The Nations Capital to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like, cspan powered by cable. And the senate is about to gavel in for the day. Members are expected to vote on a measure from senator rand paul to withdraw u. S. Troops from the west african country and later consider a resolution on antidiscrimination from the nutritional food service. Now to the senate here on cspan2. Chaplain, dr. Barry , will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Almighty god, each day it seems we face new challenges, unexpected hurdles, and tragic realities. Have mercy upon us and this land we love. Remind us that your plans for us are better than anything we can plan for ourselves. Today as our lawmakers depend on you for help, respond to their intercession with your peace that transcends human understanding. Lord, fill them with the joy that comes from the strength you provide those who refuse to become weary in doing what is right. Remind us all that we are travelers in this life in search of a city that you have prepared for us. And, lord, we mourn the tragic loss of life in the maine mass shooting. We pray in your holy name. Amen. The president pro tempore pleas e join me in reciting 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 president pro tempore under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h. R. 4366, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 198, h. R. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction, the department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes. A senator madam president. The president pro tempore the senator from georgia is recognized. Mr. Warnock i suggest the absence of a quorum. The president pro tempore the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , this morning the nation grieves with the people of lewiston, maine, after last nights hombl, sense horrible, senseless mass shooting. The shooter remains at large and we pray there is no more bloodshed after the horrors of last night. The stories coming out of lewiston are gutwrenching, people gunned down while trying to to enjoy their night out at a Bowling Alley and restaurant. A Bowling Alley and restaurant, these are supposed to be places where families go to have a good time but now they have become sites, too many places of tragic Mass Shootings in america. Its beyond heartbreaking that Mass Shootings like this continue to happen in our country. My condolences with the families and loved ones. I can just imagine them sitting at home and just wondering why did this happen to us. My prayers are and will be with all mainers and First Responders as authorities keep working to locate the shooter. Today our hearts are with lewiston. Now on the new speaker. Yesterday after a monthlong paralysis in congress, House Republicans finally, finally elected a new speaker of the house. I spoke with speaker johnson last night and expressed my congratulations on his election to the speakership. I told speaker johnson the exact same thing i told speaker mccarthy. In a divided government the only way well fund the government or pass supplemental is bipartisanship. I hope the new speaker learns lessons from the disastrous experiences of his predecessors, speakers boehner, ryan, and mccarthy and realizes that coddling the hard right is disastrous for the country and the republican leadership. Because like it or not, speaker johnson will not be able to ignore the need for bipartisanship in divided government. Right now the world is in crisis. Americans and the citizens of the world, people across the world are looking for a congress that is functional, decisive, and able to reach across the aisle. We must Work Together to send israel the help she needs. We must stand with our friends in ukraine, which majorities in both chambers have made clear they support, to allow putin to succeed is to endanger Americas National security and its alarming that a growing number of House Republicans dont seem to care about this. We also need humanitarian aid to reduce the suffering in the middle east, in ukraine, and elsewhere. We must also finish the bipartisan appropriation process, extremist funding bills that make cuts way below the partisan june agreement will not fly. If speaker johnson tries to send those cuts over here, theyre not going to happen. Theyll be dead on arrival. All theyll do is waste more time in a moment where every day counts. We cannot listen to these 30 members of the hard right who somehow think they have all the knowledge and all right on their side and then tie us in a knot. Again, whether House Republicans like it or not, this is divided government. Bipartisanship is the only way well be able to get anything done. I hope, pray speaker johnson realizes this quickly. If speaker johnson repeats the mistakes of speaker mccarthy, if he tumbles down the maga road it will be inevitable that the house finds itself trapped in even more chaos very soon. If speaker johnson lives up to the label that congressman gaetz has given him, maga mike, he will fail as the previous speakers have. But if speaker johnson chooses the bipartisan path, we can do great things for the American People, just as we did last congress with an evenly divided senate and a narrowly divided house. I look forward to working constructive life with speaker johnson and congratulate him on his election. Now on the minibus, mr. President , the senate today will continue the bipartisan appropriations process here on the floor. Yesterday senators were busy voting through a number of amendments offered by both sides. We held roll call votes on four amendment offered by our republican colleagues and adopted 25 additional amendments, many of them bipartisan by voice vote. We have more amendment votes to hold later today and members should expect to keep voting into next week. It is my hope that we can wrap up work on these Appropriations Bills as soon as next week. When the Senate Passes these three bills, they will be the only Appropriations Bills passed in either chamber that both parties support. And i think thats key to remember as we move forward. As i said a moment ago when i spoke to the newly elected leader johnson, i said the only way well solve our most pressing problems funding the government, avoiding a shutdown, passing a supplemental will be bipartisanship. The senate has been a model for how we can make bipartisanship happen and its all to the credit of our appropriators, particularly chair murray, vice chair collins. I thank my colleagues for their work. I look forward to holding more amendment votes today and into next week. Now on a domestic supplemental. Mr. President , as the senate works on americas needs on the world stage, including passing robust funding for israel, ukraine, the pacific region, and humanitarian aid for gaza, for israel, for ukraine, well also work to take care of our needs at home. Last week the president released his emergency supplemental to help our friends in israel and ukraine defend themselves. Now democrats are working with the administration on a domestic supplemental to support the needs of american families. Our domestic supplemental will fund bipartisan priorities for americans, like disaster response, securing American Energy independence, fighting the scourge of fentanyl, expanding access to affordable highspeed internet, and so much more. Among our greatest needs right now is addressing child care which remains outrageously expensive for too many families, something i want to see the senate address. Ive had many conversations recently with my colleagues about how the senate can make child care more affordable. Were at a cliff now. As of september 30, funding was greatly decreased and now child care workers are being laid off and child care slots are being rescinded. Families are in turmoil when that happens. So we have to work on making child care more affordable, and we have to work on it, on the domestic side, and have to keep it in the domestic supplemental and do everything we can to get it done. Just as we have to work on National Security on a bipartisan basis, the senate should absolutely work on americas domestic needs with equal bipartisan fervor. You cant argue one you cant have one try to argue against the other. We need both, domestic help and National Security. Its not an either or in this situation, and the president has wisely offered a supplemental on domestic issues. Now on the nomination of jack lew. Yesterday the Senate ForeignRelations Committee voted 129 to report out the nomination of jack lew, President Bidens pick to serve as ambassador to israel. Later today ill file cloture on this most urgent nomination. So mr. Lew can be appointed to the post of ambassador asap. The team at the u. S. Embassy is doing a heroic job under terrible circumstances, including a wonderful charge daffaires who helped us during our visit. Israel is in crisis. America needs to stand with her and an obvious step would be to make sure we have an American Ambassador in place. And finally, later this morning it will be my honor to welcome Prime Minister anthony alaniste to australia to the u. S. Capitol for a bipartisan p meeting. He is a key ally of the United States, the strength of the u. S. Australia alliance is illustrated by the trilateral agreement and by our shared agreement to enhancing indopacific security and by strong economic bonds. Ill tell the Prime Minister well keep working to pass all of the aukus agreement, because our i was proud to work alongside my Senate Colleagues to include aukus pillar 2 in the senate ndaa and will work with my colleagues during the conference to secure its inclusion in the final bill. Were now working to make sure australia can receive the virginia class submarines that are an essential part of the try lateral agreement. So again, i thank Prime Minister albanese for meeting with us today and look forward to discussing the importance of aukus and finding new innovative ways to collaborates. On the uaw, im so pleased to hear that ford and the uaw may have reached a tentative agreement. I hope this spurs g. M. And stellantus and the uaw to negotiate in good faith. The bottom line is simple, the workers gave up plenty when the Auto Industry was in trouble. Now the industry is making large profits. The workers need to share fairly in that. I yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. Israel was created following the holocaust so that jewish again. But yet that is what we are seeing happen today. And as a pledged in world war ii never again. Since october seven, the promise has been under attack both in israel and here at home. We have a moral obligation to fulfill our promise, and under our watch never again means never again. And i will wrap up by saying i have rooms with families and loved ones are being held hostage twice both here and in the United States and when i was in, in israel just a few days ago. You see pictures like this up precious abigail, three years old, that hamas is using as a human shield, who when you learn her store and the story of their remaining hostages, it will tell your heart out. We must do more. This committee has the power to help ensure this never happens again. This committee has the power to prove that america still knows good from evil. I look for him from todays witnesses about solutions, ways we can Work Together theyll allow the United States to send children to shoulder with israel, projecting unwavering american strength to defer, to deter more hostile aggressions and hold accountable those who carried lewiston, maine. I know the entire Senate Stands behind our colleagues, senator collins and senator king, as they help their state marshall its response. We pray especially for the victims of this senseless violence, for their families and for the Law Enforcement personnel working tirelessly to save lives and bring the suspect to justice. Now, on an entirely different matter, yesterday i spoke with the newly elected speaker of the house, mike johnson, congratulated him on his victory, and i expressed my support as he begins to steer the House Republican majority. We have a lot of work ahead of us, house and Senate Republicans need to Work Together on a number of urgent priorities, beginning with supplemental appropriations for a number of our National Security priorities. I look forward to meeting with the speaker soon to begin this important work. Mr. President , every day brings new harrowing details of the terrorist attacks of october 7, and we continue to learn more about the role iran plays in aiding and abetting terror. Just yesterday new reports indicated that hundreds of terrorists from hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad traveled to iran last month for a specialized combat training with tehrans murderous kuz force. Waiting for specific evidence of tactical involvement really misses the point. Yairnt is the worlds iran is the worlds leading state sponsor of terror. It spent decades supporting proxy terrorists who their their hatred for israel and america, precisely so tehran can maintain plausible deniability. We cannot lose sight of this savage charade. Evil will continue to target the United States and our allies, whether we Pay Attention to it or not. And the threats our adversaries pose are all connected. Iran doesnt just underwrite terrorist attacks on israel. It outfits russia with drones to help kill ukrainians. China doesnt just menace taiwan. It helps iran circumvent International Sanctions by trading consumer goods for oil. And russia isnt just pummeling a sovereign neighbor. Its joined china for joint naval exercises in the sea of japan as well as off the coast of alaska. Our adversaries ambitions are not local. Theyve been showing us for years that they are determined to challenge American Leadership, undermined undermine our interests and weaken our analysises. On every front, the Biden Administration response has fallen short. The president was hesitant to deter russias aggression in the first place and has dithered about helping equip ukraine to defeat it. Hes prioritized engagement with china on Climate Policy over building resilient supply chains with trusted allies. And just listen to his administrations jawdropping naivety after three years of squandering leverage on iran. In early october, the president s National Security advisor wrote a selfcon selfcongratulatory article assessing the administrations foreign policy. Heres some of what he said about the meter about the middle east, in the face of serious frictions we have deescalated crises in gaza and restored direct diplomacy. He went on to, quote, it u. S. Troops were under regular attack in iraq and syria, such attacks at least for now have largely stopped, end quote. Finally, he claimed that the president s approach, quote, frees up resources for other global priorities and reduces the risk of new middle east conflicts. Well, at least that was the account that went to print before 1400 israelis were murdered on a saturday morning and before iranbacked terrorists injured two dozen american servicemembers in numerous attacks in iraq and in syria. The incongruity between the administrations spin and reality has since been scrubbed from the article online. But the Biden Administrations naive approach to terror remain woefully inadequate to meet the growing threat of radical islamic terrorism. From afghanistan to yemen to iraq. Abandoning afghanistan, obsessing about closing guantanamo bay, removing the houthis designation as a terrorist organization, turning the other cheek when Terrorists Attack americans and our allies, squandering leverage over iran, weakness in one theater begets weakness in another. The United States is a global superpower, and its high time we started embracing and properly resourcing the responsibilities that come with that role. Now is the time to invest deeper in our alliances and partnerships. Its time to restore credible deterrence with hard power. Thats why i will oppose senator pauls resolution to compel the withdrawal of american servicemembers from niger later today. Radical islamic terrorism in that part of the world is on the rise, and we should be working more closely with local partners, not abandoning them. We should be conduct be more surveillance flights, not blinding ourselves by abandoning strategic airfields in