Floor Statements

Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the failed cloture vote.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for evidence in a criminal action pending in Ohio State court. In this action, the defendant is charged with inducing panic and aggravated menacing at a Social Security office arising out of threatening statements he allegedly made in a telephone call with an employee in Senator Portman's Columbus, OH, office.

Trial in this case is scheduled to commence on July 28, 2022, in Ohio State court. The prosecutor is seeking testimony at trial from Aidan Gavin, an employee in the Senator's office who received the call at issue. Senator Portman would like to cooperate with this request by providing relevant Senate employee testimony and, if necessary, documents.

This resolution would authorize the production of relevant testimony and documents from Mr. Gavin, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

Mr. President, another criminal trial arising out of the events of January 6, 2021, is scheduled to begin on August 15, 2022, in Federal district court in the District of Columbia. The defendant in this case is charged with five counts: obstructing the counting by Congress of the electoral ballots for President and Vice President; entering and remaining in a restricted area within the United States Capitol grounds; unlawful parading, demonstrating, and picketing; and two counts of engaging in disorderly and disruptive conduct.

The prosecution has requested trial testimony, if necessary, from Jeffrey Kent, Director of the Press Photographers' Gallery, which operates under the authority of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, relating to the Gallery's regulation of access to the Capitol by bona fide news photographers and heads of photographic news bureaus.

The prosecution is also seeking trial testimony, if necessary, from Nate Russell and Diego Torres, custodians of records in the Senate Recording Studio, which also operates under the authority of the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, to authenticate Senate Recording Studio video of that day.

Senate Sergeant at Arms Gibson would like to cooperate with these requests by providing relevant testimony in this proceeding from Messrs. Kent, Russell, and Torres, respectively.

In keeping with the rules and practices of the Senate, this resolution would authorize the production of relevant testimony from Messrs. Kent, Russell, and Torres, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

Mr. President, this morning--this morning--the Senate will draw a clear line in the sand that America's chip crisis and America's dwindling commitment to science and innovation will not continue under our watch. Within the next hour, the Senate will vote, finally--finally--to move toward final passage of our CHIPS and Science bill. That is what we are calling it, the CHIPS and Science bill. That will put us in a position to finish the work on this bill before the end of the week. It is a major step for our economic security, our national security, our supply chains, and, in fact, for America's future--for America's future.

I want to be clear. The proposal we are passing this week contains the majority of key science and innovation measures that the Senate passed last summer. It will make historic investments to scientific research. It will take direct aim at our Nation's chip crisis. Alongside the infrastructure law and our recent gun safety bill, among others, it is one of the most consequential bipartisan achievements of this Congress. I thank all of my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle who are helping to make this happen.

I am confident that future generations will look back on the passage of this CHIPS and Science bill as a turning point for American leadership in the 21st century, but it didn't come together overnight. The legislation has been several years in the making.

In 2019, I approached my Republican colleague Todd Young with a proposal

to work together on legislation to revive America's commitment to science and innovation. Together, we drafted the first iteration of many policies we are passing this week, the Endless Frontier Act.

A year later, I joined with my colleagues Senators Cornyn and Warner to push for the authorization of new Federal chips initiatives as part of the NDAA to address our Nation's growing chip shortage.

We all knew that America faced a choice: We could keep underfunding science and innovation and continue to let America fall behind our global competitors, or we could wake up to the challenges of this century and empower the American people to unleash the next wave of discovery and scientific achievement. We knew that if we didn't get there first, our rivals--chief among them the Chinese Communist Party-- would likely beat us to the punch and reshape the world in their authoritarian image.

In February of 2021, less than a month after I became majority leader, I directed the chairs and members of our relevant committees to start drafting a legislative package to outcompete China and create new American jobs, with the Endless Frontier Act serving as the core of this effort. I also instructed them to draft legislation to rebuild the capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry. The pandemic made clear with unforgiving clarity how America's chip shortage was creating a crisis in our economy and national security.

So Members on both sides of the aisle--this has been a bipartisan effort from the get-go--got to work. We made a commitment last February that if both sides worked together, we would bring a bill to the floor for a vote in the spring. And that is what we did, and we passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act with overwhelming bipartisan support in June of 2021.

