullin, murkowski, ricketts, romney, schmitt, scott of florida, tillis, tuberville, and young. mr. moran, no. mr. coons, aye.

ms. hassan, aye. mr. crapo, no. >> if there was ran attempt to create a body that influences them and government influences and the corrupt with the first trump administration and going to set out and they would sue and challenge in court and those are the types of things we'll be watching on behalf of many people throughout the country. >> we have our guest and if you want to ask her questions about the efforts of her group, call us on the line, (202)748-8001 for republicans, (202)748-8000 for democrats and independents

(202)748-8002. and text us at (202)748-8003 and post on certain sites and facebook and x as well. how did the group get started in this effort, particularly after this last election, what was the strategy after the election going forward? >> well, you know, we really viewed what we saw in the first trump administration.

>> do you have a question? >> you hung up on me almost 90 days ago. u e >> okay, thank you. >> that question was a little hard for me to hear on the -- >> she just praising your effort and the effort of your work. >> yeah, thank you, beth, for calling in and happy to answer any questions. >> joe from north carolina. democrat's line. yes. >> i'm concerned about what it is that this young lady can do

to stop the thugs from january 6 coming out of prison and if i would have did it as african american and muslim i would have been dead before i entered the capitol. there's no reason for these people to get out and walk around and i would like that joe biden look down and see action in his pelvis the way he has about his son's problem and because the supreme court gave him the power to do so. thank you.

>> it's important that the american people make their voices heard including to members of congress and there's a bunch of members of congress that have not been active in seeking to hold people accountable for that day and i think that is going to be a really important lever for people to ensure that they're really talking to their elected remittives about that.

>> only 0.8% is --

>> hold on, caller. what question do you have for the guest? >> do you know what the term progressive means because i don't think you do, sky. i would like to know your definition. i would like to be able to answer this after you anxious my question. >> leave it there, thanks. >> that was a country founded unlosty idea of happiness and life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is accessed by everyone and we've fallen short over the ideas of them going for now.

>> you want to try and protect and give citizens the right to protect their rights and preach have spoke and take a hard look in the mirror and understand that we don't like what you want to do to this country, okay. you can sit there and put lipstick on a pig and not make it look like a pig but your people were agenes your agenda and don't want boys in the girl's bathroom and illegals crossing the boarder and if you don't like it, tough. get over it. you lost, we won. thank you. >> the one thing i would say jig

mike sure we saw what happened and states like florida and missouri and states like arizona. we saw a number of issues on the ballot in deep red states and majority of people living in florida and voting to protect reproductive rights act and in the state he carried and that's the same in deep red missouri and going for them and it's interactive and climate in louisiana and going for public education going for him and i think it's important for us

>> they're getting their job and not through catching up and going through somebody and it's in the office somewhere but through our civil service

process in societies that have those independents of a servants and that's going for them with less correction. >> this is john in washington dc, democrats line. >> skye, thank you for the work you do and you're a testament of a true american and hi a quick quo about what democracy now is doing to prepare for the trump administration's threats of mass deportation and any legal

challenges by democracy preparing for protecting undocumented neighbors. >> well, we of course are see ago deep concern for we had to take a range of legal action because the administration was relying on people in positions like department of homeland security that we're not correctly appointed and they were instituting a range of policies that were invalid and having a rule of law and they were seeing to work from a range

of organizations and you can go to democracy2025.org, which is the coalition's website to see more about the plans and organizations that are involved. >> cathy from delaware, republican line. hi.: >> good morning. i'm just wondering where this organize was when the biden administration was breaking all kinds of laws, some shut down by the supreme court. the corruption of this government and administration is going to stop because we finally have the word of the people. we have spoke and we want to get rid of the administration and start a new way of running the government where we can trust that things that are going to be done will be done legally, and to nothing that this organization or any democrat is

going to say is going to dampen the spirits of the american people that want a new government. i appreciate the fact that you're letting me speak, thank you. jowski cathy from delaware. >> i mean, i would definitely agree nothing is going to -- nothing should dampen the spirits of the american people that i believe have spoke and said on a range of issues like i said on the ballot initiatives and others that there's not mandate for the extremism. i'd refer you to our website and you can look at ways we've engaged and the current administration and how a democracy 2025.org is planning for the future. >> offer your legal action against the current administration? >> sure. we've maintained a range of our lawsuits that federal government under the leadership of president biden continued to defend from the prior administration. doesn't switch over like everyone thinks it does.

we were there alongside the administration defending the authority of the sca on behalf of the company and the team and the drug manufacturer with respect to a range of others.

