mrs. moran created an animal shelter. mrs. moran's generosity and commitment to the betterment of her community is truly inspiring. she will be deeply missed, there is no doubt that through herselfless endeavors, her legacy will live on forever. this should stand as an inspiration to all. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i rise today to indicate that finally, finally, finally we have passed and signed into law the violence against women's act. after years of introducing it, passed in the house of representatives, we came together and today at the white house, relief has been given to the millions of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and provided the opportunity for enhanced police efforts for trying to stop the most dangerous calls to

mr. moran: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran:i rise to pay tribute to a kansan, sonny rondell. sonny passed away this past friday at the age of 89. i want to recognize his life and moment. a moment is insufficient, certainly, to pay the tribute that this gentleman and family deserve. sonny was born in percville, kansas. in places as rural as there, people are sparse, and you quickly learn what's important. sonny learned that in his life family, church, community were the important things. sonny embodied qualities that fostered his community -- hard work and generosity -- and like so many young men of his generations he was called to service to his country. in 1953 he answered that call and left to serve in korea. when he returned home to kansas in 1956, he finished his degree at kansas state university, earning a degree in agriculture. he went on to farm land in hamilton, stanton, and fenny counties more than 30 years. sonny was involved in so many ways.

mr. moran: thank you. i also ask unanimous consent that my following remarks appear separately in it the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: madam president, rise today on a solemn occasion. i rise in member reconcile of george mettles, jr., a man to lived a life of service to our community and state. affectionately referred to as, quote, the face of pittsburgh -- pittsburgh, kansas, that is -- he was a loving husband and devoted father. he was born in pittsburgh, kansas, the very southeast corner of our state where his dedication, hard work and thirst for adventure was cultivated. as a young man, george joined the u.s. army in the closing years of world war ii. upon his return home, he a. attended the university of kansas. he spent most of his career in his beloved hometown where he became the proud owner of midwest minerals, a crushed limestone, aggregate lime supplier with a four-state strong presence. in 1966, he served as the chairman of the kansas republican party and the nat

mr. moran. mr. sullivan. mrs. blackburn. mr. young. mr. lee. mr. johnson. mrs. capito. mr. scott.antwell. >> the committee will report the tight vote to the senate floor. it also recognized senator klobuchar for further motion for. >> i moved p and 1536 the nomination of gigi stone of the district of columbia commissioner of the federal communications commission he favorably reported for. >> is our second? thank you. i think there is a request for roll call vote. the clerk will call the roll. >> miss klobuchar. mr. blumenthal. mr. schatz. mr. markey. mr. peters. miss baldwin. mrs. duckworth. must sinema. mr. lujan. mr. hickenlooper. mr. warnock. mr. wicker. mr. thune. mr. blunt. mr. cruz. missus fischer. this moran. mr. sullivan. mrs. blackburn. mr. young. mr. lee. mr. johnson. mrs. capito. mr. scott. ms. cantwell. the nominee will be reported from the committee to the floor. i recognize sutter klobuchar for further motion. next i moved p in 1542 the nomination of maryland to be commissioner of the consumer product safety commission be favorably reported pre- >> is her second? tha

moran: mr. chairman, i'm not going to ask you about energy policy, but let me ask what percentage or, what is the quantification of how inflation is related to energy prices. chair powell: so, energy inflation is -- when we talk about core inflation, we exclude inflation from energy and food prices, because those are quite volatile. if you look at it the way we look at it, court -- core pce is about five, in the range of five. and energy inflation and food inflation, he put it on top of that, is in the high sixes. sen. moran: and just in my last 14 seconds, highlight -- i always worry about farmers and ranchers, small towns, community banks, lenders to those farmers and ranchers. interest rates and energy prices combined have a huge consequence to those who feed and clothe and provide energy to us and the world, and decisions you make have, perhaps, an exacerbated consequence to somebody who borrows significance amounts -- a significant amounts of money to put seed in the ground at a time in whi

