Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise to reintroduce the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coin Act.

The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coin would direct the Treasury Department to mint and issue coins in commemoration of the ninth time that the United States will host the modern Olympics and the third time that our Nation will host the Paralympics.

The proceeds from the sale of these coins will support the hosting of the 2028 Games and aid in the execution of its legacy programs, including the promotion of youth sports in the United States. It is also worth noting that this bill would come at no cost to the Federal Government.

As you may know, the United States is one of the only countries with an Olympic Committee that does not receive funding from the Federal Government. All U.S.-hosted Olympic Games must instead rely on corporate partnerships, proceeds from broadcast agreements and ticket sales, and philanthropic contributions.

Historically, Congress has authorized commemorative coins to honor the Olympic Games and Olympic athletes, including for the 1984, 1996, and 2002 Olympic Games in the United States. The 2028 games are 5 years from today, and preparations for this grand event are already underway in the region. This legislation can help ensure the 2028 games has the resources necessary to be a world-class event.

I thank Senators Feinstein and Romney for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate, as well as Representative Sherman for leading it in the House. I hope all of our colleagues will join us in supporting this bill to ensure that Los Angeles, CA and our entire Nation are able to put on a successful and memorable 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the Fairness for Farmworkers Act, which I am reintroducing today.

Farmworkers feed our Nation. This is especially true in California, the agricultural heart of the Nation. California

is the most successful State in agricultural production and has the largest population of farmworkers. In fact, more than one-third of our country's vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts come from California. During COVID-19, a time of incredible hardship, farmworkers put food on the tables of millions of Americans despite working in extreme conditions and facing deep-rooted inequities in the workforce. The time to address these inequities is now.

While the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established Federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay, the law excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers, who were overwhelmingly people of color. In 2016, California recognized the need to provide farmworkers overtime protection. The California overtime law, which ensures farmworkers will have an equal right to overtime pay, is the same model as this Federal bill.

Farmworkers in California and across the Nation deserve an end to discrimination in labor laws. We must undo the discriminatory exclusion of farmworkers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.

That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which will improve the lives of farmworkers and their families, create equity in our food system, and benefit farming communities as the increased wages are spent in local businesses.

This bill will gradually implement overtime pay over the course of 4 years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry to greater prosperity to historically marginalized workers.

This legislation will also boost farming community economies as increased wages are spent in local businesses.

I want to thank Congressman Grijalva for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this bill that would provide a measure of long overdue fairness for our Nation's farmworkers.

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the Fairness for Farmworkers Act, which I am reintroducing today.

Farmworkers feed our Nation. This is especially true in California, the agricultural heart of the Nation. California

is the most successful State in agricultural production and has the largest population of farmworkers. In fact, more than one-third of our country's vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts come from California. During COVID-19, a time of incredible hardship, farmworkers put food on the tables of millions of Americans despite working in extreme conditions and facing deep-rooted inequities in the workforce. The time to address these inequities is now.

While the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established Federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay, the law excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers, who were overwhelmingly people of color. In 2016, California recognized the need to provide farmworkers overtime protection. The California overtime law, which ensures farmworkers will have an equal right to overtime pay, is the same model as this Federal bill.

Farmworkers in California and across the Nation deserve an end to discrimination in labor laws. We must undo the discriminatory exclusion of farmworkers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.

That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which will improve the lives of farmworkers and their families, create equity in our food system, and benefit farming communities as the increased wages are spent in local businesses.

This bill will gradually implement overtime pay over the course of 4 years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry to greater prosperity to historically marginalized workers.

This legislation will also boost farming community economies as increased wages are spent in local businesses.

I want to thank Congressman Grijalva for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this bill that would provide a measure of long overdue fairness for our Nation's farmworkers.

Mr. President, I rise today just a few days ahead of the anniversary of one of the most devastating Supreme Court voting rights decisions in our Nation's history.

This coming Sunday marks the 10-year anniversary since the Supreme Court's Shelby v. Holder decision, when--surprise, surprise--a conservative majority of the Supreme Court voted to dramatically erode Americans' access to the ballot and undo 50 years of voting rights protections.

