policy will affect federal. watch live eastern on c-span, c-span now free mobile app or online at c-span.org. live pictures this january morning for the u.s. senate will gambling shortly. lawmakers are expected to vote to confirm president trump somebody for treasury secretary, scott. later this evening, the chamber will vote to limit debate on president trump somebody transportation secretary, john b. live to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. ... the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. black, will

open the senate with prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. o god of constant newness, in you all renewal abides and all hope originates. help us to honor you with both our words and deeds. give us the courage to help carve tunnels of hope through mountains of despair. lord, make us unafraid to confront prejudice and pride, as you attune our spirits to your truth and light. bless our senators. energize them until their

presence radiates a light that no darkness can overcome. give them wisdom and courage, vision, and discipline for the right living of these days. lord, empower them to be kind to one another, forgiving and affirming each other. we pray this in your righteous name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume the consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of the treasury. scott bessent of south carolina to be secretary. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is is recognized. mr. grassley: today marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the nazi extermination camp at

auschwitz-birkenau. we commemorate this day to international holocaust remembrance day. today we remember the six million jewish victims as well as the victims of other -- millions of other victims persecuted by the nazis. and we do this so that it is never repeated. i honor the victims, the survivors, and their families by combating anti-semitism and preserving history for future generations. in 2023, simon wiesenthal center approached me about wrongdoing by the swiss bank named credit swiss in its internal investigations into the undisclosed information relating to the banks nazi ties. for decades we've tried to track

the nazi confiscation of all kinds of jewish valuables and cash, and we all know that the nazis used swiss banks to hide whatever was confiscated. i went to senator whitehouse, chairman of the budget committee. he and i issued the budget committee's first subpoena since 1991 to obtain a report that was developed by investigations independent ombudsman, mr. neil barofsky. the report confirmed allegations and shed light on the breadth of credit suisse servicing during and after world war ii, along

with the efforts to keep the wealth hidden. so it is very clear credit suisse's past leadership handled this poorly. they smeared the reputation of the simon wiesenthal center and also the reputation of mr. barofsky. the bank even fired m mr. barofsky, which is why we had to subpoena his report. since then, credit suisse as a bank icle lanced and was -- collapsed and was merged and mr. barofsky has been rehired after our pressure. now the bank ubs owns the ■ results of this inquiry and it also owns credit suisse's past of mishandling this whole event. earlier this month, senator whitehouse and i released

updates from this investigation. shortly after, there were negative press leaks about ubs and possibly past disgrantled employees -- disgruntled employees. the leaks contain lies about the attack of mr. barofsky's character. these attacks serve no purpose other than to frustrate an investigation into credit suisse's nazi past. that absurd -- observed conduct is in fact a spit in the face to the victims of the holocaust. the united states congress won't tolerate and shouldn't tolerate that kind of evil here in the 21st century. and neither will those brave souls long past that lived

through the nazi evil. they stand guard as our sp spiritual strength. so let this be a message to the bank obstructionists that this senator, as chair of the senate judiciary committee, i'll leave no stone unturned when it comes to nazi evils, and neither will senator whitehouse. i yield the floor. mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. thune: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, later today we

will hold a vote on the nomination of scott bessent to be treasury secretary, an example of the american dream in action, mr. bessent rose from challenging economic circumstances to a career in the world of finance. and he brings a wealth of private-sector experience in the economy and markets to his new role as well as a concern for the needs of working americans. during president trump's first administration, we passed major tax relief legislation. the tax cuts and jobs ab reformed our nation's tax code, nearly doubled the standard deduction, doubled the child tax credit, and enacted pro-growth policies for american businesses of all sizes. as a result, the economy took off and our nation became more competitive. household incomes increased and the employment rate hit its lowest level in 50 years. now, however, a lot of that tax relief is close to expiring.

without action, american families and businesses will face a staggering $4 trillion tax hike next year, and at the top of the republican indies is extending that -- agenda is extending that tax relief. i deeply appreciate the fact that mr. bessent shares that commitment, and i'm looking forward to working with him on extending the tax cuts and jobs act. i'm also looking forward to working with him to ensure that american businesses, large and small, remain competitive. over the last four years we've witnessed the biden administration's embrace -- the biden administration embrace and negotiate with nations around the world on a pillar to global minimum tax regime. all, i might add, without consulting congress and i would argue without fully appreciating the damage to the united states'

own tax base and our ability to set tax policy for u.s. multinational firms. the tax cuts and jobs act helped create anamirican businesses woe on the global stage. i am committed to working with mr. bessent to continue to protect american businesses and ensure that we do not enter into agreements that put u.s. businesses at a disadvantage next to their foreign counterparts. mr. president, this afternoon we will also be voting to invoke cloture on the nomination of sean duffey to be secretary of transportation. mr. duffey brings valuable experience that will help him in managing our nation's sprawling transportation system, and he has some important work ahead of him. in recent years, there have been a number of challenges in the transportation sector. we've seen serious safety concerns affect air travel, issues at our ports have led to supply chain challenges, a pilot shortage has resulted in reduced air service in parts a of the

country. and all the while the biden administration seemed to be focused on forcing americans into electric vehicles and forcing progressive ideology into transportation policy. mr. president, the american people expect to have a safe and efficient transportation system, and that's the top priority of the transportation department. and it's what sean duffy is focused on. as a five-term congressman and a cochair of the great lakes task force, he worked with republicans and democrats in the house and senate on a number of infrastructure projects, including the replacement of a decades' old bridge connecting wisconsin and minnesota and update ago the soo locks. mr. duffy has been called the right person for this job and earned a unanimous bipartisan vote out of the commerce committee last week. as mr. duffy mentioned during

his confirmation hearing, he and his wife rachel have nine children. and i'm not the first to observe that the logistics of moving the duffy clan is by itself preparation for this job. but more seriously, mr. president, as a father and the parent of new drivers, transportation safety is personal to mr. duffy. and as a resident of a rural state myself, i appreciate that coming from rural wisconsin, he knows the infrastructure needs in rural parts of the country are just as important as those anywhere else. mr. president, sean duffy will bring valuable experience and knowledge to the transportation department, and he has a proven track record of working with republicans and democrats to deliver good infrastructure for the people we all serve. i look forward to working with him in this new role. i look forward to confirming both mr. bessent and mr. duffy in the very near future. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa is recognized. mr. grassley: like my colleague -- the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. grassley: i ask that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without the presiding officer: without >> asked the quorum call the -- >> without objection. >> also leader has just said, i come to the floor for the same purpose of talk about my vote in favor of mr. bessent, to be secretary of treasury. this cabinet position is one of the most important positions in any administration. the secretary is the tip of the

spear for president's domestic economic agenda. very key player in international affairs with responsibilities covering international trade, global finance, and foreign sanctions, and that's just to name a few. given the current challenges we face as a nation, the next treasury secretary will have a big, full load on their plate. the u.s. is facing what former clinton treasury secretary larry summers recently called, quote, the biggest fiscal sustainability problem since the civil war, end of quote. at the same time, the expansionist ambitions of russia in europe and china,

particularly china's pursuit of economic hegemony, threatens international economic order. having met with mr. bessent, i'm confident he's up to the task. he has a depth of knowledge of economic history. in fact, he taught a class on the subject at yale university. that and his decades long career in finance make him uniquely qualified to be our next secretary of the treasury. he's acutely aware of the risk posed to our national economy by our $36 trillion national debt. he understands that digging ourselves out of our fiscal hole will require spending restraint

and, couple with that, great economic growth. as he discussed in testimony before the senate committee, avoiding the largest tax hike in the history of our country by extending the 2017 tax law is crucial to the health of the american economy. and we all know in this body that the biggest tax increase in the history of the country can happen to the middle class even without a vote of congress, because the 2017 tax bill sunsets at the end of this year. mr. bessent also understands that international trade and access to foreign markets are vital to the economic success of the american farmer. and when i spoke with this nominee in my office, i was pleasantly surprised by his

knowledge of agriculture stemming from his ownership of farmland in north dakota. as with all nominees, i stressed to mr. bessent the importance of responding to congressional letters. congress has a constitutional duty to perform oversight of the executive branch. i intend to hold him to his commitment to respond to all congressional inquiries in a timely and responsive manner. i also told him that every nominee that comes before any committee is asked that same question, will you respond to our letters, and i say kind of tongue in check but with some truth to it that you ought to say maybe, because i showed pam bo bondi, our nominee for attorney

general, when she was in my office a whole file of 158 letters in the last four years that i sent to the department of justice that have remained unanswered or not fully an answered, and all that. so i hope that we can get this trump cabinet to keep their word, that they're going to answer our letters, because they need to focus it from the standpoint of the constitution. you learn it in eighth grade civics, that we not only pass laws here and appropriate money, but under checks and balances we have the responsibility to make sure that the executive branch fai faithfully executes that law, or spends that money appropriately. and so checking up on that requires a lot of communication

between us in the congress and the executive branch. that's true whether it's a republican or democrat president. but i hope this administration's committed to fully cooperating with congress on our oversight responsibilities. now, there's another item i always stress with treasury nominees, and that's the importance of irs whistleblower program that are offered critical -- that i authored critical updates to in 2006. to date, this program has brought in over $6 billion to the treasury, thanks to whistleblowers who often risk their careers to blow the whistle on tax cheats. this legislation is meant to make sure that the irs has told

information on who's paying their taxes and who isn't. so, if you're working with some corporation that's not paying their taxes, and you can report that successfully for the collection of those taxes to the irs, that whistleblower can get a share of the return. and so far, since 2006, $6 million -- $6 billion has come back into the federal treasury as a result of that program. however, in regard to that program, for much of the program's history there has been an embedded culture in treasury, and the irs has hampered the success of the program. so i look forward to working with mr. bessent to turn that culture around so that the 2006

legislation will be much more productive in getting the federal government -- not having the federal government cheated out of taxes that people owe. so, based on my discussions with mr. bessent, there is no doubt in my mind that he is well qualified to be treasury secretary. he so i urge -- so i urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of his nomination later today. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

[background sounds] >> good morning, everybody. how we doing? it's an honor to be here. it's an honor to be on behalf of president pence serve on behalf of the country. an amazing job. talking to the children some of the folks here, we're in capable hands. the war fighters are ready to go. go. if you see what the president said last week in his executive orders he's hitting the ground running. he's made it very clear there s an emergency at the southern border, the protection of the sovereign territory of