>> kash patel becoming director of fbi. >> that's another highly concerning appointment that we saw and incoming administration is talking about andgoing for them withs appointment. >> i don't know at this time and expressing these concerns. >> we don't, we typically do not get involved in the appointment process with a range of,s that do a lot of advocacy around

legislative advocacy and lawyers that go to court and you're watching these and we have from our experience and we know the importance of an independence of independents of the institutions and the harms that can occur and they're not independents and we're watching from that perspective. >> going for them and just saw some of the brilliant lines and going to talk about the fda fighting on behalf of fda and going for them and going for here and my fda approved medications. support act that pace them to

take people off the medications and the procedures and giving them full price with the 6% bonus and going for them and growth indexing for them and i've been forced to suffer since donald trump's public health emergency and opioid commission was created and manipulated the cdc guidelines in order to establish prosecutorial justification -- >> okay. i guess all that said, what would you like our guest to address specifically? >> i want to know how it was okay for these people to ignore 15 million voters.

>> first of all, i'm so sorry for your illness and hope you get the healthcare you need and thank you for sharing that personal experience with us. there's really high stakes with healthcare and back to the caller's questions and healthcare space is a place where we're currently right now

going to pay 9-0 were not based on law and did not belong in the court so i do believe that confirmation process what's acceptable and not in terms of holding the people's trust. >> mark in maryland, republican line. mark, good morning. >> good morning, pedro. a caller asked for definition of progressive and you gave a misleading answer and progressive is they have the hubris to know better than the founding fathers and since you've been on, you mention the

word democracy. i don't know why you keep doing that and seems like you're spreading misinformation or some other and protecting america from donald trump who is a usurper. you are the usurper and took a talking point from wood row wilson and we're not a democracy. not even a little bit, ma'am. >> what's the question, caller? he's gone. >> i just love president lincoln defining our country and government of, by and for the people. that's what he's striving to do in his time and that was the

project we're striving to do and on that project still. that's really the project that >> what's going to happen to the country with the cabinet people he's picking? >> i'll make a few comments there. one, that cabinet has to be cob firmed by the united states senate.

if there's people that are being deployed and calling elected members to ensure you're making your voice heard and it's important people remember that. >> office of management and budget and one of the core architects of that project and remains to be seen what cabinet he ends up with going to work in

the courts and they've gone for them and it's cabinets that are ignoring the laws. >> seeps like he started backing off and we're watching that as well and think there's a range of concerns there and potentially even some legal ones.

>> jill and i are forever grateful for collective counselor and jill and i are especially grateful for the trust you put in us and the long history of this fight globally and here at home. jill and i met with elton and david this summer and this event

is no small part about me. public health officials and true hero leading in fight against hiv and aids and dr. anthony fauci. you're a good man. i love you. god love you, anthony.

in 1985 clyde jones and mike smith was here with us today. mike, there you are. stand up, mike.

>> together woe honor the spirit of resilience including 40 million people living with hiv around the world today. 40 million. the stigma and misinformation. government failing to act and acknowledge the dignity of lgbtq+ lives and the seriousness of the aids epidemic.

improving outcome for people living with hiv. it matters. it 3459ers throughout the world. but for all our progress, so many people continue to live with hiv, including 1 million americans and that's why we made clear the insurance company can't deny coverage for the medication or lack of doctors treating patients. we're fighting the stigma of discrimination against hiv community by ending the shamful, shameful practice of banning gay and bisexual men from donating

blood.

>> please stand while the president and mrs. biden depart.

♪ ♪

>> everything is by our mission to prevent regulations and saddle barriers from keeping emerging technologies from coming to market. >> would you say it's pro industry versus pro regulation.

growth indexing for them and talking about it later and the landmark and bill and the realm of energy regulation and the incoming trump administration, trump 2.0 here and recently wrote an opportunistic ed in the washington examiner in early november and made the point that the american public in this election going across the board and they need and they believe they need a new approach. they want a now approach that can unleash abundance in america and tired of status quo and not just a biden administration and this is a cumulative over the course of decades and regulatory accumulation and americans are feeling the pinch and poll and higher bills, paying for

groceries, housing, on and on and we could go throughout the list. >> inflation reduction and some of those provisions and tempo dollars and tax credit to build electric vehicles and 7500 tax credit rebat for electric vehicle purchases and $20 billion to promote electric vehicle manufacturing and other money going to homes and things like that . would you see elimination of those, reframing of those? what's the best approach in your mind coming to that policy?

be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations en bloc -- calendar numbers 815 and 827. 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, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action.

the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question occurs on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 492, s. 4305. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: a bill to improve the effectiveness of body armor and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the

measure? without objection. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn, the peters substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to, the bill as amended be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs be discharged from further consideration of h.r. 7438 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 7438, to require the secretary of the treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the fifa world cup 2026, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the committee is discharged, and the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be

considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on veterans affairs be discharged from further consideration of s. 3746 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3746, a bill to amend title 38 united states code to make certain spouses -- and sforltsdz and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. stabenow: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its

business today, it stand adjourned until 12:00 noon on tuesday, december 3. that following to the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. following the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the brindisi nomination. further, that the senate recess from 12:30 p.m. until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. that at 2:15 p.m. the chair execute the order of november 20 with respect to the sooknanan nomination, the chair execute the order of november 20 with respect to the henry nomination. finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during tuesday's session the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately

notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. so ordered ms. stabenow: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until