mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, when the pandemic began last year, americans across the country were faced with more than one public health crisis. while we all feared contracting covid-19 outside of our homes, the most vulnerable members of our communities feared a danger lurking within the home or certainly in the neighborhood. violent crime. during the past -- pardon me. during the first several weeks of the pandemic, police departments across america reported a significant increase in arrests or calls related to domestic violence. and reports of hate incidents and crimes increased as well. particularly those targeting asian american, pacific islander, or what is known as the aapi community. nearly 4,000 of these hate incidents were reported during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic. and aapi women comprised the majority of the victims. in my home state of illinois, some of these victims of violent crime have an indispensable resource they can turn to. it is known as can win, a nonprofit that supp

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: no. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate stand in recess until 1:55 p.m. today. i further ask that all postcloture time on the wilcox nomination expire at 2:45 p.m. today. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: i have 12 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate with the approval of the north and majority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. durbin: mr. president, yesterday congressman ben any thompson called to order the first hearing of a special committee that most of our republican colleagues tried to block. the select committee to investigate the january 6 attack on the united states capitol. it continues to amaze me that an independent bipartisan committee to investigate the worst assault on our democracy since the war of 1812, an assault that left one police officer dead and more than 140 injured was filibustered and stopp

mr. durbin: reserving the right to object -- the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. rbin: i read this bill and i'm not sure the senator from indiana really wants to do what this bill says because the bill makes it a priority at this agency, alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, a priority if there is a request from a licensed manufacturer exporter or dealer, a request of the agency for information questions on regulatory matters, puts time lines on them, deadlines and says that the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, the attorney general shall after 90 days make a ruling or determination. well, you think to yourself, if this agency has very little to do with thousands of employees, then perhaps the timeliness of a response from the industry would merit some 90-day deadline, but the senator in introducing this completely overlooks the obvious. this legislation would force a.t.f. to take resources and manpower away from their other activities and put them into answering regulatory inquiries with a 90-day deadline in his bill. so what are the other

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: madam president, today a the first day of what could be a productive and maybe even historic few weeks in the senate. i hope that we can live up to the challenges that we are facing. july 6 was an historic day in my home state after illinois. for the first time in 476 days, illinois went 24 hours without losing a life to covid-19. during the deadliest days of this pandemic, illinois was losing more than 150 people day to covid. as our governor j.b. pritzker said on the 6th, the vaccines have done the work. thank god for the vaccines. i couldn't have said it better. 70% of eligible illinois residents have received at least one dose of those lifesaving covid vaccines, including 90% of seniors. but we're at a crate icle moment in illinois and across our nation. with a new, more dangerous dangerous delta variant now spreading across the nation, people who are unvaccinated are at a

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. rbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. durbin: mr. president, my wife and i received our covid vaccinations and were grateful to the scientist, doctors, nurses and everyone else who made those miracle medicines possible. it's a relief to see vaccination numbers in this country picking up a little bit in the last few days after declining for months. it's a relief to hear some of the loudest antiv acs quakes about the importance of getting vaccinated. while many of the blow hards were dreaming up bizarre theories about the vaccines, the virus was not idle. in fact, months of confusion and quackery have given the virus a chance to mutate and sadly to again regain the upper hand. this mutation known as the delta variant is now in every state in the union. covid infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are on the rise again. almost all, almost all of those who were hospitalized and facing serious illness and even death are unvaccinated. we know that. but this

mr. mitchell. chairman durbin. >> thank you mr. chairman. and senator lee. this is an important hearing and the american people have given a choice on topics we might discuss in congress to put this at the top of the list. it's interesting to me and we wonder how in the world did that happen, could it be that the pharmaceutical industry is spending $6 billion a year? is it possible that the fact that we see the ads nine times a day on average is educating the americans on these drugs? senator grassley and i decided to ask the office for some information on this and did a study. they found they advertised drugs on television and other places and the 58% of the medicare budget for medications. coincidence? these ads ballooned the spending to the tune of 320 billion over three years. when i asked blue cross and blue shield of chicago why are the premiums going up, the prescription drugs. they advertised them so consumers will ask for them at the doctor's office. the doctor then has a choice, explained to them why they may not need it, maybe even lose the patien

mr. myers. >> thank you. chairman durbinnking member grassley and members of the committee, push it the opportunity to testify today but the importance of farmworkers thoracotomy and how to best address the shortage of workers under nations farms. i have worked on unemployment innovation policy for nearly 20 years including the staffer in this body and the assistant secretaryn of labor and advising clients in private practice. i represent employers across the country training from small family farms with a few employees to complex family farming operations with thousands of employees. and let me begin by noting i'm testifying today my personal capacity and on behalf of any client. the worker shortage of our farms continues to get worse o with each passing year. and is threatening the future viability of labor intensive agriculture in america. farm work is honest, honorable and necessary work for their simile not enough u.s. workers willing to do it. that is h been true for decades and it is true regardless of the unappointed

mr. mitchell. chairman durbin. >> thank you, chairman. and senator lee. this is an important hearing. i think the american people are given a choice of topics we might discuss in congress would put this at the top of the list. at least they tell us that when we take paul's. it is interesting we live in a country where so many people can spell the word sorrento. you wonder how in the world did that happen? could it be the pharmaceutical industry is spending $6 billion a year? is it possible that advertising, is it possible that the fact that we see their ads nine times a day on average is educating the americans on these drugs? senator grassley and i decided to ask the general accounting office for information on this and they did a study. they found between 2016 2018 come advertised drugs on television and other places to county for 58% of medicare's budget for medications. coincidence? these ads ballooned medicare spending to $320 billion over three years. when i asked blue cross blue shield why premiums were going up, the number one reason where the high cost of prescription drugs.

mr. cloud for being part of the bipartisan, bicam ral congressional caucus against youth vaping which myself, senator durbin and others are chairing. thank you so much mr. cloud. >> chairwoman maloney, thank you for being with us. and thank you for your distinguished leadership of our committee. i want to just recognize you for a brief opening statement as well. >> thank you. our nation's youth are experiencing a public health crisis. according to data collected by fda and cdc, more than 3 million high school students and half a million middle school students use e-cigarettes. and according to the office of surgeon general, an estimated 5.6 million children in this country will die early from a smoking-related illness if cigarettes continue to be used at this rate. that's one in every 13 young people alive today. these numbers are horrifying. they threaten years of progress in reducing youth tobacco use and the e-cigarette industry is to blame. companies like juul and puff bar knowingly and deliberately push tobacco products onto our nation's youth. they deployed deceptive, dishonest tactics to get our youn

i will turn to chairman durbin first and followed directly by ranking member grassley. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. wasserman. i'm going to keep on trying to come up with a bill that the organization you belong to supports, but it's been difficult. they opposed the s.t.e.p. act which ranking member grassley and i helped to write. if you had prevailed in that situation, mr. charles would still be in prison. i'm glad he's not. your organization opposes the equal act, too, which puts you out of step with many major prosecutor and law enforcement organizations. the national district attorney association and major city chief law enforcement leaders and association of prosecuting attorneys and law enforcement action partnership. i'm trying to reconcile some of your testimony and it's difficult. i am not an expert. i'm not a scientist. i'm a political scientist, whatever that is and went to law school. it doesn't qualify me as a scientist, but when i read your testimony distinguishing crack and powder cocaine and you have the short-term high produced by crack results and binge use and the r

durbin: thank you, senator. senator lee? sen. lee: thank you. mr.hanks, director wray for being here and for your service to our country. like literally every other person in this room, like literally every member of the united states senate, i'm anxious to see those who committed unlawful, violent acts on january 6 brought to justice. i also believe that with this circumstance, like every other circumstance, we have to make sure that the civil liberties of the american people are protected, that we watch over them. i've heard a number of accounts of individuals who were present in washington, d.c. but never got anywhere near the capitol or any violence on january 6, who have inexplicably been contacted by the fbi, by agents who apparently were aware of their presence in washington, d.c. that day with no other explanation, perhaps, other than the use of geolocation data. are you geolocating people through the fbi based on where they were on january 6? director wray: i think there may be some instances in which geolocation has been an investigative t

mr. chair. >> take it away, senator. >> thank you, senator durbin for your long time leadership on the drug disparity. ms. labelle, as you described in your testimony that the sentencing disparity has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, the impact continues today. do you agree that eliminating this disparity is a key component as we look at issues of race disparity in the criminal justice system? >> absolutely. >> what more should the federal government do to help address the long term impact that the sentencing disparity had in communities of color? >> i mean, i think i outlined some of that in my remarks that we need to make sure, first of all, to restore trust in our criminal justice system, in our drug policies. we also need to make sure that we have equity when we're looking to get to prevent substance use from ever occurring and to treat people, make sure we're getting access to treatment for people in need regardless of their color. that's another piece in our policy priorities that we're working on. >> exactly. for me, it's been a lot about my old days in my other job as a

mrs. harris mentioned that the memo by senator durbin stated that mister estrada was especially dangerousause he's latina". more recently democrats opposed resident trumps diverse esjudicial nominees. supreme court justice amy barrett, only the fourth woman to be received on the bench received zero democratic votes even though she was well-qualified by the ada and has impeccable character and credentials and during her earlier confirmation to the seventh circuit we remember remember ranking member diane feinstein, our greatest maligned for her catholic faith by pronouncing the justice that the dogma lives loudly within you. so much for the ban on religious states . i would ask this becerra what do you make about the democrats consistent opposition to diverse nominees elected by the republican presidents and she elaborated on that but i wonder if there was anything more you wanted to add. >> we can both say we want to increase the diversity of the bench and rejected when we do that. if diversity is a paramount then we need to accept it in all its forms. >> can you think of any other recent

