mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from ohio is recognized. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer from maryland was in a committee with me today and heard from the president's council -- national council on economic advisers, and talked about the economy, acknowledging that inflation, that they spend every day worrying about inflation, what we do to combat inflation, everything from we see the huge access -- excess profits in the shipping industries, among drug companies, food service companies, especially the meat packers, but also supermarket chains and oil companies, and a big part of inflation we need to combat is because these companies understand they can raise prices, because they don't have much competition. we see executive compensation continue to rise, sometimes to stratospheric levels, while who bears the burden? the burden is middle class and lower-income families in places like baltimore, cleveland, p

mr. president, mr. secretary-general, distinguished colleagues. in recent days, the ukrainian issue has made headlines, global headlines and is now at the general assembly. at the same time, russian actions are being distorted and there is a number of incredible fakes. it is staggering with the use of media outlets and social networks, i wish to focus on the real reasons for the crisis that has emerged. i wish to emphasize the following. the route for the current crisis lies in the actions of ukraine itself. for many years, it sabotaged and flouted its direct obligations. just recently, very recently, there was a hope that, in kyiv, they would reconsider and comply with what they signed onto in 2015. first and foremost, it was necessary, with direct dialogue, however, the latest confirmation by the senior leadership of the country was that ukraine was unwilling to engage in this dialogue. unwilling to take steps to grant special status, set out in the agreements. this was supported by the western patron

mr. president. the presiding officer: . the senator from florida. mr. scott: reserving the right to object. throughout his administration president biden has shown a shocking disregard for congressional authority and oversight. following his botched and deadly withdrawal from afghanistan, the biden administration has refused to provide accountability or provide answers to congress or the american people. the president shifts blame and hides from the truth. his administration demands to have close, so-called classified hearings, even though none of the material being discussed is classified information. we don't know how many americans are trapped in afghanistan. we don't know how many americans are trapped in afghanistan. biden abandoned them behind enemy -- lines. it's wrong and left no faith in president biden's ability to appoint individuals. i will not allow this nominee to move forward in an expedited manner. mr. president, therefore, i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. merkley: mr. president. the presiding officer: the sena

mr. president. mr. esident, excellencies, i want to reaffirm what i expressed this morning in the meeting at the general assembly. of course it wouldn't make any sense to bother you reading again the same text that i'm sure you are all aware of. in between meetings today, a number of events took place and with your permission, mr. president, i would like to ask ms. rosemary dicarlo to brief you on the events. simultaneously, today was full of rumors and indications that an offensive against ukraine was imminent. in the recent past, there were several situations with similar dedications, similar rumors. and i never believed in them, convinced that nothing serious would happen. i was wrong. and i would like not to be wrong again today. so if indeed and operation is being prepared, i have one thing to say from the bottom of my heart. president putin, stop your troops from attacking ukraine. give peace a chance. too many people have already died. thank you, mr. president. >> i think the secretary-general for

mr. president. mr. t, as i speak here today, russian president vladimir putin has amassed 30,000 to 150,000 soldiers on ukraine's doorstep in a show of force that could be a dress rehearsal for invasion of ukraine. but putin's inventory of tanks, infantry and missiles is enabled by another dangerous weapons, russia's export of dirty energy oil and gas. our global addiction to fossil fuels, an addiction which russia is only too happy to exploit, is kindling for this potential conflict. it without a worldwide clean energy revolution, we will never be able to quit this cycle of fossil fuel corruption and conflict. we will never be able to experience true independence from foreign interference. and we will never be able to protect our friends and our allies, or ourselves, from wars spurred by dirty energy profits. as long as vladimir putin can wield natural gas and oil as a threat against our country and our european allies and partners, we will always be on the defense. as long as putin can wield gas prices

