mr. portman: absolutely. mrs. shaheen: as you point out, if this -- if putin does invade ukraine, as you said, it would be devastating for ukraine, for those of us who believe in freedom and the right of each individual countries to determine their own futures. but this would also be the biggest conflict in europe since world war ii, isn't that correct? mr. portman: that's correct. if there is an invasion, it would be the first time since 1945 that we've seen this kind of maligned behavior, not just an invasion but even the buildup of troops that we've seen and the so-called hybrid attacks, cyber attacks, disinformation attacks, which is why so many in europe are alarmed, particularly go the baltics -- in the baltic, lithuania, latvia, estonia, romania. countries on the border realize this isn't going to end in ukraine if this happens. it will send a message that we no longer have this post-world war ii security system in place in europe that has kept the peace. so, my hope is that we will continue to see not just

mr. portman: absolutely. mrs. shaheen: as you point out, if this -- if putin does invade ukraine, as you said, it would be devastating for ukraine, for those of us who believe in freedom and the right of each individual countries to determine their own futures. but this would also be the biggest conflict in europe since world war ii, isn't that correct? mr. portman: that's correct. if there is an invasion, it would be the first time since 1945 that we've seen this kind of maligned behavior, not just an invasion but even the buildup of troops that we've seen and the so-called hybrid attacks, cyber attacks, disinformation attacks, which is why so many in europe are alarmed, particularly go the baltics -- in the baltic, lithuania, latvia, estonia, romania. countries on the border realize this isn't going to end in ukraine if this happens. it will send a message that we no longer have this post-world war ii security system in place in europe that has kept the peace. so, my hope is that we will continue to see not just

mr. chairman. >> thank you senator portman. senator padilla, you're recognized for your questions. >> thank you, mr. chair. there are a number of issues i'd like to raise in my allotted time, but i want to again by commenting. dr. parker, you mentioned the dates and ability how quickly we pounced on covid. the existence of a strategy, the existence of a plan, whether or not that plan was implemented on a timely basis or a completely is worthwhile discussion because our public health experts and disease control personnel do not operate in a vacuum. and i'll leave it at that. >> first question i want to raise, you know, is the center who represents livermore national lab in california part of our national lab infrastructure, livermore in particular and labs are critical to advance our ability to counter weapons of mass destruction. the lab's mission includes work at nexis, biology, engineering and physical sciences to address national security in chemical security, biosecurity, human health and the partnership between encount the

mr. portman you are recognized all of you have been sounding the alarm in today you are able to give us more as to how you would deal with shortfalls. i was curious but not to make the structure more gentle but that is what but the initial question is that some of the adversaries then to protect their citizens from bio attacks and what can we learn from them? as the nation been able to analyze whether countries do? >> so it's very difficult for anybody else to figure out what they are doing but it is to protect themselves. that russia and china are eiinvesting. >> personal protective equipment, ppe that will bring the economic aspect of biology into the 21st century they are investing at a rate much greater. >> but also puts us at a disadvantage position. >> does that relate to. >> i don't know. >> what about you or those that we would have access to what they are doing? and i would be happy to share that information but have you learned anything from them to do a better job with detection? >> yes. especially in europe so i think the approaches are that now 18 years later we're still hanging

mr. chairman. >> iq, ranking member portman. it's the practice of the homeland security government affairs committee to swear in our witnesses, so if each of you will stand and racial right in including doctor curry whoou isn video. [witnesses were sworn in] truthe truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> you may be seated. our first witness is christopher curry. mr. curry serves as the director of homeland security and justice at the u.s. government accountability's. he leads the agency's work on national preparedness, emergency management and critical infrastructure protection issues. mr. curry brings almost 20 years of federal experience, and his expertise includes the evaluation of federal efforts and programs to prevent, plan for, and respond to both natural and man-made disasters. welcome back, mr. curry. you may proceed with your opening remarks. >> thank you very much, chairman peters. i appreciate the opportunity to discuss doj's work on bio security. today i would like to focus on two key areas. fi

