Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I am glad I was on the floor to hear the Republican leader's comments about our Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, because there are a couple of elements that he obviously inadvertently missed that he should have reported when he was talking about the support that she has received from across the political spectrum. He made her out to be a product and creation of some far-left political cause or movement, but she is much more than that.

He went on to say that Judge Thomas Griffith of the DC Circuit was harassed by the same special interest group that supports Judge Jackson. He missed one key element. I just received a letter within the last 2 weeks from Judge Thomas Griffith, a well-known, retired, conservative Federal judge, endorsing Ketanji Brown Jackson. How about that?

It doesn't sound like a special interest group to me. It sounds like a Republican-appointed judge who saw her in action and wants to make sure that she gets a chance to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

It makes a big difference because, if you take a look at what he had to say about her, Judge Griffith wrote:

Judge Jackson has a demonstrated record of excellence, and

I believe, based upon her work as a trial judge when I served

on the Court of Appeals, [that] she will adjudicate based on

the facts and the law and not as a partisan.

That is exactly the opposite of the point that was being made by Senator McConnell. She has the support across the political spectrum. He failed to mention that she has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Oh, she is supposedly suspect of being too liberal. Well, I can just tell you that she is a person of quality, integrity, and values, and she has the support across the political spectrum to prove it.

I believe she is going to be an extraordinary Justice on the Supreme Court, and President Biden made a good choice in selecting her.

Mr. President, moving to a different topic, what does courage look like? What does the face of courage look like? Well, we see it every day on television out of Ukraine. We see individuals leaving their regular lives, grabbing a rifle to defend their nation, and being prepared to die in the process. That is the face of courage.

We see the face of courage in the President of Ukraine, an extraordinary individual, who once was a rising standup comedian and now is a rising standup President for his nation of Ukraine, risking his life every day to stay in Kyiv and to be there to inspire his people to resist Putin's barbaric invasion of that country.

We are going to see that tomorrow in the joint session of Congress. It is the first Zoom joint session of Congress that I have ever been in attendance, and I am glad we are doing it. For the last several weeks, I have been in touch

through Zoom conference calls with President Zelenskyy. He is a courageous man.

But courage is not limited to Ukraine. An event occurred yesterday in Moscow which bears our approval and consideration. On state-run television in Moscow, a woman was reading the propaganda that was on the show, when an employee of that same channel burst on to the set and interrupted the news broadcast.

Her name is--and I am going to try to pronounce her Russian name here--Marina Ovsyannikova--Marina Ovsyannikova. That is her, standing there holding a sign saying ``no war.''

She was wearing a yellow and blue necklace, the colors of Ukraine.

And this woman, an actual editor at Channel One in Moscow, shouted:

Stop the war. No to war.

Their sign says:

Don't believe the propaganda. They are lying to you here.

It was signed in English:

Russians against war.

Now, this might have been something just viewed as a disruption, but in Russia under Putin, her actions constitute a crime.

What has happened to her? Well, we don't know. She disappeared shortly after this appearance on television.

Under a new law, she could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for using the word ``war'' to describe Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But she was unbowed. Before her protest, she recorded a video which has been released through human rights group. I want to read for you what she said in this video:

Regrettably, for a number of years, I worked on Channel One

and worked on Kremlin propaganda. I am very ashamed of this

right now.

She said:

Ashamed that I was allowed to tell lies from the television

screen. Ashamed that I allowed the zombification of the

Russian people. We were silent in 2014 when this was just

beginning. We did not go out to protest when the Kremlin

poisoned [opposition leader Alexei] Navalny.''

She continued:

We are just silently watching this anti-human regime and

now the whole world has turned away from us.

She told her countrymen and women:

Only we have the power to stop all this madness. Go to the

protests. Don't be afraid of anything. They can't imprison us

all.

I believe that if more ordinary Russians knew the truth about what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine, they would join her protest.

Russian media aren't reporting the truth: that Russia has lost more soldiers in the first 20 days of its invasion of Ukraine than America lost in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Russian media aren't reporting on Russia's war crimes in Ukraine, like the horrific shelling last week of a children's and maternity hospital in Mariupol.

Yesterday, we learned that the injured woman on the stretcher in this photo had died, as had her baby. It was a type of outrage which the American people will never forget and shouldn't. This was an intentional target, this maternity hospital, by Putin. He has bombed health clinics and hospitals across Ukraine. That is the type of person he is. That is the type of war he wages. That is the type of war criminal he is. Every one of these attacks is a violation of international law.

At least three facilities that serve women and children have been subject to attack, and innocent civilians have been killed. Throughout Ukraine, continued explosions and the threat of shelling have forced hospital staff to move critically ill children and other patients into bomb shelters in the basements. Children suffering from cancer, wartime injuries, and other serious conditions have been forced to move to western Ukraine by bus and train.

