Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan bill that I introduced today with Senator Cramer to help ensure the financial stability of smaller credit unions.

Congress created the Central Liquidity Facility in 1978 to improve the general financial stability of credit unions by serving as a liquidity lender to credit unions experiencing unusual or unexpected liquidity shortfalls.

Unfortunately, under current law, smaller credit unions often do not have access to this critical tool that could help them address liquidity shortfalls, especially amid higher interest rates.

That is why I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Senator Cramer to allow corporate credit unions to buy Central Liquidity Facility capital stock for a chosen subset of its members rather than all of its members for the next 3 years. This would provide greater flexibility for smaller credit unions to use the Central Liquidity Facility's services.

I hope my colleagues will join me in support of this bill to meet the needs of our Nation's 6,000 credit unions and the communities they serve.

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan bill that I introduced today with Senator Cramer to help ensure the financial stability of smaller credit unions.

Congress created the Central Liquidity Facility in 1978 to improve the general financial stability of credit unions by serving as a liquidity lender to credit unions experiencing unusual or unexpected liquidity shortfalls.

Unfortunately, under current law, smaller credit unions often do not have access to this critical tool that could help them address liquidity shortfalls, especially amid higher interest rates.

That is why I am proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation with Senator Cramer to allow corporate credit unions to buy Central Liquidity Facility capital stock for a chosen subset of its members rather than all of its members for the next 3 years. This would provide greater flexibility for smaller credit unions to use the Central Liquidity Facility's services.

I hope my colleagues will join me in support of this bill to meet the needs of our Nation's 6,000 credit unions and the communities they serve.

Madam President, before I begin some remarks, I would like to advise the desk that I will deliver a portion of my remarks in Spanish.

Madam President, I rise today profoundly humbled by the people of California for placing their trust in me to serve and represent them for a full term in the U.S. Senate.

It is a tremendous honor to return to this body, and I also recognize that it is also a tremendous responsibility.

To the people of California, thank you, and please know that I will work hard every single day to uphold that trust.

And to my colleagues who have helped me hit the ground running since my first day in the Senate 2 years ago, thank you, and that includes California's senior Senator, Dianne Feinstein, who has served the State of California for over three decades as a trailblazing public servant and a model for principled leadership, whom I have been honored to serve alongside.

And I will always be thankful for my parents, Santos and Lupe Padilla, for all they did for my brother, my sister, and me growing up.

And, of course, I could not be here without the love and support and often the patience and understanding of my wife Angela and our three boys, Roman, Alex, and Diego.

Now, as the first Latino elected to represent California in our State's history, it is not lost on me what this moment means for millions of people back home. I understand that my family's story is a reflection of what so many other hardworking families have experienced.

As I have shared many times before, my parents emigrated from Mexico. They came to the United States in search of a better life. For 40 years, my dad worked as a short order cook and my mom cleaned houses as they raised the three of us in the proud, working-class community of Pacoima, CA, in the San Fernando Valley.

I am proud of our family's journey, but it wasn't without our share of challenges. I remember what it looked like to see our neighborhood neglected, navigating everything from buckled sidewalks to drug dealers as we walked to and from school.

I remember what it was like for our family to live paycheck to paycheck--my mom, at times, bartering the mechanic, offering some of her homemade tacos for just a little bit more time to pay the bill.

And when it came time to figuring out how I was going to pay for college, I remember filling out the financial aid forms and realizing that tuition alone at MIT was a larger amount than my dad's W-2.

But it is because of their hard work and sacrifices that I stand here today. The very idea that a first-generation son of a short order cook and a housekeeper is now serving in the U.S. Senate is proof of the American dream.

But that dream has never been about passive participation. It is made possible by those who work for it and by those willing to defend it and expand it. It is about hopeful goals for a better future and the ambition to work towards them. It is about the drive to get up each morning before the sun rises, to put on a white apron, and push through tired eyes and a sore back because you know that someday your kids can have it better.

And if my parents are my inspiration for being here, then my children are my motivation for fighting to keep the dream alive. I am one of the few Members of this body blessed to still have young kids at home. So when we talk about the future of our country or the future of our planet, it is not in the abstract. I think of Roman, Alex, and Diego and their generation. They are the generation who will carry on these monumental tasks and fight for equality and opportunity in the future.

