Fortress, as our hearts recoil at the horrors of war, we place our trust in you. We trust you because you have invited us to cast our cares on you, to call upon you in our day of trouble, and to comprehend that you are our refuge, hope, and strength. Lord, we trust you to do more than we desire, ask, or imagine. As our lawmakers trust you to make a way where there is no way, give them courage, wisdom, and perseverance. We pray for all who are the victims of this tragic conflict between israel and hamas. We pray in your sovereign name. Amen. The presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , october 18, 2023. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patty murray, president pro tempore. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. And, under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of s. J. Res. 32, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 228, s. J. Res. 32, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States code, of the rules committed by the bureau of Consumer Financial protection relating to Small Business lending under the equal credit opportunity act, regulation b. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the Senate Recess from 3 30 p. M. Until 5 00 p. M. To allower to the allsenators briefing. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , the slaughter of over 1 circumstance 300 people in 1,300 people reminds every person in the world of darker, more sinister times. It lay bare, sadly, that the ancient poison of hatred against jews still persists. We must be clear that hamas does not speak for the Palestinian People. Hamas is a terrorist organization, dedicated to israels eradication. Hamas must be defeated. And the violence of Hamas Terrorists has tragically put innocent palestinians in harms way. I was deeply saddened and shocked by the awful news of the explosion at the alahli Arab Hospital in georgia disappointment the loss of life is a sickening tragedy. My prayers are with the victims, the families, the children and all innocent people who were injured or killed. Now, while we await the result tz of a full review to be completed, as the president indicated and as this morning people should look at this released signal intelligence confirms it appears that terrorist fighters within gaza were responsible for the explosion and deaths, not the israeli idf. It is clear that terrorists in gaza have no regard for civilian human life. As i have said and as the Biden Administration has made clear, civilian life must be protected. And we must help civilians impacted by the war Palestinian Civilians who have nothing to do with hamas. As the Senate Considers a supplemental package to help israel fight hamas, we will include robust, humanitarian aid to help civilians appeared make sure that the aid goes to those who need it urgently and not fall into the wrong hands, such as hamas. When i joined my senate completion in meeting with the israeli government, we promised to do whatever we could to help israel defend herself. In the coming days, President Biden will send congress a supplemental request that will provide israel the resources they need to defend themselves and eliminate the threat of hamas. The senate will move this package as soon as we can without delay, with strong bipartisan support. Democrats want to act, and i know a lot of republicans want to act. And i was very encouraged to hear my friend, the republican leader, leader mcconnell, express his support, too. At this moment of crisis in israel and of the chaos in the house of representatives, the senate must step into the breach and stand firmly together to get emergency military and humanitarian aid to israel. In this difficult moment, the Senate Must Act as a steady did i, bipartisan steady, bipartisan force. We must show that the work of the first branch of government is continuing. We will not wait for the house. We cannot because the need for this package is too urgent to sit and wait for them to get themselves out of their own morass. I hope the senate, passing a strong bipartisan panel, will importune the thousands follow suit the house to follow suit in whichever way they see fit. Passing this supplemental and providing israel the tools they need will show the world that the United States stands with power ally now and always. I expect very soon as early as today maybe tomorrow morning the senate will act to pass a resolution from senator cardin, Ranking Member risch, leader mcconnell and myself affirming that the Senate Stands firmly with israel and firmly against hamas. Our resolution has overwhelming, nearly unanimous bipartisan support in the senate. It is cosponsored by 99 senators. Senator paul being the outstanding one who hasnt. Passing a supplemental and passing this resolution will affirm an unchanging truth so long as there is a United States of america, so long as there is a United States senate, the people of israel will not will not be alone. The allsenators classified briefing. Later this afternoon well have an allsenators classified briefing on israel and gaza. We will be briefly by secretary of state light austin, secretary of state tony blinken, and director of intelligence avril haines. I encourage all of my colleagues to attend todays briefing from our top leaders so we can stay fully updated on the one hand the latest information on the ground regarding israels security and their efforts to defeat the evil terrorist, horrible organization named hamas. On nominations now, with all the conflagration in the middle east, it is really important that we have ambassadors in critical places. Its always important, but a lot of them have been blocked. But now, with the conflagration in the middle east, its more important than ever that they be there. When we were in israel, the lack of an ambassador was apparent. Now there is a great charge daffaires person, she did a great job, but we still need an ambassador. I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working quickly this week on getting critical nominees through the senate. Last night we confirmed ana escrogima to serve as ambassador to oman. We have more nominees who we need to pass to fill ambassadorships in the middle east. More important than ever. We must do more. Its important that the senate show bipartisan unity right now to get these critical diplomats confirmed, and i hope we keep doing so, like we did with these two ambassadors in the days ahead. Now, on whats going on across the way in the house thanks to maga republicans, the u. S. House of representatives has now been without a speaker for two weeks, a paralysis in governing unprecedented, unprecedented, in modern times. Hardright extremists in the house have ground the peoples house to a halt at the worst possible moment, a at a time whn ally israel faces its darkest hour. Today the house will gavel in to try to break the impassion, though it the impasse, though it seems like the chaos of the hard right has exposed the deep, perhaps irrelevance repredictable divisions in the house. No matter who becomes speaker, bipartisan will be the only way things get done in a divided government. Is bipartisanship is the only way, when theres a democratic president , a Democratic Senate, and a republican house, a small band of right wing maga republicans in the house cannot say its my way or your way. Youre a minority, maga republicans. Youre a minority in the republican party. Youre a minority with the people of america. Youre a minority in this government. Certainly, your voices will be raised, and youll want some say, but it cant be your way or no way. Bipartisanship will be required to help israel. It will be required to avoid a government shutdown. It will be required to finish the appropriations process. Bipartisanship will be required for just about everything, everything that happens in the congress. So whoever the house elects as speaker will not be able to ignore the realities of divided government, no matter what the hard right demands. As former spear, boehner, ryan, and mccarthy have learned, you cannot let the hard right run the caucus, or you wont last as speaker. Even worse, it will lead to more chaos at a time when the American People need unity and help and stability. Now, at the a. I. Insight forum, next tuesday, the senate will hold our second in a series of bipartisan let me underscore bipartisan, a. I. Insight forums, focusing on our north star for a. I. , innovation. Our inaugural a. I. Forum last month was one of the most informative discussions ever held in the congress. It was illuminating, the discussions were candid, unvarn ird unsprarnished. Direct unvarnished. Next week we turn to transformational innovation that creates new vipsas, unlocks vistas, unlocks cures, protects National Security, but also to Sustainable Innovation, which is the kind of guardrails needed to prevent the negatives in a. I. , necessary to prevent against a. I. s risks and minimize the chance this Technology Becomes unmanageable, or worse. Were going to focus on both these types of innovation, both of which are needed. Congress has taken leaps forward in the past few months, learning more about the benefits and risks of a. I. , from the worlds leading experts, getting some of the companies that do a. I. To sit down with some of the critics so we can begin to fashion the kinds of guardrails that are necessary. Our committees continue to lead the way, having hosted more than 15 hearings on a. I. This year, and the bipartisan a. I. Gang is working to supplement the committees critical work with our a. I. Insight forums. But theres still so much more to learn and to do on a. I. , which is rapidly changing as we speak. So, these forums are designed to ensure that the senate is asking the right questions, having the right debates and getting to the heart of this complex issue. I urge everyone to attend next weeks bipartisan forum, and i thank my colleagues senator rounds, senator heinrich, senator young for helping organize this discussion. To repeat, our a. I. Forum will be im trying to get the date here i dont have it. I believe well, well get everybody the date right away. I believe it is on the 24th of next week at 3 00 p. M. In the kennedy caucus room. I yield the floor. Note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. The clerk ms. Baldwin. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the republican leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell barbaric terrorist attacks of october 7 have elicited two sorts of reactions in the west. Most reasonable people have responded to the slaughter of innocent israelis with utter horror, fervent prayer, and strong support for israels right to defend itself. The overwhelming majority of americans think the United States should publicly support our closest ally in the middle east. They recognize this moment as a time for choosing. And they see the choice between a democracys right to selfdefense and a terrorist groups obsession with destroying it as an easy choice. The United States must have israels back as it roots out the terrorists who threaten it. For as long as it takes. Im proud to stand with this overwhelming majority. But alas, in recent days, weve also seen just how the default position in some