mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator for alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i just want to say that i certainly would be willing to work with my colleague from wisconsin on this issue. i've been working on it in good faith with other members both sidon theother side of the aisl. perhaps she can help me with the three simple asks we've put forward to the department of interior. if they grow to those simple asks, and they are simple, then i'll lift my hold. maybe the senator from wisconsin and i can work together on this. i yield the floor. ms. baldwin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin is recognized. ms. baldwin: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask that the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany h.r. 1437. the presiding officer:

mr. sullivan was trying to stress is that we are thinking it through ourselves and we will make sure that protect our national security and also to do immigration as he said in a humane and orderly fashion. >> >> neil: but title 42 will expire. >> i'm not getting ahead of where we are on the 12th, neil. we are thinking through what the that expiration would mean for an orderly legal humane process of managing immigration across this border. i would note, he talked about processes there. we still have military troops down there assisting our border agents doing the kind of things that help them, our border patrol agents, have greatest visibility as to what's going on at the border, whether that is surveillance and more logistic support. all of that is happening, too. >> neil: you seem concerned about this. it's clear that jake sullivan wanted to clarify the administration is concerned about this. i don't want to be rude here. is the president? he doesn't visit. he doesn't talk about it. he says there's bigger issues. what is going on with him? >> the president knows how important border se

mr. sullivan mr. cauline and mr. kane for making the effort to come in person to get sworn in and we want to thank you for your service. always pleasant to see people in person. especially the last few months. commissioners tam and commissioner sommer. >> i think we all echo (inaudible) just to put it out there we still have vacancies so if you are out there, i encourage you to answer the call to service. >> thank you. next we have item c, which is review and possible action to make recommendations to the building inspection commission regarding appointment to the code advisory committee. term to expire august 10, 2025 and member seeking appointment john tostanoski mechanical engineer contractor seat and we have one seat that remains vacant and have not received applications for a person qualified in the area of historical preservation, if there is anyone listening interested in that. committee members have comment on this item? >> similar to the last item, this is the code advisory committee. we sent an announcement

mr. sullivan, the national security adviser, said yesterday. use that going forward. o try to get to an actual release of mr. wieland. >> which o'sullivan just said as you heard was that the russians were insisting on us giving up something we couldn't, didn't have control over. that was the russian assassin in germany. as has been widely reported, as we reported back in the summer, correct? >> that's right. it was an individual we simply didn't have in our custody. so it wasn't a commitment we can make. again, as mr. sullivan said yesterday, we're going to continue to try to resolve that issue. so that not the issue specifically with an individual necessarily. resolve the issue that surrounded our inability to get paul back which is trying to produce something we couldn't produce. >> officials have been very clear during the release of britney griner that the russians want a spy for polio and. we say he's noticed by. he says he's not a spy. we do not have a russian spy in american custody. >> he's not a spy. these are sham espionage charges. it's cleared out of the ru

mr. sullivan spoke about $38 billion. the congress will be.hope that the old congress will vote for the adoption of the budget for the 23rd fiscal year. this should happen by next friday. because we had the temporary budget, which is in effect until the end of yesterday. well, there were very, very big negotiations. i would say that there were more negotiations behind closed doors between the administration and mostly with moderate republicans , because the approval of the budget requires 60 votes, and the democrats are the majority. therefore, they will vote for the principles of any compromise budget, and it is necessary that at least 10 republicans get to sign it. well , there is no dispute about aid to ukraine, the projects are estimated at 38 billion to help ukraine

mr. sullivan spoke to the simple 38 billion dollars. how stable can american aid be in general ?s about the new congress, it will be, well, i really hope that the old congress will vote for the adoption of the budget for the 23rd fiscal year, this should happen by next friday. because we had a temporary budget that was in effect until the end of yesterday, but we were very, very big. i would say that the negotiations were more behind closed doors between the administration and mostly with the moderate republicans, because the approval of the budget requires 60 votes. democrats in the house of representatives are in the majority, so they will vote for the principles of any compromise budget, and it is necessary that at least 10 republicans get to sign it . of aid to ukraine, the project will provide 38 billion for aid to ukraine where there are disputes about other articles of the budget, well, last tuesday and wednesday, it seems to us that progress was made in these negotiations, and it seems that there will be 10 republicans in the senate who support budget, but they agreed for

