the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask that the mandatory quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations en bloc, calendar number, 732, 765, 762, 1121, 1122, 1124, 1125, 1170, 1139, 1167, 1168, 980, 981, 1109, and 1112, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the question occurs on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. any opposed, no. the ayes have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following calendar numbers 1154, 1155, 1156, 1157, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1161, 1162, 1163, 116 # 65, 11666, 1173, 1174 and all the nominations on the president's desk, with exception of pn263, nominations be confirmed en bloc, the

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you, mr. president. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that i, senator leahy, senator schumer be permitted to complete our remarks prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. braun: mr. president, i call up my amendment number 5765 and ask it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report by number. the clerk: the senator from indiana, mr. braun, proposes an amendment numbered 5765 to amendment numbered 5745. mr. braun: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from indiana. mr. braun: the state of indiana is america's heartland. i have traveled to every county, listened to businesses, schools, churches. i think that's where we need to get our cue in terms of what needs to be done. farmers as well, they're in the middle of something that they've never faced before, probably the toughest job and business out there, never been tougher. the american people are strong and resilient, but they

mr. president. oh, no. dark money has also corroded the judicial nomination process as special interest groups spend tens of millions to push extremist judges onto the federal bench. i believe that the awful decision in dobbs was greatly affected by the fact that dark money is undisclosed. the disclose act operates off a simple premise -- a healthy democracy is a transparent democracy, one where billionaires and megacorporations don't get at that free pass to exploit loopholes in campaign finance law in order to spend billions in anonymous contributions. that is the antithesis of democracy. this shouldn't be a democratic or republican view. after all, when was the last time any of us heard voters celebrate the spread of dark money? when was the last time any of us heard voters say it's better for billionaires and special interests to buy elections in secret, rather than be held accountable to the public? of course, the public doesn't think that, unless they themselves, the few, are cutting million-do

mr. president, mr. president. mr. president. we have taken note of the information. we also heard the latest propaganda of the minister of defense. today's meeting which just convened has every chance of becoming a new milestone is a disinformation campaign unleashed by their western backers. this is a hybrid war against russia and the special military operations being conducted. the propaganda's are very familiar to us. we simply need to record the staging which are refuted by new efforts doing everything they can to keep out the eyes of the general public. which we are allegedly carrying out against ukraine citizens. i would like to ask -- but she has already left the meeting. i will pass this along to her. he spoke to us today as though we were a horror film. what horror film are you telling us the plot of exactly? we have never seen that film. it is a film produced by the ukrainian administration of propaganda. as for the so-called filtration. we do not understand what is being talked about here. it does not have a direct definition in international law. if we ar

mr. president, mr. rainians, i am infinitely grateful for the fact that we have been brought back, thank you very much, emotions are overflowing, thank you from the entire armed forces, from the marines who defended azotal, away, i will come to my senses and say everything. well, i have to say for now, and a huge thank you, to the whole team, to everything ukrainian to the people and to the people who took part in our return, you have already done everything, you can stop thanking and take a little rest, we are grateful to you, good guys, andriy, do you want to say: and please, please, glory to ukraine as the commander of the brigade of the 12th national guard of ukraine i want to thank you personally, your team, kyrylo alekseevich bohdan , and the minister who is here with us , the time will come, as they said in the previous e-e. we will give more information, we will tell more. to our families who were worried and were waiting for us at home thank you thank you guys let me say here a lot has already b

mr. president. >> i think -- thank the representative of the united states for his statement. i now give the floor to the representative of the united kingdom. >> thank you, president, thank you, secretary-general, thank you director general grossi. i would like to start by commending the iaea director general grossi and his staff or -- further visit to the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under extremely challenging circumstances. we welcome the iaea's ongoing presence there. and i also offer my thanks to ukraine for helping to facilitate this visit. the iaea has assessed that the physical integrity of the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been violated several times. and with the publication of today's report, the iaea has confirmed the presence of russian military personnel, vehicles, and equipment in the plant. we understand that in some cases russian military equipment has been as close as 60 meters from the nuclear reactors. the report also confirms the immense stress and pressure under whi

mr. president. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. mr. scott: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: i agree with my colleague that if you owe your taxes, you should pay your taxes. what's inconsistent is we had the amendment vote that would say that none of these agents could go after anybody making less than $400,000 a year. every democrat, i believe, in the senate voted against that. so the goal was absolutely, we should make sure that wealthy taxpayers pay all their -- everything they owe, but we had an amendment focused on wealthy taxpayers during the vote before we left on recess, and every democrat voted against that. for all those watching, here's what you'll see, the democrat party has created a platform to audit more americans, not just wealthy, all americans. this isn't about fairness. this is about power. democrats have wanted to spy op your bank transactions and send 87,000 more irs agents on the streets to collect the bills. joe biden is robin hood taking from the rich. this expansion is the sheriff of nottingh

mr. president. >> i think mr. grossi for his briefing. i know give the floor to members of the security council and i would like to give the floor of the representative of the russian federation. >> mr. president, i think secretary-general antonio guterres and the secretary-general of the iaea mr. rafael grossi, for their remarks. the mission at the zaporizhzhia plant was a responsible step by the iaea. we are happy that the visit enabled you and your team to assess the situation at zaporizhzhia and we see the seven pillars of security that you have formulated. the seven principles that you have formulated are being strictly adhered to by us. it is important that we heard that in your briefing on september 2. it is important that you could see that, thanks to cooperation between the staff at npp and the russian armed forces who are protecting the station, that it is functioning normally and there are no threats to its security. you had an excellent opportunity to see that the only threats are created by the shelling's and sabotage -- shel

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent the vote scheduled for 2:30:00 p.m. occur at 2:15 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. thune: mr. president. is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. thune: we are not? okay. thank you, mr. president. last friday president biden said the following during a speech, and i quote, we have a process in place to manage migrants at the border. we're working to make sure it's safe and orderly and humane, end quote. safe and orderly and humane. well, i have to ask, has the president visited the border lately? that's right, he hasn't. in fact, if other than a driveby, by the border when he was a candidate for vice president, and by driveby i mean his motorcade literally drove by, the president has never visited the border. never. although, i have to say, even reading the news should be enough to make it clear to the president the situation at the border is neither safe nor orderly nor humane. mr. pres

mr. president. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: so first off, my colleague never addressed the issue that this is a transfer of obligation. you could have a conversation about what we should have done with regard to tax cuts in the past, but this it a transfer of obligation. this is the transfer of obligation of people who decided who go to school, and we should do everything we can to help people. but we're not addressing the problem here. i addressed it when i was governor. when i became governor in january of 2011, tuition in florida was going up 15% a year, plus inflation. i stopped it. we didn't see tuition increase while i was governor. we became the number one higher education system in the country, according to u.s. news and world reports. we solved the problem of cost of higher education, to make sure people could afford education. we did it because we invested, we kept tuition low, and we paid our universities based on three things -- do you get a degr

mr. president, mr. ent, dear ukrainians, i am infinitely grateful for the fact that we have been returned , thank you very much, just emotions are overflowing, e-e, thank you from the entire armed forces, from the marines who defended azotal e-e away i will come to my senses and say everything well, i have to say for now and a huge thank you to the whole team to the entire ukrainian people and to the people who took part in our return, you have already done everything, you can stop thanking and rest a little, we are grateful to you, well done guys, andriy, do you want to say anything at all, please? yes, please, please. glory to ukraine, i am the commander of the brigade of the 12th national guard of ukraine. i want to thank you personally, your team, kyrylo oleksiyovych bohdan , and the minister who was here with us. the time will come, as they said in the previous e-e. we will give more information, we will tell more. and now the emotions of suffering and thank you. and i want to say glory of gratitude

