Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20220928

Treatment system and reauthorizing f. D. A. User fees. Now live to the floor of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The presiding officer the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Our father in heaven, as Hurricane Ian wreaks havoc, protect those in harms way. Lord, we thank you that the winds and the waves obey your will. Today make us aware of our need for your presence and empower us to reach out to others in your name. Lord, teach us to pray and sustain us by the wonders of your word. Give us truths that will strengthen our minds, souls, and hearts. In times of distress, grief, confusion, and misunderstanding, illuminate our paths with the light of your companionship. Guide our lawmakers in their challenging work, for you have promised never to leave or forsake them. We pray in your merciful 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. , september 28, 2022. To the senate under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable ben ray lujan, a senator from the state of new mexico, to perform the duties of the chair. Signed patrick j. Leahy, 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 resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h. R. 6833, which the clerk will report. The clerk motion to proceed to h. R. 6833, an act to amend title 27 of the Public Health service act and so forth and for service act and so forth and for by land air and sea. We have 128,000 gallons of fuel remain ready for rapid deployment. We have moved in a variety of types to restore power to Critical Infrastructure and medical facilities as needed. The army corps of engineers is prestaging 350 personnel to conduct power and fuel assessments as soon as the storm passes. Just yesterday i spoke with the president and ceo of the American Public Power Association to discuss some of their Emergency Preparedness actions and mutual aid agreement that they have in place. We have 3. 7 million meals and 3. 5 million liters of water stage in alabama and are multiple volunteer agencies that are staged and prepare to perform operations as soon as it is safe to do so. We have provided florida with 300 ambulances as well as expert federal medical teams. These are the same teams, the same brave First Responders that we use to help communities during covid19. We are also tracking medical needs across floridas hospitals, adult care facilities and Dialysis Centers both for facilities that have evacuated but more important for those that have not. Finally, as i told the president yesterday, this level of interagency coordination will not stop. As we prepare for the historic and the catastrophic impacts that we are already beginning to see. So now with their Emergency Response we would not be successful in meeting our mission without our partners at the American Red Cross. The red cross has done an incredible amount of work in preparation for hurricane in and it is my pleasure to welcome the American Red Cross ceo governor. Thank you so much, administrator. For inviting me to join you and fema and the Weather Service are wonderful partners and want to thank you both. On behalf of the American Red Cross, our hearts are with everyone that is in the path of Hurricane Ian. Please listen to your local officials. Evacuate if they tell you to do so. Grab your medications, your glasses, your important documents, Prescription Drugs and the like. Check on your neighbors, and please dont wait out the storm if you are being told to evacuate. Its a dangerous. We are working closely with our partners and local officials in the affected communities to make sure they have the help that they need. Since last week the American Red Cross has been moving hundreds of trained volunteers from across the country, and tens of thousands of relief supplies to florida in preparation for ian. Everyones safety is our top concern. We have dedicated and very very compassionate team of experienced red cross leaders in florida, georgia, South Carolina and north carolina. They are in contact with state, local, and tribal officials, and we will be ready to support the evacuation centers. As of this morning, staged in florida we have nearly 500 red cross responders in shelters and supplies for 60,000 people. Those red cross teams have been responding to the request of local government to equip and open evacuation centers. And they are preparing now to deliver critical relief after the hurricane passes. After landfall, by the end of this weekend, over 2500 red cross responders will be deployed to florida and other affected states. We will work with our government and nonprofit partners and provide shelter, food, emergency supplies, care, comfort, and hope to the tens of thousands of people in the path of the hurricane. Also, if people want to help their neighbors we can always use local volunteers. Just go to our website, redcross. Org, and are a lot of ways to find where there are safe shelters. Anyone who needs a safe place can go to find information or open red cross shelters at redcross. Org or use our free red cross emergency app and you can call 1800 red cross. Just make sure you are following the instructions of the officials. You can also find shelters at florida disaster. Org. And finally to anyone in the path of the storm, please, please, please follow the evacuation instructions from your elected officials and your local officials. We know that for many of you recovery from Hurricane Ian will likely be a very long road, and your American Red Cross will be there. If youd like to help us you can volunteer. You can donate blood or you can make a financial donation by going to redcross. Org. And no donation is too small. They are all deeply appreciated, and everything that the red cross does is because of generosity of the American Public. Thank you. Thank thank you very muc. Now i would like to turn to direct a grant from the national Weather Service to talk about what hes doing to support the response. Thank you, administrator. Appreciate that and were watching the storm closely. Of course its a very historic storm as a look at those. Appreciate the coordination with fema and also this date, the county, the local and also the federal level, all Emergency Managers whove been in coordination, briefings gunned the scenes talk about the storm for the last week and we appreciate that relationship. Actually literally have my phone appear because things keep change as a speak with the storm like this its very common so ill be able to bring you the latest information right appear. While the wish this wasnt a forecast that have to deliver, you really look at this, i wish this wasnt a forecast is about to come through. So this is a devastating storm for parts of florida, not just on the southwest coast but also inland associate with some of these impacts. Its going to be a storm we talk about for many years, has to work event. So the impacts are already underway, already starting to see some of the squalls getting into florida. Already throwing everything at it at noaa everything from satellites, radar. We that extra balloon releases across the country. Think about the midwest, think about the northwest United States, the Weather Service forecast office launching extra balloons to get the data into the models to try to get everything we can into the models to make these forecast. Hurricane hunters on the air force and noaa of constantly be in the storm often at the same time giving a city that we need is some of these updates weve been giving you this morning has come from the data we get from the hurricane hunters. I would be remiss if i didnt say i just want to say this will clear, what he rose, right . They go towards the storm so we can get anybody away from the storm. So just real heroes flying into both the noaa hurricane hunters. Amazing work from these heroes. The windsor 155 miles per hour. Category four storm. Winds go up 35 miles from the city council important not just to focus on the centerline. Its big. 35 miles away from the senator young those Hurricane Force winds. Think about this 150 miles away from the center of Tropical Storm force winds so its not right in the center. Its a bigger impact from all of this. The storm is slowing down as forecast and is going to compound the issues associate with storm surge and compound issues associate with the rainfall. Real important your device already here how those plans in place if youre in southwest florida. The time is to be safe and be where you are and of the places, you know, central part of the state, northwest, even the east coast of florida with you some storm surge and winds as this takes the time to move across the state slow. Its going to take 24 hours or so once it makes landfall to make to the other side of the state across the peninsula. Such waiver hours of of rainfall, 24 hour of winds pushing water. We already heard it, administrator criswell we talked about this for years, and its true. Water we have to talk about the water. 90 of adults in this tropical system comes from the water. The storm surge, the rain. Not just on the coast but also in once we have to talk about it. Lifethreatening can devastating storm surge forecast. This is Brand Information over the last hour or so. Think about some of these values. Longboat to inglewood six to te. Inglewood to bonita beach 12 to 18 feet storm surge. Thats above ground. Thats up your pant leg. Thats a lot of water. Its dangerous lifethreatening amount of storm surge here bonita beach, eight to 12foot of storm surge. These committees along the coast is an incredible danger situation. Rainfall him think about these were forecasting the widespread ten to 15 inches, some places will get two feet of rain. Its moving that slow and that rain has a tough time draining because the storm surge hasnt blocked. So the water, people need to listen to the warnings have multiple ways to get information and warnings. The water will be incredibly dangerous. The wind as well. Talk about the leading cause of the child is being water but when you have a category four storm like this around the eyewall devastating amount of damage right around the eyewall. Structural damage powerlines trees and some serious damage right around the eyewall. Tornadoes, we still have tornadoes. 90 of your tornadoes are on the right front quadrant. As with all this storm the right front quadrant is where you get 90 of the tornadoes. Everybody needs to stand by for some of those warnings as they did issued. Thats it. Theres an incredible amount of information. Its come and one lesson you want to mention, even getting through the storm, its dangerous afterwards. Its no fun after the storms. There is debris. You think about trees, power lines and please be careful with the generators. Weve seen over the last couple of years and some of these big hurricanes including hurricane laura that hit louisiana that the more foot tunnel days afterwards associate with the generators then there was from similar storm surge of 16 to 18 feet. I am urging everyone to follow those instructions and be careful after the fact. Anyway thats all i have. Administrator criswell, appreciate the partnership. We are all this together. Together we are able to do it so thank you very much. Thank you, director graham. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] we will take some questions now. First, weve seen specific request from Governor Desantis certainty or concert equipment. Do you feel like the federal code has been able to get everything he is asked for or existence of equipment youre trying to get in place . Secondly any update on how the evacuations are going . Is a sense of timing when people might need to think today is just too late to leave . Let me start with evacuation question. Ive listened to some of his briefings this morning and i think again the point of listen to your local officials, there is parked within need to start staying in place. That is too late to evacuate but need to listen to what the local officials are telling them. As we see the storm and will continue to move across the states of the maybe parts were still safe to evacuate. Its hard to make a general statement. Its aboard their listen to the local officials because there didnt want to get to make sure theyre keeping them safe. They need to make plans for that. If they are going to stay in place know how they will communicate with her family so they can let them know if theyre safer with the needs of going to be and thats what we put together this really struck search and rescue capability to make sure we can go in by eric land and sea because we know theres going to be people that of an impact in of isolated d will need rescued. First part of your question again . [inaudible] we are continuing to move in equipment as a governor asked for more equivalent probably today he asked for more high water vehicles and additional rescue give those and removing that if there were going to continue to move equipment in as a see what impacts of the storm are as well. We preposition quite a bit of equipment so we can respond immediately. Once we know the effects are an Additional Needs are we will continue moving that equipment in. We are positioned really well to meet those immediate needs in the first few hours and once we know impacts and what else is needed will continue to move that in. Anybody else . I had a question for director graham. We are seeing some reports of water receding in the tampa bay area. Can you explain why that is happening . A lot of your familiar for the last ten years ive said this little wiggles matter and his little small changes make a difference whether the water is pushing from storm surge or literally blown out. Yet strong winds with much as they can push the water out. Heres a very important thing. Dont go out there. Its a dangerous to be out of there. Even if you see the water receding is not the time to go out and look at it or collect shells or whatever it is. Weve seen this in this type of storms. When the winds come down, the winds decreased the water comes beckett and it could be incredibly dangerous. Yes ive seen some of the pictures and i can happen. Thats the power of the wind where it can push the water. Thank you so much for doing this. I do question for administrator criswell mr. Schumer so, mr. President , before i begin my remarks, i was just watched the today show. Thats why i was late. They have a surprise neighbor of the month, and when they come in and surprise him and all his neighbors are there, because hes such a great neighbor. Well, ernie mann, who is the father of steve mann, who has been my deputy state director since ive been senator, for over 20 years, a teacher in the community, a volunteer firefighter for 60 years, and just a great guy and a wonderful yankee fan they had Nestor Cortez get on the phone to speak to him he was just made the neighbor, i think of the month, may be of the year. Anyway, he deserves it. It was wonderful, beautiful to see. Ernie, and to all the mann family, including the great steve, who has done such a great job for me, congratulations. Good luck. It was beautiful. It was