mr. bennet: mr. president, as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consideration of s. 5062, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 5022, a bill to address sexual harassment and sexual assault of bureau of prisons staff and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. bennet: i ask unanimous consent, mr. president, that the blackburn-ossoff substitute amendment at the desk be considered agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: as if in legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on the judiciary be discharged from further consider

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. >> okay, good evening everybody, thank you for coming. so i'm so proud and glad to be joined by many of my judiciary committee colleagues led by chair durbin . i know a lot is happening in the capital today and tonight. but we want to marka historic moment here in the senate . today we confirm the 235th judge more than any majority has confirmed in decades. this is historic. it will have huge and positive implications for the american people for generations to come. now, with the nation's newest 235th judge we've confirmed more judges under pres. biden and any administration in this century, more judges than any administration going back decades and listen to this, one out of every four active judges on the bench has been appointed by this majority . one out of every four. we have some

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. 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. schiff. 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. th

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i'm trying to figure if i'm upset because senator romney didn't ask me to run for president. i appreciated so much his sentiment today that i wanted to get up. i heard the word virtue used twice in the past week on this floor, once in the rupyard kip kipling poem and out of 's speech. it made s-- it fits the people o well we're talking about, whether it's senator romney or senator tester. i want to say an it uple of words about senator tester before he kicks us out of here which i know he's going to do soon. first of all, i came here a little bit to demand an polling. jon knows about this, but not everybody does. when i first came back here and i was appointed to the job. i was coming over from the hart building to the senate to get sworn in. my daughters were 9, 7, and 4, and susan was with us, ann was with us, she was 4 and she was sucking her thumb from the hart office build toing the capitol -- building to the capitol. i was panicked because she was about to meet the presid

mr. bennet: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: so, mr. president -- the presiding officer: we're in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, the work of the 118th congress comes to an end. the majority in this chamber will soon change hands. tonight i'd like to take a moment to thank my colleagues for their outstanding work over the past four years. this was the most productive, ambitious, and historic four years the senate has seen in decades. i am proud that many of our biggest accomplishments were bipartisan, something i hope the incoming majority embraces as a model. and the accomplishments speak for themselves. they're enormous. i was so proud to leave the senate when we did so much for so many people. and as i said, so much of it bipartisan. it started at the beginning in 2017 when covid -- in

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 develop

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

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i'm trying to figure if i'm upset because senator romney didn't ask me to run for president. i appreciated so much his sentiment today that i wanted to get up. i heard the word virtue used twice in the past week on this floor, once in the rupyard kip kipling poem and out of 's speech. it made s-- it fits the people o well we're talking about, whether it's senator romney or senator tester. i want to say an it uple of words about senator tester before he kicks us out of here which i know he's going to do soon. first of all, i came here a little bit to demand an polling. jon knows about this, but not everybody does. when i first came back here and i was appointed to the job. i was coming over from the hart building to the senate to get sworn in. my daughters were 9, 7, and 4, and susan was with us, ann was with us, she was 4 and she was sucking her thumb from the hart office build toing the capitol -- building to the capitol. i was panicked because she was about to meet the presid

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. qom. coombe. tart start vote: turkey and pie and all the things. we start with opening thoughts. tonight secretary will travel. one appears to discuss transatlantic. the fight against russia's aggression and cooperation with neighborhood partners including in the morning. we join support for ukraine's back and integration. in the brutal attack in the place united states intercept and destroy dream will support interoperability and security will focus on helping ukraine in the strongest position possible to ensure they defend itself now and over the long-term. the 31st tomr review the area economics, environmental and affairs. it's is peace secretary blinken will meet up with officials to host their year as chair in office. >> it is the government is blue late last year for lake. >> so every time unions including you all will, of course it includes the summit. you will need to stop evaluating progress and will continue to do that. we continue to pursue to make sur

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. so far beyond the people don't know get around it. elon musk has a lot of government contracts. i think we need to dig and as a millionaire himself, what is he sway? concerning so back to go back to the original agreement we have a solution. >> they want a solution. just got to get back the agreement we had. an audible question. [inaudible] >> anything else. >> i don't know because that was the agreement. that was and how he unfolding he did a magnificent job and it could really help american reauthorized so there are here that are important. community suffering from disaster funding so tactical mistake. approval ratings are going down a little bit he says things and tries to make it seemed like they are true and they are the majority party. you should be accomplice, that's not how it works even if he stayed ability times. there and all but for the american people wondering whether or not there kid will get a cancer treatment or travel, people forget how the government operates so that is the real harm. >> he came in with me. undercut

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. meditation improving efficiency. what are the tools -- has been focused on safety identify the systems we. need to be separated out. 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. schiff. mr. schiff. more technology and modernization in this court hearing on aviation in general. >> it is medically important. subcommittee on commerce and it begins with air traffic controllers staffing air traffic controllers are work more consecutive days we do agree it must be addressed its own staffing or lives wit

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. the clerk: mr. budd. 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. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. see an ability they have right now to get loans from the bank and lenders to put their crops in the ground, to put the seats in the ground in the spring cilia to take care of that and we did. we are excited about this outcome tonight. we are grateful that everyone stuck together to do the right thing the last orderll of busins for the year is done and we are set up for a big and important new start in january. we can't wait to get

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. the possible use of emergency powers by thee president elect. bicycling team program serves as their senior director. thanks for giving us your time today. >> guest: thanksll had me. >> host: when you the true emergency power a lot of things can emerge. what's the best with understanding what that is to a president? >> guest: that's a great question. emergency powers take different forms in different countries. most countries have provisions in the

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. the clerk: 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. t

