Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration, and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 755.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed immediately to consideration of S. Res. 767, which was submitted earlier today.

I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 768, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

And, finally--I thank again my colleagues from Oklahoma and Nebraska--I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 3 p.m. on Monday, September 19, and that following the prayer and the 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 Pan nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m.; 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.

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 Senators Lankford and Sasse.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, yesterday, was truly a tale of two parties. While one party--the Democrats--gathered at the White House to celebrate the passage of our job-creating agenda, the other party--the MAGA Republicans--spent their day introducing a nationwide ban on abortions.

If the American people want to know what the difference is between the two parties, look no further. One party is focused on jobs--that is us; the other is focused on nationwide abortion bans--that is the extreme MAGA Republicans.

One party wants to lower inflation and help families make ends meet, to tackle the generational challenges we face and has passed major legislation to that effect, now law. The other party, apparently, wants to eliminate women's autonomy over their own bodies.

Here is how you know Republicans are dangerously out of touch. Months after women had their freedom of choice taken away by the MAGA Supreme Court, a nationwide abortion ban was actually their attempt to seem more mainstream. Can you believe it? To seem more mainstream? Heaven help us. Heaven help us. It shows just how extreme they are.

The core problem is that far from being mainstream, a large portion of the Republican Party harbors truly extreme views on a woman's right to choose. In the few months since the Dobbs decision, Republican State legislatures in places like Indiana, South Carolina, and others have either introduced or enacted new abortion restrictions, with alarmingly few exceptions of rape or incest.

In this Chamber, Senate Republicans spent years confirming judges hostile to freedom of choice, including three sitting Supreme Court Justices who joined with the majority in overturning Roe. And the then- majority leader, now minority leader, Leader McConnell, has repeatedly said his greatest accomplishment is putting these judges on the Court. His greatest accomplishment is putting judges on the Court who overturned Roe v. Wade. Do the American people want that? I don't think so.

And for all the hemming and hawing we heard yesterday from Republicans about where they really stand on the issue, they cannot run away from their

record. Setting aside yesterday's proposal, the fact is that 45 Senate Republicans--including Leader McConnell--remain cosponsors of another nationwide abortion ban previously introduced by the Senator from South Carolina.

Leader McConnell himself told USA Today earlier this year that without Roe, proposals for a nationwide ban on abortions were now ``possible,''--his words--``possible'' if Republicans controlled the Senate. Do the American people want that? Do they want McConnell, Leader Mitch McConnell, to be majority leader and work to impose a nationwide ban on abortions? I don't think so.

Now, they are sort of running away from what their real beliefs are, but they are like the dog who caught the bus. For years they pushed to make this happen, unfortunately, to the detriment of over 100 million American women. It happened, and now they don't know quite what to do.

They are not backing off their horrible MAGA principles, but they want to hide from it at the same time because they know how unpopular it is.

And to show you just where the party is at, almost immediately after the Court overturned Roe, Mike Pence, former Republican Vice President, now running for President possibly in 2024 said Republicans ``must not rest'' until abortion is illegal everywhere. That means a nationwide ban. That doesn't leave it up to the States.

In fact, he doubled down on just this last night, saying a national abortion ban ``is profoundly more important'' than Republicans' short- term interests. That is one of the leaders of the Republican Party, which has moved so far to the right that even someone like Pence, who doesn't always go along with Trump, feels compelled to take that extreme position.

And lest we forget, folks, nearly every Senate Republican--nearly every Senate Republican--already voted to push national abortion bans in 2020, in 2018, and 2015. During one of these votes, the Senator from South Carolina, who introduced the nationwide ban again yesterday, said:

These pieces of legislation will continue to be advanced

until they pass.

How do we know that Republicans will put a national abortion ban on the floor if they control the Senate? Not only has Senator Graham committed to doing it, they have done it before, three times. And they will do it again if they get the majority. America, beware. America, beware.

So the truth is not hard to grasp. Republicans do not care about leaving abortion in the hands of the States. No way. They do not care that a majority of Americans supported Roe and support abortion rights.

What MAGA Republicans care about deep down is eliminating freedom of choice across America, period. And they are already at work right now on legislation, as we heard yesterday, that will take us down that terrible, terrible path.

Well, it is my view that the American people aren't going to be fooled by Republicans' desperate attempts to seem mainstream. You can't fake your way through an issue so personal and so important as a woman's right to make her own healthcare choices. They are not going to be able to run and duck and bob and weave and tie themselves in pretzel knots. Everyone knows where they are at. Lindsey Graham made it clear again yesterday. And people will know the Republican view: abolish abortion everywhere. That is not going to change no matter what some on the other side might think.

Mr. President, now, on the positive impacts of the Democratic agenda, a much happier note. As I said a moment ago, while MAGA Republicans spent yesterday touting their extreme agenda, Democrats focused on the things that matter most right now to the American people: lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, and protecting our planet for future generations.

The Inflation Reduction Act has not been law for even a month--not just a month--and already it is spurring new investments that will generate years, if not decades, of robust economic activity, in industries that will stay here in America--here in America, not in China, not anywhere else--for a very long time.

A remarkable number of companies in the energy, automotive, and clean tech sectors have announced that they are either approving or accelerating new plans to grow their businesses.

One of the most significant areas of activity is happening in EVs and battery manufacturing, so crucial to meeting our country's growing demand for electric vehicles. China has dominated battery manufacturing for too long, and we are bringing these jobs back to America--not just talking about it, doing it.

Honda and LG, for instance, have teamed up to invest $4 billion for a new battery plant with an annual production of 40 GWh.

Hyundai, meanwhile, has announced they might actually accelerate their timetable for building new state-of-the-art EV and battery plants in Savannah, GA. Plans called for getting started early next year, and now they are saying it could happen sooner. And it is the votes of people and the activity of people like Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff that have made that happen.

Of course, the benefits of our bill extend well beyond EVs and batteries. Solar Energy Industries Association projects that by 2027, the U.S. solar market will grow 40 percent more than expected thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. And numerous companies focused on renewables, carbon capture, and heat pumps are announcing a flurry of investments, very often citing our bill--now law--the IRA.

All of these examples share something important: These are the jobs of tomorrow. These industries are going to stick around for decades as our country makes the transition away from fossil fuels and towards cleaner forms of energy. The impacts will be felt everywhere. It is going to take millions of workers to build these vehicles, reshape our infrastructure, and install these technologies in our homes and offices.

And because so much of this will be done by union labor, these will be good-paying jobs, at good wages, with good benefits, lifting up the middle class, keeping those who are in the middle class there and allowing many others who are climbing that ladder to get into the middle class and stay there. It is a wonderful and beautiful thing. In a certain sense we did the right thing making sure our planet doesn't burn up, but it had so many other effects, like good-paying jobs and strengthening the middle class.

And had we not taken action to encourage these investments, it is likely many of these jobs would end up going overseas to Asia, to Europe. America would have lost out. Instead, we have a real chance to lead the way again.

This is the result of Democrats leading the way here in Congress. We are proud, every one of us is proud of the steps we have taken to lower energy costs, to create jobs that have a real future in this country, and to give working families a chance to climb up those ladders and get into that middle class.

It is all about restoring that sunny American optimism that has been at the core of our economic prosperity for so long, that some felt had passed us by; but, no, we Democrats said it hasn't passed us by. The best of our future is yet to come.

Mr. President, on marriage equality, over the past few months, both sides have engaged in good-faith conversations about how to pass marriage equality into law. I truly hope, for the sake of tens of millions of Americans, that there will be at least 10 Republicans who will vote with us to pass this important bill soon.

