Floor Statements

Madam President, we have a humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border. Just last month, Customs and Border Protection encountered 241,000 contacts, people coming across that southern border. That is three times the amount that we had in October of 2020.

Since Joe Biden has been President, there have been 6.6 million border contacts and 1.8 million ``got-aways.'' And the ``got-aways''-- those are the folks whom Customs and Border Protection, CBP, saw but couldn't encounter, couldn't get to. That is more than President Obama and President Trump's administration combined.

Children are being trafficked; people are dying; and the cartels are profiting. And my colleague from Iowa just referenced the southern border. In total, we have seen 172 people on the Terrorist Watchlist try to enter our country in the last year--169 at the southern border. And to put that in perspective, that number used to be in the single digits every year. Last month, it was 12. We are encountering more people on the FBI's Terrorist Watchlist in 1 month than we used to get in an entire year.

Border security is national security. Certainly, the events in Israel should bring home to us the danger of a border that is not properly protected. And it is President Biden's policies that have led to this humanitarian and security crisis.

Now, I have been down to the southern border four times, just recently as well, and I have talked to the folks at CBP, and, yes, they need some resources. Things like the aerostat blimps have been hugely successful in being able to counter the cartel's drones to monitor people trying to come across the border. So there are resources that we can provide to our southern border to help strengthen. But you know what the No. 1 thing they told me they needed? It was a change in policy because it is the policy that is driving all these people to take this dangerous journey to illegally cross into our country.

Well, now the Senate is going to take up border security, and President Biden's solution is to ask for more money to help process all the people coming across the border. That is not going to fly. If you are just processing them more efficiently coming across the border, you are not deterring anybody from coming across our border. It is the policies that are sending a message to people to come here illegally. The policy needs to change. So as we consider a bill--perhaps a supplemental bill where we are going to have border security in it--it must contain policy changes. The policy is what caused this. We have to change the policy.

But what are some of those policies? We see that we have an asylum system and a parole system that are broken. We need to address that, and then we must have a first safe country policy. You may say, what is a first safe country? Well, if you are seeking asylum and you are fleeing your home country,

what this policy says is you stop in the first safe country and you apply for asylum in the United States from there, not from within our own country.

I know there are people who don't like this idea, but let me tell you, Canada has this policy. So, for example, if you are traveling from Mexico through the United States to get to Canada and you want to seek asylum in Canada, you have to remain in the United States. That is their policy. That is the Canadians' policy.

Do you know who else has that policy? The United Kingdom. In fact, I have a chart right here with all the countries that have that policy-- Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland. In fact, not only does our northern neighbor have this policy, but 29 other countries have this policy that you have to remain in the first safe country. What does that mean? It means that if you are coming to our southern border, you must remain in Mexico. That is a part of the policy changes that we need to have. We must bring back ``Remain in Mexico.''

President Biden has direct responsibility for the humanitarian crisis on our southern border. Children are being trafficked. People are dying. The cartels are profiting off of all of this. He is responsible. If he is not going to act, we in the Senate must act.

My Republican colleagues and I have put forward commonsense solutions on how to address the issues at our southern border. We must have these policy changes if we are going to pass any sort of supplemental that is going to include additional funding for anything else.

The No. 1 issue we have here is addressing the humanitarian and national security crises. That is a priority for the American people, it is a priority for my Republican colleagues, and my Senate Democratic colleagues must make that their priority as well.

Mr. President, well, here we are again. I am looking at a floor where there is nobody on it. In fact, we haven't even taken a vote today. It has been 7 weeks since our last government shutdown face-off, and nobody is here.

Folks, we have very serious problems facing our country. We have an open border. It is a humanitarian and security crisis. We have $34 trillion in debt. Let me put that in perspective. That is about $256,000 for everybody in this country. And that is roughly the cost of a second mortgage for people in Nebraska. So it is like you own your own home, and now you have another home on top of that--only it is not a home; it is your Federal debt. And, of course, we are facing another government shutdown because we have not passed a budget.

When I was Governor of Nebraska, one of the things I told my team is that passing a budget is our most important thing we do: We fund the government. We would get involved 6 months before. We would give our budget to the legislature to start working on that budget.

Now, let me tell you how it is supposed to work here in the U.S. Senate. We are supposed to pass 12 appropriations bills. For the first time in 5 years, the Senate Appropriations Committee indeed passed 12 appropriations bills before the August recess--first time in 5 years before the August recess. Two came out June 22. The other 10 came out in July.

And yet, for months, our leader sat on those appropriations bills. We did not vote on them. We did nothing. We should have been amending, debating, and voting on those bills, and we did nothing. And here we are again, facing a government shutdown.

Now, it is a little different this time around because we have actually voted on 3 of those 12 appropriations bills. They were crammed together in what is called a minibus. And since that minibus has been voted on and passed, we have done nothing again, which means we have done 25 percent of our work--25 percent.

Now, to most people, 25 percent is a failing grade. Leading up to the September 30 deadline to pass the budget,

our majority leader had kept us in recess 5 of 7 weeks. We, typically, come in on Tuesday and leave on Thursday--or come in on Monday and leave on Thursday.

Do you know what most people in my State do? They work Monday through Friday. And when they have to get the job done, guess what they will also do? They will work weekends.

The House, in October, canceled their State home period. We didn't. The House has passed 7 of those 12 appropriations bills. Now, that is only 58 percent, but that is still more than twice as many as we have passed.

Why aren't we working? Why aren't we working on the people's business here?

We should be in session every day to get our work done. So far this year, we have voted 307 times--307. That is less than one a day. Only 35 percent of those votes have been on legislation. The other 65 percent have been on judicial candidates and nominations and so forth.

We can work harder. Our constituents work hard every day. Nebraskans work hard every day. We need to be here working on the people's business. I am ready to work each and every day until we pass these appropriations bills. We should get all 12 of them passed. We should work with the House to pass theirs, send them to the President, and it all should be done before September 30. And yet here we are, approaching November 17, and yet another deadline, another threatened government shutdown, another continuing resolution. I am ready to work. I know my colleagues are ready to work.

Mr. Leader, let us work. Call us together. Let us vote. Let's get the people's business done. Let's pass a budget. We should have an open government and a closed border. We need to control our spending and our debt. These are serious issues. Please, let us work.

I yield back.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following intern from my office be granted floor privileges until November 15, 2023: Kayla Fink.

Madam President, our Nation is facing many challenges at this point. Yet, this week, the majority leader doesn't have us addressing them. Look around this room. There is nobody here.

We should be voting Monday through Friday until we get our work done. We have a national debt that is almost $34 trillion. That is $256,000 per household. That is about equal to a second mortgage for homeowners in Nebraska.

We also have a humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. I was just down there for the fourth time. What I saw was a humanitarian disgrace. Record numbers of illegal immigrants are crossing the border. Children are being trafficked. People are dying. Cartels are profiting. The Biden administration is directly responsible for this humanitarian crisis. They should be ashamed of themselves.

The Biden administration's policies are also creating a major security crisis. A record number of encounters with individuals on the Terror Watchlist has gone on when that number used to be in the single digits just in the past few years.

Washington has an important role in dealing with these challenges. The ideal time to address them is through the appropriations process. As we all know, Congress must pass 12 appropriations bills every year, and this would avoid a government shutdown. This year, for the first time in 5 years, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed out all 12 of those appropriations bills. The first 2 came out on June 22, and the other 10 came in July.

For months, the majority leader has refused to bring those bills to the floor for votes. We could have been amending those bills, debating those bills, and then voting on those bills. Instead, he has played games with the Senate's calendar to try and force a false choice between a shutdown and more Big Government spending.

As a result, we have missed the deadline for regular order. The short-term bill that we passed, which funds the government, runs out on November 17. That is just a little over a week from today. Once again, we are on the brink of another government shutdown, and the majority leader is still playing the same games.

We should be debating. We should be amending. We should be voting on legislation to fund the government and secure our border right now. Instead, we have spent the entire week voting on nominations for a few blue State judges and the employment for someone to the National Institutes of Health.

If that weren't bad enough, once again, the majority leader will be sending us home on Thursday afternoon for the weekend. The majority leader should have kept us in session Monday through Friday every week until all appropriations bills had passed. Instead, he chose to recess early or start voting late, week after week after week. He could have canceled our October State work period, like the House did. Many of my colleagues joined me in asking him to do so. He did not. The September shutdown face-off proved that there is no time to waste.

Most Americans work Monday through Friday. In Nebraska, many of my constituents work longer hours than that. The U.S. Senate should work Monday through Friday. I know it is a crazy idea, but we could be here all week like normal Americans. We could work 8 a.m. until 5 or 6 p.m. like most Americans do. We should remain in DC until we complete our work of funding the government and securing the border. It is not a radical idea to suggest that we should have an open government and a closed border.

So I will close with this: Let's vote. Let's do what it takes to get the job done for our constituents. I am committed to working with my colleagues to deliver meaningful results. Nebraskans and Americans across the country deserve no less.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am here today to join my senior Senator to celebrate this historic achievement for our State of Nebraska and women's athletics.

Nebraskans, we love our sports. And we are particularly proud of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers. Today, I especially want to point out our pride in the UNL women's volleyball program. As my senior Senator just recognized, they are the No. 1 team in the Nation. We have had five national championships in volleyball in the State of Nebraska. It is the third most in the NCAA. That is also as many national championships as we have had for our college football team. The volleyball program has nine former Olympians. The Husker women have also played on the U.S. National Team. In fact, three of them are on that team right now. They are also pioneers in name, image, and likeness.

As my senior Senator pointed out, we just beat the previous No. 1, undefeated University of Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night in a five- set thriller that lived up to its billing as the match of the century. In 2022, our volleyball team led the Nation with an average attendance of 8,190 fans per game. We have had 314 consecutive sellouts in the regular season. And for the last nine consecutive seasons, we have led the Nation in attendance.

But earlier this year, Nebraskans helped the women's volleyball program reach a new height, a world record. It was Volleyball Day in Nebraska: 92,003 of the best fans in sports jammed into Memorial Stadium to watch four women's volleyball programs highlight their talent. The Wayne State College Wildcats took on the University of Nebraska at Kearney Lopers, and the

Omaha Mavericks took on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers. The eyes of the entire world were focused on Memorial Stadium.

Right in my home State of Nebraska, we had the most highly attended women's sporting event in the world ever. As Omaha World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel wrote:

Volleyball Day in Nebraska may be the biggest Title IX

statement of all time.

Volleyball Day demonstrated just how much progress we have made in providing equal opportunity to our daughters, granddaughters, and sisters in sports. Title IX was about leveling the playing field for women's athletics. And for over 50 years, it has done just that. And, of course, this is more than just about sports for many of these women. Athletics have been a pathway for scholarships, educational opportunities, and career pathways.

The University of Nebraska also prides itself in instilling life skills into its student athletes. The Huskers Women's Volleyball Program has been filled with remarkable student athletes in the truest sense of the word. They lead the Nation with 40 volleyball Academic All-Americans as part of a nation-leading 351 Academic All-Americans in all sports. They also have three NCAA volleyball Elite 90 award winners.

The players are the stars. But, of course, you can't have a good team without a good coach. The Nebraska women's volleyball program has a great one in Coach John Cook. Coach Cook has been a part of the Nebraska volleyball family for 23 years. During that time, the team has made the NCAA playoffs every single year. Under his eye, the women's volleyball team has won four national championships. And in September of 2022, Coach Cook celebrated his 800th career coaching win.

The Huskers' tagline is: ``In our grit, our glory.'' Volleyball Day in Nebraska and a new world record in attendance at a women's sporting event is the epitome of this motto.

Congratulations to everyone at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln whose grit made Volleyball Day possible and to all the other programs who participated.

I also want to thank vice chancellor and athletic director Trev Alberts and his team for their efforts. Thanks also to Coach Cook and his staff, and most especially, thank you to the women of the University of Nebraska volleyball program. You have given us something very special to be proud of. Truly, there is no place like Nebraska. Nebraska is what America is supposed to be.

And, finally, thank you to the senior Senator from Nebraska for introducing this resolution. I am proud to join you in recognizing this great achievement.

I yield back.

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

Mr. President, I am hearing a lot from Nebraskans about the chaos this week that is going on around here as we debate the legislation to continue funding our government.

We should be debating the reckless Big Government spending that has left us with a national debt of $33 trillion. That is $251,000 for every American household. That is about the average price of a house in Nebraska. It is like having another mortgage in national debt.

The consequences of this crippling debt mean that consumers see higher costs in interest rates. It slows the economy, and it stifles opportunities for American families.

With stubbornly high inflation, families across this Nation-- including those on fixed incomes--are tightening their belts to stretch their budgets farther. This past week, I heard from many angry Nebraskans that the Congress refuses to do the same.

We need to fund our national defense, to secure our national security; and that includes closing our open border. We need to provide essential government services that Americans expect and deserve. What we don't need is to throw more money at partisan projects or wasteful and unnecessary government spending.

The time to have these important conversations about how we do all of that is right now, as we discuss these funding bills.

There is a process to do that without coming to the brink of a government shutdown. It starts with the President giving his budget by February 6. However, this year, President Biden gave us his budget over a month late.

Then Congress must pass 12 appropriations bills by September 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed two appropriations bills on June 22 and the other 10 in July. That means for nearly 2 months, the majority leader could have brought up these bills to the Senate floor. We could have had the votes right here on them. We could have debated them. We could have amended them. Ultimately, we could have passed final versions of them. However, the majority leader chose not to do that. Instead, he has played games and created the shutdown face- off.

He has squeezed the calendar to force his and President Biden's plan to spend trillions of dollars we don't have.

For example, this week, Senators were given only 40 minutes--just 40 minutes--to read and analyze a 79-page bill to continue the funding of government.

Unlike Nancy Pelosi, I am not going to vote to pass something so I can find out what is in it. Nebraskans deserve better. Americans deserve better.

The bill the Senate is now considering ultimately does nothing to address President Biden's wasteful and unnecessary spending. It does nothing to secure our border, which is being overrun by cartels trafficking migrants and drugs--dangerous drugs like fentanyl that is killing Americans every day. We should have an open government and a closed border.

The bill we are considering right now keeps Federal Government spending at its inflated postpandemic levels.

Federal Government spending is up 40 percent in just the last 4 years--40 percent in just 4 years. That is unacceptable.

The majority leader is forcing a vote with a false choice between a bloated and wasteful omnibus bill or a government shutdown. It is manipulative. It is wrong, and I won't stand for it.

We cannot keep giving President Biden and the majority leader a blank check to spend American taxpayer dollars however they want.

A broken process will always result in a broken product. We have to do better.

During my time as Governor, we kept the size and scope of government small. It wasn't always easy. Sometimes it required tough conversations. But our State was better off for it.

We ran the government more like a business. We improved the level of services for families in need. We invested in infrastructure, like roads and broadband. And we were able to deliver $12.7 billion in tax cuts.

In Nebraska, we kept the growth of government to just 2.8 percent a year. Again, contrast that to the 40 percent government spending is up at the Federal level in just 4 years--40 percent in just 4 years.

Here is the crazy part: President Biden is actually going to declare some Federal employees nonessential. If there is a shutdown, he is going to send them home, and then he is going to bring them back and pay them backpay. If they are essential workers, they should continue to stay at their jobs during a shutdown. And if they are unessential, why do we have them?

Our Federal Government must be more effective and efficient, not bigger and worse.

In Nebraska, we proved it possible. Bringing that success to Washington is one of the reasons why I want to be a Senator. I will continue fighting to get our fiscal house in order, to make sure we continue to provide essential services that Americans deserve and expect.

My colleagues and I will continue to have serious conversations about how to do that. I hope President Biden and the majority leader will do the same.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following interns in my office be granted floor privileges until October 31, 2023: Stephen Trainer, Kayla Fink, Sarah Gregory, and Johnathan Smith.

Mr. President, boys and men should not be allowed to participate in girls' and women's sports. This used to be common sense, but today, apparently, it is controversial.

When I was back home in Nebraska for the August recess, two events highlighted this. The first was Volleyball Day.

Volleyball Day in Nebraska saw four of our women's volleyball teams showcase their talent. Over 92,000 fans crammed into Lincoln's Memorial Stadium to watch the event. It was a

world-record event, the most attendees for a women's sports event in history, and it was a great day for title IX to demonstrate how much success that has had over the last 50 years. In fact, Omaha World- Herald columnist Tom Shatel wrote, ``Volleyball Day in Nebraska may be the biggest Title IX statement of all time.'' Certainly, it demonstrated the progress we have seen, creating equal opportunity for our daughters, granddaughters, and sisters. And it is not just about athletics; it is about scholarships, about educational opportunities and, of course, those career opportunities as well.

But sadly, today, title IX is under attack from bad policies that are undermining what has been so successful for half a century.

That brings me to my second event. I, along with 1,100 other Nebraskans, had the honor to listen to Riley Gaines. Riley was a women's swimmer for the University of Kentucky, and she described her experience competing against Lia Thomas.

Lia Thomas was William Thomas, a man who competed against other men for 3 years of his college career, and at that time, he was mediocre at best. He came in ranked 462nd in the Nation. But after a year of testosterone suppression therapy, under NCAA rules, Thomas was allowed to compete against women, and he went from being ranked 462nd nationally to being top-ranked. Riley described how unfair this experience was.

We also heard from Dr. Greg Brown. He is a physiologist and professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He described the differences between men and women. It is crazy that we need to have somebody talk about the differences between men and women. He described that men produce 10 to 20 times more testosterone than women on average and that this testosterone suppression therapy that I mentioned--well, it reduces it, but according to NCAA rules and IOC rules, you only have to get below the ``normal'' range, and that level is still 5 to 10 times more testosterone than what women produce.

Here is the kicker: There is no research--none whatsoever--that shows that by reducing testosterone, you eliminate the male sex-based athletic advantages. None. It is bogus. It is arbitrary. That is part of the unfairness.

When we support policies that undermine title IX, we are potentially robbing women of the opportunity to be able to have those sports careers and to have the opportunity to get those scholarships.

As school starts back up again, let's celebrate the differences between boys and girls, between men and women. Let's not support policies that are driving them off the court or the playing field or out of the pool.

I am a proud cosponsor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. It would require title IX to be interpreted based upon your biological sex. This will preserve title IX and those opportunities for young women all across this country. Let's make sure bad policy is not undermining title IX.

I urge all my Senate colleagues to support this commonsense act. It is pro-science, it is pro-women, and it is pro-common sense. We need to push back against these bad policies that are undermining the important title IX work over the last 50 years. That way, we can ensure that our daughters, granddaughters, and sisters have that equal opportunity that they have had over all these years.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to the nomination of Nancy Abudu to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

I served as Governor for 8 years, and, in that time, I had the great privilege of appointing dozens of judicial appointments to Nebraska courts. I appointed four of the current Nebraska Supreme Court justices and many more to lower courts.

When I considered a prospective nominee, I was often reminded of our State's motto: ``Equality Before the law.'' That motto reflects a commonsense American principle that all people should receive equal treatment and equal opportunity, regardless of one's race or background. The women and men who serve in our courts should reflect this motto.

When I considered nominees, I looked at a few things. I looked at whether they were leaders with high integrity and character. I looked at their experience, and I looked at how they understood their role as a judge. Did they think the job of a judge was to make the law or to interpret the law?

I looked at if they had a respect for the law and whether they had the temperament to bring a thoughtful and fairminded approach to each case they would have at hand. I looked at whether they were respected by their peers. And I am proud of the appointments that I made.

Nancy Abudu is not someone I would have considered for a judgeship. Ms. Abudu is the kind of soft-on-crime, anti-police, activist we actually must keep off of the bench. And I want to take a moment to go over her record.

Ms. Abudu has argued publicly and repeatedly that American voting laws and the criminal justice system are racist and discriminatory. She has specifically maligned the three States that comprise the Eleventh Circuit that she is being considered for. In Alabama, she said that Jim Crow continues to cast a long shadow on the State's elections.

She said that Florida is engaged in a ``war to strip poor and low- income people of all political power.'' And she accused Georgia State legislators of ``punishing voters and undermining democracy'' and said that the State is a ``bad actor'' and ``simply cannot be trusted to protect the rights of voters.''

At a time when Americans require certainty and security of our elections, Ms. Abudu has consistently argued dangerous and misleading positions, trying to undermine the public's trust of our elections and our voting rights. She has argued that prohibiting felons from voting is ``practically the same system as during slavery.'' She argued that requiring voters to present identification is voter suppression.

My colleague, Ranking Member Grassley, described Abudu as one of the ``most activist judicial nominees we've ever seen.'' During her confirmation hearing, the Judiciary Committee heard Abudu double down in defense of her work in 2018 to challenge a Miami ordinance that banned sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school.

Senator Grassley questioned Abudu about a 2016 article where she advocated for laws that ``would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections'' and suggested that opponents of such legislation are ``trying to incite hysteria that undocumented immigrants are also taking over the ballot box in addition to our country.''

When asked which election she thought noncitizens should be permitted to vote in, Abudu declined to substantively respond, saying:

In the article, I noted that some cities allow noncitizens

to vote in local elections.

Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Abudu about numerous partisan and inflammatory statements she has also made, including:

Systemic racism [is] embedded in the criminal justice

system and other parts of our society.

That the ``problem'' with southern States when it comes to voting laws ``is they're not always doing the right thing and the resentment they feel is that historically, the Federal Government has not allowed them to get away with it.''

Governor DeSantis is digging his heels in to ensure poor

people in his State are blocked from voting.

With respect to the privatization of schools, she said:

[W]e are not in an environment or a culture where we want

to rely on our State legislators to do the right thing by our

children, especially if they are Black or Brown.

Nancy Abudu's work at the Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, since 2019 and currently as the Strategic Litigation Director are also extremely concerning positions. For those unfamiliar, the Southern Poverty Law Center is a far-left activist organization that only targets conservatives whom they disagree with politically. The SPLC is well-known for, unapologetically and often without any justification, labeling conservative and religious organizations and individuals as ``hate groups'' or ``extremists.''

As a Federal judge recently found that the SPLC hate list does not ``depend upon objective data or evidence'' and its application of the ``hate group'' designation is ``entirely subjective.''

Another Federal judge ruled that SPLC's ``representation or description'' of a nonprofit organization as a hate group ``is not one `of fact.'''

SPLC's Hate Map, as they call it, is ``outright fraud'' and ``a willful deception designed to scare older liberals into writing checks to the SPLC.''

Their misinformation has real-world implications ranging from careless to incendiary and deadly. Floyd Lee Corkins entered the Family Research Council's headquarters with a 9-millimeter pistol, multiple ammunition clips, and a box of extra rounds, and the intent to ``kill as many people as possible.'' Fortunately, Corkins was stopped by the building manager from carrying out this mass shooting.

Under FBI interrogation, Corkins said he chose to carry out the attack on FRC after it was labeled a ``hate group'' on the Southern Poverty Law Center's website.

In 2018, the SPLC paid $3.375 million in damages after brandishing British Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz as an anti-Muslim extremist.

Similarly, the SPLC was compelled to issue an official apology for placing Dr. Ben Carson under their extremist watchlist back in 2014.

In 2021, in Nebraska, we saw the Southern Poverty Law Center's reckless and misguided definition of ``hate groups'' used against University of Nebraska-Lincoln students. A Christian student organization called Ratio Christi filed a lawsuit alleging the University discriminated against the organization's conservative and Christian views when it denied funds for a speaker.

I spoke out at the time urging the University to support speakers from a wide variety of viewpoints on campus, including Christian speakers. The group of students had secured legal defense from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious freedom organization. The Southern Poverty Law Center's designation of ADF as a hate group was then used against the students in media reports across the State.

Fortunately, justice prevailed; and in a victory for free speech at public universities, a Federal court entered a partial judgment against the University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials who discriminated against Christian student organizations. The University revised its funding policies to provide

transparency and accountability in the process.

In 2023, an FBI whistleblower revealed the Bureau issued an internal memo--now rescinded--on ``radical-traditionalist Christian ideology,'' citing the SPLC. The memo characterized radical traditionalist Catholics primarily by their rejection of church developments since the Second Vatican Council--Vatican II--and opposition to homosexuality. The memo suggests the FBI should monitor these Catholics through ``the development of sources with access,'' including in places of worship. It presents a list of hate groups published by the SPLC as a place to start with this work.

The SPLC's hate label destroys civil discourse and breeds contempt for those with different views.

Americans want judges that understand their role to interpret our laws, not make them. Americans want judges who want to give every litigant a fair shake. Americans want judges that believe in our Founding documents.

Ms. Abudu has failed to demonstrate she understands the critical role that a judge should play in our legal system. Her record proves that she is far outside the mainstream. Far-left activists do not belong on the Federal bench. I call on my colleagues to join me in opposing this radical nominee.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling for the need for permitting reform for our Federal Agencies. The current system we have right now is in dire need of reform. It takes too long and costs taxpayers too much money. As Governor of Nebraska, I had direct experience with this. Let me share some of those experiences.

The Natural Resources District, which is in charge of flood mitigation around Offutt Air Force Base, saw the need to raise the levees around Offutt Air Force Base.

Offutt Air Force Base is very important. Not only does it house the 55th Wing, but it also is the home of Strategic Command, which controls our nuclear forces.

They went about the process of getting the levees raised; however, the Army Corps of Engineers took 6 years--6 years--to grant the permit. The permit was granted, and construction was set to begin in March of 2019.

March 2019 was also the same month that we experienced the most widespread flooding in our State's history. As part of that flooding, Offutt Air Force Base was damaged. Floodwaters covered the runway and damaged over a dozen buildings. Ultimately, the cost to the U.S. taxpayers was nearly $1 billion. If the Army Corps of Engineers had only given the permit in 4 years--which, by the way, still would have been horrible service--those levees would have been built up, and we could have avoided nearly $1 billion in damage to Offutt Air Force Base, risking our national security and costing taxpayer dollars.

In another case, the Natural Resources District was looking to raise a different levee, R616-613. That permit took 7 years to get issued and at a cost of $6 million. The overall project was set for $45 million. That means that the cost of the permit alone was 13 percent of the overall cost of the project.

In hearings today with the Army Corps of Engineers, we find out that the Army Corps of Engineers has about 80,000 regulatory reviews and permits they issue, and they claim they turn those permits around in 11 months. However, they have no system of detecting or reviewing outliers like these 6- and 7-year permits, nor do they have any goals for what a permit should cost in the overall percentage of a project.

Here is the good news: This is something we can fix. In the State of Nebraska, we undertook permitting reform as well because we wanted to do a better job serving our customers and reduce our costs.

For example, with our air construction permits that the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy issues, we looked at the process of doing that. It took almost 200 days to issue those permits. The process to issue those was 110 steps long. Only four of those steps actually offered any value. We were able to cut that number of steps down to 22 steps, and by 2019, it cut the days it takes to issue that permit down to 65--all without sacrificing any quality.

Through our department of transportation, we also have green sheets. These are the sheets we give to contractors to make sure they are complying with things like environmental regulations, antiquities, endangered species, erosion control, and also things such as hazardous waste disposal. It was taking us about 16 days to issue those, and the process was 87 steps long. We cut it down to 60 steps and were able to reduce the time it

takes to issue those green sheets by 81 percent, down to just 3 days. What that does is it then allows the contractor to get in the field and start building our roads faster, employing people faster.

When you have a regulatory environment where people know they can have that certainty, it helps businesses. In fact, Yahoo said they invested about $20 million in Nebraska because they knew they would have that regulatory certainty in our State because we focused on good customer service.

We need to have the same sort of permitting reform at the Federal Government. In the State of Nebraska, we use Lean Six Sigma, which is a process of proven methodology to be able to do our permitting reform. Our Federal Agencies can do something similar.

I look forward to working with Ranking Member Capito on the Environmental and Public Works Committee on how we can come up with ways to reform our permitting system here at our Federal Agencies. This is something that will impact power generation, power transmission, infrastructure, flood control--a number of different things. This is vitally important for our country to continue to grow, for us to create jobs and ultimately be able to save taxpayers' money.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to join my colleagues who are continuing to sound the alarm about the ongoing drug crisis we have here in our country.

I will reiterate what my colleague said with regard to the fact that the leading cause of death of Americans age 18 to 45 today is fentanyl. In 2021, 106,000 Americans died of a drug overdose, 70,000 because of fentanyl. Now, let's think about if a terrorist attacked our country and killed 106,000 Americans. We would be up in arms. We would be mobilizing the country. Yet we do not see that response out of the Biden administration.

Fentanyl is a drug that is coming to us from across the border. The precursors of it are manufactured in China and shipped to Mexico, where the cartels then, in illegal labs, create the fentanyl that they ship across the border. When it comes across the border, it does not stay there; it goes all across our country.

The last 2 years I was Governor--the first 2 years of the Biden administration--we saw the increase in the drugs the Nebraska State Patrol was confiscating go up dramatically. We saw twice the amount of methamphetamine confiscated, 3 times the amount of fentanyl, and 10 times the amount of cocaine. In 2019, Nebraska law enforcement confiscated 46 pills--46. In the first 6 months of 2021, that number had grown to 151,000 pills confiscated--unbelievable.

It is killing people in my State, as it is across the country. I have talked on this floor before about Taryn Lee Griffith, a 24-year-old mom of two. She was out with friends when she took a pill she thought was Percocet, but it was laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl. She died that night. Now, her two little girls are going to have to learn about their mom through pictures and stories from family.

This is shameful, and it must end. It is impacting people all across this country. As I have said before on this floor, if this is not our job, to fix this, I don't know what is. So what more can we do? Well, first of all, we can address the southern border.

I have had the opportunity to go to the southern border several times, and when I talk to Customs and Border Protection officials, they tell us they need three things: They need infrastructure--wall, build a wall; they need more technology, like better drones; and they need more personnel. This Congress needs to provide Customs and Border Protection the resources they need to be able to stop the flow of drugs coming into this country.

Another thing we can do--unbelievably, if you distribute fentanyl and it kills somebody, that is not a murder charge. However, I am proud to cosign on Senator Marco Rubio's bill, the Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act, which would make it a Federal felony murder charge to distribute fentanyl and then have somebody die from it. This is a very serious crime that is going on. It needs serious consequences. We need to make this a felony murder charge. And let me tell you, the families are asking for this.

One of the other things we periodically do here is we put fentanyl on the schedule I drug list, but it is temporary. We need to make that permanent. We know fentanyl and the analogues are dangerous and need to be schedule I drugs that have no medical purpose. So let's do that. And that is why I have cosponsored Senator Johnson's Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues Act, otherwise known as SOFA.

This is a drug crisis. It is killing our young people in this Nation. I call on my colleagues to act, to take these steps to combat this crisis. Too many Americans are dying because of what is going on. We need to act.

With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today humbled and honored to stand in this Chamber to represent the people of the great State of Nebraska.

The first time I walked into this Chamber, I got chills. This Chamber represents the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the American people; it represents the shared values we have had for nearly two-and-a-half centuries; it represents just how exceptional our Republic, how exceptional America is.

Today, it is all too easy to take for granted just how exceptional our great Nation is. Our Founders threw off the tyranny of a King with an idea. It was a really radical idea that our rights come to us directly from God, not from a King, and that governments were instituted to protect those rights. It was a brandnew idea that our rights are ours; that they are endowments from God, not consent from some government.

Even today, after 246 years, our founding principles are just as true. These values--like the rule of law, checks and balances, federalism--they are critical to our Republic. We are strongest when we follow them, and we are never weaker than when we stray from them.

We are also strong because of our Constitution. Our Constitution-- forging a government of the people, by the people, for the people--is the greatest governing document ever written.

The primary purpose of our government is to secure people's liberty and happiness, their peace and prosperity, and we have done it really, really well for nearly two-and-a-half centuries. This is incredibly rare. We have created a bubble in world history. For most of human history, people have worried that somebody bigger than them would come and take their stuff or a foreign army would rampage across the landscape, burning down everything--not here in America.

Another advantage of our system is that it unleashes the power of individuals' unbounded potential. In America, it doesn't matter where you start; with enough grit and hard work, you can go anywhere. That is why the world wants to come here. That is why they send their best and brightest students to study and train here. That is why nearly every major innovation and breakthrough comes from America. That is why so many have sought a better life in our great Nation. Through our strength, we remain the cornerstone of global peace and prosperity.

Our greatness is also reflected in our commitment to defend freedom here in this building, in our courts, and even on battlefields. It requires much of us as patriots and citizens, and if we are not vigilant, it could easily slip away. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, freedom is only one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream; it must be fought for each and every day.

We must not lose sight of the things that make America so exceptional. That is our commitment to our God-given liberties.

Our Founders were concerned that as government got too big, it would tend toward tyranny and rob people of their freedoms. Here in the Senate, if we continue allowing the Federal Government to grow too big and too intrusive, we risk our peace and prosperity; we risk losing the very values that have always made America great. However, if we hold on to those founding principles, we have a path to an even brighter future for this great Nation.

The Framers of our Constitution believed that government closest to the people is best able to serve them. This is common sense. What works in Nebraska may not work in New York. That is why we have the 10th Amendment to the Constitution--that the powers not specifically delegated to the Federal Government are reserved for the States and the American people. That is why top-down Federal mandates usually do more harm than good.

In my home State of Nebraska, we have shown America what is possible when the Federal Government gets out of the way and allows States to lead. We have proven that limited and responsive government works best.

During my time as Governor, we kept the size and scope of government small. We empowered people. We ran government more like a business. The reality is, when government works better, people are served better. We dramatically improved the level of services that we provided to Nebraska families. We got help to people in need faster than ever before. For example, we reduced the on-hold time for people calling our economic assistance phone line by 75 percent. We made it easier for citizens and businesses to work with the State. As an example, we cut the time it takes to issue a permit by nearly in half.

We achieved millions of dollars in savings while doing so. And do you know what saving money allows you to do? It allows you to give back to people their tax dollars in the form of tax relief. We provided billions of dollars in tax relief, including to our veterans and our seniors, by phasing out the taxes on their retirement income and Social Security.

We attracted new investments and jobs for communities big and small. We employed a record number of Nebraskans, and our unemployment rate fell to a historic low.

We made government work better. We proved that we can do a better job of providing services while controlling our costs. We also proved that we can respect people's freedoms and liberties while keeping people safe. During the pandemic, we kept kids in classrooms, people at their jobs, and government open. And we were ranked the No. 1 best pandemic response State.

All of this reflects our conservative Nebraska values. In Nebraska, we respect people's freedom. We value strong communities, family, and faith. We honor our law enforcement and our military. We expect a limited, accountable government. We believe in personal accountability and responsibility and the incredible potential of the individual. Nebraska is what America is supposed to be.

But, nationally, we have strayed from these values. Too many take our freedom for granted. Too many focus not on what is good but on their grievances. Too often, we hear resentment rather than reverence for the very principles that made this a great Nation. Too many have forgotten the old adage that a government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have.

Massive and reckless spending to fund bigger programs has seriously weakened our economy. Families and businesses are struggling under the burden of high taxes, high inflation, and rising interest rates. A wave of job-killing regulations from Washington is harming American agriculture and industry.

At the same time, the Federal Government is failing in many of its most basic responsibilities, like keeping us safe. Undeniably, national security is paramount to the Nation's freedom and prosperity. It is the Federal Government's most important responsibility, but the Biden administration has turned a blind eye to the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border.

Vulnerable people are dying, victims of the cartels. Fentanyl and other dangerous drugs are flooding into our Nation. So are suspects on our terrorist watch list. And what comes across the border, whether it is the drugs, the criminals, or the human trafficking victims, they don't stay there. They impact every community. It is costing Americans their lives.

Taryn Lee Griffin was a 24-year-old mom of two when she died in Lincoln, NB, of a drug overdose. She was out with friends when she took a pill she thought was a prescription drug. It was laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl. Her mom, Liz, said: Our daughter is everyone's daughter. She is right.

Our sons and daughters, our friends and neighbors, they are paying the price for this crisis with their lives every day. It is shameful and unacceptable.

This administration's incompetence on the southern border is matched by

its foreign policy blunders. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan projected weakness to our friends and adversaries, and American servicemembers lost their lives, including Nebraskan Cpl Daegan Page.

Unbelievably, we left Americans behind and abandoned our Afghani security partners. Our allies are seriously questioning our commitment to our friends.

And, even worse, the bad guys, our adversaries--like the Chinese Communist Party, regimes in Russia, Iran, and North Korea--they are questioning our resolve.

Our freedoms and way of life depend upon peace. How do we maintain peace? We maintain peace through strength.

Not for the first time in our history, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment, facing what Ronald Reagan termed ``a time of choosing.'' I believe the choice is clear. We must chart a path to greater freedom and strength. We must remain the world's beacon of peace and prosperity.

It requires us to get back to basics, back to our founding values. Those values have guided me as Governor, and they will guide me here. As Governor, we spent 8 years delivering on excellence.

I didn't believe the naysayers back then when I started, and I don't believe them now.

Government can work better, and it can do so while respecting our liberties. That is the goal I will work toward each and every day. I will strive to make the Federal Government work better for the people of this country. I will reject every effort to restrict our liberties and undermine our values.

I will work to restore transparency and faith in the Federal Government, and I will work to control spending, curb unnecessary regulation, and limit the size and scope of government. I will work to secure our borders and provide the resources to defend ourselves against our enemies. I will work to assure that we have a well-trained, well-led, and well-equipped military to defend us.

I will hold this administration and future administrations accountable to the people of Nebraska, and I will always fight for the best interests and freedoms of the Nebraskans I serve.

In spite of the challenges we face, I believe there has never been a better time to be an American. However, many don't feel this way. We must make the American dream real for them.

Throughout history, we have risen to meet every challenge. With our founding values as our guide, we will again rise to meet the challenge of this moment.

My experience in the Senate so far has reaffirmed my faith that we have more in common than divides us. With that joy and faith in our Nation, I ask God to continue to bless the great State of Nebraska and the United States of America.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to fight a blatant land grab by the Federal Government.

My colleagues and I support the Senator from West Virginia's resolution disapproving of the waters of the United States rule. This rule would change the definition of ``navigable

waters'' to include things like roadside ditches, puddles on construction sites, farm ponds.

Think about that. President Biden's EPA and Army Corps of Engineers apparently believe that drainage ditches, construction site puddles, and farm ponds are navigable waters. To say this statement defies all common sense is an understatement. Quite frankly, it is embarrassing.

I am from Nebraska. I get it. I am from a land-locked State. But, to me, ``navigable'' means you can put a boat on a body of water and go somewhere. But you don't have to take my word for it. We have the Merriam-Webster definition of ``navigable'' right here, and it says: ``deep enough and wide enough to afford passage to ships.''

If you put a boat on a roadside ditch, you are not going anywhere. If you put a boat on a puddle on a construction site, you are not going anywhere. If you put a boat on a pond, you are just going around the pond. You are not going anywhere besides that.

To Nebraska farmers and ranchers, this is just dumb. Beyond that, the Biden administration is trying to change the law without coming to Congress. The 1972 Clean Water Act said ``navigable waters'' 50 times. Congress's intent could not have been more clear.

As a legislative branch, we must protect our authority. The Biden administration is trying to subvert our laws, and it must be stopped. If allowed to stand, this rule would increase costs and uncertainty for producers, property owners, and small businesses.

President Biden and liberal bureaucrats have absolutely no business regulating this, and I think the President knows it. You know why I think the President knows it? Well, because President Biden's EPA and Army Corps of Engineers quietly finalized this rule on the last working day of the year, just before New Year's Eve. It seems like the President and his cronies hoped that no one would notice.

Well, guess what. We noticed. Nebraska's farmers and ranchers noticed. My Senate colleagues and I noticed, and we are pushing back hard. And, today, my colleagues and I are defending private property rights from this unconstitutional power grab. Today, we are sending a message to President Biden that our farmers and ranchers need relief, not regulation. Today, we are fulfilling our responsibility to provide oversight and accountability in response to Executive overreach. Today, we are defending the authority of the legislative branch.

When I was Governor, I repeatedly opposed President Obama's efforts to expand the waters of the United States rule. As Senator, I strongly oppose President Biden's attempt to do the same.

I want to again thank Senator Capito for her leadership on this issue. I am proud to have joined a bipartisan effort today to vote to rescind this unconstitutional rule. I hope President Biden will choose to sign this commonsense resolution as he did the DC crime bill. He agreed with a bipartisan group of Senators then, and he should do the same now.

I yield the floor.