mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 574. mr. schumer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination of. the clerk: nomination, judiciary, maame ewusi-mensah frimpong of california, to be united states district judge for the central district of california. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, move to bring to close the debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 574, maame ewusi-mensah frimpong to be ups district judge for the central district of california, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on th

mr. schumer, moves to concur in the house amendment --. mr. schumer: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to concur with the amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. schumer: i have an amendment to an amendment 4880 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york mr. schumer proposes an amendment numbered 4881 to amendment numbered 4880. mr. schumer: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to refer the house message to the armed services committee with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment 4882. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york mr. schumer moves to refer the house message --. mr. schumer: i ask further reading be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer

mr. schumer: finally, mr.president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn under the provisions of s. res. 470, until 10:00 a.m., tuesday, december 7, following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the jessica rosenworcel, postcloture, and that it expire at 11 -- 11:00 p.m. 30, further, that if cloture is invoked on the hamilton nomination, all postcloture time expire at 2:15 p.m. and all postcloture time expire at 5:30ing, if any of the nominations are considered, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: for the information of senators there will be two roll call vo

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. sk unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative -- i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 854 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 854, a bill to designate methamphetamine as an emerging threat and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. schumer: i ask that the bill be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding off

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, pursuant to senate res. 27, the senate judiciary committee being tied on the question of reporting, i move to discharge the senate judiciary committee from further consideration of the nomination of rachel rollins to be the united states attorney for the district of massachusetts. under the provisions of s. res. 27, there will now -- sorry, i don't want to be the chair. the presiding officer: under the provisions of s.r.27, there will now be four hours of debate on the motion equally divided between the two leaders or her designees with no motions, points of order or amendment in order. mr. schumer: for the information of all senators, we expect the vote on the motion to discharge to occur later this afternoon. i yield the floor. the presiding

mr. schumer: the junior senator from kentucky. mr. rand: reserving the right to objects. hyde amendment was passed in 1976. this amendment prohibits federal funds from going directly to pay for abortion. for 40-some-odd years this has had some effect on trying to prevent money directly going from the taxpayer to fund abortion. the reap for this -- the reason for this amendment was many people have profound religious beliefs that their money, their taxpayer dollars, shouldn't go to kill the unborn. this is a big deal, the hyde amendment. right now, currently, appropriations for the last 40 years have always had hyde amendment protections. now we discover, under duress, the small business administration admits that $100 million has been given to planned parenthood without hyde protections. so this $100 million, which is essentially about a third of what they get every year from the federal government, has no hyde prescriptions, no hyde restrictions, and this money can go directly to those performing abortions. so the abortionist that does thousands of abortions each year is

mr. schumer and i, said we would go to conference on. and that is pretty exciting a prospect. there is so much that goes into that. perhaps you'll have some questions on that. that's what's happening legislatively among other things. but at the same time we are always, always having the virus. whatever manifestation it has. as you may have seen overnight public officials in san francisco, and i commend them for their vigilance, recognizing the variant and their leadership in addressing it. i salute the person who was affected by it because he had traveled to south africa. he came forward with symptoms as you probably have seen or maybe written, but what i was told last night from the responsible parties in san francisco, his symptoms -- had he symptoms. they weren't severe. since he had been to south africa, he came forward. all of the people he had been in contact with had tested negative. his symptoms are not -- were not severe, but nonetheless we must be vigilant. i understand this morning there is another case in the united states. all the more reason for us to salute the

