allies and partners. a final piece is economic innovation here at home, something i've been working a lot on in my capacity as the u.s. senator for indiana. and a time of technological transformation, the united states cannot just be resilient. no, we must continue to lead. all of these pieces are critical to american foreign policy as we move forward. it is time to turn the page on the last four years. time to restore deterrence and time to get back to peace through strength. thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the following interns in my office be granted

floor privileges until december 6, 2024, fee by coot and emmanuel. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. scott: thank you, madam president. may i continue? the presiding officer: yes. mr. scott: i've always said keeping people safe is one of the most fundamental roles that government plays. keeping people safe. for four years the biden-harris administration has failed at this most fundamental mandate the government has. about a month ago the american people delivered a message that they were no longer going to stand for a government that was failing to keep them safe.the b first foreign -- apiecements

first foreign policy strategy made america weaker and less safe. the world, the biden administration is leaving is a more dangerous place today than it was four years ago when they took over. weakness and appeasement have defined the current administration, starting with their disastrous pullout of afgha afghanistan. that pullout in afghanistan cost american lives, including a nebraskan, marine corps ral daegan page. we also left behind americans, unbelievably, and we also left behind our afghan security partners, abandoned them. in addition to the billions of dollars of american equipment. through this poorly executed

debacle. since then we've seen foreign policy fumbles and flip-flops that have left our allies questioning our commitment. and worst yet has the bad guys, russia, china, iran, north korea, questioning our resolve. most disturbing example of this is iran. under the trump administration they knew that the way to deal with a dictator, like we have in ali khomeini in iran, is through strength and opposing sanctions, the sanctions the trump administration imposed took iran's foreign reserves from $1.5 billion to less than $14 billion. what does that mean?

well, that meant that they couldn't fund the terrorism around the world that they've been doing for the last four years. when you cut off their money supply, they couldn't give it to hamas or hezbollah. so those terrorist organizations were going broke. they didn't have the resources to be able to fund that terrorism. then came along joe biden. joe biden and his administration relaxed the sanctions on iran, through a naive policy that somehow if we just give them enough money they're going to be nice to us. but that's not the way it works with dictators. it enabled iran to generate $100 billion in oil money, and that has consequences. it was because of this appeasement-first policy and giving money to iran that hamas had the ability to attack our ally israel on october 7, and

how hezbollah has then since attacked israel as well, how the houthis have been able to shoot at ships in the red sea, or iranian proxies, like hamas, as well as the houthis, have been emboldened by biden's app appeasement first policy. this is what is causing the chaos we're seeing right now in the middle east. while these attacks may seem far away, we must remember that iran not only channels death to is israel, they chant death to america. over 40 americans were killed on october 7, three american servicemembers were killed by iranian proxy drone attacks in january, the houthis continue to shoot at american ships in the red sea, islamic terrorists have crossed our open border, and for

crying out loud, iran is trying to kill president trump. and what has the biden administration done? nothing. absolutely nothing. there has been no price for iran to pay for all of this. our adversaries, they see this and understand the weakness. the chinese communist party has been emboldened. they've repeatedly violated our sovereignty. spy balloons have been allowed to travel across our country, spying on our sensitive military installations. we've seen the espionage operations set up in new york city. and fentanyl has been killing americans across our country. while it may be coming across the southern border, the precursors are being made in china. we've also seen what vladimir

putin has done when russia invaded ukraine. our freedoms, our way of life depends on peace, and how do we maintain peace? we maintain peace through strength. that's what the american people chose a month ago when they elected president donald trump. under president trump's first administration, we saw the dismantling of the isis caliphate. the middle east first peace agreement in 26 years. by the way, that should have been cause for a nobel preps to be awarded to -- nobel prize to be awarded to president trump, but the feckless prize committee didn't see it that way, couldn't see themselves to acknowledge the great work that president trump did. by returning president trump to the white house, the american people are sending a clear message --

there's a new sheriff in town. the biden-harris age of appeasement is ending. the resurgence of american strength is about to begin. and i am excited to see what the future holds. thank you, madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i spent thanksgiving, madam president, in the middle east

with 400 members of our wyoming national guard. these heroes come from actually 40 different hometowns all across the cowboy state, small towns, our larger towns, east, west, north, south, and you know, madam president, i spend every thanksgiving with deployed wyoming troops. i go to thank them, thank them for all they're doing to keep all of us safe and free. most americans celebrate thanksgiving surrounded by their loved ones. these soldiers spent thanksgiving not with family and neighbors, but in the neighborhood of america's enemies. our enemies today are much more dangerous, aggressive, menacing, and powerful than they were just four years ago. for the past four years, americans have seen the currents administration surrender, squander, and sell out our nation's strategic advantages.

this administration stopped enforcing sanctions on iranian oil sales, then allowed iran to sell discounted oil to china. iran got richer and more menacing srlt of -- as a result of all the money they got, and china got more powerful by being able to buy cheap energy. well, the wyoming soldiers that i had a chance to visit, they're strong, they're tough, they are brave. the thing that is so interesting though is i believe that they're being failed by a congress that hasn't done its job. it is incumbent upon congress to make sure that all of these soldiers, each and every one of them, is fully equipped to protect our freedoms. the senate should have passed a bipartisan national defense authorization act months ago. it increases troop pay, modernizes our military. it also refocuses our forces on

specific military hard power, instead of this politically correct woke policies that the military has been working under over the past several years. right now, high prices are crushing military families. prices are 20% higher right now than they were four years ago. as a result, one in seven servicemembers today, today, relies on food stamps or food banks just spa support -- just to support their families. this of course has a direct impact in our problems in terms of trying to recruit more and more members into our military. the pay rise means that a stronger military and a stronger america will be there on the world stage. now, as for military mas earnization, we need -- modernization, we need to overcome four years of weakness.

the current administration has failed to keep us safe. it allowed 10 million -- ten million illegal immigrants to cross our southern border. it allowed a chinese spy balloon to fly across america. it led to deadly and disastrous retreat from afghanistan. and it slashed away at america's hard power. under the democrats, america became a nation in retreat. well, the national defense authorization act reverses that. it it equips our military. it equips them to moment the -- to meet the challenges of a dangerous world. why hasn't the senate, this body, who is here today in session, why hasn't it yet passed the national defense authorization act? well, the problem isn't the product, it's the process. in the final weeks of the majority, the democrats in the senate have prioritized voting to confirm radical judges rather than protecting our nation's security. as one democrat senator said

last month, he said, democrats are hell-bent, he said, on getting liberal judges con confirmed. why can't democrats show that same level of passion for supporting our troops? democrats' dithering and delaying, it's downright dangerous. it sends a terrible message that america's deterrence is incredible. as a result of the november elections, that's about to change, madam president. the senate's going to change. the american people voted for change. they voted to return to a nation that is safe and strong. in less than 60 days, america will once again have a president and a senate majority that prioritizes making america safe and strong again. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. sullivan: madam president, is the senate? a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. sullivan: my colleagues have been down on the floor for the last hour talking about the world that the biden-harris administration left us in terms of national security. it is a much more dangerous world and it also impacts not just what's going on globally but at home as well. particularly in a state like mine where the biden-harris

administration has literally been at war with alaska because we have a lot of resources. now you're thinking, why would that happen? when you're governing, as it administration demonstrated to the american people and alaskans, you make choices, you make choices. president biden's choices involved, do you support hardworking alaskans, particularly in the energy sector, or do you support the answer american dictators, particularly when it relates to america's energy, madam president? and the choices, unfortunately, in the last four years is when this administration was thinking about, hey, where do i get my energy? americans need energy, our allies need energy being -- need energy, particularly after the invasion of ukraine by russia. where should we get the oil and

gas? well, we should get it in places like alaska, hardworking alaskans, not from the dictators like in venezuela or iran. but the choice that this president made almost every time, madam president, was about selecting dictators over americans, over alaskans when it comes to energy. now, this is particularly true as it relates to the policy the biden-harris administration undertook with regard to iran. think about what they inherited. the trump administration's iran policy was very effective. what was it? number one, maximum pressure on the iranian energy sector. when president trump took office, under the trump administration sanctions, iran's oil exports were reduceded in

2020 to about 200,000 barrels a day from 2.7 million barrels a day. this was crushed them. their foreign reserves, iranian foreign reserves, went to about $4 billion in foreign reserves by the end of the trump administration. that's not a lot at all. this was working. the trump administration's policies in the middle east, particularly as it relates to iran, also involved taking out the world's number-one terrorist -- soleimani. by the way, a lot of people now commend president trump for that. i remember the classified hearing we had here in the senate right after that happened. so many of my senate democrat colleagues were criticizing mike pompeo and others for killing general soleimani, which was a huge gift to countries around the world because he was the number-one terrorist in the world. and, of course, the trump

administration launched the abraham accords. the presiding officer and i went to a number of the abraham accord countries together prior to the october 7 attacks where the opportunities for peace had been growing prior to the october 7 attack. so that was the trump administration's policies with regard to iran and energy. what did they do when the biden administration came in? they made choices, madam president, and the choices were to appease iran. the choices were to lift sanctions on the iranian oil and gas sector. when they lifted these sanctions over the last four years, this has dramatically enriched iran. they almost have $100 billion in oil revenues now. again, chewing dictators over americans and alaskans.

and of course, iran, what did they use this money for? to train and equip and supply the houthis, hezbollah, and hamas. so,madam president, what happened domestically? i'll tell you what happened domestically in my state, the great state of alaska, that's got minerals and oil and gas for our nation, for our allies, for alaskans in huge abundance. the biden-harris administration came in and they said, we're going to shut down alaska. we're going to lock up alaska. we are going to prefer energy from our adversaries than from our own country, and that's what they did. 68 executive orders and executive actions in the last four years, 68 exclusively focused on shutting down my state. i don't think there's ever been a federal government that focused on one state to crush

them more than the biden administration did to the great state of alaska. so, madam president, as i mentioned, this is all about choices. i wrote an op-ed in "the wall street journal" a couple months ago saying the biden-harris administration sanctions alaska more than it sanctions iran. it sanctions hardworking alaskans more than it sanctions the terrorists in iran. that is a fact. that's what's happened when you have an administration that goes on bended knee all over the world -- venezuela, iran, saudi arabia -- begging for oil when you're shutting it down in our own country, particularly in my state. so, madam president, this is what we got -- four years of this, sanctioning a state, a sanctions my

constituents when the president goes on bended knee to venezuela, to iran, and won't sanction them at all. does that make sense? no. but that's the world that we watched and dealt with over the last four years. i am quite confident that the incoming trump administration is not going to do that anymore. stand by, iran. maximum sanctions are coming back your way. maximum pressure is coming back your way. and i'm also very confident that the trump administration, with the republican senate and republican house, is going to help the state of alaska, which has more critical minerals and oil and gas than almost anyplace in the world, to once again produce for the benefit of alaskans, for the benefit of americans, and the benefit of our allies. i yield the floor.

mrs. shaheen: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. mrs. shaheen: i know of no further debate. the presiding officer: is is there further debate? if not, the question is on the nomination. i ask for the yeas and nays. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines.

ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. the clerk: 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. the clerk: mr. warner, aye. mrs. fischer, no. the clerk: 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.

the clerk: 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. n.l. the clerk: mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- coons, gillibrand, manchin, rosen, shaheen, tester, warner, and wyden. senators voting in the negative -- capito, cotton, fischer, lankford, lummis, marshall, paul, ricketts, rubio, sullivan,

tuberville, and young. >> it seems fitting to end with someone whose retirement is a departure not from just from the senate but from a long and honorable career on the national political stage. on the bingo cards of american politics, the governor of massachusetts, senator from utah, combination, -- his repeated success in public office is a testament to his

transcendent appeal of his character. as it turns out uncompromising honesty, artist humility, and evident devotion to faith and family are as compelling in cedar city as they are in concord. of course, a certain telegenic quality, there i say, presidential all, doesn't hurt either. by the time my friend assume the title of junior senator from utah, his approach in the public eye -- a professional who played to win at the highest level and independent self-insurance to come home with unshakable conventions. format, the senate was not a waiting room or steppingstone. it was a capstone to a life in

public service. and with the wisdom to discern where to devote his attention, he managed to climb more into decca cram more into six use many colleagues fit into 12 or 18. he made itself a linchpin for bipartisan negotiations and wound up at the center of the effort that delivered major infrastructure legislation. he poured himself into worthy fights on behalf of his constituents, everything from politics to state department bureaucracy with characteristic diplomacy. he called the senators attention more closely to the state of america's competition with china. and where the demands of american global leadership. and he's met moments with the careful contemplation and at most greatest. the past six years will not be

remembered as the senates -- [inaudible] observers might have wondered whatk: more distinguished servie like that probably had to prove in coming to washington including -- [inaudible] of this body. but that would be a misunderstanding the way a friend has ordered his life. it wasn't what he had left to prove but what he had left to give. without outlook, mitt has been able to put the most consequential public life in perspective. he reminds young visitors that the true currency of life is the people you love and spend your time with. he's quick to explain that his life isn't designed by the outgoing of elections and that its deepest meaning comes from his faith and his relationship with his family. it doesn't take much to record us a earnestly he means that. for one thing we know joining

the senate was at best a different second on the list of his most significant events of the year 2019. celebrating 50 years of marriage to his sweetheart, and. and when you factor and birthdays of 25 25 grandchiln and county given the most significant milestone is bound to fall off the list. frankly, throughout his senate staff, i i wouldn't worry tooh about lining up my next job here full-time grandpa to a brute as big as the rom these, is bound to get some extra hands for scheduling and advanced work. mitt and partnership is one for the history books. it is reminder when you spend

your life with the right people, success in business, or politics, is just icing on the cake. and when you ground yourself in the firm beliefs, the winds of politics are easier to weather. as particular moving him and mitt's -- [inaudible] do what is right, let the consequences fall, battle for freedom and spirit and might, and with -- take you forward till tomorrow. god will protect you, and do what is right. so, mitt, i want to thank you for voting yourself to service and letting the consequences fall. may god protect you and your family as you write the next chapter.

>> the senator from utah. >> i rise today to first think the leader for those generous comments and to mark for my colleagues the departure soon for my service here in the senate. during my life i've really been truly alone, maybe taking tests at school are running cost crunch -- cross-country on my uncles tractor cultivating corn. i am impressed with people of achieve great things largely on their own. washington commanding the continental army, lincoln guiding the civil war, emerson and his laboratory, edison rather in his laboratory. not me. i had consistently been surrounded by others, usually smarter, often more experienced,

always becoming friends. in business i chose partners with the skills that exceeded mine, who extended their success after i left. as governor my team helped craft the health plan that ensured nearly every citizen in massachusetts. my wingmen bobwhite counseled in business, the olympics and politics. my counselor beth myers advise and manage multiple campaigns and administrations. spencer zwick help guide almost everyone of my endeavors. my senate chief of staff matt waltrip and liz johnson built and brilliantly led an exceptional team, and with our policy directors chris barclay and stephen newton, crafted and negotiated more legislation that became law than could possibly have been expected for a freshman senator. mr. president i ask you and us consider the names of my

excellent current and former staff that was the included in the record as submitted. >> without objection. >> so my life's work has been a group affair. and at center is my wife ann. she is my most trusted advisor, my indefatigable ally, the love of my life for 54 married years. our five sons are just as loyal and are the source of profound pride, joy, and 25 grandchildren. during my first month edison i was mostly on my own, and thus mostly unproductive. and then lisa murkowski invited five democrats to join with five republicans in home for takeout dinner. with covid an active we were spaced far apart with windows open despite the winter cold. our conjecture on how to bridge

the impasse between the the president and congress on covid relief led us over the next several weeks to dig in, negotiate, draft and eventually see our work become the basis of law. i was fortunate to also be a part of what this team worked on that followed, the bipartisan infrastructure law, account act reform, and safety legislation, marriage legislation that included religious protections. our group was rob portman, kiersten cinema, susan collins, joe manchin, mark warner, jon tester, bill cassidy, jeanne shaheen and lisa murkowski. we had each come to washington to enact a law that would help people, and that's just what we did. we accomplished together what we could have never done alone. so i will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement, but in truth i will also leave with the recognition that i did not

achieve everything i had hoped. among other things the scourge of partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize our national debt. without the burden of the interest on that debt, we would be able to spend three times as much as we do on military procurement. three times as many aircraft, three times as many ships, three times as many drones, spacecraft, cyber defenses. or alternatively we could spend double the amount we spend on social security benefits every month. our national credit card is almost maxed out. and american risks becoming debt poor. now my biggest surprise in the senate has been how much i enjoy the other senators on both sides of the aisle. and the truth is that while i may not miss the senate itself terribly much, the ten minute

votes the last an hour, , the indelible schedule of votes, the myriad meaningless votes, the absurd passion inconsequential votes, i will very much miss you, my fellow senators. for among you are some brilliant, some entertaining, some kind and generous, and all patriotic. it's an honor to have been able to serve with you. it's also been an honor to represent the people of utah, the state of my family heritage. what sets utah park is not just its beauty and vibrant economy. it is the admirable character of its people. now it's customary to end remarks with these words, god bless america. that has never seen jarring or

at a place to meet because americans have always been fundamentally good. from our earliest days we have rushed to help neighbors in need, as detocqueville noted. we welcome the poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free. we perspective different faiths as our first president confirmed muslims and jews. united we stand is a fitting refrain, as a leader of the free world our sons and daughters have thought time and again for liberty, and our treasure has freedom fighters around the globe. like all people we've made mistakes. some grievous but often are mistakes have come from misguided understanding. god has blessed america because america is good.

there are some today he would tear our unity, who would replace love with hate, who deride our foundation of virtue, or who to base values upon which the blessings on haven't a pen. i've been a service or 25 years. i've learned that politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face. our country's character is reflection not just of its elected officials but also of its people. i leave washington to return to be one among them. and hope to be a voice of unity and virtue. for it is only if the american people merit his benevolence that god will continue to bless america. may he do so is my prayer. [applause]

>> senator from west virginia. >> i rise in congratulatory to my dear friend mitt romney who i've gotten to know very well and became a very close friend to with his wife ann and their family and we become very close to each other and enjoyed her company. i have followed mitt's career from afar for a long time. watching this success he has had as he came up to the business ranks very successfully. as he came up to the business ranks very successfully i watch that. i enter the olympics that was going to be embarrassing to the united states of america if

someone didn't did a sted take care of a mess that got itself into. lo and behold mitt romney did that and i was so thankful and admiring his skills to pull this altogether because i know it was a difficult task working with that olympic committee. i watched his presidential campaign which i thought were absolutely electrifying and i enjoyed it because i could see in his heart the public service is what it was all about. but i but i really come a ft encounter with mitt, we were both governors to go that the same time. i was coming in, he was going out. he did this unbelievable think about getting health care to everybody in his state is actually something phenomenal. so i called. governors have certain bond. doesn't matter who you are where you're from if you're never met before in person, there's a bond. i said tell me about this health care plan you have. he said i was able to do this, this, and this because you

mention so many good people that were smart and they were put together but i know one thing. anybody who sits in a position when you have good people around, someone has to assemble all of that material and put it in force. and mitt was able to do it. i told, i don't have the economy you have in massachusetts. i would love to do something for my stay. i don't know if remember the circuit he said that might be a way to work through your insurance agent to de smet small business by info group. we were able to do something that is never been done before that help an awful lot of small businesses and people that no insurance to get insurance because of you. i remember that vividly. and then he comes to the senate and that's when my personal relationship, i admired him from afar for for a long time. we just click and i got to say this. even from day one come day one he hit the ground running. mitt brought so much institutional knowledge and so

much and basically support that he could bring to any conversation, he could bring you the contents come he could bring to the grass, everything you wanted and even a lot more that you didn't want. and he just he engulfed us with all of this. thinking one day and bipartisan infrastructure bill, i don't know if you recall, you kept telling us what wouldn't work because you had better facts and we had. you were right but we were trying to take your facts and work with the clinical situation we were in back and forth back and forth back and forth. here was mitt, here's why, is what you should do. here's why, here's what need to be done. he will explain everything to an unthinking we're never going to get through this. we're just not going to get through this. one day we made the final decision will going to do this. he comes in and says i like it. i'm thinking what the heck theyn we just go through? he just beat the living crap out of us for about 30 days chewing as come give us a roadmap of how to docl something, and thinking

that he wasn't going to agree with and his basic, it was this, this is better than what we've got. we're moving the ball forward. and that jimmy is the clarity of purpose, the clarity of what he came for is to move the ball forward, make it better, try to make a more perfect union. we know we could be perfect. rob was into working back was interworking back-and-forth anybody was moving and rob, , ad when we finally got to the end mitt says this is good. could be better? sure. let's go. that was a signal we needed. it moved from there. mitt being -- i've been here longer, maybe i should've left secures ago, but i'm just telling you you have made my life so much better in the city. i enjoyed it, relationship of course a bow sight of the aisle working together and bringing people together, but it has been

just an absolute pleasure and a joy having you as a member of the united states the senate, the most deliberate body in the world, the strongest body in the world, the body that is supposed to make common sense out of things that sometimes don't make reason. this body is much better off, this country is much better off because of your service and is going to be missed. most and poorly i'm a better person. i know gail and and i are me enriched because of your friendship if . we appreciate that more than you know. i wish you only the best in the future. i wish you the best as far as what you want to do and hope you don't change a phone number because we still need your advice about them where we may go. god bless, my friend. enjoy. >> mr. president? >> senator from maine. >> thank you, mr. president. mr. president, it is with the

combination of pride and sadness that i rise to pay tribute to a truly extraordinary senator and a good friend, senator mitt romney. i rise to praise his intelligence, imagination, and most of all his integrity. that is what has marked and characterized his service throughout his life, but particularly here in the senate. today it's sadness because i can't imagine the senate without mitt romney. as the senator and as the governor, as the presidential candidate, as the founder of a

successful business, as the savior of the 2002 winter olympics, and as the pillar of his faith, mitt romney has brought intelligence, knowledge, experience, and once again, integrity to every task he has undertaken. he needs every challenge with determination and a talent for bringing opposing sides together to forge solutions. he is always focused on getting to yes, on using common sense, and on achieving a result. i have had the pleasure of teaming up with mitt on so many important issues, many of which he has mentioned. he was among the group of ten

senators who negotiated the infrastructure and jobs act of 2021. from transportation to broadband, the most significant investment in infrastructure since the interstate highway system in the 1950s is bringing lasting benefits to our nation. mitt was also key in crafting the bipartisan safer communities act, landmark, commonsense gun safety legislation that helps to protect america's children, keep our schools safer and reduce the threat of violence across our country while preserving the second amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners. mitt's unshakable belief that the american people must have

faith in our elections and that they are free and fair was evident in his countless contributions to the electoral count reform act, which ensures an orderly transition of presidential power. perhaps most impressive, his support for the respect for marriage act demonstrated his fundamental fairness by helping to ensure that millions of loving couples in same-sex marriages will continue to enjoy the freedom, rights, and responsibilities according to all other marriages while strongly protecting religious liberty. and i give mitt so much credit

for forging the religious liberty protections that combined with the protections for same-sex marriages enabled the enactment of the respect for marriage act. he was the one who drafted the religious liberties provisions that were so key. there are other areas where mitt has been a key player and ahead of his time. from identifying the threat from russia more than a decade ago to pushing congress and administration to develop a strategy to better counter the challenge presented by china, mitt has worked extensively on

american foreign policy and national security. he has been a champion for ukraine, and a strong supporter of supplying aid to that brave country in its time of peril. most of all mitt has reminded us over and over again of our $36 trillion national debt, and the need to put our trust fund on solid ground. in fact, i think that a great post senate responsibility that mitt could take on is a commission to look at all of those trust funds. he has proposed legislation to do just that. i can't think of a better person to head that commission.

