pillars into this event is peace and the lab peace and efficiency. you go from there someone who is sick too like we have a problem, should we have response. >> so the field of epidemiology laboratory training programs really build the capacity locally because it's one thing to set up a lab. it's another think it would operate it and maintain it. so it gives us hope. those are concrete things. let's move to the microphone and have q&a. >> my name is jerry martin. i am currently faculty at the school of veterinary medicine at tufts but prior to that i ran a series of avian influenza control programs funded by usaid called stop ai, and unity based avian in indonesia. and other programs including directing the preparedness and response program. so the purpose for that context

is you talk about how we can learn from our global war and bring to back to the united states. h5n1 here in the united states obviously is a serious issue right now. there's a lot of lessons thatso were ignored through -- >> we are going to leave this here and take you back now live to the u.s. senate. here onof c-span2. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. . mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn.

mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper.

mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer.

mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley.

mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen.

ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, bennet, blumenthal, butler, cantwell, cardin, carper, collins, cortez masto, duckworth, gillibrand, hassan, heinrich, kelly, lujan, merkley, ossoff, padilla, reed, shaheen, smith, tester, van hollen, warner, warren, welch,

whitehouse, and wyden. mr. schatz, aye. senators voting in the negative -- brit -- britt, ernst, grassley, johnson, lummis, marshall, moran, paul, rounds, schmitt, sullivan, tuberville, and wicker. mr. warnock, aye. mr. peters, aye. mr. scott of florida, no. mr. hagerty, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. fetterman, aye. mr. romney, no.

the clerk: ms. rosen, aye. mr. cruz, no. mr. cassidy, no.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no. mr. cornyn, no.

the clerk: ms. sinema, aye. mr. barrasso, no.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye. mr. casey, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. king, aye. mr. scott of south carolina, no.

the clerk: mr. cotton, no.

the clerk: mr. mullin, no.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. the clerk: mr. schumer, aye. mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no. mr. graham, aye. ms. stabenow, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

the clerk: mr. braun, no. mr. hoeven, no. mr. coons, aye. the clerk: mr. cramer, no.

the clerk: mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. tillis, no.

the clerk: mrs. murray, aye. mr. budd no.

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye. the clerk: mr. young, no.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, no.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. mrs. fischer, no.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

the clerk: mr. thune, no. the clerk: ms. hirono, aye.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. tes

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. daines, no. the presiding officer: have all senators voted? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 51, the nays are 42, and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is made and laid upon the table and the president will be notified of the senate's actions. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of the following nomination, which the clerk will

report. the clerk: the judiciary, eric c. shulte, of south dakota, to be united states district judge for the district of south dakota. the presiding officer: there's now two minutes of debate equally divided. the republican -- th mr. thune: eric shulte has been nominated to fill a vacancy for the u.s. district court for the district of south dakota. he is a lifetime resident of south dakota who received his jd from the south dakota school of law in 1991. from 1999 to 2000, he's been a partner at the davenport, evans and horowitz law firm. he was a member of the south dakota state bar association from 2015 to 20 16,

he is a -- 2016, he is a member of the south dakota state society poetry magazine. mr. shulte has the experience j knowledge to be a district judge, and i believe he has the character and impartiality for a lifetime appointment on the federal bench. i strongly support his nomination and i encourage my colleaguesor confirm him 0s -- colleagues to confirm him as a u.s. district judge for the state of south dakota. madam president, i yield the floor and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

the clerk: mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. vote:

mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines.

ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith.

mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch.

mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan.

mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

the presiding officer: senators voting in the affirmative -- baldwin, brown, cardin, collins, cortez-masto, duckworth, graham, hirono, mcconnell, murray, rosen, rounds, schumer, sinema, smith, stabenow, thune, and tillis. senators voting in the negative -- budd, cassidy, cotton, grassley, hagerty, hawley, paul, ricketts, and scott of south carolina.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

mr. hickenlooper, aye. the clerk: mr. kennedy, no.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye.

the clerk: mr. reed, aye. mr. blumenthal, aye.

mr. welch, aye. mr. schatz, aye.

mr. braun, no. vote: vote:

vote: the clerk: mr. moran, aye.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. mr. lankford, no. mr. marshall, no. mr. carper, aye. ms. lummis, no.

the clerk: mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

mr. warnock, aye. mr. mullin, no. mr. wyden, aye.

the clerk: mr. young, aye. mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, aye. mr. boozman, no. mr. coons, aye. mr. wicker, aye. ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. kelly, aye.

the clerk: mr. cramer, aye.

the clerk: mr. heinrich, aye. mr. casey, aye.

mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, no.

vote:

the clerk: mrs. britt, no. mr. tuberville, no. mr. rubio, no. mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. barrasso, no. mr. king, aye. the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: ms. hassan, aye. mr. romney, aye.

the clerk: mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.

the clerk: mr. daines, no. the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye.

the clerk: mr. johnson, no. the clerk: ms. warren, aye.

mrs. blackburn, no. the clerk: mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye.

the clerk: ms. ernst, no. vote: the clerk: mr. kaine, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye. the clerk: ms. butler, aye.

the clerk: mr. merkley, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye.

the clerk: mr. cruz, no. mr. padilla, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, no.

the clerk: mr. cornyn, no. mr. hoeven,

vote:

the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye. mr. warner, aye. the presiding officer: on this vote the yeas are 61. the nays are 33.

and the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. under the previous order, the senate will resume legislative session and proceed to the consideration of s.j. res. 57 which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 387, s.j. res. 57 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rules submitted by the department of the treasury relating to coronavirus, state and fiscal recovery funds. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: thank you, madam president. madam president, i come to the floor this afternoon to talk about a great friend of mine, margaret miner. my friend margaret miner died last week.

i'm really sad about it. her family, her friends are really sad about it. because she was a great friend. she was warm and she was generous because she was funny, she was kind, because she made a lot of other people's lives better. but i'm also sad because margaret was one of a kind. she was a true renaissance woman. she was a polly math. she was voracious about taking in the world and giving back. i never met anybody like her. i'll never meet anybody like her again. i'll never see a partnership like the one she had with her late husband hugh. her legacy lives on but there's no doubt that the mold was broken in two when they made margaret minor. she was born in new york city in 1938. her parents, tony and frances,

were in show business which kind of makes sense if you know her but kind of doesn't. in 1984 she moved from brooklyn to roxbury, connecticut. roxbury is a small town, quintessential new england village in northwest connecticut. there she make a fixture in the community. she began her life's work of fighting to protect the natural beauty of this state she called home for the next 40 years. i first met marching gret as soon as i finished college. i wept to work for a congressional candidate who happened to be personal friends are margaret and hugh, and margaret and hugh also at the time pretty adept local political activists, there were no two people who worked harder for that long shot candidate, their friend, than margaret and

hugh. they did whatever their friend needed, whatever their friend's 22-year-old campaign manager needed. she and hugh were selfless. i saw that up close. i what you a good -- i saw what a good friend margaret could be. then a few years later when i was elected to the state legislate torics i got to know margaret as an advocate. she was, in those legislative halls in hartford, connecticut, nearly every single day fighting for her cause, the cause of clean water and a healthy environment. she single-handedly made her organization, rivers alliance, which she led for 18 years, a force to be reckoned with in hartford. under her leadership, rivers alliance became a force in connecticut politics. her team fought for and successfully helped to pass state laws to create a statewide water plan to protect stream flow in water courses, to ban the contaminant mtbe, to restore

and protect state funding for the u.s. geologic survey. that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of of what margaret did, in terms of what margaret and the people that she mentored produced in hartford. but her work was always about something bigger than herself or even her organization, rivers alliance. she was really dedicated to building a movement around water quality, around water health, around the environment. she helped teach people all across the state how to advocate for themselves, how to advocate for the causeses that they mutually cared about. she was an organizer of people at heart, a encouraging countless individuals all around the state and all around the country to join the causes that she d.a.r.e.ed cared about. she was just -- that she cared about. and she was just good about it. margaret wasn't a big,

boisterous personality. she was genuine and she never, ever gave up. her persistence was her calling card. her unrelenting advocacy did not go unnoticed. she received countless ar wards during her lifetime. she received the first champion of water award from the connecticut water policy council. she received the collide fischer award from the connecticut bar association. she was the first recipient of the mark taylor environmental stewardship award, the tom udall distinguished service award. i nominated her for the epa's press cy steel just merit award. people knew what she had done in connecticut. and so good for connecticut that we didn't haves to wait for margaret's passing before singling her out for their achievements in the area of environmental protection. but what made margaret so compelling, what made margaret

so amazing is that in addition to being a great friend, in addition to leading one of the state's preeminent environmental organizations, she was incredibly accomplisheded in so many other fields. the rest of her life, when you say it out loud, in addition to all of that achievement, it kind of almost sounds implausible. for instance, in her free time, march fret was a nationally known and celebrated author. not about the environment but about the history of quotable people. she was the coauthor of five dictionaries of quotations including the oxford dictionary of american quotations with her husband hugh. in her spare time she wrote five anthologies of quotations, five books. she helped found an organization called our towns for sorry paul,

an effort for the not-for-profit save the children in afghanistan. she was an international anthropivot and an environmental advocate. she wrote a consumer reports book on allergies. i didn't even know that until i read the story of margaret's life. she was an active member of the roxbury democratic town committee. and just before she passed at 86 years old, she was still sesqui on the local zoning board of appeals. she was learning spanish in her 80's. attending two classes weekly. as often as she could, she was playing poker, fleecing her friends of their money whenever possible. margaret miner was an original. as her friend will remember her, i wouldn't be here if not for margaret and for margaret and hugh. when i decided to run for congress ten years after first

meeting margaret, she was, not surprisingly, one of my first calls. i planned the early stages of my first campaign at margaret and hugh's kitchen table in their cute house in roxbury, connecticut. that is how important she was to me, and i'm one of hundreds in connecticut who can say margaret miner was one of the most important people in my life. i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. welch: madam president, i have good news. senator stabenow, leader, chair of the senate agriculture committee, has present add bill that will allow us to consider an ag bill. and we've got work to do. but as we know, for more than 90 years, the u.s. congress has -- we've always work together on this to advance a farm bill, and that's critical to rural america. it's critical to all of america. it's about our agricultural and food policy and our environment.

