Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 967, 994, 1094, 1095, 1104, 1126, 1127, 1128, 891, 892, 893, 1114, 1123, and 1069 through 1077; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; and that the President be immediately notified Senate's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 984, 1052, 1061, 1062, 1064, 1111, 1115, 1116, 1117, and 1118; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, introduced earlier today: S. Res. 744, S. Res. 745, and S. Res. 746.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 3606 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of

S. 4458 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Saturday, August 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 to resume consideration of the motion to discharge the Uhlmann nomination.

For the information of the Senators, Members should expect rollcall votes starting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

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, I understand that 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 proceeding.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, two sets of numbers show the winds blowing in the Democratic direction: first, the numbers revealed by the vote last night in the State of Kansas and, second, new polling data that shows how overwhelmingly popular the Inflation Reduction Act is in the minds of the American people. These numbers show winds blowing in Democrats' direction on the issue of choice and on the issue of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Today, I want to talk about both. So let me begin with last night's election in Kansas. Last night, in the American heartland, the people of Kansas sent an unmistakable message to MAGA Republican extremists: Back off women's fundamental rights. In the first vote on abortion rights since the MAGA Supreme Court's reprehensible decision to take away constitutional rights protected by Roe v. Wade--and which was cheered by many Republicans here in the Senate--voters in Kansas decided by a double-digit margin to preserve the freedom of choice in their State Constitution.

What happened in red Kansas last night is a reflection of what is happening across the country and what will continue to occur through the November elections. Voters are revolting against the extreme MAGA Republican policies that ban abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest and send women and doctors to jail.

Last night's election was also a dark reminder that MAGA Republicans are running the show within the GOP. Their views are spreading through the party like a cancer--views that are repugnant not only to most Americans but, as we saw last night, even to many Republican voters.

And Kansas was just the start. If it is going to happen in Kansas, it is going to happen in a whole lot of States. The strong pro choice turnout we saw last night in Kansas will continue well into the fall, and Republicans who side with these extremist MAGA policies that attack women's rights do so at their own political risk.

Mr. President, now on NATO, today the Senate will be voting on the resolution of ratification for the Finnish and Swedish applications to join NATO. This is a very important vote. The NATO vote is a very important vote for American security around the world.

Finland's and Sweden's membership will strengthen NATO even further and is all the more urgent given Russian aggression, given Putin's immoral and unjustified war in Ukraine. Putin is strengthening the NATO alliance, and nothing shows it better than the vote we will have this afternoon. With the vote, the Senate will come together in a bipartisan manner and bolster the Western alliance in the face of growing authoritarianism.

When Leader McConnell and I met with the Finnish President and the Swedish Prime Minister back in May, we made a commitment to get this done as quickly as possible before the August recess, and today we are keeping that commitment by working together.

Despite the differences between both sides, I have always said that when the opportunity arises, Democrats would be willing to work with Republicans in a bipartisan way to get things done. In the past few weeks, we have seen an amazing string of bipartisan achievements--a bipartisanship that hasn't been seen--with the passage of so many important bipartisan bills in such a short time.

Together, we secured a historic investment in American science and industry. We just passed the largest expansion of veterans' benefits in decades. We passed significant gun legislation. And, today, we will work together to bolster the NATO alliance.

So, again, under Democratic leadership, we want to work in a bipartisan way whenever we can, but when we can't, we will move forward on issues like climate and prescription drugs that we feel are very important, which I will talk about in a minute.

Finally, as I mentioned yesterday, I invited the Ambassadors and other diplomats from Finland and Sweden to join us in the Gallery during our debate and votes today. So let's get this done by this afternoon.

Mr. President, now, on the Inflation Reduction Act, this is the second place where the numbers that we read this morning show that the Democrats are on the move and that Republicans are in retreat.

Today's news provides another bevy of reminders of why the Inflation Reduction Act is not only bold and commonsense but is extremely popular with the American people.

This morning, five former Treasury Secretaries--including former Secretary Hank Paulson, who served under President George W. Bush-- released a statement praising the Inflation Reduction Act and urging Congress to move quickly to secure its passage. The bipartisan group wrote that the Inflation Reduction Act ``will help increase American competitiveness, address our climate crisis, lower costs for families, and fight inflation--and should be passed immediately by Congress.''

The bipartisan group of Treasury Secretaries also affirmed what Democrats have been saying for days: The Inflation Reduction Act will not--no matter how much our Republican colleagues argue to the contrary--increase taxes for any family making less than $400,000 a year.

