hoeven, no. mr. risch, no. mr. husted, no. mr. tillis, no. the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. the clerk: mr. thune, no. mr. cruz, no. the clerk: mr. young, no. the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. coons, aye. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr. grassley, no. the clerk: mr. cotton, no. mr. ossoff, aye. mr. warnock, aye. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye. the presiding officer: the nays are 52, the yeas are 48. the amendment is not agreed to. ms. duckworth: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. ms. duckworth: i call up duckworth-booker amendment 971 and ask that be reported by number. the clerk: ms. duckworth proposes an amendment numbered 971. ms. duckworth: mr. president, this amendment would protect the right to ivf and other fertility care and require insurers to cover ivf. i know my republican colleagues will claim that president trump has already solved this problems, but don't be fooled. donald trump's recent toothless overly vague order does nothing to expand access to ivf. it was just lip service from a known liar. in fact, it's

hoeven: mr. chris engelstad, president of the national barley growers association, from fertile, minnesota. i certainly know where that is. ms. amy france, chair of the national sorghum producers, scott city, kansas. of course josh gackle, who i introduced a minute ago. mr. garrett moore, member of the u.s. peanut federation from chancellor, alabama. mr. tim deal, vice president of the american sugar beet growers association from doran, minnesota. and that leads us to mrs. jennifer james, board of directors, usa rice, newport, arkansas. i know how excited our chairman is to introduce both you and mr. reed. i see he has book ended this, which does not surprise me a bit because he knows how to cover all the bases. with that, i will turn back to our chairman, senator boseman. -- boozman. chair boozman: thank you, very much for your help. sen. hoeven: i did mention that inadvertently when i introduced senator moran, i said the great state of texas inadvertently. i was thinking about my white from tex

jaire higher coverage and cost assistance and sco and support senator hoevens bill and incentivizingerage. quick two things for consideration. first, ratings must be reviewed to ensure we have not driving planting based on insurance. second, an election going for them. i thank you very much for this time and appreciate all of the work putting into this day in and day out. >> u.s. soy bone industry dealing with long term negative impacts in the last trade war in 2018 and retaliatory tariffs tas from addictional actions taken by the threatening access even further. tahin primed to meet demand resulting from new trade disruptions and going for them andenenhancing the role that u.s. plays in america. going for the moment of expansion and lower than anticipated going for the obligations and stunted growth and triggered a decline in them and delaying on that and a calculation system that affords higher credit prices to nonagriculture feed stocks and added additional downward soil prices. and then high levels of imports displaced domestic soybean oil. >> environmental protection act seizure

hoeven, aye.ators voting in the negative -- alsobrooks, coons, hassan, heinrich, kim, klobuchar, lujan, murray, peters, schumer, shaheen, van hollen, wyden. mr. mccormick, aye. mr. ricketts, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mrs. fischer, aye. mr. schiff, no. mr. boozman, aye. mr. schatz, no. mr. marshall, aye. mr. gallego, no. the clerk: mr. thune, aye. the clerk: ms. duckworth, no. ms. ernst, aye. ms. collins, aye. ms. hirono, no. mr. merkley, no. ms. cortez masto, no. the clerk: mr. ossoff, no. the clerk: mr. welch, no. the clerk: ms. baldwin, no. ms. cantwell, no. the clerk: mr. kelly, no. the clerk: mr. graham, aye. mrs. moody, aye. mr. warner, no. ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: ms. blunt rochester, no. mr. husted, aye. ms. slotkin, no. mrs. capito, aye. the clerk: mr. murphy, no. the clerk: mr. blumenthal, no. the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. sullivan, aye. mr. hickenlooper, no. the clerk: mr. sanders, no. mr. cornyn, aye. the clerk: mr. king, no. mr. reed, no. mr. markey, no. ms. warren, no.

hoeven: thank you.madam president, i'm pleased to come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to confirm chris wright to be secretary of energy. mr. wright has demonstrated tremendous leadership in the energy industry over the past more than 30 years. he is a true pioneer in advancing new technologies that unlock the shale energy revolution in our country. when i start the as governor of north dakota in 2000, our state was producing about 100,000 barrels of oil a day. but that production was declining. we produced from the old traditional vertical wells going down as much as two miles in most cases. so we had to do something dix we started a new energy plan called empower north dakota, to help make our state the energy powerhouse that it is today. we developed the right regulatory and tax climate to encourage energy development. we worked to bring talent to our state with the best entrepreneurial mindset. that included energy leaders like mr. wright. people that have the latest and greatest understand

hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye. . the clerk: mr. merkley, no. the clerk: mr. budd, aye. mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. moran, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, no. the clerk: mr. schatz, no. ms. smith, no. mr. husted, aye. ms. lummis, aye. the clerk: mrs. capito, aye. ms. cantwell, no. the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. mr. kim, no. ms. murkowski, aye. mr. coons, no. mr. kaine, no. the clerk: mr. warner, no. mr. king, no. the clerk: mr. warnock, no. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no. the clerk: mr. schmitt, aye. mr. cruz, aye. mr. lee, aye. mrs. moody, aye. mr. daines, aye. mr. schiff, no. mr. booker, no. mr. padilla, no. mr. padilla, no. is led by this. we wish to be everywhere all times. with allies and partners and encouraged everyone to invest have they represent but it requires realistic nominees. a lot of to the media anyone suggests abandonment are trying to drive away allies. we are committed to that and understand the importance. the fiscal reality of the have to. nato has to spend more and we are very encouraged and behind closed doors acknowledging that r

hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. paul, aye. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. the clerk: mr. mcconnell, aye. the presiding officer: we have 51 yeas. 47 nays. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of justice, kash patel of nevada to be director of the federal bureau of investigation. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. mcconnell: i've never liked calling too much attention to today's date, february 20. but i figured my birthday would be as good a day as any to share with our colleagues a decision i made last year. during my time in the senate, i've only really answered to two constituencies. the republican conference and the people of kentucky. over the years the first group trusted me to coordinate cam campaigns, to count votes, to steer committees, to take the majority and on nine occasions to lead our conference. serving as a republican leader was a rare and, yes, rather specific childhood dream. and just about a year ago, i thanked my colleagues for their confidence w

it's senator john hoeven.is, "exfoliate by removing your eyebrows and putting them above your lips." [ laughter and applause ] simple. simple health tip. [ applause ] there's some more health tips here. here's senator cynthia lummis. her health is, "stretch your vocal cords by saying, 'can i speak to a manager,' in the mirror." [ laughter ] here's another health tip. it's senator james lankford. >> steve: oh. >> jimmy: his health tip is, "get cardio as draco malfoy's janky stunt double." [ laughter ] >> steve: oh. he's a double. >> jimmy: up next, here's senator rick scott. his health tip is, "feast upon the blood of your college interns." [ laughter ] finally, here's senator mitch mcconnell. his health tip is, "maybe skip me for this." [ laughter and applause ] there you go. that's some good -- just a a couple tips. four or five tips is all you need. some business news, today apple announced that they're about to introduce "the newest member of the family." yeah. this is what happens when you don't use apple'

hoeven i. >> clarity of what everybody is watching right now. senators get to come in and vote. they don't technically have a clock on them. they may claim otherwise. what you just heard was a clerk reading off the votes of those who have voted yes. anybody who hasn't voted can come in and vote while they're doing it. i'll just say it's actually a very cool thing to watch. if you're a senate procedural nerd, you see the pages sitting down there. >> senate procedural. >> nerds. i've met some adjacent. i'm adjacent to them. yeah. the guy sitting down right next to the to the desk or the the pages who actually run the senate. um, but are actually enormously helpful. so we're continuing to watch the senators come in. i believe you see somebody wearing an eagles jersey right there who clearly lost a bet. um, at some point, um, you know, you're allowed to have a little bit of fun, although you're supposed to be wearing a jacket and a tie on the senate floor as we continue to kind of watch these votes. i'm sorry, is that a jeremy maclin jersey? that's yeah, that's old school. um, i can

hoeven, aye. emphasis on fighting crime, with the senate judiciary chair rather calling him the right man at the right time. but democrats have warned he is unfit for the position, raising concerns that he's going to use the agency to target the president's political enemies. joining us now is nbc sahil kapoor reporting on capitol hill, and frank figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi and an msnbc senior national security analyst. also, brendan buck, former aide to house speaker paul ryan and john boehner and an msnbc political analyst. welcome to all of you. so, hill, right now, where is the count? where does the vote stand? >> hey, alex, will the senate vote on the nomination of kash patel to be fbi director is still open, and it's looking like this is going to be a close one to the end, because we now have two republicans who have come out against kash patel. the first is susan collins, who made her opposition known earlier today. she said in a statement that sh

