mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 3115, and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 3115, a bill to remove the four-year sun set from the pro bono work to empower and represent act of 2018. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. and the senate will proceed. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate proceed to s. res. 675. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 675, resolution commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent to speak for five minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, i hope that my remarks are even less. i stand in solid support of the succession of finland and sweden into nato. i visited lithuania, it means a lot to me and my family personally. i met with the former president. he was a lithuanian immigrant to the united states had a distinguished record in our government service here and then returned to lithuania after his retirement from the u.s. federal government and ran successfully for president. he had the vision to realize that the future of lithuania and the baltic states was in the european union and nato and worked strenuously to meet those goals and i was happy to join him in that effort. now this moment in history complements his leadership, the succession of sweden and finland to nato is a confirmation that the baltic sea is safer than ever when it comes to the west. if vladimir putin tho

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: first let me say i'm joining in with the action just taken by the senate led by senator coons who has shown an extraordinary gift in understanding the importance of the african continent and the people that need to be part of its future. i wholeheartedly support the effort which he initiated on the floor this afternoon. and i believe that dr. muyangwa is going to be a valuable asset to aid and to africa, and i think him for his leadership in bringing this issue before us today. madam president, on a separate subject, madam president, the united states has done some good, important, even historic work this week. on tuesday we passed the pact act, expanding v.a. health care to an estimated 3.5 million veterans. their service to our nation exposed them to potentially deadly toxic chemicals from agent orange in the vietnam conflict to toxic burn pits which we found to be ubiquitous in iraq and afghanistan. it took too long. 12 years. toxic-exposed veterans and family members had to

mr. chairman. sen. durbin: senator graham is next. >> you have a national security mission to protect the american people against radical elements abroad and at home, is that correct? dir. wray: yes, senator. sen. graham: so thank you to you and yours out in the fight every day. to understand what kind of threats we are facing, it comes to china, how many cases a week will you open up against chinese agents trying to engage in illegal espionage activity in the united states? dir. wray: frankly, i wish i could measure it by week. we are opening a new china-related counterintelligence investigation about every 12 hours. sen. graham: stop. thank you. to the american people, every 12 hours the fbi is investigating some nefarious activity driven by the chinese communist party against american interests. is that a fair statement? dir. wray: yes, it is. sen. graham: when you talk to the ambassador of china as a member of the house or senate and ask them this question and they say they are not engaged in such activity

mr. chairman. sen. durbin: senator graham is next. >> you have a national security mission to protect the american people against radical elements abroad and at home, is that correct? dir. wray: yes, senator. sen. graham: so thank you to you and yours out in the fight every day. to understand what kind of threats we are facing, it comes to china, how many cases a week will you open up against chinese agents trying to engage in illegal espionage activity in the united states? dir. wray: frankly, i wish i could measure it by week. we are opening a new china-related counterintelligence investigation about every 12 hours. sen. graham: stop. thank you. to the american people, every 12 hours the fbi is investigating some nefarious activity driven by the chinese communist party against american interests. is that a fair statement? dir. wray: yes, it is. sen. graham: when you talk to the ambassador of china as a member of the house or senate and ask them this question and they say they are not engaged in such activity

mr. polite. >> gemara, chairman durbin -- [inaudible] >> make sure your mic is on. >> good morning chairman durbin, ranking member grassley, and members of the committee. thank you for inviting me tonight the trend united states justice to appear before you today to discuss election threats. again my name is kenneth polite and i'm the assistant attorney general of the department's middle division testified today on behalf of the department. the department of justice is committed to addressing threats to the state and local election community. the courageous and dedicated men and women who are responsible for administering the most fundamental aspect of our democracy, our elections, should not face threats for merely doing their jobs. these victims often volunteers are people from across our country and across the political spectrum. these are people we have sworn to protect. through direct engagement with the election community, training of our federal, state and local law enforcement agents, grant funding for enhanced election security, and federal criminal investigation and prosecution of electi

mr. johnson. >> thank you, chairman durbin, ranking member grassley for the opportunity to testify before this committee today. my name is jason johnson, the president of a law enforcement legal defense fund and it served as a law enforcement officer for more than two decades, including as deputy commissioner of the baltimore police department. there is a deadly issue facing the country, an epidemic of violent crime. last year there were 23,000 murders, 87% by firearms. this alarming increase in violence is not due to an epidemic of gun trafficking nor proliferation of illegal firearms. the vast majority of the violent crimes involving firearms are by person illegally possessing an otherwise illegal gun. it is they who, not the what that is at the root of this epidemic. gun offenders are the most likely to reoffend and especially likely to commit violence. between 2016 and 2018 have a baltimore's homicide suspects had been previously arrested for violent crime, and 43% for a gun crime. one third were on parole at the time of the killing. while police make such criminals are priority, they are not gettin