Again, our proposals call for closing loopholes that have long enabled the biggest companies in America to avoid paying their fair share. And even former Republican Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is now calling on Congress to pass the Democratic agenda. He is in very good company. This morning, a poll by Navigator also showed the Inflation Reduction Act as overwhelmingly popular--overwhelmingly popular--in the minds of the American people.

According to this poll, 65 percent of Americans support the proposals in the bill, compared to only 24 percent who oppose. More than double the people support the act than oppose it. It includes 60 percent of Independent voters and even 40 percent of Republican voters. So America is on our side. They want us to pass this bill.

Now, contrast the Democrats' agenda to what we have been hearing from the other side. While Democrats want to make healthcare more affordable, just yesterday the junior Senator from Wisconsin argued that instead of strengthening Medicare and Social Security, we should put them on the chopping block.

Hear that, citizens of Wisconsin, citizens of America? The junior Senator from Wisconsin wants to put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block. He has argued that the benefits, which millions of Americans rely on every day, shouldn't be guaranteed but should be subject to partisan infighting here in Washington.

He would like to revoke the guarantee of Medicare and Social Security and make them discretionary. Well, you know what happens when we make things discretionary around here? All too often they get cut or even eliminated. We don't want to do that. But the Senator from Wisconsin said we should. So senior citizens of America, listen loud and clear: Senator Johnson called for making these programs discretionary.

For decades, they have not been. They have been programs that when you become 65, you get it. It is not up to the whims of one Congress or another.

So we will fight as hard as we can to prevent the Republicans, led by the Wisconsin junior Senator, from pulling out the rug from under seniors. We will fight the MAGA Republican politicians who want to gut these critical programs.

It is comments like these that show how out of touch the other side has become. While Republicans were perfectly willing to blow a $2 trillion hole in our deficit in order to give tax cuts to the ultrarich and to the big corporations, now some of them are saying Medicare and Social Security should no longer be guaranteed.

Of course, our Democratic proposal, the Inflation Reduction Act, is vastly different. We will protect healthcare. We will lower the price of prescription drugs and make energy cheaper while making the largest investment in clean energy ever.

These are things that Americans support. These are things that our country needs. And these are things that we are going to get done when we pass the Inflation Reduction Act in the coming days.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, since its creation over 70 years ago, no alliance in human history has done more to advance the cause of freedom and democracy than NATO.

Today, at a moment when democracy in Europe is under attack, as belligerent autocrats, like Putin, clamor for European dominance, the U.S. Senate is voting in overwhelming bipartisan fashion to approve Finland's and Sweden's accession to the NATO alliance. This is important substantively and as a signal to Russia that they cannot intimidate America or Europe.

(Applause.)

Thank you, Roger.

Putin has tried to use his war in Ukraine to divide the West. Instead, today's vote shows our alliance is stronger than ever.

I applaud the leaders of Sweden and Finland, who made a bold choice to depart from their long-held position with respect to NATO. I am confident they will be excellent partners in this alliance.

I thank Leader McConnell. Back in May, we met with the Finnish President and the Swedish Prime Minister and promised to approve their accession as quickly as possible. Today, we are keeping that promise.

I also want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for springing into action on this matter, especially Senator Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who did such a good job with his ranking member, Senator Risch, as well as Senators Shaheen and Tillis, who have been our leaders in reaching out to NATO, for their leadership roles. Senators Menendez and Risch ensured their committee acted quickly.

On a broader note, in the past few months, we have seen an amazing string of bipartisan achievements in this Chamber--achievements rarely seen in such fast succession. We passed the first gun safety bill in 30 years, approved the largest investment in U.S. science and technology in generations, gave veterans the largest expansion of benefits in decades, and today, we are strengthening the NATO alliance. All of this, every bit of this, was done on a bipartisan basis. I have always said this Senate Democratic majority would be willing to work with the other side whenever possible, and these past months have been some of those moments.

Finally, to the Swedish and Finnish diplomats who have worked for months to reach this moment, rest assured, you have many friends in this Chamber. We promise to get this done, and we will always, always stand by your side as allies defending each other.

I thank my colleagues for their work.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 1100, Roopali H. Desai, of Arizona, to be U.S. Circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit; that there be 10 minutes for debate, equally divided in the usual form, on the nomination; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate resume legislative session.