A year later, the legislation we are passing this week has many of the same important measures contained in the bill we worked on last summer. For example, last year's bill secured historic investments for science and innovation. This bill does too.

Last year's bill offered tens of billions to encourage American chip manufacturing and R&D. This bill does that too and even more with the investment tax credit provisions.

Last year's bill provided funding to help build a wireless communications supply chain to counter Huawei. This bill does too.

Last year's bill created the National Science Foundation tech directorate and provided funding to the Department of Energy National Labs to help compete with foreign rivals in key technologies like AI and quantum computing. This bill does too.

Last year's bill made major new investments in Manufacturing USA and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to strengthen domestic supply chains. This bill does too.

Last year's bill created the first-ever program to cultivate the tech hubs of tomorrow in regions around the United States that have enormous potential but have largely been overlooked--not the big megalopolises which have a lot of tech in them, like New York City and San Francisco, but smaller regions that have great talent but have been overlooked. They might be in Upstate New York. They might be in Indiana and many other parts of the country. This bill is making sure that happens.

Now, let me be clear. While this bill contains the two major components of the Science and CHIPS bill, there are other major proposals from both sides that are still being worked on in the conference committee. Make no mistake that there are many Democrats and Republicans who have provisions that will be contained in the conference report under Chair Cantwell's leadership, and it is my intention to put the conference committee bill on the floor of the Senate.

As I said a moment ago, I firmly believe that passing this bill will be a turning point for American leadership in this century. The benefits of this legislation will reverberate across the country for years and decades to come.

For much of the 20th century, America was without peer in our commitment to scientific research, to innovation, and to new, cutting- edge manufacturing, and it led to tens of millions of good-paying jobs and made the United States the unquestioned economic leader of the world.

Today, the story is different. Nations around the world are spending tens of billions of dollars to secure this century, much like America secured the last one. Sadly, the Federal Government's commitment to science has waned in recent decades. In fact, as a percentage of GDP, we spend less than half as much as the Chinese Communist Party on basic research--less than half--which is even more devastating given China has spent decades stealing America's intellectual property.

With this bill, that is finally going to change. We will not only create the good-paying jobs of tomorrow; we will not only fix our supply chains and bring costs down for American families with this bill; with this bill, we will reawaken the spirit of discovery, innovation, invention, and optimism that made America the envy of the world.

We don't mean to let the days of American leadership end on our watch. We don't mean to see America become a middling nation in this century. We mean for America to lead this century. For that reason, I urge my colleagues to give a resounding vote ``yes'' on cloture at 11 a.m. today.

PACT Act

Mr. President, now on the PACT Act, last night, I filed cloture to prepare the Senate to once again pass the PACT Act, the largest and most important expansion of veteran healthcare benefits in decades and a bipartisan issue to the core--another bipartisan issue.

As my colleagues already know, because of a technical error, the House of Representatives was unable to take up our version of the bill that we passed in the spring. The House has now fixed their error and returned the PACT Act back to the Senate. We want to finish our work on the PACT Act before the end of the week.

Our Nation's veterans have waited long enough to get the benefits they need to treat complications from toxic exposure in the line of duty. So we have every reason in the world to get this bill done quickly, with the same bipartisan support as the first time around.

The need for the PACT Act is beyond question. Burn pits have affected up to 3\1/2\ million veterans since 9/11. Yet the VA has rejected nearly 80 percent of all disability claims connected to burn pits. That is unacceptable and must change.

I hope Members work together to fast-track this bill as soon as possible because there is no reason to delay a measure that the vast majority of Senators from both parties agree is necessary. Our veterans, their families, and our veterans service organizations have been urging us to finish work on this bill. Let's keep our promise to those valiant servicemembers and send the PACT Act quickly to the President's desk.

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 ask unanimous consent that at 11 a.m. the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to concur with respect to H.R. 4346, the CHIPS and Science legislation.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, the Senate gavels back in for another busy week of an exceedingly busy work period. There is a lot we must continue working on to lower costs for the American people; strengthen healthcare and prescription drug costs, make sure they are low; confirm highly qualified nominees; protect our fundamental rights; and fortify U.S. national security interests. None of this is easy, but we are moving ahead.

In a few hours, the Senate will take another important step towards finally passing our bipartisan chips and innovation bill by voting to invoke cloture.

After more than a year of hard work on fixing U.S. chip supplies and boosting American scientific innovation, we are on the brink of closing the book and passing these critical investments into law.

If cloture is invoked, Members should plan to vote on final passage as early as tomorrow evening or Wednesday.

When signed into law, the impacts of this bipartisan chips and innovation bill will last years, if not decades. It will mean an increase in American jobs, increased manufacturing here at home, relief for our supply chains, and lower costs for the American people.

Of course, we will also preserve America's security interests. One of the most important struggles of this century will be the fight for global semiconductor supply. Sadly, America is lagging behind. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Chinese Communist Party is planning 31 major semiconductor fabs planned over the next few years in a bid to become the world's leader in new chip factories. American chip producers are working hard to match this output, but they are waiting for Congress to finish work on this bill. Tens of billions of dollars and countless good-paying jobs are at stake. For that reason, I am glad we are close to pushing this bill over the goal line.

Of course, there is a lot more to celebrate about this bill. The bipartisan science provisions--many of which I authored in partnership with Senator Young under the Endless Frontier Act more than 2 years ago--will unleash a new wave of American scientific innovation that will last and create millions of good-paying jobs for decades to come.

We will invest tens of billions to strengthen the National Science Foundation and plant seeds to cultivate the tech hubs of tomorrow in regions of the country that have tremendous potential but have long been overlooked. When we invest in science jobs, that will keep America No. 1.

For decades, the United States was consistently the world leader in innovation and scientific research because we made the investments necessary to stay on top, and the result was millions and millions of good-paying jobs that made us the strongest economy on Earth, the envy of the world. In the last decade, unfortunately, we have slipped from our place on the mountaintop. This bill will help us recapture that goal and that dream.

The 21st century will be won or lost on the battleground of technological innovation. This is perhaps the most competitive era in human history. Will American workers, will American tech, will American ingenuity shape the world over the next hundred years in the same way that we have shaped it in the last hundred?

I believe we can. I believe we must. When we pass this bill, I believe we will. Let's move forward today.

Healthcare

Madam President, now on healthcare reforms and reconciliation: Senate Democrats continue our work to advance legislation that will lower costs and improve the lives of tens of millions of American families.

Last week, Democrats and Republicans held our bipartisan prescription drugs Byrd bath meetings with the Parliamentarian. As a reminder, this important preliminary step will clear the way for passing our reforms through the reconciliation process. I want to thank Chairs Wyden, Sanders, and Murray and the tireless work of their Finance, Budget, and HELP Committee staffs for working around the clock on this important effort.

If you want to fight inflation, then you should support passing this much needed proposal on lowering prescription drug costs. Here is why: For the first time ever, we will empower Medicare to negotiate the price of many expensive and vital prescription drugs, directly lowering what patients and taxpayers pay for these drugs. We will cap Americans' out-of-pocket drug expenses to $2,000 a year. Medicare will offer free vaccines and additional support for the low-income elderly. And, crucially, we will ensure that millions don't see their healthcare premiums skyrocket in the coming months.

Let me say it again because it is key, and I say it to our Republican colleagues across the aisle. If you want to help Americans better afford their healthcare and medications, then you should support passing this bill.

United States citizens pay more, on average, for prescription drugs than any other people on Earth, all for the exact same medicines that other countries use. The Democratic plan will finally help change that.

Too many in this country find themselves in the confounding indignity of having to choose between getting their prescription drugs filled or putting food on the table for their families. The Democrats' plan will finally help change that.

And even as working Americans struggle to afford high-quality healthcare and medications, the Nation's largest pharmaceutical companies face little accountability for jacking up prices on consumers. Again, the Democrats' plan will help change that.

For months, we have heard Republicans complain and complain about the need to lower costs for the American people. Well, Democrats will present the Senate with a proposal that will do precisely that in a very big way. What will they choose on the other side of the aisle? Will they work with us to lower the costs for prescription medications? Will they shore up our healthcare system and prevent devastating price hikes? Will they finally join us holding Big Pharma accountable?

