Benjamin Cardin

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 475.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3672.

Mr. CARDIN. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 83, S. 932.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I have seven requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a) of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 1096 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the Hassan substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 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. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 298, which is at the desk.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of the Senator from Virginia.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations: All nominations placed on the Secretary's desk in the Coast Guard; 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 any of the nominations; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 297, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 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. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 101, S. 112.

Mr. CARDIN. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and 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 adjourn to then convene for pro forma session only, with no business being conducted, at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, July 14, 2023; further, that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, July 14, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 18; that on Tuesday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Bloomekatz nomination, postcloture; further, that all postcloture time be considered expired at 5:30 p.m. and that, if the nomination is confirmed, 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. President, for the information of the Senate, Members should expect two rollcall votes beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following interns in Senator Boozman's office be granted floor privileges until July 31, 2023: Heath Brandt, Mary Eichenberger, and Ryan Munley.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, earlier this week, we commemorated the 158th Juneteenth, which celebrates the liberation of the last remaining enslaved Black Americans at the end of the Civil War. On this date in 1865, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in a Confederate outpost in Galveston, TX, where he delivered the news to 250,000 still- enslaved Texans that all slaves were free. Though President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the final emancipation of African-American slaves was not reached until 2 years later, with the end of the Civil War and then ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. African-American communities have celebrated Juneteenth as Emancipation Day as far back as 1886 in Texas, but it was not until June 2021 that Congress voted to make Juneteenth a Federal holiday, which President Biden signed into law. Maryland has had its own complicated history when it comes to the abolition of slavery. Indeed, President Lincoln limited the application of the Emancipation Proclamation only to States that had seceded from the Union during the Civil War. Maryland itself was divided on the issue of slavery in the Civil War. According to the 1860 census numbers taken before the Civil War, Maryland's population contained almost an equal number of free and enslaved African Americans. Slavery had deep roots in Southern Maryland and Eastern Shore. As described by the University of Maryland historian Ira Berlin, the ``Free State'' even saw cases of its own households divided, where brothers were fighting in battle on different sides of the Civil War. Baltimore was growing into a center of trade and industry. It was populated by a mostly free workforce, with one of the largest urban populations of free Blacks in the United States, larger than in Philadelphia or New York, Professor Berlin said. And it was the political epicenter of the Maryland abolition movement, with a leading newspaper, the Baltimore American, instrumental in the push to end slavery. But outside the city, in the vast agricultural areas of Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, slavery was a way of life, much as it was in the rest of the White South, where tobacco was giving way to labor-intensive crops such as cotton, rice, and sugar. Professor Berlin goes on to say: Southern Maryland was certainly a southern state; it is agriculture, plantations . . . in some ways it is not much different from Mississippi, both in size and in their lucrative nature. Slaveholders' determination to maintain their human property was a crucial element in the white southern culture. Let me just go on and point out, other large swaths of Maryland, from Prince George's to Montgomery County, north to Frederick and west, were also pro-slavery, although Frederick itself was a divided community. After the Civil War broke out, President Lincoln called for soldiers to be raised from the militias of the States in order to put down the insurrection. According to an account from the National Park Service: These troops were to be transported to Washington, D.C., so that they might protect the Capitol. At this time, the most efficient means to transport such large numbers of men was by rail, and the only routes to Washington passed through Baltimore. Marylanders were divided in their sympathies. While many disliked the idea of secession, they felt that it was a state's right to secede from the union if it chose to. Many also felt that Maryland should not permit troops to pass through the state to attack a sister state, and others mistrusted the President's intentions, suspecting that the troops would be used to force Maryland to remain in the Union. On April 19, 1861, only five days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, the situation in Baltimore exploded into violence. The 6th Massachusetts Infantry arrived at the President Street Station and began the process of changing trains. The cars were disconnected and pulled by horses down Pratt Street to Camden Station. As the process continued, a crowd gathered and with each moment it became more and more unruly. All but two of the cars had been transferred when the crowd blocked the tracks with timbers and anchors. The two cars returned to the President Street Station and the soldiers disembarked to the howls and jeers of the mob. The troops then marched back down Pratt Street, led by a man carrying a rebel flag, and followed by the mob. At Gay Street some of the mob began tearing up paving stones and throwing them at the soldiers. Other men were seen brandishing pistols and muskets. Someone fired a shot. The frightened officers ordered the troops to fire into the crowd. This angered the mob further, and they began to attack the soldiers with considerable ferocity. Citizens threw stones and bricks and fired shots at the soldiers. The soldiers returned the fire. Rioters, soldiers, and innocent bystanders fell dead and wounded. The Mayor bravely attempted to stop the battle without success. Then the police arrived. [Baltimore police intervened and placed policemen] between the two groups and escorted the troops to Camden Station, where they boarded the train and left Baltimore. The Pratt Street Riot was over. The riot resulted in the first casualty list of the war. Eight rioters, one innocent bystander and three soldiers were killed, twenty four soldiers and an unknown number of civilians wounded. The city of Baltimore was later placed under military rule, with military positions strengthened in Federal Hill and Fort McHenry. As you see, we had divided paths in our State and in Baltimore. Maryland later very narrowly approved a constitutional amendment in 1864 which abolished slavery, by a vote of over 30,000 to just under 30,000. Soldiers voted both in person and by absentee ballot, but Marylanders supporting or fighting for the Confederacy who would not sign loyalty oaths were not permitted to vote. This amendment took effect in November of 1864, just a few months before Congress proposed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in January of 1865, which was ratified in December of 1865. On a holiday that celebrates our fundamental right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans, it is important to remember that those rights have not and are not always applied equally to every American. Redlining, health disparities, police brutality, and other areas of disenfranchisement are relics of our Nation's original sin and the Jim Crow laws that followed. These inequalities shape the African-American experience today. Celebrating Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, means not only celebrating the victory but also understanding and reconciling with the hard truths. This Freedom Day comes at a time when there have been targeted attacks on facts and truth. Censoring textbooks, banning conversations about race and gender, and misrepresenting the truth systematically sanitizes our Nation's history. As a society, we must stand together to resist hiding from the darkest parts of our past. Confronting a difficult past and having an uncomfortable conversation allows us to better address issues of inequality head-on so we can move forward, creating a culture of inclusion and belonging. As we join the country in recognizing the importance of this anniversary, we should also celebrate how far we have come. In my home State of Maryland, for the first time ever, the first Black Governor, the first Black attorney general, and the first Black speaker of the house are all serving at the same time. The election of Vice President Kamala Harris and the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Jackson show that this country more broadly wants to see the diversity of America reflected in the highest levels of government. Embracing diversity is in the best interest of our country. It is how we get landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and President Biden's historic Executive order to advance effective, accountable policing and strengthen public safety. My faith teaches me that we have a responsibility to make the world a better place. That can only be done through civility, understanding, and respecting each other. As we come together to participate in a longstanding tradition of celebrating freedom, let us also celebrate knowledge, hope, and continuing to work toward a more perfect Union and a better future for every American as promised by the preamble to our Constitution. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: