[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 185 (Thursday, December 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6980-S6984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SOCIAL SECURITY FAIRNESS ACT OF 2023--Motion to Proceed
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 693,
H.R. 82.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to H.R. 82, a bill to amend title II of
the Social Security Act to repeal the Government pension
offset and windfall elimination provisions.
Cloture Motion
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The cloture motion having been
presented under rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the
motion.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to
proceed to Calendar No. 693, H.R. 82, a bill to amend title
II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government
pension offset and windfall elimination provisions.
Charles E. Schumer, Robert P. Casey, Jr., Tammy Baldwin,
Catherine Cortez Masto, Alex Padilla, Debbie Stabenow,
Margaret Wood Hassan, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal,
Martin Heinrich, Richard J. Durbin, Gary C. Peters,
Christopher A. Coons, John W. Hickenlooper, Tammy
Duckworth, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, Jack Reed.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The majority leader is recognized.
National Defense Authorization Act
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, yesterday, the House of Representatives
passed the National Defense Authorization Act, bringing this bill here
to the Senate. I just filed cloture on the NDAA, setting up the first
procedural vote for early next week.
This year's NDAA has some very good things we Democrats wanted in it.
It has some bad things we wouldn't have put in there and some things
that were left out. But we are going to keep working at it. Both sides
are working well together, and I hope we can finish the job soon.
So thank you to Chairman Reed, to Ranking Member Wicker, and to my
colleagues on both sides for finalizing the text of the NDAA.
Business Before the Senate
Madam President, as for next week, next week is going to be very busy
here on the Senate floor, where we have a number of legislative
priorities to complete before the end of the year. We
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must, for one, continue working on confirming more of President Biden's
nominees. Voting on well-qualified nominees is our job, it is our
responsibility, and we are going to continue working on nominees so
long as this session of Congress continues.
Second, as I mentioned, we will finish passing the NDAA. Members
should be prepared to take the first procedural vote early next week.
We must also pass an extension of government funding to avoid a
shutdown right before Christmas. The only way we prevent a shutdown is
through bipartisan cooperation, without any last-minute poison pills
that create controversy. We can't have that. It has never worked in the
past, and adding poison pills at the 11th hour would only make the risk
of a Christmas shutdown greater.
Thankfully, I am pleased that, so far, talks have remained
productive. Negotiators continue working around the clock to reach an
agreement. They are meeting early in the morning, they are meeting late
at night, and they will work through the weekend if necessary.
I want to thank Chair Murray, Ranking Member Collins, appropriators
in the House, and House leadership for their cooperation on getting the
CR done.
I also hope we can reach an agreement to pass a strong disaster
package, before the end of the year, as part of the CR. Democrats
continue to work on the disaster package. We know one thing: Just as
both parties represent communities affected by disasters, both parties
must take passing disaster aid seriously. We urge our Republican
colleagues to keep working with us and get us as generous a package as
possible because there is so much damage out there and so many
communities need help.
Right now, the Federal Government faces its looming disaster: The
vast majority of funds intended for emergency disaster relief have
nearly dried up. We have very few resources left for helping small
businesses, helping farmers, helping people rebuild their homes,
helping communities fix their main streets and repair their highways.
This is a problem for States across the country, in every part of the
country, whether they be red or blue, whether they be represented by
Democrats or Republicans. And, unfortunately but necessarily, the only
fix is congressional action. Democrats are working with our colleagues
on the other side on a reasonable proposal to help cities and towns and
rural areas rebuild. We hope to reach an agreement soon.
Social Security Fairness Act
Madam President, finally, today I filed cloture on the Social
Security Fairness Act, a strongly bipartisan bill, already approved by
the Republican House, that would ensure Americans are not erroneously
denied their well-earned social security benefits simply because they
chose, at some point, to work in their careers in public service. I am
talking about public servants like firefighters, teachers, postal
workers, policemen, and so many other jobs like that. The Senate is
going to vote on the Social Security Fairness Act before the end of the
year. This is a chance for Senators to do the right thing for our
teachers and nurses and postal workers and law enforcement officers and
firefighters, and they will certainly be watching what we do with their
retirement benefits.
I am proud to cosponsor this bill with my good friend Senator Brown.
Democrats are ready to act on this much needed fix for millions of
retirees. The bill already passed the House with a huge bipartisan
majority. The Senate should follow suit. Americans deserve to see which
side the Senators are on when it comes to securing their well-earned
retirement benefits.
Far too many retirees--millions and millions--have been robbed of
their hard-earned benefits because of WEP and GPO. Passing the Social
Security Fairness Act is our best shot at fixing this problem and
helping out working families. The Senate will get the chance to pass
this important bill with a vote here on the floor next week.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
National Defense Authorization Act
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, yesterday the House passed the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025. I am glad that the
Senate will finally take up the bill next week, and it should be on its
way to the President's desk soon.
But there is no excuse for the delay. The Senate Armed Services
Committee passed its version of the bill 6 months ago--6 months ago.
But Leader Schumer never bothered to bring the Senate bill to the
floor.
And I can tell you right now that this will not be the case next year
with the new Republican majority. Next year, the NDAA will not be
placed on the back burner. It will be a priority.
The NDAA--National Defense Authorization Act--is one of the most
important bills that we consider each year, and that is even more true
in a time of increasing instability on the world stage.
American servicemembers have come under attack from Iran-backed
groups in the Middle East. China is taking increasingly brazen actions
in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Russia continues to wage unprovoked war
on Ukraine. Israel is defending itself against terrorists. And there is
a disturbing trend of collaboration among our adversaries to sow chaos
into every corner of the world.
The U.S. military stands guard against these threats and countless
others. And it is critical that it has the resources and capabilities
it needs to deter threats against America and, if necessary, to
respond. But our readiness is not where it needs to be.
Adversaries like China are outpacing us in defense investments. We
are falling behind in critical technologies. The number of Air Force
planes and Navy ships is approaching record lows. Our supply and
production of munitions is inadequate to meet demand. And our military
increasingly depends on rapidly aging supplies and infrastructure.
We need to turn this around. And I am pleased that this year's
National Defense Authorization Act addresses some of these serious
readiness issues. And I want to say right out that it is not a perfect
bill.
I am disappointed the bill we will be voting on doesn't include
Senator Wicker's proposed--and sorely needed--defense increase, which
received bipartisan support in the Armed Services Committee. And I will
push for needed additional funding in the coming year.
But I am pleased that this bill directs resources to a number of
priorities. It upgrades our capabilities in advanced technologies like
hypersonics, missile defense, drones, and artificial intelligence. It
addresses our munitions challenges, expands Navy shipbuilding, and
reverses the shrinking Air Force fleet.
It ensures the Pentagon is focused on defense, not diversity
programs. It supports our allies in Israel and Taiwan. And it provides
a pay raise to our troops and a larger pay hike for junior enlisted
members.
This bill is a step forward on the path to closing the readiness
deficit that we currently have, and South Dakota will play a critical
role in closing that gap.
In 2019, the Air Force announced that Ellsworth Air Force Base in
South Dakota would host the first B-21 Raider mission. The B-21 will be
the backbone of the Air Force's bomber fleet. It will enable the United
States to project power and deter threats around the world. And it will
employ some of the most advanced technology in executing its stealth
missions.
I am proud that this bill fully funds the B-21 at Ellsworth and the
support facilities that will be needed to House this critical mission.
When I look at where we are today, it is sometimes hard to remember
that not long after I was elected to the Senate, Ellsworth was slated
for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
I spent some of my first months as a Senator in a sprint to save the
base. There were those who wondered whether a small State like South
Dakota would have the clout to protect Ellsworth. But we got to work,
and with the combined efforts of a lot of people, we kept the base. We
proved that closing Ellsworth would not only cost more
[[Page S6982]]
money, it would diminish readiness. And the Commission voted to keep
Ellsworth open.
But we didn't stop there. We went right back to work to make sure
that Ellsworth would never be threatened with closure again. And today,
it is an undisputed asset to the Air Force and to our national defense.
National defense has always been a priority for me. I believe in
peace through strength. I believe that deterrence works, and it is a
lot cheaper to invest in a strong military by choice than to spend on a
war by necessity.
So I can promise that next year, national security will be a priority
in the Senate. We will work to make sure that the military has
everything it needs to project American strength and to keep the peace.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Tribute to Kamala D. Harris
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on January 20, 2021, little girls
worldwide watched in awe as the daughter of a mother from India and a
father from Jamaica placed her hand on the Bible of the late civil
rights icon and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and took the
oath to serve in one of the highest offices in the land. At that
moment, history was made, and Kamala Harris became the first woman in
American history to serve as Vice President of the United States.
During a time when America faced a pandemic, there was hope, and many
saw the promise of what could be in Vice President Harris.
As I sat there as one of the lucky witnesses to see that historic
moment on that cold winter's day, I couldn't help but smile and think
of my former Senate colleague from California, who served with me on
the Senate's Judiciary Committee. I served on that committee for more
than two decades and had the honor to work with many brave colleagues
on both sides of the table, but then-Senator Harris was exceptional,
bringing a keen perspective and vast knowledge of issues.
During hearings, I always counted on her for intelligent, discerning
questions, honed over the years as a prosecutor, effectively reaching
the heart of each matter at hand. I remember how people would stick
around to hear her ask questions. Because of her seniority situation,
she was one of the last to ever ask in the committee. I know there were
many witnesses who would have preferred that she would have asked no
questions. She was that good.
Throughout her long and successful career as a civil servant, Vice
President Harris has always focused on what is best for the American
people. Whether fighting for working families, taking on special
interests and winning, or working across the aisle to pass legislation
and conducting critical national security investigations, Vice
President Harris has worked in the service of every American, no matter
their party.
Four years ago, she left the Senate as President Biden's Vice
President and had a tall order on her hands--to bring this country back
from a life-altering pandemic and reenergize the American economy. With
our democracy's and Nation's soul at stake on the ballot during the
2020 election, Vice President Harris and President Biden ushered in a
new era, embodying their campaign slogan: ``Our best days still lie
ahead.''
Under their leadership, America has made significant progress. A
little over 4 years ago, the term ``Infrastructure Week'' was a little
more than a wish list and a punch line at worst. In 2021, the Biden-
Harris administration, with Democrats' support in Congress, made the
infamous ``Infrastructure Week'' a reality. We passed the bipartisan
infrastructure law.
Since its enactment, the Biden-Harris administration has announced
$568 billion in funding for more than 66,000 projects across all 50
States, territories, and Tribes. This funding has helped repair more
than 196,000 miles of roads, updated 11,400 bridges, replaced more than
350,000 lead pipes, and created nearly 16 million jobs.
We were able to help millions of Americans head back to work. Thanks
to the American Rescue Plan, the economy is back on track after the
world struggled with a deadly, life-threatening virus. America had one
of the most robust job recoveries on record and the strongest economic
recovery in the world, driving unemployment below 4 percent for 28
months--the longest stretch of low unemployment in more than 50 years.
We lowered healthcare and prescription drug costs, including a $2,000
cap on prescription drugs for seniors and people with disabilities, a
$35-a-month cap on the cost of insulin, and new, lower prices for
prescription drugs as part of Medicare.
Since the Supreme Court's decision to overrule Roe v. Wade, Vice
President Harris has been an outspoken advocate for reproductive
freedom.
Over the past 2 years, Republican lawmakers have picked up where the
Supreme Court left off. In State after State, they have undermined and
even eliminated reproductive health care for millions of Americans,
with devastating consequences. But the Biden-Harris administration has
been a steady, predictable, consistent beacon in what feels like a
never-ending struggle.
With the Vice President's leadership, the administration has acted to
protect access to reproductive health care, including through FDA-
approved medication abortion, emergency medical care, and supporting
the ability to travel for reproductive health care. On what would have
been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Vice President Kamala Harris
launched a nationwide Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour.
For as long as I have known her, she has always been a fighter, so I
didn't hesitate when she called, asking for my support when she ran for
President. I didn't hesitate to say yes. Now, I know the election
outcome was not what we wanted or fought for, but believe me when I say
she made a difference in the history of this Nation, and I could not be
prouder of her strength and resolve during the campaign.
At a recent address at Howard University, Vice President Harris said
something that will stay with me. She said:
The light of America's promise will always burn bright as
long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.
Madam Vice President, you have been and always will be the light of
America's promise. You have given a voice to the voiceless, made those
who felt invisible feel seen, and fought for those unable to fight for
themselves.
It has been a true honor to work and serve next to her over these
years. I thank her for her service to this country. We are all the
better for it.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Trump Administration
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, last week, I spoke about some of President
Trump's nominees to unleash American energy dominance. Today, I would
like to highlight another issue and some of his great picks to help
lead his agenda.
For one thing, I am very excited about his partnership with my fellow
Texan, Elon Musk, who will help lead the newly created Department of
Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
We have reached a point as a nation where it is almost a cliche to
say our spending has become out of control. We all know that, but doing
anything about it seems to be elusive, to say the least. It is a
problem that we are all aware of but is one that many are afraid to
make the hard decisions to do anything about.
Our Nation's debt has skyrocketed to more than $36 trillion. That is
a number that none of us can possibly conceive of in terms of the
magnitude of that debt. What we do know is we are now spending more
money for interest on the national debt than we are on the defense of
our Nation--something that is unsustainable. But what is lesser known
is that 61 percent of the Federal
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budget is mandatory spending, which means it is on autopilot, and we
rarely go back and revisit it to make sure that this spending program,
this mandatory spending program, is still a priority. There is no cap
on it, no cost-of-living index, nothing of the nature to control the
costs, so they tend to grow at 5, 6, 7, 8 percent a year. Well, this is
no longer acceptable, if it ever was, because it is not sustainable. We
have to do something about it, and I think we have a generational
opportunity to do just that come January.
But if you look at the other piece of the pie, only 26 percent of our
budget is discretionary. We fight over continuing resolutions and
appropriations bills here in the Senate, which represent 26 percent of
the money that the Federal Government spends, and act sometimes like,
well, we need to balance the budget, but in dealing with 26 percent of
the spending, that is obviously a fool's errand.
The other 13 percent is interest on the national debt. Just think
about the trillion dollars a year that we spend on interest on the
national debt. If we did not have a $36 trillion debt, if we didn't
have to pay that interest, what good could be done with that trillion
dollars a year? We have almost reached the point where our interest
payments, of course, as I said, have actually eclipsed defense
spending, and that is obviously never a good place to be.
Where we spend what we spend is almost as important as how much we
spend. Let me say that again. Where we spend what we spend is almost as
important as how much we spend. I have never been one to believe that
it is just a matter, in terms of judging our national security, that we
need to spend X amount of dollars, because that doesn't really tell you
much about how those dollars are spent.
One of the things I am hoping the new administration can do, being
disruptors, opposing the status quo, is that we can see some real
changes at the Pentagon and in terms of equipping our warfighters with
the most modern, most effective weapons and weapons systems that they
need in order to restore deterrence.
I think it is obvious--and I think the selection is a referendum on
this--that we need to take a look in the mirror and look at our
pocketbook and have a reckoning. For this reason, I am excited to work
with Elon Musk and his cochairman, Vivek Ramaswamy, who is a founding
member of the DOGE Caucus, here in the Senate. Now, I don't imagine
that they are going to be able to unilaterally cut out the waste and
inefficiency in the Federal Government because obviously they are not
part of the legislature, but I do believe they can highlight ways that
we can cut waste and inefficiency. Whether it is the President through
Executive order or whether it is the Congress through Congressional
Review Acts or through other legislation, we can join them in cutting
our spending and making the tax dollar that is spent here be spent more
efficiently in accordance with our priorities as a nation. So I look
forward to working with both of them and our House colleagues on the
DOGE Caucus--first to identify the low-hanging fruit.
Now, there have already been some good ideas that we have seen
floated. For example, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
recently found that simply reversing every one of President Biden's
Executive orders could save taxpayers up to $1.4 trillion.
You know, it is a sad day when we who are supposed to have the purse
strings have relinquished to the Executive the ability to basically
obligate the Nation to spend $1.4 trillion through Executive orders.
There is something terribly out of whack about that. We are the ones
who should control the purse strings of the Nation and be the ones
accountable to the voters for how we spend that money, but that has
gotten terribly out of whack, as I said.
For the most part, these Executive actions are things that folks on
this side of the Chamber agree we should reverse. For example, simply
preventing the implementation of President Biden's rule limiting
vehicle carbon emissions--effectively an electric vehicle mandate--
would save $150 billion. I have never understood the wisdom of low- and
middle-income taxpayers subsidizing wealthy people to buy expensive
cars, which is what the mandate provides.
While there is incredible innovation in the healthcare space,
blocking the Biden administration rule to allow Medicare to cover GLP-1
obesity drugs would save $40 billion. Now, I, for one, think that is a
fascinating topic and one we need to explore more in depth, but I do
oppose the President's doing this unilaterally before Congress has had
a chance to do our due diligence to see ``Does this save money? What is
the impact on the public health?'' rather than President Biden, with
the swipe of his pen, spending $40 billion.
Then there is the so-called Thrifty Food Plan update that increased
SNAP benefits. We have been debating the farm bill, which is about 80
percent of nutrition benefits and very little benefit to our farmers,
but President Biden again, with a swipe of his pen, obligated us to
spend another $180 billion.
It is a little ironic, to say the least, that we spend billions of
dollars on food stamps and nutrition programs that could be used to buy
who knows what and then turn around and spend billions of dollars more
on obesity drugs to help Americans who are overweight. There is
something strange about that juxtaposition.
But another simple but effective way of eliminating waste would be to
eliminate COVID-era work policies for employees in Federal Agencies. My
friend and our colleague Senator Ernst of Iowa has pointed out that
taxpayers continue to pick up the tab for the upkeep of Federal
buildings that are, by and large, empty.
The Government Accountability Office conducted a study that found
that 75 percent or more of the office space for DC headquarters of
Federal Agencies is not even being used--75 percent.
At the same time, the people who rely on these Agencies for
services--the public--are often faced with extended wait times due to
Federal employees working remotely. I hear it on a daily basis from my
constituents, as I am sure many others in this Chamber have as well.
Veterans are calling the Veterans' Administration, and they are
waiting for callbacks. Taxpayers are trying to file their tax returns
correctly, and they face long wait times at the IRS.
In the meantime, an internal review of the Department of Health and
Human Services found that as many as 30 percent of the employees of
that huge Agency ``did not appear to be working'' on ``any given day''
during the pandemic and thereafter.
Now the pandemic is over, but those same working arrangements seem to
have carried the day and seem to have continued without a thought to
what it means in terms of efficiently providing the services that these
government Agencies and these employees are supposed to provide.
The Office of Personnel Management has found that now that the
pandemic is over, only one in three Federal employees is fully back in
the office. If we required Federal employees to come into the office 5
days a week, as we should, there would likely be a number of voluntary
terminations. This is something I think we should welcome. If Federal
employees don't want to show up for work, then American taxpayers
should not have to pay them.
Of course, there is an obvious first step that we should take here in
the Senate, and that is to pass the budget come January which provides
the reconciliation instructions we need in order to do more work that
needs to be done.
Given the fact that Republicans now have the majority in the House
and the Senate and the White House, it is not an opportunity we should
squander. We must not squander it.
When Democrats had this opportunity, they used it to pass the so-
called Inflation Reduction Act, which, as I pointed out time and time
again, did not actually reduce inflation. It went to a 40-year high and
is still high.
Now, set aside the ridiculous notion that you can reduce inflation by
massive spending--something Milton Friedman, I am sure, is spinning in
his grave at that concept--Democrats also set a new precedent by
working around the longstanding prohibition on making policy changes in
a budget resolution, the so-called Byrd rule or law, which says that
you have to get 60 votes to make policy changes, and you can only do
budgetary matters through
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budget reconciliation using a majority vote in the U.S. Senate. But
this is now a precedent of the Senate that we have at our disposal when
it is time for us to pass the budget resolution. I am hopeful we can
use this vehicle as an opportunity to reform some of our mandatory
spending outside of Social Security and Medicare.
I have always been a proponent of reevaluating the money we spend.
This is something that every family in America, every business in
America, has to do on a regular basis. We don't do it here, and we need
to start, especially with this looming debt and this unsustainable
amount of money that we are spending on interest on that debt, when we
could and should be spending it on other programs or returning those
resources back to the American people in terms of lower taxes.
I look forward to working with the DOGE committee and all of our
efforts to identify and eliminate areas of government waste, rein in
reckless and wasteful spending, and improve the lives of Texans and all
Americans in the process.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory
quorum call with respect to the Marzano nomination be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. TILLIS. And that the vote occur immediately.
Cloture Motion
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before
the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
Cloture Motion
We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination
of Executive Calendar No. 835, Matthew James Marzano, of
Illinois, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
for the term of five years expiring June 30, 2028.
Charles E. Schumer, Thomas R. Carper, Tammy Baldwin, Gary
C. Peters, Peter Welch, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon
Whitehouse, Tim Kaine, Jack Reed, Michael F. Bennet,
Tammy Duckworth, Catherine Cortez Masto, Debbie
Stabenow, Robert P. Casey, Jr., Tina Smith, Christopher
A. Coons, Brian Schatz.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum
call has been waived.
The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the
nomination of Matthew James Marzano, of Illinois, to be a Member of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the term of five years, expiring June
30, 2028, shall be brought to a close?
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn), the Senator from Kansas (Mr.
Marshall), the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell), and the Senator
from Ohio (Mr. Vance).
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 50, nays 46, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 322 Leg.]
YEAS--50
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
Kim
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Manchin
Markey
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schiff
Schumer
Shaheen
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
NAYS--46
Barrasso
Boozman
Braun
Britt
Budd
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Paul
Ricketts
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Sinema
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Wicker
Young
NOT VOTING--4
Blackburn
Marshall
McConnell
Vance
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). On this vote, the yeas are 50, the
nays are 46.
The motion is agreed to.
The Senator from Maryland.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as if in legislative session,
notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee
on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. 920
and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the Senator withhold his request.
Mr. CARDIN. I will withhold my request.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
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