i am proud to have worked with senator lujan, senator crapo, senator schmitt and others. and know i would like to recognize -- and now i would like to recognize senator lujan. mr. lujan:: mr. president. the presiding officer: the distinguished gentleman from new mexico. mr. lujan:: thank you, mr. president. i want to commend mr. hawley and mr. crapo for the work they've done here and all of our colleagues and staff that have contributed to telling this story and the support that i expect to see today and that i hope we will get this across the finish line. almost 80 years ago new mexico became ground zero for the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. millions of people across the country traveled to theaters this weekend and they saw a blockbuster centered around this infamous day, but not enough people have focused on the collateral damage caused by our nation's nuclear weapons testing. people that sacrificed on behalf of our country for national security purposes, working day in and day out in states like colorado, new mexico, arizona, missouri, wyoming, south dakota, n

senate. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: you i ask unanimous consent that the following interns from my office be granted floor privileges until august 2023, indicate mccall if, sidney windhorse, lyndon shelby, spencer woodall and chloe true it. the presiding officer: without objection. the senator from michigan. peters peters i will shortly ask for unanimous consent -- mr. peters: i will ask unanimous consent for the passage of cfius, this was created in the wake of september 11 and oklahoma city bombing. to ensure that common weapons could not be used by terrorists in an attack. now the program is set to expire on july 27, tomorrow, and we simply cannot let that happen. there are approximately 3,300 facilities across the united states that participate in this program. these facilities support a range of industries from chemical manufacturing and distribution to agriculture and food production, paint and coatings operations and health care and pharmaceuticals. in their every day work, these facilities use materials th

release the hostages, senator. the presiding officer: the senator from maine. mr. king: i'd like to ask that my defense fellow nick oldman be granted privileges of the floor until the conclusion of the 118th congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. king: thank you, madam president. madam president, chairman reed has spoken eloquently in the last few minutes about the personal impact of this hold on general officer nominations and what it means to families, what it means to careers, what it means to people that are coming up through the ranks, because make no doubt, this is not just affecting those people that have been nominated for general officer positions, but it ripples all the way down through the ranks. it is an unprecedented attack on the integrity of our military chain of command. as i say, senator reed talked about the impact on individuals, and tonight we're going to be talking about a lot of those individuals. but i'd like to talk for a moment about the impact on the readiness of our force. the first thing to observe is that china and russ

senate. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. a senator: madam president, earlier this month the chinese communist party's relentless propaganda efforts rows to the forefront of international discussion yet again. mrs. fischer: china is a authoritarian government and squashes opposition at home without hesitation. but its censorship and propaganda spreads far beyond china's borders. the ccp uses an array of insidious means to push its messages across national boundaries. concern that the ccp's influence is seeping into hollywood continues to grow. this issue flared up once again this month. why? well, in a word barbie. you heard me right, madam president. a movie about a plastic doll is the last place you'd expect national security questions to arise. but it has. one trailer for the barbie movie depicted a cartoon map of the title character's world travels. on the map is a roughly-drawn continent of asia. but it might be more than just a cartoon character's doodle. the map includes a dotted line extending out from the east shore

the senate will be in order. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order, please a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kentucky. mr. paul: i call up my amendment number 438. the presiding officer: ask that it be reported by number, and the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from kentucky, mr. paul, proposes an amendment numbered 438. the presiding officer: senators will take their conversations outside the well, please. the senator from kentucky has the floor. order in the senate. mr. paul: the u.s. sent $113 billion in aid to ukraine. it is impossible to send this much aid this fast into war-torn ukraine without waste, fraud, and abuse. yet we are told by departmental inl specter generals that they have not substantiated any cases of fraud. that is not good news. zero cases means our oversight is failing. when -- what our government can't find was uncovered by ukrainian journalists who uncovered a contract to buy food for soldiers at inflated prices that led to the resig

judiciary committee, senator coons, senator moran, senator blumeening that would, senator murkowski,enator shaheen, senator wicker who i note is the congress ranking republican on the armed services committee, senator durbin, the chair of the judiciary committee, senator tillis and senator mullen and, of course, this bill is supported by many, many other senators. in fact, the majority of the u.s. senate. which sounds to me like when you have the numbers, you should be able to have a vote. and that is what i am asking for today. i ami pushing this because this is our moment. we have had two years to show the world whether or not we're going to stand with those that stood with us. two years we have worked on this bill. ourav colleagues have had plenty of time to to look at it. they've had input. it was introduced year. but you know who else is watching?wh our military is watching every single one of the o senators in this chamber have been approached by apr member of our military whether it's on veterans day, whether it's on memorial day, whether it's just walking down the street. tho