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, earlier this morning it was -- i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: earlier this morning, it was my honor to join with vice president -- president biden, vice president, leader mcconnell, the speaker, and other congressional leaders in paying a final tribute to our former colleague, senator bob dole of kansas. from defending our country in world war ii where he fought the nazis on the hillsides of italy to dedicating his final years advocating for disabled americans and veterans, senator dole redefined and elevated what it means to serve our country. by 2021, he had given -- by 21, he had given more of himself than most of us for a lifetime. then he kept going for 70 years after that. leader dole, rest in peace. thank you for all you did to make our country better. and i extend my condolences and prayers to his wife, senator elizabeth dole, their family, and all who mourn the loss of the

mr. schumer: so, mr. president, there's a lot of work to get done in this chamber today and for the rest of the week, and democrats are committed to working with the other side in good faith to get them done. first, we need to fund the government before the december 3 deadline. on that front negotiations continue on a bipartisan, bicameral basis and we're making good progress towards passing a funding america. when a c.r. reaches the senate democrats are going to support it and work to pass it as quickly as possible. our republican colleagues, meanwhile can either work with us to move the process quickly through the chamber or they can engage in obstructive tactics that will make a government shutdown almost a certainty. sadly, this second option seems to be the path that a few on the other side are choosing. and i hope they see the light quickly and not cause a needless republican government shutdown. if every member of this chamber used the threat of a shutdown to secure concessions on their own interes

mr. schumer, for bringing it up. we're not giving it up. >> is this just a manchin problem because your colleague alexandria ocasio-cortez put less blame on manchin and more on democratic leaders and the president? she tweeted this. where we need answers from the leaders who promised a path on bb if bif passed, this being the infrastructure bill. biden and them leaders, they chose to move bif alone instead of with bbb, not manchin, so they need to fix t.dore you agree? >> well, i never comment on the comments of a colleague. what i do think -- >> let me ask you this differently then because president biden ran on being a deal-maker, right, among lawmakers, even as decades in the senate and vice president, and he did get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed, but considering that this was a member of his own party that effectively killed his key agenda item, an item that he promised to deliver, manchin's vote with, did the president just bite off more than he could chew here? >> i don't think so at all. i think wh

mr. schumer who likes to play politics indeed met with manchin yesterday.eves that he and mcconnell are quote agreeable on the same things. every democratic senator will be needing to vote for the build back better for it to pass, it also includes senator sinema of arizona who we talk a lot about. a group run by the former chief of staff for vice president mike pence is spending thousands to blanket ads across west virginia that cast manchin as someone saving them from joe biden's agenda. take a look at this. >> fortunately, joe manchin's got our backs. he understands the importance of putting west virginia people ahead of washington politics. tell manchin keep fighting for us. >> those ads come, though, as democrat ally groups also put out their own ads across the country as part of an aggressive new push to get through president biden's new agenda. my colleagues and i on politico reported about that earlier. >>> a nail-biter, plus new questions whether lebron james tested positive for covid despite being fully vaccinated. sports, next. sports, next for fa

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that all remaining time be yielded back. the presiding officer: is there objection? objection. so ordered. the clerk will read the title of the joint resolution for the third time. the clerk: s.j. res. 33, joint resolution relating to increasing the debt limit. the presiding officer: the question occurs on passage of the joint resolution. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 49, and the joint resolution is passed. a senator: mr. president. mr. kelly: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to executive session and consider the following nomination, executive calendar number 476, david a. honey, of virginia, to be deputy under secretary of defense, that the nomination be confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further moti

mr. schumer: yesterday, our country lost a great statesman, and many of us in this chamber lost a dear formererday -- passed away yesterday morning at the age of 98. throughout his life bob dole redefined and elevated is what it has meant to be a public servant. he was born not to wealth, but in poverty, the son of the kansas heartland, who grew up beneath the shadow of the great depression. as a young man, bob unblinkingly answered the call to serve by ep listing in the army during world war ii, we earned two purple hearts and a bronze star. after election to the senate, senator dole quickly won the admiration of his colleagues with his candor, sharp wit, his penchant for good-natured ribbing. but beneath all that was a unquenchable desire to get things done in this chamber. while he frequently sparred with democrats, some of his greatest achievements were bipartisan endeavors, including his work to pass the americans with disabilities act. , legislation to strengthen social security, and revamping federal nutrition programs. despite rising to the top raimpings of his party -- ranks of his p

