Floor Statements

Madam President, at 6:18 a.m. this past Sunday morning, in a wealthy neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan, two U.S. Hellfire missiles delivered justice--at last--to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al- Zawahiri is dead, and the world is better for it. He was a terrible man who brought horrific suffering to countless numbers of people, innocent people, throughout the world.

He was second in command to Osama bin Laden during 9/11, which claimed nearly 3,000 innocent American lives. He was the mastermind behind the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and behind the bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port in 2000. He claimed to act on behalf of Islam; yet his hands were stained with the blood of innocence, including of countless Muslims.

Since the death of bin Laden 11 years ago, Zawahiri has been the leader of al-Qaida. He has been rumored variously to be hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was finally discovered living with his family in a wealthy neighborhood in the center of Kabul.

The U.S. intelligence community and the CIA deserve great credit for their careful, professional work over months to verify Zawahiri's location and identity. President Biden also deserves credit. At least three U.S. Presidents hunted down this man. Joe Biden's administration finally succeeded in ridding the world of this terrible person.

The war in Afghanistan was America's longest war by far--20 bloody years. Donald Trump, before he left office, set the deadline to end that war--a decision that Joe Biden inherited and America completed 1 year ago this month. I supported that decision to withdraw the troops from Afghanistan. At the same time, President Biden and military leaders warned extremists not to confuse the withdrawal of American boots on the ground with any reduction of our commitment to the fight against terrorism.

The death of Zawahiri is proof that those who harm U.S. citizens, U.S. troops, and U.S. interests will find no safe quarter in this world.

Madam President, you don't have to go to Ground Zero in New York or to the Pentagon or to the field in Shanksville, PA, to see the reminders of the terrible suffering that came out of 9/11; you can walk outside of the Senate Chamber and see Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families, who still bear the scars of war.

For years, they and many others have urged the Veterans Health Administration to finally provide healthcare for the veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits and other forms of deadly toxic pollution during their service.

Last Thursday, many of these veterans traveled to Washington. They came here to see a celebration--the passage of the PACT Act--and President Biden promised to sign it. It is a critical bill designed to provide VA health services for 3.5 million toxic-exposed veterans. Instead of a celebration, they witnessed a betrayal. At the last minute, 25 Republican Senators, who had just voted for the PACT Act 6 weeks earlier, voted against it. They voted against giving toxic- exposed military veterans the VA healthcare they deserved.

Since then, these veterans, their family members, and supporters have been holding a vigil--what they call a fire watch--on the steps of the Capitol. They have remained there through rain and steaming heat to remind us of our duty to help them.

Veterans across this Nation and some out on the steps are sick and dying with cancer and other disorders because they were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other chemical poisons. These are wounds of war, and they should be treated that way. Veterans who have risked their lives for our freedom must not be treated as collateral damage in a political skirmish.

Jon Tester, the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has shown real leadership on this. Jon states it ever so simply, and I think we should all remember: We have to face the real costs of war. We talk about our annual budgets. We talk about the body counts. We talk about all of the issues that face us, but we face the reality that those who served in our wars come home many times with physical but often invisible scars that haunt them for a lifetime. Those are the real costs of war. This bill, the PACT Act, which Jon Tester and Senator Moran of Kansas brought to this floor, addressed those costs.

It is time for us to get it right in the U.S. Senate. There is a rumor on the floor that there may be an agreement that even today we are going to vote on this. None too soon. Those veterans who are waiting on the steps deserve it. Millions at home are watching this-- and their families and others who love them--in the hopes that what we do on the floor of the Senate will finally give them some comfort in their lives. The Senate must hold another vote on the PACT Act, and I hope it will be today. That is the rumor on the floor.

Let's get it right this time. Let's reassemble that bipartisan coalition that passed the bill originally. Let's restore the faith of the veterans community and many Americans in the U.S. Senate. On a bipartisan basis, we can stand up for those who stood up and served our Nation.

On another matter, Madam President, the last several days have brought a stream of troubling revelations about the disappearance of Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security text messages from around the time of the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection on this Capitol. The missing texts could provide critical evidence about one of the worst crimes and greatest threats to our Constitution ever perpetrated on America. The disappearance of this critical information could jeopardize the efforts to learn the full truth of January 6 and hold responsible anyone who planned and participated in that attack.

I don't know whether the failure to preserve these critical government texts of January 6 is a result of bad faith or stunning incompetence, but I do know that the man who has overseen this fiasco is not the right person to investigate it. This man has lost whatever credibility he may have once had on this matter. That is why I have asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to step in and take control of this investigation into the missing texts.

This is what we know so far: Joseph Cuffari was nominated to be inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security by former President Donald Trump. He remains in that position today. The Department of Homeland Security includes the Secret Service and many other critical government Agencies. Inspectors general are supposed to be independent watchdogs for their Departments and make sure that the people working in that Department don't engage in waste, fraud, or abuse. If there is any problem, the inspector general is required by law to report it to Congress.

In recent weeks, we learned belatedly from Mr. Cuffari, this inspector general, that, No. 1, his office asked the Secret Service last February for text messages, emails, and other records that could shed light on January 6, and he was met with months--months--of delay and stonewalling.

Mr. Cuffari has known since at least February of this year that the Secret Service texts from January 6 had been erased in supposedly routine resets of the Agency's phones.

Imagine that--Agencies entrusted with the security of the United States and when there is a handoff of official phones, they are erased at that time.

Mr. Cuffari did not share that information with Congress for 5 months--5 months.

Mr. Cuffari also belatedly informed Congress that texts from the cell phones of the top two leaders in the Department of Homeland Security during the insurrection, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, were apparently lost during another reset after they turned in their government phones.

Imagine the fumbling of critical information about an event as historic as the January 6 Trump insurrectionist mob who invaded this Capitol.

According to public reports, Department staff actually came up with a plan to retrieve the deleted emails when they first learned about them. Listen to this: Mr. Cuffari's office inexplicably killed the plan.

This isn't just another government Agency we are talking about, as important as that would be; the Department of Homeland Security has some of the most sophisticated intelligence and investigative capabilities not just in the United States but in the world. It is hard to believe that this Department accidentally deleted texts that could shed light on one of the greatest constitutional events and crimes ever committed in the history of the United States, but it would be just as problematic if they did. Either way, we need to get to the bottom of this.

This month, after news of the missing texts became public and his office came under criticism, Mr. Cuffari belatedly opened a criminal investigation into the Secret Service's missing text messages. It was the right thing to do, but he is the wrong person to do it. Mr. Cuffari has lost his credibility.

The same law that allows Mr. Cuffari to conduct this criminal investigation, the Inspector General Act, gives to the Attorney General of the United States the power to take control of it. It is time for Attorney General Garland to step in and oversee this investigation with impartial professionalism that justice and history demand.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.

Madam President, I was necessarily absent for rollcall vote No. 273, had I been present for the vote I would have voted yea. I was necessarily absent for rollcall vote No. 274, had I been present for the vote I would have voted yea.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

Madam President, yesterday, during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I had a chance to share the story of this fallen hero from Chicago, IL. Her name is Ella French.

Officer French joined the Chicago Police Department in 2018. A true public servant, she was always eager to help. She loved people, loved her family, and loved animals, particularly stray dogs. She would often pick them up in her squad car and ferry them to safety at the end of the day.

Last year, tragically, Officer French was shot down during a traffic stop. She was 29 years old. Her partner, Carlos Yanez, Jr., was seriously wounded. The gun that was used to shoot both of them had been straw-purchased in Indiana, a State adjoining Illinois. A straw purchase takes place when someone without a criminal record, who can pass a background check, buys a gun for someone who cannot. In this case, the purchaser was turning the gun over to a convicted felon who used the gun to kill Ella and seriously wound her partner.

During yesterday's hearing, which focused on law enforcement officer safety, we were joined by Officer French's mother, Elizabeth. She is a wonderful

person. I want to take this opportunity to thank Elizabeth French for her bravery and her commitment to honoring her daughter's legacy.

I want to thank our witnesses, including Chief Angel Novalez of the Chicago Police Department, who himself was shot in the line of duty, for participating yesterday in the hearing.

Every time law enforcement officers put on their uniforms and badges, they put their lives on the line, especially in a country that is now awash in guns, America, the country of 350 million people and 400 million firearms. In fact, guns are not only the No. 1 cause of death for America's children, they are the leading cause of death for officers in the line of duty, second only to COVID.

We have made some progress in recent months in reducing the risk of gun violence for police officers and our families. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act included a provision I have long supported, cracking down on straw purchases, like the gun that was used to kill this amazing young woman.

We still have a lot of work to do. Yesterday, I introduced legislation--and I have named it in Officer French's honor--that would provide funding to multijurisdictional task forces to combat straw purchasing: the Officer Ella Grace French Task Force Support Act. I am glad her mother was there to hear that.

I hope every Senator who prides himself on supporting law enforcement will join me in this legislation. I can think of no better way to honor the service and sacrifice of our officers, to protect our families and our children, and to demonstrate to America that this Senate is serious about stemming the tide of gun violence in our country.

Right to Contraception Act

Madam President, in the United States of America, nearly all women-- 99 percent--use some form of contraception in their lifetime to prevent unplanned pregnancy. They use birth control pills, IUDs, condoms, and other devices. Many women who are not sexually active still use birth control to manage medical conditions.

Further, almost every woman who identifies as religious has used a contraceptive method in her lifetime--99 percent of mainline Protestants, evangelical Protestants, and Catholics--and 96 percent of people with other religious affiliations.

In short, women in all stages of life in America and of all religious backgrounds rely on birth control. It is their constitutional right. It is their decision. But this right, this decision, is now under attack.

Over a month ago, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, revoking for the first time ever an established constitutional right: the right to reproductive healthcare. And I fear that the Court's assault on our fundamental freedoms is just beginning.

In his concurrence in the Dobbs opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas urged the Supreme Court to ``reconsider all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.'' He made reference in that statement to three Supreme Court decisions which have been on the books for over 50 years. That is an explicit threat by Justice Thomas against the very right to same-sex marriage, the right to consensual relationships between LGBTQ people, and the right to contraception, which has been protected by the Court's decision in Griswold v. Connecticut for 55 years.

In that case, Griswold, a supermajority of seven Supreme Court Justices ruled that married couples have a right to access contraception. They based it on a word which you will not find in the Constitution: ``privacy.'' Now, more than half a century later, we are living in an America where women are no longer guaranteed this right to privacy, this right to reproductive healthcare, and where their very right to contraception is now in doubt and in jeopardy.

This is not some alarmist rant. At this very moment, women in America are being denied their constitutional right to contraception. How could that possibly be in this country? Well, look no further than your local pharmacy.

This past weekend, USA TODAY reported on the story of Abigail Martin, a young woman who has been taking birth control pills for the past 6 years. She went to a Walgreens pharmacy to refill her birth control prescription, which had been prescribed by her doctor. She was turned away by a pharmacist at Walgreens. It took 4 days before she was finally able to access her medication by going to a different pharmacist. That is a dangerous delay in healthcare. Apparently, Walgreens allows its pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription for which they have ``a moral or religious conviction . . . [and] to refer the customer to another employee or manager on duty who will complete the transaction.''

Since Abigail's story went viral, other Walgreens customers have come forward to say that cashiers refused to ring up their condoms because they announced it violated their faith.

A pharmacist should not be able to unilaterally decide that their personal moral or religious beliefs can delay or interfere with the medical needs of a patient standing at the cash register, buying a legal medication, which is why this week I sent a letter to the CEO of Walgreens, an Illinois corporation, for an explanation of their policy.

If Walgreens is going to allow its individual employees to dictate what legal medical products customers can purchase, then the company should make this policy known to the public. They should be required to display signs at their cash registers alerting customers and the public that they may not be able to fill their prescriptions or buy healthcare products in a timely manner. Given this information, customers may decide to take their business elsewhere--to a pharmacy that does not allow individual staff members to restrict or interfere with their customers' legal purchasing decisions.

A woman's right to essential healthcare should not differ based on which pharmacy she chooses, who fills her prescription, or who rings it up. Her right to this personal decision in her life is fundamental-- fundamental. That is why Congress must pass the Right to Contraception Act introduced by Senators Markey and Murray. This is a commonsense proposal, and I have cosponsored it. It would codify the right to contraception in America nationwide--a right that has been undisputed for 55 years.

We need this legislation because now women in America are living with the consequences of six unelected Justices erasing the constitutional right to reproductive healthcare, and pharmacies, like Walgreens, are allowing their employees to dictate what healthcare products consumers are able to purchase. Walgreens says they want to be respectful of the moral judgment of their employees and staff. Should they not also be respectful of their customers?

Politicians and pharmacists have no business standing between a woman and healthcare. If protecting this right sounds like common sense to you, then join us in supporting the Right to Contraception Act.

If the Supreme Court will not respect this fundamental personal right, you have the right to demand that your Member of Congress will.

CHIPS Act of 2022

Madam President, across America, tens of thousands of cars are lined up bumper to bumper in a total standstill. This is not an ordinary traffic jam. You see, these cars are brand new. They were assembled by some of the finest names in American manufacturing. But they are missing something, a key, essential component: microchips.

If you are in the market for a new car or even a fridge or a smartphone, there is a good chance you have felt the semiconductor shortage. These tiny pieces of silicon power nearly everything around us. But with the coronavirus epidemic, supply chains have been snarled and foreign factories have been shut down, which has led to a global shortage of microchips.

This has had a devastating impact on American consumers, businesses, and workers. Over the past 2 years, the price of a new car has skyrocketed by 20 percent--40 percent for used cars. We have seen the repercussions of this firsthand in my home State of Illinois, which is one of the leaders in the auto industry. Companies like Stellantis, which runs an assembly plant in Belvidere, have been forced to shut down production several times this year because of these shortages.

Today, the Senate did something remarkable: We passed a bill, a bipartisan bill. How about that. And it is important. We came to the rescue of job creators like Stellantis and to the rescue of American consumers. We voted on this legislation to invest billions of dollars into making microchips right here in America.

This bill is critical for the future of our economy. It is even critical for our national security. And we need it desperately for more scientific breakthroughs. But in the near term, the CHIPS Act is imperative for shoring up our Nation's supply chain and strengthening our defense system. Why? Because microchips are essential not just for cars and refrigerators and smartphones but for guided missile systems and fighter jets.

Right now, America has to rely on foreign suppliers like China to supply the chips that power the next generation of defense in America. That wasn't always the case. In 1990, America produced almost 40 percent of the world's supply of microchips. Today, make that 12 percent. Somewhere along the way, we settled for outsourcing semiconductor production to Asia. That is just unacceptable, and it is unsustainable. Imagine our turning to the Chinese Communist Party to determine whether or not we can buy the microchips that fuel our economy and protect our Nation. That is a dangerous scenario.

I have heard a few colleagues voice concern about the subsidies in this bill, but--let's be clear--this is no reckless corporate giveaway. The CHIPS Act will bring American factories back to life, creating good jobs in our country.

The fact is, our competitors in Asia and even Europe are already investing billions of dollars in luring chipmakers away from America. We need to fight fire with fire. The CHIPS Act will. It will incentivize the biggest names in technology to manufacture right here in America, and if any company breaks their commitment to make it in America, we reclaim all of the funding that we give them under this bill.

But beyond this economic and national security imperative, the CHIPS Act is important for another reason, one that really strikes at the heart of America: pioneering innovation. The CHIPS Act includes historic funding authorization for groundbreaking scientific research at the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy's Office of Science.

This has been a particularly important issue to me personally as a Member of the Senate for many years. It was 7 or 8 years ago when I decided to try to push for increasing medical research funds at the Federal level. I concentrated on the National Institutes of Health, with Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who was just on the floor before me, joining me in a bipartisan effort with Patty Murray in an effort to make this bipartisan and effective. It worked. We dramatically increased the investment in the NIH. But I knew that wasn't enough. We needed the Department of Energy's Office of Science, as well as the National Science Foundation, to have the same increase in funding. Today, with the passage of the CHIPS and Science bill, we are finally moving in that direction.

We know how important scientific research is. We have learned it over and over. For instance, finding that vaccine for COVID-19 in recordbreaking time was a result of investing in science and medical research years and years before.

We also know that we have launched some things which are going to change the world. The James Webb Space Telescope is one of those things. The deepest and sharpest photos of our universe are finally coming home to the United States and the rest of the world.

What is NASA doing with this trove of data being collected by this telescope now? Well, since NASA is funded by taxpayers, they are sharing it with researchers throughout the country. One professor at the University of Chicago, Jacob Bean, says that he is planning on using this data to learn more about exoplanets orbiting faraway stars, whatever the possibilities may be that they can host a life.

This one image of our universe has unleashed a flood of new ideas and just countless questions for researchers around the world. It shows how funding and scientific research can really change the place we live in.

When we support scientists and researchers, we are paving the way for new discoveries. NASA was critical for developing so many products. Imagine, if you will, that they had a lot to do with developing athletic shoes, CAT scans, and smartphone cameras. These staples of American life and more were unintended discoveries pioneered in NASA's labs.

With the CHIPS Act, we can kick-start a new generation of discovery. I am happy to say that, in Illinois, in the Chicagoland area, we have two of the best research operations in our country: the Argonne Lab and Fermilab.

With this funding, these facilities will break new ground in researching emerging technology, like AI and quantum computing. In fact, Argonne and Fermilab already partnered together with the University of Chicago to launch the most advanced quantum network in the world. They are planning to expand it to other parts of the country, bringing more research into this cutting-edge research technology.

And much like space exploration 50 years ago, quantum computing is the new frontier in science. We have only begun to explore techniques like teleporting qubits, which may sound like a line from Star Trek, but it has profound implications.

Quantum computing could revolutionize the way we design electric batteries for cars, even solar technology, to maximize energy efficiency. These are the possibilities that lie before us. The passage of the CHIPS and Science Act today on the floor of the U.S. Senate is a vindication of our commitment to this Nation's future and an investment that generations will thank us for.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, it is not often one gets to experience and celebrate a living legend. But we have a chance today to do with a member of our Senate family. On February 27, 1984, an important part of the Senate community opened: the Senate Employees Child Care Center. There for that historic opening was a very special teacher, Ms. Phyllis Green.

Over the ensuing nearly four decades, Phyllis masterfully impacted the lives of so many students that passed through center. She helped them get started in their young, tender lives with humor, warmth, devotion, skill, and of course, great patience.

She is also something of a legend among the families on my staff whose children had the privilege of being taught by her--Wren, Rayn, Alex, Leo, Oliver, Avery, and Harry--so much so that even the ones who didn't have her for a teacher knew of her class. It is hard to imagine, but students that were in her early classes are now in their 40s.

Some years ago, during her 30th anniversary at the center, a number of former students, now adults, came back to celebrate with her, and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Think about how many of us had a teacher who made an impact in our lives and the rare opportunity to go back as an adult to offer warm thanks for those memories. What a gift to reflect upon so many lives impacted during one's career, so much so that Phyllis's colleagues said during her final week that ``the Legendary, the one and only Ms. Phyllis is retiring.''

In fact, one of them wrote a poem that aptly noted of Phyllis, ``Your patience, knowledge and guidance opened up so much potential. For the children and the parents, your being has been essential. . . . In the eyes of many, you are a living legend, A pillar of our community, an educator, a teammate, a friend.''

On the 30th anniversary of the child care center, the former Senator Tom Harkin described its teachers and administrators ``as some of the unsung heroes of the Senate.'' I wholeheartedly agree and certainly Phyllis Green is one such hero.

I thank Phyllis for her incredible service to nearly four decades of Senate employee families and their children. You have made a real impact on our world.

Mr. President, at long last, it is official. Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso are finally where they deserve to be: in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

These two remarkable men, who were friends for decades, both started their careers in baseball's storied Negro Leagues. They went on to make history again in the Major Leagues--in the city of Chicago--and they stayed involved with baseball all their lives.

And they were both known, as one writer said, ``as much for their grace and spirit of generosity as for their immense achievements in the game.''

I never had the good fortune to meet Buck O'Neil, but I have a baseball that he signed, and I keep it as a treasure.

I did meet Minnie Minoso. He and Satchel Paige came to a Springfield Redbirds game many years ago, and I summoned the courage to shake their hands between innings. What a thrill that was. But meeting Minnie Minoso was an honor shared by so many Chicagoans.

As his widow, Sharon Rice-Minoso, recalled at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, ``Baseball was his life. He was proud to wear his uniform and come to the ballpark every day to greet fans with a smile and sign autograph and after autograph. Some people believe that Minnie signed an autograph for every man, woman, and child in the Windy City.''

``The Cuban Comet'' and ``Mr. White Sox.'' That is what the fans called him. His full name was Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta. He was born on a sugarcane ranch in Cuba in 1923--or maybe it was 1924 or `25. He was a little fuzzy on his age.

He was a two-time All-Star in the Negro Leagues before becoming the first Black player for the Chicago White Sox in 1951 and the first Latino star in Major League Baseball, the Jackie Robinson of Latino ballplayers.

He was one of the best hitters in the American League in the 1950s, a seven-time All-Star while with the White Sox and Cleveland Indians.

He hit over .300 eight times, led the American League in stolen bases three times, hammered double-digit home runs almost every season, and won three Gold Gloves in left field.

He retired in 1964--or so it seemed. Twelve years later, when Minnie was 50, the White Sox called him back for three games. He hit a line drive to left field, making him one of the oldest players in MLB history to score a base hit.

The White Sox retired his No. 9 in 1983, and he remained close to the organization and its players until he died in 2015.

Baseball analysts have long considered his omission from Cooperstown a glaring error. Now, finally, it has been set right.

Buck O'Neil was a two-time All-Star first baseman with the Negro Leagues Kansas City Monarchs. He went on to be a scout for the Chicago Cubs, the first Black coach in Major League Baseball, and one of the most beloved ambassadors for baseball in the sport's history.

He was born John Jordan O'Neil, Jr., in Florida in 1911, the grandson son of an enslaved man. He joined the Monarchs in 1938 and was a star player in the 1940s and `50s. As a first baseman, he was known for his smooth glove work, but he could also handle a bat. He was a three-time All-Star and became a Negro World Series champion in 1942.

In 1943, at the height of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and served for 2 years, including time in the Pacific. He returned to the Monarchs after the war and was the Negro League's batting champ his first year out of the service. In 1948, the Monarchs promoted him to player-manager. Among the many players whose careers he helped shape was a shy young shortstop who would go on to become the first African- American player for the Chicago Cubs, ``Mr. Cub,'' Ernie Banks.

After the Monarchs were sold in 1955, Buck found work as a scout for the Cubs. Players he signed as a scout with Chicago--and later, the Kansas City Royals--included Lou Brock, Oscar Gamble, Lee Smith, and Joe Carter. He made history when the Cubs hired him as a coach in 1962, making him the first Black coach in the American or National League.

In 1990, Buck O'Neil began what would become perhaps his greatest contribution to baseball. With a handful of others, he founded the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, just blocks from where he had played with the Monarchs and where Rube Foster had founded the Negro Leagues in 1920.

He devoted the rest of his life to baseball and especially keeping alive the memories of the Negro Leagues. He helped build the Negro Leagues Museum from one room to a 10,000-square-foot showplace. He traveled widely, using his grace and wit to tell the stories of Negro League stars such as Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Buck Leonard, Oscar Charleston, and his old Monarchs teammate, Satchel Paige.

In 1994, not long after the World Series was canceled because of a labor dispute, Ken Burns' nine-part PBS series ``Baseball'' introduced Buck O'Neil to an even larger audience. He became the beloved Bard of Baseball.

Also inducted into Cooperstown last weekend were: David Ortiz, ``Big Papi,'' the slugger who led the Boston Red Sox to three World Series Championships; Gil Hodges, All-Star first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers and manager of the 1969 ``Miracle Mets;'' Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat, two teammates from the

1965 pennant-winning Minnesota Twins; and Bud Fowler, born in 1858 and often regarded as the first Black professional baseball player.

Minnie Minoso and Buck O'Neil were voted in under new rules that officially designated the Negro Leagues as a major league in 2020.

Buck had been nominated once before--in 2006--but to the surprise of nearly everyone, fell one vote short. He accepted the verdict with his usual grace, even agreeing to speak on behalf of the 17 players who made it into Cooperstown that year.

With this typical optimism, he told the crowd gathered at Cooperstown that day, ``I've done a lot of things I liked doing, but I'd rather be right here, right now, representing these people who helped build a bridge across the chasm of prejudice.''

Minnie Minoso and Buck O'Neil helped build that bridge, too. And now, they are finally where they deserve to be, among baseball's immortals.

I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

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

Madam President, I thought that the Republicans wanted to cut taxes, but when it comes to American families' health insurance, they want to raise taxes. Now, why?

Well, there is one simple explanation: Barack Obama. You see, it was Barack

Obama who came up with the ACA--the Affordable Care Act--where millions of Americans have access to health insurance--affordable health insurance--35 million, 1 out of 10 Americans.

But in the efforts of the Republicans to end the Affordable Care Act, they are basically trying everything. There was a time when there was this historic, tension-filled moment on the floor when three Republican Senators saved the Affordable Care Act. Senators Murkowski, Collins, and John McCain--and I will still remember that image as long as I am alive--walked on the floor and saved the Affordable Care Act.

But ever since then, the Republicans have been trying to do away with it every way they can think of. There are millions of Americans who have better health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. They cannot be denied coverage because of a preexisting condition. They don't have annual or lifetime limits on coverage. They have free preventive healthcare, and young adults can stay on their parents' plans until they have reached the age of 26--all positive things, wildly popular. Still the Republicans resist the idea that this is going to be the law of the land, if they have anything to say about it.

There is no disputing that ACA is one of the greatest public policy accomplishments of a lifetime. But as I mentioned, this lifesaving policy is once again under threat from the Republicans. Why?

Last year, Congress passed and President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan, which, among other things, made ACA health plans more widely available and more affordable for millions of Americans.

That package increased the size of ACA's tax credit, which eliminated or reduced out-of-pocket premiums for millions of people.

It also expanded eligibility, so that more lower- and middle-income Americans are now eligible for tax credits.

As a result of these improvements, a record 14-and-a-half million people signed up for the ACA plans during the 2022 open enrollment period. And I understand nearly one-third of these enrollees found a plan that costs $10 per month or less.

Millions of enrollees selected a plan that didn't cost anything. In the midst of this once-in-a-century pandemic, the American Rescue Plan provided families across the Nation with peace of mind that they have continued access to health insurance.

Here is the problem: If Congress doesn't do something--and soon-- these enhancements lowering the cost of premiums for American families will end. That causes millions of people to lose their health insurance or to have to pay more.

If you are in a time of inflation, where the cost of living is going up, wouldn't you want to be on the train that says ``lower health insurance premiums''? The Democrats are. The Republicans are not.

Millions of people will either lose their insurance or pay more if we don't do something. Not one single Republican Senator will join in our efforts, but those families in every State are going to be benefited by this.

Let's not forget how hard Republican Senators have fought to come down on the side of insurance companies and take away health insurance for Americans. It has been their top priority for decades.

So it falls on Democrats, once again, to fix this problem. And fix it we must. It is my understanding that all 50 Democratic Senators are on board with providing a multiyear extension of these ACA tax credits. I know that House Democrats are with us.

Let us get it done soon by August when insurers start notifying customers of their 2023 premiums. People nationwide have a lot on their plates these days, from rising costs to fears of gun violence to increasing COVID cases to new restrictions on women's rights.

Let us not add to the burden of tax-paying families by hiking their health insurance premiums next year. The Democrats want to fix it. We invite the Republicans, who give many speeches on the cost of living for families, to join us.

I yield the floor.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

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

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

Madam President, like 17 million other Americans, I watched the January 6 committee in its latest session last Thursday night. For 2 hours, I was there watching closely as they presented witnesses and evidence of the obvious. It reminded me that our committee--the Senate Judiciary Committee--last October released a report that showed in alarming detail how former President Donald Trump tried to bully the Justice Department into overturning an election which he lost.

Our report showed just how aggressively the defeated President tried to hold on to power, how some with the Justice Department were actually conspiring to help him, and how hard the Department's leadership had to work to prevent Trump's illegal scheme from succeeding.

We knew when we produced our report that it was just one chapter in an intricate plot to subvert America's democracy.

In eight public hearings over the last 6 weeks, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol has laid out in clear and chilling detail more chapters in the plot to overturn the 2020 Presidential election.

The facts are damning. What makes them even more shocking and credible is that they have been revealed, under oath, not by former President Trump's political foes but by people who once believed in him--people who worked with him for years, close aides, advisers, even his own family members.

I am sure you remember January 6, 2021. Those of us who were in this Chamber will never forget it.

We were here in the Senate to count the electoral ballots forwarded from the States to the Senate and the House to confirm the results of the 2020 Presidential election. We heard the furious mob outside. They attacked Capitol Police officers with hockey sticks, iron bars, toxic bear spray, flagpoles--whatever weapons they could find. The Trump mob was on the march. They smashed windows and doors, broke into this Capitol Building.

Capitol Police officers ordered the Senators to evacuate the Chamber immediately. I remember it well. They first told us: Well, wait here. This will be a safe room. Ten minutes later, they said: Leave through these back doors as quickly as you can; the mob has taken over the Capitol. We rushed to a secure location.

For hours, as the Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police battled the mob in brutal hand-to-hand combat, we asked the same questions: Where is the protection? Where is the National Guard? Where is the President? Donald Trump set this carnage in motion by riling up his supporters with the Big Lie and ordering them to march on the Capitol. We thought to ourselves, Why won't he tell them to stop? This has gone too far.

The public hearings of the January 6 Committee have answered the question in frightening detail. Where was the President? We now know from last Thursday's hearing, Donald Trump knew within 15 minutes of finishing his remarks that the mob was on its way to attack this building and the people inside. What did he do? What did Donald Trump do for 3 hours 7 minutes? He sat in his private dining room next to the Oval Office watching the violence

on TV. He refused to contact his national security leaders to defend the Capitol of the United States of America. He refused pleas from congressional leaders of both parties, from his own staff and family, from his allies in the media at FOX News to call off the mob. He refused to walk less than 60 seconds to the White House briefing room to make a simple statement asking for the violence to stop. He was silent, and he watched FOX News every second of that 3 hours 7 minutes.

We learned that members of Vice President Pence's Secret Service detail actually thought that they might die as they confronted this mob. As some of those agents made what they feared might be their last calls to their families to tell them that they loved them, President Donald Trump sent out a tweet telling the mob Vice President Pence had betrayed them. Instead of calming the riot, Donald Trump poured gasoline on the fire.

Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the January 6 Committee, summed it up well. He said:

Trump didn't fail to act . . . he chose not to act.

Only when it was clear that his coup had failed did Donald Trump reluctantly record a video telling his supporters to leave the Capitol and go home. And he carefully chose his words--we can tell from the outtakes--not to concede the Big Lie. There was not a word of condemnation about the violence, not a word of concern for the police officers who battled that mob to protect our safety and our democracy. More than 140 police officers--Capitol Police, DC Metropolitan Police-- suffered serious injuries on January 6. Where is this President who loved law and order? Silently watching on FOX.

Over the next few days and weeks, sadly, several officers who defended the Capitol died. Not a word from former President Trump.

In the committee's earlier hearings, we learned how the President had ignored his own aides and advisers and relentlessly pressed false claims of voter fraud, listening to his ``gifted'' legal counsel, Rudy Giuliani, even when he was told repeatedly that these claims were wrong.

We learned how he pressured Vice President Pence to go along with the plan to overturn his loss even after he was told by the experts around him: President Trump, it would be illegal.

We learned how President Trump pressed elected leaders in key States to change the vote totals in their States. When that failed, he pressed allies to send false slates of electors that would make him the winner.

He learned how to summon a mob to Washington and turned them loose on this building, even after being told the mob was carrying weapons. And even after all the harm his Big Lie has done to our democracy, he is still relentlessly peddling it.

Outtakes aired by the House committee last week showed on the day of insurrection, he still refused to say the election is over. This little man just can't bring himself to accept reality.

Wisconsin's Assembly Speaker, who happens to be a Republican, said Donald Trump called him to urge him to overturn the State's vote in the 2020 election. When did he call him? Two weeks ago. He is still on a rampage.

The Senate will soon consider a bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act to make it plain that a Presidential election cannot be overturned by wrongful partisan interference by a Vice President or any State or congressional officials. I support this effort. Senators Klobuchar, King, and I offered our own ideas several months ago on this anticipated Electoral Count Act reform. I hope that this bipartisan effort can get 60 votes in the Senate.

I hope that 10 Republicans will join us in modernizing this law so it works for today. It was written in haste in the middle of political controversy in the 19th century. Some of the sections of that law are almost unintelligible. Let's clarify it. Let's give the American people an assurance that we learned a lesson on January 6, 2021, and in the election that preceded it. And in that lesson, we learned that the American people want their votes to count accurately, honestly, and fairly.

Ultimately, however, the only way we can protect our elections and our democracy is by respecting the rule of law and the will of the American people and telling them the truth. By laying out the truth clearly for the American people and for history, the January 6 Committee is performing an invaluable public service. They deserve our respect.

One closing comment. There wasn't supposed to be a committee in the House. Madam President, you remember and I do, too, the proposal was for a bipartisan Commission to be created to investigate this travesty on January 6 as they investigated 9/11--take politics out of it, take elected officials out of it, bring together people who are respected from across the political spectrum, and get to the bottom of it. That proposal for a bipartisan Commission was stopped by Republican leadership in the House and the Senate. After all of the statements they made expressing outrage over January 6, when it came time to appoint the Commission--bipartisan Commission--they refused. There is only one conclusion you can draw: They don't want to face the truth. They don't want the truth to be on the record from a bipartisan Commission. Luckily, in the House of Representatives, the January 6 Committee has achieved that, and there is more to come.

I might add, people say: Why didn't the Senate Judiciary Committee take this on? That is a very valid question. The difference is this. In order to issue a subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee in such a committee hearing, we need to have agreement from at least one Republican member of the committee. We had no assurance that that agreement would be offered. So I supported the January 6 Committee in the House, and I am glad that they moved forward as they have.

Abortion

Madam President, it was a month ago the Dobbs decision was handed down. One of the most controversial issues in American politics is the issue of abortion and reproductive health.

We know that Justice Alito's opinion, a 6-to-3 decision, overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, we have been trying to sort out the impact of that decision on America. There are many things that have happened which have been shocking--the fact that they have called into question some of the things that we had accepted for 50 years as constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Yes, there was a 10-year-old girl who was viciously raped and turned up pregnant in the State of Ohio. And, yes, under the law in the State of Ohio because she was 6 weeks 3 days pregnant, she couldn't qualify for a procedure to terminate her pregnancy in the State of Ohio. She had to go to Indiana, the neighboring State. There were those who disputed that it ever happened and denied that such a thing could occur. As it turned out, they were wrong. It did happen. I was saddened to read that one of the leaders in the right to life movement said she should carry that baby to term--a 10-year-old girl.

Madam President, I am sure you have seen a lot of 10-year-old young people. I have seen them, too, even in my household, one of my grandchildren. At that age, you are still questioning whether they can cross a busy street without help. And to think someone would say she should carry that baby to term ignores her own health and ignores the reality of that situation. That is the kind of rhetoric we are hearing from people who are proposing a national ban on abortions.

I was reading this morning an article in the New York Times.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have this New York Times article printed in the Record.

I want to read this because it tells you the complications that have been created by what seemed like a very simple decision overturning a previous Supreme Court case. This writer, Gina Kolata, wrote an article entitled ``After Roe, Urgent Questions About Cancer Care.'' It was in Sunday's New York Times, July 24, 2022. I was struck by this article because it suggests the complexity of this issue and the real-world impact of this decision:

In April of last year, Rachel Brown's oncologist called

with bad news--at age 36, she had an aggressive form of

breast cancer. The very next day, she found out she was

pregnant after nearly a year of trying with her fiance to

have a baby.

She had always said she would never have an abortion. But

the choices she faced were wrenching. If she had the

chemotherapy that she needed to prevent the spread of her

cancer, she could harm the baby. If she didn't have it, the

cancer could spread and kill her. She had two children, ages

2 and 11, who would lose their mother.

For Ms. Brown and others in the unlucky sorority of women

who receive a cancer diagnosis when they are pregnant, the

Supreme Court decision in [Dobbs], ending the constitutional

right to an abortion, can seem like a slap in the face. If

the life of a fetus is paramount, a pregnancy can mean a

woman cannot get effective treatment for her cancer. One in a

thousand women who gets pregnant each year is diagnosed with

cancer, meaning thousands of women are facing a serious and

possibly fatal disease while they are expecting a baby.

Before the Supreme Court decision, a pregnant woman with

cancer was already ``entering a world with tremendous

unknowns,'' said Dr. Clifford Hudis, the chief executive

officer at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Now,

not only the women but also the doctors and hospitals that

treat them, are caught up in the added complications of

abortion bans.

``If a doctor can't give a drug without fear of damaging a

fetus, is that going to compromise outcomes?'' Dr. Hudis

asked. ``It's a whole new world.''

Cancer drugs are dangerous for fetuses in the first

trimester. Although older chemotherapy drugs are safe in the

second and third trimesters, the safety of the newer and more

effective drugs is unknown and doctors are reluctant to give

them to [a] pregnant [woman].

This woman decided to terminate her pregnancy, take the cancer therapy, and save her life. She closes with the following statements:

But having gone through that grueling treatment, she also

wondered how she could ever have handled having a newborn

baby and her two other children to care for.

``My bones ached, I couldn't walk more than a few steps

without being out of breath. It was hard to get nutrients

because of nausea and vomiting,'' she said.

The Supreme Court decision hit her hard.

``I felt like the reason I did what I did didn't matter,''

she said. ``My life didn't

matter, and my children's lives didn't matter.

``It didn't matter if I lost my life because I was being

forced to be pregnant,'' she said.

That is the reality today. I hear my colleagues come to the floor with absolute certain moral clarity on this issue. I have learned during the course of my life and my public life that there is not that element of certainty when it comes down to real life. And to jeopardize the health and safety, even the life of the mother in this circumstance, to leave doctors wondering if they have criminal liability for professional medical care is something this Nation should never see. But we face it now, and it is up to us to show leadership and come together, I hope, and bring back the constitutional protections that have been the case for 50 years in this country.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, we have a great number of holidays each year in America. But is there a more perfect holiday than the Fourth of July? We celebrate the birth of our Nation. We gather with our families for picnics, a trip to the beach, backyard barbecues, take in a baseball game, and go to a parade. It is just the ultimate American celebration. We relax, pull out our American flags, gather our kids, and thank God that we are born in this great Nation and can call it home.

But this last Fourth of July became a different scene in one part of my home State of Illinois. It was the first time in years that the people of Highland Park were able to gather together publicly. So there was a special celebration as they gathered at 10 in the morning for the Fourth of July parade.

Oh, in addition to the usual suspects at these parades, political candidates, there were a lot of groups just there in pure celebration: high school bands, gatherings of veterans, all sorts of groups in a wonderful, wonderful suburban town in the Chicagoland area of Highland Park.

Yesterday, we held a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee about the day of the July Fourth parade in Highland Park. I wish we didn't have to hold that hearing. I would rather it would have been some other subject, some other place. But it was the 10th hearing during this Congress--the 10th time--that we had held a hearing in the Judiciary Committee on gun violence--gun violence, the No. 1 cause of death of children in America. Let me repeat that: gun violence, the No. 1 cause of death among children in America.

Yesterday, we focused on Highland Park and the Fourth of July parade, and we focused on the obvious mass shooting incident that took place. And we focused on military-style assault weapons.

The Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, IL, was the 309th mass shooting in America this year. What is a mass shooting? When four people are either injured or killed--309 times it had happened before July the Fourth.

By the time of yesterday's hearing, 16 days after the Fourth of July, that number of 309 had grown by 47 mass shootings since the Fourth of July in America--16 days, 47 more mass shootings.

Where else on Earth is this taking place? Nowhere. Right here in the United States of America is the only place on Earth where mass shootings are happening on such a frequent basis.

In many of the deadliest shootings, the attacker used an assault weapon, a combat weapon--a gun specifically designed to kill the maximum number of people in just a few seconds; the same weapon we saw in Uvalde, TX, where the kids in their classrooms were killed; the same weapon we saw in the supermarket in Buffalo, NY, when early morning shoppers on a Saturday were killed; and, sadly, the same weapon that was used in Highland Park.

During the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, a deranged gunman perched himself on a rooftop, using a Smith & Wesson assault rifle, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. He shot 83 rounds in less than a minute. Let me say that again: 83 rounds in less than a minute.

This is Aiden McCarthy. Aiden is 2 years old. His mom and dad, Kevin and Irina McCarthy, took him to the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. I first heard about him just an hour or 2 after this terrible incident. I called my friend Nancy Rotering, who is the mayor of Highland Park, and asked her: Tell me, what can I do?

She said: I don't know. Things are happening so fast. We actually found a 2-year-old toddler who was wandering on the street by himself. We don't know who he belongs to. His picture is being circulated in the community.

The conclusion was fairly obvious. Whoever brought him to that parade was not able to look for him and care for him. And the story eventually unfolded. Kevin and Irina McCarthy brought Aiden to the parade--his first parade. And then when the shooting started, they shielded him with their bodies. In a matter of minutes, Aiden lost both of his parents. Fortunately, a grandparent was located, and Aiden is in safe hands today.

But because of this assault weapon being fired on the crowd, he lost his mom and dad. That is the reality when a parent has to shield a child like this from a mass shooting.

Nancy Rotering, as I mentioned earlier, is mayor of Highland Park. She testified yesterday about the parade. She told us that when the shooting started, she thought the sound of bullets was actually a drum cadence from the local marching band. That is how fast the bullets were being fired.

When she realized there was an active shooter, she began evacuating the crowd. She said the adults she confronted stared back at her. They didn't understand what she was saying. But the children, the teenagers, they understood. This was a shooter; this wasn't a drill.

Did you hear that? The children and the teens at the Highland Park parade instinctively knew what was happening because they had been trained in their schools to deal with mass shootings. That is how common these mass shootings have become.

I grew up in a different era, Cold War era, where it was duck and cover under your desk for fear of a nuclear attack--an attack by the Soviet Union. These kids--our kids, our grandkids--are being schooled not just in the ABCs, but they are being schooled in survival, so that if a shooter shows up in a classroom, they know what to do to try to survive.

Mayor Rotering told the Judiciary Committee:

Our children are expected to return to school in [about] a

month. . . . They are frightened to go back. . . . They are

frightened to play outside. Many never want to go to . . .

parade[s] again. For the rest of their lives, they will look

over their shoulders, ready for another active shooter,

thanks to the drills our society has normalized [in our

classrooms].

She continued:

Playing outside is normal. Back to school is normal. Fear

of a shooter is not normal; but now in Highland Park

[Illinois] and so many other American communities, it is [the

new normal].

It can't be said enough that mass shootings with assault weapons are a unique American phenomenon. They are devastating--so devastating.

I want to show you another picture with Aiden McCarthy. This is Cooper Roberts, 8 years old. Cooper and his twin brother Luke went to the parade with their mom and dad. And in the

course of the shooting, he was shot, taken to the hospital immediately. He has gone through at least seven or eight surgeries now, touch and go for many days as to whether he would live. And, sadly, in addition to the damage that was done to his body, his spinal cord was severed by this same bullet.

You see, when you fire an assault weapon at a human body, it hits that body at three times the ordinary velocity of any other firearm. It is so powerful that it was originally designed by the U.S. Army to achieve a single goal described to us in the committee yesterday. That goal was to be able to shoot one of these AR-15s and pierce a metal helmet worn by a soldier 500 yards away--five football fields--the AR- 15. It is not another firearm. It is a killing weapon. And, unfortunately, Cooper Roberts was in the line of fire. We pray that he recovers.

His mom and dad have kept us posted, all of us posted, as to his progress. But if you think about the devastation that an AR-15 combat weapon assault rifle can do to a human body, imagine what it did to this poor little boy's body. That is the reality of the issue we are discussing.

Many gun manufacturers, like Smith & Wesson, Mossberg, Bushmaster, and Daniel Defense have launched ad campaigns marketing their assault weapons like they are fashion accessories.

Let me show you a few of them. This is from Mossberg:

Engineered to the specs of freedom and independence, stand

and salute the tactical rifle. We are America's oldest

family-owned firearms manufacturer, building dependable,

hard-working rifles and shotguns since 1919. American

built, American strong. Arm yourself with a Mossberg.

That is the type of weapon that shot Cooper Roberts, that killed the parents of Aiden McCarthy. How is it being marketed? A symbol of independence and freedom.

Some of these other ads--want proof of your manhood? ``Consider your Man Card reissued,'' says Bushmaster with their AR-15.

I want to make sure, as we said at the hearing yesterday, that these weapons are properly characterized. I will tell you how I characterize them. The manufacturers of these weapons should be ashamed of what is happening across America. To suggest that this typifies the values of this country is just plain wrong and offensive. It is time for us to name and shame these companies. It is time to hold them accountable for the devastation they made possible. How many AR-15s are there in America? We don't really know. The best estimate is 20 million--20 million.

I want to dispel a common talking point we hear from the other side of the aisle. We heard it yesterday. They claim our communities don't need new gun safety laws; all they need are good guys with guns. I wish it were that simple. It is not.

In one survey of 433 active shooter attacks, how many were stopped by a good guy with a gun? Twenty-two out of four hundred and thirty- three--about 5 percent. Half of those 22 were security guards and trained law enforcement who were there present on the scene and off duty.

The sad reality is, when the police come on the scene and someone is holding a gun, they don't know if it is a perpetrator, a danger, or somebody on their side. In many instances, they shoot the wrong person, making a split-second decision in seeing a person holding a gun.

So this notion that we are going to come to the rescue of one another and stop mass shootings is not a reality. Five percent of active shooter attacks were stopped by a good guy with a gun--5 percent. Imagine buying a car and being told there is only a 5-percent chance that the airbag will go off if you need it in a crash? You wouldn't take that car out of the dealership, and for good reason.

We heard testimony yesterday from RAND Corporation firearms expert Dr. Kyleanne Hunter. She told us that assault weapons make mass shootings significantly more lethal.

The evidence is clear. It is time for us to have a national conversation about America and mass shooting.

Let me say that the manufacturers shouldn't get off the hook. They aren't just selling you a product.

Let me show you one other thing that is particularly outrageous. Sadly, this is in my home State of Illinois. It is a JR-15. It is designed to look like the AR-15, the combat weapon assault rifle. It is lighter, so it can be carried by a kid. Here are the symbols of this JR-15. They are skulls, skulls of children. Each one of them has a pacifier in his mouth. It isn't just on this poster, on this ad; it is emblazoned on the gun itself. This is a kid's assault weapon. Think about that for a second. In America, we have reached a point where that is even thought of in light of the killing that has taken place.

The hearing yesterday showed an outpouring of people from Highland Park in numbers I never expected. I believe there were 100 people there who, on their own dime, came out to Washington to make sure all of us in Congress knew what happened in Highland Park, how that village and their lives were changed on the Fourth of July. What are we going to do about it--shrug our shoulders and wait for tomorrow's mass shooting? Sadly, we can expect one to come.

I listen to the defenses, but, frankly, I can't understand people trying to defend the right to own an assault rifle in America.

One Senator argued: Well, it is just an inanimate object, you know. Don't blame the object for the results.

I wonder if he feels the same way about a grenade launcher. Should people have the right to own grenade launchers? I hope we can all agree that is an incredible thought. Why doesn't this weapon fall into a similar category, a combat, Army assault weapon that is being used by individuals to kill so many innocent people in this country--kill them at a concert in Las Vegas, at schools in Connecticut, at schools in Texas, at Fourth of July parades in my home State.

Last month, we did come together--and I want to salute Senator Murphy, who is on the floor--to pass a bill that was the most important gun safety law we considered in three decades. I voted for it. It didn't address this issue at all except in the background checks for those under 21. And I am glad it did, but it didn't address the issue of whether these guns should even be in America at this point, legal in America. That, I think, is the critical threshold issue.

Incidentally, this shooter, who seemed to have a pretty ill-fated life from the start, managed to buy high-capacity magazines so that he could clip in quickly 30 rounds here, 30 rounds there, and fire off 83 times. Why in the world does anyone need a high-capacity clip magazine? I don't understand it. It doesn't have any practical value for sport or hunting.

We need to address the widespread, serious problem of civilian access to military assault weapons, even for shooters as young as 18.

I thank the people from Highland Park for coming yesterday and all the brave law enforcement and first responders whom I saw gather that evening when I arrived at Highland Park. We owe them a lot. They are doing an amazing job, and we should pay tribute to them and what they did. But even they, being present and armed, could not stop this from happening. They were up against a mighty weapon--a weapon we trust for the military, we trust for the police; a weapon which has no place in the hands of people like the shooter in Highland Park on the Fourth of July.

Are we going to continue this American tradition of mass shootings? Sadly, we will unless this body, this Senate, decides that it is worth the fight, worth the political debate. After Highland Park, count me in. I want to be on the record saying it is time to put an end to these assault rifles, these weapons of war which have sadly taken so many innocent lives like poor Aiden McCarthy's parents and five others who died in Highland Park.

I hope for our children's sake that we don't run away from this problem. The people in Highland Park had to run away from the Fourth of July parade, and now they are counting on us to stand up and face it squarely.

I yield the floor.