Floor Statements

Mr. President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m., Wednesday, April 10; 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Allen nomination postcloture; further, that all time on the Allen nomination be considered expired at 12 noon and, if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; that following the disposition of the nomination, the Senate resume legislative session and proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 359, S.J. Res. 61; that at 2:45 p.m., the joint resolution be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage; further, that upon disposition of S.J. Res. 61, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.J. Res. 98, which was received from the House and is at the desk; and that at 5 p.m., the joint resolution be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage.

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 understand there are three joint resolutions at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

Madam President, in order to place the joint resolutions on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings en bloc.

Madam President, the Senate gavels back into session today to pick up right where we left off in March: confirming more of President Biden's outstanding nominees and advancing legislation that protects and serves the American people.

There is much the Senate has to accomplish in the coming weeks, and getting anything done--anything--will require bipartisan cooperation. It is not easy but nevertheless essential.

Today, the Senate will commence by voting to invoke cloture on the nomination of Susan Bazis to be a U.S. district court judge for the District of Nebraska. I have also filed cloture on the nominations of Robert White to be a district judge for the Eastern District of Maryland and the nomination of

Ann Marie McIff Allen to be a district judge for the District of Utah.

On the legislative front, Congress has until April 19 to pass an extension of FISA's national security authorities. That is the next major deadline we face on the calendar. Preventing FISA from lapsing will take bipartisan cooperation and swift action. The House is currently working on the best path forward on FISA, and the Senate stands ready to jump into action to prevent this important national security authority from lapsing. We must get FISA done this work period.

As the Congress gavels back into session, I also urge Speaker Johnson and House Republicans to snap out of their paralysis and pass the Senate's national security supplemental. The situation in Ukraine is desperate. Speaker Johnson has now sat on his hands for 55 days as the national security supplemental has collected dust in the House. That is 55 days of America standing on the sidelines while our friends in Ukraine fight and die on the battlefield with no support; 55 days of our European allies wondering when the United States will step up. With each passing day, Ukraine continues to run out of ammo, continues to run out of soldiers, and continues to run out of hope that it can successfully expel the Russians from their borders.

Let's be blunt. The biggest reason Ukraine is losing the war is because the hard right in Congress has paralyzed the United States from acting. That is it. That is the reason. Speaker Johnson has to decide for himself whether or not he will do the right thing for Ukraine, for America, and for democracy, or if he will allow MAGA Republicans to hand Vladimir Putin a large victory.

I am confident that if the Speaker puts the Senate's national security supplemental on the floor, it will pass. It remains the best, quickest, and most realistic way to get Ukraine the help it needs.

So, again, there is a lot that the Senate must do in the coming weeks and months, and to get anything done will require bipartisan cooperation. I thank my colleagues for their good work so far in 2024 and look forward to working with all of them to keep delivering for the American people.

Madam President, now on Capital One and Discover, nearly 2 months ago, Capital One and Discover quietly announced plans for an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar merger that in the long run could risk higher costs for consumers and small businesses alike.

Capital One and Discover are two of the largest credit card-issuing institutions in America. If they merge, the new company would likely become the largest credit card issuer in the United States, with over 400 million customers. That could risk higher interest rates, bigger fees, and diminished competition.

But even so, most Americans today have no idea that this merger is coming, so yesterday I sent a letter to both Capital One and Discover asking them to share with my office more information regarding antitrust and consumer protections. I want to know more about market shares in this industry. We have already had plenty of consolidation throughout the economy. I want to know about a potential increase in fees. I want to know if workers will be laid off. I would like to hear how consumers are being made aware of this deal.

One thing is certain about credit card companies: Much of their bread and butter is a myriad of fees and sometimes--sometimes--eye-popping interest rates. That is why the proposed merger of Capital One and Discover is such a concern. History is very clear that when big financial institutions get even bigger, the American consumer usually gets the short end of the stick. So before a credit card merger takes a potential swipe at consumers, every question should be answered.

Madam President, now on student loan debt, since the day the President took office, I have urged him to use every tool available to cancel as much student debt as possible. Yesterday, the American people received some exciting news. President Biden, to his credit, announced a new Executive action to provide student debt relief to nearly 30 million more Americans. Specifically, the President's plan will automatically forgive interest accrued on existing student loans for 25 million borrowers. The President's plan will also automatically cancel the full amount of debt for over 4.5 million Americans who have already qualified for forgiveness through a decade in a repayment program, and it will provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief.

This announcement is a clear sign that the President is listening. He is listening to Congress's call to take action, which I have done for years, and he is listening to the pleas of millions of borrowers who want to get their lives back on track. So today's announcement is good news. It is good news for everyone, particularly for young people and people of color. Democrats will continue exploring every option under the Sun to lower costs and make college more affordable.

Already, the President's plan has removed the total debt burden for over 4 million Americans. This plan goes much further. But, on the other hand, unfortunately, our Republican colleagues continue to oppose student debt relief and have wrapped their arms firmly around the MAGA Supreme Court's cruel decision to block student debt cancellation for millions of Americans, and Democrats are going to make sure the American people won't forget it.

Madam President, now on the Ryan Corbett resolution, it has sadly been over 600 days since Ryan Corbett, a New York native, has been unjustly detained by the Taliban. Ryan traveled there to renew his visa and pay the local staff of his nonprofit when he was taken without cause, without explanation, without any semblance of process.

Later this afternoon, I will meet with the Corbett family to talk about our efforts to bring Ryan home. His wife Anna and their three children have been so brave. I have met them already a few times. They have been brave through this tragic situation, and I am in constant awe of their strength and resolve.

Today, I am introducing a resolution, alongside Leader McConnell, calling for Ryan's immediate and unconditional release. I urge the Senate to pass this resolution before Ryan's birthday, which is April 13.

Throughout this process, I have worked closely with the Corbett family, the White House, the State Department, and other high-ranking officials to make sure that Ryan's safe return remains a top priority. We made progress last September when Ryan was designated as ``wrongfully detained'' by the State Department, giving his case a higher diplomatic priority, but we are still working.

Anna has spoken with Ryan a few times, and he has been reportedly being held in terrible conditions, which has caused his health to deteriorate rapidly. So time is of the essence to get him back.

As long as Ryan is held by the Taliban, I will never stop fighting to bring him back home and reunite him with Anna, his children, and his family as quickly as possible.

I want to thank Leader McConnell for joining me in this resolution and everyone on both sides who has supported this resolution.

Madam President, now on forum shopping, last month, I wrote a letter to the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas urging the district to apply new reforms adopted by the Judicial Conference to limit the practice of judge shopping. I was disappointed to learn that the chief judge and his court have decided to ignore the Judicial Conference's reforms and allow judge shopping to continue to run rampant in his district.

The bottom line is this. It is very simple. Judge shopping jaundices the fairness of our entire legal system. No one, regardless of ideology, should tolerate when interest groups cherry-pick

judges of their choice to get a favorable outcome.

If courts like the Northern District of Texas refuse to adopt commonsense reforms to limit judge shopping, Congress should consider legislation to end this dangerous practice and restore trust in our Federal judiciary.

Madam President, on Chips, well, this morning, another good announcement from President Biden. He and Commerce Secretary Raimondo announced the preliminary agreement with TSMC Arizona to provide billions in Chips and Science incentives to support more than $65 billion in investments for three leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, AZ.

Just like the announcement of GlobalFoundries, Intel, and others, today's announcement proves Democrats are delivering in a big way on our promise to bring manufacturing back to the United States, to strengthen our national security, and to get ahead of rising costs from supply chain shortages. Today's announcement is precisely the kind of economic good news we have worked for for years in the Senate.

Five years ago, I approached my friend Senator Young and told him we should work together on bipartisan legislation to boost U.S. investment and innovation in advanced manufacturing. I knew that if America wanted to remain No. 1 in terms of scientific might and industry, we had to get serious about getting the Federal Government to invest.

Thanks to the efforts of people like Senators Kelly and Brown and Cantwell and Wyden and Warner and many more, we passed Chips and Science into law, and we are now delivering these historic investments to power a new generation of American manufacturing. And there is yet more to come, with further investments in projects like Micron's proposed $100 billion project in Upstate New York.

So I am thrilled to see that Chips and Science is delivering as intended and congratulate President Biden and Secretary Raimondo on this tremendous effort.

Madam President, finally, I have these glasses today, which were given to me by the president of Fordham University--special Fordham eclipse glasses--so now I am going outside to my balcony to take a look at the eclipse, which is reaching its peak at about 87 percent right now.

I yield the floor.

Madam 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.

Madam President, this is a very short one tonight.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 9; 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Bazis nomination postcloture; further, that all time on the Bazis nomination be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. and that following the cloture vote on the White nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings, with all time during recess counting postcloture; 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, at about 12:01 a.m. tonight, about 70 percent of the Federal Government will run out of funding if Congress does not act. Democrats and Republicans have about 13 hours to work together to make sure the government stays open. That is not going to be easy. We will have to work together and avoid unnecessary delays.

This morning, the House will move first on the funding package. And as soon as they send us a bill, the Senate will spring into action. To my colleagues on both sides, let's finish the job today. Let's avoid even a weekend shutdown. Let's finish the job of funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

There is no reason to delay. There is no reason to drag out this process. If the Senators cooperate on a time agreement, if we prioritize working together--just as we did 2 weeks ago--I am optimistic we can succeed. But if individual Senators resort to partisanship and stonewalling and dithering, those individuals will almost guarantee that we shut down, and the process could drag into Saturday, Sunday, and possibly beyond.

Now, this appropriations process hasn't been easy, but I am glad that after months of hard work, we have arrived at a funding package that both sides can be pleased with. The funding package will go a long way to supporting American families, strengthen our economy, safeguarding our national security. It increases funding for childcare services, boosts disease research and prevention, and funds school mental health programs and suicide prevention--something we so desperately need. We are strengthening border security. We are protecting our elections, and, most importantly, we will have avoided most of the draconian cuts and poison pills that the hard right has pushed for months.

And once we fully fund the government, we will also avoid the terrible scythe of budget sequestration that has been hanging over Congress since last year.

We are not done yet, but I would like to once again thank my colleagues--Chairwoman Murray and Vice Chair

Collins--for their outstanding work here in the Senate. I want to thank all the appropriators for their work. I want to thank all their staffs, especially my own staff, too, because I greatly appreciate the remarkable work they do every single day.

Getting things done in divided government is hard; getting things done in this divided government is even harder.

But both sides have come up with a strong funding package that ignores extremism and puts the needs of the country first. That is a credit to leadership on both sides, and I thank them for their work.

Mr. President, now, on the Republican Study Committee's budget. Earlier this week, House Republicans released a hard-right wish list masquerading as a budget plan. The Republican Study Committee's new budget can be summarized in two words: dangerous, disastrous. This Republican Study Committee's budget plan is dangerous because it double downs on the hard-right's war on women. It endorses a national ban on abortion with zero exceptions for rape or incest, which remains the ultimate goal of the hard right, should they come to power.

If anyone is asking what would happen if the Republicans kept the House, took the Senate and the Presidency, on abortion, just read this Republican Study Committee's budget: A national ban on abortion with zero exceptions for rape and incest. That is the goal of the Republican Party should they gain power and are able to do it.

We will do everything we can, of course, to stop them.

The RSC budget plan also rolls back access to mifepristone, a safe, reliable, and widely available medicine that millions of Americans have used for over 20 years. The RSC budget plan would critically endanger access to IVF. As much as Republicans have tried to recently sound moderate on IVF, when they have to put their pen to paper and say what their proposals are, their radical agenda is blowing up in their faces.

And all you have to do is read the RSC budget plan to see they haven't moderated one iota on women's health. Whether it is abortion, mifepristone, or IVF, the Republican Study Committee, which represents the vast majority of House Republicans--it reads like a hard-right, radical, anti-women document.

But that is not all. The RSC budget is disastrous because it proposes a stunning $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security while raising the retirement age for millions of hard-working Americans. That is crazy.

Remember, the Republican Study Committee isn't some arcane offshoot of the Republican Party; it represents 80 percent of the Members in the House, including all of their leadership. For all intents and purposes, the RSC budget plan represents the Republican agenda.

And what is the Republican agenda? Aside from cutting back dramatically on women's rights, a national ban on abortion with no exceptions, it also is cutting Social Security and raising the retirement age.

What is the Republican agenda? It is also repealing $35 insulin for seniors on Medicare and repealing its authority to negotiate cheaper drug prices.

What is the Republican agenda? It is trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the ultrawealthy and trillions of dollars in budget cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program and the ACA.

These are just some of the terrible things in the RSC budget plan. It is awful. It is cruel. But amazingly, it is what the overwhelming majority of House Republicans endorse.