Benjamin Cardin

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourns until 3 p.m. on Monday, December 12, and 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 Montgomery-Reeves nomination postcloture; further, at 5:30 p.m. all postcloture time be considered expired and the Senate vote on confirmation of the Montgomery-Reeves nomination; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Monday's session, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. CARDIN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the vote scheduled at 12 noon start immediately.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this Friday will be a joyous occasion at Congregation B'nai Tzedek in Potomac, MD--a Shabbat dinner to celebrate Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt's 70th birthday. His Excellency Michael Herzog, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, will be the guest speaker at the dinner. Rabbi Weinblatt founded Congregation B'Nai Tzedek 34 years ago with just a few families. Today, the Conservative synagogue is thriving, with 650 families. The growth and well-being of Congregation B'Nai Tzedek is a testament to Rabbi Weinblatt's vision, persistence, and charismatic leadership. Rabbi Weinblatt graduated from the University of Maryland with high honors in history. While he was an undergraduate, he helped to establish the Jewish Studies Program and represented the student body to the Maryland State government. He was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Rabbi Weinblatt has been an adjunct professor at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, teaching Jewish history, Bible, and theology. He is widely recognized as a gifted teacher, speaker, and author. ``Washington Jewish Week'' readers have voted him the ``Best Rabbi in Washington'' on numerous occasions. The ``Forward'' newspaper recognized Rabbi Weinblatt as ``One of the Most Inspiring Rabbis in America'' in 2016. He received the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington's ``Pillar of the Community'' award and a ``Man of the Year'' award from the Greater Washington Chapter of ORT, the global Jewish educational network that prepares students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math--STEM. Rabbi Weinblatt has served as president of the Washington Board of Rabbis, chaired the National Convention of the Rabbinical Assembly in Jerusalem and in Washington DC, and chaired the prestigious Annual Israel Bonds' Ambassador's Ball. He authored ``God, Prayer and Spirituality,'' a compilation of his sermons, writings, and articles. He is known for his effective use of humor, even when dealing with his own cancer, which he chronicled in ``Living in the Shadow of Death: A Rabbi Copes with Cancer,'' a book one reviewer described as ``a comforter to others . . . [and] also a valuable tool for clergy and health care professionals who interact with and counsel individuals in similar situations.'' He is a frequent columnist for the Jewish News Syndicate, often commenting on the State of Israel. Rabbi Weinblatt is president of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America and has served as director of Israel Policy and Advocacy for the Rabbinical Assembly. He heads the Jewish National Fund's ``Rabbis for Israel.'' In these roles, Rabbi Weinblatt has played a critical role in strengthening the enduring bond between our two democracies, whose diplomatic partnership will celebrate its 75th anniversary next May. Today, in a world in turmoil, in the Middle East region and beyond, our bilateral relationship is more important than ever, and Rabbi Weinblatt can be justly proud of the role he has played in securing this bond. The mission statement of Congregation B'nai Tzedek emphasizes the collective responsibility to do ``tikun olam,'' to give ``tzedekah,'' and to perform ``mitzvot'' regularly ``as a means of supporting Jewish causes and all people in need.'' The Congregation is committed to making Jewish values relevant and meaningful in today's world and, under Rabbi Weinblatt's inspired leadership, it succeeds. On behalf of my Senate colleagues, I would like to join the families of Congregation B'nai Tzedek; Rabbi Weinblatt's wife Symcha, his children, and grandchildren; his rabbinical colleagues; Ambassador Herzog; and everyone else fortunate to know him as a friend or mentor in wishing him a happy 70th birthday, ``ad me'ah v'esrim!''

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, on December 1, we mark the 34th anniversary of World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day calls on us to remember those lost to AIDS and support those who live with HIV/AIDS-related illnesses. On this day, we also raise awareness for the global health crisis and redouble our efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Established in 1998, World AIDS Day marked the first international day for global health. Since then, World AIDS Day has adopted targeted themes to raise awareness and encourage international cooperation. This year's theme, ``Equalize,'' focuses on addressing persisting inequalities in the fight against AIDS. Vulnerable groups such as young women, gay men, transgender people, people of color, and sex workers struggle to access contraception, testing, treatment, and new technologies. Criminalization, discrimination, and social stigmas continue to target these vulnerable populations across the globe. The 2022 ``Equalize'' campaign reminds us that our fight cannot be won until such inequalities are eliminated. Since the first U.S. cases of AIDS were reported in June 1981, over 700,000 people in the U.S. have died from HIV-related illnesses. As of 2019, nearly 1.2 million people were living with HIV. In 2020, 30,635 people received an HIV diagnosis in the U.S. and dependent areas. My home State of Maryland is not immune to this issue. As of 2021, over 32,000 Marylanders over 13 years old are living with HIV, with 773 new diagnoses that same year. Furthermore, recent data shows that minority populations remain disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDs. In 2020, Black Americans accounted for 42 percent of HIV diagnoses, while Hispanic/Latino Americans accounted for 27 percent of HIV diagnoses. This is evidence of the persistent health challenge HIV/AIDS presents Maryland and the U.S. Fortunately, scientists have made significant strides in developing antiretroviral therapies--ART--against HIV infections over recent decades. Thanks to breakthroughs in the private and public sectors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--FDA--has now approved more than 30 medicines to treat HIV infection. These treatment regimens help extend and stabilize the lives of those living with HIV while reducing further risk of HIV transmission. I particularly applaud Maryland's scientific community and academic partners--including the National Institutes of Health--NIH--the Walter Reed Army Institute of Infectious Disease Research, the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University--for their groundbreaking research initiatives. For example, NIH-funded research, including clinical trials, to develop pre-exposure prophylaxis--PrEP--medication designed to prevent high-risk individuals from contracting HIV. Thanks to cutting-edge advancements in treatment, Maryland has reached significant milestones in reducing HIV case numbers. For the first time in over three decades, Maryland reported fewer than 1,000 new cases in 2018 and continues to remain below the 1,000 new case benchmark as of 2021. State-supported efforts such as safe-sex education programs, condom distribution, and the expansion of prophylactic medications have all mitigated HIV transmission. The Maryland Department of Health's antiretroviral therapy campaign has also contributed to viral suppression for 60 percent of the State's HIV patients. Additionally, city and county needle exchange programs have broadened efforts to reduce the circulation of unclean syringes, provide testing for infectious diseases such as HIV, and extend resources for substance abuse. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act--ACA--Americans diagnosed with HIV or at risk of transmission have more meaningful access to healthcare coverage and health insurance. Today, Americans cannot be dropped or denied coverage because of pre-existing health conditions such as HIV. The ACA also gives States the option to expand Medicaid, the largest payer for those who need HIV treatment in the country. The ACA's investments in community health centers' Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative is an integral part of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The ACA has also established new health plan standards or essential health benefits that must be covered under certain health plans. Benefits such as prescription drug services, hospital inpatient care, lab tests, HIV screening, PrEP, and other preventive services aim to preserve the health of those with HIV while mitigating further transmission. Under the ACA, most health insurance plans must provide preventative services, including HIV testing for those aged 15 to 65. PrEP to inhibit HIV is also provided for HIV-negative adults at high risk for contracting HIV. I am proud to cosponsor the PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2021, which would expand access to PrEP and work to reduce disparities among those recommended and prescribed the medication through multiple initiatives, including eliminating out-of- pocket costs for the medication. These investments in an infrastructure to test and treat HIV have helped reduce the spread of HIV/AIDs, but have also been essential in curbing the spread of mpox. It has provided natural points of care for testing, access to treatment, and education to populations also vulnerable to contracting mpox. However, HIV/AIDS is not an issue the U.S. faces in isolation. Outside the U.S., the global HIV/AIDs epidemic remains a grave public health challenge. In 2021, approximately 38.4 million people lived with HIV across the globe, including 1.7 million children