with that mr. moran you are now recognized for your testimony. >> chairman, ranking member norman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the invitation to testify before you today. caring for the land and serving people, that is what we are really all about. we cannot fulfill this mission without successfully combating the wildfire crisis that is occurring. our job is to sustain the healthy, resilient landscape all the benefits of the people both in now and for generations to come. nationwide more than 60 million people living in 3400 communities across 36 states depending on the national forest in grasslands for the drinking water this includes great cities like portland, denver, atlanta, san francisco, los angeles and many more. the national forest systems has a tremendous source of jobs and economic opportunities for hundreds of millions of americans. in 2020 for example the national forest system supported more than three to 70000 jobs and contributed more than $37 billion to the gdp. that's

mr. moran: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from can cap. mr. moran: madam president, thank you very much. as the senate processes with the postal reform act, i want to rise today to highlight the daily impact the united states postal service on folks back home, particularly in rural kansas. many americans rely upon the postal service when a special occasion arises. they'll send a card, a card to a loved one. while receiving a card, a gift in the mail instead of a text message or e-mail these days brings lots of people lots of joy and a academics to people, the -- and a connection to people, the united states postal service plays a role to so many americans living in rural america. it's services are ingrained in the lifestyles of our communities. men and women gather at the post office. they see their friends and neighbors when they go to get their mail at the mailbox at the post office, everything from celebrating birthdays and weddings to even providing lifesaving assistance during a global pandemic revolve around the post office. ron hallub re

mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. i've lent my voice with my colleagues here in the united states senate many times here on the senate floor and elsewhere back home in kansas in condemnation of vladimir putin's attack, invasion, the death and destruction that his actions, his sole actions have taken on the people of ukraine, but those actions have consequences broader than just within the borders of the independent country of ukraine. i want today to bring awareness to a pressing consequences coming out of this invasion, and that's hunger. a month ago russia, the world's largest supplier of wheat, invaded ukraine. ukraine is the fifth-largest supplier of wheat. together they account for about 30% of global exports. this has exacerbated, tremendously exacerbated the already existing global food crisis, and it will only get worse. coming from a state like kansas, coming from kansas, america's largest supplier of wheat, i can tell you the effects of this invasion will have on the stability of our ag markets here in the u

mr. moran: madam president, thank you. it's a privilege to be here on the united states senate floor, speaking to kansans and to americans, to vladimir putin, to the ukrainians, and to the rest of the world, our allies, our friends, and our adversaries. it's a privilege to be here with the opportunity of speaking with one voice, as we know that does not happen frequently enough in the united states senate, but you, madam president, on this trip with us to the eastern europe and to the ukrainian border, and my colleagues here on the senate floor, republicans, democrats, and independent, members of the united states senate together saw what we saw and resolved what we resolved together. i'm so pleased that that's the case. particularly our adversaries, but clearly our allies as well must know that this is not a democratic or republican issue. it is an american issue. it is a world issue. it is something about freedom that transcends any of the differences that we have here in the united states or on the united states senate.

mr. moran: madam president, thank you. i've taken the opportunity over the -- well, all the time i've been in congress to speak in support of congress acting to reform and improve the postal service, and i'm here again today, and i'm pleased to what i think is going to transpire here within the next hour. i again express my strong support for the postal service reform act and urge my colleagues to support this critical, important piece of legislation. the united states postal service is an indispen ensible piece of -- indispensable piece of american infrastructure nationwide. back in my home state of kansas the rural communities are especially reliant on postal service for essential public services, the agency and its employees provide. however, due to the closure of numerous rural processing facilities in kansas and post office consolidations and close years, the quality of service and the efficiency of the postal service has consistently declined. the reduced effectiveness of the postal service hurts americans across the

