Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713 : vi

CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate July 13, 2024

Quorum call mr. Cardin madam president. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or bridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Equal rights amendment. Most americans believe its part of our constitution today. But its not. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated, and i quote, every constitution written since the end of world war ii includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Our does not. The state of maryland has a provision very similar to that in its state constitution. Many of our states have acted on the equal rights amendment. But as Justice Scalia, the late Justice Scalia said, certainly the constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesnt. We need to pass the equal rights amendment in the constitution of the United States for many reasons. The most basic reason, it provides additional protection against discrimination against women. It has a higher standard to prevent discrimination. It shows americas leerm globally on leadership globally on human rights. So congress in 1972 started the process by passing the equal rights amendment. We passed it in 1972. Now of course it requires 38 states to ratify before it becomes law. And to date 37 states have ratified the equal rights amendment. Were one short of accomplishing our objective of puttings the equal rights amendment at long last in the constitution of the United States. But there is an additional hurdle or potential hurdle. And that is when Congress Passed the resolution in 1972, it put a sevenyear time limit for the states to act. Now they extended that to ten years, and this is strictly a provision that is discretionary to congress. Article 5 of the constitution puts no limit on the time for ratification of the constitutional amendment proposed by congress for the states to ratify. In fact, the 27th amendment was ratified in 1992. It deals with congressional pay raise. It was first proposed in 1789 to be part of the bill of rights over 200 years later it was ratified. So theres no time limit in the constitution for the ratification of a constitutional amendment. To remove any doubt, congress should extend the time as it did once before. So in order to accomplish that, i joined with senator murkowski, the senator from alaska, bipartisan effort with Senate Joint Resolution 6 that removes the deadline, the time limit on the passage of the equal rights amendment. And i would ask unanimous consent, madam president , to include in the record an oped piece written by senator murkowski and myself in regards to why we need to get that resolution passed. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin so on november 13 the House Judiciary Committee took up a very similar resolution, house joint resolution 79 by representative jackie speier. And they now have reported it out favorably. So we now have moving through the house of representatives a resolution that would remove this time limit that was imposed in the 1970s on the ratification of the equal rights amendment. So what im imploring upon my colleagues, were very close to getting this done. We know there was a change in the leadership in virginia. Virginia could very well be the 38th state. But let us remove the ambiguity as to a time limit. We will celebrate in this congress the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment of the constitution, the womens suffrage amendment passed in 1920. In this congress we will celebrate and i think all of us will join in why it took so long for women to have the right to vote. People are asking why is it taking so long to put in the constitution of the United States the equal rights amendment. We have a plan that we can get this done by passing the resolution i talked about for the 38th state to ratify and at long last that the United States provides the leadership on universal human rights by placing the equal rights amendment in our constitution. With that, madam president , i would suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mrs. Murray madam president. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Mrs. Murray madam president , i ask that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Murray i ask unanimous consent that the i that i speak as if in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mrs. Murray as President Trump and Senate Republicans continue to press forward with their relentless attacks on Families Health care, democrats are going to continue to make clear just what is at stake by lifting up stories of patients and families across the country starting with natasha, from my home state of washington. Because of a diagnosis she received when she was young, natasha had long believed that she could not conceive, so she and her partner were particularly surprised last year toe get the news that she was pregnant. And with that unexpected news came all sorts of questions, including whether they could handle the cost of things like Maternity Care and postpartum care and newborn care. Now, fortunately, natashas family had coverage through medicaid so all the medical costs she had been so concerned about were completely covered. Instead of worrying about how they would pay for the health care she needed, she and her partner were able to focus on getting ready to welcome the newest adetion to their family addition to their family. Natashas story shows why families across the country are so worried as republicans continue down the damaging path they have been on for years. Since day one of the Trump Administration, republicans have been working to raise Families Health care costs, take away their coverage and make Health Care Lower quality. In the Senate Republicans have stood with President Trump as he tried to implement draconian caps on medicaid through his trump care bill and proposed budgets that slashed funding for medicaid. Theyve also stood by as President Trump has implemented a gag rule on title 10 funded clinics, jeopardizing Reproductive Health care for patients. And republicans are opposing democrats effort to lower skyrocketing Prescription Drug prices by allowing medicare to negotiate on behalf of patients and reverse President Trumps steps to promote junk insurance plans that do not protect patients with preexisting conditions and do increase familyS Health Care costs. Republicans are even cheerleading a partisan lawsuit that will be catastrophic to families across the country. We could get a ruling any day now and about republicans get their way, protections for the over 100 Million People in this country with a preexisting condition could be thrown out the window. Millions of families covered through the exchanges and Medicaid Expansion could be thrown off of their health care. Young adults could be kicked off of their parents plans before they turn 26. And patients could be stuck paying tens of thousands of dollars for their care as caps on their outofpocket costs are eliminated, caps on their lifetime and annual benefits, even for those who, by the way, covered through their employers plans will come back, and essential Health Benefits that make sure their coverage includes everything like Prescription Drugs and Emergency Care could go away. For patients like natasha, Republicans Health care agenda would be a disaster. Not only would it gut medicaid which help her get the health care she needed but if republicans succeed in this lawsuit, Insurance Companies could discriminate against patients like her for having a preexisting condition, including, by the way, being pregnant and choose not to cover essential Health Benefits like Maternity Care. And the junk plans President Trump is already promoting leave patients facing similar problems today. In fact, many of those junk plans ask patients whether theyre pregnant or planning to become pregnant as part of their application