sensitive and fragile areas, so i would like to hone in on where ranking huffman -- ranking member hoevenegan, the bill circumvents the fee that goes to the direct management of these national marine sanctuaries, so can you tell me how much money the companies you represent would be saving by circumventing that fee process? >> thank you for your question. really, the fair market value fee is not part of what i do, it is part of a permitting process, and as i mentioned, we have not really undertaken that, so i'm not in a position to say how much. >> it is my understanding that given a 20 mile route through a sanctuary, the fair market fee would be the and $7 million, going back to the management of the marine sanctuary because of the designated importance this government has established. my second question is around the text of the bill, i have concerns about ambiguity here. particularly the legislation as written, let's take a home state of maryland and presenting the cosine of the chesapeake bay -- pardon me. the bill is written where it says any state or federal agency, state if the com

hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. king. ms. klobuchar. ms. klobuchar. serving america's small businesses, no stronger advocate than our president. actually our commitment if confirmed i will work tirelessly to make small business again. i want to thank my wonderful husband jeff and my wonderful friends who have joined us here today most importantly i gave all thanks and glory to god. as someone who has meant my life working in small businesses, starting them, growing them and helping them succeed, i know that small business is big business for america. they comprise 99% of small businesses, 2 out of 3 new jobs. they are the opportunity and innovation engines that drive prosperity and growth and they power the american economy as much as they power the american dream and president trump make historic strides driving small business formation, blue- collar boom and agenda created 7 million new jobs. his first term accomplishments were so great that following the 2024 election small business optimism recorded largest jump

hoeven: thank you. >> there are three questions i wanted to ask you. for weeks i have heard concerns from hundreds of constituents across my district in southern california. people are worried about their health data being accessed by unelected billionaires like elon musk and fearful republicans will get medicaid and strip access to care that they need to survive just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. and when the trump administration announced plans to illegally freeze federal funding late last month i received frantic calls from community health centers in my district who were unable to access funds they needed it to pay their staff as a result. now, republicans agreed to let president trump cut $4 billion from nih funding under the guise of capping administrative cost. and nih funded research are reached out to my office yesterday to share this change threatens his vital work to cure diabetes. diabetes affects 38 million americans. by slashing nih funding we are just cutting research, we are undermining hope for future breakthroughs that cou

hoeven. mr. husted.. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12, no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend e. the clerk: mr. quelly. -- mr. kelly. the presiding officer: no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will success spend. the clerk: mr. kennedy. mr. kim. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12, no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: mr. king. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12, no debate is permitted during a vote. no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12, no debate is permitted during a vote. the senator will suspend. the clerk: ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. the presiding officer: pursuant to rule 12, no debate is towered during a vote. is permitted during a vote. the senator although suspend. the

hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. schiff, no. the clerk: mr. bennet, no. mrs. capito, aye. mr. wicker, aye. the clerk: mrs. fischer, aye. the clerk: mr. cruz, aye. the clerk: mr. mullin, aye. mr. lee, aye. the clerk: mr. gallego, no. the clerk: mr. curtis, aye. the clerk: mr. whitehouse, no. the presiding officer: the yeas are 51, nays 49. the confirmation is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be l immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: i recognize the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you very much. to my colleagues, we'll soon be starting what is commonly called a vote-a-rama. if you've never been in one, it's okay. but know it's a chance to have spirited discussion and debate about policy and about the budget resolution. so what's happened here is that the budget committee reported out senate concurrent resolution 7 that will allow through the reconciliation process the spending of money and the reduction of spending based on different commi

hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. the last thing they need is another massive tax hike on top of that inflation. what happens if the tax cuts expire . if we do not extend these tax policies americans will be at with an over $4 trillion taxincrease . more than 2.6 trillion of that tax increase will fall on households giearning $400,000 per year and an average family of four making $80,000 will be saddled with the $1700

hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the presiding officer: a quorum is present. the ske is is it the sense of the senate that the debate on the nomination of russell vought of virginia to be director. office of management and budget 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. al

hoeven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. thank you j.d. and the vice president for that kind introduction. deeply appreciate our friendship and that you were able to join you today. i'm profoundly grateful to president trump and the confidence he's placed in me. to honor to stand here before you as your nominee for the secretary of commerce. my family is here with me today and i like to introduce you to my wife allison behind me who for 30 years has been my great partner adviser and a spectacular mother to our wonderful children my eldest son kyle behind me brandon, casey and ryan. extraordinary sister eydie is also here as well as allison's brother rick and my sister-in-law abby and many of my closest friends who chose to come down to support me. i grew up on long island new york and my mother was an artist and art teacher my father was a professor of american history. my mother gene taught me how to appreciate life. when i was 14 she was diagnosed with terminal cancer but she