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. authorization act. the quality of life families and drink the national of our service members and ability. in addition programs and your receipt the dod. pay raises, better access to childcare, employment, support for spouses and much more. national security and support the most powerful in the world and armed services federal and that over. >> is elected peers over the weekend. fear the world is anticipating return of u.s. president who can, at the very least fully engaged in important discussions leadership is being felt. forty-one days before he said to be inaugurated restored respect for our country in the world stage and start contrast what americans have

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: thank you, mr.g that might be an odd thing the senator from colorado might say. how proud i am that the people of ohio sent sherrod brown to the united states senate for all these years and how much i wish you sent him back one more time. i say that in part because i once lived in ohio and was a young person there learning something about politics in the late 1980's and early 1990's, sherrod brown was my secretary of state. he was the same person then that he is today i think in all of the important ways. he had a progressive voice for the people of ohio. it was an amazing thing for me to tomorrow -- to come to this place and meet sherrod as a fellow senator and to sit in that chair and preside when sherrod stood -- i don't remember when it would have been. barak obama was probably in the early days of his presidency and listen to the names of the cities and towns all across ohio ricochet around the marble chamber that we're in with such joy because i've been in those places myself and i can remembe

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. the clerk: mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. marshall. the economy is strong overall and has made significant progress toward our goals over the past two years. the labor market has cooled from if its formerly overheated state and remains solid. inflation hasmr moved much closr to our 2% longer-run goal. we're committed to the maintaining our economy's strength by supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to our 2% goal. the that

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.r. budd. 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. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. merkley. mr. moraran. states hundred thousand five last year of overdoses many fentanyl. call this death of despair that implies little done to reverse the trend. overdose deaths appear to be slightly but doesn't mean addition and part drug use itself has as it continues unprecedented prevention on top any fractured billing and accounting dealing with aftermath cigarettes cigarette companies to c

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. >> closing at my time in congress and i'm reminded of the gravity of this place. the storied history of the senate one in which we're all honored to contribute and the guard rails that serve as the foundation of this body and our democracy. those guardrails the constitution our oath of office the rules of the senate e norms of collegiality integrity and respect. these are the pillars that have ensure our democracy could endure. to cultivate relationships so we can move history forward, to temper the excesses of greed and to curb the hunger for power. as our country has become more and more divided as our politics a constant series of all or nothing battles we find ourselves bumping into these guardrails with more frequency. in recent history both parties have wrestled with the importance of norms and rules and both parties h

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. >> the senator from wisconsin. >> mr. president, i rise today in opposition -- >> we're in a quorum call. >> asked the quorum call be vitiated. >> without objection. >> thank you, mr. president. i rise in opposition of the national defense authorization act, a position i do not take lightly. i have supported the final passage of each ndaa that is come before me in the senate, up until now. from my tenure in this body and will be for me has been a productive bipartisan tradition when it comes to this bill that authorizes funding and keeping our country safe. most usually come together on a very quintessential country over party deal. one that i would argue is all too uncommon but still this was an important annual ritual that carried serious consequences. this is not to say we do not have our differences. of course we do. but we know our commitment is bigger than those differences. this year that commitment to our service members, to the people we a

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. 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. mr. hagerty. we've been dealing with that, it's alarming that we are rushing to a transition at taxpayers expense without an alternative of comparable performance. maybe we should minimize practiced at some things like that for practice with something less or just for the sake of practice but just running headlong into a less effective alternative and forcing everybody to pay for it, not providing the liability protection i think is shortsighted. you know how the airports planned plan to address the performance gap and what would you recommend be done to address concerns of the flying public that does want to burn a life in an aircraft when this alternative phone is not a

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.d. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. the clerk: mr. casey. secretary i'm pleased you are here today and over the last four years to enjoy the think the cordial relationship. we worked together on many issues of great importance however today your appearance here today and i had to be honest with your comes after six months after i requested your testimony following my comprehensive work and the catastrophic withdrawal from afghanistan. i have constitutional authority and i have that constitutional authority that i is chairman him responsible for and i also have a responsibility to the american people and to the 13 servicemen and women that died and the many other servicemembers who have died and the afghan allies left behind that died in the women's who are left behind. this under article i of the constitution is congress's greatest role of oversight and transparency. i would had to say-disappointed when you've ignored my request for your testimony, forcing me to subpo

mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown.r. 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. the clerk: mr. cruz. the clerk: mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. mr. durbin. pete hague says i've known for more than ten years. on capitol hill he's been a leader fighting for fellow veterans in the halls of congress and leading and organization. the thing i am concerned about is we are not deterring the very threats are country peace and 30 that we need to pay attention to. it is a dangerous situation. what they do is prioritize of the ground and deterrence. the way you do that is strength. confirmation process anticipating and confirmation hearings and supreme court justices out with act can be but he and his wife made their financial sacrifice to serve the country and i respect that the allegations against mismanagement people accused him of? >> a lot of this has been anonymous through backgrou

mr. chairman. >> thank you again for your remarks this morning. >> senator bennet. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i very much appreciate the opportunity to ask these questions. congressman, it's nice to see you. senator cornyn this morning read a a really great letter from attorney general ashcroft and you should be very pleased about what, how he commanded you. in the letter you said, this is attorney general ashcroft said integrity is the imperative for intelligence. the best fan of national security. national security is a singular portfolio most allergic to the infection and devaluation the results from inaccuracy and distortion. for high quality decision-making, sound intelligence must never be contaminated by personal bias or political predisposition. do you agree with that statement? >> i do. >> why? to follow up on senator cornyn, why is it so important that sound intelligence, above all else really, must ever be contaminated by personal bias or political predisposition? >> simple because it would jeopardize national security decisions. >> can you elaborate? >> well, again, what the intel