Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 11 a.m., Saturday, July 31; that following the prayer and pledge, the Executive Journal be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 333 as a further mark of respect for the late Carl M. Levin, former Senator for the State of Michigan, whom, I might add, we all dearly miss and dearly loved.

Madam President, well, as we all know, last night, the Senate voted by a substantial margin to move forward with a debate on a bipartisan infrastructure bill. I want to commend the group of Senators who worked with President Biden to reach a deal. The agreement will ultimately dedicate over a trillion dollars to strengthening virtually every major category of our country's fiscal infrastructure.

The vote last night also means that the Senate is on track to reach the two-track goal I laid out for this Chamber at the beginning of the month. The first track is the bipartisan bill focused on traditional, brick-and-mortar infrastructure projects. The second track is a budget reconciliation bill where Democrats will make historic investments in American jobs, American families, and efforts to fight climate change.

In order to start work on a reconciliation bill, the Senate must pass a budget resolution first, and we are on track for that as well.

It has been my goal to pass both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget resolution during this work period. Some pundits have called that a tall order. I understand that. But because of the vote last night, the Senate is now moving forward with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and we are on track to pass both elements of the two-track strategy before we adjourn for the August recess. It took some prodding and a few deadlines, but it all has worked out for the better.

I want to take a step back and explain why these two bills are so important at this moment. For the past 2 years at the end of the Trump Presidency, the country was angry, divided, plagued by COVID, and our economy was stuck in the muck. The COVID washed over our country like a plague and was met by staggering incompetence from the Trump administration. America was sick, dying, and our economy was in shambles.

The discovery of the vaccine played no small part in our country's recovery. We Democrats pushed early on, last February and March--not this past one but a year ago--to increase funding for BARDA. Even then, the Trump administration was sort of being stingy about that money, but we got the money done. And the vaccine, as I said, played no small part in our country's recovery.

But elections have consequences. I say that to the American people. Elections have consequences. When we ran as Senate Democrats, when President Biden ran, we promised we would get the vaccines out; we would get the country's economy moving again; we would give hope to the middle class and those struggling to get to the middle class, where hope had been a distant and hazy frame on their horizon previously.

The Biden administration came in. We came in as a Senate majority. We immediately set to work beating the pandemic, with a relentless focus on getting the country vaccinated and getting our country back to normal.

Congressional Democrats swiftly passed the bold, strong American Rescue Plan, one of the largest Federal packages in American history, to keep

families, businesses, and workers afloat until the country could reopen. And we have done that. Six months into the Biden administration and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, the country has stabilized.

This morning--this morning--it was reported that in the second quarter, the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 6.5 percent, erasing all of the losses from the COVID pandemic. It happened a lot quicker and a lot sooner than many anticipated.

Let me repeat that because it is great news. Under President Biden and Democratic House and Senate majorities, the economy recovered so fast this year that we have already erased the losses in growth that we experienced as a result of the COVID pandemic. That is very good news.

It certainly doesn't mean every family is back on their feet yet. It certainly doesn't mean our work is complete. But the American economy is back. It is thriving and set for even brighter days ahead.

Again, elections have consequences. There is such a difference between the bumbling, nasty, divisive last 2 years of the Trump administration and a new Democratic majority in the House and the Senate and a Democratic President.

Vaccines are out there, as we promised to get them. There are still some people resisting taking a vaccine. They should. We have had some resistance even from ideological rightwingers, which is just awful. Vaccines are out there.

Money has been pumped into the economy through the ARP, and things are moving forward, but now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Now is the time to press forward to cement these gains and build on them. We must continue encouraging vaccinations. We must keep a very close eye on the Delta variant and take necessary precautions. But we also must address the underlying structural economic conditions that held back the middle class and those trying to get there even before the pandemic.

The American dream--that if you work hard, you will be doing better 10 years from now than you are doing today and your kids will be doing still better than you--was fading for the last 20 years. If you look at the economic statistics, they show that that dimmer view the American people had was accurate in terms of economic circumstances.

But now we need to get bright and sunny again. We need to return to the bright, sunny American optimism that has been so much a part of our character for more than two centuries. And how do we do it? We don't just sit on our hands. We don't just say: Let businesses take care of it. They won't. They have a different mission.

A massive investment in public infrastructure will create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. That is just what the doctor ordered. And we need to go beyond that to restore that bright, sunny optimism. We need to help American families keep up with the exorbitant costs of childcare, healthcare, housing, college, and more. We need to press on and fight to reverse climate change because, as bad as COVID was, if we do nothing about climate change, a few years from now, each year will be worse than COVID, and each year after that will get worse and worse and worse. If we do nothing, people several years from now--even people now will say: Why didn't we do more? We Democrats want to do more on climate. We must.

The numbers show that the American economy has gotten back to where it was prior to COVID. Now is the time to go further and build back even better than before. We Democrats, when we can in a bipartisan way but on our own when our Republican colleagues are adamantly against us, we will move forward on both tracks--both tracks.

I am proud of my Democratic caucus, every one of them voting yesterday for this bill and all pledging to go forward on the second track as well.

Madam President, on another matter, even during normal times, protecting the U.S. Capitol is a difficult job. Millions of people visit the U.S. Capitol every single year. Five hundred and thirty-five elected officials and their staffs work here every single day. To keep the Capitol Complex safe, to keep it secure, we are lucky to have the best of the best.

Our Capitol Police, who stared down a violent mob on January 6, have been nothing short of heroic--heroic. When the smoke cleared after the attack of January 6, they came back to the Capitol and helped piece together what the rioters had torn apart. In the aftermath of that dark day, the National Guard helped keep watch day and night, 24-7.

I walked the halls of this building early in the morning and saw our National Guard men and women, from New York and so many other States, camped out, helping us, wanting to make sure the Capitol was secure. We owe the Capitol Police and we owe the National Guard our deepest gratitude, but we owe them more than just that. We owe them the resources they need to do a very difficult job and to do it well.

Unfortunately, Congress is on the precipice of failing. Due to unforeseen expenses during the pandemic and the toll incurred by the attack on January 6, funding for our Capitol Police, security at the Capitol Complex, even our National Guard, has come close to running very dry.

Already, the Capitol Police has had to delay vital trainings and the purchase of new safety equipment. Soon, salaries, bonuses, and new hiring will be on the chopping block. According to MG Tom Carden, who sent 1,200 members of the Georgia National Guard to the Capitol after January 6, his unit is facing ``draconian'' cuts if Congress doesn't replenish funding before this weekend. We must not--we must not--let that happen under our watch.

The chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy, has been working diligently to come up with a bipartisan agreement. Now, Senator Shelby has joined with him, and they have crafted a $2.1 billion supplemental appropriations bill to fill the shortfalls of our Capitol Police, our National Guard, and a number of other vital defense operations. It is not everything that we wanted. The House's bill is bigger and broader. But it does fill the need, and we need to fill it quickly.

I want to thank Senator Leahy particularly for his relentlessness in pursuing this.

I want to thank Senator Shelby for realizing how important this was in prodding Members on his side of the aisle to move forward.

I also want to thank Senators Klobuchar and Blunt, chairmen of the authorization committee, the Rules Committee, that deals with these issues. Senator Klobuchar in particular, whose hearings and continued focus on Capitol security helped pave the way for the agreement, deserves our kudos.

Now is the time for the Senate to take up and pass this bill on behalf of the brave police officers and servicemembers who defended this very citadel of democracy.

All 50 Senate Democrats fully support this crucial police and security funding. All 50 Democrats are ready to go. We are eager, insistent we meet our deadline.

Again, Democrats are prepared to vote on this bill as soon as possible. With the cooperation of our Republican colleagues, which we hope we will get--our needs are dire--we could pass this bill today.

The last 6 months have pushed those who protect the U.S. Capitol to the limits. In the face of unprecedented adversity, they responded heroically. We must support them now as they so courageously supported us.

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.

I ask that I be allowed to speak for a few minutes, do my unanimous consent, and then go right to Senator Shelby.

Mr. President, first, I want to just give my great thanks to Senator Leahy and Senator Shelby for bringing this vote here right now. The bottom line is very simple: This wasn't easy to get done. A UC on these kinds of issues should be easy, but it is not. Senator Leahy persisted and persisted and persisted, and I want to thank him as well.

Senator Shelby persuaded the Members on his side that we had to move, and they have come up with a good compromise. It is not everything our side wanted, but it is very good.

I also want to thank Senator Klobuchar and Senator Blunt. Their work on the authorizing committee, the Rules Committee, helped pave the way for this, with all the information they brought out, and they deserve a lot of credit.

Now, look, to keep the Capitol Complex safe and secure, we are lucky to have the best of the best. As I said earlier today, our Capitol Police risk their lives for us. They go all out for us. They are really, really important. The National Guard went all out for us, too, on that fateful day and then for months afterwards. I remember walking through the halls early in the morning, thanking them as they were bivouacked out through the Capitol Visitor Center and everything else.

Now we are about to run out of money. Already, the Capitol Police have forgone some of the things that they usually do in terms of training, in terms of other types of activities, and soon, salaries, bonuses, and new hiring will be on the chopping block. Similarly, many of our National Guard units from around the country that sent troops here, soldiers here, men and women here, are running out of money.

We can't let that happen. So passing this amendment is living up to our responsibility to keep this grand Capitol safe, this temple of democracy, this citadel of democracy safe, and to make sure that the people who risk their lives for us and protect us get the help they need.

It shouldn't have taken this long, but here we are, and I am glad we are on the floor.

Unanimous Consent Agreement--H.R. 3237

Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, following consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 63, H.R. 3237; that the only amendments in order be the following: the Leahy-Shelby substitute, No. 2123, and the Cotton amendment to the Leahy substitute, No. 2124; that there be 6 minutes for debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees; that upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate vote in relation to the Cotton and Leahy amendments; that if a budget point of order is raised and a motion to waive is made, the Senate vote on the motion to waive; and that if waived, the bill, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage of the bill.

One more point. I hope this will be unanimous. It is hard for me to believe that any Member would not want to support our Capitol Police. For Members to take umbrage at the Capitol Police when they did their job and protected us for some kind of crazy ideological reason would be disgraceful. I hope there will be a unanimous vote for this.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the agreement now be executed.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Senator Leahy.

Thank you, Senator Shelby.

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

Now, Mr. President, with respect to infrastructure, Senators continue to make good progress on both tracks of legislation. Members should be prepared to vote again on cloture on the motion to proceed to the bipartisan infrastructure bill as early as tonight.

Mr. President, on another matter, yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Chairman, Senator Leahy, announced a bipartisan agreement to provide $2.1 billion in emergency supplemental funding to support the Capitol Police, reimburse our National Guard, and make sure all the critical functions of the Capitol Complex are properly funded.

The toll of January 6 and the impact of COVID had meant that funding for the Capitol Police, the Capitol Complex, and even for our National Guard was running low.

Capitol Police have been forced to cancel critical training and health services and have had to hold off on buying new, potentially lifesaving gear, like helmets and body armor and respirators.

Thankfully, the bipartisan agreement between the chair and ranking member of the Appropriations Committee will replenish these critical funds and support the hard-working men and women who keep this building, Senators, staff, media, and Capitol employees safe.

I was pleased to hear the Republican leader support this supplemental appropriations bill this morning, and I look forward to working with our Republican colleagues to swiftly passing this legislation through the Senate.

And I must give accolades to the Rules Committee, led by Senators Klobuchar and Blunt. Their hearings and focus on this issue--the safety of the Capitol--has helped pave the way for the agreement, and we thank them for their continued diligence.

Mr. President, now, one final matter, by the end of today, the Senate will confirm two nominees on the NLRB, the National Labor Relations Board: Gwynne Wilcox and David Prouty. Both are champions for working Americans.

Ms. Wilcox, who hails from my home State of New York--I am proud to say--has spent her career representing workers and unions seeking to exercise their rights to organize. She is one of the Nation's leading experts on labor law, and if confirmed, she would make history as the first African-American woman to ever serve on the NLRB.

Like Ms. Wilcox, David Prouty has also spent a lifetime defending the rights of organized labor across the country, recently serving as the general counsel of the SEIU, one the Nation's largest unions.

Over the course of American history, the labor movement has been the single most powerful force in lifting Americans out of poverty and into the middle class. It was by coming to this country and joining a union that my grandfather entered the middle class and passed on even more opportunity to his children and then to me and my brother and sister.

So it is no mistake that as labor union participation has declined over the past few decades, wages have stalled as well, and folks are finding it harder and harder to stay in the middle class.