mr. schumer: just a word, this was a very significant resolution that we passed. it was led by senators shaheen and portman and sends a very strong message to mr. putin that the united states senate, democrats and republicans of all different ideologies are united in defending ukraine in the ways that the administration sees fit. now, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 520 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 5 to 20 -- 520 designating february 21 through february 23, 2022 as public schools week. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the resolution. the presiding officer: is there further debate? hearing none. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer:

portman. >> thank you mr. chairman and to have senator lahey introduce who a good move. high stature and senator sinema's comments of course respect greatly because we did work closely together on the info structure legislation and we appreciate the work you did sometimes to knock heads and be sure federal agencies came up with better policies. i appreciate both of you for your willingness to serve and these are critical roles. as a former omb director i have a particular soft spot for omb and its importance not just of the federal government but its external role as well. i think it's important the omb director and debbie director have the ability to work with members of congress so tightly connected to the appropriations process and authorizing committees like ours. it's also important that you have an understanding and appreciation because omb gets involved in every policy issue and plays a role in the regulatory environment and plays a huge role in working with congress on regulation. this is an important one. we want thorough vetting today ensure we are getting all

senator portman is next then. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate it. i appreciate the testimony and the fact you are in the trenches every day doing great work with our young people. dr. hoover, you talked about telehealth. i want to be sure we are focused on the broader behavioral health and substance abuse. telehealth is one of the few silver lineings with regard to covid and with regard to substance abuse treatment there have been some real improvements. would you agree with that? >> i would. the opioid crisis has brought attention and that has been exacerbated during covid. the funding provided by the federal government to states and communities to support the opioid crisis has been tremendous and an improvement in care. telemental health has improved that. >> that's why we have to continue the reimbursement under medicare/medicare for substance abuse at a time when we had 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the period from april this year to last year. in one year a record level, a 28.5% increase in overdose deaths. really hard breaking because we mad

portman: i would love to hear you, trace, on this if you have a minute. mr. terrell: i would love to. thank you, senator. when we talk about this, it is alarming but i also think there is a beacon of hope. we have experienced an annual increase in volume of 15% annually with an additional increase of three to 5% since the covid-19 pandemic and want to prove a need for mental health care. there are so many teens reaching out for help and i think that is inspiring and it shows the resilience of teens in regard to mental health challenges, substance abuse challenges, so if we can really ensure that people reach out for help and can receive help, we will get really far on this issue. sen. wyden: next is senator menendez. sen. menendez: across the congress, we talk about the provider shortages the nation faces, especially mental health providers that are available for a and makino communities -- for black and latino communities. the per spider shortage -- provider shortage has only grown. more dedicated support for amort diverse -- a more diverse workforce is crit

mr. curry and dr. parker, one way we can detect biological threats is screening patients in hospitals and other health care facilities. there was a discussion with senator portman on the issue of what kind of data that we have. as i understand, much of the data would be collected by nonfederal entities. federal agencies would need to be closely correlating with them. as the government cabability office reports, it does not assess nonfederal bio defense capabilities nor does it establish a mechanism for nonfederal entities. mr. curry and dr. parker come how the federal government ensure that its nonfederal partners have the capabilities to detect and collect information about potential biological threats and how can congress act to better coordinate the efforts? i will start a mr. curry and them will go to dr. parker. >> thank you, i could not ink of a better example of a lesson learned from covid -- ink of better lesson learned from covid-19 then coordination. we saw this with issues related to the strategic national stockpile, and how supplies are distributed throughout the country, different from every state. perfectly encapsulating the challenge. the thing t

mr. krishnamoorthi: . -- raja krishnamoorthi. the first is to support students act, the jobs act, with senators kaine and portman and congressman gonzalez to expand pell grant eligibility to certain high-quality, short-term programs that can launch graduates into successful careers while also giving them paths to two and four-year degrees. this amendment also includes the college transparency act, led by congressman krishnamoorthi, which establishes a secure, private-protected post-secondary data system to collect and support student outcomes. both these initiatives are critical as we seek to rebuild the middle class and ensure workers have the skills needed to pursue in-demand, good-paying jobs. i want to close by urging my colleagues to support this amendment and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from north carolina seek recognition? ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. i rise in opposition to the amendment and claim time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. members on both sides of the aisle want mor