durbin. thank you. >> thank you very much, senatorbooker. senator kennedy? >> thank you, mr. chairman.come, mr. secretary. i know you want to see our farmers prosper. you want to see our farmers prosper. it appears that -- and of course, to prosper, our farmers need labor. and it appears that many of the people who are new to our country want to work as farm laborers. and that's a good thing. and i know there's shortages in that respect. and it seems to me that we ought to figure out a way to work together to achieve that end. the problem, as you know, is in our immigration policy. and normally, i ask questions, but i just want to spend a second telling you where i come from. i don't completely understand it. our border is not secure. it's less secure today than it was in december. if you go down there, you'll see that. i think we could secure it. americans have done extraordinary things. and we can take a diseased human heart and replace it with a new one and make it beat. we can send a person to the moon. i suspect we can secure the border. and it seems to me until we do or certainly

mrs. bustos: thank you, madam speaker. in 2016, my district chief of staff, kate jennings, first downour office -- joined our office. like working with senator barack obama, senator dick durbin, we are glad to bring her passion and dedication to our work. over the next five-plus years, there would not be one day when kate didn't put the people who we serve at the very heart of everything she did. when covid-19 hit illinois last year, our office learned of a family sheltering in a hotel, unable to feed themselves or feed their children. so in the middle of this spreading pandemic, what did kate do? she put herself at risk, went to the grocery, packed a box full of food, and delivered it to the door at the hotel where this family was sheltering. so the children would not go hungry. and every year, kate would take value untiens to our veterans to make sure -- valentines to our veterans to make sure they were appreciated and loved. she would travel thousands of miles across our vast congressional district and was unwavering in her hard work for all 14 counties in our district. she never tired and always worked to lift up the voices of the people that were fortunate enough to be

durbin and acting commissioner woodcock. thank you for joining us this morning. we are starting on time so thank you, mr.ud and ranking member for making that happen as well. i now recognize myself for an opening statement. for the last year end a half from the deadly coronavirus pandemic ripped all aspects of american life. as we seek progress against the virus, we emerge with a new insight about other threats to public health. it is time to reevaluate the cap threats that are entirely within our ability to control. there was a youth vaping epidemic in this country for the coronavirus. before this subcommittee was even created and before acting commissioner woodcock at the fda. youth vaping epidemic reportedly continues today. more than 20% of high schoolers vaping and 5% of middle schoolers vaping. those are the same levels that compel first declare a youth vaping epidemic. three years ago in 2018. for as long as this subcommittep has existed, we spent investigating this epidemic. this is our fourth hearing on the matter and i sincerely hope it is our last because the problems are solvable. our first i

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. durbin: thank you, madam president. this week the senate will consider the nomination of todd kim to be assistant attorney general for the justice department's environment natural resources division known as enrd. this division acts as our nation's environmental law firm. it protects our nation's precious natural resources by enforcing federal, civil and criminal environmental laws including the clean air act, the clean water act and hazardous waste laws. at least that's what it's designed to do. under the previous president, donald trump, enrd took some troubling steps in the wrong direction. it prioritized protecting polluters over the environment. with more than 1.5 million acres of the united states currently burning in a wildfire season that has been grated exacerbated by climate change, we are mindful of the critical importance of vigorous enforcement of our nation's

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. durbin: i ask consent the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i heard the republican leader on the floor just moments ago talking about the dismissal of some individuals by the biden administration and their replacement and his complaint that this violated the norms and precedence of the united states senate. there are certainly two words that i would offer in response to that assertion. merrick garland. and i would offer those words to the republican leader as a reminder of what he did when there was a vacancy on the highest court in the land, the united states supreme court, antoine scalia passed away. a vacancy occurred. it was the last year of the obama administration. tradition suggested that that president of the united states dually elected and in office had the responsibility and the opportunity to fill the vacancy. and so he offered as his nominee