mr. chairman. thank you. senator moran from kansas is recognized. at least one member of the open market committee has said that combining a relatively steep path with a modest reduction in the balance sheet could flatten the curve and historic incentives for the private sector intermediation especially for community banks. helpen me understand the relationship between balance sheet decisions and rate increase decisions and what thought process you would undertake in that regard. we think of it as the active tool and the monetary policy and we think of the balance sheet is something we do in urgent situations where we buy assets and that tends to drive down long-term rates. what we are very much about to do, and we are going to do this over the course of this year is both raise interest rates and begin to allow the balance sheet to run off. it depends on what securities are occurring and the treasury on the other side deciding what to issue, so they issue in the middle. that's what they do. but basically, that will have an affect on the yield curve

mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator moran from kansas is recognized. >> chairman, thank you. chairman, thank you. one member of the open market committee said a steep path of rate increases with the modest reduction in the balance sheet could flatten the field curve and distort incentives for the mediation, especially for community banks. help me understand the relationship between balance sheet decisions and rate increase decisions and what thought process you would undertake in that regard? >> basically, we think of the interest rate as the active tool of monetary policy, and we think of the balance sheet as something we do, really, in urgent situations, we buy assets and that tends to drive down long term rates. what we're, you know, very much about to do, and we're going to do this over the course of this year, is both raise interest rates and we are going to allow the balance sheet to shrink and run off. as the balance sheet shrinks, securities are mature something what is happening, and treasury on the other side is deciding what to issue, they issue long, short, in the

moran. >> thank you mr. chairman and ranking member and witnesses for joining us.ording to a report issued by the semi conductor association less than 5% of the manufacturing shared per packaging assembly and testing is done on shore, not on shore in the united states. we have companies certainly in kansas and around the united states that are well positioned to increase the capacity alongside chip applicators to address shortage issues for the automotive and other industries. i would ask all three of you can you comment on the importance of having the chip act investment addressed post fabrication or downstream of the supply chain to reduce the supply chain and vulnerabilities? >> overall the indications are as you say the package assembly tests generally are more dependent on the labor costs as drifting more aggressively to asia. we believe it is critical to restore the integrity of the entire supply chain including advanced packaging and assembling tests are at a minimum north america. pieces of the act specifically are in the area of advanced packaging capabili

mr. aggression might stop soon. ok. so you don't expect the military operation to stop soon, moran combine into her, let me put you in. now, a lot of actors in this crisis trying to push for diplomacy. i turkeys. foreign minister has announced that the foreign ministers of russia and ukraine will meet in antalya and later this week, could they be a break? 3 think there's diplomacy still stand a chance in, in your view, in this crisis? no, i don't think i don't think so. i don't think i see his having any chance this particular stage and then making any progress i think president is using because while actually he is also using military force on the ground with the premiums to get the conditions and he wanted from the very beginning i think he, he's trying to, to be as much as possible out on the korean government. most important for him that helps is to get the concession that makes green that mr. green be not but off near to, and also to just on the, on the country altogether. so i don't think that having any chance now. ok, so let me come to you now. then in brussel, caroline, oh, andrea in moscow says the military

mr. thune, if senator thune is available that i think it is senator moran. >> thank you, chairman thank you ranking member and are witnesses today for joining us. according to a report issued by the semiconductor industry association, less than 5% of of the global manufacturing share for packaging, assembly and testing is done onshore, onshore of the united states. we have companies in kansas and across the united states that are well-positioned, i know are well-positioned to increase the capacity alongside chip fabricators like intel and micron to address shortage issues for the automotive and other industries. i would ask all three of you, can you comment on importance of having the chip at investment address post-fabrication or downstream part of the semiconductor supply chain to reduce the supply chain and security vulnerabilities? >> overall, the indications are exactly as you say. the package assembly test which is generally more dependent on low labor cost, has even drifted more aggressively to asia. we believe it's critical to restore the integrity of the entire supply chain includi

. >> mr. moran, aye. >> mr. durbin, aye. >> ms. smith, aye. vote: vote: the presiding officer: the yeas are 69, the nays are 30, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 764, january contreras of arizona, to be assistant secretary for family support, department of health and human services, signed by 16 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of january contreras of arizona to be assistant secretary for family support, department of health and human services, shall be brought to a close.