Floor Statements

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, many of us in Connecticut and throughout the Nation awoke today with a heavy heart, with grief still so raw that we could almost touch it.

I wish I could tell you that 10 years ago to this day was a blur. I wish I could tell you that the memory of that day has dimmed. I wish I could tell you that the knife-like sorrow and pain has subsided. But the fact is, it is still raw and real for so many of us in Connecticut, this day 10 years ago.

My mind goes back to the horrors of this day, and I think that reliving it reminds us of the need to honor those 26 lives with action. It is still searingly and scarily vivid--the voices, the faces, the unforgettable moments of that tragedy, as we stood at the firehouse in Sandy Hook and saw parents and loved ones emerge after learning that their children or loved ones--beautiful babies and great educators-- would not be coming home that night; parents with their faces frozen in shock and sorrow, struggling through tears; police and first responders bent with disbelief and grief; townspeople, loved ones feeling helpless and hopeless.

And at the wakes and funerals that followed, what we saw was a town and a State that rallied together--but still the searing sorrow of those losses and also the determination that was expressed that night at St. Rose of Lima Church to turn that grief and sorrow into something positive.

As I recall very vividly, at one of the wakes, I approached a mom who had just lost her child and said: When you are ready, I would like to talk about what we can do to stop this kind of gun violence. And she looked at me through her tears and said: I am ready. I am ready now.

That is the spirit that Sandy Hook and Newtown brought to the world as the world watched them. And many of them, not all, but many turned that grief and loss into advocacy. They came here to the Capitol. They asked us to do something about gun violence. They spoke to colleagues. They crusaded. They sought to improve the background check system that all too often allows people who are dangerous to have weapons, people who should be separated from their guns or prevented from having them in the first place.

And they were in this Gallery, many of them, when the vote on that background check bill failed. It received 60 votes, but it failed--it received less than 60 votes, so it failed. It received a majority but not the 60 votes that it needed.

And from the Gallery I heard then and I still feel that it echoes in this Chamber: Shame. Shame on you.

And, indeed, shame on us for the 10 years afterward when no action came from this body.

In the last decade, they have continued that crusade. They have helped to form a movement. They have been joined by tens of thousands of others in a movement to change the law, to turn that trauma and loss into positive social change and reform, and they have helped create a movement--organizations like Giffords and Newtown Action Alliance, Sandy Hook Promise, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, the Newtown Action Alliance, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, many of them coming here and working year after year.

That episode and others like it--the scourge of gun violence--have given rise to that movement.

And through that decade, literally 41,000 Americans have died every year. One million Americans in total have been shot. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Every day, eight children and teens are unintentionally or accidentally injured or killed due to an unlocked or unsupervised gun.

But the survivors and the loved ones have become the difference makers, and they have been joined by law enforcement and parents, teachers, medical professionals, activists and advocates who have said to us: Enough is enough. And their determination and courage, their conviction, that momentum has created a different trajectory, a different climate of opinion in this country so that now a majority of Americans want commonsense, sensible controls on gun violence.

So the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was not an accident of history; it was the culmination of a movement that is still growing and spreading in its influence and impact.

And there is no minimizing the importance of the measure that we passed with strong bipartisan support last August. It improves the background system. It closes the boyfriend loophole. It helps stop gun trafficking. It adopts the concept of red flag statutes, intervention in crisis, separating people from guns when they are going to kill themselves or others or at least tell people they are going to do it.

And that red flag or emergency risk protection order movement is one that we in Connecticut initiated. We were the first to pass that statute. And I have worked with Senator Graham and others in bipartisan expansion of that proposal, and it is already helping to save lives. In Florida, it has saved countless lives, in Connecticut--in the 19 States where there are red flag statutes. And the act as a whole is helping to save lives.

As my colleague Senator Murphy, who will speak shortly, has said, the reforms on the background check system alone have helped to save lives, and I credit him with his leadership in passing that measure.

And yet--and yet--the deaths continue. We know that that measure was not the single solution or the panacea that will solve the problem of gun violence, the scourge, the epidemic of gun violence deaths in this country.

We have broken the grip of the gun lobby. The NRA is a shadow of itself, and we have a movement that is growing in importance and impact, but there is so much more to be done in the law. We need Ethan's Law, safe storage, such as we have done in Connecticut, strengthened red flag and emergency risk protection order statutes, better background check systems to make them more complete and better enforceable, and, yes, ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, ghost guns, which are the scourge of law enforcement.

And so I say to the advocates and activists who are continuing this movement: We will continue that work. We will honor with action the lives which are lost not only in Sandy Hook but all around this country, day after day, in drive-by shootings, in crimes, and criminal assaults in domestic violence.

Just in this past month, a brave young woman, Julie Minogue, was lost in Connecticut to domestic violence, where a protective order should have helped to save her life.

