mr. booker, at the heart of the story, as we just saw, our rising interest rates are, we're not only seeing those in the u. s. though the e. c. b, for example, is also jacking up rates. can we expect more collapses of these smaller regional banks to follow and other countries? no look really. we can't expect that one must say is that the fast increase in interest rate, c, e, c, b was forced to undertake you to inflation at leads to certain vulnerability. and this is very evident in europe is he should have started one year, always increasing interest rate. now he has to do it very steeply. this means a long term bonds lose a lot of value. and if you have to realize this value and the trouble, but it's a question about trust sep in california, was a class of the bank run when there's a ronald liquidity, no bank where you survives that on this bank was particularly badly place to cope with such a problem, as it didn't even made a proper risk management also in just for the total. ok, so this seems to be contained likely to the specific bank. now the fed is meeting again next week to de

mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. being boo book i am grateful to -- mr. booker: i am grateful to the presiding officer for recognizing me. i want to say that i'm excited to be standing up tonight and talking along with senator wyden, senator hassan and you just heard from senator casey who is marking this 1 13th -- this 13th anniversary celebration with extraordinary determination not to see these great programs cut. i was not in congress when the aca was passed into law, but in an an affirmation of that old adage about politics being local, i saw in my local community of newark, new jersey, the powerful difference that the aca made, the difference that health reform had on my community. folks would come up to me immediately in the months and years afterwards and talk about how they were finally able to get the health care that they needed, not only for themselves but for their loved ones. how they moved from anxiety and fear to security and strength. you had folks with preexisting conditions who were discriminated a

mr. booker: mr. president, i am here on behalf of senator sanders, who was pulled away from the floor on an important matter. he asked me to object on this matter. he gave me some documentation and some points. i don't want to burden the senate with reading everything that i was given, but i would like to ask permission to enter into the record the objection on behalf of mr. sanders. there is no objection to that, sir? the presiding officer: without objection. mr. booker: and i will say i really feel so blessed to be a senator, and one of the great blessings for me has been getting to know my colleagues. i know folks on both sides of the aisle and have sincere friendships and admiration. senator lee is one of the people i respect in this body the most. he's learned. i have learned from him. my positions on issues have evolved from taking the time to actually listen to my colleague speak. he's passionately -- i see both colleagues from utah here. i need to get menendez down to this floor and get some

mr. booker: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: i want to just say i respect and grateful for the generosity of the chairman, senator -- from oregon to allow me to slip in and say some remarks. i want to thank senator van hollen for his incredible leadership on this issue. i have a distinction of being the only one of the hundred senators actually born in washington, d.c. this is the city my parents met in. this is the city they married in. my mom worked for the d.c. public schools. my father was one of the first black salesman hired in the entire d.c. region by a company of ibm. i owe the city so much. and i am disappointed that there is nobody in this body who was officially elected to speak for this city. washington, d.c. is suffering as it has from a violation of one of our most sacrosanct principles as a country which is this idea that this democracy is rooted in representative democracy, separation of powers, and most certainly the idea of you can't have taxation without representation. in fact, d.c. residents pay more

mr. secretary. chair durbin: senator booker. senator booker: thank you, mr. chairman. the crisis of fentanyl has been discussed a lot. i want to echo what my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said and what you have said. this is an american crisis. it shouldn't divide us against each other. we need to find where the common cause and common urgency is and attack those areas. we should be guided by the facts and the evidence and not the typical political forces that divide us, that make it difficult to solve problems. we will not agree on everything. but the facts are the facts. this problem did not start under joe biden. in fact, mr. secretary, during the years of the trump administration, fentanyl deaths rose in america, correct? secretary mayorkas: yes, they did. senator booker: that's all i need. this problem has risen under republican presidents and democratic presidents. this is not a partisan issue. this is an american issue. this is an american crisis. and more facts that i think are worthy of repeating and saying clearly is that this is an issue that's

mr. sec. >> senator booker. >> thank you mr. chairman. the question of fentanyl has been discussed a lot. i want to echo what my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said and what you have said. this is an american crisis. you need to find where the common cause and common urgency is and attack those areas. we should be guided by the facts and the evidence and not not of those that make it difficult to solve problems. we will not agree on everything. but the facts are the facts. this problem did not start under joe biden. in fact, mr. sec., during the years of the trump administration, fentanyl deaths rose in america, correct? >> that's all i need. this problem has risen under republican presidents and democratic presidents. this is not a partisan issue. this is an american issue and american crisis. and more facts that i think are worthy of repeating is this is an issue that is being driven by criminals from our country. the data shows that u.s. citizens are accounting for 86% of fentanyl trafficking convictions. 86%. when i visited the border recently down in brownsville, the cust

mr. to new blue or 18800000 votes, while his main challenger, i tico a booker took almost 7000000, but opposition parties of question. those figures and label be election. a sca dad's death quiet on the streets of nigeria. as a growing number of people calling to question the legitimacy of last weekend's presidential race. there has been widespread criticism of new electronic voting systems with technical and logistical issues. also reported during the count the main opposition parties, including the people's democratic party and the labor party, have called for fresh elections. nigerians watched as they branded the weekends vote, a scam artist alicia is not free. fair, credible is clear to all that, you know, study, selection is solid, the compromised, and therefore the duck is the wishes and aspirations. so every nigerian armies, the general appeal, the best thing to do is for us to correct it. i get it right on the streets of the commercial capital lagos, while labor, when a majority, people are skeptical about the election. amazon for the insurance, would you an advice to arise that he though

mr. secretary, i think senator booker earlier mentioned 2021 it has been found u.s. citizens account to more than 86% of convicted pencil drug traffickers does that sound about right to you? quickset of it as i mentioned senator booker i'm not family with that statistic. i'm certainly aware of the fact american citizens are participating in the trafficking of illegal narcotics for. >> according to the studies i have seen you document the vast majority of those bring sentinel into the country are united states citizens not the migrants or collect on the other side of the aisle are employing. also nearly 99% of the consumers who are paying for illicit opioids to look at both ends of this, who is driving the demand, not just who may be responsible for the supply, statistic again from federal agencies .02% of people arrested by a border patrol for crossing the border illegally possessed fentanyl at the time. it's more than 90% of sentinels brought the port of entry but i cannot overstate the viciousness and cruelty of the smuggling organization is precisely why we are bu

mr. secretary. >> thank you very much. senator booker. ranking member, thank you as well. i was pleased to see the release of the rolof the voluntary product review label. completely agree as the rule proposes under the label it should b from amals born, raised and slaughted in the united states. i also want to mention my appreciation o your work to move forward with the key act and regulations to provide transparency and fairness for the livestock and poultry farmers. it's really impornt. the rules are long overdue to address the abuse and contract farmers by b meatpking compies and it is not just the farmers theompanies mistreat. it is the immigrant children were illegally employed d some of tost dangerous jobs and meatpacking pnts owned and operatedy companies sh as car hill, gbs and tyson the meatpacking companies outsource this to egregiously and now are trying to shield themsees frothe responsibity o theiolatis committeby their contractors o hire children to work long overnight hos from low pay equipment such as boneutters of these meatpackers have aong story failing

letter with senator booker urging regulators to issue a temporary moratorium on overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees for folks to encourage these fees and no fault of their own. mr. gluenberg, does the fdic have a plan surrounding overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees protections in the event that we experienced broader systemic issues? >> senator, you raise an important question. and we received a letter. as a starting point, you know that there are delays, and we really want to get the facts in terms of if overdraft fees were really imposed as a result of those delays, if we can confirm that information, then we can consider what actions to undertake, and are glad to work with you and your staff as we follow up on that. >> i look forward to working with you on this. here is the bottom line. ordinary folks who just showed up, put their deposits, they should not have to bear the brunt and burden of these bad decisions made by bank executives. >> thanks senator warnock. senator daines from montana's recognize. >> senator thank you. the failure of ctrip -- silicon valley bank and signature bank are direct result of the fillies of regulators, including agencies th

mr. booker: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: i appreciate the recognition more than you now. i'd like to ask that douglas miller be granted privileges, specifically is floor privileges, for the remainder of the 118th congress. i appreciate that a i think you said without objection. the presiding officer: oh, yeah. without objection. mr. booker: nobody can silence the presiding officer. i'm surprised they turned off your mike. i think we should file a formal complaint about that. madam president, i have one more issue, if i may be recognized. thank you very much. i have 16 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they actually have approval in a bipartisan fashion from the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. booker: thank you, very much. : commissioner of the internal revenue is senator carter and express my gratitude to the clearing my and one president by his decision is in my family need is one really is a through every step of my life, my life test, my sean

mr. booker: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new jersey. mr. booker: i'd like to ask consent, i know we have an order to vote at 1:45, to be able to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. booker: i have six requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval, thankfully, of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. booker: mr. president, this saturday, march 18, will mark the 60th anniversary of the unanimous and landmark supreme court decision in gideon v. wane wright that everyone has the right in court regardless of feltsdz, they have a -- wealth, they have a right to to the pubc defense system that we know today. before gideon was decided, people accused of crime were on their own, having to go through cross-examination of witnesses and every part of the criminal prosecution, they had to do it themselves while facing government prosecutors who had the legal upper hand. clarence earl gideon