highly influential corners of our society, from National Newsrooms to elite college campuses, how quickly they bend to blindly amplify terrorist versions of events. That was especially true of the reporting of a deadly explosion at a gaza hospital yesterday. Hamas immediately blamed israel for the blast, and major news organizations took their word for it, running headlines about israeli strike. In the hours since this tragedy, credible evidence has emerged suggesting that the same terrorists who used innocent civilians as human shields were themselves responsible. Well, the media can revise its headlines, but the shameful antisemitic change of our society has already heard what it wanted to hear. Unsurprisingly, the woke incubators of the ivy league have been at the epicenter of this antiisrael outbreak. One coalition of 30 student groups at harvard declared that they, quote, hold the Israeli Regime entirely responsible for gazas hamas terrorism. Held israel responsible for hamas terrorism. Now, student radicals taking extremist stands is kind of par for the course. The more important question was how university administrators, the supposed grownups on campus, would respond. And the answer, mr. President , is not good. As former harvard president Larry Summers rightly senated, his institutions initial silence ceded the field to campus extremists in defining harvards response. When harvards leaders did respond, they failed the most basic test distinguishing the victim from the aggressor. The universitys response professed heart break at the war in israel and gaza now under way, as if there were even a shred, a shred of moral equivalence between terrorism and selfdefense. The president s of columbia and dartmouth expressed regret at, quote, the ensuing violence, and, quote, the escalating violence, respectively. Not to be outdone, notre dame didnt even assign pro funkry blame per furvegry blame to the per furveghtry blame to the blame to the terror ipess. Instead, they called for the end of violence. Im reminded of a retort the late great bill buckley deployed in a debate when his opponent tried to have both sides of the cold war. He said, quote, thats like saying that the man who pushes a little old lady into the path of a bus is morally equivalent to the man who pushes her out of its path because they both push little old ladies around. If you want to know where this leads, take the american bar association. The organization that acredits our nations law schools. At first the aba president s called, quote, on both sides to show restraint and urged israel and hamas to, quote, settle their disputes in a peaceful and legal fashion. Alas, but yesterday aba denounced israels selfdefense as, quote, collective punishment , forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing. Mr. President , terrorism and selfdefense are not morally equivalent. Theyre not morally equivalent. And you think the leader of americas Higher Education would understand that. Some leaders in Higher Education have argued in recent days that schools should not weigh into political disputes. It is said doing so picks winners and losers on campus. Northwesterns campus observed of his students and faculty that, quote, for me to speak for them displaces their own freedom to speak. That may actually be a wise policy, but its certainly not one a lead academia has been known to practice in the past. It doesnt take long to find the impassioned stances universities took following the murder of george floyd or the ending of daca. So why the new policy . Lets be clear, some universities leaders have displayed admirable conviction. Our former colleague, ben sasse, at the university of florida described the attacks of the israeli children as sickening and dehealth and Human Services and dehumanizing. Emorys president said the attacks must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Princetons president called it among the most atrocious of terrorist attacks and placed the blame of the coming war entirely where it belongs, on l hamas shoulders. So, mr. President , i request unanimous consent to submit all these statements, the good, the bad, and the ugly for the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i can only hope that the leader of americas universities recognize what time it is in america. This is a siem for moral this is a time for moral clarity, not a time for antisemitic hate dress. Leaders cannot afford to be silent. Terrorism is evil. Antisemitism is despicable, and israel has a right to exist. It shouldnt take a phd to understand that, but it also shouldnt be so hard for a ph. D. To acknowledge it. On an entirely different matter, today the senate will vote on a republican resolution to chip away at yet another example of the Biden Administrations runaway regulatory states using the Congressional Review Act. The junior senator from louisiana, senator kennedy, has put forward a measure that would block a proposed rule as a Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau that would require Financial Institutions to collect and report personal information on Small Businesses loan applications, including data on race and sex. Apparently as if the radical progress ivism on campus wasnt enough, washington democrats want to attach Small Business loans to diversity quotas. Small businesses are the lifeblood of the american dream, and im grateful to my colleague from louisiana for giving the senate an opportunity to stick up for them. I would urge each of our colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution later today. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call