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from virginia. mr. kaine: madam president, i rise to talk about a piece of legislation that was announced last night by a very close friend of mine, senator manchin of west virginia, the energy independence and security act of 2022. senator manchin and i were governors together, and we sit next to each other on the senate floor, and we're often in agreement. and on this particular bill, it's 91 pages long, and there's 24 sections, we're in agreement on 23 of the 24 sections and 86 of the 91 pages. i want to talk about the permanent reform provisions of the bill that i support, but then i want to point out significant concerns with section 24 of the bill that is sort simplify an anti-permanent reform bill. it would take one project project that's in my state, the mountain valley pipeline shall out of permitting processes, out of judicial review, and have congress put our thumb on the scale advancing the project immune from the normal permitting processes and judicial review. i'd like to start by saying i

mr. president. mr. president. mr. president? we have taken notes.he information provided by members and we heard the latest inventions from the propaganda known as the ministry of defense of ukraine. the meeting was convened upon the request of albania, this could become a new milestone in the misinformation campaign unleashed by ukraine and its western backers against our country. the tactic which is waging a hybrid war in ukraine down to the lowest ukrainian because russia is clear. it is not the russian federation and the military operation we are conducting. as a propaganda is familiar to us. we recall the evidence in cities that are being refuted by evidence which in the west, they try to keep out of the eyes of the general public. we are being blamed for an infiltration activity which we are at carrying out i guess ukrainian citizens -- against ukraine citizens. i would ask our american colleague, she will be able to pass my question onto her. you spoke to us today, that we were a horror film. what horror film or you telling us the part of exa

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, our democracy cannot hope to hang together for very long without a trusted, wald, and fair-minded -- trusted, balanced, and fair-minded judiciary. as we have seen in stark and frightful ways in recent months, the men and women who preside from the bench hold immense power over our nation's destiny and over our people's liberties. when it comes to nominating people to the bench, it's imperative we get it right. so today, the senate will continue its duty to advance president biden's highly qualified, highly diverse, and highly accomplished judicial nominees. we will begin this afternoon by voting on the confirmation of judge john lee, to serve as circuit judge for the seventh circuit. if confirmed, judge lee will make history as the first asian american ever to preside on the seventh circuit. joining the proud company of other biden nominees making our courts more reflective of our country. i expect judge lee to rec

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: mr. president, reserving the right to object. first, this is a pretty long piece of legislation, impactful in the policy it makes. it was introduced yesterday. probably not a great idea for the senate to short circuit any process of reviewing this legislation and speeding to its passage today. but senator ernst is a serious thinker on matters of national security, and so i do want to engage for two minutes on the merits because i think it's important to have this conversation. senator ernst is right, at the heart, at the center of u.s. foreign policy has to be the protection of our citizens. we've got to be cold-blooded about making sure that our policy keeps our people safe both here in the united states and abroad. the good news when it comes to iran policy is that we have tried both a policy of engagement and diplomacy and a policy of escalating sanction. e from those two periods of time, which one better protected american security and the specific security of americans here and in the

mr. president, i have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 465, senate file 4057. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 465, s. 4057, a bill to dedevelop a comprehensive strategic plan for federal electric vehicle fleet battery management and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. ms. smith: i further ask that the committee reported substitute amendment be agreed to. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that the bill be amended be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: i know of no further debate on the bill as amended. the presiding officer: is there further debate? if not, the question is passage of the bill as amended. all thos

mr. president. >> the attack by the federation by ukraine which began on february 2022 has resulted in mass force of civilians in ukraine. people are internally displaced a forced many people to flee their home. human rights by the russian federation orti controlled by armed groups have also called people to flee. these conditions led to a situation which those fling danger often felt compelled to evacuate in whichever direction was possible come irrespective of their preferences. a significant number of cases from civilians who were displaced to the russian federation including about a dozen cases were members of the russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups ordered civilians in mariuopol, and brought them into territory in ukraine under their control or to the russian federation. once displaced in the territories of the russian federation, and the cases documented, civilians have had limited movement. many ukrainians have chosen to travel onward to other countries or to return to ukraine. h

