Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate resume legislative session.

I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, Tuesday, May 25, be waived.

Notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the filing deadline for first degree amendments to S. 1260 be at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 26.

Madam 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 235 submitted earlier today.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that 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.

I further ask 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.

Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 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; further, that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of Calendar No. 58, S. 1260, as provided under the previous order; finally, that the Senate recess following the vote on the Sullivan amendment until 2:15 p.m.

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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, yesterday was the last day that members of the National Guard were stationed at the Capitol. In the wake of January 6, they have all done us an extraordinary service providing an additional layer of security here. I want to thank everyone on behalf of the Senate and the entire Capitol Complex.

It was never our intention to have an element of the U.S. military on guard at the Capitol for an indefinite period. It was always a temporary solution to a temporary security threat caused by the former President--a reality acknowledged by the House and Senate minority leaders in the immediate aftermath of January 6 but not much since.

Going forward, we must establish and maintain a critical balance between security and access. The Capitol is a place that belongs to the people. We want visitors and tourists to be able to come and go. We want constituents to be able to meet their representatives and make their voices heard. We also have an obligation to make everyone-- Members, staff, media, employees of the Capitol--feel safe when they come to work. Our Senate committees and the new team at the Sergeant at Arms are working very hard to strike that perfect balance.

We thank once again the National Guard for helping us protect this place during a very difficult period for our democracy.

Business Before the Senate

Madam President, now on Senate business, this week, the Senate will consider at least two nominations for important positions in the executive branch: Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to be the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and Kristen Clarke to be the next Assistant Attorney General.

Ms. Clarke would become the first woman and the first woman of color to formally lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division since it was established in 1957.

I look forward to confirming both nominees this week.

The Senate will also continue its work on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act--the largest stand-alone investment in American science and technology in decades. With a once-in-a-generation investment in the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and other vital entities, this legislation will set our country on a path to outinnovate, outproduce, and outcompete the world in the industries of the future.

As the week goes on, we will consider a number of amendments from both sides of the aisle, as well as a managers' amendment, to bring together a package of bipartisan changes to the bill. This is regular order in action.

The bill itself is the product of at least six Senate committees and includes input from nearly every Member of the Senate. As promised, we are working in a bipartisan way and a much more open way than the Senate used to act to allow amendments and debate. When a bill passes 22 to 4 out of one of its major committees and 21 to 1 out of another, it is truly bipartisan, and we should be able to move this bill forward without any dilatory obstruction. With so much cooperation happening, I see no reason why we can't finish the legislation by the end of the week.

So far, this bill has flown a bit under the radar, but it is an incredibly important piece of legislation. At its core, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act is about maintaining America's role as the global economic leader. Few issues could be more important. Just because it may have its effect 2, 3, 4, 5 years from now and not the day after it passes doesn't mean that it isn't one of the most important pieces of legislation we could pass.

The next century will be won or lost on the battleground of technological innovation. The country that leads the world in science and tech will create a generation of millions of good-paying jobs, economic growth, and prosperity for its citizens, with profound implications for national security as well.

We want American workers, American businesses, and American values to lead the way in the 21st century, just as they did in the 20th century. That is what the Innovation and Competition Act is all about.

I look forward to working with Members from both parties to complete this legislation by the end of the week.

January 6 Commission

Madam President, now on a final matter, the Senate will soon consider bipartisan legislation passed by the House to create an independent Commission to investigate and report on the January 6 attack on the Capitol. I have already taken procedural steps to make the legislation available for consideration on the Senate floor. I will bring the bill forward for a vote very soon. I will have more to say on that in the coming days.

The formation of the Commission is more important now than it has ever been in the months since January 6. Washington Republicans have tried to rewrite history and recast the attack on January 6 as little more than peaceful protests that got out of hand. One Republican Member said the rioters were more like a group of ``normal tourists.'' Did you see the tapes? Did you see the films, America? Those were normal tourists? Another went so far as to say the mob--not the staff who were terrorized or the police who were brutalized--were the real victims of January 6. Give me a break.

For the sake of our democracy, it is crucial to establish an independent and trusted record of what truly transpired. According to an Ipsos poll today, 56 percent of Republicans believe that the election was rigged, and 53 percent of Republicans believe that Donald Trump is the true President, not Joe Biden. That is what the Big Lie has caused. The majority of one of America's two major political parties doesn't believe our President is the actual President.

Now more than ever, both parties must stand up to the Big Lie and shine a light on the truth of the 2020 elections and what happened on January 6. Yet it seems our Republican colleagues would rather avoid the subject entirely. The Republican leader, after moving the goalposts week after week, announced his opposition to the Commission, despite the fact that Democrats agreed to every single request made by the House Republican leader.

One Republican Senator said this weekend that it was ``too early'' to establish a Commission. Another admitted that many Republicans opposed the Commission because they feared it would hurt the Republican message in the midterm elections. Talk about saying the quiet part out loud.

The prevailing view among Republicans seems to be that we should sweep the Big Lie and all of January 6 under the rug like it never happened. Look, I am sorry that some Republicans believe that a bipartisan investigation of the attack on our democracy is inconvenient for their midterm campaigns, but the Democratic-led Congress of the United States is not going to sweep January 6 under the rug. We are going to vote on the January 6 Commission in the Senate, and the American people will see where every Member stands: on the side of truth or on the side of Donald Trump's Big Lie.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Madam President, I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

Madam President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding en bloc.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 230, submitted earlier today.

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 consideration of S. Res. 231, 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.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 25; 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; further, upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of Executive Calendar No. 117, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, postcloture; further, that all time on the Brooks-LaSure nomination be considered expired at 11:45 a.m.; that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Clarke nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that if cloture is invoked on the Clarke nomination, all postcloture debate time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m.; and finally, that if any of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made

and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.