thank you, mr president. translation: i president.representative of the - translation: | thank the | representative of the united statesm _ representative of the united states... . representative of the united states- - -_ states... that was the us representative _ states... that was the us representative on - states... that was the us representative on the - states... that was the us representative on the un | representative on the un security council and as she was speaking president vladimir putin has gone on tv in russia and effectively declared war. he says the military operation is starting in ukraine, says the reason was that further nato expansion, in ukrainian territory was unacceptable for russian security reasons. he has russian security reasons. the: has authorised a military operation in the donbas region in the east of ukraine. this is something that was being predicted by the us secretary of state, something predicted by the ukrainian president, we have seen the troops surrounding ukraine for a while now, but it does se

mr. president. mr. president, the situation in ukraine is at a critical juncture. china has been paying close attention to the situation. in the current context, all parties concerned should exercise restraint. and avoid the further escalation of tensions. we believe that the door to a peaceful solution to the ukraine issue -- nor should it be. there is a historical context of the ukraine issue, and the current situation as the result of the interplay of many factors. china's position regarding the territorial integrity of ukraine -- the principles of the u.n. charter should be jointly upheld. we hope that all parties concerned will stay coolheaded and rational, and use dialogue to resolve issues properly. through negotiations and address each other's legitimate security concerns in line with the principles of the u.n. charter. it is especially important to avoid increasing tensions, china will promote peace talks in its own ways and welcomes and encourages all efforts to make a diplomatic solution.

mr. president. now, mr. president, last night, and this is relevant to what we just did, putting the new bill on the calendar for a second reading, last night, we had a chance to continue progress on a bipartisan, long overdue postal reform bill when i moved to expeditiously fix a few technical errors to the legislation sense to us by the house. sadly, my request was blocked by the junior senator from florida. without much in the way of clear explanation. for instance, he says he wants to stand up for postal workers, but all the organizations representing postal workers strongly support this bill. they are eager for it. he says he wants to protect and strengthen medicare. but postal already pays into medicare, and the c.b.o. says that this proposal, this bill will save the government money. so, i hope, for the sake of our postal workers, our postal service, and for the millions, tens of millions, even hundreds of plls of americans who depend on postal service, that this is not obstruction for obstruction sake

mr. president. since world war ii, the united nations charter, the key tenants of which this council is mandated to uphold has stood as a bulwark to the worst impulses of empires and autocrats. earlier today, russia's president vladimir putin announced that russia will announce its independent states. sovereign area of ukraine, controlled by russia's proxies since 2014. he has since announced he will place russian troops in these regions. he calls them peacekeepers. this is nonsense. we know what they really are. in doing so, he has put before the world a choice. we must meet the moment and we must not look away. history tells us that looking the other way in the face of such hostility will be a far more costly. russia's clear attack on ukraine's sovereignty and integrity is unprovoked. it is an attack on ukraine's status as a human member state. it violates a basic principle of international law. it defies our charter. what is more, this move by president putin is clearly the basis for russia's atte

mr. president. >> i think the representative of the united states. i now give the floor to the representative of the united kingdom. >> mr. president, i think the secretary-general and undersecretary general dicarlo for their remarks. we are here tonight to: russia to avert war -- to call on russia to avert war. for months, russia has been holding a gun to ukraine's head. now president putin's figure -- finger is on the trigger. a full-scale conflict in a country of 44 million people will bring immense suffering, casualties on both sides, and devastating humanitarian consequences. the members of this council, the general assembly, and the secretary-general have all called this week for respect for the principles of the u.n. charter. the world is calling for peace, but russia is not listening. mr. president, make no mistake, the u.k. will not compromise. we will not compromise our commitment to ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. our support for peace, prosperity, and the democratic free

mr. president. mr. esident, excellencies, i want to reaffirm what i expressed this morning in the meeting at the general assembly. of course it wouldn't make any sense to bother you reading again the same text that i'm sure you are all aware of. in between meetings today, a number of events took place and with your permission, mr. president, i would like to ask ms. rosemary dicarlo to brief you on the events. simultaneously, today was full of rumors and indications that an offensive against ukraine was imminent. in the recent past, there were several situations with similar dedications, similar rumors. and i never believed in them, convinced that nothing serious would happen. i was wrong. and i would like not to be wrong again today. so if indeed and operation is being prepared, i have one thing to say from the bottom of my heart. president putin, stop your troops from attacking ukraine. give peace a chance. too many people have already died. thank you, mr. president. >> i think the secretary-general for

the presiding officer: duly noted. mr. carper: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i am honored today -- mr. president, would you mind repeating the marge -- margin on that vote? the presiding officer: 54-33. mr. carper: we hope there will be a settlement in the dispute with baseball. at the end of a game, somebody wins and somebody loses. the team that wins gets a w. we just had a w in the nomination of leonard stark to serve on the federal circuit. not just for delaware, but a win for those places that he went to school and where he practiced law, this is a win for our country. i rise in support of his nomination to serve on the u.s. court of appeals. the presiding officer from time to time will see me on the floor and passing out we call them prom cards to our colleagues asking them to join him or join me in cosponsoring legislation supporting amendments, supporting bills on the floor and for the last day or two i've been passing out pom cards to our republican colleagues asking them to support the nomination of leonard stark to serve on this court. as

mr. president. now, in reference to some -- oh, excuse me. in order to place the bills on the calendar, under the provisions of rule 14, i'd object to further proceedings en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bills will be placed on the calendar. majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: those are all bills that we hope to move forward, and so that's why i've rule 14'd them. okay. yesterday, mr. president, by a margin, a large margin of 342-92, congress took the first steps towards creating the most important upgrade to our post office in decades by passing a bipartisan reform package that's been years in the making. with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the house, it is my intention for the senate to quickly take up and pass this bipartisan, bicameral postal reform bill. we hope to take action here on the floor and pass the bill before we go to the presidents' day recess. the post office is quite simply one of the most important institutions of american life. every d

mr. president. mr. president, china has been paying close attention to the latest developments of the situation in ukraine. we fully elaborated on our position at the previous meetings of this counsel. at present, all parties concerned must exercise restraint and avoid action that may fuel tensions. we welcome and encourage every effort for a diplomatic solution, and call on all party concerns to continued dialogue and consultations. and seek reasonable solutions to address each other's concerns on the basis of equality and mutual respect. the current situation in ukraine is a result of many complex factors. china always makes its own position according to the merits of the matter itself. we believe all countries should solve international disputes by peaceful means in-line with the purposes and support of the u.n. charter. i thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the representative of china. i shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the russian federation. distinguished colleagu

mr. president.ast briefed this counsel on the situation in ukraine as it relates to the implementation of the agreement on 11 february february 2021. at that time i drew attention to the fragile security situation that prevailed despite the cease fire in place. today, one year since that briefing, tensions in and around ukraine are running higher than any point since 2014. speculation and accusation around a potential military conflict arise. whatever one believes about the prospect of such a confrontation, the reality is that the current situation is extremely dangerous. the issues underpinning the current crisis are complex and long-standing. they tied together the eight-year conflict in eastern ukraine with the larger issue related to european security architecture. although seemingly intractable, given the stakes involved for our collective security and european stability, these issues can and must be solved through diplomacy and the full use of the many available regional and other mechanisms a

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: mr. president, before i begin, i would like to ask unanimous consent to put in the "congressional record" an open letter to the russian leadership from the russian congress of intellectuals who state, and i quote, this is the russian congress of intellectuals. our position is l simple. russia dmots need a war -- russia does not need a war with ukraine and the u.s. such a war has no moral basis, end of quote. this is a very brave statement made by russian intellectuals. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: mr. president, as i speak today, europe for the first time in almost 80 years is faced with the threat of a major invasion. a large nation threatens a smaller, less powerful neighbor, surrounding it on three sides with well over 100,000 troops as well as tanks and artillery. my colleagues, as we have painfully learned, wars have unintended consequences. they rarely turn out the way the planners and experts tell us they will. just ask the officials who provided rosy scena

mr. president. >> i thank -- for her statement the representative from ireland. i give the floor to the representative from india. >> thank you you, mr. president. let me begin by thanking the undersecretary general, special representative -- and chief monitor for their competence of briefings on the occasional of the occasion of the package of measures for the minsk agreements and endorsed universally by the un security council resolution 2202. we welcome the efforts underway for implementation of the minsk agreements including through the trilateral contact group and under the normandy format. we believe that the minsk agreements -- the basis for a peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern ukraine. accordingly, we urge all parties to continue to engage through all possible diplomatic channels and keep working toward the full implementation of the minsk agreements. we also believe that meetings under the normandy format will further facilitate the ample mentation of the minsk agreements inclu

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate consider the following nomination, calendar 650, martha williams, to be director of u.s. fish and wildlife service. that the senate vote on the nomination without inteeng action or debate, that no further motions be in order on the nomination, with no intervening action or debate, and the president be immediately notified on these actions, and the president will be immediately notified on the senate's actions. and the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. mr. schumer: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 519 submitted earlier today. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 519, supporting an inde

mr. president. then call for more funding for congress for violent interrupters, something my congressional delegation understand so clearly. we could build the back if we pass a bill that back. that is how we build america back. scale up a nationwide response to this public health crisis that is gun violence. that is why we are here today. to bring together our federal, state, city partners are, because bird were going to stop gun trafficking from coming into our city, illegal guns off the street and lock up those who carry them. and make sure they don't leave prison or jail's without the opportunities they need to they do not have a revolving door of crime in our city and country. we're going to provide funding for cities and state to put more police officers on the places we need them. investing community violence prevention and intervention programs. when change our laws to prevent crime and save lives and do it in a way that we can disagree without being disagreeable because we are in this figh

mr. president. >> i thank the secretary general for his urgent plea for peace and undersecretary general decarlo for her briefing. in this grave moment, kenya continues to call for respectful -- respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of ukraine in line with the ten -- core tenets of the united nations charter. kenya is deeply concerned by the rapid escalation following the recognition of donetsk, and luhansk, as independent states by the russian federation and the continued military escalation. we are concerned that there is a serious risk they conflict enveloping the whole of the region will of her, presents trends holding. such a development would instantly lead to significant loss of life, a humanitary -- humanitarian crisis and the large scale of population movement of refugees. can you urgently calls for calm by all parties and their commitment to protecting civilians and civilian objects from any actions contrary to international law and international hum

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: mr. president, i overheard some of my colleagues here on the senate floor complaining about what happened at the senate banking committee today, and i want to address this, set the record straight, and provide a little historical context which i think is important. last week the chairman of the senate banking committee, chairman brown, indicated that he wanted to have votes on six nominees within

mr. president, with that said, we want to look ahead towards the future and there is some speculation swirlinghat hillary clinton is thinking about running for president again in 2024. so the question is. >> i hope so. carley: are you going to run and with that will there be a repeat of the 2016 presidential election? >> well, anything is possible. anything's possible. we are certainly looking at it and we're working right now with a lot of great people in the senate and in congress and my endorsement has meant a lot as you know, i think it's 158 and 2. that's pretty good. a lot of people want that endorsement. i think everybody wants the endorsement. we are working on getting congress, getting the senate and we're looking at very, very strongly. i think ultimately a lot of people are going to be happy because our country is a mess. our country is going to hell. when you look at what is happening in our southern border. when you look at disrespect that other countries have for us, that just a year ago we were more respected than at any time. we were never so respected. a and now we are just to

mr. president. yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president. mr. schumer: majority whip. mr. durbin: i have six committees to meet today. they have the approval of the majority leader and minority leader. i listened to my friend and colleague, senator sanders from vermont. i read his published article in "the guardian" newspaper yesterday, and it paralleled many of the things which he said on the floor today. we have a very positive starting point between us. i think my record on voting to go to war may be identical to yours, if not very close. neither of us want war. that is the last resort, and it is frightfully predictable that there will be innocent people killed, even in the best of times, in the best of military force. secondly, i couldn't agree with you more that we should be promoting all that we can in terms of diplomacy at this moment. the other night, i had the opportunity to be at a meeting with some senators with the new chancellor of germany, chancellor scholz. he was on his way soon to moscow. president macron of france has been there. others are encouraging. i

mr. president. the presiding officer: the good afternoon. continue strong diplomatic efforts to call. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i come to the floor today to talk find cities like minneapolis an portland -- and portland, oregon. governors and mayors genuflected to the mob. they started to cut funding. the mayor of new york cut funding for the police department by $1 million. another city cut police funding by over $150 million. another 20er cities followed suit. each of them run by a liberal mayor. what followed was an historic exodus from police departments all across the country. police retirement skyrocketed, resignations increased dramatically among police officers. and recruitment of new officers became almost impossible. thanks to the democrat politician that have run these cities, our cities have fewer police, our police have lower moral and these communities have higher crime. in 2020, there was a 20% increase in murder rate nationwide. the fastest in american history. in 2021, the murder rate went up even higher. 16 cities broke t

mr. president. >> mr. president? >> the majority whip. >> i at six requests for committees to me during today's session by the approval of the minority leaders. mr. prezant i've listenedty carefully to the remarks of my friend and colleague senator sanders from vermont. i read is published article in the guardian newspaper yesterday and it paralleled many of the things he said on the floor today. we have a very positive starting point and i think my record on voting may be identical to yours if not very close. neither of us want war. as a last resort and it is frightfully addictive bowl with innocent people being killed even in the best military force. secondly i couldn't agree withe you more that we shouldn't be promoting -- should be promoting all that we can in terms of diplomacy. the other night i had the opportunity to be in a meeting with some senators to me with chancellor schultz. he was on its way soon to moscow and presidents macron of france has been there and others are going. encourage the communication

mr. president. >> i now give the floor to the representative of the united kingdom. >> thank you mr. president. the united kingdom welcomes the results of this vote today. by voting in favor of convening an emergency special session of the general assembly on ukraine tomorrow, the members of this council have laid bare russia's diplomatic importance. russia again was isolated in opposing this resolution. but, russia cannot stop the world from coming together to condemn its invasion of ukraine. as each day passes in this unprovoked and unjustified war, support for the people of ukraine, their plight and their fight for freedom grows. we urge all members of the united nations to use their voice tomorrow to call for the immediate withdrawal of russian forces from ukraine and end this war. thank you. >> i now give the floor to the representative of india. >> mr. president, it is regrettable that the situation in ukraine has worsened further. since the council asked him jeans on this matter -- call for the immediate secession of violence and the end to all hostilities. there is no other ch

mr. president. yield the floor. mr. durbin: mr. president. mr. schumer: majority whip. mr. durbin: i have six committees to meet today. they have the approval of the majority leader and minority leader. i listened to my friend and colleague, senator sanders from vermont. i read his published article in "the guardian" newspaper yesterday, and it paralleled many of the things which he said on the floor today. we have a very positive starting point between us. i think my record on voting to go to war may be identical to yours, if not very close. neither of us want war. that is the last resort, and it is frightfully predictable that there will be innocent people killed, even in the best of times, in the best of military force. secondly, i couldn't agree with you more that we should be promoting all that we can in terms of diplomacy at this moment. the other night, i had the opportunity to be at a meeting with some senators with the new chancellor of germany, chancellor scholz. he was on his way soon to moscow. president macron of france has been there. others are encouraging. i

i thank you, mr. president. here look a little i think the representative of china where statement is and i'll get that over to the representative of albania. mister president. i thank the you as she decarlo ambassador, scheduling and traffic for their briefing. we will come to hybridization. i live in participation in this meeting. that me 1st express our gratitude to the o. c. special monitoring mission to ukraine, which continues to work in a volatile and unpredictable environment. and as we heard from ambassador terrific and the multiple challenges and restrictions, we must continue to support the women and men of the monitoring mission. their tireless efforts in contributing to reducing tensions and fostering peace, stability, and security, and to monitoring and supporting the limitations of all i see principles and commitments throughout the crane. mr. president, i'll be in a support the implementation of the myths minsk agreement. we reject any pressure on ukraine to implement nist minsk agreement accordin

mr. president. i once again strongly condemned the russians federation further invasion of ukraine. since we last met on friday, the russian federation has intensified its unjustified and unprovoked attack against ukraine. russia's aggression is causing it mounting hardship and suffering to the people of ukraine who have shown remarkable resilience and resolve. ireland stands in full solidarity with them today. mr. president, this counsel has a responsibility to act in the face of conflict and to respond to this great threat to international peace and security. we have failed to exercise that responsibility. we were rendered powerless to do so, in spite of the kill will of 11 members of this counsel. the russian federation's use of the visa and fragrant attempt to excuse it's only -- it's on military -- against ukraine, the only member of our united nations. this use and these terrible tragic circumstances are reprehensible. they undermined the legitimacy of this counsel and the eyes of the watching

mr. president. mr. president, we live in unprecedented circumstances of threat to the international order and violation of the u.n. charter. we are gravely concerned with the russian military operations against targets in sovereign ukrainian territory. we believe the security council should strive to show a united resolve in pursuing diplomatic solutions to international peace and security and seek agreement also on the ukrainian crisis. as we hear reports of increasing civilian casualties, fear and devastation in ukraine, a scenario that any war inevitably generates, our main objective now is to immediately stop ongoing hostilities. how should we do that? first, the security council must swiftly react to the use of force against the territorial integrity of a member state. a line has been crossed and this counsel cannot remain silent. second make, and no less important, we need to create the conditions for dialogue from -- among all involved parties. the world cannot afford a point of no return, we are

mr. president, war is not the answer. it is death, human suffering and an immense destruction from the real challenges facing humanity. healing the divide and some many other pressing challenges. humanity cannot afford -- we need to look forward to overcome the scourge of war. we need to talk about solving problems, not making them worse. people are taking to the streets and demanding an end to war. people want and need peace. i believe people in the russian federation do too. we need peace now. thank you. >> i thank the secretary-general for his statement. i now give the floor to the distinguished representative from ukraine. >> mr. president, secretary-general, for the first time since the united nations was born, there is a full-fledged war in the center of europe. everyone in the world knows that russia and russia alone started this invasion, now facilitated by belarus. this war was not provoked. it was chosen by someone who is right now sitting in a bunker. we know what happened to the person who sat in the bunker in

thank you, mr president. _ brazil. thank you, mr president. that - brazil. thank you, mr president. president. that was the representative from - president. that was the l representative from china there. not condemning russia, saying that peace talks should continue. but crucially, not condemning russia there. we can return to emma. they give are staying with us. what do you see happening, then, over the next few hours and days? are we going to see fighting? are we going to see fighting? are we going to see ukraine fighting back and protecting its territory?— back and protecting its territo ? ., , ., territory? certainly we are auoin territory? certainly we are going to — territory? certainly we are going to see _ territory? certainly we are going to see fighting - territory? certainly we are going to see fighting from j going to see fighting from ukraine but i think everybody has known for a long time now that this was going to be an extremely difficult fight. ukrainians are extremely outmatched. the army is not well—positioned to repel an attack. if it comes from anyone other than

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: mr. president, i overheard some of my colleagues here on the senate floor complaining about what happened at the senate banking committee today, and i want to address this, set the record straight, and provide a little historical context which i think is important. last week the chairman of the senate banking committee, chairman brown, indicated that he wanted to have votes on six nominees within the banking committee jurisdiction. five were to be governors of the federal reserve. they had been nominated to federal reserve posts, and one is the director of the fhfa. now i told the chairman last week that as far as republicans on the committee were concerned, we were perfectly fine proceeding to votes on five of the six, five of the six nominees we were ready to have votes on. and those five included the chairman of the federal reserve j. powell, the vice chair lael brainard, nominee professor lisa cook, nominee professor phillip jefferson, and the nominee to be the director of the fhfa, sa

thank you, mr. president. let me begin by thanking under sector general rose when a decarlo special representative mckoko noonan and chief monitor your shot chevy for their comprehensive briefings on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the package of measures. for the implementation, the winds agreements endorsed unanimously by the un security council resolution to 202. i also welcome was that the on a monte, on to our meeting, we welcome the efforts underway for implementation of the men's agreements, including through the trilateral contact group and under the normandy format. we believe that mince agreements provides a basis for a negotiated and peaceful settlement of the situation in east and ukraine. accordingly, the urge all parties to continue to engage through all possible diplomatic channels and keep working towards the full implementation of the minsk agreements. we also believe that meetings under the normandy format will further facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the mens agreeme

mr. president. mr. president, for three decades, the violence against women act has been at the forefront of our efforts to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. this legislation provides survivors with access to programs and resources that promote safety and healing. it bolsters our criminal justice response through protections for survivors and provides critical training for law enforcement officials. it prioritizes programs and grants to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault from occurring in the first place. i've been a longtime victims' rights advocate, dating back to my time as attorney general of my state and i'm a proud supporter of the violence against women act and i think that's a common sentiment in this chamber. republicans and democrats alike agree we must do more to provide services and protection for the victims of violence against women act, even if we don't agree exactly on what those changes should look like. unfortunately, like many good bipartisan ideas, thi

mr. president, here is another area of congratulations to the billionaire class.hen we speak about oligarchy we should all understand that is not just talking about massive levels of income and wealth inequality. we are not talking about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. we should all understand that never before in american history have so viewed -- so if you owned so much. and the issue, the issue of the incredible concentration of ownership and our country is almost never talked about here in congress or in the corporate media. that has more to do with the local system that we operate under where many members of congress deceived huge campaign contributions from these very same people. here as an important point to make. tomorrow will be doing a hearing on the chairman of the budget committee. this is an issue we almost never discussed. it is of enormous consequence. today in america, just 3 wall st firms, blackrock, vanguard and state street, and i suspect that many americans have never heard of these firms. blackrock, vanguard and state str

and the last example which is the right to thank you so much for your welcome mr. president. perceive our growing their credit gave me your name because concilium says, and you like your colleagues now for the conference smoke. so that will begin with 33 unless we'll have 2 questions. hon. case from the senior senior was on the city because you don't have to didn't dia animals didn't by then said that all our 1st level of going to psychologist that he gathered our civic, you multiply that a j sharing with her like towards a why ship like the last alive, yours semester read also speaking about they present on russian nationally in melina. music was new and the on the source on the face. he really, caleb bonus request don't put in and for me to put in the pools equation that equal to of the yield. kind of she recently got it. do you call? and we've to invade, dear i, you, friend, and emily to what's going on in monarch l. a victim, a government denied any connections with the russian troops in melee with stock. i said, somalia has been in business now. look it up. no. oh, of course. now

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mr. president.

mr. president -- >> mr. president -- >> yes? >> no, no, no. he had his hand up a long time. >> mr. president, how concerned are you that putin wants to go beyond ukraine, into other countries, and the u.s. will have to get involved, if he moves into nato countries? >> well if he did move into nato countries, we will be involved. the only thing that i'm convinced of, is if we don't stop now, he will be emboldened. if we don't move against him now, with the significant sanctions, he will be emboldened. look, every, well, anyway. >> can you tell us anything more about your conversations -- mr. president -- >> mr. president -- >> why not sanction putin directly today? >> i'm sorry? >> being a partner of the united states, is india fully with you on the issue in russia? >> does the defense department of the united states -- >> india is one of your defense departments, is india fully in sync with the united states on russia? >> we're going to be, we're in consultation with india today. we haven't resolved that completely. >> okay, thank you all very much. thank you. >> the press colleague