And we owe our police more support and resources to enforce those protective orders and to take action against gun violence. They are unsung heroes. And in the wake of Sandy Hook, many of them experienced trauma and mental health challenges that still linger with them. On this day, we should remember and commemorate and celebrate the service of our police and, yes, our teachers who also, every day, have to do the drills and experience the fear and apprehension for themselves and their students.

They are also unsung heroes of Sandy Hook and afterward; and parents who have to explain why they have that apprehension and why their children have to prepare for those drills; our medical professionals in the emergency room who see this trauma and the death and injury day in and day out.

They are doing their jobs. Our teachers are doing their jobs. Our police are doing their jobs. Parents are doing their jobs. Congress is not doing its job. Thank you to them for doing their job. Congress must do its job to strengthen our laws and prevent gun violence.

And there is a new generation of activists and advocates coming along. The young woman who spoke at the vigil last Wednesday night and introduced President Biden--a survivor of Sandy Hook--is just one example; March For Our Lives, emanating from Parkland. All of the young people who are demonstrating that positive energy that is so critically important in advancing this movement, they are showing awe-inspiring hope and grace. Junior Newtown Action Line is another example.

The community of Sandy Hook has responded with dazzling strength and

courage. That community has not only rallied around the loved ones who have experienced unspeakable loss, but they have helped to support the charitable and nonprofits that those families formed in the wake of those losses.

They have truly chosen love, those families. Many of them have established foundations and nonprofits that benefit music, art, education, scholarships for students, animal sanctuaries.

I have worked with the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, started by Scarlett Lewis; the Sandy Hook Promise organization, started by the Hockley and Barden families; the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation; Ben's Lighthouse; the Emilie Parker Art Foundation; the Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, which just a couple of weeks ago had a run in Stratford, a 5K, to benefit the great work that it is doing on scholarships; the Avielle Foundation; and the Ana Grace Project. The list goes on. It is a part of this story because Sandy Hook is the story not only of social change and legal and legislative reform, but it is also an intensely personal story about grace and grit, about courage and strength, and about a personal dedication to making good come out of the unimaginable horror and evil on that day.

Sandy Hook in Connecticut is also the story about peacekeepers--a new generation of peacekeepers, young people who are dedicated in Hartford through the Compass Youth Collaborative, graduates of the Brother Carl Hardrick Institute, who are determined to try to prevent violence and reach out to others of their age and stop gun violence before it begins by enlisting others in peacekeeping and intervention.

That is also the result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, because the investment of $15 billion in mental health and crisis intervention and community organization is, at the end of the day, a critical part of stopping gun violence.

The survivors club, as someone has said, is one that no one wants to join. This survivors club of gun violence is a network that no one wants to be a part of personally. And yet, as long as the violence continues, there will be survivors and loved ones, like the great and graceful families of Sandy Hook.

As our heart goes out to them on this day, we should keep in mind and in our hearts the need to honor with action--continuing action. They are doing their job. Police, teachers, medical professionals, parents, all of the professionals are doing their jobs. Congress must do its job. The time is for action--more action now.

I yield the floor to my colleague from Connecticut, who has been such a champion in this effort, Senator Murphy.

Madam President, today I rise to congratulate Consumer Reports on 50 years of advocacy in Washington, DC.

In 1936, scientists and researchers established a union of consumers to test products and give evidence-based recommendations through what was to become the iconic publication Consumer Reports. In 1972, the organization saw an opportunity to do even more for consumers and for the country at large by sharing data and insights with policymakers and making policy recommendations in support of consumer safety, fairness, and transparency in the marketplace.

Fifty years ago, a small team was established in Washington, DC, that has been working with Senators on both sides of the aisle, with our colleagues in the House of Representatives, and with staff at Federal Agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--which Consumer Reports played a major role in helping establish in 2010.

For the past five decades, Consumer Reports has ensured that we in government hear the voices of consumers, understand their needs in the marketplace, and shape the rules and safeguards that consumers deserve.

Consumer Reports has partnered with me and others to take actions that not only help people save their hard-earned money, but also save lives. Products are safer, our standards are higher, and consumer protections have endured, thanks to the extraordinary work of this organization.

On the 50th anniversary of Consumer Reports establishing its first team of advocates in Washington, DC, I congratulate and commend Consumer Reports president and CEO Marta L. Tellado, along with the past and present staff and board of directors, all of whom have dedicated their talents and resources to creating a fair, safe, and just marketplace for all of us.

Yes, I do.

Mr. President, today I rise to recognize the Lebanon American Club of Danbury, CT, as they celebrate 100 years of devoted cultural engagement and civic service in their community.

The Lebanon American Club--or ``the Club,'' as it is affectionately known as by its members--was founded in 1922 as

the Syrian American Club. In its early days, this organization assisted members in becoming American citizens, learning English, and served as a vital social support system for Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. After initially meeting at various locations across Danbury, the Club established a permanent home in ``Little Lebanon'' on New Street in Danbury in the 1930s, before moving to its current West Street location in 1993.

