Without. So, wow is there for our customers, with speed, reliability, value and choice. Now, more than ever, it starts with great internet. Wow. Wow supports cspan as a Public Service, along with these other televisn a front row seat to democracy. The u. S. Senate is a■s■put t gavel in. Today lawmakers will work on a government funding measure passed by the house with the first of two shutdown deadlines tomorrow at midnight. Yesterday majority leader schumer filed closure on the first package and americans who with cancer, exposed to nuclear radiat luthe morgantown, West Virginia, will open the senate in prayer. The guest chaplain i invite you to pray with me. Creator god, from the beginning you have brought order from chaos. And in your wise compassion, you Order Society by calling people into vocations, masks of god, d; which through others your work is done. We pray your blessing upon our senate this day, and especially upon the many you have called to live out their vocation within and around this chamber; for our setoir staffs, for Civil Servants and political appointees, for facility workers and security personnel, for lobbyists and support se workers, for press members, for pages and interns, and for all others. Provide them all daily moments to remember the source and importance of their call so that they may well and faithfully exercise their vocation, in this place, for both god and country. For this we pray in your most holy 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 tiod■■b, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , march 7, 2024. To the senate under the prio rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. Warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patty murray presint pro tempore. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is clos. Order, senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination. The judiciary, aid general general Adrienne Jennings noti of the district of columbia to be an associate judge of the superior court of the district of columbia. ■■x ah■[ 93 ■w we will start our coverage at 8 00 here you can follow along at cspan. Org. Not only we get a chance to see the speech youll get chance to in and give your response after it is done and you can do in regards to the top issues you want to participate in our poll asking you about those results and are currently as they stand, maybe you are in a category, if you want to take your phone take a picture of that qr code you are invited do that. That will lead you to the poll and you can put your data in and will show you those results as the money goes on. 2027488000 democrats. 2027488001 republicans. And independenceo . ■8 20274880. Ms. Heitkamp despite on phone lines, texas at 2027488003. You heard speaker johnson. Lets take you back one year, a montage a montage of last years state of the Union Address. And two years ago democracy faced its greatest threat since unbroken. War, [cheers and applause] i i want to t voted for the d to vote against it as well. But im still, i still get asked to fund the projects in the physics as well, but dont worry. I promised oda president for all americans. We will fund these projects andd at the groundbreaking. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans, some what medicare and Social Security to sunset. Im not saying its a majority. Let me give you anybody whot. Ill give you a copy of the a copy of the proposal. Congrsre the right that was taken away in roe v. Wade and protect roe v. Wade. Lause] putins the nation has been a test for the ages. Test for america contest for tha were to convince the American Interest and benefit the world, but make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week in China Threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country, and we did. Public safety def o know. That too often the trust is violated. Join us tonight are the parents of tyree nicls, w■,elme [applause] fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets us nowhere. Thats always been my vision of a country and you know its many of yours. To rebuild the backbone of america, americas middle class and unite the country. We the job in my view. I get a montage of the speech of last year. If you go to a website you can see many, many of the stay a Union Speeches that are taken place across many president s, if youre interested in learning 2027488000 democrats. Site at■z 2027488001 for republicans. Independents 2027488002. When it comes republican response for tonight state of the union speech its freshman alabama senator katie britt the youngest female senator shall deliver the speech, 42 come first woman elected to sit from alabama and the joint statement with considerable coup leader Mitch Mcconnell and House Speaker mike johnson sheof saidt generation to step up. Republican party is a part of hardworking parents and families and im looking forward to putting his critica r. Story adding it becomes amid backlash by your state Supreme Court that said the frozen embryos can be considered children understand over several clinics announced they were causing idf service as a sort of the decisionmaking parents are pursui. T uncertain path reporting this point alabamas legislature has passed legislation to attend to that. When it comes form of counterprogramming former President Trump plans to do the same for tonight at least according to his truth social website, a post yesterday saying im pleased to inform you tomorrow night we will be doing a live playbyplay of crooked bone china state of Union Address. I will correct andapnaccurate statements especially pertain to the board and his weaponization of the dj, fbi, agent, District Attorneys to go aftl opponent, something of done before in this country. We did this once before to tremendous success beating all records of support for the country to get. Thats a former president s plan for this evening. Lets hear from david in new york republican line. Go ahead. Caller i think tonight should be about unity and bringing the country together and possibly solving the debt, the border, education, all of these issues, some of them like student loans, he doesnt have the power to do that. And the federal government holds the debt. I see why Congress Just doesnt take a vote on it. They should vote on it and say we voted on it, we passed and it didnt pass. But the net can doso if they waf it, congress should vote on it. Also think the democrats need to get away from the News Agencies and we should have more investigative reporters telling the people the truth. I think that would bring the people together. I think the Court Hearings with his son and him should also be addressed. I think tha they did to the former president that hes win be dropped. And what did they do . They tried to bankruptcy in new york, for what reason . , we will take top issues for you and the United States, take a state that you need. The new york democrats like this is francesca. Hello. Caller good morning. The president should talk■p abot democracy, how are we using our democracy. He should make sure that the people, that the republicans dont get away with taking away our freedom. Because they talk about freedom but the congress is not doing anything for the Voting Rights of people to vote, and Voting Rights, theyre trying to take them away, trying to take the womens abortion. They are the ones, the republicans are the ones that are taking the freedom, democracy and our freedoms away from the women, and for many other people that wants to vote. They are not representing, so he should discuss that and think about■ should be, be looking and visioning about what theyre doing. And even though they are saying the democrats are not telling the truth, they are the ones that are not telling the truth. Host okay. Steve is next in massachusetts, republican line. Caller my main issue i would like to have them talk about the safety in america and whether america safer now than four years ago and we can make it safer, and whether its the border and all these people come over or its the fentanyl which way, it comes in marijuana. It comes in cocaine. And its because they want people to be addicted to fentanyl. And its like the wars that are going on, in 45 days putin stood on the border of ukraine and how many times has joe biden talked to Vladimir Putin . They had one discussion, 45 days, whatt on, whats going on in israel and hostages that are in israel and why havent we sent, demands to guys and hamas to get our people out of that country . You have a day to get these hostages out of there and its the safety that goes on america. Everyday we have lost, the gas stations have people with tasers dont steal someones car while theyre pumping gas. Its a safety in america that has to be addressed. Host carla in austin, texas, democrats line. Good morning. Caller good morning. I think the biggest problem in America Today is truth. I dont know if the president can do anything about it but the mechanism to get a a news, sof that professes is a have to havr viable proof in what theyre saying before they say it. They can be entertainers and commentators that just say their opinions, but how are people to know what decisions to make if we cant get a hold of the truth works regular people cant verify all the things that are going on in america or allve tht people are just taking the side that they agree with. Host james in michigan about■r . Top issues you may have leading up to the state of the union tonight. Good morning. Independent line. Caller i name is james from the state of independent voter. I used to be straight up democrat but now im changing for 2024. I becoming a republican host lethe■[ on the because like us it yet to pick the light the best represent you. We have three like you can call in to invite you to call in on a republican mind if you want. 2027488000 is like the democrats. 2027488001 for republicans and independents 2027488002. So if you want to call in janes site have to do that but call in on republic on get you on. New york on a republican line is a a joke. Hello, how you doing . I just see it this way, hes going to get on the podium, the president and his own to start talk about obviously the great job he did to america and this and that and his people did this and that. But what he really would like people, the democrat callers tos of the difference on how the country was when donald trump was in office and biden is in office now, that is coming up to the end of his term . So positive, as far as the board and distorts Everything Else . Hes going to go up there talk s about it and what he did to this country and have great he did a job. The border issue if it does take it up hes going to blame either the republicans or not himself but hes the president who has a and paper that can write everything and stop the border from the way its going now. Scary the way america turn out this last four years, but the democrat callers have got to realize, even though you hate trump of his personnel, the way he was at this and that Everything Else, the way, way you feel, this country was not doing, wasnt as bad as it is now. It is horrible and we are a weak country in the world. And thats basically all i have to say. Host gel in new york. Again President Biden expected to tout the confidence of his record runtimes office in tonight state of the union which the for us starts at eight. What happens after two nights speech is highlighted in the Washington Post when it comes to what advisers are planning on saying the campaign now says mr. Biden state of the union appears in for congress will mark the beginning of the end of the waiting gam Broader Network of supporting groups are poised to turn on the machine open the coming months while the former President Trump if its to the general electioni the mission to demonstrate bidens momentum and tapped on Party Anxiety before the august convention in chicago, use swing state advertising from the campaign in sa group is expected in the coming weeks and months. State Leadership Teams in the eight al green states including newly added New Hampshire have in order to begin engaging with volunteers and contacting voters to what the campaign has called quote march month of action. Win groups will be launched, members of congress will be dispatched, administration travel including why mr. Biden will be robust mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr mr. President , tonight the president of the United States comes before congress to deliver his state of the Union Address to the American People. E for the comma in chief to tell the story of where our country stands today, to hear about the sacrifices we have made as a country, about the challenges we have overcome, and about the kind of future we can achieve if we Work Together. America has suffered immense challenge in recent years. When President Biden took office over 3,000 americans were dying of covid a y. 18 million americ on unemployment. Our democracy was wounded and damaged and battered after january 6. Suffocating heights. But today, President Biden will make clear that after so much adversitymericas economy is growing, inflation is slowing, and democrats agenda is delivering. Our economy has added a record 15 million new jobs, 15 million new jobs since President Biden took office, the gracest turn greatest president. Last year alone, commit created more jobs than any year of the trump administration. Less than two years ago, inflation was at a crushing 9 . Today, it has cooled to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. That means over the last year, the prices o milk, eggs, appliances, car rentals and airfare have all come down. Across the country, manufacturing and job creation is surging, communities that have been long overlooked, especially in places like upstate new york, are getting a second chance. It didnt happen on its own. Its the result of the democratic agenda, a result of legislation like the American Rescue plan, chips and science and the inflation reduction act, which i was happy to champion in the democratic senate, as i was majority leader. Ata tell only part of the story. Today, im honored to welcome five inspiring new yorkers and one brave ukrainian soldier as my guests for the state of the union. These six individuals show better than any statistic how americas made by the policies of the Biden Administration and a democratic senate. You can look at the example of andrechavozarov, a 25yearold ukrainian soldier, who risked his life and limb on the battlefield. After losing his leg in a mine explosion, he came to new york in january for prosthetics and rehabilitation treatment at Staten Island university hospital. Honor to welcome andr and the Senate Thanks him for his sacrifice. He reminds us all about the stakes of the war inukraine, is of the importance of passing the supplemental, and i will continue working as hard as i can to make sure we get it done. Its a historicom cannot turn o ukraine and our other allies and the men evass we face in the the menaces we face in the world. You can also look at the story of kate fally of the Hudson Valley, who isecting her second child but in vitro fertilization. Without ivf she could not have gotten pregnant. Its heartbreaking and enraging that extreme republicans made people like kate worry this will be curtailed. Im honored to welcome her today. Im also friend, Kevin Mccaffrey of Suffolk County. The proud president of teamsters local debra hartman, retired ufcp member who worked at tops supermarket. Kevin is the republican leader of the Suffolk County legislature. It didnt stop he and i to work to deal with the pensions his members of his local, local 707, might have lost. Like many americans, both kevin face the unthinkable llow prospect of their pensions drying up in just a few just a few years ago. Some pensions cut by as much as twothirds. People who put in every two weeks money, hoping, knowing, relying on the fact that their retirement would be secure. Wouldnt make them rich, but make them secure, pulled out from under them. From kevin, one end of my state, debra, from the other, we saved those pensions. Republicans refused to relief. Democrats had to do it. Thanks to the reforms in the American Rescue plan, millions of Union Brothers and sters across new york and america have seen that critical pension relief and have their pensions restored. These workers, who saved their whole lives toet dignity, have seen their dignity restored.