between 0 and 14 years of age. Last year, roughly 1.5 million people contracted HIV. Nevertheless, the international community has made significant process in HIV testing and treatment over recent decades. By the end of 2021, 28.7 million people with HIV, about 75 percent, were receiving ART, while approximately 68 percent of all people with HIV reached viral suppression. In 2021, an estimated 650,000 people died from AIDS- related illnesses worldwide, down from 2 million people in 2004 and 1.4 million in 2010. Since its inception in 2003, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief--PEPFAR--represents an extraordinary commitment to global health, aiming to prevent, diagnose, and treat HIV infections. Over nearly 20 years, the U.S. has invested more than $100 billion in the global response to HIV/AIDS. Because of this, we have made significant inroads in access to testing and ART. In 2021, PEPFAR provided HIV testing services for more than 50 million people and supported ART for nearly 19 million people. As of today, U.S. leadership through PEPFAR has saved an estimated 20 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections. PEPFAR now operates in over 50 countries, training hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers and providing critical support to healthcare systems. PEPFAR is a powerful example of sincere, effective, and transparent U.S. global health leadership and cooperation. The COVID-19 pandemic produced a stark reminder that we must swiftly respond to global health crises. It demonstrates that diseases cannot be easily confined to national borders and regional spheres. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted HIV treatments and prevention services, separating patients from healthcare providers. Vulnerable populations have also been disconnected from educational and counseling services while economic downturns exasperated social and economic inequalities. Marginalized populations and now more susceptible to HIV infection and less likely to access necessary services than before the pandemic's onset. Our interconnected world demands American vigilance, conscientiousness, and our strong investment in global health systems. Our battle against HIV is far from over. The U.S. must continue to define global health leadership and facilitate cooperation with our foreign partners and allies. I commend President Biden for his enduring support for PEPFAR. I also recognize international partnerships, including the Global Fund along with faith-based organizations and civil society for their long-held commitment to eradicating HIV/AIDS. Most importantly, I want to recognize those living with HIV/AIDS across the globe. Your dignity, fortitude, and endurance testify to the extraordinary power of the human spirit. And in accordance with that drive and spirit, we will prevail in this fight.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8404, the Respect for Marriage Act. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the Senate companion version of this measure, S. 4556, which has been introduced by Senator Feinstein. The House passed this legislation by a bipartisan vote of 267 to 157 in July 2022, and the Senate is now poised to pass this legislation with a strong bipartisan vote as well. In 2010, Maryland began to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages that were legally performed in other States. And in 2012, Governor Martin O'Malley signed a law guaranteeing Marylanders the freedom to marry regardless of their gender, which was later upheld and confirmed by the voters of Maryland in a statewide referendum. In 2015, the Supreme Court held in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges that the Constitution protected the right of same-sex couples to marry and therefore granting this right nationwide. Let me quote just a few passages from this historic decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy more than seven years ago: ``Especially against a long history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial to same-sex couples of the right to marry works a grave and continuing harm. The imposition of this disability on gays and lesbians serves to disrespect and subordinate them. And the Equal Protection Clause, like the Due Process Clause, prohibits this unjustified infringement of the fundamental right to marry.'' Justice Kennedy concluded in part that: ``No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.'' So why are we here today, if Obergefell is still the law of the land? We are here because the Supreme Court of the United States decided to strip away a woman's fundamental reproductive rights this summer. The Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision--and a half century of associated precedents--in its radical Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. In that decision, Justice Thomas wrote a concurrence which warned that the Court should ``reconsider, [in future cases], all of this Court's substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.'' These decisions protected the right to access contraception, the right to have same-sex relations, and the right to enter into a same-sex marriage, respectively. Do most Americans really want to turn back the clock on these civil rights, in terms of being able to responsibly plan the size of their family, make personal medical and healthcare decision with their doctors, and fall in love and marry their partner of their choosing, regardless of their gender? I don't think so. The dissent in Dobbs correctly pointed out: ``The lone rationale for what the majority does today is that the right to elect an abortion is not `deeply rooted in history': Not until Roe, the majority argues, did people think abortion fell within the Constitution's guarantee of liberty. The same could be said, though, of most of the rights the majority claims it is not tampering with.'' The dissent continued: ``The majority could write just as long an opinion showing, for example, that until the mid-20th century, `there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain [contraceptives].' So one of two things must be true. Either the majority does not really believe in its own reasoning. Or if it does, all rights that have no history stretching back to the mid-19th century are insecure. Either the mass of the majority's opinion is hypocrisy, or additional constitutional rights are under threat. It is one or the other.'' I am therefore pleased that the Senate came together in its best traditions to form a bipartisan working group--led by Senators Baldwin and Collins--to codify the right to be married regardless of your gender and to rescind Federal laws to the contrary that are still on the books. I thank Leader Schumer for giving this working group additional time after the mid-term elections to reach compromise language that enjoys broad bipartisan support in the Senate, which can overcome a filibuster. According to the Human Rights Campaign and a recent Gallup poll, 71 percent of Americans now support marriage equality, compared to only about 27 percent in 1996, when President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act--DOMA. As Senators Baldwin and Collins recently wrote in a compelling op-ed: ``Individuals in same-sex and interracial marriages need, and should have, the confidence that their marriages are legal. These loving couples should be guaranteed the same rights and freedoms of every other marriage . . . This legislation has earned bipartisan support in Congress because it grants same-sex and interracial couples the certainty that they will continue to enjoy the same equal treatment under federal law as all other married couples. . . . [W]e should be able to agree that same-sex and interracial couples, regardless of where they live, both need and deserve the assurance that their marriage will be recognized by the federal government and that they will continue to enjoy freedoms, rights and responsibilities that come with all other marriages.'' This legislation has three major components. First, this legislation would formally repeal the Defense of Marriage Act--DOMA--of 1996. Section 2 of DOMA purports to allow States to refuse to recognize valid civil marriages of same-sex couples. Section 3 of the law carved out all same-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, from benefitting from any Federal statutes, regulations and rulings applicable to all other married people. This provision denied same-sex couples roughly 1,100 Federal benefits and protections. Second, the legislation establishes that ``place of celebration'' is the standard of recognition for Federal benefits of a same-sex marriage, in terms of recognizing a marriage as legal if valid in the State it was performed. The legislation would also guarantee Federal marriage benefits if a State rescinded same-sex marriage recognition. Third, this legislation guarantees that legal marriages are given full faith and credit by every other State. Article IV, section 1 of the Constitution provides that ``full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state, and the Congress may be general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.'' This section of the legislation additionally gives the Attorney General enforcement authority to carry out its provisions and creates a private right of action for any harmed individual. The compromise language in the Senate measure clarifies that it will have no adverse impact on religious liberty and conscience protections. The revised legislation would explicitly protect all religious liberty and conscience protections available under the Constitution or Federal law, including but not limited to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The amendment clarifies that nonprofit religious organizations will not be required to provide any services, facilities, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage. President Biden is absolutely correct when he stated: ``The right to marriage confers vital legal protections, dignity, and full participation in our society. No person should face discrimination because of who they are or whom they love, and every married couple in the United States deserves the security of knowing that their marriage will be defended and respected.'' The Biden administration supports passage of this legislation, stating that ``H.R. 8404 would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, an unconstitutional and discriminatory law, and would enshrine the right to Federal recognition of marriage for same-sex and interracial couples. This legislation would strengthen civil rights, and ensure that the promise of equality is not denied to families across the country.'' The Senate should pass this legislation and send it to the House for its consideration and passage in December. I am hopeful that President Biden will sign this legislation into law before the 117th Congress adjourns sine die. This would be another major bipartisan accomplishment for this Congress and mark an important step forward on our unfinished march for civil rights, as we strive to form a more perfect union, establish justice, and guarantee equal rights and equal justice under the law for all Americans.

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise to make a unanimous consent request in regards to legislation that has already been passed by the committees of authorization. This is a bill that deals with fighting corruption globally. I need not remind my colleagues that ``corruption threatens the United States' national security, economic equity, global antipoverty and development efforts, and democracy itself.'' That was a quote in regards to President Biden's published memorandum of establishing the fight against corruption as a core United States national security interest. We have heard this over and over again. I was in the White House a few years back, and the National Security Council was convened because of the spread of corruption globally. It presents a national security threat to the United States of America, and we find that many countries are moving in the wrong direction in anticorruption measures, and there are identifiable issues--independent judiciary, dealing with antibribery status, dealing with public disclosure-type requirements. There are things that are pretty well-identified internationally as necessary in fighting corruption. Yesterday, I was in a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with one of our closest allies, Georgia; and their judiciary is no longer independent, presenting real problems for our national security interests. So I have worked in a bipartisan manner with colleagues on the Republican and Democratic sides to develop a system whereby we would be able to determine which countries in the world need our attention in our bilateral relations and in the tools we have available to help them deal with creating an anticorruption system in their own governments. And we worked together to figure out how we can do this in a manner that would implement the types of results we need from our State Department. So the legislation that we crafted would have the State Department rank countries in the world as to whether they are in tier 1, 2, or 3. Tier 3 would be the countries of our concern. These are the countries that are not taking steps to deal with systemic corruption that they have in their system that does not comply with international standards. Tier 2 are countries that have not met those international standards, but they are taking the right courses. And tier 1 are those countries that have met these international standards. Now, this is not unique. We have done similar types of work in our State Department identifying problems with trafficking, trafficking in humans. We have similar types of work in our State Department to identify religious tolerance and freedom. We have similar efforts to deal with basic human rights. So this is a system that we have worked in the past. But it goes even further than that. The legislation gives the capacity in the State Department, in the missions in those countries that are in tier 3, to have a point person to help deal with the country to make the corrections that are necessary, to assist them. This is an effort to try to get countries on the right path to fight corruption. Because, you see, many countries are trying to become democratic states; but if they don't have the tools in place to protect them against corruption, they are going to find that they are not going to succeed in their efforts. So this is really an important step forward in order to build more democratic states around the world. It gives the right capacity to the State Department in its missions. I am pleased with the support I have gotten from many diplomats around the world, from many people in both branches of government. This bill is bipartisan. It has been--we have had markups in our committees and passed it in our committees, and I am hopeful that we can get a unanimous consent today to move it through the Senate so that hopefully we can catch up with the work that is being done in the House. We can reconcile any differences that may exist, but we will at least have this bill ready to move to fight corruption. So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 88, S.14. I further ask that the committee-reported substitute be withdrawn, the Cardin substitute be considered and agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the title amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am disappointed that there is an objection, but I appreciate my friend from Pennsylvania's willingness to sit down and continue to try to work this out. We have met with several Members who have had some similar concerns, and I thought we had resolved most of those issues. I am fully prepared to continue to work with the Senator from Pennsylvania, and, hopefully, we can find a common spot. I would just point out that we have strategic partnerships with so many countries around the world that our State Department is very clear that we are not going to abandon our core principles in that relationship. We might need their help on a security issue, but if their human rights do not meet international standards, that will be raised. We know that, in many bilateral meetings that we hold with Senators or that the administration holds with heads of state on important subjects, they mention human rights because it is an important value that we have in our relationship. We do the same in the trafficking of persons. We do the same for religious freedom. We do the same in so many other areas. Corruption is a growing problem globally, and we need to elevate the importance of that in our bilaterals and the importance of that in supporting internationally recognized standards. But I understand the gentleman's concern. I will take him up on his offer. I will try not to bother him on Thanksgiving itself; but, perhaps, we can work together and find a way that we can move this forward. With that, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to execute the order with respect to Calendar No. 523, S.J. Res. 63, at 3:30 p.m. today.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, for the information of the Senate, there will be a rollcall vote at approximately 4 p.m. today on passage of S.J. Res. 63, related to the national emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, as we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, we join together to acknowledge and express our appreciation for Hispanic communities across America and their innumerable gifts to our diverse Nation. Hispanic individuals have been critical in making this country a more inclusive and pluralistic union. In Maryland, Hispanics are the second-largest minority group, comprising more than 12 percent of our population, according to the 2020 Census. Hispanics in every corner of our State continue to engage in and strengthen our economy, educational and cultural institutions, and government. National Hispanic Heritage Month, first established in 1968, recognizes these achievements while encouraging the pursuit of new ones. This year, we particularly recognize the sacrifices made by Hispanic educators, essential workers, and healthcare professionals during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also honor those Hispanic veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces and honorably protected the values and ideals that we hold so dear. While acknowledging Hispanic contributions to American history, culture, and identity, we also pledge to combat xenophobia and ignorance in all its manifestations. We support Hispanics as they seek fair access to equitable healthcare, affordable education and housing, and equal representation and in the private and public sectors. We also renew our commitment to pursuing comprehensive immigration reform and to protecting immigrant populations who call this Nation their home, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals--DACA--and Temporary Protected Status--TPS--recipients. As Americans, we all share a responsibility to treat one another with respect, decency, and compassion. Moreover, as we approach the 2022 midterm elections, we must recognize the need to address the disproportionate targeting of Hispanic voters with election-related disinformation. During the remainder of National Hispanic Heritage Month and throughout the year, let us renew our commitments to a diverse society and mark the unique contributions Hispanics have made in every area of American life, culture, and history. Let us continually celebrate these achievements with appreciation and joy.