Floor Statements

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

I wish everyone a nice evening.

Mr. President, later today, the Senate will take a final vote on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, paving the way for the largest investment in science and technology for generations.

After 3 months of bipartisan negotiations, after the hard labor of 6 Senate committees, and after considering over 20 amendments from both sides of the floor, we should--and we will--pass this historic bill today. When all is said and done, the bill will go down as one of the most important things this Chamber has done in a very long time--a statement of faith in America's ability to seize the opportunities of the 21st century.

The ambitions of this legislation are large, but the premise is simple: If we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the Federal Government must invest in science, basic research, and innovation, just as we did in the decades after the Second World War.

Technology firms currently make up a quarter--a quarter--of the global stock market. Whoever wins the race to the technologies of the future is going to be the global economic leader, with profound consequences for foreign policy and national security as well. Whoever harnesses the technologies, like AI, quantum computing, and innovations yet unseen, will shape the world in its image.

Do we want that image to be a democratic image, with a small ``d,'' or do we want it to be an authoritarian image like President Xi would like to impose on the world?

Either we can cede the mantle of global leadership to our adversaries or we can pave the way for another generation of American leadership. That is what this bill is all about, and I look

forward to joining my colleagues in finally passing this bill later today.

Mr. President, the Senate, today, will achieve an important milestone for the session. We will confirm the first of President Biden's judicial nominees--the first but, certainly, not the last, not even close. We will soon confirm Julien Neals to be a judge for the District of New Jersey. Afterward, we will turn to the nomination of Regina Rodriguez to be a judge for the District of Colorado. I greatly look forward to confirming what will be the first of many judicial appointments during the Biden administration.

Now, Mr. President, on January 6, this morning, the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in partnership with the Rules Committee, released a joint report related to the aspects of the tragedy of January 6.

I particularly salute Chairs Peters and Klobuchar for the good work they have done with their ranking members.

The report drew a few notable conclusions, especially with respect to the failures in intelligence gathering and communication that took place on and before January 6, but just as glaring as what the report didn't consider is, indeed, what it was not allowed to consider. The report did not investigate, report on, or hardly make any reference to the actual cause, the actual impetus, for the attack on January 6.

With the exception of a brief reference to former President Trump's remarks at the Ellipse, Senate Republicans insisted that the report exclude anything having to do with the cause of the insurrection.

If anything, the joint report by the Homeland Security and Rules Committees has strengthened the argument for an independent commission on January 6.

We had a perfect opportunity to establish such a Commission at the end of last session before Republicans mounted a partisan filibuster against it, despite the fact that the Democrats worked with Republicans for weeks in the House and Senate to construct a Commission that was bipartisan, focused, straight down the middle; despite the fact that Speaker Pelosi acceded to every major request made by House Republicans about the structure of the commission; and despite the fact that, here in the Senate, I supported the changes proposed by my colleague Senator Collins.

As the Big Lie continues to spread, as faith in our elections continues to decline, it is crucial--crucial--we establish a trusted, independent record of what transpired on January 6 and what caused it.

So I reserve the right to bring legislation for an independent, bipartisan Commission to the Senate floor for another vote.

Mr. President, first, I, too, would like to thank Senators Cantwell and Wicker for an amazing, bipartisan job; and Senators Menendez and Risch, another great bipartisan contribution. All the Members--just about every Member has contributed to this bill.

I do want to single out two of my staff members who just slaved over this bill relentlessly, and that is Mike Kuiken and Jon Cardinal. Mike is there. I don't know if Jon is here. But they deserve tremendous kudos for what they did. Without them I don't think we would have had a bill, to be honest with you--and everybody else, all the other staffs who worked so hard.

Now, this is a quote from Dr. Vannevar Bush: ``Without scientific progress, no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity, and security in the modern world.''

That was Dr. Vannevar Bush, the head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research, writing in 1945. His report to President Truman was titled: ``Science--The Endless Frontier''--an inspiration to the legislation we considered today.

In the wake of Dr. Bush's report, we created the National Science Foundation. We funded the National Laboratories. We split the atom. We spliced the gene. We landed a man on the Moon. We unleashed the internet. We generated 75 years of American prosperity and fostered an innate sense of optimism in the American spirit.

We face a challenge now--in this century--to replicate the success of the previous one. But the Federal Government's commitment to science, unfortunately, has waned. As a percentage of GDP, we spend less than half as much as the Chinese Communist Party on basic research.

We rely on foreign nations to supply critical technologies that we invented, like semiconductors. That sunny American optimism has flickered as well.

The world is more competitive now than at any time since the end of the Second World War. If we do nothing, our days as the dominant superpower may be ending.

We don't mean to let those days end on our watch. We don't mean to see America become a middling nation in this century. We mean for America to lead it. Passing this bill--now called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act--is the moment when the Senate lays the foundation for another century of American leadership.

Let me say that again. This bill could be the turning point for American leadership in the 21st century, and for that reason, this legislation will go down as one of the most significant bipartisan achievements of the U.S. Senate in recent history.

Around the globe, authoritarian governments believe that squabbling democracies like ours can't unite around national priorities. They believe that democracy itself is a relic of the past and that by beating us to emerging technologies, they--many of the meritocracies-- will be able to reshape the world in their own image.

Well, let me tell you something. I believe they are wrong. I believe that this legislation will enable the United States to outinnovate, outproduce, and outcompete the world in the industries of the future. I believe that the strongly bipartisan work on this bill has revealed that in this Chamber, we all believe that another American century lies on the horizon. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.

I yield the floor.

Vote on S. 1260

Mr. President, let me thank the Senator from Washington for her incredible leadership not only

on this bill but on this issue for pretty close to a decade, and it is long overdue.

You know, we have been working in a very bipartisan way on numerous subjects, including the competition bill that just passed, but it appears there are real limits to bipartisanship here in the Senate.

We are about to vote just to start debate--just to start debate on a bill that is very simple--provide equal pay for women. It is a modest proposal to address a real problem in our economy.

Women with the same jobs and same qualifications as their male colleagues often make less money. It is too hard for too many women to overcome that pay discrimination. This makes it easier for women to achieve pay parity, and like the previous bill, will help unleash strong economic forces to help America go forward because when women are not getting the pay they deserve, it impedes our whole economy and all of the human resources that we need.

Every Senate Democrat is ready to start debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act, but Senate Republicans seem to be mounting another partisan filibuster against this bill.

It is ridiculous that Senate Republicans will not even allow the Senate to debate a straightforward piece of legislation to help provide equal pay for working women in America, just like it was ridiculous for the Republican minority to filibuster bipartisan legislation to create an independent Commission on January 6.

Americans expect their government to make progress to improve our country, but Senate Republicans once again seem to be choosing obstruction.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 131.

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. 129.

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motions filed today, June 8, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 184 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the following resolutions that were submitted earlier today en bloc: S. Res. 262 and S. Res. 263.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to en bloc, the preambles be agreed to en bloc, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.