Now, with the benefit of hindsight and my 6 years serving as California's chief elections officer, I can say that the decision in Shelby was not just an anomaly in our Nation's history. Since Shelby, we have seen State after State exploit this decision to enact dozens of laws designed to make it harder for some people to vote.

Despite the proponents' claims, the effect of these laws is to make it harder and, disproportionately, for voters of color, voters with disabilities, college students, and senior citizens to register to vote, to stay registered to vote, or to actually cast their ballot.

But, unfortunately, we have seen this before. While the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1870, guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote regardless of race, that did not stop States from limiting access to the ballot. Poll tests, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, coupled with the brutal violence of the Jim Crow South, made it nearly impossible for Black citizens and other minorities, at the time, to exercise their constitutional rights. Yes, I know it is not pleasant to be reminded of this, but I think it is important to keep restating these facts for the record before they end up getting censored out of some history books in schools in different parts of this country. The times we live in, I tell you.

These violations were so egregious and so pervasive that it would take Congress nearly a century to address them. Congress only took action after the marches of civil rights leaders and the chorus of protests grew so strong that they could no longer be ignored.

The country witnessed the civil rights movement and leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King and John Lewis call out the fundamental hypocrisy of a nation that promised all men and women to be equal but whose professed principles stopped at the entrance to the polling place.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a monument to freedom, but it certainly was never intended to be temporary, let alone a final chapter in the struggle for equality. The Voting Rights Act was actually a reminder--a reminder that America's democracy is imperfect and that it is each generation's job to bring us closer to being a more perfect union.

So in June of 2013, when the Supreme Court struck down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in that Shelby v. Holder decision--the provision which required States with a history of racially motivated voter suppression to prove that any new laws or regulations would not adversely impact minority voters before they could be implemented--that decision undid 50 years of voting rights protections. In an instant, the Supreme Court scrapped section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which was a critical tool that successfully protected us against the most egregious forms of voter suppression.

As a result of the Shelby decision, today too many eligible citizens--eligible citizens--have fallen victim to a new set of barriers put in place by Republican-led State legislatures. Modern-day voter suppression efforts might be a little bit more subtle than what we saw in the mid-20th century, but make no mistake, they are no less effective in suppressing the vote. Purging voter rolls, limiting vote- by-mail opportunities, limiting early-voting opportunities--these are all strategies designed to make it unduly harder for people to have their voice heard in our democracy.

While we may celebrate the recent Supreme Court decision in Allen v. Milligan, which was vitally important in upholding section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and affirming decades of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on the Voting Rights Act, we must remember that the act as a whole is failing to function as it was intended, as it was originally adopted.

Make no mistake, the right to vote--the precious right to vote-- continues to be attacked. Mississippi has passed one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country. Georgia cut 10 percent of its polling places ahead of the 2020 elections--mostly around the Atlanta metropolitan area--despite the fact that more than 2 million new voters had registered. More voters deserve more opportunities to vote, not less. In fact, since 2020 alone, 33 States have passed at least 104 new restrictive voting laws.

MAGA Republicans continue to spread false claims of massive voter fraud to cynically justify their voter suppression agenda.

It is these types of threats to our democracy that actually fueled my work as California secretary of state prior to my joining the Senate. As the chief elections officer for a State of nearly 40 million people--the most populous State in the nation and the most diverse State in the nation--I actually worked to implement automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, to upgrade California's voting systems to meet higher security standards, and to expand mail-in voting and in-person early-voting opportunities. We intentionally and aggressively worked to make our democracy both more secure and more inclusive, not less. That is why today there are almost 22 million Californians on the voting rolls. That is right--there are more voters in the State of California than the population of the State of Florida. The voter rolls are now the most accurate and up to date they have ever been. That is good for election integrity, and we have seen record turnout as a result in four of the last six elections. That is the way democracy is supposed to work.

Now California has taken a stand because our right to vote is worth fighting for and because when it comes to defending and strengthening our democracy, California proudly leads. Now it is time for Congress to follow this example.

In the fight for civil and voting rights, a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King is often invoked, and I will quote it:

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward

justice.

Too often in our Nation's history, it has been Congress that has obstructed our path to justice. This body has not always upheld the legacy of the Americans who marched for the right to vote, who risked their safety for the right to vote, who gave their lives so that we might all have a say in our democracy.

Ten years after Shelby, it is clear that this decision has undermined the fabric of our democracy. So it is time that we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore a preclearance requirement that helped protect the voting rights of all Americans.

I believe that what I learned in high school government class was right. Our country is stronger when more eligible Americans participate. That is why we must also pass and implement the Freedom to Vote Act to set a national baseline of voter protections and access to the ballot.

Our vote is sacred. It is how citizens exercise their voice in the political process. It is how we hold elected leaders accountable. And it is how we, together, shape our country's future.

It is our sworn duty, colleagues. It is our sworn duty to protect the right to vote. So I urge all of us to join me in restoring these key components of the Voting Rights Act. Let's pass once again landmark legislation to protect our sacred right to vote, and let us live up to the legacy of the civil rights movement.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate an exceptional officer of the U.S. Navy, Rear Admiral Peter Stamatopoulos, Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command and 49th Chief of Supply Corps, on his retirement after 35 years of honorable service to our country.

Rear Admiral Peter Stamatopoulos provided outstanding leadership and sound professional judgment in service to the U.S. Navy, Congress, and this Nation. A native of California and a University of San Diego graduate, Rear Admiral Stamatopoulos was first commissioned to serve as a supply corps officer in the U.S. Navy in 1988. Following his precept, ``Do Good, Do Right, Do What Is Honorable,'' he provided vital Navy supply support throughout his career, serving in the Cold War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Determined Response, and Operation Enduring Freedom. Under his leadership, his team won the 2006 Adm. Stan Arthur Logistics Team of the Year award for the noncombatant evacuation of about 15,000 U.S. citizens from Lebanon.

As commander, Naval Supply Systems Command and 49th Chief of Supply Corps for the past 36 months, Rear Admiral Stamatopoulos led the execution of a dynamic, worldwide Supply Systems Command consisting of 11 field commands, a 22,500-personnel global workforce, $8 billion annual budget, and $42 billion Navy Working Capital Fund-Supply Management inventory. Through the Naval Sustainment System-Supply and Performance to Plan-Logistics initiatives, he improved the Navy's end- to-end supply chains and enhanced the global supply support network to swiftly respond to the dynamic threat environment.

On behalf of all Californians, we thank Rear Admiral Stamatopoulos, his wife Alainie, and their entire family for their continued commitment, sacrifice, and contributions to our Nation.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023. This legislation will make Federal crop insurance work better for wine grapes impacted by wildfire smoke exposure.

Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards, but can damage fruit through prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into the grape, creating an ashy taste known as smoke taint.

The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. In 2020 alone, industry sources estimate that between 165,000 and 325,000 tons of California wine grapes were lost due to actual or perceived smoke damage, and financial estimates place losses at over $600 million.

Federal crop insurance tools are not working for winegrape producers grappling with the impacts of climate change induced wildfires. That's why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act.

The Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023 would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to research, develop, and create a crop insurance policy to better insure against wine grape losses due to wildfire smoke exposure.

Wine grapes are vital to the economies of California, Oregon, and Washington--the largest producers of wine grapes in the United States and the most impacted by smoke-exposure. But crop insurance is not working for wine grapes--current products do not fully capture the risks associated with growing in these smoke and wildfire-prone States.

That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023, to improve crop insurance for winegrape producers, wineries, and the consumers they support to help address the impossible choice facing producers after a wildfire: Does a grower harvest grapes knowing they may be unusable for wine or do they take an indemnity for what may be perfectly good grapes?

This bill gets us one step closer to answering that question.

I would like to thank my colleagues from California, Washington, and Oregon for joining me to introduce this bill and for our partners in the House, Representatives Mike Thompson and Dan Newhouse, for championing this bill in the House.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act as quickly as possible for inclusion in the 2023 farm Bill.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023. This legislation will bolster research at land- grant universities along the west coast to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes.

Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint.

The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire- caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.

Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts.

Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.

This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do.

The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023 would provide $32.5 million over 5 years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis.

Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land- grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers.

As researchers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable.

We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. ``Freshness of the smoke, number of times exposed, variety of grape--the list goes on. There's so much we don't know.''

That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry.

I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, for his leadership bolstering California winegrowing communities and championing this bill in the House.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act to support voluntary efforts to repurpose agricultural land to multibenefit uses. Enactment of this legislation would provide new tools for States, producers, water users, and Federal partners to adapt to long-term water scarcity at the basin scale.

The bill would modernize existing Federal programs at the Bureau of Reclamation to support long-term drought planning and resiliency by stakeholders.

Specifically, the bill would authorize funding for States that choose to pilot and implement their own multibenefit land repurposing programs. Eligible State-run programs must be basin-scale, reduce consumptive water use, and repurpose irrigated agricultural land for at least 10 years. Programs must also provide one or more other measurable benefits to the environment or community, including the restoration habitat or floodplains connection to streams or rivers, the creation of dedicated recharge areas, the facilitation of renewable energy projects, the creation of parks or recreational areas, and other listed uses. The bill would also prioritize State programs that provide direct benefits to disadvantaged communities or were developed through a multistakeholder planning process.

Because it may take time for States to stand up or pilot programs, the bill would also make multibenefit land repurposing an eligible use under the WaterSMART Program so that individual water users could apply and compete for funding for multibenefit land repurposing projects.

Water scarcity at the basin scale demands widespread changes in water use across the West. The Colorado River Basin's water storage shortage, Utah's decline to record low levels of the Great Salt Lake, and California's subsidence due to groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley are just a few of the many examples of long-term, basin-scale water scarcity demanding change in our water use.

Through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has stepped up and invested billions of dollars in new technologies to shore up our water supplies, including large-scale water recycling and desalination. But a historic megadrought and the climate crisis are unfortunately forcing Western States and water users to reimagine how to allocate and govern water and forcing producers to be more efficient with water or make do with less.

One tool to bolster drought resilience is to retire irrigation from some agricultural lands, particularly where soils or productivity is marginal, where non-irrigated agricultural uses can sustainably contribute to an operation, or where important public benefits such as fish and wildlife habitat, watershed health and aquifer recharge, or renewable energy can be supported in a conversion from irrigated agriculture.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Atmospheric Rivers Reconissance, Observation and Warning Act or ARROW Act. This legislation will support critical atmospheric river reconnaissance missions to improve forecasting for water managers across the west coast.

Atmospheric rivers produce between 40 to 65 percent of annual precipitation along the U.S. west coast but cause an estimated 90 percent or more of flood damage. These extreme storm events are the primary driver of drought and major flooding events impacting the entire western region, which is why the Federal Government alongside researchers and water managers support a growing Federal investment into atmospheric river reconnaissance research missions to help improve AR forecasting.

The Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as Hurricane Hunters, fly specially equipped aircraft directly into the eye of a storm between 8,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level to collect valuable, real-time data that allows water managers, disaster responders, researchers, and meteorologists to better predict the impact of storm events such as ARs, hurricanes, and tropical cyclones.

The ARROW Act would formalize ongoing AR reconnaissance efforts led by the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which, in consultation with NOAA, provide aircraft, personnel, and equipment to meet the AR mission requirements during the winter season in the west coast, from November through March.

The bill would direct the Air Force to work with NOAA to improve the accuracy and timeliness of west coast AR forecasts and warning services; support water management decisions and flood forecasting; and participate in the Research and Operations Partnership, which guides flight planning, to improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of AR Recon into the future.

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes and is a critical component of the U.S. weather forecasting apparatus.

Since fiscal year 2020, Congress has directed the 53rd to prioritize atmospheric river reconnaissance in its National Winter Storms Operations Plan. However, without formal authorization, growing AR recon research will go unmet, leaving civil authorities and military decision makers without key forecasting data to predict and respond

to AR landfall and to more effectively manage water supplies in an increasingly variable climate.

That is why we need to pass the ARROW Act, to formalize the role of the Air Force Reserve's Weather Reconnaissance Squadron as a critical part of the U.S. storm forecasting and response infrastructure.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ARROW Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023. This legislation will make Federal crop insurance work better for wine grapes impacted by wildfire smoke exposure.

Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards, but can damage fruit through prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into the grape, creating an ashy taste known as smoke taint.

The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. In 2020 alone, industry sources estimate that between 165,000 and 325,000 tons of California wine grapes were lost due to actual or perceived smoke damage, and financial estimates place losses at over $600 million.