mr. president, i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. urbin: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. grassley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: home should be the safest -- the presiding officer: senator, we're in a quorum call call. mr. grassley: sorry. i'm sorry, mr. president. i ask for the waiving of the quorum. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: home should be the safest place in the world for a child. it used to be that parents could breathe a little easier once they locked the front door, knowing that their child was safe on the inside. for some reason or other, not anymore is that the case. drug dealers have found ways into our homes through social media. now, more and more children are dying alone at night in what should be the safest place for them, in their own bedrooms. that's where derrick and kathy kidd found their son, sebastian, unresponsive on the morning of july 30, 2021. he was slumped on his b

mr. president, mr. secretary general, distinguished delegates, let me begin by congratulating you on your election as the president of the 77th session of the united nations general assembly. i am confident your stewardship will be successful. mr. president, over the last few years, this virus has taken the precious lives of more than 6.3 one million people and still poses a threat to humankind with the emergence of the subvariant. to make matters worse, the global health crisis is compounded by infectious diseases such as monkeypox. this year there has been material losses in all regions of the world, including south asia, western europe and north america due to the effects of disaster prone whether resulting from climate change. this has created another problem to the international community. we are plunging into the worst of her state since world war ii, owing to the high handedness of some countries attempting to replace the current international order with a rules-based international order governed

mr president. i think the fact that the president jumped in there right away is a testament to how excited he is about this project. he's fired up and he's committed to it and that's because he knows he knows that we have to be investing in every community in america to help with the transition. so let me fill in a few of the blanks about how this program is going to work. and then we're going to have a discussion with a handful of the 21 awardees. first of all, congratulations if you are one of the 21 here, you are the cream of the crop. your applications were fantastic and congratulations to each and every one of you, the president and i are so proud of you and just thrilled to be able to work with you. i have to thank you mr president for your leadership. everybody should know that this was the president's idea. i mean as he said, the american rescue plan was passed 17 months ago. $3 billion of that came to the commerce department to do economic development and we decided to put $1 billion dollar

mr. president. yesterday it was truly a tale of two parties. while one party, the democrats gathered at the white house to celebrate the passage of our job creating agenda, the other party, the maga republicans spent their day introducing a nationwide ban on abortion. at the american people want to know the difference is between the two parties are, look no further. w at the extreme maga republicans. moments a lower inflation. one party what's a lower inflation and help families make ends meet to tackle the generational challenges we face. it passed major legislation to that effect, now law. so you know republicans are dangerously out of touch. initial theme more mainstream heaven help us joe starks street reart. art portion of the republican party herbert truly extreme and abused on a woman's right to choose. in the few months of the dobbs decision republican state legislatures in place like indiana, south carolina and others have introduced or enacted new abortion restrictions with alarmingly few exceptions of rape or incest.s in this chamber

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: mr. president, reserving the right to object. i have such respect for my colleague from oklahoma. we are often on the same side of issues related to matters of national security in the middle east, but i disagree with his analysis that he's presented here today. let me make just a remark or two about his immediate request and then make a few remarks about the broader work to try to protect the world from a nuclear weapons-armed iran. first, as i understand it -- and i've just had a few days to take a look at the underlying legislation -- it would significantly remove the administration's discretion to waive sanctions or to enter into certain oil sales or authorize business with iranian financial institutions in that only a treaty entered into by the united states would provide that authority to the administration. i think that's generally bad policy. we can imagine a whole set of diplomatic engagements with any nation, including iran, in which an executive may wish to toggle sanctions or l

mr. president. mr. president, we're coming up now on two years of democrat governance here in washington, two years in which democrats have controlled congress and the white house. and the result of their two years in power is not encouraging. economic insecurity is rampant, our energy security situation has worsened and on the national security front, we're facing a raging crisis at our southern border plus a disturbing increase in violent crime around the country. mr. president, if there has been one defining feature of democrat governance, it's inflation. when president biden took office, inflation was 1.4%, well within the target inflation rate of 2%. but then democrats decided to pass a massive $1.9 trillion spending spree, the so-called american rescue plan act, the legislation flooded the economy with unnecessary government money, and the economy overheated as a result. inflation quickly began climbing, then climbing some more, and then some more after that. we've now spent six straight months wit