it reaches far beyond farms and fields and into the lives of every american throughout our country. the farm bill, as you know, shapes the future of ag policy for every five years. it's always tough to get from here to there, so we have much more work to do. but it has been something that is essential to give our farmers the support they need. and it's also the most important legislation that we take up to support rural america. the small towns across our entire country that sustain our agricultural sector, do so much for our economy, and so much for sustaining important personal and patriotic values. vermont is a very proud rural state, and agriculture is the keystone of our culture as well as economy. vermont's farmers, our dairies, our sugar makers have shaped our small towns for generationsment

we want to keep that going. we've worked to keep that culture of the small, family-sized farms in our state, independent farmers with most of our farms below a couple of hundred acres and town populations less than 2,500. madam president, vermont is by far not unique in this regard. america will not thrive if our rural communities aren't thriving. that's a commitment all of us have to make, and it's why, as the chair of the agriculture committee's subcommittee on rural development and energy, i'm urging my colleagues to support and work with us to improve the rural prosperity and food security act. it helps our farmers keep farming. it keeps our families fed. that's something very foreign our farmers. and it keeps rural communities strong. the senate agriculture committee, under chair stabenow's outstanding

leadership, recently unveiled the farm bill. our bill has over 100 bipartisan provisions and a host of policies that many of my colleagues across the caucus and across the aisle support. it will strengthen rural america in many ways. and, by the way, chair stabenow included 100 bipartisan provisions, but she is totally open to more bipartisan provisions, anything we can do to improve this with suggestions from both sides of the aisle. she and we want to do. the farm bill, as i mentioned, supports farms, families, and rural farming. it's going to improve the quality of life for families in vermont and america. with baseline funding, that's important as we know for the first time ever to make improvements in rural health care, our rural hospitals are hanging on by their if i weringnails, whether it is -- by

their fingernails, whether it is kansas or ohio. it is going to improve child care ability, which is so essential to all families across america, but especially rural america. and it is going to help our tribes continue top have access to usda programs. the senate farm bill will help us more efficiently build our high-speed rural broadband. and i want to acknowledge the work on both sides of the aisle to build out broadband. but we've got to maintain that. just like we built out electricity in the 1930's so that rural america is fully a part of the modern economy. this bill will invest in and it'll modernize waste water and public water systems, and those are under enormous stress and our local community don't have the tax base to do all that needs to be done done. there needs to be some recognition on the part of the federal government and in the farm bill we make that recognition. it'll help modernize or waste

water and public water systems and help remove in rural communities that -- those toxic forever chemicals like f pass. the bill will also support timber innovation and markets, including american wood products. the senate farm bill focuses, too, on cutting energy costs for homeowners in rural america, for farms, and for small businesses. and it helps folks who want to make that transition to renewable energy so they have an affordable way to do it. it will strengthen our energy security and support energy -- innovation in the field of biobased chemical products. the senate farm bill does something that i think all of our bills should do -- invest in the middle class, in the middle class of rural jobs by supporting manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and small businesses in the rural cooperatives that have been so essential to the well-being of so many of our communities.

a and finally, it does all of this while supporting and strengthening local and regional food systems. nothing excites pooh emin a community more than a -- nothing excites people in a community more than a farmers market. they know it's healthy. they know they're supporting their farmers and all of us who are not farmers appreciating the role that the farmers play as custodians of the landscape. madam president, in rural development energy titles of the bill alone, there's a lot to celebrate. and i'm also pleased that the bill includes many of the priorities that i and others have championed in my role as the chair of the subcommittee on rural development and energy. this bill includes some proposals we made thereto. the bipartisan reconnecting rural america act. that would strengthen usda's reconnect loan grant program and in so doing reduce red tape and

speed broadband development and deployment in rural america. it strengthens critical rural development programs like the rural innovation for strong economy program, reap zones, and rural development lens and grant. bottom line, that helps with the financing of local businesses in our rural communities. one of the provisions is a bipartisan bill that i've sponsored with others, the usda's rural energy savings program. it provides no-interest loans to rural utilities -- they've been a backbone for those communities -- to access cost-effective energy upgrades for homes and businesses. that lowers cost. and it accelerates sustainability. rural communities can finance

products for household heating and cooling, and assist in the transition to renewable energy. another provision that really is being taken up by many americans is the access to heat pumps, and the provision is the heat pump energy assistance and training act, which would create a program in usda to help deploy heat pumps in rural communities across the country. i've got to tell you folks in vermont when they get a heat pump and they stay cozy and warm in the cold winters, they like that. let's have more of it. it helps with cooling in texas as well. there's only a hand -- these are just a handful of the provisions in the rural prosperity and food security act that are helping our rural communities. so we want to keep working hard to support our farms and what they do, to shore up and expand the nutrition programs in a so many families and seniors depend

on. and, whby the way, you know the economy is doing better than ever in some ways, the stock market's up, but we have one in 12 americans who are food insecure and a lot of those who are really working hard so we have to maintain the nutrition and well being of our citizens, particularly our children. over the past 100 years, we made a commitment to america's farmers and our farm communities. we want to keep that up. but the truth also is that for too many years congress has not focused as much, in my view, as it should on our family and small farms that we have in vermont and so many other states throughout our country. we've got to make it possible for them to do the local agriculture that is so essential to the strength of local communities. we're working to support and

deliver for some of those small farmers that we have in vermont. i'll mention a few whose farms i've visited. by the way, i don't know anyone who works harder than a farmer. the course family, they have the course farm dairy and i visited there my first week as's senator. they have been farming in whit whitingham, vermont for over 155 years, we want to keep them going for another century. the shwin dairy farm at the other end of the state at highgate center, john wagner is one of the owners of the farm and roots farm, justin rich of burton rock farm, which is an organic farm in huntington. they're doing a lot for us in vermont and other communities. before i close, i want to thank

chairwoman stabenow and her senate agriculture committee staff for the work on the rural prosperity and food security act. i also want to acknowledge what a joe it is -- joy it is to work with senator boozman who is doing a great job here in the senate. this bill, in any year, is complicated, huge, and i'm thankful for the many, many hours that staff and colleagues have invested in this bill and in our farming communities. and we're ready to put in more and more hours to make this bill better. we've got to make it pass. madam president, for the sake of communities from vermont to california, we must pass this five-year farm bill and help america's farms and rural communities. let's pass the rural prosperity and food security act and keep our farmers farming, company's our -- keep our families fed and keep our rural communities strong. madam president, i yield back.

mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president, this is national police week, and it's great to be joined by so many colleagues to show our respect and admiration for america's law enforcement community. today is national peace officers' memorial day, a time to pay tribute to law enforcement officials who made the ultimate sacrifice. these men and women gave their lives to their communities, to their state, and to their country and we thank them and their families for their sacrifice. as we mourn the loss of so many of these heroes, this week is also a time to honor and thank officers who continue to keep us

safe. former dallas police officer david brown once s-- police chif david browns once said, we ask law enforcement to do too much in this country. and i agree. whether it's helping someone experiencing a mental health crisis, a drug overdose, a medical emergency or as a victim of crime, america's police officials constantly and consistently go above and beyond the call of duty. their jobs require tremendous hours and tremendous amounts of courage and sacrifice, not just from the officer who wares the -- wares the -- wears the uniform but their families as well. i'm grateful for those who serve their communities every day. the brave men and women in law enforcement deserve our appreciation, but more than that, they deserve our support. they deserve the resources, the

training, the protection needed to do their job effectively. to show our support for these public servants, congress should pass the back the blue act. this legislation adds stiff mandatory penalties that makes it a federal crime to kill or attempt to kill a law enforcement officer or a federal judge or ar federally funded public safety -- or a federally funded public safety official. it makes it a federal crime to assault a federal law enforcement officer. this legislation is needed because these men and women put themselves in harm's way every day to keep our communities safe and we must send a strong message that violence directed at them will never be tolerated. the back the blue act sends a strong message to the more than

800,000 law enforcement officers serving our country that they are supported and i hope congress will move forward to advance this legislation. today, and every day, i'm grateful for the dedicated police officers, sheriffs, constables and border patrol agents and law enforcement officials of all types who keep texas safe. like all my colleagues in congress congress, i'm thank -- in congress, i'm thankful for the men and women of the capitol police who safeguard this building and members of congress and staff and journalists and many visitors who walk these halls on a daily basis. there's nothing we can do to adequately thank them and these heroes for their sacrifices, but there's a lot we can do to affirm that support. my colleagues and i have introduced bills to boost officer recruiting and detention, improve training and

give law enforcement the resources they need to do their job safely and effectively. i hope we can advance these bills as soon as possible to show our appreciation for these heroes in blue. on behalf of the state of texas, i want to thank all of those who serve our communities and protect them and keep them safe. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: i rise today to honor the brave men and women in north carolina and across the nation who serve in law enforcement. this is an emotional week for the law enforcement community as thousands of officers and their families come to the nation's capitol for national police week. they're paying tribute to the brave officers killed in the line of duty while protecting our communities. unfortunately, north carolina's

all-too familiar with law enforcement making the ultimate sacrifice. i want to take a moment to recognize some of the law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty since last year's police week and memorial. last september, sheriff's deputy as you austin rudilhiger was killed while on patrol. he was -- last december we lost sergeant russell jones, he was taelting to -- attempting to halt an altercation at the detention center, during the encounter, sergeant jones was punched in the face, leading him to collapse minutes later and die. sergeant jones served with the pamlico county sheriff's office.

in december of last year, we lost philip dale nix of the greensboro police department. he was a sergeant in the police department. sergeant nix was off duty at a local gas station when he observed three individuals stealing alcohol. when he tried to intervene, they shot and killed him onsight. he worked for the groansborrow -- greensboro police department. just a few weeks ago on april 29, a task force of federal, state, and local law enforcement led by the u.s. mars mhal servi, during an hour's long standoff, four members of the task force were killed. it's one of the deadliest assaults on law enforcement in

this country in nearly a decade. police officer joshua eyer served six years with the charlotte police department. he's survived by his wife and 3-year-old son. sam pol of oche and investigator elliott worked for the department of corrections. elliott is survived by his wife and son. u.s. marshal deputy was a 13 year veteran of the marshal service, he is survived by his wife and four children. words alone cannot express the pain and loss aech of these -- each of these families have gone through.

they lost a loving husband -- parent. their lives will never be the same. however, they're never going to be alone because in the wake of these tragic losses, we've seen communities unite and rally to support these families. in each instance, we witnessed an outpouring of love for the fallen officers and support for law enforcement. congress should follow the example the communities have set. we can show our respect for law enforcement by taking the dangers and threats they face seriously. especially when they are deliberate, like the tragedy we witnessed in charlotte last month. that's why i introduced and reduced the protect -- rei

reint rein reintroduced the protect and serve act in congress. most people would be surprised to know that attempting to hurt a law enforcement officer is not a federal crime. this bipartisan language will change that. it sends a strong message to criminals that assaulting a law enforcement officer is inexcusable and will be medical with the full weight of our nation's criminal justice system. law enforcement has our backs every single time they put on a uniform and go on patrol. the least that congress can do is to signal to law enforcement that we have their backs too by passing the protect and serve act. they need our support now more than ever. to the men and women in law enforcement in north carolina and across this country, i want to say thank you for putting on the uniform every day to keep us safe. you deserve our gratitude.

to the families of the fallen officers, please know that while you lost a loved one, your community lost a jorge, and -- a hero, and we will never forget their service and sacrifice. god bless them all, god bless their families and god bless law enforcement in this united nation. thank you, madam president. a senator: madam president.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: madam president, thank you. this week we remember, and i join my colleagues here on the senate floor to do so publicly, we remember our law enforcement who have died in the line of duty. this week every year we pay tribute to those who serve in the uniform, and as a result of that service come to a tragic death. i offer my condolences to the people of north carolina, the families of the officers just described by the senator from north carolina. in my role as a senator, i chair -- have chaired and been the vice chair of the appropriations subcommittee that funds our national law enforcement officers. the dea, the atf, the fbi, the u.s. marshals, deputy u.s. marshal killed in north carolina just recently. it's an honor, a privilege to be able to be associated with those

who are willing to sacrifice so much for the benefit of all of us and particularly those in the community in which they live. we honor that sacrifice, that dedication, that service to our communities. we know police officers put their lives at risk. their families know they put their lives at risk every day, protect our communities and our country. while this week is a time to remember those who have passed, it's also important for us to express gratitude to those who currently serve. during this week, we will memorialize 282, 282 individual law enforcement officers, 282 heroes who during the last year gave their lives serving their community. one of those heroes was kansas officer jona oswald.

last year officer oswald was fatally shot while responding to another department, a nashing law enforcement -- neighboring law enforcement's request for help. officer oswald was just 29 years old, husband, father, father to two young boys. he had served for four years in the fairway, kansas police department. fairway, a small suburb of kansas city, population 1,170. he knew the importance of serving his community. he knew his community. this morning van overish spoke at the national police week memorial ceremony in kansas, and i said this about officer oswald. jona understood the danger before him and without hesitation he showed up over and over again to meet it. jona policed with an enthusiasm

that was hard to match. he was always vigilant. he was always eager for opportunities to help citizens of kansas and officers alike. he was employed by the fareway -- by fairway but the citizens of prairie village, mission hills, westwood, roll lynn park, mission, and others around us were helped by jona more than they will ever know. he was not so enthusiastic out of vanity or one of glory or aggression. he believed in service and in the nobility of the profession. he believed in right and wrong. he was filled with the hope that good will triumph over evil. we must remember not only his sacrifice but his example daily. words spoken this morning in topeka. thank you, officer overish for those remarks and thank you to officer oswald for his service. all too often we forget about the many important roles that

our law enforcement officials have within our communities. this extends beyond relationship between police officers and individual citizens. it's about relationships it law enforcement and key institutions in our communities, our churches, our hospitals, our schools, and our businesses. during this national police week and throughout the year, we must remember that law enforcement needs our support and not just during tough times. it's our duty. really, we have the opportunity to be grateful but it's our duty as citizens, as lawmakers, as members of the senate to support our officers, to provide them with resources and acknowledge the incredible sacrifice that's made every day. now more than ever it takes a special kind of person to be a law enforcement officer, whether sheriffs deputies, detectives, local police, tribal police, highway patrol officers, beat cops, federal agents, the kansas bureau of investigation, we hold up those who wear the badge. we honor them today as we should

every day. to them we say our respect is for you, for the ordinary examples of how you see america at its best. may god bless our law enforcement and their families. may they be safe from harm as they defend and protect the communities in which they serve and live. madam president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. a senator: madam president, i rise to join my colleague in expressing my support and admiration for the women and men who put on the blue, whether it's our southern border to our own backyards, these members of law enforcement are essential to protecting our safety and security. mr. ricketts: they're the guardians of our neighborhoods, protectors of our families. they take daily drugs like fentanyl off of our streets. as we celebrate national police

week, let's recognize the service 6 those -- service of those among us and the jobs they do that require the most of integrity, skill, and dedication. we must never forget the sacrifices that the members of law enforcement, their families make on our behalf. they work long hours, challenging conditions, dangerous areas. they serve and protect us. yet despite the dangers they face, they remain steadfast in their commitment to our communities. they are the thin blue line that protects us while we sleep. in recent years, we've seen a disturbing trend of not just disrespect toward law enforcement but violence. it's not just wrong, it's dangerous. it undermines the rule of law

and threatens the safety and security of our communities. we must send a clear message that violence against the women and men in blue will not be tolerated. we must stand with them and support them in their vital mission in our communities. on monday night, i had the opportunity to walk in a vigil, walk the beat, to honor the more than 149 members of law enforcement who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in my home state of nebraska. their names are reflected on the nebraska law enforcement memorial in grand island, nebraska. and they're remembered in the hearts of their fellow citizens today and throughout the year.

we remember ross bartlet who died last month after 30 years of service. we remember detective kerry orosco who was murdered in 2015, one day before she was supposed to go on maternity leave. we remember inspector mario harera who was killed trying to serve an arrest warrant. we remember all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe. they were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. they were heroes, and their bravery is eternal. the women and men in blue are the backbone of our communities.

we owe them a debt of gratitude that we can never repay. but we can show our appreciation for them, show our support for t them. i'm proud that in nebraska while other communities are trying to defund the police, we support the police. in nebraska we back the blue. when i was governor, we had the largest package of pro-public safety and law enforcement passed in years. we invested $47.7 million in our grand island law enforcement training facility to ensure that our law enforcement officers would get the highest level of training. we invested $16.9 million in our state patrol crime lab to make sure we could solve crimes and give the victims of crimes the justice they deserve.

instead of reducing penalties for violent crimes, my home city of omaha, nebraska, has used community engagement like omaha 360 to be able to reduce homicides. the omaha police department and omaha community has reduced homicides in each of the last three years. abc news -- abc news said the omaha police department could be a model for the rest of the nation. in addition, last year omaha police had 100% clearance rate on homicides. there were 28 murders and 28 homicide cases cleared. when the national clearance raised over 50%, a 100% rate is truly remarkable. as usual america can learn a lot from our proven solutions in

nebraska. the federal government must also back the blue. we need to secure our border and put an end to the scourge of the drugs that are killing our young people here in america. we need to pass the back to blue act to increase the penalties for criminals who target law enforcement officers. we need to provide new tools to officers to protect themselves and we need to block anticop, soft on crime policies that would hinder law enforcement's ability to do their jobs with excellence. i am committed to working with anyone who wants to make this happen. the women and men in blue have earned our respect and our gratitude, not just during police week but all year round. once again thank you to the members of our law enforcement. thank you to their families who sacrifice alongside them. you are heroes, and we are forever in your debt.

i am grateful for all that you've done for our communities. i know on behalf of all nebraskans, we support law enforcement. god bless our law enforcement officers as they keep us safe. god bless the great state of nebraska. and god bless our nation. madam president, i yield back. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: thank you, madam president. i rise today to join my colleagues in honoring the brave law enforcement officials in north dakota and across the country who work every day to keep our communities safe. as we mark national police week, we recognize the bravery and service provided by our peace officers and the sacrifices that they make on behalf of all of us. according to the fbi, more than

