Floor Statements

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 704.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate

proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 354, S. 2581.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and the motion 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. 892, which is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to,

the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 12 noon on Wednesday, November 13; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Hawley nomination; that the Hawley cloture motion ripen at 12:30 p.m.; that following the Hawley cloture vote, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that if cloture is invoked on the Hawley nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider 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.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I have good news this morning. Before the day is done, the Senate will pass a temporary extension of government funding, avoiding a painful and unnecessary shutdown next week. The agreement we locked in last night allows for no poison pill amendments.

Americans can breathe easy that because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done. We will keep the government open. We will prevent vital government services from needlessly coming to a halt. We will give appropriators more time to fully fund the government before the end of the year. And I am especially pleased we are getting the job done with some time to spare.

Now, none of this would have happened without bipartisan cooperation.

For the information of my colleagues, later today, the House is expected to take up the CR and pass it on suspension. Once the Senate receives the House bill, we will immediately move to its consideration. We hope to vote early this evening, with final passage set at 60 votes. So if all goes well in the House, the Senate should be sending President Biden a bill before the end of today.

This is a good outcome for the country. There will be no shutdown because, finally, at the end of the day, our colleagues in the House decided to work with us.

So thank you to my colleagues on both sides for their work. We aren't quite done, but we are now on a clear glidepath to getting the CR across the finish line.

I hope the House will have learned its lesson that, once again, listening to the hard right on these vital issues, funding the government, avoiding default, cannot lead to anything that is useful or constructive. In fact, I hope this positive outcome of bipartisanship can set the tone for more constructive bipartisan work when we return in the fall.

Mr. President, now on the Senate session, a little over a month from now, the American people will exercise the most precious right that could ever exist in a free society. I will not get into the back-and- forth of campaigns here on the Senate floor, but as we prepare to depart for October, let us take a moment to look back at the work of the Senate these last few months and these last few years--last 2 years.

We had lots of obstacles to getting things done this year. The Republican House was replete with disarray throughout the last 2 years, almost paralyzed. And there was much Republican intransigence in both Houses on issue after issue that prevented many good proposals from moving forward, despite our offers for compromise. Despite that, there is still a good amount we have gotten done.

First, Senate Democrats continue to bring balance back to the Federal

bench by confirming over 210 judges to lifetime appointments. These judges are the most diverse group of nominees the bench has ever seen. Nearly two-thirds are women, two-thirds are people of color. And we have confirmed more Hispanic, Asian, and Native women and more LBGTQ judges to the Federal bench than under any other President's full time in office.

These judges come with many backgrounds, not just partners in big law firms or prosecutors--as worthy as those professions may be. They come with civil rights backgrounds, public defender backgrounds, and more.

We also passed a landmark national security supplemental package to protect America's interests around the world, to stand up to Putin in Ukraine, to help Israel defend itself, and to provide humanitarian assistance for innocent civilians around the world.

The Senate provided this historic funding to help Ukraine defend their homeland with more ammo and javelins and stinger missiles and more equipment for training. And we made clear to the world that in the fight between freedom and autocracy, America will never forget where she stands--on the side of freedom.

Despite, again, a lot of standing in the way because of extraneous amendments proposed by some of our Republican colleagues, it took longer than it should have, but the most important fact is that it got done.

I am proud that the Senate stepped up at this historic moment and thank Leader McConnell for joining me in that regard.

Tomorrow, Leader McConnell and I will proudly welcome Ukrainian's President Zelenskyy to a meeting here at the U.S. Capitol to reaffirm our support and hear from him what his country may need in the future.

Separately, we also worked to keep our kids safe online by passing KOSA and COPPA with overwhelming bipartisan support. I thank my Republican colleagues for working with us on these landmark bills. They would be the first major updates to kids' safety on the internet in decades, and I am proud to have joined with parents and families of deceased loved ones to get it done. I urge Speaker Johnson in the House to get KOSA and COPPA done as soon as possible.

Finally, despite the hard right's intransigence, we prevented the government from defaulting last year. That would have been catastrophic. And then several times this year, as well as last, we prevented the government from shutting down, as I said, despite rightwing wishes that it happen.

And on the nonlegislative front, we have continued implementing our accomplishments of the last 2 years to help lower costs. This isn't legislation but rather working with executive Agencies to implement our policies, and that has continued to lower costs. Democrats in the Senate caucus spent a lot of time with Cabinet Secretaries and others making sure that the bills have been implemented, and they are showing great results from one end of the country to the other.

Around the country, Senate Democrats have been hard at work turning our bills into action, implementing our agenda through new bridges in States like Pennsylvania and Ohio, high-speed rail in Nevada, and never-before-seen investments in chip manufacturing in New York, Arizona, Ohio, and elsewhere. These are creating jobs. These are lowering costs. These are helping America get prosperous.

Now, there are a lot of things we tried to get done this year but couldn't because of Republican intransigence, such as protecting a woman's right to choose and reproductive freedoms, securing our southern border, and expanding the child tax credit. So we will keep working when we return. It has been a difficult road in divided government, but progress is possible. We have made that clear again and again and again throughout this 118th Congress.

Madam President, I understand the Senate has received H.R. 9747 from the House, and I ask the Chair to execute the order of September 24 with respect to the bill.

Madam President, tonight, the American people can sleep easier knowing we have avoided an unnecessary government shutdown at the end of the month. It is a relief for the country that, once again, bipartisanship prevailed to stop another shutdown threat. It took much longer than it should have, but because House Republicans finally, finally chose to work with us in the end, Congress is getting the job done tonight.

Because bipartisanship ultimately prevailed, the government will stay open. Vital government services will not be halted. Appropriators will have more time to fully fund the government before the end of the year. This bipartisanship is a good outcome for America, and I hope it sets the tone for more constructive bipartisan work when we return later in the fall.

Thanks to Speaker Johnson for working with me on the agreement, and thanks to Leader McConnell and Leader Jeffries for helping make it happen--and a special thanks to our appropriators, particularly Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins, for setting an excellent example of bipartisanship.

I urge everyone to vote yes, and I urge us to vote now.

I yield back all time.

The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the Perry nomination be withdrawn; further, that the Senate vote on confirmation of the Perry nomination at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 788.