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the -- the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the following amendments appeared motions be the next amendments and motions the senate will come to order. 5265 cruz, 5281 sanders, 5385 kennedy, motion to waive the budget with respect to insulin. cruz motion to commit on vaccines. cruz motion to commit targeting parents. and that all provisions under the previous order remain in effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. cruz: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cruz: madam president, i call up my amendment number 5265 and ask in a it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from from texas, mr. cruz, proposes amendment numbered 5265 to amendment number 5194. mr. cruz: madam president, this bill represents the most significant assault on u.s. energy production the senat

mr. durbin: -- following grassley amendment number 5421. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the junior senator from florida. mr. scott: i have a motion at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from florida, mr. scott -- mr. scott: i ask that the reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. scott: i historic crisis the biden administration has created on the southern border is threatening the national security of the united states every day. savage cartels own oration border now. this fiscal year more than two million people have illegally entered the united states. drugs are pouring into our communities and killing thousands of americans. it must end now. sadly, democrats are still doing nothing support border control or actually support the border. they want to supersize the irs and add 87,000 more agents. before one more additional agents is hired, we must give border patrol the support it needs. it is time to stop the democrats are supe

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the democratic whip. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that all remaining time on the bill be yielded back, that there be two minutes for debate equally divided prior to each vote with respect to the reconciliation bill and following disposition of sanders amendment number 5210, the following amendments be the first republican amendments in order. number 1, amendment 5301, senator graham. number two, amendment number 5409, senator barrasso. number three, amendment number 5382, senator capito. amendment number four, amendment number 5384, lankford. amendment number 5404, crapo. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. there's two minutes of debate equally divided. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the junior senator from vermont. mr. sanders: the american people are sick and tired of being ripped off by the greed of the pharmaceutical industry which makes tens of billions of dollars a year in profit charging us by far the highest prices in the world for our me

mr. durbin: i ask consent the following amendments a be the next republican amendments in order. 5316 lee, 5418 shelby, motion to commit tim scott, 5263 cruz, 5425 daines, 5360 fischer, 5265 cruz, 5585 kennedy, motion to waive the budget with respect to insulin. 5460 hagerty, 5224 portman motion to commit hoeven, cruz motion to commit on vaccines, cruz motion to commit on targeting parents. further, that the sanders amendment 5208 occur foulage the scott motion to commit and sanders 5281 foaling the daines amendment 5425. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: i call up my amendment number 5316 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from utah, mr. lee proposes an enemy 5316. mr. lee: across the nation local governments are having youing to support their constituents. these frontline public servants provide for the safety and well-being of their friends and neighbors, typically using funds derived from local property taxe

mr. durbin: the fbi has told us repeatedly that domestic extremism is a very real threat in measure. last november, 60% of america's school leaders said that someone in their schools had been verbally or physically threatened over school policy. there is no evidence, none, that the department of justice is threatening the constitutional right of parents to peaceful, free speech. but there is no excuse, none, for violence against school teachers or board members. if you believe there is nothing peaceful orla legitimate mat about threat -- or legitimate about threatening teachers, school board members or their families, vote no on this amendment. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. mr. cruz: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 50, the nays are 50. the motion is not agreed to. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator fr

mr. durbin: mr. president, members, the senator from tennessee just provided with us this copy of his new amendment, and i hope you'll take a look at it because it is recommitting this measure for three days. end of conversation, end of debate, end of any possibility of passing what we consider to be a major piece of legislation for prescription drugs, for dealing with environmental issues, the list goes on. we've faced this so many times already in the last 12 or 14 hours. but the second thing i'd like to note is we understand the seriousness of this challenge, so much so that we've already decided it's a crime. it's a crime that can be prosecuted and it is a crime that is investigated and enforced by an agency of the federal government which we funded just four months ago. four months ago we gave $8 billion to ice for this purpose. $31 republicans voted against -- 31 republicans voted against funding this purpose. one of them was the senator from tennessee. now we're told we need the money. four mo

mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, this is my first day back in the senate since contracting covid last week. it's good to be back, particularly for an historic week. i'm grateful to the health care professionals and brilliant scientists who developed the covid vaccines and therapies so quickly. and the federal funding that made their work possible. luckily, i'm double-vaccine and double-boosted and i encourage everyone. get your shots. madam president, at 6:18 this past sunday morning in a wealthy neighborhood in kabul, afghanistan, two u.s. hellfire missiles delivered justice at last to an al qaeda leader, ayman al-zawahiri. zawahiri is dead, and the world is better for it. he was a terrible man who brought horrific suffering to countless numbers of people, innocent people throughout the world. he was second in command to osama bin laden during 9/11. it claimed nearly 3,000 innocent american lives. he was the mastermind behind the bombings of the u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania in 1998 an