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I wish to commend the adoption of the resolution of ratification with respect to Treaty Document No. 117-1, amendment to the Montreal Protocol. Adopting the Kigali Amendment, as it is better known, will formalize the U.S. commitment to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, under the global climate treaty. These industrial chemicals commonly found in air conditioners and refrigerators, insulating foams, and pharmaceutical inhalers are potent greenhouse gases. This historic achievement is the latest in a series by a Congress that will be remembered for its unprecedented action to combat climate change and future-proof our economy. Fittingly, last week was Climate Week NYC, an event that has taken place every year in New York City since 2009. The summit takes place alongside the UN General Assembly and brings together international leaders from business, government, and civil society to showcase global climate action. A working paper on HFCs produced for the New Climate Economy by Nathan Borgford-Parnell, Maxime Beaugrand, Stephen O. Anderson, and Durwood Zaelke of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, highlights HFC phasedown as one of the greatest opportunities to mitigate climate change quickly. Specifically, reducing HFC use in line with the Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol could avoid 0.5 degree Celsius--0.9 degree Fahrenheit--of warming by 2100. That will go a long way toward limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris Agreement and avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. U.S. adoption of the resolution, which has been ratified by 137 countries, contributes to delivering on that commitment and cements the consensus on climate ambition as a complement to thriving economies. I would like to reflect on how we arrived at this moment. Under the Montreal Protocol, participating countries agreed to replace ozone-depleting products, such as chlorofluorocarbons--CFCs--found in refrigerants, aerosols, and solvents to help address the hole in the ozone layer. As a result, there has been a 97-percent reduction in the global consumption of controlled ozone-depleting substances, with minimal economic disruption. Hydrofluorocarbons--HFCs--make up the majority of the ozone-friendly products being used today to replace CFCs. HFCs can now be found in nearly every home in the United States, namely in our air conditioners and refrigerators. Although HFCs were developed as an ozone-layer- preserving alternative to historical refrigerants, they are now known to be highly potent greenhouse gases--hundreds or thousands of times more so than carbon dioxide. This discovery challenged policymakers and manufacturers to keep innovating. On October 15, 2016, in Kigali, Rwanda, more than 170 countries negotiated an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to include a global phasedown of HFCs. The goal of the Kigali Amendment is to achieve an 80 percent or greater reduction in global HFC consumption and production by 2047. Five years and three Presidential administrations later, on November 16, 2021, President Biden transmitted the Kigali Amendment to the U.S. Senate, which was referred to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where I am proud to serve. The Foreign Relations Committee voted the Kigali Amendment out of committee by voice vote earlier this year. Today, U.S. businesses stand to benefit tremendously from the global phase-down in hydrofluorocarbons--HFCs--and, thereby, the ratification of Kigali. This includes chemicals manufacturers such as Honeywell, air-conditioning and refrigeration companies, and major retail companies like Walmart. Honeywell, headquartered in North Carolina, has a safety product manufacturing presence in Silver Spring, MD. I applaud the U.S. businesses at the forefront of innovation and development of commercially viable alternatives to HFCs that have already invested billions of dollars in developing alternatives to HFCs, including in anticipation of U.S. ratification of Kigali. This investment in research and development and new capacity, mainly in the U.S., will advance our ability to produce next-generation refrigerants, insulation materials, aerosols, and solvents here at home, insulating our economy from supply chain disruptions. In fact, the United States is already implementing domestic authorities to phase down the use of HFCs in a manner entirely consistent with Kigali, under the American Manufacturing and Innovation--AIM--Act that I am proud to have supported as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. During the challenging early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee gathered information from stakeholders on legislation introduced by Senators Kennedy and Chairman Carper to establish a domestic phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons--HFCs--consistent with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. We heard from an extraordinary range of industry and environmental stakeholder groups supporting this legislation, particularly those most directly affected. It was through this process that I learned that a Maryland academic institution had contributed to the consensus around the economic benefits of ratification. INFORUM, or Inter-industry Forecasting at the University of Maryland, produced an analysis cited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, and many of the firms and industry associations that support the AIM bill. The University of Maryland study found that the phasedown of HFCs will create 33,000 new U.S. manufacturing jobs. When the indirect and induced effects were added to estimate the total impact, the number of jobs gained rose to 150,000. On December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 was enacted, which included the American Innovation and Manufacturing-- AIM--Act. The legislative language was nearly identical to the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Kennedy and Carper, which had broad bipartisan backing in the Senate, with 16 Republican cosponsors. EPA has already started implementing the AIM Act, with the first regulations issued in October 2021. Even before the Federal action taken in the last 2 years, States were acting in their interests to reduce HFCs. In November 2020, the Maryland Department of the Environment--MDE--finalized regulations to phase out the use of HFCs and reduce methane emissions to help meet the State's aggressive climate and environmental goals for reducing greenhouse gases. This sub-national action was designed to help Maryland meet its requirements under the State's emissions reduction target, which was subsequently made even more ambitious when the Climate Solutions Now Act become State law. The act set a new target of net zero by 2045, while continuing to have a net positive effect on the economy and job creation. Maryland participates in the U.S. Climate Alliance and is a member of the multi-State Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative--RGGI. Maryland is also a leader for green building in the U.S., having been included in the Top 10 States for LEED list every year since 2011. The U.S. Green Buildings Council community has long shown leadership on refrigerants, with key studies issued in the early 2000s probing the balance between ozone layer and global warming. In fact, since 2010, 63 percent of LEED-certified projects have achieved the enhanced refrigerant management credit, which is intended reduce ozone depletion and support early compliance with the Montreal Protocol while minimizing direct contributions to climate change. Embracing energy efficiency, including through the use of modern refrigerants, across these properties has a tangible impact in their home communities. The Federal Government given its real estate footprint needs to lead by example. Fortunately, there is major new Federal funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act for the General Services Administration-- GSA--to do just that, including funding to improve the environmental performance of Federal buildings and implement emerging and sustainable technologies. The next generation of coolant technologies is extremely energy efficient. This means the transition to HFC alternatives will generate billions of dollars in energy savings for American businesses and consumers over the next decade. In total, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--EPA--has estimated that the economic benefits from implementing the AIM Act alone will be more than $270 billion. Clearly, phasing down HFCs in favor of environmentally safer alternatives and more energy-efficient cooling technologies benefits the climate and the economy. Nearly 1 year ago, I returned from my trip to Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the 2021 United Nations--UN--Climate Change Conference, where the need for concerted action at every level--State and local, national, and international, and nongovernmental--was undeniable. I was privileged to have 18 Senate colleagues join me to bolster President Biden's agenda and the U.S. leadership role on the world stage. The Glasgow Climate Pact established a clear consensus that all nations need to do much more, immediately, to prevent a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. Thursday's Senate action by a comfortable margin of 69-27 is a signal to the world that together we can protect our economic interests and improve quality of life. While our work to combat the climate crisis is hardly complete, we can build on the momentum generated by this hopeful, strategic victory. I will conclude by applauding my colleagues for their actions in support of adoption of the Kigali Amendment, and for our years' long efforts along the path to this historic moment.