Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. 20240704

Grow it is delayed further . Given what you laid out giving the United States has responsibility to get brother into the stockpile . For general brown the white house said United States and israel based on the request discussing alternatives to a ground operation what alternative options exist for Israel Security goals including destroyingnning aid delivery and endangering civilians sheltering credit achieve those goals . Great to see you as well. Ing potential russian breaker, what we is a series of governmental gains by russians. What the chairman said a couple minutes ago it comes at a significant cost in terms of personnel and equipment. Nonetheless governmental gains. As i engage in my counterparts defense ukraine what they feel confident in their ability to continue to defend their sovereign territory. Of course theyd and support to continue to do that and thats where supplemental comes in and we would hope we would see the supplemental get past soon. Enclosed with congress and International Partners to ensure ukraine receives the support it needs. Something i like to highlight is United States is not doing this he witnessed today gathering 20 in time to address Security Assistance for ukraine and in that meeting i continue to hear unity and resolve and an effort to find a way to proceed support the week see allies and about and it is very important. Stion. Having not seen the plans it is hard to lay out the alternatives alternatives. One of the things we engaged with we have had experienced east and Lessons Learned on w talk about how we protect civilians and personal the isis effort focus on protecting civilians and minimizing conversation in the aspect of the conversation likely need to have on the future operations. Will make it easier or more public it . Good to see you. A very effective form 20th meeting and each and support and focus on the current right more of a focus on building capability for ukraine and the capability coalitions. We have countries that volunteered focused onll need to defend president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer id like to begin today by addressing the reprehensible and dangerous comments made yesterday by former president trump. The former president s comments were you the ere utterly dis disgusting and a textbook example of the kinds of antisemitism facing antisemitism trope of dual loyalty. To say you hate israel or your religion because you have one political view over the other is sick its hateful. It is antisemitism. It serves to use israel as a political wedge, further damaging the bonds between u. S. And israel. We have always tried, ive always tried through the years, to keep everything we do on israel bipartisan and to use it for partisan purposes hurts israel hurts america, and displays how low donald trump would go. And nobody who breaks bread with antisemites like nick fuentes and called White Supremacists in charlottesville very good people or who as was reported said disgustingly that hitler did some good things, has any right to lecture Jewish Americans about their personal political beliefs. I condemn the former president s irresponsible comments and urge others from both sides, both sides, to do the same. Now on aprops congress has less than a week to finish the job of fully funding the remainder of the fiscal year. We all know its been a difficult, drawnout appropriations process for everyone in congress. Appropriators in both chambers their staffs my staff and i have kept at this for months. But today, we have good news earlier this morning, i announced that negotiators from both parties reached an agreement last night on the final six appropriations bills. We bipartisan agreement for defense, financial service, Homeland Security labor, hhs education, the ledge branch and state and foreign ops. Appropriators are working swiftly to turn this agreement into legislative text as soon ale. So members can review finalize and ultimately take a vote in the coming days. Once the house sends us a funding package, i will put it Senate Without delay. Is now, its a very good sign that we examine the week by announcing this agreement, but i want to be clear, theres a lot of work to do in the coming days. If both parties proceed in the same manner we did two weeks ago, quickly, congressely and without unnecessary partisan dithering, im hopeful we can finish the appropriations process without causing a laps in government serv a lapsee in government services. We havent had a Government Shutdown since 2019. Theres no good reason to that were very close to finishing the job. On ukraine, mr. President San Francisco its not an president , its not an exaggeration to say right now the survival of the ukrainian people the fate of American Leadership in the world and odds of victory for depend a lot on what Speaker Mike Johnson does in the near future. Any moment he wants, speaker johnson has the power of the house a Bipartisan National Security package that passed the senate over a month ago with 70 votes. This supplemental package will provide ukraine precisely with what theyre sorely lacking,tary equipment, ammunitions, intelligence support, advanced weaponry and more. Every day that the supplemental sits idly in the house ukrainian troops are killed on the battlefield because they lack the basic tools to defend their country. Sadly, because the house has not acted, the situation is now very dire in ukraine. Speaking in germany earlier today,ecretary of defense lloyd austin warned ukraines survival is now in grave danger. Russia is now making three times as much artillery and munitions as the u. S. And europe. Ukraine is also beginning to run out of soldiers. Without more u. S. Support, one european official predicted last week this is not a question of years, its a question of weeks and months. Leader mcconnell and i broad bipartisan support got the supplemental passed here. Large should leader johnson should do the same. The clock is ticking for congress to kitty a. The eyes of the congress to act. The eyes of the world are on the house. Our adversaries are weighing to see what speaker johnson does about the supplemental. The answer is very simple speaker johnson, put the supplemental on the floor of the house for a vote. I guarantee if members have a chance to vote on this bill will pass with the same kind of bipartisan support we snate. I have urged the speaker repeatedly that he must stand up to putin. This is a legacydefining choice for the speaker and potentially a history altering decision. The speaker can either stand up to defend democracy or he can cast his lot with donald trump and maga extremism who are practically rooting for putin to win. Forum shopping mr. President , last year i came to the floor a number of times to speak about a grave problem in our federal judiciary known as judge shopping where hardright litigants bring cases before sympathetic judges in order to push their radical agenda. I wrote to the judicial conference asking they recommend policy ensure impartial ate and basic fairness. Im pleased that the judicial conference responded to our a new policy to assign cases that have state statewide instead of going to a predictable judge in a single division. These reforms would absurd situations like we saw in the Northern District of texas where one extremist judge was picked revoke meth pris tony nationwide. Rahs last weeks announcement was good news and probably came across as common sense, it was striking and troubling to see the republica to the floor and ex correlate the republican leader accused the conference of bait of republican democrats democrats. Republican leader wants to see judges hand picked when we know their views already to make decisions, that flies in the face of justice. He claimed that itsplace of senators to weigh in on how the courts administer themselves well congress created they to recommend policy updates like this. We know what the deal is here. The republican leader is fuming because these recommendations would make it harder for hardright partisans to hijack our courts for their purposes. Leader mcconne is not even pretending to hide his partisan motion vaccinations in this case note vaccinations in would encourage the republican to find ways to restore trust in the judiciary than defending an obviously abusive practice that most americans would oppose. And i believe that congress has a duty to conduct oversight of the federaljudiciary, well keep investigating abuses we will keep investigating abuse within our forward. On nominations finally, the senate will confirm another exceptional to the federal bench, Nicole Berner to serve as a circuit judge for the Fourth Circuit, she has over 17 years of experience fighting for working peoples as general counsel for the seiu she will make historys first openly lgbtq to serve on the Fourth Circuit. She will bring personal diversity to ensure that every american has representation in our judiciary. The Senate Democrat majority will have confirmed over 180 qualified diverse judges to the federal bench. These are judges outside the status quo, people of color, women, judges with diverseds who are making the courts they reflect better served. The 100th black woman has nomina judge. We will bring more balance to the courts in the months ahead. I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. D and the country and there were 5600 gang related incidents tell us more about the gangs who makes them up . They originally were affected in haiti. This was any opposition with tests or members of Civil Society and came in hoping a set of doing that, they went out. You know 80 in United States and they are coming to haiti states and on the contrasting and eventually by the politicians they had money nction kidnapping and extortion so no one has also anymore. The judicial system is verycorrupt. When it comes to the discussion aboutgs theres a man at the center and he goes by the nickname barbecue, who is he . It was closely allied and was an extension by the government