Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 85, S. 474.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn; that the Blackburn substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 272, S. 195.

I further ask consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3315, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

I further 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 Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 2228 and the Senate

proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the Kelly-Cruz substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be discharged from further consideration of the following joint resolutions and the Senate proceed to their immediate consideration en bloc: H.J. Res. 62, H.J. Res. 63, H.J. Res. 64.

I ask unanimous consent that the joint resolutions be considered read a third time en bloc.

The joint resolutions were ordered to a third reading and were read the third time en bloc.

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

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 273, S. 382.

I further ask consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 453, and the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions: S. Res. 507, S. Res. 508, S. Res. 509, and S. Res. 453.

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

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, December 18; 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 consider Executive Calendar No. 415, Martin O'Malley to be Commissioner of Social Security, and that the Senate vote on confirmation of the nomination at 5:30 p.m.; further, that on disposition of the O'Malley nomination, the Senate resume consideration of the Fonzone nomination; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Monday'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.

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, negotiations continue today between Democrats, Republicans, and the Biden administration on an emergency national security supplemental package. The stakes are high, and time is of the essence.

Democrats are still trying--still trying--to meet our Republican colleagues in the middle and reach an agreement. Negotiators met yesterday afternoon. It was a productive meeting. Real progress was made. But, of course, there is still a lot of work to do. We will keep working today to get closer to an agreement.

The two words I have used to describe each party here in the Senate continue to be relevant. Democrats are still trying to reach an agreement. Republicans need to show they are still serious about getting something done--Democrats trying, Republicans need to be serious.

Unfortunately, too many Republicans now seem more interested about flying home for the holidays than sticking around to finish the job. For months, Republicans insisted that action on the border is a crisis that can't wait. But with the holidays around the corner, they are suddenly saying: Never mind, this can wait until next year. If Republicans say the border is an emergency, then they should be prepared to stay.

Crying fire about the border one minute and then saying we should go home the next is the definition of

``unserious.'' An emergency is an emergency. If you argue there is an emergency at the border, an emergency in Ukraine, you can't pretend to be serious about solving them if you think we should go home.

Now, months ago, the Biden administration put forward a comprehensive plan to tackle border security. For weeks, we implored our Republican colleagues to get serious and offer a credible bipartisan proposal--not Donald Trump's extreme border policies, as contained in H.R. 2. Weeks were wasted. And now here we are: Progress is being made, but progress must be allowed to be continued. Yes, this is difficult--very difficult. But we are sent here to do difficult things.

If Republicans are serious about getting something done on the border, why are so many in a hurry to leave? Do they not want to reach an agreement on border security? Republicans should not be so eager to go home.

I hope we can reach an agreement very soon to pass a supplemental through the Senate because the only people happy right now about the gridlock in Congress are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Putin is delighting in the fact that Donald Trump's border policies are sabotaging military aid to Ukraine.

Republicans should not be so content to throw their hands in the air and kick the can down the road. Our friends in Ukraine, after all, are not on our timeline. They don't get a Christmas break on the battlefield. Their fight against Vladimir Putin is a matter of life and death. And if Putin prevails, it will come back to haunt the United States and the whole Western World in the very near future.

So if my Republican friends care at all about taking a stand against Russian autocrats, they should get serious about reaching an agreement.

If Republicans care about defending democracy, about protecting freedom, and preserving America's values around the world, they should get serious about reaching an agreement.

If Republicans truly think the border is an emergency and if they truly support the cause of the Ukrainian people as they claim, then they should get serious about reaching an agreement very soon.

We are writing a chapter in history this week. Will Republican obstruction hand a Democratic country over to the forces of autocracy? Will autocrats see America's inaction as a green light to keep going? Will places like Taiwan come next? Or will we do what America has done again and again and again throughout America's glorious history and stand with our Democratic friends in need? Will we do what is necessary to keep the democratic order the United States helped create after the Second World War? These are the stakes.

Senate Democrats have made clear which side of history we want to be on. We want to stand with President Zelenskyy and the brave people of Ukraine. We want to stand for democratic order. We hope--we hope--our Republican colleagues are ready to do the same.

National Defense Authorization Act

Mr. President, NDAA, as soon as later today, the Senate will approve our annual National Defense Authorization Act, one of the most important bills we pass each year to protect the American people and ensure our long-term security.

Last night, Senators overwhelmingly voted to end debate on the NDAA by 85 to 15. That is a strong sign of support, and it shows you the momentum for finishing the NDAA quickly. We will work today to reach a time agreement with Republicans to finish the job on the NDAA as soon as today.

At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the Defense authorization bill is more important than ever. Passing the NDAA enables us to hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party, and ensure that America's defenses remain state of the art at all times.

Now, the NDAA process here in the Senate is precisely the kind of bipartisan cooperation the American people want from Congress.

When this bill came before the Senate in July, we had a robust debate and amendment process. We voted on dozens of amendments on the floor and even included more in our manager's package. Both sides had input. Both sides had a chance to shape the bill. And in the end, the Senate's version of the NDAA passed in an overwhelming 86-to-11 vote, with majorities--significant majorities--from both parties.

And after a lot of hard work reconciling the Senate's NDAA with the House's version through the conference process, I am pleased the final version of the NDAA has many of the strongest provisions of the Senate's original bill.

We will give our servicemembers the pay raise they deserve; we will strengthen our resources in the Indo-Pacific to deter aggression by the Chinese government and give critical resources for training, advising, and capacity-building for the military and Taiwan; and we will approve President Biden's trilateral U.S., UK, and Australia nuclear submarine agreement. This historic agreement will create a new fleet of nuclear- powered submarines to counter the Chinese Communist Party's influence in the Pacific.

I applaud my colleague Senator Reed of the Armed Services Committee as well as Ranking Member Wicker for their excellent leadership pushing this bill over the finish line. I commend all conferees for their good work over the past few weeks.

And thank you to my colleagues on both sides for uniting to get the NDAA done. When we finish our work in the Senate, I urge Speaker Johnson and the House to move this bill quickly.

As I have said repeatedly, we began the month of December with three major goals here in the Senate before the end of the year: First, we had to end the unprecedented and monthslong destructive blockade of hundreds of military nominees. We have done that. Second, we needed to pass the NDAA, as we have for decades on a bipartisan basis. We are going forward on that today. And, finally--and hardest of all--we must reach an agreement on a national security supplement.

Democrats are still trying to reach an agreement on the supplemental. We urge Republicans to show that they are still serious about getting something done.

I yield the floor.

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 see my friend Senator Rounds is on the floor and ask him to engage in a colloquy on an important set of provisions in the NDAA that deals with transparency, trust, and government oversight--the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act that he and I co-sponsored, and portions of which we will pass in the NDAA.

I say to my friend that unidentified anomalous phenomena are of immense interest and curiosity to the American people, but with that curiosity comes the risk of confusion, disinformation, and mistrust, especially if the government isn't prepared to be transparent.

The U.S. Government has gathered a great deal of information about UAPs over many decades but has refused to share it with the American people. That is wrong, and, additionally, it breeds mistrust.

We have also been notified by multiple credible sources that information on UAPs has also been withheld from Congress, which, if true, is a violation of the laws requiring full notification to the legislative branch, especially as it relates to the four congressional leaders, Defense Committees, and the Intelligence Committee.

So the bill I worked on with Senator Rounds offers a commonsense solution. Let's increase transparency on UAPs by using a model that works, by following what the Federal Government did 30 years ago with the J.F.K. Assassination Records Collection Act. They established a Presidentially appointed board to review and release these records, and it was a huge success. We should do the same here with UAPs.

I will yield to the Senator from South Dakota.

Now, I say to my colleague from South Dakota, who has worked with his great team on this issue--and on many other issues, I might add--that it is beyond disappointing that the House refused to work with us on all of the important elements of the UAP Disclosure Act during the NDAA conference.

But, nevertheless, we did make important progress. For the first time, the National Archives will gather records from across the Federal Government on UAPs and have a legal mandate to release those records to the public, if appropriate. This is a major, major win for government transparency on UAPs, and it gives us a strong foundation for more action in the future.

Well, I would like to echo what my friend Senator Rounds has said today and on many occasions. It is essential that we keep working on the proposal to create an independent, Presidentially appointed review board that can oversee UAP classified records and create a system for releasing them, where appropriate, to the public. Again, as the Senator has said, it is the same method used for the J.F.K. records, and it continues to work to this very day.

It is really an outrage that the House didn't work with us on adopting our

proposal for a review board, which, by definition, needs bipartisan consent. Now it means that declassification of UAP records will be largely up to the same entities that blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.

We will keep working. I want to assure the American people that Senator Rounds and I will keep working to change the status quo.

Before I yield finally to him, I would just like to acknowledge my dear friend, the late Harry Reid, a mentor, who cared about this issue a great deal. So he is looking down and smiling on us, but he is also importuning us to get the rest of this done, which we will do everything we can to make it happen.

Again, I thank my colleague and pledge to work with him and other bipartisan colleagues in the future to build upon what we have achieved in the conference report. We encourage our colleagues to join us in the further investigation of this issue and in advancing legislation that will complete what we have accomplished in this NDAA.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that at 5 p.m., Senator Paul or his designee be recognized to make a rule XXVIII scope point of order; that, if raised, Senator Reed be recognized to make a motion to waive; and that if the waiver is successful, all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on the adoption of the conference report; finally, that there be 2 minutes equally divided before each vote.

Mr. President, for the 62nd year in a row, the Senate is passing our annual Defense Authorization Act--one of the most important bills we work on each year to protect the American people and ensure our long-term security.

At a time of huge trouble for global security, passing the Defense authorization bill is more important than ever. It will ensure America can hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party, and ensures that America's military remains state of the art at all times all around the world.

I thank my colleagues on both sides for their great work on the NDAA. I applaud the leadership of Chairman Reed--steady, steadfast, always getting it done--chairman of the committee, as well as the great cooperation he had from Ranking Member Wicker and all the members of the committee. I commend them for their good work.

Thanks to the good work on both sides, the final version of the NDAA contains many of the most important bipartisan provisions we had in the Senate's original bill.

We will give our servicemembers the pay raise they deserve. We will strengthen our resources in the Indo-Pacific to deter aggression by the Chinese Government and give resources for the military in Taiwan. We will give DOD more resources to deploy and develop AI, protect against foreign cyber threats, and increase transparency on unidentified aerial phenomena, which I was proud to work on with Senator Rounds.

Critically, we will approve President Biden's trilateral United States, UK, and Australia nuclear submarine agreement. The AUKUS agreement is a game changer. It will create a new fleet of nuclear- powered submarines to counter the Chinese Communist Party's threat and influence in the Pacific.

I want to commend all the staff who made this possible: Liz King, Jody Bennett, Kirk McConnell, Damian Murphy, Andrew Keller, David Weinberg, Chris Mulkins, and so on. I also want to thank the floor staff and the legislative staff that worked so long and hard to get it done. And, of course, everyone knows I love my staff: Yazeed Abdelhaq, Gunnar Haberl, Raymond O'Mara, Mike Kuiken, Meghan Taira, and so many others. The staff has put in long hours, and all 100 Senators thank them.

As I have repeatedly said, we began the month of December with three major goals here in the Senate before the end of the year. First, we had to end the blockade of the hundreds of military nominees. We have done that. Second, we needed to pass the NDAA. We are doing that now. And, finally, hardest of all, we must reach an agreement on a national security supplemental. We are trying.

Democrats are still trying to reach that agreement. We had very productive talks with our Republican colleagues today; but, of course, we have a lot of work to do left. We are going to keep working.

I yield the floor.

Vote on Conference Report

I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motions filed during Monday's session ripen at 12 noon tomorrow, Tuesday, December 14.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 430.

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.