Highly active in the civic and cultural life of the Arabic speaking community in Danbury, the Lebanon American Club boasted many members who were major contributors to the economic, professional, and social fabric of the region. After the election of Chicory Buzaid as Danbury City Sheriff in 1937--the first Lebanese American elected to public office in the State of Connecticut--the Club's members became more politically active as well.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Club's activities expanded with regular dinners, scholarship programs for students, fundraisers to aid members in need, and an annual Labor Day weekend ``Mahrajan'' festival celebrating their Lebanese and Syrian heritage.

In the 1970s, a new wave of Lebanese immigrants sparked a revitalization of the Lebanon American Club and their activities expanded. New Club programs were established--and continue today-- including a children's Christmas party and a scholarship award dinner which has grown tremendously over the years, providing tens of thousands of dollars in college scholarships to high school graduates. Additionally, the Lebanon American Club Ladies Auxiliary routinely holds dinners and wine tastings and is a significant contributor to the Club's overall activities.

In recent years, the Lebanon American Club has continued to expand and flourish. The Lebanon American Teacher Exchange program was established in 2002, and the annual Lebanon American Day flag raising ceremony was first held the next year in 2003. In 2009, the Club established a heritage monument committee to pay tribute to their immigrant ancestors, and the monument was unveiled at city hall during the 2010 Lebanon Day celebration. The Club has continued to thrive of late, including hosting regular blood drives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to provide lifesaving aid to the community.

For a century, the Lebanon American Club has provided cultural, civic, and social support to its members, the Lebanese community, and the Danbury community at large. I have attended many Club activities and greatly appreciate and admire their long-standing commitment to preserving and promoting their cultural heritage while selflessly serving their community through their many activities and programs. I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating the Lebanon American Club of Danbury, CT, on this momentous occasion of their 100th anniversary.

Madam President, today I rise to recognize the New Britain Lions Club as they celebrate 100 years of devoted community service and positive impact on countless families and organizations in New Britain, CT, and the surrounding area.

The New Britain Lions Club is one of the five original Lions Clubs organized in Connecticut. Since their founding in 1922, the Club's core focus has been to meet the needs of children, although they have touched the entire community over the years. As a testament to their far-reaching impact, President Herbert Hoover sent a telegram in 1930 which read: ``There is hardly an institution or community effort where the New Britain Lions Club has not been involved, including the library, Salvation Army, Scouts, sports, the American School for the Deaf, community festival, and literally scores of others.''

The Club has developed leadership skills in its membership and ten of the Club's members have served as District Governor, displaying extraordinary leadership ability and helping establish programs that continue to this day to serve New Britain. Among these leaders was Lion Thomas Leonard, one of the founders of the Connecticut Lions Eye Research Foundation--CLERF--Lion Howard Wry, who began the annual eyeglass collection and initiated the New Britain Lions Emergency Food Bank in 1981, and Lion Otto Strobino, who served as President of the Lions Eye Research Foundation and initiated the planting of the Lions Memorial Forest at the University of Connecticut. The New Britain Lions Club has set the standard of excellence in Lionism through their history of exceptional leadership and commitment to public service.

Over the past 2 years, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Britain Lions have continued to operate their free eye clinic, oversee the local Warm-The-Children program to provide winter clothes for children in need, and facilitate vision screening services to over 5,000 school children in the New Britain Public School system.

Their most recent initiative is a collaboration with Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Yale New Haven, and the Meriden YMCA Mountain Mist Camp to create a weeklong Diabetes Camp to help children and young adults manage the disease. In addition to their local impact, the New Britain Lions Club has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Lions Club International Foundation to reach those in need all over the world.

As the New Britain Lions Club celebrates its centennial this September, I applaud them on their extraordinary contributions--not just to the city of New Britain and State of Connecticut, but to our great Nation and the world. I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating the New Britain Lions Club on 100 years of committed public service.

Mr. President, today I rise to recognize Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ as it celebrates 202 years of spiritual leadership in New Haven, CT. I am honored to join Dixwell Congregational Church's congregation and supporters in celebrating the church's bicentennial, 2 years later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic--just the latest obstacle the church has overcome in its long and remarkable history.

Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ is the oldest African-American Congregational UCC church in the world. It was founded in 1820, when Black residents in New Haven were unwelcome at the city's traditional churches. Seeking the freedom to worship, a group of 22 Black New Haven residents persuaded a Yale student and abolitionist named Simeon Jocelyn to conduct religious services with them at his home. Together they formed the city's first Black congregation and, after meeting house to house for 4 years, began renting a small church on Temple Street in New Haven in 1825.