So, colleagues, we have to be focused on doing the work today to make sure the American Dream is alive for them tomorrow.

So I ask: Who is willing to defend the dream? And what are we willing to do to defend it?

(English translation of the statement made in Spanish is as follows:)

Who is willing to defend the American dream?

Today, I am here before you as the first Latino elected to represent California in the Senate. It is a dream come true because my family's story reflects what many working families have lived in this country.

My parents, Santos and Lupe Padilla, emigrated from Mexico to this country in the sixties.

For 40 years, my father worked as a cook, and my mother worked cleaning houses.

I am here today thanks to their sacrifices, and they continue to be my inspiration.

Now it is our turn to defend the dream for the next generation.

When we talk about the future of our country, or the future of our planet, I think about my sons Roman, Alex, and Diego.

They are my motivation to continue working for a better future, and to continue defending the American dream.

(End of Spanish translation).

You know, my first 2 years in the Senate, we have made real progress to keep the dream alive for millions of Americans--from giving families the extra support they needed to get through a once-in-a-century pandemic to lowering healthcare costs to passing the largest investment in history to confront the climate crisis--but we can't stop now.

American prosperity over the next 6 years--the survival of the American Dream--means keeping up the fight to level the playing field, and that starts with addressing some of the most urgent threats standing in the way of that dream.

You know, just last month, over the course of 3 days--3 days--my home State experienced three back-to-back-to-back mass shootings that claimed the lives of 19 Californians.

I was returning home from visiting a victim resource center in Monterey Park, CA, when I received word of the two additional shootings in Half Moon Bay and in Oakland.

Americans are sick and tired of the Republican excuses and the gun lobby rhetoric. No one can deny that we have a gun violence problem in America. When gun violence is the leading cause of death for children, how can we say they have the opportunity to achieve their dreams?

So I refuse to grow numb to the epidemic of gun violence. And I still have hope that we can prevent future tragedies with commonsense policies like universal background checks and an assault weapons ban that has been proven to save lives.

This winter California also experienced a relentless stream of severe weather--rain storms, flooding, and mudslides--that caused over $1 billion in damages. I welcomed President Biden and Vice President Harris to survey the storm damage in California, and they have been exemplary partners both in disaster response as well as efforts to rebuild our communities. But the process to rebuild is ongoing, and we will need to work together to get the impacted areas the resources they need.

Let me be clear that, despite the record rainfall that dominated the news last month, California and our fellow Western States are still suffering from a crippling drought. Californians know all too well that natural disasters and extreme weather whiplash have become the new normal in the 21st century. Each year we brace for increasingly frequent and devastating wildfires, catastrophic flooding and mudslides, and searing droughts. They all point to one thing: the need for climate action.

Our very survival depends on our ability to combat the climate crisis. We must continue to step up our efforts to protect our planet. Yes, that means eliminating carbon pollution and transitioning to a clean-energy economy, and it also means fighting for clean air and water, particularly for the more vulnerable communities disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution. And it means protecting and managing our Federal lands and waterways.

At times, that means making difficult and innovative decisions to preserve our resources and protect our communities. For Western States that rely on the Colorado River, that means coming together to find consensus on a water agreement that prevents disaster and preserves the human right to water.

We must also reform our outdated immigration system and do so in a way that better reflects our values. That means creating a pathway to citizenship for the hundreds of thousands of Dreamers who live in daily fear of deportation from the only home they have ever known and for all the essential workers who kept us safe and our economy going throughout the pandemic.

It means making sorely needed updates to our legal migration system by addressing the crippling visa backlog that keeps families apart and denies our economy the workforce that it needs. And it means ensuring that individuals and families who are fleeing horrific conditions in their home countries and seeking asylum in the United States are treated humanely and provided due process.

Our Nation is also confronting a serious mental health crisis. Now, this crisis existed well before COVID, but we saw the pandemic exacerbate the crisis. Demand for healthcare is way up, while we have an increasing shortage of healthcare professionals available.