and was made by the government and a large part of us and many of the members and the guns and the officer and therefore its not just one wrong there and opposition and eventually they empower. Will continue with our guest whats going on in haiti and United States. At 202 7488003. The secretary of state antonyinken spoke with reporters about the situation going on in haiti and efforts i want to play what he had to say and talk about what you think it means for the u. S. Going forward. On haiti this has been a long unfolding story. The suffering and want to see it that brought to an end. It requires a few things, more stable political system so the country can function democratically and we need to see a transition to elections and clear return. We need an assistance on the economy and get built up and we need to see security because its hard to do and an environment like this. Security is being driven largely by those w control the capital city and etc. We been working on all of these and the United Nations endorsed it months ago. MultiNational Security support mission to help regai security. Can you set up with lead and other countries mission and we ourselves are computing to it. In parallel with been try caribbean countries and others job haitians get back on a better political path. Thats the desire of the United States plus reality brady. One and the department and they are part of it. And it is unfortunate no matter what haiti and allow them in. Iding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell this week the senate faces one more test to complete its[nnual appropriations process. And the stakes really couldnt be higher for American Security at home and abroad. We have outstanding amounts to nearly 70 of the discretionary budget. Once again, im grateful to our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for to regular order. Im especially grateful to senator collins for fighting to advance republican priorities throughout theprocess, particularly in the defense appropriations bill. Predictable annual allocations areen to Meeting National defense responsibilities. They allow for Effective Investments inng our forces developing new cuttingedge capabilities and expanding the industrial capacity that will drive longterm strategic competition. Needless to say, investments like these especially critical right now as the between the threats the Biden Administrations willingness to address them seems to be growing wider. President biden has just turned in his fourth str would cut defense funding after inflation. So the work before us is g necessary, and im encouraged that we are beginning this week with an agreement to in hand to actually complete the process. Congress has secured a path forward to fund the department of Homeland Security which will allow us t fiscal year 2024 appropriations process in the coming days. As always making headway depends on serious cooperation. And im grateful to our appropriators and negotiators their commitment to working in good faith. Providing for the common defense is among our most basic responsibilities. Ant with ourselves. Growing threats and increasing military requirements make fulfilling this responsibility even more critical. The legislation in front of us will notcongress last word but it represents an important downpayment and i look forward to working with my colleagues to complete the annual appropriations process very very soon. Now, on another matter weekend, putin claimed electoral victory in a display of his regimes disdain for the russian people. With a fresh secure term in office hes on track Joseph Stalin as the longest rules despot in modern russia history. For the past two sacrificed tens of thousands of his countrymen on the altar of an obscene neo soviet fantasy of stalinist empire building. The human cost of russias war of to russians and ukrainians alike is truly tragic. But this weekends sham election came at a particularly critical moment in this conflict and the kremlin is showing its cards. Former russian president laid out exactly how putin intends for his lawless con heres what he said. The entire territory of ukraine is the territory of the russian federation. As he sees it ukraines complete and Unconditional Surrender surrender, full demilitarization and reparations to russia will help forge a benevolent consensus of peace. This is from a close ally of d negotiating with ukraine just because its running out of ammunition was ridiculous showing us its intentions for over two years now. But for anyone who still struggles to see whats going on here the words of russias leaders leave no room for doubt. As ive said before putin and his allies are emboldened precisely because the west is hesitating because america is hesitating. Theyre spelling out their true intentions because they essential that we might not have the resolve to actually resist them. Heres the truth. Russia is playing for keeps. Its set on gaiting its sovereign democracy whole hog. Theres every reason to believe the war ends with a negoost wars do but its absurd and selfdefeating to insist on negotiations without preparing ukraine to operate a position of strength. Whether or when putin ever decides to turn from his bid f conquest to the negotiating table it will be lethal western assistance to determines what comes next. That is why congress does need to influence the conventionual eventual outcome of the conflict. What we do will determine whether an administration that wants to facilitate negotiations ha the leverage to produce terms favorable to america and our allies. Our next move will either reaffirm americas global influence or kneecap, kneecap both washington and kyiv. Anyone who thinks starving partners of support is good diplomacy or politics needs only lo administrations with draul from after withdrawal from afghanistan. If congress does its job, it will be american weapons in ukrainian hands. And stronger forces and Defense Industrial capacity here at home that determine what conclusions the world draws from the first major land war in europe since whether or not authoritarians conclude they can continue to redraw map ss, whether americas top strategic competitor concludes were not prepared to defend our interest or equip our friends to defend ourselves, and whether or not the commander in chief inherits an unfixable quagmire. Every day that the National Security supplemental spends as a senatepassed bill and not a law is a day thatamericas adversaries smile. The decision before congress both in annual appropriations as well as the supplemental are about more than ukraine or israel. Theyre about whether america the will to defend our interests and uphold our influence. Mr. Durbin mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic whip. Mr. Durbin mr. President , i rise again today to discuss an issue that i have been working on for more than 20 years. E ongoing uncertainty and plight facing americas dreamers. It was a little over 20 years ago when my office in chicago got a telephone call. There was a girl graduating from high school in chicago, and she had a problem. The a musical prodigy. She played the piano and she was extraordinary. The bad news was she was undocumented. She was brought to the United States at the age of 2. Her parents had brought her originally from korea through bra sdal and chicago. Her fathers goal was to become a minister in churc she used to travel with him to these churches and pound away at the piano while he was practicing his sermons. Over the years she enlisted in a program called the merit Music Program and developed her piano skills to anlevel. All of her teachers said to her her teresa lee was her name youve got t school julliard manhattan conservatory. You qualify for all of them. So she sat down to fill out the application and it came to the space that said your nationality and citizenship. She didnt know what to put there. So one of her friends called our office figuring senator durbin would know the answer. Well we found the answer and it was terrible. Because she was undocumented in the United States who had been there since the age 2, her recourse under the law was and still is to leave the United States for ten years and petition to come back in. She was 18 years old. The prospect was ridi a result of that case work i decided to introduce a bill called the dream act. And the dream act basically said if you cameo age of 18 grew up in this country, had no problems with the law, you should have a path to citizenship. It was that basic. Well mr. President , as you can guess, weve tried to pass that bill many times. Its passed on the floor of the senate a couple of times but never have we been able to get both the senate and the house together on this issue. I continue to come to the floor to talk new wrinkle. It seems that one of my former Senate Colleagues became president of the United States barack obama. He had cosponsored the dream act. And i appealed to him along with senator richard lugar, republican of indiana, to create by executive order some program that can protect these young people. And he created daca. And daca at one 800,000 young people in america protected from deportation as they renewed every two years their status could go to school. They could have a life. And maybe some day at some future time actually become citizens of the United States. I thought that the best way to describe this issue to people because its still in controversy, still tied up in theo whether daca will have a future is share stories of the Daca Recipients and who they are. I do that again today. This is the 141 daca recipient, dreamer, that i have told the story about here on the floor of the senate. This young mans name is aidon mola. He came to the United States with his family when he years old fleeing the war in kosovo. He excelled in the United States. He was the sal tutorian of helped to lead his High School Basketball team to three undefeated seasons, three state titles and two championships two national championships. The story goes from there. He was the all state team. He