senate. through his legislative achievements including compensation for disabled veterans, senator daschle found common ground with bob that not only solidified their relationship as colleagues but as friends. together they went on to establish the bipartisan policy center later joined by senator lott to continue promoting the ideals of cooperation and civility. i am deeply grateful to the senators for their friendship and outstanding public service over these many decades. i thank them for taking part in this special night. with my warmest wishes, elizabeth dole. it is my pleasure to present senator tom daschle and senator trent lott. please give them a warm jayhawk welcome. [applause] >> thank you so much for being with us this evening. it has been so fun getting to spend time with you these last couple of days. >> great to be with you and great to be with my dear friend trent lott. sen. lott: you have done a great job. congratulations to the winners tonight. very talented young ladies and

we're almost miraculously under leadership of senator murray and senator collins, they've advanced all 12 bills out of committee with bipartisan support. i hope what's happened on this bill, the ndaa bill and these other bills can be a metaphor for future bills down the road. the two of our -- these are two of our highest responsibilities, appropriations and national defense, and we made great progress in these last few months. it's been a really good senate that the american people can be proud of. okay. it was a good process on and off the floor. listen to this. 98 amendments. we talk about how we don't do amendments. 98. 44 democrat, 44 republican, and the rest bipartisan. and that's what an ndaa bill should look like. a full floor process with input and debate from both sides. as a result, there are many critical provisions in these ndaa -- in this ndaa bill as well that we should be proud of. we made critical downpayments on our effort to outcompete the china government by limiting the flow of investment and advanced technology to china. we're passing the first piece of legislatio

in the senate tonight.ogether to put up enough support working hard and making great progress on $35 insulin for everybody. that will be a high priority when we get the faa bill the senate bill that senator cantwell is working on is very close to the house bill that has passed. i expect we'll get it faa bill very soon. we are making good progress on safe banking which as you know has always been a priority for me. so, there's a lot to do we get back. but we are making good progress on every one of those pieces of legislation. as well i was on the most important thing we get back, funding the government appropriations process. the bill passed 86 -- 11 no one thought we would do it. but the tradition of doing it, doing on time, do it in a timely way with virtually if you watch the floor virtually no end in mind that the leader target number one goal, get things done for the american people. cut costs, grow the middle class. these bills do that. second, try to work in a bipartisan way as possible to get things

senator wicker: thank you. senator reed: senator gillibrand. senator gillibrand: thank you for being here. i just returned from a codel surveying our operations in europe to prepare ukranians to fight, to preposition equipment and do training with our nato allies and to giving the ukranians the ability to win the war against russia and you mentioned how important logistics are and the world to fight is. and we have a growing threat from china from the xi regime with regard to taiwan and i would like to hear your assessments on the challenges of that theater versus the ease with which we were able to do the work with our nato allies in europe since we have allies that facilitate our training and exercise in preparation. can you talk about the challenges with regard to that other theater and what preparation you think would be essential. general brown: there are a couple of factors that play in, geography and infrastructure and dpee og gray if i of europe, and infrastructure, roads, railroads and air fields are close together. in indo-pacific, yo

senate here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will now lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. lord of life, we magnify your name, for your mercies are new every morning. take our senators by the hand ad lead them on the road you desire them to travel. remind them that you are the one who can keep them from stumbling or slipping. motivate them to never deviate from the path of integrity, but seek to glorify you in all they think, say, and do. may they remember your promise in hebrews 13:5 that you will never leave or forsake them. we pray in your sovereign name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., juy 19, 2023. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of t

thank you senator feinstein. senator lee? >> i think it is easy for us to take for granted and overlook the extent to which we have all benefited from living in a country that operates under the rule of law. in order to have the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of individual men and women who serve within a government, you really have to have some kind of structural protection in place. protecting the people against their risks, with devastating consequences, associated with the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of the few. it was for this reason that some of our leading legal thinkers, including 12 years ago when i first arrived in the senate and came on to this committee, within a few months or so of my arrival we had a couple of supreme court justices visit. justice breyer in just a scalia came to talk about the courts. our colleague then from time to time. it was something i hadn't seen before. i had seen them do this rodeo exercise the two of them would play off each other. sometimes telling jokes and each

