Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions with respect to the Rodriguez and Goffman nominations be withdrawn and the Senate resume consideration of the Mehalchick nomination; further, that the cloture motions with respect to the Crews and Mehalchick nominations ripen at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, during Wednesday's session.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 375.

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

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, January 9, be waived.

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.

Madam President, I have one request for committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

select committee on intelligence

The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a closed briefing.

Mr. President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 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; and

that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Mehalchick nomination.

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

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, a very quick one tonight. I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 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 Kazen nomination, postcloture, and that all time be considered expired at 11:45 a.m.; further, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motion 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.

Madam President, first, let me start out today by saying it is a great day to be a Buffalo Bills fan. For the fourth year in a row, the Buffalo Bills have won the AFC East championship, squishing the fish last night by defeating the Miami Dolphins 21 to 14. What an incredible night. What an incredible win. What an incredible team. Buffalo is truly the Beast of the East.

It hasn't been the easiest season for the Bills, but this team can be summed up in one word: perseverance. They never gave up. They never threw in the towel. And last night, it began to pay off because they are on their way to the playoffs.

In true Buffalo fashion, Bills Mafia showed up in the early hours of the morning at the Buffalo Airport to welcome their team home. And, of course, it seemed like half of the people at the Miami stadium were Bills fans as well.

Congratulations to Buffalo. Congratulations to Coach Sean McDermott and the whole team as well. Let's keep going. And, as always, go Bills.

business before the senate

Madam President, now on the new year, I would like to begin the 2nd session of the 118th Congress by wishing you and all of my colleagues a happy new year. I hope everyone was able to spend time with family, with friends, and meet constituents.

This past Christmas-New Year's recess, however, was a busy, consequential, and most of all a productive time for the U.S. Senate. Senators and staff worked straight through Christmas and straight through the new year on avoiding a government shutdown, on protecting America's security, even protecting the future of Western democracy, and we made some real progress.

First, I have excellent news on government funding. Yesterday, I announced with Speaker Johnson that congressional leaders have reached a top-line agreement for government funding for the 2024 fiscal year. When we began our negotiations, our goal was to preserve a nondefense funding level of $772 billion--the same level agreed to in our debt ceiling deal last June. That $772 billion was precisely the number we reached. Not a nickel was cut. Again, our goal was $772 billion, and that is precisely the number we reached in this bipartisan agreement.

The agreement now clears the way for Congress to act in the coming weeks to avoid a government shutdown, while also preserving key domestic programs that benefit millions of Americans. The framework agreement will enable the appropriators to address many of the major challenges Americans face at home and abroad. It also allows us to keep the investments for hard-working American families that congressional Democrats and President Biden secured through our legislative agenda.

Both parties reached this agreement without resorting to the painful and draconian cuts that the hard right--particularly those in the Freedom Caucus--clamored for. The hard right wanted to put a chopping block on programs that help millions of Americans. So I am happy to say that Democrats protected vital priorities like housing programs, veterans' benefits, healthcare, nutrition programs, small business support, the National Health Service--the NHS--and funding for Federal law enforcement.

I am particularly pleased that we will protect the historic climate investment Democrats passed in the Inflation Reduction Act. The hard right wanted to use the appropriations process to undo our climate investments. Democrats said no, and we held the line.

The hard right also wanted to make cuts to the IRS so that the ultrarich tax cheats could weasel their way out of paying their fair share. By keeping the cuts at $20 billion, I am happy to say this agreement will not affect the IRS's ability to keep holding the richest tax cheats accountable. Remember, when Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, we gave the IRS new tools to audit the richest of the rich who don't pay their fair share. All these tools will remain in place.

So this top-line agreement is an excellent start to the year because it is a huge step towards avoiding a government shutdown. Of course, our work must continue. Producing 12 appropriations bills will not be easy. It is going to require agreement from the four corners and a lot more compromise between the parties.

And make no mistake--Democrats have made clear to Speaker Johnson that we will not support the inclusion of any poison pills in any of the 12 appropriations bills before the Congress. In a statement that Leader Jeffries and I put out yesterday, we made it clear that we will not accept poison pills. If the hard right chooses to spoil this agreement with poison pills, they will be to blame if we start careening towards a shutdown. I know Speaker Johnson has said that nobody wants to see a shutdown happen.

