vote: vote: the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 50, the nays are 44, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: the judiciary, maria araujo kahn, of connecticut, to be united states circuit judge for the second circuit of connecticut. mrs. fischer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from nesh nebraska -- from nebraska. mrs. fischer: in april border patrol agents encountered a 2-year-old boy the a the southern border of texas. let me read you what the release said, the boy, a who are hondurl was traveling with a group of 38 individuals. agents questioned the group to obtain any information on the boy, however, no one claimed to know the child, unquote. in 2022, cpb arrested at least six dozen convicted violent sex offenders, many of them child sex abusers according to media releases, vulnerable, unaccompanied children, as well as young women traveling alone, draw criminals to our country. they want to take advantage of the chaos overwhelming our border. our border has become a hotbed of criminal activity, especially of trafficking helpless women and children. mr. president, last month, i came before you to address the deadly effects of drug trafficking across our border on american citizens. but the out of control situation at our border puts migrants in danger too. the effect of these numbers on children is just heartbreaking. 2022 beat the record for the number of unaccompanied migrant children encountered by border patrol, an overwhelming 152,057. and the state department reported this year that child sex tourism is expanding in the border cities of mexico. the biden administration claims that its la usa border policiese stemmed from valuing immigrants, but it has worsened continues for those trying to migrate to the united states. president biden ended the national deck declaration of the border, halted construction on the border wall. the next month the press canceled the trump administration's asylum poadures, a move that aggravated the rush at the border. president biden reinstated wide wide-scale catch and release practices, requiring border officials to release unprocessed migrants into our country where they await court hearings. since president biden's inauguration, 4.5 million people have arrived at our border. last week, the president of the national border patrol council told me he estimates that seven million more migrants will arrive by the time biden's term ends. folks, that would mean a total of 11 million migrant encounters during the biden administration. that number is larger than the population of 43 of the states in our union. despite the damage that the president's done at the border, well, he dedicated a total of one minute out of last week's 75-minute state of the union speech to discussing immigration. one minute. president biden didn't even present any substantive solutions to our border problems. this administration is unable to manage the surges of immigrants that it's welcomed to our border. so the president has cut corners left and right. biden officials have weakened vital safety measures, including waiverring certain background check requirements for the adult sponsors of unaccompanied migrant children. people entrusted with the care of unaccompanied children no longer have to undergo public record and sex offender rental industry checks all in the interest of moving migrants into our country and out of federal custody more quickly. the department of health and human services also has no way to track these children or ensure their well-being after they are placed with sponsors. the president's indifference to border safety and security means that abusers and traffickers have easy access to helpless kids. from the very beginning president biden's campaign promises to loosen border security rallied waves of migrants to make that treacherous trip north. biden promised hope, but let's be clear. the reality is that this journey is one of suffering, whether it's forced labor, sex trafficking, or death. it's encouraged more criminals to take advantage of that frenzy. the biden administration has yet top resecure the border and it has yet to form a serious plan to remedy the problems it's created. it's taken two full years for the administration to produce what i think is a silly smartphone app fund bid your taxpayer dollars to help migrants schedule their crossing times. that is barely a band aid for the massive gash that is our southern border. but while the president ignores this humanitarian crisis, my colleagues and i want to fix it. we can address the disaster at the border by providing our dedicated border patrol agents with more resources and more time to process migrants, equipping them to do their jobs thoroughly. we need to put up barriers against sex trafficking and drug trafficking by ending catch and release and imposing penalties on those who skip out of their immigration hearings. president biden called us as a nation last week to embrace stability over chaos. he should take his own advice and help us to stabilize the chaos at the border. the administration must finally open its eyes to this border crisis, and the senate must implement real, lasting solutions for the sake of migrants, for the sake of legal immigrants, and for the sake of american citizens. as i said before we are a nation of immigrant, but we are also a nation of laws. failure to enforce them doesn't help anyone. well, it doesn't help anyone except predators looking for a chance to manipulate the chaos. security will benefit those on both sides of our border. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, some of my colleagues may know, we recently lost kiya, a very special service dog that was a frequent visitor to the senate. kiya's life was devoted to helping veterans with ptsd and she quickly became an ambassador for veterans and service dogs everywhere. a few years ago i ran into her and her owner. i was walking down a street at a street corner where we first met each other. as a dog lover myself, i stopped to say hello. after i learned about cole's service history, i invited them to my office. in that meeting i learned something very important. that the department of veterans affairs does not cover the cost of service animals for veterans with post-traumatic distress which can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. from that moment that i meant kiya, i knew she was special. she was not just a service dog, she was the model of a service dog. she had a gentle nation, kind eyes and a wagging tail but i could say that about my two dogs, mitch and theo. i'm proud of the obedience training i've given them but kaya is different. she knew the commands my dogs know but she also know how to be there for cole without even a single command. like so many other veterans. you see, these service dwogs are not just taught to sit and stay and fetch, they're taught to actually say what the veterans are experiencing. they know when to go by that veteran's side just to give them a source of calmness. they actually know how to wake up a veteran who may be in the middle of a nightmare. they know when a veteran and a servicemember who is disabled needs something, they can point to it and they'll retrieve it. these are extraordinary dogs so you can understand why it may be expensive to get them up to that level and so few dogs are like kaya. but she was a special one. cole and i when we met discussed approaches that we could use to try and get funding for service dogs in the v.a. it's one of the reasons why it culminated in what we call the paws act for veterans therapy. i later introduced that bill in the senate. the legislation established a pilot program to provide canine training to eligible veterans diagnosed with ptsd. in addition to kaya's unwavering devotion, the both comfort and support dogs like her, countless veterans, she also educated congress in this country about the role dogs can play in helping veterans that are struggling with the invisible wounds of war. because of kaya's effort and i guess a little bit from cole, we were able to pass the paws for veterans therapy act and it was signed into law in 2021. now, thanks to kaya, cole and organizations like canines for warriors, veterans across the country are beginning to benefit from service dog programs that have a track record of reducing symptoms associated with ptsd. but i also have to say we've got a lot of work to do. the paws act was only the beginning of several steps that we need to take to make these incredible animals available to more veterans because for everyone that's being served today, there are dozens who are not. the nearly 17 veteran suicides this country experienced each and every day makes clear that the paws act is only the beginning and it's not the end, and this is a step on a very long journey. we must work to ensure the department of veterans affairs is implementing the paws act as we intended by partnering with service dog organizations to connect as many veterans as possible with canine training to improve well-being and help veterans thrive. i've made this a top priority to do everything possible to combat veteran suicide. and this legislation is another tool in the toolbox for our men and women who have served. the passing of kaya is a true loss. she was sick. and cole mad to make the appropriate but heartbreaking decision to release her from her misery. cole, thank you for sharing kaya with us. kaya, thank you for bringing comfort, hope, and healing. thank you, mr. president. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority whip. mr. durbin: are would new england a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. durbin: thank you. i have two separate statements here, the first i'd like to put on the record. just over a week ago, a devastating earthquake rocked parts of turkey and syria. the devastation has been heartbreaking. i'm glad that the biden administration immediately offered american assistance and our help to rescue and discover the victims and survivors. that is what powerful and confident nations do in times of need. the turkish people are resilient and we will help them rebuild from this tragedy. now, mr. president, i'd like permission for this second statement to be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: mr. president, on february 25, one year ago, award-winning chicago self-tony pirola woke up early to work out on his elliptical machine. he couldn't believe what he was seeing on tv. bombs, gunfire. russia's war on ukraine had begun. he thought of a young ukrainian woman who worked in one of his restaurants. he started wondering whether she and her family were safe a he asked himself what can i do? then he had an idea. he contacted the illinois restaurant association and 30 of his closest self-friends in the area and said, let's use our talents to feed people and to feed the people of ukraine who've been forced from their homes by this terrible war. less than three weeks later, chefs representing 70 restaurants around chicago dished out meals to a crowd of 2,000 people at an event called chicago chefs cook for ukraine. they sold out a rather large venue known as navy pier in chicago. they raised $650,000 in that one night and another $200,000 after. they donated all of it to the world central kitchen, the nonprofit organization founded by self-and noted humanitarian jose andres. i had a chance to meet self-andres just a few weeks before the start of the war in ukraine. i love that man. he's always so full of ideas and hope and determination. the chef came to america from spain when he was 21 years old with nothing but a set of knives and $50. he is now an american citizen with an empire of award-winning restaurants. through his work with world central kitchen, which he founded in 2010 is jose andres also has earned a reputation as first responder for food. wherever disaster strikes, it seems the world central kitchen is there to feed hungry and displaced people, usually within 24 hours. for chef tony pirola in chicago, it wasn't enough to simply raise money for the world central kitchen, as noble that is every is. after the success of chicago cooks for ukraine, tony tracked down his former employee on instadramatic and asked, are you okay? she replied, not really. my mom and dog and i are hiding in the subway in ukraine. so tony decided he had to to go to ukraine himself personally and help. two other star chefs from chicago decided to join him. when one of tony's regular customers heard that the chefs were paying for the trip out of their pocket, he said i have 5 million frequent flyer miles. i'll buy your tickets. they volunteered cooking from early morning to late at night, feeding hot meals to at many as 30,000 people a day at a polish refugee camp. helping others was not new to tony. he's known for his support of charity, including meals on wheels in chicago, st. jude's hospital and the cystic fibrosis foundation. what he saw in that refugee camp near the polish-ukrainian border broke his mart. an elderly couple left everything they had known behind, now dependent on the kindness of strangers. terrified women and children who had been forced to flee their homes carrying only what they could fit in suitcases and shopping bags. often tony said, i had to lookway to hide the tears. for his humanitarian work to aid ukrainians displaced by war and his many other charitable endeavors, chef priolo was recently honored was a chicagoan of the year, a well-deserved tribute. around the same time that chef priolo was watching the horrors unfold, senator chris coons and i sat in a dark, nearlily empty departure lounge in lithuania one morning. we were there to express support for lithuania, that small nato member who has a a a long history of russian tyranny. then while we sector the unthinkable occurred in modern europe. news broke that vladimir putin had launched a massive military invasion of ukraine. it was an ill-fated throwback to theater a when aggressor nations tried to seize their neighbor's territory by force, all in a blind pursuit of some warped soviet no, sir stahlia trip. putin was willing to sacrifice the lives of thousands of ukrainians and even russians, the reputation of his country, and the international order established after the horror of world war ii. perhaps having listened to too many years of his own country's brainwashing propaganda, putin also thought that ukraine would just fall into his lap in a matter of days or hours. he thought the tran atlantic alliance and community of democracies was a thing of the past and wouldn't dare respond. well, he was wrong on every single front. the ukrainian people repelled putin's invasion. they heroically clawed back seized territory. they withstood brutal attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, war crimes by any standard. they're united in their resistance to russia and their desire to be free to choose their own path in the future. the united states and its allies around the world have stood together in support of ukraine and against russia, and nato is on the cusp of adding two new formidable members. president biden deserves great prays for leading this global effort and prays, too, to the american people for recognizing courageous effort against tyranny and standing on the right side of history. we should not lose sight of the crimes committed by putin and the war, crimes for which he and his enablers must and will be held accountable. entire villages have been destroyed, from bucha to izium, there is evidence of who are risk mass killing,er to tour, sexual violence against innocent people. dead and mutilated bodies litter the streets. babies have been found in mass graves. these are the acts of a war criminal. that is why congress recently strengthened our nation's tools for cooperator cooperation with the international criminal court when it comes to ukraine. why we recently enacted a bill i introduced entitled justice for victims of war crimes. and it's why congress provided $45 billion in aid to ukraine in the most recent spending bill, a measure, thank goodness, with broad bipartisan support. just like the nuremberg trials and more recently the international criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia, the world will hold putin and the russians accountable for unleashing war crimes and crimes against humanity in ukraine. as president biden said in his state of the union address, the fight against tyranny in ukraine is, quote, a test for the ages, a test for america, and a test for the world. we cannot fail." i agree with the president. we must continue to stand loyally by ukraine. i will ecclesiastes with a member -- i'll close with a memory i'll never forget. it was the near the 2014, nine years ago. i was walking through kyiv's maidon square. john mccain stood by their side when others wouldn't. they loved him for it. and we started to walk into maidon square together. all around us were makeshift shrines dedicated to those involved in peaceful protests. it isest then and reflective of what we have dean during the last year in ukraine the unshakable determination of the ukrainian people to be free, to be able to democratically choose their own future just as we do in the united states. senator mccain understood it and i stood by his side. it is long overdue that president putin understands it as well. until then we will stand together with the ukrainian people in that journey towards democracy. mr. president, i yield the floor. endless escalating tactics and their scornful disregard for american sovereignty is unacceptable. i want to thank senator tester above all. he's been the leader in this whole country on this issue, and i appreciate senator collins working with him, and i appreciate both of their good work putting this resolution together with strong bipartisan unity. mr. president, this resolution condemning china is precisely the kind of bipartisanship americans expect at a time like this. instead each party attacking each other, we are united in this resolution in condemning china, exactly as we should be. and last night resolution is just one step. senator tester is also taking the lead on a bipartisan effort to get to the bottom of why we didn't learn about these balloons sooner. this is a very important question the american people deserve answers to and i am fully, fully supportive of this effort. again, this is the kind of bipartisanship the country expects when china is pushing the boundaries. made of what democrats and republicans pointing fingers at each other. they don't want any premature attacks. they want us to come together to respond to the threats posed by ccp, and that's just what we did last night. now yesterdays resolution was not the only way the senate was focused on standing firm against the ccp. we also yesterday had a a brig from the department of defense on our ongoing competition with china. i want to thank the briefing team for their hard ongoing work. while all the details are classified, i want to make a few points. .. second, china's angle with respect to the u.s. is to displace us. their main goal with respect to the u.s. is to displace us. displace our allies as world leaders in the military and geopolitical side and driving innovations of tomorrow many of which affect our national security. a.i., quantum computing, 5g and other advanced communications, bio manufacturing, generation of semiconductors. china wants to be ahead of us on everything because if they do, they will be the ones writing the rules of the road on these technologies. hypocrisy writing these rules, autocracy tec