Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. 20240704

Too, and right now were facing our greatest challenge. Thats why sparklight is working around the clock to keep you connected. Were doing our part so its a little easier for other Television Providers giving you a front row seat to y. We take you live now to the floor of the u. S. Senate today members will be working on several nominations, including the assistant defense secretary. This week will also be working on the first funding bill coming up today. Live coverage of the u. S. Senate is here on cspan2. The chaplain let us pray. Have compassion upon us o lord for we are weak. We continue to depend on you to guide our lawmakers onths. Only you know uture holds and the resources we will need to meet our many challenges. Strengthen our senators n the face of great challenges, they will be steadfast, abounding inorks that honor you. Lord give them such confidence in your providence that no problem will seem insoluble. When anxieties come, remind them that you have not given a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and discipline. In all of theirwork may their primary motive be to bring glory to your name. Thank you for hearing our cries and answering our prayers. We pray in your mighty name. Amen the presiding officer please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The presiding officer the clerk will read a communication to the senate. The clerk washington d. C. , march 6, 2024. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable peter welch, a senator from the state of vermont, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patty murray, president pro tempore. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination department of defense, rd keohane of new york to be an assistant secretary. The presiding officer the republican leader. Mr. Mcconnell next month will mark 45 years since the cornerstone of u. S. Foreign policy in an increasingly he world became law. The formal title of the law is worth a read in todays context. An act to help maintain peace, security and the person pacific and to promote the Foreign Policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of taiwan in the 45 years since Congress Passed the taiwan relations act, our friends on the aisle have continued to write an incredible story of resilience. Taiwan has established robust civil society, and a modern innovative hightech economy, and its people have planted themselves squarely squarely on the side of free societies and free markets. America is taiwans second largest trading partner. Its military is reforming and modernizing, increasingly arming itself with cutting edge american capabilities. And the u. S. Taiwan partnership has become an increasingly important indicator of bipartisan american resolve at a time when our allies and adversaries alike doubt, doubt the commitments. After abandoning allies in afghanistan and squandering leverage over iran and slow walking assistance to ukraine, americas relationship with taiwan holds unique value. And like it or not, it will be increasingly seen as a test of whether americas commitments to allies and partners hold any water. Today investing in our capabilities and Defense Industrial capacity would show our friends across the indopacific that we do do recognize the significance of that region and of the strategic competition unfolding out there, a competition america cannot afford to neglec prc is certainly not neglecting it. Since 2015 beijings publicly reported spending on its mili. And just yesterday, communist Party Leaders announced that defense investments wou 7. 2 . Of course thats just a figure beijing acknowledges publicly. Chinas real military modernization efforts are actually more expansive and more worrisome, and theyre intendec to dominate its neighbors and counter americas ability to project power in the region. Deed the prc is showing the world that its prepared to redraw maps bye. Sound familiar . Thats because the revisionist autocrats we face are operating from the very same playbook. And taiwan appreciates the links between the threats we face as well as any of our allies and partners. Its leaders have been outspoken in connecting the dots between an aggivresse and an emboldened china in the indopacific. The people of taiwan increasingly recognize their interests in preparing to deter and defeat aggression. In fact theyre so cleareyed about challenges posed by revisionist powers today that theyre helping a fellow democracy halfway around the world world, ukraine. But the most pressing questions right now are whether america recognizes our own interests in maintaining a world in which our commitments are trusted, our threats are feared and what we are prepared to do about it. Standing by our friends, standing up to adversaries, and investing in the military capacity to do both as Congress Considers annual defense appropriations and finishes its National Security supplemental these are the fundamental tasks at hand. A different matter earlier this week the Biden Administration announced that it hadreceived quote, counteroffers, end quote, in the socalled negotiation between hhs and medicine producers over government price setting. As ive pointed out recently the administration has spent years trying to corral worldleading producers of medical miracles into a socialist pricefixing scheme. And for the past several theyve described their Kangaroo Court as if it were a garden party. This week hhs secretary becerra insisted quote, we are committed to constructive dialogue. These are good upfront negotiations. Of course as any working american knows, in a real negotiation, both parties have the ability to walk away. Thats not the case when it comes to Prescription Drug the way these negotiations work if a drug company doesnt agree to the maximum fair price, they can either agree to pay an excessive excise tax or they can withdraw entirely from participation in medicaid and medicare programs. Mr. President , anyone can process is anything but a goodfaith negotiation. But thats not even the crux of the issue. Heres what is. Underneath the administrations rhetoric of lowering prices for american consumers, the hard reality is Prescription Drug Socialism Means higher costs and fewer treatments. According to one estimate this scheme would eliminate funding as the 2016 Cancer Moonshot Initiative created. By ano Biden Administrations drug pricing schemes will lead to 139 fewer medicines over the next thats just on the treatment side. Over the next decade Prescription Drugs socialism would reportedlynate up to 135,000 jobs directly in the Life Sciences space in the United States and up to related fields. Apparently the Biden Administrations ed Biden Administration is out innovation doing what its best at finding worst side effect the millions of people who will go without groundbreaking American Made treatments. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. Yy quorum call fortyfive 45 years since the cornerstone of u. S. Foreign policy in an increasingly critical region of the world became law. The formal title of the law is worth a read in todays context. An act to help maintain Peace Security and stability in western pacific and to promote the Foreign Policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural and other relatio between the people of the United States and the people of taiwan. In the 45 years since Congress Passed the taiwan relations act our friends on the island have continued to write an incredible story of resilience. Taiwan has established a strong democracy, and robust civil society, and a modern innovative hightech economy. And its people have planted themselves squarely squarely on the side of free societies and free markets. S taiwans secondlargest trading partner. Its military is reforming and modernizing increasingly arming itself with cuttingedge american capabilities. And the u. S. Taiwan partnership has become an increasingly important indicator of bipartisan american resolve at a time when our allies and adversaries alike doubt doubt the credibility of our commitments. After abandoning allies in afghanistan and squandering leverage over iran and slow walking assistance to america relationship with taiwan holds unique value. Like it or not it will be increasingly seen as a test of whether americas commitments to allies and partners hold any water. Today, investing in our capabilities and Defense Industrial capacity which show our friends across the indopacific that we do, do recognize the significance of that region. And at the strategic competition unfolding out theren america cannot afford to neglect. After all the certainly not neglecting it. Since 2015 beijings publicly reported spending on his military has doubled. And just yesterday communist Party Leaders announced that defense investments would grow a further 7. 2 . Of course thats just a figure patient acknowledges publicly. Chinas real military modernization efforts are actually and more worrisome and they are intended to enable the prc to dominate its neighbors and counter americas ability to project power in the region. Byword and deed, the prc is showing the world its prepared to redraw maps by force. Sound familiar . Thats because the autocrats we face are operating from the very same playbook. And taiwan appreciate the links between the threats we face as well as any of our allies and partners. Its leaders have been outspoken in connecting the dots between an aggressive russia in europe and an emboldened china in the indopacific. And the people of taiwan increasingly recognize their interests in preparing to deter and defeat aggression. In fact, they are so clear eyed about challenges posed posed by revisionist powers today that theyre helping a fellow democracy halfway around the world, ukraine. But the most pressing questions right now are whether america recognizes our own interests in maintaining a world in which our commitments are trusted our threats are feared, and what we are prepared to do about it. Standing by our friends standing up to adversaries and investing in the military capacity to do both as Congress Considers annual defense appropriations and finishes its work on National Security fundamental tasks at hand. On a different matter, earlier this week the Biden Administration announced that it had received, quote counter offe end quote into socalled negotiation between hhs and medicine producers over government price setting. As i pointed out recently, the Administration Spent years trying to corral world leading producers of medical miracles into a socialist pricefixing scheme. And for the past several months theyngaroo court as if it were a garden party. This week hhs secretary becerra insisted quote we are committed to constructive dialogue. These are good faith upfront negotiat of course, as any working america knows in a real negotiation both parties have the ability to walk away. Thats not the case when it comes to Prescription Drug socialist. The way these negotiations work, if the drug company doesnt agree to the maximum fair price they can either agree to pay an excessive excise tax or they can withdraw entirely from participation in medicaid and medicare programs. Mr. President anyone can see that this process is anything but a goodfaith but thats not even the crux of the issue. Heres what it is underneath the administrations rhetoric about lowering prices for american consumers, the hard reality is that Prescription Drug Socialism Means higher costs and fewer treatments. According to one estimate, this scheme and would eliminate as much fun as the 2016 canterbury and shot initiative created. My another analysis the Biden Administrations drug pricing schemes will be to 139 fewer medicines over the next decade. Ust on the treatment side. Over the next decade, Prescription Drug socialism would reportedly a limited up to 135,000 jobs directly in the Life Sciences space in the united United States, and up to 670,000 jobs in related fields. Apparently the Biden Administrations really just out to make it harder for the world for most engine of medical innovation to do what it is best at finding cures. And the worst side effect to millions of people who will go without groundbreaking americanmade treatments. Oc quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the ma mr. Schumer mr. President the presiding officer quorum call. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer just a few days to go before fridays funding deadline to keep the government open. Both chambers must continue working quickly, decisively and with bipartisan coopeti avoid a shutdown. The house will vote today on the six Appropriations Bills we reached a bipartisan agreement on where i expect they will pass with strong, bipartisan support. As soon as the house passes these Appropriations Bills and sends them to the senate on the floor so we can pass them and fund these six departments with time to spare before fridays deadline. It took a lot of bipartisan cooperation to reach this agreement on these six Appropriations Bills. Now it will take more bipartisan cooperation to finish the job. The appropriations process hasnt been easy in divided government but after a lot of hard work late nights and now have six strong Appropriations Bills that include aggressive investments in American Families moms and kids veterans, workers and more. We prevented any devastating cuts of poison pills pushed by the hard right. Well fully fund wic, meaning no mom or kid will be denied vital nutrition assistance. Well protect funding to help americans, especially rur americans, afford their rent and keep a roof over their head. Well increase funding for programs and services that support our veterans and in this years appropriations we prevented the worst of the devastating cuts and poison pills pushed by the right. It will give us muchneeded momentum to pass the spending bills by the march 22 deadline. It will take bipartisan cooperation to finish the job. Now, on a letter to the ftc. Last november i wrote to the federal trade commission the ftc, urging them to investigate exxons 60 billion pioneer one of the largest mergers in had the Energy Industry in two decades. I warned that exxons deal and announced merger with hess had the signs of anticompetitive behavior. It turns out i was right. Since last november there have been at least four multibilliondollar mergers announced among americas large oil companies, and in all of 2023 there was an astounding 250 billion worth of oil and gas deals. So today i authored a letter joined by 50 of my senate and House Democratic colleagues in urging the ftc to increase its scrutiny over this wave of oil mergers to see if the americaners violate if the mergers violate antitrust laws. The ftc must investigate for the sake of consumers, businesses because when oligarchistic history has shown that when americas Largest Oil Companies go through consolidation it leads to higher gatt prices. According to the Government Accountability off the the gao, the five biggest mergers of the 1990s and 2000s led to tangible spikes in prices particularsly the merger between i fiercely opposed as a congressman at that time. Ive always said that one of the greatest mistakes of Democratic Administration of the Democratic Administration in the 1990s was to allow this merger between exxonmobil becausep for consumers. Thats why i strongly oppose those deals back then. When you look back, you say, how the heck even a Democratic Administration allow exxon and mobile to merger . To merge . Chevron and texaco to merge . The Biden Administration has not been supportive. Lets not kid ourselves. These mergers arent just about efficiency or lowend costs. These are about buying competition so the newly consolidated industry can benefit profits. These profits have become theo to speak for a record wave of stock buybacks. In january chevron announced 75 billion in stock buybacks which will cut the number of shares by as much as 20 . Exxon likewise announced another 35 billion in buybacks for this year and next. These are just two examples of many. Americans, meanwhile, will continue to feel the sting of big oils greed every time they go to the pump. Thats why were calling on the ftc to look on this pattern of consolidation and step in if necessary. Now on nominations today the our work to confirm President Bidens nominees. We begin by confirming ronald keohane, a proud buffalo new york native as assistant secretary of secretary of defense, and im proud to support this great new yorker. Mr. Keohane is exceptionally qualified thor this position having served in various support roles for our servicemembers and their families during his 30year career. He served in the Obama Administration in a similar role as Deputy Assistant secretary for military and family policy. So he is the right man for the job because he understands the value of caring for our servicemembers and their families. Off the floor, te is also moving forward with more of President Bidens judicials nominees. I just returned from the judiciare where i had the honor of introducing judge volsara. Judge volsara as the first when appointed as a magistrate judge for the Eastern District of new york. New yorks south asian population i am proud to say is one of the very fastestgrowing in new yorkment. We have the largest south Asian Community in a metropolitan area in the country, and these folks are hardworking. They raise good families. They make sure that they do everything they can to see their children will have better lives than they do often through education and study and hard work. Theyre lawabiding theyre great americans, part of the american dream. And so i feel proud when they are elevated to an exalted position like federal judge. Judge volsara is the especially i tome of the american especially tome of the american dream. He is a proud son of hardwork being immigrant parents. And a graduate of harvard university. He has considerable experience in both the public and private sectors. If confirmed he will make an exceptional addition to the im very proud to champion his nomination. And finally, mr. President on Clean Energy Investment when President Biden comes before the congress to deliver his state of the union this week, americans will hear a clear theme am is accelerating inflation is decelerate being, and the investments democrats made in the past few years proud to be majority leader during probably the most successful, Productive Congress in 30 years and these investments are really paying off. Today, for example, Many Americans are paying less for insulin than they did a few years ago thanks to reforms we made on the mir have a cap on seniors on medicare have a cap. Consumers sentiment is way up compared to two years agoment. And despite so many naysayers there would be a recession, inflation has slowed to more normal levels without without causing a recession. In fact, manufacturing construction is at an alltime high triple its highest point during the last administration, the trump administration. And these are just the past year. The ira, the Inflation Reduction Act, is projected to create another 1. 5 million jobs over the next decade. But today i want to point out another part of our agenda delivering beyond anyones wildest expectations the surge in americas clean energy and the jobs it creat. The New York Times put it best in a recent article when they noted, quote Clean Energy Manufacturing is booming. Thanks to investments democrats made in the Inflation Reduction Act and the chips and science act and other bills, clean investments just last year reached over 230 billion. For example for context thats triple the investment levels Many Companies who join vested towards clean energy have said legislation like ira and chips and science made their kissing decisions easier. The Practical Impacts of these investments are plain as day. Americans see these investments at work through new e. V. Battery plants new goodpaying jobs that will stick around for years. Our economy that is added nearly 30,000 jobs in Power Generation and supply a stark turnaround during the previous administration. There have been a lot of factory openings particularly in upstate its greyed great news d. D. Its great news. Consumers will see these investments at work through cheaper e. V. s. There will be less pollution, cleaner air, fewer kids getting sick from sinema and other illness from asthma and other illnesses. Sometimes it will take time. Today the evidence is pouring in that President Biden and democrats put in over the past few years the investments paying off in a big way or for our country and americans are beginning to take notice. I yiele floor. I note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. Quorum call we are joined by rich mccormick, republic of georgia. Hes on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Welcome to the program. Good to be with your. Yesterday was super tuesday. What was your reaction . At the president ial level with what we expected, expected come to come out handily on top. Hes really close to seizing the day and moving on so we can go to mix it which is when the general election. We had some pretty good results. We had pat harrigan when North Carolina ten another Army Special Forces guy glad to have another military guy. Had another military guy who also is in the minority is going to be Lieutenant Governor nominee for the Republican Party. Great to see diversity great to see more veterans so im excited about that. Overall its what we expected. Host also did you expect nikki haley shes about to announce she will be suspending her candidacy . What you think she should do next . Guest shes a talented, still very Young Persons was a lot of experts. Im sure she will have something to add to the Republican Party as a move on. Ill be interested to see a relationship with