played Division One Basketball at st. Francis college in brooklyn new york. In addition to his basketball careerled in the classroom and graduated from college with honors. After college, multiple teams approached him about playing professional basketball in europe. Unfortunately, he was forced to decline all of these offers because of his immigration status. But he didnt let itm. He switched paths and started to pursue a new career in the music industry. With daca he has become a renownedss musician. He has worked with successful artists like roberta flack, released an album, performed at sic festivals and headlined by Major International stars. In addition to his successful music and basketball careers, he has been made time to give back to his community. He has led a basketball clinic for children with cancer taught musico special needs, had performed multiple charity concerts. Edon is now starting a masters in business administration. He plans to pursue the degree as he continues his musical career. Daca has allowed edon pursue his dreams at the time being but daca was also mentsz to be a temporary established the program, republicans have waged a Relentless Campaign many of them to overturn daca and deport these dreamers back to the countries they may not even remember. Now this program is hanging by a thread in the courts. And Daca Recipients like edon are being forced to ln fear and uncertainty every single day. Last september, a federal judge in Program Illegal though the decision left in place provisions for current Daca Recipients. They live in fare that the next Court Decision will upend their lives. Court decisions have also prevented any newreamers from registering for the program. This means without congressional action if we do nothing, if we continue to do nothing, hundreds of thousands ofady to serve in their communities across the country may never have that opportunity. Studies have estimated that if daca were to end, we would lose 1,000 u. S. Jobs every day for the next two years. Business in my state often tell me that they need more workers, so the question i ask my colleagues today and ask america can we lose a thousand jobs a day from young people who grew up here went to school here stood up in the classroom every day and pledged allegiance to that flag, believing it was their flag and their future . I think not. When he was president , donald trump tried to end the daca program. The first time i ever met donald trump was the day he was inaugurated as president. It was a luncheon i was invited to. I went up to him and said i want to tell you something. My priority is to the cerdreamers these Daca Recipients an give them a chance in america. He leaned over and said dont worry. Were going to take care of those kids. Well he sure took care of them for sure. He tried to end the program altogether with no protection for these young people. And as a candidate, he has th and deport undocumented immigrants like this young man i just described. We can no longer stand idly by whilextremist judges and politicians toy with the future of these young people who have never known life in this country formally as legal citizens. We in congress should protect dreamers like him right now. I urge my colleagues to reach out of to dreamers in their states to about these young people. I have given these speeches on the floor as i said this is my 141st young person i have described. O have a disappointment where they came back and say, oh, senator, that young man, that young woman you just described got on the other side of the wall and did something terrible. Its never happened. These young people are good people. They deserve as much a chance as our children do to become part of this nations future. They are business owners, teachers parents, athletes scientists nurses, musicians and so much more. Would america be better if they were gone . Cy think not. I think not. They are an important part of our future and american life. It is time to get to life and pass the dream act. It is the right thing to do and it is long overdue. I yield the floor. Mr. Schatz mr. President. The presiding officer the senator om hawaii. Mr. Schatz thank you, mr. President. Congress is failing disaster survivors across the country right now, whether in lahaina or in burlington survivors are not getting the full support of the federal government because congress has yet to providend longterm Disaster Recovery needs. And thats in spite of the fact that every passing month more and more communities are being struck by extreme weather and need help in the rebuilding process. It was more than four months ago that President Biden requested 2. 8 billion for the Community Development block grant Disaster Recovery program cdbgr. It is funding that is a lifeline for families and businesses who are trying to recover from disasters, helping them to get back on their feet faster and more fully. Yet the spending package that Congress Passed two weeks ago did not include a dime in new funding for cdbgr. Despite the efforts of myself presiding officer from disaster affected states. Supporting disaster survivors has never been and should never be aan it be buried at the bottom of a long list of federal priorities. It is one of our most core onsibilities as the federal government to show up for americans in their hour of need when the state and local government can overwhelmed. t chance to do that by including cdbgdr funding in the appropriations package that well be voting on later this week. People on maui and every other disasterstruck community are counting on us for support, and it cant be that teral government leaves them high and dry midway through the process of putting their lives back together. Because we couldnt get some numbers to add up. Thats unacceptable, and we need to pass this funding now. Mr. President , i ask consent that the following remarks appear i record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schatz thank you, mr. President. In a place where bipartisanship is harder to find than it is to talk about, theres a glimmer of hope this week. In the appropriations package that passed two weeks ago, there was a rare product of quiet, goodfaith bipartisan efforts. A record amount of funding for housing for native communities across the country. Working together democrats and republicans in the senate and the house included 1. 3 billion for native housing as the transportation, housing, and urban Development Appropriations bill. Thats an increase of a little more than 300 million. Tribal communities as a direct consequence of perennial underfunding and neglect by the federal government exp sometes and worst Living Conditions in the nation. Theyre five times likely to live in homes without plumbing four times as likely no not have basic appliances such as a sink stove, refrigerator and 1200ikelier to experience issues with heating. 1200 times likelier to experience issues with heating. For them the histoc funding is a very, very big deal. It means that they can build more affordable housing, provide rental assistance and get electricity and plumbing into their homes. The bill also includes a significant increase for funding for tribal transportation which will help to repair roads on tribare in dire shape and improve transit across reservation land for people trying to get to work or to school or to the grocery store. This funding building on the historic investments weve made in tribal transportation infrastructure over the past few years. Its about 175 million new dollars for tribal transportation. All of this came to be because colleagues on both sides of the aisle in both chambers said whatever other differences we may that this is important and urgent and worth fighting for. And we got to work and we actually did it. Bipartisan victories do not grab the headlines in this town. They do lead cable news or get of notice on twitter. The federal government has a trust responsibility to americanlaska natives and native hawaiians which weve long fallen short ever. Theyve long been considered an afterthought. Today bit by bit were saying, no more. And so i want to thank everyone who workedor months quietly behind the scenes to get this done. That includes members and staff of the appropriations subcommittee on housing, a indian affairs, both of which i chair. I especially want to thank my Ranking Member cindy hydesmith and murkowski for their continued partnership on this and other native issues. I want to the thank the many co for this you understand iffing on behalf of native communities in their home stateses. I am also grateful to our counterparts in the state representative cole chairman of the rules committee and chairman of the thud subcommittee and many representative quigley who fought to include this fiscal constraints. None of this is possible without patiently and painstakingly painstakingly turn commitments and deals made at the member level and sense enshrined into law. Weve begun to reckon with and address historic marginalized communities. It is important. It is necessary, and its onoverdue. But somehow a lot of that work has glossed over americas first injustices the injustice towards native people. It is a brutal historynn generations. Forcibly removing native people from their homelands, pushing children into boarding schools, ancestral remains. The impacts of the colonization are being felt tohis r da hundreds of years of injustice in one legislative session, but it remedying those injustices and finally doing right by native people takes another few centuries. It needs to start happening now. And that requires all of us learning and really understanding the long and painful history. It means addressing the many ways that native culture repeatedly robbed and harmed which is something that the committee on indian affairs, federal agencies, and are working on with things like the repatriation of remains. And above all it means supporting everyday material needs of native people. They need electricity. They need running water. They need reliable heating in their homes. They need safe roads and accessible transit. All of this work has to happen together this here in Congress People in both parties recognize the urgency of issues affecting nativerioritizing them. And even if that doesnt make for a splashy head 13 headline it is no small thing for the native people across the country who are depending on us. Thank you. I yield the test. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from nebraska. Mrs. Fischer thank you, mr. President. Tomorrow the Biden Administrations Environmental Protection agency will release new tailpipe emissions standards formulated to push electric vehicles on the american people. The Administration Says that , quote, the future of American Transportation is on track to be cleaner, safer, more affordable and more ever before end quote. Vice president harriss said our nations embrace of electric vehicle will demonstrate the strength ofur end sustainability of our planet end quote. The way the administration and their activist friends paint e. V. s youd think these cars are a timetested environmental blessing with transportation economic and Community Benefits to but behind the curtain of this climate crusade, there is little supportive evidence and plenty of problems problems the administration has tried to hide. So whats the truth of the truth is that electric vehicles are not a magic bullet for the environment. Theyre underdeveloped and they pose safety risks, and they create more problems than they solve both at abroad. So lets talk science. Climate activists say electric green revolution but the facts, the facts do not support that claim. President said in a recent speech, quote, when i got elected president , we vowed to enact the most ambitious and Environmental Justice campaign in american history, end quote. That ca President Biden, includes, quote, moving to allelectric ve future end kwoechlt and Vice President harris styled the push for electric vehicles approach that is about clean energy and being smart around a reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions, end quote. When the administration makes these inflated claims about electric vehicles theyre only looking at what comes out of the exhaust pipe but there is much more of an electric vehicle. We will start at the beginning. The production of electric vehicle bat a massive amount of electricity usually produced by generators that burn fossil fuels. The manufacturing of e. V. s produces at least 60 more Carbon Emissions than that of gaspowered cars. E. V. s they start their lives with carbonbut even after theyre on the road e. V. s have their problems. They weigh significantly more than gaspowered cars because of those heavy batteries. This extra weight, it wears down ane. V. s tires as it drives. One study compared an electric car to a hybrid car and f emitted about a quarter more particulate matter because of tire wear. Driving the electric car heightened overall emissions compared to a hybrid. The climate activists pushing e. V. s arent just ignoring this science. They are actually trying to it. When the California Air Resources Board analyzed the effects of the states proposed ban on gaspowered cars over the next decade it assumed both e. V. s and gaspowered cars have the same tire wear. The said it would be, quote, speculative, end quote to assume that electric cars will continue being heavi gas cars. If that sentence was confusing, well its because it doesnt Public Policy should reflect reality, not the baseless future dream of feather weight electric cars. What is speculative obviously is assuming that the weight of e. V. s will change over the next decade but there is no evidence tor5 claim. Heres another instance of sham science. Under an Energy Department rule auto makers were encouraged to greatly overestimate the fuel efficiency of electric vehicles. By fudging the number carmakers claimed that e. V. s had absurdly highqn fuel efficiencies up to 430 miles per gallon. Well then the government granted subsidies to those auto makers for supposedly meeting those high efficiency standards. Fake science racket designed to boost the e. V. Industry. How did they numbers . The Energy Department included what they called a fuel content factor in their fuel effic equations, which multimid the efficiency rates for e. V. s by 6. 67. The rule they chose that specific multiplier, quote, for and ease of use, end quote. In part the rule reads, quote it is include to reward electric vehicles benefits to the nation rather than oleumfueled vehicles. End quote. People found out about that multiplier and how arbitrary that it was, and they pushed in response the Energy Department itself admitted that this multiplier, quote, lacks Legal Support and has no basis, no basis. V they finally buckled, and they eliminated that step. So why did it long . Activism is getting in the way of truth when it comes tovehicles. Suppressing facts wont help us make the most environmentally sensible choices. Administration activists arent just wrong aut the environmental benefits of electric vehicles. They are also wrong about their pecretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg claimed, quote we see the superiority of e. V. s in terms of performance, not just in terms of climate, end quote. And the department of transportation says e. V. s provide lower operating costs, reduce maintenance needs and approved performance. But is that electric vehicles are often undeveloped, inefficient, a they are unsafe. We all heard about e. V. s malfunctioning this freezing temperatures and hot temperatures drained batteries and reduced driving range, and they helpless. Even in normal weather, e. V. s have been plagued with glitches. Ford recalls some f150 lightning trucks with defects. General motors told dealers to stop selling the blazeer suv because of design flaws. A Consumer Reports survey found that new e. V. s have 79 more problems than internal combustion cars. Why is this administration trying to speed up e. V. Production when theyre clearly not electric vehicle are charging stations malfunction. Last year researchers visited every public fast charger in the San Francisco bay area every single one. They found that almost 23 had unresponsive screens, payment failures charging failures Network Failures or broken connectors end quote. Auto Analytics Company j. D. Power one five charging sessions at public stations failed to dmrifr any charge at all deliver any charge at all. This problem is more serious than just a glitch. Performance issues create safety issues. As i mentioned before e. V. Weigh thousands of pounds. They make electric vehicles 30 heavier on average than gaspowered cars. That extra weight makes a lot of difference when one crashes 60 miles per hour. The university of nebraska actually tested how in a crash against safety guardrails and roadside barriers earlier this year and what they found was disturbing. Because they are so heavy, electric vehicles crash with up to 50 more impact smashing thro roadside barriers. Our current safety infrastructure cant stop an e. V. And that is a major problem, especially for other drivers. The center for auto safy director Michael Brooks said quote, we are likely to see more deaths and injuries attributed solely to the added weight of e. V. Batteries, end quote. These deaths and these injuries also disproportionately affect women and children. A report released last month by the cbo Government Accountability Accountability Office showed that they dont use female dummies, they dummies, they dont even attempt to test car safety on the female body. Ths part of why crashes kill women at higher rates than men are 80 more likely to sustain lowerleg injuries, and these current test crash dummies dont provide data on that type of injury. Before mandatinga rush mandating a rush of electric vehicles on the road the Biden Administration needs to find a solution to the risks these cars can pose especially the risks that they pose to women. So driving your new e. V. . Crash and it catches on fire . Would you the Fire Department or Highway Patrol . Well if so you may be out of luck. E. V. s pose special risks tofirst responders as well. So much energy that any contact with fire can cause them to explode. Highvoltage lithium ion batteries pose a risk of electric to first responders. Firefighters have been caught offguard by electric vehicles that erupt in fire if cells in e. V. Batteries are damaged, they can experience an under controlled increase i temperature and pressure. That volatility can reignite a fire in a battery even after its been put out. One fire chief described an e. V. Fire as quote, a trick cand never know when it will reflame. Welaim that e. V. s are better for our environment. Weve debunked the claim that theyre technologically superior. But what about the claim that vehicle fleet will boost Americas Energy independence . President biden said quote, investing aggressively in electric vehicles and battery production now is important for strengthening our longterm economic security. End quote. The reason he gave that 75 of e. V. Battery manufacturing is done in china. Words, quote, for some battery components critical materials, china controls nearly half the global production. End quote. Logic is severely flawed. If we invest aggressively in now, like he wants to well just boost chinas dominance inouing and i sn manufacturing. China is the Worlds Largest manufacturer of electric vehicles. A Senior Research scientist at m. I. It m. I. T. Admitted that when it comes to e. V. s we are going to be dependent on china for many many years. End quote. The e. V. Industry is effectively run by the Chinese Communist party. The Biden Administrations not only encouraging americans to support industry monopolized by the ccp, theyre supporting it themselves through federal the Treasury Department released guidance to make it easier for foreign entities of concern to the clean vehicle tax credit when they root our e. V. Supply chachina. One Washington Post articlee. V. s operations to another interesting location afghanistan. Shortly after his inauguration there was a that got chinas attention. Afghanistan is home to large lithium reserves one of the minerals essential for e. V. Batteries. With the u. S. Out of the picture, Chinese Mining Companies have flooded afghanistan. These companies have developed a sebyoutic relationship with the taliban relationship and that relationship continues to grow. The electric supply chain fuels our adversaries. At the same time it fuels Human Rights Violations across the world. These socalled clean cars use dirty manufacturing methods. The Biden Administration is sending millions of dollars to th to support he could bolt mine cobolt miningor batteries, there was an investings of the congo mining investigations congo mining they found children. The massive demand for cobalt only encourages that industry to use inhumane mining messed odds. Mining methods. One expert said it can you base a green revolution on trashing on congo environment and exploiting their workers . This phenomenon stretches across africa into asia in indonesia there is a process that sickens environment. One man said that the rivers he used to drink from have turned dark red. Pollution in those rivers has killed rows of trees and schools of fish. Not only are locals deprived of clean water, but many local fisherme farther to support their livelihoods. The Biden Administration does not acknowledge or address the dark side selfproclaimed green revolution. They keep it tucked away in congo andindonesia hidden away from their climate soap box, its time for the administration to stop hiding this truth. Theyve spearheaded a reckless push toward a future run by electric vehicles. If they have integrity, theyll stop bearing evidence and burying evidence and come clean about the electric vehicle record on environment, on safety and on human rights. And if they have good judgment well they will tap the brakes on this climate charade. Electric vehicles are ridden with problems as any developing technology is the problem is not so much electric vehicles as is this administrations blind insistence on electric vehicle mandates that harm the environment. The white house is forcing electric vehicles on our country in a hasty overzealous political play. And theyre spurning the science, the facts, and the reality. Americans dont want the revolution and for good reason. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Reed mr. President rise today to situation in the middle east and the war between israel and hamas. Five months ago, hamas brutally attacked isra more than 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages. Hamas militants the israel people committed unspeakable acts of torture and mutilation against innocent men, women, and children. This tragedy was the single deadliest day in s 75year history, and the deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust. In the wake of these horrific attacks, the by its democratic friend and ally israel as it has since the very beginning when harry truman stood up and the first state leader to israel. I traveled with my colleagues two weeks after the attacks to mourn with the people of israel and of israel to ensure that they knew that the United States was with them. In my meetings in israel and with jewish leaders in rhode island it is clear to me that this attack has had a profound impact on jewish people everywhere. This attack has touched the deepest nerve, reopened the wounds of the past wondering now how but if jews will ever be safe from persecution because of who they make clear, israel can and must defend itself against the military threat from any nation that is attacked in this manner has the inherent right to selfdefense. The United States will continue to support israel as it works to degrade and defeat hamas. Congolesecongolese but i must also say i have deep reservations about how this war is being conducted. I believe good allies good friends stand together and we stand with israel. But great allies great friends are willing to speak hardold each other to the highest standards, especially around the conduct of war and issues of echo the majority leader the senior senator from new york a truly devoted proisrael champion who is spiritually and emotionally connected to israel unlike very few of us if any in this chamber, who has been a friend to israeli leaders across the political spectrum and who is unafraid to speak power. Its clear to me now five months into this war that israels strategy to defeat hamas is in peril. While the idf has made important progress in rooting out hamas in gaza i do a clear end game or metrics for success coming from this israeli government. There is no plan fighting stops. We know that more than 30,000 gazian dead. The millions of gazians that have survived have largely been forced to flee south towards rafah and the crossing there with ejicht. They have little access to food water, shelter, or medicare. Those remaining in the north are facing dire humanitarian conditions. More than two million gazians are at risk of starvation or famine. Enormous portions of the gaza strip have been completely destroyed and lefte. And the west bank is teetering on the brink of chaos. There are regular exchanges of fire in the north with hezbollah who are hes kofshed in lebanon. This has forced many to leave their homes and escape from lebanon. And they are caught in the cross fire between idf forces and hezbollah. The regio precipice of being engulfed in an allout war. Today as chairman ofhe the United States senate as a friend and longtime supporter of the israeli people it is duty to say clearly that this war has veered off course. There must be a fundamental course correction for the National Security interest of israel america, and our allies and partners throughout the world. I do conclusion lightly. There are two factors that we must understand and come to terms with. First, israel should learn from the United States hardearned strategic and tactical lesstons from iraq and afghanistan. And second as leader schumer courageously argued on the senate floor last week israe must acknowledge that Prime Minister netanyahus failed policies and desperate pursuit o power created much of the tragic situation we are witnessing today. There are actual steps israel can take to address these issues. We should start by recognizing lessons from americas war in iraq. We National Tragedy on september 11 2001 and immediately sought to defend ours launched our campaign to degrade and defeat al qaeda in afghanistan and the result of that war showed early military success. But the anguish of 9 11 affected our ability to make clear, strategic despite my opposition mistakenly invaded another country, iraq which has no role in the on that horrific day of september 11. National grief and political fury can clof even the shrewdest military tacticians. I worry the mistakes of americas war in iraq are being made again by israel in gaza. Similar to the power vacuum that the u. S. Created when it dismantled saddam husseins government in iraq israels withdrawal from gaza strip in 2005 contributed to the extremist violence we see today. The rise of hamas, a terrorist group, whose stated goal is the destruction of israel and theisraeli people assumed control of the gaza strip. But instead of using that opportunity to build lifelines for the people of gaza hamas built a 500mile Tunnel Network to terrorize isra instead of providing education and health care and basic services for palestinians hamas stockpiled and unleashed thousandsfl through the course of the years. Now in the wake of october 7, israels stated goal is t destroy group capable of gorillastyle warfare in a large urban territory with the aid of a Massive Underground tunnel system. This mission would be daunting for even the most highly trained and advancedmilitary. As it pursues its goal israel should consider lessons from the United States Tactical Experience in iraq. In particular the battle of fallujah in 2004 provides a painful case study encountering warfare in an urban environment. After a violent, grinding fight through that city the u. S. Significantly failed to achieve the objective, of clearing the territory from insurgents. As the modern War Institute at west point senior political leaders should not react emotionally in war and direct immediate actiongainst a decemberly populated urban area when conditions for success are not present. Instprangss in operations in gaza may be more successful by following a model of the battle of mosul 2016 and 2017 when the United States worked with Coalition Forces in iraq to rest iraqs third city back from isis militants. I had an opportunity to visit on the ground our forces leading in a Coalition Iraq forbeses against isis. The operation was conducted with patience and precision, and was successfully eliminated in mosul. Even then success was a costly. As the Financial Times characterized it the mission to clear the city of gentleman hadd militants was jihadi militants was successful but the fighting was intense, took three times longer than planned, left 10,000 civilians dead and killed more Coalition Soldiers than expected. In prosecuting its current war, israel must do a better job of following the lessons of successful counterterrorism campaigns. At times israeli have conducted heavy bombing campaigns using weapons with large pay loads rather than more targeted operations that yield more successful albeit slower results. The idfs willingness to bomb heavily populatedivilian areas to pursue hamas leaders has changed both the perceptions and the realities of this war. Civilian population is a strategic imper tiff in imperative in Counterterrorism Operations and the law of wa to separate the insurgents from the population and gain the trust of the population to continue to successfully conduct your operation against an increasingly isolated terrorist group. But put, israels current strategy risk creating more terrorists than it is eliminating. Can you think of a who has lost his youngest sibling, his mother his father his where will his rage and fury and