Floor Statements

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

Mr. President, I have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Environment and Public Works

The Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 9:45 a.m., to conduct a hearing on a nomination of Michael Connor to be Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

Committee on Environment and Public Works

The Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 9:45 a.m., to conduct a hearing on a nominations.

Committee on Foreign Relations

The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 9:15 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Indian Affairs

The Committee on Indian Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on a nomination.

Committee on Indian Affairs

The Committee on Indian Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on the Judiciary

The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Committee on Veterans' Affairs

The Committee on Veterans' Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 3:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth

The Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth of the Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 2 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Subcommittee the Constitution

The Subcommittee the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing.

Mr. President, last night I had an interesting dinner. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and I joined two Republican Senators, and we met for dinner with eight Ambassadors from Central and South America. It was a rare occurrence which we

hadn't seen in the last year and a half, the kind of dialogue and communication which I think is an important part of my job and an important part of understanding the world today.

They had one consistent message. Despite the fact that they felt a closeness to the United States that had been built up over decades of generations, there was a new factor in Central and South America which each one of them repeated as significant in the future of that region. The new factor is the arrival of China.

In each one of these countries, large and small, China has become a player, a force. They have invested their resources in developing an economic relationship with these countries, have provided them with COVID-19 vaccines when others would not, and were becoming larger and larger factors in the future of the economies of these countries.

Senator Coons said at one point, and I certainly would agree with him: We have to take this seriously in the United States. We can't assume that long-term relationships and friendships will see us through. We need to be actively engaged in strengthening and creating alliances with these countries in our hemisphere.

He added--and I am glad he did--the United States has chosen, over recent history, to literally spend trillions of dollars on military efforts and those overseas commitments, which is money China wasn't spending for the same purpose. China was spending trillions of dollars to develop economic relationships, to loan money for infrastructure projects in developing countries.

The United States was spending its money in other places, which takes me directly to the statement that was made earlier by the Republican Senate leader, Senator McConnell, about Afghanistan. You see, I was here on the floor of the Senate when we voted to invade Afghanistan, and I voted for it. We were told that al-Qaida was waiting there in hiding for the next opportunity to strike America and that if we didn't do our part to go after Osama bin Laden, there would be more American innocent victims. Overwhelmingly, on a bipartisan vote, a unanimous bipartisan vote, in the Senate Chamber, we voted to invade Afghanistan, and I was one of those votes.

Let me quickly add that I was one of 23 who voted against the invasion of Iraq. I didn't think the case had been made by the Bush administration and still don't.

But going into Afghanistan was, with the exception of one Member of the House, a unanimous bipartisan verdict at that moment in American history. As we look back on it now, I don't think a single person who voted for the invasion of Afghanistan would have ever guessed that we were voting for the longest war in the history of the United States. Yes, that is what it turned out to be--over 20 years in the war in Afghanistan.

Well, decisions have been made to change that, and they were not made by President Biden alone. They were first made by President Trump. If you will remember correctly, he was negotiating with the Taliban for an exit strategy, a timetable, to leave Afghanistan, and they were reaching agreement on that fact. The Senator from Kentucky didn't dwell on that fact, but it is an important one. The decision had been made by the Republican administration to leave. Biden inherited it and accepted it, and he has been going forward with that.

Keep in mind, we are not leaving without an effort. It is a supreme effort for more than 2,000 Americans who lost their lives in that effort in Afghanistan and more than $1 trillion--much more than $1 trillion--being spent in dedication to that effort over the years. So after all that effort, it was clear this long-term war was going to be longer still, and the Senator from Kentucky came to the floor today with the plea that we should have continued that war in Afghanistan--to what end and on what timetable, I have no idea.

But it is interesting when he mentions the fact that there were Afghan citizens helping the United States who were not being treated properly. You see, Senator Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has an emergency security supplemental bill, which he is trying to move quickly. It has already passed the House. It pays for the expenses of January 6 and the mob that invaded the Capitol after being inspired by President Trump. But it does more than that. It provides resources for those Afghans who did help us in that war to protect them.

I would vote for that in a second, but that emergency supplemental has been bogged down by the Republican side of the aisle. And then the Republican leader comes and says we are not doing enough for the refugees. I commend to him to read the Leahy supplemental appropriations. Resources are there for those same refugees. And I support that, he should support that and should instruct the Republican leader on the Appropriations Committee to join in the effort.

Mr. President, the second issue the Republican leader raised this morning is worthy of note. When we passed emergency supplemental bills in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic crisis, and the Trump administration was in charge, they were bipartisan in nature. I was happy to support them. We were facing an American national public health crisis. Our economy was suffering gravely, families and workers the same.

Democrats joined with Republicans during the Trump years to provide resources to businesses and individuals across America to get through that terrible time. I am glad we did it. That is the kind of bipartisanship people expect.

So now what happens when President Biden arrives on the scene and comes up with an American Rescue Plan? Not one Republican Senator, not one Republican Congressman would vote for the American Rescue Plan. And Senator McConnell this morning explained why: Because it was filled with what he called ``socialist ideas.''

Let's take a look at the Biden American Rescue Plan, just rife with socialism. Let me tell you what Senator McConnell is including: billions of dollars for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the United States. No, President Trump didn't leave office with a plan for that to happen. President Biden had to create it in the American Rescue Plan. Is that socialism--to provide vaccines for millions of Americans to protect them against COVID-19? Apparently Senator McConnell thinks it was.

And here is another one of his condemned socialist ideas: providing money to businesses to reopen and hire employees back. That is socialism? I don't think so. That is part of restoring a market economy that was badly damaged by COVID-19.

The list goes on--money that was given through the American Rescue Plan, without a single Republican vote, to help units of government that had lost so much revenue because of COVID-19 restore essential services.

President Biden has said that among those services is protection on the street, funding law enforcement--responsible law enforcement--to stop the killing. Well, I want to tell you that I am glad that he said that. It is not socialism in the city of Chicago, where on the Fourth of July weekend 104 people were shot--104 people were shot in Chicago, 19 killed, including 2 police officers who were shot, I might add. And the President said we should take the resources from the American Rescue Plan and dedicate them to restoring order in neighborhoods across America.

My city of Chicago is not an exception, sadly. It is a pattern that is showing up in cities across America, large and small. So these American rescue funds for that purpose, far from socialism, are really basic to what we expect in this country.

I know that the Senator from Kentucky returned to the Commonwealth over the break. He did an interesting dance, saying that he was glad that money was coming into Kentucky, but he didn't vote for it. We have heard that from Republicans across the Nation

I wish they would have voted for it. Wouldn't it have been nice if Biden--President Biden--had enjoyed the same level of bipartisan support that we gave to President Trump on the Democratic side in the midst of this pandemic crisis? Maybe it is too much to ask from the minority leader, who has publicly announced that he is 100 percent opposed to the Biden agenda--not a very constructive approach.

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

Madam President, today is the first day of what could be a productive and maybe even historic few weeks in the Senate. I hope we can live up to the challenges we are facing.

July 6 was a historic day in my home State of Illinois. For the first time in 476 days, Illinois went 24 hours without losing a life to COVID-19. During the deadliest days of this pandemic, Illinois was losing more than 150 people a day to COVID. As our Governor, JB Pritzker, said on the 6th, ``The vaccines have done the work. Thank God for the vaccines.'' I couldn't have said it better.

Seventy percent of eligible Illinois residents have received at least one dose of those lifesaving COVID vaccines, including 90 percent of seniors. But we are at a critical moment in Illinois and across our Nation. With the new, more dangerous Delta variant now spreading rapidly across the Nation, people who are unvaccinated are at greater risk than ever of becoming sick and even facing death from COVID. I hope we can stop the division and disinformation and figure out how to protect the people from this deadly foe.

I want to say a word about an issue I read this morning in an article in the New York Times. The author of the article, Tiffany Hsu, titled the article ``Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric Creeps From Fringe to Fox Prime Time.'' It is a lengthy article, and I commend it to everyone to read it on their own. It raises some important questions.

If our sacred right to free speech can be limited by the time-honored test of crying ``fire'' in a crowded theater, is there any limit to extreme political rhetoric in the midst of a pandemic?

We know the Republican Party is enthralled by Donald Trump. They have bought the Big Lie. A half to two-thirds of Republicans believe that he actually won the last election, and he didn't. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans believe that Donald Trump will be reinstated as President, triumphantly returning from exile to take over the White House again. Many of them believe that he will return to Washington soon.

Well, there was an interesting scene on the grounds of the Capitol when I

returned today from Illinois. For the first time since January 6, the fence that was erected to hold back the insurrectionist mob was removed. We hope that we are prepared now to protect this Capitol and can get back to business as usual, but we have to recruit additional Capitol Hill Police to be prepared, we have to work with the National Guard units to be prepared, and we have to realize the obvious. There was a decision made on the floor of the U.S. Senate by the Republican Senate leader just a few weeks ago to stop any bipartisan effort to establish a Commission to ask what happened on January 6 and how it can be avoided in the future. Senator McConnell objected to a bipartisan, evenly-split Commission to investigate that terrible day. The GOP Senate leader killed that idea several weeks ago

I want to commend Speaker Pelosi, who is trying her best through a special committee in the House of Representatives to have a bipartisan investigation. It should have been done through this Commission. Senator McConnell stopped it.

There is one other element I would like to raise when it comes to free speech in the time of pandemic. What caught my eye in this morning's paper, as I mentioned earlier, was this article about FOX Primetime. They recounted the fact that over the last several months, FOX had been losing ground to CNN, and questioning the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines became a split decision at the FOX network.

Some of the leaders at FOX obviously believe strongly in the vaccine, and I commend them. I do too. Rupert Murdoch was vaccinated in December.

When a list of those who supported the effort to encourage the use of vaccines across America was taken at FOX, they put together a 30-second spot featuring host and anchor Steve Doocy, Harris Faulkner, Dana Perino, and John Roberts. Ms. Faulkner said in that ad by FOX: ``If you can, get the vaccine.'' Bret Baier, chief political anchor at FOX News, said in an Instagram post that he was grateful for the shot of vaccine. The hosts of ``FOX & Friends'' spoke of the relief they felt in becoming vaccinated. Sean Hannity himself said:

I do believe in science, and I believe in vaccinations.

Talk to your doctor. You don't need to talk to people on TV

and radio that aren't doctors.

Which goes to the point of this message. There are two hosts of programs on FOX Primetime who can only be characterized as anti-vax quacks. I am referring, of course, to Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. They have been spreading what I consider to be irresponsible information about vaccines across America and about the effort of this Nation to deal with them.

Here is the reality. We have millions who have died across the world from this virus. We may never have an accurate count. We have hundreds of thousands who have died in the United States. Now it is said repeatedly that those who are headed to the hospital with the most serious strains of COVID-19--99.5 percent of them were not vaccinated. So the facts are obvious here.

I know it is an individual decision on whether to be vaccinated, and I am sure there may be some Senators who have decided not to do it, but I was happy to do it as soon as I could. I think the vaccines are protecting me and my wife and my family. But in the meantime, to have these hosts of TV shows at FOX, in prime time, peddling this nonsense about vaccines being unnecessary and COVID-19 being no threat can only be summarized in a statement which concluded this article:

In a recent opinion essay for The Daily Beast by Preston

Padden, a former high-level executive at Fox Broadcasting

wrote that Fox News had ``contributed substantially and

directly'' to ``the unnecessary deaths of many Americans by

fueling hesitation and doubt about the efficacy and safety of

lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines.'' He singled out the channel's

prime-time opinion programs for blame.

I want to commend those at FOX who have stood up and said the right thing about these vaccines, but I also want to take issue with those who are using this vaccine, for whatever purpose, to mislead and confuse American people about its necessity, its effectiveness, and its safety. They are not doing America any favors, and I hope that FOX will come to its senses.

If there are things that can remove you from the air for being said on a program, I certainly hope that the management of the station will caution Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham for the statements they have made in opposition to vaccines.

Madam President, the Fourth of July, of course, is a night when you may not be able to get to bed early, with a lot of fireworks in celebration of our Nation's birthday, and it is celebrated from one corner of America to the next. But sadly, in many places on this Fourth of July, the noise you were hearing was not fireworks; it was gunfire.

One hundred and four people were shot in Chicago. One hundred and four people were shot in Chicago on the Fourth of July weekend. Nineteen died. Among the wounded were 13 children and 2 Chicago police supervisors. The dead included, in Chicago, a National Guard member who was aspiring to join the Chicago Police Department.

The week before the holiday, a 1-month-old baby girl was shot in the head during a mass shooting. A 20-year-old University of Chicago student, just riding on the L train, coming home from an internship at an investment firm in The Loop, was hit by a stray bullet. He, too, died.

Two days after the Fourth of July weekend, two ATF agents and a Chicago police officer on an undercover operation were shot and wounded. It was the 36th Chicago police officer shot this year.

This is madness. Chicago is not alone with this gun violence experience. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are just cruel taunts if anyone can be cut down anywhere in this great country by gunfire.

Gun violence is a national crisis. At least 233 people were killed, and 618 people were injured by gunfire in the United States over the Fourth of July weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Shootings are up this year in big cities but also in suburbs and rural areas. Don't believe it is only blue cities. It is blue cities and red cities and purple cities and small towns.

Already this year, there have been nearly 23,000 gun violence deaths in America. Did you hear that? This year, 23,000 gun violence deaths in America--that includes more than 12,000 by suicide and fatalities from more than 340 mass shootings. Sadly, virtually every weekend there is a mass shooting in the city of Chicago, which I represent--340 mass shootings, nearly 2 a day.

No other nation on Earth experiences this massive civilian slaughter. Neither should we. We must do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who are prohibited from having them.

I met with the mayor of Chicago to talk about the Fourth of July weekend. We both agreed that more has to be done, and we are determined to work with President Biden, who is committed to this issue as well. But we also believe that we need to enforce the laws that are on the books. Specifically, we need to make sure that guns are not being sold to people without a background check.

Convicted felons have no business buying a gun, nor do people who are mentally unstable. But, unfortunately, they can. There are many loopholes in the law. There are ways to sell these guns at a gun show, without a background check, or over the internet or ghost guns, which have no, basically, identifying serial number.

We have to do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, and we can if we will just stand up--both parties stand up--and say: Enough. This is ridiculous, it is cruel, and it is heartbreaking.

I have spoken with the mayor about the crisis in Chicago, and President Biden did the same when he came to Illinois last week. Today, the President is meeting at the White House with law enforcement, local elected officials, and others to discuss his administration's efforts to reduce gun crimes.

The American Rescue Plan, which passed the U.S. Senate without a single Republican vote in support, included funding that communities can use for youth unemployment programs, mental health services, and other strategies to break the cycle of violence. The COVID rescue plan also included funding for local law enforcement to improve community policing practices.

The Republicans like to make a big thing about the statements from some people about defunding the police. I never supported that, and most of the people I know had nothing to do with it. But here they are defunding the police themselves and voting against the American Rescue Plan.

That plan is going to provide law enforcement more resources. We want that money to be spent properly, and we certainly want law enforcement to discharge their duties in a professional way. But additional resources can be and will be used effectively. I am sorry that not one single Republican Senator voted for that plan. I think it is not defunding the police; it is defending the police with the American Rescue Plan provisions.

President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which we are now going to consider soon, is an opportunity for us to consider $5 billion to fund community violence prevention programs. I have introduced my bill, the RISE from Trauma Act, which would implement the proposal by funding trusted members of the community to tackle trauma and the pain that is at the root of violence.

Last month, the President announced the creation of a new strike force, to be headed by the Justice Department, that will crack down on illegal drug trafficking in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Washington, DC. I support this step.

Madam President, we have before us a nomination. I am not sure when it will be called, but it was a product of our Judiciary Committee. David Chipman was nominated by President Biden, to serve as the next Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Madam President, you know the answer to this question but most don't: When was the last time that Agency had a Director chosen by Congress through the orderly process? Well, it was about 6 years ago. That was the last time. It turned out to be the only time in the history of the Agency.

But why would an Agency of the government go on for years without a duly selected Director? Well, it was an intentional strategy by those gun groups to make sure that this Agency, as important as it is, didn't have a leader, and as a consequence was not as effective as it should be

David Chipman was born in New Hampshire and has a B.S. from American University and an M.S. from Johns Hopkins. In our committee, we recognized the fact that he had 25 years of law enforcement experience. He is a responsible gun owner himself, and he has advocated for commonsense gun safety measures.

I think he is well qualified to serve as the head of the ATF. He spent decades working in that Agency, including serving as a special agent in Virginia, Texas, and Michigan. He would be the first former ATF agent to head the Bureau, and this experience has equipped him with the skills he needs.

Chipman would only be the second confirmed Director in the Agency's history, as I mentioned. A lifelong gun owner, he knows firsthand the responsibility of gun ownership and the commonsense safety measures that go hand in hand with it.

He is uniquely positioned to counter a false narrative, pushed by the gun lobby, that he has a radical or somehow contrary to the Second Amendment view.

Chipman's knowledge of firearms and gun policy is unparalleled. He gained his insight not only working in law enforcement but also as an adviser to one of the Nation's top violence prevention organizations.

Congress and the Biden administration must take action to address gun violence in the city of Chicago, in the city of Springfield, IL, and all across this Nation. It is an urgent issue for all of us. That is why we should pick, as quickly as we can, a leader like David Chipman to lead the ATF Agency.

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

Mr. President, this week marked the official start of summer, and by all means, it should be a

season of renewal in our Nation. But as we begin to emerge from this public health crisis of COVID-19, we find ourselves facing another crisis: an epidemic of gun violence in America.

The gun violence we are seeing in America today is devastating, and it is the direct result of generations of underinvestment, policy failure, and cycles of trauma.

Yesterday, President Biden spoke to the Nation about this challenge and laid out a clear strategy to keep our communities safe from the scourge of gun violence. The President has called for important reforms to crack down on gun trafficking and gun dealers who willfully violate the law. I agree with this strategy, and I will do everything in my power as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to support it.

Already, the administration has worked to rein in the proliferation of untraceable ghost guns. What are these guns? They are guns that can be ordered on the internet. They can be made in component parts with no serial numbers and are impossible to trace. The administration has also worked to issue regular reports on firearms trafficking patterns and trends and to promote model legislation to keep guns out of the wrong hands.

These are all important steps, and so is the President's call for a major commitment of Federal resources to support community violence intervention programs, programs like READI Chicago, which supports members of the community who are most at risk for gun violence with job training and other support. These programs help save lives in our city of Chicago, and they desperately need Federal support. President Biden made it clear yesterday that he is committed to this.

Every Monday, as sad as it is, the people of Chicago awaken to read the heartbreaking headlines about the toll gun violence has taken over the weekend. What was last weekend like in the city of Chicago? Fifty- two people were shot, five fatally.

Young children and babies don't escape this violence. More than 50 children under the age of 15 have been shot in Chicago this year: Kayden Swann, 1-year-old, shot in the head while riding in a car on Lake Shore Drive; 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams was shot and killed at a McDonald's drive-through on the West Side in April; 14-year-old Savanna Quintero, who was shot and killed earlier this month by gang members in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. These children are just a few of the more than 1,500 people who have been shot in Chicago this year.

Our city isn't alone in facing gun violence. We are seeing it across the Nation. And don't believe it is just a problem in blue States; red States face it too.

While a shooting can happen anywhere, the fact is gun violence has disproportionately claimed the lives of Black and Brown Americans living in communities where it is often easier to find a gun than a good-paying job.

I have visited schools across Chicago, and I have asked the students if they know someone who has been shot. In some neighborhoods, nearly every child's hand goes up. In fact, 90 percent of Chicago's homicides occur in neighborhoods where 60 percent of the city's youngest kids live and learn. And when their parents or siblings are shot, it causes damage that, unlike a bullet wound, cannot heal with time alone. Science shows us that trauma rewires children's brains and produces changes that can last a lifetime.

I often ask audiences: Think about your youth. Think about one event in your life that you still remember to this day. I hope it was a happy one. I hope it wasn't a sad one. But think about the fact that no matter how old you are, something that happened when you were a tiny kid is still very fresh in your memory.

Now think about a child who has witnessed a shooting or been the victim of a shooting. That is going to be with them for a lifetime unless we do something. Childhood trauma can make it harder for kids to learn and to form healthy relationships, and it can do serious harm to a child physically, mentally, and emotionally--harm that can change their lives.

But with the right care and support, kids and victims of gun violence can deal with trauma and rise above it. Across Illinois, I have seen programs in schools, hospitals, community centers, and churches that provide the nurturing environments and treatments our children who experience trauma need to thrive.

If we want to end the epidemic of gun violence, we need to invest in community-based solutions that end the cycles of trauma. Last week I joined Senators Capito, Duckworth, and Murkowski in introducing a bipartisan bill that will invest in those solutions: the RISE from Trauma Act. This bill would invest billions of dollars over the next 8 years in community-based efforts to support children and families who have endured trauma.

This aligns directly with what President Biden said yesterday and what he requested in his American Jobs Plan. It would help end violence where it begins--in environments where kids are neglected, abused, and left to fend for themselves.

This legislation would fund counseling for gunshot victims and expand our trauma-informed workforce--doctors, teachers, social service professionals, community leaders--to help kids who have experienced trauma.

I believe the RISE from Trauma Act will help offer a long-term solution to the epidemic of gun violence, but we also need to protect our families and neighborhoods in the short term.

In addition to immediate steps it has taken, the administration is asking us to address violent crime. I have been working with leaders in my State to make additional resources available. Earlier this week, Senator Duckworth and I sent a letter to Governor Pritzker highlighting effective strategies for how to use more than $120 million in American Rescue Plan funds to help support targeted violence intervention efforts. These funds, which will help protect Illinois from violent crimes, are available now to help the police, to help the victims, to help the neighborhoods.

When we talk about really caring and really wanting to do something to make a difference, I am sorry that I have to remind the Senate that this bill, the American Rescue Plan, passed the U.S. Senate without a single Republican supporting it, not one--not one Republican vote.

To most effectively address the spike in gun violence, the Senate must also confirm the Director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

I couldn't help but listen to the Republican leader who came to the floor to talk about David Chipman. He is a man who will be reported out of the Judiciary Committee and brought to the floor. He was considered today, in the Judiciary Committee--11 Democrats and 11 Republicans split along party lines on his vote. It was expected. But Senator Schumer can still bring his nomination to the floor.

It is no surprise that the Republicans opposed him, but let's put it in context for a moment. How many times have you heard a gun debate and you heard someone say, ``We don't need any new laws, we just need to enforce the laws we have. Don't dream up some new law that's going to burden someone who is an innocent, law-abiding gun owner, enforce the laws we have.''

So what Agency do we look to for that enforcement? Well, certainly, the Department of Justice. And where do they turn? They turn to ATF. That is the Agency that is supposed to keep an eye on how guns are being sold and whether the wrong people are buying them.

Well, let's look at the leader of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency under President Trump. I would like to give you his name or her name, but I can't because there was no leader. In 4 years, President Trump and Senate Republicans never put in place any single person to head this Agency. Was it an oversight, an accident? Far from it. Those who are on the side of increased gun rights at the expense of safety don't want anyone to lead this Agency. They want this Agency to go away.

David Chipman, a man with over 20 years' experience in the field, who worked for this law enforcement agency and risked his life in doing so, has been nominated by President Biden to head the Agency. And the Republicans can't stand the idea. The fact that an actual law enforcement agency person who has this experience would lead the Agency just drives them wild to think about it, and they are opposed to it.

Yes, it is true, he is for gun safety, and he has made it clear.

Let me tell you about a couple of radical ideas he had. He believes that we should keep guns out of the hands of felons and people who are mentally unable. Well, there is a radical idea when it comes to gun safety, so radical that 84 percent of the American people--some say 90 percent of the American people, including a majority of gun owners-- support this idea, and so does Mr. Chipman. That makes him a radical in the eyes of some of our colleagues. To me, he is as mainstream as they come.

When it comes to assault weapons, for example, he believes there are some guns that really have no place in the ordinary self-defense, sporting, and hunting world and can only be used as machines for killing. Over half the American people happen to agree with him. I do too. For that reason, many Republicans oppose him. They say, ``He's a radical, he's a zealot.'' I have heard all these words.

He is a man who has lived his life through the ATF for more than 20 years. He has the support of law enforcement and deserves a chance to lead this Agency.

These ideas that he has--wouldn't it be wonderful if the U.S. Senate--think about that--the U.S. Senate could pass legislation to require background checks to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons? The American people want it. We can't touch it.

You ask people on the committee, on the Republican side: Well, what should we do about gun violence? They have got an answer. What is their answer? We need more guns in America. We need more people carrying guns in America. Two or three of the members of the committee today on the Republican side, Senate Judiciary Committee, were proud to speak about this issue of concealed carry. One actually said she carries a gun. I don't know if she does it in the Capitol Building. That is her business. But that is how far it has come, this notion that the solution to gun violence is more guns when 109 people a day are dying in America from gun violence. This isn't happening in other nations around the world. We are unique, and we should be embarrassed by this unique situation that we have so much gun violence and gun death in America.

President Biden made it clear yesterday as well that this notion that he is for defunding the police is ludicrous. He called yesterday for billions of dollars to our police to do their job more effectively, and I support it. I want to make sure that the police who receive these funds are well trained and administer justice in a fair way and without the abuses that we have seen with the death of George Floyd and other instances.

Yes, invest in that, but have the wisdom to understand that the police need helping hands as well. The police would gladly give the issue of domestic violence over to social workers and psychologists, who really could get into this situation and find an effective solution that doesn't risk lives and doesn't endanger the lives of the police. They need a helping hand, and we should give it to them.

When it comes to law and order, I hear the Republican leader come to the floor and talk about the need for law and order, and I can't help but think it was just 2 weeks ago when he was given a chance to support a bipartisan commission to look into the worst lawlessness we have seen in the U.S. Capitol since 1813.

On January 6, 2021, thousands coming from the speech by President Trump formed an insurrectionist mob and descended on this Capitol. I will never forget that day as long as I live, and, yes, we ought to get to the bottom of it. Who financed that? Who planned that? Who was behind that? There are serious questions to be asked and answered. Who stopped the bill with the filibuster for a bipartisan commission asking and answering those questions? The same Senator who was coming here a few minutes ago giving a speech on law and order. It doesn't follow.

If Senator McConnell believes we should have law and order, it should start with the Senate Chamber and the Capitol Building. Isn't that our first responsibility as elected Members? Of course it is. What happened January 6 cannot and should not be swept under the rug.

It is interesting to me, as I consider the nominees of the Biden administration and the reaction on the Republican side. Mr. Chipman was the latest victim of their attacks. Some on the political extreme even went so far as to doctor films so that it reflected the presence of Mr. Chipman at events he didn't even attend, events he had no business with as a member of ATF. That is the extent they will go to undermine the Biden administration's nominees.

And I can't help but notice that when it comes to assertive women of color, that really drives many Republicans to a level of rage. Vanita Gupta. Kristen Clarke. These women are extremely talented, professional women with amazing resumes who are now luckily serving this Nation because of a vote in the Senate, but the opposition to them went way beyond anything that was rational or explainable.

Senator McConnell said we shouldn't make ownership of guns more burdensome. I think that is generally right, but if making sure that convicted felons don't own guns is a slight burden on those who are legally entitled to own guns, I think it is not too much to ask.

I am all for people exercising their Second Amendment rights to use guns safely, respectfully, follow the law, and store them, as well, in that same fashion, and to ask them to go through a background check to make sure they are qualified is not too much, and it saves lives in the process.

The gun lobby tries to stop the Senate from confirming the Director of the ATF, but we are going to move forward and do it. There wasn't a Senate-confirmed Director under President Trump. In fact, there hasn't been one since 2015. This man, Mr. Chipman, is extremely well qualified--25 years of experience. He worked in the field in Virginia, Texas, and Michigan. He knows the Agency inside and out. He is the right person.

Background checks--is that too much to ask? I don't think so. We should pass the bill. In March, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8, a bipartisan bill to close the gaps in the background checks system. We ought to do the same.

Addressing gun violence is a top priority of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In fact, the committee has already held four hearings on the topic. The first was the day after the mass shooting--the most recent mass shooting in Boulder, CO, that left 10 people dead. Sadly, unimaginably--listen to this number, Mr. President--that was just one of 299 mass shootings in America so far this year. That is more than one mass shooting every single day. What is going on? How can we tolerate that situation in our country?

Yet, during the first hearing on gun violence in our committee, one of the Republican members of the committee described the hearing as ``ridiculous theater.'' Ridiculous theater. Do you want to know what ridiculous theater really looks like? It is filibustering a piece of gun safety reform like universal background checks supported by 90 percent of the people. It is calling for an enforcement of gun laws already on the books and blocking anyone from being confirmed who will do it. Ridiculous theater is tweeting slogans in response to a spike in gun violence rather than coming up with solutions.

The Presiding Officer knows as well as I do and maybe even better that there have been too many funerals, too many lives lost to the scourge of gun violence. Can we get serious for one moment on a bipartisan basis and dedicate ourselves to reducing gun violence and saving lives in America? We have a President who is ready to lead us in that direction. I hope my other colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join Democrats in enacting legislation to keep America safe.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, as we celebrate Pride Month, I want to take a moment to acknowledge some of the trailblazers and pioneers in the LGBTQ+ community who have led the fight for equality.

Our Nation--and the world--has come a long way since the first Pride parade was organized more than half a century ago. But that progress didn't come about on its own. It demanded sacrifice, from activists like Marsha P. Johnson, who led the Stonewall Uprising in New York City, and leaders like Harvey Milk, who gave his life to advance LGBTQ+ equality. And it also demanded courage, courage that we see on display every day.

Just this week, a defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders, Carl Nassib, became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. In a video he posted, Mr. Nassib said he hopes that ``one day videos like this and the whole coming-out process are just not necessary . . . but until then I'm going to do my best and my part to cultivate a culture that's accepting, that's compassionate.'' That is really what Pride Month is all about, joining together to embrace our friends and loved ones exactly as they are and cultivating a culture that is more accepting and compassionate.

Carl Nassib's announcement this week is yet another reminder of how far the movement for LGBTQ+ equality has come, in my lifetime and even during my time in Congress. The year I was elected to the U.S. Senate, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, a shameful piece of legislation that outlawed same-sex marriage. But less than two decades later, the Supreme Court corrected that mistake by making marriage equality the law of the land. The sixth anniversary of that decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, is coming up this Saturday, the same day as Chicago's Pride in the Park festival in Grant Park. It is a remarkable trajectory, and it is one nobody could have predicted when I first entered Congress. It also begs the question: What progress will our Nation achieve over the next 20 years?

Earlier this year, as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I was honored to gavel in the Senate's first-ever hearing on the EQUALITY Act. It is a crucial piece of legislation that would strengthen civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and would explicitly prohibit discrimination in education, employment, housing, and other facets of everyday life. The EQUALITY Act has already passed the House, but it is currently languishing in this Chamber. Will we allow this Senate to once again stand as a bulwark against the tides of progress? Or will we join Carl Nassib--and others before him--in acting with courage?

This Pride Month, I hope we follow Mr. Nassib's lead, and I hope we do our part to cultivate a culture that embraces all of our Nation's children, exactly as who they are.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 146, 151, 152, 182, 186, 192, 229, 156, 190, and 194.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate vote en bloc on the nominations, without intervening action or debate; that, if confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all without intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Calendar Nos. 201 through 228, with the modification at the desk, and all nominations placed on the Secretary's Desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate then resume legislative session.