Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240712 : vi

CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate July 12, 2024

The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will open the senate with prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, give our lawmakers the wisdom to remember and be grateful for all the things you have already done. Lord, you have sustained our nation during seasons of war and peace. You have helped us to find creative ways to strive for a more perfect union. You have provided us with solutions to difficult problems, just when we needed you most. Let this day be a time when senators find time to thank you for your bountiful blessings and faithfulness. As our lawmakers strive to live one day at a time, may they keep their focus on your power and love. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley 30 seconds for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley as the Senate Considers the Defense Authorization bill called the ndaa this week, i hope that my amendments to improve the pentagons Financial Management systems and crack down on wasteful spending will be supported. 30 years after Congress Passed the chief Financial Officers act, the department of defense remains the only executive agency in our federal government that cannot get a clean audit opinion. Every dollar of defense spending should be used to ensure our nations security and support for our men and women in uniform. Which is why the department of defense needs to be held accountable for waste, fraud, and abuse, and a clean audit has something to do to prove that they can do that. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell madam president in. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell yesterday i discussed how the senates serious factbased approach to the Coronavirus Crisis has cut a sharp contrast with House Democrats political theater. Back in march, as the economic fallout from this crisis was just beginning, it fell to the senate to write, negotiate, and pass the cares act. With the house absent from washington, Senate Republicans turned a blank sheet of paper into an outline for the largest rescue package in american history. We negotiated negotiated with or democratic colleagues and we made a law. House democrats tried to insert unrelated wish list items at the 11th hour, things like tax credits for solar panels. But the Republican Senate stood strong. And because we did, for three months now, the unanimous bipartisan cares act has been the cornerstone of the federal governments response to this crisis. Doctors, nurses, and hospitals have received historic federal funding to supplement their efforts. Households received direct checks. Tens of millions of americans have kept getting paychecks and not pink slips because of our small businesssaving Paycheck Protection Program. These are the historic programs the senate has spent weeks overseeing and adjusting where necessary. Three weeks ago, the House Democrats jetted into town for a day or to just to make another unserious contribution, to again use this crisis for partisan wish listing. You dont have to take my word for it. The media completely canned it. Npr called it a long wish list for democrats. Another journalist wrote, neither this bill nor anything resembling will even become law. Privately, several House Democrats concede their latest bill feels like little more than an effort to appease the most liberal members of their caucus. This is the proposal that our Senate Democratic colleagues keep thundering that we should take up and pass here, something so unserious it had unserious that it had House Democrats themselves rolling their eyes. Among other things, this bill would give taxpayerfunded checks to illegal immigrants. Ment it would change tax law to provide massively expensive gifts to wealthy people in hightax blue states. These are their coronavirus priorities . This political theater is the opposite of the serious senator approach that built the cares act. Any further Recovery Efforts should focus intently on three things kids, jobs, and health care. Kids, jobs, and health care. To step back towards normal i will, our country will need k12 and Climate Change students to resume their schooling. Well need to reenergize hiring and well need to get ready for the fall and winter and speed the search for a vaccine. One helpful policy would be strong Legal Protection for schools, colleges, nonprofits and employers that are putting their necks on the line to reopen. As long as so long as the institutions follow the best available guidelines, they should not have to live in fear of a second epidemic of frivolous lawsuits. Believe me, the virus is worry enough. These are the kinds of Smart Solutions washington must continue discussing as we evaluate what further steps may be necessary. Partisan theater and politicized wish lists are not what the country needs. Now on another matter, as ive said for weeks, our domestic challenges cannot take congress eye off the ball of world affairs. The Senate Republicans tried to advance Police Reform until democrats blocked us. Our colleagues on the Armed Services committee have worked hard to assemble the next national Defense Authorization act. Every year the ndaa allows us to speak clearly about the senates priorities on matters of National Defense. As china continues to treat maritime arteries like its own backyard sandbox, the men and women of the u. S. Seth fleet and the u. S. 7th fleet and the entire command remain on call. As russia doubles down on its support of brutal dictators and attacks democratic regimes in the dark corners. Web, the u. S. Cyber command remains strong and our nato relationships remain vital. As china paves over their citizens in pursuit of power, we need our sharpest minds and i best tools watching their every move. Our armed forces stand watch over our homeland and they stand watch over on entire International Order that shares our peaceful values and benefits our nation. And now our military has also risen to the unique task of helping to respond to the pandemic. Military medical facilities have added critical capacity during the first surge of covid19, from Navy Hospital ships to soldiers from the 531th hospital century at fort campbell. National guard personnel have manned Testing Facilities across the country, d. O. D. Research facilities have joined the race to develop treatments. So, madam president , as our Service Members confront challenges new and familiar, our job is to advance an ndaa that supports them and their families. Chairman inhofe and senator reed led a productive bipartisan process in committee. I hope we will see a bipartisan amendment process out here on the floor as well. But already the bill will make major steps forward. It not only supports Service Members while theyre at their duty stations but also on the home front. This years bill encourages expanded tellly medicine capabilities in the military Health Care System and will help retain highly trained providers. It implements new equality standards for acquisitions of military Family Housing and increases impact aid to School Districts that support large numbers of military children. It revises Sexual Assault prevention policies to destroy barriers to victims seeking justice. And it includes further steps to ensure all these efforts are supported by a more efficient and transparent administrative structure over at the pentagon. That means changes to compensation to attract top talent, expanded access to cuttingedge software, and new checks on the departments Budget Planning process to increase accountability. So, madam president , the u. S. Military is the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. Our work in the coming days is hents to ensure that this is meant to enshould you are that this remains the case. Supporting Service Members and their families are critical pieces of this years ndaa. Our men and women in uniform are simply the best, and they deserve the best. Now, madam president , i understand there is a bill at the desk due a second reading. The presiding officer the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. The clerk h. R. 7259, aen act to allow acceleration certificates awarded under the patents for Humanity Program to be transferable. Mr. Mcconnell in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. The presiding officer objection, having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. Under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Under the previous order, morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. 4049, which the clerk will report. The clerk s. 4049, a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities of the department of defense and so forth and for other purposes. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer madam president. The presiding officer the minority leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer madam president , today there are thousands, thousands of american Service Members in afghanistan defending us from terrorist organizations and their sponsors. They are joined by Service Members and support personnel from allied nations and security partners. Each one of these lives is precious to a nation and to a family somewhere. Each one of us here in this chamber recognizes the solemn duty we have to our Service Members. So were all concerned about media reports that the russian government or its proxies has been offering bounties on the lives of american soldiers to talibanlinked fighters in afghanistan. The Associated Press has reported that the u. S. Is investigating whether any americans died as a result of russian bounties and is particularly focused on a 2019 attack that killed three u. S. Marines, including one young man from locust valley, long island, new york, and another who worked as a firefighter in the fdny, the great fdny for 15 years. On behalf of my constituents and the American People, i demand answers. If, in fact, putin and his cronies have been sponsoring the murder of american and Coalition Forces in afghanistan, there is no question there should be swift and severe consequences. But unlike every Previous Administration i have ever worked with, the Trump Administration has been shockingly weakkneed when it comes to authoritarian leaders like putin. This administration appears unwilling to even acknowledge the gravity of the situation, unwilling to even express concern about these rumors and commit to investigating them. Shifting explanations from the white house about when and how the president learned about these reports has only added to the confusion and concern here on capitol hill. First, the president tweeted nobody briefed me or told me about the reports. Thats what he said, nobody briefed him or told him. Then the president hinted he was aware of these reports but that it didnt rise to the level of an official briefing. The White House Press secretary repeatedly denied that the president had been briefed and then last night the Associated Press reported that President Trump received intelligence about these potential bounties as early as spring of last year. The spring of last year. Out of all those different explanations, the best case, the best case for the president is that he doesnt read insensitive intelligence reports. You know, thats his job. It has been five days since the media world informed the world about putins bounty program. What has the president done . He hasnt condemned it. He hasnt told Service Members and their families he will make sure this program is exposed and ended. He hasnt directed any action against punitive and his cronies whatsoever. Against putin and his cronies whatsoever. He has done absolutely nothing, nothing. As the commander in chief, the president has no more serious and solemn duty than to do right by the americans in uniform who protect our country. Hes directly responsible and must be held accountable for the wellbeing of american Service Members who have volunteered to put themselves in harms way to protect our country. The least President Trump could do is promise to get to the bottom of these allegations and told putin and his cronies accountable for their actions. Even that, even that seems beyond the administrations capabilities. In the short term, we need an agreement from the administration to conduct an immediate allmembers briefing on the reports that russia placed bounties on u. S. Troops in afghanistan. Senators need to hear directly from c. I. Director haspell on these reports as soon as possible. Now, on another matter, the number of new covid19 cases is accelerating at an alarming rate through several states, and the economic effects of the pandemic continues to hound American Families and businesses across the country. Over onefifth, onefifth of the workforce has requested unemployment assistance. Onefifth. In one month, he expanded Unemployment Benefits the expanded Employment Benefits we passed in the cares act will expire. For millions of americans, another rent payment is due tomorrow. And eviction protection will run out for these tenants in a few weeks. School districts are preparing for the fall without resources or the guidance they need to reopen safely. Localities are preparing for the 2020 general election and need federal resources to hold safe elections. Even the popular and bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program runs out of Lending Authority today, with over 130 billion remaining funds while so many Small Businesses continue to struggle. They have 130 billion sitting there. The program runs out today. Our republican colleagues are doing nothing. There are so many urgent priorities that require our attention here, but the Senate Republican majority has been ignoring them. Instead of working the bipartisan way to Reform Police departments across the country, Senate Republicans dropped an inadequate partisan bill on the floor. After it failed, the republicans didnt seem eager to start the bipartisan negotiations we need to get progress back on track. Instead of spending the last 45 days working with democrats on legislation to address the Public Health and Economic Crises americans are facing due to the coronavirus pandemic, republicans have just sat on their hands. In fact, leader mcconnell seems dead set on delaying any covid relief until after the july 4 holiday, and even then he says he wants to assess the conditions in the country before taking action. We just cant wait for our republican colleagues to wake up to the reality in this country. People are losing their homes. People are not being fed. People are losing their jobs. Small businesses are closing. Covid is spreading. The republican majority does nothing. It sits on its hands. The best it says, in the voice of the leader, lets assess the situation. What more do they need to assess . The American People dont need an assessment. They want action, action. Its amazing. So we cannot wait, the country cannot wait for our republican colleagues to wake up to the reality. So Senate Democrats are forcing action on the floor this week on a number of crucial issues. Last night, democrats asked our colleagues for to pass emergency funding for state, local, and tribal governments who are finalizing their budgets today and may be forced to cut Vital Services and lay off teachers, firefighters, other public employees. Senate republicans, however, have blocked our bill. Hopefully, our republican colleagues wont be so hasty to reject our attempts to start work on several other urgent priorities this week. Today, democrats will come to the floor to ask this body to take up legislation on safe electi

© 2025 Vimarsana