Throughout Ukraine, critical medications--insulin, cancer drugs, and other infusions--are in short supply, but the world is responding. We have seen an outpouring of revulsion against Putin and his war crimes. But we have also seen an outpouring of compassion, as governments and ordinary citizens step forward to aid Ukraine.

Last Wednesday, a group of nine doctors and nurses from the Chicago area flew to Poland to volunteer to help Ukrainians fleeing the war. They brought with them 167 suitcases filled with medicines and medical equipment.

Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, IL, donated nearly $500,000 in equipment--all paid for in donations raised in just 72 hours.

The group included Ukrainian Americans, Lithuanian Americans, Polish Americans, Syrian Americans, and Pakistani Americans. The trip was organized by a nonprofit group called MedGlobal. It was founded by a man who is my friend, and I am proud to say that, an amazing Syrian- American doctor named Dr. Zaher Sahloul.

Over the years, this organization has taken medical missions to Syria, Burma, and other places torn by the conflicts that do emerge in these areas.

On this trip, the doctors and nurses spent 2 days in Lviv, providing medical care alongside Ukrainian doctors. They then returned to the Polish side of the border to provide aid to refugees in local hospitals.

Let me say a word about the refugees who are currently inside Ukraine and leaving Ukraine. The estimate now is that a nation with a population of 40 million, Ukraine, has more than 3 million refugees. Let me put that in perspective for a moment. Three million refugees in a matter of 20 days of war--can you imagine? If it were the United States and a similar proportion of the population, it would mean moving the population of the State of Texas out of the United States in 3 weeks. That is what is happening because of the terrible war and invasion of Vladimir Putin.

Providing medical assistance doesn't stop with what I have read into the Record. Chicago is also blessed with one of the finest pediatric hospitals in America, Lurie Children's Hospital. Lurie Children's has shipped 1\1/4\ tons--1\1/4\ tons--of medical supplies and medical equipment to Ukraine.

Staff at Lurie Children's are now exploring with Federal officials how they might help bring some of Ukraine's most critically ill children to the United States for needed medical treatment. The hospital spokesman called me last week to say that she was initiating an effort nationwide in the United States to ask every children's hospital to pitch in. If there are kids in Ukraine or out of Ukraine now as refugees who are in desperate need of medical care, America is going to be there.

I am so proud of Lurie Children's and all the other children's hospitals across the United States. They are exploring the same opportunity and challenge. I applaud America's children's hospitals for answering the call over the next several days to provide medical support for pediatric patients in critical need. I urge our Federal Agencies to assist in logistical challenges. Together, we can save these children's lives.

Tomorrow morning, a truly heroic leader, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will address a virtual joint session of Congress. He will ask Congress and the American people to stand with Ukraine, to defend democracy and human dignity and to bring this horrific war to an end. We must answer that call. This fight is not Ukraine's alone; this is a fight for democracy and the right of people to choose their own leaders, decide their own destiny.

I will close with these thoughts--one from Garry Kasparov, a chess grandmaster, Russian expatriate, and fierce critic of Vladimir Putin.

Yesterday, Garry Kasparov tweeted:

Letting Putin crush Ukraine and murder thousands of

innocents in a European war of conquest will redefine the

world order. So would stopping him. We choose by action or

inaction which world we want to live in.

America should choose to stand with Ukraine.

Slava, Ukraini.

One last point. Zelenskyy made a very important observation when it came to Putin and his future. I don't know if there are enough brave Russians to stand up to him--I hope there are--to depose him from power in that country, but if they don't, we are naive to believe that Ukraine is the end of his conquest agenda. He wants to restore the Soviet Union, and many of us know what that means--the Baltics. It means Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as President Zelenskyy reminded us, would be the next target. They are small. They are near Russian populations. They are near Belarus, which has become a pawn of Vladimir Putin, and they are vulnerable.

The only thing standing between the Baltics and subjugation by Vladimir Putin is the document known as the

NATO charter. It is an agreement of an alliance where every nation under that flag will stand to defend the other under attack.

Most of us don't remember, but after 9/11/2001, the NATO allies came together and said that the United States had been attacked under article 5 and that they were willing to defend us if the terrorism continued. That is the kind of solidarity which we needed then and which the world needs now.

The NATO alliance was, unfortunately, weakened under the last President, but they have come around now to become a powerful force.

Just last week on Thursday, 10 of the Ambassadors from European nations gathered in a room and talked to us about their solidarity behind our effort to support Ukraine. It was a positive meeting, a good feeling, and I am glad that the NATO forces understand their responsibility and are prepared to defend these countries that are involved.