Democrats are ready to make it happen and willing to debate reasonable compromises on the specifics, so I urge my colleagues on the other side to join us. Around the country, the feeling is sinking in that this is a dark time for individual rights, so codifying marriage equality is one of the best things we can do to provide peace of mind to millions of Americans who are gay Americans, LGBTQ Americans who are married, and to their families, to their friends. It extends way beyond the individual couple who is married. It is an issue that hits home for many of us in this Chamber, including me.

If we ever find ourselves in the awful situation of having marriage equality overturned by the Supreme Court, I dare say the vast majority of us would

see impacts in our own personal lives or the personal lives of our close family and friends in one way or another.

It would be risky and perhaps foolish to think that such a day could never come. Maybe a few months ago people would think that, no more. Justice Thomas put his cards on the table. He said that he is very open that the Supreme Court's decision protecting same-sex marriage should, in fact, be reconsidered. And often when Justice Thomas says it, his other four MAGA Republican Supreme Court colleague Justices are thinking the same thing.

To anyone who says that the High Court would never be so reckless as to overturn a decision that has protected this fundamental right of millions of people, all I say to this is: Wake up. Look what they did in the Dobbs decision.

Passing marriage equality in the Senate is all about making sure such a danger never--never--materializes. Millions of Americans, tens of millions of Americans will breathe a huge sigh of relief if we do this. And it is the right thing to do.

We know that America has trod on the long path towards greater equality. We know that when the Constitution was written, millions of Americans were enslaved. In many States, you had to be a White male Protestant property owner to vote, that would leave the presiding officer and me out. They know that, and they know that most Americans are proud that we have made progress.

There are some dark forces encapsulated, embodied in the MAGA Republicans, so many of whom are in this Chamber, who want to take steps backward. We are not going to let it happen. We shouldn't let it happen.

So I truly hope, for the sake of tens of millions of Americans, that there will be at least 10 Republicans who will vote with us to pass this very, very important bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. President, shortly after the news leaked that the U.S. Supreme Court was ready to overturn Roe v. Wade, Leader McConnell acknowledged that a Federal ban on abortion was now ``possible''--his words. Well, later today, the senior Senator from South Carolina is going to make good on Leader McConnell's warning by introducing a radical bill to institute a nationwide restriction on abortions.

Proposals like the one today send a clear message from MAGA Republicans to women across the country: your body, our choice. Rather than expanding women's rights, MAGA Republicans would curtail them rather than give individuals the freedom to make their own healthcare choices. They hand that power over to radical politicians.

And let me add this. Republicans are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to explain why they want nationwide abortion bans when they said they would leave it up to the States. Even the senior Senator from South Carolina said a few months ago that ``if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade,'' it would mean that ``every state will decide if abortion is legal and on what terms.'' And yet here he is, introducing a bill to restrict abortions nationally.

For the hard right, this has never been about States' rights. This has never been about letting Texas choose its own path while California takes another. No, for MAGA Republicans this has always been about making abortion illegal everywhere.

The contrast has become clear. While Democrats want to protect a woman's freedom to choose, MAGA Republicans want to take that right away with proposals to ban abortions, to punish women and doctors for carrying out abortions, and even to push bans with no exceptions for rape or incest.

We are seeing it play out across the country. It is chilling-- chilling--to the bone. Every single American should stand in opposition against these radical MAGA Republican views.

Mr. President, now, on the IRA, this afternoon I will join with my Senate Democratic colleagues at the White House to celebrate the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act

of 2022. When this bill passed the Senate a little over a month ago, I expressed confidence that this legislation would signal a turning point in our country's fight to lower costs, to meet our Nation's climate challenges, and to usher in the era of affordable clean energy.

A month later, the good news is already pouring in. Companies like Toyota have announced billions in new investments to start manufacturing batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles right here in America. Elsewhere, Honda and LG Energy have also recently announced over $4 billion for EV battery production in the United States. And recently, the CEO of First Solar said it was the Inflation Reduction Act that provided the ``clarity'' needed to make their investments here in America.