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: late last night there was a vote on the floor that was historic. i'll address it in aempt mo. but 17 republicans joined the democrats in an amazing commit to building america's infrastructure. i'll speak speak to the specifics of that in a minute. i wanted to cover another event this morning that was not as widely publicized but could be more than to many american families. if you ask families across the united states to list the top three things they're worried about in terms of pocketbook issues and things that congress can address, i'll bet you that they end up putting the cost of prescription drugs on that list every time. they know what's happened, these prescription drug costs have gone through the roof. for many people it's a real hardship. i was looking this morning at some of the information we hav

mr. durbin: are we in a quorum call? yes we are. the presiding officer: i ask it- yes we are. mr. durbin: this has been a sad week in the united states senate. first we lost senator enzi of wyoming and last night braws the news of the loss of senator carl levin of michigan. carl was an extraordinary person. i remember after i had been in the senate a few years, my friends back home said who are the real stars in the united states senate? and there were many who were just as obvious who could be, ted kennedy, for example. but i said there are two you probably don't know much about that i would turn to time and again if i had to make an important decision, either policy or politics, and i know i would get a thoughtful, intelligent response. one was paul sarbanes of maryland and the other was carl levin from michigan. those two, more than many of the colleagues that i've served with, really represented the best of the united states senate carl levin was brilliant, nothing short of brilliant, and he was my friend. many times we sat together, and talked to him, and i reflected on the wa

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: mr. president, for almost 20 years the u.s. citizenship and immigration service has been charged with defending america's status as the land of opportunity. the agency has nearly 20,000 employees. they operate in 220 offices around the world where they provide assistance to immigrants seeking a new life in america and help protect america from any foreign threat. but after four years of neglect and mismanagement under the trump administration, uscis is in dire need of leadership. today the senate has an opportunity to provide that agency with that leadership by confirming ur jaddou as director. ms. jaddou may be the most qualified person ever to be nominated for this job. she has nearly 20 years experience in immigration law, policy, and administration. she's a daughter of immigrants from mexico and iraq. she personally understands the importance of ensuring our nation's immigration system is both accessible and safe. and if confirmed, ms. jaddou would make history as the very first woman

mr. durbin: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority whip is recognized. mr. durbin: mr.nt, last night i had an interesting dinner. senator chris coons of delaware and i joined two republican senators and we met for dinner with eight ambassadors from central and south america. it was a rare occurrence which we haven't seen in the last year and a half, the kind of dialogue and communication which i think is an important part of my job, an important part of understanding the world today. and they had one consistent message. despite the fact that they felt a closeness to the united states that had been built up over decades and generations, there was a new factor in central and south america which each one of them repeated as significant in the future of that region. the new factor is the arrival of china. in each one of these countries, large and small, china has become a player, a force. they have invested their resources in developing an economic relationship with these countries, have provided them with covid-19 vaccines when others would not, and were becoming larger an

mr. durbin: madam speaker. president. i'm sorry. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: i just heard the republican leader refer to the rescue plan as a grand socialist experiment. remember that plan? that was president biden's response to the covid-19 pandemic. how many republicans voted for it? not one. not a house member nor a senate member of the republican party supported it. so what was in this socialist experiment? well, the premier piece was to make sure that we distributed covid-19 vaccines to every american. some people think that's socialism. i think it's common sense. the more and mosh americans -- the more and more americans who were immunized, the more we escaped the pandemic. 99% of those admitted to the hospital today with serious covid-19 symptoms are unvaccinated. so this was socialism? i don't think so. how about the aid we gave to small businesses to stay open or reopen? that was in the american rescue plan. that was biden's plan. there was not a single republican vote for it. money to help businesses to reopen is socialism? is that what the se

mr. durbin: mr. president, this has been one of the most difficult years ever for the capitol police here in washington. these are men and women who work in this building and nearby in our office buildings and protect us to make sure we can come safely to work every single day and our staff and our visitors and tourists who come to the capitol building. these men and women are amazing. and we know that january 6, 2021, is a date that they'll never forget. they were on the front lines of the violent january 6 insurrection that shocked this building, our nation, and the world. hundreds of capitol police literally fought for hours that day to protect this building and to protect me and other members of the united states senate. the attack left one capitol officer brian sicknick dead and more than 140 total officers from the capitol police and d.c. police injured. some members said it was the most savage fighting they had ever witnessed or been part of. many of them thought they'd die that day. yet they

mr. durbin: madam president, in response to the minority leader's statement about the changes in voting laws across america, the record speaks for itself. i believe the number is 17, 17 states controlled by the republicans and the legislature which have set out to specifically limit previous opportunities under law to vote. coincidence that 17 states would do these things? i don't think so. i think it's by design. that's why the senate rules committee was in georgia today to talk specifically about the measures that they took after the last election. remember, this is all being done in the context of a former president, the sorest loser in the history of the united states, and his big lie about what was wrong with the last election. well, i can tell you what was not wrong with the last election. in many states the turnout broke records. more americans eligible to vote turned out to vote, and that's a good thing in a democracy. and when it comes to allegations of fraud, all of the money that has been spent on lawsuits, all of the allegations of voter fraud that have been investigated, it turn