There is one last point I want to make because it is so outrageous, I believe it should be reported. The question really comes down to an interview of Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, by Jeanine Pirro on FOX television. He called Putin's invasion of Ukraine a project to rebuild a Soviet empire that had been, in the words of Donald Trump, ``full of love.'' Full of love, a Soviet empire?

Unfortunately, the former President has no knowledge of history, nor does he have any understanding as to what happened to the countries under the subjugation of a Soviet empire, how they were forcefully brought into that alliance, which they never wanted to be part of. He obviously doesn't recall that 4 million Ukrainians died in the famines of the 1930s under Joseph Stalin's Soviet rule.

At one point, Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. For Donald Trump, it is ``full of love.'' How can he be so far wrong and not see the obvious--that Putin is not the spiritual man he was once identified as? He is a ruthless war criminal, and innocent people are paying the price for his outrages.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

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

I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business.

Madam President, last Thursday, I decided to join with Senator Shaheen and set up a meeting with about 13 European Ambassadors to the United States. It was for the Democratic Senators. Afterward, we thought this should have been bipartisan, and the next one will be.

But the Ambassadors' meeting was nothing short of historic because these 14 Ambassadors, representing the obvious leaders in Europe, all spoke to the issue of Ukraine and what it has meant to them and what it has done to their nations.

Some of their statements were profound. The Ambassador from Germany talked about how her country had, in a matter of 2 weeks, dramatically changed its position on many issues: On the future of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, they have come to realize that dependence on Russia is risky business in the 21st century; whether or not Germany will step up and support the Ukrainian people. They decided they would, and they also decided that they would make a substantial investment in military spending as part of NATO.

Some of those things seem like very common decisions to Americans, but for them, it was many times a reversal of a party position. They have come to realize, as we have around the world, that the Ukrainian situation calls for emergency measures.

I first want to commend President Joe Biden. Though I may not agree with all his policies and approaches, I have to say that at the moment in history we find ourselves, thank goodness Joe Biden is our President. I cannot imagine his predecessor in a similar circumstance.

Joe Biden set out to first unify NATO. It sounds like an easy task. It is an alliance which we inspired back in the 1940s, after World War II, and have been an active leader in for decades. But our relationship with the nations of NATO and Europe and our relationship to the world as a NATO alliance

had suffered greatly in the last few years. Joe Biden set out to change that, and he is the man to do it.

Throughout his career in the Senate and as Vice President to President Obama, he played a major role in foreign policy. He was no stranger to many of the people he sat down with in the NATO alliance. He brought them together and impressed upon them that, if Putin should decide to invade Ukraine, the NATO alliance had to be stronger than ever. He convinced them, and we should recognize that. Both parties should recognize that. His leadership brought NATO into the 21st century and brought it to the stage where it can confront this Putin threat in a responsible manner.

This is being felt across the world, but it is being felt particularly in the nations that are on the border of Ukraine or Belarus.

At this meeting of the Ambassadors, I called on the Ambassador from Poland. I will have to admit and concede that I have a bias there because I represent the second largest Polish city in the world, Chicago, IL, second only to Warsaw. There are many fine Polish people there, and there have been for many generations, who are following this closely, realizing that they are right on the edge, right next to Ukraine.

The Ambassador made some comments that I thought were worth repeating on the floor. At that time, about 1\1/2\ million refugees--1\1/2\ million refugees--had flown or come across the border into Poland, and they were being absorbed and accepted in that country--1\1/2\ million. He said something that was noteworthy.

He said: If you watch the TV of the people coming to the train stations and across the border, did you notice there are no refugee camps in Poland for the Ukrainians? Those people who come across the border are being brought into the homes of Polish families. They are taking the spare bedroom or finding a way to get by in homes of people who care for them--1\1/2\ million. Now, some go on to other countries, but many are staying in Poland.

Then he said something which has historic significance. He said: We are taking care of these people because in 1939, no one would take care of us.

He is, of course, referring to the invasion of Poland by the Nazis and the subjugation of the Polish population after a valiant effort to stop the Nazi advance and then the hardship and suffering of the Polish people under Nazi rule. They remember that. Few were personally alive to remember, but families have repeated the stories over and over again.

My hat is off to the Polish people for their kindness and caring and their leadership when it comes to accepting refugees. But what a lesson for us and for the rest of the world. Countries around Europe are each accepting responsibility.

This was a big weekend in Chicago. It is St. Patrick's Day weekend. We dyed the river green--lots of parties, lots of fun, events at churches like Old St. Patrick's and others. It is a tradition which I am really fond to be part of each year.