judiciary committee, senator coons, senator moran, senator blumenthal, senator murkowski, senator shaheen, senator wicker who i note is the ranking republican on the armed services committee, senator durbin, the chair of the judiciary committee, senator tillis and senator 'mullin and of course this bill is supported by many, many other senators. in fact the majority of the u.s. senate which sounds to me like when you have the numbers, you should be able to have a vote. and that is what i am asking for today. i am pushing this because this is our moment. we have had two years to show the world whether or not we're going to stand with those that stood with us, two years we have worked on this bill. our colleagues have had plenty of time to look at it. they've had input. it was introduced last year. but you no he -- but you know who else is watching? our military is watching. every single one of the senators in this chamber have been approached by a member of our military, whether it's on veterans day, whether it's on memorial day, whether it's just walking down the street. those that served

yes, senator. this is part of what drives the cost makes it a more challenging upgrade than simply replacing the phones on the desks. >> and you've been coordinating with the senate team another of an initiatives. could you give us an idea of those? >> one, that we are working through is to modernize for paid processes with the dispersing office. that will affect all offices one complete. it should make life much easier for those senate offices. i think that is perhaps the most significant one that we are coordinating with the secretary on. >> thank you very much. >> i also mentioned closed captioning, that is a modernization effort that will be a capability that constituents and our broader senate community will benefit from. and that is also a significant ask in our budget request for $695,000 to provide the capability. >> thank you very much. chief, just a clarification. when you speak of dignity protection, or those visitors to the capital? they're not members. >> no, i am talking about the pro

judiciary committee, senator kunz, senator moran, senator blumenthal, senator murkowski, shaheen, senator wicker who i know is the ranking republican on the armed services committee, senator durbin the trigger, senator tillis and senator mullen and of course the bill is supported by many other senators. i am pushing this because this isad our moment we haven't had o years to show whether or not we stand with those that stood with us our military is watching. every single one of the senators in the chamber have been approached by a member of our military whether it's veterans day, memorial day, walking down the street come i wouldn't be here today h if this guy hadn't stood with me on the battlefield or if this interpreter hadn't helped me out or if this guy hadn't his family on the line to gather intelligence. and they've all asked us the same thing and that is to not leave these courageous afghans who stood with our military in limbo. we did not leave the vietnamese whoha came over to our country. after that withdrawal and evacuation we didn't leave them in limbo. g they were given a leg

now, i'd like to thank senator manchin, senator risch, senator mark warner, senator budd and senator coons for their effort and cosponsor in this critical issue. i urge you to support this bipartisan amendment. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i yield back all time. the presiding officer: the question is on the amendment. mr. barrasso: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. the clerk: mr. bennet. the clerk: mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. the clerk: mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mrs. feinstein. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson

you want to shut the senate down, allow anybody who wants to, to file a complaint against a senator,if the complainant thinks that senator has a conflict of interest and require that the complaint be resolved before you vote. that is what this bill does to the united states supreme court. isn't that special? how many complaints do you think there are going to be? every single day. and the whole point if they can't expand the court, they will shrink it. it just -- i really am disappointed in some of my colleagues. >> for everyone of you that writes what kennedy says, go purchase a fried chicken. >> i don't have much to add to what my colleagues have said but you will see political theater on display tomorrow. it is a waste of time in the judiciary, it's particularly insulting to those like senator graham, myself, and others who worked on a bipartisan basis on nominations but john kennedy is right, this bill is dead on arrival, before it gets to the senate chamber, even debtor when it gets to the house, neither of those two. we won't see a vote in the senate, we won't see a vote in the

myself, senator whitehouse and senator blumenthal. a letter of course is addressed to its chief justice john roberts on the issue of code of conduct and ethics for the supremec court. the date again was february 13, 2012. i'm going to recognize as member seeking recognition then we'll l move to amendments. senator kennedy is on the list. senator you are next. correct thank you, mr. chairman. it would not be difficult, i think to sit here and pick apart this legislation. and i think my democratic colleagues know that. there is not a dummy among them. there's not a dummy on this judiciary committee. but you do not have to be oliver wendell's glia to figure out this legislation is meant to be a court killing machine. for example, it would allow any out there and america in a tinfoil hat whose own dog thanks he is at nutter, to file a motion to recuse the united states supreme courtcu justice. what could possibly go wrong? what should could possibly go wrong?g? and my democratic colleagues know that. i am not going to go too far down that