Federal crop insurance tools are not working for winegrape producers grappling with the impacts of climate change induced wildfires. That's why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act.

The Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023 would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to research, develop, and create a crop insurance policy to better insure against wine grape losses due to wildfire smoke exposure.

Wine grapes are vital to the economies of California, Oregon, and Washington--the largest producers of wine grapes in the United States and the most impacted by smoke-exposure. But crop insurance is not working for wine grapes--current products do not fully capture the risks associated with growing in these smoke and wildfire-prone States.

That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act of 2023, to improve crop insurance for winegrape producers, wineries, and the consumers they support to help address the impossible choice facing producers after a wildfire: Does a grower harvest grapes knowing they may be unusable for wine or do they take an indemnity for what may be perfectly good grapes?

This bill gets us one step closer to answering that question.

I would like to thank my colleagues from California, Washington, and Oregon for joining me to introduce this bill and for our partners in the House, Representatives Mike Thompson and Dan Newhouse, for championing this bill in the House.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Crop Insurance Act as quickly as possible for inclusion in the 2023 farm Bill.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023. This legislation will bolster research at land- grant universities along the west coast to better understand the impacts of wildfire smoke on wine grapes.

Increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are threatening the long-term sustainability of important winegrowing regions. Vineyards, winery operations, and the communities they support are routinely facing the threat of wildfires that can not only destroy vineyards but even those vineyards that escape direct wildfire damage can still suffer from prolonged smoke exposure, which can be absorbed into grapes and create an ashy taste known as smoke taint.

The impact has been particularly acute for California's 4,800 wineries and 5,900 winegrape growers, who have seen significant property loss, loss of tourism, and loss of production due to smoke- exposed grapes. The 2020 wildfires alone are estimated to have cost wineries and winegrape growers $3.7 billion both from immediate fire- caused losses as well as losses in future sales due to unharvested grapes exposed to wildfire smoke.

Yet, there is a limited understanding of how to measure and identify compounds that cause smoke taint and even less understanding of the mitigation and risk management measures necessary to reduce these impacts.

Recognizing the dearth of information and how much is at stake for the wine industry, Congress provided $5 million to the USDA to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint and to develop mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.

This was a great first step, but we need more. That is what my bill would do.

The Smoke Exposure Research Act of 2023 would provide $32.5 million over 5 years to ensure the sustainability of the wine industry in the face of climate crisis.

Specifically, this bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, in coordination with land- grant universities and researchers with viticulture and enology expertise, to identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint; establish standard sampling, testing, and screening tools for use in vineyards and wineries; and develop new risk assessment tools, mitigation measures, and management strategies for growers.

As researchers from the University of California Davis, Washington State University, and Oregon State University explain in recent research, the impact of smoke taint is not predictable.

We cannot currently predict which grapes may have suffered damage based on anything intuitive, such as sight, smell, or even the flavor of fresh grapes. ``Freshness of the smoke, number of times exposed, variety of grape--the list goes on. There's so much we don't know.''

That is why we need to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act, to ensure we have strong science-based data for actual risk management and mitigation tools to protect the U.S. wine industry.

I would like to thank my colleague, Representative Mike Thompson, for his leadership bolstering California winegrowing communities and championing this bill in the House.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Smoke Exposure Research Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act to support voluntary efforts to repurpose agricultural land to multibenefit uses. Enactment of this legislation would provide new tools for States, producers, water users, and Federal partners to adapt to long-term water scarcity at the basin scale.

The bill would modernize existing Federal programs at the Bureau of Reclamation to support long-term drought planning and resiliency by stakeholders.

Specifically, the bill would authorize funding for States that choose to pilot and implement their own multibenefit land repurposing programs. Eligible State-run programs must be basin-scale, reduce consumptive water use, and repurpose irrigated agricultural land for at least 10 years. Programs must also provide one or more other measurable benefits to the environment or community, including the restoration habitat or floodplains connection to streams or rivers, the creation of dedicated recharge areas, the facilitation of renewable energy projects, the creation of parks or recreational areas, and other listed uses. The bill would also prioritize State programs that provide direct benefits to disadvantaged communities or were developed through a multistakeholder planning process.