profound sadness be directed . It think we should all contemplate. The second issue we have to understand is the broken politicized political environment that weakened israels National Security before october 7. Prime minister netanyahu returned to power in 2022 facing charges of corruption and a criminal trial looming. His narrow Political Coalition is the most conservative government in israeli history. He has continued to make clear that he will never support a in a desperate attempt to stay in power, netanyahu has emboldened the most farright members of his coalition. He has not only allowed extreme positions to be the stated goal of his administration he has provided farright members of his coalition with ministries by which they can enact their agendas. His minister of fought his entire career to expand federal control on the west bank and now has control over restartingn authority. His minister of National Security has been convicted on at least eight charges, including supporting a terrorist organization and incitement to racism. In criminal charges, netanyahu worked to significantly weaken the israeli judicial system for his own he did this despite hundreds of thousands of israelis protesting in the streets and we were there when those protests were going on last february and he did this over the objection of his Israeli Military that point said they would refuse to report to duty in protest. And he did this despite warnings from defense minister gallant that the idf would be weakened as a result. Adding to this mix was netanyahus strategy for dealing with hamas. For years he purposely propped up hamas as a means to that a twostate solution would never come to fruition. As far back as 2012 netanyahu told that i quote, it was important to keep hamas strong as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the west bank. It was not just a counterweight. He knew that having hamas in power in gaza meant that a ate solution would never be possible. This strategy to prop up hamas also included allowing suitcases full of cash coming from qatar and other places. A former defense minister of netanyahu blamed this tactic as one that directly paved the way for the october 7 attacks. Netanyahus long relentless pursuit of political survival and power are now fuelling his strategy for war in gaza and it strikes me that it is his strategy not israels strategy his future not israels future that is the foremost factor at play. And these factors add up to several hard truths that must be spoken from one ally t a just as leader schumer did last week with courage and principle. Most importantly, israel can alone to reclaim peace and security for its people. Military force is used as a means to a military force itself will never provide a final answer. A political solution will takeha bargaining and gip mattic diplomatic negotiations working with the United States qatar, egypt and other allies and israelis must reach a temporary ceasefire that allows for the safe return of hostages expansion of humanitarian assistance and a pathway to safely deliver assistance to the people of gaza. The ongoing airdrop campa seaport efforts are a step in the right direction, but israel must do more to ensure that the increased supply of food and other desperately neede supplies can reach the people of gaza. There must be a realistic plan forn gaza. There needs to be a return to a framework for a twostate solution where the state of israel and a demilitarized palestinian state exists side by side in peace and security. This will require buyin from all, israel the Palestinian People the world community, arab neighbs. Israel should not and will not find the longterm security and peace it wants by indefinitely reoccupying the gaza strip. While it is a decision that will ultimately be made by the israeli and Palestinian People like lder schumer, i believe it is time for new leadership for both the palestinians and the israelis. It is almost 20 years into what was supposed to be a fouryear president ial term. Finding a succe for the Palestinian Authority is long overdue. A new Palestinian Leader must recognize that the only path to peace, security and p is to renounce terror to work with israel toss work with the regional partners for a pathstatehood, which is stable and peaceful. New leadership as i indicated, also includes Prime Minister netanyahu. Polling indicates that more than 75 of israelis believe he should step down, and i agree with leader schumer that netanyahu represents an obstacle to longterm peace in israel. I have long been a friend andisrael. I traveled there in the early 1990s and traveled there periodically since. More importantly the united has been ally for 75 years. In 1948 when the israelis declared their independence the world was not particularly the United States where to his immense credit president harry truman stood up and said we will recognize and support the state of israel. And that profound bond exists today, and in my view and i my hope will always exist. And we cant have anyone break that bond. Great allies must hold each other to high standards, share hard truths when needed and the u. S. Israeli alliance is no din. And no different. So the urge them to change course immediately, to work with all of uslish ultimately and enduringly we hope a secure and peaceful israel and the its people as well a just secure and safe place where all people of that region can live safely. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor. Test. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Moran mr. President , the first day of Spring National ag day, a perfect time a fitting time to address the senate on somethi that i think is really important and something that is frustrating to me and to the people i represent. American agriculture is at a crossroads a pressure point. Things are really challenging for those who provide our food fuel and fiber. Theres recordlevel volatility in the farm economy, and farm income isng by the most significant amount of all time. We ought to be providing certainty to those who provide our food. I was troubled to read a report to the agriculture. Its chair indicated there is a level of comfort with scrapping negotiations for a new farm bill and continuing with the outdated now at least five years old, policies from the past. In that same article, surprisingly disappointingly, secretary vilsack expressed his support for that decision. Rve, and even more importantly, they need better. Agriculture is an incredibly difficult industry as farmers and ranchers fe challenges from weather events economic shocks and supply chain shortages. Added challenges are the inflationary prices on farmland add the grocery store. This includes soaring nearly 100 billion since the last farm bill which covers interest on loans, livestock feed fertilizer labor, fuel to provide a few of the things farmers need to produce that fuel. Looking back to 2023 the usda reported that mrna farmers and ranchers would see farm profitability fall by 42 billionrly a 25 drop compared to 2022. During the life of the farm bill usda is estimating that profitability will decline by 42 billion. This is just unsustainable. Farm cant manage these circumstances. These challenges dont just impact farmers, but ultimately they trying to feed their families. For kansas agriculture is our states largest economic driver with a total output contribution of 81 billistates economy and supporting more than 250,000 jobs which is about 13 of our entire workforce. Beyond crops and animal husbandry, kansas agriculture is at the forefront of producing Renewable Energy Critical Research and education and furthering sustainability and conservation practice throughout kansas and worldwide. Kansas is also a leader in Animal Health science. As part of the Animal Health kor do kansas has thencentration of Kansas Health interest in the world. Last year manhattan kansas welcomed the the stateoftheart facility that will protect our nations farmers severe zoonotic diseases. Kansas continues to experience weather challenges. In kansas there is a wide array of those challenges but most oppressing is the drought. We need to address drought through mitigation resiliency. On monday of this week yesterday, i was in liberal kansas for the 2024 ogallala summit about the western third, western fourth of our state along with five other states six other states is a huge component of the agriculture economy. This event, this conference i attended in kansas broht stakeholder from across the high plains the region and beyond to discuss Water Management practices. How do we do better in preserving our assets and how do we conserve and utilize more efficiently that great asechlt key Conservation Research and Education Programs are included in the farm bill services which provide Technical Assistance and conservation programs like the conservation reserve enhancement program. In previous farm bill years, ive led the effort to maximize that program called crep on the upper karen sass river the arkansas to increase stream flows in the arkansas river. The program is working but we need additional tweaks changes in the law, which is why i the crep improvement act which will provide additional flexibility for family farms to better utilize the program. In kaiew access to the ogallala as their lifeblood and the core of their Rural Communities and are committed toing conserving and replenishing the ogallala. These are just a few sections. In fact throughout the last year or more weve working with both republican and Democrat Members of the senate particularly senator bennet of colorado to figure out what more we do. Weve introduced several pieces of legislation all with the anticipation that that legislation would be considered at the same time the farm bill was considered and potentially be included in the farm bill. But the recent announcement by the chair of the committeere going to step abide by the status quo. No conversations, no additional efforts. Ive been an aggie since i came to the conference including my days in the house where i chaired the subcommittee on farm commodity programs a ive been through numerous farm bills, and never they are always hard and theyre always late and we never get them done easily. But this seems different to me for the first time saying what we have is what we get. There are many provisions that affect agriculture that need to addressed in a new farm bill and it is important, i underscore how valuable how important it is to passing a farm house and senate sent to the president. We must deliver a farm bill that provides certainty of Risk Management programs to help farmers and ranchers weather the storm, rework revenue protection programs to provide critical safety net that works with market challenges and allows farmers, particularly younfarmers, to borrow the money to stay in business. If we fail to pass a farm bill were passing up opportunities to grow alternative fuel pr encourage investments in biofuels for aviation for example. Our global competitors are outspending the United States year after y billions in agriculture research. The senator from illinois and i have legislation designed to increase the support for Agricultural Research which we hope at least i hoped would be a part of the farm bill. Be left behind in our investments for research if we dont meet the need of the day. The farm bill would include investments in education for our land grants and our Agricultural Research service that provide cuttingedge science and tools to allow farmers and ranchers to do more with less and contribute to our national and food security. A good point, the farm bill is a component of our National Security. The farm bill maintains critical authorizations as well for reauthorization of global programs. Though these programs through these programs americas farmers and ranchers proudly provide u. S. Grown commodities throughout many who are in wartorn regions or recovering from economic or natural disasters. Global hunger unfortunately, is real and threatens the future of millions of people every day. I join three other of my senate colldemocrats, in cochairing the Senate Hunger caucus. And you just look around the world at russias invasion of ukraine, the middle east africa and haiti, and we see starving people. From a young age, most us each of us were taught that its our duty to help those in need so many in kansas answered that call time and time again. The kansan president dwight d. Eisenhower created food for peace. Senator bob dole wor expand efforts to provide food through the dolemcgovern food program. And they were prioritized in previous farm bills. Kansans have taken this moral responsibility to heart and we part by reauthorizing these programs in a farm bill considered this year. The time is now to show leadership show leadership for and ranchers. Tough days are ahead of us but weve always been able to come together and accomplish our goals. We should not walk away from the process. Its a dereliction of duty to the farmers and ranchers of america. I hope that we as get back to the table and produce a farm bill that provides meaningful and real relief for kansas protects our country from the challenges that we face around the globe. Mr. President , i yield the floor. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Van hollen mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that following my remarks, senator cardin be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes prior to the scheduled vote. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Van hollen mr. President , i come to the floor today to express my strong support for the confirms of nicole g. Berner of maryland to the United States court of appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Outstanding nominee to represent maryland on that court. Thats why senator cardin and i were to recommend her nomination to the Senate Judiciary committee. Were pleased the Senate Judiciary committee advanced her nominationo senate and today we are proud to recommend her nomination to the full United States naberners impressive legal career is a testament to her exceptional skill and unwavering dedication to justice, to fairness and to service. Ms. Berner is a highly experienced litigator. She knows the courtroom. She is currently a partner at th hoffman, where shes on fulltime retainer as the general counsel of the Service Employees internation seiu. In over 15 years as the general counsel to seiu she has represented the unions two million members in a diverse range of professorial sectors, making her deeply knowledgeable about the challenges facing working throughout the United States of america. There are few judges on the federal bench and none on the Fourth Circuit background. As part of her substantial litigation responsibilities ms. Berner has worked on a range of matters, including cases arising under labor and employment laws and regulations as well as advising on legal claims involving criminal law, voting preemption antitrust, bankruptcy immigration and the list goes on. She has servedre than three dozen cases before the United States Supreme Court and dozens more in federal court of appeals. Earlier in her career ms. Berner was a staff attorney with planned Parenthood Federation of america, litigating cases to protect and expand access to reproductive care and health care. And she also spent several she has also worked to train future lawyers as an adjunct professor at vaned vanderbilt law school. She earned her j. D. And went on to clerk for two federal judges one on thecuit court of appeals and one on the District Court for the Northern District of columbia. American Bar Association gave ms. Berner its highest rating of well qualified for the position she has been qualified for. Her confirmation would mark a significant milestone for the Fourth Circuit. If confirmed, she would be the first openly gay lgbtq judge to serve on that court. Ms. Bernersqualifications her values and experience coupled with her notably steady and calm demeanor as exhibited during the Committee Hearing will make hern exceptional addition to the Fourth Circuit. She is supported by a host of organizations, includingnizations, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers the National Council of women, the National Womens law center Union President s 23 of them, the Leadership Conference on civil rights and human rights the National Task force to sexual and Domestic Violence the National Womens law center among many others. Mr. President , i know ms. Berner would say and she has told us that she has traveled this important journey of her life her family her wife deborah and their sons maton, nava sagva, and arie i join the senior senator from maryland ben cardin in strongly recommending that the Nicole Berner to the Fourth Circuit. I yield the floor. Mr. Cardin mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin first, let an hollen for his friendship and the in the way we have been recommending pobench, working together in regards to the maryland judiciary. Nicole berner is an outstanding candidate for the Fourth Circuit to fill the position vacated by diana motts. I wanted to underscore some of the points senator van hollen said. Nicole berner is an extraordinarily serve on the Fourth Circuit. Her experience with senator van hollen which senator van holl understanding of the independentvernment and her commitment to the strength of our nation Service Employees international union, sciu and inhouse counsel since 2006. A staff attorney for planned parenthood litigation associate at at private law firm law a District Court judge in California Appellate Court judge in the ninth circuit, a record for fighting for working families. Shes filed numerous amicus briefs before the Supreme Court of the United States as well as the circuit and District Courts with. Shes been a lawyer in hundreds of cases in federal and state courts protectingights of working families. So let me just share with you a couple of things that really i think are background many first, she is motivated by a desire to ensure full and fair access to the courts for all americans regardless of their s resources. She has consistently advocated for the interest of historically underrepresented communities. Second, as a skilled appellate lawyer she has organized legal strategies to bring her to the court and tell their story. She seeks to show how their lives will be affected by the outcome of a case. During the covid19 pandemic she represented frontline workers who put their lives and health at risk to doir jobs and keep the economy running when Many Americans were told to stay home. Her sciu clients in Health Care Home care janitorial she represented them at that is we talk a lot about our frontline workers as being our heroes nicole one of those heroes. She would bring a unique perspective to the Fourth Circuit. The Fourth Circuit includes the states of maryland west virginia, Virginia North carolina and south carolina. A more diverse reflect the population that veterans serve. Fourth, ms. Berner brings to the bench her vast experience as an appellate lawyer and her own personal advocacy as a jewish women on so my civil rights issues. She successfully won a longrunning case involving her own family at the israel Supreme Court, a landmark ruling that had the court recognize two mothers as the parent of one child. Eceived strong endorsements as senator van hollen pointed out from very diverse groups in civil rights so let me highlight one of those letters. We received numerous letters, but one of those letters that came from formero the solicitor general from the reagan and clinton adnistration to quote from that letter. We have worked with litigated against and collaborated with ms. Berner over more than a decade. Based on that professional experience we are Firm Conviction that ms. Berner is highly qualified to serve on the Fourth Circuit and will be an excellent judge. Demonstrated superb schools as a legal advocate in the appellate cases she has seen her work up close. Her Legal Training is extensive, including as a law clerk and a lawyer and a