Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate

proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I would like to congratulate the Northwestern Wildcats for winning this year's National Collegiate Athletics Association--NCAA--Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship. This historic victory marks the team's first national title since 2012, nearly a decade in the making.

Clinching a championship comes down to a series of moments: split- second decisions during showdowns on the field, putting in extra sprints after practice, and taking time to strategize after a close loss. For the Northwestern women's lacrosse team, this year's victory can be traced back to one moment in 2002. That was the year Northwestern started its varsity women's lacrosse program with Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller at the helm, a role she still holds to this day. A lacrosse legend in her own right, Coach Amonte Hiller has cultivated a culture of excellence at Northwestern.

During her first year, Coach Amonte Hiller built an impressive team, recruiting players from across the country and adding students from around campus. Two players on the inaugural team had never even played lacrosse. Nonetheless, Coach Amonte Hiller saw something in the young team--and her instincts were right: The players, who began as freshmen, went on to finish the 2005 season 21-0. It was the first time the Wildcats were crowned national champions, but not the last. And with their victory in 2005, Northwestern became the first non-Eastern Time Zone school--male or female--to win an NCAA national championship in lacrosse. In every season that followed, Coach Amonte Hiller led the Wildcats to the NCAA finals--and secured the championship eight times.

Throughout her tenure, Coach Amonte Hiller has been applauded for her recruitment efforts--searching for players across the country and shaking up the model for what collegiate lacrosse teams traditionally have looked like. While lacrosse was invented by Native Americans, collegiate teams have been predominantly White, with the majority of recruits coming from the East Coast. Instead of limiting her recruiting efforts to this area of the country, Coach Amonte Hiller has sought to discover talent from all over. In fact, one member of the Wildcats was inspired to play at Northwestern as a young athlete, after watching a fellow Black player and Texas native, who Coach Amonte Hiller had recruited, compete in the NCAA finals. And in 2011, ``ESPN The Magazine'' named Coach Amonte Hiller one of the 20 best recruiters across all college sports, joining the ranks of other NCAA championship winning coaches.

Resilience can be defined as believing in the possibility of success and remaining determined to overcome any challenge. And the Wildcats rise to this year's NCAA national championship was a masterclass in resilience. Last season, after a bitter loss that knocked Northwestern out of the semifinals, alongside season-long injuries that kept key players on the sidelines, the Wildcats dusted themselves off and committed themselves to bringing home a national title. Several players even made the decision to stay on campus and play in their fifth year of eligibility as graduate students, which meant putting their postgraduation plans on hold. And it was a sacrifice worth making.

The Wildcats never shied away from a challenge, and the team filled their schedule with tough, matchups. They opened the 2023 season with a game against a top-ranked team, which they lost by a single point. It was the Wildcats' first and final loss of the season, and they began a 21-game winning streak.

In the championship game, the Wildcats faced Boston College. With vital contributions from both freshman players and graduate students alike, the depth of the Wildcats' bench was on full display. They finished the game with a 12-point lead. And as a result, for the first time in 11 years, the Northwestern Wildcats claimed the national title.

The continued success of this program has inspired young athletes throughout the region. The expansion of lacrosse to other colleges and westward, along with the rise in demand for youth lacrosse in Illinois, is a testament to the excitement Northwestern has helped generate. Since that fateful moment in 2002, when Amonte Hiller took the reins as coach, Northwestern has emerged as a powerhouse in women's lacrosse.

I would like to congratulate every member of the Northwestern Wildcats women's lacrosse team, and especially Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller for her years of leadership. This year's national championship will be Amonte Hiller's eighth national title, matching Navy coach, Cindy Timchal, for the most won championships in women's college lacrosse history.

Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller and her team represent the best of Illinois. I hope their resilience, dedication, and commitment will continue to serve as an inspiration for young athletes across the country for years to come.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 248, 249, and 250.

I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 305.

I further ask unanimous consent that the Blumenthal substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 376, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 14; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed; that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session and, notwithstanding rule XXII, resume consideration of the Pitts nomination until 11:30 a.m.; further, that at 11:30 a.m., the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Pitts nomination followed by an immediate cloture vote on the Ho nomination; further, that if cloture is invoked on either nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m. and the Senate vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order in which cloture was invoked; further, that the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Choudhury nomination at 5:15 p.m., and if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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

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

Madam President, last week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, GEN Mark Milley, spoke at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. In the audience were veterans--some were over 100 years old--who stormed those beaches 79 years ago on D-Day. D-Day was a critical moment in World War II. It was the beginning of the liberation of Europe, and it was the beginning of the end of Nazi tyranny.

Looking out over a sea of headstones of fallen American patriots, Secretary Austin said:

It's easy to forget how desperate the battle was . . . but,

on D-Day, courage won out over terror, daring over cruelty,

and liberty won out over tyranny.

Today, that same eternal battle is being fought in another place, in Ukraine, which has begun a heroic counteroffensive to finally drive out Vladimir Putin and the Russian invaders and to preserve democracy in that nation.

Next month, Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire and I will travel to the NATO summit in Lithuania. The location--in a nation that was once under Soviet occupation--is both historic and poignant. Success in Ukraine's counteroffensive and the country's long-term security will once again be on top of the NATO agenda. We also will welcome the security alliance's newest member, Finland. I hope, by the time we convene in Lithuania, Hungary and Turkey will have ratified Sweden's succession without any further delay--another plus for the future of the NATO alliance.

Let me also state clearly that I believe Ukraine's future is in the European Union and the NATO alliance, and until the day that Ukraine can join NATO, the United States and other key allies must help Ukraine with security guarantees, as we do with other key non-NATO allies. It is clear that Ukraine can never trust Russia. It is in the interest of the United States and democracy itself that we ensure Ukraine can always defend itself, that any aggressor will think twice before ever again trying to threaten its people or its territory.

President Biden knows what is at stake in this fight against tyranny. So do our NATO allies. And I want to particularly note Minority Leader McConnell. Echoing Ronald Reagan, Senator McConnell has spoken forcefully about the need for continued bipartisan support for Ukraine. That is the ultimate strength of the American role in the NATO alliance: that we speak with one voice. And, of course, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is bigger than just his nation; it is literally a battle for freedom and democracy themselves.

In his remarks at Normandy last week, Secretary Austin said:

Free soldiers will fight more bravely than the armies of

tyrants.

He is correct, but the free people of Ukraine must not be left to fight this war alone. The United States and nations of the free world must provide the resources and equipment and training necessary for them to prevail against Putin and his cowardly enablers. The free people and soldiers of Ukraine are fighting today to preserve the peace and international order for which those young Americans gave their lives at D-Day. We must stand with them with resolve until Ukraine is free again.

Madam President, on an issue that you know so well, let me say this: Last week, the White House launched a new website, invest.gov. It shows the historic investments that have been announced across America since President Biden took office.

We should not forget that under the previous President, there were 4 years of promises and 4 years where they failed to produce. Under President Biden, we have a bipartisan infrastructure bill that is changing the face of America and preparing our economy for the 21st century.

Invest.gov shows the historic investments that have been announced across America under President Biden and provides a State-by-State overview of those investments.

In a little more than 2 years, Illinois, our State, has received more than $9 billion in infrastructure funding, more than $1 billion to support the creation of clean energy jobs, and we are creating thousands of new manufacturing jobs at this very moment.

Today, I want to tell you about one particular project near and dear to us in Illinois. It is a project our leaders have been talking about for literally

six decades--since the time of the John F. Kennedy administration--and one that I hope we will be able to add to this Senate's long list of accomplishments. It is called the Southwest Connector, and it will be vital to my State's economy as well as that of the neighboring State of Missouri.

I have requested congressional-directed spending to support this project in the next fiscal year. It will expand Illinois State highways 127, 154, and 3 from two to four lanes and create a much-desired rural expressway between St. Louis and Southern Illinois.

Madam President, I can remember when I was new to this business, and in the first campaign, working for a man named Paul Douglas, who was our Senator at the time, I went to Southern Illinois with him in the 1960s, fresh out of college, and heard him tell the story about the valiant efforts that they made to build up Southern Illinois and to restore a broken economy. Part of that was involved in creating lakes and water supplies which still serve the region and are effective in our future view of where we must go as a nation and as a State.

Now we need to do the same thing in transportation. Expanding these two-lane highways to four lanes will boost economic development in Southern Illinois and Missouri by creating jobs and enabling the regions to better compete.

Several sections of the Connector's planned route rank in the top 5 percent of the most dangerous two-lane highways in our State of Illinois. The Connector would improve traffic safety by separating lanes of traffic with a 50-foot median, and it would improve mobility for emergency vehicles and provide faster access to healthcare facilities. The project would also benefit the National Guard armories in Sparta and Murphysboro, whose activation has been particularly crucial during the floods in the region.

When Congress passed the bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021--the largest investment in our infrastructure since President Eisenhower created the Interstate Highway System--it was proof that we could get big things done on behalf of the American people. We have a chance to do it again by moving forward on the Southwest Connector.

I want to particularly thank the mayor of Murphysboro, Will Stephens, who visited both of our offices. He has been working hard to make the Connector a reality, despite the fact that the concept of the Connector really started years before he was born.

There are countless local leaders across America like Mayor Stephens who are committed to improving our communities but who have been forced to wait on Washington to provide the funding. Let's not make them wait any longer. Congress needs to return to regular order in a timely manner to carry out the annual appropriations process and fulfill the authorizations in the bipartisan infrastructure law and to consider earmarks for community projects that have the opportunity to transform rural communities across America.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to working with my colleagues under the bipartisan leadership of Chair Murray and Ranking Member Collins to pass our 12 annual appropriations bills on time.

Madam President, I know this is near and dear to you as well as myself. To see this project move forward is going to change the face of Southern Illinois at a time when they need this infusion of economic activity and opportunity. I hope this project can be included in our projects that are authorized and appropriated in this year's bill. I will be working toward that goal.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, today, I would like to honor an organization that generations of Illinois families have relied on: Mujeres Latinas en Accion--or Latina Women in Action.

Mujeres is the longest standing Latina-led organization in the entire country. And this year, they are celebrating 50 years of empowering and emboldening Latinas across our State--as well as their families.

Founded in 1973 by the late Maria Mangual, Mujeres was first established as a shelter for young women escaping violence in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, IL. Back then, some wrote off Mujeres' work as radical and unnecessary, but these critics didn't deter Maria or the dedicated women who supported her cause from building an enduring and indispensable organization. In the five decades since, Mujeres' mission, services, and footprint have only expanded to help uplift women from all walks of life.

And today, Mujeres does it all. They host support groups to help young families with parenting skills. They operate a 24-hour crisis line--and referral service--to assist survivors of domestic and sexual violence, both of which, tragically, increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have developed an education training program for women hoping to launch or expand their small businesses, as well as a community engagement and mobilization program, to amplify the voices of Latina immigrants and survivors of trauma. And, importantly, Mujeres is now a leading advocate in the effort to ensure pay equity for Latinas in the workplace. What is more, as Mujeres' mission has evolved over the years, so, too, has size of their operation. They

have opened new sites beyond Pilsen, in Brighton Park and North Riverside--so they can reach even more women and families.

The Brighton Park facility, which opened in 2019, was the product of a partnership between Mujeres and Esperanza Health Centers. This facility offers everything from adult medicine and women's health services, to pediatrics and psychiatry, and even behavioral health care services to residents, regardless of their economic or immigration status. Over the years, Mujeres has established itself as a vital resource for thousands of Illinois families. Every year, they provide critical care and services to more than 8,000 clients, in both English and Spanish.

I am forever grateful to Mujeres for their commitment to improving, and even saving, the lives of women in Illinois. I would like to thank Amalia Rioja, who introduced me to Mujeres 25 years ago, as well as all of the trailblazers who have carried Maria Mangual's legacy forward, including Liz Prieto, Linda Coronado, Virginia Martinez, Norma Seledon, Maria Pesqueira, and Linda Xochtil Tortolero.

I cannot wait to see what Mujeres accomplishes over the next 50 years.

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

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

Mr. President, earlier this week, Apple unveiled its latest innovation, the Vision Pro. It is a mixed-reality headset that the company claims will blend together our virtual and physical worlds. Now, if you have seen this device, you might think it looks like an overpriced pair of ski goggles, but the implications for this technology are remarkable.

Think about how far we have come in a few short decades. Thirty years ago, hardly anyone owned a cell phone, and even fewer were familiar with the concept of the World Wide Web; but, since then, everything has changed. We have gone from clunky desktop computers to smart phones and smart watches and now a headset that will transform your living room into a virtual playground--a virtual playground. Think about that. You can share it with just about anyone in the world--anyone--even potential sexual predators.

And therein lies the problem. In the face of an unprecedented wave of technological innovation, one thing has remained the same: Our Nation's online safety laws are stuck in the last century. Over the past three decades, Congress has given tech and social media companies free rein to police themselves, and they have failed. Now our children are paying the price for these failures. It is time for Congress to step up and protect them.

Today, more than one out of three teenagers say they use social media ``almost constantly.'' That is by design. Big Tech giants and online platforms, powered by advanced algorithms, are capturing the minds and eyeballs of our kids and grandkids. And the more our children scroll, the more these platforms rake in profits.

Now, of course, social media can benefit everyone, including young people. They can learn new skills and hobbies and really connect with valuable friends. But as most parents, grandparents, and public health experts will tell you, social media has a dark side.

Last month, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an extraordinary warning--the first of its kind--to parents across America. Dr. Murthy said that social media can ``have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.'' From anxiety and depression to body image issues, social media is exacerbating the youth mental health crisis in America.

But there is another far more disturbing part of this story because, when it comes to online platforms like Instagram or TikTok, only a few taps and clicks stand between our children and online predators who hope to exploit them. Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published a report on what they described as a ``vast pedophile network'' that has been thriving on Instagram for years--years. According to the report, Instagram not only hosts photos and videos of children being sexually exploited; it actively promotes the despicable content to other users.

Predators even connect with one another through a set of grotesque hash tags that I will not repeat on the Senate floor, and the worst of these predators try to target new, unsuspecting victims and persuade them to share explicit images of themselves.

Let me tell you about one of the victims. His name was James Woods. Last year James, who, at 17, was getting ready to graduate from high school, died by suicide after being targeted in a scheme known as ``sextortion.'' In James' case, he was contacted through Instagram by a user claiming to be a young woman. The conversation quickly turned sexual, and the user asked James to share explicit images of himself. Unfortunately, he complied.

Moments later, he received another message, this time with a threat: Send me $6,000, or else those images will be sent to everyone you know.

James was terrified. He tried to reason with this predator by sending him a $100 gift card, but the threats continued. He received 200 messages in a single day, some threatening to hurt him or kill his family. One message read: ``You might as well end it now.''

Soon after, James' father arrived home and discovered his son's lifeless body. James had his entire life ahead of him. He was a star on the school track team. He hoped to pursue a career in law enforcement. But now he is gone.

You would think that Instagram, the platform through which James was exploited, would bear some responsibility--some responsibility--for this horrifying tragedy. After all, this predator used Instagram to contact James, solicit explicit images, and then threaten his life. But you would be wrong. Under our existing laws of the United States-- namely, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, written nearly 30 years ago--platforms like Instagram have near total immunity from being held legally accountable for this type of atrocity. That has to change.

Earlier this year, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I pledged that we would take vigorous action to hold Big Tech accountable and stop the online exploitation of children. As part of this effort, I introduced a bill, the Stop CSAM Act. CSAM stands for ``child sexual abuse material.''

This legislation would create a civil remedy against any online platform that facilitates the exchange of child sexual abuse materials. In other words, if the Stop CSAM Act were law today, James' parents would be able to take legal action against Instagram for failing to fulfill their basic responsibility to protect their customers.

Importantly, my Stop CSAM Act is one of five pieces of legislation that has been reported out of the Judiciary Committee during this Congress to stop the exploitation of children online. Every single one of these pieces of legislation was reported from the Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote--all five.

Mr. President, you personally, and my colleagues, take a look at the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That is the most amazing display of political extremes--right and left and center, for that matter--that you will find in Congress. All members of the committee voted in favor of these five pieces of legislation to protect our kids from what is going on on the cell phones across America.

We had testimony from parents--one sad story after another of children who, because of sextortion, bullying, harassment, goading, took their own lives. The mothers sat in the front row, each holding a color photo, a school photo, of their kids. With tears in their eyes, they begged us to do something to protect these kids and to protect America from this exploitation.

When I read about tragedies like the death of James Woods, it is clear: We shouldn't waste another minute. I believe that we should call this measure to the floor of the Senate immediately. There is no reason to wait. In fact, there is a danger if we do.

Let's see if the unanimous opinion of the Senate Judiciary Committee--Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals--can bring us to a bipartisan conclusion now. Wouldn't the American people be happy to hear that, that finally the Senate came together on a bipartisan basis to protect innocent children from sexploitation, from these child sexual abuse materials, and from the sort of situation that James Woods faced, the harassment, with no accountability for the social media platform?

We need to move quickly to do this. There is no excuse. Let's not wait on some other measure. These are five good, strong bills that will say to the social media industry once and for all: You bear responsibility for what goes on. And when you are responsible for it, you can be held accountable in a court of law.

Parents and victims can't do this on their own. They have learned that over and over. They need someone to help, and that would be the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and the President. I hope every Member of the Senate will join us in protecting our kids from this new world of threats.

I yield the floor.