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, we have a 50-50 Senate, with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats. Vice President Harris provides the Democrats with our majority. The House of Representatives has a very slim Democratic majority: currently, 221 to 212, with 2 vacancies. When the 117th Congress began, I think most Americans were doubtful that we would be able to pass legislation to help them, their families, their communities, and our Nation. I am happy to report that, despite the odds, the 117th Congress has been a historically productive Congress. This is not a statement I make lightly, nor did I predict this many legislative accomplishments when we began the 117th Congress in January of 2021. I knew America's doubts, but I also shared their fervent hope that Congress would somehow find a way to beat the odds. And we have, sending numerous major bills to President Biden to be signed into law. Some of our accomplishments have been genuinely bipartisan, especially the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the so-called CHIPS and Science bill. That is gratifying because I believe that Congress, especially the Senate, is at its best when it works in a bipartisan fashion. Some of our accomplishments have been solely Democratic victories; notably, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act. I regret that we were unable to convince our Republican colleagues to join us on those bills because they advanced public policies and enjoyed broad bipartisan support among the American people. Democrats will always reach across the aisle to pass legislation that enhances our national and economic security, but we are prepared to work alone, if necessary. Our most recent accomplishment is the Inflation Reduction Act. The Senate passed this legislation just before the August recess on a party-line vote. That legislation will make it easier for American families to afford health insurance and help seniors with prescription drug costs. Extending the Affordable Care Act enhanced health insurance premium subsidies through 2025--just this one provision of this bill-- and will save medium-income Marylander families about $2,200 annually. For tens of thousands of Marylanders on Medicare who use insulin, the Inflation Reduction Act caps their insulin costs at $35 per month. We tried to extend that cap to Americans with private insurance. Our Republican colleagues blocked this effort, but Democrats will continue working to make that a reality. For the more than 1 million Marylanders and all other Americans covered by Medicare, the Secretary of Health and Human Services finally will have the authority to negotiate lower drug prices for the Medicare Program. This will help ensure that Medicare patients get the best deal possible on high-priced drugs, saving taxpayers approximately $100 billion. The healthcare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act are significant, but they are only part of the bill. The legislation makes a historic investment to shift our economy from fossil fuels to clean energy. This will help us cut our carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower electricity costs and emissions and will create up to 9 million good-paying jobs here in America in the growing clean energy sector. I authored a provision in the legislation to provide production tax credits to our existing fleet of nuclear powerplants. They produce 20 percent of the Nation's electricity and over 50 percent of its carbon- free electricity. A new analysis estimates that this legislation will lower the average household electricity bill by approximately $170 to $220 annually over the next decade. Maryland homeowners will be eligible for tax credits for residential solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass fuel improvements now through 2034. They also will be eligible for a larger tax credit for energy efficiency home improvements through 2032, as well as tax credits for the purchase of new and used clean energy vehicles, including electric vehicles. Maryland farmers will see tangible benefits from the more than $20 billion of funds included for climate-smart agricultural practices through existing farm bill conservation programs, including the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and Natural Resources Conservation Service technical assistance for reducers. These are very valuable programs for Maryland farmers who are meeting their obligations in regard to the Chesapeake Bay Program. The Inflation Reduction Act also bolsters resilience programs to help Maryland communities prepare for extreme storms and other changing climate conditions. We live in a coastal State so Marylanders fully understand the need to address climate change, cut greenhouse gas pollution, and protect the Chesapeake Bay. Our State and local governments will be eligible for new and expanded grant programs to improve public health, decrease pollution, increase climate resiliency, and promote environmental equity. The legislation pays for these smart investments while reducing the deficit and without raising taxes on working families and small businesses. In fact, according to a nonpartisan analysis, many working families may actually see lower taxes on a net basis over the next couple of years as a result of the legislation. This legislation and its targeted investments aimed at lowering costs for American families is only one of a string of positive accomplishments that we have been able to do in this Congress, coordinating with President Biden. Other major legislation in the 117th Congress includes the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which will make America more competitive by bringing home domestic production of semiconductors and investing in innovation and science; the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, known as the PACT Act, which provides healthcare benefits for all generations of toxic-exposed veterans for the first time in our Nation's history and will improve access to care for all our veterans--promises made, promises kept; the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which is the first major gun safety legislation Congress has approved in decades; the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, one of the biggest, most comprehensive Federal commitments to repairing and modernizing our Nation's infrastructure in modern history; the Keep Kids Fed Act, which the Senate passed unanimously, that extended essential funding for schools, daycare providers, and communities to ensure healthy meals for children throughout the school year and summer; and the American Rescue Plan Act, which Democrats passed in March of 2021 to provide billions of dollars in relief to help Americans recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We have done all this, and we are reducing the deficit by $2 trillion. Let me talk a little bit about the CHIPS and Science Act. Semiconductors are crucial to nearly every sector of our economy. They are in our cars, our trucks, medical devices, 5G telecommunications equipment, and the list goes on and on and on. America created the semiconductor industry in the 1960s. We ceded the global leadership in the seventies. We regained it, to an extent, in the nineties but have lost it again. In 1990, the U.S. share of semiconductor manufacturing was 37 percent. By 2020, that share had declined to 12 percent. The CHIPS and Science Act gets the United States back on track with respect to domestic semiconductor manufacturing, which is crucial for our national and economic security. This is a national security issue that provides $54 billion in grants to domestic manufacturers and another $24 billion in tax credits through the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Fund. The substitute amendment also authorizes $102 billion over the next 5 years for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Commerce, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology--a $52 billion increase over the Congressional Budget Office baseline. These funds will be a shot in the arm for domestic manufacturing. Here is a list of some firms that plan to use the funding to expand or establish manufacturing facilities right here in the United States: Intel and TSMC plan to build factories in Ohio and Arizona; GlobalFoundries wants to expand a facility in Upstate New York; SkyWater Technology and Purdue University want to collaborate on a new $1.8 billion factory and research facility in West Lafayette, IN; IBM and State University of New York at Albany want to establish a semiconductor research center in Albany. And the list goes go on and on and on. We are preparing for America to continue to lead in manufacturing, particularly high-tech manufacturing. I also want to highlight the science provisions in the bill. It authorizes $20 billion to the first-of-its-kind NSF Directorate of Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, which will accelerate domestic development of critical national and economic security technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, 6G communications, energy, and material science. We are going to be the leaders in these areas. We should be. It authorizes $9 billion--$4 billion over CBO baseline for several National Institutes of Science and Technology programs, including tripling of funding for the Manufacturing Extension Program, leveraging that program to create a National Supply Chain Database, which will assist businesses with supplier scouting and minimize supply chain disruptions; and with NASA, the Artemis Program to return Americans to the Moon as a prelude to sending humans to Mars is fully authorized and funded. The science provisions in this bill also extend the International Space Station through 2030 and support a balanced science portfolio, including Earth science observations and continued development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. We are the leaders of the space telescope. I am proud of all the work that is done in my State of Maryland and the images that we see from outer space. The provisions codify the Planetary Defense Coordination Office and requires NASA to continue efforts to protect Earth from asteroids and comets. In this regard, this Monday, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test--a Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab mission--will deliberately crash a probe into a ``moon'' of a double asteroid to shift its orbit. It is amazing that we can do this. We are the leaders in science, and we are making sure we are going to be the leaders in science and in space moving forward. I introduced the Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act in the previous Congress and again in this Congress, and I am pleased the CHIPS and Science bill directs NASA to continue research in aeronautics, including the use of experimental aircraft to advance aircraft efficiency and supersonic flight. The PACT Act, in addition to providing the historic relief to toxic- exposed veterans, boosts claims processing; bolsters the Veterans' Administration's workforce; and invests in VA healthcare facilities nationwide to ensure the Agency can meet the immediate and future needs of every veteran it serves, including the 300,000-plus veterans who live in the State of Maryland. I will tell you, it provides for improvements to the community health centers in Prince George's and Baltimore City for our veterans. The Safer Communities Act closes loopholes that allowed convicted domestic violence abusers to buy firearms legally. It boosts funding for community violence intervention and prevention initiatives, and it provides hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to improve and expand mental healthcare. On the bipartisan infrastructure package, funding is flowing right now to improve Maryland's transit, ports, roads, and bridges; expand broadband availability; and fix our aging drinking water and wastewater system. The bill provides $17 billion in port infrastructure and waterways. Congestion in American ports was a key factor in the disruption of the global supply chain. Expanding and modernizing port infrastructure will help ensure that American manufacturers and producers can move their goods to markets around the world. The bill also invests $25 billion in our airports. Modernizing our airport infrastructure will help keep people and products moving around the country and the world. I am particularly pleased the legislation includes $238 million for the Chesapeake Bay Program. The bill also includes my bipartisan legislation to make permanent and expand the Minority Business Development Agency, which is the only Federal Agency dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses. The American Rescue Plan provides tens of billions of dollars to support vaccination and COVID-19 testing, driving down the death rate from the virus by 90 percent. The bill also invested in hard-hit communities and brought concrete relief to the Nation at a time of great need. I was especially proud of the investments we made to help save so many small businesses throughout Maryland and the Nation. From the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, and everything in between, these and other legislative accomplishments have helped address important needs across Maryland and our Nation. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 20 million Americans had lost their jobs. And the unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent in April of 2020. The number of employed Americans now exceeds the prepandemic high--the second fastest job market recovery since 1981. The number of Americans working is at an alltime high. And the unemployment rate has dropped a half-century low of 3.5 percent. Since President Biden assumed office, the economy added nearly 700,000 new manufacturing jobs. This represents the strongest manufacturing job growth since the 1950s. Manufacturing job growth in 2021 alone exceeded any other single year going back nearly 30 years. Over the past year, the construction and new manufacturing facilities in the United States has grown by an estimated 116 percent. In recent surveys, the CEOs, 80 percent were either in the process of moving manufacturing operations back to the United States from China or were considering doing just that. While unemployment continues at historic lows and gas prices are declining rapidly, we are still facing challenges. Food prices, rent, and other costs are still too high. The Federal Reserve has had to raise interest rates, which is painful for families and businesses alike. Most mainstream economists believe that we can avoid a recession and the economy will have a soft landing despite the supply chain challenges we continue to face because of COVID and Russia's war in Ukraine. This would be a truly historic accomplishment. President Kennedy said: Our responsibility is one of decision, for to govern is to choose. Our legislative achievements over the last 20 months demonstrate that Congress can be productive and the Federal Government is a powerful force for good. I hope we choose to remain on that path--Democrats and Republicans alike--because there is still so much we can do and need to do to help the American people. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today to mark the week beginning on September 11, 2022, as National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. Direct support professionals assist millions of individuals living with disabilities to perform a wide range of essential daily tasks such as meal preparation, transportation, and medication management. Direct support professionals provide critical home- and community-based services--HCBS--that allow individuals to stay connected with their communities. As direct support professionals stepped up during the pandemic and provided care while facing increased personal risks as frontline workers, many faced long-standing difficulties such as inadequate wages and benefits. These challenges disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities, who comprise 62 percent of the home care workforce, which includes direct support professionals. These issues have led to high turnover and vacancy rates, contributing to a growing shortage of direct support professionals. Even as this shortage persists and millions of jobs in the field remain open, demand for direct support professionals is expected to increase by at least 1.4 million new direct care jobs by 2026, according to PHI. An insufficient number of direct support professionals will likely mean longer wait lists for individuals seeking assistance, force providers to turn away new referrals, or discontinue programs and services. These circumstances hurt quality of care and put further stress on family caregivers. Under President Biden's leadership, we have taken steps to invest in home- and community-based services by building up the home care workforce and expanding access to care. I am proud to have voted for the American Rescue Plan Act, which--among many critical provisions-- included $12.7 billion for HCBS. I am also a cosponsor of the Better Care Better Jobs Act, which would build on the funding from American Rescue Plan Act by continuing enhanced Medicaid funding for HCBS for States that expand access to these services and invest in the workforce, such as the direct support professionals. It is more important than ever that we take the time to recognize the work of those who choose to be direct support professionals. I would like to congratulate two Marylanders who were recognized this year for their work as direct support professionals: Maria Swift of Penn-Mar Humans Services received the American Network of Community Options and Resources' National Direct Support Professional of the Year Award and Tammy Wright of Consumer Direct Care Network received the Maryland State award. Maria and Tammy are making an enormous difference and I appreciate their service to others. I would also like to thank Senators Collins, Blumenthal, Brown, Casey, Kaine, King, Klobuchar, Menendez, Smith, Van Hollen, and Warren for joining me in showing our appreciation for direct support professionals across the Nation and recognizing the essential role they play in our healthcare system.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Renee Cohen, a member of my staff who is retiring after more than 37 years of service to the people of Maryland. Renee has been with me since I served as speaker of the house in the Maryland General Assembly before I won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986. W.H. Auden said, ``We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.'' Certainly, Renee has devoted her life to helping others, and she has made an extraordinary difference in the lives of so many people and families. She is a native Baltimorean and a graduate of Forest Park High School, where she was an officer in her sorority and excelled academically. She grew up surrounded by aunts and uncles, especially the Pollakoffs on her mother's side of the family. She attended Temple University, where she earned an associate's degree that allowed her to work as a dental hygienist. She worked to help support her mother, who was widowed when Renee was a young teenager. Renee married the love of her life, Jonas Cohen, in 1960, and they had three wonderful sons, Mark, Adam, and Ethan. Renee has been a devoted mother and grandmother. When her sons were old enough, she returned to school, to Notre Dame College of Maryland, now known as Notre Dame of Maryland University, to earn a bachelor's degree in fine arts. She is a gifted artist. Renee and Jonas found many opportunities for volunteer work and leadership roles through the Associate Jewish Charities. Her influence and reach in local civic life and politics continued to expand to the point where I knew I needed her on my staff as a constituent liaison. When I entered the House of Representatives in 1987, Renee became a caseworker, focusing on healthcare and senior citizen issues. She has had a special interest and insight into these issues after caring for her mother, Rose Katz, who lived to be 105, and her husband, who had a progressive illness before he passed away in 2020. Since I joined the Senate, Renee has been an indefatigable field representative for me on health and senior issues and a liaison to the Jewish community. Try as we might, Senators cannot be in two places at once. We depend on staff to represent us. If you were to Google Renee, you would find numerous articles and pictures of her representing me in Baltimore and around the State, at healthcare fairs and other events, where she shared her knowledge, contacts, and other information with constituents who needed Federal assistance of some kind. She particularly relished helping people to understand and navigate the Affordable Care Act. Much of what Senators do can seem ethereal or intangible. Staffers like Renee represent where ``the rubber hits the road.'' Casework and the sort of