Public Interest organization and general counsel unions in the country. Ms. Berners experience with a wide range of the legal issues that arise in the federal courts her diverse roles as a lawyer and her professional experience which we have observed first hand demonstrate she will be a firstrate appellate judge. Just as impressive as her legal skills are her personal equal physical. She is on family polite and measured in her interaction with others even on highly contentious issues. She listens carefully and thoughtfully with an open mind to new ideas even though they might not comport with her own experience she can offer the soundest decisions in a case. She will transition seamlessly understand that serving as a judge requires her to act as a natural arbitrator based on the faithful applications of thestitution or statutory facts, precedent or record facts. I will note that m is a longtime resident of Montgomery County maryland she lives with her wife in takoma park maryland. I appreciated the opportunity of meeting with ms. Berner and talking with her about her priorities and her commitment to fully integrate vibrant maryland legal community, including baltimore i also want to thank senator van hollen in thanking her family, and i urge my colleagues to ratify her nomination and vote in favor of her nomination. With that mr. President , i would yield the floor. The presiding officer the question is on the nomination. Isre second . There appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. Vote the clerk ms. Baldwin. Mr. Barrasso. Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Blackburn. Mr. Blumenthal. Mr. Booker. Mr. Boozman. Mr. Braun. Mrs. Britt. Mr. Brown. Mr. Budd. 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. Mr. Fetterman. Mrs. Fischer. Mrs. Gillibrand. Mr. Graham. Mr. Grassley. Mr. Hagerty. Ms. Hassan. Mr. Hawley. Mr. Heinrich. Mr. Hicken mr. Hoeven. Mrs. Hydesmith. Mr. Johnson. Mr. Kaine. Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. King. Ms. Klobuchar. The clerk mr. Lankford. Mr. Lee. Mr. Lujan. Ms. Lummis. Mr. Manchin. Mr. Markey. Mr. Marshall. Mr. Mcconnell. Mr. Menendez. Mr. Merkley. Mr. Mullin. Ms. Murkowski. Mr. Murphy. Mrs. Murray. Mr. Ossoff. Mr. Padilla. Mr. Paul. Mr. Peters. Mr. Reed. Mr. Ricketts. Mr. Risch. Mr. Romney. Ms. Rosen. Mr. Rounds. Mr. Rubio. oh vote p the clerk mr. Sanders, mr. Schatz, mr. Schmitt, mr. Scott of florida. Mr. Scott of south carolina. Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Tester. Mr. Thune. Mr. Tillis. Mr. Tuberville. Mr. Van hollen. Mr. Vance. Mr. Warner. Mr. Warnock. Ms. Warren. Mr. Welch. Mr. Whitehouse. Mr. Wicker. Mr. Wyden. Mr. Young. The clerk senators voting in the affirmative brown, cardin duckworth, gillibrand king lujan, markey merkley, rosen, shaheen, smith, van hollen warner whitehouse. Senators voting in the negative blackburn, britt, cotton crapo, grassley hagerty, hydesmith marshall moran, murkowski, paul romney rubio, tubervillewicker. Ms. Collins, no. The clerk mr. Tester, aye. Mr. Scott of south carolina, no. Fischer no. Mr. Daines, no. Mr. Welch, aye. Mr. Kennedy, no. Mrs. Capito, no. Ms. Ernst, no. The clerk mr. Murphy, aye. Mr. Carper, aye. Tillis, no. Cornyn, no. Mr. Hawley, no. The clerk mr. Johnson, no. Mr. Thune, no. Mr. The clerk mr. Barrasso, no. Mr. Coons, aye. The clerk mr. Manchin, no. Ms. Cortez masto, aye. Mr. Ricketts, no. The clerk mr. Cramer, no. Mr. Heinrich, aye. Mr. Mendendez, aye. The clerk mr. Wyden, aye. Mr. Lee, no. The clerk mrs. Murray, aye. Durbin, aye. The clerk mr. Sanders, aye. Mr. Hickenlooper, aye. Mr. Warnock, aye. The clerk mr. Schmitt, no. Ms. Hassan, aye. The clerk ms. Klobuchar, aye. Mr. Schumer, aye. Mr. Sullivan, no. Ms. Warren, aye. Mr. Rounds, no. Mr. Booker, aye. Ms. Baldwin, aye. The clerk mr. Kaine, aye. The clerk mr. Lankford, no. K mr. Schatz, aye. The clerk mr. Cruz, no. Mr. Scott of florida, no. The clerk mr. G, no. The clerk ms. Hirono, aye. Ms. Lummis, no. Ms. Sinema, aye. No. Vote the clerk mr. Ossoff, aye. Ms. Cantwell, aye. The clerk mr. Boozman, no. The clerk mr. Kelly, aye. Mr. Hoeven, no. The clerk mr. Braun, no. The clerk mr. Blumenthal, aye. The clerk ms. Butler, aye. The clerk mr. Mcconnell, no. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately be notified of the senates action. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent tive session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following senate resolutions, s. Res. 595, s. Res. 596, s. Res. 597 597. The presiding officer without objection, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. Mr. Schumer further debate on the resolutions en bloc. The presiding officer if theres no further debate the question is on the resolutions en bloc. All in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The resolutions are agreed to en bloc. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the preambles be agreed to and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer finally, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it00 a. M. On wednesday, march 20 that following the prayer and pledge the morning hour be deemed expired expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date the time for the two leaders be resever r served for their use later in the day and morning be closed. Upon the conclusion of morning business the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the kyling nomination. Further, that the cloture motions with respect to the kyling and lee nominations ripen at 12 00 noon and that following the cloture vote vote on the kielg nomination the Senate Recess at 2 15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. If cloture is invoked on the kiel nomination all time be expired. All time be considered at 5 15. T nominations are confirmed during wednesdays session, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the president be no5ified of the senates actions. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer if theres no further business to come before the senate i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. Tands adjourned until 10 00 a. M. T today the said confirmed nicole as the u. S. Court of appeals or judge for the Fourth Circuit. Federal appeals of maryland, north corunna south carolina, virginia and west virginia. She is a first openly lgbtq judge to serve on the court. Also lawmakers are finalizing an agre been reached on funding for the department of Homeland Security. As well as federal spending for the department of defense labor health, human services. State and foreign branch. Their slight possibility of a partial Government Shutdown at midnight on friday as the house and senate wait for the legislative text and follow house guidelines to make the deal public for 72 hours before voting. Watch live coverage of the senate here on cspan2. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. Funded by these Television Companies and more including media come. media that whether you live here, or right here, or wait out in the middle of anywhere you shed access to a fast reliable internet rate that is why we are leading the way. Media comp support cspan as a public serer television providers. Giving you a front row seat to democracy. Celebrant 20th anniversary to look forward while considering the past. Highlighting the milestone of the anneach participant was given the option to look 20 years into the future or 20 years into the pastor. And responsibly inspiring thought provoking documentaries for more than 3200 students across 42 states. Through conducting Indepth Research and experts students tackled critical topics such as technology and social media. For one its already started replacing humans and eliminating entire fields of work for. Challenges and climate. Books are tapestry can no longer sustain the richness and held. Discussions about criminal justice, race, bias, and the american criminal justice system. We are excited to share top winners of student cam 2024 in 2024 and the middle School Division the first goes to from isaac Graham Newton middle school in Mountain View california and the documentary beyond just scifi ai reshaping americus tomorrow delves into the evog world of artificial intelligence. The high school eastern Division First prize is awarded to dermot foley from Montgomery Blair high school in s his film the promise of langley park Climate Change and reimagining the future of america suburbs. Brown and johnson and leahs a rally from high school in troy, michigan claim first price and their high school at central divi unseen heroes. The caregivers of america. The high School Western division brendan james, emily tate, maxior high school in california earned first prize which takes a critical look at the fast fashion industry are top award of 5000 for grand prize goes to nays coleman and joan and tenth graders at Western High School in connecticut were there compelling documentary innocent held hostage navigating past and future conflict with iran deals with thesubject features interviews with the former iranian hostage. Instead of saying you are free to leave i was blindfolded handcuffed thrown in the back of the car and taken straight to the prison. It brings me great joy out of 3200 students who participate in this competition this year the grand Prize Winners and student cam 2024. Oh my god thank you. Thank y this is a huge honor. We are so grateful for this opportunity and i think youll live. We extend our gratitude to the educators parents and participants who have supported each of these young filmmakers on their creative journey. Congratulations to all of our winners but do not miss out the top winning documentary will be broadcast on cspan starting april 1. Plus you can catch each the 150 awardwinning student cam films online anytime at student cam. Org. Join us inged in fire inspiring young minds as they share their opinions on the issues that are important to them and affect ourworld. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark warner tked about strengthening u. S. Cyber security at a crowded strike summit in washington d. C