In 1837, the Rev. Dr. James W. C. Pennington became the first Black pastor of Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ. After fleeing from slavery, the Yale-educated Pennington became internationally renowned as a skilled orator. Under his leadership and the pastorate of his successor, the Rev. Amos G. Beman, the church became one of America's most eminent civil rights organizations and a cradle of the abolitionist movement. Not only did the church serve as a stop on the Underground Railroad, but many of its members were active on the Amistad Committee, which supported the defense in the landmark 1841 case United States v, The Amistad, which resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court granting the enslaved people onboard the ship their freedom.

The church moved to its current home on Dixwell Avenue in 1886 and continued to work for the social betterment of the community. In the early 20th century, the church donated the land on which the original Dixwell Community House was built, ensuring that generations of area residents had access to enriching education and recreation, as well as vital social services. One of the central figures in the church's recent history is the civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Edmond R. Edmunds, who led the church for nearly 40 years beginning in 1959. Under his pastorate, the congregation established daycare and afterschool programs that encouraged academic achievement in the Dixwell neighborhood. He also helped initiate the Dixwell Housing Development Corporation which, for many years, provided affordable housing to local, low-income families.

The church's current pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frederick ``Jerry'' Streets has carried forth the congregation's tradition of serving its community. Reverend Streets has fostered civil and constructive conversations about race in New Haven, developed faith-based rehabilitation programs for individuals with substance abuse disorders, and initiated summer STEM education programs for Dixwell neighborhood youth, amongst other good deeds.

I have had the privilege of visiting Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ on a number of occasions and have always been welcomed as one of the congregation. This kindness, free from judgement, has helped countless people in need over the past two centuries.

As Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ celebrates its bicentennial plus two this September, I applaud them on their extraordinary contributions--not just to the city of New Haven and State of Connecticut, but to our great Nation. I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating Dixwell Avenue United Congregational Church of Christ on 202 years of committed worship and service to their community.

Madam President, we are here today because Republicans are seeking a national ban on abortion. And if we say it once here, we should say it 10 times, 100 times, because literally months ago it would have been virtually unimaginable--first, that Roe v. Wade would be struck down and, second, that Republicans would propose a national ban on abortion.

Women across Connecticut and the country are scared and angry. And to those who say those fears and outrage are illusory or unjustified, all you have to do is read their words. Listen to what they say. They are promising the American people that there will be a national ban on abortion.

And to the people of Connecticut who think we have a safe haven because our legislature and Governor have courageously established protections for Roe v. Wade and for women who come to Connecticut seeking abortion services and for doctors who depend on our safeguards, there will be no safe haven in this country--none, nowhere--if Republicans go where they say, explicitly, they are heading.

I trust women with their doctors and their clergy and their family to make decisions about when and whether to become pregnant, whether to have children, and when to terminate a pregnancy short of term. I trust women--not the government, not politicians--to make these preeminently important decisions.

And I promise the people of Connecticut I will not back down. I will not stand for this kind of national ban on abortion.

Republicans have said, historically: We will let the States decide. It should be a matter of State legislatures making these decisions.

This ban on abortion takes away power from women and from States, contrary to their promises over years and years about States' rights. But more than a theoretical or hypothetical argument about the powers of State legislatures or the allocation of responsibility in our Federal system, this law will have destructive and catastrophic consequences for millions of women. It will impair the everyday lives of women and families across America.

It is not just a woman's issue. It is on all of us to say we will not back down; we will not stand for a national ban on abortion.

It is part of a tireless and seemingly boundless campaign against women's rights, but these attacks on reproductive rights and personal freedom apparently know no limits. Remember, first, Republican- controlled State legislatures moved to outlaw abortion entirely, forcing women suffering from ectopic pregnancies to bleed out in hospitals and refusing to care for child rape victims. But now Republicans are moving forward with plans to ban abortion everywhere, under any circumstances, and they are wresting a woman's right to make her own personal healthcare decision, sometimes a decision made during a devastating medical diagnosis out of her hands, putting those decisions into government's hands.

Make no mistake, the 15 weeks--all of the technical stuff that Republicans invoke, doesn't take away from the fact that it is a national ban that will eviscerate Connecticut's law. Congressional Republicans will decide whether or not women can access this vital help.

Eliminating access to abortion services as a result of the Dobbs decision has already caused devastating consequences. The loss of reproductive services in some States has caused a ripple effect for healthcare providers across the United States, which proves, for anyone who doubted, that banning reproductive services doesn't stop women from seeking those services. It just adds additional barriers and danger. In fact, it unnecessarily puts their lives at risk.

This bill would place a ban on abortion across the country, and it would include New York and Massachusetts, not just Connecticut and Delaware. Go across the country and pick those States where these rights have been protected.

When I was in the State legislature, and then as attorney general, I helped write the law that incorporates and codifies Roe v. Wade in Connecticut statute. And now Connecticut has moved beyond that statute to provide a safe haven. But all of it would be gone. All of it would be overwritten by this law.

Americans should have no doubt about where Republicans stand now on this issue. They want to punish women. They want to punish doctors. They will do it at the State level. They will do it at the national level. No State, not even Connecticut, is safe from this threat. They are coming after our laws in Connecticut. They are coming after women in Connecticut and men who believe in the rights of women as a matter of constitutional and personal freedom to make these decisions.

Our laws should protect the rights of women seeking to make their own personal decisions about their reproductive health in consultation with medical providers, and I will fight tooth and nail this effort and any other effort that seeks to control, criminalize, and dehumanize women making this choice and the healthcare providers compassionately giving them care.

The American people are in our corner. American people--whatever they may think about abortion in their own lives, for their own family, for their daughters or wives or others--they support the rights of those women to control their own healthcare decision. It is an intensely personal decision, when it has to be made, and sometimes a threat of life, something going horribly wrong in a pregnancy, is the reason for it.

I will continue to fight for all in Connecticut who believe in this fundamental right. It is a matter of our constitutional DNA in Connecticut, beginning with Griswold v. Connecticut, which laid the groundwork for the right of privacy which is the underpinning for that constitutional freedom. And all of us, I hope, will reject this effort to ban abortion in the United States.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today I rise to recognize Mr. Curtis D. Robinson, a long-time resident of Connecticut and outstanding entrepreneur and philanthropist who turns 80 on September 21, 2022.

As a teenager, Mr. Robinson left Birmingham, AL, and the segregation of the Jim Crow South, arriving in Hartford, CT, in 1958 with little more than the clothes on his back. Mr. Robinson began working two full- time jobs and one part-time job and, after several years, was able to purchase a grocery store at the age of 18. By the time he was 22, Mr. Robinson also owned a restaurant, a cleaning service, an apartment building, and a construction supply company. He used this experience to start the Small Business Development Program in 1969, creating over 100 small businesses in the Hartford and Springfield areas. This remarkable success is a testament to Mr. Robinson's extraordinary industrious spirit and tremendous work ethic.

Today, Mr. Robinson is the owner, operator, and president of C&R Development Company, the largest minority construction management company on the east coast. He also owns several shops within Bradley International Airport and runs other businesses, including R&G Services, which operates the shuttle bus service at the airport, and R&G Parking, which operates one of the largest parking lots in downtown Hartford.

In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Mr. Robinson is also an advocate for health equity. As the cofounder and chairman of the Curtis D. Robinson Center for Health Equity--CDRCHE--he expands the provision of critical health services in underserved communities, serving over 10,000 people since 2010. Expanding on this firsthand experience in addressing health inequities, Mr. Robinson sits on the boards of Trinity Health of New England, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and the Connecticut Hospital Association.

Mr. Robinson is also an extraordinary philanthropist and has contributed greatly to the civic life of Connecticut. Along with his wife, Mr. Robinson founded the Curtis and Sheila Robinson Foundation, which provides financial support across a variety of areas--offering assistance with food, rent, clothing, transportation, and scholarship funds for individuals in need. Over the years, they have championed many worthy causes, including efforts to combat food insecurity, domestic violence, and poverty. The Robinsons have also assisted individuals with medical and hospital care, donated buses to churches and schools, and adopted a homeless shelter for displaced children. Their charitable contributions are truly too numerous to list, and I applaud their remarkable efforts to give back to their community.

Mr. Robinson's incredible achievements--building a life for himself through hard work and determination--truly embody the American dream. His willingness to use his hard-earned success to give back to others serves as a model for all of us. I applaud his many accomplishments and hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating Mr. Curtis Robinson on this milestone of his 80th birthday.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote scheduled for 1:45 begin immediately.

Madam President, I rise today to recognize Mr. Burton ``Burt'' Albert, a Connecticut native and remarkable man. Sadly, Mr. Albert passed away in 2019, at the age of 86. He will be remembered for his tireless commitment to community service and his deep devotion to his wonderful family.

Born in Waterbury, Burt spent much of his life in Connecticut, attending Cheshire Academy and Amherst College, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1954. A member of the ROTC program, Mr. Albert went on to serve for 2 years as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force. Burt remained proud of his time in the military, and I applaud his strong sense of patriotism and record of military service.

It was also in the Air Force where Mr. Albert met the love of his life, Sylvia Meisel, who would become his wife of 61 years. They would go on to build a wonderful family together, having three children-- Eric, Jonathan, and Debbie--and many grandchildren they adored. Mr. Albert was a remarkable family man and cherished time with his loved ones above all else.

Mr. Albert returned to Connecticut to work in his family's scrap metal recycling business. Burt became the third generation of Alberts to lead Albert Bros. Inc., a company that recently celebrated 125 years of outstanding industry in the State of Connecticut. I have visited Albert Bros. and seen firsthand the amazing new methods for turning waste material into a useful new resource. The company is an integral part of Waterbury commerce.

Under Mr. Albert's leadership, Albert Bros. grew substantially, and he was respected by employees and customers alike. Amid all his success, working with his sons and grandson in the family business was one of the highlights of Mr. Albert's professional career.

Mr. Albert devoted much of his time to serving the Waterbury community, bringing his tremendous leadership skills to many organizations including St. Mary's Hospital, the Jewish Federation of Western Connecticut, the Harold Leever Cancer Center, and the Connecticut Community Foundation. Mr. Albert was also very active in the United Way of Greater Waterbury and B'nai Israel Synagogue. In these endeavors, Burt generously gave so much of his time and resources to helping others.

Burton Albert leaves behind a remarkable legacy of service--to our country, the State of Connecticut, and his community. But he will be remembered most by his loving family as an extraordinary husband, father, and grandfather. Burt's sense of humor, passion for learning, and conviction in his beliefs are models for all of us. I hope my colleagues will join me in celebrating the life of Mr. Burton Albert.

Madam President, I am so proud to be here today to speak in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act, which hopefully we are on the cusp of passing.

It is historic. We will save lives, save money, save taxpayers. It will lower costs for all Americans in healthcare, particularly prescription drugs. It is the most important action to cut medicine costs in our history--certainly, in recent history. It is the most significant tax fairness measure in recent history, and it is the largest investment and most important action to fight climate change in our history. So it is a big deal, and it will be measurable for all Americans in what they pay to keep themselves healthy, to keep the planet inhabitable, to keep the highest income people from avoiding or evading taxes, and, in so many ways, it will make a difference in people's lives.

But it is a compromise, like many measures that we have passed that have accomplished very significant improvements in people's lives. It is an agreement where some people get some of what they want and others don't get what they want. And one point where I think a number of us wanted to advance was the cause of childcare, and we see an absence.

But listening to Senator Schumer, especially, I am more confident than ever that we will fight and win more aid for childcare, and Senator Murray and Senator Kaine have spoken so eloquently. I will simply say to what they said that I agree whole-heartedly because childcare is critical to kids. It is essential to early development, education, and physical and mental well-being.

It is essential for families because they need it to go back to work, particularly moms who have been out of the workforce. It is essential to our economy because employers--big, small--all need more workers, and they need to train those workers, and the way to find those workers and give them the skills they need to fill those jobs is to enable them to be secure in knowing their children have good childcare.

It is important to the men and women who form the childcare workforce. I have been all around the State

of Connecticut--to Torrington, Hartford, Bristol. In fact, I accompanied the President of the United States to visit one of Connecticut's childcare facilities. They do great work. They have been doing great work during the pandemic, reporting for duty, taking care of children, even as their industry was impacted by smaller amounts of children being able to go there because parents had smaller amounts of income to afford it. And the fact of the matter is, in Connecticut, the yearly cost of childcare is about $20,000. We have lost a major part of our childcare workforce, and this measure is essential to those men and women who take care of kids in those childcare facilities with their courage and diligence and strength that befits the enormous responsibility that they have.

We are determined to make childcare affordable and accessible for every American family. The proposal that no more than 7 percent of any family's income be required for childcare is one that I still think makes eminent good sense.

We need to recognize that childcare facilities need to be sustained and supported, and those families need that same support and resource.

So I am absolutely determined that we will move forward on childcare. As frustrated as I may be that this great compromise we see in the Inflation Reduction Act fails to include it, I am proud to support it and vote for it, and to continue this fight which we can and will win. And I thank my colleagues who will be joining us for their support as well.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, first, I thank my colleague and friend from the great State of Minnesota for being such a steadfast champion of this issue over so many years and such an articulate and eloquent spokesman.

I am proud to join her and other colleagues, as we have done, week after week since the Dobbs decision, trying to protect a woman's right to decide when and whether to have children, a woman's basic control over her own body, a woman's freedom that the Dobbs decision stripped away and put in the hands of politicians.

The politicians in robes on the Supreme Court, in effect, took those rights away from the women of America, after 50 years of precedent and after everyone thought these rights were absolutely secure.

When I first introduced the Women's Health Protection Act in 2013, the idea that Roe v. Wade would be overruled was absolutely unimaginable. We were trying to fight the disruption of rights piece by piece through State laws that required admitting privileges or width of hallways or waiting times or other kinds of restrictions that constituted an unconstitutional burden on women's rights.

Now, we are in the post-Roe world where the unthinkable has become real. The unimaginable is with us right now, and worse is to come.

The hit list of this Supreme Court includes contraception, marriage equality, the basic right to privacy that is enshrined in the Constitution, the right to be let alone from government interference.

So my Republican colleagues who think we are being alarmists, the unthinkable is with us right now. And we need to provide assurance and certainty to the women of America that they can travel to seek abortion services; that family planning options will be available to them; that contraception rights will be secure. And each time we have come to the floor to seek that recognition of basic rights, the Republicans have blocked us.

So now we are here on a measure called let doctors provide reproductive healthcare--Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care.

There is a really cruel irony to this effort. The doctors and nurses and healthcare providers who were our heros and remain our heros--even more so now--during the pandemic and afterward, can be prosecuted criminally for trying to save a woman's life. An abortion that is necessary to that woman's life may be the mission of a doctor who then can be prosecuted criminally.

Now, in Connecticut, we have said--our legislature has made it absolutely clear that nobody in Connecticut is going to be prosecuted, no law enforcement official in Connecticut is going to cooperate with Texas or any other States that criminalize abortion services, no evidence from Connecticut is going to be made available to an overly zealous or aggressive prosecutor hell-bent on going after a doctor or a healthcare provider or a woman who seeks abortion services, but Connecticut is the exception. Its safe harbor makes it unusual, not common.

So we need a national law, Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, that protects the healthcare givers and providers of our Nation to do their job. The Hippocratic oath is, for them, something that goes as deep as our oath of office for us. We are sworn to uphold the Constitution; they, in effect, take an oath to save lives. That is their job, and their lives should not be in jeopardy, nor should their livelihood, simply because they are doing their job.

We have seen, time and time again, that this Supreme Court has no respect for precedent. We have seen State legislators who have no respect for reproductive rights and healthcare. We cannot rely on false reassurances made by Republican colleagues here or anyone around the country because history has already shown us that this Supreme Court has on its hit list these fundamental rights and expanding the restrictions on them.

So I ask my colleagues to join us in unanimous consent for this measure. That motion will be made shortly. I hope that we can join in ensuring that individuals have access to quality healthcare regardless of their ZIP Code, no matter where they live. The women of America deserve this basic right, and the healthcare providers who enable them to protect themselves and who save lives deserve the assurance that they are not going to be the target of a prosecutor hell-bent on making a name for himself or a State legislature seeking to make political points at the expense of a healthcare provider.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, a group of us will be speaking and then asking for unanimous consent on a measure called the Right to Contraception Act. It is called the Right to Contraception Act because it guarantees the right to contraception.

If you had asked me a year ago, 6 months ago, would we need a Right to Contraception Act, I would have thought not in my lifetime. But the fact is we live now in the post-Roe era. It is a unique moment in our Nation's history, not just because the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade in the recent Dobbs decision but because, for the first time in our history, we are rolling back rights.

The history of our great country, the greatest in the history of the world, is that we advance and expand rights. From the time of our founding, the ethos and tradition of America is that we increase rights and liberties that are protected from governmental interference.

And now with Dobbs, one of the core freedoms--the right to decide when and whether to have children--has been stripped from women and given to government officials. But it isn't only reproductive rights under Roe, because the U.S. Supreme Court has very carefully, deliberately sent signals about where it is going in this rollback of rights and liberties. And it isn't just Clarence Thomas's concurring opinion, which now has become infamous for its signals. It is the opinion of the Court itself that clearly shows that this Court threatens not only abortion rights, but also contraception rights. And in addition to mentioning Griswold v. Connecticut, Clarence Thomas also--or I should say Justice Thomas, with all due respect--mentioned Loving, Lawrence, Obergefell--all of them on the chopping block, all those rights on this Supreme Court's hit list. And perhaps the most deeply rooted of them all in Griswold v. Connecticut is the right to contraception.

Now, let's be clear. The right to contraception wasn't stated in the Constitution, but the right to privacy is at its core. ``Don't tread on me.'' The right to be left alone--that is the reason that we have the Bill of Rights. That is the reason why the Founders rebelled against England--undue, unjustified interference in their personal lives. And so the right to privacy is referred to often as a conundrum; but, actually, it is at the core of the Constitution. It is so fundamental to the mindset and the mantra of those constitutional guarantees from the very founding of our Republic, and the respect for the right of privacy should be bipartisan and, indeed, has been bipartisan throughout our history.

The simple fact is that the most important decision any of us make, at least in my view, is whether to become a parent. And it ought to be a decision--not something that just happens. It should be a decision that is made deliberately. Every American should have that right to decide when and whether to have children. And politicians shouldn't be the ones to make it. They shouldn't be allowed to infringe or interfere on that decision.

And women can't be truly equal if they don't control their lives, their reproductive lives. If they don't control their bodies, if they lose that right, they simply cannot be equal. So it is not just privacy; it is equality that is at stake here.

My Republican colleagues are adamant in dragging this country back to a time when women had little or no autonomy over these choices. And I am shocked--and I think many of my colleagues are, the American people are as well--that American women today will have fewer rights than their mothers and even their grandmothers. We are living through a world where healthcare providers can't do their jobs and save lives without risking criminal penalties, and much of our Nation will be at risk of losing these fundamental liberties.

Let me be clear. This should not be controversial. This issue should not be one that provokes verbal jousts on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Griswold v. Connecticut--yes, it is Griswold v. Connecticut--has held for decades. It is enshrined in case law, reaffirmed by the Supreme Court that individuals have a right to use contraceptives. But we have seen after assurances by three of the members now sitting on the Supreme Court that respect for precedent really is no longer deeply felt--in fact, may not be felt at all.