This isn't complicated. Senators can vote to lower costs, or they can vote for higher costs. The American people will be watching.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, today, the Senate had planned to move

forward to end the debate on the bipartisan chips and innovation bill. Unfortunately, a number of severe thunderstorms on the East Coast have disrupted the travel plans of a significant number of Senators. To give Members a chance to get back into town safely, I am going to delay tonight's vote on the bipartisan chips and innovation bill until tomorrow morning. I remain hopeful that we can remain on track to finish this legislation ASAP.

PACT Act of 2022

Madam President, in the meantime, I will now file cloture on another bill that will dramatically improve the lives of millions of American veterans, the PACT Act, which, when signed into law, will be one of the biggest expansions of veterans' healthcare benefits in decades.

As my colleagues already know, because of a technical error, the House of Representatives was unable to take up our version of this bill that we passed in the spring. The House has now fixed their error and has returned the PACT Act back to the Senate. By filing cloture, we should be able to pass this bipartisan piece of legislation before the week is done.

Our nation's veterans have waited long enough to get the benefits they need to treat complications from toxic exposure in the line of duty. So we have every reason in the world to get this bill done with the same bipartisan support as the first time around.

Again, I want to thank particularly Senators Tester and Moran, who led the way to pass this bill earlier this year, thank all of our colleagues and our veterans and veterans service organizations for helping push this bill through Congress.

Unanimous Consent Agreement--H.R. 4346

Madam President, now I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote with respect to H.R. 4346 occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader.

For the information of the Senate, we expect the cloture vote with respect to the CHIPS and science legislation to occur around 11 o'clock a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, July 26.

Cloture Motion

Now, Madam President, I have a cloture motion to the motion to concur at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, July 25, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3359 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

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.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26; 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 resume consideration of the House message to accompany S. 3373; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

The cloture vote in relation to CHIPS and Science is expected at 11 a.m., for the information of Members. Please be here.

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

Madam President, over the last few decades, Americans' views on cannabis legalization have dramatically, dramatically changed. Twenty years ago, less than a third of Americans believed that cannabis should be made legal. Today, that share is nearly 70 percent of the population, the highest level of support ever.

We can see this shift playing out in the States. Nearly 90 percent of Americans live in a State that has legalized cannabis for either medical or adult recreational use. New York legalized cannabis in 2021. And even voters in deep-red South Dakota voted to legalize it for adult recreational use.

Cannabis legalization has proven immensely successful at the State level so it is time that Congress catches up with the rest of the country.

Last year, Senators Wyden, Booker, and I released a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act. After receiving more than 1,800 public comments and working with numerous Senate committees to improve the bill, today we are introducing this historic legislation.

I am proud to be the first majority leader ever to say that it is time to end the Federal prohibition on cannabis, and this bill provides the best framework for updating our cannabis laws and reversing decades of harm inflicted by the War on Drugs.

I have had many productive conversations with my Republican and Democratic colleagues about cannabis reform, and I look forward to working with Members from both sides of the aisle to secure support for this bill.

Our bill will legalize cannabis by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act, empowering States to create their own cannabis laws instead. It

will establish a robust regulatory system to protect public health and ensure that cannabis is as safe as possible. It includes rules to prevent impaired driving, prevent youth access, and prevent illegal diversion. We also robustly fund a variety of research programs to make up for lost time when it comes to cannabis research.

So important, our bill will also expunge the Federal criminal records of people with convictions for nonviolent cannabis offenses and allow those in Federal prison for nonviolent cannabis offenses to appeal their sentences.

It is a tragedy--tragedy--that far too many Americans, particularly Black and Hispanic Americans, have permanent blocks on their record, making it nearly impossible to move forward with their lives just because they were arrested with a little marijuana in their pocket. How unfair and what a waste of human resources.

Our bill will also establish an Opportunity Trust Fund to reinvest in communities that have been devastated by the War on Drugs. And it will create opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses to legitimately pursue new opportunities in the growing cannabis industry.

And, of course, underlying it all, this bill is about individual freedom and basic fairness. The fact that cannabis remains a schedule I controlled substance--in the same bad company of other drugs like heroin--is not just senseless; it is deeply harmful for countless Americans--again, almost always people of color--and it impinges on the freedom of all of us. If this is working in all the States, why not let people use it?

We need to change that. We need to change the lack of freedom and fairness. We need to create opportunities for entrepreneurs to legitimately pursue new opportunities, and comprehensive Federal cannabis legislation is critical to reaching that goal.

I want to extend my deep appreciation to Senators Booker and Wyden as well as all of my colleagues who have worked with us on this important and long-overdue change. I want to thank Senators Murray and Senator Peters and all the chairs of the more than 10 Senate committees who worked with us over the past several years to significantly improve the bill from the discussion draft we released last year. This bill would not be possible without the hard work of them and their staffs.

I want to stress that this is the beginning of the legislative process, not the end. We are going to work hard to create support for our bill, and I hope we can make more progress toward cannabis reform in the future. I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans to get something done this year.

Madam 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 yield the floor.

Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate the message to accompany S. 3373.

I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 3373.

I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 3373 with an amendment.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment at the desk.

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

I move to refer S. 3373 to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

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

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I have a second-degree amendment at the desk.

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

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, before I begin, I want to say something about the House-passed Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine marriage equality into Federal law, which I fully and strongly support.

This legislation is so important. I was really impressed by how much bipartisan support it got in the House. It passed 267 to 157. Forty- seven Republicans--about a quarter, a little less than a quarter of their caucus; maybe a fifth--voted for the bill. The legislation is so important.

I spoke to Senator Baldwin, who is one of the leaders of this legislation in the Senate, this morning, and she is talking to Republicans to see where the support is. I want to bring this bill to the floor, and we are working to get the necessary Senate Republican support to ensure it would pass.

Madam President, now on the chips bill, last night, the Senate passed a critical threshold on our way to passing major legislation to lower costs, increase manufacturing, strengthen supply chains, and preserve American competitiveness in the 21st century.

I want everyone to note the final margin of last night's vote: 64 to 34. That is a clear signal that after a lot of hard work and after a lot of compromise from both sides, the path is clear for this chips- plus bill to reach final passage. This has been bipartisan work in the Senate at its best, just as we saw previously with bills ranging from gun safety to hate crimes, to infrastructure, to VAWA and so much more.

I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for voting in favor of moving forward on this critical bill.

For the information of all, today I plan to file cloture on this legislation, which after last night's vote includes incentives for domestic microchip production, including ITC; support for our wireless communication supply chain, ORAN; and the science package, which includes many of the provisions I authored in the Endless Frontier Act in partnership with Senator Young 2 years ago. It has been a long struggle to get these vital pieces of legislation moving forward, and now they are.

I hope we can get this legislation approved as soon as possible because now it is clear it has enough support to pass this Chamber.

For all the many good things the bill does, the most important is that this legislation will help our country fight inflation in the long run. People are asking about inflation, as they should. This bill will help. America's chip shortage, exacerbated by the pandemic, has sent tremors across the entire economy and caused prices for all sorts of electronic goods to go up and up and up, and not only for electronic goods--cars, appliances, phones. But with this bill, we can make America a major chip producer once again, which will help ease pressures on our supply chains, strengthen our national security, and generate another wave of American economic activity for years to come.

Thanks to last night's robust vote, we will also move forward on the science provisions that many of us have worked on very hard to pass into law. We will increase funding for the National Science Foundation and invest billions to develop new tech hubs around the country in areas that haven't had the benefit of new tech employment. This will all help America lead the way in developing technologies of tomorrow. Many more dollars than ever before are going into the cutting-edge technologies--AI, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, quantum computing, cyber security, 5G, and so much more. When we invest in the science here, we create millions of new, good-paying jobs and ensure that America will be the leader in these cutting-edge issues, which will dominate the 21st-century economy.

For the sake of lowering costs, for the sake of American jobs, and for the sake of our national security interests, let's pass this bill as soon as we can. And that is my intention.