mr. president. i yield back. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, covid-19 has killed over 780,000 people in our country. this pandemic has a higher body count than any war we have ever fought in, and it's not over. we should be doing everything we can to stop this virus. we should be using every tool to keep america safe. we all know the damage this virus can do to our communities and to our economy. that is why the biden administration has taken steps to urge employers to make sure their employees are fully vaccinated or test negative for covid-19 before they come to the workplace. that's a move that's widely popular with the american people. no one wants to go to work and be worried they might come home to their family with a deadly virus. even businesses support this step. the chamber of commerce is hurnlging -- urging businesses to comply with the administration's emergency temporary standard. and perhaps more importantly it's a move that will save lives. we've seen

mr. president, when joe biden said during the debate with you, that 220,000 americans had died on your watch, you should not be president of the united states, now, more people have actually died -- brian: 770,000. steve: during the joe biden administration. >> well he's done a terrible job, just like he did with the h 1n 1, he's done just an absolutely terrible job getting it out, and getting people to take it. i mean, people just don't want to take it, and the vaccines have been, i have to be very proud of the vaccines. we did it in less than nine months, people said it was going to take five years to 12 years and probably wouldn't work. they worked incredibly well, some people don't want to take them and that's their freedom and that's what we have to do, but people don't want to take them because they don't trust biden. they don't trust the administration. we had none of that. everybody was fighting to take them and we were doing great. we were doing really great on distribution. we also bought billions of dollars worth before we knew it was going to be successful which saved us one year

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, while we're waiting because the senator wishes to speak, i appreciate those who worked very hard, including my friends on the floor, on the national defense act. yesterday that passed with pretty overwhelming majority. but as i've noted -- & i voted for it -- but as i note, that does not provide money; that provides an authorization. right now if we go on continuing resolutions, defense -- the department of defense will see a multibillion-dollar cut of what's available for them as will nondefense matters. so i would urge senators to work with their leaders and get a -- get the appropriations bills done. they could all be done in an omnibus by the end of january, the 1st of february. i'd urge senators to do that. otherwise there's going to be a dramatic cut in defense and nondefense matters. i yield to the senior senator from new jersey. the presiding

mr. president. >> mr. president. >> the senator k from kansas. >> i call this 4868 and asked that it be reported by number. >> thend clerk will report the amended by number. >> the senator by entering for kansas for himself and mr. lee proposes an amendment 4860. >> there will now be six minutes of debate equally divided. >> prior to the vote number 4868. >> thank you, mr. president. this amendment is simple. it prohibits monies from the spill to be used to fund or enforce the white house covid vaccine mandate on the american people for the duration of this year t. as a physician i've always supported the vaccine and i encourage americans to talk to their doctor about getting vaccinated in about the booster. whether we received the vaccine were not as a personal choice. it should not be mandated via unconstitutional executive action that the administration earlier this year did not have the authority to put in place. no president exist in american history for punishing private employers who don't enforce go

mr. president. mr. president, earlier this morning it was -- i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: earlier this morning, it was my honor to join with vice president -- president biden, vice president, leader mcconnell, the speaker, and other congressional leaders in paying a final tribute to our former colleague, senator bob dole of kansas. from defending our country in world war ii where he fought the nazis on the hillsides of italy to dedicating his final years advocating for disabled americans and veterans, senator dole redefined and elevated what it means to serve our country. by 2021, he had given -- by 21, he had given more of himself than most of us for a lifetime. then he kept going for 70 years after that. leader dole, rest in peace. thank you for all you did to make our country better. and i extend my condolences and prayers to his wife, senator elizabeth dole, their family, and all who mourn the loss of the gentleman from k

mr. president. mr. risch: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. risch: [inaudible] the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. and the motion to concur with amendment number 4871 is withdrawn. the question is on the motion to concur. the yeas and nays have been requested. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 59, the nays are 34. the motion to concur is agreed to. the clerk will report the moition and 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 close the debate on nomination of executive calendar number 486, lucy hey ron coof california to be --koe of california to be circuit court judge. signed by 19 senators. the presiding officer: the mandatory quorum call is waived. get is is it the accepts of the senate the teebt on the nomina

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: mr. president, since being elected to the united states senate about three years ago, i have spoken often about the dangers presented by communist china. i have not been alone in this. colleagues on both sides of the aisle, republicans, democrats and independents in this body have been vocal about the threats we face from general secretary xi and his communist regime. while we may not always agree on the solutions to the problems caused by communist china, i feel we are united in the truth. the good people of china are being brutally oppressed, sensorsed, -- censored and manipulated by the chinese communist party, a regime that wants nothing more than to dominate the world and ex-continuing wish the democratic values and freedoms we stand for. their actions have made this clear to freedom loving people across the world. one of the china's most recognizable athletes is a three-time olympian and ranked a number one player by the world tennis association. she won championships and represented

the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h.r. 4350 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 144, h.r. 4350, an act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2022 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes. mr. cornyn: madam president, back in september, the small little texas border town del rio, texas, was thrown into the national spotlight. this is a small town on the u.s.-mexico border of 35,000 people, and over the course of several days, they had 15 to -- 15,000 to 20,000 hey yen -- haitian migrants camping out underneath a bridge. migrants huddled under the bridge to escape triple-digit temperatures. it's still hot in september in texas. and they had minimal access to sanitation, to food, and cle

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i want to come down to the senate floor and commend a number of senators, but i want to particularly commend the chairman of the armed services committee, senator reed and the ranking member, senator inhofe, and their staff and all the staff on the armed services committee for the exceptional work they have done over the last several months to produce the strong national defense authorization act that just passed in a very strong bipartisan vote here on the floor of the united states senate. that vote, mr. president, was 88-11, and i think it's a prime example of something that i mention a lot back home is that there's a lot more bipartisan work that gets done near the senate that isn't often recognized and there is nothing more important than having senators from both sides of the aisle come together with regard to national defense and supporting our troops and their families. we've been doing that over 60 years in a row where we have passed the national defense authorizati

mr. president. but i want to say personally i've enjoyed working with you when i was in congress, as head of the dea, and i appreciate your leadership, and thank you so much for giving us the time today to hear from us, but also so that we could he fr you -- could hear from you personally about the challenge that we face. mr. president, the microphone is yours. thank you, president biden. pres. biden: thank you very much. look, there is no federal solution. this gets solved at the state level. i'm looking at governor on the talks about that a lot. and it gets down to where the rubber meets the road and that's where the patient is in need of help or preventing the need for help. look, thank you for what you are doing. thank you for the national governors association and vice chair murphy across the river, all is well in new jersey, i assume. >> amen, mr. president. pres. biden: and here today, democrats and republicans, we've discussed the rising covid cases especially coming out of the holidays. and

mr. president. the presiding officer: -- mr. braun: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: i come here this evening, when i was back home on recess breaks, every since this idea of a vaccine mandate, meaning we've got a modern miracle having vaccines available like they've been, part of the long journey against covid, along with they area putinics -- therapeutics now. they are miracles, but getting vaccinated should be a decision between an individual in his or her -- and his or her doctor. it shouldn't be up to any politician, especially in a mandate coming down from that highest authority, our president. and he ought to be consistent with what he said in the past. he said he wouldn't make it mandatory. he didn't keep his word. overreach. i've been here a little under three years, and i see it in so many arenas, a lot with good intention. we try to solve things here. i think the american public sometimes scratches its collective head to say where are the results? why does it cost so much? but in this case you've g

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. hawley: mr. president, i object and i submit a statement for the record. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. kelly: mr. president. the presiding officer: the -- the senator from arizona. mr. kelly: mr. president, the deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering is a critical position that helps lead and manage our military science and technology work. this includes work on disruptive cutting-edge technologies like quantum science, hypersonics and artificial intelligence. maintaining our competitive edge over china in these areas has been a focus of the subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities, which i chair. and i know that all of us -- all of us here understand how important it is. we worked on a bipartisan basis to include investments and policy changes for these priorities in the ndaa that we are hoping to pass this week. the deputy under secretary of defense for research and engineering is tasked with carrying out many of these changes, and yet, the nomine

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor to talk about the defense bill currently before the senate and i noticed the majority leader made some complaints about substantive, timely and important amendments that are being offered by my colleagues. he was particularly agitated it seems about an amendment dealing with communist china. the united states senate has a lot of work to do by the end of the year. we need to fund the government. we need to prevent a shutdown. we need to deal with the debt ceiling. democrats are going to need to lift that. we immediate to make sure that our -- we need to make sure our troops are funded and we deal with the defense bill. these are some of the important issues that are before the senate. here we are near the end of the year scrambling to get it

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent that senator lankford be recognized for five minutes, senator murphy six minutes, and i last for 12 minutes prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. lankford: it's hard to recognize the system fact that this is the united states of america, home of the free, land of the brave. then why is it such a difficult conversation with so many people in my state when they ask this question -- are we still free as a nation? why are we having this conversation? are we still free as a nation? of course we are. we're having this conversation because september 9 the president of the united states announced he was losing patience with the american people and he was going to put a new demand on every single office in america, every workplace, that anyone who had 100 or more people in their company, every single person in that company had to be vaccinated because the president was losing patience with them. he said it's for health

mr. president, isn't right or and authority a president has. we shouldn't be doing this. deep down we know that it's right and also and to be concentrated on anyone vote on one bill such that all of government tends to be funded or none of it is funded. sometimes the only opportunity we have on a particular policy unless we can agree that we will vote on an amendment on the data thate should never result in a shutdown threat. and when thoseer threats are ma, we should acknowledge who's making them. never once has any one of us wanted to shut down government. we wanted to give a chance to vote for them, a chance for us to stand with them. don't take away the job of hard-working americans. don't fire people because they are not inclined to hear from medical orthodoxy. please support me in this amendment. thank you, mr. president. the clerk will report the kaamendment by number. a. >> mr. marshall for mr. lee proposes an amendment number 48 to 68.ow a. >> there will m now be six minus of debate equally divided. prior to number 4868. >> thanke. you, mr. president. at this ame

mr. president. >> >> mr. president. >> 16 million lives have been lost to abortion and our politics have been distorted by a ruling that deprived the american citizen the voter, the right to determine questions of which there's constitutional ambiguity. the senate confirms the judicial branch to be judges, they're to judge not to legislate. and legislate is our job in the capital and state legislatures in all 50 states. yet, previous iterations of the supreme court have seen fit to usurp this legislative power particularly to abortion. unelected judges and justices have relied on specious jurisprudence to eviscerate laws of the unborn. you don't need to take the word of a conservative senator from kansas. route bader ginsburg, it seemed entirely to remove the ball from the legislator's court and one professor acknowledged that roe short circuited these assessments, the fallout of roe as affirmed by planned parenthood and casy, it's become a cage match, a fight here in the united states senate. someone as emmin

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. risch: i rise to oppose the matter before us, and i want to rise in support of the sale of these particular weapons to the saudis. saudis are an ally of ours, as with many allies they have items that we don't agree with, and those obviously have been highlighted here on the floor today. my colleague, the chairman of the foreign relations committee, has laid out exactly why we need to see that this sale goes through. there's been 240-plus drone missiles strike saudi targets this year. the latest one was just yesterday. these are houthi rebel drones that come out of yemen. they're provided to them by the iranians. this thing would be over if the iranians would back away and get out of this. i agree that we need to press for a solution here. this, what's going on in yemen is one of, not the but close to it, one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet today. in fact, what's going on there is going to get worse as this year goes on, and as the senator from new jersey indicated, the

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. mr. padilla: mr. rise today in support of the nomination of judge lucy koh to the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. judge koh is an outstanding legal thinker and a trail-blazing public servant. her commitment to equal justice for all has earned her support on both sides of the aisle, from her first judicial appointment by former california governor arnold schwarzenegger, a republican, to her unanimous senate confirmation to serve as a federal district judge in california, to her strong bipartisan advancement recently from the senate judiciary committee for this appointment, judge koh has a reputation for excellence that stretches far and wide. she built this reputation over the course of a stellar legal career that started right here in this senate as a woman's law and public policy fellow with the senate judiciary committee. she then spent seven years with the united states department of justice, earning numerous accolades for her work, including an f.b.i. award for excellence in prosecuti

mr. president. this is the 40th time we have convened this group of governors, and in addition we are in constant one-on-one contact with the governors and their teams. >> more times than i have seen you. >> their leadership on the ground, they are on the frontline, as you know, essential to the progress we have made so far. i'm going to turn to governor hutchinson who has done an outstanding job as chair of the national governors association leading this group and ensuring we are all working together every step of the way. over to you, governor hutchinson. >> thank you. i want to thank all of the white house team for being such great support to the governors, and i want to thank mr. president, your address to the nation last week. thank you for your comments, designed to depoliticize our covid response. i think that was helpful. as we face omicron, the governors and your administration must be working together more closely than ever. i particularly appreciate your comments about increasing the supp

mr. president. we'll move immediately into the first section of the agenda to focus on ports and logistics, progress made, and additional steps. i hear from john, chris connor, and then we will turn to the floor for questions. john, over to you. >> mr. president, we are making real and sustained progress on the ports. to increase fluidity. as you reported, the port of los angeles and long beach are moving record volumes of goods. the percentage of -- the number of long-running containers, that have been there eight days or more, has been cut in half. the port of long beach as, since mid-october,, the dwell time has gone from 12 days to five days. in the port of los angeles, 125% improvement. we are holding monday, wednesday, friday action group meetings with leadership at the ports, with labor. the ocean carriers, terminal operators, railroads and truckers to work through problems in little time and talk to each other about these problems. we are moving towards 24-7 up version at the ports. one ocea