This is also a critical opportunity to fundamentally end the stigma surrounding mental health. You know, if a family member or a friend breaks their arm or leg, we don't judge them for going to the hospital to seek help. Nobody looks down on somebody for going to the dentist for regular checkups. We need to treat mental health the same way.

And, finally, at a time of rising nationalism around the world, we must secure the foundations of democracy. For those who say that legislation to protect the sacred right to vote in America is too partisan, they are only right in the sense that attacks on our right to vote are partisan.

We must denounce Republican candidates across the country who choose to divide the American people with lies and conspiracy theories. As long as Republican-led State legislatures work to pass voter suppression laws across the Nation or election deniers put our election workers in danger, we have more work to do.

And as long as millions of eligible Americans have yet to exercise their right to vote, including the roughly 80 million who did not vote or were unable to vote in an otherwise record-setting 2020 election, we have more work to do. That work includes bolstering our cyber security efforts, not just to secure the infrastructure of elections but to combat disinformation from bad-faith actors.

Now, I am not naive about the challenges ahead. After 2 years of historic achievements, an extreme wing of Republicans now hold progress in the House of Representatives hostage. This group has shown that they would rather undermine our democracy than defend it. They would rather risk a first-ever default by the Federal Government than serve the interests of the American people.

At stake for millions of Americans are programs that they have spent decades paying into, like Medicare and Social Security, American institutions that define how we take care of one another and how we provide dignity for seniors.

And they have set their crosshairs on a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own body.

So we have a tall task ahead of us. But to the people of California, please know that I didn't seek out this office because I thought it would be easy. I did so because the issues are too important, and I am ready--I am ready--for the difficult fight ahead because today we have a responsibility to write the next chapter of American progress into history, to join so many who came before us who made the American dream possible.

When ``huddled masses'' came to our shores with the belief in a better future, immigrants put in the work to build our country and our economy and to make the dream a reality. When we celebrate America as the land of freedom and equality, we recognize generations of civil rights activists who risked everything for the right to vote and to expand the dream to groups often denied it.

And when a man from Jalisco and a woman from Chihuahua immigrated to Los Angeles in search of a better life, it was them--Santos and Lupe Padilla--who toiled and sacrificed to secure the dream for their children.

They are the American story. They are the American dream.

In closing, I just want to share that, over the last 2 years, countless people have asked me if becoming a U.S. Senator is a dream come true. My honest answer is no. You see, for me, when I was a kid growing up, I never dreamt that anything like this was possible.

But, now that I am here, I promise I will not take a single day for granted, and I will never stop fighting to keep the dream alive for future generations.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Outdoors for All Act. This legislation would ensure that access to local parks and outdoor recreation is equitable and available to all.

The Outdoors for All Act would codify and strengthen the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program at the Interior Department, which provides grants to build new outdoor recreation spaces, improve existing parks, and form connections between underserved, urban communities and the outdoors.

It specifically invests in parks and open spaces in areas where the majority of Americans live. Any single urban area or two adjacent urban areas with a population of at least 25,000 can qualify for grants, which can benefit residents in all 50 States.

These grants would fund projects in park-poor, urban communities, and the bill would require the National Park Service to prioritize projects that support underserved communities, provide job-training to youth, and leverage resources through public-private partnerships.

As our cities grow and the effects of climate change intensify, this bill will increase equitable access to the many benefits of local parks, from job creation, to shade and tree cover, the reduction of the urban heat island effect, and clean air.

Nationwide, 100 million people, including 28 million children, do not have a park within a half-mile of home. That is almost one-third of America.

Additionally, in the 100 most populated cities, neighborhoods where most residents identify as Black, Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Asian American and Pacific Islander have access to an average of 44 percent less park acreage than predominantly White neighborhoods.

For example, in Los Angeles, low-income communities and communities of color lack equal access to parks--a Los Angeles County survey found that Compton reported only 0.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, in contrast to Malibu, which has 55.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.

This bill would address this staggering inequity in Los Angeles and across the country and make equity and justice a key focus of park investment and planning.

I thank Senator Collins for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate and Congresswoman Barragan and Congressman Turner for leading this effort in the House of Representatives.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Outdoors for All Act soon as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Outdoors for All Act. This legislation would ensure that access to local parks and outdoor recreation is equitable and available to all.