beautiful. Okay, now lets get to the substance of the day. Last night, by a vote of 7223, the senate agreed to advance a shell for a continuing resolution, to keep the government open until december 16, and avoid a nieceless government shutdown. As my colleagues know, government funding runs out friday at midnight, whereupon a partial shutdown would begin if we do not act. We must work fast to finish the process on the floor, send a c. R. To the house, then send it to the president s desk before the clock runs out. With cooperation from our republican colleagues, the senate can finish its work of keeping the government open as soon as tomorrow. There is every reason in the world to get to yes, and i would look forward to working with leader mcconnell to make sure we can do that and not bump up into the friday midnight deadline. I urge my colleagues on both sides to work with us together to speed this process as quickly as we can through the floor, especially since the c. R. Contains many things both parties support. Im talking about billions in disaster aid to help communities in kentucky, louisiana, alabama, texas, alaska, and puerto rico battered by floods and disasters over the past year, as well as help for new mexico, to recover from its worst wildfire in state history. We must also renew the fda user fees for the next five years to prevent the slowdown of the preview of innovative drugs and medical devices so needed by our people, and prevent thousands of workers, good, hardworking workers who help approve these drugs and make sure theyre safe from being furloughed. Crucially, we must also approve critical emergency aid for the people of ukraine. Over the past few weeks its become clear that u. S. Assistance has made an enormous difference in helping ukraine defend itself. I want to salute President Biden biden. Hes done a masterful job in helping the ukrainians and leading us. But the congress in a bipartisan way has gone along in the past with not only gone along, enthusiastically supported help for ukraine. I certainly enthusiastically support it. And we have to continue. The conflict in ukraine is far from over, and our obligation remains to help them however we can beat the brutal, nasty, vicious putin. I want to also thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who worked day and night to put this c. R. Together, especially my friend, senator leahy, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Ranking Member shelby for his good work. Theyre both retiring. Lets hope this is the last c. R. They do so we get an omnibus done in december. I also want to recognize all of my other colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and in the senate, and all their great staffs who have worked hard to make sure we dont have a needless shutdown. 20 months into the democratic majority were i want to take a moment to highlight the many, many accomplishments weve secured in this chamber, the most in recent memory. This is one of the most productive congresses weve had in a very long time, and weve hard every step of the way to improve the lives of the American People, to help those tbht middle class stay in the middle class, to help those struggling to get into the middle class making it a little easier for them to get there. A few months ago, for instance, after the tragedies in uvalde, buffalo and so many others, the senate came together on a bipartisan bases to break the grip of the nra and pass the first gun safety bill in three decades. It was the first gun safety bill since the brady act i was proud to author as a member of congress 30 years ago. Took 30 years to get some Real Progress made, but we did, and we have to continue. A few weeks after we passed the largest expansion of Veterans Benefits in a generation to help veterans suffering from ailments stemming from toxic exposure. It was a bipartisan bill. Senators tester and moran led the way. It was a really good bill and thousands and thousands and thousands of veterans, who risk their lives for us, are now getting the help they always needed and deserved. And as ukraine fights for survival, we strengthened nato, again bipartisan, by adding finland and sweden to its ranks, sending putin a clear message he cant intimidate america or europe. And as the Chinese Communist Party Continues to drive continues its drive to outcompete the u. S. , we passed the chips and science act, the largest manufacturing, science, and jobs bill weve seen in decades, bringing jobs back to america in highend manufacturing, in research, to keep us number one on into the 21st century as the leading economy, free and democratic in the world. Our effort, of course, culminated in the counseling jewel of them all, the Inflation Reduction Act, a groundbreaking bill that will lower Prescription Drug costs, lower the price of insulin for seniors on medicare, help americans save on energy cost with the largest Clean Energy Investments in american history. Im so proud my caucus stuck together in getting this important bill done. We needed every vote. We got it. And thats only what weve done since june. Over the past year weve enacted the first infrastructure law in decades. The largest, biggest infrastructure law in decades. We revamped our post Office Finally and put it on a good track. We reinstated vawa, violence against women act. We declared lynching a federal hate crime. And unanimously started forced arbitration for Sexual Harassment and assault in the workplace. Then of course we have confirmed over 80 qualified nominees to the federal bench including Ketanji Brown jackson, the first black woman ever to sit on the supreme court. Roughly threequarters of the president s nominees have been women, twothirds people of color. One nominee at a time we are making our federal bench a better reflection of our great country. Mr. President , all of these accomplishments will echo for years in the lives of the American People. They were hard to get done, especially in a 5050 senate. While weve gotten so much done, theres a lot certainly more we have to do. Ive always said from my first days as majority leader that democrats would be willing to work in a bipartisan way to get things done whenever we could, but of course on such important issues like climate, when were unable to find Common Ground, democrats will hold firm in our defense of our values and show the American People the choice before them in the coming election as we did in the ira. Sadly, since the overturning of roe, that contrast has come into sharper focus than weve seen in years. One example is arizona. For decades overturning roe and eliminating the right to choose had been the north star for many in the republican party, for most it seems, orienting much of their legislation, their candidates, and their nominees they elevate to the judiciary. All too often republican senators and legislators, even when they might not agree with the extreme maga position on abortion, they go along because theyre afraid of the consequences in a primary. Well, we saw another horrifying consequence of this late last week when a judge in arizona upheld a radical abortion ban that dates back to the time of the civil war, even before arizona became a state. In the blink of an eye the right to choose has been practically eliminated in arizona, a devastating blow to the freedoms of millions of arizonan women. The law upheld in arizona is as cruel and radical as it comes. It dates all the way back to the 1860s, the 1860s, not 1960s, and provides no exceptions for rape and incest. It tells young women raped or subject to incest you have to carry the baby all the way to term. You have to carry the fetus all the way to term. Thats terrible, thats terrible. It allows for the prosecution of doctors and even the worst, bho f who asift women. The maga attorney general said we applaud the court for upholding the will of the legislature. 1860s. Maga republicans are making it clear as day exactly where they stand on the right to choose. They want to make freedom of choice extinct across the country. Period. The arizona ruling is hardly the only example of republican state legislatures in places like indiana, South Carolina, many others that have already introduced or enacted restrictions with few exceptions for rape and incest. And look at the end of the day, this isnt about states rights, despite what republicans have claimed. This is about getting rid of the right to choose in its entirety. If anyone has any doubts, look no further than the national ban that was introduced right here in the senate not three weeks ago. And while republicans will try to deflect or mainly distract from their record they dont like talking about this because they know the American People are not on their side, but their hardright maga core is, and theyre stuck. The fact is every Senate Republican, every Senate Republican is already on record voting in favor of a national ban, sometimes more than once, here on the floor. So the contrast has become clear, clear, clear as can be. While democrats want to protect a womans freedom to choose, maga republicans want to take away that right with proposals to ban freedom of choice in its entirety, punish women and doctors for carrying out abortions, even pass bans with no exceptions for rape or incest. Were seeing it play out across the country, and its chilling to the bone. Democrats will keep fighting these maga abortion bans, these radical maga abortion bans, and make clear to all where the were the party fighting to protect peoples freedoms over their own bodies. I yield the floor. Republican blake moore search on the budget. Our Services Natural resources committees on the budget and federal spending. Take us to the next 72 hours here. What you believe is going to happen as we approached the friday night deadline . Like everything its always a rush to finish up and get something done just push it down the road for a few months. Weve seen this for several decades, whatever party is in power back your gets their priorities figured out right before and we have a late night midnight vote determine when that we fund the government and then it all figures out. First, this morning the senate and the entire country are watching the news and praying for the people of the great state of florida, where seemingly massive, massive hurricane is poised to make landfall soon. I understand the current forecast suggests Hurricane Ian may be both extremely powerful and unusually slow moving, a terrible combination for the citizens and communities in its path. Our colleague, the senior senator from florida, reported this morning that state officials and relevant federal agencies have been working well together, that thus far every request florida has made of the federal government has been approved. The bipartisan government funding bill the senate is on track to pass this week will ensure the federal Disaster Relief fund is fully resourced at this critical moment. Were all keeping the people of florida at the forefront of our thoughts. Well stand ready to help our colleagues in florida, the governor, and local officials however we can. Now on a completely different matter, the path to keeping the government open and funded has been clear for weeks now. The solution was always going to be a clean bipartisan continuing resolution negotiated by senators shelby and leahy, without any unrelated partisan language jammed in. Our democratic colleagues tried to complicate things by jamming in a phony partisan fig leaf on the subject of permitting reform. Republicans strongly support real, substantive permitting reform. Were actually leading that charge. Senator capito has now signed a bill that would make significant changes to make it easier to build things in our country, create jobs in our country, and unleash Domestic Energy in our country. The problem was that the schumermanchin language was not actually permitting reform by any stretch. It was a phony fig leaf. It was designed to create the illusion of progress while slapping the political will to tackle the issue in any meaningful way. The democrats carefully tailored the bill to avoid making any, any impactful changes to permitting laws. In fact, we had pan ikd state level elected officials writing the senate to explain how the democrats bill would actually make existing problems even worse. Fortunately, the senate saw through the political game, the phony fig leaf didnt have the votes. So im glad that our colleagues capitulated and abandoned their phony fig leaf. I look forward to the bipartisan bill coming to the floor this week, and i hope our democratic colleagues will push the liberal special interests aside and let actual, robust permitting reform become law someday soon. On another matter, two years ago the American People elected a president who claimed he would govern as a uniting moderate. Underscoring that mandate, voters gave him unusually small coat tails, the slimmest possible majority in congress. The alldemocratic government inherited an economy that was by every account already primed and ready for economic recovery. Vaccines were already flooding the country. Major bipartisan stimulus had just passed literally days earlier. And remember, before the temporary covid shock, years of republican policies had our economic fundamentals humming along, low inflation, low unemployment, robust growth, and outstanding trifecta for working families. And put it as plainly as possible, democrats had one jobs up. But alas, fast forward to today. Overall, inflation is a staggering 13. 2 since President Biden and his party came into power. Consumer prices through the roof. Supply chain chaos left and right. The worst single year for both grocery inflation and electricity inflation since the fallout back in the jimmy carter era. The stock market has plummeted below where it was when President Biden took office, cutting the value of americas Retirement Savings just as the cost of living has soared. Americas real wages, our citizens buying power after inflation, is lower today than it was the moment President Biden put his hand on the bible. Democrats asked for total control. They got total control, and they created total disaster. The net effect of this farleft policy experiment has been the equivalent of an allout Economic Warfare against the american middle class. But alas, democrats hardly seem to even notice, much less care. The same day the latest skyhigh monthly Inflation Report came out, our colleagues literally headed down pennsylvania avenue, headed down pennsylvania avenue to the white house, for a folk music concert, a folk music concert, celebrating additional hundreds of billions they just dumped, dumped, into green energy subsidies. Well, mr. President , you know who isnt partying . Working families in wisconsin who are paying a democrat inflation tax averaging 673 every single month just to tread water. In georgia, 681 every month. In colorado, 953 every month. None of this had to happen, didnt have to happen. Democrats were literally warned in advance that their plans for farleft reckless spending would send inflation through the roof and crush normal americans. So what did our colleagues do . One gigantic Party Spending bill in 2021, another huge, reckless taxingandspending spree just this past summer, student loan socialism that has cashiers and carpenters eating the debt of doctors and lawyers. It adds up to nearly 3 trillion of partyline waste. 3 trillion of partyline waste. It adds up to 13. 2 inflation and counting. So democrats wanted oneparty control of washington. They got it. They promptly used that power to create a literal nightmare for american families. Now, on one final matter, in my home state of kentucky, College Basketball ranks up there with horse racing has one of our signature pastimes. Our greatest players have become local heroes. Our greatest seasons become local legends. So its no surprise then that our basketball coaches are largerthanlife figures. Plenty of notable ones have passed through the halls of our universities. But the university of kentuckys john calpery, coach john to most of us, is already one for the history books. Of course, there is his record with the program 365 wins, four finalfour appearances and a national championship. Theres also his record of Public Service. During the past 13 years with u. K. , coach cal has transformed the face of Charitable Giving in kentucky. In recognition of his work, the organization multiflying good presented coach cal with their jefferson award for Public Service this year. Previous recipients of this prestigious award included oprah winfrey, steve jobs, colin powell. Coach cal is the first mens College Basketball coach to receive the honor. Sometimes his efforts with local. Every thanksgiving he helps folks around lexington enjoy the family meal they deserve. Every christmas he gathers presents for children in need. But sometimes coach cals efforts touch every corner of the commonwealth, as kentucky reeled from multiple crises in the past few years, his assistance has proved invaluable. During the pandemic, he helped Fayette County students across he helped fayette count students with the resources they needed to continue their schooling at home. He rallied kentuckians to raise money through a telethon. And when heavy rainfall and floods arrived this summer, he did the same pulling our state together to help victims rebuild. In total in total, coach cals telethon have raised more than 12 million in kentuckyandcross the world. And across the world. So, thank you. Thank you, coach cal, for your service to our state and congratulations on receiving this distinguished award. Ms. Rosen mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from nevada. Ms. Rosen mr. President , i rise today to honor the lives of memories we lost and all who were impacted on october 1 is 2017. Five years ago nevada experienced tragedy on an unprecedented scale. In just ten minutes, ten minutes, 58 innocent lives were taken, hundreds of people were injured by gunfire and hundreds more were injured in the chaos that followed. Sadly, in the year since two more victims of that nights attack died because of the injuries they received during that shooting. Bringing the death toll to 60. During the attack, scores of Heroic Police officers, firefighters, paramedics arrived at the scene in an attempt to neutralize the threat and provide aid to the victims. Then hundreds of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals worked nonstop to save the lives of those on the scene. That day the attack on the route 91 Harvest Festival became the deadliest mass shooting in american history. Let me repeat that, the deadliest mass shooting in american history. And to this day, sadly, even with all the Mass Shootings weve endured over the past few years since then, 1 october, 1 october still remains the single deadliest mass shooting in american history. And all it took, all it took was just ten minutes. Ten minutes. Dozens of lives to be cut short, hundreds more injured and traumaized traumatized with emotional and physical scars they will carry can with them for the rest 6 their lives. These were our friends, our neighbors. For some, they were their family. And now there are 60 families that will never be the same, 60 families that will forever have an empty chair every night at their kitchen table. 1 october changed our community and the history of our state forever. It left a whole that can never be filled. Were united in our grief for those we lost and also in our gratitude and admiration for the heroes that day who worked to rescue and aid those in danger. This dark day put on full display the tightknit community of Southern Nevada that we all know and love. We came together to celebrate and thank the heroism for those who helped our Law Enforcement officers, our First Responders, our medical professionals and so many everyday people. They just ran towards danger. They ran towards danger to help to get people to safety. Hundreds lined up for blocks to donate blood. They offered their cars for people who were displacinged by the chaos displaced by the chaos. Our Community Rallied together, not just in the immediate aftermath, but in the days, weeks, and months and now years after. And i know why. Because we are vegasstrong. We are nevada strong. Today as we reflect on the fiveyear anniversary since this horrific event, i stand here to honor the 60 individuals who lost their lives, the hundreds of survivors, and all of those, all of those who experienced that traumatic event. I stand here today to honor the heroes, our First Responders, our community members, those whoific ared their lives to help others. Those who risked their lives to help others. In nevada, the vegasstrong Resiliency Center, well, they launched a wide array of efforts to help people heal from and cope with the trauma and take action to honor the victims. So i have a floor chart here. I know it is a little hard to see. But one of the projects the Resiliency Center is organizing on this fifth anniversary is creating a lantern. This is a picture of a lantern, has an outline of the las vegas skyline. This is going to serve it lights up the night with hope. Because the lanterns are a simple bomb representing the fact that out of dark in the darkness of that night came the strongest light shining on countless examples of heroism big and small displayed by the lanterns. But as we remember this fifth anniversary, we must also recommit ourselves to action. In the nearly five years years since 1 october, the epidemic of gun violence has impacted even more communities and broke more families hearts, all across our great nation. And finally, after the recent mass shooting at an Elementary School in uvalde, texas, congress was able to finally come together and act. We passed the most significant gun safety legislation in almost 30 years. This was a breakthrough, and we know it will help save lives, keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. We can and we must do more to prevent these shootings and i knee we can do and i know we can do this while also respecting peoples constitutional rights. We can take commonsense, bipartisan action like permanently banning bump stocks, highcapacity magazines, which allowed the 1 october shooter to fire so many rounds and cause so much carnage. Bump stocks in particular are modifications that only make guns more deadly. The Previous Administration took regulatory action to address this issue, but the move to ban bump stocks now faces a wave of troubling legal challenges that threaten to reverse that progress. Thats why i call on this chamber to finally pass legislation that will permanently ban bump stocks, permanently ban bump stocks, and cut off access to these deadly and unnecessary weapons, devices. Remember remember this with these devices, a shooter can fire hundreds of rounds to end or damage lives in mere minutes. 1 october, just ten minutes. Inaction is is not an option. We owe it to those who experienced the pain of gun violence to do more. We owe it to the future generations to keep up our efforts. At the end of the day, this is all about keeping communities safe. We must continue working to prevent more tragedies like the one that brought so much heartbreak to my hometown. And, mr. President , i ask all my colleagues in this chamber to remember and honor the memory of the 60 victims of 1 october, as we mark this fiveyear anniversary. Thank you. I yield the floor. Mr. Thune thank you, mr. President. Mr. President , were coming up now on two years of democrat governance here in washington, two years in which democrats have controlled congress and the white house. And the result of their two years in power is not encouraging. Economic insecurity is rampant, our Energy Security situation has worsened and on the National Security front, were facing a raging crisis at our southern border plus a disturbing increase in Violent Crime around the country. Mr. President , if there has been one defining feature of democrat governance, its inflation. When President Biden took office, inflation was 1. 4 , well within the target inflation rate of 2 . But then democrats decided to pass a massive 1. 9 trillion spending spree, the socalled American Rescue plan act, the legislation flooded the economy with unnecessary government money, and the economy overheated as a result. Inflation quickly began climbing, then climbing some more, and then some more after that. Weve now spent six straight months with inflation above 8 . Six straight months. The last time inflation was this bad e. T. Was about to hit these, and we still had more than a year to wait for return of the jedi for those who werent around then, that was 40 years ago, in 1982. Mr. President , inflation has meant tremendous economic pain for the American People. Huge Grocery Store bills, big utility bills, high prices at the pump. Americans are dipping into savings to make ends meet. Cutting back on essentials or putting basic Living Expenses on their credit cards. In the month of august alone, inflation cost the average American Household a staggering 715. 715, one month. Even if prices stopped increasing tomorrow, the inflation weve already experienced will cost the average American Household more than 8500 over the next year. 8500. Mr. President , thats a lot of money. A lot. Thats a kids braces, essential car repairs, essential home repairs. Its the difference between putting something away for the kids college or leaving the Education Savings Account empty. Its the difference between putting money away for retirement or spending every penny on necessities. Too many families thats the difference between breaking even or finding themselves in debt or worse. Americans Economic Security has taken a serious hit under democratic control in washington, and theres little evidence to suggest things are going to get any better anytime soon. Our economy is weakening. Weve posted negative Economic Growth for each of the past two quarters, and estimates for Third Quarter growth are not promising. Major companies have announced job cuts. And the nonpartisan Conference Board is projecting a recession in the coming months. Unfortunately, the bad news is not confined to inflation or slowdowns in Economic Growth, neither of which, i should note, will be helped by democrats misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act or by President Bidens massive student loan giveaway, which the committee for a responsible federal budget notes will, i quote, meaningfully boost inflation, end quote. One major driver of inflation is high new yor is high energy s and were facing that on the energy front. As every american who paid an electricity bill or filled his or her car is well aware, energy has gotten much more expensive in joe bidens america. Gas prices are up 57 since President Biden took office. After a temporary decline, theyre on the rise again. Electricity prices were up 15. 8 in august, the biggest yearoveryear increase since august 1981. Utility gas service is up 33 . Americans are facing high prices to heat their homes this winter. While there are multiple reasons for high oil and gas prices, democrats hostility to conventional Energy Production is contributing to this energy price crisis. Im a big supporter of alternative energy and have been working for years here in congress to advance Renewable Energy technology. But the fact of the matter is we are still a long way from being able to rely exclusively on alternative energy technologies. But that isnt something that democrats seem able to accept. They want their Green New Deal future, and they want it now. So, despite our continued need for oil and gas resources, President Biden has adopted an Energy Agenda that is hostile to conventional Energy Production, canceling the keystone x. L. Pipeline, an environmentally responsible pipeline project that would have reinforced our energy infrastructure. Discouraging investment in conventional energy. Limiting oil and gas leasing. The list goes on. And i havent even mentioned democrats latest measure, a round of tax hikes on oil and Gas Companies that will drive up Americans Energy bills and continue to discourage conventional Energy Production here at home. The result of all this, mr. President , the result of democrats attempts to force an alternative Energy Future before that future is fully ready will be reducing our Energy Security and prolonging the High Energy Prices that arity hadding families that are hitting families and businesses. Our nations Energy Security has declined under the biden administration. So has our National Security. I came to the floor last week to talk yet about another raging crisis at our southern border, a crisis the president and democrats are apparently content to continue to ignore. The flow of illegal immigration across our southern border has reached record levels. The Border Patrol and border facilities are overwhelmed. And border communities are struggling. The president and the democrats, it would appear, if could not care less. Mr. President , Border Security is an essential part of National Security. Its not just individuals hoping for a better life who are attempting to make their way illegally across our southern border. All sorts of dangerous individuals are attempting to mare think a way across make their way across as well, from gang members to human smugglers to possible terrorists. So far this fiscal year, the Border Patrol has encountered 78 individuals on the terror watch list attempting to cross our southern border illegally. 