, as well as ranking member portman sent letters to dhs, oig to review the process, which insisted a draft of the directives which i ask now to be entered into the record, mr. chairman. >> no objection. >> thank you, mr. chairman, i would like, to ms. newhouse, how would tsa evaluate implementation of the pipeline security directives? >> thank you for your question, ranking member graves. we continue extensive, extensive engagement. i think that's the hallmark of what we are doing, in order to ensure continuous improvement. we actually developed and implemented an entire field service operational structure to do this so we have boots on the ground and what we've been finding thus far, as you mentioned, we issued two security directives this summer, post colonial pipeline, we're proud to announce on behalf of us and our stakeholders that all stake holders subject to that directive have met all the requirements in the very first security directive. very tight guidelines, communicated beautifully with us, very vocal, and frankly, very direct with us when they met challenges. >> let me ask you about those challenges if i could. what challenges have you identif

mr. portman: i come to the floor tonight with my colleague from new hampshire, senator jeanne shaheen, to discuss the critical situation in ukraine. ukraine is an independent country. it's a democracy. it's an ally of ours. it's a country that is

mr. portman: the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent that senators blunt, blackburn, and i be permitted to speak up to five minutes each prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. portman: madam president, i am here today to discuss the crisis at the border. unfortunately, it's not getting any better. in fact, it's getting worse by any measurement. the flow of illegal drugs, illegal migration continue to surge. as the lead republican on the homeland security and governmental affairs committee, i recently traveled to the u.s.-mexican border in nogales, arizona, just south of tucson, to learn firsthand from border patrol and customs officials and border patrol agents who are on patrol 24/7. it was my third trip to the border in the past year, and like other trips, what i saw was alarming. officials at the port of entry told me about the increasing and more sophisticated efforts to smuggle illegal and deadly drugs into the united states. they showed me some of the x-rays that

mr. portman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from ohio. mr. portman: mr. president, i come to the floor this evening to urge that congress speak with one voice at a critical time on an urgent matter. the fight for freedom is being waged in ukraine right now and the outcome is going to have profound effects not just in eastern europe but around the globe. russia has invaded ukraine twice in the last eight years. inserting troops and offensive military equipment into the done boss region. they continue to use disinformation to try to destabilize the democratically elected government in kiev. now the russians have gone further by amassing more than a hundred thousand troops under the command of a hundred tactical groups on russia's ukranian border. it includes rockets, tanks and artillery and is no longer on the eastern border of ukraine but now on the northern border where russian combat troops and heavy equipment have moved into dell reuss and in crimea and the black sea area. let me

mr. portman: i'm here to talk about the escalating aggression.he presiding officer: the senate is in a quorum call. mr. portman: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: recognize d. mr. portman: i'm here to talk about the escalating aggression by russia against ukraine. in our generation, this is where the fight for freedom is being held. this is where it's being waged. and it's going to affect not just ukraine and eastern europe, but countries all over the world depending on the outcome. today i'm going to address what i think the appropriate role is for us as americans, what more we can do to help avoid what could become an international disaster and a humanitarian crisis. russia is the aggressor here, having invaded ukraine twice in the past eight years, legally annexing crime i -- crimea, initiating cyber attacks and using disinformation to try to destabilize the democratically elected government in ukraine. now they've amassed more than 100,000 troops on ukraine's border, it includes rockets, tanks a

mr. schumer: just a word, this was a very significant resolution that we passed. it was led by senators shaheen and portman and sends a very strong message to mr. putin that the united states senate, democrats and republicans of all different ideologies are united in defending ukraine in the ways that the administration sees