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i ask unanimous consent to vacate the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wyden: in a few minutes, i'll be putting forward an unanimous consent request asking the senate to take up and improve a highly qualified and noncontroversial nominee. i'll just take a couple of minutes at this point to talk about maria pagan, nominated to be the next deputy u.s. trade representative in geneva. there are a few key points to make about the nominee as well as the critical role she'll serve representing the united states at the world trade organization to get a better deal for american workers, farmers, and businesses. to start, ms. pagan isn't new to high pressure, high-profile negotiations. she's currently deputy general counsel at the u.s. trade's office, the person called in with particularly challenging issues. she's taken on these difficult issues during numerous trade agreement negotiations, including the u.s. mexico canada agreement. she was in lockstep with mem

mr. president, on sunday, november 21st, 2021, a christmas parade in waukesha, wisconsin, meant to usher in a season of peace on earth, goodwill toward men, turned into a nightmare. one eight-year-old child and five adults were murdered. 62 others were injured. some of the injured, including three children, remain in critical condition, their lives forever altered. families with their children who came to see santa claus, high school bands, the dancing grannies, instead witnessed a horror that will leave lifelong psychological scars. first responders and law enforcement who rushed into administer first aid and compassionately deal with the tragedy will be burdened by their terrible memories for the rest of their lives. but as is so often the case, in the midst of an awful event caused by the worst in humanity, the absolute best of humanity is fully revealed. this is what we were witnessing in waukesha. the healing process has already begun. it began immediately as members. community came together to help the victims and survivors. the very next day they gathered at a prayer vigil for hea

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire is recognized. mrs. shaheen: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that my defense fellow, ashley carline, and megan tettrick be given floor privileges for the remainder of the 117th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. shaheen: i originally planned to come to the floor this afterintoening to ask unanimous consent to support the nomination of mark gitenstein to be u.s. ambassador to the european union. he is a most qualified candidate. he has already served is our nation as u.s. ambassador to romania. he's deeply familiar with the geostrategic needs of our allies and has spent over 25 years working on energy issues. this experience is going to be critically important in responding to russia's weaponization of gas flows to europe. as the u.s. confronts challenges around the world, we need to convey our firm commitment to our partners and our alliances. now, unfortunately, i'm not going to be able to move forward with this unanimous consent request because our colleagues on the other side of the ais

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from florida. we've come to the floor multiple times for the past few weeks, trying to push the bipartisan uighur force protection act. mr. rubio: it basically sales that you can't import products into the united states made by slave labor in shing jiang or from entities associated with the government of that region. if you're a company manufacturing in that area, you need to prove that slaves didn't make it. the pre-- it's illegal, by the way, to bring goods made with slave labor. it's been that way since the 1930s, yet it's still happening. we know it's happening at an alarming, horrific rate with the genocide we witness carried out by the chinese government in the xinjiang region. this bill, which we hope passes today, will pass to the president, become law and help tremendously in stopping that from happening. many companies have taken steps to clean up their supply chains. frankly, they should have no cerps about this law. for -- have no concerns about this law. for those who have not done tha

mr. president? okay. >> president walton: it is on first reading. >> clerk: so on the $8.7 million, supervisor peskin? >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: no. >> supervisor safai: no. >> supervisor stefani: no. >> supervisor walton: aye. >> supervisor chan: aye. >> supervisor haney: aye. >> supervisor mandelman: no. >> supervisor mar: aye. >> supervisor melgar: no. >> there are six ayes and five nos with supervisors ronen, safai, stefani, mandelman and melgar in dissent. >> motion 6 to 5 -- >> clerk: it's my understanding that is the eight-vote threshold. >> president walton: so the motion does not carry because it requires an eight-vote threshold. madame clerk, where does that take us with the second motion? >> that leaves us with a vote on 3.25 million dollars to be continued to january 22. >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: aye. >> supervisor safai: -- yes, this is the on the motion to continue 3.25 million to january