Because it may take time for States to stand up or pilot programs, the bill would also make multibenefit land repurposing an eligible use under the WaterSMART Program so that individual water users could apply and compete for funding for multibenefit land repurposing projects.

Water scarcity at the basin scale demands widespread changes in water use across the West. The Colorado River Basin's water storage shortage, Utah's decline to record low levels of the Great Salt Lake, and California's subsidence due to groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley are just a few of the many examples of long-term, basin-scale water scarcity demanding change in our water use.

Through the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has stepped up and invested billions of dollars in new technologies to shore up our water supplies, including large-scale water recycling and desalination. But a historic megadrought and the climate crisis are unfortunately forcing Western States and water users to reimagine how to allocate and govern water and forcing producers to be more efficient with water or make do with less.

One tool to bolster drought resilience is to retire irrigation from some agricultural lands, particularly where soils or productivity is marginal, where non-irrigated agricultural uses can sustainably contribute to an operation, or where important public benefits such as fish and wildlife habitat, watershed health and aquifer recharge, or renewable energy can be supported in a conversion from irrigated agriculture.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Atmospheric Rivers Reconissance, Observation and Warning Act or ARROW Act. This legislation will support critical atmospheric river reconnaissance missions to improve forecasting for water managers across the west coast.

Atmospheric rivers produce between 40 to 65 percent of annual precipitation along the U.S. west coast but cause an estimated 90 percent or more of flood damage. These extreme storm events are the primary driver of drought and major flooding events impacting the entire western region, which is why the Federal Government alongside researchers and water managers support a growing Federal investment into atmospheric river reconnaissance research missions to help improve AR forecasting.

The Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known as Hurricane Hunters, fly specially equipped aircraft directly into the eye of a storm between 8,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level to collect valuable, real-time data that allows water managers, disaster responders, researchers, and meteorologists to better predict the impact of storm events such as ARs, hurricanes, and tropical cyclones.

The ARROW Act would formalize ongoing AR reconnaissance efforts led by the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, which, in consultation with NOAA, provide aircraft, personnel, and equipment to meet the AR mission requirements during the winter season in the west coast, from November through March.

The bill would direct the Air Force to work with NOAA to improve the accuracy and timeliness of west coast AR forecasts and warning services; support water management decisions and flood forecasting; and participate in the Research and Operations Partnership, which guides flight planning, to improve and expand the capabilities and effectiveness of AR Recon into the future.

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes and is a critical component of the U.S. weather forecasting apparatus.

Since fiscal year 2020, Congress has directed the 53rd to prioritize atmospheric river reconnaissance in its National Winter Storms Operations Plan. However, without formal authorization, growing AR recon research will go unmet, leaving civil authorities and military decision makers without key forecasting data to predict and respond

to AR landfall and to more effectively manage water supplies in an increasingly variable climate.

That is why we need to pass the ARROW Act, to formalize the role of the Air Force Reserve's Weather Reconnaissance Squadron as a critical part of the U.S. storm forecasting and response infrastructure.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the ARROW Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act. This legislation would establish a routine mental-health and well-being checkup pilot program in Department of Defense Education Activity, DODEA, Schools.

In response to the growing youth mental health crisis in America, this bill would establish a biannual mental health screening program to ensure students have the resources they need to support their mental health, combat the stigmatization of seeking help, and promote healthy lifestyles.

Our Nation's young people are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis. An estimated 49.5 percent of American adolescents have had a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, with 50 percent of all lifetime mental illnesses beginning by age 14; 75 percent by age 24. This state of affairs was only worsened by the pandemic.

While these numbers are already staggering, military children are at even greater risk of mental/behavioral health problems than the general population given their unique vulnerability to adverse childhood experiences. As such, early screening and treatment are essential to decreasing the risk of suicide and improving management of/recovery from mental health conditions amongst this vulnerable segment of youth.

The evidence is clear: Ubiquitous mental health screening and education protocols, offered by 55 percent of U.S. public schools in 2019 to 2022, are well-tested, relatively low-resource, and high-impact ways to swiftly diagnose and treat mental health conditions amongst youth.

I would like to thank Congressman Moulton for his leadership and efforts on the House side. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act. This legislation would establish a routine mental-health and well-being checkup pilot program in Department of Defense Education Activity, DODEA, Schools.

In response to the growing youth mental health crisis in America, this bill would establish a biannual mental health screening program to ensure students have the resources they need to support their mental health, combat the stigmatization of seeking help, and promote healthy lifestyles.

Our Nation's young people are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis. An estimated 49.5 percent of American adolescents have had a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, with 50 percent of all lifetime mental illnesses beginning by age 14; 75 percent by age 24. This state of affairs was only worsened by the pandemic.

While these numbers are already staggering, military children are at even greater risk of mental/behavioral health problems than the general population given their unique vulnerability to adverse childhood experiences. As such, early screening and treatment are essential to decreasing the risk of suicide and improving management of/recovery from mental health conditions amongst this vulnerable segment of youth.

The evidence is clear: Ubiquitous mental health screening and education protocols, offered by 55 percent of U.S. public schools in 2019 to 2022, are well-tested, relatively low-resource, and high-impact ways to swiftly diagnose and treat mental health conditions amongst youth.

I would like to thank Congressman Moulton for his leadership and efforts on the House side. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act as quickly as possible.

Mr. President, I rise today on behalf of the great State of California to celebrate several newly confirmed U.S. district court judges.

I am proud to say that just 3 months after I celebrated a confirmation of four highly qualified Federal judges for the State of California, three more have now been confirmed. Today, I hope to share a bit more about each of their stories, the breadth of experience, and their history of dedicated public service.

Early last month, I was proud to see Judge Wesley Hsu confirmed to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Hsu's path to the Federal bench is a story of hard work, remarkable intelligence, and truly a case study in the American dream.

His father fled communist China, traveling 70 miles to the coast with his mother and developmentally disabled brother as a child. Both of Judge Hsu's parents eventually immigrated to the United States to attend graduate school at Kansas State University before moving to California where Judge Hsu grew up.

After earning his undergraduate degree and his JD from Yale, he worked as a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the same court on which he now serves as a judge. He later served for over a decade and a half as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District in the Criminal Division. And from 2017 until just recently, Judge Hsu served as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, presiding over the Family Law and Criminal Divisions.

I have no doubt that Judge Hsu's strong qualifications and deep experience in the Central District will make him an exemplary district court judge.

That was early last month.

Just yesterday, we confirmed Judge Hernan Vera, another devoted jurist slated to serve on the District Court for the Central District of California. The son of Argentine immigrants, Judge Vera earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his JD from the UCLA School of Law. And since then, he has had a diverse legal career from corporate law to serving 12 years at Public Counsel, our Nation's largest pro bono law firm.

As director and then CEO of the Consumer Law Project, Judge Vera worked tirelessly on behalf of consumers, on behalf of veterans, the elderly, and the working poor. In 2020, Judge Vera was appointed to the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County where he adjudicated child dependency cases. In every respect, Judge Vera stands out in California's legal community. His diverse legal and professional experience makes him a welcome addition to the Central District's bench.

And, finally, earlier this afternoon, just a couple of hours ago, we confirmed Casey Pitts to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Born in Minnesota and raised in Fargo, ND, Pitts attended Yale University and, later, Yale School of Law. After law school, he came out west, and he served as a law clerk on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Stephen Reinhardt before joining the public interest firm Altshuler Berzon, where he has been ever since.

He has represented workers, consumers, and public interest groups, fighting to protect lives and livelihoods of Americans and helping to shape how and for whom our economy and our courts work.

Casey will be the only LGBTQ article III judge currently serving on the District Court for the Northern District of California. His life experience, his credentials, and his record of fighting for the American people will no doubt make him a phenomenal jurist. And I am proud to see him confirmed, as well.

Mr. President, for the past 2\1/2\ years, Senate Democrats have worked closely with President Biden to nominate and confirm a record number of Federal judges. I have made it a personal priority to try to fulfill the expectations of Americans all over the country who deserve a trusted, highly qualified, and, yes, diverse Federal judiciary. With these three confirmations, we are proving that our judiciary benefits when people from diverse backgrounds are on the Federal bench. Whether the child of immigrants who sought a better life in the United Sates or an LGBTQ kid from Fargo, ND, whether an assistant U.S. attorney or a lawyer defending consumers and veterans, all these backgrounds should be represented in our judiciary.

We can't say this often enough: Our Nation is beautifully diverse, and we are a stronger Nation because of it. And so it should be for our Federal judiciary. So I thank you, colleagues, for confirming these three nominations, and I am so grateful to each and every one of them for their public service on behalf of our Nation.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Clean Shipping Act of 2023. This legislation aims to reduce harmful emissions from ocean going vessels and improve air quality for the nearly 40 percent of Americans who live within 3 miles of a port.

Globally, maritime shipping is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, emitting an estimated 1 billion tons of GHG emissions per year and roughly 3 percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide

emissions. According to the International Maritime Organization, global shipping emissions could more than double between 2018 and 2050.

That is why the United States signed two shipping declarations at COP26 to call for zero-emission fuels on international commercial vessels by 2030 and the establishment of zero-emission shipping routes by the middle of the 2020 decade.

This legislation would set a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from all oceangoing vessels that do business with the United States.

The Clean Shipping Act will help reduce emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect air quality and public health for near-port communities, reduce climate pollution emissions from large marine vessels that call on U.S. ports, and ensure that the global maritime sector reduces, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

The bill would direct the EPA to set progressively tighter carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships consistent with a 1.5 deg.C decarbonization pathway, and to eliminate in-port ship emissions by 2030 for all ships at-berth or at-anchor in U.S. ports.

Importantly, this legislation is supported by global industry leaders and environmental advocates and will ensure that the global maritime sector reducesemissions consistent with the Paris Agreement, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

More than 90 percent of global trade is transported by oceangoing vessels, which produce an estimated 3 percent of global anthropogenic emissions, yet these emissions are unregulated in the United States.

The International Maritime Organization's Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships plans to meet at the end of the month.

This bill would send a strong signal of our commitment to our international partners, empower the EPA to set standards to reduce harmful pollution in accordance with our national and international climate goals, provide certainty to the global shipping industry, and catalyze research and development to transition oceangoing vessels that rely on diesel engines.

This bill enjoys the support of environmentalists and industry stakeholders alike who recognize the urgent need to reduce emissions from the shipping sector.

I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Robert Garcia and Nanette Barragan for championing this bill in the House.

I Look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Clean Shipping Act as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Clean Shipping Act of 2023. This legislation aims to reduce harmful emissions from ocean going vessels and improve air quality for the nearly 40 percent of Americans who live within 3 miles of a port.

Globally, maritime shipping is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, emitting an estimated 1 billion tons of GHG emissions per year and roughly 3 percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide

emissions. According to the International Maritime Organization, global shipping emissions could more than double between 2018 and 2050.

That is why the United States signed two shipping declarations at COP26 to call for zero-emission fuels on international commercial vessels by 2030 and the establishment of zero-emission shipping routes by the middle of the 2020 decade.

This legislation would set a path to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from all oceangoing vessels that do business with the United States.

The Clean Shipping Act will help reduce emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect air quality and public health for near-port communities, reduce climate pollution emissions from large marine vessels that call on U.S. ports, and ensure that the global maritime sector reduces, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

The bill would direct the EPA to set progressively tighter carbon intensity standards for fuels used by ships consistent with a 1.5 deg.C decarbonization pathway, and to eliminate in-port ship emissions by 2030 for all ships at-berth or at-anchor in U.S. ports.

Importantly, this legislation is supported by global industry leaders and environmental advocates and will ensure that the global maritime sector reducesemissions consistent with the Paris Agreement, while providing the EPA with the flexibility needed to ensure smooth implementation.

More than 90 percent of global trade is transported by oceangoing vessels, which produce an estimated 3 percent of global anthropogenic emissions, yet these emissions are unregulated in the United States.

The International Maritime Organization's Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships plans to meet at the end of the month.

This bill would send a strong signal of our commitment to our international partners, empower the EPA to set standards to reduce harmful pollution in accordance with our national and international climate goals, provide certainty to the global shipping industry, and catalyze research and development to transition oceangoing vessels that rely on diesel engines.

This bill enjoys the support of environmentalists and industry stakeholders alike who recognize the urgent need to reduce emissions from the shipping sector.

I would like to thank my colleagues, Representatives Robert Garcia and Nanette Barragan for championing this bill in the House.

I Look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Clean Shipping Act as quickly as possible.