mitt announced his decision to step down from the senate with these words. while i am not running for reelection, i am not retiring from the fight. if he and his wonderful wife ann moved on to this next phase of their lives, i'm sure that there is outstanding -- will continue to fight for the core value that have made america great. thank you, mr. president. >> mr. president? >> the senator from north carolina. >> didymus that? senator from new jersey. >> we are alike. [laughing] >> with the senator young? >> yes. >> i rise to object, i will not let this man go quietly into the

night. i would ask unanimous consent to force him to stay in the senate ally, unanimous consent request over the last ten years, none of them have ever passed. [laughing] >> case in point. i could necessarily expect to speak but i found myself sitting there getting sad and angry that we are losing mitt romney. first of all because we haven't obviously to the naked eye so much in common. i am black and mitt romney is black adjacent. mitt romney is a man of great personal net worth, and i'm a great personal that the earth. but the reality is -- earth. the reality is the more i stirred with mitt romney more i found myself hoping to have more in common with him. i watched somebody from the seat for years now get a masters class in what i believe america

needs most. i ran for president because of this drive and is feeling that our nation was becoming to try ballistic. and i watched time and time again from this seat a person that put aside the desires for partisan adoration for a deeper conviction to stand up for our nation. i watched a man not confuse tribal celebrity with leadership significance. i watched time and time and saw with my own eyes and being harassed in airports and being scorned for taking principle stands that he saw as the best way to try to hold our country together. i disagree with and even though i see them now and from one of his colleagues giving great affirmation for a moment i

remember when i was a mayor watching him run for president what he was asked with a great nationals pretty threat is and he said russia. at the time many people make fun of him but now i been in class of briefings with them at other centers where his wisdom and perceiving a threat was not only appreciated, i literally saw in a classified briefing people applaud but i disagree with him now. i disagree with him because to me the greatest threat to america despite other comments, many here including one of my esteemed colleagues yesterday who said was our national debt. i think the greatest threat to america is our inability to come together as a country there because when americans are united this nothing we can't do. we can beat the nazis can send someone to the moon. indeed the greatest calling of our country right now is to put more indivisible back into this one nation under god. i have sat here for years now and i've watched perhaps someone

show with clarity of purpose that i have got to be what his faith and mine call for come blessed are the peacemakers. blessed blessed are the pd in the breach. blessed are the people who heal, who try to weave together the torn threads of our great nation back into a mighty whole. this body is lesser, is lesser with this loss. when he heard the news he wasn't running again, i wasn't happy for him and his family, and i know his values start with that court of faith and family. but i do worry about this body. i do worry about our nation. the one thing that gives me hope is because the light that he is shined into this place will endure, and perhaps many of us as he departs will try our best,

despite the forces that pull us apart to try bascom to pick up the work that he has left behind to do more, to affirm a principal that he clearly has kept centered in his eyes as is in the center of the isle of this great institution which is those words from a dead language, e pluribus unum. mitt romney, thank you for being my friend, thank you for being someone who has inspired me to be better. and thank you for being a great american patriot. [inaudible] >> the senator from north carolina. >> thank you, mr. president. my folks and wonder why i'm sitting so close to mitt romney. he and i are seatmates. it are. .. mr. boozman, no.

talk about and thank him for the incredible work that he has done and to his staff, the problems he has caused for you by being so honest, so forthright and so direct. how many times you can't answer because it is against the rules but how many times of your staff gone we wish sometimes you just weren't so forthright and honest? that is who this guy is. i've seen him, we been battle buddies and a lot of bipartisan efforts that have gone along and he's the reason it passed quite honestly. without his support and the support of a handful of others, stuff that has enduring generational values that would never have happened. i would ask everybody here who is thanking mitt romney for his

role model behavior, first time i met him was the december for for his election when i was a newly minted legislator, no reason he wouldn't have known me, i've been impressed with him since that moment in charlotte, north carolina when he was running for president. s go forward and hopefully ask ourselves as we come together and solve problems that can only be solved by people on both sides of the aisle taking the heat that comes with is that, let's ask ourselves what would mitt romney do? let that be a guiding post for folks who are going to be here. we are going to have one last person here to emulate what it has done and i hope that's part of the legacy we will honor as he is gone.

if you don't know about mitt, i will miss him for those reasons, those are legitimate reasons but i am going to miss his fast with and his ability to call things quickly. having something like that is gold. except for conversations we've had in the middle of the night. he's a good man, good father, great grandfather. who shares dna with mitt romney in the gallery? congratulations to all of you and those who are proud of mitt romney. >> mr. president. >> senator from montana. very brief, you have been an incredible united states senator. we are losing good ones of this time around but you are at the

top of the list. my father was born and raised in utah, and they would have loved mitt romney, mitt romney is a realist, not an idealist. somebody who looks at issues and tries to solve them, tries to get to yes, not know, without giving up his principles. your time in the united states senate, the gift the good lord gave me to work with you and 8 other folks on that infrastructure bill is something i will never forget in this body, you stood up time and time again and talk to realism to all of us. as you go out, just know that there is not a soul here that doesn't know you are a man of faith.

i appreciate that because you exhibit that faith, you don't preach, you walk the walk. it is true that the united states senate will be diminished because of your absence. i appreciate you, and get stuff done. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. cramer, no. the cler christopher gruber who is chair of american university.k:

you just started your term as chair of the american university. tell us about that organization, the mission and who the members are. >> a great honor to chair the association. this is a group of 70 of america's leading research universities that includes public flagship universities. what we share in common is a commitment to educating students at the highest level and the highest quality that enables the country to enjoy prosperity. >> what are your goals for the coming year? >> for the government to continue supporting the research in the united states. we've benefited in this country from having a partnership between the government and its universities that produced applied research and basic

research that laid the foundation for later discovery. i want to work closely with the president of the university, barbara snyder to support that funding in congress and protect the freedom of our institution is and how to make the case for what they are doing for the country. >> host: how would you describe the current state of higher education in america? >> guest: the current state of higher education is terrific in the united states. evidence for that is people all around the world come to these universities as students and faculty members. the return on investment for four year college degree which is what we offer is tremendous. for many families that investment is the best investment judged by financial return and other benefits or four year college degree. the research universities produce is a difference hismaker

in terms of health and information technology, innovation and jobs. >> host: you talked about return on investment, it is extremely expensive and gets more expensive. outpacing inflation. it has put it out of reach for a lot of american students. why is that? why is a college degree so expensive these days? >> glad you raised that point. there are a couple things in a common narrative i would love to correct. one is the cost people pay for higher education hasn't been going up or going up at the rate of inflation. it has been going down and that is something you can find in college board data. the sticker price intuition has been going up but what people pay is the sticker price without

financial aid institutions. institutions including mine raising dollars from alumni and endowments. education is more affordable than ever. and other data around that, 70 one% of those on princeton are on financial aid and that financial aid involves scholarships that are larger than the tuition price. the average student is getting part subs that he for room and board in addition to full coverage of the tuition teresa. looking at education they have to keep two things in mind. what matters is net price. all of the aau institutions are offering significant financial aid to their students so people look carefully at what they are going to pay if they come. the second is the critical

question about education and return on investment, figure what the net price is and pay attention to what they are getting back. what you use up in a way that some things that are purchased are, like the investments for a lifetime and when you look at that investment it is one of the best investments you will make. >> host: people i taking out a lot of student loans. do you take a position on student loan forgiveness? >> there is no official position on student loan forgiveness. we have a commitment to affordability. we believe the government should increase the pell grants that enable students from low income families to attend college and flourish when they go there. other associations supported doubling one of the things people need to know as these narratives get out through

stories that often cover outliers, financial aid and agreements, they graduate without debt from college. university princeton makes a commitment to its students that all of them will get financial aid that allows them to graduate with 0 debt, more than 83% of students graduate every year debt free. the others are taking out small loans on a discretionary basis. when parents are taking a close look at what leading universities and other colleges are offering is different from the narrative. >> host: you have to get into princeton first, that's not easy. >> guest: that's not easy and we have extraordinary students but what i said is true in differing ways across the group of 7 the universities and colleges that are outside of that group so it

is not just the very selective universities. >> host: there's a decline in enrollment across the board. is that a concern among university leadership and what's being done to address that? >> we are seeing a generational shift. as you look at demography, we've known we've seen declines in the numbers of college going students, as demographic patterns change. the leading research universities in applicant pools that remain robust and students who want to come to our colleges and universities in the united states and outside the united states remain strong. we are going to see effects in the sector as these demographics shift.

>> host: if you have a question or comment about higher education in america, give us a call. our guest is christopher icegruber of princeton university. the lines are bipartisan republicans on 202-748-8,000 one, democrats on 202-748-eight thousand. independents 202-seven forty eight-eight thousand two. we have a line set aside for college students so if you are currently enrolled in college right now give us a call and get your perspective on this, 202-748-8003. there have been fewer protests on the gaza war than we have seen in the past. how are schools addressing the issue this school year? >> what schools have to do around this issue is respect the principles that are part of the united states constitution, we

respect free speech and at the same time insist students and others comply with time, place, manner restrictions when they are protesting. in the city of washington dc you have more freedom to criticize our government than you do and any other country. that's a good thing and you have to have that vigorous free speech on college campuses where people can speak about controversial topics like the israel gaza war. we have rules in the united states and college campuses. you can't just pitch a tent to protest on the capital mall or occupier building in washington, can't spray paint your message on the washington monument and we need the same rules on college campuses. that is what we've done at princeton and other universities are doing to enable people to speak up and make sure they do

so in a way that allows everybody to go about the campus that doesn't disrupt the activities of the campus. what we have to do, we have to be elevating of a conversation so talk in our country and campuses. a lot of it is shouted, that gets covered by the news media. a lot of discussions and seminars that are balanced, rational and thoughtful. what gets the pictures are students with the signs but we have to take those conversations on tough issues happening on campus and elevate them and we are doing a good job with that. the second is we want students to be engaged around these issues. there are people who go about their business and don't pay attention to the issues happening in the world, we want our students to be engaged leaders. i respect the far right to protest, i don't respect the right to disrupt. >> host: what was your experience on the campus of princeton university, not just the protest but freedom of speech aspect?

>> we did a good job at princeton. that's what we hear from students when we survey them as well. when we ask them about their student experience and to do this every year, last year students continue to report a sense of satisfaction, a little higher than the previous year. i mentioned that because it's important when you have tomatoes events, the feelings are raw, people get hurt during them but you are able to give students the educational experience they want. a lot of people are upset and upset with me about things that happen on campus, students chanting slogans, i am jewish and have relatives in israel. i found some of those very offensive and felt i had an obligation under the constitution and under our free-speech rules at princeton to repent respect the rights of people to say things. we had to enforce our rules

including to arrest at princeton when people were violating time, place and manner rules, we were clear what those rules were and enabled us to get through the year and what i'm proudest of is a number of events that allowed people to explore these issues in more detailed ways. i will mention quickly our dean of the school is the most prominent palestinian american political scientist in the united states. she did a couple sessions with her counterpart at columbia policy, and israeli previously in the israel he military and they became friends when they were assistant professors before they became deans of these schools and they in the fall of last year not long after october 7th doing public events at princeton and columbia to model for students. what it meant for people with

different backgrounds to disagree civilly. those events don't get the kind of attention the protests do but that is the heart of what's going on on college campuses and it isn't happening in many other places. >> host: why colleges are turning to institutional neutrality. explain what that means and is it a good approach? >> guest: institutional neutrality is a kind of slogan that describes a view about when a university should take positions and when presidents should make statements on issues. this is something that has been discussed among university presidents and people in higher education for period of time. it exploded into view after unsuccessful statements that were issued last year. institutional neutrality reflects the view that

universities and abroad level, out to be re-strange, a word i like better than neutrality about when they speak out, the idea behind it is take a broad phrase that i agree with, universities are not themselves be the critics taking positions as princeton university but critical of our government, should be the sponsor of critics, enabling faculty and students to raise their voices. i personally don't like the phrase institutional neutrality, i don't think i have a neutral institution. i have an institution that stands for the value of research, free speech the people of all backgrounds should be able to flourish on campus and those are real values. neutrality doesn't express this idea well but universities have to be careful not to take positions as institutions except in a limited set of circumstances. >> host: chuck is calling from syracuse, republican.

>> caller: we have this gentleman saying that putting forth college, you have to go to college to be successful, princeton is worth the money, mark zuckerberg, bill gates and other people who've been successful, mike rowe has a show about dirty jobs, plumbers, electricians, other jobs you don't have to be successful but one person who would agree with you is a good idea to get a college degree would be ted kaczynski, the you in a bomber who went to berkeley. he put his degree to good use. >> host: what do you think? >> guest: thank you for the question and the opportunity to clarify what i think about this but i agree that you can be successful in a number of

careers without going to college and i don't think everybody should go to college and it's important to recognize that as a country and academic institutions to support people who make other choices. on the other hand what i do believe and what i did say, for people who want to go to college it's going to be a spectacularly good investment. if you look at the data about the institutions in the aau or freer college degrees more generally the return on investment is very strong and it provides a lot of opportunities. doesn't mean it is the right choice for everybody but people thinking about this choice and asking the question i would like to go to college but the careers you get by going to college may sound attractive to me will that investment payoff? economic news is good about that but it's not the right

investment for everybody as other investments are not right for everybody. >> host: independent line is next. >> caller: thanks for taking my call and thank you for being the here this morning. i had a quick comment and question. what i was going to bring up is the issue of mental health at colleges, statistics have shown as high as 40% of students on college campuses are experiencing some form of mental illness and many times the problem is lack of access. and e nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. hickenlooper: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. hickenlooper: i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we,

the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 843, elizabeth c. coombe, of new york, to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york. signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of elizabeth c. coombe, of new york, to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso.

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

mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. helmy. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly.

mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray.

mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch.

mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

vote:

the clerk: mrs. britt, no.

>> this is my final administration as secretary of state. i will be handing the keys to get the security deposit back after 40 years. in all seriousness, i am grateful to all of my colleagues here at nato. the foreign ministers, secretary-general, the entire team, an extraordinary four years, extraordinary work that we have been able to do to strengthen security and well-being of all the citizens with the privilege to represent and i want to thank the secretary who hit the ground at full sprint and does the job leading to alliance, i have, this confidence under his leadership. when i began as secretary of state nato had a strategic concept that considered russia a partner, didn't mention china,

didn't fully appreciate or grapple with urgent threats like cyber, climate. to revitalize and modernize, and in four years since the alliance has undertaken the most significant reforms and most significant strengthening we have seen in decades. four years later nato is bigger, stronger, better resourced to meet the challenges ahead. none of this was inevitable. it came about because of president biden's leadership, our sustained diplomatic engagement, and building a sense of shared unity and shared purpose. we have a new nato strategic concept. it recognizes russia, the most

direct threat to the alliance while highlighting the security environment operating with threats from the people's republic of china, transnational challengers, climate change, terrorism, in 2020, nine of our allies were meeting the pledge they made in 2014 to spend 2% of gdp on defense, just nine. today, it is 23 and the remainder of the allies are on track to meet that commitment. we've added two allies in finland and sweden. immensely strengthening our alliance in the future. the alliance itself has strengthened our defense and deterrence capacity. we've doubled our presence on the eastern flank, updated command structure, a made new defense plans, bolstered capabilities including cyberspace and outerspace. these enduring commitments,

these enduring investments will help provide security for many years to come. there may be no better illustration of allied unity than unwavering support since the russian aggression. vladimir putin time and again has sought to break our results as well as the resolve of the ukrainian people. it hasn't happened, it won't happen. in recent weeks russia has engaged in dangerous escalation including bringing 10,000 north korean troops into the fight, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, launching intermediate range ballistic missiles with potential nuclear capabilities, ratcheting up threat against ukraine and its partners, continuing to attack relentlessly the energy grid, using winter as a weapon, trying to turn the lights out and freeze people out of their homes.

yet today, over a thousand days since the full-scale invasion, ukraine continues to stand strong and nato stand strong with ukraine. we provided through nato criminal support, we created the nato ukraine counsel in brussels, we launched a new command to coordinate future efforts and help speed ukraine's path to membership. the united states has been surging, our own resources and systems to continue to build up ukraine's air defense, artillery, armored vehicles. we are determined that is my intent to spend every cent available from what was authorized by congress and the supplemental appropriation. with the g7 we are finalizing moving out the door $50 billion secured by frozen russian

assets, same time, nato allies and partners of nato are sharing the burden and shouldering more responsibility. a pledge of $680 million in military aid, bulgaria, sweden, others providing personnel, the united states provided one hundred $2 billion in assistance to ukraine, allies and partners, one hundred $58 billion. as i said this may be the best example of burden sharing i have seen in the 32 years that i have been doing this. when it comes to our own investments, most of it is invested in our own defense industrial base to produce weapons ukraine needs and those investment strengthen the industrial base and provide good jobs in the united states. we welcomed the ukrainian foreign minister to nato along with the eu's hi representative

and in doing that we reaffirmed commitment to ukraine's defense and the path to nato and eu membership. we are coordinating to ensure ukraine has the money, munitions and mobilized forces to fight has necessary through next year or 2 be able to negotiate from a position of strength. ukraine also shows that european security and indo pacific security are intertwined. the last four years we had an unprecedented convergence on the challenges china poses to transatlantic security and that includes support for the defense industrial base which enables russia's ongoing aggression and intensifies the biggest threat to european security since the end of the cold war but the growing convergence on the challenges posed by russia and

in different ways by china and growing collaboration between allies and partners in the transatlantic area and indo pacific, that's a hallmark of the last four years. as these threats even all, they transcend regions, we increased engagement from the indo pacific to the arctic to nato's southern flank, reinforcing the 363 approach. king abdulla was with us yesterday and we look forward to opening a liaison office next year, first in the region to strengthen the relationship between nato and the middle east. all of these efforts are not taking nato out of area. out of very has been coming to nato and that is why it is imperative we work together to strengthen our capacity and focus on these different challenges because they are

having an effect within the transatlantic community. this evolution is critical so nato can continue to adapt to the world as it is already and as we see it even involving. we are at a critical moment for ukraine and the defense of transatlantic value. over the last four years historic strides put strength in the alliance which made the world safer. it's time for the alia to lean in, not leaned back. every dollar the united states puts insecurity whether it is cyber defense, strengthening the defense industrial banks, it benefits people across the alliance for years to come. a stronger nato means more capabilities to meet more complex challenges and peace and stability and maybe that's the

most important point. i want to emphasize of this. in the united states throughout europe, around the world, people want peace, they don't want war, they want to avoid conflict. what is important to understand about this alliance is where it came from and what its purpose is. nato came together after two world wars as part of a series of institutions built to ensure we never had a global conflagration. what's unique about nato is the compact each of its members make that an attack on one is an attack on all. it tells any would-be aggressor if you go after one of us they deal with all of us, that's the most powerful deterrent toward breaking out in the first place. that's the most powerful deterrent against aggression. it's not a surprise that russia has not attacked directly a nato member.

when we all talk about this powerful desire to avoid conflict and prevent wars, the best way to do that is through ongoing investment in the world's most successful, that is nato. >> michael birnbaum at the washington post. >> thanks very much, michael birnbaum, washington post. sec. blinken secretary blinken, president zelenskyy in the last few days has signaled openness to abandoning ukraine's efforts to regain its territory by force in exchange for nato membership. i wanted to ask what you thought about that strategy, if you thought that was a good idea and particularly if you thought it

was realistic, and south korea, and we were with you in march at the summit for democracy in seoul, was it a mistake in retrospect to host a democracy summit in south korea and are you concerned kim jong-un will use this to transition in the white house to stage a provocation? >> with regard to ukraine the most important foundational proposition is of this. ukraine and ukrainians, any decisions that are made about how ukraine engages the russian aggression, where it ones to go, these are decisions for ukraine, and its democratically elected leadership to make.

and from day one, we have repeated and adhere to the mantra of nothing about ukraine without ukraine, ukraine has to make these decisions. what we are working to do in the time we have left is to give ukraine, to give our own country, to give all the allies and partners to support ukraine the strongest possible hand next year and beyond. if ukraine determines it needs to continue the fight we want to make sure it has what it needs to continue the fight, the money, munitions, mobilized forces. if it chooses to engage in negotiation vladimir putin and russia have any intent of doing that, make sure it is from oppose-ish and of strength. from my perspective what i am trying to do with ukraine and across the board is to give the

incoming administration the strongest hand to play in all these areas and pass the baton in a way that they can hit the ground running because the world doesn't stop because we have a political transition underway in the united states. that's what we are focused on and what i am focused on in the remaining time. when it comes to south korea we are watching developments very closely. this is one of our closest partners and allies around the world, we welcome the statement withdrawing martial law and the national assembly rejected the decision and he followed up on that. in our judgment, any political disagreements need to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with rule of law. korea has been an extraordinary story, extraordinary success story over the last three or four decades. the story that it tells of

building strong democracy where we see the institutions functioning as they should, we thought was important to amplify and show with korea wanting to take on the summit for democracy, we were delighted at that and had a successful summit. korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience and we will continue to look at that again. >> next question. >> good afternoon. for the german press agency, does the united states believe

vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine has distracted support for syrian president bashar al-assad? >> thank you. what we have just seen in syria with the offensive reflects the fact that the fact that bashar al-assad's key ally whether it is russia, hezbollah, iran, having different ways been distracted notably by problems of their own making. looks like hds took advantage of that fact. right now what is critical is that we see de-escalation, we ensure that civilians are protected throughout syria, and maybe most critically if there's actually a political process that moves forward on the basis of the un security council

resolution to resolve the end to the civil of -- the civil war in syria. the fact that he has refused to engage in applicable process would open the door to this attack and the gains that hts has made on the ground. we have enduring interests, security interest in syria particularly making sure isis doesn't resurrect and doesn't come back. completed by the first trump administration to end the so-called geographic caliphate that had been established. the ground and almost physical state that had been established, make sure that doesn't happen again. so our own engagement and presence makes important partners working to make sure we don't see a resurrection of an

extremist jihadist caliphate. that remains vital. we have in syria many fair terrorist fighters as well as families in camps. we've been working hard to see them repatriated to their countries of origin but many thousands remain and we don't want to see those fighters reemerge. we have enduring interest here. we are looking at what we can do to sure up that interest. the first instance, de-escalation, protect civilians and if bashar al-assad has any sense for the future of the country, actually engaging in a political process to end the civil war. >> mp. >> thank you for doing this. i will break tradition and only ask one question.

>> i'm sure it will be a good one. >> to stay in the region, lebanon. i am simpleminded but to me, a cease-fire means no fire, cease-fire, there are several incidents since the cease-fire on november 27th from both sides. 27 from both sides. do you consider that israel is or has violated the cease-fire? and is the mechanism that you had set up following the set up? and i wanted to ask you your reaction, your thoughts on the comment by the israeli defense minister who threatened israel would be ready to go deeper into lebanon and would not make the distinction between hezbollah and the lebanese state. thank you very much.

>> first, the cease-fire itself was a product of sustained diplomacy to get it but any cease-fire it is going to be upheld needs to have something in place to verify, to deal with any concerns or allegations. that is what we set up working with france, and oversight mechanism if there are concerns that one party or the other violated the cease-fire comes to us and one way or another we need to engage the parties. that happened, the cease-fire is holding. we are using the mechanism that was established when any concerns had arisen about any alleged or purported violations.

fundamentally, both parties, israel and hezbollah through the lebanese government wanted the cease-fire, the interest israel has making sure people can return home to the north where 70,000 were forced to flee their home since hezbollah has been lobbing rockets and missiles into hezbollah every day since october 7th. the cease-fire, making sure it is sustained is the best way to do that. israelis recognize from their history, from their experience 18 years of occupation in southern lebanon that ended in 2000, a war in 2006 where they went deeper and stayed longer and suffered losses as a consequence, they are very mindful that the best way to having enduring security is through the cease-fire, we have

to make sure it is upheld and france is determined to do that and i won't speculate what will happen in the future. i can only talk about the clear interests of the parties and is relapse interest in making sure the terms of the cease-fire are implemented by hezbollah and that includes moving hezbollah to the north and making sure lebanese armed forces are effectively deployed in the south along the border, that they have the authority to deal with arms that they find, infrastructure that they find and that we have an effective mechanism to deal with any alleged violations and as necessary, make sure the cease-fire can be enforced. that is where we are, i am very focused on making sure we carry forward. let's see where we are after the initial 60 days. mostly what we want to see is people returning to their homes.

