Floor Statements

Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Melissa Damian to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Judge Damian's deep ties to the Southern District of Florida and her experience in the courtroom, as a litigator and on the bench, have prepared her to serve as a U.S. District Judge.

A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Miami School of Law, Judge Damian clerked for the Hon. Ursula Ungaro on the Southern District before working in private practice. From 1999 to 2010, Judge Damian

was an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District, serving in the criminal division, civil division, and appellate division. In 2010, Judge Damian returned to private practice, representing plaintiffs in asbestos and tobacco product liability cases and later focusing on litigating complex business and commercial matters in State and Federal court, at both the trial and appellate levels. Over the course of her legal career, Judge Damian tried more than 30 cases to verdict. Since 2022, Judge Damian has served as a U.S. magistrate judge on the Southern District. She has presided over two trials that went to verdict or final judgment and has issued approximately 170 written opinions and substantive orders.

Judge Damian has the strong support from her home State Senators, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Scott. In addition, she was unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association.

I urge my colleagues to support Judge Damian's nomination.

I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), and the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith) are necessarily absent.

Madam President, there are many things that Chicagoans disagree on: deep-dish or tavern style, Cubs or Sox, giardiniera or sweet peppers. But one thing that Chicagoans have in common? They get their weather from Tom Skilling. For 45 years, Tom has been the authoritative source on all things weather in Chicago. And after nearly five decades of forecasting snow, sleet, sun, and storms, today was his last day on air.

A native of Aurora, Tom began his career at the almost unbelievable age of 14. He held a series of radio and television jobs throughout Illinois and then studied meteorology and journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In August 1978, Tom joined WGN, and it is not hyperbole to say Chicago's weather forecasts have never been the same since.

As a meteorologist, Tom gave weather forecasts to his viewers. But he was

so much more than just a ``weatherman.'' Tom was a storm chaser--having famously chased and been chased by a tornado. He was an awestruck weather observer--being overcome by emotion while watching a total solar eclipse in Carbondale in August 2017. He was a comedian--bringing viewers belly laughs with his viral ``Tom Freakin' Skilling'' skit. And perhaps most importantly, he was an educator--explaining to viewers the ``why'' behind the weather.

In fact, Tom's focus on the science of climate change and weather patterns only grew as his career did. In addition to broadcasting his weather forecasts on WGN News, Tom also hosted nearly 40 years of severe weather seminars at Fermilab and penned a Chicago Tribune column answering weather-related questions. In both, Tom used his platform to educate his audience in a down to earth and understandable manner.

Tom's legendary career has earned him a reputation for setting the gold standard in television weather, garnered him a cult-like following, and afforded him a permanent place in Chicagoans' living rooms. Unsurprisingly, he has been showered with countless accolades for his work, winning multiple Emmy Awards from the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and receiving several honorary degrees. He deserves each and every one.

I had the privilege of sharing the stage with Tom in the summer of 2019 at a forum to discuss climate change with U.S. Representatives Bill Foster and Sean Casten. I can tell you, not a single Member of Congress on that stage was under the illusion that they were the main attraction. People were there for Tom.

Tom, congratulations on a truly remarkable career. From choosing how many layers to wear in the morning to knowing when the break in the snow is coming so we can shovel our parking spots, I don't quite know how we will weather the storm of life without your valuable insights. You are nothing short of a Chicago institution. And it is only fitting that you will live on in the weather world, in the form of a Chicago snowplow named ``Skilling It'' in your honor. Short of having you on air to warn us of snow, having a Tom Skilling snowplow keeping the streets safe is a close second.

But, luckily, even in your absence, we will not have to predict the weather for ourselves. Congratulations to your successor, Demetrius Ivory, on being named as WGN's new chief meteorologist. Though Demetrius certainly has large shoes to fill, there are no better footsteps to follow in than yours. I wish him luck in his new role.

Tom, thank you for all the warmth you brought into our homes during even the coldest of Chicago winters. Wishing you sunny days during this next, well-deserved chapter of your life.

I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar) and the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith) are necessarily absent.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text on the bill be printed in the Record.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text on the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, it was over 10 years ago, and there was a State of the Union Address about to take place. As Members of the Senate were given a ticket for a guest to attend, my staff came to me and said: Who would you like to invite?

I said: Why don't we call out to Walter Reed Hospital and see if there is an Illinois soldier there who is physically up to coming up to Capitol Hill for the occasion?

They said: We will check it out.

They came back to me an hour or two later and said: We found a veteran. She is a member of the Illinois National Guard. She is recuperating at Walter Reed, and she can attend.

I said: Fine. I look forward to meeting her.

The night of the State of the Union Address, they told me that the officer from the Guard was in my office, and we opened the doors, and in came Tammy Duckworth. Tammy was in a wheelchair and full dress uniform, being pushed by her husband Bryan, also a member of the Illinois National Guard.

This was in the month of January, toward the end of the month. With a big smile on her face, she told me the story of how, as a pilot of a helicopter with the Illinois Guard, she was shot down over Iraq in the first week of November--this was January--the first week of November, and she had gone through a series of surgeries. The result of that was she had lost both of her legs. At the time, her right arm was still in a sling, and there was a question about whether or not she would lose that as well. So she was in serious medical condition, but you

would never know it. She was just beaming with pride and happiness, and I thought, what a remarkable human being.

She became not only an acquaintance but started to become a friend and has become a very dear friend to me today. I am so honored that we have this good relationship as we do. It is perfect. I am for Tammy. Whatever she is for, I am for Tammy, and I found that is a good standard to live by in Illinois and American politics.

I worked with her through several political campaigns. Her first race for the House of Representatives ended up in defeat--big disappointment--but she never gave up. She never does. She ran again and was elected to the U.S. House, and eventually, filling the vacancy of Barack Obama when he moved to the Presidency, she became my colleague and the Senator from the State of Illinois.

We have a great political friendship, a great governmental friendship, a very great personal friendship.

I remember the day I was driving from Springfield in Central Illinois to Bloomington, IL, for a meeting. The phone rang, and it was Tammy Duckworth calling. I said: What is up Tammy? She said: I have some news that I am sharing with very few people, and I wanted to share with you.

I said: What is that? She said: I am about to become a mother.

I couldn't believe it. I literally couldn't believe it. After what she and that valiant body of hers had been through in the combat for the United States, I couldn't believe that she had that opportunity to start a family. And she did.

The reason, of course, was in vitro fertilization. She had been working on it for a long time with Bryan to have their first child.

They had all but given up when a mutual friend of ours, Judy Gold, in the city of Chicago said: There is one more expert you have got to see. He never fails to create a family.

She went to this man; and, thank goodness, it worked. She became a mother, and it was a remarkable achievement after all she had been through and all her body had been through that she could reach that point.

I can't tell you the pride that was beaming in her face when I first saw her with the baby. She really believed that she had achieved something that many people didn't think was possible.

Fast forward, if you will, to several years later, and she said to me on the floor of this Senate: I need to talk to you about something personal.

We went up to my office and closed the door. She said: I am going to have another baby. I said: I can't believe it. She said: The IVF worked the second time. So she now has two daughters, a beautiful family. She loves them dearly.

I think about that when I think about the debate that is going on now, the national debate, that was manifest in the decision of the Alabama Supreme Court last week when they decided--that court decided, consistent with the Dobbs decision, that IVF will no longer be legal in the State of Alabama.

As a result of that decision, IVF clinics were threatened, and some even closed in the area for fear of criminal prosecution for bringing to this earth children for loving families, just like Tammy's. Well, Tammy Duckworth has spoken out, even this morning, on the issue and what it means to her personally and what it means to all of us who value those individuals who fight so hard to create a family, which is what she did and so successfully.

It was nearly 2 years ago that the Supreme Court's rightwing majority made the disastrous decision to overrule Roe v. Wade, striking down the constitutional protections that afforded women the right to decide when, how, and whether to have children. That is at the heart of this whole debate. It is at the heart of the IVF issue.

Now we live in a world of Dobbs where Republicans have seized the opportunity to restrict the reproductive rights, health, and freedom of families across America.

Since the Dobbs ruling, Republican-led States have imposed abortion bans that threaten women's lives, and Republicans in Congress are attempting to pass a national abortion ban. Now it has gone one step further, as we knew it would.

Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court, which is made up entirely of Republican appointees, ruled that frozen embryos are legally children and that their destruction can be treated like the wrongful death of a child. That decision cited Dobbs multiple times. And, I might add, if you read excerpts of the decision, they not only relied on a warped view of the Constitution and other statutes, at one point the chief justice said that what was at issue was the wrath of God. The wrath of God--think of that for a moment. In a civil court in America in the State of Alabama, that was his basis for part of his ruling.

This unprecedented decision has already had serious consequences for reproductive rights in the State of Alabama, as major healthcare providers have halted in vitro fertilization out of fear of prosecution.

For those who desperately want a baby but struggle with infertility, for cancer patients who must safeguard future reproductive options as they undergo treatment, for same-sex couples who use IVF to expand their families, this ruling is devastating.

How can congressional Republicans call themselves pro-life, the pro- family party, when they are actively preventing women from using modern science to start a family? How can they be for life when they are supporting laws that endanger women's lives?

Predictably, Republicans are scrambling away from their earlier thinking. Fearing that this extreme, unpopular measure will hurt their election chances in November, Republicans are simultaneously claiming they support IVF while continuing to support the bills to codify that life begins at conception.

Look at the record. In December 2022, when Senator Duckworth asked for unanimous consent to pass a bill that would have established Federal protection for access to IVF and other fertility treatments, the junior Senator, the Republican Senator for Mississippi, blocked it on behalf of the Republican caucus. That was just 2 years ago.

Because of these extreme Republicans, we now live in a country where women are forced to carry pregnancies, including victims of rape and incest, women carrying nonviable pregnancies, and women whose pregnancies put their own lives at risk. And because of these same extreme Republicans, we live in a country where women who desperately want to become mothers but who need the help of IVF may now be denied that opportunity.

It is unconscionable that Republicans would go this far, but not surprising. Remember that quote from Maya Angelou: When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time.

Republicans have told us that they will continue to attack women's rights. Sadly, I believe them. We would be foolish not to take them at their word. Remember when Donald Trump promised to appoint Supreme Court Justices who would overrule Roe v. Wade? He did, and they did.

I am committed to working with my Democratic colleagues to safeguard women's reproductive rights, and I do this in honor of my great colleague and friend Tammy Duckworth. She is standing up for women all across America who want the chance to fight for the opportunity to create their own families.

I hope this country comes to its senses. We are going to have a hearing on this issue on March 13 in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is important enough, it is timely enough that we do it and do it effectively.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Jacqueline Becerra to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

A Miami native, Judge Jacqueline Becerra's experience in both criminal and civil matters has prepared her to serve with distinction on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

After receiving her B.A. from the University of Miami in 1991 and her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994, Judge Becerra began her legal career through the U.S. Department of Justice's Honors Program, where she served as a trial attorney in the Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch.

Following her work at DOJ, she became an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and served in the office's misdemeanor, grand jury, and general felony units. In 1999, Judge Becerra joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. There, she served in the narcotics section and as special counsel to the U.S. Attorney.

In 2004, Judge Becerra joined Greenberg Traurig, P.A., as a shareholder, where much of her work centered on commercial disputes, arbitrations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and compliance work. She also served as cochair of the firm's Global White- Collar Defense and Investigations Practice and cochair of the Women's Initiative.

In 2019, Judge Becerra was appointed by the district judges of the Southern District of Florida to serve as a U.S. magistrate judge. In this role, she has presided over four civil trials and issued more than 1,100 orders and reports and recommendations.

She was also unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the ABA, and Senators Rubio and Scott both returned positive blue slips.

With strong ties to the State of Florida, Judge Becerra's experience in public service, private practice, and as a magistrate judge have prepared her to join the Southern District of Florida as a district judge.

I am proud to support her nomination and urge my colleagues to do the same.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm David Leibowitz to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Born in Miami, Mr. Leibowitz received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After law school, he clerked for Associate Justice Robert G. Flanders, Jr., on the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. He then worked as an assistant district attorney in the Middlesex District Attorney's Office in Cambridge, MA.

From 2003 to 2012, Mr. Leibowitz served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. In that role, he investigated and prosecuted various Federal crimes at all stages, including racketeering, murder, terrorism, and insider trading. Since 2012, he has worked for Braman Management Association in Miami. During his tenure as secretary and general counsel, Mr. Leibowitz was the organization's chief legal officer responsible for all litigation, compliance, licensing, human resource management, and transactional work. Over the course of his career, he has tried 10 cases to verdict, all of which were jury trials in Federal court.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Mr. Leibowitz ``well qualified'' to serve as a district judge, and he enjoys the support of both of his home State Senators, Mr. Rubio and Mr. Scott. Mr. Leibowitz's strong ties to the Southern District of Florida and his significant litigation background in both civil and criminal matters ensure that he will be an asset to the district court. I support his nomination, and I urge my colleagues to join me.

Madam President, over the recess that just concluded, I had a chance to visit South Africa for an Aspen Institute conference to discuss the future of that continent. With so much of the world's attention on Ukraine, as it should be, and the Middle East, as it should be, we often forget the importance of this dynamic and challenging African continent, with nearly one out of five of the world's population--a percentage that will increase greatly this century.

There were so many different aspects we discussed and so many different opportunities. The thing that I came away with was the clear understanding--the Chinese understand this, as they see a future in Africa that we don't see, and they are investing dramatically in Africa's future--that if the United States and other Western nations ignore this reality, the Africa of tomorrow will be a lot different than the one today and may not be our friend as we want them to be.

During my time in Congress, I have tried to advance several efforts to foster more engagement in Africa, including support for funding to address AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria through the Global Fund and PEPFAR, as well as mobility programs and clean water and sanitation. In fact, Chicago-based World Bicycle Relief is helping lead some of the most innovative mobility programs that help get kids to school and healthcare workers to visit rural, remote areas.

I didn't agree with President George W. Bush on many things, but I want to give him credit for making the United States a leader in stemming the HIV/AIDS pandemic in some of the poorest parts of the world, including Africa.

It was just over 20 years ago that nearly 30 million Africans were infected with HIV/AIDS--30 million. They had almost no access to treatment. President George W. Bush's response was known as PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. It worked. PEPFAR and its companion effort, the Global Fund, dramatically curtailed the AIDS epidemic ravaging many parts of the world, including much of Africa, saving more than 25 million lives. These programs provide retroviral drugs for those with AIDS, allowing them to live productive lives and to prevent the spread of disease through childbirth.

Some might have forgotten just how devastating AIDS hit many parts of the world, killing more than 2 million people globally each year and leaving 14 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa. I was reminded on my trip just how devastating AIDS was to southern Africa. Take Malawi, where the PEPFAR and Global Fund programs have increased the number of Malawians living with AIDS, on treatment, from 5 percent to 95 percent--survivors.

So it is bewildering to me--I can't understand this--how we are presently engaged in a political debate on Capitol Hill as to whether PEPFAR is a good program. Extremists are arguing that we shouldn't reauthorize this historic, lifesaving program when people are still dependent on these drugs to survive from day to day and week to week.

Last year, President Bush--junior in this situation--wrote an op-ed, urging PEPFAR reauthorization, in the Washington Post in which he quoted his late speechwriter and PEPFAR champion, Michael Gerson, as follows:

What definition of pro-life does not include saving

millions of lives from preventable disease and death?

Bush went on to note:

We are on the verge of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To

abandon our commitment now would forfeit two decades of

unimaginable progress and raise further questions about the

worth of America's word.

I agree.

I call on my Republican friends to help authorize this historic, bipartisan, lifesaving effort without further delay.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, I want to show you photographs of two individuals. Two years ago, I had the privilege of meeting this man, Vladimir Kara-Murza. He is a patriot and a Russian opposition leader-- what a risky business to be in.

Putin twice tried to poison him but failed. After his recovery here in the United States, he made a conscious decision that I couldn't believe. He said: I am going back to Russia. Someone has to be willing to fight and die for freedom and democracy in that country.

I said to him, as he was leaving: You are going to face certain arrest and imprisonment.

He said: I know it, but I have got to do it.

He had to continue the fight. I will never forget that moment of bravery and conviction in my office. Not long after his return to Russia, he was arrested for criticizing Putin's war in Ukraine.

He showed the same kind of patriotic courage as his compatriot Alexey Navalny, who died just a few days ago at the hands of Vladimir Putin's henchmen.

Putin tried to kill Navalny by poison too. He barred Navalny from running for office, from sharing stories of massive Kremlin corruption, and from speaking of the horrors of the Ukraine war.

Through it all, like Kara-Murza, Navalny was undeterred, and we know what happened--his tragic fate in that Arctic prison where he had been exiled. He was murdered by Vladimir Putin for fighting for freedom.

Navalny, Kara-Murza, and the Ukrainians on the frontlines are the brave patriots in this world, heroes Congress should look to for inspiration and courage, instead of a resort in Florida known as Mar-a- Lago.

In this small but lasting tribute to Navalny's courage today, Senator Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, and I are introducing legislation to rename the street next to the residence of the Russian Ambassador to the United States. The new name will be ``Navalny Way.''

This will not change what Putin has done or the unspeakable harm he has caused the Navalny family or millions of Ukrainians, including those children who have been kidnapped. But unlike the hooded Putin thugs trying to erase Navalny's memory by arresting mourners and quickly removing fliers left at makeshift memorials, this will force Russian diplomats in Washington to be reminded every day, as they drive by, of their crimes.

I hope Congress will quickly pass this symbolically important measure and, in a larger tribute to Navalny, our Ukrainian allies, and the thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children, pass the supplemental without further delay.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.