mr. president. we are thrilled to join you here today from detroit, the global epicenter of mobility. i want to introduce two of our partners who are with me today. quinton master junior who is the ceo of the michigan economic corporation, matt stabler, the ceo of tech down detroit we have a large group of over 140 partners joining us virtually and to work together for the successful application. we are honored the eva has recognized the detroit region is leading the transformation from internal combustion engine to electric vehicle. jim is the answer to a build back better regional challenge. through inclusive and equitable lines, gem will help redefine every aspect of mobility from the cutting edge technology to creating new quality jobs and readying insights for business. we are building an inclusive prosperous 21st century. with your help. the mission is to excel or economic growth by building on the unrivaled mobility access. it will create a smart, secure, sustainable and inclusive advanced mo

mr. president andriy borisovych, please, mr. president andriy borisovych yes, i wish everyone good health. today is a truly remarkable event for us. we have returned the prisoners of our heroes compatriots, we directly exchanged 200 citizens of ukraine for mr. medvedchuk. i would like to point out that medvedchuk is not just putin's best man, but he is a qualitatively documented state traitor of his the guilt is fully recorded in the relevant materials that we have collected by our own and secret forms and methods, and besides, during the work on the so-called medvedchuk cases, we neutralized more than one distant agent network, detained more than one state traitor, obtained a large amount of important information that we use in counterintelligence measures have been used in the past and are being used now and in the future we will be getting closer to victory every day, in addition to the important thing for us, the moment happened we returned our employee of the security service of ukraine to the call sign brown, who until the

mr. president, yesterday was truly a tale of two parties. onese party, the democrat, gathered at the white house to celebrate the passage of ourcr b creating agenda, the other party, the nike republicans, spent the day introducing a nationwide ban on abortions. if the american people want to know what the differences between the two parties are, look no further. one party is focus on jobs, that's us. the other is focus on a nationwide, a nationwide abortion bans. that's the extreme magaca republicans. one wants to lower inflation, one party wants to lower inflation and help families make ends meet. to tackle the generational challenges we face. and that's passed major legislation to that effect. now law. thehe other party apparently was to eliminate o women's autonomy over their own bodies. here's how you know republicans are dangerously out of touch. months after women hadho their freedom of choice taken away by the maga supreme court, a nationwide abortion ban was actually attempt to seem more mainstream, can you believe it, to see more ma

the president, who recalled mr. ersonal guests. [cheers and applause] the next day there were more of those chance meetings with ordinary people, a brief chat with a young turkish news boy brought out his deep interest in america and his affection for president eisenhower. these were feelings that mr. nixon noticed everywhere he went and in people from widely different backgrounds and national arcs. ♪ ♪ >> one of the most impressive moments of vice president nixon's day in the turkish capital was his laying a wreath at the tomb of the found per of modern turkey. founder of modern turkey. the second highest official of the united states government paid a solemn salute to the memory of one of the most extraordinary leaders of this century. ♪ ♪ >> driving back through the city enroute to the airport, the american vice president's motorcade stopped in the center of an ancient, historic part of an car a. this gave -- ankara. this gave mr. nixon once again the opportunity to meet the people. he stepped out to shake hands w

mr. president? >> mr. resident, is -- [inaudible] >> sounds like we have a bit of reprieve but we have a threat. since 2019, railroads and eweons negotiating in new contract. two months ago president biden appropriately appointed members of what's called the presidential emergency board. this board recommended the largest pay increase in industry history at 24%. in addition to anti-seek story s and healthcare changes. president biden promised to be the most pro union president in history. a railroad strike would really plunge us back into the supply chain issues and just now started to somewhat improve. these training that would be stopped actually carry the food we eat, the gas for our tanks, and the energy that heats our homes. already i'm hearing from green elevator operators -- grain elevator operators in my state that they're having trouble transporting their grain. hazardous cargo like the chlorine cities need to purify drinking water stopped moving earlier this week. am track canceled long distant ro

mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i call up amendment 5503. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes an amendment numbered 5503 to the resolution of ratification at the end add the following, section -- mr. schumer: i ask to dispense with the further reading of the amendment. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i yield the floor. mr. menendez: mr. president. i rise to react to the protocol to the kigali amendment. i thank the leader for bringing this important legislative initiative to the senate floor. i want to thank our republican colleagues that have joined in a bipartisan effort to accepted a very strong message that this is about america's competitiveness, this is about america's security, this is about challenging china. for more than 20 years u.s. manufacturers have been hard at work pioneering new technologies for our refrigerators and air conditioners. they define the global standard, and they have the competitive advantage over companies in china and indi

mr. president, in 40 years. >> i got that.ut guess where we are, we're in position where for the last several months it hasn't spiked. it has just barely -- it's been basically even. and in the meantime, we created all these jobs and prices have gone up but they've come down for energy. the fact is that we've created 10 million new jobs. we're in a sense -- since we came to office. we're in a situation where the unemployment rate is 3.7%, one of the lowest in history. we're in a situation where manufacturing is coming back to the united states in a big way. and look down the road. we have massive investments being made in computer chips and employment. so look, this is a process. this is a process. >> is the economy going to get worse before it gets better? >> no. i don't think so. we hope we can have what they say a soft landing, a transition to a place where we don't lose the gains that i ran to make in the first place for middle class folks, being able to generate good-paying jobs and expansion and at the same time make sur

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i understand the vote is going to be soon. i ask consent that it be after i finish my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, listening to senator wyden and senator brown about social security, i would tell my colleagues that the first recipient of social security was a vermonter, and vermont was at that time i believe the most republican state in the nation. i remember growing up as a child hearing so many people say, well, i may disagree with a whole lot of things franklin roosevelt and the democrats did, but social security, i'm all for that. and i learned that as a child, and it's been part of my mantra ever since, along with senator brown and senator wyden. social security is a contract, and we should follow it. now, on another matter, mr. president, today the senate will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to h.r. 6833. what that means, we take up a substitute amendment containing a continuing resolution to fund the fede

mr. president. >> thank you so much. thank you for everything. e he will be here until the end, and he says, that will mean victory for ukraine. i'm david muir. from all of us here at "nightline" and abc news, good night from ukraine. ♪ (don't stop me now) ♪ ♪♪ ♪ (don't stop me) ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm having a good time ♪ ♪ having a good time ♪

mr. president, mr. secretary-general, distinguished delegates, let me begin by congratulating mr. -- on your election as the president of the 77th you in general assembly. i also expect a debate as soon a meaningful occasion for all member states to find a common solution for exchanges of root -- useful experiences through existing challenges and crises and building a sustainable world for ourselves as well as future coming generations. essentially the pandemic, 6.50 3 million people. it still poses a threat to humankind. humankind with the emergence of the subvariant. to make matters worse, the global health crisis is compounded by infectious diseases such as monkeypox. this year there has been material losses in all regions of the world, including south asia, western europe and north america due to the effects of disaster prone whether resulting from climate change. this has created another problem to the international community. we are plunging into the worst of her state since world war ii, owing to

mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: good news to report to my colleague from the commonwealth of kentucky. a gallon of gasoline on the way to the airport this morning, $3.46 a gallon. i wish it were lower. but we've made progress from the days when it was over $5. we're moving in the right direction. and incidentally, this president has created more jobs than any president in a similar period in the history of the united states. do we have challenges? you bet we do. with you to -- but to write this administration off as unproductive -- we came out of this pandemic when we did we faced the problems that nations around the world were facing. literally could we deal with inflation. demand was pent up and it overwhelmed the services and goods that were available and inflation started to rise. it took its toll and still does on american families. but to ignore what we've been able to do is to really turn our backs on reality. what about that rescue plan, the american rescue plan? i remember it. and i remember there w

i thank you, mr. president. i think the representative of purcell for his statement, i now give the floor to the representative of obey. now. thank you mister president, and you also find the sector general and director john grossi for the information provided and their leadership on this very important issue. we are happy that although the late without any reason the inspection team was able to conduct its 1st mission, parisha, your plans we can congratulate, did you got any steam and esteem for their resolve in maintaining the mission, despite extremely challenging circumstances. we sang them and will come their report. we understand that this is the most important complex and challenging mission field mission. since one of our colleagues, the visit and the presence of experts in the plant is reassuring and a relief. even though the funding and what we heard from the g today are very wording. actually there are alarming which is quite entirely to the conclusion that continued fighting in around the nuclear plan

mr. president, dr. biden, president -- mr.misses obama, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ceremony. and the chairman of the white house historical solution and on behalf of the men and women of the association, i am thrilled to celebrate with all of you the presentation of two and nevis in american portraits today to honor and commemorate the indelible legacy of the 44th president and first lady. misses obama, president obama, it is a privilege to be able to carry forward this time-honored tradition in of unveiling the official portraits and welcome them to the white house to be forever accessible and viewed by the public on these historic walls. since its founding in 19 6215 first lady jacqueline kennedy, the white house historical association has been a service and a privilege to be able to acquire official portraits of those who previously were missing from the white house collection and all of the portraits on record of each president and first lady since their founding. surviving the modern era of photography and film

mr. president. our hearts go out to the people in the affected areas.s, our highest priority is the preservation of life and safety. dhs is working with our federal, state, local, and nongovernmental partners to support the needs of the areas that are and may be impacted by hurricane ian. i want to thank the president for his leadership in signing the major disaster declaration that unlocks critical assistance to help jumpstart impacted floridians' road to recovery. fema and the united states coast guard are focused on lifesaving and life-sustaining response operations, and we are launching the recovery mission. the coast guard has completed extensive preparations in advance of hurricane ian to minimize impacts to maritime commerce, ensure public safety, and position ourselves for a rapid response. currently, the coast guard has aircraft, cutters, flood-response assets, and response personnel staged throughout florida ready for immediate deployment. fema has teams in place who are ready to help those who need it most. we have thousands of our personnel

mr. president. thank you to all of you. god bless america from sea to shining sea. thank you. lause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states accompanied by the vice president of the united states and ibew member from boston local 103, lovette jacobs. [applause] ♪ >> good afternoon, everyone. what a beautiful day. [applause] it is good to be with so many extraordinary american leaders and friends, and i thank you all. president joe biden, members of our cabinet, members of congress, and my fellow americans. when the president and i took office, we made a promise. in the face of profound crises and after years of gridlock, we promised the american people action. we vowed to build in america in which every person, no matter where they start, has the opportunity to succeed and to thrive. over the past -- [applause] over the past year and a half, because of the leadership of president biden, we are delivering on that promise. mr. president, in the darkest days of the pandemic, you saw the tremendous challenges facing our nation, but you also saw the tremendous

mr. president, for inviting us to the white house. k you to vice president harris, speaker pelosi, and all of my great colleagues. thank you for being here. is new york in the house? it is such a pleasure to be here. we are here to talk about things that matter to families, lowering costs, creating jobs, and helping them make ends meet. what are the mega republicans doing today? introducing national bans on abortion. just unbelievable. the day president biden took office and democrats assumed the majority in the senate, i promised we would work with him to tackle the biggest challenges facing our country. today, we are here to affirm that the promises democrats made are now promises democrats have kept. [applause] and we are going to keep going. the inflation reduction act passed by congress last month ago will go down as one of the most important legislative beats in decades. thanks to this bill, americans will see their energy costs come down. they will see drug costs go down, especially for seniors on medicare. we are going to creat