senator schumer: mr. president madam vice president, madam speaker, leader mcconnell leader mccarthy, distinguished guests, more importantly senator elizabeth dole and robin. the scriptures says we should quote, rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. today, we pay tribute to a remarkable leader. over the course of his life knew more than his fair share of suffering, who turned that suffering into endurance, whose endurance became central to his character and whose character whose essential goodness leaves us with hope. hope that we will continue to see good men and women in this country like the one to whom we say goodbye today. to pay tribute to senator bob dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. by 21, bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that. and my god, it was 77 years well spent. at 27, he was el

mr. schumer: yesterday, our country lost a great statesman, and many of us in this chamber lost a dear formerolleague. senator bob dole, who represented kansas in the senate for 27 years and served three years as senate majority leader, parsed away yesterday -- passed away yesterday morning at the age of 98. throughout his life bob dole redefined and elevated is what it has meant to be a public servant. he was born not to wealth, but in poverty, the son of the kansas heartland, who grew up beneath the shadow of the great

mr. schumer his christmas victory and the democratic left its transmission a moment. joe manchin is not getting what he wants and he also says that the twin concerns of inflation and omicron should be a cause to pause. do you think that they will lose senator joe manchin and senator kyrsten sinema? >> first, you didn't mean it and a first, but for better or worse, i am a writer. i wouldn't blame what i sang anybody else. it's not just senator manchin and senator sinema. many of them are going to speak up, but they see what's happening with inflation and they know that the build back better bill is about a $4 trillion bill. it's going to be like throwing kerosene on a tire fire. they know it's going to hurt the american people and it's going to hurt them politically. >> john: excuse me, want to get into one other point here because we are on the verge of a government shutdown if we can't get the spending bill passed. there reports that some republicans want to use the threat of a shutdown to get money out of the spending bill that would be used to enforce coronavirus v

mr. mcconnell, i spoke with schumer.y decides to be totally erratic. >> well, that's always possible. cnn's chief correspondent manu raju is with us. what are you hearing from lawmakers, manu? >> it's not up to joe biden, it's also not up to mitch mcconnell, even though mcconnell told me moments ago there will not be a government shutdown, but it is all up to 100 senators to hold hands and say, okay, we will agree to have a vote to keep the government open until mid-february. the way this was negotiated, this bill was dropped today to keep the government open past friday up until february 18. that was just introduced. because of the late nature of this, every senator has leverage to delay the final vote because they need to have what's called unanimous consent. all 100 senators need to agree to have a vote by friday, by the deadline, before midnight tomorrow, otherwise there will be a shutdown. if one senator objects, that would force the majority leader chuck schumer to go through the process which takes days to find th

mr. president. first lady, dr. biden, vice president harris and second gentlemen emhoff, leader schumer and let me just say, secondentleman, it is so wonderful to see you again. rabbi alexander and i are so excited you have been to our synagogue and attending services. it is our gift to have you in our presence. [applause] what a miracle it is to be standing here today with all of you in the white house. [applause] these past 24 months have been harrowing. rabbis like myself carry troubles in our trunks because that was the amount of funerals we were doing weekly. we felt this pandemic more than i can express. we have all experienced enormous loss throughout this pandemic and of course, it is not over. but hanukkah reminds us that life can grow even amidst the darkest times. we have been blessed by awesome light. vaccines, science, leadership built on love -- [applause] honesty, human dignity and leaders that are committed to ensuring a vibrant, healthy planet for our children and our children's children. we have to say amen to that. [applause] 2000 years ago, the great sage taught us the way to light. we start wi

schumer, majority leader of the united states senate. >> mr. president, madam vice president, madam speaker, leader mcconnell, leader mccarthy, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and most importantly senator elizabeth dole and robin. the scriptures say that we should "rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope." today we pay tribute to a remarkable leader. over the course of his life, knew more than his fair share of suffering, who turned that suffering into endurance, whose endurance became central to his character, and whose character, whose essential goodness leaves us with hope, hope that we will continue to see good men and women in this country like the one to whom we say good-bye today, to pay tribute to senator bob dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. by 21, bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that, and my god, it was 77 years well

schumer, majority leader of the united states senate. >> mr. president, madam vice president, madam speaker, leader mcconnell, leader mccarthy, distinguished guests, dear colleagues, and most importantly elizabeth dole and robin. the scriptures say that we should, quote, rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. today we pay tribute to a remarkable leader erleader, ov course of his life, knew more than his fair share of suffering, who turned that suffering into endurance, whose endurance became central to his character, and whose character, whose essential good rness, leas us with hope, hope that we will continue to see good men and women in this country like the one to whom we say good-bye today. to pay tribute to senator bob dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. by 21, bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that. and my god, it was 77 years

mr. cotton: a couple of hours, senator schumer is bringing to the floor one of the most dangerous pro-crime anticop u.s. nominees in american history. the senate floor leader wants to ram through president biden's extreme nominee to be the u.s. attorney for massachusetts, the current suffolk county district attorney racheal rollins. in doing so the democrats are showing they don't care about crime as a crime wave crashes across the country. they do not support law enforcement. and they have a wanton disregard for the safety and security of americans. now, it is true that we rarely have record votes on u.s. attorneys in the senate. in fact, i think it's been 28 years. it's also true that racheal rollins is so radical that she is without precedent as a nominee to be the u.s. attorney. racheal rollins is the very epitome of a sorrows prosecutor but it's generous to call her a prosecutor at all. for those of you who don't know the term soros prosecutor refers to the wave of so-called progressive, political activists backed by wealthy liberal mega donors like george soros who have run for local

schumer. but now, he flipped on that. what's your reaction to mitch mcconnell reneging on the pledge? >> mr., he gave up and he's done a terrible job. if i call it the bill because it's not infrastructure, it's about anywhere from 9% to 11% infrastructure and that's got past. he has the build back worse bill and that's worst for our country. he announced it's going to be over $5 trillion. $1.7 trillion, no it's over $5 trillion in other people agree with that. it's absolutely killing the fabric of our nation and what we stand for. which mcconnell should have used the debt ceiling -- i watched you arguing with a certain senator from louisiana and i'm not talking about the great senator kennedy who is doing great job. oh, he's a disaster. of >> laura: when you're talking about my back and forth -- you're talking about my back and forth with senator cassidy of louisiana where he said agreeing to the first so-called infrastructure bill would not be a pass to the $4 trillion they say is $1.7 trillion social spending bill. it will help them stop this social spending bill. if you predict that joe m

schumer, majority leader of the united states senate. >> mr.aker, leader mcconnell and leader mccarthy, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and most importantly elizabeth dole and robin. the scriptures say we should rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. today we pay tribute to a remarkable leader over the course of his life knew more than his fair share of suffering. who turned that suffering into endurance, whose endurance became central to his character, and whose character whose essential goodness leaves us with hope. hope that we will continue to see good men and women in this country like the one to whom we say goodbye today. to pay tribute to senator bob dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. by 21, bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that. and my god, it was 77 years well spent. at 27 he was elected to state politics. decade late

mr. fund, there are two specific pieces of legislation being considered or will be considered according to senator schumer. the freedom to vote act and we will show people elements of that as well as the john lewis voting rights act. what do think about that religio -- that legislation? guest: i find it astonishing that after a year of absolute no progress in getting this passed, the sponsors do not want to compromise. they do not want to have a genuine compromise. in 2000, we had the bush versus gore recount problem in florida. we actually came together. we had a bipartisan solution. there was a democratic senate, an evenly divided house, and the republican president. we managed to accomplish something. we passed a bipartisan piece of legislation and the democratic sponsor said the goal was to make it hard to cheat and easy to vote. we can do both at the same time. we are americans. unfortunately, that kind of bipartisanship has been swept away by a wave of polarization and both sides have some blame. there have been unfounded claims about what happened in the 2020 election. do not believe everything you