I noticed when I spoke to the Irish American Partnership on Friday morning how many people were asking me about Ukraine. At a time when we usually just have a lot of fun and remember good times involving Irish parties and Irish families, there was a real concern about Ukraine--and not just in Chicago among the Irish but equally important in Ireland among the Irish, because several things have happened in the last few days in Ireland.

They have been gathering thousands of pounds of medical supplies and humanitarian aid and shipping them over to Ukraine through Poland and other countries. They really care. Then they made a commitment. Ireland--a nation of 5 million people--made a commitment to take 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

I said to the group that I met with on Friday morning: A lesson for us all. This isn't the first time we have seen refugees in the world; it is the current refugee crisis, and it is ongoing in many other parts of the world. And what a lesson for us all--regardless of our religious affiliation, that if we do care for our fellow man, we should care for these refugees. They are the strangers, as often referred to in Christian teaching, whom we are asked to accept.

So I want to commend the Polish people, the Hungarians, the Romanians, the Moldovans for accepting refugees as they have from Ukraine. It is a tragedy that it is necessary, but thank goodness there are caring people in those countries who do open their homes and their lives to the refugees.

There was a conversation as well from other Ambassadors that day, but the message that came through dramatically was that we are now unified. The NATO alliance and other countries in Europe, like Sweden and Finland and Switzerland, although they are not part of the NATO alliance, really care and want to be part of the response to it. That is the strength of the force against Vladimir Putin. But the real strength is in Ukraine itself.

How can you watch the television and see the devastation that is taking place and not feel for the people who are still remaining there, the millions who each day wake up and wonder if that is the last day of their life because of a Russian missile or a Russian bomb or because Vladimir Putin has decided to engage in a scorched-earth policy?

When they bombed maternity hospitals, I thought they had reached the lowest possible point, but over the weekend, Vladimir Putin intensified his illegal, unprovoked war on Ukraine--shelling apartment buildings, hospitals, schools, creating an obscene body of evidence that Vladimir Putin should be charged and convicted of the worst possible war crimes.

That is why I had to hesitate for a moment and say, when I hear apologists for Putin in America, I wonder who they are and what they are made of. Tucker Carlson is one who even the Russians are recommending that their friends in the media listen to, making excuses on FOX for Vladimir Putin. There are no excuses--none acceptable--on the subject. Mr. Carlson should be ashamed of himself.

It is impossible to know how many innocent civilians have already died in Ukraine. Estimates run from hundreds to thousands. An estimated 2.8 million Ukrainians--almost all of them women, children, and the elderly--have fled in the bitter cold to other nations, carrying one or two suitcases and a backpack and a baby on their side. Millions more Ukrainian citizens are displaced inside Ukraine--we can't even count that number--and multitudes are trapped in places like Mariupol and other cities under siege by Russia. Many of them are without food and water and medicine and electricity.

These families are coming to shelters and saying: We have no food to give our children. That is how desperate the circumstances are because of Mr. Putin's invasion. His unprovoked war is a war of atrocities.

Yesterday, I attended a rally at the Ukrainian Center in Chicago. It had been chilly the day before, but it warmed up into the 50s--which is good news in Chicago in March--and we were outside. Quite a crowd showed up. There were more blue and gold Ukrainian flags than I had seen in any one place in America, but there were many other flags too. There were Polish flags; and I am proud to say there were Lithuanian flags--my mother's homeland--Estonian, Latvian, American flags, all gathered to show unity with the Ukrainian people.

Since this war started, they have been working to provide aid shipments and to reach family members in Ukraine. You can tell that it is taking its toll on them as they talk about members of their families that are still in Ukraine today.

But people came with a loud round of applause when I announced that we had, on the floor of the Senate last week on Thursday, passed a bill to provide $13.6 billion to Ukraine--humanitarian aid, military aid. And President Biden, over the weekend, talked about another $200 million worth of direct military aid. That makes it over $1 billion that America has sent, and there is more to follow.

We talked about the sanctions against Russia, sanctions which will be felt by the common people of Russia. Unfortunately, some of them are innocent victims in this as well, but it will put pressure on Putin to finally stop this deadly invasion.

They said--and I believe--that this is not simply a war on Ukraine; it is a war on democracy. It is a war on civilization.

On Wednesday, we are going to have a historic moment here in the Capitol. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the

President of Ukraine, will address a joint session of Congress using the remote technology. We are all in awe of his courage and leadership, and we are anxious to hear his message, to think of what that man has achieved by staying on the scene, regularly broadcasting videos to show that he was still there. He inspires his people to get up and fight for Ukraine.

Our message to him on that day is ``Slava Ukraini!''--that is, ``Glory to Ukraine.'' And it is a phrase that was actually banished during Soviet times because it was so nationalistic that the Soviets didn't want the people of that country using it. They use it proudly today because they are an independent, free, and democratic nation.

America stands with Ukraine in its fight for democracy and civilization. I just hope that we will learn many lessons from this. Don't many of the things which we were arguing about in America seem so trivial in comparison to what we are talking about in Ukraine: truckers coming to protest social distancing and masks and vaccine mandates? I am sure those are important issues, but they pale in comparison to the life-and-death struggle which is going on in Ukraine.

These people understand that they must be ready to stand and die for their freedom. How many of us could rise to that level if challenged? It is something I think about a lot.

Madam President, on another topic, 2 years ago--March 13, 2020-- President Trump officially declared COVID a national emergency in America. We all remember the dark and uncertain days in the early spring of 2020. Overnight, schools, offices, and businesses closed their doors and opened their Zooms.

Today is also an important anniversary in America's recovery. One year ago today--1 year ago--Democrats in Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, our comprehensive plan to help American families, hospitals, and small businesses weather the economic hardship of the pandemic and to distribute vaccines and medical equipment so that we could get the pandemic behind us and return to normal life in America.

The pandemic has affected everybody: Republicans, Democrats, and people who don't care at all about politics. Sadly, however, the American Rescue Plan only passed with Democratic votes. Not a single Republican would vote for it, in the House or in the Senate.

And it worked. We were right. It was needed. The U.S. economy has recovered faster and stronger from this pandemic than any other G-7 nation in the world. America's economy added more than 6 million new jobs in the year since we passed the American Rescue Plan. That is a record.

Part of the reason our economy is strong today is because that plan made wise decisions that helped families, helped businesses, and helped communities through the worst time when the pandemic forced businesses and schools to close. The American Rescue Plan provided a critical lifeline to low-income families, stabilized middle-class families by providing enhanced child tax credits, and expanded unemployment insurance and housing relief. That plan also closed the holes to provide help for families with children, expanding the earned income tax credit and child tax credit.

In particular, the enhanced child tax credit gave working families a chance to breathe. They used it to buy the basics--groceries, diapers-- pay the utility bills, pay the rent, pay the mortgage. Some of us just take that all for granted. For many people, it is a paycheck-to- paycheck challenge. Some families actually finally paid down their debts. Others put a few dollars away for the next emergency.

Now, they are feeling squeezed again, those same families. That doesn't mean we were mistaken when we passed the American Rescue Plan. It means we have more to do to lower the cost of living for families across the United States. This should be done on a bipartisan basis.

Inflation is a global problem, not simply an American problem. It is a reflection of the world labor market and a global supply chain basically disrupted by a pandemic and still in the process of recovery.

Now, we have made a decision as a nation to ban imports of Russian oil. Seventy-nine percent of the American people support that decision, even though they understand that it will drive up the price of gasoline. They don't want their hard-earned American dollars paying for Vladimir Putin's war, killing the innocent people of Ukraine. I salute them for their courage in joining our Nation together in that effort to stop it.

Yes, it will add more to the price of oil. It already has over the last week or two because of Putin's invasion, but we have got to face a reality. To stop the killing and death in Ukraine, we have to be prepared to make some sacrifice.

Inflation is a real problem. We need real solutions, not just complaints.

I announce that the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Blumenthal), the Senator from Nevada (Ms. Cortez Masto), the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

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

Madam President, it is interesting to listen to the reaction to the notion that we are going to stop our dependence on Russian oil. I totally support that. The notion that I would buy gasoline in my hometown and put it in my car or truck and somehow subsidize what Vladimir Putin is doing in the rape of Ukraine is just unacceptable. I believe there is not only a moral force but a political force behind this. Morally, there is no way we are going to support Putin. Politically, we have to come together with other nations and make this as painful as possible on him, and stopping the import of Russian oil is a move in that direction.

It is interesting that that was a bipartisan position which I joined over the weekend--many of us did--Democrats and Republicans all saying: Enough with the Russian oil. We will find other ways to keep America's economy and cars and trucks moving without being dependent on Vladimir Putin or subsidizing his war effort.

It was bipartisan--strong statements. In fact, there were as many statements in support of this from the other side of the aisle as this side of the aisle. Then what happened? Well, Dana Milbank, in this morning's Washington Post, tells the story of what happened.

After President Biden made his announcement Tuesday, he said, accurately:

``Since Putin began his military buildup on Ukrainian

borders, just since then, [it is 2 weeks] the price of gas at

the pump in America went up 75 cents. And with this action

[the Americans will stop buying Russian oil] it's going to go

up further.'' [President Biden] dubbed it ``Putin's price

hike'' and said ``Russia is responsible.''

Since this was a bipartisan idea--stopping the flow of Russian oil into the United States and subsidizing Putin's invasion of Ukraine--you would think there would be bipartisan applause. The exact opposite occurred.

In a Dana Milbank article, which I will ask to be part of the Record, here is what was said by House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy:

``These aren't Putin prices. They're President Biden's

prices''. . . . ``Gas prices started rising the day President

Biden took office--when he canceled the Keystone Pipeline and

halted new drilling on federal lands.''

It turns out that these assertions, by not just Kevin McCarthy but other Republican leaders, are just not accurate. Nobody goes to the task and assignment of actually backing up some of these facts like real history and real numbers.

Here is what he says: Gas prices started rising on the day that Biden took office.

Wrong.

They have been on an upward trend since bottoming out in April 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This is because of booming demand during the recovery. So this notion that these are Biden gas prices that just started going up magically after he was sworn--not true.

Then I love this one on the Keystone XL Pipeline. How many times have you heard on the floor of the Senate--maybe even this morning--that canceling the Keystone Pipeline is the reason that gasoline prices have gone up?

It turns out, according to Dana Milbank, that pipeline was only 10 percent completed when Biden canceled it. Its owners didn't even expect to open it until next year, 2023, at the earliest.

Well, how about this one? You hear this over and over again from so many Republicans: Biden halted new drilling on Federal lands, they say. According to Milbank:

Wrong. After a temporary halt in new leases, Biden has

outpaced Trump in new drilling permits for public lands.

That has been reported by the Washington Post.

And as for Biden's shutdown of American energy, listen to this:

U.S. production has increased under Biden from 9.7 million

barrels a day to 11.6 million barrels. The number of oil rigs

operating was 172 in July of 2020. . . . Now, 519 are in

operation. U.S. production is forecast to set a record next

year.

Now, I don't doubt that stopping the Russian export of oil into the United States is going to have a negative impact on gasoline prices. It stands to reason. But there is an adjustment being made. The President spoke to it last night, at a meeting we attended, where he is working on other sources for America to make this hardship as little as possible.

I ask unanimous consent that the Milbank article be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, finally, an omnibus spending bill. For months, there have been negotiations underway. The process has been drawn out. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, there was a lot of frustration. But soon we are going to vote on an omnibus spending package, and we are going to do much more than keep the lights on in our government.

In many ways, this spending package is a testament to the progress we have

made during the past year of the Democratic majority. We have historic funding to reduce the cost of living for working families. We get it; American families are having a tough time making ends meet and are living paycheck to paycheck. We take action in this omnibus spending bill to start to address that challenge, and we create good jobs here in America. Isn't it about time we focus on making things in America, putting people to work with good jobs that supply them? And we need to ensure families and children can access critical supplies, like nutritious food and clean water that they need to survive.

This bill also provides more than $13 billion to the Ukrainians fighting tooth and nail to defend their freedom. The Democratic Senate caucus was fortunate last night to have over an hour and a half with the President where he spoke candidly and informally about the challenge we face in Ukraine. We have sent millions--maybe billions of dollars--in assistance to those who are resisting Vladimir Putin's barbaric attack on that nation, and we know that it is the right thing to do. There are displays of courage by the Ukrainians the likes of which we haven't seen in modern times. President Zelenskyy, particularly, has impressed not only the United States but the world with his singular courage.

The funds we are putting in this bill will help Ukrainians on the frontline to continue to hold back Vladimir Putin, and on the ground, in the air, through cyberspace, as well as helping our NATO allies in the region. NATO has never been stronger--30 different countries standing together, shoulder to shoulder, to stop Vladimir Putin's invasion.

The omnibus spending package, also, makes crucial investments in America at a time when we need it. It will fund research into the technologies and innovations. Innovation is an American phenomenon. Other countries do it, but I think we do it better. And whether we are curing a disease, creating a new industry, or combating the climate crisis, America needs to continue to lead the world in innovation. This spending bill does that.

At a moment of great peril and uncertainty in the world, we are coming together to defend our families, our security, our economy, and our future. But we need to move fast. We need to send this package to President Biden's desk quickly.

For the past 2 weeks, Russian mortars and missiles have been raining down on innocent people and children throughout Ukraine. More than 400 individuals have been killed, with some estimates in the thousands of deaths, believing that the current numbers are really an undercount.

Let me say one word while we are on the subject of Vladimir Putin and war crimes. What more evidence do you need than the bombing of a maternity hospital and the killing of mothers and infants? This man, Putin, and his attack on the Ukrainian people, is not following any standards or rules of decent conduct in any way whatsoever. I think it is obvious.

Yesterday, the Russian airstrike that devastated the hospital complex in Mariupol is an indication that we will never forget. A video released shortly after the bombing showed a pregnant woman being carried away on a stretcher, surrounded by pulverized cars in flames and blackened trees covered in debris. It was a scene from a horror movie--a horror created by Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine needs humanitarian, military, and economic aid today. That is exactly what this omnibus bill will provide--billions of dollars in military equipment and intelligence support and even more billions in emergency supplies, food aid, healthcare, migration, and refugee assistance.

This is how America stands by our fellow defenders of democracy at their darkest hour, and Ukraine needs our help.

Here at home, the spending package includes a number of provisions that will strengthen America and the 330 million Americans who live here. We are bringing vital investments back to our home States. I support the return of congressionally directed funding, because Senators and Representatives know their States and know their districts better than any Federal Agency personnel in Washington.

I am pleased to report that my colleague, Senator Tammy Duckworth, and I worked to include $210 million in funding for Illinois projects in this bill; and I will be ready to stand up and defend every single one of them piece by piece, project by project, as a good investment in the future of my State and our Nation.

This funding is going to help localities in Illinois launch important infrastructure, access to healthcare, environmental conservation, strengthening community violence prevention initiatives, supporting nonprofits doing important work through our State, and much more.

We also do something that I have worked on personally for the last several months and that I am particularly proud of; we are going to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, known as VAWA. For months, I have worked on this proposal with some amazing people in the U.S. States Senate. On my side of the aisle, Senator Dianne Feinstein really was one of the founders of this effort. On the Republican side of the aisle, two women Senators have just been amazing--Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Joni Ernst of Iowa. We wouldn't have passed this bill and included it in this appropriations measure were it not for their good effort; and I thank them very much. They have helped to provide a lifeline to survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

With this year's spending package, Congress will finally reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

Additionally, the omnibus includes funding for a longstanding priority of mine: research. These investments in research are going to help keep America on the cutting edge of innovation when it comes to lifesaving medical treatment, therapies, and so much more. For example, this bill provides the National Institutes of Health with a significant funding increase--this time, a $2.25 billion increase; that is more than 5 percent. Five percent, I have kind of established--and, I hope, with some of my colleagues--as the Holy Grail of increases each year in research, particularly at the NIH. And with the good help of Republican Senator--retiring Senator, unfortunately--Roy Blunt of Missouri, we have managed to keep our promise. Lamar Alexander, now retired from the Senate, was one of the leaders on this issue. And Patty Murray is always there from the State of Washington. Well, we are going to keep our word again this year.

Basic medical research, which the United States leads the world in, is going to be enhanced with this improvement of more than 5 percent increase in the budget of the National Institutes of Health.

I am particularly pleased that this omnibus bill includes a dedicated $25 million for the implementation of the ACT for ALS bill, which became law late last year. I want to thank Senator Coons for his leadership on that issue. This funding will ensure that NIH can quickly launch new initiatives to expand access to treatments for those suffering from ALS.

Sadly, I am disappointed to say that the package does not include COVID relief. We are at a turning point in this pandemic. New cases of COVID are at their lowest rates in more than 7 months, praise the Lord; and parents and families are just as anxious as can be to get their kids back in school and life back to normal. These are promising developments--from vaccines to better treatments--but we cannot pretend that this pandemic is over for good, nor that it won't resurface in terms of new variants. We need to prepare for whatever the coronavirus might have in store for us. We need to make sure we have the therapeutics and strengthen our capacity to detect new variants before they become pandemic.

Given the dire urgency of the situation in Ukraine, I understand we simply don't have time to go back to the bargaining table, but many of us still believe that a toolkit to deal with future infections in COVID or the next pandemic is absolutely essential. I can only hope the Senate agrees with that on a bipartisan basis.

Two years into this pandemic, we know this virus is anything but predictable. It operates like free-form jazz. Just when we think we have found

our rhythm, the tempo gets turned upside down with a new variant. This current lull in cases is the perfect moment to tune up our instruments, keep our fingers sharp, and prepare for whatever is next.

Let me close by saying that, aside from the omission of additional COVID relief, there is much to celebrate in this spending package. It is an example of what Congress can achieve when it works together.

In the face of Russia's horrible invasion of Ukraine, an invasion that has already created 2 million Ukrainian refugees, we are standing together in defense of democracy. Russia's invasion is a tragic illustration of one man's mania and of a conflict that will define the 21st century if we don't stop it in its tracks. Right now, Putin is waging yesterday's war with yesterday's goal of reestablishing the Soviet Union. He is sending ill-equipped teenagers in Russian Army uniforms into Ukraine to terrorize innocent families and bomb children in hospitals, all in some delusional effort that he is going to create the new Russian Empire, with him being installed as the Czar of that enterprise. He is not willing to face the challenges of the New World. So he is trying to revive the Old World.

Autocrats like Putin live in fear of the future. Democracies like America welcome it because we know that the future represents an opportunity to build a better world for everyone. That is precisely why President Zelenskyy and every Ukrainian is fighting to protect their country. They are protecting, as well, the freedom to shape their own future, not to have their future dictated by a man like Vladimir Putin.

With the spending package before the Senate, we can begin building our own future as well--a future made in America.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I would like to call the attention of my friend from Wyoming to a column today by Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. I think it is really worth reading in light of some of the things that have been said on the floor:

Canceling the Keystone XL pipeline caused gas prices to

rise?

That has been said. Well, it is wrong.

It was only 10 percent [finished] when Biden canceled it,

and its owners didn't expect to open it until 2023 at the

earliest.

It had no measurable impact--maybe no impact--on current oil prices.

[The assertion that] Biden halted new drilling on Federal

lands? Wrong. After a temporary halt in new leases, Biden has

outpaced Trump in new drilling permits for public lands.

The Post has reported that publicly.

As for Biden's ``shutdown of American energy,'' U.S.

production has increased under Biden from 9.7 million barrels

a day to 11.6 million barrels. The number of oil rigs

operating was at 172 in July 2020, E&E News reports. Now, 519

are in operation. U.S. production is forecast to set a record

next year.

What's holding back oil production--

according to Mr. Milbank--

isn't government policy. U.S. producers still have 4,400

wells already approved and drilled that are not yet

producing. They aren't drilling more because of a shortage of

workers and equipment and, particularly, investors' greed--

which, I think, the Senator from Maine was alluding to.

So some of the many things that have been said on the floor here as gospel have turned out to be somewhat short of factual.

I would concede that I listened to the Senator's statement earlier that this is a supply and demand issue at its heart. I do think there is some gouging going on. Maybe I am wrong. The fact of the matter is we are coming out of a recession--or at least out of a downturn in the economy--from COVID-19, and there is an exceeding demand and not much supply. The net result is inflationary, and prices have gone up at the pump. In terms of this administration's being at war with the production of oil in America, I don't think that case can be made.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to print the following letter in the Congressional Record.

Madam President, on April 1, 2022, the Illinois State Police--ISP--will mark 100 years since its founding. Its work and dedication to making a safer Illinois is one of pride and integrity. I want to take a moment to reflect on the ISP's century of service.

A little more than a century ago, Illinoisans no longer wanted to be stuck in the mud. The year was 1921. The Department of Public Works and Buildings reported nearly 1,100 miles of paved road in service, and that number was growing. But the State was still filled with dirt roads, and Illinois voters approved a new road system. The Age of the Automobile led the State of Illinois to undertake one of the largest building programs in the country. It also meant these roads and drivers needed to be protected.

On April 1, 1922, the 52nd General Assembly approved the creation of the Illinois Highway Maintenance Police to do just that. Today, they are known as the Illinois State Police. The name has changed. The mission has expanded. But the dedication of the ISP has not.

The ISP started out with just eight officers. Equipped with mismatched and self-constructed World War I surplus uniforms and motorcycles, they set out to enforce the weight laws of the State and protect the growing highway system. The first headquarters was at the residence of John J. Stack, the ISP's first director. The building also was its first mechanic garage.

From these modest beginnings, the ISP would grow and evolve every year. A year after its founding, the ISP increased to 100 officers. By the end of the decade, it grew to 300. The ISP moved under different departments and continued to take on new responsibilities and add to its roster. And by the 1950s, more than 1,000 members were authorized to conduct a variety of law enforcement activities, confronting a rising tide of crime and controlled substance abuse. The ISP's duties and size continued to advance through several reorganizations.

The ISP has become a nationally renowned law enforcement, public safety, and criminal justice agency. Its responsibilities have only grown with the challenges of times. Today, there are more than 1,800 sworn officers and more than 1,000 civilian employees. They protect people on more than 2,100 interstate miles, nearly 16,000 miles of State highways, and nearly 8,000 bridges.

These dedicated officers no longer focus on just the hard roads. From aircraft support to helping with high-profile investigations, the ISP is on the frontlines of law enforcement. In addition, it provides oversight of the 9-1-1 systems and support for the statewide 9-1-1 advisory board. The ISP also is an important part of fighting the opioid crisis.

Through all of this, the ISP has kept its focus on the mission of promoting public safety and justice for every Illinois citizen. Its officers and employees do this every day and with great sacrifice. Dozens have given their lives for their fellow citizens. Thousands of ISP recruits and cadets pursuing law enforcement careers throughout Illinois have followed in their honorable footsteps at the Illinois State Police Academy.

I want to congratulate the ISP on an incredible century of integrity, service, and pride, and I thank the brave men and women of the ISP for their unwavering service to Illinois. The second century of the ISP has unlimited potential.