Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to speak in opposition to the Paul amendment.

Members of both parties have always agreed an independent--underscore independent--central bank is critical to a functioning economy. Congress put in place restrictions to shield the Fed's monetary policy from political influence. This longstanding restriction ensures that the Fed isn't subject to the whims of Congress, to the partisanship, to the nihilism--if I could use another word--of, too often, people in this body.

Whether it is threatening a default or a government shutdown, all too common because of dysfunction and chaos in the House of Representatives--whether it is threatening a default or government shutdown, we have already seen how partisanship so negatively impacts people's pocketbooks in the broader economy. We don't need it here too.

This amendment would make the Fed less effective. It would open it up to all kinds of nefarious political pressure. Congress already requires that the Fed undergo regular review of their operations, of their programs, of their balance sheet, of their financial statements. These are some of the ways Congress holds the Fed accountable while avoiding dangerous political interference.

This amendment is irrelevant to what we are voting on today. It is yet another impediment to keeping our government open. It shouldn't be partisan. It shouldn't be political. Those antics should stay out of this debate.

I urge my colleagues to vote no on the Paul amendment.

I yield the floor.

Vote on Amendment No. 1217

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

We know our middle class relies on strong, small businesses. Small business ownership is the second largest source of personal wealth in this country, only behind owning a home. Small businesses make up more than 40 percent of our economy--no better example than that of the Presiding Officer from Colorado and the

work that he did as he had the phenomenal success he did starting small businesses.

We know, to build strong businesses, entrepreneurs need credit. A loan lets you turn an idea into a business or invest in your company to hire more workers. That is why small business credit is so essential to our economy and to our middle class.

Today, small business lending takes place in the dark. We don't have good data about how lenders are serving the small businesses in their communities. We don't have good data about whom lenders might be leaving behind. Without transparency, it is all too easy for entrepreneurs in Ohio and around the country to lose out.

The data we do have suggests too many small business owners aren't getting a fair shot at a loan for their businesses. Take rural small businesses. We know that rural communities have seen bank branch close after bank branch close for years, drying up access to credit for lots of small businesses in rural Ohio. We need the data to understand how to reach these business owners and how to grow smalltown economies.

Or take small businesses owned by women or by people of color. The data we do have suggests they are more likely to be denied loans and they are more likely to be charged higher interest rates. You don't need reports and studies to know that most Ohioans don't get a fair shake from big banks and the financial system. You do need accurate information to fight back. That is why, in 2010, Congress required the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get that information; and this spring, the CFPB issued a rule to finally implement the law and to bring transparency to the small business lending market.

We are talking about basic data on the borrowers' demographics, loan pricing, application approvals, and other critical information--just like we do with mortgages. It is not that complicated and not that difficult and not that expensive. With this data, we will be able to see gaps in the small business lending market, allowing programs to expand access to credit for small businesses, especially like small businesses in rural areas. More data means more accountability, ensuring that lenders reach minority communities and helping to root out discrimination.

We have seen this model work before. After we began publishing data some years ago about home mortgages, more Americans of all races and backgrounds were able to achieve the dream of homeownership.

This still protects people's privacy. Borrowers are not required to submit information if they don't want to. Of course, big banks and their lobbyists are putting up a fight. They always do. Any time there is a rule that might change their behavior, they come up with the same song and dance: It is too expensive. We have to hire new people. Actually, it helps them serve the community better.

I am not going to help Wall Street avoid accountability. There has been too much of that. When I took over chairmanship of this committee, it was called the Senate Banking Committee, and it was a committee all about Wall Street. We changed this. The colloquial name of this committee is the Senate Housing and Banking Committee. Our charge is to build more homes, to make them more affordable, to help with transit systems in places like Atlanta and Denver and Cleveland, and to look out, especially, to help small banks and communities. That is why we are going to hold Wall Street accountable.

I want to see more rural small businesses get loans and grow and be successful. We are not going to let the banking lobby stand in the way, as it all too often has.

I hope my colleagues will stand up for small businesses, will stand up for entrepreneurs, and will vote no on this resolution.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I rise today to congratulate the Ohio History Connection, National Parks Service, and local Tribal communities on their historic achievement of earning Ohio's first World Heritage designation.

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks join the Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, and 21 others as U.S.- designated World Heritage sites. The designation is reserved for the places on earth that are of ``Outstanding Universal Value'' to humanity and will support the protection of the site for future generations.

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are a series of eight ancient monuments built in the middle of the Woodland period, between 1,600 and 2,000 years ago by people we now refer to as the Hopewell Culture. The Earthworks embody the artistry, spirituality, and architecture of the Hopewell peoples. They also reflect the commitment to preservation and collaboration that archaeologists and Tribal nations have maintained over the years.

This designation would not be possible without the collaboration of the Ohio History Connection, the National Parks Service, and local Tribal communities. May the celebration and preservation of the Hopewell Earthworks tell the story of Ohio history for generations to come. Congratulations.

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

Madam President, sometimes we come to the floor in maybe a less serious vein. We are all incredulous that while we do our work here and keep the government open, the people down the hall there are playing political games and threatening a shutdown. And when 55,000 people in my State and probably 10,000 people in the Presiding Officer's State will lose their jobs temporarily, will be furloughed, will be laid off, all because they are trying to play political games, we talk about that a lot. We need to fix that.

But, today, I want to rise for a moment on something more lighthearted than that, and that is to honor the retiring manager of the Cleveland Guardians, Terry Francona, called in Cleveland--referred to as ``Tito'' Francona.

Cleveland will play their last home game with Tito as their manager starting in maybe 20 minutes from now, something like that. Tito has been a part of the team since 2013.

I call him by his first name. I don't know the Cleveland manager. I have never met the Cleveland manager. But I have watched him. I watch a lot of games on television. But we all refer to him by his first name, ``Tito.''

I was at a game earlier this summer, and we were pulling out in a traffic jam, and Tito does what I have read in the Plain Dealer that he does. All of a sudden, he passed us. The game was about an hour over, and he rode by on his little scooter to his little Cleveland condominium downtown, just the manager by himself.

(Mr. OSSOFF assumed the Chair.)

He didn't have airs about him. He is a normal guy, and we will really, really miss him.

In his baseball career, he left Cleveland. He was the manager in the 2016 World Series, where my daughters and my wife and I--they broke our hearts in game 7 to a team like the Chicago Cubs. And it was really amazing that there was a rain delay in the ninth inning, and then they came back and Cleveland lost in extra innings.

A week later, Donald Trump was elected. So I don't think it was a good week for the country. But that is just my biased opinion, perhaps.

But in Ohio, in Cleveland, if you are a Cleveland Guardians fan, you know about perseverance. His baseball career extends back to when he joined Major League Baseball as a player. Spending 9 years in the field, he played a year for Cleveland, but he is a baseball lifer. But his life is very inextricably linked to Cleveland, as a baseball player and manager.

I am not sure he was born in Cleveland. He lived in Cleveland when his dad played for the Cleveland Indians in the old Municipal Stadium. Notably, his dad twice was traded for Larry Doby, the first African- American player in the American League and one of the Hall of Fame members because of his baseball play, his courage, his guts, and his note of being so important to history and breaking the color line.

I grew up watching his father play. I saw his father, once in a double-header, get seven hits. And the eighth time he came to the plate, Brooks Robinson--the third base player from the Orioles who just passed away--Brooks Robinson threw him out. He would have been 8 for 8 in a double-header.

As I said, his dad was traded twice for Larry Doby. His dad, one year, should have led the league at hitting, at .363 but was disqualified because he had one too few plate appearances. He batted 399 times instead of 400, even though he walked a number of times--too much inside baseball, maybe, for the Senate floor and for my colleagues to care about.

But his dad played for years and was an All-Star in 1961. He hit .363 in 1959 and was a fan favorite.

So the Francona family was formed in Cleveland and grew up in Cleveland in that sense. It reminds me of how baseball is a game that spans generations and brings people together.

I grew up 2 hours south of Cleveland. My dad used to take us to Major League Baseball games, to five or six games a year--five or six times a year, often double-headers. And my dad hated the New York Yankees so much that he would never take us to a Yankees game because he didn't want Mickey Mantle, the star of the Yankees, to get 10 cents of his ticket. So I never saw the Yankees play until I could drive myself to New York.

When Tito Francona joined the Montreal Expos in 1981, he succeeded his father as a baseball player. He played in Cleveland for a year. In 1990, he retired from the game and not a particularly stellar baseball career, not as good as his father's.

But then he became a manager. He managed the Phillies. He managed the Red Sox in two world championships. He then came home to us in Cleveland in 2013. In 2016, Cleveland won the American League Championship with the Indians--now, of course, the Guardians. He led the team to the World Series.

As I said, game 7 was quite an experience that I could take my daughters to, then in their thirties. And we had gone to baseball games. And my dad took me for years, and we got to see this team we loved and this team we followed so closely go to the World Series--a team that wasn't considered at the beginning of the season World Series caliber. And it was quite a season.

And the next year, Cleveland came back. They, at one point, won 22 games in a row. Only once in Major League Baseball did a team win more than that, when the Giants, in 1926, won 26 in a row. So it was an incredible streak.

But more important, his players reached a level of excellence that was beyond what most people think was their skill level. Cleveland, to owners that have never spent the money--owners in the Presiding Officer's home State, in Atlanta, they try to buy pennants like the Yankees do and the Mets do and the Dodgers do and the Red Sox do. They spend so much money to try to buy the best players. Cleveland has never had owners that were either that rich or that generous. So Tito had to figure out how to win without that kind of money.

But what he has done, which I so much like, is he gets out of his players a skill and a drive that most managers are not able to achieve. You can tell he loves America's game. I mean, he shared that with all of us.

He loves the city where his team plays and where he manages. He has been there for 10 years, in Cleveland. I guess 11 years.

His players could have gone somewhere else and made more money. The star player for Cleveland, a young man named Jose Ramirez, signed a long-term contract, made a whole lot of money, but everybody said he could have made so much more money if he had gone to New York or Atlanta or L.A. or Boston and signed huge contracts with really rich, generous owners. I think his players want to play for him, and he helped put our team on the map again.

I just wanted to say to Tito Francona, thank you for everything you have done for Cleveland. Thank you for the memories and the joy you have brought so many of us as fans.

We celebrate his contributions to baseball, his commitment to Cleveland, and his extraordinary career.

Remembering Tom Conway

Mr. President, on a much more serious note, I want to honor a friend of mine who passed away this week, a national leader of stature who made such a difference in working people's lives.

I come to this floor to talk about the dignity of work, to talk about people who put their lives on the line and put their careers front and center about workers. Tom Conway did that.

Tom Conway passed away in the last few days, the president of the United Steelworkers. He joined the labor movement in 1978. He worked as a millwright. ``Millwright'' means those workers who essentially fix and make equipment work inside plants. He worked at the Burns Harbor Works of Bethlehem Steel in northwest Indiana.

Forty years ago, 45 years ago, he joined Local 6787. He dedicated his life to expanding opportunity and economic security for workers. Whether on a picket line or sitting across from the steel executives, his values were on his sleeve. His commitment to workers never wavered.

On trade issues and worker safety, always one of the first calls I made was to talk to Tom Conway, to get wisdom from Tom Conway, to get perspective from Tom Conway, because I knew always he was looking out for the workers whom he represented.

Steelworkers in Ohio knew what those bad trade deals--from NAFTA to PNTR with China, to TPP, to CAFTA--all the issues that, frankly, are a big part of the reasons my State has struggled with so many lost jobs.

Given this devastation, Tom saw across the industry. You might understand if he became a pessimist, threw up his hands, and gave up. He was never that--far from that. He drew his energy from the resilience of American steelworkers and steel communities across the Midwest.

He knew what we know in Ohio, that American workers can compete with anyone. They just need a level playing field. He never stopped fighting for that level playing field, for fair trade, for real investment in American industry, for strong enforcement of our trade laws.

Because of his advocacy and the advocacy of so many Ohio steelworkers, we made real progress. We passed the

original Level the Playing Field Act, the landmark overall of our trade remedy laws, to allow steelworkers to fight back against cheating by China, against dumping steel from China, against other unfair foreign competition. We passed the strongest ever ``Buy America'' rules to ensure that American tax dollars support American workers.

He never gave up on American steel. He never gave up on American workers. He saw the potential in this union to grow. He knew that, if more people carried a union card, their lives would be better. It would mean higher wages and better benefits. It would mean a more secure retirement. It would mean a safer workplace. It would mean more control over your schedule. That is what carrying a union card means.

My wife will say that her dad's union card saved her life. She grew up and at 16 had an asthma attack. She lived almost 2 hours from Cleveland Clinic. She got an ambulance to take her to the clinic. She was there for a week. It saved her life. Her dad could afford that care, that ambulance, that time in Cleveland Clinic because he carried a union card, and they negotiated for healthcare benefits. That is what Tom Conway did his whole life.

I wear on my lapel a pin depicting a canary in a birdcage. The mineworkers used to take the canary down in the mines a hundred years ago. If the canary died, the mineworker was on his own. He knew that he didn't have a union strong enough or a government that cared enough to protect him. That is why he carried the canary down into the mines.

This was given to me by a steelworker some 20 years ago in Lorain, OH. I have worn it on my lapel ever since. And that is what Tom Conway is about.

John Shinn, the secretary-treasurer of USW said: Solidarity wasn't just a word to Tom. It was a way of life. He understood that, by working together, we balance the scales against greedy corporations.

We see it now. Chrysler, now called Stellantis, has made $12 billion just in calendar year 2023. Stellantis' CEO makes 800 times what the entry-level worker at Stellantis makes.

Tom Conway understood that we fight against that kind of worker greed, and we help lift up workers so they can share in the wealth created by their work. Balancing those scales is what unions are all about. It is why autoworkers are in that picket line. That is what they are doing. It is what Tom Conway led the steelworkers to do.

We honor his memory, his legacy best by carrying on his life's work. His successor at USW is Dave McCall, fellow Ohioan. Dave McCall worked with and has known Tom Conway for over 40 years. He will serve out the remainder of his term. I can't think of anyone better to carry on Tom's legacy than Dave McCall.

Dave and I have been in the trenches together for the better part of our entire careers, walking picket lines, talking to Ohio workers at union halls and fighting against bad trade policy that this body far too often falls for because corporate lobbyists swarm this place and push these bad trade agreements, always, always, always at the expense of workers.

Dave McCall understands the dignity of work, as Tom did. He spent his whole life fighting for it. He would have made Tom Conway proud.

I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Tom Conway today. Our thoughts are with his family, his longtime partner Carol, his three sons and six grandchildren, and with steelworker sisters and brothers in Ohio and around the country.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, right after workers for Stellantis--the old name of Stellantis was Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler. Their plant is in Toledo. They make the Jeep Cherokee. It

is made by union workers in Toledo, OH, my State. My wife and I each drive Jeep Cherokees. One of those cars once saved my life when a young high school kid, at 40 miles an hour in the middle of the day, ran a stop sign and hit the side of the car where I was sitting. There were essentially no injuries because these are well-made American cars by union labor.

I was over to the picket line Friday morning. I talked with a lot of workers. I know many of them. There are 6,000 at this plant. And 1,000--actually, 1,100 of these workers are at this Chrysler plant, this Stellantis plant in Toledo. Those 1,100 workers at the Jeep plant are on what is called a tiered wage system where they make fewer than $19-and-something an hour. They have been at this Jeep plant, some of them for 1 year, some of them 3 years, some of them 5 or 6 years, yet they make less than $40,000 a year as union workers.

The reason for that is some years ago, when Chrysler--then Chrysler-- and GM were in real serious economic trouble, the union--the government helped, but the union, in order to save these plants, in order to save, essentially, the American automobile industry--they did major givebacks of their wages and their benefits.

They set up--management insisted and the workers went along because they wanted to save these companies--they took major pay cuts and set up a tiered wage system. So new workers, hundreds and hundreds--over 1,000 from this plant of 6,000 union workers--were making substandard wages.

That is troubling enough that those workers, years later, are still making those substandard wages. In some cases, you can't support a family on these wages. Yet that is when Chrysler and GM were in such economic trouble.

Since then, we know how well Chrysler--Stellantis now--and GM are doing. We know how well they are doing by a number of measurements. No. 1, Chrysler--sorry, Stellantis; I always think of them as Chrysler and Jeep in my State. Stellantis made $12 billion just in this calendar alone. This company made $12 billion. When they were in trouble, the workers, by giving up a lot and making sacrifices, saved them. Now these companies are so profitable--$12 billion just this year alone, Stellantis--they have essentially given nothing back to the workers, and they are unwilling to provide the workers a decent benefit-- benefits, wages, all of those things.

At the same time, I met an entry-level worker there. She just started. The CEO of Stellantis makes 850 times what this worker makes-- 850 times what this worker makes. The CEO of Stellantis makes 365 times what the average worker in Chrysler--the average worker in Stellantis makes in that plant and other plants around the country.

The fact is, these workers--clearly, we come down on the side of these workers. The industry has done very well because of America's economic system. The industry has done very well because they have had the opportunity to do well in this country because the workers sacrifice so much. That is why I will go back to the picket line.

There may be picket lines and shutdowns and strikes in other parts of the auto industry. The public clearly sides with these workers. The public understands that these CEOs are making between $22- and $29 million a year. The three CEOs have gotten 30-percent, 40-percent increases since the industry did so well.

Again, a decade ago, workers were willing to give up a lot to keep these companies going. Now, they are immensely profitable--$12 billion in profits this year alone with the CEO making $22-23 million. The auto industry is simply not willing to come to the table and negotiate in good faith so these workers can share in the prosperity they created.

We know it not only hurts those workers when they are making $16 an hour; it hurts the community. It hurts Toledo, Lucas County, Wood County--those communities that don't have the taxes they would if these workers were making decent wages. And they don't have the economic prosperity they would if workers were making decent wages and buying-- spending a little more at the grocery store, on movies, on clothes, and on all the things that help create a prosperous economy.

No question, I will continue to stand with workers. I think most of the Senate stands with workers. I know most of the American people stand with these workers.

I implore GM and Stellantis and Ford to come to the table and make a good faith, decent offer and get these workers back to work. They don't want to strike. Their backs are to the wall. They had to strike.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I hope my colleagues will join me, as I know the Senator from Michigan, the Presiding Officer, does, in standing in solidarity with thousands of UAW workers in Ohio and Michigan and around the country who demand that automakers--a simple demand really--respect the work they do to make these companies successful. There is still time, the rest of the day and, really, beyond this, for the Big Three to avert a strike, which we know is always a last resort for workers.

My wife is the daughter of a utility worker in Ashtabula, in the far northeast corner of the State. She, first of all, credits her dad's union card with saving her life. She was 16 years old and had an asthma attack, I believe at school, and was picked up in an ambulance and taken to the Cleveland Clinic and spent more than a week there-- something she could not afford without her dad's union card and her dad's healthcare benefits from the utility workers union and from that company.

She also said that, twice during her growing up, the union struck because their backs were against the wall; they thought they had no choice. She acknowledges that the workers never really recover the lost wages from a strike.

These UAW members in Michigan and Ohio, in Toledo, in Cincinnati, in Dayton, and all over our State and in other States, they want to be on the job. They don't want to strike. They don't want to be on the picket line. But when companies refuse to recognize the work they do, workers are backed into a corner.

It is why union cards matter. A union card means workers can stand together for fair pay and benefits, for better working conditions, for safer workplaces, for control over their schedules, for a voice in their company, and a voice in their community--because, to be clear, autoworkers surely are the engines behind these companies' success. GM, Ford, and Stellantis--people around the country know Stellantis as the old Chrysler--the Big Three wouldn't be making a dime, of course, in profits without the workers who actually make their cars and trucks.

Remember, autoworkers--this is the most important thing. Autoworkers stood up and made sacrifices a decade ago, especially at GM and Chrysler--Stellantis--because those companies were in trouble. And taxpayers stood up, and government stood, finally, on the side of those companies, and the workers made sacrifices to help the American auto industry when times were tough.

Who remembers the depths of the recession? UAW workers stood behind the Big Three when a whole lot of politicians in this town wanted to abandon these companies. Now that times are good, all that workers are asking for is their fair share.

Let's be clear, times now are very, very good for these companies and very, very, very good for these CEOs. We know auto executives--I don't know how many. But I know auto executives in all three companies--many, many of them--make more than a million dollars a year. Some of them make tens of millions of dollars a year.

Together GM, Ford, and Stellantis brought in $21 billion--that is with a ``b,'' a thousand million--$21 billion in profits the first half of the year alone.

Think about that. These companies were struggling a decade ago. They were in real trouble. They were losing money. They were in trouble during the recession. Workers gave them major kinds of givebacks, gave them major kinds of concessions. They took less money for themselves and set up a three-tiered rate structure that hurt workers, but they had to do it to save these companies. They agreed to do that.

But, now, times are really, really good for these companies. Again, GM, Ford, and Stellantis together brought in $21 billion of profits just in the first half of 2023, but they don't want to share those profits with these workers.

And who makes these profits possible? Again, the history: These companies were in trouble. The government helped them. Workers gave up a lot. Workers sacrificed. Workers gave back money they shouldn't have had to give back because they wanted to save the companies. Now, the companies are doing well. Now, the executives are doing very, very well with $21 billion in profits, and the company is not willing to appreciably share in those profits.

The CEO of GM makes 362 times what its median worker makes. With Ford, it is only a modest 281 times that. Think of that. The GM CEO--a company that, when struggling, was saved because of worker concessions--is making 362 times what the median--not the lowest paid worker but the median--worker of that company makes. So, frankly, I hesitate to call names, and I am really not. I don't want to hear whining from companies that they can't afford to pay workers what they are worth. And that goes for all workers, all autoworkers making all kinds of vehicles--cars and trucks and SUVs.

I know what the future is. I know these companies. These companies plan to be overwhelmingly making batteries, making electric vehicles. That is their decision, to be sure. But I don't want those--because some politicians whine about, ``Well, we don't want electric vehicles''--these are the companies' decisions, the companies' plans, the companies' futures. But I don't want those jobs--those politicians that whine, if they get their way, they are going to see these electric vehicles made in Japan and China and Taiwan and overseas.

We went through that already. We know what my hometown of Mansfield, OH, looked like. I know what Dayton, OH, looked like. I know what Hamtramck and cities in the Presiding Officer's State looked like. I know what happens to those counties, those workers. And do you know what? I know what happens to those cities, those communities.

I grew up in Mansfield, OH, a town of 50,000. I went to Johnny Appleseed Junior High School. That was really its name--Johnny Appleseed Pioneers. And I went to school with sons and daughters of autoworkers at GM, rubberworkers at Mansfield Tire, electrical IUE members at Westinghouse--there were several thousand at one

point--machinists at Tappan Stove, and the sons of daughters of pipefitters and plumbers and electricians and bricklayers, millwrights, insulators, and laborers and--I am forgetting others--and operating engineers.

And do you know what? Within 10 or 20 years, most of those jobs were gone. They were gone because companies, always looking for lower wages, wanted to go to non-union States.

First, they went to Alabama. That wasn't good enough. So then they jammed, and I mean ``jammed''--sorry to say it this way--by buying off a whole lot of politicians--they jammed these trade agreements, like NAFTA, through the Congress, and then it got worse.

It wasn't just the companies going to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Then they weren't greedy enough; they wanted even cheaper labor. Then they went to China and Mexico. That means that in my community of 50,000, where I grew up, you just don't see the prosperity there that you did when I went to school with those kids.

So, as I said, we have heard a lot of politicians blaming electrical vehicles for the dispute, as if, somehow, corporations wanting to squeeze their workers was a new development.

I will make it clear. I don't care what kind of car Americans drive. My wife and I drove Chevy Cruzes for a while, and they were made in Lordstown, OH, by GM, about an hour and a half from our home. Now, we each drive a Jeep Cherokee, made about 2 hours from our home, in the other direction, in Toledo. So people can drive what they are going to drive. I always hope, and I know the Presiding Officer thinks the same way, that people buy union-made cars made in the United States. But I see what happens when both parties--both parties--frankly, unfortunately, it wasn't a partisan thing. My party was almost as guilty as Republicans on this--the push for NAFTA--which sent thousands of jobs overseas.

We fought them. When politicians said, ``Let these companies die; they are not worth saving; foreign automakers can do this better,'' we fought them every step of the way.

Now, today, for anyone who doubts that autoworkers in Ohio are the future of this industry, for anyone who wants to give up on these plants or force workers to settle for less, we will fight the way I fought NAFTA my first year in Congress, the way I fought permanent normal trade relations, the giveaway to the Chinese--not Chinese workers, but giveaway to Chinese Communist Party officials and corrupt leaders--a different kind of corruption from American leaders who sold them short, but nonetheless.

We know this industry is changing. Forty years ago, when Jeep rolled out the Jeep Cherokee--Chrysler now--most people had never heard of an SUV. Now they dominate the market. Twenty-three years ago, hybrids came along. Whatever the auto industry looks like in 20 years, in 50 years, in 100 years--I am not an auto expert. I don't know what they are going to look like 20 or 50 or 100 years from now, but I do know this: Ohio autoworkers, American innovation will be leading it, if we let them, if we reward these workers and don't let companies searching for cheap labor and going to anti-union States, moving overseas--as long as we don't let them run the show.

I was in Lordstown a couple of weeks ago. That is where the Chevy Cruze plant was, near Youngstown. I was at UAW Local 1112. I have been to that union, I don't know, 50 times in my life, with my friend Dave Green, a UAW superstar who came up through that plant. There were two locals at that plant. I don't remember if he came from 1112 or the other one. These are the workers now at the new Ultium cell battery plant. Many of them worked for the Cruze plant before GM closed it. There are reminders everywhere of what bad trade deals did to the Mahoning Valley.

But, do you know what? GM was paying. This was a joint venture. This was GM and a Korean company called LG. This was a joint venture, 50-50. Those workers at this Ultium plant were making $16 an hour. And I said to GM: Well, how can you do this?

They voted for a union, by the way, the UAW there, just recently, by a 90-plus percent vote.

I said to GM: How can you pay them $16 an hour when you have the national UAW contract? It is much more generous than that and negotiated, earned together.

They said: Well, we can't do anything because this is a jointly owned plant, and we are just half of it.

Well, they are General Motors. Of course, they can do something about it, and, of course, they need to do something about it.

Well, we were able--I hate to say it. We were able--partly by shining a light on General Motors and what they had done and what their history is--we were able to get a $4- to $5-an-hour raise working with Dave Green of UAW Local 1112 and getting thousands of dollars in stock buybacks for those workers that had been there a year or more.

These workers are, again, at the forefront of their industry, and they are not getting paid like it. America should continue to lead the global auto industry, but the Big Three can't do it without their workers. There is still time for this to happen, for these autoworkers and auto companies to agree to a fair contract. There is still time for these great American companies to do the right thing.

It means something we probably don't do enough of here. It means listening to their workers. It means foregoing strike-busting tactics, like we saw the last time, when UAW workers were forced to picket. In 2019, GM cut off striking workers' health insurance, a bad-faith tactic that not only hurts their most vulnerable asset, their workers, but it hurts their families and really hurts their communities.

I was at Local 14 in Toledo, talking to one worker. Here is what happens when an auto company uses its prowess and its power and its anti-union fervor, when they do that and take away healthcare. There was one worker whose healthcare was cut off at the Local 14 in Toledo, at the Chrysler plant. His 4-year-old daughter Chesney needed surgery, but she couldn't get it because GM canceled the family's health insurance.

They are workers who had a contract. They paid in. They were picketing because they didn't think over these 10 years GM and Chrysler and Ford lived up to their side of the bargain.

I have a bill with Senator Casey, who sits next to me, to make sure it doesn't happen again, the Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act. We shouldn't need that. We shouldn't need for companies to be strong-armed or forced by government to honor the dignity of work. That shouldn't be necessary when these iconic companies have done so well, paid good dividends, and rewarded their executives with compensation nobody would have dreamed up a generation ago. We shouldn't have to do that. But until these companies understand, ``You should respect the dignity of work,'' if they don't, then maybe it is time that government says: OK, we are going to have a Striking Workers Healthcare Protection Act. It is time to do the right thing, to bargain in good faith, and to agree to a contract that indeed honors the dignity of work.

I yield the floor.

Confirmation of Michael C. Casey

Madam President, I have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to 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:

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I have permission to complete my remarks before the rollcall vote.

Mr. President, I will not go long before the rollcall vote because I know how this place works. So thank you.

Mr. President, yesterday, we celebrated Labor Day--a day when Americans come together to honor all of the people who make this country work.

I know the Presiding Officer, the junior Senator from Massachusetts, is one of the strongest supporters not just of Labor Day but of the labor movement behind Labor Day.

Whether you punch a clock, swipe a badge, earn a salary, or make tips or whether you are caring for children or aging parents, all work has dignity. For too many Americans, we know hard work simply hasn't paid off the way that it should. We are working to change that. We are making real progress. We are taking historic steps to put workers first, to invest in American workers, and to make our economy work for every American, not just for CEOs, not just for Wall Street.

Just last week, the Department of Labor proposed a new rule to make millions of workers eligible for overtime pay. We have been working on this for years because, if you put in extra hours, you should be paid for those extra hours. It will put money in Ohioans' pockets. More than 100,000 Ohio workers will finally receive overtime pay when they put in overtime work. Imagine that they haven't--but they haven't, with the way this Congress and former Presidents have let this happen.

It has been a long time coming, but the fight is not over. We need to pass my Restoring Overtime Pay Act to provide workers with financial security by ensuring that overtime pay is permanently protected regardless of who is in the White House.

This important step forward comes after we passed the most pro-worker infrastructure bill in history with the strongest ``Buy America'' provisions in history. It means more opportunities for workers in the trades all over Ohio--repairing roads, laying broadband cables, replacing lead pipes, rebuilding bridges, fixing water systems. It means more work for American factories that are making the goods used to build our infrastructure.

We passed the CHIPS Act to bring our supply chains home and to ensure the technology of the future is made in America. It provides Davis- Bacon protection. That means they get union wages and union benefits for the workers who are creating these state-of-the-art factories, like the one in Licking County, OH, just east of Columbus.

We passed the Inflation Reduction Act, with prevailing wage and strong ``Buy America'' rules.

These are big wins for workers--the biggest wins and the most frequent wins for workers we have seen in a generation and the biggest steps we have taken in decades to create an industrial policy that puts our most valuable resources--American workers--first.

Companies that recognize their workers who drive their success are the ones that will lead their industries into the future whether it is in Licking County, where Intel entered a project labor agreement with the trades--something we insisted on in this body--or outside of Toledo, in Fulton County, where Arche Solar is building a solar farm with union workers; or in the Mahoning Valley, where Ultium just agreed--I was there a few days ago--to raise wages by 25 percent after we pushed them to engage with the workers' union.

I was in Lordstown, talking with those workers in UAW Local 1112. There is a lot of history in that building. The pictures and the signs on the walls tell the story of the Ohio auto industry, of the decades that workers spent building this industry and building the middle class in Mahoning Valley. They tell the story of the politicians who sold out Ohio workers to corporations that wanted cheap labor. You see the ``last Chevy Cruze'' sign on the wall as a reminder of what trade agreements did to places like Mahoning Valley or to my home in Mansfield, OH.

Workers are resilient. Many of the workers I talked with last week worked at the old Chevy Cruze plant. Now they are making the batteries that will power the next generation of cars and trucks. They are ready to lead the auto industry of the future. They just need fair pay and a safe workplace and protections on the job.

Ultium needs--this is the GM Korea company that was formed into a company called Ultium. They need to agree to a fair, permanent union contract that will be the gold standard and template for all EV contracts. That means honoring the UAW master agreement.

A union card means higher pay. It means better benefits. It means greater retirement security. It means safer workplaces. It means having more control over your schedule. It means a middle-class life.

My wife, at the age of 16, when growing up in the far northeast corner of Ohio, in Ashtabula, had an asthma attack. Her dad's union card allowed her to have an ambulance take her to the Cleveland Clinic for 2 weeks--about an hour's drive. Without that union card, she probably would have died. He was a utility worker, and he carried that union card for 35 years.

We shouldn't have to settle for less. Together, we are laying down a new marker. The jobs of the future should be good-paying union jobs-- jobs where you build a life and a career and see a future. For too long, we haven't had enough of those opportunities.

Last week, I joined the Building Futures in Columbus for the graduation of their seventh class. There is nothing quite like it. They are making more training programs, more apprenticeships, more opportunities to get people of all ages involved in the trades. Most of these were Columbus city school graduates. A few of them had union members in their families. A few of them had the kind of opportunities that the union card brings. This pre-apprentice program means that, upon their graduation from this pre-apprentice program, they will be able to become a bricklayer or an insulator or a millwright or an electrician or a carpenter or a plumber or a pipefitter or a laborer or an operating engineer. It means good-paying, skilled union jobs are accessible to everyone and that they look like America.

Of course, we know what workers are up against when they organize. Corporations unleash all of their power to fight their own workers--too often, legally. That is why I will never stop fighting, as I know the Presiding Officer has in the past, with the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. We honor the workers this week who built the country and the progress we have made.

I wear on my lapel a depiction of a canary in the cage. The mineworker of 100 years ago, 120 years ago took a canary down to the mines. The canary died. The mineworker got out of the mines. He didn't have a union, in those days, strong enough or a government that cared enough to protect who he really was--almost always a ``he.'' He was on his own.

Look at what we have done since then. This was given to me by a steelworker on Workers' Memorial Day. But look at what we have done since then. We have passed child labor laws. We have passed collective bargaining laws. We have passed Social Security and Medicare and all of the kinds of things that have given middle-class workers the opportunities we should have as a country.

This week, we honor and celebrate that proud tradition. We recommit to fighting for the dignity of work whether it is the PRO Act, whether it is passing the Railway Safety Act, whether it is standing with workers at the picket lines. When work has dignity, every American is paid the living wage they have earned.

Just this week, a group of us took on, if you will, in a labor dispute, workers who were about to strike, workers who were on the picket line--hospital workers. They were mostly low-paid workers not offered much from their employer, their big Cleveland hospital. They came to an agreement, in part,

because of public pressure and, in part, because there was a strong organized union--organized labor--at the bargaining table. When workers have dignity, workers have retirement security and paid leave and power over their schedules and their lives.

When you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. That is what Labor Day is about. That is what organized labor is all about.

Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join me in confirming Philip Jefferson as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve and in confirming Lisa Cook and Adriana Kugler to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Senate will be voting on Dr. Cook's and Dr. Kugler's nominations in the next few days.

These three nominees are talented economists and dedicated public servants and are also all historic nominees who will bring diverse perspectives to the Fed. If confirmed, our Board of Governors will better reflect the country and the people who make it work. Our economy works better when we have people from diverse backgrounds, people who bring new ideas and different perspectives, not just the same old Wall Street, corporate consensus.

Mr. President, Dr. Philip Jefferson is a respected economist whose nomination for Vice Chair came out of our committee, the committee I chair--Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs--with unanimous support. When he was first confirmed last year, he had wide bipartisan support in the Senate.

Dr. Jefferson brings to the Fed outstanding academic credentials and years of strong leadership experience. He is a renowned scholar, and he is a leading expert in monetary policy and the economics of poverty. Dr. Jefferson possesses a strong understanding of how higher prices hurt the most economically insecure Americans and that access to good- paying jobs is the best antidote to poverty.

If confirmed, he will be the second Black man to serve as Vice Chair on the Board of Governors.

Mr. President, Dr. Lisa Cook is a well-qualified economist who has served with distinction since having filled a vacancy last year on the Board of Governors. She brings a breadth of research and international experience in monetary policy, banking, and financial crises. Dr. Cook's expertise in international economics has immense value as we continue in our economic recovery amidst global inflation--global inflation that is higher in most of the rest of the world than it is here.

Prior to joining the Fed, Dr. Cook taught economics and international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, and Michigan State University. During the Obama administration, she served on the Council of Economic Advisers as a senior economist and at the Treasury Department under the administrations of both Presidents Bush and Obama.

She grew up in the South. She worked in the industrial Midwest, in a State just north of mine--Michigan. She understands the vital role that workers and local communities play in building a strong economy. I have faith in her judgment to set monetary policy that grows our economy from the middle out and the bottom up.

Last year, her character was attacked, and her credentials were questioned. It was an unfair, underhanded attack on an eminently qualified woman of color. She has overwhelmingly proven her naysayers wrong. She has brought a level-headedness and data-driven focus to monetary policymaking.

I would like to take a moment to thank Senator Rounds of South Dakota for his open-mindedness and support of her confirmation. He listened to her answers and looked at her record, and he enthusiastically supported her. I wish all of my colleagues would do that.

She would be the first Black woman confirmed to a full 14-year term on the Federal Reserve Board--the first in over 100 years. This was started in 1913, and there has never been an African-American woman who has been reconfirmed. She would be the first.

Mr. President, the last is Dr. Adriana Kugler, who is one of the Nation's labor economists--top labor economists--with an impressive record in both government and academic service. She is unquestionably qualified. She possesses bipartisan support from top economists and civil rights organizations. She serves as the executive director of the World Bank. She was confirmed via a unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate for that job, and she has played a critical role in the global economic recovery.

Prior to serving at the World Bank, she was an economist at the Department of Labor and taught economics and public policy at Georgetown University. In being a first-generation American and the daughter of Colombian immigrants, Dr. Kugler has firsthand knowledge of runaway prices and limited employment opportunities.

During her nomination hearing testimony, she shared how witnessing adversity and poverty in the country she was born in had deepened her understanding of the need for fighting inflation and promoting full employment.

If confirmed, she would be the first Hispanic American to serve on the Board of Governors in the history of the Federal Reserve--again, beginning in 1913. Her confirmation would be a critical step forward in bringing more diverse perspectives to our Nation's central bank, not just diversity in the way these nominees look but diversity in the way they think, which is something we simply have not seen much of in the kind of elitist institutions like the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.

I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Dr. Jefferson's, Dr. Cook's, and Dr. Kruger's nominations--all have bipartisan support--so we can have all seven seats on the Board of Governors filled with qualified experts helping in our economic recovery.

I spoke to Chair Jerome Powell today about this and some other things. We discussed how important it is to the Fed that we have all seven spots in the Federal Reserve confirmed. It has been a long time since we have done that. This week is our opportunity.

I ask my colleagues to move forward on these nominations.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate the board, staff, and supporters of Growing Hope Globally as they celebrate their commitment to putting their Christian faith into practice by helping end hunger globally.

Every day, Growing Hope Globally implements grassroots solutions to hunger that link rural communities in the U.S. with smallholder farmers in developing countries. Specifically, farmers in the United States tithe a portion of their crops to combatting global hunger. Their work makes a difference for so many people, both in the United States and around the world.

This small nonprofit with big ambitions began with the compassion of two Ohio farmers and their friends who wanted to put their faith into action and help build a better world. Over the past 25 years, Growing Hope Globally has expanded from just one project in Stryker, OH, started by Vernon and Carol Sloan, to supporting projects in 21 different States that have served more than 2.2 million people. Vernon and Carol's idea was simple but powerful: fund agricultural development programs that support small farmers and rural communities through grassroots farmer-to-farmer assistance.

I am inspired by the farmers in Ohio and across the Nation who invest their profits in agricultural development projects that support small farmers in countries facing hunger and food insecurity. Just last year, Growing Hope Globally hosted 130 U.S. projects. They oversaw 47 agricultural development programs in 30 countries, and they helped more than 200,000 people find lasting solutions to hunger.

I am sure my Senate colleagues join me in congratulating Growing Hope Globally's 25-year journey. I look forward to supporting this important organization, and seeing all you will accomplish in the next 25 years.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Sharon Cohen, who retires this week from the Senate Dining Room. Over her almost three decades here, Ms. Cohen has left a lasting impression on a number of my colleagues and guests who have visited the dining room, including my children and grandchildren and the whole Senate dining team.

Ms. Cohen has seen Senators come and go from this building. She has been here longer than most of my colleagues. She has been here longer than I have. I always look forward to seeing Ms. Cohen. She is always welcoming. She is always gracious. She makes an effort to get to know not just every Senator but every guest who comes through the doors regardless of whom they walked in with, regardless of their political affiliation.

In a place where at times relationships can be tested and debate can be intense, Ms. Cohen always made Senate dining a welcoming place. It is clear to anyone who has met Ms. Cohen that she cares deeply for the people in her life--her family, her colleagues, her guests. She seems to always be thinking about what is best for others.

Among her colleagues, Ms. Cohen is known for being steady and reliable and, most importantly, for her generous spirit. She is always helping whomever she can, however she can. She never asks for anything in return. Her colleagues shared that they don't think they have ever met anyone who works harder than she, and when she finishes her work, she helps everyone who needs it. She is a team player. She is a hard worker.

Maybe most important, she has made a difference for so many people. Maybe all of us, my colleagues and I, can learn from that.

The workers in these jobs often don't get a lot of recognition. They are too often ignored. Yet they are every bit as important to the Senate as the people on the Senate floor.

She brings a dignity to this job--the same kind of dignity as a carpenter who is proud of her work or a sheet metal worker who is proud of his work or someone who works in manufacturing, someone who works in a veterans hospital, someone who provides home care--because all work has dignity, as she understands.

Ms. Cohen is a treasured member of staff and of this institution. As her colleagues shared, they are sad to see her leave. While they know things will not be the same without her, they share Ms. Cohen's excitement for her next chapter. In retirement, she plans to spend time with her daughter and help care for her granddaughter.

I know she will be missed by the Senate dining team. I know we will all miss seeing her. And I appreciate not just her work but the work of all people who serve in this body in all kinds of capacities.

Ms. Cohen, thank you. I wish you a long, joyous retirement spent with your granddaughter. Congratulations.