Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4050, which is at the desk.

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 that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 611, S. Res. 612, S. Res. 613, S. Res. 614, and S. Res. 615.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for evidence in a criminal action pending in Nevada Federal district court. In this action, the defendant is charged with making threatening telephone calls last year to the offices of Senator Jacky Rosen and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. Trial is scheduled to commence in May.

The prosecution is seeking documents and testimony from employees of Senator Rosen's and Senator Cortez Masto's offices. The Senators would like to cooperate with this request by providing relevant employee testimony and documents from their offices.

The enclosed resolution would authorize employees in the offices of Senator Rosen and Senator Cortez Masto to testify and produce documents on behalf of their respective offices in this action, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

I ask unanimous consent that 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. on Friday, March 22; 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 Gonzalez nomination; further, that at 12 noon the Senate vote on confirmation of the Gonzalez nomination; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Friday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

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

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, now on something near and dear to my heart, chips-- chips in America. Today, President Biden

will be in Phoenix, AZ, to roll out a colossal $8.5 billion grant to Intel to expand its chip production here in America, a historic sum made possible by the Chips and Science Act, something I was proud to author and push.

Today's ``Chips'' announcement lands like a thunderclap: $8.5 billion; 10,000 manufacturing jobs; 20,000 construction jobs; thousands upon thousands of indirect jobs; $100 billion in private investment. And the ripple effects will be felt across a huge swath of the country: from Oregon to Arizona, to New Mexico, to Ohio. These are just some of the places where a golden new age of American chip production will manifest itself.

And today's announcement comes about a month after GlobalFoundries in New York received its own billion-and-a-half-dollar award to expand their legacy chip production and further make New York State a global hub for chip manufacturing. And we expect more soon for companies like Micron in central New York. You will hear good announcements about that, I believe, soon enough.

One announcement at a time, we are keeping our promise of bringing manufacturing back to America and making the United States the leader in microchip production once again.

And let me be clear. This isn't the tech revolution of yesterday. This is something entirely different and entirely new. When people in the future think ``tech,'' it won't be just enough to mention places like Silicon Valley anymore. They will think of the Silicon Heartland.

Because of Chips and Science, the story of American innovation will now happen in places like New Albany, OH, where Intel is building its Ohio One facility. This one facility will create 3,000 new jobs and 7,000 union construction jobs. These jobs will pay exceedingly well, and not all are going to require college degrees.

Along with Senators Cantwell, Kelly, Warner, Wyden, and so many of my Republican colleagues, too, I want to take a moment to applaud Senator Brown for making Chips and Science happen. Thanks to my good friend Sherrod Brown, these jobs in New Albany will be good-paying union jobs. Because Sherrod Brown worked with the administration and worked with Intel, Intel is using a project labor agreement for the deal, which makes sure the workers building this fab are well prepared and well compensated.

It is not just that Intel will directly hire thousands of new workers. The benefits will also extend to universities across the region, especially HBCUs. It will benefit other industries, like the auto industry. This investment will help generate a pipeline of highly skilled tech workers right in the heart of Ohio, as well as Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon. And the benefits will spread across communities that have long been overlooked and have long been waiting for a second chance. And this is what so many of us here in the Senate envisioned when we wrote Chips and Science. I thought of this years ago. I worked with Senator Young. It took us a long time to convince people how important this was. But today's announcement by Intel, the one that was announced last month in Upstate New York--and many others to come--our faith in this bill is being vindicated in terms of jobs and in terms of leadership, not only in chip manufacturing but in science.

So many of us envisioned this when we wrote Chips and Science--a cascade of public investment that in turn creates a fountain of private sector activity. Today's announcement is perhaps the clearest signal yet that Chips and Science is delivering. In the long run, these are the investments we need to keep America safe, keep America competitive, keep America a world leader for innovation in manufacturing in the future.

America was the envy of the world for much of the 20th century precisely because of our ambitions in technological innovation and manufacturing.

When I started working on what I then called endless frontiers a few years back--we retitled it ``CHIPS and Science'' because too many people thought endless frontiers had something to do with covered wagons--I did it because I knew we had to keep America competitive, and it would take an immense investment by the Federal Government. Other countries were investing. If we didn't, we would have fallen way, way behind, much to the detriment of industries across America because so many depend on chips and much to the detriment of our national security because not only does our defense industry depend on chips, but if they are made overseas, foreign countries might have sway over us economically and foreign policy-wise.

It has taken a while to get here, but the results are truly, truly paying off, and I am excited and feel vindicated about all the work we put into this. So I want to thank President Biden for his leadership in making today's announcement possible. President Biden understood the need to do this immediately when we talked to him about it, and his administration--particularly Commerce Secretary Raimondo--has done a great job negotiating with the companies, as today's announcement shows.

Finally, another shout out to Sherrod Brown, who understood the importance of bringing chip manufacturing to Ohio for its auto industry and for so much else in projecting a future for a strong manufacturing base in Ohio.

Mr. President, now, if Republicans and Democrats keep working in good faith to fund the government, then I hope we are just days away from completing the appropriations process. The job is not done, but we are very close.

A few days ago, Congressional leaders announced an agreement on the last six funding bills. These bills will make significant investments for our national defense, for the well-being of our servicemembers, for keeping the United States competitive against the Chinese Communist Party, and so much more.

Today, appropriators continue working on the legislative text, and, despite the tight deadline, they continue to make very good progress. They are very diligent. They work through the night. And we salute them on both sides of the aisle--my staff, Patty Murray's staff, Susan Collins' staff, and Leader McConnell's staff--for trying to get this done, as well as all of the other members of the appropriations subcommittees.

We don't yet know precisely when the House will act, but, as soon as they send us the funding package, I will put it on the Senate floor. And from there, as we all know, it will take cooperation to get on the bill and consent from every Senator to keep this process moving quickly.

Even with bipartisanship, it is going to be a tight squeeze to get this funding package passed before the weekend deadline. I ask my colleagues to be flexible, to be prepared to act quickly, and to prioritize working together in good faith so we can finish the appropriations process.

If we proceed like we did 2 weeks ago with the first six funding bills, then the odds are good that we can get this done without excessive delay or headaches.

Again, I want to thank my Senate colleagues, Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Leader McConnell, the Speaker, and all the appropriators for working in good faith to finish the job.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 253, S. 1332.

Mr. President, now on approps, Congress has less than a week to finish the job of fully funding the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. We all know it has been a difficult, drawn-out appropriations process for everyone in Congress. Appropriators in both Chambers, their staff, my staff, and I have kept at this for months.

But today we have good news. Earlier this morning, I announced that negotiators from both parties reached an agreement last night on the final six appropriations bills. We now have a bipartisan agreement for Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, the legislative branch, and State and Foreign Operations.

The Senate and House appropriators are now working swiftly to turn this agreement into legislative text as soon as possible so Members can review, finalize, and ultimately take a vote in the coming days. Once the House sends us a funding package, I will put it on the floor of the Senate without delay.

Now, it is a very good sign that we begin the week by announcing this agreement, but I want to be clear, there is a lot of work to do in the coming days. If both parties proceed in the same manner we did 2 weeks ago--quickly, constructively, and without unnecessary partisan dithering--then I am hopeful we can finish the appropriations process without causing a lapse in government services.

We haven't had a government shutdown since 2019. There is no good reason for us to have one this week now that we are getting very close to finishing the job.

Mr. President, I would like to begin today by addressing the reprehensible and dangerous comments made yesterday by former President Trump. The former President's comments were utterly disgusting and a textbook example of the kind of anti-Semitism facing Jews, pushing the dangerous anti-Semitism trope of dual loyalty. To say you hate Israel or your religion because you have one political view over the other is sick. It is hateful. It is unadulterated anti- Semitism, and it serves to use Israel as a political wedge, further damaging the bonds between the United States and Israel.

We have always tried--I have always tried through the years--to keep everything we do on Israel bipartisan. And to use it for partisan purposes hurts Israel, hurts America, and displays how low Donald Trump would go.

And nobody who breaks bread with anti-Semites like Nick Fuentes and who called White supremacists in Charlottesville ``very good people'' or who, as was recently reported, said, disgustingly, that Hitler did some good things has any right--any right--to lecture Jewish Americans about their personal political beliefs.

I condemn the former President's irresponsible comments and urge others from both sides--both sides--to do the same.

Mr. President, on Ukraine, it is not an exaggeration to say that right now--right now--the survival of the Ukrainian people, the fate of American leadership in the world, and the odds of victory for Vladimir Putin depend a lot on what Speaker Mike Johnson does in the near future. Any moment he wants, Speaker Johnson has the power to put on the floor of the House a bipartisan national security package that passed the Senate over a month ago with 70 votes.

This supplemental package will provide Ukraine precisely with what they are sorely lacking: military equipment, ammunitions, intelligence support, advanced weaponry, and more. Every day that the supplemental sits idly in the House is another day more Ukrainian troops are killed on the battlefield because they lack the basic tools to defend their country. And sadly, because the House has not acted, the situation is now very dire in Ukraine.

Speaking in Germany earlier today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned that Ukraine's survival is now in grave danger. Russia is now making three times as much artillery and munitions as the United States and Europe. Making matters worse, Ukraine is now also beginning to run out of soldiers. Without more U.S. support, one European official predicted last week that ``this is not a question of years, this is a question of weeks and months.''

Leader McConnell and I--in broad, bipartisan support--got the supplemental passed here. Leader Johnson should do the same. The clock is ticking for Congress to act. The eyes of the whole world are on the House. Our allies and adversaries alike are waiting to see what Speaker Johnson is going to do about the supplemental. And the answer is very simple: Speaker Johnson, put the supplemental on the floor of the House for a vote. I guarantee that if Members have a chance to vote on this bill, it will pass with the same kind of bipartisan support we saw in the Senate.

I have urged the Speaker repeatedly that he must do the right thing and stand up to Putin. This is a legacy-defining choice for the Speaker and potentially a history-altering decision. The Speaker can either stand up to defend democracy or he can cast his lot with Donald Trump and MAGA extremism who are practically rooting for Putin to win.

Mr. President, on forum shopping, last year I came to the floor a number of times to speak about a grave problem in our Federal judiciary known as judge shopping, where hard-right litigants bring cases before sympathetic judges in order to push their radical agenda.

Last summer, I led a number of my Senate colleagues in writing to the Judicial Conference, asking that they recommend policy reforms to better ensure impartially and basic fairness. I am very pleased that last week, the Judicial Conference responded to our concerns by announcing a new policy to assign civil cases that have statewide or national implications to judges at random across a district instead of going to a predictable single judge in a single division.

These reforms would prevent absurd situations like the one we saw last year in the Northern District of Texas, where one extremist judge was handpicked by the hard right to revoke FDA approval of mifepristone nationwide.

If you care at all about impartial courts, last week's announcement was good news and probably came across as just common sense. So it was quite striking and, frankly, deeply troubling to see the Republican leader come down to the floor last week and excoriate the Judicial Conference's announcement. The Republican leader accused the Conference of ``taking the bait'' of partisan Democrats, as if randomly assigning judges to cases is inherently partisan. The Republican leader seems to want to see judges be handpicked, when we know their views already, to make decisions. That flies in the face of justice.

He claimed that it is not the place of Senators to weigh in on how the courts administer themselves. Well, Congress created the Judicial Conference a century ago precisely to recommend policy updates like this.

We all know, of course, what the deal is here: The Republican leader is fuming because these recommendations would make it harder for hard- right partisans to hijack our courts for their purposes. Leader McConnell is not even pretending to hide his partisan motivations in this case, and that is deeply damaging to the trust of our courts. I would encourage the Republican leader to focus more on finding ways to restore trust in the judiciary than defending an obviously abusive practice that most Americans would oppose.

I believe that Congress--Congress--has a duty to conduct oversight of the Federal judiciary. We will keep investigating abuses within our court system going forward.

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 en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 595, S. Res. 596, and S. Res. 597.

I know of no further debate on the resolutions en bloc.

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

Mr. President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 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; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Kiel nomination; further, that the cloture motions with respect to the Kiel and Lee nominations ripen at 12 noon and that following the cloture vote on the Kiel nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Kiel nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that if cloture is invoked on the Lee nomination, all time be considered expired at 5:15; 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 notified of the Senate's actions.

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