79,000 officers were assaulted in 2023 marking the highest officer assault rate in the past ten years. that's concerning. despite the certain danger these officers face, they take on this responsibility to protect and serve so that our communities remain safe and free. and today on national peace officers memorial day, we have the opportunity to come together as a nation to remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our communities so that we may live in safety. i would like to honor two north dakotans who were killed in the line of duty last year. the tragic loss of officer jake wallee and paul martin of the mercer county office reminds us of the dangers our law enforcement officers face every day. and the enormous debt we owe

them and their families for their sacrifices to keep our communities safe. these heroes will be forever remembered with their names inscribed on our national law enforcement memorial. we can never fully repair our police officers, but we can continue to honor those that we've lost and the sacrifices of their families and their loved ones. to honor these brave law enforcement officials, i have joined with others in introducing a resolution here in the senate to recognize their bravery and memorialize the lives of officer walleen, deputy martin and the more than 220 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2023. this dedication to community and the rule of law is characteristic of so many of our policemen and women without whose efforts our communities would not be the same. that's why our resolution also

dedicates this week as national police week and honors the bravery and good work of all law enforcement officers. one such example is fargo police officer zachary robinson. officer robinson and his wife are in washington, d.c., this week where he is one of ten -- ten -- in the whole nation to be honored as a top cop by the national association of police organizations. he was presented with the award for his horrific actions -- his heroic actions while investigating a traffic accident resulting in the death of officer walleen and the injury of officers andrew dotus and tyler hawks. fargo police chief dave sebossky summed up officer robinson's

actions that way if not for the courageous actions of officer zach robinson, he he saved many lives. we are ex-stripely proud of zach. his reaction was immediate, without hesitation and without regard for his personal safety. true bravery, end quote. he walked into a hailstorm of bullets to neutralize the situation and save lives. think what that takes. amazing. i had the opportunity to meet and visit with officer robinson and his wife today. wow, what great people. they are truly the kind of young people that should really serve as a role model for all of us, young and old. truly great americans. today and always, every day we remember the bravery and dedication of law enforcement to

keep our communities safe. we honor them, all of them, an thank them for heeding the call to serve. may god bless our police officers, each and every one of them, and their families. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. mr. barrasso: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i rice today during police week to pay tribute to sergeant,

member of the police force had in sheridan, wyoming. he was a beloved officer? sheridan -- in sheridan. he was well known for his selflessness. his colleagues will tell you he always put others first. his death in february of this year in the line of duty was absolutely tragic, and it shook our state. he was the first officer? wyoming since 1997, the first one in century to die by homicide in the line of duty. he's actually the first line of duty death in the history of the sheridan police department. sergeant krinky made the sacrifice for the community that he loved and community that he swore to protect. he was only 33 years old. in march i attended his funeral in sheridan, wyoming. so large they had to move it to the community college to the

great auditorium there. there was an outpouring of folks from all around the community as well as the state as well as the country. they were there to honor sergeant krinkee and to their his wife and young daughter. more than 1,800 people attended the community of sheridan, wyoming. they floodeded in from across wyoming and from across the country. many of them who were there to mourn his death and honor his family had never actually met sergeant krinkee. it was the largest single event in sheridan, wyoming, in 40 years. 40 years ago queen elizabeth visited wyoming and had a similarly sized crowd. law enforcement officers traveled from every corner of our state. they came from tiny towns and

they also came from big towns across the west. they all came to pay their respects to the man and their brother in uniform. as he was escorted to the memorial service, citizens lined the streets of the community, four-deep, waving american flags, absolutely beautiful to behold. one of the newspaper reporters asked a man from wyoming who had driven over 100 miles to be there why he came that far. after all, this was somebody who had actually met, or never heard of sergeant krinkee before he had been killed. he responded, i stand for those who have stood for us, and i will until the day i die. well, madam president, that shays a lot about the people of buy i would through and through. one of the greatest blessings of all great nations is the men and women of law enforcement. police officers have one of the most dangerous and demanding

jobs in our nation, and they do it with competence and with compassion. today officers need to deal with dangerous criminals, and they often do it in the face of continuous criticism. police officers across the country are coming under attack from criminals and the soft-on-crime politicians who coddle them. sadly, more police officers have been killed or injured by gunfire in the line of duty in 2023 than ever before. politicians who support criminals rather than police and demonizing and defund the police hold responsibility. the police, as a result, have been demoralized and endangered. we also see crime -- violent crime right now in america at a record high. compared to 2019, murders are up 17%. aggravated assaults are up 8%. let me be clear, defunding the

police has made or our communities less safe. for police officers it has turned the bams badges on their sleeves into targets. law enforcement officers love their communities enough to protect the communities. these are incredible men and women, to me each one is a hero, and we are grateful for each onesed every one of them -- for each and every one of them. they wear the badge. they protect our communities, despite all of this. to me, it is the definition of selflessness. to the men and women of law enforcement, you are everyday heroes, and you are among us every day. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

mr. marshall: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: madam president, this week is national law enforcement week and so we pause here in our nation's capital to honor and remember the men and women who so proudly serve, so bravely serve our communities. i'm grateful for the nearly 8,000 law enforcement officers across the state of kansas who are fighting to keep communities safe as we speak here today. i rise to honor these brave men and women in uniform and recognize the sacrifices they and their families make every day to keep us all safe. i've hosted numerous crime and fentanyl roundtables across the state of kansas, and everywhere i go, the officers toll me they're -- tell me they're overwhelmed with drug trafficking, with human trafficking, fentanyl

trafficking, that the crisis is growing, it's exploding. what they tell me is even if we doubled, if we tripled the amount of officers out of there, they could not arrest themselves out of the situation. they all, to a person, point and say -- and ask me -- when, when is the federal government going to shut down our border? so to those officers out there fighting the fight, fighting human trafficking, fighting the fentanyl poisoning, i say thank you. and i get it. i know you're overwhelmed. these officers back home are our first line of defense. they are our families, our friends and our first line of defense. now more than ever it is crucial that we demonstrate our unwavering support for them. radio end to assure them that help is on the way, that we need leaders here and an administration that prioritizes law and order. growing up, we taught to follow

the rules. we all respected the law, and we feared the consequence oz of breaking them. we, as a country, respected our law enforcement officers. perhaps no one more than myself could appreciate law enforcement, the son of a career police officer, the son of a chief of police, and what i'll always remember about what my dad taught me about law and order is that he would apply the law equally. he didn't care what your last name was. he didn't care what side of the railroad tracks you came from. he was going to apply the law equally. i'm honored to celebrate all these who have protected and served our communities and want to close today by remembering two kansas officers who lost their lives this past year. goodlynn, kansas, police chief frank hayes jr. and police

officer jonah oswald. i'm grateful for their service and the ultimate sacrifice they made keeping their communities safe. i want to remember their families and let them know that we're thinking of you today, that we've not forgotten you or your loved one. and that we're going to continuing to mourn with you. again, we're grateful for the sacrifices you made and your loved one to keep us all safe. madam president, i yield back:

.

[applause] >> president yost is the way president executive director jimmy pascoe thank you for your service to our nation and for inviting me to join you once again today. i would also like to thank the attorney general and deputy attorney general monaco and deputy of the home and security secretary mayorkas and dark to the fbi's secret service alcohol tobacco and firearms u.s. marshals service and the capitol police for their leadership. i'm joined by my good friend wade carpenter president of chief of police and ed kelly president of the firefighters union did we think human members of congress here today. two weeks ago i was in north

carolina and time with the families of the police officers who were shot in the line of duty. tragically, for them are killed. they were husbands, fathers, heroes and all of you who serve for your families left behind you with the simple truth every time you put on that shield and walk out of the house your family wonders when that call will come or if they will get that call somewhere during the day or the night. we owe you a as a nation. this year with over 200 heroic women and men from all across the law enforcement community who made the ultimate sacrifice. to all the families of our fallen officers i know hearing the name of your husband wife father mother son daughter brother or sister brings it all

back and you got that news just 10 minutes ago. that black hole in the middle of your chest where you feel like you're being pulled in by your soul. i know. when my son bo a year in iraq and came home with stage iv glioblastoma and was going to die and he did i know what it's like. i have that feeling as you all know as well that i have lost in the past. you know i found out there's only one thing that we suffer me when i got the call that my wife and my daughter for dead and my son was about to die, i know only one thing helped, family. if you have family hold them tight. hold on to each other. the day will come it's hard to

believe when the thought of your husband your wife, your son or your daughter brings a tier two your eye. it takes a long time but it will come. i wish yours to come later. they also served in stand and wait every family and officer stands and waits to serve the rest of it. i my or your courage in being here. i hope you take comfort in the knowledge that your sacrifice will never be forgotten your extended family of women and men who are here today will always be there for you. other police officers will always be there for you. on a r senator schmitt dealing with r infrastructure funding.

the discussion of the resolution has been pretty quiet because on its face it looks like it's an issue dealing with a lot of budgetary lingo and washington-ese. obligated funds and expenditure deadlines is what people hear about. but the reality is this proposal is anti-infrastructure. it could put stop work orders on thousands of infrastructure projects across the country. some of them have shovels in the ground as we speak. and my concern, mr. president, we pass this, and we'd be going virtually from a period where folks in georgia and elsewhere had hard hats on to they're facing layoffs. here's the background. in 2021, the congress passed

emergency funding for state and local governments. at the time there was a big concern their budgets would get hammered by the pandemic which put millions out of work. but state and local governments fared better than expected. later on senators were looking on a bipartisan basis to smart ways to rebuild our infrastructure, roads and bridges and highways, water and sewer, also broadband projects. and there was bipartisan agreement that congress ought to allow that leftover state and local funding to be repurposed for these important infrastructure projects. so both sides of this chamber, republican side, the democratic side, mr. president, passed legislation multiple times, even by unanimous consent, that provided what the states and localities wanted, which was more flexibility. we hear our colleagues on the other side talk a lot about wanting to cut red tape, get the

federal government out of the way, empower the states, laboratories in democracy. here's a case where my colleagues on the other side got exactly what they wanted -- more flexibility for the states to use taxpayer funds on infras infrastructure. have a highway concern? a highway that needs widening? a water system with lead pipes that needs replacing? congress voted on a bipartisan basis to make that easier. it's a real head scratcher why republicans would now want to make this difficult. some of the queues the treasury department are playing around with, the expiration of the program. that hasn't happened at all. it the same time lines republicans and democrats dpraed on as recently as a few short months ago.