President Trump and what the relationship results in but i think she will have lots of options thats for sure. Host you tweeted turning to the government funding deadline. You tweeted that about the cr that extended about 20 of federal Government Spending to this friday, that you were against that. You vote against it. Why . Guest i dont think we got much out of it. Another talk about 200 billion of savings but when you start doing about break it down it tends to be money games. You move rent money and different pots but if you want to talk about substantial savings, 3 trillion in debt this year, post covid. Where already 34 20 overall. A debt to gdp ratio is about 130 . And getting 30 . And getting worse every single day. If were going to be the Gold Standard of currency and we keep on getting downgraded, that doesnt bode well for our future. We keep on kicking the can down the street saint think well take of it next time. Good we have itould mean could coming up over heading towards a cliff that intelligent waiver problem. No other tivo the country has japan. It also didnt give us anything on the border. It did not talk about debt or the border, where is the win . Host i mean, the Fiscal Year Ended september 30. You have had several months to get these budgets done and agree to and it still hasnt happened. Voting against that cr, i mean if that had not passed the government would be shut down righttially shutdown. Guest it would be but i think we can get some wins out of this. Whats the point of having the majority if you dont get a win . There are several things the Republican Party has 60 favorability that unite unitas, divided democrats and whether it be the border, crime debt energy education. We have an overwhelming support whe republican or democrat or why not focus on a on a win in some of those areas that we can benefit the people, get what they want and still complete a budget . I dont understand why we cant do that. Host if you like to join the conversation you can start calling in now. Democrats 2027488000. Republicans 2027488001. And independence 2027488002. How confident are you this int shutdown, that though spending bills for running out in march eighth and march 22 are actually going to get done . Guest first of all of you give a little shout out to the speaker. Very difficult job especially of two vote majority. He is a conservative conservative, a very humble man. I dont into his job. When talking to the whip and the deputy whip and the kind of jobs have to do to get something done its not easy. I get with attorney do, try to keep us from a shotgun and i understand the ramifications of a shutdown. But like you said you can roll in some things that would be small wins for the American People actually big wins. The border is a massive some federal groups come by Office Yesterday and somebody had the audacity to take white is militarytaking care of her budget . Is want to talk apples apples lets talk about 11 Million People were basically living off the american time, people are being thrown are crossing the border every way they can. They cannot produce they can have jobs. They cant pay taxes. 11 Million People or the only consume food, Shelter Health care. Thats all consumption. We are not taking care of our veterans who are homeless on street right now. We have our priorities messed up and running arsen debt. This is crazy. Host would you be supported of work permits for migrant . Guest if youre going to come illegally. If you want to talk about Immigration Reform im all for it. If you want to talk but getting people to work in jobs with open americans will not or cannot work in, i am totally for that. I have an reform bill that would be transformational in a good way. So im all about that but im not going to encourage people to break the law. We are literally encouraging people we are rewarding people to break the law and making hard for people to become american citizens. Thats sending the wrong message. Why would you ever think people are going to follow the law if you encourage them to break the law and then punish them for following the law . Its insane. , lets turn to overseas. You wrote in at and china stronger every day. They move forward with their invasion intoai ukr deter our enemies abroad. We do to protect americas interest by supporting our allies around the globe. So how should resolved that impasse over ukraine funded . Guest funding . Guest we should have individual votes. I truly believe you can pass a support bill thats clean talk about miller said support free printable help us stop russias advance in ukraine. I think it would pass. I think we bassett individually. I think we passed a support bill for israel individually. I think we could pass a porterville weight, we did like nine months ago. The problem is the senate. They did things with bad will. If you dont wrap them together the senate will never pass a because they are not doing their ng the job for the American People. So we can pass something of ukraine, probably pass something on that but passed up and got a church a which is us of the border they will not pass a because they have no interest. This is where bad bills dont get, the specific attention needed to get across the finish line. If theyre going to do things with bad welcome in other words weve got something that they will pass only thing what you will never get away. Thats not the way is supposed to work. Host you would be in favor of a clean ukraine built without border funding . Guest i think thats what youre going to get done in a condominium. I think that, combine them together i dont care but the way to try to do is put ukraine elisra people cross, then well do something about it. Thats not a compromise. Thats the giveaway. Host you brought up the senate. I want to show you what Tom Tuberville said, republican of alabama. He said this to the wall street journal. I havent felt to ukraine because i know they cant win. Donald trump he gets in. He knows theres a winning for ukraine. He can work a deal with putin. Do you think theres no winning for ukraine . Guest i think thats, i do want to call them ignorant, but when you talk to people like mike pompeo was little bit of experience who is trump secretary of state who is been to kyiv recently was talked of the people were actually making decisions and seen again on the ground. Ive been to kyiv. Talk to ive watched their effectiveness on taking it 50 of the armor on the Third Largest army in the world stopping a consultant event and getting theause they had the munitions they need. If we supply them the munitions they need they are willing to meet the secretary acosta protect their own plan. It is very hard to go against an entrenched home army regardless of who you are. When we were going to afghanistan and iraq we needed to use surge of no more army and the world. We had use surge to go against their great armys to win the battles and you can save we lost and afghanistan. Ukraine to much more powerful than afghanistan and much less powerful than we are. Why do we sayt to defeat . Thats ridiculous. Europe has a gdp of about 20 trillion. We have a gdp of 25 trillion. Russia has 1. 8 trillion gdp. Do the math. Theres a way russia cannot win if we support ukraine. We obligate ourselves with the unanimous orum call . The presiding officer yes. Mr. Thune i would ask unanimous consent the quorum call be limited. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , last week President Biden visited the southern border. Just his second such trip centurylong political career. While i suspect his visit was motive vafted more motivated more by an electionyear photo op than a desire to see the border crisis firsthand, the president should should be visiting the southern border. Than that, the president should be taking action on the border real action the kind of action that will actually do something to help stem the crisis that were facing. Because we are facing a crisis mr. President. The number of migrant encounters at our southern border in january was the highest january number in more than 20 years. That of course followed a record breaking and staggering i would add, 301,983 encounters in the month of december. Not only then record but the highest total for any month ever. In sight. The first four days of march saw 7,000plus migrant encounters each day, putting us on track for of 200,000plus migrant encounters at the southern border. And of course none of these numbers include gotaways and r . Those are individuals that the Border Patrol saw but was unable to apprehend. There have been approximately 1. 8 million known gotaways since President Biden took office and an untold number of unknown gotaways over the same period. Now, mr. President , this is a crisis on many levels. It is a logistical and enforcement crisis. Its a humanitarian crisis. And its a National Security crisis. Our nation is simply not secure as long as we have hundreds ofxu thousands of unknown individuals taking up residence in our country. In fact u. S. Border patrol chief jason owens, speaking about the number of gotaways at the border told fox news i quote, those are the numbers that really keep us up at night. If you know that all you need to do is turn yourself in to the Border Patrol and go through the process, what possible reason would you have for wanting to evade capture . Could it be that those are the folks that probably have criminal intent, end quote . Chief owens was referring to the fact that under the Biden Administration s lax asylum system individuals who show up at the asylum are frequently released into the country with court dates as much as a decade into the point of course is that when turning yourself in to the Border Patrol with a claim for asylum is likely to result in years of essentially legal permanent residence, its especially concerning that we have hundreds of thousands of individuals choosing not to burn them to turn themselves in to the Border Patrol patrol but escaping into the interior of the country. Stands to reason that many of these gotaways have more malign intentions. Mr. President , while there are always various factors that affect the flow of illegal immigration, we are on track for a fourth, a fourth record breaking year of illegal immigration under the Biden Administration because of the actions President Biden has taken or failed to take. From the day he took office when he resipped the deck rescind the the rescinded the declaration of a national emergency, he made it clear that this was at the bottom of his priority list. Since, hes turned the southern border into a magnet for illegal migration, from repealing border policies of his predecessor to misuseing our asylum and parole systems which are now providing tlaerp amnesty temporary amnesty to hundreds of thousands of individuals who are here illegally illegally. Stripped news reports recent news reports suggest President Biden is thinking of taking new, more sub action to finally stem the flow of illegal migration. Mr. President , i hope thats true. Although given his record im not holding my breath. The president helped create this crisis and he should end it. For example, tightening the asylum claims as President Trump did could help weed out many of the specious claims being made that allow individuals to take up longterm residence in our country. With 75 of respondents in a recent poll describing the situation at the southern border as quote, a very serious problem, or, quote, a crisis end quote, perhaps Election Year politics will do what three years of a record breaking immigration has not done and that is force t president to take his responsibility for our nations security seriously and finally shut down the flow of immigration at our southern border. But as i said given the president s record im not holding my breath. Mr. President , yield the floor, and i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the clerk ms. Baldwin. Uj host were taking your calls. Quick update from nbc news, the senate gop race to succeed mcconnell takes shape with thune in, barrasso out. The race shrinks to two as senator John Barrasso of wyoming announces h will instead run for the numb two position of whip number two position. Wondering whats on your mind this morning a day after super tuesday. Louis in happening willless democrat in los angeles democrat. Youre first. Guest i know that all president s show north america down to south is america central caribbean they come in because everybody else does jobs at the rate they pay workers so it helps the economy here. But my question the United States doesnt penalize president s of these countries . Also the drug cartels i dont think seize all this money on helping these people get back by putting them in a large ship and send them back home or having those multibillionaires participate in these countries that dont have the funds and maybe make some future global changes to other countries and help them succeed. This country its just the greatest country in the world. Have to amend all these rights them because they are needed but at the same time their governments should have the pay some kind of penalty because theyre coming way and theres got to be a way that we have to company if sate for [inaudible] taxpayers here to help support their needs. Host got it. Stwhrk its an important issue but it is something that would be welcome if they could all a sit together with these latin american countries. Host got it. And danny is next, republican line in south carolina. Hi danny. Caller hey, good morning. [inaudible] problem with you. Host barry is in new jersey, inch independent line are. Good morning everyone. I think that trump probably, trumps a celebrity. If he wants to pick a running he probably should probably select one of his billionaire friends. Why not select somebody, you know like kevin oleary from shank tank shark tank. Trumps not a serious person. He hates politicians. He should pick a celebrity as a running mate. You know, hes not a politician, and thats why people like him so why dont he go nonpolitician route and pick an athlete or celebrity the as a running mate. Host all right. And if just a quickrom reuters u. S. Lawmakers push for bytedance to divest tiktok or face a ban. A Bipartisan Group of u. S. Lawmaker introduced legislation on tuesday yesterday to give Chinas Bytedance about six months toty popular short video app tiktok or face a u. S. Ban. Seeking to tackle National Security concerns about its chinese ownership. Nancy in milter beach south next. Caller hi. Thanks for take my call. Going to try to sum everything up as quickly as i can. To be clear are trump had no policies that helped the middle class or poor people. If so is, what were they . Trump was handed a growing was handed a growing economy but his predecessor, bidens obama and he messed it up with the pandemic that he handed down to President Biden to clean up. As for the border, trump had four years to build a wall which he didnt plus lied about mexico paying. Instead, he took funds from our alreadystrap funded military to pay for something that he could not deliver. The border influx of migrants are the result of trumps disastrous policies at the border. Migrants remain in mexico under title 42 that was put in mace because of covid. In place because of covid. Now were seeing the results of that policy. Democrats dont hate trump. We just dont like what he promotes. He promotes hate, fear, violence racism and criminal behavior. With trump as president how can anyone justify disciplining their children on bad behavior . Ask yourself, when did this division of our country begin . From my calculations, it was when trump became president. Lastly, for the love of god stop watching fox. They were sued for lying and it wasnt done by the democratic party. Host all right nancy. Lets talk to dave in st. Petersburg florida a republican. Caller good morning. Caller i believe our country is in big trouble. I think a lot of us know that. And, to me, its more important now to have a moderate lead our country forward. The guest you had on talkedeous leadership. Im 65. I voted in every election since 1976. And we cant make decisions when were dithering left and kitherring right and the world dithering right and the world is getting ahead of us. So theres no in my whole lifetime there has never been a more important time to have a third the Party Candidate than right now many. Ar vha muds j]k