78, and thats the number of individuals the Border Patrol has managed to apprehend. Given the incredible strain that cuscustoms and border protectios under, its possible other individuals on the watch list have enter the country without our knowledge. But thing we do know, Illegal Drugs are flowing across our southern border and contributing to Violent Crime. My state is almost as far from the southern border as it is possible to get, but the flow of Illegal Drugs across the southern border has a direct impact on crime in our communities in south dakota. The sheriff in my home county in south dakota reese interly recently state there had is, quote, a direct connection between the High Percentage of our Violent Crimes in our county to the use and distribution of Illegal Drugs, in particular the drugs poisoning our community, end quote. A substantial part of those drugs, he went on to note, are coming from Mexican Cartels across the southern border. Mr. President , theres not a lot more to say about the way our nations security has declined over the past two years. Theres the increase in Violent Crime, an increase undoubtedly driven in part by woke democrat prosecutors law attitude toward serious crime and democrats willingness to accommodate the defund the police movement. Theres our botched withdrawal from afghanistan, a National Security debacle that weakened our standing internationally and emboldened terrorists and the taliban. There are the president s illconceived plans for a nuclear deal with iran. But ill stop here. Suffice it to say that its been a rough couple of years under democratic governance, on both the economic and the security fronts. If democrats get a chance to continue with their policies, i expect the situation will continue to get worse. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Mr. Tester po mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from montana. Mr. Tester thank you, mr. President. Interesting time we have here in the United States senate as when the democrats took over this body, we were coming out of a pandemic and not even close to being fully out of the pandemic yet, if you think back then. People didnt have shots in their arms, the economy was in tough shape, and democrats responded in a way that helped turn this economy around and helped put us on firm footing as a leading economic driver in this world. It is interesting as i hear some of my folks on the other side of the aisle talk about things like inflation as it applies to food. I happen to have a couple of bills that will deal with that issue, and hopefully we can take it up in the lame duck. I dont think well have time to take it up before the election. But that will help, not only our cowcalf producers, but consumers when it comes to meat prices. I would hope we get a large number of folks from across the aisle to support us on that. When we talk about the southern border and we talk about National Security, and im going to approach National Security in a little different vein here with this c. R. , i think its important to note that folks bring up a lot of things wrong with damn few solutions. The bottom line is that we need more manpower, we need more technology on the southern border. Ive been down there. Ive seen how these folks bring drugs across the line. They dont do it in backpacks, some but very little. Most comes across in cars, trucks, and equipment. If we have the technology to be able to, for lack of a better term, exrc xray these vokes vehicles, we can make a big inroad from a drug standpoint. If we have the manpower, which by the way were very undermanned as far as Border Patrol and border protection, we can make inroads into illegal border crossings also. But im not here to talk about any of that stuff per se. What i do want to talk about is the thing called the continuing resolution, because thats what were going to vote on, hopefully today or tomorrow. Without this continuing resolution we will be shutting down the government. So i would encourage all my fellow senators to vote for this continuing resolution. Im going to approach it from my position as chairman of the defense subcommittee on appropriations, the committee that funds our military. Our armed forces need this funding, this continuing resolution for their paychecks, along with the thousands of civilian employees that the department of defense employs. But the fact that were debating a continuing resolution instead of a full government funding bill is truly disappointing. Its disappointing because the federal government funding is congress primary job. People of montana did not send me to the United States senate to play politics and put off work that needs to be done to another day. They sent me here to get the job done. Failing to pass this c. R. Would harm families, businesses, agriculture, all across our great nation. So step one is passing this continuing resolution, not kicking the can further down the road. But lets do ourselves a favor. Lets make sure that this is the last c. R. Before we agree to f. Y. 23s funding package. I can tell you that after working for the last nearly two years as chair of the committee on defense and appropriations that this bill shouldnt be about politics or partisanship. It should be about National Security, keeping our nation safe. But by continuing to pass c. R. s our military will be operating on outdated budgets. Our troops will not have the resources that they need to operate at the highest level. It will waste taxpayer money. Makes no mistake about it, there are countries out there who wish to do us harm. With every continuing resolution we are giving our enemies, i dont need to bring them up per list, the ability to take a second breath and come after us. Russia in ukraine. China, who are rapidly modernizing their military and threatening our technological edge. This is happening, along with a bunch of other stuff, while we are limiting our militarys ability to assess emerging threats around the globe. Without a full appropriations package our Armed Services lack certainty needed to operate to their fullest potential, certainty thats so important for everything. Its important for business. Its important for families. Its important for our Armed Services. I know what it takes to craft these bills because, quite honestly, we worked on pretty darn good appropriations bill. But we werent allowed to bring it up. For the sake of our National Security and for our men and women in uniform, we need to work in a bipartisan way. If you want to talk about whats wrong with this country, the main thing thats wrong with this country is we point to the different issues and areas that we can do better on. The main thing thats wrong with this country right now is dysfunction in washington, d. C. , and the fact that this place is totally divided and everythings about politics first and policy second. We need to find Common Ground. Failure to find Common Ground puts our troops and our nation, and quite frankly the whole world, in danger. Ill close by saying my colleagues need to pass this resolution, and we need to make sure that this is the last continuing resolution that we pass. That in fact we have full appropriation also done at the proper timeline, the end of the fiscal year which is september. Anything less should be considered a failure. I yield the floor, mr. President. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call desantis good morning and i amn guthrie, and others and fema and regional administrator, and as of 7 00 a. M. Hurricane ian is located southwest of Charlotte County, and is moving north northeast at 10 miles per hour, and it is now category four hurricane and maximum sustained winds of up to 155 miles per hour, that is knocking on the door and a category five storm and we expect the landfall in southwest florida later today as a major hurricane and will slowly move across the Central Florida peninsula before hitting the northeast florida coast probably sometime on thursday. Much of southern florida is already experiencing impact on the storm as a moves to the landfall and there will be several tornado Warnings Issued during the overnight hours, we expect to see that continue today. The storm at this magnitude will produce catastrophic flooding and life threatening storm surge on the gulf coast a part of the highest risk areas are ranging from collier county, up to Sarasota County and the current truck has the store making landfall in Charlotte County. And if you are in any of those counties, it is no longer possible to safely evacuate, time to hunker down and prepare for the storm and this is a powerful storm that should be treated acute treat a tornado was approaching and if youre out of the road, it was safe place as soon as possible there more than 200 shelters open in just the southwest Florida Region alone and already sing bridge closures in the skyway bridge it is closed now and going from the counties and 40000 outside of southwest border, the crews are responding to those Power Outages dont go outside in the eye of the storm, it is still dangerous theres actually a calmness at the center of the hurricane if its over you you think may become of the storm is passed, that is of the case, it is still very dangerous as possibilities of tornadoes and also be very difficult to essentially get back into your home so even if it seems called, ways to make sure that the storm is actually past, once a storm has passed, and safety go outside, i urge you to be cautious and avoid dod power lines and avoid standing water, stay clear of damaged trees and if you are using a generator for power, make sure is being operated outside of your home and do not operate that indoors. Dont drive in flooded streets, people looking they think that they can drive through it and it does not work out well for them. As the storm is approaching, weve already had enough windows do have local bridges closed so the bridge state route 64, and east has been closed in the bridge at srt city for, and cortez road is not enclosed in the John Ringling has been closed and that is basically a function of when the wind reached a certain threshold and obviously, youll see more bridge use suspended given the veracity of the storm. This morning director guthrie as for additional airlift and high water vehicles from the department of defense in coordination with fema the partner transportation also has 1200 personnel on standby to perform cut and top operations, and bringing in supplies biplane come about, and by high water vehicles and all of your course in southwest florida has teams in place so they will be able to get the runways in good shape once the storm is passed we have 5000 florida guardsmen activated in 2000 from neighboring states and we have your assets and search and rescue teams, stationed now in miami that will be able to respond to southwest florida and florida christian wildlife, both in vehicles and access and water asset and an excess and or excess in the u. S. Coast guard is now stage iv cutters, and also shallow draft vessels to provide search and rescue assistance and there over 30000 linemen staged and ready for power restoration efforts across the state of florida and that includes lineman across all of her major utilities and a lot of these lineman are coming from out of state and this is a major major effort, and of course after the storm passes, the ability for them to get in and access what they need to access but that will be a priority in the team will be working hard on that. I want to think that 26 states that have been sent support to us during this time including tennessee virginia montana louisiana new york colorado indiana new jersey, and georgia, we very much appreciate the assistance hand as the storm hits, we have massive amounts of assets that are staged over already discussing about ways where we can get more value added support so most of you said we may be just doing that to call as a recovery effort Going Forward so this is a major major storm. It is something that we knew that was going to be significant, the strengthening of this over the last very, vy threatening and ferocious hurricane is bearing down upon florida, a storm that is causing great anxiety. Hopefully people are as prepared as they can be, but the consequences of these storms, these disasters that we are seeing are ravaging in ways that are seemingly more ferocious than before. We saw that last week in puerto rico, and just about ten days ago we felt the effects of typhoon mirbak on the western coast of alaska. Id like to take a few minutes here this afternoon because as i was watching the news as this Hurricane Ian is approaching the coast of florida, i cant help but think about what the folks back home are facing as they have lived through a very terrifying disaster like the typhoon and then what happens next. Because unfortunately and you know in your state very well with the fires that ravageed new mexico, that disasters come through and the attention of the country is focused on that, and we all want to be there to be of help and of assistance. And we have fema and weve got red cross, and weve got everybody that is there, and its all very important and well intended, but then the next disaster comes. I dont know, maybe the people in new mexico are thinking that weve forgotten them. I dont want the people the alaska to think that we have forgotten what happened in their communities. Typhoon mirbach came up from japan, came across the gulf up into the bering sea, and impacted an area of land on the coast of alaska in excess of 1,000 miles. To put it into context, its as if the entire west coast of the United States from the Canadian Border all the way down to mexico were impacted and inundated by one massive storm. Thats the size and the scope of what we experienced. Hurricaneforce winds, waves as high as 50 feet, the impact to the land was extraordinary with the strength of the winds. But it was this massive storm surge that came. We get tough storms in the bering sea. We get really tough storms in the gulf of alaska. But what we saw this year was a storm that was earlier in its intensity than we have seen in previous years. Oftentimes people think about alaska and think, man, it must be tough when the ice is formed out over the whole sea and everything is locked in. Actually, thats when we have safety, because when there is ice it takes you all the way up to the shoreline, these massive storms with the wind, they cant build the waves to that level to eat away at the shore to cause the destruction that were seeing with, again, the intensity of the impact of this, of this storm. We in alaska were lucky. There were no people that were killed or injured, really astonishing given all that the area sustained. I think part of that was just due to being prepared, knowing that everybody had to hunker down. But when your community then is literally separated in two, as they were in hooper bay, where on the old side of town, youre cut off from your evacuation center, which is the school, because the waters have risen to the point where it is no longer accessible. There is no way to get to safety, and its blowing 80 miles an hour in the middle of the night. The only place that you can go to is the next house up, hoping its going to be a little bit higher above the water. And so it is a recognition that preparation is going to be key to save lives. But its also, its also making sure that our coastal communities that are so exposed as the many in western alaska are, that theyre able to push back or hold back to the extent possible. Some of the erosion, the threat that comes their way, we have seawalls that are nothing more than boulders that are built up, dunes and berms that have been built over the years. But but, again, recognizing how minimal that is in terms of a protective barrier that is when you have the intent and treatmenty of the intensity of the storm. That is when alaskans feel exposed, we made it through the storm. What happens next . Because now that bedroom is completely eroded away. A good portion of the seawall in nome, the rocks are just jumbled and scattered, what we saw in ilam, around their front street there, they had a seawall street of sorts, it was like a giant came in and picked up the bolders bowedders and boulders and springed them around, stringled them around. The pieces of asphalt lifted up, almost like pieces candy over the beach, you cannot understand the storm surge to bucking and heave and literally melt. I had a chance over this weekend to go and visit the area. I flew up to nome and we were able to go up to golavin and elim on the first day. Elim is about 125 people, its pretty small. Pretty small, but important in what they do there, they are trying to build a subsistence harbor there. Resilient people. But some of what we saw with the erosion and what it will mean to them and their community and what it will mean to them and their water supply. Gullivan, a little bit bigger of a community, gullivan was impacted in a way that was almost mindboggling. The surge from the storm coming up over this thi this the ar, lifting homes off their foundation, floating them and depositing them in different locations. We went down a couple of different streets. And you come around and theres a house literally in the middle of the road and people are moving their fourwheelers on either side of it because houses are in the middle of the road. Another one on another corner that had been floated across, these homes these homes will never be habitable again. Sand in in you look at it from the air and its lovely golden sand. Not something that you would expect to see on the coast of western alaska, but this sand now has inundated the entire lower part of the community and making it a thick thick, spongy, soft interesting, but really very, veryimprotect he this wet sand that has come into the community here. The areas underneath the homes the homes in most of these western communities are elevated on stilts. Not very high, but theyre all elevated, and theyre elevated because you do have instances of flooding, but the flooding was so high that it came up underneath the bellyboard of these homes. Saturated the insulation underneath with water, but worse to the point water that was mixed with the diesel that came from peoples home heating, the fuel they may have had for their snow machines, their fourwheelers, you could smell coming into the homes the diesel that was blow. What everyone was doing was ripping the insulation out from underneath their homes and buckets full insulation being hauled off to the bump. It is fast and it is frenetic and it needs to be because on the day i was there in golovin and elim and when i was in hooper bay and chevek, the weather was nice, but in about two weeks winter comes. Winters on its way. When winter comes, you cant move around. When the ice comes down out of the north, you dont have fuel barges that return to the area until the spring. That fuel barge maybe may in the upper upper river regions, june. So think about that. So if youve lost your fuel and the last fuel barge has come and gone and you werent filled up, its a long way. What do you do . If you cant barge it in, you fly it in. Imagine, mr. President , what it means to fly in your fuel into these villages. Construction materials, how do we get the Construction Materials up there . Whether its sheet rock or other supplies, the last barges arent like the field truck. Barges wont be there until the spring. People are planning they need to fix up their homes, but i wont be able to get the materials until june. What happens in the meantime . What happens in the meantime, winter comes and if you dont have any insulation under your home and if you havent been able to get your home situated, youre going to be pretty vulnerable. You may have made it through the storm, but it may be a very, very, difficult and cold winter. It may your family of eight will have to move in with another family that is already in an overcrowded situation, we dont have extra housing. There is no extra housing. So everybody is moving as quickly as they possibly, possibly can to try to bring relief. We have the National Guard doing amazing things, the red cross is there, the fema director was there, she was table to see the destruction to the fish camps outside of nome. Fish camps is not where people go for a holiday. It is where people work. This is where they harvest and they process and they prepare their food, whether its its the salmon nets to catch the salmon, the gear that they have for their fishing, if theyre able to get caribou or moose, this is where they come and they process. They harvested their berries, everything comes together at fish camp. And then youre ready for winter. What happens when you have when you have harvested and gathered and fished and you put it all in your freezer and then the power goes out, as it did for multiple days, and you lose everything in your freezer . The power went out here in washington, d. C. , when i was back in alaska in august, and i lost the stuff in my freezer. You know what . Im just fine. I can go down to the Grocery Store here. Folks in elim dont have that opportunity. The people in golovin and chevak and hooper bay and all of the other places that have been impacted. The outdoors is their Grocery Store and the outdoor Grocery Store is shut down because salmon season is over, berries are gone, moose and caribou. Maybe they will be able to get a little bit of game, maybe not. So think about what that means when your food source is now gone. Youve lost your boat because that that was swept away or demolished. Youve lost your motor. This is not recreational boats. This is how you earn this is how you feed your family. This is how you live. The fourwheelers, just thrown up and crumbled and crushed. Thats not recreation, thats how people move around. And so when you think about the ability then to what do you do now . What do you do now . So im sharing this with with people because this is this is what has been keeping me up at night and getting me up really early in the morning to figure out what more we can do. What more we can do to help the people in these small communities that lived through a very scary Natural Disaster but who have looming in front of them perhaps a very frightening winter, a cold winter, one where their Food Resource is gone, where the expense of living has always been high but now now we dont even know how to account for how high it is. I was talking to a guy in chevak who said he had ordered a little bit of lumber, he didnt say what it was. It was like 1,500 worth of lumber, but it cost him 2,200 to get it there to freight it up. I went into the Grocery Store, as i do in many of the small towns when i can. I like to price Something Like a box of tide, i know what it is in other areas, but in chevak, its 40 before the tax is added on to it. I heard this crazy story that bottled water is more expensive than fuel. I thought that cant be, fuel is 7 out in nome and probably a little bit more in chevak. A 24pack of water, i dont know what kind of water it was, 91. That did include tax. 91 for a bottle of water. And this is in a community where they were still on a boil water notice because they were they just still checking out their water systems. So were working hard. Nobodys sitting back and waiting for the federal government to come in and help them because they dont have time. Theyre cleaning things up. The fema administrator saw nome and in fairness to where she was in puerto rico, it probably didnt look that bad. But when you peel it back and look at the damage and you realize the vulnerability Going Forward into this winter, thats where it looks scary. So were using every resource that we have, every volunteer, every agency and people are there and theyre putting their muscle into it. We have asked we have asked for the same support that President Biden has given to puerto rico with 100 costshare waiver for the first 30 days to get things cleaned up. Im desperately hopeful that the Administration Hears Us on that. Because for us right now its this time we need to pull things back together as quickly as we can because they cannot be in a situation where in the middle of the winter when resources may be there, but theyre a long way away and theyre very expensive, that we then realize that we have to provide Additional Support and additional relief. There is a resilience in alaska and certainly a resilience in western alaska. These people have lived in these villages for thousands of years. Maybe not in exactly the same place, but theyre not going anywhere. Theyre not going anywhere. And what i feel compelled to do is everything in my power to make sure theyre not forgotten and that they and their families are able to move forward in these next months. With that, mr. President , i just share that my thoughts and my prayers are not just limited to those in alaska but we think about all those who have suffered due to disasters whether in new mexico or puerto rico or these who are very, very fearful in florida right now. With that, mr. President , i yield the floor and would suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call the presiding officer the senator from texas. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , id ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cornyn mr. President , despite the gridlock that occasionally grips this chamber, the senate has managed to advance some great bipartisan bills since the beginning of this congress. All of the attention seems to focus on our disagreements, not where we agree. And theres no question that there are big disagreements here and for good reasons. But the media seems to miss the smaller but no less important bills that earn bipartisan support every day. Over the last couple of years, the senate has unanimously, unanimously approved bills that ive introduced to support victims of child abuse, provide tax relief to survivors of human trafficking, strengthening our trade relationships with canada and mexico, and building safer and healthier communities. Its no secret that our country is in the midst of a Mental Health crisis. We do not have a Mental Health Delivery System in america. We made some Great Strides recently with the Mental Health and safe communities act that made an unprecedented investment in communitybased Mental Health care. We all know that the Mental Health crisis does not discriminate. It affects people of all ages from all walks of life. And its creating serious challenges for Law Enforcement who are often the first to respond when someone is experiencing a Mental Health crisis. Police officers will tell you that they dont have the training or expertise ordinarily to assist these individuals in the most effective way possible. Because theyre not Mental Health professionals. We cant expect the police to solve every problem that they face on the streets of our country, whether it has to do with Mental Health, Drug Overdoses, homelessness or the like. They simply have been asked to do too much without the resources or support they need, and that needs to change. Thats where the justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program comes in. For nearly two decades, this program has provided critical grants to help Law Enforcement assist individuals experiencing a Mental Health crisis. That includes Mental Health courts, crisis intervention teams, and other programs that promote Public Safety and improve Mental Health outcomes and reduce recidivism. Communities across my state in texas are working to bridge the gap between criminal justice and Mental Health. And i was able to hear about some of that work during the august recess. In the city of farr, the rio grande valley, for example, i sat down with local Law Enforcement officers and Mental Health professionals as well as local Civic Leaders to talk about the citys innovative Mental Health unit. The farr Police Department launched this unit in 2020 to improve the quality of outcomes for individuals in crisis and the community as a whole. Mental Health Officers are trained to respond to these crises in the most effective and compassionate way possible. And the city of farr has experienced Great Results over the last couple of years, and the program has even been recognized as the organization of the year at the Texas Crisis Intervention Team Association Annual conference. Its a shining Success Story and the farr Police Department is eager to do more. Thats why the justice and Mental Health Collaboration Grant Program is important, because it provides additional resources. In the past the Mental Health unit in the city of farr received a 550,000 grant which will be used to expand the reach and impact of the program in the community. And i introduced a bill with senator klobuchar, our colleague from minnesota, to ensure that these grants can deliver even bigger benefits. Our bill would allow grants to be used for Mental Health courts and veterans treatment programs, two incredible resources to provide individuals who are struggling with the treatment they need. Grant recipients could also use these funds to improve officer training. As i said, most Police Officers arent training to deal with people in Mental Health crisis, and things like deescalation training is really important for the safety of the person experiencing the crisis as well as the Law Enforcement officer. But these grants can also enhance services for Substance Use disorders and Suicide Prevention programs. And theyd be able to invest in 24 7, 365day Crisis Response capabilities. All of these recommendations in this legislation came from the men and women on the front lines. They come face to face with americas Mental Health crisis every day, and these are the changes that they have suggested and asked for. But obviously im not alone in supporting the program. As i said, this bill was introduced with senator klobuchar and it has more than a dozen bipartisan cosponsors including the chairman and rasking member of the Senate Judiciary committee. And the bill passed the United States senate last summer with unanimous support. So thats just one example of the bipartisan work weve done here that doesnt get a lot of attention, but well go a long way to improve our criminal Justice System and how it deals with people who are struggling. Last year the Senate Approved legislation that i introduced with senator whitehouse, the senator from rhode island, to help incarcerated individuals break the cycle of addiction. This legislation updates the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program and expands it to treatment in jails and prisons across the country. The program has already provided incarcerated individuals with access to treatment for Substance Use disorders. That treatment is coupled with programs to prepare these men and women for reentry and to provide communitybased treatment once theyre released, hopefully to help them lead productive, lawabiding lives. Our legislation opens up even more opportunities for successful rehabilitation and continued recovery. And it gives providers more options when it comes to treating Substance Use disorders. It requires Program Staff to be trained on the science of addiction, evidencebased therapies, and strategies for continuity of care. And it ensures programs are affiliated with providers who can continue treatment after incarceration. Weve done a lot of good work, if i can say so myself, on a bipartisan basis to try to deal with things like addiction, things like Mental Health crises because typically what happens in the absence of these programs, its Law Enforcement ends up getting a 911 call and theyve got nowhere to take the person other than to the local jail. Not that long ago i met with a group of Major City Police chiefs, and i was asked by a friend of mine, one of the Police Chiefs said would you like to meet the largest Mental Health provider in the country. Hes the police chief of the los angeles Police Department. So in the absence of these kinds of programs, these innovative programs, what youre seeing is people warehoused in jails or prisons only to repeat their offenses again because the core problems that theyre experiencing arent being addressed. Thats true in addiction. Thats true with Mental Health. So these changes that im talking about were not drafted in a vacuum. We consulted with Law Enforcement, criminal justice specialists and Behavioral Health experts. And once again this bill passed unanimously in the senate. Despite the fact that these two bills that ive talked about got support of a hundred senators, both have hit a brick wall in the house. The house has yet to schedule a vote on either one of those pieces of legislation. Its not clear to me, mr. President , why the house wont take up and pass these obviously nonpartisan important pieces of legislation. These are two bills to improve the way our criminal justice supports people who are struggling and gives them the best possible shot at healthy and productive lives. They were drafted here, as i said, on a bipartisan basis based on feedback and input of the people who know this topic best. And they will improve Public Safety and individual outcomes. So i hope the house will take up and pass these bills without further delay. I hope there isnt a resistance to these bills because some of this money goes to fund Police Departments. As weve seen over the last couple of years, some of our democratic colleagues reflexively oppose any effort to send funding to Police Departments. We all remember the defund the police movement. When this became a Major Political liability, though, obviously those who had advocated for defunding the police tried to run for cover. Last week the house passed a partisan Police Funding bill that is loaded down with so many poison pills that it stands no chance of becoming law here in the senate. In short they can now say they voted for a Police Funding bill, even though they know its guaranteed to go nowhere. Meanwhile, there are great bipartisan bills that do support the police that are just one vote and a signature away from becoming law. The difference is these arent messaging bills. These arent designed to provide people with political cover for a mistaken for mistaken positions theyve taken in the past. The goal was never to make a point or force a tough vote on our colleagues across the aisle. Bipartisan, good policy, these bills give Law Enforcement the tools they need in order to succeed at the very difficult job we know they have. And both of them passed the Senate Without a single dissenting vote. So given the fact that america is facing a Mental Health crisis and an overdose epidemic, there could not be a more important time to take up and pass these bills. So i hope, mr. President , if anybody in the house is listening in the leadership they will consider the fact that by one vote they can get these bills on the president s desk. And we cant let antipolice rhetoric stand in the way of good policy or helping those who deserve and need our help. Mr. President , i yield the floor and id note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call good morning, i am here with director kevin guthrie, cfo to check with fema, regional administrator, and as of 7 00 a. M. , Hurricane Ian is roughly 80 miles south and the current track has the store making landfall in Charlotte County. If you are in any of those counties, its no longer possible to safely evacuate. Its time to hunker down and prepare for this store. This is a powerful storm that should be treated like you would treat if a tornado was approaching your home. If youre out on the roads get a safe place as soon as possible. There are more than 200 shelters open and just the southwest Florida Region alone. We are already seeing bridge closures, the skyway bridge is closed now going from manatee to pinellas counties. Theres 40,000 Power Outages reported but outside of southwest florida crews are responding to those Power Outages. Dont go outside in the eye of the storm. Its still dangerous. Theres a calm this if the center of hurricane is right over you. You think maybe the storm has passed. Thats not the case. Its still very dangerous. Theres possibility of tornadoes. It would also be very difficult to potentially get back into your home. So even if it seems calm, way to make sure that the storm is actually passed. Once the storm has passed and its safe to go outside i urge you to be cautious. Avoid downed power lines. Avoid standing water. Stay clear of damaged trees. If youre using a generator for power make sure that is being operated outside your home. Do not operate that indoors here and then dont drive in flooded streets. People will look and think they can drive through it and it doesnt work out well for them. As the storm has approached we have had enough wins to have local bridges close so the bridge on state road 64 has now been closed. The bridge at sr 684 and cortez road has now been closed and the john wrangling causeway has been closed. That is basically a function of when the winds reach a certain threshold. Obviously you see more bridge use suspended given the ferocity of the storm. This morning director guthrie asked for additional airlift voice and high water vehicles from the department of defense incarnation with fema. The department of transportation is 1200 personnel on standby to perform cut and tossed operations. Bringing and supplies biplane, boat and high water vehicle. All the airports in southwest florida have leave behind teams in place so they will be able to get the runways in good shape once the storm has passed. We have 5000 florida guardsmen activated, 2000 from neighboring states. We have air assets, urban search and rescue teams station now in miami that will be able to respond over to southwest florida. Florida fish and wildlife, boat vehicle assets water assets and error assets are states. Yet shallow draft vessels ready to provide search and rescue assistance to the flooded areas. There are over 33,000 linemen stage and ready for power restoration efforts across the state of florida and that includes lineman across all of our major utilities and a lot of these lineman are coming from out of state. This is a major, major effort. The storm has to pass. There needs to be the ability for them to get in and access what they need to access but thats going to be a priority and kevin and his team are going to be working hard on that. I want to thank the 26 states that its that support to us during this time including tennessee, virginia, montana, louisiana, new york, colorado, indiana, new jersey and georgia. We very much appreciate the assistance. As the storm hits we have got massive amounts of assets that are staged but we are discussing about ways where we can get more value and support. Posted he said call and we may be doing just that as the Recovery Efforts go forward. This is a major, major storm. Its something that we knew was going to be significant, that the strengthening of this over the last night has been really, really significant. Its potentially that it could make landfall as as a categoy five. But clearly this is a very powerful major hurricane thats going to have major impacts both on impact in southwest florida but then as he continues to work through the state it is going to have major, major impacts in terms of wind, in terms of rain, in terms of flooding. This is going to be a nasty nasty day, two days, probably think that it will be exiting the peninsula sometime on thursday, yesterday based on e past is moving, not wouldnt be until the wee hours of friday morning. This is going to be a rough stretch. We are here to respond to the areas that are affected once the storm has passed. Local Emergency Responders are standing by ready to go. I think most people heeded the warnings of doing the evacuations and is very sensitive locations but not everyone may have done that and so we understand that a storm of this magnitude there is going to be a need to begin those rescue efforts of pace. Kevin guthrie is here for an update from florida dem. Thank you, governor. Hurricane ian as the governor has make it is projected to make landfall this afternoon on the Charlotte County coast. This will cause lifethreatening storm surge, flooding, Tropical Storm force winds would be felt throughout the entire state and even isolated tornadoes. I urge floridians who have made the decision to shelter in place to stay indoors and stay off the roads. You do not want to be outdoors or on the roads as the storm of the size is making landfall in your area. It is extremely dangerous. If you have battery operated or handcranked weather radios you should be checking the now changing the batteries making sure they work. Power outages will occur. If you get a weather alert for tornado it has a governor has mentioned if youre in the southwest florida area you should make the same preparations as if it is a tornado going over your house. Get to an interior room, free of windows. Have stuff to be able to protect your head and body from the debris such as like it, sleeping bag, mattress or potentially helmets. If there are flash flood warnings in your area, remember, it is never safe to walk or drive through flooded areas. We continue to coordinate with all of our electrical parkers as account has mentioned there are over 30,000 lineman stage throughout the city from north Central Florida all way down to miami. As areas in south florida and the keys begin to experience Power Outages remember to contact your Service Provider not 911 for power restoration. You can keep your refrigerators shot. Open the muzzle of possible to help preserve your perishable items. If youre using a generator as we have been saying now for days remember to keep it elevated on a hard surface away from doors and windows outside of garage is. Is. This will help you stay safe. If residents have any questions about resources for Hurricane Ian i urge them to reach out to the local Emergency Management or Public Safety office. This storm is here. It is imminent. I can tell you it is a cat for her again, nearly a catfight. In i know all emergency managet director said southwest florida very well. Combined they had over 200 years of experience. They are preparing and expecting a category five. So please stay indoors, stay away from windows come get you into your location of your house. If anyone has any questions and they still have phone service, if you need to contact the state to ask for assistance we have a cell assistance information lie. That number is 18342, 3557. That is 1800, 3423557. As always please follow us on her social media and facebook and our twitter page at fl cert. Thank you, governor for your leadership. Thank you, governor. Search and rescue teams are stage in miami and also in Central Florida. We have over 600 resources to bear we have seen the teams that come in from out of state. We have virginia one and two that just literally came back from puerto rico and miami also there to assist. Of the eight teams in florida, fiber activated. A will have search and rescue dogs. They will have boats. They will go from door to door with engineers and trauma surgeons as soon as it is safe with intimate access to those neighborhoods. They will go from door to door to administer lifesaving support through their missions. When it comes to hurricane response i will put the state of florida up against any of the 50 states. With the best professionals and governor of this is the largest response ever seen in the state. Amazing work you and your scheme done. They have been training for their entire life for this mission. Please stay safe and as a governor said hunkered down. Now stop the time to hit the roads. Now is not the time to hit the road. Will be monitoring the impact as soon as those, sends a storm moves its way through any given part of the state. The priority is to be to get personnel and their to be able to launch rescue efforts and then obviously pave the way so we can bring in more supplies to the airports, clearing wrote so our lineman can get in there and restore power. So all of that is standing by but this is going to be a major, major storm here cuba been following the track and seeing obviously we knew for quite sometime it would be a major hurricane. Some of those tracks a couple days ago showed maybe it woud weaken as a reached landfall further north. This one has just strengthened and strengthened, and it isnt the real deal so its going to do a lot of damage so people should be prepared for that. As kevin said theres going to be widespread Power Outages. Those Power Outages are going to occur not just in southwest florida but portions of the portions of the state. Its a priority to give those lineman the ability to get in and restore that but people should be prepared. There will be damage to infrastructure with a storm of this nature and power and communication and all those things can be affected. Do what you need to do to stay safe. If you are one that storm is approaching you are already in hazardous conditions. It would get a lot worse very quickly so please hunker down, treat it like a tornado and make sure that your friends and family know where you are. We are going to folks that are going to be there very quickly once its safe but this is the real deal. Happy to take some questions. 2. 5 million floridians have been under some kind of Evacuation Order. Do you have any content of how many have heeded that Evacuation Order . If you talk to the local counties, i spoke with some of the folks in lee county and they said people are by and large abiding by pickets that can be everyone. You guys know have been in florida that would be a major hurricane approaching there will be sometimes people want to go out and serve in that. You just have some people that do that. But my sense is been there is been by and large interest in treating this thing very seriously across those counties. I do think when you have tracks that are uncertain, and this is not an exact science but when a seat in north florida been moving down north of tampa, then to have come some people think its probably going to shift again so why should i do that . We are at the point now these are not models. This is what the storm is actually doing and so it is going to hit there. Thats just the nature of it. Most people did. Of course we been stressing the folks in the mobile homes to make sure that they evacuated. Again talking with people at the local level a lot of those people did. I dont think its 100 . It. Director guthrie, this storm charlie in a way it comes across the state. What is your best guess you are going to have on the people of Central Florida, orange, seminole counties . So yes, it does have a charlie ask feel. I think one of the things thats a little different with charlie, again, on the prediction models it may go through Central Florida at a less intensity and what we had for hurricane charley, dumping more rain. As a governor mentioned earlier today, possibly speeding up a little bit to getting out of here in 24 hours versus or six hours so that will help with the rainfall side of the house. But again it does have charlie field but it should not be nearly catastrophic on the winds like rousseau with hurricane charley although into Central Florida. We expect rapid weakening here but again there will be Tropical Storm force winds come strong Tropical Forest winds felt all the way through the central part and up into northeast florida as a part of this storm. We saw a lot of the trees down with a charlie. One thing for Central Florida is because weve had a lot of saturation, those trees are vulnerable. So you will see trees are going to come down even with Tropical Storm force winds. It does not need to be Hurricane Force. You are absolutely going to see that. That will cause interruptions in power and, of course, the sheer amount of rain thats going to come down to have a major impact across the Center Portion of the state. Even with the projected exit of the state in volusia county, because of what is going to do when he gets into the atlantic you are going to see impacts although it up to Nassau County and youve allcounty absolutely in terms of some of the flooding in some of the other things that you will see because of the effects of this. There will be significant effects and you absolutely see trees. Youll see power interruptions and you will see a lot of rain and water. Is there any time of opening back up . Basically what happens on the bridges is once it reaches a certain sustained winds its a longer safe to go over so thats when they close up. Of course as soon as the storm passes and those winds go down they immediately will go out and inspect the bridge to make sure theres not structural damage and to make sure it is safe and the men it is safe of course for First Responders but also we want to get people back into their homes. If people is accurate and Pinellas County theres a lot of bridges you need to take to get back to that peninsula. We want people to be able to do that. The further away, it is away from the really, really strong wind, the less likely i think you will see major structural damage in bridges. If you look in charlotte, lee counties you end up in situations where you have a massive shoe storm thats impacting the bridges. It doesnt mean, a lot of these are built very well but theres a lot that can happen. One of the things kevin and his team has done with the Florida Department of transportation is instruct the securing of these barges that are in the water. When we had Hurricane Sally you had a barge that was a loose, ran into the bridge and it knocked the bridge out. So that is something that is avoidable and so thats been something that message has been sent down that if the storm itself knocks out a bridge, thats a Mother Nature and would just have to work to remedy that but if things are being let loose that are then going to ran into the bridge and cause it to be we worked really hard to get the bridge up in northwest florida back but i mean it takes time to be able to do it when it has a type of major, major impact like that. All of that there sensitivity, the needs of have the bridges open as soon as possible but theres also a sensitivity to the fact youre 60mile an hour sustained winds on one of those bridges. Thats not a place that you want to be as in motorist and, quite frankly, its that safe for our First Responders even to be using that. There is a lot of rain and flooding and substantial storm surge associate with this story. Doesnt make it different than storms weve had in the past . I believe you said it would be a great humanitarian lift that will be needed after this especially considering some people may not have Flood Insurance and that may be the biggest issue. Are there special preparations that you may be having taken in the past . In terms of the resources that have been staged we prepared for dori that came close, that was a category five, i was a massive mobilization we did. We were ready if that had hit florida. This has been bigger in terms of the mobilization. The assets that we have our unprecedented in the States History and, unfortunately, i mean they will need to be deployed because this is a really, really significant storm. In terms of how people in the aftermath who have damage, one of the things with the Flood Insurance is theres folks that are told if youre not in a flood zone you dont need Flood Insurance so people buy homes and they dont get it. That fact is there are places outside of quote flood zones where he absolutely and an event like this could be impacted. So fema has programs that provide support but it will not be equal to what you would have gotten in the Flood Insurance policy. Thats going to be something that were going to have to look very seriously at in terms of what the impacts are of the theres a lot of folks that have homeowners policy and sometimes theyre told that could also be for flood and those are different policies. The homeowners is from the wind, direct storm damage, the Flood Insurance obviously from rising waters. There will be debate in peoples policy about okay you had a cat four maybe even a five hit, yes your home got flooded but was that also direct storm damage and not flood and can Homeowners Insurance that will be good. Jimmy will be involved to try to help florida consumers but this can be a lot of fallout from this in terms of getting people back on their feet at thats why weve done the mobilization that we have done. Right now its about safety. Most floridians made the proper precautions to keep the presiding officer the senate is in a quorum call. Mr. Sasse i ask unanimous consent to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Sasse thank you. Mr. President , the human spirit abhors tyranny. Since february the world has witnessed examples of extraordinary courage. In ukraine weve watched ordinary men and women mount defense of their homes and their homeland against overwhelming odds. People who never handled firearms before getting training. Getting arms. Getting munitions and joining together in the cause of defending their homes and their homelands. We know what it has cost them. Across the border weve seen thousands and thousands of ordinary russians challenge the suicidal thuggery of nawment. We know what vladimir putin. We know what it has cost them too. I want to call on the courage of display in a different part of the world. I want to look to iran. Two weeks ago on september 13, irans socalled Morality Police arrested a young woman named mesa aminea. They detained her on the grounds she was wearing her ji hab ha back wrong. She was delivered to a local hospital where she was declared brain dead. The police shamelessly claimed she had a spontaneous heart attack. Thousands upon iranians have poured into the streets in the 15 days since. Protesterrers calling for an end to the savagery that has made absurd arrests and vicious beatings a regular part of the rhythm of life in tehran. Theyre demanding dignity for millions and millions of people that have lost it under tehrans maniac theocracy. This is no small thing what theyve done, the courage that is on display as they pour into the streets. Protests have erupted now in more than 80 cities and in all 31 of irans provinces. This is not a minor demonstration. They are facing one of the most significant challenges to their rule since they seized it 43 years ago in 1979. How has the regime responded . As expected with more brutality, more repression, and more savagery. Human Rights Groups estimate that 76 people have been killed so far by the authorities, and meanwhile the crackdown has also included a shutting off of social media and the internet. They hope that a country in a world that cant see their thuggery wont notice it, will pretend it doesnt exist, wont know. Well, they know and we know. The iranians know how this regime operates. We know that these pathetic cowards have no regard for human dignity. Who are they . These bloodthirsty men are the goons who hang homosexuals from gallows, who protect child rapists, who deny women education. The regime is rotten to the core. The people suffering under it know and we know. These men have told the world exactly who they are again and again and again. In 2009 iranians erupted at the grotesque human rights abuses perpetrated by then president and an election riddled with fraud, the world saw who he was again. During the green revolution, thousands of protesters, including key opposition leaders were arrested and thrown in irans dungeon prisons. Many were tortured, several dozen were killed and a 26yearold woman, a student, was shot from a nearby rooftop by pro government militia men. Her dying moments were recorded by cell phone video and broadcast around the world. We know who they are. Ten years later three years ago in 2019, massive nationwide protests erupted again this time following an announcement of massive, unsustainable hikes on gas prices. The protests and the violence that followed were the worst since 1979. Hundreds of people took to the streets and the government responded with a campaign of systemic savagery hoping to drive people back into their homes to hide the truth, to not admit who this regime is and the ways they fail. Protesters were shot from rooftops and by helicopter by the Iranian Revolutionary guard, their troops opened fire on unarmed protesters attempting to block roadways and entrances. In one southwestern city, irgc forces pursued several dozen mostly young, unarmed protesters into a march outside the city and then began massacring them. Most reliable outside observers believe that about 1500 protesters were killed. In 2019 tehran also conducted a near total internet shutdown plunging the countrys 83 Million People into information darkness for about six days. That practice as were seeing again right now, as we see this month, has become one more regular instrument of terror. These guys are scared of sunlight. Theyre scared of information. Theyre scared of the truth. We know that the despots in iran that brutalize their own people also export their terror tactics. Look at the last two months alone. In july last summer of 2021, a group of iranian spies tried to kidnap an iranianamerican journalist and human rights activist at her home in new york. In july of this year she was the target of an assassination attempt again at her home in our country. We learned in august that a member of the irgc had plotted to assassinate former National Security adviser john bolton on american soil. Former secretary of state mike pompeo and former iran envoy brian hook still require personal security details everywhere they go because tehran has put targets on their back in our country. It was also just last month that inspired by the ayatollah khomeinis 1989 t, a man nearly killed a man during an appearance in new york. And in August Vladimir Putin received his first shipment of iranian drones. Birds of a feather. Inside its borders and beyond them, the regime in tehran thinks nothing but bloody thoughts. They think no one has dignity that doesnt subscribe exactly to their theocratic views. It is long past time that american policy and the policy of our friends and allies recognizes these blunt facts. We should tell the truth. In 2009 and again in 2019 we had the opportunity to support and encourage protesters agitating against a regime that is their enemy and is ours. And in both cases under administrations democratic and republican we failed the test. Last week President Biden told the u. N. General assembly, quote, today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights. Close quote. Its a good start but its far from sufficient. Its far from the end. Right now americas policy toward iran is hopelessly schizophrenic. We cannot stand on the side of iranian protesters at the same time that we are trying to resign a nuclear deal with the same mullahs that would release billions of dollars back into their hands, help them shore up their power and do nothing to prevent putting a catastrophic weapon into their genocidal hands. President obama chased a flawed nuclear deal with irans terror state instead of more aggressively standing with the iranian people. Today the same hodgepodge of National Security advisers is at it again. Newly announced sanctions against the leaders of the ministry of intelligence and security, the armys ground forces, and the pro government militias, these sanctions are good but we cannot stand on the side of the men and women of iran in the streets at the same time we refuse to sanction the leaders who matter most. Ayatollah khomeini and the circle of elites around him. They continue to escape serious consequence. We shouldnt trick ourselves. We should not delude ourselves into thinking that economic sanctions are a magic wand or that the mullahs themselves care very much about the economic pain that the people suffering under their regime are suffering. We should not think that the mullahs care about elite opinion in paris. We have to have a serious toptobottom evaluation of irans strategy and a coherent policy must begin by telling the truth over and over and over again. We cannot we cannot stand on the side of the streets demanding dignity at the same time we welcome irans president , someone personally responsible for assassination attempts on our soil, in our country. We cant allow them to spout lies and propaganda on our same american soil as we did last week at the u. N. General assembly in new york. Now is the time for a serious, coordinated policy that admits the threat that iran poses, not just to its people and its neighbors but also to america. And that takes seriously our commitment to the rights and freedoms of all 7. 8 billion across this globe created in gods image. We can start by helping illuminate the governmentimposed blackout so that iranians can see what their government and its black shirts are doing. More light, more information. We can expand and intense nigh the sanctions regime that has intensify the shanks repeal that has pushed it to the brink. We can amplify the voices of iranian protesters. We can make sure that the voices of the iranian people are heard by keeping the internet on while tehran works to put the country back into the black box of despotism. The courage of men and women on the streets of iran today has not gone unnoticed. They have imagined the possibility of an iranian future no longer under the thumb of tehrans bloodthirsty dictators. We should be able to imagine that future to and to do more to make that a reality. The iranian people hate tehrans bloodsoaked tyrants. This is not a regime that has the consent of the governed. The American People are on freedoms side. The administration should drop the fantasy of another nuclear teal, walk away from the table, and turn the screws on these monsters by first telling the truth again and again. We ought to do everything we can to celebrate the heroism of the iranians in the streets and to expose tehrans human rights abuses around the watching world. And the best way to do that is by making sure that the internet stays on in iran. More light, more truth, more information. Thank you, mr. President. Mr. Marshall mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from kansas. Mr. Marshall i ask unanimous consent that senator menendez and i be permitted to complete our remarks prior to the scheduled recess. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Marshall mr. President , i rise in support of our legislation to formally designate the major mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under federal law. It would also require the state department to issue a report to congress on additional cartels that meet the criteria for Foreign Terrorist Organizations designation and require the department to designate them as such within 30 days of the report. This bill will give us greater tools to push back against the cartels fueling the white houses deadly openborder crisis. This past march i was honored and proud to lead sheriffs to the border, to meet with Border Patrol officers and survey the ongoing crisis at our border. With our own eyes we saw the activities of the major mexican drug cartels that qualify them for designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as they are transnational entities that engage in textbook terrorist activity such as kidnapping, assassination, and endangering lives with explosives and firearms. Additionally, these car fells are responsible for the dredges these cartels are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of americans, especially Young Americans in their prime. Fentanyl has quickly become the leading cause of death among adults 1845. The number of Drug Overdose deaths in the United States topped over 1 see,000 with fentanyl being the cause of more than twothirds of them. The fentanyl precursors are manufactured in china and then chemically turn into lethal fentanyl by the cartels. Next the cartels smuggle the poison into the United States via the southwest border. In fact, the dea reported that an astounding amount of fentanyl comes through the United Statesmexico open border. Last week we introduced the cooperdavis act, a bill named half a teen who lost his life to fentanyl poisoning after just taking one half of one pill of fake percocet that contained a lethal dose of fentanyl. Most every day we lose a young person in kansas due to the actions of these terrorist cartel operations. I note every one of my Senate Colleagues have victims from their states who have been poisoned and murdered from this same illicit fentanyl. Thats right. Americans are dead. Hundreds being murdered every day because of this administrations openborder policies and zero respect for Border Security. Last year the Border Patrol seized at the southern border 11,000 pounds of fentanyl. Thats over five tons of this poison. They seized over 5,000 pounds of hen, nearly a ton of meth, and almost a thousand pounds of cocaine and finally 10,000 pounds of ketamine. Of course this is a fraction of how much of this poison crossed the border and was transported into our communities undetected, making every state a border statement regardless, this represents many, many multiples of the amounts needed to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States. Indeed, this sounds like a weapon of mass destruction. Joe bidens openborder policies are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Young American men, women, and children. To anyone who knows the brutal tactics that cartels used on both sides of our border, there is no question that they should be described, designated and treated as terrorists. These people who hang, behead and burn people alive to threaten and control government officials in mexico and now with Cartel Members the most likely every state in the union, yes, even in kansas, they actively engage in these same dangerous, murderous tactics here domestically. For more than ten years Texas Republicans have been trying to label Mexican Cartels terrorists in an effort to cripple their empires. This week Texas Governor abbott made a declaration in establishing a Mexican Cartel Division Within the texas fusion center. At the Texas Department of Public Safety, which his office said will conduct multijurisdictional investigations with local Law Enforcement in other states. The unsustainable crisis at the border has impacted not only americans but the migrants themselves who have often traveled hundreds of miles on foot and can be exploited by these terrorist organizations. Just yesterday the Washington Examiner recorded those being brought across the border by coyotes are paying an average of 8,600 in smug s ling fees this year, minimum micking what halfias do to enter their territory and pass through. The Biden Openborder surge has enriched these organizations and we must step up our defenses against them as they continue to wreak havoc on communities all across the country. And it cannot go on any longer. Listen, designating mexican drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations will give our federal government new ways to fight back. That is if the white house will allow them. A Foreign Terrorist Organization designation provides additional tools for Law Enforcement and National Security authorities to take action, including by providing Additional Investigation and intelligence resources and sanction capabilities. For example, a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation would, number one, make it unlawful for any person who knowingly provides Material Support or resources to the cartel to enter the United States. Next, it prevents any member of a designated cartel from legally entering the United States and, finally, it would allow the secretary of the secretary to block all assets controlled by the cartels. The cartels are playing a massive role at the border. The cartels have increased their power and wealth at the expense of innocent lives to that get in their way. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation to formally designate the major mexican drug car tess as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under federal law and help stem the tide of dangerous drugs and other illicit substances pouring across our borders. Surely this is an effort we can all get behind as every senator affirmed that they were defend the constitution upon their swearing in. This provides for the common defense of our people. I will not rest until we stop this war on the youth of Young Americans. Mr. President , i ask unanimous consent that the Foreign Relations committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 4914 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Menendez mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from new jersey. Mr. Menendez mr. President , reserving the right to object, and i appreciate my friend i do consider him my friend and colleague in his concern, which we mutually share, on this issue. But this legislation was introduced seven days ago, seven days ago. Most of our colleagues have not even had a chance to read it. The Foreign Relations committee, which i have the privilege of sharing, has not reviewed or marked up this bill since it just not referred to us. To my knowledge, my colleague has not made any effort to engage the commitment. The committee. Especially in light of its sweeping sand mandatory nature and the lack of any waiver, feign a waiver were in our national interest, members with expertise in Foreign Affairs need the opportunity to scrutinize the bill. Regular order allows us to refine legislation. It ensures we avoid unintended consequences and thats needed here. Mr. President , as chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, take the threat of mexican Drug Trafficking organizations seriously. During my 30 years in congress, i have made significant efforts to combat Drug Trafficking in mexico, latin americas, the caribbean and around the world. Given the potential impact of this legislation, i would just ask my colleague the following questions for his consideration, this is what questions i ask myself as im looking at his q the United States congress has developed a framework of sanctions specifically to target drug traffickers called the kingpin act of. There is substantial overlook between the drug kingpin act and what is being proposed today. Is this helpful or hurtful . Why is it needed . S. 4914 provides in new funding for manages of our sanctions Program Targeting Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and we are deeply engaged in our whole sanctions operation as it relates to russia and ukraine. This would be additional, but it has no additional resources. Do we want to stretch the u. S. Governments personnel and resources that target Foreign Terrorist Organizations . Thats what the legislation would do. Does my colleague want to explain to the American People why we should have less personnel and funding dedicated to countering hezbollah, isis, al qaeda because, as it is, thats what the legislation would do . Mr. President , the members of the foreign reels committee take the threat posed by Mexican Cartels very seriously. We know that the cartels are deeply involved in the production and trafficking of fentanyl. We know that this is a substance soilage 59, it kills tens of thousands of american citizens every year. Thats why in june, the Committee Approved the fentanyl results act legislation designed to strengthen the United States response to fentanyl trafficking. Legislation that received unanimous, bipartisan backing of all members of the Foreign Relations committee, legislation that would hope can be enacted into law before the end of this congress. Thats a serious legislative effort conducted through normal order of the senate. So i would just say to my friend, if you really want to address the impact that Mexican Cartels and Drug Trafficking have on the American People, i urge you, respectfully, to work with the foreign reels committee, join us in a meaningful legislative effort. And final i will before i object, i will just say that i know that my colleagues keeps talking about the biden open borders. Well, it is a little incongruous when you selfdesignate and made in your comments that it is the u. S. Customs and border large catches of fentanyl and other drugs under the direction of this administration that is making those catches. So its either that we have an open border and anything comes in or it is that the u. S. Customs and Border Patrol is stopping the flow of significant amounts a of drugs. Society for all of those reasons at this point in time, i will have to object. The presiding officer objection is heard. The senator from kansas. Mr. Marshall mr. President , i certainly do respect the comments of the chairman. I would ask him a question. What would you tell the mother of cooper davis . What would you tell the mother of the hundreds of americans that are going to die today from fentanyl poisoning . Whatever were doing now is not working. This is a war. Just yesterday morning at 1 00 a. M. We were given 250 pages of legislation we were asked to vote on that evening. This is a three or fourpage bill. I had declared war on fentanyl, every day in kansas someone is dying from fentanyl. Every day in the state of new jersey, probably several people are dying from fentanyl poisoning. I would ask the chairman, whatever were doing its not working. What more can we do . What do i tell cooper davis mom . What do i tell these people whose babies are dying, young adults taken from the prime of their life . Whatever weve done is not working. This stuff is coming over by the tons. What weve captured is a fraction of whats reaching america. Thats why kansas is no longer safe. Its not safe for any of our young adults. This is why this halloween were going to have to put our kids on special watch as this candy fentanyl comes across the border. I dont see how anyone that cares about our youth and young adults could object to this. I yield back. The presiding officer the senator from new jersey. Mr. Menendez i cant let the question rhetorically hang there. I would say to my colleague, first of all, for all of us who have been fighting this issue on a bipartisan basis, i think his bill has only got republican sponsors on it, a tbiew, that we have been fighting a few, that we have been fighting this, and this is a continuous fight. Yes, every life lost is a life that we mourn. But what would i say to them . If we get the fentanyl results act passed, that passed the committee on a bipartisan basis, we would have a bipartisan approach towards dealing with this. I appreciate that my colleague has declared war on fentanyl, but just because hes declared war doesnt mean that his view as to how you meet the challenge is the ultimate result, is the ultimate solution. And so, in good faith, i offer our colleague to work with us. But you cant end up making the senate the committee of the whole. If we want do do that, good. Lets abolish all of our committees, lets all sit here and we can bring up legislation after legislation that was introduced where nobody has a chance to read it or to understand the unintended qons againsts, as unintended consequences, as noble as the intent might be. But thats what my colleague has done on more than one occasion. Introduce as piece of legislation, then days later comes to the floor to seek approval. That bypasses the system meant as a checkandbalance to get the best legislation to accomplish a common goal. So, thats what i would say. We need to work on this together. Were committed to it. Thats why we pass legislation in the past. Thats why we just passed legislation recently. I hope my colleague will join us. Maybe with can get an ndaa together. With that, i yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the senate also in the bill 12. 3 billion of additional aid to ukraine for Financial Support for resettling afghan refugees. Disaster relief for jackson, Water Treatment system and reauthorizing fda user fees. When the Senate Returns we will have live coverage right here on cspan2. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government. We are funded by these Television Companies and more including Charter Communication communications. Broadband is a force for empowerment. Thats why charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity in communities big and small. Charter is connecting us. 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