Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask to speak as if in morning business.

Madam President, yesterday, my Republican colleagues introduced a national abortion ban and made it clear that they are coming after the rights of my constituents and they are coming after the rights of people across the country.

This atrocious bill threatens the people of Kansas who just voted overwhelmingly to protect abortion rights. It threatens the hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan who just signed a petition for a referendum vote to protect abortion and States like mine which already have strong abortion protections on our books.

Up to now, Republicans have tried to play down their abortion extremism. They have tried to run away from the consequences of their extreme agenda, even as patients have been denied prescriptions that they need, even as doctors have been forced to wait until patients' lives are in danger before they can take action, even as healthcare crises they have caused spill across State lines to disastrous effect.

But despite their empty rhetoric about leaving it to States, the truth has been painfully clear: They think they know better than women when it comes to reproductive healthcare decisions. They have shown, again and again, they do not trust women to have full control over their own bodies, and they are also willing to go after doctors.

They have blocked the most basic bills like Senator Cortez Masto's bill that would have made sure people can still travel to other States for legally available care or my bill making sure that doctors in States where abortion is legal cannot be punished for doing their job.

Over and over, they have stood in the way of Democrats' efforts to protect women's abortion rights, and it is crystal clear why. This bill shows the true Republican position. They want to ban abortion for everyone, in every single State, and they want to punish doctors. They want to put them in prison for doing their jobs.

So, to anyone who lives in a blue State like mine, anyone who thinks they are safe from these attacks, here is the painful reality: Republicans are coming after your rights, and you don't have to take my word for it. The Senator from South Carolina said yesterday:

If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you

we'll have a vote on our bill.

There it is. It couldn't be clearer. That is the MAGA agenda for all 50 States: rights stripped away and doctors in prison.

Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what is best for your health, regardless of your family plans--of your hopes or your fears or your dreams for your future--Republicans want to control your personal decisions. They don't trust you to have full control over your own body. This is horrifying.

When he unveiled the bill yesterday, the Senator from South Carolina also said

I'll make a prediction: we stay on this and we keep talking

about it, maybe less than a decade from now, this will be

law.

``This will be law.'' This is the future that they want--a national abortion ban.

Well, let me tell you something. The Senator from South Carolina may not have been paying attention, but Democrats are already talking about this issue every week, every day, every opportunity. And women across the country have been with us, fighting for the right to abortion and fighting back against Republicans' harmful attacks. We saw it in Kansas. We are seeing it in Michigan. And I am seeing it everywhere I go in Washington State.

I have been talking to doctors and patients and women and men across our country, and they are outraged--outraged--that Republicans want to take away their rights, that Republicans want to put doctors in prison. And I am too. I have never been madder.

So here is my message to Republicans: If you want to go after my constituents' rights, if you want to go after women's bodies and futures, if you want to pass a national abortion ban like this extreme bill, you are going to have to go through me because Democrats are going to keep standing up for women and men across the country who do not want their rights taken away.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today in support of the nomination of Judge Salvador Mendoza, from my home State of Washington, to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

I was honored to recommend Judge Mendoza for this seat to President Biden and to introduce him before the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

I was thrilled to see him advance out of the committee in a bipartisan vote, and I couldn't be happier to support him today and to strongly urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for his confirmation to the bench.

Judge Mendoza is a lifelong Washington State resident and a tremendously qualified candidate to join the Ninth Circuit Court. He has served as a district court judge for the Eastern District of Washington since 2014, when he was confirmed by the Senate with an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of 92-4.

In his time on the bench in the Eastern District, he has presided over nearly 1,500 cases--including appellate cases--where he treated every party who came before him with fairness and respect.

And before that, he served Washington State as a Superior Court Judge.

He also has experience as a prosecutor, in the State attorney general's office, and as a solo practitioner, where he often represented defendants who could not afford their own attorneys.

He also worked to establish the first drug court in Benton and Franklin counties, along with prosecutors, defense attorneys, mental health professionals, and other judges.

From representing those without means, to establishing drug courts, to serving with distinction on the Eastern District Court, Judge Mendoza has been a trailblazer, focused on building a more fair and just legal system that works for everyone--not just the wealthy and well-off.

Judge Mendoza's many years of public service and even-handed application of the law have earned him not only the support of people across the State of Washington, but also the respect of both Democrats and Republicans.

It is why my bipartisan judicial merit selection committee, which includes top Republican lawyers, recommended him to serve in his current district court judgeship 8 years ago and why he was confirmed to that judgeship in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. And that should be no different today.

Beyond just his impeccable professional qualifications, Judge Mendoza will bring an important perspective to one of the most consequential appellate courts in this country: the perspective of someone whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and worked as farm laborers, maids, and factory workers to build a better life for their family; the perspective of someone who, as a child, worked beside them on farms in the Yakima Valley; the perspective of someone who was the first Latino Federal judge in the Eastern District of Washington and who would break new ground once again as the first Latino from Washington State to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Confirming Judge Mendoza will bring us even closer to building a Federal bench that reflects the diversity of the people it serves. That is especially important to me and to the many people across the country who don't currently see themselves represented on our Nation's courts.

I have no doubt--and based on his record, I think there can be no doubt that serving on the Ninth Circuit, Judge Mendoza will carefully review each case as an appellate judge, respect every party that appears before him, and protect the rights of the American people.

I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting his confirmation.

Mr. President, last weekend, 10 people were tragically killed in a plane crash near Whidbey Island, WA, sending waves of shock and sadness through the entire State. Today, I join with communities across Washington in honoring their memories and grieving this immeasurable loss for their families and friends.

One of these 10 people was Sandy Williams, a beloved member of the eastern Washington community, and a powerful civil rights advocate who worked to lift up Black voices across the State. Sandy Williams was born and raised in Spokane Valley and, starting at a young age, worked hard in pursuit of equality and justice. In fact, when her middle school offered a home economics class for girls but wouldn't allow them to take the shop class with the boys, she refused to take no for and answer and pushed back until she and other girls were allowed to take shop. Her fight for fairness and equality would lead her to leave an indelible mark on eastern Washington which she loved so dearly, in so many ways.

Sandy helped establish the Pride Center at Eastern Washington University to support LGBTQ+ youth. Sandy also served eastern Washington as its member of the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs. And she worked nonstop to lift Black voices and create a community where everyone is heard, included, and empowered.

In 2016, Sandy started publishing a newspaper called ``Black Lens''-- that she ran out of her home--to tell the

stories that mattered most to Black Washingtonians. Sandy was dedicated to a vision of eastern Washington where Black people could come together as a community and worked hard to make that vision a reality by helping create the Carl Maxey Center. The Carl Maxey Center is a testament to Sandy's legacy; it remains a hub of economic, social, and cultural activity in Spokane. It provides rental assistance, social services, business support, resources for students, and more. It helps plan beloved events like Unity in the Community and the Riverfront Park Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. And it will continue to be an example of Sandy's steadfast commitment to community.

Through her advocacy, through her example, and through her action to make dreams realities, Sandy made Washington State a fairer, more just place, and her legacy and impact will endure for generations to come.

Sandy is survived by her daughter Renika, her brother Rick, and many loved ones in Spokane.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that there be a period of morning business for debate only until 4 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, and that Senator Schumer be recognized at 4 p.m.

Madam President, I go back home to Washington State every week, and I talk to young people in Seattle who are urgently calling for bold climate action. I talk to families in Yakima County who are deeply concerned by a wildfire season that gets worse every year and parents in Vancouver who are trying to figure out how they can afford their kids' medication and make ends meet.

This summer has broken records in Washington State and not in a good way. Energy prices and temperatures have both spiked. People from Seattle to Spokane are feeling the stress, and they are feeling the heat. Climate disasters have become an everyday reality in every community across the country. Washington State has seen droughts and wildfires and floods and heat waves that literally made our roads buckle.

Families desperately need us to tackle rising costs and rising temperatures because we cannot build a stronger economy if we do not build a more sustainable economy, and that is why we need the Inflation Reduction Act. It will reduce costs for families, it will reduce emissions, and it will even reduce the debt and deficit.

The climate investments in this bill are, in a word, historic. They won't just bring down carbon emissions by a whopping 40 percent; they will help us establish real energy independence from dirty fossil fuels and foreign adversaries. They will save lives by reducing air pollution and supporting conservation efforts happening in rural Washington State right now to prevent wildfires and protect families and address the climate crisis.

This legislation will make historic, first-of-its-kind, economy-wide investment in clean energy that will create millions of good-paying clean energy jobs, including in Washington State, and it will bring down families' energy costs for people who are struggling to keep the AC on in the summer or the heat on in the winter or lights on year- round. It will help weatherize homes and install energy-efficient appliances and heat pumps and rooftop solar panels and more.

This bill will offer huge cost savings for clean or electric vehicles, new or

used, and give companies a good reason to build more of these cars in America.

We aren't just cutting energy costs, though. No one should have to worry about whether they can afford the healthcare they need, but I have heard from countless patients who worked their whole life, who saved their money, but still had to work an extra job or move in with their family or even ration their prescription just to make ends meet.

Lifesaving medicine doesn't do any good if people can't afford it. That is why this bill will finally give Medicare power to negotiate. We are going to force drug companies to the bargaining table, and patients everywhere are going to benefit. It will also cap seniors' annual drug costs and cap insulin at $35 a month and protect patients from companies that are jacking up prices on them with reckless abandon. It extends the healthcare coverage relief that helped millions of people save thousands of dollars on their healthcare this year.

This isn't just saving people money; this is going to save lives-- patients who are rationing their prescriptions, afraid to see their doctors not because they are scared of getting a diagnosis but because they are scared of the price tag. If that is not the goal when we come to work every day, then I don't know what is.

But the Inflation Reduction Act won't just bring down families' everyday costs; it will bring down the deficit by more than $300 billion because every cent of this bill is paid for by closing loopholes used by enormous corporations. There is no reason a company making a billion-dollar profit should pay a smaller tax rate than a mom-and-pop shop in Washington State or a firefighter or a teacher in Walla Walla, WA, so Democrats won't let it fly any longer.

Those big billion-dollar companies? They are going to pay no less than the same 15 percent in taxes that many of our small businesses already pay. Those stock buyback schemes that line the pockets of corporate executives and Wall Street investors but do nothing for working families? They are going to be taxed so companies pay their fair share. As for everyday Americans, they won't see their taxes go up one penny.

Make no mistake, the Inflation Reduction Act represents historic progress. There is simply no reason anyone should be against these policies and many reasons to get this done now.

This is not a bill for Democrats or Republicans; it is legislation that will help all Americans--lowering prescription drug costs, making healthcare more accessible and more affordable than ever, and pass the largest investment in climate action in our country's history--all paid for.

Madam President, but for everything good this bill accomplishes, we have not yet addressed a critical issue families face today: access to high-quality childcare.

There is a childcare crisis in this country, and the time to address it is now. There can be no more excuses. We cannot simply vote on this package and call it a day. Our childcare system isn't just stretched thin; it is broken. Talk to parents, talk to businesses, talk to anyone, and it is painfully obvious that our childcare system isn't working for families, providers, or our economy and hasn't been for some time.

Right now, families from Seattle to Spokane are stressed. They are staying up late at night, trying to figure out how on Earth they are going to find a childcare opening or how they are going to afford it if they ever get off a wait list. When they can't find and afford childcare, as is all too often the case, parents--moms in particular-- have to leave their job and stay out of the workforce, all while childcare workers are being paid poverty wages, struggling to make ends meet and provide for their own families, and they are leaving their jobs for better paying work at fast food chains and big box stores, which pay them more than their childcare position.

We have to do better for kids, for moms, for workers, for our economy, for everyone, or this is just going to keep getting worse.

I know all of my colleagues have heard me say this before--you have probably heard me say it 100 times--but I want to be clear: The childcare system is on the brink of collapse, and parents are telling us every single day this is an urgent crisis.

The emergency support that we did provide in the American Rescue Plan was hugely helpful, but it is going to run out, and soon, and families who are already at their wits' end will feel the pressure.

So we need to lower the cost for families as we fight inflation. We need to expand parents' options so they can go back to work and support the childcare workers caring for and educating our kids each and every day. Now, I have been putting forward proposal after proposal to do exactly this, and I am working with anyone I can to make progress here because this isn't a ``my way or the highway'' proposal. It never was. I hope my colleagues know that is not how I operate. What I am talking about here is delivering a lifeline to kids, to moms, to our childcare industry, not to mention the businesses and industries that desperately want to hire more workers.

I am deeply disappointed that Congress has failed to meet this crucial moment for our families and our childcare providers, so let me just say this: I have been fighting for childcare my entire career, since before I ever got here to the U.S. Senate. In fact, for a very long time, I was the only person in the room fighting. So I am not going to stop anytime soon.

And guess what. I am not the only one fighting today. There are parents and advocates across the country who are fighting for this, who know how critical this is for our families. There are small business owners who understand how critical this is to strengthening our economy--real people, not some army of invisible lobbyists. So I am here right now to be a voice for them, and I am asking everyone here in Congress to step up and speak for these families too. We have to get this done. We must make this a priority. We must address this urgent crisis before it is too late.

So I want everyone to know I am going to stay in this fight for moms and for our kids, and you better believe, one day, we are going to win this.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, let's be clear about what is going on here. This amendment is an attempt by Republicans to derail our ability to get this bill across the finish line and deliver for families in our country.

Title 42 is a public health tool, and how it is used should be guided by public health experts--looking at data, looking at science--not politicians

looking to score political points or, in this case, Republicans trying to stop a bill that lowers costs, lowers emissions, and lowers the deficit.

I urge my colleagues to vote no.

Vote on Amendment No. 5384

Mr. President, lifesaving medicines don't do any good if people can't afford them. That is why it is so important that we do help people get the medicine they need, especially insulin. It is exactly why we need to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which does take historic steps to lower costs, and it caps patients' insulin costs at $35 a month.

If Republicans really want to help patients get insulin, they will help us get this bill signed into law instead of trying to derail it with amendments and trying to weaken the insulin provision Democrats want to pass.

We are fighting to make sure that no one has to ration their insulin and put their life at risk. I hope some Republicans will join us in working to make this lifesaving medicine affordable and pass this bill--hopefully soon--here today. But I do urge my colleagues to reject this amendment so we can get to that point.

Mr. President, I ask consent to speak for 1 minute prior to the Senator from South Carolina moving to waive the Budget Act.

Mr. President, 37 million people in our country have diabetes. And it is absolutely wrong that many of them cannot afford the insulin they need to live. I have heard from people in my State who risk their life and ration their insulin to make ends meet. All the while, drug companies are jacking up prices.

The cost of insulin has tripled over the last decade, and it is not like it is three times better. The reality is, the cost of insulin isn't just out of control; it is devastating people and not just seniors but workers and students and parents who are just trying to get insulin for their kids.

We have an opportunity here to make a difference and permanently cap insulin at $35 a month. It will save money. It will save lives. This should not be a hard vote to cast. A budget waiver will continue allowing people to get insulin at $35 a month.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle not to remove this provision from the underlying bill.

Mr. President, pursuant to section 904 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the waiver provisions of applicable budget resolutions, I move to waive all applicable sections of that act and applicable budget resolutions for purposes of the pending amendment.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, let's be clear about what is going on here. This is a procedural attempt by Republicans to derail our ability to get this bill across the finish line and deliver for families in our country.

It is actually outrageous that Republicans are trying to talk about pregnancy when in this country, right now, they are forcing women to stay pregnant no matter their circumstances, pushing cruel and extreme abortion bans.

Republicans are now resorting to tactics like this to distract from the fact that they don't have any serious reasons for working so hard to oppose this bill that lowers costs, lowers emissions, and lowers the deficit.

I urge my colleagues to vote no.

When we are facing the challenges in this country and helping our constituents to lower costs, it is outrageous that Republicans are trying to define pregnancy, of all things, on this floor on this day after hours of voting on amendments.

I urge a ``no'' vote.

Vote on Motion

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I am very concerned that this bill would overrule FDA experts and do so without even going through regular order. We should be setting a very high bar for doing anything like this.

I do appreciate my colleague's concern that he is bringing to the floor today for growers in his State. Greening disease is a serious and alarming environmental issue. But skipping regular order here today to override FDA's experts and meddle with its longstanding process for modifying food standards of identity does not get to the root of the problem. So, today, I object.

Mr. President.

Reserving the right to object, earlier this year, when we passed the PREVENT Pandemics Act out of our HELP Committee in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, we were able to include amendments from my colleague from Kansas and others to bolster oversight of the federally funded research involving pathogens of pandemic potential and make sure that we do have appropriate guardrails in place.

I appreciate the leadership my colleague from Kansas has shown on this issue. I know it is important to him. However, I am concerned this new bill brought forward today is far less targeted than the provisions the Senator from Kansas and I worked on within PREVENT and would have significant and unintended consequences for U.S. biomedical research.

Instead of passing this bill, I would respectfully ask my colleague from Kansas to keep working with me and Ranking Member Burr to get his related provision and the rest of our PREVENT Pandemics Act across the finish line.

I thank the Senator from Kansas for his work and his focus on this issue. I really think we can continue to make bipartisan progress in the next few weeks on getting the PREVENT Pandemics Act and the Senator's provision he and I worked on into a good place and finally getting that much needed package signed into law.

For those reasons, I object today.

Mr. President.

Reserving the right to object, I do appreciate the Senator from Kansas's focus and leadership on this issue.

I am glad we were able to work together to include a provision similar to this bill in our PREVENT Pandemics Act that we did pass out of the HELP Committee by an overwhelming vote earlier this year.

Along with Ranking Member Burr, we are very focused on getting the PREVENT Pandemics Act passed into law. These reforms are overdue and vital to keeping our families safe.

The Senator's provisions within that package, as well as many others, are really key to making sure that our country is prepared for future pandemics.

I do hope we can continue to work on this bill in a bipartisan way and get it passed and put into law shortly. So while I look forward to continuing to work with the Senator from Kansas on this issue within the PREVENT Pandemics Act package, if he is asking today for unanimous consent to pass it, I object.

Madam President, I want to start by recognizing the overwhelming victory for the right to abortion in Kansas last night. Since the day the Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion and upended the lives of women across the country, the American people have been using their voices to speak out against Republicans' extreme bans.

And now, for the first time since the Dobbs decision, they have had the chance to speak with their votes, and they sent a message loud and clear: People do not want their fundamental rights stripped away. They will not forget Republicans' cruelty in dragging us back half a century, and when abortion is at stake, they are not going to stay on the sidelines.

Last night, the people of Kansas sent a message as clear as any I have ever seen in politics. Now, today, we are going to see if Republicans are finally getting that message or if they are going to continue to ignore the American people, because Democrats are here today with legislation to protect doctors providing legal abortion care and make sure they can do their jobs, practice medicine, and save lives without the threat of legal action.

I really can't believe that we need this bill at all. We are talking about doctors who are following the law and simply want to provide care to their patients. It is not enough for Republicans that their cruel abortion bans have meant appointments that have been canceled; prescriptions that have been denied; doctors who have been forced to wait until patients got sicker, to wait until women are actually at death's door before they can provide lifesaving care.

Nope, they are going to go further than that. Now they are coming after doctors providing legal abortion care too. I really can't emphasize that enough. These doctors are following the law and are still facing legal threats and harassment.

Right now, in Indiana, a doctor is being investigated after providing an abortion for a 10-year-old who was raped. Think about that. A doctor is being investigated after doing their job, after simply providing healthcare--care that can be lifesaving, care that was entirely legal in their State, care that, up until the Republicans' far-right Supreme Court overturned Roe, was legal across the country.

The fact that Dr. Bernard is being investigated after just doing her job and helping her patient is chilling.

I want to be very clear. While Dr. Bernard's story may be in headlines across the country, she is not the only doctor facing threats, and she will not be the last. At this very moment, Republican State lawmakers are drafting legislation that would make it a crime to provide abortion care to a resident even in another State where it is legal.

From talking with doctors back home in Washington, I can tell you, they are following this closely and they are worried. I have heard from providers back in Spokane and across Washington State who are worried that they could face lawsuits that threaten their practices and their livelihoods just for doing their jobs, just for providing care that patients need--care that is, once again, completely legal in my State.

So Democrats are here today standing up for doctors. We have been drafting a bill of our own, the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act, and we are proud that Dr. Bernard herself supports this bill.

I want to thank my colleagues Senator Rosen from Nevada, Senator Lujan from New Mexico, and Senator Padilla from California for their partnership and critical work on this bill, as well as my colleague Representative Schrier from my home State of Washington, who is leading the legislation in the House.

This is another simple bill to address a threat we know is far too real. The Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Healthcare Act will protect doctors providing legal abortion care and make sure that they can practice medicine and save lives without fear of legal threats and intimidation. It will make clear that the attacks we have seen on doctors are unacceptable; that politicians should not be harassing or scaring or investigating or threatening or punishing doctors for providing care that is perfectly legal, that patients want, and that, in many cases, is even necessary to save lives.

Democrats are going to try to pass this bill right now because we believe no doctor should be punished for caring for patients and providing legal abortion care. And if Republicans who have claimed they don't want to punish doctors actually mean it, if those words are more than just an empty talking point, more than another broken promise, they will stay out of the way and let us get this done today.

But if they don't--if they block us like they blocked the legislation to protect the right to travel across State lines for an abortion, or like they blocked the legislation to expand family planning services, or like they blocked legislation to protect the right to contraceptives--their obstruction will continue to speak louder than any of their hollow claims about actually caring for patients or families or women.

And even if they stop us from getting this bill done today, they are not going to stop us from continuing to put them on the record and hold them accountable for their positions. They are not going to stop us from doing everything we can to protect the rights and the people they are putting in grave danger. And they are going to have to answer to the people they represent--to patients, to providers, to families-- whose lives they are turning upside down.

Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 4723 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, we have now seen time and again, over the last few weeks, that when it comes to protecting rights and providing healthcare for women and patients and families, Republicans' promises are empty and their positions are extreme.

Democrats just offered a bill to protect the rights of providers to be able to provide abortions in legal States. Democrats recently offered a bill to protect the right to travel across State lines to get an abortion. They blocked it. We offered a bill to expand our Nation's longstanding Family Planning Program. They blocked that. We offered a bill to protect the right to contraceptives, and they blocked that too. Today, again, we offered a bill simply to protect doctors performing legal abortions, and they blocked that too.

Each one of these bills was incredibly straightforward. Each one of these is common sense. Each time, Republicans have stood in the way of basic protections of Americans' reproductive freedoms.

Democrats are not giving up, and, as we saw last night, the American people are not either. We are going to fight for the right to an abortion. We are going to fight for doctors who are doing their jobs and doing what is best for their patients. We are going to fight for women making their own decisions about their own bodies, their families, and their futures.

And we are going to make sure everyone knows and no one forgets exactly who is standing in the way, exactly where Republicans stand in this fight.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Madam President, it has been nearly 60 years since the Supreme Court decided Griswold v. Connecticut and affirmed Americans' right to privacy and, with it, their right to contraception. So you would think this would be a settled issue, and for the vast majority of Americans, it is. The right to birth control is overwhelmingly popular. It turns out that people want to be able to control their own bodies and make their own decisions about starting a family.

Yet, as we just saw, somehow, in the year 2022, this is not a settled issue for Republican politicians. We have seen some of my Republican colleagues not only block this but try to deny reality, try to say this isn't an issue or claim that Democrats are somehow wasting time.

Well, that is pretty rich because I can't help but remember how we all heard some Republicans saying the Supreme Court would not overturn Roe as well, how they tried to claim Democrats were ``overreacting'' even as they stacked our courts with anti-abortion judges and worked for decades to chip away at abortion rights.

Now we are seeing the nightmare we warned about become reality: women unable to control their own bodies and get the abortion care they need--a nightmare Republicans tried to deny and are still trying to deny even as it happens, even as 10-year-olds are having to travel across State lines for an abortion after being raped, even as women are now being left bleeding for days, waiting for treatment for their miscarriage.

So when Republicans say they support the right to birth control, my issue isn't simply that I am skeptical; it is that I know better. Let's be clear. When I say that I know better, I don't just mean in my gut; I mean I have heard Republicans' own words. I am watching their own actions.

Justice Thomas said explicitly in his concurring opinion in Dobbs that he wants the Court to reconsider Griswold, which affirmed the right to contraception. The senior Senator from Tennessee said the Griswold decision was unsound. That alone would be scary enough, but Republicans aren't just talking about undermining access to birth control, they are already taking action. Read the legislation from Republicans in Idaho, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Michigan, which would, in fact, outlaw Plan B and IUDs. Talk to women who have already gone to the pharmacy, only to be denied their birth control or Plan B. Yes, this is already happening to people. Just last week, 195 House Republicans voted against the Right to Contraception Act, and now today, they have blocked it in the Senate as well.

The evidence of where Republicans actually stand on birth control is overwhelming. They aren't standing for women. They aren't standing for families. They aren't standing for a right nearly all Americans support. They are simply standing in the way.

I want to thank the junior Senator from Massachusetts, the junior Senator from Illinois, and the junior Senator from Hawaii for their work with me on the Right to Contraception Act that Republicans just blocked. I know we are going to all keep working on this.

I do want to set the record straight because so many of the arguments we have seen from Republicans don't add up. They are trying to distract from their extreme position. We won't let them.

This bill is incredibly straightforward, so you simply cannot say you support the right to birth control and then block this bill. I hope everyone will listen closely because here is what this bill actually does. It simply codifies Americans' right to birth control into law. That is it. You don't have to take my word for it; read it yourself--it is all of 15 pages. It protects a right people depend on and makes sure no one can take that away. We are talking about a really basic and really fundamental right here.

Since that right was affirmed half a century ago, generations of Americans have used contraception to control their own future, to manage and treat their healthcare needs, and start a family when they are ready to. For them, it is not political, and it shouldn't be political here in Congress either, especially when protecting this right is supported by a majority of Democrats, a majority of Independents, and, yes, even a clear majority of Republicans.

The American people are watching closely. They were watching previously when Senate Republicans blocked us from protecting the right to travel across States to get abortion care. They were watching last week when Senate Republicans blocked expanding support for our Nation's longstanding Family Planning Program. They were watching when the vast majority of Republicans in the House voted against the right to birth control. And they are watching right now as Republicans block a bill that preserves the right to use condoms, take the pill, get IUDs, and buy Plan B, as Republicans refuse to let us protect that right and pass this bill and continue denying the threats that are already undermining that right. This is a basic, fundamental right.

Mark my words, the American people will not forget Republicans blocking us from getting this done.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues Senator Klobuchar, Senator Wyden, Senator Hirono, and so many others who have been out here speaking on behalf of women and their ability to make their own healthcare decisions after the disastrous decision from the Supreme Court. And it has been now almost a month since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ended the right to abortion, and really upended healthcare for women across this country.

And every single day, women and providers and patients have been shouting from the rooftops about how damaging this is, how women's lives are now at risk. Every single day we are seeing the horrors caused by Republicans' oppression: women forced to stay pregnant and give birth when they don't want to; patients denied prescriptions that they need; a 10-year-old forced to travel across State lines to get an abortion after being raped; a woman experiencing a miscarriage left bleeding for 10 days as providers were not clear if they could treat her due to Republicans' extreme bans.

And all the while, Republicans have been trying to ignore the devastation that they have caused. And even more cruelly, they have been trying to distract us, telling us that what we are seeing isn't really happening. They have tried to say it won't undermine birth- control access, even as patients have been denied Plan B. They have tried to say we don't need to protect the right to travel for abortion care, even as some Republicans are already writing and introducing bills to take that right away.

They have even tried to say their extreme bans won't undermine care for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, even as providers have already been forced to change the standard of care because Republicans' dangerous abortion bans making them perform riskier, invasive surgeries than would otherwise be necessary or even sit on their hands until patients' vital signs drop before they can do what is needed to save lives.

It really is unconscionable. And despite what we have heard from Republicans, it is happening right now in this country. And I know I am not the only one who is entirely unconvinced by Republican words about wanting to support women and families.

I am skeptical when one Republican Senator said:

We have to start thinking in terms of some of these things

. . . to be more supportive of families and mothers.

I am skeptical when another one said:

It's not just a matter of saying, ``We are pro-life.'' It's

a matter . . . of promoting and allowing these people who are

making very difficult decisions with their lives to make sure

we can help.

I was, frankly, surprised when, just last week at a hearing that I chaired on how this Dobbs decision threatens women's health, the junior Senator from Kansas claimed he believes that ``family planning opportunities need to be expanded.'' He even promised to continue supporting ``robust funding.''

Here is the chance to match that rhetoric with action because Senator Smith and Senator Warren and I have a bill right here that would do exactly that. In fact, it is even called the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act. I know Senator Smith cares a lot about this. While she can't be here right now due to COVID, I want to thank her for her leadership on this and explain what this bill does for her.

This bill is pretty simple. It almost couldn't be simpler. It takes our Nation's longstanding Family Planning Program, title X, and provides the strong mandatory funding title X needs now to support patients across the country. That is it. It is very easy. It is very straightforward.

If Republicans really mean what they are saying, if they are really serious about expanding access to family planning, there is no reason why we cannot get this done right now. After all, we are talking about a program that has a long history of bipartisan support. We are talking about a program that was signed into law by a Republican, President Nixon, way back in 1970. We are talking about a program that helps patients get the birth control they need, the STI testing and the treatment they count on, the cervical and breast cancer screenings that could save their lives, and the support they need to plan a family on their own terms.

This isn't just the popular thing to do, although helping patients get the birth control they need is an overwhelmingly popular thing to do; this is the right thing to do. Let's get this done. It should not be controversial. It simply expands our Nation's longstanding Family Planning Program--a program, I should note, that we included in our bipartisan funding bill earlier this year.

Just a few months ago, some Republicans were adamantly against any increases for this program, but now, as we hear, they are changing their tune and claiming they do want to support families. They do want to expand family planning services. They want to do exactly what this bill does--unless, of course, they don't mean it, and it is simply rhetoric or just another Republican distraction from the reality that has been ushered in.

Right now, the Republicans will have a chance to go on the record on whether they actually support family planning, whether they actually want to help people get birth control. And believe me, the same people Republicans have been trying to ignore--the same people who are having their healthcare undermined, their lives upended, their controls over their own bodies taken away--are going to be watching us closely, and they are not going to forget how much or how little Republicans' promises are worth.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from further consideration of S. 4550 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, there you have it--the real Republican position on expanding family planning summed up in two simple words: ``I object.''

As much as Republicans are talking now about supporting women's health, as hard as they might try to pretend that they do support family planning services, when they have been given a chance today to do exactly that--to expand a program with a long track record of helping women get the care they need; a long history, I remind all of us, of bipartisan support--they stood in the way.

Let's be clear. The bill that the Republicans blocked today does not fund abortion. The truth is, title X only provides services like birth control, STI testing, cancer screenings--services Republicans claim to support.

We are not proposing anything radical or groundbreaking; we are simply saying we should expand the national Family Planning Program that already exists, the one President Nixon signed into law decades ago, the one we have already funded before in a bipartisan way many times.

Title X is a program that is already providing patients family planning services and contraception, STI testing and treatment, screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer, and more. I know that because I have met with title X providers and patients in my home State of Washington many times. I would strongly urge my colleagues who block this bill to do the same. Listen to those patients. Listen to the doctors. Listen to the nurses in their States. This is a program we already know helps so many people, and it can help more.

I can't say I am surprised by Republican objections today. I can't say this is the first time Republicans have said one thing about women's health and done the opposite, and I think we all know full well it won't be the last.

My message to the American people who are witnessing this: Pay attention. Pay attention. The Republican agenda is no to family planning, no to your right to travel for the healthcare you need, and no to your constitutional right to abortion.

Senate Democrats and I will not stop holding them accountable for empty promises or for the devastating harm their extreme abortion bans are now inflicting on so many patients and families.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, yesterday, I chaired a hearing focused on driving home the devastating repercussions of the healthcare crisis Republicans caused by overturning Roe and ending the right to abortion.

At that hearing, doctors and patients and experts spoke directly to the chaos and harm Republicans are causing. Tens of millions of women across the country now live in States where abortion has been banned or is likely to be banned soon.

Republicans have ripped away every woman's ability to decide for herself whether or not to keep a pregnancy. And it forced them to be pregnant when they do not want to be. Republicans are denying women control over their own bodies, endangering their health and putting patients and providers in impossible, indefensible situations: doctors unsure if they can save their patients without being punished; pharmacists unsure if they can fulfill a prescription; people unsure if they will be able to get Plan B, unsure if they will be able to use IVF to start a family and afraid they could get reported or investigated or even arrested for having a miscarriage.

And so many women forced to travel across State lines to get the reproductive care they need. People forced to drive miles and miles just to get the care that could save their lives. Good God, this should be unthinkable. But as we saw at yesterday's hearing, that is exactly the sort of oppressive regime, exactly the sort of nightmare reality Republicans have chosen to champion.

My colleague, the junior Senator from Kansas, actually said the fall of Roe was ``a positive development.'' Leader McConnell even called it a ``gigantic leap forward.'' My colleagues

really think the devastation, the harm playing out across this country is positive? That is despicable.

Of course, another thing we saw at that hearing is that Republicans will do anything they can to change the subject from the damage that we will see, to ignore the reality of how deadly their policies are.

News flash: When you force someone to be pregnant, they are going to notice; they are going to remember; and they are going to be painfully aware of the difference between their personal decision and the reality Republican politicians are forcing on them.

And the horrifying thing is Republicans aren't just trying to mislead about the real impact of this cruel agenda, they are pushing for a national abortion ban. And Republican lawmakers have already set their sights on ripping away the right to travel.

Let's be really clear what that means. They want to hold women captive in their own States. They want to punish women and anyone who might help them for exercising their constitutional right to travel within our country to get the services that they need in another State.

I hope everyone really absorbs how extreme and how radical and how un-American that is.

I mean, just imagine what bans like that would mean for people. In my home State of Washington, the city of Clarkston is separated from Lewiston, ID, by a river--just a bridge, that is it. People cross that bridge every single day, without a second thought. And they cross State borders just like it every day, by the millions.

Surely, we can all agree that crossing that bridge, crossing any State border to go to the doctor and get healthcare you need should not be a crime. Surely, that is common sense. Surely, every Republican who has railed against Big Government could agree with me about that.

I will be honest, based on the shameless hypocrisy I have seen this week, I doubt it. But we are about to find out because we are about to request we pass a bill that my colleague from Nevada, along with Senator Gillibrand, Senator Whitehouse, and I, introduced on Tuesday, the Freedom to Travel for Healthcare Act. It is telling that some Republicans are already saying that this is a solution in search of a problem.

Well, let's be clear about the problem because it is real and it is imminent. Conservative legal organizations are right now drafting legislation to ban travel for abortion. It was discussed at two anti- abortion conferences already.

Republican Texas legislators are saying out loud they are working with the National Association of Christian Lawmakers to draft bills restricting travel modeled after their barbaric, vigilante abortion ban. And there is already legislation introduced in Missouri to ban abortion travel. Anyone telling you this is not a threat is not paying attention or they are just trying to mislead you.

So there is a problem. Now, here is the solution. What this bill does is simple, it protects every American's constitutional right to travel across State lines and to travel in order to get or provide a lawful abortion.

It prevents States from restricting or impeding Americans' right to travel to access care and ensures there is legal recourse if States attempt to restrict that right.

And it protects healthcare providers who are licensed to provide abortions in the States where they are practicing. This should not be controversial. We should all agree, Americans have a right to travel within the United States and get the reproductive care they need.

So I urge my colleagues to support this proposal and to work with us to make sure that Americans get access to the healthcare they need where they need it.

I yield the floor.