Finally, thank you to my colleagues on both sides in both Chambers who made this agreement possible. I want to particularly thank my staff, who worked morning, noon, and night over the past few weeks. I must have spoken to them 10, 12 times a day every day and even several times on Christmas Day because getting this done was so important.

The next few weeks are not going to be easy, but the Democrats--we Democrats--are committed to working as hard as we can to avoid a government shutdown.

I hope our Republican colleagues, particularly in the House--we have good cooperation here in the Senate--are ready to do the same.

Madam President, on the supplemental, in addition to fully funding the Federal Government, Senators have also been hard at work over the winter break on finalizing an emergency national security supplemental. The supplemental package is a national necessity, with critical aid to help Ukraine defeat Putin, help Israel combat Hamas, provide needed assistance to innocent civilians in Gaza, and fix our broken immigration system.

At the end of last year, I said Democrats would remain committed to finding a bipartisan agreement on the supplemental. The only way to get something done on an issue as hard as the border is through bipartisan cooperation, and we have kept our promise to work in good faith.

Now, on the supplemental, it has been a very promising few days. We have made more progress in the past couple of days on the border than we have in the past few weeks. The work is not yet finished, but I am more hopeful right now--even more than I was a few days ago--that we can get something meaningful done on the border and pass the supplemental.

Getting over the finish line is still not going to be easy. It will take continued compromise, good faith, and recognition from both sides that nobody is going to get everything they want.

Immigration reform has always been one of the hardest issues facing the Senate. But our broken border and our national security are at stake in this supplemental, and we must do everything we can to reach an agreement.

I urge my colleagues to continue their negotiations, and I want to thank them all for their good work to bring us to this point. Their example is an affirmation that the only way to get things done is through bipartisanship. So I urge them to stay the course until the work is done.

Mr. President, yesterday, 10 months of delay finally ends on a positive note. The Senate confirmed the last of the military nominees held up by Senator Tuberville. Military leaders and their families who have had their lives put on hold for months can finally breathe a sigh of relief because the wait is over.

It was a very good outcome, one that should not have been necessary. But now that the holds have been lifted and these nominees confirmed, I hope this never happens again. Let the experience of the past 10 months be a warning: No Senator--no Senator--should use our military officers and their families as political pawns to push a political agenda no matter how strongly they believe in that agenda.

This was a long and painful ordeal for our Armed Forces, but it ended on a positive note for them and for our country because Senator Tuberville didn't get one bit of what he asked for, only a lot of pain to military families.

Let's make sure this never happens again no matter how strongly any 1 of the 100 Senators feels on any one issue. Don't hold the military families hostage.

Mr. President, there will be no more rollcall votes this year. But make no mistake, the winter recess will be a busy and important few weeks for the U.S. Senate. Negotiations will continue around the clock, reaching an agreement on a critical national security supplemental.

As I speak right now, the negotiators are in a room down the hall trying to make more progress. I came by a few minutes ago to thank all of them for their hard work and encourage them to continue. The future not only of Ukraine but of our country and the Western World depends on it. Challenging issues remain, but we in this caucus are committed to addressing needs at the southern border and to helping our partners and allies confront and deter serious threats in Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. The Senate will not let these national security challenges go unanswered.

When we return in the new year, we hope to take swift action on the national security supplemental. Passing a national security supplemental is not going to be easy. It is one of the hardest things this Senate has undertaken in a very long time. It will take compromise, good faith, and recognition from both sides that nobody is going to get everything they want.

Democrats will continue to work in good faith with our Republican counterparts to get things done. We will not abandon our principles on border, but we will work to find common ground wherever we can. Let me be clear: It will take cooperation from serious-minded Republicans to get this done. Again, it will take cooperation from serious-minded Republicans to pass a national security supplemental.

I know there are some on the other side who will never vote for it, but there are many who understand the need to both give Ukraine and Israel humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza and the Indo-Pacific the help it needs and to help fix our border--doing it in ways that are consistent with our principles.

Democrats will continue to take these negotiations seriously, and we urge the majority of Republicans on the Senate side who understand that this is real and very important to join with us in helping get this done. Doing it together, Leader McConnell and I issued a statement last night that showed we both hope to get this done.

If we fail in this moment, if the United States abandons our friends in Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, history will cast a shameful and permanent shadow upon all of us. It is a matter of the highest urgency that we get this right, and that is precisely what we will work toward in the new year as soon as we return.