Floor Statements

Madam President, I rise today to talk about the solar tariff CRA, which, unfortunately, is misguided and is going to have a devastating impact on States like Nevada, as you well know.

H.J. Res. 39 to end the pause on solar tariffs is really a misguided effort that will not only cripple our Nation's solar industry but kill thousands of American jobs.

Our country is in a position to lead the rest of the world in clean energy production, including solar development. States like Nevada are building up our solar capabilities and creating thousands of new jobs that support working families.

Talk to the unions in my State, and you will hear how important solar is for Nevadans. I spent some time recently with IBEW at the Gemini Solar Project, which our Presiding Officer knows well. It is one of the new solar arrays in southern Nevada. I heard directly from them about how these are good-paying jobs for our workers, which is why so many unions, including the carpenters, the laborers, and operating engineers, oppose this resolution.

This effort to reinstate solar tariffs would devastate our operations; it would hurt working families; and it would make it even more difficult to become energy independent in this country.

Just a few weeks ago, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. She told me that she gets it; that we need a transition period to be able to build up our solar supply in the United States.

It is happening thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, but we are just getting started. Right now, the United States only has capacity to manufacture a small fraction of our domestic solar demand. Now, of course, we need to keep building our domestic manufacturing of solar. We all agree. And we need to continue that process, but we shouldn't punish our workers by pretending that infrastructure already exists when we know it doesn't. That means we need to expand our supply of solar panels and cells.

Just having this vote this afternoon will have a chilling effect on the solar industry--the solar energy industry. Listen, when the threat of these tariffs was originally looming--just the threat of them back then--75 percent of domestic solar projects experienced cancelations or delays because of that threat, including in Nevada. And I heard it. The Presiding Officer heard it. We heard it from our workers. We heard it from the projects in the pipeline. That is a sign of what is to come if this misguided effort is successful.

Nevada has the No. 1 solar economy in the country, which has created nearly 9,000 good-paying jobs, many of them union jobs. But if we lift the pause on our solar tariffs, those jobs will be in danger. And I won't stand for it. I know the Presiding Officer won't stand for it.

And it is not just in Nevada. It is not just blue States or red States. These tariffs would risk the jobs of the 225,000 Americans who work in solar throughout the country. But some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle still want to go ahead with this resolution.

Let me just say, Texas, for example, has over 10,000 jobs that would be endangered by these tariffs. North Carolina could see its nearly 7,000 solar jobs be jeopardized. And there are close to 12,000 Floridians working in the solar industry whose jobs would be at risk.

There is no justifiable reason to move forward with this resolution that would kill jobs in our own States. I agree that we need to stay competitive with the Chinese Government, but if we implement these tariffs, three-quarters of our solar deployment would stop. That would cede our leadership to the Chinese Government. It would hurt our domestic manufacturing. And our working families, most importantly, would pay the price. And we just can't let that happen.

We need to be supporting American leadership in the solar industry. We need to be protecting our working families and, yes, creating more solar jobs. That is why I am going to be urging my colleagues to vote no on this irresponsible and harmful resolution.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, first of all, I have to thank my colleagues, Senator Cardin along with Senator Murkowski, for bringing S.J. Res. 4 that we will be voting on tomorrow. We need the Equal Rights Amendment today more than ever.

What we have been seeing across the country, the far-right using every opportunity they can to roll back women's rights. We are seeing this happen in real time with access to abortion care, and we know it won't stop there.

So it is shameful that in 2023 there are so many extremists who want to make women second-class citizens, but that is why we need a constitutional amendment to protect women from discrimination and guarantee their equality under the law.

Few States understand this better than my home State of Nevada. Nevada put the Equal Rights Amendment back on the table when it became the first State in the modern era to ratify the ERA in 2017.

Nevadans stood up and made it clear that our State believes men and women should have equal legal rights. And they didn't stop there. In 2022, Nevada adopted the most comprehensive ERA in the country in its State constitution, putting protections in place to ensure equal rights for all.

Over and over again, Nevadans have led the charge for equality and women's rights at both the State and the Federal level. Now, since Nevada kicked off the push in recent years to ratify the ERA federally, we now have the 38 States we need to codify the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. The only thing that is stopping us is a deadline Congress made up in 1972 that was already extended once. That is why we must vote to remove this deadline and adopt the Equal Rights Amendment into our Constitution because, quite honestly, there is too much at stake and to let an arbitrary time limit hold women's rights hostage is just wrong.

So with that, along with my colleagues here this afternoon, I, too, urge the adoption tomorrow of bipartisan S.J. Res. 4.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted to complete their remarks prior to the scheduled recess: Senator Rosen, myself, Senator Klobuchar, and Senator Smith.

Madam President, I join my colleagues today to continue to speak out against the far-right Republicans' harmful and, frankly, insulting resolution to prevent women veterans from accessing essential healthcare in this country.

You know, our veterans stepped up to serve our country, putting their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and keep our families safe. We owe them a debt of gratitude. That is why I am working to ensure that we protect veterans' rights to essential healthcare.

We trust these women to make critical decisions in the line of duty to protect our national security; so why don't extremists on the right trust them to make decisions about their own bodies?

The purpose of the VA is to protect veterans' health and life. Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, my colleagues and I pushed the administration, including the VA, to take action to protect women veterans' access to abortion care across the country. At our urging, the VA created a rule to provide abortion counseling to pregnant veterans as well as abortion services in the limited cases of rape, incest, or the life or health of the mother. This is critical for women veterans, especially those who live in States with strict abortion bans and no access to care in their communities.

But we knew that after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, anti-choice policymakers wouldn't stop trying to take away a woman's right to choose. And now they are going after the health and well-being of women who have fought for our country. There are 550,000 women veterans who get their healthcare through the VA. And 300,000 of those women veterans are at a point in their lives at which they need reproductive care. That is 300,000 women who have sacrificed for our country and who, according to extremist Republicans, don't deserve to make their own healthcare decisions. Some of these women veterans live in States where they can access reproductive care outside the VA, but over 155,000 of them live in States with harsh abortion restrictions on the books.

Now, I am leading legislation to ensure our veterans--and all women-- maintain their right to travel to pro-choice States to get the care they need. Unfortunately, for many of these women, the VA is their only option for accessing abortion care. That is why the VA's new rule is so critical to protecting veterans' health and why extremist Republican attacks on reproductive care is so dangerous.

Women veterans put their lives on the line to fight for our freedom, including control of our own bodies, our lives, and our futures; and now the far right wants to take these freedoms away. We cannot let that happen. We have to ensure that this resolution does not pass, because we should be looking out and protecting the rights of women across this country, not taking away their rights and freedoms.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 75th anniversary of Sky Tavern. In 1948, determined to help young Nevadans learn how to ski, Marcelle ``Marce'' Herz filled her station wagon up with kids and drove up the Mt. Rose Highway, fit them with equipment and gear, and began teaching them about the sport and the environment around them. Ms. Herz's efforts eventually led to the creation of the Sky Tavern's Jr. Ski Program, which has taught over 100,000 Reno area youth how to ski and snowboard and continues to serve over 2,000 children each winter.

Today, Sky Tavern is a nonprofit organization that provides summer and winter outdoor sports training, competitions, recreation, and events that are open to all in the region. Sky Tavern's goal and mission is to give as many youth as possible the opportunity to engage in outdoor sports and recreation--no matter their financial or physical abilities--providing lifelong experiences that promote personal growth and responsibility. Operated by a volunteer workforce, Sky Tavern is a shining example of what is possible through strong community engagement. From the instructors down to the lift operators, nearly everyone helping Sky Tavern achieve its mission is taking time out of their personal lives to do so. At its core, Sky Tavern runs on the spirit of giving back, while also striving to fulfill founder Marce Herz's goal of helping any child learn to ski and have fun doing it.

There are many examples of how Sky Tavern has helped people grow through their love of the outdoors. Sky Tavern Ski Program alumni include Olympians such as three-time medalist David Wise, Lane Spina, and Tamara McKinney. Sky Tavern's promise to give opportunities to anyone, regardless of their physical or financial ability is the cornerstone that they operate on. The specially trained volunteer staff in their adaptive program are dedicated to helping children with disabilities learn how to ski and enjoy the outdoors. That dedication has yielded results; several Paralympians, including Gold-medalist Ricci Kilgore can trace their roots back to Sky Tavern.

Congratulations to Sky Tavern on its 75th anniversary. I look forward to seeing their continued impact on the lives of young people in Nevada.

Mr. President, I have had the opportunity now to listen to all of my colleagues as they rightfully come to the floor here to, really, talk about the erosion of women's rights in this country by the far-right extreme.

I have to thank Senators Baldwin and Blumenthal and so many of my colleagues--Senator Murray and so many--who have been on the forefront of protecting women's rights and freedoms.

Let's not mistake this. This is about women's freedom. That is what this is about. It has been less than a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and it has been a dark time for women in America since then, because, by dismissing 50 years of precedent that protected women's freedom, the Supreme Court emboldened far-right Republicans to go after women's rights in increasingly extreme ways. One of the first things some of these Republican leaders did in Congress after the Dobbs decision was to work on legislation to ban abortion nationwide. Until they can pass that legislation denying States their ability to keep abortion legal, they will continue their attacks on reproductive freedoms and make it as difficult as possible for women to access essential reproductive healthcare.

In Texas, Arizona, Wisconsin, and other States with strict abortion bans, doctors who provide women with reproductive care could be prosecuted, heavily fined, or imprisoned--and in some cases, all three. These States have threatened to revoke providers' medical licenses, putting their politics over what is best for patient health.

For women, confusion and fear over abortion bans have led to denied access to necessary and potentially lifesaving reproductive care. Imagine the distress, the burden these women and their families carry. Pregnancy decisions are deeply personal. It is not a legal debate up for discussion in the courts.

We must do everything we can to ensure that women have the tools they need so they can decide what is best for their lives, for their health, and for their families.

Since the Court overturned Roe, women have begun traveling, as you have heard today, to pro-choice States like Nevada for the abortion care they need, but that is not enough because anti-choice policymakers are working on ways to take that freedom away. States' rights aren't enough.

Their latest attack on women's rights is through a lawsuit to restrict nationwide access to the abortion pill, even for women in States where medication abortion is one of the few legal options left.

Extremist Republicans' war on reproductive freedom didn't stop with overturning Roe, it didn't stop with punishing doctors, and it won't stop with going after medication abortion.

Let's get one thing clear: For the far right, this is about controlling women.

I trust women, and so do a majority of Americans, including Nevadans. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe women should have the right to make their own choices about their reproductive care, and I stand with them. That is why I am proud to join my colleagues today to reintroduce the Women's Health Protection Act.

As you have heard, this bill defends women against the extreme politicians who are working to strip away those rights, guaranteeing that women can seek the vital reproductive care they need without having to answer to the government.

Under this bill, women would see an end to abortion bans and burdensome restrictions to accessing abortion. Women would be able to get the healthcare they need without being subjected to medically unnecessary ultrasounds, excessive waiting periods, and other obstacles that far-right politicians have put in their path. Women and their families would be able to plan for their futures on their own terms.

The alternative is to watch a minority of extremists continue to strip away women's rights across the country. We must protect a woman's right to choose and pass the Women's Health Protection Act.

I will say one final thing, and I would hope my colleagues on the other side would listen to this. We have heard conversations about the impact that this issue has had on this past election cycle. I am proof. I am back here because not just Democrats but Republicans and Independents, nonpartisans in my State, care about this issue. They care about the rights of women and their freedom to make this decision, and a majority of Americans do as well.

That is why it is important for all of my colleagues--I don't care what aisle you sit in; I don't care what party you are--or you are not a party; the goal here is, when we come to this Congress, when we stand here together and we try to solve the problems that matter to this country, we are listening to the American people, and we are not letting a minority determine, and we are not about taking away the freedoms and rights of people in this country, including women, and turning them into second-class citizens. That is not who we are.

I invite my colleagues at all times--I don't care where you are, what party you stand with, where you are--to stand with women in this country. This is such an important issue. Pay attention to the American public and what is at stake here. I ask you to support us with the Women's Health Protection Act.

I yield the floor.

H.J. Res. 26

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 223, introduced earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 11.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 22, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading and object to my own request en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m., Thursday, February 2; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the Falk nomination and at 1:45 p.m., the Senate vote on confirmation of the Falk nomination; finally, that if confirmed, the motions to reconsider with respect to the Falk and Zakheim nominations be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Madam President, I have three 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's session of the Senate:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, today I rise to recognize the life and legacy of my dear friend, James

``Jimmy'' Deal. Jimmy devoted his life to protecting others and remained fiercely loyal to his friends and family to his last breath. While I am incredibly sad to lose my friend, I am so grateful to the Deal family for sharing him with the rest of us and allowing him to devote so much of his time and energy toward keeping others safe.

Jimmy was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. After graduating from San Jose State, Jimmy was determined to protect others from crime and violence, and so he took an assignment as a special agent at the Las Vegas office of the newly formed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Though moving to Las Vegas was a significant milestone in Jimmy's career, the most important moment was a chance meeting with another Federal employee, Cathy Liance, who was also working in his building. Cathy and Jimmy were married after Jimmy started work at the Secret Service. Soon, the Deals filled their household with children Jennifer, Jessica, and David. Jimmy's career with the Secret Service would take the Deals all over the country, but they eventually made Reno, NV, their home.

Jimmy served with the Secret Service for nearly 30 years, including several years when he was assigned to President Gerald Ford's protective division after Ford faced multiple assassination attempts. After 9/11, Jimmy shifted his focus and became an early leader within another new Federal Agency, the Transportation Security Administration. Having spent nearly his entire adult life in Federal law enforcement, Jimmy saw how his experience and knowledge would be valuable for the new Agency. Jimmy took the role of Assistant Federal Security Director and provided a guiding hand in the Reno-Tahoe International Airport's safety and security protocols. At the airport, Jimmy was a leader in raising awareness about human trafficking, and he worked with agencies in Nevada to assist victims of human trafficking to escape. He continued this important work until his sudden passing.

My husband Paul and I will truly miss Jimmy and will remain grateful for his friendship and his lifelong commitment to serving people and protecting the public. To Jimmy's mother Urania and to Cathy, Jennifer, Jessica, David, and the grandkids Dylan and Casey, I hope you all keep Jimmy's boundless love and spirit with you always and take pride in what he accomplished.