i mentioned at the outset that this resolution puts a stop work order on thousands of projects nationwide. the numbers just really stun you when you walk through them. on the finance committee, we asked the treasury department what the impact could be in specific states. here's an example. in the senate's president state of georgia, 17 projects totaling $1.4 billion to be terminated. michigan, 160 projects. arizona 50 projects. montana 404 projects. west virginia, 73 projects. nationwide, mr. president, there could be thousands of projects closed. tens or even hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. higher costs for families and businesses that had to wait far too long for congress to get serious about infrastructure. i'll just tell my colleagues, as we dpeer up for a vote, this --

gear up for a vote, this one is one of the most unusual votes that i've seen recently, a true head scratcher. bipartisanship, we all know, is a heavy lift, but the progress we've made on this issue, in my view, is actually a bipartisan highlight of the last several years. i talk to my colleagues a lot about how we find some common ground. here we have from day one senator cornyn, my colleague on the finance committee, and senator padilla working from the outset to add additional flexibility for the pool of funds that would be availability. so a republican united states senator, a democratic united states senator put together a proposal -- now get this, colleagues -- passed by unanimous consent three times. so if the senate was to walk

back this bipartisan effort originally led by a senator from california, a democrat; a senator from texas, a republican, the bottom line would be that starting almost immediately, mr. president, those hard hats that i mentioned in states like yours and others could be coming off, and they'd be looking at ways to keep a roof over their head and pay for food for their families and health care. so i'll close by this. i just don't see a good reason for the united states senate to backtrack on solid bipartisan progress and have this chamber act in a way that leaves more of our nation's infrastructure in a state of disrepair. i urge my colleagues to preserve

the bipartisan work that has been done on this issue, that got strong, strong votes three times, preserve the work that's been done on this issue for infrastructure, oppose the resolution, and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. sxhi mr. schmitt: i rise in support of the resolution that affects

the coronavirus state in local fiscal funds. treasury tried to keep the spending spigot on is an insult to congress and those who believe in our constitution as well as a complete misuse of taxpayer dollars. as we vote today, we as a body must ask ourselves a couple of simple questions. first, are we going to allow funds meant for covid recovery to be spent after the so-called quote, unquote, emergency ended? or are we finally able to install fiscal responsibility as our national debt spirals further out of control? and, second, are we willing to defend the article 1 branch from an overreaching agency of bureaucrats who want to claim more and more power for themselves? the spending in this program which is hardly the point right now actually with extension of the time has been worth noting

has been wasteful in many cases. i don't think one could imagine the fund would have been used for golf courses and swimming pools and tennis courts -- maybe to some. it also became a slush fund to incentivize illegal immigration. $340 million for cash payments to illegal immigrants in washington state. $3.6 million in illinois to help dmreel immigrants ap -- illegal immigrants apmriep for citizenship. two million in d.c. to help turn the district of columbia into a, quote-unquote, proud sanctuary city. regardless of whether you supported the pending or not, this fund had a specific purpose. this fund was designated to aid state governments and lowell governments with revenue shortfalls tied to the covid-19 pandemic. when congress created this fund, congress provided a clear restriction. in statute, congress required that all costs incurred with

money from this fund must be incurred by december 31, 2024. that is the statute that's congressional language. in short, recipients had over three years to obstetrical gate this funding -- obligate this funding or the funding would be returned to the federal treasury. most states and localities understood the requirements. as of march of 2023, over a year ago, all states obligated at least 60% of their funding while localities obligated over 54%. while most people in this body were celebrating thanksgiving with their families, the treasury department tried to pull a fast one on the american people. the treasury department decided it knew better than this body and better than congress and the department rewrote the law to fit its own needs and special interests. even though the statute said all costs must be incurred by the end of this calendar year, the treasury department decided that receipts could still, that receipts could still use these

covid recovery dollars way past 2024. this is infuriating on a bunch of different levels. first the administration ended the funding for the pandemic in 2023. most moved on well beyond that but even this administration acknowledged a year ago that it was over. it's also crazy because even though this administration said covid ended about a yearing a bureaucrats in the treasury decided we should keep spending money anyway, spending billions into 2025 and 2026 to recover from covid. just think about that for a second. beyond this. beyond there being no racial reason for continuing the spending for covid recovery, this rule does not even keep the spigot on in order to directly benefit our constituents. this is bureaucrats giving a

helping hand and a paycheck, you guessed it, to other bureaucrats. earlier this week secretary yellen attempted to assert that if this ruling is overturned, that infrastructure projects would grind to a halt. that is false. that is not true. this administration is once again using fearmongering as a reckless tactic for a radical agenda. let's be honest with the american people and look at the text of this rule. under this new treasury rule, the funding is limited to administrative and legal costs such as compliance costs and internal control requirements. this rule ensures that funding does not go to bridges or broadband, but to bureaucrats. and this rule has real costs. this rule, if it continues, will cost taxpayers at least $13 bi $13 billion, if not more. that boils down to about 1200 for each and every american

family. and around here, as i've learned, $13 billion doesn't seem like a lot of money to people, but we're $34 trillion in debt. we're spending nearly the same amount on interest payments on that debt as we do on national defense. this fiscal recklessness is unsu unsustainable. the actions like this from the treasury rule are a prime reason why we are $34 trillion in debt. our constituents demand that we actually hold the line, that we stop spending beyond our means, especially when the rules encourage spending that is wasteful. i ask my colleagues to join me today in supporting this resolution. covid is over. our national debt is out of control, inflation is sky high. it's time to reinstate fiscal responsibility here in the united states senate. i yield back the remainder of my time, mr. president, and ask for

the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: i'm going to be very brief. i want senators to know that this is about standing up for schools that need to replace lead pipes. that's the kind of effort that senator cornyn, senator padilla, myself, and others said was essential for this country. my colleague from missouri a--

and i look forward to getting to know him more, he's new to the senate -- sets this up that somehow this is unnecessary and basically just fueling more red tape. quite the opposite. if colleagues go home this weekend during the recess, they will see people in their states having good-paying jobs for a good day's work, repairing bridges, dealing with lead pipes, and that's, colleague, why on three separate occasions the senate democrats and republicans came together. and my colleague, i don't ever want to be critical of someone's intention, has made it out that this will just be getting rid of

some red tape and bureaucracy. i want senators who are going to vote in a little bit to understand that is -- this is not about that. this is for communities so many -- where so many are hurting. what i have in my mirror is for schools to replace lead pipes. that's what we had in mind when we started this effort. senator cornyn on the other side, myself, senator padilla. i hope the senate won't vote here at 6 o'clock to essentially pull this effort up from the roots and throw it aside. because a lot of people will get hurt and senators are going to hear about it pretty soon because these are projects that are underway today. they're underway now, and democrats and republicans felt

they'd make a difference for our communities and we shouldn't tear up that effort in the same of this resolution that tries to suggest that this is mostly about cutting, you know, red tape, which is not the case. it's about cutting jobs in our communities and we're going to lose a lot of opportunities for some smart investments for the future. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. schmitt: just to respond briefly. it may not be his priority list, but it's worth pointing out, some priorities like the $340 $340 million cash payments to illegal immigrants have been from this fund. my concern from the colleague replacement for lead pipes, if they've been obligated, nothing will change about that. i want to make that very clear. in fact, those obligations are still extended through 2024, as the statute called for.

what this is all about is one simple fact. do we think that treasury can rewrite the law to extend these bureaucratic statements that by the way are the admissions that state and local officials have made for legal fees and compliance costs. this is to get overtime for two more years to spend approximately $13 billion. and, again, that is $1200 out of the budgets of american families across this country. and so we have an opportunity to restore some fiscal sanity, to stand up for the article 1 branch, whether you agree with that law or not, it said that those obligations had oto occur before 2024, we're just saying that they can't do an end run

around congress. with that, mr. president, i yield back and ask for the yeas and nays. mr. schmitt: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the scheduled roll call vote take place immediately. the presiding officer: is there objection? under the previous order, the joint resolution is considered read a third time, the yeas and nays are previously ordered and the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins.

mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich.

the clerk: mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin.

the clerk: mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. s skal. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. reed. mr. risch. mr. romney. mr. rounds. mr. rubio.

mr. sanders. mr. schatz, mr. schmitt -- mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. m ms. stabenow. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

vote:

vote:

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- blackburn, cornyn, cotton, daines, ernst, grassley, lankford, risch, romney, rubio, schmitt, scott of florida, tillis. senators voting in the negative -- baldwin, butler, carper, cortez masto, duckworth, durbin, fetterman, gillibrand, heinrich, hickenlooper, kaine,

merkley, ossoff, peters, sinema, stabenow, wyden. the clerk: mr. padilla, no. the clerk: ms. lummis, aye.

mr. reed, no.

the clerk: mr. young, aye. mr. schumer, no. mr. warner, no.

the clerk: mr. tuberville, aye. ms. collins, aye. mr. rounds, aye. mr. coons, no. mr. cardin, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, aye. the clerk: ms. klobuchar, no. mr. schatz, no. ms. cantwell, no.

the clerk: mr. cramer, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. the clerk: mr. sanders, no. mr. graham, aye. mr. hagerty, aye.

mrs. britt, aye. the clerk: mr. cassidy, aye. vote:

the clerk: ms. rosen, no.

the clerk: mrs. shaheen, no. mr. sullivan, aye. mr. mullin, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, aye.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye. to mrs. fischer, aye. mrs. murray, no.

mrs. hyde-smith, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, no.

mr. budd, aye. ms. hirono, no. mr. braun, aye. mr. wicker, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of south carolina, aye.

mr. johnson, aye. the clerk: mr. welch, no. mrs. capito, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, aye.

the clerk: mr. warnock, no.

the clerk: ms. warren, no.

the clerk: mr. barrasso, aye. the clerk: mr. king, no.

the clerk: ms. hassan, no.

the clerk: mr. moran, aye.

the clerk: mr. thune, aye.

the clerk: mr. murphy, no. mr. blumenthal, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, no. the clerk: mr. van hollen, no.

the clerk: ms. murkowski, aye. the clerk: ms. smith, no.

vote:

the clerk: mr. kelly, no. mr. cruz, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, no. mr. lujan, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. whitehouse, no.