outreach Renee performed is intensely personal. Renee helped people receive their Social Security retirement, Social Security disability, and supplemental security income payments and Medicare benefits. She excelled because she is empathetic and has a passion for service, for problem-solving, and for strategic thinking. If, for any reason, she was unable to offer assistance--which was exceedingly rare--she had a knack for finding agencies that the rest of us never knew existed for a referral. She would never end a call with, ``I'm sorry, we can't help you.'' She always went the proverbial extra mile. Another keen interest of Renee's has been science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--STEM--education. Renee was instrumental in helping to establish STEM programs for underserved students in schools across Maryland and the annual STEM Expo at Morgan State University. She calls these projects ``my baby,'' and educators affectionately refer to Renee as ``the STEM Queen.'' Renee has worked for me longer than any other member of my staff. It was inevitable that I would consider her as a member of my extended family and vice versa. I have been so fortunate to have her by my side for nearly 40 years. The positive difference she has made in so many people's lives is incalculable. She has run the race and is ready to retire--sort of. Renee is not someone who lets the grass grow under her feet so she will return to the office occasionally as a ``senior intern,'' helping answer the phones and pitching in on casework. I am grateful we will stay connected. But she will have more time to devote to her family and friends and her avocation, which is painting. Renee sees the beauty in the people she has faithfully served and in the natural world, which she captures on canvas. On behalf of my Senate colleagues and the people of Maryland, I want to express my undying gratitude to Renee for nearly four decades of exemplary service, congratulate her on her retirement, and extend my best wishes to her as she turns the page, paint brushes in hand, to a new chapter in a life well-lived.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Robert ``Bob'' Hand as he retires this week after 40 years of faithful service to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. The Commission is an independent U.S. Government agency Congress created in 1975 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other commitments undertaken since then by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. The Commission consists of nine members from the House of Representatives, nine members from the U.S. Senate, and one member each from the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce. The House and Senate share the positions of chair and cochair and rotate every 2 years, when a new Congress convenes. For the Commission to function, it relies on expert professional staff who must be as nonpartisan as they are expert in their fields. I am, during this 117th Congress, the chair of the Helsinki Commission, though for these remarks it is important to note that I have served on the Commission since the 103rd Congress, dating back to my time in the House of Representatives. When I joined the Commission in 1993, as the several Balkan Wars were unfolding in the former Yugoslavia, Bob Hand was already the go-to person on Capitol Hill for news and information--and explanations--of what was happening in the Western Balkans. I have worked with Bob for 29 years now. I have relied on him for 29 years. I have respected his intellect and his prodigious work ethic for 29 years. This month, Bob retires as the longest serving staff person on the Helsinki Commission, with 40 years of service. Bob earned a B.A. in international relations and Russian area studies, with a minor in economics, from the School of International Service at American University in 1983 but actually started at the Commission in 1982 as an intern. After he graduated, he quickly moved to full-time staff in 1983. Throughout the years, he has shown exceptional professionalism and has always been willing to go above and beyond the call to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the Commission served mandate defended human rights. His deep expertise on the Western Balkans has made him renowned among policy professionals in Washington, and his appearances on Voice of America and TOP channel in Albania nearly made him a household name there. Bob worked tirelessly throughout the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s to ensure that members of the Helsinki Commission had the best information and analysis of developments when formulating legislation and policy responses to address the aggression, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing which took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. He helped to document these atrocities through numerous hearings and briefings and reports. He also advised Helsinki Commissioners as they pressed U.S. leadership to use NATO assets to end the siege of Sarajevo and protect UN-designated safe havens and to lift the arms embargo imposed on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bob was an early proponent of the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia--ICTY--to hold those responsible for atrocities to account, including for the Srebrenica genocide, which he has ensured the Commission commemorates each year in memory of those murdered. He has also ensured that other cases stay at the forefront of policy attention, particularly the Bytyqi brothers, three Albanian-Americans whose murdered bodies were found in Serbia in 2001 and for whom Bob has never stopped seeking justice. Bob is also an expert on Albania, and he helped organize a Helsinki Commission visit to Albania in 1990, the first U.S. Government agency visit to that nation since relations were severed in 1946. He returned to Albania numerous times over the years, observed most of the country's elections over the past two decades, and through his thoughtful and in-depth analysis of political developments in the country, became a respected commentator on Albanian radio and television. Bob served on numerous U.S. delegations to OSCE Meetings, observed dozens of elections, and he even served as a mission member on one of the OSCE's first field missions: the OSCE Missions of Long Duration in Kosovo, Sandjak and Vojvodina, stationed in Novi Pazar in 1993. He is not just one our Nation's top experts on the Western Balkans; he is also a fount of knowledge on the OSCE itself, and especially the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly, PA. Bob has served for many years as the Secretary of the U.S. Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly. In that role, he deftly ensured that our delegation was not only well-prepared both logistically and substantively, but also through working diplomatically with other delegations, he ensured that our proposals, resolutions, and amendments had the best possible chance of being successfully adopted. Most recently at the OSCE PA annual session in Birmingham, Bob worked diligently with several other delegations to ensure that a critical resolution condemning Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was adopted with the strongest possible language. Bob has also always been a voice of reason, humanity, and fairness. He did not refrain from criticizing U.S. policy when it was warranted and several times advocated that the United States proactively discuss its own shortcomings with other OSCE countries, including after reports of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, surfaced in 2003. Among Commission staff, he was always quick to support his colleagues, but also did not shy away from debating the pros and cons of ideas. Above all, Bob has always sought to do what is right--for the Helsinki Commission, for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, for the United States, and for the promotion of human rights, democracy, and rule of law throughout the 57 nations of the OSCE. A little over 2 years ago, I paid tribute to another Commission staffer, Erika Schlager, on her retirement after 34 years of service. It so happens that Bob and Erika are husband and wife. Bob and Erika have devoted their lives--75 years and counting--to defending and promoting human rights. They have been passionate and remarkably effective advocates for the world's downtrodden and disenfranchised. The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, remarked, ``It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone.'' For the past 40 years, oppressed people around the world, but especially in Eastern and Central Europe, knew they weren't alone because Bob Hand was fighting for them. I know I speak on behalf of my Senate colleagues, my fellow Commissioners, and Bob's wide circle of professional colleagues and admirers when I say that I will miss him. I am grateful for his stalwart service and wish him all the best for his future endeavors.