mr. grassley: yes, it does. mr. durbin: i want to make certain, particularly, that i understand the modification. to the resolution clause. perhaps you can clarify as to whether or not there is a requirement of the executive branch to comply with all federal court rulings. do you modify that particular sentence? mr. grassley: yeah, that's right. mr. durbin: and do you add the word lawful? mr. grassley: yes. mr. durbin: so, mr. president, i think -- i want to clarify for the record and for history there's no dispute. there are differences of opinion about court orders in the past. i would say, without fear of contradiction, that though president biden's name has been mentioned repeatedly, particularly when it comes to the forgiveness of student loan debt, there was never any acknowledgment of defiance of any court order, period. there was a court order against the biden administration and president biden did not agree with it. it went forward -- he went forward with a different app approach with the law. his name has

mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr.ven. mr. husted. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. justice. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. kim. the clerk: mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. mccormick. mr. merkley. mrs. moody. mr. moran. mr. moreno. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schiff. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. is a mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. mr. sheehy. ms. slotkin. ms. smith. mr. sullivan. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. vote: the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- barrasso, blackburn, boozman, britt, cornyn, cotton, cramer, crapo, daines, grassley, hyde-smith, justice, lankford, marshall, moody, murkowski, paul, ricketts, s

mr. grassley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: in january investors concerned about china's advances in a.i. innovation wiped out nearly a trillion dollars in u.s. tech stock value, and that happened in a single day. chinese companies like deep seat are often able to keep pace with silicon valley because they steal our tech secrets and they do it from right under our own noses. this not only puts the united states at a competitive disadvantage but also threatens our national security. the citizenship and immigration ser services ombudsmen has warned that chinese nationals in our university systems are engaged in widespread technological espionage both on campus and in the workplace. foreign stem students often take tech jobs that give them access to sensitive technologies. now, this shouldn't be possible. why? because the law clearly states that student visas are solely for study, not for work. outrageously, the department of homeland security has -- granted work authorization to these students. the department of homeland

mr. grassley: october 7, 2023, will probably go down in history to americans like december 7, 1941, pearl harbor day. october 7, two years ago, israel experienced a surprise attack from hamas. as those under attack rushed to safe rooms and to bomb shelters, the terrorists' group inhill traiting the country -- infiltrating the country began firing on homes and killing israelis at random. those who have seen the footage of the attacks, in many cases by those films taken by the attackers themselves have said that the glee and the pride hamas showed in killing, in mutilating and in raping innocent civilians was particularly shocking. it's also very chilling and also very disgusting. on october 7, hamas also took roughly 250 residents hostage, even including babies, real old people, and even some americans. the horror that these individuals have faced under the brutal reign of hamas is unimaginable. the hostages have been subjected to inhumane conditions, deprived of their basic human rights and used as pawns in the cruel game of manipulation. now, more than 500 days later, hamas is still hold

chairman grassley. mr. pizzuro, i will start with you. you know the trends of what we are facing online, probably as well as anybody, is that fair to say? >> i would say so. >> senator hawley: would you say it is more of it or less of it? >> mr. pizzuro: hundreds or thousands percent more. >> senator hawley: in 2023, there were 104 million images in videos of suspected child abused materials uploaded onto the internet compared to 450,000 in 2004. 450,000 to 104 million in the last four years in which we have data. here is another statistic. the number of reports of child exploitation materials went from 1 million in 2014 to 36.2 million in 2023. so, in other words, it is an enormous explosion. it is absolutely everywhere. let me ask you some of the remedies about this. if you are a parent and i am a parent of three young little kids, if you are a parent of a victim of child sexual abuse material, your child's images have been used and they have been exploited. you have companies hosted that content reckles

mr. sauer, at the nomination hearing for president trump's first term solicitor general, chair grassley said "it is the responsibility of the solicitor general to defend the law even when they don't personally agree with the law." mr. francisco agreed, stating that a solicitor general is a lawyer representing the united states, but matters are the views expressed by the united states and the statutes that this body passes. do you agree it is the duty of the justice department to defend the laws congress passes and will you commit to do so even when the president may disagree with an act, campaigned against its passage or called for its repeal? >> i believe mr. francisco stated that the duty of the solicitor general's to defend the validity of congressional enactments when there are reasonable arguments available to do so. i think he noted an exception in certain cases where there is a conflict between a claim of encroachment on the presidents article to authority and i would commit to filing those principles that he outlined in his testimony. >> all right. i also note that on her first day i

mr. whitaker. >> thank you, mister chairman. i would like to thank my friends chuck grassley and joni ernst, senator from iowa, much like picking your favorite child, picking her favorite senator is very hard. i would like to thank my friends and family for joining me here today. ranking member shaheen and established members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. i am honored to appear before you as donald trump's nominee to serve asse united states ambassador to nato. i'm grateful to donald trump for his confidence and to this, he for its consideration. if confirmed i will work tirelessly to strengthen the alliance, assure the security of thehe american people and uphold our nation's role as the beacon of freedom and the many. it is the on of a lifetime to have served in two administrations throughout my career i have overseen critical issues related to national security, law enforcement and protection of us interests domestically and abroad. my experience managing the department of justice has equipped me well to navigate the complexities of nato. as a former college football player at the universi

mr. chairman. i am proud to introduce my friend. aaron has been nominated to be the assistant attorney general at the department of justice as chairman grassley observed he is currently my chief of staff and has virtually impossible job of keeping me out of trouble. in that regard, he has failed spectacularly. [laughter] but it may not be possible to succeed. he is fleeing instead to the department of justice where i have absolute confidence that he will diligently and vigilantly defend the rule of law at the department of justice. before i get in there, a professional background, i want to note that he is here with his beautiful wife meredith, with two of his four kids. william and caroline are both sitting behind their dad. and at home they are watching i'm sure on tv. unless they have fallen asleep or doing something else that has distracted them. excelling in everything he has put his hand to. he went to texas a&m. his wife meredith went to the university of texas. divided households. he went on to serve as an officer in the marine core. he spent five years in active duty, diploid and afghanistan where he was embedded with the afghan nati

mr. whitaker and that is senator earnst, colleague is in a hearing that is presiding over and can't be with us right now but i promised senator grassley that the moment he shows up indifference to his seniority we will suspend and allow him to make a few remarks but we -- i will postpone my opening statement until after introductory remarks. with that, senator earnst, you're up, welcome to our committee.mi >> thank you, mr. chairman risch. it's an honor to be dis here toy to introduce my friend and fellow iowan mat whitaker and i would also like to extend greetings to his friends and family that have joined us here today was raised outside of des moines iowa and went on to graduate from the university of iowa where he earned his bachelor of art and master of business administration and jury juris doctor. and i have to state for the committee this is very important. he was a university iowa hawkeye football player and did take the team to the 1991 rose bowl that is probably one of his most significant achievements and as an iowa state cyclone i try not to hold this against him. so matt has proudly served our state and country. as the u