Had we not done this, many of these plants would have been built but probably overseas. And yet, despite this record of success, despite the fact that Democrats have told Republicans that this is opening a new way for the future for American jobs with good futures here, not one Republican voted in favor of this bill.

That is the difference between the two parties in a nutshell: While MAGA Republicans are fixated on their extremist agenda, Democrats are focused on creating jobs, lowering costs, bringing our country together. While Democrats will join today with President Biden to promote our job-creating agenda, Republicans will spend today introducing new, radical legislation to ban abortions on the national level, right here on the Senate floor. That is the contrast between the parties, clear as day, and we know which side the American people are on.

And while Democrats want to lower costs, increase prosperity, and strengthen ladders to the middle class, the junior Senator from Florida, who serves as the chief elections architect for Senate Republicans, continues to promote tax hikes--tax hikes--for working families and putting Medicare on the chopping block.

This split screen is unmistakable for all Americans to see for themselves. Democrats will spend today focused on the job-creating, inflation-fighting agenda we promised and delivered for the American people, while Republicans continue defending tax hikes for the working class while pushing national abortion bans here in the Senate. And the American people will have no trouble deciding for themselves which party is truly in their corner.

On judges, last night I moved to file cloture on the nomination of Sarah Merriam to be U.S. circuit judge for the Second Circuit. She will be the sixth circuit court judge this Chamber has considered since the beginning of this work period--the sixth. She will be in exceedingly good company.

Later today, we will vote on the nomination of Arianna Freeman to be U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit, followed by cloture on the nomination of Lara Montecalvo to serve on the First Circuit.

Altogether, the Senate has now confirmed 80--80--judicial nominations to serve lifetime appointments on the Federal bench. I made clear that confirming more of President Biden's judicial nominees would be a top priority for Senate Democrats, and we are making good on our promise by being on track to vote on six circuit court judges in the first 2 weeks of this work period alone.

Among the judges confirmed this month are a number of notable firsts: the first Latino to serve from the State of Washington to the Ninth Circuit, the first Black Tennessean to ever sit on the Sixth Circuit, and the first Asian American from anywhere to sit on the Seventh Circuit. And that is just in the last 2 weeks.

The 80 jurists we have confirmed also include the first Native American judge, the first Muslim American district judge, and the first Black woman, of course, in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. I mention these firsts because even though it takes a lot to be a successful jurist, representation is a key part of the equation.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the public's trust in our courts--in my judgment, for very good reasons. So if our courts are to long endure--to say nothing of our democracy--they must reflect the rich vibrancy of our country.

So as we continue confirming judges, we will make sure that the individuals on the bench meet this important standard. We have come a very long way, but there is much work left to be done.

Mr. President, finally, on sepsis, I want to say a few words on a health issue that rarely gets the attention it deserves here on the Senate floor, and that is the issue of sepsis. Every year, roughly 1.7 million Americans are infected with sepsis. That is a population roughly the size of Phoenix, AZ. Of those, 270,000-- 270,000--are ultimately killed by the disease.

For those unfamiliar, sepsis is a terrible, life-threatening condition where the body overreacts to an infection in an extreme way. Most cases are preventable, if they are caught with enough time. Sadly, because of a lack of public awareness, too many cases fly under the radar until it is too late.

So today, I am here to introduce a resolution designating September 13 as National Sepsis Day. It would encourage greater public education about this condition, urge Federal entities to streamline treatment guidelines, and marshal our resources to ultimately bring sepsis to an end.

The Federal Government has a great model to follow in my home State of New York, which adopted Rory's Regulations to guide health officials when it comes to this illness named in honor of Rory Staunton, a 12- year-old from Queens who died from sepsis 10 years ago. These rules have undoubtedly saved countless lives and should inform Federal policy.

I cannot imagine the profound suffering that Rory's parents must feel to this day, but I hope they find strength in knowing that the rules bearing their son's name have gone a long way to help others.

It is time we take this disease seriously at the Federal level. For that reason, I am proud to introduce this resolution today.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider.