Sherrod Brown

Mr. BROWN

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 I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, it is an honor to speak today in support of three historic, highly qualified nominees to serve 6 million Ohioans in the Northern District of Ohio on the Federal bench. Each of these nominees brings with them not only impressive legal credentials but also diverse life experiences, empathy, and a deep commitment to justice that will make them excellent district judges. It is why Senator Portman and I together recommended these nominees to President Biden. It is why each of them was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues on the floor to support them.

Mr. BROWN

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of a lifelong champion for American workers across the country, the founder and longtime president of the Pension Rights Center, Karen Ferguson. Karen came to Washington, DC, in the early 1970s to work with Ralph Nader as a public interest lawyer, fighting for consumers and workers against unchecked corporate power. As one of ``Nader's Raiders,'' she found her calling. Recognizing the void of public advocacy for retirees and pensioners, Karen founded the Pension Rights Center in 1976. This marked the beginning of a crusade that lasted more than four decades, on behalf of pensioners who so often did not have much of a voice in their own government. Over the next 45 years, Karen personally assisted thousands of workers who were denied the retirement benefits they earned, and she advocated for retirement security for millions more. As one of our country's leading experts on pension law and a passionate advocate for workers and their families, Karen was a source of strength and guidance to her allies in Congress for decades. She was instrumental to the passage of a number of reforms that improved the cause of retirement security, including the Retirement Equity Act of 1984, a critical law that provided benefits to millions of widows and divorced women. Most recently, Karen was a leader in the fight to protect and restore multiemployer pension benefits for millions of union members across the country, including 100,000 Ohioans. She worked directly with my office to help draft the Butch Lewis Act and fought for years alongside Mr. Lewis, his widow and leader in her own right, Rita Lewis, and other workers, families, and small businesses, for its passage. Because of their advocacy, we were finally able to pass the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act into law as part of the American Rescue Plan in 2021. We were successful in no small part due to the unwavering support she provided. Now, more than a million Americans who have worked hard all their lives and gave up raises at the bargaining table in order to put that money toward retirement are no longer at risk of losing the benefits they earned. And many American businesses-- often small, family-owned businesses--will be able to continue to support their workers and grow and create more good, union jobs. Karen Ferguson will be remembered for a lifetime of service on behalf of workers and their families, and the compassion and skill she brought to our efforts. Her legacy will continue through the millions of past, current, and future workers and their families who will have a more secure retirement thanks to her work.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 471.

Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 487.

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from further consideration and that the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 488.

Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 497, submitted earlier today.

Mr. BROWN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, that the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Merkley from Oregon.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, 10 minutes ago there was a different Nevadan Senator sitting at the Presiding Officer's chair. Welcome. I was at a roundtable this morning with a group of Ohio county commissioners from conservative counties like Warren and Medina and more progressive counties like Lucas and Hamilton--Republicans and Democrats alike; male, female; a good cross section of Ohio leaders-- talking about the projects we are going to build and the good-paying jobs we are going to create--jobs that will not be off-shored this time because we came together to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Yesterday, I was on a media call with the Republican mayor of Findlay, OH, about the I-75 bridge project that they need in Hancock County. The day before, I was at another roundtable with western Ohio leaders, talking with them about how we can leverage these investments. It is some of the most important work I am going to be doing over the coming months, working with local and Federal officials to make sure this investment translates into Ohio jobs. The Presiding Officer understands this, that we pass legislation here. With it, sometimes, comes a good bit of money, like with infrastructure. But it is also up to us, as representing our States, to make sure those dollars are spent efficiently and effectively and quickly, frankly. The infrastructure bill is some of the most important work we have done in the Senate in a long time. We are investing in our country. For years, mayors and businesses and workers have been telling us, as their representatives, as their Senators, about the need to upgrade infrastructure, but we have noticed over the years that candidates of both parties have promised infrastructure. ``We are going to pass an infrastructure bill when I am elected,'' they say. Plenty talk about it, but now, with a new President and a new majority in the Senate and the House, we are finally getting it done with this bipartisan infrastructure bill. Over the past few months, I have heard from communities about the projects that this is going to allow them to accomplish. In Toledo, with the mayor, talking about the city's plans to replace lead pipes--my State has the dubious distinction of being the second leading State, if you will. Our State has the second-most lead- contaminated pipes from main water lines and the pipes going into people's homes. We have 600,000 pipes like that going into people's homes that have high levels of lead. And science has known, paint companies have known, lead manufacturers have known that infants, babies ingest lead. It affects their brain development for the rest of their lives. So one of our goals, working with the mayor of Toledo, is over the next several years to replace those pipes. Ohio will get someone $1 billion in new funding to improve water infrastructure. The Western Hills Viaduct in Cincinnati, the Patterson Avenue Bridge in Dayton--Ohio has some 3,200 bridges eligible for upgrades. Some of them, like the Brent Spence, unbelievably, across the Ohio River, carries 3 percent of GDP every day across that river. Some of those bridges are--when I grew up working the family farm, driving a tractor with a hay wagon crossing little culvert bridges that dot our countryside and all over my State, many of those are in states of disrepair. We have seen the new pollution-free buses that communities like Akron and Canton, Columbus, and Lake County are rolling out through Laketran, their transit system. We have heard about how they are going to expand service so people can get to work and school. We have some 60,000 buses--big city buses--and another 50 or 60,000 small transit, more rural buses, that need to be replaced. They are fossil fuel, mostly diesel engines, and we are going to replace those over the next several years with low-emission or zero-emission buses. From the Port of Ashtabula, the community my wife grew up in, we are hearing about how upgrades to our ports will increase investment and help speed up and grow Ohio supply chains. As the Presiding Officer knows, this Congress, this Senate and the House, frankly, over the years, at the behest of corporate lobbyists, sold us out on trade agreements, sold us out on tax policy, so that so many jobs left our country. The industrial Midwest was hit the hardest, but every State was hit by that job loss because of bad government policy, again, lobbied by some of the largest corporations in the world--the tech companies, the drug companies, the oil industry. We now have a President who wants to get it right and bring those supply chains closer to home. Now this, we also see how Ohio needs better rail infrastructure--new rail cars for Cleveland RTA, better Amtrak service, safer rail crossings. But, fundamentally, this bill--the infrastructure bill--is a jobs bill. It will create construction jobs, to be sure. It will create jobs--union jobs: carpenters, millwrights, electricians, plumbers and pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, laborers. It will create those kinds of jobs but also create manufacturing jobs through the supply chain. Senator Portman and I worked to make sure this bill has the strongest ``Buy America'' requirements ever in an infrastructure bill with our Build America, Buy America Act. Every one of these projects will come with the strongest ever ``Buy America'' rules. No more bridges--no more bay bridges in Northern California--made entirely with Chinese steel. We introduced the ``Build America, Buy America'' bill on President Trump's inauguration day. Unfortunately, nothing moved because everything got crowded out of President Trump's agenda so they could give a huge tax cut to the richest people in the country. We worked with other leaders now, 4 years later, with a new President, to get it right. With ``Buy America'' particularly, I call out Senator Baldwin from Wisconsin, Senator Peters from Michigan and their work. We are putting in place a clear, permanent standard: If American tax dollars are involved, American workers should be getting the jobs. It is going to mean more contracts for Ohio businesses. Cleveland Cliffs' new plant in Toledo, talking about what we are doing there, it is the cleanest steel making, I believe, in the entire world at that new plant. Owens Corning in Toledo; Gradall Industries in New Philadelphia, OH, on the edge of Appalachia. We have the potential for hundreds more bridge projects around the State using American rebar, American steel, American iron. It is an investment in Ohio that will pay off, creating jobs now, both during construction and up and down the supply chain. It will help attract new businesses. It will help keep the existing ones. It will connect people with their jobs and businesses. I will spend pretty much every day, and my staff will too, making sure that our State gets its fair share of this investment and these jobs. If you believe in the dignity of work, you fight for the people who make this country work. We are seeing results. On Wednesday, the mayor of Findlay and I were talking about the Biden administration's announcement of $100 million in initial bridge funding already on the way to Ohio. That focus will continue. We are doing roundtables. We are doing briefings with Federal officials, with local township trustees and county officials and mayors and city officials and State officials, talking about how they can apply for Federal funding, and to make sure communities are best positioned to make the most of this infrastructure. Our goal is to leverage this investment to create jobs in every city, in every county, in every township across my great State. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations: All nominations placed on the Secretary's desk in the Foreign Service; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to the nominations; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 638, Joseph Donnelly, of Indiana, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nomination be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Monday, January 24, at 1 p.m. and Thursday, January 27, at 10 a.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, January 27, it next convene at 3 p.m., Monday, January 31; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Brennan nomination--I would add that Brennan is from Ohio--and that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I would like to go back a little further in history than last year's warmed-over conspiracy theories that we just heard my friend from Iowa talk about. I so appreciated Senator Bennet's discussion of sort of the history of voting rights and the history of this body. The American public certainly doesn't know what cloture means. The American public really doesn't know all that much about the filibuster either. But go back a few decades. The filibuster was used to suppress the vote. The filibuster was used by many people in my political party-- back when too many Democrats were on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of civil rights--was used by southern segregationists. It was finally overcome by some northern Republicans, with a whole bunch of northern Democrats. But think about what else the filibuster has been used for. The filibuster was used in the 1970s and 1980s to protect Big Tobacco in Kentucky. The filibuster was used to protect Big Oil. Now, it is used to protect Wall Street. The filibuster is used to protect big tech companies. The filibuster is used in case after case after case to protect big drug companies. So we know that the whole purpose of the filibuster has been to protect the most affluent, the most privileged, the wealthiest corporate interests in this society that just get their way in this body day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Now, this weekend--and many referred to this--we honored Dr. Martin Luther King. We heard a lot of words extolling his legacy. Those words from many who are for whatever reason not supporting voting rights today--those words sounded pretty empty. Few people told the story of Dr. King in Memphis, why Dr. King was in Memphis. In early February of 1968, sanitation workers in Memphis--some of the most abused, taken-advantage-of workers in our country; mostly Black workers doing a dirty, difficult job in a segregated city with a very racist mayor, who let that be known in the ensuing months--these sanitation workers were not even given rest periods, particularly when they were in White neighborhoods. There was nowhere to go when they were picking up the garbage in White neighborhoods. There was no place to go for the rest periods. Two workers in early February, in a rainstorm, got in their garbage trucks to protect themselves from the rain for a few minutes. The garbage truck malfunctioned. Those two workers--underpaid, with no real benefits and no insurance and no help for their families--those two workers were killed. Dr. King went to Memphis the first time to help lead that strike, to join the striking workers. The second time he went back, that is when he was assassinated. Dr. King understood that the dignity of work was intertwined with voting rights. Worker rights and voting rights always went together. Dr. King insisted that no job is menial if it pays a decent wage. Those sanitations workers, as I said--low wages, no benefits, no health insurance, no retirement--none of that--and few days off. Dr. King said: What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee? He talked about the dignity of work--a term mostly popularized by him--and he said no work is menial if it pays an adequate wage. Until all workers have dignity in the job, Dr. King's work will remain unfinished. We can't get there if workers cannot vote. I don't mean just workers who put on a tie and sit at a desk; the vote should be open to everyone--I mean all workers, whether you punch a clock, whether you swipe a badge, whether you work for tips, whether you are on salary, whether you are raising children, whether you are taking care of aging parents. We know who powers our economy. It is workers. It is not the rich donors and the corporate contributors who fund the politicians who are pushing for gerrymandering and voter suppression in the takeovers of local election borders; it is workers. I think about what we did in the Senate last week--with some difficulty, but ultimately, it worked. We unanimously passed a resolution honoring the custodians and the maintenance workers. We had talked often about the police officers, some of whom gave their lives and dozens who were injured, all who were courageous. We honored them, as we should. We also, last week, though, passed a resolution honoring custodial workers and maintenance workers. They get little recognition. They work for too low pay. Last January, 1 year ago, these workers--largely Black and Brown workers, many of them immigrants--were forced to clean feces off the wall, clean up after the destruction of the White supremacists, and restore dignity to our Capitol after domestic terrorists ransacked it. The insurrectionists destroyed; the Black and Brown workers cleaned up. The carpenters and the maintenance workers and the painters union members all rebuilt. Last week, we came together to honor their service. They deserve more than words, more than gratitude. So often, they and other working people don't have much of a voice in this country. They don't have the high-priced lobbyists who come here. Many of you have looked down the hall and seen, in front of Senator McConnell's office--you have seen the lobbyists lined up, who always seem to get what they come for. Workers don't have corporate lobbyists. They aren't going on campaign donor retreats. But workers have the vote or should have the vote. The voting booth is where all of us are supposed to have an equal voice. The voting booth is where workers are supposed to be able to go to hold the wealthy and the powerful accountable. So it is not surprising that politicians who pass corporate tax cuts--the same politicians who do the handouts for the wealthiest 1 percent--don't want lots of workers to vote. We know whom voter suppression and election subversion is aimed at. It is at the parents working two jobs to pay the rent and make sure their kids have a decent meal, with no control over their work lives and their work hours if they don't have a collective bargaining agreement. It is students. It is people who don't get a day off. It is seniors in nursing homes. It is home healthcare workers who care for them. So often, these are women of color, working the graveyard shift after coming straight from their second job. We know whose votes these politicians want to throw out after they are cast. We know which cities the former President went after. One is Philadelphia, PA, Senator Casey; and Atlanta, GA, Senators Ossoff and Warnock. What do they have in common? They are diverse places with a whole lot of Black and Brown workers who cast ballots that the rich and powerful don't like. Ultimately, as others have said, it comes down to this: These politicians want to cherry-pick their voters rather than the voters picking their elected officials. Through gerrymandering, through voter suppression, and through meddling in local election boards, politicians want to pick and choose whose votes are counted. President Trump carried my State twice by 8 points. My State, though, is about a 53, 54, 46, 47--slightly Republican State now. For the last decade, the Members of Congress in my State--12 Republicans and 4 Democrats in 2012, in 2014, in 2016, in 2018, and 2020. None of that changed. Not one of those districts changed because Republicans, with their corruption and with their skill at drawing maps, drew those maps in ways that there were no real fair elections. We know whose votes they don't want to count. It is the votes of the low-paid and the overlooked; the votes of workers who power this country yet don't have much power; the votes of people who might hold politicians accountable, who might demand fewer tax cuts for rich people and an increase in the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, the largest tax cut for families in our Nation's history. Ninety percent of families in Colorado, in Georgia, in New Jersey, in Ohio, and all over this country--90 percent of families with children get at least a $3,000 tax cut because of what we did in this body when we said: No more Republican freight trains carrying tax cuts down the track. We are going to give tax cuts to moderate-income people and working families. The votes of people who hold politicians accountable, the votes of people who understand the dignity of work--if you say you support American workers, you support their right to vote. I ask my colleagues of both parties to come together to protect the right of every American to have a voice in this country no matter who you are, no matter where you work, no matter where you live. I yield the floor.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to print the following letters into the Congressional Record.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. BROWN

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

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. I thank the Presiding Officer from Minnesota.

Mr. BROWN

Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I appreciate my friend from Texas and his comments, but I have trouble following some of them. When he came to the floor after the deserved credit for the Trump 2017-2018 tax cut for the rich--70 percent of the benefits went to the 1 percent--he did take credit for his work in the Finance Committee. He should take credit for that, but that is what drove this hole in the deficit where the rich got richer. I remember during that--and the Presiding Officer was not here at the time, but he can still see it here. You can look out the window, and you can see Senator McConnell's office there and the lobbyists lined up. You should have seen it back when Senator Cornyn was talking about this tax cut--this tax cut for the rich--when they made these promises: You know, if you give tax cuts to really rich people and corporations, it will trickle down, and we will all do better. They will hire more people, and they will raise wages. Well, we know what they did. In fact, they just announced another round of it--a whole bunch of stock buybacks for the executives. So we know what happened during those years. Profits went up for corporations, and stock markets soared. Executive compensation exploded through the roof, and wages for most people in Mansfield, GA, and Mansfield, OH, and Marietta, GA, and Marietta, OH, stayed flat. We know that. That is why Build Back Better makes sense. It begins to put money in people's pockets. And what my friend from Texas--and we sit across from each other in the Finance Committee and work together on some issues, and I appreciate what he has done on some other bills. But what he didn't explain is why every one of them opposes the child tax credit. On the child tax credit, we know a number of things. I have been working on this since 2013. It started with not a lot of support, but it built huge support by this year, early this year. Sitting at this desk, on March 6, I voted--as did the Presiding Officer from Georgia in the first really big vote he cast as a Member of the Senate, in the majority--for the child tax credit. Two different times, every single Republican voted no. Every single Democrat voted yes. Do you know what that meant? It meant that starting in July, when we got it set up, 90 percent of the families in Georgia, 90 percent of the families in Ohio who have children under the age of 18 got at least a $3,000-a-year tax cut. Think about that. There are families who struggle with paying rent. Twenty-five percent of renters in this country before the pandemic paid more than half their income in rent. Think of the pressure those families are under if, at the end of every month, they cobble together $700 to pay their rent. They get a $3,000 tax cut. The family who is struggling to pay for diapers or childcare, especially--the cost of childcare has exploded. Whether it is Metro Atlanta or Metro Columbus, OH, or whether it is smalltown Milledgeville or smalltown Shelby, OH, families struggle with childcare, and this $300 a month per child--or $250, depending on the age of the children--makes a huge difference in those families. One father said: You know, for the first time, I have money now to buy my daughter fast-pitch softball equipment. A mother said to me: I have money now. For the first time, I can send my son for a week to summer camp and buy school supplies in the fall. And, as I said, for diapers and other expenses for infants, it makes all the difference in the world. I expect the Presiding Officer, I hope, has a long career in this body. I don't know if he will ever get the opportunity to vote on anything as big as what we did in March with the recovery act and what we are about to do with Build Back Better. For me, they are the highlights of my career. I hope the Presiding Officer has a lot of years in front of him, but this is the most consequential thing this Congress has done, not just to fight poverty, lift poor kids and struggling parents who are working so hard to raise kids and balance two jobs and all that, not just to help kids get out of poverty but to make life easier. As I said, 90 percent of the families who have children under 18 in Georgia, in Ohio, and every State in between are going to get a $3,000- a-year tax cut. That alone is so important. I wish my colleague from Texas would address why they all vote no. They have had two chances. It sounds like they are going to take their third chance and vote no again. I don't understand it. Is it that the lobbyists who line up in Senator McConnell's office have some weird philosophy that markets always know better? Is it just that they don't really care about helping kids? I don't know what their logic is. I just know what our logic is, and it will make our country better.