The Outdoors for All Act would codify and strengthen the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program at the Interior Department, which provides grants to build new outdoor recreation spaces, improve existing parks, and form connections between underserved, urban communities and the outdoors.

It specifically invests in parks and open spaces in areas where the majority of Americans live. Any single urban area or two adjacent urban areas with a population of at least 25,000 can qualify for grants, which can benefit residents in all 50 States.

These grants would fund projects in park-poor, urban communities, and the bill would require the National Park Service to prioritize projects that support underserved communities, provide job-training to youth, and leverage resources through public-private partnerships.

As our cities grow and the effects of climate change intensify, this bill will increase equitable access to the many benefits of local parks, from job creation, to shade and tree cover, the reduction of the urban heat island effect, and clean air.

Nationwide, 100 million people, including 28 million children, do not have a park within a half-mile of home. That is almost one-third of America.

Additionally, in the 100 most populated cities, neighborhoods where most residents identify as Black, Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, or Asian American and Pacific Islander have access to an average of 44 percent less park acreage than predominantly White neighborhoods.

For example, in Los Angeles, low-income communities and communities of color lack equal access to parks--a Los Angeles County survey found that Compton reported only 0.6 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, in contrast to Malibu, which has 55.5 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents.

This bill would address this staggering inequity in Los Angeles and across the country and make equity and justice a key focus of park investment and planning.

I thank Senator Collins for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate and Congresswoman Barragan and Congressman Turner for leading this effort in the House of Representatives.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the Outdoors for All Act soon as possible.

Madam President, I have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today session of the Senate:

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Access to Counsel Act.

This legislation would ensure that all individuals with a legal right to be in the United States who are held by Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry or airports have access to legal counsel.

This legislation would ensure that individuals who have a legal right to be in the United States and are held by Customs and Border Protection in secondary inspection at airports or other points of entry for more than an hour are granted an opportunity to access legal counsel and an interested party. An interested party is defined as a family member, sponsor, or organization with a connection to the individual.

The bill creates no obligation for the Federal Government to pay for counsel and allows counsel the ability to advocate on behalf of the individual by providing information or documentation in support of the individual.

It also invalidates any effort by CBP to persuade someone to relinquish their legal status if that person has been denied access to counsel or voluntarily waives in writing their right to counsel.

There have been repeated reports of CBP detaining individuals based on their nationality. In 2017, the first Muslim ban was implemented, and thousands of U.S. citizens, green card holders, and others with valid visas were detained at airports for hours.

They were held by CBP officers without any ability to call a lawyer, relative, or advocate. Many Members of Congress rushed to the airports in an attempt to help these individuals and were barred from speaking to them or connecting them with attorneys.

In addition, 200 Iranian-Americans were held at the northern border in Blaine, WA, for 12 hours without access to counsel in early 2020.

Everyone who has valid travel documents and is seeking entry to the United States should be afforded due process. If CBP refers someone to secondary inspection, they should be apprised of their right to call counsel or an interested party. It is imperative that Americans and those with a legal right to be here have access to representation if they are held at a port of entry.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Access to Counsel Act.

This legislation would ensure that all individuals with a legal right to be in the United States who are held by Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry or airports have access to legal counsel.

This legislation would ensure that individuals who have a legal right to be in the United States and are held by Customs and Border Protection in secondary inspection at airports or other points of entry for more than an hour are granted an opportunity to access legal counsel and an interested party. An interested party is defined as a family member, sponsor, or organization with a connection to the individual.

The bill creates no obligation for the Federal Government to pay for counsel and allows counsel the ability to advocate on behalf of the individual by providing information or documentation in support of the individual.

It also invalidates any effort by CBP to persuade someone to relinquish their legal status if that person has been denied access to counsel or voluntarily waives in writing their right to counsel.

There have been repeated reports of CBP detaining individuals based on their nationality. In 2017, the first Muslim ban was implemented, and thousands of U.S. citizens, green card holders, and others with valid visas were detained at airports for hours.

They were held by CBP officers without any ability to call a lawyer, relative, or advocate. Many Members of Congress rushed to the airports in an attempt to help these individuals and were barred from speaking to them or connecting them with attorneys.