What one nominee, Justice Kavanaugh, referred to as ``precedent on precedent'' and, therefore, it is well-established law, that was Roe v. Wade. Now it is gone. It was, in Justice Alito's words, ``egregiously wrong.'' But none of those three nominees expressed any feelings whatsoever that it might be wrong, let alone egregiously wrong. So to all my colleagues who say that the right to contraceptives is unnecessary, I would simply say, Look at Dobbs.

When I introduced, along with the Presiding Officer, the Women's Health Protection Act in 2013, the idea that Roe might be overruled was unthinkable. Our goal was to prevent the growing restrictions on that right that imposed excessive burdens. What was unthinkable then is reality now. The Court overruling Griswold might have been thought unthinkable, but that danger is our present reality in the post-Roe world.

So I urge my colleagues to join in approving the Right to Contraception Act today to provide certainty and reassurance to women across the United States that they will have those rights. They can be sure of them; they can rely on them; they will know that having children will be a decision they make--not somebody else telling them when and whether to start a family.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I am honored to appear with a group of my colleagues on behalf of the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act.

We are here to talk about this essential measure in the post-Roe world. That is a phrase I never thought I would ever utter anywhere, not to mention on the floor of the U.S. Senate. But we are living in the post-Roe world where reproductive rights are under assault as never before and critical reproductive healthcare services are more necessary and also are more at risk than ever before. That is why a consistent, strong source of funding for title X Family Planning Programs are absolutely critical and urgent. That is the purpose of the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act.

What it means for the State of Connecticut is, in the past, $2.5 million in title X funding, allowing patients, mostly women--45,000 of them--critical access to comprehensive family planning and preventive healthcare services. What we are talking about here is not only family planning but also testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, lifesaving cancer screening, and other essential health services. And they are all now at risk.

What they need is the strong and consistent source of funding that this measure would provide, doubling--literally, almost doubling the number of dollars but also guaranteeing over a 10-year period that clinics will receive this funding.

In the State of Connecticut, most of this funding in the past has gone to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. The Cornell Scott- Hill Health Center has received some. They have done absolutely extraordinary work in delivering health services, particularly to women who are uninsured, women who are of lower incomes, and women who are younger--under 30. And that is the primary patient pool that needs these services.

Let me be very blunt. If my Republican colleagues truly care about supporting families, they can show it by supporting this measure and funding title X. In the past, since its inception 50 years ago, it has been bipartisan because people agree that families ought to be a priority, that decisions about when and whether to have children are the most important that we make, that caring for families and particularly prenatal care, screening for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screening--these health services are vital to all of us, whether we are the patient or not, and that they stay funded in the long run. Preventive healthcare is pound-wise, and it will save money.

We know that the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs strips women of a vitally important freedom and puts it in the hands of government bureaucrats: the decision about when and whether to have children. The least we can do now is to fund the reproductive healthcare services that will save lives and save futures.

Dobbs has put women at risk. It has put reproductive healthcare in grave jeopardy. This measure is necessary to mitigate the effects of Dobbs--more necessary now than ever before. We will never stop fighting for a woman's right to choose when and whether to have children. We will never stop fighting to protect a woman's right to access healthcare that is vital to her own and her children's health.

In the face of mounting attacks on women's health, now is the time to strengthen title X, and that is why we need this legislation. Passing the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act will strengthen our entire healthcare system.

It is simply critical for this $500 million--providing birth control, cancer screening, other kinds of testing and treatment--to be passed. And if my Republican colleagues are serious about supporting families, they ought to be eager to join us. And I am proud to be supporting this measure, and I am eager to see it signed into law.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, on July 11, 2022, I was absent for rollcall vote No. 243, Executive Calendar No. 599, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Ashish S. Vazirani, of Maryland, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Had I been present, I would have voted yes to proceed with his nomination to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.

Mr. President, on July 12, 2022, I was absent for rollcall vote No. 244, Executive Calendar No. 599, the confirmation of the nomination of Ashish S. Vazirani, of Maryland, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Had I been present, I would have voted yes to confirm his nomination to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.

Mr. President, on July 12, 2022, I was absent for rollcall vote No. 245, Executive Calendar No. 1037, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Steven M. Dettelbach to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Had I been present, I would have voted yes to proceed with his nomination to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Mr. President, on July 12, 2022, I was absent for rollcall vote No. 246, Executive Calendar No. 1037, the confirmation of the nomination of Steven M. Dettelbach to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Had I been present, I would have voted yes to confirm his nomination to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Mr. President, on July 12, 2022, I was absent for rollcall vote No. 247, Executive Calendar No. 975, the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Michael S. Barr, of Michigan, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the unexpired term of fourteen years from February 1, 2018, due to testing positive for