Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 503, S. 3232.

I further ask that the committee-reported substitute 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 with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5059, introduced earlier today.

I ask unanimous 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1766, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I further ask 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 Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 769.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 772.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 774.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions 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 introduced earlier today: S. Res. 815, S. Res. 816, S. Res. 817, and S. Res. 818.

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.

The resolutions (S. Res. 815, S. Res. 816, and S. Res. 817) were agreed to.

The preambles were agreed to.

(The resolutions, with their preambles, are printed in today's Record under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times, and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, September 30, at 8:55 a.m.; Tuesday, October 4, at 10 a.m.; Friday, October 7, at 10 a.m.; I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, October 7, it next convene at 11 a.m., Tuesday, October 11; 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 the consideration of Calendar No. 467, H.R. 7900, as provided under the previous order; further, that following the remarks of Senator Reed or his designee, the Senate stand adjourned to then convene for pro forma sessions only with no business conducted on the following dates and times, and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, October 14, at 11:30 a.m.; Tuesday, October 18, at 11:30 a.m.; Thursday, October 20, at 9 a.m.; Monday, October 24, at 1:45 p.m.; Thursday, October 27, at 12 noon; Monday, October 31, at 10 a.m.; Thursday, November 3, at 10:30 a.m.; Monday, November 7, at 10:30 a.m., and Thursday, November 10, at 12 noon; I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, November 10, it next convene at 3 p.m. Monday, November 14; 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 Antongiorgi-Jordan nomination; further, that the cloture motion filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, November 14.

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

Mr. President, before I begin my remarks, I was just watching the ``TODAY'' show. That is why I was late.

They have a surprise neighbor of the month, and when they come in and surprise him, all his neighbors are there because he is such a great neighbor.

Well, Ernie Mann--who is the father of Steve Mann, who has been my deputy State director since I have been Senator for over 20 years--a teacher in the community, a volunteer firefighter for 60 years, and just a great guy and a wonderful Yankee fan. They had Nestor Cortes get on the phone and speak to him. He was just made the neighbor of--I think it is of the month, but maybe it is of the year. Anyway, he deserves it. It was wonderful. It was beautiful to see.

So, Ernie--and to all the Mann family, including the great Steve, who has done such a great job for me--congratulations. Good luck. It was beautiful. It was beautiful.

Continuing Resolution

Mr. President, now let's get to the substance of the day.

Last night, by a vote of 72 to 23, the Senate agreed to advance a shell for a continuing resolution to keep the government open until December 16 and avoid a needless government shutdown.

As my colleagues know, government funding runs out Friday at midnight, whereupon a partial shutdown would begin if we do not act. We must work fast to finish the process here on the floor, send a CR to the House, and then send it to the President's desk before the clock runs out. With cooperation from our Republican colleagues, the Senate can finish its work with keeping the government open as soon as tomorrow. There is every reason in the world to get to yes, and I look forward to working with Leader McConnell to make sure we can do that and not bump up into the Friday midnight deadline.

I urge my colleagues on both sides to work with us together to speed this process as quickly as we can through

the floor, especially since the CR contains many things both parties support.

I am talking about billions in disaster aid to help communities in Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, battered by floods and disasters over the past year; as well as help for New Mexico to recover from its worst wildfire in the State's history.

We must also renew the FDA user fees for the next 5 years to prevent the slowdown of innovative drugs and medical devices so needed by our people and to prevent thousands of workers--good, hard-working workers--who help approve these drugs and make sure they are safe from being furloughed.

And, crucially, we must also approve critical emergency aid for the people of Ukraine. Over the past few weeks, it has become clear that U.S. assistance has made an enormous difference in helping Ukraine defend itself.

I want to salute President Biden. He has done a masterful job in helping the Ukrainians and leading us. But the Congress in a bipartisan way has gone along in the past. We have not only got along, but we enthusiastically supported our help for Ukraine. I certainly enthusiastically support it, and we have to continue. The conflict in Ukraine is far from over and our obligation remains to help them, however we can, to beat the brutal, nasty, vicious Putin.

I want to also thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who worked day and night to put this CR together, especially my friend Senator Leahy, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and Ranking Member Shelby for his good work. They are both retiring. Let's hope this is the last CR they do so we get an omnibus done in December.

I also want to recognize all of my other colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and in the Senate and all their great staffs, who have worked hard to make sure we don't have a needless shutdown.

Twenty months into the Democratic majority, I want to take a moment to highlight the many, many accomplishments we have secured in this Chamber, the most in recent memory. This is one of the most productive Congresses we have had in a very long time, and we have worked hard every step of the way to improve the lives of the American people, to help those in the middle class stay in the middle class, and to help those struggling to get into the middle class, making it a little easier for them to get there.

A few months ago, for instance, after the tragedies in Uvalde, Buffalo, and so many others, the Senate came together on a bipartisan basis to break the grip of the NRA and pass the first gun safety bill in three decades. It was the first gun safety bill since the Brady Act, which I was proud to author as a Member of Congress, 30 years ago. It took 30 years to get some real progress made, but we did, and we have to continue.

A few weeks later, we passed the largest expansion of veterans' benefits in a generation to help veterans suffering from cancers, lung diseases, and other ailments stemming from toxic exposure. Again, it was a bipartisan bill. Senators Tester and Moran led the way. It was a really good bill, and thousands and thousands and thousands of veterans who risked their lives for us are now getting the help they always needed and deserved.

And, as Ukraine fights for survival, we strengthened NATO--again, bipartisan--by adding Finland and Sweden to its ranks, sending Putin a clear message that he can't intimidate America or Europe.

And, as the Chinese Communist Party continues its drive to outcompete the United States, we passed the CHIPS and Science Act, the largest manufacturing, science, and jobs bill we have seen in decades, bringing jobs back to America in high-end manufacturing and in research, to keep us No. 1 on into the 21st century as the leading economy, free and democratic, in the world.

Our efforts, of course, culminated in the crowning jewel of them all, the Inflation Reduction Act--a groundbreaking bill that will lower prescription drug costs, lower the price of insulin for seniors on Medicare, and help Americans save on energy costs with the largest clean energy investments in American history.

I am so proud that my caucus stuck together in getting this important bill done. We needed every vote, and we got it--and that is only what we have done since June.

Over the past year, we have enacted the first infrastructure law in decades--the largest, biggest infrastructure law in decades. We revamped our post office, finally, and put it on a good track. We reinstated VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act, after years of trying. We finally declared lynching a Federal hate crime after a century of delay, and we unanimously ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.

Then, of course, we have confirmed over 80 qualified nominees to the Federal bench, including Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court. Roughly three-quarters of the President's nominees have been women and two-thirds people of color. With one nominee at a time, we are making our Federal bench a better reflection of our great country.

All of these accomplishments will echo for years in the lives of the American people. They were hard to get done, especially in a 50-50 Senate. While we have gotten so much done, there is a lot, certainly more, we have to do.

I have always said, from my first days as majority leader, that Democrats would be willing to work in a bipartisan way to get things done whenever we could, but of course, on such important issues like climate, when we are unable to find common ground, Democrats will hold firm in the defense of our values and show the American people the choice before them in the coming election, as we did in the IRA. Sadly, since the overturning of Roe, that contrast has come into sharper focus than we have seen in years.

One example is in Arizona. For decades, overturning Roe and eliminating the right to choose had been the North Star for many in the Republican Party--for most, it seems--in orienting much of their legislation, their candidates, and their nominees they elevate to the judiciary. All too often, Republican Senators and legislators--even when they might not agree with the extreme MAGA position on abortion-- go along because they are afraid of the consequences in a primary.

Well, we saw another horrifying consequence of this late last week when a judge in Arizona upheld a radical abortion ban that dates back to the time of the Civil War--even before Arizona became a State. In the blink of an eye, the right to choose has been practically eliminated in Arizona, a devastating blow to the freedoms of millions of Arizonan women.

The law held in Arizona is as cruel and radical as it comes. It dates all the way back to the 1860s--the 1860s, not the 1960s--and provides no exceptions for rape and incest. It tells young women who are raped or who are subject to incest: You have to carry the baby all the way to term. You have to carry the fetus all the way to term.

That is terrible. That is terrible.

It allows for the prosecution of doctors and, even worse, of those who assist women in accessing abortion.

In response, the MAGA state attorney general released a statement, saying: We applaud the court for upholding the will of the legislature.

The 1860s. The 1860s.

MAGA Republicans are making it clear as day exactly where they stand on the right to choose. They want to make freedom of choice extinct across the country--period.

The Arizona ruling is hardly the only example of Republican State legislatures, as we see in places like Indiana, South Carolina, and many others, that have already introduced or enacted restrictions with few exceptions for rape and incest.

Look, at the end of the day, this isn't about States' rights despite what Republicans have claimed. This is about getting rid of the right to choose in its entirety. If anyone has any doubts, look no further than the national ban that was introduced right here in the Senate not 3 weeks ago.

And while Republicans will try to deflect, distort, or mainly distract from their record--they don't like talking about this because they know the American people are not on their side, but their hard- right, MAGA core is--they are stuck. The fact is that every

Senate Republican--every Senate Republican--is already on record as voting in favor of a national ban--sometimes more than once--here on the floor.

So the contrast has become clear--clear, clear as could be: While Democrats want to protect a woman's freedom to choose, MAGA Republicans want to take away that right with proposals to ban freedom of choice in its entirety and to punish women and doctors for carrying out abortions, even past bans, with no exceptions for rape or incest. We are seeing it play out across the country, and it is chilling to the bone.

Democrats will keep fighting these MAGA abortion bans--these radical MAGA abortion bans--and make clear to all that we are the party fighting to protect people's freedoms over their own bodies.

I yield the floor.

Recognition of the Minority Leader

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

Now, Mr. President, I know of no further debate on the motion to proceed to H.R. 6833.

I call up substitute amendment No. 5745.

I ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I move to commit H.R. 6833 to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

I ask to dispense with further reading of the amendment.

I send a cloture motion to the substitute to the desk.

I send a cloture motion to H.R. 6833 to the desk.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, September 28, be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the notice of adoption of substantive regulations and submission for congressional approval from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 440, S. 4166.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be agreed

to, 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.