Floor Statements

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, first, our thoughts and our prayers are with our dear friend Chaplain Barry Black, who was unexpectedly hospitalized Thursday afternoon. We are relieved and thankful that he is expected to make a smooth recovery.

Chaplain Black is one of the most beloved individuals in the entire Senate. Every day we gavel into session, he is always here to start us off in prayer, delivered with his profound sense of wisdom, grace, and eloquence.

So we pray for the Chaplain and can't wait to see him back very soon.

Drone Sightings

Madam President, now on drone sightings, yesterday, I called on Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas to quickly deploy any available drone-detecting tools to help New York and New Jersey deal with the mysterious drone sightings of the past few weeks. This week, I will also come to the floor of the Senate to seek passage of legislation that will give local officials greater authority to swiftly respond to these sightings.

The reports of the past few weeks have ignited immense anxiety and confusion for millions of people across the Northeast. Thankfully, there is no reason to believe these drone sightings pose a national security threat, but even so, they can be disruptive if they fly over restricted airspace, particularly near airports and bases.

While there is no shortage of reports about possible drone activity, we still have very few answers on where some of these drones come from and who may be operating them. The people of New York and New Jersey have a lot of questions and haven't gotten many answers. We know one thing, though: Local officials now don't have the resources nor the authority to get to the bottom of what is happening. This is Federal jurisdiction. But, of course, because drones are so new and there are so many in so many different places, including recreational users, we need to do a lot more.

So to repeat, this week, I will move for the Senate to pass legislation giving local officials the tools and authorities necessary to act quickly and in lockstep with the Department of Homeland Security and other Agencies. Local authorities can do a lot to help answer our questions, but right now, they are not empowered to do so because the Federal Government has total jurisdiction.

In the meantime, I urge DHS to take all necessary action to deploy as many drone-detecting resources as possible. Right now, they have not deployed close to enough, and that is why these questions that so many people have are going unanswered.

Some of the new technology, like the Robin's systems, are 360-degree radar--they can see 360 degrees, not at one beam--and could go a long way to help local officials collect real data about where these drones are coming from. I want to see a flock of Robin-like technology systems deployed across the New York City metropolitan area, so we need the Department of Homeland Security to spring into action.

Business Before the Senate

Madam President, Senate business on the NDAA, the CR, WRDA, and noms: The Senate gavels back into session for a very busy week. We must finish our work on the NDAA, and we must keep the government open, act on the Social Security Fairness Act, act on WRDA and EDA, and confirm more of the President's nominees. It is going to take cooperation from our Republican colleagues to get these things done in a timely fashion.

First, as I said, we must pass our annual Defense authorization bill, the NDAA. This afternoon, we will take the first procedural vote on the NDAA package sent to us last week by the House. If cloture is invoked, I hope we can find a path to passing NDAA as soon as tomorrow.

This year's NDAA is not a perfect bill, but it nonetheless has some good things that Democrats have worked hard for and that will strengthen military families and boost tech innovation here at home-- something very important to me and to the Presiding Officer. To be sure, the NDAA has some bad provisions Democrats would not have included, and there are other provisions that were left out of NDAA which we still hope can get done elsewhere.

I want to thank Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Wicker, and all the members of the Armed Services Committee for their good work on this year's Defense bill.

Madam President, on another matter, by the end of the week, the Senate must also pass a temporary extension of government funding before December 20 or else the government will shut down right before Christmas.

Democrats have spent weeks working in good faith with our Republican counterparts on crafting a strong CR that will keep the government open while also providing much needed disaster relief for the American people. We kept working through the weekend on finalizing an agreement, but our Republican colleagues are still sorting through disagreements on their end, and there are many.

Democrats will keep working to finish the job on passing a strong and bipartisan CR. We don't want the government to shut down during the holiday season, and I expect that many, if not most, of our Republican colleagues feel the same way. So let's finish the job.

Besides keeping the government open, the Senate will also vote later this week on reauthorizing WRDA and the Economic Development Administration.

Reauthorizing WRDA, the Water Resources Development Act, is vital for strengthening America's ports and waterways, preventing flood damage, protecting our wetlands, and boosting our economy. Reauthorizing the EDA would provide critical investments in infrastructure, workforce, and domestic supply chains that will help the United States outcompete the rest of the world.

The House passed WRDA and EDA with overwhelming bipartisan support last week. We expect it to pass here with equally robust support, and we will work with our Republican colleagues on finding time to hold a floor

vote. I thank them for working with us to get these bills done.

Madam President, finally, before I get to the Social Security Fairness Act, the Senate will also be working on nominations. Later today, I will file cloture on the nominations of Benjamin Cheeks to be U.S. district judge for the Southern District of California and Serena Murillo to be U.S. district judge for the Central District of California. Members should be ready to vote on and confirm these outstanding public servants as soon as Wednesday. I will have more to say on our outstanding nominees throughout the week.

Social Security Fairness Act

Madam President, now on Social Security, this week, the Senate will vote to take up a bipartisan piece of legislation that impacts millions of public retirees and their spouses: the Social Security Fairness Act. I am proud to cosponsor this bill with my good friend Senator Brown as a staunch advocate for working Americans, and he is a very staunch advocate as well.

The Senate has a golden opportunity to deliver for our retired firefighters, postal workers, teachers, and other public servants who are retired by passing the Social Security Fairness Act this week.

The bill would ensure no public retiree or spouse is denied their well-deserved Social Security benefits by repealing two widely criticized policies that have eaten away at the benefits of millions of people--the Windfall Elimination Provision, WEP, and Government Pension Offset, GPO. Many of these retirees contributed toward Social Security for years but are being penalized because at one point they worked as a teacher, a firefighter, a postal worker, a police officer, or some other public sector job.

The bill has already won immense support from Democrats and Republicans alike. In fact, the House passed the bill with an overwhelming 327-to-75 vote margin. There is no reason for the outcome to be different in the Senate. Senate Democrats are ready to vote yes on this legislation. We hope our Republican colleagues will join us.

Retirees have been pushing for action on WEP and GPO for decades, and this week the Senate is going to act. We will vote, and every Senator will choose. Where are you? Do you stand on the side of public retirees who deserve their benefits or bungle this golden opportunity by blocking this bill?

New York County Tour

Finally, the 62-county tour. Today is a very special day for me because today you can flip one of my favorite numbers, 62--that is the number of counties in New York--and get another very important number, 26. For the 26th year in a row, I have just completed, earlier this afternoon, my annual tour of all 62 counties in New York State.

It is a promise I never fail to keep, not even after being named majority leader, not even during COVID because it is the best way I keep up with everything New Yorkers are doing, thinking, and saying.

Just as everyone knows here, you sit at your desk, talk on the telephone, it is not the same as being out there. And the 62-county tour makes sure I am out there week in and week out. I am so, so happy that we have completed the tour, and I can't wait in January to start doing it again for the 27th year.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 849.

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. 850.

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

As if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call with respect to the cloture vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 5009 be waived.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, on September 18, 2024, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ordered H.R. 5887 to be reported without amendment favorably. I ask unanimous consent that Calendar No. 686, H.R. 5887, be star printed with the following text that reflects the committee's action.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 559, S. 465.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.

The bill (S. 465), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 658, H.R. 4467.

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 table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration of S. 5300 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 the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5543, introduced earlier today.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read three times 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 Calendar No. 688, H.R. 7524.

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.