If we are going to strengthen the backbone of the middle class, we need to reinvigorate the labor movement and protect the rights of workers everywhere to organize and bargain collectively for their wages. Appointing these two labor champions to the NLRB is a great way to start.

And, to the American people, the confirmation today of these two NLRB labor champions is a direct result of having a Democratic majority in the Senate versus having a Republican majority.

Under Leader McConnell and Republicans, the NLRB, which is typically divided between two parties, had only Republican appointees for the first time in its 85-year history. None of them had any experience in labor policy. They are almost atavistically against working people and helped management--the big bosses--to prevent people from organizing and making it harder to stay organized if you were. It was awful, and it is one of the reasons that middle-class incomes have not accelerated in the last 2 decades.

In fact, the Republicans were so intent on not having the NLRB defend the rights of working people that under Leader McConnell a Democratic seat on the NLRB was held vacant for nearly 3 years. If the American people want to know which side each party is on, just look at the NLRB: Democrats appointing pro-labor people who fight for higher salaries, higher pensions, higher health benefits; Republicans making sure the NLRB doesn't function and allowing the big bosses to take a dominant role in negotiations with their workers.

Even during the years when President Trump was in the White House and Republicans had a majority on the NLRB, Leader McConnell blocked Democrats from appointing a minority member to the Board. They didn't want a minority member on the Board even though they would have the majority, the Republicans. It is not a stretch to say if Democrats had not taken the majority in January, these important posts to the NLRB might never have been filled.

So, look, Senate Democrats are working with the Biden Administration to make sure the National Labor Relations Board does what it is intended to do: stand up for working Americans; make sure they have a much better chance of getting better wages, better benefits, better pensions. I look forward to confirming these two outstanding nominees later today.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which the cloture vote failed on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3684.

Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the cloture failed on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3684.

Mr. President, I want to commend the group of Senators who worked with President Biden to reach an agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure bill. The Senate has just come together and, in a strong bipartisan fashion, voted to begin the legislative process here on the Senate floor.

For the past few months, I have laid out a two-track strategy on infrastructure: a bipartisan bill, focused on traditional, brick-and- mortar infrastructure projects, and a budget reconciliation bill, where Democrats plan to make historic investments in American jobs, American families, and efforts to fight climate change.

In order to start work on a reconciliation bill, the Senate must pass a budget resolution first. As I have said repeatedly, our goal was to pass both bills in this session--hopefully, in July.

My goal remains to pass both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget resolution during this work period--both.

It might take some long nights. It might eat into our weekends. But we are going to get the job done, and we are on track.

Again, the vote tonight means we are on track to reach our two-track goal before the Senate adjourns for the August recess

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m., Thursday, July 29; 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 motion to proceed to H.R. 3684, with all time during adjournment of the Senate counting postcloture on the motion to proceed.

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, I thank my good friend, the senior Senator from the great State of Vermont.

I, too, feel so badly about Senator Enzi's unfortunate passing. We received the very sad news this morning that Mike Enzi had passed away from injuries sustained on a bicycle accident.

He was only 7 months into his retirement, after four terms in the Senate and decades--decades--of service to his home State of Wyoming.

We will remember him as we remembered him upon his departure from this Chamber, as a kind and gentle man, as a practical legislator, someone who sought common ground and was willing to leave strained disagreements for another day. He was forceful, he was principled, but he was also gentle, a rare and unusual combination and much needed in this body.

He lived by a simple creed, given to him by his mother, that adorned his office, and he shared it with his staff: Do what you think is right; do your best; and treat others the way they wish to be treated.

Upon his retirement, those were the values he asked the Senate to remember him by. At the news of his unexpected passing, those are the values we will carry on in his memory. I offer my condolences to his wife Diana and to former Senator Enzi's entire family

Mr. President, now on another matter, Senate business, as Senators continue to finalize the text of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement, the Senate will process several nominations to the executive branch. Today, we will confirm Todd Kim to serve as the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Justice Department, and, tomorrow, the Senate will vote on two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, who I know will defend the rights and help deal with the rights of working people, so much needed today when there has been such an assault on labor and on working people in America.

Now, the votes of these nominees will in no way interfere with my ability to reconsider the vote on the motion to proceed to a debate on infrastructure. We are making good progress on both tracks: the bipartisan infrastructure and the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions. And, to reiterate, Senators should prepare to work through the weekend in order to finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill.