Floor Statements

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize longtime friend Amy Kaplan, who retired this month after a long career of service.

For the past 17 years, Amy has led the Jewish Federation of Cleveland as the vice president of external affairs. She has been a staunch advocate for Cleveland's vibrant Jewish community on a range of issues.

I was speaking to the Ambassador from Israel today, Ambassador Herzog, about the vibrancy and the reach of the Cleveland Jewish community; how proud I was to have interacted with them for so many years.

Amy, herself, followed in her parents' footsteps when she joined the Federation. Her mother was a staff member, and her father volunteered there often. Amy shares their commitment to their community and to their faith.

Her work has made a difference for so many Clevelanders in the communities the Federation serves--those who are too often overlooked and those who too often don't have a voice in our government.

She has worked with me and my staff to combat anti-Semitism, strengthen Federal resources for our seniors, and to protect Medicaid from cuts. She led advocacy efforts on bail reform, voting rights, and gun violence, and oversees the Federation's community relations work.

Amy has ensured that the issues most important to the Cleveland Jewish community are on the agenda.

She has been recognized over and over for her dedication to the community. She was named a ``Difference Maker'' by the Cleveland Jewish News, and she did it while caring for a family.

I hope in retirement, Amy will get to spend even more time with her husband Ira and their children and grandchildren.

Amy will be missed at the Federation. I am confident this won't be the end of her work with the Jewish community and won't be the end of her positive impact on Northeast Ohio.

In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Dr. King wrote:

Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability.

Now, those were Dr. King's words, I would add, Progress rolls in because of advocates and activists like Amy Kaplan who listen, who learn, who work with communities to make a difference.

Congratulations, Amy, on your well-earned retirement. Thank you, again, for your service to our community and to our State and wish you the best in your retirement. We look forward to working with your team to keep pushing for these important priorities and to make sure that Cleveland's and all of Ohio's Jewish community continues to have a voice in our government.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the following interns in Senator Kelly's office be granted floor privileges today, July 25: Andras Deak, Ayden Clytus, Eden Wein, Tony Ruan, Keiko Tani, Melissa Moreno, Samara Klotz, Soyun Cho, Violet Barnett.

Mr. President, it is my honor today to rise in support of Rachel Bloomekatz to serve as a judge on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. People often think of the courts, especially the circuit courts--this comes from a nonlawyer, keep in mind--as something like an ivory tower, detached from everyday people's lives.

We know the decisions judges make affect Ohio's workplaces and affect Ohioans in their paychecks and in their own personal freedom about how to live their lives. That is why it matters so much whom we promote to these important jobs.

We want our brightest talent. We need our brightest talent on the bench. We need thoughtful judges--thoughtful judges who adhere to the highest ethical standards, who follow the letter and the spirit of the law. We need judges who are compassionate, capable of recognizing and understanding the many different perspectives of the people who will come into their courtrooms. And we need judges with wisdom and with a love for our country's core values.

Rachel Bloomekatz will be all of those things. She will protect the rights of all Americans, not just the powerful and the privileged-- something, unfortunately, we see far too much of in the Nation's highest courts.

Ms. Bloomekatz brings with her not only impressive legal credentials but the empathy, the intellect, and the deep commitment to justice required to serve the people of the Sixth Circuit.

Rachel had an impressive academic career, to be sure. She clerked for highly respected judges on the State supreme court, in the Federal district, and in circuit levels, and she clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court. Rachel has a robust and successful litigation practice where she has advanced the cause of justice.

Throughout her career, Ms. Bloomekatz sat on both sides of the table. She represented people across the ideological spectrum. She has represented companies and consumers. She has argued on behalf of the government and for the rights of private citizens.

She has been recognized for the breadth of her practice, which includes work on both civil and criminal matters, both types of cases she will see as a judge on the Sixth Circuit.

She has worked with women's groups, and she has worked with veterans groups, seeking justice for women harmed while giving birth on Active Duty at military hospitals. She helped to represent our colleague Senator Marco Rubio with an amicus brief, arguing in support of his legislation providing protections for victims of human trafficking.

Don't just take it from me. Listen to the chorus of people from all across the ideological and political spectrum who enthusiastically support Rachel Bloomekatz's nomination. Twenty fellow Supreme Court clerks, including several Scalia clerks and Kavanaugh clerks, wrote to the Judiciary Committee saying:

We hold diverse opinions on many areas of law. We are

united in our view, though, that Rachel is an extraordinary

nominee who will uphold the best traditions and defining

attributes of the Federal courts, the rule of law, equal

justice, fidelity, and the Constitution.

They are joined by 25 Ohio appellate lawyers--again, from across the political and ideological spectrum--who also wrote in support. They said:

Some of us will no doubt disagree with some of the opinions

Rachel will author or join on in the Sixth Circuit. We are

united, though, in urging the Judiciary Committee and the

United States Senate to confirm her to the Sixth Circuit.

The letter goes on:

Rachel has the right temperament to serve as an Article III

judge, and her intelligence, diligence, and respect for the

rule of law will make her an excellent addition to the Sixth

Circuit.

Perhaps Ms. Bloomekatz's most powerful endorsement is from the judges already on the Sixth Circuit who have appointed her to represent clients in serious cases with fundamental rights at stake.

Ms. Bloomekatz is supported by Jewish leaders who represent the breadth and diversity of Ohio's Jewish community--Eric Fingerhut, former Member of the House, the president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America; Howie Beigelman, the executive director of Ohio Jewish Communities, who recently brought a group of his colleagues to Washington, last week, to talk to Members of the Ohio delegation in both parties about the evil scourge of anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Kanter, Rachel's rabbi when she was a child in Nashville, said:

Rachel's deep values, informed by her Biblical faith, have

led to her compassion for people and her commitment to

justice and to the law. I can think of no better endorsement

than that. I can think of no better candidate to serve the

States of the Sixth Circuit--my State of Ohio, Kentucky,

Michigan, and Tennessee. There is no better candidate than

Rachel Bloomekatz.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting Rachel Bloomekatz's confirmation.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor a great economist, a trailblazer, and a friend of mine: Dr. Bill Spriggs.

Bill was born here in Washington, DC, to a professor and a schoolteacher. He shared his parents' love of learning and went on to attend Williams College for his undergraduate degree and the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his PhD in economics. Bill began his career in academia and brought a new lens to economic policy: calling attention to the role of race in our economy.

Over the years, Bill mentored thousands of students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, Norfolk State University, and Howard University. Bill was committed to lifting up all voices in his classroom and helping all students, especially people of color, advance in a field dominated by White men. As Assistant Secretary of Labor during the Obama administration, Bill worked on a number of issues from trade to minimum wage, to racial disparities in the labor market. Bill then transitioned to be chief economist at the AFL-CIO, where he was a frequent and outspoken advocate for workers, in particular Black workers. Over his career of service, Bill's advocacy and policy expertise made a difference for so many. It is simple: Workers are better off because of Bill.

And his impact extends far beyond the impressive roles he held; at every step of his career, Bill challenged his colleagues to consider how systemic racism in our economy hurts working families of color. In the summer of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Bill published a powerful open letter to his fellow economists where he criticized the field's approach to race as a factor in the economy. He called on economists to reflect on and rethink how they study race. And he asked that they commit to creating policies that uplift workers of color and their families. The letter served as a starting point for discussion about the Fed's role in economic inequality.

His work shaped the national conversation. He found that Black workers were disproportionately hurt by import shocks to the economy, like NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. His work reminded us that just as we were starting to create more jobs that support the middle class like manufacturing and make them more open to Black workers, our country's trade policy enabled the shipment of those jobs overseas. The work that we have to do now to rebuild our country with a real pro-American pro-worker industrial strategy that is finally inclusive to all stands on his shoulders. It is up to all of us to continue that conversation and uphold Bill's legacy.

On a personal note, I had the privilege of working with Bill a number of times over the years. He testified before the Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Committee at least four times since I took over as the lead Democrat. Each time, Bill testified about policies that would help workers. He offered his support for COVID relief packages to get families through the pandemic. And he stood up for communities and people that have been overlooked by economic policy for far too long.

Bill offered thoughtful counsel; he took time to talk to my staff and share his expertise. He was kind, thoughtful, and a brilliant economist. Bill understood that worker rights are intertwined with civil rights. And above all, he was committed to fighting for the dignity of work; he and I shared a goal that, one day, hard work will pay off for everyone no matter who you are or what you do.

May we all follow Bill's example to dedicate our lives to service, to push toward that goal until every worker can count on the dignity of work.

Our thoughts are with the Spriggs' family and with all those who knew and loved Bill.

Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of two Ohioans from Duncan Falls, Brad Ryan and his grandmother, Joy Ryan. Together, they visited every National Park--all 63 of them--and they set a world record along the way. Joy is the oldest woman to visit every National Park. It took them 8 years and brought them new adventures all over the country.

In 2015, Brad invited Joy to camp and hike with him in the Smokey Mountains. Joy was 85 at the time and accepted the challenge. She had never been to a mountain before, and when they reached the top, she remembers a group of college kids cheering for them. This was just the beginning. Over the past 8 years, they have ziplined at the New River Gorge in West Virginia, where Joyce broke the record for the oldest person to complete the course. They whitewater rafted at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska. At the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, Joy even rolled down a sand dune. Their final trip, to National Park of American Samoa, took them 6,700 miles from their home in Duncan Falls, OH.

Brad didn't set out to take his grandmother to every National Park; he knew she hadn't seen mountains or deserts or oceans, and he wanted to make sure she had the chance to experience all the natural wonder our country has to offer. Along the way, they accomplished something remarkable. Congratulations.

Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and congratulating the Center for Science and Industry-- COSI--on their National Medal for Museum and Library Science. It is an outstanding achievement and a testament to the work COSI educators, curators, and support staff do. It wouldn't have been possible without their dedication and service. COSI staff engages Ohio's next generation of thinkers, leaders, and problem solvers. They spark students' interest in the sciences and in technology with hands-on learning and interesting exhibits and inspire them to become the leaders who will continue our State's proud tradition of leadership in innovation for decades to come.

I am grateful for all COSI does for the Columbus community, and I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating these Ohioans on this achievement.

Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing and congratulating the Toledo Lucas County Public Library on their National Medal for Museum and Library Science.

It is an outstanding achievement and a testament to the work the librarians and support staff do. It wouldn't have been possible without their dedication and service.

The Toledo Lucas County Public Library educates and engages Ohioans of all ages by creating spaces where everyone can broaden their horizons with books, technology, and innovative classes. Their commitment to helping kids learn to read is building Ohio's next generation of thinkers, leaders, and problem solvers. One day these students will be the leaders writing our State's next chapter.

I am grateful for all they do for the Toledo community, and I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating these Ohioans on this achievement.

Mr. President, I rise to urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the nomination of Dr. Jared Bernstein to be Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, or CEA.

Dr. Bernstein is highly qualified, with close to four decades of economic experience. He has devoted his career to working on economic policies that ensure growth reaches all Americans, fighting to make our economy fairer--something there is a lot of talk about in here but not enough action.

Since the beginning of the Biden administration, he served as a member of CEA. Before that, his experience, again, tells the story. He served in various senior-level roles inside and outside government-- chief economist and economic policy adviser to then-Vice President Biden; Deputy Chief Economist, Department of Labor; a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; economist at the Economic Policy Institute--all the kinds of qualifications that feed into this job.

Dr. Bernstein is widely respected by his peers from both sides of the aisle. I want to really make that clear. Before his nomination hearing--and I chair the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, from which he came. Before that hearing, seven--seven--former CEA chairs--the only one that didn't is long, long, long retired. I don't know if he was even asked. But seven former CEA chairs, who served in Republican administrations, wrote to the committee in support of his nomination. Three of them served under President Trump.

Think of that. Seven Republican former CEA chairs--still Republicans, most of them, much more conservative than Jared Bernstein--they all wrote a letter together, initiated by one of the Trump nominees, one of the Trump CEA chairs, Kevin Hassett. He led the effort. He told the New York Times:

I disagree with Jared about a lot, and Jared and I have

been disagreeing about things for 20 years. But he really is

a fundamentally good person who tries to figure things out

with an open mind, and [sometimes he] changes his mind.

That is really all you want from a CEA chair.

Again, President Trump's chief economist said that Jared Bernstein has an open mind and changes his mind. That is precisely the kind of openness to ideas from anyone, of any party or point of view, that we should all want in an economic adviser.

Despite Dr. Bernstein's years of experience, despite his impeccable credentials, and despite receiving support from seven--I believe the most recent seven--former CEA chairs serving in Republican administrations, my Republican colleagues on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee all voted no to Jared Bernstein.

Now, the decision to vote against his nomination is partisanship for the sake of partisanship, and I will give you an example. This sort of tells the whole story, Mr. President. The Banking and Housing Committee has a tradition of members voting for the President's pick. This isn't the Secretary of the Treasury. This isn't the Secretary of Labor. There are major disagreements. This isn't the head of the EPA.

This is essentially the President's personal economic adviser. So regardless of ideology, we support that, as I did--and I will get to that in a second--with the Trump nominees. Whom the President picks, we support in this body. It is one of the good traditions of the Senate. Not all traditions are good here. That is one of the good traditions of the Senate.

In 2017, I voted for Kevin Hassett, President Trump's nominee to serve as CEA Chair. I wasn't wild about Kevin Hassett. I liked him as a person. I wasn't wild about his ideology. He much too much believed that if you cut taxes on rich people and you give corporations all these tax breaks, it will trickle down and grow the economy.

I didn't buy that. I still don't buy that. We saw that huge tax cut. All it did was make rich people richer, make corporations move jobs overseas more quickly. It never trickles down to help middle-class workers. It never honors the dignity of work. We know that,

but, nonetheless, because the President of the United States, duly elected, picked him as his Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Kevin Hassett was honest, he was credentialed--he just was wrong on issues, but that shouldn't stop us from supporting for that position.

In 2021, Pat Toomey, the ranking member of the Housing, Banking, and Urban Affairs Committee, voted for Cecelia Rouse, President Biden's CEA nomination. The way I voted for a more conservative economist than I wanted, Senator Toomey voted for a more liberal economist than he wanted because she was qualified, she was credentialed, and she was an honest person.

Next step: The Senate confirmed both of them--Dr. Hassett's nomination, 81 to 16. I led our side of the aisle, with my fellow Democrats here, in an overwhelming--only 16 of them voted against, out of 48 or 49 then, because I stood in the committee and said: We owe this to the White House. The tradition is such in the Senate that you support the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Dr. Rouse's nomination passed 95 to 4. Senator Toomey did the same.

So we all used to agree in this body until somebody made it much more partisan. Never before in this nomination was there this kind of partisanship. We have agreed that the President is entitled to have his choice of CEA Chair.

I see no reason why that should change today. Dr. Bernstein's Republican peers and Democratic peers all came together and supported him. There is no reason the Senate shouldn't, in that same bipartisan fashion, vote to confirm his nomination. There are no really good reasons at all to do that.

I urge my colleagues to support Dr. Jared Bernstein's nomination to be Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote scheduled at 5 p.m. begin immediately.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I have seven 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, there is no better place in the entire United States than Ohio for the Space Command Headquarters and their additional units. Our State is ready to lead our military into the next frontier.

And I rise because I don't know that my colleagues think--I understand we all care about our own States, but I don't know that they think enough about how my State has been for decades--literally decades--in many ways, the premier aerospace State in this country. The Wright Brothers are from Ohio, American heroes like John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong. The story of modern aviation was written in Ohio.

Our State continues to lead the country in aerospace innovation and in military service. We have nearly a million veterans in Ohio, and I would like to call out--it is not really the purpose of the speech--but call out one veteran in particular. My mother is from Mansfield, GA; my dad is from Mansfield, OH. And my dad went off to war, and my mother came to Washington to help in the war effort.

My dad, when he came back from overseas, went to a soldiers' dance at the Mayflower Hotel, and my dad met my mom at that soldiers' dance--one from Georgia, one from Ohio.

And my daughter, who runs the YWCA in Columbus, was in town last night, and we decided to have dinner at the Mayflower Hotel. I am sure it looks very different. It wasn't a soldiers' dance, but it was fun to celebrate my parents and her grandparents.

Back to the subject directly on aerospace, on Space Command, think about the military installations we have across my State. We have Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, of course, but the Air Force Research Lab and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center and the Space Force's National Space Intelligence Center.

We are home to the 88th Air Base Wing of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, where they support our military aircraft, engines, munitions, electronics, and cyber weapon systems. We have the Air Force Materiel Command that keeps Air Force weapons systems ready for war.

Wright-Patterson has been a leader in military aviation development since the time of airplane inventors like the Wright brothers. It is positioned to lead us into the future.

Just 150 miles away is NASA Glenn Research Center--one of only 10 in the country--at Lewis Field in Cleveland, and a few miles west in Sandusky, near Lake Eerie, is the NASA Armstrong Test Facility. These are facilities researching and developing and testing innovative technologies, taking us to the next frontier.

We have the 178th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group at the Springfield Air National Guard Base. We have our Air Guard and Reserve bases--Toledo, Springfield, my hometown of Mansfield.

It makes sense to base our country's space military leadership near these important assets that make Ohio the right location for both the U.S. Space Command headquarters and additional Space Force units.

Think about the opportunity for collaboration here. Having Space Command located alongside the Air Force Research Lab will assist in the creation of new space technologies and capabilities. The NASIC at Wright-Patt is already the Space Force's intelligence center.

Close proximity to NASA Glenn and Armstrong Testing Facility in northern Ohio will allow Space Command and Space Force to benefit from their unmatched experience and expertise in space missions. The Armstrong Testing Facility performs specialized research and testing that can't be done--that can't be done anywhere else in the world.

Locating Space Command and additional Space Force assets in Ohio also means that the world's leading trade schools, research universities, Federal laboratories in Ohio, to our east Pennsylvania, to our north Michigan, to our west Indiana, to our south Kentucky and Tennessee, and Illinois are nearby, ready to work together to provide a pipeline of workers to be on the frontline of the next frontier of modern warfare. This proximity is, pure and simple, Mr. President, unmatched.

Ohio alone has a network of world-class research universities and community colleges--14 4-year public universities and their 24 branch campuses, 23 2-year community and technical colleges, nearly 60 4-year private universities.

Moving Space Command and Space Force units here would be good for the military, good for Ohio, good for our national economy.

Ohioans know how important aerospace sector jobs are to our State. There is a direct line that runs from GE Aviation in Cincinnati through the base and aerospace companies in Dayton and around Columbus and up to NASA in Cleveland, touching thousands of Ohioans, reaching every region of our great State.

With the CHIPS Act, we are bringing 10,000 good-paying, high-tech jobs to central Ohio making semiconductors. If you don't think this plays a role in our national security, ask the Chinese Communist Party if they would rather the chips for our cars, phones, missiles, planes, and satellites be made overseas. We are finally correcting that. We finally understood as a nation that we can't continue to outsource manual labor. We finally understand that chips should be made here-- they were invented here and should be made here; that light bulbs invented here should be made here; that steel, where we led the world, is coming back and building our bridges and all that we should be doing.

We are already the center of the country for aerospace jobs. We are going to be a major hub for semiconductors and manufacturing. Locating our space military leadership near the domestic hub of both semiconductors and aerospace innovation is good for Ohio's economy, and it makes sense for our military. The military challenges of the future demand that our servicemembers have the most innovative, cutting-edge technology. Ohio and the entire Midwest make that technology.

It is not a partisan issue, Mr. President. It is not ideological either. We have always worked together to support and grow these jobs and to invest in Ohio's military installations. This is no different.

Ohio representatives from both sides of the aisle support this effort. This letter is led on the Senate side by me and on the House side by Republican David Joyce from northern Ohio. Together we call on the President to bring new space missions to Ohio.

It is simple: Ohio stands ready to meet the space-related national security challenges the United States faces now and in the future. It is how you bury the term ``Rust Belt.'' We bury it with the Air Force Research Laboratory. We bury it with the National Air and Space Intelligence Center. We bury it with the National Space Intelligence Center. We are burying it with NASA. We are going to bury it with U.S. Space Command and U.S. Space Force coming to Ohio.

Nomination of Molly R. Silfen

Madam President, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

I take a back seat to no one when it comes to standing up to China. Lindsey Graham and I have been fighting to close the trade deficit for decades.

I went to junior high at Johnny Appleseed Junior High in Mansfield, OH, with the sons and daughters of machinists and IUE members and steelworkers and auto workers and carpenters and millwrights and plumbers and pipefitters and operating engineers. Ten years later, most of these jobs were gone, and so much of industrial America all over the country has been lost because of bad trade policy with China.

But do you know? The People's Republic of China would love for us to pass this amendment because, if it passes, the United States of America will default, and they will be rejoicing in Beijing.

Stand up to China. Vote no on this amendment.

Vote on Amendment No. 93

Mr. President, each year during Police Week, we honor the law enforcement officials who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to their communities, to our State, and to our country.

This year, we will add the names of five Ohioans to the National Law Enforcement Memorial, all who laid their lives down last year: Deputy Sheriff Daniel Kin, Deputy Sheriff Matthew Eugene Yates, Police Officer Dominic Francis, Agent John Dale Stayrook, Deputy Sheriff Terrence Nicholas Bate.

Sadly, we already know of one more name that will be added to the memorial next year: Officer Timothy James Unwin III of the Springfield Township Police Department.

Each one of these losses is a tragedy for a family, for a community, for their fellow officers. These Ohioans' lives are a reminder of the ideals we should strive for. We need officers who are true public servants in the best sense of the word, people who give themselves to their communities. And these Ohioans gave so much.

In their memory, I want to reminisce for a moment about each of them and tell my colleagues why this is so important and who these public servants were.

Deputy Sheriff Daniel J. Kin was a devoted husband and father to two young children. He was known for his easygoing personality and being a colleague and friend whom everyone could count on.

Deputy Kin was a Sandusky native--a community on Lake Erie--and helped his father run their family farm in his free time. He gave his life while serving as deputy sheriff at the Wyandot County Sheriff's Office.

Deputy Matthew Eugene Yates served his community for 15 years at the Clark County Sheriff's Office as a member of their special operations team. His colleagues remember Deputy Yates for his joy but also his strength and his bravery. He mentored younger deputies and children in their community.

Our thoughts are with his wife, his daughter, his stepsons, and his father, who also served in the Clark County Sheriff's Office--a long history of public service in that family.

Police Officer Dominic M. Francis grew up in Bluffton, OH, and returned home to join the Bluffton Police Department after playing football at the University of Findlay and serving at the Findlay Police Department and the Hancock County Sheriff's Office. Officer Francis received the Officer of the Year award twice, multiple letters of commendation, the Chief's Leadership Award, and the Bluffton Police Department Lifesaving Award. He was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers as Top Cop and earned the Ohio EMS Star of Life multiple times. He loved spending time with his wife and two children at Indian Lake and served in law enforcement for 19 years.

In honor of his memory, a portion of I-95 that runs near Bluffton has been renamed the ``Officer Dominic Francis Memorial Highway.''

Agent John Dale Stayrook was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather and devoted to the communities he served. He worked with the Medina County Drug Task Force, Northeast Ohio, and the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency, serving for 19 years. He enjoyed woodworking and spending time in nature with his family and his friends.

In February 2022, Agent Stayrook passed away after contracting COVID- 19 in the line of duty.

Deputy Terrance Nicholas Bateman was a Cleveland native and--it is difficult--often a Cleveland sports fan who served with Franklin County Sheriff's Office for 25 years. Deputy Sheriff Bateman was well- respected and adored in his community. He supported his colleagues and always had a kind word to offer. He loved cooking for family and friends--his wife, his five daughters, and two sons and two brothers.

We can't begin to repay the debt we owe these officers and all these families, but we can work to protect more

officers in the communities they swear an oath to serve. That is why I am working with colleagues of both parties on legislation to support law enforcement as they do their jobs. I am joined by Arkansas Republican Senator Cotton to reintroduce our Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act to protect first responders when they encounter dangerous substances like fentanyl on the job. We introduced the Providing Officers With Electronic Resources Act to help State and local law enforcement organizations secure high-tech, portable screening devices to detect fentanyl--similar equipment and detection devices that our men and women serving us at the border have.

Our law enforcement officers are on the frontlines of the addiction crisis. They are dealing with evermore dangerous forms of fentanyl on the job. It is why I work with Members of both parties on a plan to target the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that transport the drugs in Mexico.

I am pleased the Presiding Officer today is someone who has great expertise in that, representing his State of New Mexico in that part of the world.

I will keep fighting to make sure police officers can retire with dignity. My bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act will ensure that Social Security benefits will be there when officers retire from a life of dedicated service--officers who pay into the State retirement system but also paid into Social Security.

I will work to ensure first responders have the support they need to cope with stresses of responding to crisis situations.

This Police Week, let's offer law enforcement officials and public servants more than empty words. Let's honor the memory of these women and men who laid down their lives and served their communities by getting their fellow officers the tools and training they need to do their jobs and to build trust with communities they are sworn to protect.

I yield the floor.