[inaudible question] >> the entire purpose of the mechanism we set up that is being used which is to say we get reports of violations. we look at them. we engage the parties. that is exactly what we have done. [inaudible question] >> they are in violation of the cease-fire. >> i'm not going to respond, get into any private diplomatic conversations. all i can tell you is the mechanism we established with france to make sure the cease-fire is effectively monitored and implemented is working, we want to make sure it continues to work. >> for the final question, bbc russia. >> thank you for taking this question. from my colleague from the washington post, at least tell which diplomatic measures in the ukrainian position before hypothetical talks with russia

and moscow, discussed yesterday with of the foreign minister and other ministers, did you discuss any? >> a big part of our focus at nato, the conversations we had with the north atlantic council, with the nato ukraine counsel, many conversations we have had individually has been focused on everything we need to do to further strengthen ukraine into the new year. as i mentioned, we are focused in practical, concrete ways, on three things, making sure it has the money, the resources it needs to sustain this economy and its defense. we have now managed on the basis of the frozen russian assets that are frozen to get $50 billion to ukraine that will be going out the door in the

coming weeks for the united states and europe and that will carry ukraine for some time into next year. second, munitions and everything that goes with that whether it is air defense or missiles or armored vehicles, working in a very determined way to make sure for many months ahead that ukraine will have what it needs. the united states is pushing out the door everything we can but beyond that we have a process long established, secretary austin established, to make sure we are coordinated with allies and partners and that is exactly what we are doing and we spent time again talking about what the needs are and how each of us can play a part in filling them. .. the clerk: mr. coons, aye. them. mr. welch, aye. mr. risch, no. ms. hassan, aye.

vote: the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. mr. heinrich, aye. mr. bennet, aye. mr. grassley, no. mr. grassley, no.

it will be in the position they need to make decisions about their future. ukraine will be able to deal with it ukraine can go from a stronger position. fundamentally extraordinary achievements is this is the country still pending strong. it will things about the future.

economically democrat to move it have that is the ultimate success and easily the transplant community and what we work to do do do aggression but also to the past that not only survives drives. the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mr. padilla, aye. mr. helmy, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, no. mr. lankford, no.

the information and the middle east. against the aggression. jordan is welcome the middle east. his personal leadership is alliance. our friends and partners around the globe. it has been for many years. yesterday we discussed the

neighborhood. he increased the lines of russia, china pellets the nature including the ongoing work. providing north korea with support. these developments could be stabilized so russia in ukraine north america alongside international partners. nato and ukraine.

russia is making gains along the front line cycles. difficult. air defenses and social steps of korean troops. transit. ukraine to be operational.

and yesterday were joined by this. it is an essential partner. i'm looking forward to building this corporation. personnel actions. as the increase with these effects, nor exercise and

protection. and oil export. >> will start in the middle there. we have to provide assistance the trajectory of this work. president of ukraine nato.

i'd like to know you are aware about this. >> is a position of strength so that one day they can enter is a position of strength. started this whole thing with

ukraine will have to discuss many things. i'm not going to speculate because i think we should concentrate on making sure ukraine gets this and negotiates. >> thank you for this opportunity. my question is possible? ensemble. ukraine closer to nato member ship? we all know they came here with

and position was quite strong is it close enough? >> in 2008 already, there was a decision and we have had the position for native and countries working with ukraine doing everything in a position of strength. all of this is a bridge nato. the first priority be in the addition is priority number one and that's why i'm passing the

gulf too many thoughts going around who should be at the table and what should look like. make sure they are in a position of strength and make sure they are able to start and in this room the best people around. >> third group. >> i wanted to come back on something that the programs.

the potential support so has this assessment changed providing support you give us details about? on the stodgy, he's a proactive measures. nato is acting too slowly, cautiously and below its weight to deter russia from doing what it doing. how can you sure people, that nato is doing something now? >> should not and what i'm saying statements.

in the second question is alliance and allies are working hard to make sure they come across cyber attacks and all measures necessary. this is not probably for this good ideas about.

>> back room. >> what to do is not. >> we take nuclear seriously. and the capability. and any adversity.

>> you. >> the general statement. and they can affect cooperation between nato and south korea. >> maybe can check. it is happening in south korea and korea nato we are monitoring

what is happening is commitment to the rule of law. south korea is a strong supporter and expects it to remain so it has grown over the last couple of years.

so take the measures where they work and cease-fire in lebanon. yesterday he made declarations. >> let me first clear nato transatlantic organization the middle east.

and buildup for example other countriese course with jordan open up in office next year. yesterday was an opportunity more than anyone it's happening and not to come to positions but for us as allies navigate and the situation gaza and applaud his fire and lebanon. let's hope that is fire and they

have to live up to what they commit expired. in this house and when is he for hamas in the middle east itself all of this is getting more and more connected extremely important but obviously nato directly the cannot is helping

out and a number of you said you would insist every nato ally. 2% is the seal of the central should not be for that. >> it has pushed us to ramp up

starting in 20 before because of trump but% is simply not enough. we want to keep our deterrence. we can now defend ourselves. then the question will be what percentage. 2% is not enough not enough at too high a price it is more for

the same. that is why this transatlantic corporation in the u.s. and the defense industrial communities closely to make sure that a higher in the defense. two more questions.

a time when europe is suffering from inanimate world. beyond the end separately pro suggested they will hold the conference in june. thank you. we have to look into exactly what it is. we cannot 2% deterrence to spend

on the percentage points for whatever percentage on the security system. this for politicians and there are too many demands that are limited the economy is doing well and it somehow strange.

it's much more than percent because we keep it at a level safe in the defense of alliance failures and democracy. i am with the next. and therefore. >> last one and then it's like you mentioned yesterday line to

the west. it's not yet. what you think stop him? >> the trajectory and making sure as much as focus on have to make sure people are available ukraine all of these things and

more people -- 46. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, elizabeth c. coombe of new york to be united states district judge for the northern district of new york. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask -- i ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the coombe nomination be considered expired at 5:30 p.m., furthering that notwithstanding rule 22, if cloture is invoked on the davenport nomination, the vote occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader and minority leaders on december 5. during thursday's session of the senate, the senate vote on the johnson and neary cloture

motions. further, that if cloture is invoked on the above nominations all postcloture time be considered expired, the senate vote in consultation with the majority leader. further, that mandatory quorum calls for the above cloture motions be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: so, madam president, one of our dearest and greatest senators is giving her farewell speech. i look forward to hearing it. debbie, we love you. you've been a great senator. we'll miss you. ms. stabenow: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: first of all, itch to say wouldn't you know i'd get laryngitis.

i want to thank chuck for his comments this morning and for being a dear friend. today is bittersweet for me stand here on the floor of the united states senate making my last speech, my last major speech. so many of my staff from michigan have traveled to be here as well as staff members who have worked for me in d.c. over the years. i am truly overwhelmed that over 100 michigan and d.c. staff are here in the gallery and on the floor. and family and friend who are not able to fly in today are watching on c-span. as we come back for thanksgiving, i am filled with so much gratitude and respect as i think back over my years of public service. and i'm thinking about the incredible number of people who have supported me and contributed in so many ways to my success, from my family, my staff, my colleagues, and of

course the people of michigan who put their trust in me for over 50 years. i started when i was 5. from eagle county commissioner to state legislator to u.s. senator, michigan, you will always be in my heart. today is about recognizing all of you. as some of you know, i lost my mom just a week ago. i suspect she's tuning in from heaven's version of c-span right now watching me, listening, just as she has always been watching and supporting me my whole life. mom not only lived a long life -- 98 years of age -- but a rich and meaningful one. her hard work, her kindness, her strength, and her loyalty were a

true gift to me. to my brothers, my children, my whole family. there are always unsung heroes of every story, and i want is to start with mine and that is my family. my son todd, my daughter michelle, my daughter-in-law sarah, my son-in-law scott, and my five incredibly talented and amazing grandchildren. they are the most talented dprch we've seen. ari, willow, avery, everett and violet. my mom and my kids have all appeared in many campaign ads over the years. even my brothers lynn and lee starred in an acclaimed closing ad that caused me to beat an incumbent republican to first be elected to united states house. when my kids were young they too broke down barriers. todd was born when i was a county commissioner. michelle was born when i was a

state representative. it was a first in michigan for a legislator to be pregnant and have a baby while in office. i remember a very pregnant me opening baby shower gifts at one of our statehouse committee rooms. most of my male colleagues didn't know what to buy for a baby shower, so i got a lot of stuffed animals. my family members have marched in countless parades, attended thousands of events with me and planned birthday parties and hoogdz around the legislative calendar. they sacrificed their time and in many cases their personal privacy and through thick and thin have always been there for me and i am incredibly grateful. and i love you all so much. my family story has inspired my work as an elected official. i grew up in clair, michigan, where my mom was director of

nursing in our small rural hospital. this sparked my lifelong interest in health care. as a 24-year-old grad student at michigan state university, i led an effort to save the county's medical care facility from closure. it was the only nursing home that served low-income seniors at the time. i've never been involved in -- i had never been involved in politics before, but i knew it was wrong to close that facility. we stopped the county board of commissioners from closing this critical service. and i was encouraged to run for county commissioner because i lived in the district of the commissioner who tried to close the nursing home. i ran against him. he called me that young broad. and as they say, the rest is herstory. health care remained a top priority for me from those early days to today.

today i'm proud and grateful that more people in america have access to home health care, to hospice services and lower prescription drug prices in part because of my work. medicare and medicaid and community health centers provide stronger foundations for care for millions of americans. i was a new member of the senate finance committee when president obama made health care reform his top priority. i was excited to be involved in every part of passing the affordable care act, making sure that maternity care and mental health services and addiction treatment were all part of the new law. i spent a tremendous amount of time focused on the afford pability of the new health care system and was successful in bringing down the amount that individuals would have to pay for coverage. i considered it a badge of honor

during the final vote in committee when then-chairman baucus and said here we have senator affordability. my first viral moment as an elected official on social media happened during the debate on the affordable care act. my friend april my klobuchar often told this story. when senator kyl argued against maternity care as basic coverage by stating he did not need maternity care, i told him yes, but i bet your mom did. the public outcry that happened after that ensured to this day that maternity care is part of the affordable care act. there has been no health care issue more profoundly influenced by my own family's life and experience than the issue of mental health. my father had a bipolar disorder

that went undiagnosed for many years, like so many people. our lives were changed when the drug lithium became available and my dad had the support he needed to manage his disease and move forward with his life. i saw what happened when someone did not get the help they needed, and i saw what happened when they did. this experience fueled my passion to reduce the stigma on mental health and mental illness. as i've often said, we need to treat health care above the neck the same as health care below the neck. i worked on this issue in the early days of my career on the mental health committee in the michigan house of representatives. later i was honored to team up with senator roy blunt for a ten-year effort to transform how we fund mental health and addiction services. this has been my passion and my

most meaningful achievement. on the 50th anniversary of president kennedy signing the community mental health bill, the last bill he signed before his death, senator blunt and i introduced and spoke here on the senate floor about our new legislation, the excellence in mental health and addiction treatment act. president kennedy envisioned a world where people wouldn't be housed in asylums, as they were called at the time, but would get the treatment and the care they needed in their community. the first part of his vision was implemented over the past 50 years, mental hospitals closed. but the second half of it, creating comprehensive community care, never happened.

senator blunt and i worked intensely over the past ten years to make the second half of president kennedy's vision a reality by creating comprehensive community behavioral health clinics, or ccbhc's, where clinics are funded as health care, not just through grants that stop and start. now because of our bipartisan efforts, culminating in full funding in the safer communities act, we are in the midst of creating comprehensive community-based care across the country. and i thank you, all of you for your help, so many people here for your leadership and help in making that happen. we now have more than 500 community behavioral health clinics providing care across the country, with more being created every day. millions of people now have the

dignity of receiving mental health care and addiction treatment in their comminstead sitting in an emergency room or in jail or sleeping on the street. the goal, of course, is to have every community in every state provide these critical health care services. i intend to continue to do everything i can to support your efforts to make sure this transformation is completed. i am forever grateful to the people of michigan for the trust they have shown in me over these years. i've lived in michigan my whole life, and i view the work in d.c. as a commute to work, long-distance commute to work. not as long as the west coast, but a commute to work. i see everything through the eyes of michiganders and our beautiful state. our great lakes and our water are part of our michigan dap.

protect our water has been my passion from passing my very first bill in the senate which bans oil and gas drilling in the great lakes to authoring the great lakes restoration initiative. this landmark initiative has helped transform the health of our lakes and watersheds and will continue to do so in the future. looking through the lens of michigan again, i've understood that we don't have a strong economy unless somebody makes something and somebody grows something. for this reason, i've been a member of the agriculture committee at every level of government where i've served, both state and federal. and i've been deeply involved in efforts to protect and expand american manufacturing, including the new clean energy revolution occurring in our country. it's been my privilege to put my stamp on our nation's farm and food policy.

i have frequently said that you can see michigan on every panl of the farm bills -- page of the farm bills i've written. as the author of the specialty crop title in the farm bill, i'm grateful that the full diversity of farms, small and large, are now reflected in our funding in our agriculture policy. i'm so pleased that families across our country have access to healthy, locally grown foods through farmers' markets and urban agriculture, and our children can count on permanent funding for summer meals and other critical food assistance. i like to say that i sit up every day to fight for michigan and there is no truer statement than my work on behalf of michigan workers and michigan manufacturing. i'm so proud to have championed the auto rescue in 2009 to change tax incentives to invest and make things in america and

toughen our laws to support american manufacturing. i know we have the best workers in the world, and i know also that michigan, michigan manufacturing is well positioned to prosper in the future. i want to take a moment of course to thank all of you. all of my great, great colleagues on both sides of the aisle. both past and present. so many of you have been wonderful partners in getting things done, and i'm so fraflt for your friendship. i'm especially grateful for my michigan partners. first, the amazing carl levin and now gary peters, i would like to say with a one-two punch from michigan. as we all know to be effective, it's not necessary to agree with

someone on everything. in fact, i don't agree with anybody on everything. it's only necessary to agree on one thing, one problem that needs to be solved and then agree on the way to solve the one thing. then we look for another colleague across the aisle to work with on one thing. that's how positive change happens. we all realize with all the incredible demands on our time and the constant additions and changes to our schedules, it's hard to find time to get to know each other on a personal level. over the years i've been so grateful for the bipartisan women, senators' dinners, the international travel that we have. they're so important. and playing christmas carols on the piano at the prayer breakfast is something i've thoroughly enjoyed. exchanging stories about our families, our faith, our

personal challenges have made a real difference. it's been a great honor for me to serve as a member of the senate democratic leadership since 2005. i want to recognize democratic leaders tom daschle and dear harry reid who were so supportive of me. i want to thank my great friend, senator chuck schumer and his extraordinary team, extraordinary team. chuck loves the united states senate, and he loves our country with every bone in his body. and i'm so appreciative of his leadership and tireless work and friendship. what i announced my retirement nearly two years ago, i thought i was ready to -- i said i was ready to pass the torch to a new generation of leaders and i couldn't be prouder to pass the torch to michigan's new

senator-elect elissa slotkin. i snow she will have the -- i know she will have the heart and the talent for this job, and will do great things for our state and our country. i thought long and hard about how to express my gratitude to the smartest, hardworking staff that i could ever have imagined. truly my success comes from their amazing efforts. over 500 bright, talented professional staff have worked for me over the past 50 years. that's unbelievable. many of them for decades and that doesn't include countless volunteers and interns. i want you to know -- interns are everywhere. the staff are everywhere. i want you to know how moved i am that so many of you took time to be here today or are tuning in on c-span. you are much more than

employees. you are family. i watched many of you get married, several times thanks to our office, and watched our children grow up, your children grow up as well. you're truly my dear friends. you have raised the bar for the kind of service the people of michigan should expect from their elected officials. you have been there for me personally through the best of times and through the rough patches as well. you have cared and persisted and together we have achieved so much, whether it's policy changes or helping literally millions of michiganders cut through the bureaucracy and solve a personal problem. i salute each and every one of you, and i thank you for your service to michigan and our nation. in passing the torch to you -- i'm passing the torch to you because i know you will continue to care about people and public

service and do great things. i could not have done this without you. as i close, i want to acknowledge the important moment that we are in as a country. we all know there's great division promoted by so many who want to gain their own power at america's expense. yet we have so much in common. we all love our children and want the same things for them to be successful. we all want safe communities and a chance to be rewarded for our hard work. we can heal the divide and work together if we just look for that one thing that we can agree on to make our lives better and get it done. and then we can look again for that one thing. if we don't let the haters

divide us, we can rebuild trust with one another and be the america we want to be. this is my hope and my prayer for all of us. as i begin this next chapter in my life, my heart is truly filled with gratitude. to my family, my colleagues, my staff, to the great people of michigan, thank you one and all from the bottom of my heart. it's been an honor to serve you. thank you.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. peters: madam president, i rise today to honor my friend, my colleague, the senior senator from the great state of michigan, debbie stabenow. throughout her entire career, senator stabenow has been an absolutely tireless advocate for our state and an unrelenting fighter for every single person living in michigan. and as a result, she is an absolutely beloved public servant in my state. debbie's career in public service has been defined by her trailblazing accomplishments. it was 50 years ago this november -- as debbie mentioned, she was merely five -- when she was at graduate school -- i don't know how you did all that -- but as she was a

graduate student at michigan state, she was first elected to serve on the commission. she went on to become the first and the youngest woman to chair that commission. debbie's career then took her to the michigan legislature where she became the first woman to preside over the michigan statehouse. and after successful stints in the michigan state senate and u.s. house, she was elected to serve in the united states senate in 2,000 and she made -- 2000 and she made history once again as the first woman to represent michigan in the senate. as soon as she arrived, debbie hit the ground running. and i think it's safe to say she never stopped running. and she has always fought to make meaningful, positive change for our state as well as for our entire country. in the very first piece of legislation that she passed into law as united states senator, it banned oil and gas drilling in

the great lakes. her commitment to protecting and preserving the great lakes didn't stop there. in 2010 senator stabenow authored the great lakes restoration initiative. it is a landmark program that has literally transformed the health of the great lakes. by helping to combat against invasive species, strengthen our wildlife habitats, and protect the entire great lakes watershed. and for nearly a decade now, she has served as the cochair of the great lakes task force, delivering countless wins to ensure the lasting health of the great lakes for generations to kochlt andive -- to come. and i've been honored to work with her in those efforts. debbie, of course, has also proudly served as chair of agriculture, nutrition, and forestry committee, a position she has used to literally reimagine agriculture's role in american society. and under her leadership on that committee, she has not only made

important progress on some of the issues most important to farmers across michigan and the country, she has also used her post to address some of the most pressing issues of our time, from childhood hunger to climate change. and throughout the years, senator stabenow has led our michigan delegation through immense challenges. in the face of the flint water crisis, debbie worked tirelessly to advocate for the people of flint. her drive and her determination guided our delegation as we fought for congress to pass the funding needed to kick-start the federal response to that tragic situation. debbie was also the driving force behind the rescue of the u.s. automotive industry in 2008, helping our michigan economy get on the road to long-term stability. debbie knows that michigan's workers are the best in the world, and her tireless efforts

to create and protect thousands of good-paying jobs, union jobs for michiganders have bolstered the manufacturing renaissance that we're witnessing today all across our state. as an original author of the affordable care act, debbie helped make health care more affordable for michigan families and helped pass major reforms to bring down the cost of prescription drugs for everyone. in particular, debbie has long fought to ensure that our mental health receives the same focus and care that our physical health gets. her efforts to expand access to mental health services not only ensure that people in michigan and across the united states get the care they need, her leadership has literally changed and truly changed how our nation delivers mental health and addiction services. it is going to be a legacy that will live for generations to come. and on a personal level, senator

stabenow has been an absolutely invaluable mentor to me. when i joined her in representing michigan in the senate, she set an example for me of what leadership really means. early on debbie instilled in me the most important ideal that should guide our efforts as elected officials, to always work in a bipartisan way to get things done for the people that we care about. deb me is kind, but -- debbie is also kind but she is also persistent at times, especially when this comes to fighting for people in michigan. she will not take no for an answer when it comes to building consensus on the things that matter most to the folks that she so proudly represents. and i think most of us in this chamber have experienced that firsthand. if debbie is pushing for an issue, something she cares about, something she knows is going to help people, and if she gets you on the phone, you will

not get off that phone without saying, absolutely, debbie, i will support new that effort, because it is important. anyone who has had the privilege of working with senator stabenow knows that her enthusiasm and her optimism are contagious. the energy that she brings to work every day can motivate you and keep you working forward, even when that going is very tough. but perhaps most importantly, debbie stabenow has served as a role model for countless young women. she has opened doors and inspired the next generation of public servants in michigan and beyond, including the newly elected senator from michigan, elissa slotkin, who is in the chamber with us here today. so as we bidfarewell to her in the senate, her legacy, i know, will live on for generations of elected officials as well as amazing staff that she has set

an example for. a diehard michigander, a dedicated mother, debbie has been a fearless leader for michigan in the senate. and there is absolutely no doubt that our state, our nation is stronger because of her committed service. debbie, it's been an honor. it's been an honor to serve alongside you. as you mentioned, we're the one-two punch for michigan. it's been a privilege of my life, and i am extremely proud of everything that you have accomplished, and i look forward to seeing great things ahead for you and wish you godspeed. ms. klobuchar: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, as we saw senator peters'

emotion about our good friend, i saw the emotion well up in the eyes of so many of her staff, even before she started to speak, and i think that is because of the love that debbie has engendered for so many years with this staff. and it is such a tribute to you, deb cheeks that they came from all -- debbie that they came from all over the place to see you from the past, from the present from michigan. that's a lasting legacy. another legacy is the incredible portrait in the agriculture room. i see senator smith, who sits in that room with me, of you surrounded about fruits and vegetables, as you should be. and it is the first portrait of any chair of the agriculture committee that is surround by fruits and vegetables. and that is a tribute to you because you got that done for america. i think about the persistence that gary just spoke to. that persistence always with a

smile, always with lipstick, always focused on getting things done. that's something when a lot of us woke up and things are down, to remember that smile and how persistent you were to get those things done is something that will inspire all of us. as you mentioned, with elissa slotkin, this incredible new leader coming to the senate, that you made sure that your legacy carried on with her election. so we thank you for that. i've had the great privilege of watching you stand up firsthand in those agriculture rooms, in hearing rooms to stand up for nutrition, like no one really has done before, in the leadership position in that committee. how you have study many four our farmers, yes, but also for people who rely on getting that affordable food. you are standing up for the autoworkers, i think in the wayback zone, when you stood up at that horrible time for the industry and you were there for them. the investing in mental health

care. you mentioned one of my favorite stories, and that story is, yes, rather hilarious because, deb cheeks i want you to picture, was one of the few, if not the only woman in the room. as the presiding officer knows, debbie will be one phone callway to correct us. at any time we know who to call. one of two women in that room. as the male senator was saying, i don't know, i wouldn't need those benefits. it was debbie that said, i bet your mother would. she got those benefits in. it was also that she was one of the first women in such a leadership role. there are few here today, including senator murray. we think back to senator mikulski and others. but debbie carried on that mantle, a and she did it so well in leadership in the senate and her work chairing the committee. but we all know that her work

didn't end in this place. she also led on agriculture and other issues worldwide. i will never forget, she led the first all-women's trip to africa and we made stops in scenario he gallon and -- in senegal and ethiopia and tanzania. if you remember, the women raising crops. her husband had died and she was raising a number of kids by herself. she had become a leader on sanitation for the leader and she had this little graph up on the wall provided by one of our foundations that showed her hut in the middle with a star on it. we were all asking these senator-like questions about her crops and about her challenges of the walking two hours to fill the water every single day, and finally someone asked, what's

your biggest challenge? and here's this woman in this little hut with only one solar panel walk two hours a day, and she says, challenges? and she points to this hut. i have no leader. debbie stabenow is a leader. and she that is gotten through a lot in the early days of women being able to get here in the first place and then be able to rise to where she is. it's been a tribute to her perseverance and her stand to the people of michigan. we thank you, debbie. he know you're -- we know you're only going to be a phone call away. for those of us on the ag committee, all we have to do is see your smiling face among those fruits and vegetables. thank you for your service. i yield the floor.

ms. stabenow: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: there is one more thing i would like to do. and i would like to thank so many people for the kind words and so many colleagues that came today. i am so grateful for that. but i have one more really important thing that i need to do before i relinquish the microphone this afternoon. and that is to honor a true public servant, my longtime state director and dearest friend teresa. i'm going to start with a bold statement. by the way, teresa has been with me for 42 years, 42.

not 24, 42 years. and i want to start by making a bold statement. there is no one who has done more for the people of michigan and for team stabenow than teresa plahatqa. the first time i met here i was in my first term in the michigan statehouse. she was my first graduate student, intern. she graduated and i hired her as my first policy staffer. in 1982 for the statehouse mental health committee. she has been at my side ever since for every decision, big and small, for 42 years. as i just gave my farewell speech on the floor, and it's so fitting that teresa is here, because what a journey this has been. we all have policy experts and

communications experts and experts to run our campaigns and experts in technology, but i'm not sure anyone else has all the those skills in one person like i do. she is truly one of a kind. i've been trying to think of the right words or right stories to sum up our time together but realize, how can you possibly summarize almost 42 years of history and friendship? maybe we can start with a variation on a very simple phrase -- did you talk to teresa? go talk to teresa. or, what does teresa think? or, have we asked teresa? these are familiar phrases in my office and have been for decades. not just from the team but for me.

whether it's taking the temperature on an issue in michigan, getting the history of what we have done in the past or just checking in, the team and i have always known we needed to get her gut check on everything we did. that's how vital she is and has been for us. i can't think of any issue during our time together where she didn't have critical input. because of that, the stabenow team, me, the state of michigan have been the beneficiaries of her knowledge, her creativity, and her gut instincts for decades. solving problems, making people's lives better every day. since these lives are often so intense, incredibly stressful and time-consuming, as we know, you might be asking yourself how on earth has teresa been so successful for all this time?

where do i begin? well, she's had a brilliant political strategist who stays calm under pressure. during my first senate campaign, almost no one believed we could win. in fact, pretty much everyone thought i should have stayed in the house and waited my turn. but not teller radio is a. -- but not teresa. we were down nine points headed into labor day, but we had a strategy, and teresa never wavered in her belief that we could win, and we stuck to it, and we knew it was a winning strategy and we won. in every tough situation, the auto rescue, for instance water crisis -- flint water crisis, september 11, covid, multiple elections, teresa kept calm under pressure and helped us pick the right strategy to be effective and get things done. multimany staffers -- multiple staffers over the years have said she has taught them

thousand approach a tough situation. like i said before, during all of these moments, the most asked question was always what does teresa think? and how would teresa handle this? that's how she's kept us all focused on the task at hand. that extended no further than the communications coming out of our office each and every day. i no he that there are few -- i know that there are few -- there are a few press staffers here or watching from home and may be twitching at the thought of teresa's red edit on their draft remindses. but she had a phrase that people assume your only priorities are the ones you're currently talking about. that phrase has been burned into the memory of just about every team member, every team member we've had over the last several years. it sounds simple, but sticking to it is so very hard at a time

when so much is happening. it's also what has kept us all focused on message, and most importantly, it's reminded us that in the end, for us, it's all about michigan. teresa made certain that michigan was at the heart of everything we did, and that started with our state team. from scheduling multiday tours across the state to ensuring every constituent case, piece of mail, or phone call was responded to with respect. teresa ran the state operation like a swiss -- or we would say sh shinola -- watch. there wasn't a time when i would walk through an airport where someone wouldn't come up to me an thank our team for attending an event, answering an e-mail, helping them get something done. i wish teresa could have been there for all of those thank

yous because she was the one that made it all work. so what's her secret sauce? as we all know, it's all about systems. teresa is known for being incredibleably organized and developing the systems that have made the office run. if she sees a problem or something that can be done better, she works with a team to find a better way to accomplish the goal. if could be something small, such as changing the days of staff calls so the information flow works better, to organizing huge, effective appropriations processes every single year. if there is a system in our office that works well, it was teresa that created it and made it work. if it didn't work well, then that staffer probably didn't check with teresa. during the pandemic, she regularly solicited feedback on what was working and what was

not. she also took time to stop and ask important questions like what did we learn from how we worked during the pandemic, and how should the office adapt going forward? instead of just working in the same way we had before the pandemic, teresa made sure our office adapted. some of these systems are so infamous that when staff have transitioned to new jobs, the number-one thing we hear is these places don't have nearly the level of efficient organization, and that teresa would be horrified by the lack of systems. teresa also knew in order for all of this to work, we had to be a team. teresa genuinely cares about the people she works with. over the last few weeks, as i've been thinking about this speech, our team couldn't say enough about how teresa supports them both professionally and

personally. the best part of it all, despite all she has accomplished, teresa doesn't take herself too seriously. her sense of humor and levity helps keep things going. she always made it a priority that the d.c. and state staff were connected as one team, making sure d.c. staff came to michigan often and got to know their counterparts and were not afraid to pick up the phone, talk through an issue, and work together. whatever tools for keeping us all together was our infamous staff retreats in michigan. teresa spent hours making sure every detail was just right, that we had a goal and a purpose for getting together as well as having some fun. whether it was one of our staple boat cruises to ensure we've experienced our great lakes to a few acting sessions where the very best debbie stabenow

impression was made -- while i was gone, by the way -- teresa organized all of it. a common discussion in our office is what etch's favorite -- everyone's favorite staff retreat was over the years and swapping stories from gatherings. while they were difficult and a pain to organize, especially as the team got larger and laernl, i know she loves showing everyone what pure michigan really means. whether it's our food, water, our wine, our beer or a freezing cold boat cruise, teresa always lit up when the team was back in michigan. so let me just say, as you can see, i could go on and on about teresa, but i want to end by saying the biggest thank you possible. i know her wonderful husband, jeff, her kids zack and rachel and grandkids oliver, ellie and

valle are watching from michigan and are incredibly proud of her. i know our team is here too watching from the gallery or watching from home, and they too are so incredibly proud to which served with teresa. maybe the word i'm thinking of right now that really sums it up is legacy. teresa's legacy for our staff and for the state of michigan will be felt for many, many years to come. together we've experienced more than either of us probably thought was ever possible. forgotten more amazing stories than we'd like to admit. and we'll keep some of the stories between just us. it's truly been a lifetime of memories and friendship. teresa, i can't thank you enough for being by my side for this amazing journey and for being with me in these final days in the u.s. senate. we said we would run through the tape together, and i'm really

grateful we have. thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from hawaii. mr. schatz: i ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to speak for up to four minutes and senator kennedy be permitted to speak for up to 30 minutes prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schatz: thank you, madam president. as president biden considers candidates for clemency in the final weeks of his term, the native american activist leonard peltier is among those who deserve grace and mercy. peltier was arrested in 1975 for

alleged involvement in the murder of two fbi agents in a shoot-out on the pine ridge reservation in south dakota. but the process that led to his conviction had major issues and inaccuracies from the start. for example, one witness whose statements were used at trial said she was told to lie and say that she was in a relationship with peltier and that she had witnessed him shoot the agents. she later recanted that statement, saying, quote, i was forced into this, and i feel very awful. i just wish that leonard peltier would get out of prison, end quote. in another instance, according to reporting, a juror who on day two of the trial professed her prejudice against native americans was allowed to remain on the panel. if that wasn't enough, taken from the very u.s. attorney who tried the case, the prosecutor

who tried the case, james rein nold, who -- reynolds who said peltier served his sentence on, quote, the basis of minimal evidence on the basis i strongly doubt would be upheld in any court today. in the same statement he urged president biden to commute the sentence writing, quote, i write today from a position rare for a former prosecutor to beseech you to commute the sentence of a man who i helped put behind bars. with time and the benefit of hindsight i realize that the prosecution and continued incarceration of mr. peltier was and is unjust. we were not able to prove that mr. peltier personally committed any offense on the pine ridge reservation, end quote. peltier is now 80 years old and has been in prison for 50 years. he is in declining health, experiencing vision loss and other illnesses.

and in spite of all that earlier this year federal officials denied his request for compassionate release and parole. and so even if you believe that he did in fact commit the crime, surely now the time is to let him spend -- the time is now to let him spend whatever remaining days he has at home to die with his family. he's done his time. he's of old age and in poor health. this is what clemency is for. this is what mercy is for. he poses little threat to society. if there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, leonard peltier's is it. this is exactly what this awesome presidential power is for, to right a historic wrong. and if not that, then just to show mercy and let an old man die with his family. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: thank you, madam president. i ask unanimous consent to use a prop during my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kennedy: thank you, madam president. i'm going to try not to use my full time, madam president. it's become in vogue in washington to talk about government waste, and i'm glad. i think that's a good thing. it's become in vogue to talk about inefficiencies in reducing spending, and i think that's a dpood thing. i remember -- a good thing. i remember when i first got here back in 2017, one of my early appropriations committee meetings, i was green as a gourd. we just passed the tax cuts and jobs act.

i thought to myself, we're going to run some deficits for awhile because we just cut taxes. and there was an item in the budget for, i think, a 3% or 4% automatic pay raise for our federal employees. they get it every year. i'm not saying they don't deserve it. a lot of people deserve more money. i've never heard anybody around this place stand up and say i've got a bad idea, and i need money for it. it's always a great idea. so i'm not p begrudging the federal employees, but i told my colleagues, i said, you know, we're going to run deficits. maybe we ought to skip the pay raise this year. and i made a motion. and i remember some of my colleagues looked at me like i, like i had a sexually transmitted disease or something. i mean, i made this motion, and i didn't think it was that big a deal. i got i don't know how many members on the appropriations

committee there are -- 35, 40 -- i got 2 votes. everybody else suddenly had an important message on their phone. so i learned a good lesson. i like to say my mother didn't raise a fool. and if she did, it was one of my p brothers. but i was a fool then. but i'm glad things have changed, and i hope we follow through. now government waste takes many forms, but i'll tell you one form. it's the purest form. it's when the federal government has taxpayer money and it doesn't belong to the federal government. but the federal government refuses to give it back. and that's the case we have at the department of treasury. i don't want to be too hard on my friends at treasury because they've come around. it's taken eight years but they've come around. the department of treasury is holding $95 million -- not

950,000 -- 95 million unredeemed and fully matured savings bonds. the value is $38 billion. now there are only 335 million americans, so this is probably not realistic. but if one unredeemed bond, if you assess one unredeemed bond to one individual american, that's 30% of our country. what's a matured unredeemed savings bond? a savings bond, as you probably know, madam president, is just a loan to the government. that's all it is. you want to invest your money and you want to help the government, say in world war ii we sold a lot of bond to help pay for world war ii.

you say give money to the government and over an a long period of, usually 20 or 30 years, at the end you get back money plus interest. it's not like a regular bond where you get quarterly interest payments. you give your money to the federal government, the federal government takes your name and address, you get a piece of paper, and at the end of however long of a bond you buy -- say 20 years -- you get back your principal plus interest. there are all types of savings bonds. but let's take a double e u.s. savings bond. i buy one, i go to the federal government, i give the federal government $200. they take my name, my address. they give p me a sheet of paper. it used to be they would give you an actual bond. they don't do that anymore.

i say i just invested $200. in 20 years, i can go back to the federal government and they will give me $400. my original $200 plus the interest. it's a great deal. and it used to be parents would buy savings bond for their children, and during world war ii government finance, part of the war, selling savings bonds. there's just one problem with this scenario. i've known this for a long time. the federal government has $95.38 million worth of savings bonds over at treasury. they have the names and they have the addresses of all these people, and the people who are owed that money, many of them are dead. but when those bonds matured,

they didn't come get their money. and you say, well, that's okay. if you gave them $200, it will just keep earning interest. no, it won't. it becomes interest-free. if i buy a 20-year bond, at the end of 20 years and i don't come get my principal and my interest, i don't get any extra interest. and for a long time the department of treasury has had the names of these 95 million people or their heirs, and it totals $38 billion.johnson. so naive as i was, i went to the department of treasury and said, you know, we need to give this money back to people. what's the problem? you've got names, you've got addresses. after a while you didn't have to be einstein's cousin to figure

out they weren't going to cooperate with me. finally i got secretary ma mnuchin's attention, he directed his people to cooperate with me. and then president trump got defeated and secretary yellen came in and she tried to help but a lot of people opposed my idea. so i finally went and passed a bill. i passed the unclaimed savings bond act and i want to thank president biden for signing it, directing treasury to give people's money back. i mean, how hard can this be? well, after i passed the law, i went to see the folks over there and they said, well, there's a problem we didn't tell you about. all these records, these names and addresses are in storage and they have to be ideology advertised. they're just a mess. okay. they have to be digitized. i said, okay. i went and got the money put in

the budget to digitize the records, and we've done that, about 97% of them have been digitized. treasury said it's not our job to look for people. we can put up a tool-free -- toll-free number. i said i want you to cooperate with the states. every state has an unclaimed property. when a business or company has your money and they can't find you, they can't keep it. if you go rent an apartment and put down a $1,000 apartment, that apartment owner is not supposed to keep your 1s- $1,000 he is supposed to turn it over to the state treasure, they put your name on a web site and people can go and look up and see if they have money. every state has an unclaimed

property program, it's old bank accounts, it's stocks, it's bonds, it's mutual funds, it's royalty payments, it's health insurance proceeds, it's old tax refunds, and every treasury, you can go to their website and put in your name or a friend's name and check and see if they have money. when i was state treasurer, i had the program -- it's a long story -- when i was state treesurer and a state tax collector, we returned $400 million to the people of louisiana. so there's an infrastructure set up. treasury doesn't have to do a thing. not a damn thing. and, again, i want to give secretary mnuchin and secretary yellen full credit because they've been great, but it's

been hard to get some people up off their ice-cold lazy butts. we passed the law and got the program digitized and what i want to tell folks after eight years, we are going this summer, in about six months, we are going to take those digital records appeared send it to the state treasurers in every state. the state treasurers are going to put the names and addresses on their webb sites. they -- websites. they will encourage their people to go to their state's website and if they have an unredeemed mature savings bond or more likely their mom or dad did or even their grandmother and they can prove they're the child or grandchild as the case may be,

they can he get the money. they can get the money. i know some folks at treasury are upset about me. they loved have $38 billion sitting on the books of taxpayer money sitting on the books. it's not right. you can call it waste or inefficiency, i don't care what you call it, but it's not right. this summer i will tell you when we turn the program on, we will send 95 million names out to every state treasurer and they will give the money back. all people have to do is go to the website and put in their name and they will find your name. i want to thank secretary mnuchin and secretary yelen and i want to thank president biden and president trump and i want to thank the people at treasury

who cooperated. i'm sorry the people who made it so difficult, but we got it done. i think it is less than 30 minutes. i yield to senator durbin. well, he doesn't want to speak. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold his request? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. the clerk: ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper.

mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins.

b the senator from utah. >> i rise today to thank the leader for those generous comment into mark my colleagues for departure soon for my service here in the senate. during my life i have been truly alone may be taking tests at school are running cross country were on my uncle's tractor cultivating corn. i'm impressed with people who have achieved great things largely on their own. washington commanded the continental army lincoln in the civil war anderson in his laboratory -- edison rather in

his laboratory. not me. i have consistently been surrounded by others. usually smarter often more experienced always becoming friends. in business i chose partners with skills that exceeded mine trooper which there was success after i left. as governor mike team helped craft the health plan that assured nearly every citizen in massachusetts. my wing man bobwhite counseled me in business that led me to politics. my counselor beth myers advised multiple campaigns administrations. he guided almost every one of my endeavors. my senate chief of staff built and brilliantly led an exceptional team in with oure- policy directors chris barclay and steven newton crafted and negotiated more legislation that

became law that could possibly been expected for ad possibly freshman senator. mr. president i ask unanimous consent the names of my excellent current and former staff members be included in the record as submitted. >> without objection. >> my life's work has been a -- and at the center is my wife and cho. she is my most trusted adviser, my indefatigable ally in the love of my life for 54 married years. our five sons are just as loyal and are the source of profound pride and joy and 25 grandchildren. during my first month in the senate i was mostly on my own and those mostly unproductive and then lisa murkowski invited five democrats to join the five republicans for take-out dinner.

with covid been active we were part with windows open despite the winter cold. our conjecture on how to bridge the impasse between the president and congress on covid-related led us over the next several weeks to dig and negotiate draft and eventually see our work become the basis of law. i was fortunate to also be part of what this team worked on that followed the bipartisan infrastructure law gun safety legislation, marriage legislation that included religious protections. our group was rob portman kirstin sinema susan collins joe manchin mark warner jon tester bill kassidy jeanne shaheen and lisa murkowski. we have each come to washington to enact a law that would help people but that's just what we did. we accomplished together what we

could have never done alone. so i will leave this chamber with a sense of achievement but in truth i will also leave with the recognition that i'd did not achieve everything that i hoped. among other things the scourge of policy -- partisan politics has frustrated repeated efforts to stabilize her national debt. without the burden of the interest on that debt we would be able to three times as much as we do in military procurement three times as many aircraft, three times as many ships, three times as many drones spacecrafts labour defense were alternatively we could double the amount we have on social security benefits every month. our national credit card is almost maxed out. america risks becoming debt poor. my biggest surprise in the senate has been how much i enjoy

the other senators on both sides of the aisle. and the truth is while i may not miss the senate itself much, the 10 minute votes at last an hour, the unknowable schedule of votes, the myriad meaningless votes, the passion of an inconsequential vote, i will very much miss you my fellow senators. for him and you are some brilliant, some entertaining, some kind and generous and all patriotic. it's an honor to have been able to serve with you. it's also been an honor to represent themr people the state of my family heritage of utah. it's not just its beauty and vibrant economy it is the admirable character of its people.

it's customary to end remarks with these words, god bless america. that has never seemed jarring or out of place to me because americans have always been fundamentally good. from our earliest days we have rushed to help neighbors in need as de tocqueville noted. we welcomed the poor and huddled masses yearning to be free. we have respected different faiths as their first president confirmed's and jewish. united we stand in the fitting refrain as the leader of the free world are sons and daughters have fought time and again for liberty and their treasure is born freedom fighters around the world. like all people we have made mistakes, some grievous. often our mistakes have come from misguided understanding.

god has blessed america because america is good. they are some today that would tear at our unity who would replace love with, who would he ride their foundation or who debase the values upon which the blessings of heaven depends. i have been in public service for 25 years. i have learned politics alone cannot measure up to the challenges we face. our country's character is a reflection not just of its elected officials but also of its people. i leave washington to return to be one among them and they i hope to be a voice of unity and virtue. it is only if the american people merit his benevolence that god will continue to bless

america. may he do so in my. [applause] >> by rising congratulatory to my dear friend mitt romney whom i have gotten to know very well and have been a very close friend to with his wife and cho and his family have become very close to each other and we have enjoyed our company. i have followed his career for a long time watching the success that he has had as he came up through the business lens very successfully.

i watched that and i observed the olympics and if someone didn't step forward in take care of it and want to hold mitt romney did that and i was so thankful as an american and also admiring his skills to hold us all together because i know it's a difficult task working on the olympic committee. i watch his's presidential campaigns which i thought were absolutely electrifying and i enjoyed them. i could see public service. my first encounter with mitt and we were both governors together. i was coming in and he was going out. he did this unbelievable thing about giving health care to everybody in his state which was something phenomenal. so i called. governors have a certain bond and it doesn't matter who you are or if you've never met before in person. there is a bond and i said tell

me about this health care plan that you have and he said joe i was able to do this, this and that and he mentioned people that were smart and put together and i know one thing anybody that sits in a position when you have good people around someone had to assemble all of that material and put it into force and that was able to do that. i told him i don't have the economy you have in massachusettsnd and i'd love too something for my state. i don't view -- not remember that he said he let the small businesses by and for a group and we've been able to do something that's never been done before that helped an lot of small businesses and people who had no insurance to get insurance because of you. i remember that vividly and then he comes to the senate and that's when my personal relationship and item fired him from afar for a long time. we just clicked that from day

one he hit the ground running and he brought so much institutional knowledge in so much basic support that he could bring to any conversation, he could bring you the content and the graphs and everything you wanted in the lot more that you didn't. he just engulfed us with all of this and i'm thinking one day the bipartisan infrastructure bill you kept telling us what wouldn't work because you had better facts than we had an uber right. we were trying to take your facts and work them with the situation we were in back were in back-and-forth, back-and-forth and back-and-forth and here was met, here's what needs to be done and he would explain everything to us. we aren't going to get through this. one day we just made the final decision we are going to do this and he comes in me says i like it.

he just beat the living pot of this or 30-day showing us the roadmap of how to do something and thinking he wasn't going to agree with it and its basic comment with this, this is better than what we have got. let's move the ball forward in that to me is the clarity of purpose. the clarity of what he came for us to move the ball forward and make it better try to make a more perfect union. rob was in there going back and forth and everybody was moving and we finally got to the end and mitt says this is good. it would be better sure but it's good, let's go for that was the signal we needed. being a freshman for six years i've been here longer and i should have left six years ago. i'm just telling you you have made my life so much better as a

senator and i've enjoyed my relationship on both sides of the aisle working together and bringing people together but it's been an absolute pleasure and a joy having you as a member the united states senate the strongest body in the world, the body that's supposed to make common sense out thanks. this body is much better off in this country is much better off because of your service here and you will be missed and most importantly i'm a better person and we are much more enriched because of your enhanced friendship and we appreciate that more than you know. i wish you only the best in the future and a wish of the best as far as what you're going to do and i hope you don't change your phone number because we still need your advice. god bless you my friend, enjoy. >> mr. president.

>> the senator from maine. >> thank you mr. president. president it is with the combination of pride and sadness that i rise to pay tribute to eight truly extraordinary senator and a good friend senator mitt romney. i rise to say and he has intelligence imagination and most of all integrity. that is what has mark and characterized his service throughout his life. particularly here in the senate. it's a day of sadness because i can't imagine the senate without mitt romney. as a senator and as the governor

and as a presidential candidate and as the founder of a successful business, as a savior of the 2002 winter olympics and as the pillar of his faith mitt romney has brought intelligence, knowledge and experience once again integrity to every task he has undertaken. he meets every challenge with determination and a talent for bringing opposing sides together for solutions. he always gets the yes on using common sense and on achieving a result. i have had the pleasure of teaming up with met on so many

important issues many of which he has mentioned. he was among the group of 10 senators who negotiated the infrastructure and jobs package of 2021. from transportation to broadband, the most significant event has been the infrastructure the interstate highway system in the 1950s is bringing lasting benefits. he was also key in crafting a bipartisan safer communities act landmark commonsense gun safety legislation that helped to protect america's children and keep our schools safer and reduce the threat of violence across our country while preserving the 2nd amendment

rights of law-abiding gun owners. mitts unshakable belief that the american people must engage in our elections than they are free and fair was evident in his countless contributions to the electoral council which ensured an orderly transition of presidential power. perhaps the most impressive his support for the respect for marriage act and demonstrated his fundamental care. freedom, rights and responsibilities afforded to all

other marriages while strongly protecting religious liberty and i give him so much credit for forging their religious liberty protections that combined with the protections for marriages enabled the enactment of the respect for marriage act. he was the one who drafted the religious liberties provisions that were so key. there are other areas where mitt has been a key player and ahead of his time. from identifying the threat posed by russia more than a decade ago, to pushing congress and the administration to develop a strategy to better

counter the challenge presented by china. mitt has worked extensively on american foreign policy and national security. he has been a champion for ukraine and a strong supporter of supplying aid to that brave country in a time of peril. most of all mitt has reminded us over and over again of our 36 trillion-dollar national debt and the need to put our trust funds on solid ground. in fact i think the great post senate responsibility that mitt takes on as a commission to look at all of those trust