Floor Statements

Madam President, now on judges, finally, after today, the Senate will reach another great milestone in our effort to confirm more strong judges. With today's vote on Kevin Ritz to serve as a circuit court judge for the Sixth Circuit, the Senate will reach 210 judges confirmed under President Biden.

Mr. Ritz would be an excellent addition to the Federal bench. He is rated ``well qualified'' by the ABA and has spent his entire career with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Seventy-five percent of all the cases he has worked on have been criminal proceedings. In trial, he has won convictions on everything from carjackings, to firearm offenses, to robbery. On the merits, he deserves confirmation.

I thank Chairman Durbin, members of the Judiciary Committee, and all my colleagues who have helped us reach 210 judges. Many have been bipartisan, I am glad to say. And once we finish with Mr. Ritz, we will keep going.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 651.

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 706.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, September 16, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 817, S. Res. 818, S. Res. 819, S. Res. 820, S. Res. 821.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 17; 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 Costello nomination; further, that the cloture motion with respect to the Costello nomination ripen at 11:30 a.m. and that if cloture is invoked, a confirmation vote occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; that following the cloture vote, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that at 2:15 p.m., the Senate resume legislative session and resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 413, S. 4445, and that the majority leader be recognized at 3:30 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday'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.

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

Mr. President, now before the month is out, both parties in both Chambers must unite on the most important goal of this work period: keeping the government open with a temporary extension of Federal funding. A continuing resolution, as we all know, is not a substitute for the appropriations process, but, rather, a tool to give us more time for the appropriators to do their work. And, fortunately-- in this body at least--Democratic and Republican appropriators have a very good track record of working together.

In divided government, the only way Congress has been able to pass CRs is through bipartisan cooperation. We have seen that again and again and again these last 2 years.

Unfortunately, House Republicans have regrettably forgotten that lesson. About a week ago, they introduced a 6-month CR that, from the first, proved to be unserious, partisan, and insufficient. And given what has happened in the House in the last few days, it is becoming clearer and clearer that only a bipartisan solution will work. We have been saying this all along, but the events of the past few days even further confirm just how much it is true.

A real proposal for avoiding a shutdown would be the one that both sides write together, but House Republicans wrote their CR behind closed doors, without any input from the Democratic leader in the House, the President, myself, or any of the Democratic appropriators. A real proposal for avoiding a shutdown would avoid poison pills, but House Republicans wrote their CR with poison pills front and center. They know perfectly well this approach doesn't work.

A real proposal for avoiding a shutdown is one that doesn't hamstring our national defense, doesn't weaken our border security, and doesn't hurt our veterans and farmers and so many others. And instead of a short-term extension of the deadline, the House Republicans released a bill that kicks the can down the road for half a year.

That is no way to govern; particularly on military affairs, it is no way to govern. You can't run a military with a 6-month funding patch like House Republicans' leader proposed. It would slow down everything: insufficient resources for recruitment and troop pay increases and research. This 6-month CR would hurt the awarding of

new military contracts and cause immediate and immense uncertainty and cost increases for the old ones.

So I urge Speaker Johnson to set aside this CR proposal and try again. We have already lost 1 week in this 3-week work period. We all know what we need to do if we want to ensure the government does not shut down: We need a bipartisan bill, a temporary extension. The Democratic leader in the House and I are ready and willing to work with the Speaker, as we have done before.

Mr. President, now on inflation, yesterday Americans got another piece of excellent news in the fight against inflation. According to the Department of Labor, the consumer price index was measured at 2.5 percent in August compared to a year ago. This floor chart illustrates just that: 2 years ago, 2 years after we passed the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science, inflation has now slowed to a 3-year low. Here is what it was in 2022; here is what it is right now. It went from 8.3 percent when the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act were passed to 2.5 percent today. Let me repeat: 2 years after the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act, inflation has slowed to a 3-year low.

Republicans claimed investing in America would make inflation skyrocket and drive our economy into a recession. Instead, the United States has had the strongest post-COVID recovery in the world. Manufacturing, construction at an alltime high, nearly triple its peak during the past administration, and inflation continues to trend lower. And inflation has slowed, despite Senate Republicans trying to block and derail so many of the bills we have pushed in this Chamber to lower costs and make life easier for American families.

Remember, when Republicans had a chance to vote for lower prescription drug costs for seniors, they voted no. When Republicans had a chance to cap insulin at $35 a month for Americans on Medicare, they voted no. When Republicans had the chance to dramatically expand the child tax credit and cut child poverty in this country in half, they voted no. And when Republicans had the chance to invest in rebuilding America and bringing advanced manufacturing jobs back to our shores and open new factories for EVs and solar and chips, many of them still voted no--though, then back home, they tried to take credit for these jobs. For 3 years, Republicans have proudly been the party of ``no'': no solutions, no plans, no attempts to fix our country's problems.

But today's report shows that the Democratic agenda is working. This is dramatic. And despite Republicans' best efforts to derail our country's recovery, we have moved forward in a very positive way. We have a lot of work still to do. People still need a lot of help to make ends meet and save for retirement and provide for their families, but we are on our way. We are on our way, as this chart shows.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 778.