Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. 20240702

The Nations Capital to wherever you are, because the opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like, cspan powered by cable. And the senate is about to gavel in for the day. Members are expected to vote on a measure from senator rand paul to withdraw u. S. Troops from the west african country and later consider a resolution on antidiscrimination from the nutritional food service. Now to the senate here on cspan2. Chaplain, dr. Barry , will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Almighty god, each day it seems we face new challenges, unexpected hurdles, and tragic realities. Have mercy upon us and this land we love. Remind us that your plans for us are better than anything we can plan for ourselves. Today as our lawmakers depend on you for help, respond to their intercession with your peace that transcends human understanding. Lord, fill them with the joy that comes from the strength you provide those who refuse to become weary in doing what is right. Remind us all that we are travelers in this life in search of a city that you have prepared for us. And, lord, we mourn the tragic loss of life in the maine mass shooting. We pray in your holy name. Amen. The president pro tempore pleas e join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The president pro tempore under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of h. R. 4366, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 198, h. R. 4366, an act making appropriations for military construction, the department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes. A senator madam president. The president pro tempore the senator from georgia is recognized. Mr. Warnock i suggest the absence of a quorum. The president pro tempore the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , this morning the nation grieves with the people of lewiston, maine, after last nights hombl, sense horrible, senseless mass shooting. The shooter remains at large and we pray there is no more bloodshed after the horrors of last night. The stories coming out of lewiston are gutwrenching, people gunned down while trying to to enjoy their night out at a Bowling Alley and restaurant. A Bowling Alley and restaurant, these are supposed to be places where families go to have a good time but now they have become sites, too many places of tragic Mass Shootings in america. Its beyond heartbreaking that Mass Shootings like this continue to happen in our country. My condolences with the families and loved ones. I can just imagine them sitting at home and just wondering why did this happen to us. My prayers are and will be with all mainers and First Responders as authorities keep working to locate the shooter. Today our hearts are with lewiston. Now on the new speaker. Yesterday after a monthlong paralysis in congress, House Republicans finally, finally elected a new speaker of the house. I spoke with speaker johnson last night and expressed my congratulations on his election to the speakership. I told speaker johnson the exact same thing i told speaker mccarthy. In a divided government the only way well fund the government or pass supplemental is bipartisanship. I hope the new speaker learns lessons from the disastrous experiences of his predecessors, speakers boehner, ryan, and mccarthy and realizes that coddling the hard right is disastrous for the country and the republican leadership. Because like it or not, speaker johnson will not be able to ignore the need for bipartisanship in divided government. Right now the world is in crisis. Americans and the citizens of the world, people across the world are looking for a congress that is functional, decisive, and able to reach across the aisle. We must Work Together to send israel the help she needs. We must stand with our friends in ukraine, which majorities in both chambers have made clear they support, to allow putin to succeed is to endanger Americas National security and its alarming that a growing number of House Republicans dont seem to care about this. We also need humanitarian aid to reduce the suffering in the middle east, in ukraine, and elsewhere. We must also finish the bipartisan appropriation process, extremist funding bills that make cuts way below the partisan june agreement will not fly. If speaker johnson tries to send those cuts over here, theyre not going to happen. Theyll be dead on arrival. All theyll do is waste more time in a moment where every day counts. We cannot listen to these 30 members of the hard right who somehow think they have all the knowledge and all right on their side and then tie us in a knot. Again, whether House Republicans like it or not, this is divided government. Bipartisanship is the only way well be able to get anything done. I hope, pray speaker johnson realizes this quickly. If speaker johnson repeats the mistakes of speaker mccarthy, if he tumbles down the maga road it will be inevitable that the house finds itself trapped in even more chaos very soon. If speaker johnson lives up to the label that congressman gaetz has given him, maga mike, he will fail as the previous speakers have. But if speaker johnson chooses the bipartisan path, we can do great things for the American People, just as we did last congress with an evenly divided senate and a narrowly divided house. I look forward to working constructive life with speaker johnson and congratulate him on his election. Now on the minibus, mr. President , the senate today will continue the bipartisan appropriations process here on the floor. Yesterday senators were busy voting through a number of amendments offered by both sides. We held roll call votes on four amendment offered by our republican colleagues and adopted 25 additional amendments, many of them bipartisan by voice vote. We have more amendment votes to hold later today and members should expect to keep voting into next week. It is my hope that we can wrap up work on these Appropriations Bills as soon as next week. When the Senate Passes these three bills, they will be the only Appropriations Bills passed in either chamber that both parties support. And i think thats key to remember as we move forward. As i said a moment ago when i spoke to the newly elected leader johnson, i said the only way well solve our most pressing problems funding the government, avoiding a shutdown, passing a supplemental will be bipartisanship. The senate has been a model for how we can make bipartisanship happen and its all to the credit of our appropriators, particularly chair murray, vice chair collins. I thank my colleagues for their work. I look forward to holding more amendment votes today and into next week. Now on a domestic supplemental. Mr. President , as the senate works on americas needs on the world stage, including passing robust funding for israel, ukraine, the pacific region, and humanitarian aid for gaza, for israel, for ukraine, well also work to take care of our needs at home. Last week the president released his emergency supplemental to help our friends in israel and ukraine defend themselves. Now democrats are working with the administration on a domestic supplemental to support the needs of american families. Our domestic supplemental will fund bipartisan priorities for americans, like disaster response, securing American Energy independence, fighting the scourge of fentanyl, expanding access to affordable highspeed internet, and so much more. Among our greatest needs right now is addressing child care which remains outrageously expensive for too many families, something i want to see the senate address. Ive had many conversations recently with my colleagues about how the senate can make child care more affordable. Were at a cliff now. As of september 30, funding was greatly decreased and now child care workers are being laid off and child care slots are being rescinded. Families are in turmoil when that happens. So we have to work on making child care more affordable, and we have to work on it, on the domestic side, and have to keep it in the domestic supplemental and do everything we can to get it done. Just as we have to work on National Security on a bipartisan basis, the senate should absolutely work on americas domestic needs with equal bipartisan fervor. You cant argue one you cant have one try to argue against the other. We need both, domestic help and National Security. Its not an either or in this situation, and the president has wisely offered a supplemental on domestic issues. Now on the nomination of jack lew. Yesterday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 129 to report out the nomination of jack lew, President Bidens pick to serve as ambassador to israel. Later today ill file cloture on this most urgent nomination. So mr. Lew can be appointed to the post of ambassador asap. The team at the u. S. Embassy is doing a heroic job under terrible circumstances, including a wonderful charge daffaires who helped us during our visit. Israel is in crisis. America needs to stand with her and an obvious step would be to make sure we have an American Ambassador in place. And finally, later this morning it will be my honor to welcome Prime Minister anthony alaniste to australia to the u. S. Capitol for a bipartisan p meeting. He is a key ally of the United States, the strength of the u. S. Australia alliance is illustrated by the trilateral agreement and by our shared agreement to enhancing indopacific security and by strong economic bonds. Ill tell the Prime Minister well keep working to pass all of the aukus agreement, because our i was proud to work alongside my Senate Colleagues to include aukus pillar 2 in the senate ndaa and will work with my colleagues during the conference to secure its inclusion in the final bill. Were now working to make sure australia can receive the virginia class submarines that are an essential part of the try lateral agreement. So again, i thank Prime Minister albanese for meeting with us today and look forward to discussing the importance of aukus and finding new innovative ways to collaborates. On the uaw, im so pleased to hear that ford and the uaw may have reached a tentative agreement. I hope this spurs g. M. And stellantus and the uaw to negotiate in good faith. The bottom line is simple, the workers gave up plenty when the Auto Industry was in trouble. Now the industry is making large profits. The workers need to share fairly in that. I yield the floor, and i note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. Israel was created following the holocaust so that jewish again. But yet that is what we are seeing happen today. And as a pledged in world war ii never again. Since october seven, the promise has been under attack both in israel and here at home. We have a moral obligation to fulfill our promise, and under our watch never again means never again. And i will wrap up by saying i have rooms with families and loved ones are being held hostage twice both here and in the United States and when i was in, in israel just a few days ago. You see pictures like this up precious abigail, three years old, that hamas is using as a human shield, who when you learn her store and the story of their remaining hostages, it will tell your heart out. We must do more. This committee has the power to help ensure this never happens again. This committee has the power to prove that america still knows good from evil. I look for him from todays witnesses about solutions, ways we can Work Together theyll allow the United States to send children to shoulder with israel, projecting unwavering american strength to defer, to deter more hostile aggressions and hold accountable those who carried lewiston, maine. I know the entire Senate Stands behind our colleagues, senator collins and senator king, as they help their state marshall its response. We pray especially for the victims of this senseless violence, for their families and for the Law Enforcement personnel working tirelessly to save lives and bring the suspect to justice. Now, on an entirely different matter, yesterday i spoke with the newly elected speaker of the house, mike johnson, congratulated him on his victory, and i expressed my support as he begins to steer the House Republican majority. We have a lot of work ahead of us, house and Senate Republicans need to Work Together on a number of urgent priorities, beginning with supplemental appropriations for a number of our National Security priorities. I look forward to meeting with the speaker soon to begin this important work. Mr. President , every day brings new harrowing details of the terrorist attacks of october 7, and we continue to learn more about the role iran plays in aiding and abetting terror. Just yesterday new reports indicated that hundreds of terrorists from hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad traveled to iran last month for a specialized combat training with tehrans murderous kuz force. Waiting for specific evidence of tactical involvement really misses the point. Yairnt is the worlds iran is the worlds leading state sponsor of terror. It spent decades supporting proxy terrorists who their their hatred for israel and america, precisely so tehran can maintain plausible deniability. We cannot lose sight of this savage charade. Evil will continue to target the United States and our allies, whether we Pay Attention to it or not. And the threats our adversaries pose are all connected. Iran doesnt just underwrite terrorist attacks on israel. It outfits russia with drones to help kill ukrainians. China doesnt just menace taiwan. It helps iran circumvent International Sanctions by trading consumer goods for oil. And russia isnt just pummeling a sovereign neighbor. Its joined china for joint naval exercises in the sea of japan as well as off the coast of alaska. Our adversaries ambitions are not local. Theyve been showing us for years that they are determined to challenge American Leadership, undermined undermine our interests and weaken our analysises. On every front, the Biden Administration response has fallen short. The president was hesitant to deter russias aggression in the first place and has dithered about helping equip ukraine to defeat it. Hes prioritized engagement with china on Climate Policy over building resilient supply chains with trusted allies. And just listen to his administrations jawdropping naivety after three years of squandering leverage on iran. In early october, the president s National Security advisor wrote a selfcon selfcongratulatory article assessing the administrations foreign policy. Heres some of what he said about the meter about the middle east, in the face of serious frictions we have deescalated crises in gaza and restored direct diplomacy. He went on to, quote, it u. S. Troops were under regular attack in iraq and syria, such attacks at least for now have largely stopped, end quote. Finally, he claimed that the president s approach, quote, frees up resources for other global priorities and reduces the risk of new middle east conflicts. Well, at least that was the account that went to print before 1400 israelis were murdered on a saturday morning and before iranbacked terrorists injured two dozen american servicemembers in numerous attacks in iraq and in syria. The incongruity between the administrations spin and reality has since been scrubbed from the article online. But the Biden Administrations naive approach to terror remain woefully inadequate to meet the growing threat of radical islamic terrorism. From afghanistan to yemen to iraq. Abandoning afghanistan, obsessing about closing guantanamo bay, removing the houthis designation as a terrorist organization, turning the other cheek when Terrorists Attack americans and our allies, squandering leverage over iran, weakness in one theater begets weakness in another. The United States is a global superpower, and its high time we started embracing and properly resourcing the responsibilities that come with that role. Now is the time to invest deeper in our alliances and partnerships. Its time to restore credible deterrence with hard power. Thats why i will oppose senator pauls resolution to compel the withdrawal of american servicemembers from niger later today. Radical islamic terrorism in that part of the world is on the rise, and we should be working more closely with local partners, not abandoning them. We should be conduct be more surveillance flights, not blinding ourselves by abandoning strategic airfields in niger. Russia and china are working overtime to displace american influence in africa. We should not be making their job any easier. Beyond todays vote, the senate should recognize the opportunity before us to shape a supplemental appropriations bill that equips our military, our Defense Industrial base, and our allies and partners to meet the growing threats that we face. From our southern border to radical islamic terrorism to authoritarian aggression, we have a chance to demonstrate the American Leadership our people, our allies, and our interests require. We should take it. 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 senator from iowa. Without objection. Mr. Grassley 59 years ago tomorrow, in other words, friday, Ronald Reagan delivered his iconic, quoteunquote, a time for choosing speech. In this speech, the future president laid out in very stark terms the challenges that americans faced as a nation due to all due to a bloated federal government that threatened americans prosperity and individual freedoms. Well, america is once again at a time for choosing, and much like reagans time, the issues confronting us cross party lines. This would be a good time for me to say we have a partial step in this direction because of the bidenmckarsdzy bidenmccarthy agreement because the government couldnt issue debt. So here we are again. We have even the nonpartisan congressional budget office, and others, warning policiy makers, that without changes the retirement of the baby boom would result in debt and deficit. Yet, we in the congress have turned a blind eye as the country walked head long toward a fiscal cliff. For 40 years our public debt averaged around 39 of our economy, but over the last 15 years, that debt has grown by leaps and bounds. You know, first came the 2008 financial crisis, which led to a 6 trillion leap in public debt in just four years after 2008. This amounted to a doubling of the National Debt as a share of the economy, rising from 35 where it was for about 40 years to over 70 of gdp. Then we all know what the pandemic has done to the public debt. The pandemic hits and public debt went upwards by 7. 5 trillion over three years. As a result, public debt soared to roughly equal to our nations entire annual economic output, or what you would have economists tell you thats about 100 of gdp. Now, that brings us to where we are today. And to take Ronald Reagans advice seriously, a nation drowning in a sea of red ink with no life preserver or a rescue boat in sight. Whats more, debt continues to rain down upon us at a record clip. The fiscal year 2023 deficit checked in at 2 trillion once you adjust for the Supreme Court striking down account Biden Student loan bailout. Measured as a percent of gdp, the 2023 deficit was larger than in all but five years since 1945. Our historic deficit was fueled in part by rising Interest Payments on the debt which alone cost 711 billion. The cost to service our debt is expected to consume an increasing larger share of the federal budget. While we argue about what we should or shouldnt spend taxpayers money on, interest on the debt is crowding out our priorities and shrinking our options Going Forward, and this all automatically happens because you paid the interest on the National Debt or you default, and we dont want to do that and thats what the bidenmccarthy agreement in june kept us from happening. Going back to june, the cbo projected that servicing our debt over the next ten years would cost 10. 4 trillion, however that projection was made before rates on Treasury Bonds used to finance our debt surged to a 16year high. The rate on a tenyear treasury bond is now a full percentage point higher than what cbo assumed this spring, all of that adding to our deficit problems. But these higherthanexpected borrowing costs persist, it will mean trillions more spent simply servicing that debt. Now whats more, we havent yet hit the precipice of the fiscal cliff that cbo and other nonpartisan experts have been warning will result due to the aging population. And, of course, that involves Social Security and medicare and the trustees of these two programs say the trust funds for both programs will be insolvent within the next ten years. Moreover, cbo projects that spending for Major Health Programs will skyrocket from 32 of federal revenue this day to 45 of revenue at midcentury. We can no longer afford to kick the can down the road. We must put an end to the governing crisisto crisis and get back to the fundamentals of government. And the fundamentals of government for Social Security and medicare would should cause us to look at the success that reagan and thendemocratic speaker tip oneil of the house of representatives said that we cant let Social Security go bankrupt. And they fixed it to this very day by tough decisions that we ought to be making today to fix it for the next 50 years like they did. And ill bet maybe they at that time thought they were only fixing it for 10 or 20 years, but thats from 1983 to now Social Securitys supposed to run out of resources, reserves, by i think 2033. So what im saying is it means actually managing the government instead of doing it from crisis to crisis and to do it by not chasing an elusive partisan ideal. That will require implementing honest budget and appropriation practices that will enable us to begin to chip away at this daunting debt. According to the wellregarded penn wharton budget model, the United States has about 20 years to take corrective action to avoid fiscal disaster. I almost hate to say 20 years but penn wharton is respected because that means that maybe we wont take the necessary action in the near term. And its always easier to solve these problems yesterday than it is tomorrow. The longer we wait to take these actions, then obviously im saying the more painful those actions will be. In the penn wharton estimation, if we put off corrective action until the fiscal crisis is add our doorstep, no amount of future tax hikes or spending cuts will enable us to avoid defaulting on our debt. When i just said, as i did, until a fiscal crisis is upon our doorstep, iowans at my 99 county meetings that i hold every year would say were already at that point. And when you talk about maybe it can be done or not done, then you can imagine the cynical people of iowa just like the cynical people of the United States as a whole are even going to lose less confidence in our government institutions. Now we all know theres plenty of blame to go around for what we got into how we got into our current fiscal situation, but no amount of fingerpointing, political or otherwise, will change where we find ourselves today. We must now make a choice. We can either continue down the path to fiscal ruin or we can begin to rein in a bloated federal government in pursuit of a more prosperous tomorrow. Well, remember what i said about Ronald Reagan 59 years ago tomorrow, also in the words of Ronald Reagan, quote, you and i have a renedevous with destiny. Continuing to quote. Well preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth or well sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of doctors. End of quote. We see on television, a lot of times people say how god all of this country is, yet on this same television day, you can see 10,000 people crossing our border to come to our country. For those people who live in america and have lived here all their life and find that america is not such a great place, they ought to wonder why people all over the world want to come to america or sometimes i tell people that citizenship at citizenship ceremonies at the courthouses in iowa, when im able to go there, i say to this group many of them have come from autocracies where they have less freedoms than they have in america today, and i say to those people i hope that when you hear somebody was born in america bellyaching about how god awful wrongs we have in this country, i hope you will remind them as a person born in another country how great this country is because people that were born here lose sight of how Great America is. So getting with back to this fiscal issue ive been talking about, whether Ronald Reagan says it or i say it or each of my 99 colleagues say it, because i think to some extent were all on the same page, not how we solve the problem but there is a problem, then i say like reagan said, the choice is clear. Its time we do what our constituents sent us here to do, and that basically means to lead to lead us out of this fiscal crisis. I yield the floor. Mr. Hawley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Hawley mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations committee be discharged from further consideration and the senate now proceed to s. Res. 418. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk s. Res. 418, condemning hamas and antisemitic Student Activities on College Campuses in the United States. The presiding officer is there objection to proceeding to the measure . Without objection. The committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. Mr. Hawley i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to i know of no further debate on the measure. The presiding officer is there further debate . Hearing none, the question is on adoption of the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The resolution is agreed to. Mr. Hawley i ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Hawley mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Hawley mr. President , one week ago i came to this floor to try to pass this very resolution that condemns the violent antisemitic actions on our College Campuses all across this country. Sadly i was blocked by one of my democratic colleagues, and since then, the situation at our universities has only worsened. I offer you two examples, i could multiply the examples, but lets take two. Just two or three miles from where we stand now at the George Washington University Pro hamas students prodged on to the side of the projected on to the side of the University Library various antisemitic progenocide slogans, including glory to our martyrs, including the terrorists, those who committed coldblooded murders of babies cutting off their heads, shooting women and children, executing sholdiers as they soldiers as they lay sleeping. They projected slogans free palestine from the river to the sea. What does it mean . Extermination of the state of israel. Lets be clear, this is a reference to their call of genocide of jews in the middle east and everywhere they can get their hands on them. This is what is going on on our College Campuses. And if you talk to the students who were there at George Washington university that night, what they will tell you is they feared for their safety, they feared for their lives. They dont know if they are any longer welcome on campus or physically safe on campus. And what did the university do in the wake of this attack . The answer has become all too familiar. Virtually nothing. They issued a statement saying that students werent authorized to project these genocidal slogans on to the library wall, and thats about it. Mr. President e we have to do a heck of a lot better than that. Last night at cooper union, an institution of Higher Education in the state of new york, jewish students were barricaded inside their own library as a prohamas group rampaged through the building, shouting violent slurs at these students and then pounded on the Library Doors seeking to gain entrance. This mornings New York Post reads cooper union barricades jewish students inside library as propalestinian protesters bang on the doors. The students who were there last night spoke of being herded into the library of Campus Security saying they didnt think they could protect them. Campus security then locking the doors to the library to try and keep the jewish students inside and an angry mob assembling. There are photos of this. The video is available everywhere. Look for yourself. An annry mob angry mob banging on the glass students of the library at the jewish students literally barricaded inside. These students were calling 911, calling their relatives, asking for help. Eventually an hour or more later Campus Security reportedly took them out through the back door, mr. President. They couldnt walk out the front door of a library in their own school. They had to be taken out the back for fear, i guess, of their safety, perhaps also for appearances. I cant help but think, mr. President , 50 years ago, 60 years ago the president of the United States had to activate the 101st Airborne Division to make sure African American students could go to glass in this country without being physically assaulted. Is that what its come to now on americas College Campuses . Are we going to have to activate the National Guard to see that jewish students can go to class in safety without being in fear of their lives . I would just say this, mr. President , as a nation we must speak with one voice and say that there is a right and there is a wrong, there is good and there is evil, and threatening to kill an entire class of people is wrong and it is evil. Speaking up, shouting in support of genocide is wrong and it is evil. Threatening the lives of your fellow students because they are jewish is wrong and it is evil. Plainly, these institutions of socalled Higher Learning have failed these students. I mean, these students have clearly no idea what right and wrong means. You project stuff like this on a library wall while your jewish classmates stand on and fear for their lives, you dont have any idea about what is right and wrong is. Clearly these institutions failed their students which is why we need to speak with moral clarity right now. This is a teachable moment. This is a moment for us to say that genocide is wrong, that terrorist attacks against jews are wrong, that threats on the lives of jewish people anywhere the middle east, this country, anywhere is wrong. This shouldnt be hard. But we have to do it, mr. President , so that these students and everywhere within the sound of our voice can understand what right and wrong means, can understand the moral gravity of the situation we are now confronting. Thats why what we are doing today matters and thats why i am pleased today that we are able now finally to pass this resolution that explicitly names the rhetoric, explicitly calls out the language of proviolence, progenocide and says that is wrong. I want to be clear, mr. President. Our First Amendment, of which im a great defender, our First Amendment allows people to say the most terrible things, vile, horrible, reprehensible things. The First Amendment, ive often said, is the right to be wrong, and these students are absolutely wrong. So they may have the right to say these things, although i just add nobody has the right to threaten violence against other americans or anybody within their ambit. They may have the right to say terrible things to say that theyre in favor of genocide, to say that they want to see jewish people killed, they may have the right to say those things but that doesnt mean we have to agree with it. That doesnt mean we have to say thats morally neutral. You can say it, fine. We have no opinion. No, no, no. The answer to that kind of hateful, virulent, dangerous speech is speech with moral purpose. It is language with moral clarity. It is a moral stand that says no, that is wrong. Thats not us. That is not the United States of america. And that, mr. President , is what were doing right here, right now on this floor today. I yield the floor. Mr. Hawley mr. President , id suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. One of the things that we work out with my colleagues, senator warner and senator rounds, is legislation that would go after the intermediaries, the decentralized finance arrangements. Could you comment very briefly about the . Sure. In order to confront the threats of this Technology Like any other technology can be used in different ways, a toolbar should be developed and have been developed and continue developing and are to be able to do some tracing and to have some accountable parts that will be able to identify. Because most of the activity is going off the blockchain at a low transparency we can use this technology in order to trace the bad actors. One of the things we have recently seen is how must stop its through bitcoin because the israeli authorities were able to trace that. And perhaps to add to that its that only the Intelligence Community thats able to do that but here because everything is experience we can do a lot of work by the private sector. We see a lot of crowdsourcing activities of people that go after and try to find those that works and then report that to the authorities. So thats a very interesting balance that changed Intelligence Community. Thank you very much. Just for the record the bill number ss2355. I ask for support. Thank you, senator reed. Senator tillis of North Carolina is online i think from his office. Thank you, chairman and thanks to the panel for being with us today. Ms. Pletka, i wanted to talk a bit more, drill down a bit more taste on your Opening Statement about the complex web to which iran funds terrorist operations including hamas and hezbollah. But i would like to shift a bit more towards qatar. We know they provide aid. We know money is fungible. Can you tell me if you have any Information Available for the committee, give me an idea of what we should be concerned with in terms of those money flows and with money being fungible, being used for maligned purposes versus the purposes originally intended. Thank you for the question. So i think as doctor lovette mentioned, part of the challenger is that qatar is a double role. First is helpful interlocutor, the neutral, neutral government that provides money to hamas, to take the pressure off. Something that the israelis and the americans and others have long been aware of. The problem is that, first of all this arrangement deeply, deeply faustian deal that ended up helping hamas gather the money necessary to do what it get on october 7. But there is blame to go around. But the broader mr. Paul i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Paul so much senseless violence, so much death and destruction. Shouldnt we at least avoid wars of choice . Shouldnt we at least not go looking for trouble in every corner of the planet . With the middle east on fire, what sense does it make to have over 1,000 troops in niger . Does it make sense to station over 1,000 troops in a country ruled by a military junta . Does it make sense to scour the back roads of africa droning potential villains . Today the senate will debate and vote on whether u. S. Troops should remain engaged in hostilities in niger. It should not go unnoticed that Congress Never voted to send troops to niger in the first place. President s of both parties have used the september 11, 2001, authorization to use military force to justify war in dozens of countries, from afghanistan to libya to syria, to somalia to yemen. Niger is but one of over 20 countries that the u. S. Conducts military operations in, supposedly justified by the 9 11 authorization to use military force. The impetus for these, this war power resolution in 2001 has nothing to do with the situation of africa today. This war powers resolution today, though, is related to the july 26 coup in which members of nigers president ial guard, including some officers who were trained in the United States, removed the democratically elected president muhammad bazum, from power. The surrounding states around niger are unhappy with this. The Economic Community of West African States is an organization of 15 countries. Theyve declared their intention to intervene militarily in niger if president barzum is not restored to power. Were in the middle of a war with 110 troops in niger, the democratic president has been deposed and still our troops are there. In september two other countries, mali and burkina faso, that have experienced their own armed coups in recent years, signed a mutual defense pact to defend the military junta in niger. Nigers new leaders have put its military on maximum alert, citing an increased risk of attack. For its part the Economic Community of West African States, 15 countries, have imposed sanctions, instituted a nofly zone and closed border crossings. Recent recent reports say that the troops have been deployed along the country of benin. This a powder keg with over a thousand military troops and personnel in the middle of it. The middle east is on fire, yet we have 1100 troops in the middle of a potential war we could be drug into. American forces face a very real risk of being caught in the crossfire of a regional african war. Thats all we need is another war. What are we doing in niger . As i mentioned earlier, Congress Never voted to send troops there. Congress never authorized the use of military force. Yet, on multiple occasions u. S. Forces in niger have engaged in firefights. Are hostile groups. Sadly, americans life have already been lost. My colleagues may recall that on october 4, 2017, four u. S. Soldiers, Sergeant First Class jeremiah johnson, Staff Sergeant brian black, Staff Sergeant dustin wright, and Sergeant La David Johnson were ambushed and killed on a mission near the village of tongo tongo, niger. This tragic incident was the largest loss of life for u. S. Forces in africa since the 1993 black hawk down incident. At the time, the New York Times reported in a piece called an endless war that two senior u. S. Senators, a republican and a democrat, both of whom still serve in this body, were surprised to learn that the u. S. Even had troops in niger. This is how distant weve become from controlling our intervention in war, that people in the body, in the upper body of the congress dont even know we have troops in certain countries. We lose soldiers in countries that nobody even knew we were there. Theres been no vote of congress, theres been no support of the people. This is being done by administration, the previous administration, the one previous to that, the current administration. These senators were surprised because congress has abdicated its constitutional war powers to the executive branch. These senators were surprised because this institute is content to allow the president to sidestep the constitution and unilaterally deploy u. S. Forces anywhere in the world, anytime, for any reason, by citing a virtually limitless interpretation of the 9 11 aumf. The country of niger, the junta, the coup, the dis discord in niger has nothing to do with 9 11. This attack prompted congress to authorize war against those who attacked us on 9 11. It was passed passed in thes following the tragic events. Bz the fawm was their the aumf was narrowly tailored to bring justice to those who attacked us on 9 11. But an ever agrandizing exam deliberately misinterprets, both republican and democratic, dlibilitily misinterpret this aumf as a limitless document to allow the mr. Toz go to war the mrs. To go to war the president to go to war anytime. Both cite this authorization to continue military operations against various groups in 20 different countries. The majority of these countries, i would say all of these countries, have absolutely nothing to do with 9 11. Many of the groups were targeting have no connection to 9 11. Many of them didnt exist in 2001. Many of their members werptd born in 2001. Using an aumf from 22 years ago, to get the people who attacked us on 9 11 to justify a war in niger is a ridiculous notion and should be rejected out of hand. Deferring the decision as to when, where, why our country goes to war is a darrell ex of duty dereliction of duty. Think about it, our young men and women we send into harms way that may give up their life anywhere around the world, dont they deserve a debate or vote to the 1100 troops in niger that debate on the floor of the Senate Whether theyre there or not . God forbid theyre your son or daughter and lute their life in a remote corner lose their life in the remort corner of africa in a remote corner of africa. The middle east is on fire, we have 1100 troops in africa. These military interventions have been carried out across africa, across the middle east, and they have cost thousands of lives. Trillions of dollars, and it made us less safe and less prosperous. In many cases our interventions have been counterproductive, destaibtizing and helped deto stabilizing and helped extremism to prosper. Our intervention in libya, i know many policymakers in this city think thats an industry. That obamaled offensive helped destroy the country of libya. The coalition toppled the government of khadafi, killed hundreds of civilians, fomented anarchy throughout libya, opened the floodgates for widespread extremist terrorism and spread throughout the region. If you look objectively, is there more or less terrorism in libya than before we got rid of khadafi and intervened and the french and the other countries intervened . Theres more terrorism, more of a problem. Libyans today are unambiguously worse off than before the intervention, than before the war. In 2010, the u. N. Ranked libya 53rd in the world, first in africa. This year, after ten years of chaos, after ten years of anarchy, libya ranks near the bottom of all countries. Theyre 104th in the world. The country is a mess. Its destroyed. It has two governments. It has become a foundation for extremism through africa. We need to think about our interventions before they occur. In 2010, the world bank assessed libyas per capita gdp as 11,600. Ten years later, the per capita gdp is almost half of that, 5 10. The 5,910. The u. N. Human Rights Office reports the execution and torture of civilians in libya happens on a regular occurrence. The u. S. Also identified the existence of open slave markets, where migrants and refugees transiting libya are bought and sold as slaves. Thank goodness the developed world came in to remove the government of libya and civilize the country thats now a huge mess and huge soar. The disasters the Obama Administration helped unleash in libya have had long lasting consequences in the entire region. Libyan arms, including heavy weaponry such as antiaircraft guns and surfacetoair missiles, have been traced to criminals and terrorists across the region. So we destroyed any sense of stability in libya, the chaos spread throughout, and now we say we need to kill all the people that are spreading throughout the region that came from libya. We have traced their weapons to terrorists in niger, mali, tunisia, syria, algeria, and tragically theyre now showing up in gaza. Some of the weapons in gaza being launched against israel are weapons that came out of the war in libya. The u. S. Now uses niger as a drone base to kill and try to clean up the mess that the u. S. And others created in libya. The war in libya, that us, the french, and other countries participated in, that left a power vacuum and mess, spilled over terrorists into other countries, so what do we do . We create a drone base in niger to kill these people. What happens when you kill the wrong people . What happens when the drone lands on a wedding and 22 innocent people die . What do you think happens to their relatives . How many terrorists are created for every innocent civilian killed . You only have to think back to afghanistan, the mess of leaving afghanistan. I was for leaving afghanistan, but it was a terrible military blunder. When we did, the executive branch to save face, they droand somebody droned somebody. They droned the wrong person. They croned a humanitarian aid droned a humanitarian aid worker and a bunch of kids. Do you think when you drone an aid worker and their kids, do you think you get more terrorism . Hell yes, you do. You get ten more terrorists for every civilian you kill. Theres no reason we should be in the heart of africa with drones, killing people. Unfortunately, its rarely asked if our Intern National military if our military interventions create the terrorists we seek to destroy. Thats a question this body needs to answer. When four of our soldiers were killed in niger, many believed they were on a mission to track down a person named dwando cheffu. According to the previous government, he is a terrorist. But before he took up arms, he was a cattle herder. Of the filani tribe, who had no hatred nor the niger or u. S. Government. Rivals of his tribe became mer theiries for khadafi. Once libya was destroyed, they came back into niger. They were attacking the cattle herder. These are local disputes. They have to do with our mercenaries coming from libya into niger. So we get involved why that, and trackically american lives were lost getting tragically american lives were lost getting involved. After khadafi was deposed, the mer theiries from libya the mercenaries from libya returned home to niger. They turned the arms on the tribe to pillage their cattle. This it was a dispute over thieves taking peoples cattle. Do you think that necessitates a predator drone to be dropped on these people . Do you think were eliminating terrorism by droning people involved in a cattle disputes . Those it may not be justified, should we be surprised that chefou turned to people who happened to be islamists, for guns and training . Do the proponents of western military intervention not understand we may be creating the terrorists that we seek to destroy . Do we not see the folly of our adventurism that transform cattle herders into jihadists . U. S. Troops have been stationed in niger since at least 2013. Theres been no vote. The constitution is clear. We do not fight wars without the approval of congress. Yet, for a decade, weve had troops over there. Both parties, republican and democrat, gradually increase, gradually increase. We drone people, we sometime drone parents, sometimes we drone people at a wedding. Ten years later, our presence in niger has multiplied, and no the once has this body debated the merits of our mission there. Yet alone authorized the use of military force. We will debate it today, not because theyre interested in the subject, not because they wish to put an imprimatur on war, not because they think they have any responsibility to our soldiers or any responsibilities to the people in africa, whether we should be there. We will debate it only today because i forced them to debate it. This is a privileged motion and they cant stop me. This debate over whether or not there should be a war in africa, in niger, whether our troops should be there, is only because i forced them to debate this. They want nothing to do with this. They would rather rely on a resolution from 2001, they want nothing to do with this, no responsibility. They want to wash their hands of this. And then one day, when they wake up and discover four soldiers died there a country they didnt even know we were involved with, they say not my problem, thats a president ial thing. Thats not what the constitution intended. The constitution intended we would be involved and the loss of life and sending our troops overseas would be our responsibility, that we would be reticent to do it. Instead, we do nothing, we turn the other way, and when our soldiers die in a heroic fashion fighting for a caution that is the symbolism of a cause thats just, theres been no debate. They say oh, we voted on that before you were born. You were born long after 2001, but somebody somewhere, once upon a time, voted for a resolution in 2001, and thats good enough, we wash our hands. Well, today we will vote, and this will put the senate on record, and they will be responsible for their vote. Will they vote to end our presence in a country thats now run by a military coup, a country with threatened war from all sides . Will we enter into a war that is clear a war of choice, or will we say no, maybe its time to get the heck out of a war . I will put them on record today, but not because they want to, but because they are forced to dont this issue because i bring it to the floor. We have learned that the soldiers who perished tragically in 2017 in niger were on a mission authorized by section 127e of title 10 of the u. S. Code. What is that . A piece of the law that, unfortunately, has been put forward by the legislature to give the president the power to do whatever he wants, up to 100 million. The authority to expend up to 100 million do you remember a fiscal year to, and i quote the law, provide support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating military operations. Thats a lot of fancy words to say that the president can do anything he wants anywhere in the world because we gave him this power. When something in the constitution says we cannot delegate our power, the constitution doesnt allow the legislature to delegate their power to the executive. We cant give up our warmaking power. You cannot allow little wars to happen. Up to 100 million per year without a vote. Thats giving up the authority the constitution gave to us. Its clearly unconstitution and should be repealed. In short, this section of legal code provides the pentagon unilateral authority to wage secret wars anywhere in the World Without any oversight by congress and even less public scrutiny. Unfortunately, the loss of four of our sold our soldiers illuminates the fact that others are in harms way. Earlier this be month the Biden Administration finally declared that a military coup took place in niger. Once the declaration was made, the United States was statutorily required to suspend all foreign and military assistance. You would think that would include having a thousand troops there. A Senior Administration official associated to cnn that the Counterterrorism Operations will remain paused as will all u. S. Training. It seems as if our troops have no mission. Someone should explain why were still leaving them in the middle of a war. French president macron said that they will end their military presence in niger and bring some 1500 soldiers home. We should bring our,000 troops home thousand troops home. To fight militaries on behalf of a nation is one of the most humbling responsibility that congress has. If americas interest in niger is such vital importance that we ask our young men to fight and potentially pay the ultimate sacrifice to defend it, we at least owe our soldiers a debate in congress, not your grandparents debated this, your parents debated this or another generation debated this, but we are willing to debate here and now whether or not we should be at would war in niger. A yes vote on my resolution gives each of us an opportunity to go on record and tell our constituents that he we will no longer stand idly by as the president sends their sons and daughters into harms way to fight wars with no clear objective, with no definition of victory, with no exit strategy, and with no constitutional authorization. I encourage my colleagues to vote yes to take america out of hostilities in niger. I discharge Senate Joint Resolution 44. The presiding officer the clerk will report the motion to discharge. The clerk the senator from kentucky, mr. Paul, moves to discharge Senate Joint Resolution 44 directing the removal of United States armed forces and so forth from the committee on foreign real estates. On Foreign Relations. The presiding officer the senator from id idaho. A senator i rise to object. I will start where he left off. He said we remove our troops from hostilities in niger. Let me say this as clearly as i can, we have no troops involved in hostilities in niger. If we did, this would be a big deal and this place would be full and wed be talking about combat operations. We do not have that. The United States is not involved in combat operations in niger. We do conduct focused intelligence operations to protect our troops in the region as well as our partners and allies. Mr. Risch and most importantly to monitor threats. It is inaccurate to equate routine security resistance in Counterterrorism Operations in monitoring with involvement in hostilities. This incorrect assumption threatens u. S. Security assistance are around the globe. A swift u. S. Withdrawal from niger, as proposed in this resolution, would weaken our regional ability to monitor terrorist activities which are in the National Security interest of the United States of america and all american citizens. It would leave the door open for russia to come in and take over our facilities. In early 2023, afrricom commander said that africa is the epi are center of international terrorism, an understatement at best and something we all knew. The threat has done nothing but grown. Iran and the wagner group, backed by the kremlin, seek to exploit the weakness. Despite the coup, bulking restrictions on aid, they remain vital for western counterterrorism. America cannot be the policeman of the world but that does not mean we should not have observation posts, we should not do counterintelligence National Security monitoring and it doesnt mean that we shouldnt do intelligence operations. With all due respect to my friend, i know that this is well intentioned but the result would be very negative for u. S. National security. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin mr. President , i too oppose this motion and for the reasons that senator risch outlined. Our presence there are not troops in whos tilt. To hostility. To the contrary our african partners asked for our support. This is a situation where our troops are welcomed in order to prevent the terrorist activities that are taking place in that part of africa. We had a Committee Hearing this past week and we saw the circumstances in this part of africa. Its dangerous there. The u. S. Presence is helping save lives and contain terrorism. Our partners in africa want us there to deal with that threat. Now is not tt time to single is not the time to single were abandoning them, this is not the time to draw down our military presence in niger that could impact their security, now is not the time for the senate to send a he message that we a message that we cannot be relied upon. Think about what this says to our partners and enemies if we pull out. There has been a presence there that has been devastating for the people of the countries where it operates. Russias affiliated forces have committed horrific human rights atrocities. Just in mali, in was a massacref 520 people in 2022. Thats why it is so important. We do not give enough attention to that part of the world. We dont want to signal were abandoning that part of the world. If we do that, we leave a vacuum and if we leave it, russia will fill it and i urge my colleagues to defeat the motion. The presiding officer the senator from kentucky. Mr. Paul the opponents of the resolution have stated here on the floor that no troops are involved in combat in niger. I think the families of the four soldiers who died over there would be surprised to find out that their loved ones who gave their loves were not involved in combat. What an insult. They would also be surprised, or people would be surprised to find out that killing someone with a drone is not combat. One of the main basis we have in niger is a drone base for killing people. So if it is not combat to kill people with a drone and it is not combat to have four soldiers die, im not sure what combat is. But this is clearly combat. It is clearly wrong. It clearly has not been authorized and should not be authorized. The argument has been made by opponents of this resolution that they want us there. A that all that all of africa has open arms and want us there. They dont want us there. They asked the french to leave and they are leaving. They asked us to leave and maybe we should take their advice. It is not a democratically elected government, the junta who took over want us to leave, the people who want us to stay are in other countries are in are in other countries. There is a conflict. There have been 17 military coups in this part of the world. This part of africa has had 17 coups and guess what, 11 of the coups are led by people trained in the United States. This is a policy not working. We think it is a benign policy, it is a terrible policy. They are going over there deposing the democratically voted president. Four soldiers have died and it is an insult to their families to say it is not a combat. I would support this resolution that says we need to bring our troops home. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Karpd cardin i around around i want to ex mr. Cardin i want to correct the record. It is correct they asked the french to leave. They have not asked america to leave. Were there at their invitation, not as a hostile force. The presiding officer the senator from idaho. Mr. Risch to respond to my good friend in kentucky. We are not conducting drone strikes out of niger. We have not. As far as those soldiers killed in 2017, it was not u. S. Combat operations, it was a oneoff that was accidental. We are not engaged in hostilities or combat in niger. Thank you, mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from kentucky. Paul bawl opponents say mr. Paul opponents say that we are not involved in combat. All of the records are secretive and classified and put away from the American People. We have no idea what theyre doing with drones. I tend to doubt it. I think drones have killed people. I think were using our ability to survey and oversee the region to give them targets for our own drones. We are involved. When they say that the people of niger want us to stay, are they talking about the president who is in jail . The guy who was elected is in jail. Is it justified to say because a bunch of thugs who took over the government by military force want us to stay . What a crazy notion. You are supporting the junta. You dont care whether it is a democratically elected government or junta, but its a mess. The surrounding countries support the president who is in jail. Some of them. Two or three of them had juntas themselves support the junta. Its a mess. The french are leaving because its a mess. There is no clear mission. Our mission was to train their troops. Are you going to train the juntas troops . Theyve been declared a coup. Even the Biden Administration declared them if they are killed by a terrorist attack, if hundreds of our soldiers are killed as they were killed in beirut. I think people will rue the day that you put our soldiers in a position of no plan and no approval by congress. I recommend a yes vote on the resolution. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin i ask unanimous consent that there be two minutes of debate equally divided prior to each roll call vote during the consideration of h. R. 3366. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin i would ask that the vote scheduled for 11 30 begin immediately. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. The question is on the motion. Mr. Paul i ask unanimous consent that we proceed to the roll call vote, yeas and nays, on this resolution. The presiding officer is there a sufficient second . In appears to be. The clerk will call the roll. 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. Hydesmith. 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. The clerk 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 clerk senators voting in the affirmative paul. Senators voting in the negative barrasso, boozman, butler, cardin, carper, coons, cornyn, cotton, crapo, duckworth, durbin, ernst. Fisher, hassan, hydesmith, kelly, klobuchar, lujan, mullin, murray, ossoff, risch, schatz, shaheen, stabenow, thune, tillis. Warner, whitehouse, wicker. Mr. Lankford, no. Mr. Markey, aye. The clerk mr. Romney, no. Mr. Marshall, aye. The clerk ms. Warren, no. The clerk ms. Collins, no. The clerk ms. Baldwin, no. Mr. Wyden, no. The clerk ms. Rosen, no. Vote the clerk mr. Rounds, no. The clerk mr. Hawley, no. The clerk mr. Brown, no. Mr. Graham, no. Mr. Rubio, no. The clerk mr. Young, no. The clerk mr. Reed, no. Ms. Sinema, no. Mrs. Capito, no. Mr. Lee, aye. The clerk ms. Cantwell, no. The clerk mr. Merkley, no. The clerk mrs. Gillibrand, no. The clerk mr. Booker, no. The clerk mr. Murphy, no. The clerk mr. Moran, no. The clerk mr. Hoeven, no. The clerk mr. Johnson, no. The clerk mr. Peters, no. Mr. Grassley, no. The clerk mr. Hagerty, no. Mr. Scott of florida, no. The clerk ms. Smith, no. Mr. Sanders, aye. Ms. Murkowski, no. The clerk mr. Van hollen, no. Mr. Blumenthal, no. The clerk mr. Cramer, no. The clerk mr. Casey, no. Mr. Welch, aye. Ms. Lummis, no. The clerk mr. Heinrich, no. The clerk mr. Budd, no. The clerk mr. Daines, no. Mr. Schmitt, no. Mr. Tester, no. Mr. Kaine, aye. Mr. Bennet, no. The clerk mr. Ricketts, no. Mr. Sullivan, no. The clerk mr. Kennedy, aye. Mr. Merkley, aye. The clerk mr. Cruz, no. The clerk ms. Hirono, no. The clerk mr. Warnock, no. The clerk mr. Manchin, no. The clerk mrs. Blackburn, no. Mr. Hickenlooper, no. Mr. Cassidy, no. The clerk mr. Mcconnell, no. Mr. Braun, aye. The clerk mrs. Britt, no. The clerk mr. Tuberville, no. The clerk mr. Schumer, no. Mr. Fetterman, no. The clerk ms. Cortez masto, no. Mr. Brown, no. The clerk mr. Vance, aye. The clerk mr. Menendez, no. The presiding officer the yeas are 11, the nays are 86. The motion is not agreed to. The senator from indiana. Mr. Braun i call up my amendment number 1182 and ask that it be reported by number. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk mr. Braun for himself and others proposes amendment numbered 1182 to amendment number 1092. Mr. Braun mr. President , americans are hurting more than i think at any other time since ive been here, for sure. High inflation. I calculate in five years ive been here, weve added 15 trillion to our National Debt. Struggling to make ends meet and i think inflation and all of this congress kept passing huge spending bills. Weve never gone off of it since then. We now borrow 1 trillion every six months. Used to be annually. Massive spending packages sail through this place because theyre packed with pet projects. Weve even brought back earmarks. Earmarks give representatives, give senators the incentive to be big spenders. We should cut every earmark out of this bill and ban them permanently and quit loading umour kids and grandkids with the debt to pay for all this. Shameful, in my mind. Mrs. Murray mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from washington. Mrs. Murray mr. President , before i speak, i just want to take a moment to speak to the gutwrenching shooting that occurred in maine last night. The situation i know is still developing, and im sure there will be more to say about what the Lewiston Community is going through and what steps we l. We as nation must take to prevent gun violence. Even as we get more information, it is painfully clear this was an horrific blow to a closeknit community and i want my colleague from maine and everyone in maine to know that my heart goes out to them. Everyone who is affected by this tragedy, and i think i speak for all of us when i say the Senate Stands with both of our colleagues from maine. Now to the task at hand, mr. President , last Congress Senate and House Appropriations Committee Leaders reinstated the practice of congressionally directed spending with bipartisan support. Cds is an important way for senators to advocate for their states and the communities they know best through their investments in projects to improve transportation and Drinking Water infrastructure, support Workforce Development programs, child care centers, so much more. So at the beginning of this year, the senator from maine and i laid out a robust process to accept cds requests for fiscal year 2024h and that process included extremely important guardrails, requiring each senator who requested a cds to certify that neither they nor their family families immediate family members have any financial interest in the project. To ensure that each project is clearly identified in the reports with the requested senators name and posted on or committee website, it required senators to publish their cds on their own websites, establish and audit process with the gao, prohibited forprofit entities from receiving cds fund understand and established a total limit on the amount of funding that could be dedicated to cds . Our senate bills. Across the three bills in this funding packages, the Committee Received nearly 7,000 cds requests come 66 senators on both sides of the aisle. Then our staff worked diligently to review all of those requests to make sure they met agency eligibility requirements and complied with senate rules and the additional guidelines wed set. If the project met those requirements, eligible for spending. We respect the projects that senators choose to request and their decisions on cds priorities for their states and their constituents. Through the cds process, congress is exercising our constitutional power of the purse. After all, we all know better than anyone about the needs of our states and our constituents, so i oppose this amendment and i urge my colleagues to do so as well. Ms. Collins million. The presiding officer ms. Collins mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from maine. Ms. Collins before i address the amendment offered by senator braun, let me thank the senator from Washington State for her very kind comments expressing condolences to the people of maine. Our 6789 hearts are so heavy today. This heinous attack which has robbed the lives of at least 18 mainers and injured so many more is the worst mass shooting that we could ever imagine in our state. This is a dark day for our state. I am grateful for the expressions of support and offers of help and condolences that ive received from my colleagues and friends across the nation as well as from the administration. Ive had conversations both last night, throughout the night, and early this morning with President Biden, secretary mayorkas, attorney general merrick garland, and special advisor to the president tom perez, who has been particularly helpful in mobilizing resources for the state of maine so that this killer can be captured. Its hard, mr. President , to transition from the terrible attack in maine to talk about the braun amendment, but that is what i must do. First, let me make a very important point. What we are talking about is whether the legislative branch of government should make decisions about Government Spending or whether that decisionmaking should be given entirely to the executive branch when it comes to specific projects. Were not talking about adding more money. Were talking about who makes the decision. And indeed, in our senate Appropriations Bills, less than. 5 of the funding is allocated to congressional directed spending projects. This process has provided opportunities for members of congress from both parties who understand the needs of their constituents far better than any federal agency to advocate for specific investments in their local communities. And as chair murray has said, weve included safeguards to promote tran pairns and transparency and accountability. First, we prohibit forprofit entities from eligibility. Second, we require Public Disclosure to ensure that spending decisions are made in the light of day. For the appropriation measures before us today, each member cd s request had been posted on line since april. Theres no secrecy here. They also include certification that neither the member of congress nor members of their immediate family have any financial interest in the cds items that theyve requested. Further, the disclosure tables for each bill list each member who submitted a request for a particular project that was funded. These tables have been Available Online since this past summer when the bills were considered and approved in committee. The directed investments in these three bills that we are considering will make a difference to our constituents. They include funding to support agricultural research, local transportation and Community Development projects as well as military Construction Projects that are on the services unfunded priorities list. So i urge my colleagues to protect our constitutional power of the purse and support the senates ability to make intan substantive, tangible investments in our communities. I urge a no vote on senator brauns amendment. Mr. Braun mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from indiana. Mr. Braun first of all, i echo the comments of senators collins and murray on the tragedy in maine. We see it all too often. When it comes to this place, we dont do budgets anymore. We havent done them that weve adhered to in over 20 years. Weve piled up to, give you a little pace of debt, we were 5 trillion in debt in 2000. We added another 6 trillion, i believe, or 5 trillion by 2008. Added another 8, from 8 to 16. Wheres it going to end . Yes, congressional directed spending would be okay if it was in the context of actually doing budgets and not borrowing all this money from our kids and grandkids. This is symbolic mostly, but going back to earmarks just says were putting a rubber stamp on the dysfunction that drives this place in the first place. I yield, and i ask for the yeas and nays. The presiding officer the question is on the amendment. Is there a sufficient second . There appears to be. 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. The clerk 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. Hydesmith. 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 clerk senators voting in the affirmative braun, budd, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, cramer, cruz, fischer, grassley, lankford, paul, schmitz schmitz, thune and tuberville. Senators voting in the negative , britt, brown, cantwell, carper, durbin, graham, hassan, hirono, menendez, mullin, murkowski, ossoff, reed, rounds, sinema, smith, stabenow, sullivan, wicker, and wyden. Mrs. Murray, no. The clerk mr. Whitehouse, no. Mr. Tester, aye. The clerk mr. Young, aye. Vote the clerk mr. Warner, no. Mr. Moran, no. Mrs. Capito, no. Mr. Barrasso, aye. Mr. Crapo, aye. Mr. Boozman, no. Mr. Casey, no. Mr. Cardin, no. Mr. Kelly, no. Mrs. Gillibrand, no. Mrs. Shaheen, no. The clerk ms. Baldwin, no. The clerk mr. Kennedy, aye. Mr. Manchin, no. The clerk ms. Rosen, no. The clerk mr. Rubio, aye. The clerk mr. Fetterman, no. Mr. Sanders, no. Mr. Scott of florida, aye. Mr. Kaine, no. Ms. Duckworth, no. Ms. Cortezmasto, no. The clerk mr. Vance, aye. The clerk mr. Mcconnell, no. The clerk ms. Ernst, aye. Mrs. Hydesmith, no. The clerk mr. Peters, no. The clerk mr. Coons, no. Mrs. Blackburn, aye. Mr. Blumenthal, no. The clerk mr. Daines, aye. Vote the clerk mr. Tillis, no. The clerk mr. Warnock, no. Ms. Butler, no. The clerk mr. Bennet, no. Mr. Booker, no. Mr. Lujan, no. The clerk ms. Lummis, aye. Mr. Lee, aye. The clerk mr. Risch, aye. Mr. Marshall, aye. Mr. Murphy, no. Mr. Romney, aye. The clerk ms. Klobuchar, no. Oh, are the clerk ms. Klobuchar, no. Mr. Schatz, no. The clerk mr. Hickenlooper, no. Mr. Johnson, aye. Mr. Welch, no. Mr. Hagerty, aye. Mr. Merkley, no. Mr. Hawley, aye. The clerk mr. Ricketts, aye. Mr. Heinrich, no. Mr. Hoeven, aye. The clerk ms. Warren, no. The clerk mr. Van hollen, no. The clerk mr. Markey, no. The presiding officer on this vote the yeas are 35. The nays are 62. And the amendment is not agreed to. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to the consideration of s. J. Resolution 42 which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 229, s. J. Res. 42 providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States code, of the rules submitted by the food and Nutrition Service relating to application of bostoc v. Clayton complaint, Complaint Processing policy update. The presiding officer 30 minutes of debate equally divided. The senator from michigan. Ms. Stabenow thank you, mr. President. Also from michigan. Its wonderful to see you in the chair. I want to explain how we got here today because youre going to hear a lot of things that are just false today. And frankly things that i believe are mean and using some of our most Vulnerable Children for political stunts. But lets start with why are we having this discussion . The Supreme Court has ruled that discrimination based on sex includes Sexual Orientation and gender identity in general. Makes sense. The administration including the u. S. Department of agriculture is simply updating their policies to comply with the law. Now, last year 22 Republican Attorney generals took the department of agriculture to court based on the argument that you will hear today from this resolutions sponsor. Everything youll hear, they sued the department of agriculture over and the court just dismissed the case. They completely dismissed the case. In fact, the opinion dismissing the lawsuit called the republicans out for their political stunt. This is the judge saying this. Stating that this case had nothing to do with bathrooms or sports teams. And the judge then said this case is about food stamps and nutrition, not bathrooms, not sports teams, not free speech, and not religious exercise. Its about whether or not the usda is how they administer food benefits, School Breakfast, school lunch, afterschool snacks, other kinds of school and other food programs. And the judge said the plaintiff states have ignored a federal statute they want to ignore a federal statute and discriminate against poor people who do not confirm to traditional conceptions of sex. So this is about food programs. And then the judge went on to say, plaintiff states insistence to the contrary is no more an invitation to join a political discussion untethered to applicable statutes or precedent. The court will instead simply apply the law. So i urge the rejection of what has been called a political stunt by the federal court. Im calling it a political stunt because its very clear that children are being used to address what some colleagues have said is just red meat to republicans to, that feed the cultural wars. I want to say that im really glad my republican colleagues are so concerned about feeding kids. And they should be happy to know that the usda food and nutrition policies have nothing to do with School Bathrooms and nothing to do with school sports. The usda food programs have nothing to do with funding the rest of the school programs. The federal nutrition money is not used on anything else, cant be withheld on anything else, or funding anything else other than the school meals. Thats what its all about. This whole exercise is nothing more than a political stunt using children, as i said before, to stoke the made up cultural wars. Every child deserves to enjoy School Breakfast or lunch without being singled out for being lgbtqplus period. Thats all this is about. I also want to just add that the Biden Administration is focused on making sure that kids have access to meals and families can put food on their table. And its absurd that anything would say otherwise. Theyve increased access to free meals for students, expanded local food options, and are making meals healthier. And we came together at the end of last year, senator boozman and i led an effort to expand summer meals. It was a wonderful bipartisan effort to make sure in the summer that we have 29 million children that would otherwise not eat healthy meals have a chance to get a healthy meal. So we should be working together on bipartisan efforts to provide healthy food for our children. This exercise does not accomplish that. It is nothing more, unfortunately, than a cruel, political stunt. I urge my colleagues to vote no. Thank you. The presiding officer the senator from wisconsin. Ms. Baldwin mr. President , i rise today in strong opposition to Senate Joint Resolution 42. It is a cruel effort to green light discrimination against lgbtq children. My colleagues, some of them across the aisle have made false claims about a policy that the Biden Administration has released, a policy that makes clear the obvious, that every child should be able to get lunch at school no matter their race, religion, ability, gender identity, sex, or Sexual Orientation. Thats it. A simple, narrow directive from the usda that says schools that receive federal funding for nutrition assistance must not discriminate within the confines of these nutrition programs on the basis of gender identity, sex, or Sexual Orientation. This is not about bath rooms. This is not about locker rooms. This is not about sports. This is also not about pushing some alleged agenda. This is about feeding children, period. Since this policy was issued over a year ago in may of 2022, the usda has initiated no enforcementrelated actions, not a single case. Zip, nada, zero. This is a, quote, solution in search of a problem. The actual problem is that some of my republican colleagues continued efforts to pick on lgbtq children for their own political gain. By overturning this policy, my republican colleagues are essentially arguing that discrimination based on gender identity, sex, and Sexual Orientation is okay. Well, im so glad there havent been any instances of this happening. Just imagine the scenario that my colleagues are trying to allow. All of us, all of us in the senate represent lgbtq children and their families. Say you are one of those children and you are told you cant have your School Breakfast or lunch because of who you are. Depriving a child of eating because congress has decided that that would be okay, this is not okay. This resolution is not about doing good for the American People or making their lives better. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Resolutions like these have a profound impact on lgbtq kids and their families. I rise today as some of my republican colleagues to remind them that their actions do not go unnoticed by lgbtq children. Kids who already face increased adversity every day in the form of harassment or bullying or discrimination. As a consequence lgbtq out are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers and nearly 60 of lgbtq youth report experiencing symptoms of depression. Our words matter. Our actions here matter. When some republicans attack gay and trans children, our kids hear that they hear theyre not welcome at school, in public, and tragically sometimes even at home. They hear that their rights are lesser than their peers because simply who they are. They hear that they dont have the same freedoms and liberties as every other kid. They hear that the adults in the room, including some of my colleagues here in congress, do not care. Well, i care, and thats why im standing up against this attack and, frankly, all the attacks im seeing on gay and trans kids. Lgbtq children deserve the freedom to be like any other kids, whether that be playing sports, joining a club, or just being a kid. Free from bullying and harassment and discrimination. And that, of course, includes the school lunch line. These kids have a right to a life without harassment or further stigmaization. Should this resolution go through, congress is giving folks a free pass to ennye a school lunch to a kid just because of who they are. And make no mistake, this resolution would make our lgbtq kids feel less welcome and less safe in their own schools. This policy is about feeding children no matter who they are, and its just that simple. Please vote no. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Mr. Schatz mr. President , republicans need to leave the kids alone. Leave the kids alone. Right now theyre trying to deny food to lgbtq kids because they have disagreements about policies concerning trans people. Instead of debating those disagreements among adults, theyre holding School Lunches for kids hostage. So i want to be really clear about what this proposal would do and the message that it would send to millions of americans. It would overturn a policy that prevents lgbtq kids and adults from being discriminated against while accessing federal nutrition assistance, like school meals, food banks, snap benefits. You have an issue with high school sports, i think youre wrong, but have had it. You have a view about trans people, i think youre wrong. I think its terrible but have had it. But leave the kids alone. Let them eat. Let the children have a lunch. Every kid deserves a square meal. Leave them alone. Most people are fortunate enough to not have to worry about where their next meal will come from. Its just the routine part of life but that isnt the case for many year americans who are twice as queer americans who are twice as likely to experience discrimination and trans are three times likely to be food insuffer. So this policy is not just another line in the rule book. Its the difference between having a meal and going to bed hungry. And if we cant hold kids harmless, if we cant hold kids harmless, what the hell are we doing here . Cant we have some boundaries to the culture wars . Cant we have some disagreements without looping in the children . They are kids. We are adults. We are responsible for their health and safety. Let them have a square meal. I yield the floor. Mr. Marshall mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Marshall mr. President , its always a great honor to come to this hallowed floor to fight for our youth, our nations greatest treasure. I would ask the white house to leave our kids alone. Theyre the ones that have picked this fight. Its the white house that wont leave our kids alone. I rise in support of s. J. Resolution 42 which would strike down a policy memorandum regarding the Federal School launch program that the usda issued and has since been weaponized against our youth. Thats right. This administration is suing School Lunches to attack our youth, to implement their transgender policies. Let me begin by stating as a physician, as an obgyn, ive devoted my entire hive to ene to the health and wellbeing of women and their children. Nutrition is a key to the Healthy Development and growth of every infant, toddler and schoolaged child, and in my time as a doctor and now on capitol hill, theres nothing more ive stressed as important. Theres no greatest champion for Childrens Health and nutrition. Im deeply troubled by the wait my friends across the aisle have described this the intent of this revolution today, and im actually shocked by just how wrong they are with their tactics andamaning on this cra and messaging on this cra. The only player in this policy fight the wants to and has actually suspended access to the School Lunch Program is the Biden Administration. After three years, i thought id seen this all when it came to what this administration is willing to do in order to enforce its radical agenda on the people. We underestimated how they are want to force their ideology on all of us. I learned a long time ago with this white house, dont listen to what they say; watch what they d do. Take note, observe their actions. A memorandum issued by the usda last may shows they have extended fighting a culture war in a way that leaves school lurches for children hungarying in the School Lunches for children hanging in the balance. The Biden Administration is threatening School Assistance for lowincome kids unless the schools they attend carry out their transgender agenda, putting childrens access to lunch at risk. This resolution of disapproval aims to overturn this for the usda today which would deny lowincome kids access to the School Launch Program if their school does not adhere to the mandate. This includes biological boys to be given access to girls bathrooms and locker rooms or allowing biological boys to compete in girls sports. Weve heard all these stories of young women denied opportunities to win a championship or gain a scholarship because a biological boy was allowed to compete that their events. This is flatout wrong. As someone who was a middle School Student when title 9 was enacted and i saw firsthand the value of that law, many girls went on to receive athletic scholarships. To see this by the white house is heartbreaking. It would force Christian Schools to abandon their belief. This is not hyperbole or political rhetoric. The Biden Administration has already suspended access to the School Lunch Program in two schools requiring both to File Lawsuits over losing federal food assistance. In california the usda has actually taken away school lunch funding from kids because a Christian School refused to violate their closely held ledge beliefs in their hiring policies. Because the school wanted to draw the workforce from a pool of individuals who share their values and live out their religious convictions, children children including lgbtq families, had the federal funding for their lunches taken away. Whats ironic here is there was an original case in florida where the usda granted an exemption and enforced the federal statute. But this year a second lawsuit has been filed because the usda wasnt abiding by the standard the statute set. If the usda isnt the going to follow its own standard and ignore federal law, then we must act and we must act today a more than 20 Republican Attorneys general agree with me and are suing the usda over the policy memorandum. If this usda policy continues, schools risk losing federal funds for free and reduced lunchesment. In total, more than 29 Million Students nationwide receive free or reduced lunch programs, something i am proud to support. We must protect these Childrens School security and their safety at all costs. The usda has no authority to enforce this. To adhere to woke mandates such as boys being given access to girls locker rooms or allowing boys to compete against girls in girls scoots. The usda has ill wrap it uph this. We must stop this policy in its tracks to protect access to School Lunches for students across the country and send a clear message to this administration stop weaponizing the federal government federal government. Let me state again, the only player in this policy fight aiming to take away access to the School Lunch Program is the Biden Administration. This cra would not allow for discretionary against kids in the discrimination against kids in the lunch line. It is against federal statute. I encourage my colleagues to support its passage. I would like to yield to the senator from the great state of texas. The presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cruz mr. President , i rise to support senator marshalls resolution of disapproval of this outrageous rule. I have to say, as i sat here on the senate floor, i listened to my friend from hawaii give his floor remarks. As i listened to what he said, i wrote down some of what he said. He said, kids need to eat. He said, dont take the food away from children. And he said, dont drag children into the culture wars. And i have to admit, mr. President , i felt like it was an alice in wonderland and that id gone through the looking glass, because i agree emphatically with all three of those statements. I thought the senator from hawaii had risen to give a speech in support of this resolution of disapproval. What is this issue about . Understand what it is about. It is joe biden and the democrats who are taking food away from children. The u. S. Department of agriculture has told schools, we will cut off your school lunch funding, we will take the food out of your off of your plates and out of the your mouths unless the schools comply with the Biden Administrations radical transgender policies. It is joe biden and the democrats and every democrat whovotes in favor of this policy who are saying we are going to take food away from kids. Why . Because todays Democrat Party, feeding children and mind you were talking about lowincome kids, many of whom the only food they get that day they get at school. And the democrats are going to say, were taking away your food. Why . Because todays Democrat Party is committed to the proposition that a boy who identifies as a girl should be allowed to use the girls restroom, should be allowed to shower with teenage girls, even if the girls dont want it. That 10, 12, is 14, 15yearold girls should be forced to shower next to someone who is biologically male. This is not hypothetical. Members of the Judiciary Committee listened to the testimony of riley gaines, a National Champion swimmer, who was forced under these same idiotic policies to shower in a shower next to someone biologically male with full male equipment. She wasnt asked for her consent. I ask the women in this chamber, how many of you would be excited to be forced to shower with someone biologically of the opposite sex . Todays Democrat Party has embraced the radical and extremes, and when it comes to sports, their view also is that boys should be able to compete against girls in sports and men should be able to compete against women in support sports. And this is happening all over the country. I believe in womens sports. I believe in girls sports. I have two young daughters. Sports are amazing for girls to win discipline and hard work and teamwork. Title 9 has opened doors for young women to go to college. And yet the democrats extreme transgender ideology is destroying girls sports and womens sports. This is not a malt of gender or gender identity. This is a matter of fairness. Anyone who is not consumed by ideology understands theres a difference between boys and girls. There are biological differences between boys and girls. There is a reason why recently in canadian power lifting, a biological male won womens powerlifting, beating the secondplace competitor by, if i think remember correctly, 443 pounds. 4663 pounds. It is not fair to force little girls to compete against biological boys. The democrats dont care about fairness. They care about extreme ideology and every democrat who votes against this cra is voting to take the food from hungry kids. Because thats how radical they are in enforcing this policy. Mr. President , i urge every senator to vote aye. A senator mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from connecticut. Mr. Murphy id ask unanimous consent that i be permitted to speak for up to five minutes and senator stabenow be permitted to speak for up to one minute prior to the scheduled vote. The presiding officer is there objection . Without objection. Mr. Murphy mr. President , on the merits, this resolution is just absurd. The department of agriculture is not, as senator cruz alleges, punishes schools based upon how they label bathrooms or what they teach in health classes. The offenses that senator marshall and cruz state here are made up. If youre feeding poor kids, it shouldnt matter if that kid is straight, gay, transgender, black or white, catholic or protestant. You cant choose not to feed a kid because of their ethnicity, race, or Sexual Orientation. Thats common sense. Ill guarantee you, 90 of americans agree with that sentiment. The reason were debating this resolution, though, isnt because there is a problem that needs to be solved. Were debating this resolution because the right wing in this nation has launched a relentless and unceasing campaign to marginalize, demonize and bully kids who are gay, transgender, or nonbinary. All across the country, republican state legislatures are introducing bills designed to demonize gay children, to make people believe that these kids are a threat to others. Hundreds and hundreds of bills all centered on the same lie as this resolution that its not okay to be gay, that its abnormal to be transgender, and that society should rally around efforts to bully and shame these children and their families. A few weeks ago i finished up my annual walk across the state of connecticut. I spend a week talking to hundreds of people, most of them totally nonpolitical about what they care about and what they want their leaders to shall working on. Of you know what nobody talked to me about on that walk . Drag shows in schools. You know what they did talk to me about . Wages not keeping up with costs, safety in their neighborhoods, israel, drugs. This obsession the right wing have with the Sexual Orientation of our kids is so divorced from what people are actually talking about in our country. Its no wonder the candidacy of ron desantis, founded on his attacks of gay kids and adults in florida is floundering. Even primary voting republicans think this obsession republicans have with childrens Sexual Orientation or gender identity is just super creepy and super weird, and it has nothing to do with the actual set of problems that this nation is facing. But there is one problem attached to this resolution. There are consequences to what senator marshall and senator cruz are proposing. When leaders choose to make bullying and marginalizing gay kids a top priority, kids listen. Fuel is given to their bullies. People like the senators that are sponsoring this resolution legitimize attacks on gay kids and make those kids feel inferior and alone. The students at seth walss school were systematic in the way they targeted him. They screamed at him and called him names. No doubt these bullies took direction and inspiration from adults who paved the way, who endorsed this kind of behavior. And then one day after one of these incidents a frightened seth called his mom and said youve got to come get me right now. His mother could feel the fear in his voice. They went to the school, brought him home. His mom was so supportive. That afternoon they sat and talked. Seth went upstairs to take a shower. Afterwards he came down, asked his mom for a pen, told her he was going outside to play with the dogs. Ten minutes later his mom went outside to continue this conversation with her son but it was too late. Seth had hung himself from a tree and the pen he had asked for was for his suicide note. Setting walsh was 13 years old. A recent survey of transgender youth show half of them, 52 of them contemplated suicide over the last year. Just think about that for a second. Half the kids who are transgender come to the conclusion that at some point in their young lives that they would be better off dead, dead than to live in a world that believes that they are threats to be marginalized or expunged. How small, how tiny do you have to be to reach a position of Political Leadership and choose to use that position to bully or shame kids like seth . This campaign of targeting and marginalizing gay and transgender kids, trying to convince the country that they are threats to this country, it just wrong on the facts, its wrong morally, and it has lethal consequences, and it should stop. Ms. Stabenow i want to thank my colleague for his comments. This is so serious for children. But let me be clear, clear, the u. S. Department of agriculture and nutrition programs do not Fund Anything related to School Bathrooms or school sports. This is a rule about making sure all children have access to school meals. Theyre not discriminated against, that children arent blocked from Getting School meals if theyre gay or nonbinary or transgender. And its true there are 22 Republican Attorneys general that took the department of agriculture to court. You know what . The case got thrown out. The case got thrown out and the judge called it a political stunt. And the usda has not threatened to withhold food from any child in school. In fact, the case that my friend talked about was a california statute, not usda. And the usda has not threatened to withhold food from any child in school, period. So im committed to advancing real policies that make a difference to our children, but not wasting the senates time on political stunts. I urge my colleagues to vote no. The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Marshall i ask unanimous consent for 30 more seconds to respond briefly. The presiding officer is there objection . Hearing none. Mr. Marshall the only player in this policy fight that once it is taking away lunches from schoolchildren is the Biden Administration. Since theyre unaware this is already happening, here are the two court cases where schools have had to sue in order to feed children at their schools. The first one Grant Park Christian Academy verses fried. The Second Church of compassion versus johnson. The usda was party of those. I yield back. The presiding officer the clerk will report the tidal of the bill for the third time. The clerk s. J. Res. 42 providing for disapproval United States code of food and Nutrition Service relating to application of bosstok clayton county, policy update. 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. The clerk 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. The clerk mr. Hoeven. Mrs. Hydesmith. 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 barrasso, blackburn, boozman, braun, britt, budd, capito, cassidy, cornyn, cotton, cramer, daines, fischer, graham, grassley, hagerty, hoeven, hydesmith, johnson, kennedy, lummis, marshall, mcconnell, mullin, paul, ricketts, risch, rounds, rubio, scott of florida, thune, tillis, tuberville, and wicker. Senators voting in the negative baldwin, blumenthal, brown, collins, hassan, hick hickenlooper, kaine, markey, murkowski, murphy, peters, schatz, shaheen, smith, stabenow, tester, warner, and welch. Vote the clerk mr. Menendez, no. The clerk mr. Lankford, aye. Mr. Romney, aye. The clerk mr. Crapo, aye. Mr. Schmitt, aye. Ms. Cantwell, no. Mr. Wyden, no. The clerk mr. Reed, no. The clerk ms. Sinema, no. Mr. Young, aye. The clerk ms. Warren, no. The clerk mr. Booker, no. The clerk mrs. Murray, no. Ms. Ernst, aye. Mr. Moran, aye. The clerk mr. Durbin, no. Ms. Butler, no. Mr. Carper, no. Mr. Schumer, no. Mr. Sullivan, aye. Ms. Rosen, no. The clerk ms. Hirono, no. The clerk mr. Fetterman, no. Mr. Coons, no. Mr. Sanders, no. The clerk mrs. Gillibrand, no. Mr. Ossoff, no. Mr. Cruz, aye. Mr. Lee, aye. The clerk mr. Hawley, aye. Mr. Coast cardin, no. The clerk the clerk mr. Cardin, no. The clerk mr. Bennet, no. Ms. Cortez masto, no. The clerk mr. Kelly, no. Mr. Heinrich, no. Mr. Van hollen, no. The clerk mr. Warnock, no. Mr. Casey, no. The clerk mr. Merkley, no. Ms. Duckworth, no. The clerk mr. Vance, aye. The clerk mrs. Klobuchar, no. The clerk mr. Lujan, no. The clerk mr. Whitehouse, no. The clerk mr. Manchin, aye. The presiding officer on this vote the yeas are 47. The nays are 50. The joint resolution fails. I steered the obvious will know that the world is in turmoil that a Strong America is good for the entire world. [applause] we are the beacon of freedom and we must preserve this grand experiment and selfgovernance. It still is. We are only 247 years into this grand experiment and we dont know how long it will last. But we do know the founders told us to take good care of it. I want to tell all my colleagues here what i told the republicans in that room last night. I dont believe there are any coincidences in a manner like this. I believe that scripture the bible is very clear, that god is a what the raises up those in authority. Hes raised at each of you, all of us. And i believe god is ordained and about each one of us to be brought here for the specific moment in this time. This is my belief. I believe each one of us has a huge responsibility today, to use the gifts that god has given us to serve six ordinary people of this great country and they deserve it. And to ensure that our republic remained standing as a great beacon of light and hope and freedom in a world that desperately needs it. Mike johnson on house floor yesterday after he secured the votes and for the first round of balloting to become speaker of the house. Usa today headline is gop crowns johnson speaker. Jake sherman a punchbowl news notes and a tweet johnson got every republican vote, 220. First time thats happened since john boehner in 2011. He became official very quickly yesterday been reported that reporters capturing this photo, speaker of the house mike johnson the signed with up. Within minutes of him becoming speaker and getting the votes in the house yesterday. This came after three weeks of no speaker in the house. And republicans along with all the democrats voted to oust Kevin Mccarthy from that position and as you all know you saw the drama play out here in the Nations Capital. The republicans then went through several other nominees before landing on mike johnson. The advocate from louisiana, its largest paper in the state had an article yesterday, who is mike johnson . And they say he is largely unknown off capitol hill and that is worked in his favor. Three betterknown House Republicans majority leader Steve Scalise, tom emmer, jim jordan have long issues in congress and each accumulated enemies. Johnson 51 left baggage, hes an evangelical Christian Conservative who is close to the Louisiana Family Forum influential religious conservative group baton rouge. He graduated from lsu Paul Herbert Law Center and spend his legal career in his words defending religious freedom and biblical values. Democrats for their part have this to say about mike johnson coming from Hakeem Jeffries, the democratic leader in the house. Before the vote yesterday but when it became clear that my johnson would get the speakership. Mike johnson is someone who like a Kevin Mccarthy, Steve Scalise, like jim jordan voted to overturn the 2020 president ial election. That mike johnson similar to all of those individuals had a a k record of trying to undermine Social Security and medicare and in these incredible port things are connected fabric of our country, and ended them as we know it. That mike johnson probably more so than almost any other member of the House Republican conference wants to criminalize abortion care and impose a nationwide ban. Later on today we will make clear that we will continue to forcefully push back against that extremism and layout with the stakes are for the American People in terms of finding bipartisan common ground, avoiding unnecessary government shutdowns, funding the government in a way that meets the needs of the American People in terms of health, safety, economic wellbeing. Stands by our allies like israel and ukraine and other parts of the free world, provide you mentoring assistance of palestinians who may be in harms way. Does the things that are necessary both for our country and for the free world. These are the things that we help under Speaker Mike Johnson will be focused on as opposed to the republicans continuing to jam the right wing ideology down the throats of the American People. We will fight back today. We will fight back tomorrow. We will fight back forever. Host of a democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries yesterday on the republican agenda and the new Speaker Mike Johnson from louisiana. Were getting your reaction to the speakership and your thoughts on how this all played out in washington. Before we get to your calls, your facebook posts, expost in your Text Messages to us, we want to share headline out of maine today of the 16 dead, dozens wounded in shooting. Please give few details on overnight search for gunmen in that area. Massive manhunt is underway after Maine State Police identified robert card conforti, person of interest. Shelter in place with residents told to stay in their homes and keep their doors locked. Angela in Maryland Democratic caller. When you think of this to new Speaker Mike Johnson . Caller i know is part of Republicans Committee which is a largest Republic Committee at a look up there but today, 2024 budget and a call for turning medicare traditional medicare the money that goes into it into a premium support quoteunquote for private insurance plans. Thats the one thing i dont like about the budget. Number two, they talk about reforming Social Security for those that are not yet on Social Security. But that didnt get specifics or a look at the budget from 2023. The Republican Study Committee budget from 2023 and in that they talk about linking the age of Social Security retirement to your Life Expectancy age. Which would be between 7781. So i hope you asked republican congressman later on about that. But mostly what had a problem with them on is same thing as have problem with trump on, trying to suspend the constitution and keep them as president , rejecting by electoral votes. I know that because mike pence said thats what trump asked him to do. He didnt ask him to send anything back to the states. He said reject the bible electoral votes and keep me in as president. Those of the two big issues i have with johnson, and johnson voted vote for that. So he was part of that. Those are the two big problems i have. If you get asked republican congressmen coming up about those Social Security and medicare reforms, i would appreciate it. Host angela doing her homework in maryland as you noted in the last two hours of state action washington journal we will talk to republicans, house lawmakers and those across the aisle, Democratic Party lawmakers in the house. We will do quick interviews with them while we keep taking your calls today on mike johnson elected as house speaker. Joel in arkansas, republican. Caller good morning. Well, i just think its great that we got a man of deep faith in christianity. And its just great. Its good that we finally got the speaker. Its been three weeks since weve had one. I just want to say also sorry about the killing in maine overnight or recently. 20 people was killed. And its just terrible. Host joel, an asteroid the speakership, what do you think the impact can ask you on the speakership what you think the impact will be from not having a speaker for three weeks. Caller we save a lot of money now. Im being facetious but we saved a lot of money, didnt we . Host what do you think the voters will do works with a seven impact on them when they come to vote in 2024 . Caller i think it will be happy we got a speaker now and i think in 2024 we are going to see a complete change in the election coming up. This inflation and the cost of food, gas and everything. But before you disconnect me, how Many Democrats voted for this man yesterday . I didnt we see that. Host no democrats. 209 democrats were present. Rather, the to what toby have in the house. All 209 voted for their leader, Hakeem Jeffries, which is typically how it goes down. That the rank and file vote for their party leadership. Eastpoint michigan independent. Lets hear from you, darrell. Caller good morning. I was completely giddy when i saw mark arison for the first time in months not hear of white on his head. Finally got a shift to the next generation. [inaudible] chilled, grandchildren with both parties because i feel is actually happening at this moment this my generation, im 73, passing the time to them and carry on without free society. From okay. Director of facebook i think its good to get a relatively unknown to take the job so theres not as much political baggage as some of the other speaker candidates would be. You can join us on facebook as well, facebook. Com cspan. Join us on ex with the handle cspanwj. You can text as well include your first name, city and state the 2027488003. From the white house yesterday President Biden during a a jot News Conference with the australian Prime Minister was asked about his thoughts on mike johnson, the new speaker of the house. Heres what he had to say. After 22 days House Republicans elected mike johnson of louisiana as a speaker of the house. Johnson advocated conspiracy theories about Voting Machines and rigged election in 2020. He encouraged his colleagues to join a lawsuit to invalidate the results of four states. If you you win reelection in 2024, are you worried that speaker johnson would again attempt to overturn the election . No. Why not . Because he cant look, just like i was not worried the last time they try to overturn the election. 60 lawsuits and every time you lost. I understand the constitution. Host the Washington Post has more about the role of mike johnson in the 2022 effort, effort in 2022 to overturn that election. Johnsons role in seeking to overturn the 2020 vote was directly solicited by the former President Trump tax the lawmaker to help spearhead efforts on capitol hill to support a court challenge. Heres a quote, President Trump called me last night and i was encouraged to hear his continued resolve to ensure every legal vote gets properly counted, that all instances of fraud in illegality or investor and prosecuted, johnson tweeted on november 9, 2020. Weeks later after Texas Attorney general ken paxton filed suit seeking to challenge the voting practices in the number of swing states that biden had one, johnson was tasked with being house support as a case made his way to the Supreme Court. To do this johnson had swiss head of the republican study commissioned a conservative policy group in the house. He allied himself with trump accused the connection and writing at the seminary, 2020 email with the subject line time sensitive request from President Trump. The brief said it represented the concerns of members of congress shared by untold millions other constituents that the costa unconstitutional irregularly involved in the 2020 president election cast doubt upon its outcome in the integrity of the american system of election. Trump boast of the case tweeting it was very strong. Johnsons role was so central that the brief cover page read u. S. Representative mike johnson and 125 others of the u. S. House of representatives. The Supreme Court quickly throughout the case saying on december 11, 2020, texas did not have standing. Trump tweeted the court had quote really let us down. No wisdom, elkridge. In the wake of the brief failure some republicans complained to johnson that they felt he had unfairly pressured them to sign on to the filing of invoking trumps name. According to a former House Republican senior aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Johnson told his colleagues he was sorry if they felt pressured according to the aide who was on the call in which johnson made the comment. After the case was tossed out johnson was asked by the new york wifi trumps legal team it failed. He stood by the legal claims and asserted the problem was that trump didnt have good lawyers. Christina in illinois, democratically. We will go to you. Caller good morning. I am having trouble with the voting in extremists. I mean, very, very extreme people on the right. I mean, its like his speech yesterday invoking the bible and stuff. I just expect the ideal time for them to have altar calls and start passing out the snakes. Have a good day. Host lynn, corpus christi, texas. Caller hello. Good morning cspan. Well, i appreciate johnson being elected speaker of the house. Jeffries, he as a matter that a wet hand could not by six republican votes to be speaker of the house. And johnsons going to do a good job as speaker. I like what his platform was laid out yesterday and he is probably going to follow through on all of them. Its time for the republicans to get power back into the house of representatives. And i guarantee you, this coming election a lot of democrats are going to be voted out of office. Host what do you like about the agenda he put out . He said he would pass a shortterm continuing resolution, and that is what Kevin Mccarthy did when he was speaker that caused, triggered the ire of some of his republican colleagues. Caller okay. I i appreciate that and i applad him for that. And bringing the senate to our notice of all bills that would give people time to read all information on the bills. And i would like to see them censor like matt gaetz severely for his interruption of mccarthy speaker of the house. Matt gaetz is a crook could, hes actually a crook. He should be actually in prison for having raped a 13yearold girl in florida. Host glenn, he said he feels vindicated, that when he cut he feels vindicated now that mike johnson is speaker. Caller who is . Host matt gaetz says he feels vindicated for the role he played in all of this because Micah Johnson is speaker. Caller well, he should be actually censored for all of the problems that he presented for the republican party. He caused all of this interruption in the speaker of the house doing their business. Hes the one who should be centered severely. Host all right. Bill in alabama independent. Caller good morning, greta. Host good morning, you misrepresented what mike johnson said in his speech about a continuing resolution. Host okay. Tell me, tell me how you heard it. Caller i heard it if necessary, if they didnt get all the bills done. But that he was going, and matteroffact outrigger four owe five bills passed and city on Chuck Schumers desk. Host okay. So theyre going to try to keep doing these spending bills with the hope of not passing a continuing resolution. They are though close to that deadline of november 17th. Do you think they can do it . Caller i dont know, and you dont know that either. And to correct Something Else that you quoted this morning, that is misinformation. The police in maine quoted live from their speaker that it was 22 people killed, and 30 you need to keep up on your information because you are giving out false information, greta. Host okay. What i read was a headline and is said more than 16. And the number is at 22 as you said and numerous people injured. Caller the headline that you dont quote, quote from the Washington Post and your times all the time period those are host that was a maine newspaper. Barbara, Bloomfield Hills Michigan Democratic caller. Caller hello. Anyone whos an election denier should be disqualified, paid back. Secondly he touted that he is prolife. Youre not prolife if youre not for humanitarian efforts to the palestinians. And whoever follows trump is not a true christian because he does not exemplify not one fruit of the spirit. Host okay. I write, call her. Heres a little bit from roll call, excuse me National Journal of about the jenna R Mike Johnson and republicans. Before his at wednesday johnson put out a framework for the coming months. He plans to begin bringing up stalled appropriation bills as soon as this week started with the energy and water bill. The chamber would move to the legislative branch cut into an apartment come transportation housing and urban Development Bill next week. More spending bills would follow through midnovember. But if congress cant pass all 12 appropriation bills by the november 17 funding deadline which appears inevitable, and johnson would support a stopgap bill, that the cr, funding the government of january 15 or april 15th, quote based on what can obtain conference consensus he said in his letter. That proposal is not new. Jordan propose a continuing resolution to april during his speakership bit as well. The strategy goes back to the deal struck between mccarthy and President Biden over the summer to raise the debt limit. Language in the legislation requires a 1 acrosstheboard spending cut agenda we first if the federal government is still operating under stopgap spending bill. The budget cut republicans they will put pressure on Senate Democrats to come to the negotiating table on individual spending bills. Scotty, North Carolina, republican. Caller howre you doing . My name is scotty. Im from North Carolina. Im just wondering how come the democrats weaponized media and they dont cover everything whats reported . And im pretty bothered with that. Its just like its taking away our freedom and we dont have freedom. We dont have justice in the United States. And all that is gone. We dont have a country no more. Thats all ive got to say about anything. Byebye. Thank you all. Host independence, missouri. Independent. Share your thoughts with us. Caller listen, you know, this something is a sham. Johnson is not a practicing christian. Hes a practicing satanist. They all are. Host pensacola, florida. Democratic caller. Caller good morning. Im calling about the speaker. I think its terribly frightening that we are in this position now where we have someone, trump acolyte, who wass now the speaker of the house, the third in line to assume the presidency. What is is going to mean for legislation Going Forward for 80 ukraine, for aid to israel, for humanitarian aid for the palestinians . And this socalled holding up the bible, that is just, its such a ploy and they trick. It just, it just discussed me i must say and im very, very frightened. Host dorothy, on your question about 80 ukraine in israel, a wall street journal. Soldier conservative trump ally takes the helm. On paper johnson will mark a a break from the prior House Republican leadership team. Mccarthy along with House Majority leader Steve Scalise and House Majority whip tom emmer all voted for the stopgap measure that is keeping the government funded through november 17. All three voted for 40 billion in aid to ukraine in 2022. And again this year for about 300 million toward the Ukraine Security assistant initiative. Johnson voted against those measures. Now that johnson is speaker the question is how firmly rooted johnsons elites are about those funds or whether he is part of a perennial vote no vote yes caucus. In a letter to his Colleagues Council propose advancing a temporary spending measure as he told you to generate 15 or aprie conference would support. While working on those remaining appropriation bills. For next or he proposed passing a physical 235 budget resolution by april in keeping the house in session during august if the house had not that passed as fiscal appropriation bills by that time. When he served as head of the Republican Study Committee which represents a spectrum of house conservatives, johnson presided over a budget blueprint designed to balance the federal budget in ten years. Among other things it pushed an idea along associate with former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan to turn medicare into a premium support system which beneficiaries would receive Financial Assistance to buy Health Insurance through a regulated medicare exchange. The plan proposed raising the retirement age to 69 69 for e born in 1950 and later to current retirement age is 67. Those details in todays wall street journal if youre interested. Wayne in new hampshire, republican. Caller imf first time caller, but im calling because ive been watching cspan for a long time and have really never thought i would call but i p hearing over and over again democrat callers calling and saying that mike johnson january 6th and they said the same thing about jim jordan. Happened on january will i will find it really a career. You can read for yourself. Kentucky, independent. Thank you for taking my call. First i would like to say whats going on. Lets go back to when mccarthy was in the house. Successful. These entities they could vote on our elections. A couple of days later pelosi overturned that the people dont realize the state now. Going back to the speaker election yesterday. This is about the house rules. No matter what you do will democrats dont like it. Democratic color. I first time probably will, lets go to speaker pelosi, i think theres a lot of talk but i dont think you will is one of the first things on his agenda, whole dont get anything all right there. If we keep everything together all right, more about johnson coming up here. Mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Schumer thank you, mr. President. Before i begin, i want to note that i am wearing a dog tag given to me this morning by one of the families of the hostages held in gaza. So we pray and hope for their release. Now to our business, mr. President , i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 306. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All opposed no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, the judiciary, Matthew James maddox of maryland to be United States district judge for the district of maryland. Mr. Schumer i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar 306, Matthew James maddox of maryland to be United States district judge for the district of maryland signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Schumer i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All opposed say nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Schumer i move to proceed to consider calendar 370. The presiding officer the question is on the motion. All those in favor say aye. All opposed say nay. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, department of state, jacob j. Lew of new york to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of america to the state of israel. Mr. Schumer i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 370, jacob j. Lew of new york to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of america to the state of israel, signed by 17 senators as follows. Mr. Schumer i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, october 26, be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and 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. Schumer mr. President , i have five requests for committees to meet during todays session of the senate. They have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. The presiding officer duly noted. Mr. Schumer mr. President , i understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading. The presiding officer the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. The clerk s. 3135, a bill making emergency supplemental appropriations for assistance for the situation in israel for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes. Mr. Schumer in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i would object to further proceeding. The presiding officer the objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate Resolutions which were submitted earlier today. S. Res. 435, s. Res. 436, s. Res. 437, s. Res. 438, s. Res. 439. The presiding officer without exception, the senate will proceed to the resolutions en bloc. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer and i would just note one of these resolutions condemns anti antisemitism which we see on too many campuses these days. Now, finally, mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its Business Today it stand adjourned until 3 00 p. M. On monday, october 3, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings sorry. Let me repeat. I ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its Business Today it stand adjourned until 3 00 p. M. On monday, october 30, that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. That upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the maddox nomination. Further that cloture motions filed during todays session ripen at 5 30 p. M. On monday. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer if there is no further objection to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. The presiding officer the Senate Stands adjourned until 3 00 p. M. On monday. Next line people and events that tell the american story. 7 00 p. M. Eastern, discusses the case of googles account, life of mr. Geisel in the Diesel Engine in his 1913 disappeared leading up to world war i. Discussion on 1976 president ial campaign jimmy carter and gerald ford became. Next line the american story. Watch American History tv saturdays on cspan2 and find a full schedule on you program or watch online anytime cspan. Org history. Cspan is a free overlap between your be overtopping in washington, live on demand. Keep up with the biggest events with live streams and for proceedings and hearings from u. S. Congress. White house offense, the court, campaigns and in the world of politics all at your fingertips and stay current with the latest episodes of washington general live Schedule Information for defense to be number cspan radio classified a compelling podcast. Shes been now is available at the apple store and googled like a macdonald breed today, cspan now, front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. Cspan is unfiltered view of government funded by Television Companies and more including media,. We believe by the you live here or right here for in the middle of anywhere, he should have access to fast and reliable internet