Benjamin Cardin

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon in support of the nomination of U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Boardman to be a U.S. district judge for the District of Maryland. Judge Boardman was favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee on June 10. I have recommended Judge Boardman, along with Senator Van Hollen, to President Biden, and I strongly support her nomination. Judge Boardman was nominated to fill the future vacancy created when Judge Richard Bennett, appointed by President Bush in 2003, announced his intentions to take senior status upon the confirmation of his successor. President Biden nominated Judge Boardman for this position on March 30, and the Judiciary Committee held her confirmation hearing on May 12. Shortly after the November 2020 Presidential election, I worked with Senator Van Hollen to establish a judicial selection committee in Maryland. We used an open application process with public advertisement and communicated closely with the State, local, and specialty bar associations in Maryland. In particular, we sought out a highly qualified and diverse applicant pool. Our committee interviewed everyone who submitted an application, which involved several dozen interviews. Senator Van Hollen and I personally interviewed several finalists before making our recommendations to the White House. I strongly agree with President Biden's request that Senators consider nominating individuals whose legal experiences have been historically underrepresented on the Federal bench, including those who are public defenders, civil rights and legal aid attorneys, and those who represent Americans in every walk of life. Judge Boardman fits that request. Judge Deborah Boardman was born in Silver Spring, raised in Frederick, and lives in Baltimore. She received a B.A. from Villanova University. After graduating from college, she accepted a Fulbright scholarship to study in Amman, Jordan. She received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. After law school, she clerked for a Federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, known as the ``rocket docket'' for the speed of its caseload. Judge Boardman brings tremendous experience to the courtroom as a sitting U.S. magistrate judge in Maryland since 2019, which is the same Federal judicial district in which she would become a district judge, if confirmed by the Senate. She already handles a heavy caseload in our Federal court. As a magistrate judge, Judge Boardman presides over civil cases by consent of the parties, resolves civil discovery disputes, conducts settlement conferences, and presides over preliminary criminal proceedings. Additionally, she administers the District of Maryland's Social Security appeals docket. In civil cases before her by consent of the parties, Judge Boardman rules on motions to dismiss, resolves discovery disputes, decides whether a case should proceed to trial, and presides over bench and jury trials. These cases have involved claims of unemployment discrimination in violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act; claims under 42 United States Code 1983, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; qualified and sovereign immunity defenses; and State law claims stemming from contract disputes and personal injuries. As you can see, she has broad experience in regards to her tenure as a magistrate judge. She has previously served as the First Assistant Federal Public Defender of Maryland. During her 11-year tenure with the Federal Defender's Office, Judge Boardman represented individuals in both the Greenbelt and Baltimore courthouses that were charged with Federal crimes. She also has experience in private practice, as she served as a litigation associate at Hogan Lovells, formerly known as Hogan & Hartson, in Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2008. During those years, Judge Boardman worked exclusively on civil matters. She has experience both on the civil side and criminal side. She represented a wide range of corporate and individual clients in State and Federal courts. Specifically, she counseled insurance companies, universities, and healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, among others, in business and contract disputes. As a fifth-year associate, the firm selected Judge Boardman to serve as the senior pro bono associate in its nationally recognized pro bono department. She managed the firm's largest pro bono cases full-time and appeared in Federal and State courts as the lead attorney in several of these pro bono cases. She tried a wrongful eviction action before a DC jury. She was lead counsel on a 3-day evidentiary hearing on habeas corpus petitions in the circuit court for the city of Norfolk. She argued numerous discovery motions before the U.S. magistrate judge in the District Court for the District of Columbia in an unemployment discrimination class-action lawsuit. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary gave Judge Boardman its highest, unanimous ``well qualified'' recommendation after evaluating her integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament. As Judge Boardman said at her confirmation hearing, she is the daughter of the American Revolution on her father's side and a first- generation American of Palestinian descent on her mother's side. Her father was born in New York and was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in the Vietnam war and then went on to be a successful businessman. Her mother was born in Ramallah, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. She immigrated to the United States in the 1950s with her parents and eight brothers and sisters when she was just 13 years of age. She spoke no English. When she began attending public school in suburban Maryland, she then learned, of course, English and went on to a successful career as a beautician. Judge Boardman has testified that her parents taught her the value of hard work, the importance of education, the value of family, and the need to be generous to those who are less fortunate in life. In my discussions and meetings with Judge Boardman, I have some impressions that stand out from her as a person. She is fully committed to public service through her diverse professional career as a lawyer, law firm partner, public defender, and now a U.S. magistrate judge. She regards being a sitting judge as the ultimate and highest calling of public service in the legal profession. She wants to inspire the public's confidence in the judiciary and to hear parties' concerns compassionately, while upholding her duty to fairly apply the law. Now as a U.S. magistrate judge, Judge Boardman has told me she understands the absolute importance of adjudicating disputes neutrally and fairly. She clearly has the temperament for this position. She has told me that she is naturally curious and tries to avoid making assumptions. Judge Boardman shared with me that her internal compass directed her toward service. Judges are first and foremost public servants, but they hold certain powers over individuals' lives. She understands that. In her view, a district court judgeship is much more than achievement; it is a serious public responsibility which requires a judge to put the public first as they uphold the rule of law. Numerous individuals wrote to me on Judge Boardman's behalf, including several sitting judges, law firm associates, and colleagues from her service in the public defender's office. They unanimously praise Judge Boardman's courtroom skills as a litigator, in particular praising her courtroom presence, sharp legal and analytical skills in both written and legal advocacy, and her high level of professionalism, excellent temperament, and unfailing courtesy to all parties. As a person, I have repeatedly been told by those who know her well that Judge Boardman is the best kind of person to be a judge. She is smart, patient, kind, and tough when she needs to be. She is a hard worker. She sees all sides of an argument and is always fair and professional in her treatment of others. I was delighted to recommend the nomination of Judge Boardman to President Biden, along with Senator Van Hollen. Judicial nominees must meet the highest standard of integrity, competency, and temperament. Judge Boardman will safeguard the rights of all Marylanders and all Americans, uphold the Constitution and rule of law, and faithfully follow the judicial oath to do equal right to the poor and to the rich. I am confident that Judge Boardman will serve the people of Maryland very well once she is confirmed. I urge my colleagues to vote for the confirmation of Judge Boardman, who is an outstanding judicial nominee from Maryland. She is already a sitting U.S. magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where she has served with district judges. I look forward to her continued public service to Maryland and to the Nation. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise in recognition of LGBTQ Pride Month of 2021. For more than 50 years, Pride Month has offered us a chance to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer--LGBTQ-- Americans and to reflect upon the progress that our Nation has made in how we treat this community in law, policy, custom, and everyday life. It also is an opportunity to redouble our efforts to end enduring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. President Biden promptly issued a Presidential proclamation recognizing June of 2021 as Pride Month. With the authorization of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. diplomatic missions around the world are displaying the pride flag as a clear visual representation of American values. On the very first day of his administration, President Biden issued an executive order on preventing and combating discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This decision has already driven new policies at the agency level making an important difference in real people's lives, from protecting transgender individuals seeking safe shelter to reversing the Trump-era ban that prohibited transgender people from serving in the military. It is clear that LGBTQ Americans can count on the Biden- Harris administration to do everything possible to champion fundamental human rights on their behalf. The bad news is that while we see progress at a Federal level, the Human Rights Campaign assesses that 2021 is the worst year in terms of State-level anti-LGBTQ legislation in recent history. Governors have signed 17 anti-LGBTQ bills into law, already exceeding the 15 anti- LGBTQ laws passed in 2015, which held the previous record in recent history. There are even more bills waiting Governors' signatures or veto override votes. Most of these bills shamefully target transgender children. These bills and laws are untethered from trends in real public opinion. Recent polling from Gallup finds that support for same- sex marriage is at a new high of 70 percent of all Americans. A PBS/ NPR/Marist poll published in April revealed that two-thirds of all Americans oppose legislation to ban transgender student athletes from joining sports teams that match their gender identity, a number that barely changes across partisan lines. The American people clearly agree with the principle expressed in President Biden's executive order: ``All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.'' It is as simple as that. When it comes to human rights, civil rights, and being treated with dignity and respect, everybody in this country, regardless of where they live, should receive equal treatment. The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in February to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in education, employment, housing, credit, Federal jury service, public accommodations, and with regard to receiving Federal financial assistance. These protections build upon and align with the Supreme Court's landmark decision 1 year ago in Bostock vs. Clayton County, which affirmed that the sex discrimination prohibition in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That ruling states, ``it is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.'' We still urgently need to pass the Equality Act, however, to apply this interpretation to all areas of civil rights law and to apply protections against discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to a broader scope of entities. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the legislation and will work to advance it this Congress. As Harvey Milk said, ``It takes no compromise to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom.'' This Pride Month, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to join me in supporting the Equality Act to ensure that we protect the human and civil rights all Americans. Our government should do all it can to promote equality, compassion, and empathy--not discrimination, bigotry, and hate.

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, this Saturday was Juneteenth, the first official Juneteenth recognized by the Federal Government as a national holiday--the official end of slavery in America. I commemorated and celebrated Juneteenth with my colleague Senator Van Hollen at a meeting of the NAACP chapter in Randallstown, MD, and we reflected on the progress that we have made since the end of slavery and the challenges that still remain. It has been a long path toward justice and equality in this country, and I think we all recognize the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with his famous quote that ``the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'' I think we all believe that, but in recent actions taken by State governments to restrict voting rights, we see some very disturbing trends that would take issue with Dr. King's statement that the moral universe is bending toward justice. It seems like it has taken a detour. Voting rights is a fundamental issue of importance to a democratic country. After elections are over and we win, we celebrate. We celebrate the fact that we have gotten the support of the majority of the voters, and that is what democracy is all about. If we don't win--and I think many of us have been involved in campaigns where our candidates have not been successful--we go to work to try to attract more voters in the next election so we can celebrate a victory. That is what participation in a free society is all about. That is what democracies are about. In repressive autocratic regimes, they will never accept the will of the people. So they look at ways in which they can undermine the voter record--what the voters want to do, the voters' will. In the 2020 election, we should all celebrate the record number of people who cast their ballots. It was a record--the most ever casting their votes for the Presidency of the United States. There were repeated reviews done by both Democrats and Republicans at the national level and at the State level and at the local level. It verified the simple fact that there was no widespread corruption, that the will of the people prevailed, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected President and Vice President of the United States. But that did not stop former President Trump in promoting the Big Lie. As a result of that, several States have now taken action to make it harder for people to cast their votes. The Brennan Center has pointed out that we have seen the worst assault on voting rights since Jim Crow. Fourteen States have enacted 22 new laws to make it more difficult--more difficult--for people to vote. This is unprecedented in modern times. So what have those laws done? Made it more difficult for voters to vote by mail, recognizing that for many voters, they prefer to vote by mail. We have States that have 100 percent voting by mail. There has been no indication of fraud in voting by mail. States have shortened the time for requesting mail-in ballots for voting, making it more difficult for individuals to be able to vote by mail, requiring certain requirements to vote by mail, making it more difficult to deliver their mail-in ballots, limiting the availability of mail ballot drop boxes. All of that had been included. Why? Because it makes it more difficult for people who are likely to vote for my opponent to vote. That is what the State legislatures are doing-- stricter signature requirements, making in-person voting more difficult, and purging voter rolls simply because a person did not vote--again, making it more difficult for people to vote. And it goes on and on and on in the type of