Floor Statements

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 985.

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 736.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, August 7, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Carrin F. Patman, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iceland; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate resume legislative session.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, finally, 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: Tuesday, August 9, at 9 a.m.; Friday, August 12, at 9 a.m.; Tuesday, August 16, at 8 a.m.; Friday, August 19, at 2:30 p.m.; Tuesday, August 23, at 10:30 a.m.; Friday, August 26, at 10 a.m.; Tuesday, August 30, at 10 a.m.; Friday, September 2, at 9 a.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, September 2, it next convene at 3 p.m., Tuesday, September 6; 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 and resume consideration of the Lee nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the senior Senator from Maryland, Mr. Cardin, be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from August 8, 2022, through September 6, 2022.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 748.

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

Mr. President, today the Senate will continue fulfilling its constitutional duty to confirm the President's highly qualified judicial nominees.

This afternoon, we will vote to confirm the 76th Federal judge since the beginning of President Biden's term, Roopali Desai, nominated to serve as a circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit.

Not long ago, a nominee like Ms. Desai would have been rarely seen in the Senate. But under President Biden, the Senate is confirming more and more nominees who break away from that norm. Over 75 percent of President Biden's nominees are women and nearly half are women are color. Let's not forget the bench. People say: Why shouldn't it be the same percentage of the population? That is what we are trying to get to, but we are way behind and putting more women and people of color on the bench gets those percentages a little closer to the American norm, but we have a ways to go.

Moreover, Ms. Desai will make history as the first South Asian judge to serve on the Ninth Circuit and only the fifth AAPI woman ever to sit on the Federal Circuit Court.

Ms. Desai's resume leaves no doubt she merits confirmation: a graduate of Arizona School of Law; a clerk for Judge Mary Schroeder, the first woman to ever serve as a Ninth Circuit chief judge. She has excelled in every step of her legal career. She is one of Arizona's top election lawyers, having played a crucial role in protecting her State's elections in 2020. She has fought for everyone from children in foster care to children in public schools during the pandemic.

As my Arizona colleagues Senator Sinema and Senator Kelly will attest to, Ms. Desai is deeply respected by all corners of Arizona's legal community and will make an excellent judge when we confirm her later today.

Senate Accomplishments

Mr. President, Senate Democrats are getting things done. This has been one of the most productive stretches the Senate has seen in recent times.

In the past few months, we have seen an amazing string of achievements passed through this Chamber in extremely fast succession: the first major gun safety bill in 30 years, the largest investment in American manufacturing and science in a generation, the largest expanse of veterans' benefits in decades. And just last night, we strengthened NATO by approving the accession of Sweden and Finland, sending Russia a signal that they cannot intimidate America or Europe. Gun safety, CHIPS, PACT, NATO--getting any one of these accomplishments done is a significant feat for the Senate. The fact is, we have done them all since Memorial Day, and that is quite remarkable.

This doesn't even include a once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill, a historic rescue package to vaccinate the Nation and lift America out of the pandemic, and the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

I always said that when the opportunity arises, Democrats would be ready to work with our Republican colleagues on important legislation, and many of the accomplishments I have listed are examples of just that. But when we must, Democrats have also made clear we are ready to go at it alone to deliver big things that the American people sent us here to work on, like fighting inflation and lowering healthcare and prescription drug costs; like holding drug companies accountable and making Big Business play by the rules, the same rules as everyone else; like passing historic investments in clean energy to create millions of good-paying jobs and make energy more affordable for American families.

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Mr. President, Democrats are going to deliver on all these things and more when we pass the Inflation Reduction Act in coming days.

Let me talk a little bit about the Inflation Reduction Act. Soon the Senate will vote on this groundbreaking legislation. I expect we will have some late nights and extended debates here on the floor. But in the end, we are going to make good on our word to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.

For years, many in Washington have promised to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our Nation only to fall short. But with the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Democrats will finally hold drug companies accountable and make prescription drugs cheaper.

Senate Democrats will lower energy costs while passing the largest investment in clean energy ever. Our clean energy proposals will reduce air pollution, prevent thousands of needless deaths each year, and reduce asthma attacks by about 100,000 per year. We have all seen kids, often in poor neighborhoods, struggling with asthma because they have so much pollution put in their areas by transportation and factories and whatever. Reducing that by 100,000 a year is amazing.

Senate Democrats will also close tax loopholes and reduce the deficits and will ensure that no small business or family under $400,000 a year will see their taxes go up. Leader McConnell, himself, conceded yesterday that our proposal ``includes no new tax rate increases, that's true.'' Those are McConnell's words: ``includes no new tax rate increases, that's true.'' Let me repeat that again. Leader McConnell concedes that now the Inflation Reduction Act includes no new tax rate increases.

The American people overwhelmingly support these steps. A recent poll by the well-respected Navigator shows 65 percent of Americans approve of our plan to reduce drug prices, keep premiums low, and invest in clean energy. A Morning Consult poll found that over 70 percent of Americans--over 70 percent--support letting Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices, which our plan will do. Another group, Data for Progress, found the Inflation Reduction Act has a net approval of 51 points--51 points--wow.

It is not hard to understand why Americans feel this way. Democrats' agenda prioritizes them. We prioritize the middle class and working families instead of those at the very top. God bless them; they are doing fine.

But when Senate Republicans had the majority, they tried to rip healthcare away from millions of Americans and blew a $2 trillion hole in our deficit in order to soak the ultrarich with massive tax cuts.

Just this week, one Republican called for ending the days that Medicare and Social Security are guaranteed by turning them into discretionary spending. Do you know what that means when we make things discretionary? Do we want to tell our senior citizens that your Social Security, which you paid into, was discretionary? That is what Senator Johnson from Wisconsin wants to do. That is so wrong. But, unfortunately, it represents a lot of the views of lots of Republicans who don't want to say it publicly because they know it is so unpopular.

Back in February--listen to this one--the chair of the Republican Senate Campaign Arm, the junior Senator from Florida, released a platform for raising taxes not on the wealthy but on millions of low- income Americans. You can't make this stuff up.

They want to make your Social Security discretionary but then want to raise your taxes. What kind of bull is that?

Just listen to this tsunami of disastrous proposals: taking away people's healthcare, tax cuts for the rich, putting Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block, raising taxes on working Americans. These are just some of the things that Senate Republicans have openly called for recently.

Democrats' agenda is something entirely different. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower inflation, lower the cost of prescription drugs, close loopholes long exploited by Big Business that pays no or little taxes. That is what the Inflation Reduction Act is at its core.

It is what the American people want; it is what the country so desperately needs; and it is what Democrats will deliver on in the coming days.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, for the information of Senators, the Senate will next convene on Saturday at noon. The next vote will be at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday on a motion to discharge a nomination.

We expect to vote on the motion to proceed to the reconciliation legislation on Saturday afternoon.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session.

Madam President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Committee on Environment and Public Works being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Committee on Environment and Public Works from further consideration of the nomination of David Uhlmann, to be Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Environmental Protection Agency.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the motion to discharge the Uhlmann nomination occur at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 6.

I yield the floor.

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