Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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, the Senate gavels in on Saturday with a singular goal in mind: to prepare to act when the House sends us a national security supplemental.

We hope to reach an agreement very soon on clearing the path for the Senate to take up the supplemental after the House acts. We came to a tentative agreement last night, and if the hotline clears this morning, we expect to announce an agreement allowing the next vote to be on Tuesday, early afternoon. I hope we can make an announcement later this morning.

I thank my colleagues for their good work on getting this momentous piece of legislation near the finish line.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate receives a message from the House to accompany H.R. 815 and if Senator Schumer or his designee requests that the Chair lay the message before the Senate, the Chair lay the message before the Senate without further intervening action; further, that if cloture is filed with respect to the message, it ripen upon disposition of a Lee or designee motion to table a pending amendment or motion, if a motion to table is made, or 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if cloture is filed on the House message to accompany H.R. 815, the filing deadline for first-degree amendments be at 12 noon on Tuesday, April 23.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 23; 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; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 211, H.R. 3935.

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, the Senate will continue working today to pass FISA reauthorization. We are still trying to see if there is a path to getting this bill done quickly, but disagreements remain on how to proceed. The work is not done, so we are going to keep at it.

We want to get FISA done as soon as we can, because it is very important for our national security. But, as everyone knows, any one Member can halt progress in this Chamber, so both sides need to fully cooperate if we want to get FISA done.

So for the information of my colleagues, Members should plan to be here over the weekend if necessary to work on both FISA and the supplemental.

The House is scheduled to take up the supplemental tomorrow. It would at last deliver critical aid to Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and humanitarian assistance. We will see how things go in the lower Chamber over the next day or so. And I hope the House gets this legislation passed without further delay.

If the House sends us a supplemental package, the Senate will move expeditiously to send it to the President's desk. The President has said if Congress passes the supplemental, he will sign it.

I hope the House gets this done very soon, because delay on this national security funding has cost America and cost our allies dearly. I met yesterday with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, who told me just how difficult the war has become for Ukrainian fighters who are now running out of ammo and air defenses and other basic needs. He told me that if America doesn't stand with Ukraine, they will lose the war. It is as simple as that.

In the few months that the House has sat on the supplemental funding, the war has clearly turned in Russia's favor. Their army has grown larger. Their munitions stores have expanded, and they enjoy support from nations like North Korea, Iran, and China.

Putin has long bet that sooner or later, American support for Ukraine

will wane. He said months ago on Russian TV that the ``free stuff'' from America is eventually going to run out. We dare not prove him right, because if he sees that the United States will not stop him in Ukraine, he may well conclude we won't stop him if he keeps going.

And on the other side of the world, the Chinese Communist Party may look at America's abandonment of Ukraine and wonder if we will similarly show weakness in the Indo-Pacific. Imagine the kind of signal American inaction would send to our friends in Japan and in the Philippines. Imagine what it would say to the people of Taiwan. That is not the world we want to live in.

Protecting democracy is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it requires us to make difficult choices, but that is precisely what the American people sent us here to do. I hope we can finish the job very, very soon.

Micron

Mr. President, on Chips and Science, yesterday, I shared that Micron--one of the most important chip manufacturers in the United States and the world--is receiving over $6 billion from my Chips and Science law to help build two mega fabs in Central New York and one in Idaho. This is a monumental step forward for Syracuse, Upstate New York, and for the country.

This is one of the largest single, direct, Federal investments ever for Upstate New York. We have had a number of chips funding announcements recently, but this is the very first one specifically for memory chips, which will become especially important as technologies like AI boost demand for these chips.

Best of all, this award will lead to 50,000 new good-paying jobs, and it will help Micron reach its goal of investing well over $100-plus billion to make advanced memory chips here in the United States.

So I will say it again because it is truly good news: With the Chips and Science law, we are rebuilding Upstate New York with good-paying middle-class jobs one microchip at a time, and we are rebuilding not just New York but communities from Ohio, to Texas, to Arizona and beyond, and the benefits in those States will spread as subcontractors and other suppliers around the country are called upon.

Most importantly, the investments being made by Chips and Science will mean lower costs for American consumers in the long run. We will be less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions like the one we saw in COVID, which sent prices skyrocketing on all sorts of electronic devices. By bringing chip production back here to the U.S., we can avoid this in the future.

This is precisely what I envisioned when I led the way on Chips and Science, working closely with bipartisan Members in the Senate and with the President and with Secretary Raimondo.

Let me thank President Biden and Secretary Raimondo for helping make these investments possible. With their vision and leadership, we are bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. We are revitalizing middle- class families. We are giving communities that have been left behind a second chance with new investments, new jobs, and new opportunity.

Getting Chips and Science was not easy. It took a lot of convincing and persistence. But today, we are starting to see why that effort was worth it. One announcement at a time, America is securing its place as the leader in the global semiconductor industry in this century.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the only amendments in order to H.R. 7888 be the following: Paul No. 1829; Marshall No. 1834; Wyden No. 1820; Paul No. 1828; Durbin No. 1841, as modified; Lee No. 1840; further, that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the Paul amendments and on passage, as amended, if amended, with 2 minutes for debate, equally divided, prior to each vote, with Senator Paul permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes prior to the vote on amendment No. 1829, all without further intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, we have good news for America's national security. Senators have reached an agreement that clears the way to approve the FISA reauthorization tonight.

For the information of my colleagues, we will have up to seven rollcall votes. First, we will vote on the six amendments and then final passage.

All day long, we persisted and persisted and persisted in the hopes of reaching a breakthrough, and I am glad we got it done. There was a great deal of doubt that we could get this done, but now we are on a glidepath to passing this bill.

Allowing FISA to expire would have been dangerous. It is an important part of our national security toolkit, and it helps law enforcement stop terrorist attacks, drug trafficking, and violent extremism. This legislation has been carefully tailored, and I am ready to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep strengthening protections for American citizens.

I thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, now, before we move on, I would like to acknowledge a rare milestone that is just about to be achieved on this coming vote in the Senate. Our dear colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, will cast her nine-thousandth consecutive rollcall vote.

(Applause, Senators rising.)

She has never--never--missed a single rollcall vote in her entire career. Who else can claim that? Raise your hand. Even the freshmen can't claim that.

I congratulate Senator Collins on this historic accomplishment. It puts her in rare company in the history of the Chamber.

Senator Collins and I, of course, belong to different parties, but she has the enormous respect of those of us on this side of the aisle as well as her own colleagues. And I have been grateful for the chance to work with her in recent years on many issues. So we all have applauded her great work.

I yield the floor to my colleague and friend, Senator McConnell.

Mr. President, in the nick of time, bipartisanship has prevailed here in the Senate. We are reauthorizing FISA right before it expires at midnight--20 minutes before midnight, as the time is now. This bill now goes to the President's desk.

All day long, we persisted and persisted and persisted in trying to reach a breakthrough. In the end, we have succeeded, and we are getting FISA done. Democrats and Republicans came together and did the right thing for our country's safety. It wasn't easy. People had many different views. But we all know one thing: Letting FISA expire would be dangerous. It is an important part of our national security to stop acts of terror, drug trafficking, and violent extremism.

Thank you to all of my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work in getting this done.

Order of Business

Now, for the information of the Senate, after this vote, we will have no further votes this evening. We are working on an agreement for consideration of the supplemental. Without an agreement, we will vote on laying down the supplemental as soon as we receive it from the House tomorrow. But we are working on the agreement now.

Mark Warner has done a great job here as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and I yield to him for 30 seconds.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the senior Senator from Virginia be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from April 20, 2024, through April 21, 2024.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 211,

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 3687 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill 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 the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 3998 and the

Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate Resolutions: S. Res. 657, S. Res. 658, S. Res. 659.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 20; 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; and that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 211, H.R. 3935.

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