mr. sullivan: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i just want to follow on for what senator murkowski just said. here's our resolution. senate 5066 introduced by senator murkowski and myself. and we just want to thank our colleagues for agreeing to this tribute to congressman don young. we miss him every day and as senator murkowski so eloquently stated, we're naming buildings and job centers. he did a great job on that. but it's great to be able to be naming after volcano, very appropriately a volcano for don young. so it's good to be here on the floor with my friend and fellow colleague from alaska and it's great to see the majority leader and my colleagues agree to this naming. hopefully we get this into law, signed into law soon, a volcano, federal courthouse in fairbanks, a job training center all in the name of our greatest congressman ever, 50 years, half a century almost, pretty remarkable and really an honor to be here on the senate floor to watch it get passed. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the

mr. sullivan was making it clear that regardless of the deadline that we're going to make sure that goings and processes in place to do the right thing for border security. >> neil: but it will expire. title 42 will expire? >> again, i'm not going to get ahead of where we are right now on the 12th, neil. >> neil: all right, a lot of people are holding out hope it will be extended even though it's not likely. the administration has committed reportedly up to $4 billion to teal with the aftermath if it does go away. jacqui heinrich has more. >> the president's national security adviser said we would be hearing more in the coming days about what systems will be in place when title 42 expires eight days from now. now today we didn't hear any of that. no significant new information for how they're going to address that coming surge. we did learn the white house is trying to tackle what they call misinformation that the border is open. >> we're working to combat misinformation from smugglers and as we -- as was the case before title 42 and remain the case after it, individuals that attempt to c

mr. sullivan say through discussions with the family, that also can provide some new ideas. it became very clear that the russians were treating paul differently. putting him in a whole different category based on these sham espionage charges. we have a better understanding of their expectations and that will help us come up with proposals and ago lternatives. we're going to do everything to get him home as quickly as we can. >> let's turn to ukraine while i have you. president zelenskyy is renewing his request for air defense systems. artillery. he wants modern tanks and more. is the u.s. likely to substantially boost the type of weaponry it provides to ukraine as this war sadly grinds towards the one-year mark? >> you saw on friday we announced another $275 million of assistance which included air defense and artillery. president had a chance to talk to president zelenskyy over the weekend. the g7 met today. president zelenskyy draddressed them. we're mindful, very aware, of what's going on on the t bah l field. like sam's report, very aware what the needs are and we're go

mr. sullivan: madam president? the presiding officer: the junior senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i rise too talk about a very important and i i believe very bipartisan issue, and it's the need for us in the senate and the entire u.s. government to focus on the intensifying chinese communist party threat and people's liberation army threat to taiwan and why it matters. now, madam president, my remarks will be focusing primarily on the chinese communist party. the leader of that party, xi jinping, not on the chinese people who have a proud history, heritage, culture, thousands of yearsment, and as we've seen over the last several weeks, they're very brave people who simply want more freedom. in march of 2021 in a senate armed services committee hearing, i asked the then-indopacom commander, admiral davidson, when he thought there would be an invasion by the pla and communist chinese party of taiwan. he responded by saying this. senator, i think the threat of an invasion of taiwan is manifest during this decade. in fact, within the next six years. now, madam president, that

those in our committee that have worked on this as well, thank you very much. >> senator sullivan. >> thank you, mrairman. greetings to our witnesses on this very important topic. appreciate holding the hearing, mr. chairman. senator whitehouse mentioned already the work that he and i have been doing for a number of years now on the save our seas a ct 2.0, following up on that, we will continue to work on it. one of the reasons this is so important to me and my state is, on the ocean debris issue, alaska has more coastline than the rest of the country combined. a lot of people don't know that. we have a very important fishing industry, where we care deeply about sustainable fisheries and healthy fisheries. two-thirds of all seafood harvested in america, commercial, sport, recreational, subsistence, comes from alaska, two thirds. so these are big issues for my constituency in my state. one question i want to ask all for the panelists -- four of the panelists, for remote communities like money on remote states, we do these big cleanups of ocean debris and waste. noaa estimates that after the japan ts

mr. chairman, could i get a demonstration project? he said, you have to talk to sullivan. sullivan was his chief of staff. he was seven feet tall, intimidated everyone. this grumpy old irishman. and i go into see him and i said, can i get this project? he is like, yeah, i guess so, ok. so i got a project. i had known about this need because the county commissioner said that the bridge in eugene was not earthquake proof. it was part county, part city, part state, and no one wanted to take care of it. so i said, i am going to study replacing the bridge. the funny thing, eugene said, you're going to be a hero. i said, it won't be that great because it is eugene. sure enough, first i get the money to study it, and in the next bill i get $26 million to build it. and the city came up with a design. they were going to widen the bridge and do a bunch of other things, and eugene has ap kill your charter and -- has a pick yulia charter. it lost 51-49. so the money is sitting there. senator mark hatfield, a wonderful man, old-fashioned republican, one day mark calls me and says, that

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the sullivan amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the amended be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the finance committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 4105 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 4105, a bill to treat certain liquidations of new motor vehicle inventory, and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 548, s. 0304 2. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar 548, s. 3641

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the sullivan substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on environment and public works be discharged from the further consideration of h.r. 5973, and the the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 5973, an act to reauthorize the fish and wildlife restoration act of 1990 and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask that the of the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 544, s. 4460. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number

sullivan for securing it. i urge my colleagues to support this bill. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from alaska reserves. the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. mr. westerman: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. westerman: thank you, madam speaker. the don young recognition act honors the legacy of the late dean of the house, who passed away in march of this year after serving the people of alaska in congress for 49 years. this bill led by senators murkowski and sullivan of alaska would designate one of the most active volcanoes in the aleushian islands as mount young. it will remain two federal buildings in alaska in his honor, one in fairbanks as the don young federal office building, and one in fawmer as the don young alaska job corps certainty. for those of us who were fortunate enough to count him as a friend and colleague, there could be no more fitting tribute to the powerful dean of the house and former chairman of the committee on natural resources than to rename an active volcano in his honor. much like a volcano, don young was an active and fiery public se

mr. speaker, i rise today to thank a member of my staff on the house committee on veterans affairs who will not be continuing with us into the next congress. tore yeah sullivan brought a deep passion for helping veterans and provided an ear to those who contacted our office seeking assistance. she brought calm and order to a fast-moving office where the next urgent priority was always right around the corner. she was helpful and went above and beyond expectations as part of the committee's communications team. the work of my committee, this congress and our government to honor and support our veterans was made by her service and she will be deeply missed. mr. speaker, i rise to thank a member of my committee -- member of my staff on the house committee on veterans affairs who will not be continuing with us into the next congress. dr. heather kelly brought experience as a psychologist with the health subcommittee. she spearheaded my committee's work on mental health and suicide prevention and drafted key provisions in important legislation passed by the committee, including the veterans compact act and the viper act and as she grappled with difficult policy,

mr. sullivan: mr. president. the presiding officer: senator from alaska is recognized. mr. sullivan: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vissated. -- vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: i call up my amendment 6503, and i ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator from alaska, mr. sullivan, for himself and mr. cotton, proposes amendment number 6503. mr. sullivan: mr. president, nobody wants a strike right now in our country. we've had challenges with supply chains. we've had challenges with finding enough workers with regard to our businesses. nobody wants a strike. my amendment would certainly focus on not having a strike, but making sure that the sides in this disagreement between management and labor get back to work to resolve the problems at hand. it's a simple amendment. it says we need a cooling-off period for 60 more days. mr. president, congress finds itself in another last-minute emergency, being rushed to the floor of the senate. we got the details of this about 24 hours

mr. sullivan: i admire my colleague for trying to get this done before we leave. i'm willing to compromise on some of these issues. with the senate schedule, he makes a good point, we're not going to be back until almost the end of january, and by then some of these payments will start to be awarded and we do not want and i think the senator from illinois greece with me, situations where payments are going 50%, 60% contingency fees. nobody wants that. we shouldn't want that. that is unfair and the regulation at the v.a. is unfavor. favoring trial lawyers over sick -- i will try to to get it done before we leave. before we leave. otherwise you're going to have a lot of marines, sick marines and their families, who are going to get ripped off and we know that's going to happen and we shouldn't allow it, but i will work with the senator from illinois. he's got a lot of power as the chairman of the judiciary committee on this important issue that i think we should all care about. i appreciate his comments and i will redouble my efforts on this topic. thank you. i yiel

mr. schumer: for the information of members, we are going to resume votes very soon. first on the sullivan resolution, then on the sick day resolution, and then on the concurrent final resolution. votes will be quick. it is -- i am glad that the two sides have come together so that we can avoid this shutdown, which would be extremely damaging to the country. i hope that we can add sick days under the sanders resolution and i urge members to -- we're going to try to vote as quickly as we can to get this done. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: >> we very much need to engage with them because there is a genuine willingness on behalf of ukraine to discuss these matters and we acknowledge it and we commendit . and for a number of years i was in charge of monitoring the implementation of the minsk agreement the latest and last meeting between president zelinski and putin, the only one december 29 i was with chancellor merkel and i can tell you that i saw a president who was sincere in his willingness to talk and since he was elected and until may, president is a l