process. And thats because these junk plans are already allowed to deny coverage or exclude benefits or charge higher premiums for patients with a preexisting condition. Republicans approach to Patients Health care making it more expensive, harder to get and lower quality is clearly designed to work for big Insurance Companies, not people like natasha. And her story is one of many, one of tens of millions, in fact. There are so many other families across the country who are seeing their wellbeing put at risk by republicans Harmful Health care ageneral today but we have seen before what can happen when people share their stories, when we lift those stories up, when we put a face or a name to the people republicans could hurt with their policies. When republicans tried to jam through their trumpcare bill, we stopped it because people across the country fought back and they spoke up. And as President Trump and republicans continue using every tool they can to try and undermine Families Health care, democrats are going to be here to continue to remind our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that everything we do and dont do here in the capitol has real consequences for real families, especially when it comes to issues Like Health Care that every family has to deal with. Were going to continue lifting up those voices who arent here on the senate floor and making clear what the g. O. P. S Health Care plan would actually mean to peoples lives, whether its losing coverage right as you finally have the chance to start a family or being rejected because you have a preexisting condition. This isnt a matter of politics for families. Its a matter of life and death. And we arent going to let republicans forget it. Thank you, madam president. And i yield the floor. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Reed thank you, madam president. Madam president , i have serious philosophical disagreements with many of the judicial nominees put forth by the administration, but i believe mr. Menashi is especially unfit to serve on the federal bench. His record indicates an inability to serve as a fair and impartial judge, and so i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject his nomination to a lifetime appointment on the bench. Steven menashis Public Record demonstrates a deep contempt for a wide spectrum of americans and particularly some of the most vulnerable amongst us. In his own writings and as editor in chief of the dartmouth review, he has directly expressed or condoned disturbing views and issues such as lgbt rights, racism, and student aid. Even if we were to cast these sentiments aside, mr. Menashis recent work in the Trump Administration provides ample evidence that he is unfit for a lifetime appointment to the bench. Consider his performance as acting general counsel at the department of education. Mr. Menashi oversaw the roleback of regulations designed to protect students and taxpayers from predatory forprofit institutions of higher education. More egregiously, mr. Menashi wrote outlining the administrations scheme to provide only partial debt relief to students defrauded by forprofit colleges, a scheme that a federal judge ruled violated federal privacy laws. Under this scheme, the department of education used data that was collected to hold institutions accountable for providing education leading to gainful employment to further punish their victims. The department has still failed to comply with the courts orders resulting in a secretary of education in the secretary of education being held in contempt. Mr. Menashis mr. Menashi supervised the work on the proposal to rewrite the rules dealing with Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment on college campuses. The administrations own analysis concluded that the new rules would dramatically reduce the number of Sexual Assault investigations. Mr. Menashi worked on the rolling back efforts to address disparities and those with disabilities. In march a federal court ruled that the department had engaged in an illegal delay and had acted arbitrarily and capriciously. During mr. Menashis time at the department of education, the administration argued that it was appropriate to use federal education funds to purchase guns for school. Also consider mr. Menashis time as a white House Counsel where he helped Steven Miller in crafting some of the administrations most draconian immigration policies. While he was an advisor, the white house cut refugee admissions to a historic low effectively banned asylum for refugees traveling through mexico, and threatened to end birthright citizenship. His views and Work Experience call into question how his personal biases would color his rulings and whether he has the judicial temperament and political independence necessary to serve on the federal bench. This is not the kind of legal judgment that deserves a lifetime appointment to the federal judiciary. And while the senate has spent considerable time and hours on mr. Menashis nomination, one cant help but notice the fact that the majority leader seems to scrupulously avoid calling up votes on legislation that would help working americans and working families. I hear from our rhode island constituents every day about countless pressing issues that the senate should be debating and voting on. We could be considering an infrastructure bill that would provide robust investment to enable the building of our crumbling roads, bridges, schools, and other critical infrastructure. We could be working to increase pell grants and lower the cost of college. I think every member of this body would agree that another vital issue that we hear often from our constituents about is the need to address skyrocketing Prescription Drug costs. According to families u. S. A. , nearly three in ten american adults, nearly 80 Million People, have not taken required medicine due to its cost. In fact, addressing Prescription Drug costs alone would go a long way towards bringing down health costs overall. There are dozens of proposals from senators on both sides of the aisle to help address this issue yet Republican Leadership has refused to allow any debate on Prescription Drug prices or Health Care Costs more broadly this year. Sometime i and many of my colleagues have proposed numerous times that medicare would be required to negotiate drug prices with the Drug Companies to ensure seniors and taxpayers are getting the best price. The department of Veterans Affairs already does this. While theres no Silver Bullet in solving rising drug costs, this would be a commonsense first step in the right direction. There are also more than 250 bills passed by the house that majority leader mcconnell refuses to bring up and has been left in the legislative graveyard. Let me repeat that. More than 250 bills are awaiting action here in the senate. The house is doing its part to look after the peoples business and the senate should follow suit. These include the enhanced background checks act which would expand the National Firearms background check system to include virtually all gun transfers and block illegal sales that currently happen through gun shows and private transfers. They include the reauthorization of the violence against women act which is the primary law to provide services for victims of domestic violence, Sexual Assault, and stalking. They include the American Dream and promise act to provide a pathway to citizenship for daca recipients, t. P. S. Holders, and those with d. E. D. , thats deferred enforced departure. Furthermore republicans continue to block democraticled efforts to pass commonsense Election Security legislation. This is despite warning after warning from our intelligence and National Security agencies that russia undertoo an un undertook an unprecedented effort to fear entire interfere with our 2016 elections and the russians are actively working to do it again in 2020. Inst

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