>>. the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 46, the nays

are 49, and the joint resolution fails at passage. mr. murphy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. murphy: madam president, it's been 98 days, almost 100 days, since senate republicans killed the toughest border security bill, the toughest bipartisan border security bill, that has been before the senate in nearly a generation. we are proud that our nation is a nation with a robust history of immigration.

we know that our future involves inviting people to come to this country to seek a better life, to be part of our growing economy, to start their own businesses, to flee violence or terror or torture. we're proud of our history of immigration. we noticed america only thrives in the future by committing ourselves to a future of robust immigration. but what has been happening at the border over the past several years is unsustainable. we want people to come to this country, but we cannot handle five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten thousand people arriving on a daily basis. our system of legal immigration is broken. people come to the united states, they apply for asylum, and they often don't get their chance to make their case for ten years. that's not fair to those individuals, but it's also not

fair to others who have been waiting outside of the united states to apply to come here. our immigration system is out outdated. it's in need of reform. our border is underresourced, with statutes that are equally outdated. right now, there is only one party, the democratic party, that is serious about adding resources to the border, about updating our outdated laws, because it's been 98 days since a bipartisan border security bill, negotiated by senate repub republicans, including senate republican leadership, and senate democrats, came to this floor and was defeated, because republicans would not vote for it. republicans would not vote for the bipartisan border security bill, not because it was an ineffective bill. in fact, quite the opposite.

senate republicans defeepted the bill -- defeated the bill because it would be effective. now, that doesn't make sense, right? why would that be? why would senate republicans vote against a bipartisan border security bill that would have been effective at bringing order to the southwest border? the reason is this -- republicans have decided that they don't want to solve the problem at the border. republicans have decided that they want this issue to be outstanding, they want the border to be chaotic, they want the border to be a mess, because it helps for their political purposes, it helps win an ele election. if the border was under control, if there were less people brenning, if it was -- presenting, if it was more orderly, that would be good for the country, but that might not be good for republican electoral prospects, and therein lies the reason we have not had action on the bipartisan border bill.

because democrats want to get something done, republicans want to keep this issue open, they want to keep the border a mess for political purposes. you don't have to listen to me. senator mcconnell said it out loud. senator lankford said it out loud. the reason that this bill was defeated 98 days ago was because donald trump told republicans that it's better for republicans to keep this issue alive and to not change the law to secure the country. tomorrow, i'm going to reintroduce the bipartisan border bill, and my hope is that we will bring that bill to the floor for a vote, to give my republican colleagues another chance to do the right thing. another chance to choose the

safety and security of this country over the political prospects of their candidate for president. americans want us to come together to pass border and immigration reform. they support compromise between the two parties. and that's exactly what the bipartisan border bill represented. senator lankford and i do not share views on the border. senator mcconnell and senator schumer do not share views on the border. but we all sat in a room for four and a half months, along with senator sinema, in order to find a compromise that would better secure our border and create a more humane, more efficient mechanism to bring people into this country le

legally. let me just briefly talk about what this bill does, because it will make sense to americans when you hear it. there's nothing radical in this bill. it's commonsense changes to our laws. first, it gives the president new authority to better control the border. we can't handle 10,000 people crossing a day. and so what this bill does, it says that on periods of time where there are unusually high numbers of people crossing the southwest border, the president can close portions of the border, stop accepting asylum applications until the numbers are rediced to the point -- reduced to the point where our resources at the border meet the number of people who are arriving. in is a bold -- this is a bold new power, a bold new authority for president biden. but it's necessary, because

there are simply some times, some days, some weeks when the numbers are too high. the second thing this bill does is significantly reform our asylum application system. as i mentioned, you come to the southwest border, you present an application for asylum, and we are so backed up in that system that it often takes people five to ten years before their claim is heard. that's not right, for that individual or for the country writ large. so this bill shortens that time frame, with new laws and new resources. so instead of taking ten years for a migrant to have their asylum claim heard, it can now take ten days, a few months. now, that's the right thing to do, but it also has the effect of dramatically changing the calculus for people thinking about paying a trafficker $5,000, $10,000 to come to the united states. if they know they have an

illegitimate claim, and it will be judged so within week, they won't pay the $5,000 to come to the united states. today, they might be willing, because even if they have an illegitimate claim, they can stay in the u.s. for fife, ten -- for five, ten years. of this changes the risk people are willing to take. but this bill also understands that we should have more legal pathways to come to the united states, and when people come to the united states and are waiting to have their claims heard they shouldn't be living in the shadows. so this bill also increases the number of work and family visas by 250,000 over the course of five years to allow more legal, planful pathways for people to come to the united states. the bill also allows for individuals who arrive at the border to get immediate work authorizations in most cases. so that while their application is pending, they can work, so you don't have the situation we have today, where people are being warehoused in homeless

shelters, in hotels, without the ability to work, while they're waiting for their claim to be processed. and this bill does create some pathways for individuals who are here today to become citizens, in particular our afghan partners who fought with us, who stood with us in afghanistan, under this bill get the opportunity to become american citizens. and the children of high-tech workers here on temporary visas, who might have been born outside of the united states but were raised here in the united states. they get a chance to stay here as well. that's just a handful of the changes in the bill that enhance protections and benefits for individuals who are awaiting the determination of their claim to be processed. but the combination of these changes, the new authorities at the border, the emergency authority, the new asylum system, combined with some new protections for individuals who

are coming to the united states, it represents a true compromise between republicans and democrats, between right and left. it's exactly what the american people want. so my hope is that our republican colleagues have had the chance to rethink their vote from several months ago. my hope is that republicans will decide to do the right thing for the country, the right thing for the border. we negotiated this bill at the request of republicans. the chief republican negotiator, senator lankford, was chosen by the republican conference. senator mcconnell and his staff were in the room for all of those negotiations. the republicans voted against it, with the exception of four of our colleagues, for one reason and one reason only -- president trump said it would be

better for republicans to keep this issue open, to keep the border a mess, better for republican presidential and congressional campaign prospects. so tomorrow, i will reintroduce this legislation. i don't expect it will get every single democratic vote, because it's a true compromise. but i expect it will get enough democratic votes that if half of the senate republican caucus votes for it, it will pass, and we'll be a step closer to doing what america wants, continuing our tradition of robust legal immigration, building upon our tradition as a country founded upon immigration.

but doing it in a legal way and creating a much more orderly system at the border. that he is what our country wants. get the border you understand control. the bipartisan border bill does both of those things and my hope is that we can come together and republicans will choose this country and border security over the political prospects of their presidential candidate, donald trump. i'm glad to be joined on the floor by a number of my democratic colleagues today to talk about the importance of this measure, the chance the senate has to act in a bipartisan way on border security, and with that, i would yield the floor.

murmur madam president -- mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i thank my colleagues. i will be brief. i want to thank my friend, senator purr first, for bringing us to the -- senator murphy, for bringing us to the floor this evening to talk about the need to fix our border with bipartisan, bipartisan action. senator murphy did outstanding work earlier this week along with senator sinema, lankford and others, by doing what others thought impossible -- producing a real, necessary, and bipartisan border bill. when our bill was first released, a lot of our republican colleagues were surprised with how strong it was, but then, as we all know, donald trump came barging in and told his maga supporters to kill the bill.

democrats have not walked away from this issue. we believe if you're going to call something an emergency, then we cannot act -- wait to act. we hope, despite republicans' opposition a few months ago, that our colleagues are willing to join us to secure the border, as they said they've wanted to do. after all, how many times have we heard from our republican colleagues through speeches, press conferences, letters that fixing the border -- quote -- cannot wait. they said it cannot wait. well, we don't want to wait any longer. just listen to the words from the other side going back years about the need to act. quote, the crisis requires swift, serious, and substantive action, unquote. that was what my colleague from wyoming said recently. or how about this -- the time to act on it is yesterday. that's what speaker mike johnson said. standing at the border at the beginning of this year. or how about the words of donald trump --

tonight i am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country. that is what donald trump said in his 2019 state of the union address. and, you know what? democrats agree -- congress should act. we believe the status quo cannot continue, but here's the thing -- the only real long-term solution to the southern border is bipartisan legislation. that's the only way you get things done around here -- bipartisan, bipartisan legislation that, like the bill we had here in the senate three months ago, bipartisan legislation like the one we wrote to hire thousands of more border agents and thousands of more asylum officers and invest billions to stop the flow of fentanyl and other drugs. the conservative "wall street journal" editorial board, hardly a friend of this side of the aisle, here's what they said --

they said, quote, a border bill worth passing, unquote. the head of the u.s. chamber of commerce called it, quote, a commonsense measure. and maybe most -- most importantly, the president of the national border patrol council, a union extremely conservative, very close with president trump, called it, quote, far better than the status quo, unquote. i ask my republican colleagues, if a border security bill was good enough to win the support of actual border agents, shouldn't it have been good enough to win the support of the republican senate? if we want to fix asylum and stop fentanyl and hire more agents, shouldn't we pass a bill that actually fixes asylum, stops fentanyl, and hires more agents? that is precisely what our border bill would have done. that's precisely why we made such a strong push in the senate

to as if three months ago and that's precisely the bill that donald trump killed in a vein attempt to gain an edge on the campaign trail. he was clear about what he did. he said, quote, please blame it on me, as if it were all a game to donald trump. i'm used to donald trump saying it. speaker pelosi and i were at the white house when he was thinking of shutting down the government, and he said, blame it on me. didn't work out so well for him. it's not going to work out so we will for him this time either. the american people do not have the luxury of playing partisan blame games. they want bipartisan action to secure our border. democrats stand ready to work with republicans to pass bipartisan border security. we hope our republican colleagues stand ready to take action, too. madam president, i want to thank my colleagues for being here. the democrats are going to continue to pursue this issue. we believe the public agrees with us. passing a bipartisan bill is a lot better than making a lot of

speeches, doing a lot of finger-pointing and getting nothing done on the border. i again thank my colleagues. i thank senator murphy for his great leadership. and we have a number of our colleagues here tonight. i thank you for coming. it shows the importance we give to had this issue. -- we give to this issue. mr. kelly: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kelly: madam president, as my colleague from connecticut said, it's been nearly 100 days since my republican colleagues walked away from a bipartisan border security agreement. that's nearly 100 days that my state of arizona and other border states have had to live with the consequences of that failure. we could have been on our way to hiring more than 1,000 additional border patrol agents and paying them better.

we could have new technology to detect fentanyl and more personnel to seize those drugs, keeping them from getting into our communities and killing people. we could have new authorities to prevent the border from being overwhelmed, authorities that the president committed to using. that includes an updated asylum system with more officers to quickly screen claims. all of these things are things that my republican colleagues have wanted for years. arizona today has none of it. and, madam president, i think you know why. the federal government has failed arizona on the border for decades. sadly, it's almost expected at

this point. but no past failure is as baffling and as cynical as this one. because for once, we all agreed that the business-as-usual approach, it wasn't working. that our immigration process and infrastructure can't handle the new realities at the border. because for once there was a real plan worked on and agreed to by republicans and democrats, ready to be signed into law by the president. we had an opportunity to defy the low expectations that the american people have for congress and actually do something in a bipartisan way to start fixing the border. but that's not what happened. senate republicans walked away. well, actually they ran away

from this agreement. because too many politicians would just prefer to keep talking about a problem than actually solve it. this failure isn't theoretical in my state. over the past three months, the tucson sector has remained the busiest for illegal crossings in the country. our communities and nonprofits have been stretched to the breaking point to prevent mass releases of migrants onto the streets. border patrol and local law enforcement, they're strained. so are ports of entry. -- where long wait times and packed families and businesses. did i mention that we could have had 1,000 more border patrol agents? a thousand.

it's a difficult situation that would be more manageable if the senate had done its job three months ago. that's not just me saying this. that's what you'll hear from anyone who lives or works on the border, including the border patrol union. it's what i assume that my colleagues are hearing from mayors and law enforcement when they do their fact-finding missions, tours, and field hearings on the border. so why don't we just listen to the folks that are most affected by the crisis at the border and actually do something about it. let's pass this bipartisan border agreement. the only thing that's changed from three months ago is that we've wasted more time. the problem still exists. the solutions are the same ones

that we negotiated together. and if you aren't convinced by every piece of it let's debate it. and if you think it needs something added or taken away, let's vote on amendments. we just need some -- some of our republican colleagues to join us, and we can open up the debate on this legislation. think about it. we can -- we can be the senate that finally breaks through the gridlock and does something meaningful on the border. madam president, let's defy those low expectations that the american people have for us. that's what they deserve from us. thank you, and i yield the floor.

ms. stabenow: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. ms. stabenow: thank you, madam president. what a wonderful thought the senator from arizona said -- defy expectations and actually get something done. you know, we have attempted so many times to do immigration reform and border security reform, and somehow it's always gotten stuck, unfortunately over politics. and this is the moment. i was so excited when senator murphy and senator sinema and senator lankford came together and everyone was focused on actually negotiating a strong, bipartisan bill. and, unfortunately, because of politics again, it has not yet happened. madam president, on april 2, donald trump came to grand rapids, michigan, lamenting what's happening at the border and using the tragic death a young woman who was a domestic violence victim to politicize

what's happening. while he lied and said he met with the woman's family and the family indicated he did not, he was more willing to exploit her death for his own politics than to support the passage of our strong, bipartisan border bill. as we know, republicans like to portray themselves as being the party of national security. if you want your family to be safe, then republicans say you should vote for republicans. well, 98 days ago they had a chance to boost our national security by voting for a strong border security bill, written by republicans and democrats together. and 98 days ago they killed the bill, and we all know why. unfortunately, and honestly awe

amazingly to me after all that incredible work to get this done, they end up voting no, they killed the bill because donald trump told them to. and as he was calling around, he shockingly said, just tell them -- please, blame it on me. well, in fact we are. we are blaming it on him at his request because he's the one that stepped in because of politics and said, no, i don't want to solve this. i don't want to solve this h i want chaos an the border. i don't want to solve this. this will help the president -- or it'll help somebody else other than him. and he convinced republicans to vote no. madam president, the democrats want to address the challenges at the border.

we know they're real, we know they're serious. we want to do the things that will make a difference. we want to give the biden administration additional tools to solve them. and that's exactly what this legislation does. and i want to again say this was legislation strongly bipartisan, negotiated by senator murphy and senator lankford and senator sinema and a group of our colleagues coming together on both sides of the aisle in good faith for months, months of work. and it's clear that this legislation was significantly improve our nation's security in a number of important ways. it would fix the broken asylum system we keep hearing about. it needs to be fixed. it would stop the flow of deadly fentanyl. and as i know the presiding officer knows, this is serious.

it's not just at the southern border. it's in new hampshire, it's in michigan, it's across the country. this bill is an effective tool, providing resources and technology to protect our kids, to protect people from fentanyl overdoses. it gives the president tools to manage the border. it invests inning border agents -- it invests in border agents and security. and the border security unions, border patrol unions said yes, this would make a difference, please support this bill. and these, this union supported former president trump, but they said we want to fix the border. we support this bill. it is incredibly important that the tools we put in place for the president and the resources be put in place to address the

issues. it's also important to know that this importantly expands legal pathways to citizenship and increases access to work authorizations, and those immigrants who serve in our military would gain quicker access to citizenship, something i think we can all agree that they've earned. so it's important that this get done, and i would just emphasize again it's not just about the southern border, as a northern procedure state in michigan. this bill would provide up to $100 million in grants to my state, to northern states, to local and tribal law enforcement agencies to secure our country's northern border. and there's so much more in here that solves a series of problems

while treating people with dignity and creating opportunity. we stand ready to pass this legis legislation. we are committed to border security. this is no joke. this is something that we all should come together about. and we want to keep our communities safe. that's what this months-long process was all about, the serious negotiations, people working hard to come together on some really tough issues. and they did. we did. and just before we're going to vote, just before we were going to vote, donald trump appeared and said wait, stop, stop, stop. you're not like seriously going to solve this, are you? no, no, no. i want the pictures of chaos at

the border. i don't want you actually governing and solving the problem. i don't want people coming together, republicans and democrats, and actually getting something done. but that's what we were poised to do. and 98 days ago, 98 days ago republican colleagues killed the toughest border security bill in decades. we're not done. we're not giving up. we're not giving up. this is so important, we're not giving up. our message is it's time to stop the politics. it's time to put the ear plugs on when it comes to donald trump and focus on what really needs to get done, what's the right thing to do. it's time to fix the problems at the border, and we remain ready, willing, and able to get this done. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i'm honored to follow my colleagues who have spoken so pow powerfully on this issue, and am grateful to my colleague from connecticut for his leadership, as well to leadership schumer. we're a nation of immigrants, proudly and gratefully. immigrants have made this nation the greatest in the world, and yet we have a broken immigration system. and fortunately for our nation, people want to come here every week. i try to go to the immigration and naturalization ceremonies in my state. they're held in the courthouses.

and i tell new citizens on those occasions that they are to be thanked for wanting to become united states citizens. they will never take it for granted. they passed the test that most americans couldn't pass, and they smile or laugh because they know it's true. they've already contributed to their community. some have served in uniform. and i look at them, and i say this is what america looks like. this is what my dad looked like in 1935 when he came to this country speaking no english, knowing no one, having not much more than the shirt on his back. my immigrant story is not unlike many in this chamber, certainly in this nation. and this broken immigration system is unworthy of our great nation. we need to fix it.

we tried with comprehensive immigration reform. in 2013 i was part of that effort and helped to write the bill that was passed overwhelmingly in the united states senate on a bipartisan basis, with support on both sides of the aisle, and never was given a vote in the house. we can do bipartisan immigration reform, and we know how to do it. in fact, democrats and republicans came together about 100 days ago and arrived at some solutions that put us on a path to fixing our broken border. it's not the 2013 bill because it's not comprehensive. that bill provided a path to earn citizenship for undocumented people in this

country, millions of them. it provided a path for dreamers. it provided for border security, literally tens of millions of dollars. and for more visas. and the bill that was negotiated 100 days ago and that should have passed 100 days ago would have begun the painstaking, laborious, difficult, complex task of immigration reform. we often hear republicans talk about the need to secure the border. at almost every judiciary committee meeting that i attend, republicans talk about the border. and they want to talk about the border so much that they actual actually sent us contrived articles of impeachment against

a cabinet secretary for the first time in 150 years, knowing that it would go nowhere. they are making border security a political weapon. really it's a political stunt. and that is why they refuse to vote for the negotiated compromise that will be before us beginning tomorrow again and next week. the conversation on the floor tonight is a prelude to the battle that we will have again tomorrow and i hope next week when we will all be given a chance to go on record. and all we're asking of our republican colleagues is that they put their votes where their mouths are.

america is angry, and america should be angry about the lack of border security and about the lack of serious purpose on the part of my republican colleagues and on their failing to do their job simply because of the political directive of one donald trump. it is another example of how the cult of donald trump has infected our political process to the grave damage and detriment of all america. democrats spent months dpothing with republicans -- negotiating with republicans and developing that compromise border bill, the strongest bill in a generation, endorsed by the national border patrol council and the union of border patrol agents.

and it would have reformed our asylum system, as you've heard, and empowered the president to help manage challenges at the border. but it also would have expanded work opportunities and some legal pathways to enter the united states, including afghan nationals who assisted our armed forces and our diplomats stood by them at grave risk to themselves. it was a tough compromise and it limited asylum claims in ways that many democrats and i were wary of because it was a compromise. but as soon as the bill was released and after it was agreed to by republicans' chosen negotiator, the republicans torpedoed it, and they torpedoed

it for one reason. because they wanted it as a political issue. they killed the bill because donald trump demanded it. as we have heard tonight, donald trump said, please blame it on me, and we're here tonight to do it because the blame is well deserved. so trump and his allies have repeatedly shown that they prefer talk over action, that they prefer political games m.a.p.ship over the -- gamesmanship over the hard work of bipartisanship on this issue. we're not giving up, not going away, not abandoning this effort. it will continue to be our work, my life's work as the son of an immigrant dedicated to sensible

and responsible immigration reform, comprehensive reform. this bill is not the last word, but it is a start. and we will pursue bipartisan action over political gamesmanship. republicans need to decide if they want to take action or just continue to talk. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: madam president, i want to join the senator from connecticut in thanking senator murphy for his leadership not only in bringing this group together today, but also of this very important bill and effort to take on the issues on the border. as we face global and domestic threats, including a surge at the border, securing our borders and points of entry could not be more important. we had this opportunity to move

forward in a bipartisan matter on a praud reform bill that senators murphy, lankford, and sinema spent months negotiating. for those of us that had bills that were part of that effort, including the afghan adjustment act, i saw firsthand the detailed work they did, the work that they did, that hard work of coming together for what is best for our country. we have seen these efforts before with immigration. every time we've gotten so close, when i first got to the senate, senator graham and senator kennedy invited me to be in the group that negotiated legislation supported by president bush. we we came so close to getting that done, which of course included funding for order at the border. after that failed, we moved into president obama's time. again, this time it was the senate judiciary committee on

which i served that came together, with senator grassley's support, senator leahy's, and reached an agreement, passed it through the senate, then it failed over in the house of representatives. time three was when senator rounds, senator kaine, many of us came together. i remember senator collins' office was the place of the meeting. i believe the presiding officer was part of that too, and we reached an agreement. we had enough votes. then, unfortunately, president trump gut punched the team in his own party and came out against the bill, again, significant funding for order at the border. significant work that would have been done to allow people to seek citizenship, who have been here for years, many who know no other country like the dreamers. this bill that was negotiated came with incredible headwinds that they were up against. it would have fixed the asylum

system. it would have given the president emergency powers to shut the border down when needed. it also would have invested in hiring more border patrol agents and immigration judges, while giving law enforcement the tools and technology they need to secure our borders. as the presiding officer knows, strengthening our border security means investing in both our southern and our northern borders. i note that senator stabenow of michigan also touched on this very important issue. america shares the longest border in the world with the countries of canada. it stretches over 5,500 miles and more than 400,000 people and 2 billion in goods and services cross it every day. a strong northern border is critical for maintaining our trade relationships with canada and the world. as i like to say, in minnesota we can see canada from our

porch, and they are our closest trading partner. i met with a number of leaders in the canadian parliament today. that border is critical for our national security. we know more people on the terrorist screening database attempt to enter the u.s. through canada than mexico. we have witnessed terrible instances of drug smuggling and human trafficking across this where'd -- across this border. like so many others, i was horrified and heartbroken when a family of four froze to death in a blizzard at the minnesota-canada border just two years ago in an incident related to hummen -- human smuggling. that's why we must ensure that federal, state and local officials have the information and resources they need to protect our northern border. when there are issues at the southern border, they often rely on customs, as the presiding officer knows, and others to come down from northern border offices, and that creates its

own set of issues. that's why the negotiations that senator murphy, lankford and senator sinema, with strong support from senator schumer, engaged in, in this product of a bill, was so important, and that's why i supported it. beyond addressing the situations at both the northern and southern b southern borders, the acts expands legal pathways by including 250,000 new family and employment visas over the next five years. these would go a long way toward filling worker shortages in my state, and i know in yours, to the presiding officer, that are impacting businesses in my home state, impacting farmers, hospitality, hospitals, clinics, and the like. this bill also included the afghan adjustment act, with some changes that had been suggested by a number of republican senators that we included. that bill would have been a savior. there are 80,000 afghans here, so many of whom helped our

troops, major priority for the american legion, for the vfw, and they now have a trap door under them. they don't know whenever they would be sent back to the taliban. yet, these are people we made a covenant too. like after the vietnam war, we cut that everybody -- we kept that covenant with those who stood with us. we must keep that covenant again. that's why senators, like senator graham, the lead sponsor of that bill with me, along with senator moran, the head of the -- ranking member of veterans services, senator risch is on the bill, from foreign relations we have support from senator mullin on that bill. senator wicker is on that bill. it is an incredible group of republican and democratic cosponsors, and i thank senator murphy and senator lankford and sinema for their work to incorporate it into the bill. strongly supported by the chamber of commerce as well. so the bill not only included

the work that i just mentioned on the border and on some of these other very important is issues, the bill also would have made a major effort on taking on fentanyl by strengthening our borders. we did make progress on border security legislation that was signed into law last month as part of the national security package, the fend off fentanyl act. this critical legislation championed by our colleague, senator brown and tim scott, declares fentanyl trafficking a national emergency and imposes tough new sanctions on fentanyl traffickers, from the chemical suppliers in china to the mexican cartels that trafficked the drugs into our country. we also recently provided funding for customs and border protection to detect and seize fentanyl and other narcotics at our parts of enter -- ports of entry. these are important steps in the right direction, but there's so much more to do.

law enforcement officers across my state and our country must be very concerned about this every day. one seizure of fentanyl was enough to kill every single person in henipan county, our most populus county. in minnesota alone, fentanyl is involved in 92% of opioid deaths. last month, police in my husband's hometown of mankato arrested six drug dealers and seepsed 6,000 pills. earlier this month, the attorney general, andy luger, announced they busted a drug ring and seize the over 30,000 pills. that's enough to kill everyone in our state with over five million people more than two times over. these apartment just numbers. each of those pills could kill one of our friends and neighbors, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. i'm thinking about devin norring from hastings, minnesota,

struggling with dental pain and migraines. he thought what he thought was percocet to deal with the pain. it wasn't really percocet. it was laced with fentanyl and immediately killed him. he was only 19. one pill can kill, and every pill we keep out of our country represents a potential life saved. that's why we have to pass this legislation, but i join my colleagues and will continue to advocate for the bipartisan border act. why? more funding for cutting-edge technology to intercept fentanyl, more secure border, more order at the border. we need this at the southern border as well as the northern border. next week i hope we will have an opportunity to take action on this bill. we have worked on this bill for months, making changes from multiple senators from both parties. at this point, there shouldn't be any controversy about what's in the bill. people have had plenty of time to read it. they've had plenty of time to

see the support from groups like the conservative union of the border agents at the border, they've had plenty of time to see the support that the bill has from so many groups across the country. they have had plenty of time to hear about the horror stories, like the ones i just mentioned on fentanyl. and they have plenty of time to have gotten to the place that enough about politics, enough about finger-pointing. let us pass this bipartisan border bill to make our country safer. thank you, madam president, and i yield the floor. mr. murphy: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. murphy: let me thank my colleagues for coming to the floor to reinforce the opportunity that we have. i think we've gotten used to immigration being a perpetual political football in this country. it almost feels and seems uns

unsolvable, that it's just the subject for campaign ads, for cable news shows, for fundraising e-mails. doesn't have to be that way. we could choose to make progress. we could choose to pass legislation that treats migrants a little bit more humanely, that gives a pathway for individuals like those afghan partners to come to the united states to become citizens and give the president updated powers at the border to make sure that we're doing immigration at the southwest border in a humane, orderly way. that is not impossible. in fact, it's more possible than ever before, because a group of senators sat in a room for four months in good faith, and hashed out a compromise that involves a

lot of republican priorities, a lot of democratic priorities, that's endorsed by the progressive-leaning immigration lawyers group and the conse conservative-leaning border patrol union. it's endorsed by "the washington post" and "the wall street jou journal". i know we're not used to finding common ground on immigration. it seems to happen only once a decade, but we found it. we found it. and i'm going to be reintroducing this bill because i believe that there's a chance republicans will choose to do the right thing. i get it -- the border being a mess is good politics for republicans. i get it. keeping this problem under solved might provide an

advantage for republicans in this next election. but we don't go into this business to win elections, to just put our name on the door. senator lankford said it on this floor. he said every one of us is given a pen, every one of us has a unique ability to make law, to make the country better. what's the point, senator lankford said, of having this job if you're just going to do press conferences, if you're not requesting to actually -- not going to actually engage in the hard work of compromise to make this country better and safer? that's what we did. senator lankford, senator sinema, myself, senator schumer, senator mcconnell, we sat in a room four and a half months and formed a compromise that unques unquestionably, unquestionably will bring order to the southwest border. and because of that, donald

trump is telling republicans ditch it, vote no, we don't want there to be order at the southwest border because that would be bad politics for us. what's the point of having this job if you aren't willing to make tough compromises that make this country better? so i understand there may be long odds to convincing republicans to change their vote. i understand that because this bill is a compromise there are some democrats who vote against it. i think this is so important. i take republicans at their word, that it's an emergency to make sense of what's happening at the border, that it's worth it to bring this bill back before the floor. i hope our leadership will decide to schedule a vote on this bill. i will introduce the bill imminently, i think with many of my colleagues supporting it, and i'm deeply grateful to many of my friends in the democratic caucus for underscoring the importance of bringing order to

the southwest border, to investing in border security, to supporting our migrant communities as the bipartisan border security bill does. i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. klobuchar: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: 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: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding rule 22 and 5, usc 802, and at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the republican leader, no later than may 24, 2024, if s.j. res. 58 is discharged from the committee on energy and natural resources, it be in order for senator cruz or his designee to move to proceed to the consideration of s.j. res. 58. further, that if the motion is agreed to, there be ten hours of debate equally divided between the proponents and opponents of the joint resolution. further, upon the use or yielding back of that time, the joint resolution be read a third time and the senate vote on passage of the joint resolution. finally, that all other provisions under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, remain in effect except the 60-session day clock. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered.