mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it recess until 9:00 a.m. friday, may 28. that following the prayer and pledge, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. finally, that all time in recess count postcloture on the schumer substitute amendment numbered 1502. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. durbin: if there is no objection, i ask that then c-sp.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: mr. president, last week something happened here in the capitol which was unique. i'm not sure it's ever happened before. it was reported an anonymous group of capitol hill police officers published an open letter to members of congress. i've been here a few years, i've never heard of anything quite like this. here's what these capitol hill police officers who are entrusted with the responsibility of keeping us safe in the capitol wrote. on january 6, where some officers served their last day in u.s. capitol police uniform, and not by choice, we would hope that members whom we took an oath to protect would at a very minimum support an investigation to get to the bottom of everyone responsible and hold them 100% accountable no matter the title or position they hold or held. challenge from the

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the assistant majority leader is recognized. mr. durbin: i have eight requests for committees to meet today during this session of the senate which have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: madam president, i ask consent to speak for 15 minutes before the roll call vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, it was one year ago today. it was a street corner in the city of minneapolis, the corner of 38th and chicago avenue. for nine minutes and 29 seconds, derrick chauffeur, the minneapolis policeman, knelt on george floyd's neck. as he knelt on his neck, he stared into a camera with a look that haunts me to this day. those nine minutes and 29 seconds took george floyd's life and changed america's national conversation about law enforcement. those nine minutes and 29 seconds sparked a global movement and compelled us to bear witness to the reality of racial injustice in our country. in this senate, we are in a privileged p

mr. durbin: mr. president, it's been my good fortune to serve in the united states senate for several terms, and the house before. i can remem -- remember this chamber, my first visit when i sat in that gallery as a college student and watched the proceedings of the united states senate. and i can remember so many historic days that i have been blessed to have a front row seat to observe. great memories. but in addition to those great memories, there is one sad memory. no, it was more than sadness. one memory that brings sadness and anger. and it related to january 6 of this year. i remember that day so well. the vice president of the united states, michael pence, was presiding over the united states senate. we were counting the electoral votes to determine the official outcome of the previous election. and the president of the united states donald trump was holding a rally near the white house not far from capitol hill. the demonstrators who came to his rally then marched on this capitol, and what t

mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, some economists have another name for the recession that we're living through, the one that was caused by the covid pandemic. they call it a she session because the economic hardships and job losses have fallen disproportionately on women, especially working mothers. it's ironic we're having this conversation the day after mother's day and reflecting on the current state of american families in the midst of a pandemic, but equally important, the state of american families and the state of the mothers of those families and the economic realities they face. 2.5 million american women have dropped out or pushed out of the workforce since the start of this pandemic. in a recent abc news poll, 25% of women said they are worse for economically now than they were a year ago compared to 18% of men. the survey last fall found that almost 40% of working mothers in my state of illinois -- 40% -- lost their jobs over working r

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: madam president, if you've been involved in illinois politics or government in the last 40 years or you've called my office in springfield any time in the last 24 years, there's a good chance you know a fellow i'm about to speak about this afternoon -- this afternoon -- this morning -- this afternoon. for those who haven't been lucky enough to meet him yet, let me tell you about my friend, one of the best people i've ever known. his name is bill houlihan. bill came to work in my -- on my first senate cane in 1996. -- campaign in 1996. when we won i asked him to be my staff director for 96 counties. he's been with me ever since. now he is state director of the entire state. whenever i can attend an event in illinois, bill is the person i turn to i don't have to write any speech for him and i don't have to check on what he said. people know bill speaks for me and i have complete confidence in his judgment and integrity. everybody seems to know him. just try going into a grocery s

durbin: thank you senator cruz. >> thank you mr. chair. before i begin, i want to take a moment to remark on the significance of this hearing. as chairman durbin reminds us and tells us, for the past four years, the prior administration appointed 226 judges to the federal courts. almost 30% of the current federal judiciary. an overwhelming majority of those appointees were white. nearly as many, 171 were men. over the course of the prior administration, our judiciary came markedly less diverse -- became markedly less diverse. this is an important step in reversing that trajectory and creating a judiciary that reflects america that it serves. this committee has heard and will hear testimony from five nominees, all persons of color and three women. they have experience in public defense, prosecution, civil litigation, municipal law and military service. the diversity of backgrounds and professional experience they offer to the judiciary in addition to their impressive qualifications is remarkable and important. i hope mr. chair and expect tha

durbin. >> thanks, mr. chairman.t americans watching this hearing if, in fact, they are, why wouldn't they be interested in it, of course. they might be wondering what are ghost guns, the phrase certainly does sound rather ominous. it sounds rather dangerous. i think it's intended to. maybe like something straight out of a young person's video game. it's a vague and scary term designed by gun control activists to describe a type of firearm, any firearm that has a common characteristic. that is it doesn't have a serial number. this broad set of firearms might include antique firearms or some relics produced prior to 1968. it might also include arms manufactured at home or from a mail-in do-it-yourself kit or lastly it might include firearms whose serial numbers have been removed. first, it's important to remember that it's a federal crime under 18 usc section 922k on file off or remove or obliterate a serial number or acquire a firearm that has had its serial number removed. anti-gun activists would like for you to be

durbin. senator cruz? >> thank you, mr. chairman. there was no one in this country who is not fed up with and furious when we hear that another monster has used a gun to take an innocent life. there is not a person in this country who is not heartbroken when they learn about another suicide. every life is a gift from god. every innocent life that is lost is unique and tragedy. i can tell you in texas, we have seen far too many mass murders at the hands of deranged and sick individuals. i was in santa fe the morning of that shooting. if a high school is less than an hour of -- santa fe high school is less then an hour from my house. i was in el paso at the walmart after another mass murder. i was in midland, odessa after , yet another. i was in dallas where five , police officers were murdered by a deranged radical. and i was in sutherland springs, in that beautiful sanctuary where a monster murdered innocent women and children. monn and children. i care deeply about stopping violent crime. gun crime in particular. i have spent much o

durbin. senator hawley? >> thank you, mr. chairman. thanks to the witnesses for being here. mr. harris, i would like to come back to you, because i think you said something in response to senator durbin that is very important. you talked about the business model of the companies that are before us today and all of the dominant platforms. and your point, i think is -- i would like you to elaborate on it -- the business model of these companies is addiction. the business model of these companies is advertising, which takes place by getting more and more users to spend more and more time online so that these companies can gather more personal information about them to sell the more stuff. it is an attention treadmill. it is an addiction economy. that's the design. that's by design. they didn't wander into it. it's not an accident. it's not oops, how did we end up here? addiction is the design. you have written a lot about this. you have produced a documentary about this. can you tell us more about this core business model of these dominant platforms? >> yes. thank you. i would actua

. >> thank you, and we'll turn to senator durbin, who's also the chair of the senate judiciary committee and is deeply involved in these issues. >> thanks, mrchairman. attorney general, you've identified the dilemma of democracy, where we state unequivocally you can believe what you care to believe, that you're right in this country, this free country. but when you take action, pursuance of your beliefs, then we have to take a critical eye toward that action to determine whether or not it's broken the law and endangered the rights of others. during the january 6th section, new york police department officer thomas webster has been charged with assaulting a d.c. metropolitan police officer during the attack. body camera footage shows webster attacking the metropolitan police department officer with a metal flagpole, tackle him, and trying to rip off his face shield and gas mask. this i raises a question which is painful to consider but we have to consider, and that is whether or not in the ranks of law enforcement, either at the federal level or state and local level, there are those who would use their political beliefs in a manner which ar

the clerk: durbin amendment 2014, kennedy amendment 1710 and sullivan amendment numbered 1811. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. warner: mr. president, we're not in a quorum, are we? the presiding officer: correct. mr. warner: mr. president, i rise today you to mourn the -- i rise today to mourn the passing of a statesman, a patriot, a mentor, a friend, and someone who loved this institution as much as anybody i know. and that is the passing late last night of senator john warner. i'm joined here by my friend of 39 now, maybe 40, 40 years, tim kaine, and we're going to go back and forth a little bit as we talk about someone who played an enormously important role in both of our lives, i can say on a personal baifsz and a political basis. let 3450e -- me get some of the basic facts out. john warner was 94 years old when he passed. he was born in washington, d.c. d.c., a family from amherst, virginia. joined the united states navy at the age of 18 in the waning days of world war ii. served 1945-1946. left the military and rejoined the marines in 19

. >> thank you, and we'll turn to senator durbin, who is also the chair of the senate judiciary committee and is deeply involved in these issues. >> thanks, mr. chairman. attorney general, you've identified the dilemma of democracy where we state unequivocally you can believe what you care to believe. that's your right in this country, this free country. but when you take action pursuant of your beliefs, then we have to take a critical eye toward that action to determine whether or not it has broken the law and endangers the rights of others. during the january 6 insurrection, new york police department officer thomas webster has been charged with assaulting a d.c. metropolitan police department officer during the attack. body camera footage shows webster attacking the metropolitan police department officer with a metal flagpole, tackling him and trying to rip off his face shield and gas mask. this raises a question which is painful to consider, but we have to consider, and that is whether or not, in the ranks of law enforcement, either at the federal level or state and local level, there are those who would use their political beliefs in a

my colleagues, senator durbin, cabinet officials, a lead negotiating with the taliban and with president biden himself. everyone, everyone has assured me that they are aware of mr. freerices and are raidsing the status in ongoing diplomatic negotiations with the taliban and i hope that consistent with the president such as the late ambassador richard hobert using the dayton accord as leverage to secure the release of a kidnapped american, i hope the biden administration prioritizes every avenue available to ariv the release. we can't fail at this mission and abandon an american citizen behind in afghanistan. we must make sure he is safely returned to his family in illinois. now, osd has as a long standing relationship with pakistan. secretary austin spoke with pakistan's chief of army staff a few weeks ago on april 28 and haqqani network operates on the afghanistan/pakistani border and there is a good chance he is in pakistan right now. we should be leving our relationships with pakistan to secure his return and i discussed this issue with the pakistani ambassador a few weeks ago and he agreed tyke the message back to islamabad. the dod presently has an opportu

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i have 15 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: mr. president, they did it in a closed room. no one in the public was allowed to watch. they did it by a voice vote so that there would be no physical record of individual congressmen and how they voted. and they decided to remove a member of the republican leadership in the house of representatives this morning in that fashion. these proud, courageous disciples of donald trump didn't want to be on the record publicly as to where they stood on the fate of congresswoman cheney. this is the same congresswoman cheney who was reelected to leadership in the house just a few weeks ago. this is the same congresswoman cheney who is one of the most ideologically conservative members of

mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask consent to speak as if in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: when i listened to the speech by senator mcconnell, the republican leader, about afghanistan, it transported me back in history to october of 2002 when i was a united states senator representing the state of illinois just days away from a reelection campaign, and we faced an historic vote here in the united states senate. the vote was whether or not we would invade iraq, whether the united states would give the president the authority to send american forces to iraq. there were 23 votes against that invasion. i was one of them. 22 democrats and 1 republican. and i can remember that night so well. it was late, past midnight when the vote was finally taken. but we had a second vote to take too. and although i had voted against the invasion of iraq i saw the invasion of afghanistan a different story. we believed that osama bin laden and al qaeda were in afghanistan. and the

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. rbin: madam president, i have ten requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the minority and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: madam president, i rise at this moment to oppose the amendment that's going to be offered by my colleague and friend from louisiana, senator kennedy. this amendment would endanger the lives of thousands, if not millions of innocent people and prolong this terrible coronavirus pandemic. i'm sure that's not the intention of the senator from louisiana, but that's what his effort would do. his amendment would gut a critical tool to help stop the spread of the pandemic globally as well as stem the economic fallout that would hurt us here in america. the international monetary fund has a fund with the ability to release money in what's called special drawing rights. foreign exchange reserve assets that it maintains. this can be exchanged by member nations for hard currency in times of cris

mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, very shortly we will be voting on the kristen clarke nomination to the department of justice. this week is an apt time to start the discussion about her nomination because it marks the anniversary of two of the most important supreme court decisions in the history of america. the infamous plessy vs. ferguson decision in 1896 where the supreme court established a standard of separate but equal. that was the standard that was used to justify legally justify racial discrimination throughout america. 60 years later, in a landmark decision of brown vs. board of education, the supreme court unanimously, unanimously rejected that shameful doctrine and blazed a trail for the modern civil rights movement. this year, 2021, the senate has a chance to continue america's long march toward equality and racial justice by confirming principled, experience experienced leaders to the department of justice. the senate should work expeditiously to consider and confirm these nomine

mr. durbin: thank you. the american rescue plan was the biden threshold initiative to bring to america what it desperately needed after this president was sworn in on january 20 of this year. unfortunately we didn't have a single republican to support it, not one. not a single republican senator or house member would support the american rescue plan of president joe biden. what did the plan do? well, it bought more vaccines. it invested dramatically in the distribution of these vaccines across america. it turned around and kept the president trump promise of a cash payment of $1,400 for each individual. it extended unemployment benefits so that people could continue to keep food on the table and pay their rent, mortgage payments until they found good jobs. and it basically said to small businesses, we're not giving up on you. we're going to help you, whether it's the restaurant industry or other businesses. we want you to be back in business. we invested that money as a nation, and it was a critical time to

mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the remaining votes tonight be 10-minute votes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, on this vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 49. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: i call up my amendment numbered 1771. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from indiana, mr. braun, proposes an amendment numbered 1771 to amendment numbered 1502. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. the senate will be in order. mr. braun: thank you, madam president. in recent years, research involving human animal hybrids has become much more prevalent. for example, in april researchers in china created a monkey human hybrid embryo that they allowed to gr