ranking member boozman distinguished members of the czech committee. you for the opportunity to present the 2020 but requests with apartments energy and installation programs. while my former state has been submitted for the record, i would highlight a few areas. our installations remain one of our primary weapon systems, with a stark reality is we must ensure that our installations and not only postured to support joint force, but they are resilient against the full range of natural and mandates. our 2023 budget request supports our efforts to address mr. requirements, ensure service members have a stave place to live and work, and also resilience challenges. we request that 29 point 9. 2 billion for military construction, and sustain restoration monitors asian funding for our facilities, to address critical mission requirements, and lighthouse safety concerns within the current fiscal indictment. this funding will be used to replace, restore, and modernize injuring facilities to enhance the resilience to climate events, and promote elimination of acc

. >> thank you senators boozman. we will now proceed with statement starting with mr. cramer event admiral williamson and finishing with general banta. mr. cramer you are recognized in your full written statement will be entered in the record. >> ranking members. >> ranking member boozman and nissan versa thank you for the opportunity present the present fiscal 2023 butter crust. my full written statement as been submitted for the record and i will highlight a few areas. a deletion germane one of our primary weapon systems and the stark reality is we must ensure they are not only ushered to set port the joint force but their resilience against a full range of natural and man-made threats. our 2023 budget request support surfers to address mission requirements ensure servicemembers have a safe place to live and work in address their resilience challenges. we requested 29.2 billion for military construction and sustainment modernization funding for facilities to address critical mission requirements and help save the concerns within the current environment for this will

strategy.he and for my colleagues on the senate affairs committee particularly like senator john boozman and sherrod brown, thank you. i'm thankful for the leadership president biden and the secretary along with the house veterans affairs committee chair man and so many others. this bill is the legislation that we envisioned when we set out to right the wrongs and recognizes the cost of war. it's a bill our families and veterans deserve and are counting on and it cannot wait any longer for. octhe veterans service organizations have understood for a long time and have been incredible partners since the beginning. i look forward to thanking all of them in the days and weeks to come. i want to speak directly to them now. i am grateful for your efforts and your voices, for never taking your foot off the gas and continuing to push members of congress to simply do the right thing. i also want to acknowledge the countless hours put in by the staff both sides of the aisle. we take credit for their good work, and they do good work. the staff from my office as well is this guy right here to my lef

and i would now yield to my friend, senator boozman. the presiding officer: the senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: i rise today for just a moment to discuss the keep kids fed act, which will help schools and summer providers operate as they return to normal while facing supply chain problems and inflated food costs. this bill is the result of a bicameral, bipartisan agreement that assists schools and students as they assume regular operations of the meal programs. the waivers to provide higher reimbursement rates and universal free meals under these programs during covid are no longer necessary. however, schools still face unusual time with a 35% to 40% increase in food prices due to inflation and supply chain difficulties. this bill provides targeted and temporary relief for the 2022-2023 school year to help schools with higher school costs and is fully offset. we all want to ensure that children in this country receive healthful and affordable meals to help them focus on their education. this bill will help schools provide meals as t

for my senators on the committee, particularly friends like john boozman and sherrod brown, thank you. i'm thankful for the leadership of president biden and v.a. secretary dennis mcdonough, along with house veterans' affairs committee chairman takana. and so many, many others that are here today. this bill is the legislation we envisioned when we set out to right the wrongs of our toxic supposed vets. this bill recognizes the cost of war. it's the bill our veterans and their families deserve and are counting on and cannot wait any longer for. veterans and veteran service organizations and advocates have understood this for a long time. and they have been incredible partners since the beginnings. and i look forward to thanking reached and every one of them in the did a -- thanking each and every one of them in the days and weeks to come. i want to speak directly to them now. i am grateful for your efforts. i am grateful for your voices, for never taking your foot off the gas and continuing to push members of congress to simply do the right thing. i also want to acknowledge the countle

boozman: thank you.i understand usda plans to release a proposed role to tighten nutrition standards this fall. i guess the question is, will usda enforce those standards in schools? we have a situation where, they are fighting the inflation cost, labor cost, and also the price of these because they are in a situation where many of these are special products that are not made as much, and not as profitable. are you confident that schools will have access to food that will meet the usda's new standards? have we done any work in looking at what that is going to do towards increasing costs and availability? sec. vilsack: it is not a full application of the new fission standards. it is a bridge to a longer-term recommitment to the health standards. at the time we propose this, we were hopeful. i remain and continue to be hopeful that congress finds a way to provide the resources to schools with universal free meals for another year. with any authority we have that will expire at the end of june of this year.

senator boozman, i'm here, mr. secretary, because i've got a particular problem that i'm trying to address, but it's ultimately coming down to you. here is what happened. last december, we got hit by the biggest tornado we've ever had. it actually ended up being on the ground for over 200 miles. it hit and largely destroyed the town of mayfield, which is the biggest grain storage facility in our state. completely wiped out. so, look, i want to thank you for what you all have already done to help on numerous occasions as we try to recover. but as part of the destruction with this grain storage infrastructure gone in western kentucky, not only do we lose millions of bushels of storage we've got a problem that has to be fixed or we're basically out of business this year. so what i did was put a provision in the appropriations bill that asks you to identify funding sources that we can address pretty quickly to not completely lose our ability to have storage for this year's crop. i don't know whether you're already fami

the treaty is also going to say that they are going to close down the forts along the boozman trail. gold had been found in montana, and so there had been an attempt to go out towards boozman and find the gold. they said, we will close down those forts. they don't, but they say they're going to. and they are going to recognize and defend, and protect, you, know the boundaries of the great sioux reservation, they don't. 1874, gold is found in black hills. you notice, like, everything kind of has a connection back to gold being found? gold was found in georgia. gold was found in california. gold was found in colorado, you, problem. yay. it's almost like there is a theme. so they found gold in 1874 and basically, the -- expedition finds this gold okay, this is going to be a problem. and rather than trying to keep white miners out of the black hills, which they are supposed to based on the treaty, the u.s. army is just like yeah, okay, go ahead, do your thing. and between 1876 and 1889, the u.s. government just unilaterally changes the fort laramie treaty. just changes it. without gettin

senator boozman, anything you like to -- okay. so i'm not going to introduce the three witnesses the i invited to testify at today's hearing and then senator marshall introduced his two from the arkansas river valley. these are all leading experts in their field with decades of experience in the sustainable management of our water from force streams and wetlands, all of them stagers partnering with diverse groups across the west to manage our water resources in a way that preserves our economy and way of work period begins, the american people have one question front of mind, after years and decades of gridlock, will the senate do something about our nation's gun violence epidemic? democrats are ready to take action and soon every single member of this chamber is going to have to answer that question. today is june 7, 2022, it is the 158th day of the year. already -- already this year we have had over 250 mass shootings, over 250, that's more than one a day. two weeks ago, we saw the worst school shooting in america since the trag

this is jody off twitter saying i voted in the republican primaries like faux fur opponents of john boozman, sarah huckabee and steve womack. , again some of the motivating factors there. you can share yours as well for their many 18 minutes or so that we have. this is the sacramento, california, democrats line. this is john, hello. >> hello. hello, pedro. i'm just calling to let these people calling in and saying they're going to vote for republicans. these republicans are trying to start a race war. so, now, you want to join a group of people that don't even like you are behind. >> all, right let's stick to you personally. what are your motivating factor, is as far as november? >> the republicans are a bunch of treason is people, that's why i'm voting for democrats. everyone needs to vote for democrats if they want to keep this country. >> as our primary in your state yesterday? did you participate? >> they decided, kevin no some is my man. straight democrat, down the ticket. if there's a democrat, i'm voting for it, i don't care who it is. i don't know who it is, what they do, but i know

i appreciate a how quickly and i also want to thank senator boozman and the whole committee for working together in a bipartisan basis to take action that was important for the committee to do last week. you've been creating more opportunities for the rural small businesses into andstrengthening opportunities r american farmers both at home and abroad, globalizing to respond to the climate crisis and equipping our supply chain to better withstand shocks like the pandemic and putin's war on ukraine. your work reflectsan the range f challenges facing the farmers, families and communities right now. during the pandemicit we saw how highly concentrated food supply chains left both farmers and consumers vulnerable, essential workers put on the front lines and had no choice but to destroy the crops and livestock they can no longer sell. and millions of families could not or did not have enough to eat. the previous administration gravely mismanaged the usda's ability to address any of these crcrisis. under yourd leadership the usda has implemented the historic investments in the american rescu

i appreciate the cooperation of my colleague and friend, our ranking member senator boozman in moving this nomination forward. and i urge my colleagues to vote to confirm dr. jacobs-young today. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will resume executive session. the clerk will report the jacobs-young nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of agriculture, chavonda jacobs-young of georgia to be under secretary of agriculture for research, education, and economics. the presiding officer: the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 95. the nays are 4. the 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 actions. the clerk will report the next nomination. the clerk: department of homeland security, kenneth l. wainstein of v.a. to be under -- of virgi

foxx, for working with me and senator stabenow and boozman on this legislation. i urge a yes vote on the bill and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. mrs. steel: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. mrs. steel: thank you. madam speaker, i'm pleased to support this bipartisan legislation that will help ensure students receive healthy school meals. students need access to nutritious meals so that they can be their best, beth in and out of the classroom. today's bipartisan legislation does just that. during pandemic lockdowns, school food programs were critical to those in need. these programs play an important role in nonpandemic timestoo. it is important that we ensure this program is sustainable for schools and that means responsible oversight and a return to regular order. we want to make sure that students who rely on school meals have access to them and that schools can continue to supply them.

boozman. i urge a yes vote on the motion and reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from north carolina is recognized. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate my colleague from virginia yielding time. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. foxx: this is essentially the same bill we passed overwhelmingly yesterday except it was improved by our colleagues in the senate. this bill is a more targeted approach that includes temporary support for students and schools. it puttance end to the permanent pandemic narrative that led to unnecessary federal programs with little return to taxpayers. for more than two years, broad nutrition waivers provided free meals to everyone including wealthy families. this legislation returns these programs to regular order. most importantly this bill is fully paid for. it is an example of respecting taxpayer funds. something the federal government is in short supply of. simply put, this bill pours school nut

for my senators on the committee, particularly friends like john boozman and sherrod brown, thank you. i'm thankful for the leadership of president biden and v.a. secretary dennis mcdonough, along with house veterans' affairs committee chairman takana. and so many, many others that are here today. this bill is the legislation we envisioned when we set out to right the wrongs of our toxic supposed vets. this bill recognizes the cost of war. it's the bill our veterans and their families deserve and are counting on and cannot wait any longer for. veterans and veteran service organizations and advocates have understood this for a long time. and they have been incredible partners since the beginnings. and i look forward to thanking reached and every one of them in the did a -- thanking each and every one of them in the days and weeks to come. i want to speak directly to them now. i am grateful for your efforts. i am grateful for your voices, for never taking your foot off the gas and continuing to push members of congress to simply do the right thing. i also want to acknowledge the countle

if you combine him with senator boozman and senator heinrich, it has been a great team. i just want to thank senator moran for his leadership and his continued, his continued desire to do the right thing for the servicemembers who have served this you country in the military. mr. president, the senate has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity today to make history in passing the sergeant first class heath robinson act. let me be clear, this bill isn't about democrats versus republicans, it's not about political posturing. it's about americans standing up for those who have served and sacrificed on behalf of this country and the freedoms that we have today. in fact, it's even more than that. it's about righting a wrong that has been ignored for too damned long. it's about will thompson who served our country for 23 years in the army on active duty as a west virginia national guardsman. after his second tour in iraq in 2009, will developed pulmonary fibrosis from the effects of exposure fo burn pits and he endured two double lung transplants. he testified in front of our commit