ms. cantwell: mr. president, i document floor to talk about developments this week in trying to fight to make sure american consumers aren't paying artificially more for gas to fill up their cars and trucks and take a vacation for the holiday than they should be paying. this is an important issue for everybody in the united states, but particularly my constituents who all throughout the state of washington are paying, well seattle definitely over $5. many other parts of the state over $5. and if you're not paying more than $5 a gallon you're paying very close to $5 a gallon. so it's important that members of congress do their job in oversight and policing of these markets to make sure that there's transparency. that is a bright light to make sure that no one's taking advantage during this tight supply and artificially driving up that price for their benefit. that is why we introduced the transportation and fuel market transparency act that asks the federal trade commission to expand on authority congre

ms. cantwell: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for the following senators to be permitted to speak prior to the vote, myself, senator toomey for five minutes and senator brown for five minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: i'm not sure i will use all 20 minutes, but you never know. on a subject this important and vital to women and families across america, it may take more than a few minutes to talk about this issue. and that is that 70% of americans believe we should not overturn roe v. wade or a woman's right to her own reproductive choice. this is so critical that 70% of americans are in agreement. this was part of a pew research report. 25% don't agree and about 5% don't know what they think. because this is not about settled law or mainstream views in america, it's wrong. it's about almost 50 years of settled law and it is what mainstream americans believe are their constitutional rights. and that is why it is so important for us to listen to those americans and th

ms. cantwell: i rise today to urge my colleagues to support the nomination of rear admiral ann phillips toministration. rear admiral phillips served in the u.s. navy for 31 years, served in operation desert shield and storm and held leadership position also such as the director of the surface warfare for chief of naval operations. most recently she served as special assistant to former governor of virginia ralph north thumb where she foe -- authority tham where she focused on adaptation. this nomination is to important to our maritime industry, especially as we're facing unprecedented challenges in the maritime supply chain. the maritime administration is responsible for supporting america's maritime transportation industry including supporting the health of the u.s. merchant marine fleet, investing in port infrastructure, supporting american shipyards and growing and training the maritime workforce. never before have maritime and shipping issues been more important to the health of our economy and consumers. our ports are handling record amounts of cargo as covid-19 has caused consumers t

ms. cantwell: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. cantwell: 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. cantwell: i understand that there are three bills at the desk and i ask for their first reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the bills for the first time. the clerk: s. 4190, a bill to provide for the independent and objective conduct and supervision of audits and so forth. s. 4191, a bill to prohibit the expenditure of federal funds for the establishment or operation of the disinformation governance board in the department of homeland security. h.r. 7691, an act making emergency sum -- supplemental appropriations and so forth and for other purdz

ms. cantwell: i too oppose this amendment. striking the authorization does strike competition. nasa has asked for continued competition, and there are many defense contractors who have expressed interest. lockheed martin, northrop grumman and i understand my colleague's frustration and what he wants to complain about. but this is about safety and it's about redundancy. and it is about us authorizing the artemis program. not just having appropriators make a decision but having the authorization of safety and redundancy that we expect if we as a nation are going to take the next woman astronaut all the way to the surface of the moon. when i think about what happened with the space shuttle columbia and the disaster, nasa suffered great consequences. they have said redundancy matters, and that is what we are authorizing, and the competition my colleague just mentioned. mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. 30 seconds. mr. sanders: i hear this word competition, but i want everybody to know what the competition is in the space program. the compe