Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 895, 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 36.

I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 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.

Mr. President, I am just going to say a word about this resolution.

Ulysses Grant was an amazing human being. I became acquainted with him when I read the biography of Ulysses Grant written by Mr. Chernow, a Brooklyn resident, who was very eager for us to pass this. One of his crusades in life was to undo the smears against Ulysses Grant, often perpetrated by southern historians after we won the Civil War for the Union. And I commend to everybody Mr. Chernow's book. It is an amazing book.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate proceed to S. Res. 588.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 597, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 598, submitted earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that 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.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 599, which was submitted earlier today.

I further ask unanimous consent that 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.

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

Mr. President, 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, I return to the floor tonight with a happy announcement on the jobs and competition bill: We have reached an agreement with Republicans that clears the path to entering into a conference with the House.

Tomorrow, the Senate will hold two votes: one on cloture and one to approve our measure making the conference committee official.

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, we will then hold floor votes on 28 motions to instruct--8 from Democrats, 20 from Republicans.

Tonight's agreement is very good news for America, for good-paying jobs in America, for economic strength in America, for investments in the kinds of science and technology that will help us grow as a country and provide great futures for the next generation.

This bill represents the next major step forward towards finally sending a jobs and competition bill to the President's desk. Of course, I wish it would have happened much sooner; but, nevertheless, the time has come to move forward on this bill.

Let me add this: This will be the most votes on motions to instruct of any bill in decades--a sign of both the immense good will we have shown to our Republican colleagues and the fact that many Members on both sides of the aisle have a stake in seeing this bill finalized.

We have a lot of work left to do, but this agreement is a big step forward towards finally enacting the legislation to lower costs, bring manufacturing back to America, and strengthen our supply chains so we can keep our economy strong for decades.

I want to thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle who worked in good faith to reach this point.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if a compound motion to go forward to conference on Calendar No. 282, H.R. 4521, is agreed to and the Chair is authorized to appoint conferees, the following Senators be permitted to make a motion to instruct, the text of which is at the desk; that these be the only motions to instruct in order; further, that at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate vote in relation to the motions in the order listed; and that the only debate with respect to these motions be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the Lankford motion: Paul, Barrasso, Cruz, Menendez, Risch, Kelly, Lee, Blackburn, Cotton, Murkowski, Sullivan, Rubio, Johnson, Sanders on warrants, Scott of Florida, Hassan, Ernst, Lankford, Sanders on NASA, Cassidy on Mexico, Bennet, Warnock, Daines, Cassidy on college transparency, Capito, Toomey, Scott of South Carolina, Lujan.

Mr. President, it is my understanding that the Senate has received a message from the House of Representatives to accompany

Mr. President, I move that the Senate insist on its amendment to H.R. 4521, agree to the request of the House for conference, and authorize the Chair to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, April 27, be waived.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 28, 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 resume consideration of the House message to accompany H.R. 4521; further, that the cloture motion ripen at 12 noon; finally, that if cloture is invoked, the vote on the compound motion to go to conference occur at 1:45 p.m.

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

Mr. President, as we begin this 5-week work period, Senate Democrats' focus will remain the same as it has been since last year: fighting inflation and lowering costs for American families.

At times, we will pursue this goal through legislation, as has been the case with our competition bill, with legislation to reform shipping practices that we passed recently, or finding ways to lower prescription drug costs.

And to that end, today, the Agriculture Committee is also holding a hearing on legislation to improve transparency in meat prices.

In addition to legislation, Senate Democrats will also help lower costs by confirming the right people to serve in the Federal Government. On that note, we will aim today to finish the confirmation of Lael Brainard to serve as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Soon, the Senate will also work to confirm another very important nominee: Mr. Alvaro Bedoya to serve as Commissioner of the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission. Of all the Agencies in the Federal Government, the FTC is among the best equipped for protecting Americans from price gougers, manipulators, and those trying to rip off American consumers--or at least the FTC would be, if it had full membership. But, sadly, the FTC has been stuck at a 2-2 deadlock for well over a year, rendering it incapable of executing the full breadth of its agenda.

We have had two Democrats, two Republicans. The Republican nominees have resisted going after Big Oil and so many of the other excesses of corporate America. And who pays the price? In a very literal sense, it is American consumers as they see prices rise on everything from groceries to the number that pops up every time they fill up their tank.

But the story is grossly different in corporate America, and an FTC with full membership could shine a light as to why. While Americans across the board are making sacrifices to support themselves and their families, corporate America is raking in record profits.

As one article from Yahoo Finance summarized earlier this year, corporate America's 2021 profits were higher than ever.

Corporate America's profits were higher than ever.

Perhaps no sector has evoked more frustration and anger from the American people as the largest oil and gas companies and the prices they are charging.

Last year, the top 25 oil and gas companies reported $205 billion in profits. Where has that money gone? To help American consumers? No way. To ease our energy troubles? Not at all.

According to one news source yesterday, 28 of the largest oil and gas companies gave out $394 million in CEO compensation. And in the fourth quarter last year, stock buybacks among these companies rose by more than 2,000 percent--2,000 percent.

All this extra money they are making they put in the pockets of the CEOs and the wealthy shareholders who dominate in the oil company ownership. Just think about that. Americans are paying more and more at the pump and struggling to afford the basics, and oil companies, which are seeing their highest profits in years, prefer to reward executives and shareholders through corporate buybacks instead of American families.

Once we have an FTC with full membership, they will finally have the will, the means, and the power to look under the hood of America's energy sector and shine a much needed light on why Big Oil is pumping out record profits, even as consumers struggle.

So completing the membership of the FTC will be a priority, and we will work to finish the confirmation process of Mr. Bedoya as soon as we can.

Mr. President, on Ukraine, later this week, President Biden is expected to send Congress another request for emergency funding to support the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

When the President makes his request, the Senate should be ready to work quickly to approve this funding. Every penny of American aid has been money well spent.

This fight, in a real sense, is about tyranny versus democracy itself. It is a Manichaean struggle.

It has been 2 months since Vladimir Putin began his immoral and savage war against the Ukrainian people. You see the pictures; it breaks your heart. It breaks your heart; savagery--savagery--of Mr. Putin killing women and children, innocent people.

So far, though, things have gone disastrously for Russian troops as hopes for a quick invasion have been all but dashed. The Ukrainian people, forced into a war not of their choosing and having suffered losses of inhumane proportions, have given Putin a much tougher fight than he ever bargained for, than he ever imagined. Outnumbered and out- equipped, the bravery and valiance of the Ukrainian people remain unbroken. Putin, meanwhile, is increasingly the most isolated leader in the world. Although, parenthetically, shame on the world leaders who are playing footsie with him, including China.

But the Ukrainian people still need our help. Sadly, this fight seems far from over, and losses from the Ukrainian people have been severe.

The United States has a moral obligation to help the Ukrainian people with the tools they need for as long as they need them. Again, this is about tyranny versus democracy itself.

In which direction will the world turn in this, the 21st century?

Once the President makes his request to Congress, approving additional aid for Ukraine will be a must. I expect both sides to work with swift, bipartisan cooperation to get it done.

I also expect the Senate to move quickly on the nomination of President Biden's choice for our Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink. Ms. Brink's nomination is terrific news that comes at a critical moment. She is deeply experienced. She has already won bipartisan support in this Chamber and is very much needed as the United States seeks to strengthen our diplomatic ties to the war-torn nation. Ms. Brink's nomination will be a top priority of the Senate once she comes before the Chamber.

Mr. President, on COVID relief: finally, there is another issue in which Republicans must work with Democrats--passing another round of COVID relief.

COVID funding is not a matter of ``nice to have if we can afford it.'' COVID funding is a must-have. It is something our Nation cannot possibly afford to go without.

Yesterday, the White House made clear that other countries like Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam are already in front of us when it comes to purchasing new vaccines and treatments. American companies, with their ingenuity, come up with these vaccines and treatment; but because we are unwilling--our Republican colleagues so far have blocked financing this--other countries are going to buy from us.

We don't want to be in a position in the fall where we desperately need these medicines but our companies have signed contracts with other countries--other countries. That would be a huge mistake.

Given our Federal budget, it is a small amount to ask that we provide money for these therapeutics so that we can have them for our country, for our folks, as much as the rest of the world may need them, so that we have vaccines--the best vaccines--developed and ready to go and so we have enough testing and treatment.

But other countries are beating America to the punch because Republicans have blocked the Senate from approving new funding. The answer to avoiding another shutdown of our communities is very simple: Senate Republicans should work with us to quickly pass another round of COVID funding. It is not more complicated than that.

Let me say it again. If we want to keep life as close to normal down the line, if we want to keep schools and churches and businesses open if, God forbid, another aggressive variant arises, Republicans should work with us to approve more money for vaccines, testing, and lifesaving therapeutics.

The longer that Senate Republicans hold out on working with us to approve new funding, the higher the cost will be for our country down the line. And when we don't get back to normal, we can't stay at normal because of a new variant, people will know what happened.

God forbid that happens. We don't want it to happen. We want them to work with us; but, unfortunately, so far, we are not seeing that cooperation. From some we have, I must be clear. I had good discussions with several of our Republicans, but then it was blocked by the Republican leadership.

I yield the floor.