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. a senator: is the senate in a quorum call.the presiding officer: we are. a senator: therefore i ask, mr. president, the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: thank you, mr. president. we are contending with china which is undergoing the largest peacetime expansion of military power in history. this morning congress and the american people heard from israeli president isaac herzog and i rise today to remind my colleagues ever the ongoing threat posed by iran to peace in the middle east and beyond. iran is exporting more oil today than it has since 2019 despite the sanctions that were overwhelmingly passed by this congress and that remain as current law. recently the navy's fifth fleet intervened to prevent two commercial oil tankers from being seized by iran in the gulf of amman and today -- and iran was recently granted membership in the shanghai corporation which fosters deep political and economic cooperation with russia, china, india, and other members. all of this is taking place while

thank you. >> thanks senator sinema, senator langford i'm going to turn the gavel over to senator ossoff. >> thank you, again, for being here. we have lots of issues that are still out there. i want to be able to drill down on a few others. last time that you and i were speaking in this public setting before, i ask you about knowledge of the criminal record of individuals from the country that they're coming from. we know they are on the terror watchlist, obviously, but hundreds of thousands of people that we know nothing about, i ask you the question about, do we have access to the criminal history of individuals that are released on parole, released on notice to appear, notice to report. all the different methods of releasing individuals into the country while we are waiting hearing, do we know the criminal history of the country they're coming from. at that time he said you did not know at that point, i've not received an answer back yet. do we know at this point, if we have a criminal history from their home country, before we release them into our country? >> senator, what we are do

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: mr. president, i rise to state my intention to include the afghan jument act as -- adjustment as an amendment to the defense authorization act. this involved years of work. this bipartisan legislation is led with senator graham, along with senators coons, moran, blumenthal, murkowski, shaheen, wicker, durbin, tillis, and mullin. those are just the people who are cosponsoring this bill and there is going to be -- there's many others that are supporting on both sides of the aisle. what is this about? well, it's about our national security. it's about a covenant -- a covenant that we have made and we must keep to those who stand with us on the battlefield. this bill does right by afghans who worked alongside our troops and shows the world that the united states of america, when we make a promise, we keep it. nearly 80,000 afghans who sought refuge in our country are currently in limbo. in just the last few weeks, one of them who was a translator for the military who was working two jobs to s

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. welch: my colleague, the senator from arizona, speaks and spoke with authority of a person who committed his life before he came to the united states senate to the service of our country in the military. i do not speak with that authority. i speak with the gratitude of a citizen who's benefited by the willingness of folks like the senator from arizona who dedicated their professional life to our country. in that respect, as a citizen i speak for what all americans have come to expect and rely on, and that is the willingness of young men and young women to sign up in service in the military, and among them people who make that commitment that this will be their career. and they do it day in and day out being ready for whatever may come, being willing to respond to the call of the commander in chief, no matter what they may be. and all of us as citizens who have not worn the uniform can take it for granted that we've got these folks out there. but now what the senator from alabama is do

by way of context, senator risch was one of the most outspoken senators in advocating for not only arming ukrainians but some of the weapons that are produced , not only have an effect but have produced controversies. you are a strong advocate on munitions by way of context i want to put that out there. there does seem to be a growing voice in washington >> you will be able to see the great animosity we have in the u.s. state senate amongst the parties and how we don't get along and fight a lot. so that will be on clear display, i think, when we are done. look, on foreign relations, i'm also the most republican on the foreign intelligence committee. those two committees are probably the least of the partisan things that i do, although i am also, unfortunately on the fx committee which is nonpartisan. i have a thousand things i wanted to say after listening to tony. let's focus on the ukrainian matter. most americans don't understand. i have issues in my own state. people say ukraine, i can't find ukraine on the map! backup. very briefly for a bit of history. ronald reagan spent eight year

the complaint ant thinks that senator -- complaintant thinks that senator has a conflict of interest and require that the complaint be resolved before you vote. that's what this bill does to the united states supreme court. isn't that special? how many complaints do you think they're going to be -- there are going to be? every single day. and the whole point, if they can't expand the court, they'll shrink it. this bill, it just -- i'm really disappointed in some of my colleagues for even bringing this thing. >> and for every one of you who write what is kennedy says, he'll buy you fried chicken. [laughter] sen. kennedy: it will be dead. [laughter] >> i don't have much more to add to what my colleagues have said but i do think you're going to see political theater on display tomorrow. it's going to be -- it's a waste of time in the judiciary. it's particularly insulting to those of us like senator graham, myself and others who have worked on a bipartisan basis on nominations, on bills of substance. but john kennedy's right. sen. tillis: this bill is dead on arrival. it's dead before i

senate here on c-span2. senate will come to order. the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. .eternal god, we praise you for the marvelous things you have done throughout our nation's history. thoughts about your mighty deeds continue to fill us with joy. .lord, in these difficult times, we continue to trust you to guide our nation toward your desired destination. .surround this nation we love with the shield of your divine favor as you execute judgment from your throne. .lord, continue to remind our lawmakers that they are accountable to you. .use them for your glory as they seek to ensure that your will is done on earth even as it is done in heaven. do for us all immeasureably, abundantly, above all that we can ask or imagine, according to your power working in and through us. we pray in your merciful name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge f allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liber

senate. >> thank you, senator graham. let's be clear, there is only one living senator changed the size of the supreme court. the republican leader that shrink the court eight seats nearly a year refusing to consider merrick garland nomination. >> if i may, the position of the minority you do not want to expand the court, is that the position of the senate majority? >> i only speak for myself. >> okay, that's one. it is clear there is an effort by the left to expand the court and what senator did is consistent to what's happened. >> let me start in this recusal and transparency act to the rest of my colleagues for cosponsoring. this would address already sodisclosed misconduct we've sen at the supreme court recently. comprehensive judicial decision is overview but worth remembering to how we got to this markup let me be candid about my belief the supreme court has been captured by special interest much like the commission in the 1890s captured by real quote to decide things their way. i knew ethics for a wire when i do st

>> thank you, senator. i believe that ab5 was a bill passed by the california legislature, and given to me in my event role to enforce. i do not believe that the abc test that is caught a fight in ab5 its federal law, and i do not believe that i could make it federal law, unless you all made it federal law. >> let me push this little bit more. in your comments to senator cassidy, you said the department of labor does not have the authority to implement the abc test. do you still think it is a good model for the country? >> i think -- >> your moment, senator. >> senator, bona fide independent contractors have a place in our economy and need to be able to operate. i also believe that miss classification, meaning when you have someone who should be an employee, but it's called an independent contractor, maybe they work side by side with other people who do the exact same thing as they are, but they are called and independent contractors, so they're not protected by minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insuranc

in the senate. finally, this work period we must continue to confirm president biden's nominees and rebalance the federal bench with judges who respect the rule of law. sadly, americans' faith in the judiciary is at an all-time low after the extreme maga right captured the supreme court. in the last few weeks, this maga majority has gutted affirmative action, blocked student debt relief and green-lit discrimination again the lgbtq community. what we're seeing at the supreme court is a sickening hypocrisy, as some justices feel free to accept lavish gifts and vacations from billionaire friends, they're refusing to help everyday americans trying to get a fair shake. and the billionaires who provided these trips and emoll yuments are no ordinary, run-of-the-mill billionaires. they're ideological extremists who bankroll hard-right maga causes and bring those cases before the same judges they patronized. congress has clear authority to oversee the federal judiciary, and that includes making sure that the

>> senator, i'm sitting before the united states senators. you can ask me what you want, i will answer truthfully. >> i'm not questioning that you will. -- give us what you believe is the truest to fact. but, my understanding of this clause, you are right mr. price, it is very common to business agreement, is that it will be binding on you, on other members of the policy board, potentially on the athletes. indeed the liv requirements for their players. they have a similar bar to any of them saying anything negative about any relevant person, including members of the pif governing apparatus. so, i'm going to end my questioning now. for this round. but, i would like to have a commitment from both of you that the final agreement will not prevent players or pga tour executives from commenting on or criticizing actions of the kingdom of saudi arabia. will you make that commitment? >> it will be an objective we would seek. i would add that the framework agreement does not prevent our players from speaking their mind on any matters. >> it does it no

closely with senator collins and senator shaheen. our bill would cover everybody whether you have health insurance or you are uninsured because a lot of people become uninsured. now i know our health insurance companies, and god bless them, they are trying to work with us through lower the cost of insulin and they have these programs they call them patient assistance programs, so if you are uninsured and can't afford your insulin, they will work with you. have you ever tried to apply for one of those programs? any of you? >> first, the application process, the fine print to apply, there's so much you could hide a dead body there, nobody would find it. number two, they send the medicine to your doctor, not to you. so if you've got a job or don't have a job you've got to go to the expense of driving all the way to your doctor's office and probably have to pay your doctor to get the medication. the programs only cover one or two forms of insulin. a year in you go in and then it is $567.23 and use a my god i've got to go sell blood plasm