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate my dear friend State Senator George C. Edwards, who is retiring from the Maryland General Assembly at the end of this year, and to thank him for a half-century of principled and productive public service to the people of Maryland, especially his constituents in what we call Mountain Maryland: Garrett, Allegany, and Washington Counties. George was born in Grantsville, MD, and graduated from Northern Garrett High School in Accident, MD. He received his bachelor of science in business administration, cum laude, from Fairmont State College in West Virginia in 1970. He was the starting fullback on the football team there and earned National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American honors. Despite playing at a small school, he was good enough that the Baltimore Colts drafted him. George wanted to be a teacher, however, and later attended what was then Frostburg State College to receive his teacher's certificate so he could teach social studies at his old high school. I met George when he won his first election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1982, where I was serving as speaker of the house. Even though he was only 33, he was already a seasoned elected official with a decade of experience on the Grantsville Town Council and the Garrett County Board of County Commissioners. He also served in the National Guard for 6 years after he graduated from college, George served with distinction in the house of delegates for 24 years, finishing his tenure there as minority leader from 2003 to 2007, when he won election to the State senate, where he has served for the past 16 years. George won 4 of his 10 elections to the general assembly with 100 percent of the vote and another 3 with 98 percent or more of the vote. He and Delegate Sandy Rosenberg are the deans of the Maryland General Assembly; each of them started their service in 1983. George delivered a farewell address to the State senate that reflects the type of person he is, a statement filled with self-deprecating wit, congeniality, and a gentleness too rare in politics. He said that his first task in Annapolis was to educate his fellow lawmakers that Allegany County isn't spelled with an H, that Maryland's longest border is with West Virginia, and that western Marylanders speak in a particularly folksy way. ``You speak slow and you m-m-m mumble a little bit,'' he said. He also noted that when he joined the general assembly, there were only 13 Republicans serving in the house of delegates and 7 in the State senate. ``I can count,'' he said he remembered thinking. ``I said, hmm, I need to make some friends. And I need to make some friends on [the Democratic] side of the aisle. And I think I've done that.'' George certainly has made friends on the Democratic side of the aisle, and I am proud to be one of them. In an op-ed in the New York Times several years ago, Michael Ignatieff wrote: For democracies to work, politicians need to respect the difference between an enemy and an adversary. An adversary is someone you want to defeat. An enemy is someone you have to destroy. With adversaries, compromise is honorable: Today's adversary could be tomorrow's ally. With enemies, on the other hand, compromise is appeasement. Between adversaries, trust is possible. They will beat you if they can, but they will accept the verdict of a fair fight. This, and a willingness to play by the rules, is what good-faith democracy demands. George understands this crucial distinction between adversary and enemy and has acted according to this principle throughout his entire career, which is why even his adversaries are his friends. It is why he has served as cochair of the general assembly's joint committee on legislative ethics, making him the only Republican in leadership in the legislature. It is why he has been such an effective representative for his constituents in western Maryland. It has been a challenge because, as George has noted, ``A lot of people where I live don't think people in other parts of Maryland think we're in Maryland.'' As Maryland State Senate President Bill Ferguson said, George has ``made sure every senator understood the needs of his district and always approached negotiations from a standpoint of getting to a resolution, not to obstruct.'' Senate Majority Leader Nancy J. King, a former chair of the budget and taxation committee, summed it up when she said, ``You can't say no to George because he's such a nice guy.'' In 1946, Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher famously quipped, ``Nice guys finish last.'' Durocher never met George, who has always come in first by putting his constituents first. Being nice is not the same as being obsequious. George is a true conservative, a rarity in today's politics. He and I have different points of view on some major issues like gun safety and government regulation, but that has never stopped us from working as a team on behalf of his and my constituents. We have worked together to support and expand Federal-State partnerships such as the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Economic Development Administration, Community Development Block Grants, and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Program. We have worked together to secure funding from Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Federal Government to complete the North-South Appalachian Highway initiative connecting I-68 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike via US-219. We have worked together to expand rural healthcare access and opportunities through federally qualified community health centers, regional hospitals, and other Federal partnerships in the region. We have worked together to support higher education and workforce development programs through Frostburg State University, the Western Maryland Consortium, and the region's three community colleges. We have collaborated to provide State and Federal grant training for local emergency management and first responders to ensure they have the resources they need to protect their communities. We have collaborated to ensure that small businesses have access to State and Federal resources to grow their businesses. We have collaborated on casework for our constituents with State and Federal agencies related to healthcare, veterans' benefits, housing, banking and taxes, passports, and other issues. George's legislative accomplishments are too numerous to list, so I will mention just a few. He fought to alter a State revenue formula to provide additional funding to counties, such as Garrett and Allegany, where the State owns 15 percent or more of the land. He secured changes to Maryland's Program Open Space, a land acquisition and recreation program, to give Garrett and Allegany Counties the flexibility they need to use the program without impeding economic development. He increased Allegany County's share of revenue from the Rocky Gap Casino Resort and increased the county's flexibility with respect to how it can spend that revenue. He succeeded in increasing the speed limit on parts of I-68 to 70 miles per hour, which is understandable considering that his Senate district--district 1--stretches 125 miles from Red House at the far western end of the State to Williamsport in Washington County. Earlier this year, Governor Hogan signed into law a bill George sponsored to establish the Western Maryland Economic Future Investment Board and Senator George C. Edwards Fund to provide $50 million over the next 3 years in State grants and loans for capital infrastructure and business development projects in the region. Of course, George is far too modest to suggest naming something after himself; his colleagues voted unanimously to amend the bill to be named in his honor. When George announced his retirement, he noted that he had spent the equivalent of 10 years in Annapolis, away from his family. So I would be remiss if I failed to mention Linda, his beloved wife of 55 years, and their two children, Kristin and Paul. Paul has followed in his father's footsteps and serves as chair of the Garrett County Board of County Commissioners. All Marylanders, but especially his district 1 constituents, owe a debt of gratitude to his family for sharing him with the public. He and Linda are the proud grandparents of eight children, and I certainly understand his desire, after half a century of public service, to spend more time with his family. In Shakespeare's play ``Hamlet,'' Polonius counsels his son Laertes, ``This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.'' This describes George Edwards and his life of public service. He has been true to himself and never false to his colleagues or to his constituents. I am honored to count George as a friend and want, on behalf of the entire U.S. Senate, to extend my congratulations and deepest appreciation to him and wish him and Linda and their family all the best as he returns home to Mountain Maryland.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I welcome the chairman's leadership and support to clarify this issue, ensuring that the amount of the tax credits eligible for transfer are not limited by section 38 so that they will, in fact, expand investment in projects that will achieve the broader climate goals of this bill.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to engage in a colloquy with the distinguished chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Wyden. I want to comment on the transferable tax credit provisions supporting sustainability in the bill and, in particular, the application of general limitations that already exist in current law for various tax credits. As the chairman knows, the bill includes a historic investment in tax credits and incentives to promote the development of various clean energy technologies and provides a broad regime to permit eligible credits to be transferred from the project owners to another unrelated taxpayer. Under current law, the ability to claim general business tax credits is subject to a number of potential limitations in section 38 of the Tax Code based on the taxpayer's income tax liability. The bill language does not appear to apply the section 38 limitations to reduce the amount of the credit eligible to be transferred by the transferor of tax credits. This would be consistent with the goal of encouraging additional investment by expanding the availability of these tax credits to project owners without regard to their ability to claim the credits themselves. I expect that the Treasury Department will develop technical guidance for these transferable credits in a manner that reflects the intent that the section 38 limitations under current law will not apply to the transferor.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to engage in a colloquy with the distinguished chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Wyden. I want to ask for a clarification of the provision in the underlying bill regarding the corporate book minimum tax. Is it the chairman's understanding and intent that, because the corporate alternative minimum tax is based on financial statement income, it does not include Other Comprehensive Income?