In addition, 200 Iranian-Americans were held at the northern border in Blaine, WA, for 12 hours without access to counsel in early 2020.

Everyone who has valid travel documents and is seeking entry to the United States should be afforded due process. If CBP refers someone to secondary inspection, they should be apprised of their right to call counsel or an interested party. It is imperative that Americans and those with a legal right to be here have access to representation if they are held at a port of entry.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act to place roughly 700 acres of sacred lands into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. The lands in this bill, which are adjacent to the Tribe's existing reservation, include sacred sites, ancient rock art, and Tribal artifacts. Placing these lands into trust would protect the Pala Band's sacred lands and allow them to safeguard their culture and traditions as their ancestors have done since time immemorial.

Our bill would place 721 acres of land in San Diego County, which the Tribe has already purchased, into trust for the Pala Band of Mission Indians. Doing so would allow the Pala Band to preserve their traditions and better steward their sacred sites for generations to come.

Members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians descend from the Cupeno and Luiseno Tribes. The Cupenos lived in the valley of San Jose de Valle for generations until they were expelled from their ancestral homelands by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1901. The Tribe was forcibly relocated to Pala, CA, onto a Luiseno reservation. Over a century later, the Pala Band considers themselves one proud people with over 900 Tribal members.

In 2016, the Tribe purchased the lands covered by our bill in order to prevent the construction of a landfill on their sacred lands, known to the Tribe as ``Chokla.'' This bill would enable the Federal Government to fulfill its trust obligation by providing permanent protection for the Pala Band's ancestral and cultural sites.

I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate and Congressman Issa and Congressman Vargas for leading this effort in the House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to reintroduce the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2023. This legislation would finalize this multidecade effort by the Tule River Tribe to provide clean drinking water to their people and uphold the Federal Government's trust and treaty responsibilities.

The Tule River people are descendants of the Yokuts Indians, a large group of Native Americans who occupied what is now known as the San Joaquin Valley in California for thousands of years prior to contact with settlers.

In 1856, the Federal Government established their reservation in Tulare County, with the specific goal of providing the Tribe with arable farmland and the water resources necessary to establish self- sufficiency. However, their land was fraudulently stolen from them, and in 1873, President Grant issued an Executive order to create a new reservation for the Tribe. This land--which is the Tribe's current reservation--is comprised of mostly mountainous lands that do not provide sufficient irrigation opportunities or water storage facilities. Today, the Tule River Tribe struggles to provide clean drinking water to their people, and Tule Tribal citizens suffer from a low standard of living as a result.

Since 1971, the Tribe has worked to establish its federally reserved water rights to create the viable homeland they were promised and to ensure that their citizens have enough water to meet their current and future water needs. For decades, the Tribe has worked with the Departments of the Interior and Justice as well as downstream water users to advance a settlement agreement, thereby avoiding costly litigation for both the tribe and the U.S. Government.

I am proud to introduce this legislation to quantify the Tribe's water right of 5,828 acre-feet per year of surface water and fund $568 million towards the construction of a water storage project. Our legislation would also codify what is known as the ``2007 Agreement'' with downstream water users, who support this legislation. Finally, the legislation would transfer approximately 9,000 acres of Federal land currently in the Sequoia National Monument to allow the Tribe to protect the watershed headwaters and 800 acres of grazing land to the north and south of the reservation boundary.

It is long past time for the Federal Government to live up to its trust and treaty responsibilities to the Tule River Tribe. We must codify this water settlement and settle the Tule River Tribe's claims against the United States. Access to clean drinking water now and in the future is essential to the continued strength of Tribal nations and to ensuring the sustainability and viability of future generations.

Water is a sacred and necessary resource for Tribal nations and for all people. As California and the West continue to experience a historic megadrought, enactment of our legislation would provide water security to Tule River citizens now and into the future.

I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate. I would also like to thank the Tule River Tribe for their decades of hard work to finalize this settlement and the downstream water users, including the Tule River Association and the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, for working with the Tribe to settle this issue and avoid litigation.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2023 as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act to place roughly 700 acres of sacred lands into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. The lands in this bill, which are adjacent to the Tribe's existing reservation, include sacred sites, ancient rock art, and Tribal artifacts. Placing these lands into trust would protect the Pala Band's sacred lands and allow them to safeguard their culture and traditions as their ancestors have done since time immemorial.

Our bill would place 721 acres of land in San Diego County, which the Tribe has already purchased, into trust for the Pala Band of Mission Indians. Doing so would allow the Pala Band to preserve their traditions and better steward their sacred sites for generations to come.

Members of the Pala Band of Mission Indians descend from the Cupeno and Luiseno Tribes. The Cupenos lived in the valley of San Jose de Valle for generations until they were expelled from their ancestral homelands by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1901. The Tribe was forcibly relocated to Pala, CA, onto a Luiseno reservation. Over a century later, the Pala Band considers themselves one proud people with over 900 Tribal members.

In 2016, the Tribe purchased the lands covered by our bill in order to prevent the construction of a landfill on their sacred lands, known to the Tribe as ``Chokla.'' This bill would enable the Federal Government to fulfill its trust obligation by providing permanent protection for the Pala Band's ancestral and cultural sites.

I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate and Congressman Issa and Congressman Vargas for leading this effort in the House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this bill as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to reintroduce the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2023. This legislation would finalize this multidecade effort by the Tule River Tribe to provide clean drinking water to their people and uphold the Federal Government's trust and treaty responsibilities.

The Tule River people are descendants of the Yokuts Indians, a large group of Native Americans who occupied what is now known as the San Joaquin Valley in California for thousands of years prior to contact with settlers.

In 1856, the Federal Government established their reservation in Tulare County, with the specific goal of providing the Tribe with arable farmland and the water resources necessary to establish self- sufficiency. However, their land was fraudulently stolen from them, and in 1873, President Grant issued an Executive order to create a new reservation for the Tribe. This land--which is the Tribe's current reservation--is comprised of mostly mountainous lands that do not provide sufficient irrigation opportunities or water storage facilities. Today, the Tule River Tribe struggles to provide clean drinking water to their people, and Tule Tribal citizens suffer from a low standard of living as a result.

Since 1971, the Tribe has worked to establish its federally reserved water rights to create the viable homeland they were promised and to ensure that their citizens have enough water to meet their current and future water needs. For decades, the Tribe has worked with the Departments of the Interior and Justice as well as downstream water users to advance a settlement agreement, thereby avoiding costly litigation for both the tribe and the U.S. Government.

I am proud to introduce this legislation to quantify the Tribe's water right of 5,828 acre-feet per year of surface water and fund $568 million towards the construction of a water storage project. Our legislation would also codify what is known as the ``2007 Agreement'' with downstream water users, who support this legislation. Finally, the legislation would transfer approximately 9,000 acres of Federal land currently in the Sequoia National Monument to allow the Tribe to protect the watershed headwaters and 800 acres of grazing land to the north and south of the reservation boundary.

It is long past time for the Federal Government to live up to its trust and treaty responsibilities to the Tule River Tribe. We must codify this water settlement and settle the Tule River Tribe's claims against the United States. Access to clean drinking water now and in the future is essential to the continued strength of Tribal nations and to ensuring the sustainability and viability of future generations.

Water is a sacred and necessary resource for Tribal nations and for all people. As California and the West continue to experience a historic megadrought, enactment of our legislation would provide water security to Tule River citizens now and into the future.

I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate. I would also like to thank the Tule River Tribe for their decades of hard work to finalize this settlement and the downstream water users, including the Tule River Association and the South Tule Independent Ditch Company, for working with the Tribe to settle this issue and avoid litigation.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2023 as quickly as possible.

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act, which I have reintroduced with Senator Blackburn today.

Artists pour their heart and soul into the music we enjoy. Unfortunately, our current copyright laws do not adequately reflect the value of what they have produced.

Currently, the United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not compensated for the use of their music on AM/FM radio.

By requiring broadcast radio corporations to pay performance royalties to creators for AM/FM radio plays, the American Music Fairness Act would close an antiquated loophole in our copyright law which has prevented artists from receiving compensation for the use of their music for far too long.

This royalty stream would be particularly meaningful for the thousands of working-class artists who are a critical part of our country's vibrant music industry.

Additionally, when American-made music is played overseas, other countries collect royalties for American artists and producers but never pay those royalties to our artists because we do not reciprocate. This inequity costs the American economy and artists more than $200 million each year. This is a serious injustice considering that America is the origin of so much of the music listened to around the world.

So it is time, once and for all, to create a regime that is platform neutral and which respects the hard work and dignity of our artists.

But I also want to be clear about something. I am a huge fan of and true believer in the importance of local radio to the music industry and to communities all across the United States that rely on radio to receive timely and relevant news, entertainment, and emergency response information. The American Music Fairness Act recognizes and acknowledges the important role that locally owned radio stations play by including protections for small, college, and noncommercial stations.

I want to thank Senator Blackburn for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in supporting the thousands of artists across this country who create the music that contributes to the soundtrack of our lives.

Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act, which I have reintroduced with Senator Blackburn today.

Artists pour their heart and soul into the music we enjoy. Unfortunately, our current copyright laws do not adequately reflect the value of what they have produced.

Currently, the United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not compensated for the use of their music on AM/FM radio.

By requiring broadcast radio corporations to pay performance royalties to creators for AM/FM radio plays, the American Music Fairness Act would close an antiquated loophole in our copyright law which has prevented artists from receiving compensation for the use of their music for far too long.

This royalty stream would be particularly meaningful for the thousands of working-class artists who are a critical part of our country's vibrant music industry.

Additionally, when American-made music is played overseas, other countries collect royalties for American artists and producers but never pay those royalties to our artists because we do not reciprocate. This inequity costs the American economy and artists more than $200 million each year. This is a serious injustice considering that America is the origin of so much of the music listened to around the world.

So it is time, once and for all, to create a regime that is platform neutral and which respects the hard work and dignity of our artists.

But I also want to be clear about something. I am a huge fan of and true believer in the importance of local radio to the music industry and to communities all across the United States that rely on radio to receive timely and relevant news, entertainment, and emergency response information. The American Music Fairness Act recognizes and acknowledges the important role that locally owned radio stations play by including protections for small, college, and noncommercial stations.

I want to thank Senator Blackburn for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in supporting the thousands of artists across this country who create the music that contributes to the soundtrack of our lives.

Madam President, I rise today to honor the life of Walter Ulloa, a trailblazing figure in the media and entertainment industry, a role model to many in California, and my personal friend.

Walter grew up in Brawley, CA, at a time when Latinos were still segregated in his community. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1970, before earning his law degree from Loyola School of Law in 1975.

After earning his degrees, Walter embarked on what would become a nearly five-decade career in media, playing a pivotal role in the growth of Spanish-language television and radio across the United States.

At KMEX in Los Angeles, there were some early signs that Walter's work ethic, intellect, and mind for media would make him successful. During his 13 years there, he worked as operations manager, production manager, news director, local sales manager, and account executive before venturing out to create his own projects.

In 1996, he cofounded Entravision, a now global Latino media, marketing, and technology company. For over 25 years, he served as chairman and chief executive officer at Entravision, where he grew his young company to own over 100 television and radio stations, as well as digital platforms throughout the United States. Whether in Los Angeles or across the country, if you watched or listened to Spanish-language media in the last five decades, there is a very good chance you have Walter Ulloa to thank.

But away from his industry impact, communities in California knew him for his generosity and his commitment to public service. So respected was Walter for his expertise and appreciation of the arts, that President Barack Obama appointed him to the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

For more than 20 years, I had the privilege of knowing and working with Walter. I always admired how he generously gave his time and contributed resources to help increase Latino civic engagement and voting in California. The fact that after growing up in a segregated community in the 1950s, Walter could go on to not only an extraordinarily successful career, but to help future Latino communities prosper time and time again is a testament to his character.

The life of Walter Ulloa is nothing less than the American dream come true, from his educational and economic success, his philanthropy, and his service to our country. He will be missed.

Angela and I send our love to his wife Alexandra Seros and son Bruno Seros-Ulloa and to all those whose lives were touched by his service.