mr. president? okay. >> president walton: it is on first reading. >> clerk: so on the $8.7 million, supervisor peskin? >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: no. >> supervisor safai: no. >> supervisor stefani: no. >> supervisor walton: aye. >> supervisor chan: aye. >> supervisor haney: aye. >> supervisor mandelman: no. >> supervisor mar: aye. >> supervisor melgar: no. >> there are six ayes and five nos with supervisors ronen, safai, stefani, mandelman and melgar in dissent. >> motion 6 to 5 -- >> clerk: it's my understanding that is the eight-vote threshold. >> president walton: so the motion does not carry because it requires an eight-vote threshold. madame clerk, where does that take us with the second motion? >> that leaves us with a vote on 3.25 million dollars to be continued to january 22. >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: aye. >> supervisor safai: -- yes, this is the on the motion to continue 3.25 million to january

mr. president? okay. >> president walton: it is on first reading. >> clerk: so on the $8.7 million, supervisor peskin? >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: no. >> supervisor safai: no. >> supervisor stefani: no. >> supervisor walton: aye. >> supervisor chan: aye. >> supervisor haney: aye. >> supervisor mandelman: no. >> supervisor mar: aye. >> supervisor melgar: no. >> there are six ayes and five nos with supervisors ronen, safai, stefani, mandelman and melgar in dissent. >> motion 6 to 5 -- >> clerk: it's my understanding that is the eight-vote threshold. >> president walton: so the motion does not carry because it requires an eight-vote threshold. madame clerk, where does that take us with the second motion? >> that leaves us with a vote on 3.25 million dollars to be continued to january 22. >> supervisor peskin: aye. >> supervisor preston: aye. >> supervisor ronen: aye. >> supervisor safai: -- yes, this is the on the motion to continue 3.25 million to january

mr. president, we appreciate you spending so much time with us and we did not get time to get into covid on the book. >> mr. trump: thank you very much, laura, thank you. >> laura: some big name singers collaborate on a anti-christmas song. catch it in a can't-miss "friday follies" with raymond arroyo. stay there. ♪ ♪ exam and x-rays, with no obligation. if you don't have insurance, it's free. plus everyone saves 20% on their treatment plan with flexible payment solutions for every budget. we're here making smiles shine bright so you can start the new year feelin' alright. call 1-800-aspendental or book today at aspendental.com one of my favorite supplements is qunol turmeric. turmeric helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. unlike regular turmeric supplements qunol's superior absorption helps me get the full benefits of turmeric. the brand i trust is qunol. ♪ ♪ >> laura: it's friday, and that means it's time for... ♪ ♪ of course it "friday follies"! i always try to trick you. we turn to our fox news for jupiter and author of the huge best seller, raymond arroyo. there is a ne

esther president, mr. vice president and mrs. clinton, elizabeth and i wish you all the best as you embark on your second term. may god bless you and each inhabitant of this house and may god bless america. [applause] [applause] ♪♪ certainly johnson's secretaries new because they were tasked with transcribing many of the conversations. in fact they were the ones he made sure the conversations were taped as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his office and there's. >> you will hear some blunt talk. >> and the day that and if i can't go to the bathroom i won't go i will just a white behind you.

esther president, mr. vice president and mrs. clinton, elizabeth and i wish you all the best as you embark on your second term. may god bless you and each inhabitant of this house and may god bless america. [applause] [applause] ♪♪ed the event. it's about 30 minutes.

mr. president.isor chan? >> supervisor chan: present. >> supervisor haney: present. >> supervisor mandelman: present. >> supervisor mar: present. >> supervisor melgar: present. >> supervisor peskin: present. >> supervisor preston: present. >> supervisor ronen: present. >> supervisor safai: presente. >> supervisor stefani: present. >> supervisor walton: present. mr. president, all members are present. >> president walton: thank you. the san francisco board of supervisors acknowledges that we are on the unceded ancestral homeland of the ramaytush ohlone who are the original inhabitants of the san francisco peninsula. as the indigenous stewards of this land, and in accordance with their traditions, the ramaytush ohlone have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as caretakers of this place, as well as for all peoples who reside in their traditional territory. as guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working on their traditional homeland. we wish to pay our respects by ac

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. chumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session, be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i have one request for a committee to meet during today's session of the senate. it has the approval of the majority leader and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to consideration of s. res. 468 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 468, permitting the collection of clothing, toys, foods, and housewares during the holiday season for charitable purposes in the senate buildings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move that the motion be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask that the senate proceed

mr. president and mr. secretary. to start out by thanking governor beshear, mayor o'nan, and congressman comer for welcoming us back to your community. it's been just five days, since we saw the devastating impacts of these tornadoes. and what i've seen already is that the recovery has already begun. as you've already heard, how the communities have come together to help each other out and begin this recovery process. but know this -- you have our commitment -- the commitment of the federal government -- to be here with you as you continue to go through this road to recovery. and since our work began here, we have witnessed exemplary leadership from across the community -- the local leaders, the fire leaders, the community leaders -- and what you have done to bring the communities together and give them the resources that they need. the emergency managers and first responders, we've asked so much of them in the last few years in response to covid-19, yet they still show up and are providing just amazing service to th

mr. president. >> mr. president. >> mr. president. >> on testing, sir. you said we have to did better. public health officials have said for months you need to surge rapid tests for this moment. is it a failure you don't have adequate tests for everyone? >> no, it's not. covid is spreading so rapidly. if you notice, just happened almost overnight. just in the last month. >> mr. president. >> no. it's not a failure. the alarm bell went off. i don't think anybody anticipated this was going to be as rapidly as it did. the question is we had a lot of people who had access to order tests and have insurance pay for them, et cetera. all of a sudden, it was like everybody rushed to the counter. it was a big, big rush. i knew that was coming. what i tried to do is meet with the companies and use the defense production act to get 500 million more tests and figure out how to get them to their homes and get them on the shelves and stores. that's what it is all about. >> what is your message to americans trying to get tested now and not

mr president, is the importance _ that soon. mr president, is the importance of— that soon.eping your trust... how do you rebuild trust _ importance of keeping your trust... how do you rebuild trust with - how do you rebuild trust with progressives _ how do you rebuild trust with progressives in _ how do you rebuild trust with progressives in your- how do you rebuild trust with progressives in your party- how do you rebuild trust with progressives in your party to i how do you rebuild trust with i progressives in your party to pass legislation? — progressives in your party to pass legislation?— legislation? before i told you, ou've legislation? before i told you, you've heard _ legislation? before i told you, you've heard me _ legislation? before i told you, you've heard me say - legislation? before i told you, you've heard me say this i legislation? before i told you, i you've heard me say this before, some people think maybe i'm not irish because i don't hold a grudge. look, i want to get things done, i still think there's a possibility to get bill back better done. but i

mr. president. >> as you advice the president about the possibility of new testing requirements for people of getting on the plane to come here. reporter: but what about people who don't take a plane and just these border crossers coming in in huge numbers. >> that's a different issue. you don't have the capability, as you know, of somebody getting on a plane, getting checked, looking at a passport, we don't have that there. reporter: is there something to do to test these people somewhere else? >> no, there is testing at the border, under certain circumstances, as you know. steve: yeah, but not by the federal government. ainsley: mr. president, your reaction? >> it is a disaster. we have millions of people flowing across and we're not only talking about the china virus or covid, whatever you want to call it, we're talking about many other diseases coming over the border that are far worse, coming over the border, and nobody is being tested, nobody is being checked, prisons of other countries are being dumped into our country. we're like a dumping ground. we had the strongest border in the

mr. president. we all we have in place when people come into the united states they have to be tested before they get on an after show vaccination documentation. so even before omicron came in we had a situation where will be able to test and talking about testing, so fortunately for us the pcr is that we mostly use would pick up this very unusual variant that has a real large constellation of mutation or fortunately the pcr we do pick it up. >> and we are following extremely closely the medical community, keep any developments as it relates to how severe it is, i quickly it spreads, how dangerous it is, et cetera we have more work do in that area. "wall street journal." >> thank you, mr. president. the uk, , europe and a growing number of countries have confirmed cases of omicron. are you considering additional travel restrictions where the variant has been detected? you urged americans to wear a mask and indoor that many spaces including washington, d.c. have lifted mask mandate. are you calling i

mr. president. >> president walton: thank you, madam mayor. i don't have a follow-up question, but at this point, you may ask me or any other supervisor a question related to this topic. >> the hon. london breed: i have a question for you, president walton, and the question for you is what is it that we can do more to ensure that the we sources we have available through the dream keeper initiative is truly reaching the community at its core? >> the hon. london breed: thank you for that question, mayor breed, and i think the first thing really starts with how we pull together our community with the resources and nonprofits that we provide, and making sure that we continue to hear from them and also making sure that they hear from us about accountability and what needs to happen. but our departments also have to be more nimble at times, and that's why i go back and forth with different city departments because the reality of it is, we have to move fast so we can have these positive implications for our