Floor Statements

Madam President, well, here we go again. The Environmental Protection Agency is back with a barrage of rules and regulations to accomplish two main goals: kill coal and natural gas once and for all, and in doing so, appease the climate activists who the President feels he needs to keep happy in an election year.

So what just happened? Well, in the last 2 weeks, the Biden EPA finalized a slate of four policies as part of their

latest--and punishing--climate crusade.

The first is the Clean Power Plan 2.0 that will eliminate coal power generation and block new natural gas plants from coming online in the future.

The second is the updated Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule that is designed to put coal plants out West out of business by saddling them with unrealistic emissions requirements.

The third is the Coal Combustion Residuals Rule.

And the fourth is the Effluent Limitations Guidelines, sounds pretty technical, for coal plants which both impose unattainable requirements for disposing and discharging waste at these plants.

The ELGs will orphan millions in investments made just in the last 4 years. So our plants have readjusted to make sure they are following, and now they come back 4 years later and say, that $300 million? No good anymore; you have to spend another $340 million.

Again, this administration isn't being shy about what the desired end game is here.

These rules are meant to put coal and natural gas employees out of work. Now, let me tell you, the energy mix in this country now with coal and natural gas is 60 percent of our energy comes from the two of those combined. And the goal here is to shutter these baseload power plants once and for all.

But as I alluded to earlier, they have tried this before. We all remember when the Obama administration attempted to implement a similar, overreaching set of mandates, and the Supreme Court remembers that as well. They turned it down.

So why try again? Why get rejected by the highest Court in the land and then come back with the same playbook? Well, it, sadly, comes back to two of the overall--the same two overall goals: close down reliable American power plants, and try to prop up disappointing poll numbers.

The administration doesn't seem to care whether these regulations are struck down in the end. They are betting that by threatening the electricity sector with rule after rule, investment will be forced away from reliable, baseload power towards the energy sources of their choices, which, by the way, cannot produce the energy that is needed.

Beyond these four rules recently announced, the EPA has rolled out an electric vehicles mandate, an air rule meant to halt manufacturing projects, and a Federal plan that has already suffered legal blows in court because it dictates to States how to address their own unique environmental concerns.

Much of the regulations in the environment space--and we all want clean air and clean water--are left to the discretion of the States with oversight by the Federal.

But the EPA's broader strategy that costs hundreds of billions of dollars and purposefully violates legal constraints set by the Supreme Court is creating a massive problem that every member of the Biden administration just can't seem to see, or perhaps it is one that they choose to ignore.

All of President Biden's environmental regulations impacting everything from power plants to the kind of cars that we drive are working against each other and putting us on a path to an energy crisis.

They are driving up demand for electricity, so think electric vehicles, AI, higher manufacturing, more, more, more demand for energy, straining a grid that even the administration projects will see explosive demand in the coming years. We have seen instances where it has been too stressed, and it has had to pull back, while simultaneously cutting off the electricity supply from our baseload power needed to sustain that grid--more demand, less supply. It is kind of like a parent telling their child that they have to practice for hours and hours every day to make the high school baseball team, but in the same breath telling that same child: Well, you know what? I am going to take your bag, your bag of balls, your glove, and your bat, and I am going to put them in the garage. So good luck. So go get them.

The Biden administration and many on the left desperately need a reality check, and here it is: The inconvenient truth is that coal and natural gas are the backbone of America's current electric grid. I mentioned that earlier, 60 percent.

Many, many people know that I am a huge advocate for nuclear energy and hoping to get a bill passed to really spur the development of small modular nuclear and the advanced nuclear production because we want to see it grow to help with this baseload energy demand that we are going to see. I want energy sources of all kinds to continue playing an increased role, including renewables--wind and solar--in our energy mix, and I believe that with innovation and time, this absolutely will happen.

But, as I said, the reality is roughly 60 percent of electric generation in the United States comes from the two sources of power that the Biden administration is trying to close forever. Not only do these attacks on coal- and gas-fired powerplants make no sense, they pose serious threat to our grid reliability. That means: Is our grid going to be able to sustain the great energy appetite that we have?

And experts have sounded the alarm. Public utilities commissioners, nonpartisan grid operators from Blue States and Red States, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission--better known as FERC--and the nonprofit North American Electric Reliability Corporation all shouted from the rooftops about the ways the Biden administration's proposed Clean Power Plan 2.0 and other rules would jeopardize the reliability of our electric grid. It would ``undermine reliability''; ``materially and adversely impact electric reliability''; ``potentially catastrophic reliability problems.''

These are just a few of the warning signs that we heard about when the EPA brought their plan forward.

The finalized rules announced by the EPA largely brushed aside these concerns. This is what gets me. They ask you for comments and concerns, and then they never listen to the comments or concerns. They brushed aside these concerns and pressed ahead to close down major sources of baseload power with no plan to replace it.

So let's take a step back and look at these rules and regulations from the outside. The results of the EPA's latest action means--what will happen? Americans will lose their jobs, and certainly in my State of West Virginia that will occur. American families and small businesses will pay more for their electricity at a time when Bidenomics is already causing inflation. Just go to the grocery store. Every time we go, we see it.

America's entire grid will be in jeopardy, our electric grid will be in jeopardy. And with an inexplicable ban on new natural gas exports still in place, America's allies will have to go to Russia and Iran and ask for extra help.

It is plain to see that the President's entire energy and environmental strategy actually hurts America and helps our adversaries. So as the Biden administration attempts to put the final nail in the coffin of America's baseload power sources, remember their objectives. To them, it is about accomplishing a decades-long goal of closing down coal and gas plants and hoping it is enough to get over the finish line in an election year. They have shown they have no regard for the opinions of our Supreme Court, no regard for the workers in West Virginia, and no regard for the truth about what happens when you undermine our Nation's electric grid.

The Biden administration has chosen whose side they are on: They are on the side of the climate activists over the well-being of Middle America, and they have chosen to shut the lights off for the rest of us without so much as a ``good luck.''

With that, I yield the floor to my friend from Mississippi.

Madam President, well, today is May 1, which is National College Decision Day. This is normally such an exciting occasion for students in my home State of West Virginia--and your home States--would be finalizing those really fun and hard decisions about which college or university to attend in the fall. There is much to look forward to.

This year, the customary hopefulness has been replaced by anxiety, fear, and apprehension as confusions and questions take hold regarding the availability of support that has long accompanied one of the most important decisions of our young students' lives.

When it comes to the 2024 FAFSA applications, the data from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission paints a very bleak picture.

Compared to the same time last year, freshmen--these are national statistics--freshmen FAFSA completion rates are down 35.3 percent. For Pell-eligible students, FAFSA completion rates are down 32 percent. For nontraditional students 25 and older, FAFSA completion rates are down 35 percent. These are national figures. The total number of high school students who completed FAFSA is down 39.6 percent, and the total number of high school students who submitted a FAFSA is down 31.6 percent.

These percentages ring true in my home State of West Virginia. Back home, because of President Biden's FAFSA fiasco, 3,643 West Virginia students are left hanging in the balance, severely jeopardizing college access and affordability for students in West Virginia, many of whom are that first-time college goer in their family.

This is just another way that President Biden and his administration are threatening a form of the American dream and destroying the vision to implement a simplified FAFSA process that was intended by Congress.

So how did we get here? Well, this is an interesting statistic here, too. FAFSA completion rates among West Virginia students age 25 or up-- so those are students maybe who took a couple years in the military, in the workforce, and they want to go back to school--are down 35 percent.

So how did we get here? In December of 2020, when I was here, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act to simplify and improve the process of applying for Federal student aid.

Federal student aid and the FAFSA were first authorized in 1992 as a way to provide a critical lifeline for our students.

In 2020, Congress made this simplification effort a bipartisan priority championed by my friend, whom we miss dearly, Senator Lamar Alexander, a former Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Education. But unfortunately the administration's implementation of this law has not made things better for students. Instead, it has created an unmitigated disaster caused by an inexcusable failure of leadership from the White House and the Department of Education.

The deadline to update the FAFSA should have come as no surprise. Congress gave the administration an extra year. They had 3 years, and we gave them an extra year to complete it--4 years. Implementation of this law should have been a top priority for the Biden administration. Instead, what happened? The political leadership of the Department of Ed chose to take time, resources, and personnel to advance the administration's priorities around canceling student debt. This is proof of the administration blatantly putting politics before our students, and that is simply indefensible.

I have spoken with so many West Virginians in every part of this process in the past several months who are very angry about the Department of Education's misplaced priorities. They feel discouraged about their futures because of the bungled implementation.

This is obviously a huge issue for students and their families, but it is a tremendous challenge for our colleges and universities at the same time.

The Department of Education claims that there is nothing more important right now--well, it is college decision day; I guess maybe that is correct--than fixing the issues around the FAFSA process, but those words have yet to be backed up by much action.

While there is no guarantee that the administration will get their act together, there are two things that are certain: No. 1, students deserve better, and their families; No. 2, Senate Republicans will remain committed to holding the administration accountable and pushing for a fix to this issue.

Back in January, I joined a bicameral group of congressional Republicans requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate the administration's botched FAFSA. That was in January. This investigation is now underway, and it is my hope it will yield answers as to what the failure could be and how similar mistakes would be avoided in the future.

Additionally, I helped author a formula fix to the FAFSA Simplification Act that passed the Senate and became law earlier this year. This fix intends to make financial aid more accessible for students by streamlining the process, and it corrected actions taken by the Department of Education in February that would have jeopardized future Pell grant awards for students.

Then, just yesterday, I questioned Secretary Cardona of the Department

of Ed during our Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee hearing. I demanded answers, as did many, and accountability regarding the fiasco with the FAFSA that his Department has overseen. To say I was underwhelmed by his responses would be an understatement. Literally, he said: Well, we kind of are changing--we are kind of redoing--we think we are there.

Why did you make mistakes?

Well, we had missed deadlines.

Did you not see that coming for 4 years?

I mean just very, very nonspecific answers.

With the lack of action from the Biden administration, West Virginia's Governor, Jim Justice, declared a state of emergency on the matter just yesterday. This order will temporarily suspend the requirement for students to complete their FAFSA in order to qualify for our State's largest financial aid programs, providing needed relief and certainty for our students that they are not now receiving from the Department of Ed. At least they will get some certainty from the West Virginia Department of Ed.

I hope that in the future the Biden administration and their Department of Ed will be singularly focused on addressing outstanding issues and ensure that these problems are not present in the 2025 to 2026 FAFSA cycle. I can assure you that my Senate Republican colleagues and I will not stop putting pressure on the Biden administration to do the job they are supposed to do, as they have received ample resources from this Congress to do so.

I remain in constant contact with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to further understand what they are seeing and ways that we can help as they work to mitigate the fallout from the crisis the Biden administration has manufactured.

I commend the efforts from my Republican colleagues in the Senate on these issues as well--in particular, Senator Joni Ernst, who is going to speak next, and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana--who have been outspoken on this issue with me, as well as many of our other colleagues, like the ones who are joining me on the floor to speak.

We have to remain focused on these issues surrounding the FAFSA application process and make sure that vital resources remain available for our students during the moments when they need them the most, delivering on what our students deserve, which should not be a partisan issue.

I am going to go off my formal remarks and say quickly, when they calculated in January and February what the parameters would be for the aid for the students, they determined that some students would be getting more than they should and that some students would be getting less than they should--totally unfair. But the Department's first response was, well, we will let the people who are getting more than they should--they can just keep this, and we will fix it next year. What does that say to the taxpayer who is paying for this? I mean, finally, public pressure came to bear, and they rescinded and recalculated everything.

So, with that, I encourage everybody to recognize this as a real problem across our country, particularly for our lower income, first- time college-going students--first time ever filling these forms out. It is not an easy thing anyway, and it is a daunting challenge to think about how to afford a higher education.

So, with that, I welcome my friend from Iowa and her good hard work on this, and I am glad to see she is on the floor to speak about this.

Mr. President, I rise to honor Mr. David M. Bearden for his lengthy career of public service to the U.S. Congress and the American people. After more than 33 years at the Congressional Research Service, or CRS, Mr. Bearden recently retired at the end of March as a specialist in environmental policy

Mr. Bearden hails from Guntersville, AL. After graduating from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, with a theology degree and backpacking around Europe, he moved to Washington, DC. In August 1990, Mr. Bearden was hired as a clerk at the Library of Congress, where he began to gradually climb the ranks. In 1991, Mr. Bearden served in the CRS inquiry unit, where he earned the prestigious Award for Meritorious Service for his work during the Persian Gulf War. Following his stint with the inquiry unit, Mr. Bearden became a production assistant, helping colleagues to prepare reports and memoranda in varied subject areas. After several years as a production assistant, Mr. Bearden became an environmental information analyst and began to specifically focus on environmental issues. Mr. Bearden became an analyst in environmental policy in 2002 and continued to amass a wealth of knowledge on the topics he covered.

As an analyst, Mr. Bearden primarily focused on the implementation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as the Superfund law. His extensive research of individual contaminated sites was immensely beneficial for Members' offices representing their impacted constituents and communities. It was in this capacity that I first interacted with Mr. Bearden professionally. I relied on his expertise in the aftermath of the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in Charleston, WV, and I was not shy do to so again in the future. Beyond Superfund, Mr. Bearden specialized in some of the most complex environmental laws on the books, including the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, among others.

With decades of experience, Mr. Bearden became the go-to-analyst and coordinator for high-profile cross-cutting environmental issues that involved clean-up or contamination, including concerns over specific chemicals such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. Much of his work involved direct support of the legislative process by providing expert analysis and consultative support for a wide range of environmental policy issues. Through it all, Mr. Bearden approached each request with a high level of consistency in objectivity, nonpartisanship, authoritativeness, and timeliness, the core values of the Congressional Research Service. He has a particular quality of breaking down complex topics into easy-to-understand narratives that intersperse facts-of-the-matter with the law and relevant legislative history. Members and staff appreciated his practical explanation of issues and how the Federal Government can address them, evidenced by his requested testimony in several hearings, ranging from the topic of addressing radioactive contamination at the Marshall Islands to the Federal and State relationship in implementing the Superfund law.

While members of my own staff have personally benefited Mr. Bearden's mentorship and expertise, his talents for teaching and professional development also benefitted his fellow colleagues at CRS. Over the last few years, Mr. Bearden was a mentor to new and less experienced colleagues, sharing the wisdom and expertise he has accumulated. A point he emphasizes to mentees is that the work is never about those who work for CRS, but always about who CRS serves: Members of Congress and their staff. His style of mentoring reflects the objectivity, balance, and authoritativeness of CRS work, but also comes with unique wit that brings some humanity to the job.

Mr. Bearden is retiring as an expert in his field. On behalf of the U.S. Senate and the American people, I wish to express gratitude for the contributions of Mr. Bearden during his over three decades at CRS. I thank him and wish him all the best in retirement.

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

Madam President, I rise today because we really are at a very historic time for this Chamber. Soon, the House of Representatives is expected to send over Articles of Impeachment against a Cabinet officer for only the second time in our Nation's history. This is not routine business; instead, this is a very serious moment.

On February 13, the House agreed to Articles of Impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for ``willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law'' and ``breach of public trust.''

This Chamber will soon have a constitutional duty to uphold. I firmly believe that the U.S. Senate must conduct a full impeachment inquiry trial for Secretary Mayorkas. Our Constitution gives the Senate the responsibility and the duty to try all impeachments, and it requires a vote of two-thirds of the Senate present before the Federal officer is convicted. That is a pretty high standard for a constitutional process.

For every impeachment in our history, the Senate has held some form of a trial unless the Federal officer has resigned prior to the trial. This time, it should be no different.

Under President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas, there have been more than 9.2 million illegal crossings along our country's southern border or, to put it another way, the average monthly encounters have increased 400 percent almost under the Biden-Mayorkas DHS.

The record illegal crossings this past February of 189,922 marked the seventh consecutive month of the highest number of encounters that these months have ever seen. On top of this, there have been 36 straight months with higher encounters at the southern border than any month under the Trump administration. I mean, these numbers are just shocking.

Still, and I have spoken on this before, it is just amazing to me that the President and Secretary Mayorkas haven't tried to change this at all.

Unfortunately, these statistics have become a regular occurrence under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, and he bears the responsibility for the worst border crisis of our Nation's history.

Let me be clear. As I said earlier, this crisis did not happen by accident. We have seen the Biden-Mayorkas DHS fail to uphold the law and secure our borders starting on day one of this administration. This broad and willful effort by the Biden administration to open our borders began by ending successful Trump-era policies that brought all those numbers down, like contracts to build the border wall, the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy--also known as Migrant Protection Protocols or MPP--and safe third country agreements.

Again, the numbers don't lie, and they certainly do not provide the administration with any cover, unlike the cover the administration gives daily by turning their back to the cartels that are making billions of dollars from human smuggling and drug trafficking operations as long as this crisis continues.

Furthermore, we have seen Secretary Mayorkas abuse the parole process, expanding the program more than any other prior administration, which has led to more than 3 million immigrants coming into our country who would otherwise have been inadmissible. Parole is supposed to be granted on a one-by-one, case-by-case basis, but under Secretary Mayorkas's leadership, DHS has created categorical parole programs to give entry to migrants from many South American and Caribbean countries with minimal vetting.

As the crisis has developed throughout President Biden's 3 years in office, nearly half of the migrants encountered on our southern border are coming from countries outside of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. The immigration crisis on our southern border is now more multifaceted than ever. Why is that? Because it has been allowed to keep fomenting. The open border policies from the Biden-Mayorkas DHS have allowed all of this to happen. We truly have no idea who is entering our country illegally.

We have apprehended 336 individuals on the Terror Watchlist who have illegally crossed our southern border during this administration, but these are just the individuals we know of. To put this into perspective, only 14 terror suspects were apprehended between the ports of entry during the Trump administration--14 over 4 years; 336 in this administration.

Not knowing who is in our country is a national security crisis, and at a time of heightened national security, this is a chance we should not be willing to take.

We have also seen the Biden-Mayorkas DHS abuse the asylum process, expanding eligibility to admit a record number of asylum seekers, which has led to creating a decade-long delay and backlog in our immigration courts. This ensures that anyone who enters our country and passes the very low screening standard will be here for years without any fear of deportation.

This policy allowed the alleged killer of Laken Riley--a nursing student in Georgia who was brutally and senselessly murdered--to enter and remain in this country. Even though he was apprehended by our law enforcement on at least one occasion, he still was here. This will ever serve as a reminder that Secretary Mayorkas's catch-and-release policies have allowed the catastrophe at our southern border to impact every single community.

When our already-overwhelmed Border Patrol agents are faced with thousands of encounters per day of migrants claiming asylum, we know that some border crossers are able to slip through. These are the people who don't want to be caught, and they are the individuals we need to worry about the most. But don't just take my word for it. In a recent interview, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens referred to the situation at the southern border as a ``national security threat'' and that the 140,000 known ``got-aways'' are what is keeping--he says ``keeping me up at night.'' This is something that all of us should be concerned about and the ripple effect that this causes in communities far away from our southern border.

Additionally, the drugs flowing across our border are responsible for fueling the addiction epidemic that has devastated communities across this country, particularly in my home State of West Virginia. In West Virginia alone, it is estimated that during the year 2023, 1,327 residents died at the hands of illegal drugs. That is the highest per capita of any other State.

At the national level, the numbers are just startling. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents seized an alltime high of 27,293 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border in fiscal year 2023. That amount of fentanyl is enough to kill nearly 6 million people. However, what is even more troubling is that CBP reported that Federal officials are estimating they were only able to seize between 5 and 10 percent of all the fentanyl that has been smuggled through the southern border. With a Border Patrol that has been stretched unfathomably thin with very little support from this administration, there is no telling the amount of drugs that are getting through undetected.

Regarding the matter that will soon be before the Senate, the impeachment articles against Secretary Mayorkas make serious allegations and detail the crisis we have all seen unfolding for more than 3 years. It is unconscionable for Senator Schumer to dismiss these charges without allowing the Senate to hear the evidence. Doing so would deny this body from upholding our constitutional duty to hear a case and decide whether or not Secretary Mayorkas should be convicted or acquitted.

The decision to take up these Articles of Impeachment lies with Senator Schumer and the Senate Democrats. They must do the right thing and conduct a full trial.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be able to speak prior to the scheduled rollcall vote: Myself for up to 5 minutes, Senator Carper for up to 10 minutes, and Senator Cramer for up to 7 minutes.

Madam President, I come here and join my fellow colleagues from West Virginia and from North Dakota to offer my strong support of the resolution offered by Senator Cramer of North Dakota.

Senator Manchin has covered a lot of this, but I think I want to re- cover it because I think it is very important.

The Federal Highway Administration issued the final rule, which we are challenging today, without having the necessary legal authority from Congress. The rule will force our State departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to develop and set their own declining greenhouse gas emissions targets. State DOTs and MPOs are also going to be required to meet their own targets. If they fail to meet their targets or fail to make significant progress toward them, they are required to develop new plans to ensure that they do meet their targets.

Senator Manchin described how difficult it will be for a sparsely populated and, basically, rural area, such as West Virginia, to make a measurable difference in our greenhouse emissions in our transportation sector because, you know, we are in pretty good shape as it is right now.

The expected outcome of this requirement is that it will force State DOTs and MPOs to use their highway funding for ineffective emissions reduction projects rather than on projects that will improve the safety and efficiency of roads and bridges. This restriction on the ability of State DOTs to pick the projects that address their communities' unique transportation needs is unacceptable, and it runs counter to our agreement for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

When we were negotiating that legislation in our committee, we specifically considered giving the Federal Highway Administration the authority to impose a greenhouse gas performance measure and associated targets, but we ultimately rejected that idea. We make the law, and we rejected putting this into our established law for very good reasons.

My colleagues and I have also warned FHWA multiple times that it really lacks the authority for this rule.

In October 2022, in response to the publication of the proposed rule, Senator Cramer and I, along with 25 of our Senate colleagues, sent a letter to FHWA stating that they did not have the authority to issue the proposed greenhouse gas rule.

We further reminded FHWA Administrator Bhatt of that lack of authority at an oversight hearing just last June.

Despite our clear communication with FHWA and the fact that this rule violates the carefully negotiated bipartisan agreement in the IIJA, Congress must once again address the Biden administration's regulatory overreach.

I would also note that it is not just Congress that has challenged the FHWA's authority to issue a greenhouse gas rule. In two separate legal actions--one in Texas and the other in Kentucky--a total of 22 States, with support from adversely impacted industries, successfully challenged this greenhouse gas rule.

While the States have prevailed over FHWA in Federal Court, I also believe that Congress has a duty to make clear when a Federal Agency has clearly--clearly--exceeded its authority.

Therefore, to ensure that there is no ambiguity whatsoever regarding FHWA's authority, I urge my colleagues to support Senator Cramer's resolution.

I yield the floor to my friend from Delaware, Senator Carper.

Mr. President, as we near the end of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process, I would like to thank Vice Chair Collins and Chair Murray, as well as my fellow committee members. The Labor-HHS appropriations bill, the largest non-Defense appropriations bill, is one of the most difficult appropriations bills to negotiate.

I see my chair over there. So it is good to be together again.

It is not a stretch to say that every year, when we go into appropriations season, it is assumed that Labor-H will be one of the hardest bills to pass. And many times it is. This is the first year that Senator Baldwin and I have been at the helm of the Senate Labor- HHS Subcommittee, and I am pleased to say we were able to work together to present a bipartisan Senate bill last summer that laid the groundwork for this final compromise bill.

First, I want to thank all of my colleagues, and I want all of my colleagues to know that in this bill we continue all longstanding legacy riders, such as Hyde and Hyde-Weldon conscience protections. And I want to make it clear that we worked together to avoid any new poison pill funding for controversial programs, such as title X family planning.

While we each approached this bill differently, it was important to present a bipartisan result, including Member priorities, such as greater investments in biomedical research, pandemic preparedness, mental health, childcare and education, efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, and rural health.

Our final bill includes $194.4 billion in base discretionary funding, which is $12.9 billion below the 2023 enacted level. Even with additional resources added, the Labor-H bill represents a 1-percent reduction from 2023 levels.

The final bill also allocates limited resources to certain programs by reducing funding by approximately $630 million across 35 different programs.

The Labor-HHS bill provides an increase of $300 million for the National Institutes of Health. This funding provides targeted increases for research in specific areas that are so important, such as Alzheimer's, mental health, and cancer, including funding--one that I am particularly interested in--the Childhood Cancer STAR Act.

We also continue efforts to fight the growing prevalence of substance use disorder. This bill provides $4.95 billion in funding across the bill for addiction prevention, research, and recovery programs. Investments to address this epidemic include $1.57 billion for State opioid response grants to address the opioid epidemic in ways that suit individual States' needs; $2 billion for the substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services block grant--again, giving our States the ability to address the issues--and $640.5 million for the NIH, for their program Helping to End Addiction Long-term, also known as the NIH HEAL Initiative.

Additionally, we direct more resources to telehealth and rural healthcare programs that help States like my State of West Virginia.

Rural healthcare will receive an additional $4 million to improve rural maternity and obstetrics services, and an additional $4 million for a new rural hospital stabilization program.

This Labor-HHS bill prioritizes our children, starting with early childhood education to ensure children are ready to learn when they enter school, and continues investments for students in high school and college to make sure they are prepared for the jobs today and for those jobs in the future.

Specifically, we provide a $725 million increase for the child care and development block grant and a $275 million increase for Head Start, both to support early childhood education; a $20 million increase for title I grants to local educational agencies to support K through 12 students in low-income schools; and a $20 million increase for IDEA grants to States, which provides special ed services for our students with disabilities; additionally, $7,395 for the maximum Pell grant award for

the 2024-2025 school year to support low-income students pursuing postsecondary education.

The Labor-HHS section of this minibus isn't what any of us would have written individually. However, it reflects a four corners negotiation with bipartisan priorities, it protects all legacy riders, and it did not provide any new funding for any poison pill programs.

I stand here today to tell you that this bill can help our fellow citizens, but I am also happy to report that this bill will have a tremendous impact on the people of the State of West Virginia. One of the reasons I am proud to be on this Appropriations subcommittee is because of the impact that we can each have on our home States, and this bill demonstrates that. The priorities that I have advocated for since I started in the Senate and the experiences I have seen and learned from advocates, community leaders, patients and doctors, students, teachers, and parents throughout West Virginia are why I wanted to help write this bill.

So this bill includes ways to grow nursing programs where we have shortages and to look into addiction treatment and recovery programs. It helps with hospital expansions and improvements and workforce initiatives for medical specialties, along with aviation workforce, and water and wastewater technicians.

I cannot list them all, but my partnerships and support for Marshall University, West Virginia University, Bridge Valley Community and Technical College, Shepherd University, the Martinsburg Initiative, Lily's Place, Charleston Area Medical Center, Roane General, Minnie Hamilton Health Center, and numerous other city and county programs are evident by the millions of dollars that we dedicate to the mission and work being done right back home in West Virginia.

Far too often, the Federal Government overlooks what local entities can do to meet the needs and the challenges in their local towns and communities. But do you know what? That is where the solutions are, and they know best. That is why I have been listening to them, and that is why I am bringing those resources home.

I would like to again thank Vice Chair Collins and Chair Murray--I see her on the floor--and all of the members of this committee here and in the House for reaching this deal.

Now I would like to briefly thank all of the staff who worked to put this product together. Many of them are in the Chamber right now. On my staff: Lindsey Seidman, Ashley Palmer, Emily Slack, Tom Pfeiffer, JT Jezierski, Dana Richter, and Addie Bassali.

On Senator Baldwin's staff, I would like to thank Mike Gentile, Mark Laisch, Meghan Mott, Kathryn Toomajian, Amanda Beaumont, Erin Dugan, and Janie Dulaney.

With that, I would encourage my colleagues to vote positively on this bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, last week on this very floor, the Democratic leader of the Chamber, Senator Schumer, delivered an unprecedented speech that clearly, in my mind, crossed a line, wading into the electoral process of a free and fair democracy and one of our greatest friends--not just any democracy but one of our most steadfast allies, Israel, who is currently in a war for their survival against a terrorist organization that wishes to remove their country from existence.

The remarks by Leader Schumer calling for a new election in Israel and the replacement of Prime Minister Netanyahu were many things--I thought irresponsible, ill-advised, and misguided--but above all else, it is hypocritical and sends the wrong message to the world and our allies during a vacuum of American leadership on the international stage.

My Republican colleagues were quick to draw contrast to these remarks and affirm our support for Israel and for the leadership they have duly elected in their democracy.

But don't just take my word for it. Michael Herzog, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, called these comments ``counterproductive to our common goals.'' Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett noted that he is opposed to any ``external political intervention in Israel's internal affairs.'' Even political opponents to Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly condemned this rhetoric, saying that any interference in Israel's electoral process is ``unacceptable.''

So not only are these remarks unacceptable, but they come at a time when we should be displaying our unwavering support of our friend Israel, not calling their leadership into question.

It is important that we identify this situation for exactly what it is: an attempt by the opposite party to appease the progressive wing of the left that wishes to vilify Israel and abandon them when they need us the most. I can assure you this is something that Senate Republicans will not stand for.

Can you imagine if the roles were reversed here, if the leaders of another country called for new elections in the United States and named our leader an ``obstacle to peace'' and claimed that our government was not serving the needs of our people? The calls claiming election interference from this Chamber would be deafening.

Just like those in the United States, where the American people decide who leads their country, the people of Israel are the only ones who can decide which leader meets their needs. Prime Minister Netanyahu said himself: ``We're

not a banana republic.'' They are not. They are a democracy.

My Democratic colleagues here in the Senate have said quite a bit about foreign election interference and attacks to democracy in recent years, with Senate leadership saying in 2019 that ``foreign election interference cannot be ignored'' and that our government ``must make clear that the cost of trying to interfere with American elections will be dear'' or, from another leader, calling it ``reprehensible'' . . . ``that the American people would not have the last word, that there would be other factors and other people, other countries engaged in our election.''

That is exactly what was called for last week. The words of my colleagues ring as true then as they do now. No one but the American people should have a say in our democracy and how our country is run. But that same protection needs to be applied to our allies in free and fair democracies and the rights of their citizens to choose the leaders that guide their country and represent their interests. That is especially true when it comes to an ally at war such as Israel.

My Republican colleagues and I recognize this as hypocrisy, and it is shocking to me that our President, President Biden, would support these comments.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we have seen this level of hypocrisy from the other side of the aisle. Let's talk about energy policy debates. We saw the other party praise the EPA's electric vehicle mandates just yesterday without recognizing that they are the ones who are forcing closures of powerplants through policies like Clean Power Plan 2.0, cutting off the very baseload power that these supposed electric vehicles are going to need to operate.

I mean, there is a bit of hypocrisy. We have not enough power, and we are telling people when and how to run their heat, yet we are going to tell them what types of cars they need to have by 2032. As a data point, 7.6 percent of cars sold in the United States last year were electric vehicles. The goal is to get almost 70 percent of those cars by 2032.

In the State of West Virginia, new vehicles, electric vehicles: 1.1 percent. They kind of don't do so great on those hills in the middle of the cold. I am just saying.

On issues regarding the economy, we have seen the passage of trillions of dollars in reckless spending and increased taxes by the Democrats that lead to high inflation, only for the President to establish a Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing to blame others for the impacts of their policies. He is also worried about how many chips are in a bag. We got that at the State of the Union. Or even regarding the foundation of the rules that this body stands on. We have seen Senate Democrats wage war to remove the filibuster in recent years--the same rule they fought tirelessly to protect while they were in the minority. Now many of them signed on to the letters.

Perhaps one of the greatest hypocrisies we have seen on display was when the President delivered his campaign rally disguised as a State of the Union Address a few weeks ago.

When he was sworn into office, one of the biggest promises he made was to unite this country. Instead, in that speech, he alienated us, disparaged us--anybody who disagrees with his policies.

This continued hypocrisy and these political games are not lost on the American people. They want election officials to stand for their interests and to deliver on what they are going to do. This is a central tenet to effective government and something that guides my work on behalf of West Virginians every single day.

I, along with my fellow Senate Republicans--and I see my colleague from Nebraska here--will continue our efforts to lead our country toward a stronger future and to call out these pretenses when we see them.

Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to recognize Gabe White. His family is here at the Capitol today. He is a West Virginian who tragically lost his life a year ago, I believe, this week.

Gabe is a native of Gilmer County. He was 20 years old when he passed away. It was as a result of a barge accident in Follansbee, WV.

At the request of his family, Senator Manchin and I have introduced a resolution to declare March 22--the date of Gabe's tragic passing--as National Inland Waterways Workers Safety Awareness Day. It is our hope to ensure that similar accidents such as this will never happen again.

The resolution is currently moving towards passage in the Senate, and I would encourage my colleagues to support this.

With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today in the hours before President Biden's State of the Union address to discuss the reality of the past 3 years and the current circumstances of our Nation. Together, my colleagues and I are here to speak on behalf of the American people who have been forgotten and left behind by President Biden, those who know the true consequences of his administration's policies and who are really feeling the pain by the continued failures that have defined President Biden's time in the White House.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have been guided by my eternal optimism. I feel like I can see beyond the gloom and push toward a brighter future. However, it is clear that this is not the perspective that is felt in communities across our country, as Americans realize that the state of our Nation is not as strong as it should and could be. They continue to battle economic challenges that are making the American dream unaffordable.

There is a continued assault on American energy, which started by canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and now, just several weeks ago, the disastrous halting of the construction of the LNG export terminals.

They see the unmitigated flow of illegal crossings at our southern border, and they face the threat of rising crime, and they see the weakened state of Americans standing on the global stage.

President Biden remains the common denominator across each of these issues, and he continues to prove--and this is harsh--that he is just not up to the task of leading our country in a time when it is needed most.

Perhaps the most consistent issue that has defined President Biden's tenure in the White House--and one that I hear constantly about back home--is the state of our economy and the persistence of high interest rates and inflation. Despite President Biden's claims, inflation has not cooled and price hikes have worn down consumers over the past 3 years, making necessities like food and housing nearly unaffordable. The price of food at the grocery store--anybody who is listening to this that has been to the grocery store knows this better than anybody. The price of food at grocery stores and in our restaurants increased 2.6 percent just in the last year, but this is on top of the staggering 10 percent that food prices rose over the last year. So what used to be $100 worth of groceries in 2019 now costs $125. And just last week, it was revealed that food costs, compared to income, have hit a 33-year high with American consumers spending over 11 percent of their disposal income on food. That means that the last time Americans paid this much for food ``Terminator 2'' was in the movies, Michael Jordan had just won his second MVP award, and HP had introduced the first color scanner. That is how long ago this was.

Adding to this, U.S. home prices are at an alltime high. Housing costs have now become unaffordable for a record number of U.S. renters, and that is according to a recent Harvard study.

Make no mistake, this is the economy that President Biden campaigned on, and it is the economy that his policies of reckless spending and high taxes were destined to create.

The President has gone even as far as establishing a strike force--I don't know if we are going to hear about it tonight--a strike force on unfair and illegal pricing, which is nothing more than a cover so he can blame others for the effects of his policies.

Another issue that will forever define President Biden's tenure is the historic crisis we have seen at the southern border--something we have all addressed on the floor repeatedly--and the devastating consequences it has created. The most recent data shows over 176,000 crossings along the southern border this past January. This marks the worst January on record and the sixth consecutive month where a record was being set. That brings us to a total of 9 million--9 million-- illegal border crossings under President Biden's watch. Additionally, there were another 7,000-plus migrant encounters at the southern border on Monday, marking the fourth day in a row of over 7,000 encounters.

While the White House remains committed to their message of no Executive action can alleviate this crisis, they fail to mention the Executive actions that they took literally hours after President Biden was sworn in. These Executive Orders on day one of Biden's administration dismantled the effective immigration policies of President Trump.

The truth is, President Biden can take basic steps and end this chaos, but in some situations--and far too many of them--it may already be too late. The barbaric murder of Laken Riley is a national tragedy and was completely avoidable.

The catch-and-release policies of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have allowed the catastrophe at our southern border to impact every community in our country and every State.

Crime is all too familiar to this administration, especially right here in the President's backyard. While the administration is touting a drop in crime across other cities, violent crime right here in Washington, DC, is up a staggering 39 percent. Multiple members of Congress have been recent victims of crime in this city, as have multiple members of my own staff.

We must remember that President Biden owns this issue more than he would like to admit. Last May, he vetoed bipartisan legislation to overturn police reforms right here in Washington, DC.

Speaking of ownership, another issue that President Biden owns is the recent weakness that America has displayed on the international stage. We are living in a time where our Nation faces the most dangerous global threats that we have seen in decades. Yet President Biden has proven to be a President of

weakness, while our adversaries are watching how the United States reacts to the challenges of our time. This display of weakness started with the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which signaled unreliability to our allies and weakness to those who want to do us harm. Then President Biden did not establish a strong deterrent for Putin, suggesting that NATO and the United States might not take any action if Russia undertook a minor incursion. Next, the Biden administration engaged with Iran on fruitless nuclear talks while the regime built up their nuclear capabilities and their militias attacked our own U.S. troops. Now there have been over 170 attacks on servicemembers with minimal responses taken. This has also culminated most recently in the loss of three of our Army Reserve soldiers.

During the State of the Union tonight, President Biden will draw a proverbial line in the sand and will ask the American people: Which side are you on? I encourage my fellow Americans not to fall for this attempt to separate us or label us as enemies of one another; but rather, we should join together in realizing that it doesn't have to be this way and that the American people truly deserve better.

This leads to, perhaps, the biggest broken promise from the President; that was his pledge to unite our Nation. We are fractured; there is no doubt about it. In this administration, anyone who disagrees with their policies is an extremist and a threat to our freedoms.

I know the people of our country deserve better from the White House, and the state of our union has become weaker over the past 3 years. So I hope the President addresses these issues tonight in a meaningful way that doesn't finger point, doesn't blame, but that takes the issues and unites the country and finds solutions.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today to once again stand in strong support of our friend and ally Israel and to highlight the continued fallout that we are witnessing as a result of the October 7 terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas.

It is really difficult to describe those 116 days that we have had since October 7 as anything other than shocking, as we have seen the senseless murder of over 1,200 people in Israel, widespread violence across the Middle East, and alarming rise of anti-Semitism right here in the United States.

Just this past weekend, on January 27, we recognized International Holocaust Remembrance Day and honored the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust--the largest genocide in human history with unspeakable horror inflicted on the Jewish people. This commemoration serves as a reminder of why the State of Israel must exist and our continual commitment to stand against the persecution of the Jewish people.

But now, nearly 80 years later, the safety of the Jewish people is once again under siege. I never thought I would make that statement.

The terrorist attacks on October 7 killed the most Jews in 1 day since the Holocaust. Hundreds of women and children were taken hostage, including our very own Americans who still remain in captivity today. And, shamefully, some of the most prominent organizations that claim to support women were silent when it came to Hamas's use of sexual violence against women and girls on October 7.

We must continue to universally denounce the barbaric tactics of Hamas and do all that is in our power to free the hostages and bring those American hostages home.

It remains clear that Israel has the right to defend themselves, as any country would, in the face of this unprovoked terror. There isn't another country in the world that would be expected to sit back and allow this to

happen, allow their next-door neighbor--whose own charter calls for genocide--to commit this kind of brazen and indiscriminate violence.

To this day, Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel, target their civilians, and hold women and children hostage. That is all in violation of international law. They also continue to use protected civilian structures for its operation, endangering its own people.

There is no question that our world has dramatically shifted since October 7, as we can clearly see that Israel's security is directly related to our own national security here at home.

Unfortunately, since the beginning of the attacks on Israel, President Biden has not displayed the strength that is needed for our Nation at this critical junction. His administration, beginning on October 7, made their fears of an escalating conflict crystal clear.

Secretary Blinken said on October 22 that ``This is not what we want. . . . We don't want escalation.''

This widely broadcasted fear of escalation prevented them from taking action to stop this violence spreading beyond Israel's borders.

Now the Iran-backed Houthis have launched hundreds of drone and missile strikes against ships transiting the Red Sea, one of the most important waterways in the world. We have conducted multiple airstrikes in Yemen but with no clear indication that the Houthis have been deterred. And most especially sad, we lost two Navy SEALS, some of our most elite members of the Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice while halting the shipment of more advanced weapons to this group.

Adding to this, there has been a staggering increase in attacks by Iranian proxies on our troops and bases in the region.

I think we have heard earlier, there have been over 165 attacks on our men and women in uniform in the Middle East since October 7, with minimal response from this administration. This has led, sadly, to another loss of our American soldiers. We lost three heroic Americans in one of these attacks, with dozens more wounded.

Less than 3 weeks ago, on January 12, when asked if he had a message for Iran, President Biden said:

I've already delivered the message to Iran. They know not

to do anything.

That message was clearly not delivered and has put our Nation and servicemembers in an unacceptable situation.

What does all of this aggression in the Red Sea and these attacks on our Armed Forces have in common? It is all funded and supplied by Iran. For far too long, this nefarious nation has been pulling strings behind the scenes that are inciting terror and creating chaos in the Middle East.

The Iranian regime stands in direct opposition to what we as Americans represent and our values. Their hatred for America is made more obvious by the company they keep and the continued closeness they are cultivating with adversaries like Russia, China, and North Korea.

China is Iran's biggest oil customer and provides a revenue stream to support Iran's aggression. Russia continues to purchase Iranian drones, using them in their unjust war against Ukraine. North Korea has remained Iran's leading partner in destabilizing actions and nuclear proliferation.

Iran's malign influence and its disdain for America and our ally Israel is unmistakable.

It is past time to reestablish deterrence against Iran with a decisive response to these unacceptable actions. This is something my Republican colleagues recognize and something we continue to urge President Biden and his administration to take seriously.

Secretary Blinken himself said just this past week that the Middle East has not been this dangerous since 1973. This comes, of course, after President Biden's National Security Advisor announced that the region was quieter than it had been for decades as we were approaching the October 7 date.

We can all see now that this is an increasingly important moment with incredibly high stakes. We must take this opportunity to lead with strength, to lead in the ways that only the United States can lead. While our adversaries are attempting to divide us, we must come together.

The future of our Nation depends on our ability to support our allies, like Israel, in their time of need; to protect vital American interests, like our shippers; to defend our troops overseas; and to secure the homeland of our own country.

I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to remain committed to the security of the United States and our ally Israel. This Chamber must display the American leadership that times of crisis require. We have done it before, and we must do it again.

Madam President, this past Saturday, January 20, marked 3 years since President Biden took his oath of office. Since then, President Biden has had nearly 1,100 days in the White House to enact the policies that he campaigned on.

I can tell you what has been clear to me. The lives of Americans are not better now than they were 3 years ago. Our country is not safer than it was 3 years ago, and the state of the Union is not stronger than it was 3 years ago.

Time and again, President Biden has let his tenure be defined by weakness, as opposed to strength. This lack of leadership has had negative implications across a variety of sectors of American life and left millions of people across the country and the world in situations that were unavoidable.

It just really doesn't have to be this way, President Biden.

Perhaps, none of the Biden administration failures is as glaringly obvious as the one at the southern border, which I have talked about numerous times from this desk, and the continued fallout we are seeing as a result of a President who is, basically, asleep at the switch on this issue or ignoring it or maybe encouraging it.

There have been 6.7 million illegal encounters at the southern border on his watch. It is hard to imagine the scope of what 6.7 million human encounters really mean. But think of it this way: Only 17 U.S. States have a population higher than 6.7 million. Mine, of course, is not one of those. This massive flow of humanity is the equivalent of adding another State to our country that is nearly four times the size of my home State of West Virginia.

But President Biden's border failure just doesn't stop there. Since fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized 536,000 pounds of meth, 250,000 pounds of cocaine, and 56,000 pounds of the deadly substance fentanyl. With hundreds of thousands of admitted ``get-aways''--those people who aren't in these statistics--it is impossible to know the amount of narcotics that made it across the border into our homeland.

When it comes to the southern border, the only thing President Biden has improved, in my opinion, is the business of the cartels, which are receiving cover to continue their crimes every day, whether it is drug peddling or human smuggling, every day we do not respond to this crisis.

The list of consequences as a result of President Biden's inaction on the border is long and has led to everything from violent crimes committed by individuals not lawfully in this country, to our hospitals and health clinics being pushed to the brink, to our children being forced to vacate their schools and remote learn to make room for migrate shelters; and even calls from the leaders of blue States who sent a letter on Monday asking for Federal assistance to handle this crisis. Rather than properly defending our homeland, President Biden has incentivized a crisis that urgently needs a solution.

Unfortunately, for this administration, when it comes to failures, the border is just the beginning. Let's look at the economy or where the unrelenting pursuit of Bidenomics--which, by the way, I don't think the President uses that term anymore. President Biden and his supporters want the American public to believe that the same positive trends are signs that his policies are working. But if you spent any time in middle-class America over the past 3 years or in the grocery store, you would know our families are continuously being squeezed by high prices, and businesses are being taxed and regulated out of existence.

The quality of life for American families is designed by their ability to put food on the table, to earn an honest living, and to put a roof over their heads, not by these broad microeconomic indicators-- arrow going up, arrow going down.

Unfortunately, there is no relief in sight for American families under Bidenomics. Cumulative overall prices since January of 2021 have risen 17 percent. Food prices have increased 20 percent, energy prices have increased 32 percent, and rent prices have increased 19 percent, all while average weekly earnings for all employees have decreased by 4.5 percent. The basic truth is that under the President, Americans are spending more and getting less.

Additionally, these policies defined by Bidenomics are failing our small businesses and manufacturers, as well. Small and medium manufacturing companies continue to have historically low levels of optimism about their future, and 23 percent of small business owners report that inflation was the single most important problem to their business operations. I would say the supply chain and the workforce-- all are contributing.

Another area in which this administration continues to fail is our national security and the standing of our country on the world stage. The same President who vowed that ``America is back'' in one of his first addresses has instead come to own a foreign policy record that is marred by botched withdrawals, open displays of weakness, and regretful decision making.

Look no further than the United States' disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which undoubtedly has damaged the trust between our allies, broadcasted weakness on the world stage, and displayed a lack of resolve that emboldened our adversaries.

When it comes to Iran and the Middle East, President Biden has made disastrous decisions, like the decision to delist the Houthis as an FTO, the same Iranian-backed terror group that has perpetrated more than 30 attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea; or the administration's willingness to be strung along by Iran with fruitless nuclear negotiations.

Today, it is clear that these negotiations were a waste of time. They are attacking our bases. They are providing dollars for all of these terror attacks in that region. And Iran now is rapidly increasing their production of highly enriched uranium.

And how could we forget the decision to unfreeze $6 billion in assets to Iran--and to do so on 9/11, of all days.

The foreign policy of President Biden has been defined by skyrocketing attacks on U.S. troops by foreign adversaries, a large- scale ground war in Europe, and the unprecedented buildup of China's military, amid concerns about the health of our own defense industrial base here at home.

While there is an undeniable lack of American leadership in our executive branch, we must remind ourselves that it is not too late ever to reverse course. While the congressional Republicans didn't create the issues that we have at hand, we accept the responsibility of trying to solve them. That is why Republicans stand for solutions that

change the border policies--policies, not money--that have allowed this crisis to thrive, rein in our Washington spending, support our small businesses and manufacturers and middle-class families, unleash American energy, and then prove that the true strength and standing of the United States in the world is as good as it could ever be.

Our country cannot--cannot--continue to accept the level of failure that this administration has made normal over the past 3 years.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I rise today in light of the news that John Kerry, America's climate czar, will soon be leaving his post. Mr. Kerry's exit presents, I think, us with an opportunity to comprehensively reexamine the Biden administration's record on energy and the environment.

For 3 years now while Mr. Kerry has been there, we have had energy regulation after energy regulation, climate mandate after climate mandate; and President Biden has clearly and unapologetically put the American people last.

His Cabinet Secretaries and unelected staff members from the State Department to the EPA, from

the White House to the U.S. Department of Transportation, have followed his lead. They have pushed an unworkable, untenable agenda meant to appease the global climate community and environmental activists alike.

The problem is that these goals and proposals are completely detached from reality. Well, let's just start with Mr. Kerry's recent comments:

There shouldn't be any more coal-fired power plants

permitted anywhere in the world.

Followed by him signing an international pledge to do just that.

Well, that is a big statement for someone in his position, yet he has outlined no plan to replace this baseload energy source that is critical to our Nation and, really, critical around the world, especially in these winter months on days like we see today and this past week where we have had record freezing--and below-freezing-- temperatures.

He makes comments like this but does not acknowledge that States like mine--West Virginia--or States like Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Colorado all rely heavily on coal-fired power plants for our electricity.

Acknowledging this reality would not be wise for Mr. Kerry because decimating the entire electric grid of dozens of States across the country and the thousands--tens of thousands of jobs that go with it would not be a good look for the administration.

So they never quite get to the next point of what would happen if we actually followed what he is saying. But not to fear, the EPA has Mr. Kerry's back when it comes to threatening America's energy grid with policies that are just not based in reality.

Despite the Supreme Court knocking down the Obama administration's previous attempt to close down coal- and gas-fired power plants in West Virginia v. EPA, the Biden administration has doubled down on this reckless policy. The Clean Power Plan 2.0 is, again, designed to prematurely force the retirement of these power plants and require the use of technologies that are not nearly ready for prime time.

Unfortunately for the American people, by the time the courts catch up, as they did before, a lot of the damage is done. Jobs are lost, the electric grid is undetermined and undermined, and the lives of entire communities are disrupted. Believe me, I know this firsthand. We lived through this in West Virginia during the Obama administration, and I would not wish it on any other parts of this country.

But the Biden administration is not stopping there. In a mind- boggling display of irony, the EPA is simultaneously pushing a rapid transition to electric vehicles. What do you have to use for that? That would be more electricity.

So let's look at what happened this week. In Iowa, we saw how cold it was during the caucuses, below zero everywhere. Many Americans faced a cold snap this week across the country, but owners of EVs were stuck because, No. 1, the EVs couldn't hold a charge in the cold weather and, No. 2, they found they couldn't even charge them at the charging stations.

A rapid and unreasonable transition to these vehicles--and I am not anti-electric vehicle at all--with serious reliability concerns would also increase electricity demand as the Agency works to shut down reliable baseload energy sources of power. It makes no sense.

And, again, ignoring reality, the Biden administration just carries on. More recently, the EPA announced a tax on energy companies through a methane fee, using the Democrats' really disastrous Inflation Reduction Act to target and penalize American energy producers. And, currently, a complex set of cases is winding through the courts on the topic of the EPA's so-called good neighbor air regulation.

This policy would take away the authority of 23 States, mine included, to determine how best to regulate ozone and reduce emissions in their own borders, which is what the Clean Air Act calls for, an alarming consolidation of power for Washington bureaucrats.

The EPA's approach ignores the cooperative Federalism framework of the Clean Air Act and deprives the States of their rights to regulate first. Our States know our States better than the Federal Government. Twelve States have already been successful in convincing courts that this program has serious legal challenges and issues, and that the courts have issued stays of the rule.

And this was all followed then by the EPA's disastrous Waters of the U.S., better known in these Halls as WOTUS, which illegally expanded the jurisdiction of the Federal Government at the expense of American farmers, builders, and private landowners.

Unsurprisingly, this was roundly rejected by the Supreme Court-- including a 9-to-0 agreement that the scope of the proposal went way too far.

Yet even as the highest Court in the land sends clear warning signals that President Biden's energy and environmental overreach is illegal, those down the street at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue just don't seem to care.

We have seen the resounding theme of Federal overreach, not just at Departments and Agencies but also directly from the White House.

As the administration is touting investments being made in our Nation's infrastructure, a bill that I roundly and soundly supported and also helped to create, the White House Council on Environmental Quality--better known as CEQ--has actually proposed making it harder to build and complete these projects.

So on the one hand, we are going to create a huge program for infrastructure; on the other hand, we are going to restrict how you build, when you build, how much it costs to build, and if you can build at all. They have championed burdensome permitting rules and redtape regulations, none of which--none of which--were agreed to by this Congress. And the White House Office of Management and Budget--better known as OMB--published a governmentwide mandate on Agencies to consider its flawed ``social cost of greenhouse gases'' metrics.

Well, I have asked for transparency here because I want to know how these numbers are developed and used, and I have gotten no substantive answers in response. It is crickets over there when I ask these questions. All we have received are broad public pronouncements that these numbers are to be used by Departments and Agencies when purchasing any goods or services in this time of high inflation and supply cost issues and when reviewing any proposed energy or infrastructure projects as they see fit.

Again, the irony is astounding for those of us looking at this from a realistic point of view. The same White House boasting about infrastructure investments--I am going to repeat--and growth is simultaneously hamstringing itself with climate mandates and memos that will impact millions of workers, families, and employers across this country, with all of the details hidden out of the sight of the American people.

After 3 years, there is a clear message President Biden and Mr. Kerry need to hear, regulations meant to signal climate action that don't follow the law and aren't based in reality are not the answer.

There is a better way--one that will unite us and actually make our Nation and world healthier and stronger. I have said so many times that our energy and environmental policies do not have to be at odds. So instead of targeting natural gas production, which was the major reason America reduced its emissions in the last 20 years, we should continue to support it. Doing so will boost our American energy, make for a cleaner environment, a better environment, and help our allies abroad, all at the same time.

We can also support the future expansion of nuclear energy, which holds great promise. It is emissions free. It is a linchpin of America's energy grid by enacting these policies that will drive development here on our shores and help us grow.

And we could move ahead with permits for carbon capture, use, and storage, in States who want to harness innovative technologies like mine, create jobs, and protect the environment at the same time and use natural gas, coal, as long as we can, because it is abundant in this country.

There is room for all of that, if we would just stop the hyperbole and the alarmism that is so often encountered when discussing this issue. When I and so many Americans hear somebody say ``shut it all down'' comments from the ``climate czar'' that are then mirrored

in actual regulations from the Federal Government, it just is not helpful. And I believe that history will show and has shown that it only hurts us.

So as Mr. Kerry exits the administration, let's take stock of the path the Biden administration has taken us down. And it is clear we must reverse course; we must leave behind the unworkable proposals and job-killing overreach and work together to allow realistic solutions to thrive right here in America.

I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, as we begin our new year, I rise to continue our discussion on one of the most pressing matters that has been so hard on our country. That is our open southern border and the responsibility for this Senate to take meaningful action.

Since this Chamber last was in session, each of us has traveled back to our respective States and has had the opportunity to talk with our constituents about what they are thinking and what they are seeing. Hands down, I can tell you that the crisis on our southern border is on the tip of everybody's tongue in terms of asking questions. It is the No. 1 issue for my State of West Virginia. Time and time again, across a multitude of conversations, West Virginians have asked me pretty logical questions: When will enough be enough? When will President Biden finally wake up and realize that this is a crisis? What can Congress do to stop this? What are you--meaning me as a Member of the Senate--going to do about it?

They see the numbers in the news--we saw them all through December, the mass humanitarian costs broadcasted on our TV sets daily--and the destruction that the flow of illicit drugs is doing and causing in our communities. So I share their frustration, and I have voiced it many times here on the floor. The crisis of our southern border is a topic that I have addressed repeatedly.

The chronic failure of this President to act has led to the point where even my colleagues across the aisle--everyone--have begun to raise alarm as the consequences of the administration's bad border policy have become undeniable.

One of my colleagues referred to the border as ``porous.'' That is kind of a nice way of saying it is open and very, very easy to get through. I am not sure what finally led to this universal recognition, but I do have some ideas. It could have been the 2.4 million migrant encounters this past fiscal year--2.4 million. I live in a State of a little less than 1.8 million. My entire State came through that border, and more. Or the month after month of record illegal crossings with the largest month being just this past December of 302,000 encounters. That is this past December. Or the over 10,000 illegal encounters that we are experiencing daily, which is the size of many of the small towns in my State, with the record being 12,600, again, in December--12,600 crossings in December. Or the record 169 encounters with individuals on our Terror Watchlist just this past fiscal year, with an additional 30 encounters the first 2 months of fiscal year 2024. These are people whom we know have terrorist ties; whom we know could be a danger to us. Yet we are catching them as they are joining this brigade of millions coming across our southern border.

This is just an untenable national security crisis, one where we have no way of knowing how many terrorists have evaded apprehension and are now in the heartland of our country. This is a risk that we cannot take--not now, not ever. Yet very little, if any--and I would say none--has been taken by this administration to really remedy the situation.

There has been a lapse in this border security under the President, and a subsequent mass flow of immigration is creating a real-life humanitarian crisis of drug smuggling and human trafficking.

In fact, there is somebody who is thriving during this. The cartels are thriving with this billion dollars of business with our wide-open southern border.

It is important to remember that, really, I believe, this catastrophe is entirely the making of our President. And while congressional Republicans did not cause this, we are now taking the responsibility, along with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, of trying to address it and make meaningful progression.

This is why we need substantive policy changes to address our broken border. It has become increasingly obvious that now is the time to act.

Doing nothing will result in what? A continuation of 10,000 people a day, encounters per day, on our southern border and cover for the cartels to smuggle drugs and traffic people.

Doing nothing will result in the news, like we got just, I think, yesterday or maybe earlier today. A New York City high school is being overtaken and housing migrants for shelter, and the students are being told that they should engage in remote learning. In other words, don't come to school; we are using the school to house illegal migrants, and you do remote learning in school.

Well, what did we learn during COVID about remote learning? It is not good for our students. With a consistent remote learning program that we tried during COVID, you could see our falling test scores and a lot of mental health issues at the same time. So doing nothing will only increase the national security threats that our country is facing; therefore, doing nothing is unacceptable.

In a moment as critical as this, we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We are currently in a historically narrowly divided Congress, making bipartisanship an essential component in getting legislation across the finish line. That is what our Senate negotiators are engaged in.

We all talk about how bad the situation is at the southern border, but it is irresponsible to talk about the problem while refusing to solve it unless you get 100 percent of what you want. I have been here several years. I can honestly say there are very few times I get 100 percent of everything I want in a bill.

If we do not take this opportunity to make serious reforms, then the current crisis will continue with no end in sight. We cannot do that. As negotiations continue, we await the text of a final agreement.

The question that will soon be before us will not be whether this is a bill that each of us would have personally written--because it won't be--but, rather, if we will take this opportunity and make serious reforms--the most serious reforms in decades--to help stop the overwhelming number of encounters that our Border Patrol agents see every day and take back control of our southern border. We must bring order and process back to our immigration policies.

I admire the steadfast and particular dedication of my colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Lankford, who has personally called many of us. He called me three times over Christmas. I know he didn't get much of a break with his family. He has displayed incredible strength throughout this process.

I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to recognize the importance of this moment and the urgent need to respond to the challenges that we have in front of us.

As always, I maintain my optimism--I am hoping next week we will get the text, and we can work that bill through this body--and remain confident in this Chamber's ability to deliver. We must take advantage of this opportunity.

I have never been at the cusp of an opportunity like this in the last 20 years on immigration that we have right now--something that will make a difference. So we have to take advantage of this, and we have to make sure that we are making meaningful changes as we are moving through this process.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.