mrs. dole, senator dole and bob dole had an impact on our nation. i love hearing the stories about him and ms. schumer is something that people will remember and also the work that he did and senator elizabeth dole also for our nation's veterans. in one of the things when you talk about bob dole in his leadership is asked to have the opportunity to be attached or some way volunteer for the presidential race and 96. it was his desire to see people do things that were bigger than themselves. much of that came from his desire from publix service to get back and defend freedom and to make certain that we remain in the home of the brave in his commitment to that throughout his military career and his career in public service in the senate. >> he mentioned his role, a very good friend who took his family to see the memorial and lo and behold sitting there at the entrance in his wheelchair, this is some years ago was bob dole. he was out of office, he had campaign for the presidency and he would spend many of his days as ice understand the world war ii memorial and greeting fellow world war ii veterans who c

mrs. dole, elizabeth dole and escort her into the rotunda. the ceremony inside will begin at 10:00 a.m. speaking at the ceremony speaker pelosi, leader mcconnell, leader schumer served with the late senator for 24 years. they were good friends, and that is an example of how the two both reached across the aisle in what you mentioned, this forgone era of bipartisanship which is a theme what people talk about today when speaker pelosi speaks. she's likely to talk about civility and how, what a great person senator dole was, and that he was a man of his word, and so those are going to be themes throughout people's speeches today. also in this ceremony is, he's going to be greeted by pentagon secretary lloyd austin. of course, that represents the service of the late senator in world war ii where he was severely injured, and those injuries carried with him for the rest of his career, and influenced his policy and his thinking, and that is part of the reason why he was so instrumental in the passage of what you just mentioned, the americans with disabilities act, in 1990. so the ceremony's going to be short, jose. about 45 minutes. and then the casket and the late

president, speaker pelosi, and leader schumer, ansome of our friends across the aisle, this bipartisan infrastructure bill will send help and it is on the way. with that, mr. speaker, iield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from iowa, mrs. miller-meeks, for five minutes. mrs. miller-meeks: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to recognize a man from my district for his commitment to keeping iowa beautiful and preserving some of our most treasured historical site. mark mowan was recently presented with the iowa architectual foundation's 2021 community enhancement through architecture and design award. it recognizes individuals, organizations, agencies and communities outside the arc secture -- architecture profession who has continually championed the cause of architecture in ways that better iowa. he advocated to save the first brick house in iowa city from being raised and began restoring the building instead. since then, mark has made iowa city the beautiful city it is today. thank you for your dedication to our community and our state. mr. speaker, today, i rise a man from my district for continu

mr. fund, there are two specific pieces of legislation being considered or will be considered according to senator schumere freedom to vote act and we will show people elements of that as well as the john lewis voting rights act. what do think about that religio -- that legislation? guest: i find it astonishing that after a year of absolute no progress in getting this passed, the sponsors do not want to compromise. they do not want to have a genuine compromise. in 2000, we had the bush versus gore recount problem in florida. we actually came together. we had a bipartisan solution. there was a democratic senate, an evenly divided house, and the republican president. we managed to accomplish something. we passed a bipartisan piece of legislation and the democratic sponsor said the goal was to make it hard to cheat and easy to vote. we can do both at the same time. we are americans. unfortunately, that kind of bipartisanship has been swept away by a wave of polarization and both sides have some blame. there have been unfounded claims about what happened in the 2020 election. do not believe everything you rea

mr. schumer: now, mr. president, i ask that the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany s. 610. the presiding officer: also without objection. mr. schumer: i move to concur --. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate a message from the house. choip resolved it that the --. mr. cornyn: an act --. the clerk: an act to address health do pass with an amendment. mr. schumer: i move to concur in the house amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report, without objection. mr. schumer: i ask consent --. the clerk: we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 do hereby move to close debate, s. 610 an act to address behavioral health and well being signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to concur in the house amendment with an amendment 48

mr. schumer: mr. president, i'd just like to speak about the vote we had, the first vote. i'm really pleased that this chamber has just passed legislation setting up a fast-track process for debt ceiling legislation, no brinksmanship, no default on the debt, no risk of another recession, responsible governing won the day. this is now headed to the president's desk. i want to be clear. this is about paying paying debt accumulated by both parties so i'm pleased we were able to facilitate a process with the support of both parties that avoids a needless default and cuts to medicare. this was a bipartisan process and i hope there can be more. and i want to thank leader mcconnell for working with us in good faith to get to this point. we started this month with a daunting to-do list, but we have made significant progress and on track to get the work done. to repeat, we did this with no brinksmanship, no fault of another debt, no risk of another recession. it was responsible governing that won the day and now the bill is headed to the president's desk. i expect after this legisl

mr. schumer: mr. president. mr. schumer: mr. president. i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say eye. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. agreed agreed. the presiding officer: mr. schumer: i move to proceed to calendar 3635. the presiding officer: question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to it the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, holly a. thomas of california to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit. mr. schumer: i ask consent -- i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate executive calendar number 635, holly a. thomas of california, to be united states circuit judge for the ninth circuit, signed by 17 senators as follows. mr.

mr. schumer: mr. president. mr. schumer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: are we in a quorum? the presiding officer: we are. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that be -- i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session and proceed to the immediate consideration of h.r. 6119, received from the house and at the desk, and that the only amendment be in order be marshall-lee 4868. that senator lee be recognized to speak for up to ten minutes, and that following his remarks the senate vote on the marshall amendment. that upon disposition of the marshall amendment, the bill shall be considered read a third time, and the senate vote on passage of the bill as amended, if amended with 60 affirmative votes required for passage. and that there be six minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote, all without further intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: is there objection? a senator: without objection. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer:

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: just after the clock struck 12:00, we have a wonderful announcement. senator leahy has just cast his 17,000th vote. note one more thing. only one senator has cast -- robert c. byrd is the only senator who has cast more votes than senator leahy in the history of the united states senate. and so we will have a two-hour recess to celebrate. no, we're not doing that. mr. leahy: madam president, while the distinguished leader is still on the floor, i thank him for his comments. i'll speak further about this next week. i must admit when i came here as the junior-most member of the senate, i did not expect to be in this position. but i've had the privilege now of serving with slightly over 20% of all the senators who have served in the history of this country. and that -- and some were very, very good senators and all were senators. all were senators and some were very good. but i will speak further about this later in the week. i appreciate the comments. and it has been a privilege

mr. schumer: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: thank you, madam president. so let me inform the members -- the presiding officer: we are in a quorum call. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorumming dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: let me inform the members and the public as to what has happened here, which is just a sad, tragic and almost absurd point. now, last week we in the majority offered to have an open process, and we agreed to 18 amendments, more amendments than has been done on the defense act under four years of leader mcconnell's leadership. they objected, seven members objected. so when we came back this week, we worked all week to try and come to an agreement, and now we were up to 25 amendments, and the leader, mr. inhofe, and senator reed, who has done a great job, came to an agreement to go forward, which we thought we might do. but one senator, the senator from florida, stood in the way of us moving forward. the senate rules -- some may call them absurd b

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: now today, mr. president, the senate will vote to advance at least one more biden judicial nominee. we'll move forward on our annual defense bill. we'll vote on the motion to proceed on legislation to raise the debt ceiling, all hopefully before we start the afternoon. it's a busy day for the senate, so let me break down each of these items in some detail. on the legislative front, later this morning the senate will vote to invoke cloture on the annual defense bill, negotiated on a bicameral, bipartisan basis. for over 60 years the ndaa, national defense authorization act, has passed without fail on a mostly bipartisan basis, so i thank all of my colleagues for working in good faith to getting this defense bill done. the senate will then turn to the critical matter of addressing the debt limit in order to avoid a first of ever default on our sovereign -- a first-ever default on our sovereign debt. last week democra

mr. schumer: mr.president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the following nominations en bloc. 622, 629, 630, 595, 596, 607, and 608 and all the nominations on the secretary's desk in the army, foreign service and space force, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the nominations en bloc. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations be confirmed en bloc. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted

mr. schumer: yesterday, our country lost a great statesman, and many of us in this chamber lost a dear former colleague. senator bob dole, who represented kansas in the senate for 27 years and served three years as senate majority leader, parsed away yesterday -- passed away yesterday morning at the age of 98. throughout his life bob dole redefined and elevated is what it has meant to be a public servant. he was born not to wealth, but in poverty, the son of the kansas heartland, who grew up beneath the shadow of the great depression. as a young man, bob unblinkingly answered the call to serve by ep listing in the army during world war ii, we earned two purple hearts and a bronze star. after election to the senate, senator dole quickly won the admiration of his colleagues with his candor, sharp wit, his penchant for good-natured ribbing. but beneath all that was a unquenchable desire to get things done in this chamber. while he frequently sparred with democrats, some of his greatest achievements were bipartisan endeavors, including his work to pass the americans with disabilities act. , legis

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: majority leader. mr. schumer: now, mr. president, on ndaa -- the presiding officer: majority leader we're in -- mr. schumer: i i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: for the past six decades, congress worked on a bipartisan basis to pass an annual national defense authorization act without fail. after today, this will be no different. later this morning, the senate will hold a vote to pass ndaa legislation for fiscal year 2022 that has been negotiated on a bipartisan, bicameral basis. after it is an i proved by this chamber, the bill will go to the president's desk for his signature. with so many priorities to balance, i thank my colleagues for working hard over these last few months, both in committee and off the floor, to get ndaa done. i want to particularly recognize my colleague chairman reed for his work shepherding this important process through. now, build back better update. this week, democrats also continue working on getting the senate into a

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. now, i want to begin today with a short update on the debt ceiling. over the past few days, we have made good progress on this issue. and i'm optimistic that we will be able to prevent the awful prospect of the u.s. defaulting on its sovereign debt for the first time ever. nobody wants to see the u.s. default on its debts. as secretary yellen has warned, a default could eviscerate everything we've done to recover from the covid crisis. we don't want to see that and i don't believe we will see that. and i continue to thank my colleagues and all of my colleagues for cooperating in good faith to preserve the full faith and credit of the united states. now, on jessica rosenworcel. the senate will vote to confirm a remarkable, highly experienced and historic nominee. jessica rosenworcel to be the chair of the f.c.c., the federal communications commission. ms. rosenworcel has served as a commissioner at the f.c.c. for nearly a decade, the past ten months as

mr. schumer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: mr. president, i said the senate had a lot of hard work to do in order to address several critical priorities before the end of the year. when the month began, america knew we had to avoid a government shutdown. we had to approve our annual defense bill. we had to preserve the full faith and credit of the united states and take action on build back better before christmas. as well as deal with voting rights. it is now december 8, and the senate is making very good progress in all these priorities. it was a big, big agenda, and we're clearly not through with it, but we are making good progress, and there is clearly light at the end of the tunnel on debt ceiling and the defense bill, based on the agreement leader mcconnell and i came to and the house's action last night. it is -- last night, met me go -- let me go over those details. the house sent us twa pieces of legislation, one is a compromise version of our annual defense bill which i expect will earn bipartisan support in the coming d

senator schumer: mr.resident madam vice president, madam speaker, leader mcconnell leader mccarthy, distinguished guests, more importantly senator elizabeth dole and robin. the scriptures says we should quote, rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. today, we pay tribute to a remarkable leader. over the course of his life knew more than his fair share of suffering, who turned that suffering into endurance, whose endurance became central to his character and whose character whose essential goodness leaves us with hope. hope that we will continue to see good men and women in this country like the one to whom we say goodbye today. to pay tribute to senator bob dole is to honor someone who redefined and elevated what it means to serve country. by 21, bob had given more of himself than most of us give in a lifetime, and then he kept going for 77 years after that. and my god, it was 77 years well spent. at 27, he was elec