legislation that has already passed or is currently being considered by many State legislatures around the country, making it more difficult to register to vote, making it more difficult to vote, targeting potential voters more likely to vote for their opponents, targeting minorities, young voters, and older minority voters. Let me give just one example. Using Georgia as a specific example, their recently enacted changes will disproportionately hurt Black voters. The Georgia State law imposes voter identification requirements on absentee ballots, makes it hard to request an absentee ballot, and makes it a crime for groups to provide food and water to voters waiting in line. Georgia is basically restricting mail voting in response to a shift in the racial demographics of the voters who use it. On the other hand, Georgia wants to keep mail voting available for older, White mail voters. Voter suppression is always unacceptable, and the razor-thin political margins in Georgia may mean that suppression efforts like these will change political outcomes. Rather than imposing barriers to casting the sacred right to vote, Georgia should be looking at ways to improve voter access. As the New York Times pointed out, the Georgia law comes on the heels of a major upset for Republicans in the traditionally red State, after voters picked Joe Biden in the Presidential election and elected Democrats to both of the State's U.S. Senate seats. The paper noted that the new Georgia law ``will, in particular, curtail ballot access for voters in booming urban and suburban counties, home to many Democrats.'' President Biden was right to call this legislation the ``Jim Crow in the 21st century.'' There are many other examples. Georgia is not unique in the efforts we are seeing to suppress voter participation at elections. Look, it is fair game to try to persuade voters to vote for your candidate. It is not fair game to suppress their right to vote. So what is the vote this week all about, the vote we are going to have on bringing forward the opportunity to debate voter suppression legislation to protect the right to vote? It is simply a motion to proceed with a debate on the Senate floor. Let me repeat that. We are not voting on S. 1, the passage of it. We are not voting on any specific proposal. I know my friend from West Virginia has offered a proposal. We are not voting on that. We are voting on the right for the Senate to take up this critically important issue or whether it should be filibustered so we can't bring up a voter issue to protect the integrity of the right to vote. Now, I support S. 1. I am a cosponsor of S. 1, For the People. I am proud to support the provisions of that bill. To me, it is carefully drafted legislation to deal with the modern threats to voter participation. I am extremely proud that my colleague from Maryland, Congressman John Sarbanes, is the principal sponsor of H.R. 1 in the House that already passed the House. It provides a basic Federal floor on protection of the right to vote--on voter registration, on vote-by-mail, no-excuse balloting, 2 weeks of early voting, including weekends, no notary requirement for absentee ballots, drop-off boxes. That is a simple voter protection against the actions being taken by State legislatures that are aimed at certain demographic groups, a Federal floor. It ends political gerrymandering. I don't know how any of my colleagues can defend the way legislative and congressional lines are drawn today. I came from the State legislature. I am a former speaker of the house. I was responsible for one of the redistricting plans of Maryland when I was speaker of the house. It is just a horrible, partisan, political process we use today to draw congressional lines. I have been accused by my congressional colleagues in the House from Maryland that I ran for the Senate to avoid having to deal with congressional redistricting. There may be some truth to that, but I can tell you this: It is time to end political gerrymandering. Congressional districts should represent the communities' interests, not an individual Congressman's interest. S. 1 takes a major step forward in ending political congressional redistricting by gerrymandering. It provides a commitment by Congress to advance a preclearance formula that was in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that now is not operative because of the Shelby County decision. It puts us on a path to once again have that important tool available in order to deal with the freedom and right to vote. It promotes voter security, S. 1, by eliminating the paper ballot--by requiring the paper ballot, I should say, not eliminating it, by requiring a paper trail. I think we all agree that we want to be able to verify votes. The only way you can is if there is a paper trail, and it provides for that paper trail. It puts an end to the dominance of big money in the political system. They do that in a couple of ways: one, disclosure--how can anyone be against the disclosure of who is putting money into our political system?--and secondly, providing a way in which we can get rid of the dependence upon large special interest dollars. It includes, S. 1, two provisions that I authored. One is a deceptive practices act that deals with false or misleading advertisements which are aimed at targeting minority communities to confuse and mislead their votes. It includes the Democracy Restoration Act, which I authored, which deals with laws passed after the end of slavery in an effort to prevent African Americans from voting, for, you see, there are States that passed laws back then that are still on the books that disqualify for a lifetime a person convicted of a felony. The definition of ``felony'' is pretty general in many States, so we have States where one out of five African Americans has been disqualified from voting because of their conviction of a felony. Even though they are fully part of our society today, they don't have the right to vote. We need to remove that disqualification on voting. My friend, our former colleague, John Lewis--the two of us were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on the same day. In an editorial published after his death, our former colleague John Lewis recalled an important lesson taught by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and I quote our former colleague: He said each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out. When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part. Well, we cannot take action if we don't start, and we can't start unless my colleagues allow us to proceed to this issue on the floor of the U.S. Senate. There is a reason why there are so many groups behind us taking action. I have a Facebook Live that I do every 2 weeks with my constituents. Jana Morgan from the Declaration for American Democracy, which represents over 180 groups, from labor to racial justice groups, faith groups, women's rights groups, environmental and good-governance groups--all telling us that we need to move forward to protect our democracy, that the Senate needs to act on this issue. One of my guests, Virginia Kase Solomon from the League of Women Voters--now, the League of Women Voters--you can say a lot of things about them, but you can't accuse them of being partisan because they are not. It is one of our premier nonpartisan institutions in America with a proud history. They are telling us to take this bill up and act for the sake of protecting our democracy. We then have a chance to act, to take up amendments and vote on amendments and vote on concerns, whether they are offered by a Republican Senator or a Democratic Senator. That is what the motion to proceed allows us to do, to take up these issues so we can vote on them. But if you vote to filibuster the motion to proceed, we can't even bring the issue up on the Senate floor for action. I urge my colleagues not to filibuster the right of the U.S. Senate to start the debate on protecting voter integrity, where each Member will have an opportunity to debate the issue, and collectively we can come together, as many of my colleagues have offered suggestions about how we can improve S. 1, how we can make it a broader consensus, but we can't do that unless we have the right to proceed to a debate. I urge my colleagues to support the cloture motion on the motion to proceed so the Senate can take up this most critically important issue to the preservation of our democracy and the integrity of the right to vote With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

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

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I take this time as the Chair of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, better known as the Helsinki Commission, as we celebrate our 45th anniversary. The Helsinki Commission is the vehicle for U.S. participation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, representing 57 states that have come together under the OSCE, all the countries of Europe, all the countries of the former Soviet Union, including those located in Central Asia, the United States, and Canada. Mr. President, this is a unique body in that it represents both the executive and legislative branches of government. The executive branch has representatives on the Helsinki Commission, and both the House and Senate have Senators and Representatives that serve on the Helsinki Commission. I am very pleased to have as my co-leader Senator Wicker from Mississippi as the Republican leader in the Senate on the Helsinki Commission. The Helsinki Commission has been responsible for elevating our moral dimension to U.S. foreign policy. Its principles point out very clearly that you cannot have security without dealing with good governance and human rights; you cannot have economic progress unless you have governance that respects the rights of all its citizens. That is why I was so pleased when President Biden announced that his foreign policy would be value-based, that as we participate in our foreign policy challenges, it will always be wrapped in our values, and his recent trip to Europe underscored that important lesson. And then he issued, not 2 weeks ago, the statement that corruption is a core national security threat and that we have a responsibility to fight corruption in order to protect our national security. I am so pleased of the accomplishments of the Helsinki Commission, particularly from the human rights and human dimension. I go back to my early days in the House of Representatives, when the Soviet Union still existed and the challenges of Soviet Jews trying to emigrate from the Soviet Union. It was the Helsinki Commission that was one of the leading voices to help deal with Soviet Jews. I think about trafficking in persons, modern-day slavery, and the efforts that the United States did in leading that effort, including passing landmark legislation in trafficking in persons and establishing a rating system where every country in the world is rated on how well they are dealing with fighting trafficking. Now this has become the model, and so many countries have acted. It was the U.S. Helsinki Commission that led the effort for what Congress was able to pass and the international effort in order to fight trafficking in persons. I think about the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity and genocide, and recognize that it was the Helsinki Commission that pushed to hold those who were responsible for these atrocities accountable, particularly as it related to the Balkan conflict. Then I think about the landmark legislation that was passed in the Congress that deals with sanctions against human rights violators, first the Magnitsky sanctions and then the Global Magnitsky sanctions. It came out of hearings from the Helsinki Commission and legislation that we authored. It is not only the standard here in the United States. It has been adopted as the standard in Europe, in Canada, and in other countries, to make it clear that human rights violators will not be able to hide their illicit funds in our banking system or visit our country. Perhaps our strongest contribution is the oversight hearings that we hold. We also passed the Elie Wiesel Atrocities Prevention Act. But just last week we had a hearing in the Helsinki Commission on how we can prevent atrocities from occurring in the first place. So I am very proud of the accomplishments of the Commission. Part of the responsibilities of every member state of the OSCE is that we have the right to challenge any state's compliance with the Helsinki Final Act Accords. So it is our responsibility to challenge when Russia violates those provisions or we see violations in Turkey-- any member state you can challenge. But we also have to do our own self-evaluation. As chairman of the Commission, I have been using that opportunity to question conduct in our own country when it does not match the responsibilities that we should have. We saw that in the past in regard to the torture issues in Guantanamo Bay. My participation in the Helsinki Commission goes back to my early days in the House of Representatives and some of my proudest moments of representing our country on the international stage. Let me just give you a few examples. In February 1991, I joined a fact-finding mission to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. That is when the Soviet tanks were in Vilnius. That is when the Soviet Union was demonstrating oppression against the people of the Baltic States. It was a very sad moment of oppression, and we went there to stand up for the people of the region, to let them know that the United States never recognized the Soviet's occupation of the Baltic States, and that we stood with the people and their independence. It was very interesting. We went from there to Moscow, and Mikhail Gorbachev didn't want to have anything to do with us. He wouldn't have a meeting with us, and he wouldn't acknowledge that we were there. But we had a meeting with Boris Yeltsin, who at that time was the chair of the parliament, and we got great visibility. And Yeltsin supported our efforts to condemn the Russian use of force. I have been to Germany several times. My first trip on behalf of the Helsinki Commission was when it was a divided country, and we went to East Berlin. We were the voices for those oppressed people whose voices could not otherwise be heard, and we gave them hope that one day they would see freedom. I then returned when we were literally taking down the Berlin Wall, and I joined in taking down part of the Berlin Wall. I have part of that as a prized possession in my home. I have returned to Germany as a united country and see what a democratic Germany means and the work of our Commission to bring down the Iron Curtain. Germany is now a leading democratic state and a great ally of the United States. I have been to Kiev, Ukraine, on several occasions. I was there during the Maidan protests, where the people demanded democracy. And then I had a chance to return and monitor the elections in Ukraine with Senator Portman--again, a country that has been able to rid itself of the oppression of the Soviet Union. I have been very active in the Helsinki Commission in regards to the Parliamentary Assembly. I chaired one of their three standing committees. I had a chance to become vice president at the Parliamentary Assembly. Today, I acknowledge Senator Wicker, who is vice president. It points out the bipartisan nature of the Helsinki Commission and our work on the international platform

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, we could not have accomplished any of these achievements without an incredible dedicated staff to the mission of the Helsinki Commission, and I want to just acknowledge one individual who recently announced that she is retiring, Erika Schlager, after 34 years of service to the Commission and to the global community. Erika received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where she graduated magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her A.M. degree from Harvard University in Soviet Union studies and her juris doctor degree with honors from the George Washington University Law School. She studied at Warsaw University as a Fulbright fellow and received a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Quite a record. She used that academic preparation to make a difference in the world--and what a difference she made. Erika has been an unfailing professional in her dedication to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the Commission meets its mandate and defends human rights abroad. Her deep expertise, which she has honed over decades of work, is renowned both among policy professionals in the United States and in the countries of Central Europe that she followed for the Commission. Erika is one of our Nation's top experts on Europe's most vulnerable communities. She is a leading voice on Roma rights--Europe's largest minority, with significant populations also in the United States. I have joined Erika in the crusade to speak up for the Roma population, a group that has been denied citizenship in so much of Europe. What a difference she has made in their lives. Erika has worked with Members of Congress, the Department of State and the OSCE to address issues ranging from the enslavement and sterilization of Roma to a permanent memorial in Berlin dedicated to the Sinti and Roma victims of the Nazi regime, to annual recognition of International Roma Day. She has brought to my attention the candidacy of Ethel Brooks to be the first Roma board member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. I know that Erika will continue to bring Roma perspective and history on the Holocaust to further the tolerance, education, and human rights work of the museum. I have the honor of representing the Senate on the Holocaust Memorial Museum board, and I can tell you that Erika is so deeply respected by the professionals at that museum for the work she has done in furthering the goal of that institution to prevent atrocities against any groups of people. Erika has long been one of my top advisers on the Holocaust restitution and Europe's Jewish community. She has worked closely with me over the years to raise concerns about the rise of Holocaust revisionism in countries like Hungary and Poland; to foster implementation of the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets measures to right the economic wrongs that accompanied the Holocaust; and to hold accountable a French railway that transported thousands of Holocaust victims to their deaths. She worked on all of these issues and made significant progress. Erika has been instrumental in ensuring that the Helsinki Commission works to hold the United States accountable for our own human rights record, examining U.S. policies and conduct concerning Guantanamo Bay detention camps and U.S. policy regarding torture. Erika's counsel greatly assisted me in my role as the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE's Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance, where I was focused on human rights and justice here at home and across the expanse of the 57 participating states of the OSCE. From the plight of African Americans and Muslims to migrants and refugees, Erika has been integral to the Helsinki Commission's mandate of upholding the myriad of human rights commitments defined in the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent OSCE agreements. In addition to her many professional milestones and achievements, Erika retires from the Commission having left a deeply personal mark on those she worked with, from diplomats and civil servants to the staff of the Helsinki Commission. She is a natural teacher with a gift of taking a complex issue and distilling it in a way that makes it both relevant and accessible. Erika has taught our diplomats at the Foreign Service Institute and spoken at international meetings and at universities across the Nation and around the world. She displayed her exceptional teaching ability at the Department of State's annual training program on Roma rights, and she has ensured that Roma civil society groups could also participate. She has actively sought out dialogue and collaboration with new colleagues to help deepen their understanding of the Helsinki Commission's role, of the challenges the Commission could usefully seek to address abroad, and of the unique tools at its disposal to do just that. Erika is always quick to ask about a colleague's well-being or inquire after a family member's well-being. She has fostered collegiality among the Commission's staff through her unfailing kindness and good nature. In so doing, she has repeatedly demonstrated how deeply she cares, not just for the work she has dedicated her career to but also for the people whose great privilege it is to call her a colleague and a friend. I will say on a personal basis that I have benefited so much from her friendship, from her understanding, from her strategic thinking, from where we can make a difference. We know there are a lot of problems around the world. We know we can't settle all the issues. But Erika helped us focus on areas where we can make a difference, and thanks to her input, we have made a difference. I know I speak on behalf of all Helsinki Commission members and staff and scores of other individuals--many who may not know her name--and groups concerned about advancing human rights around the globe and here at home when I say how we will miss Erika. Henry David Thoreau said: ``Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.'' Erika has embodied that maxim in her professional career and in her life. She has made an enormous difference, and she will continue to do so. I wish her all the best with respect to her future endeavors. I know we will continue to hear from her. Thank you, Erika, for the way you served the Commission, our country, and the global community. With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President. I rise today to recognize the annual commemoration of Juneteenth, the date on which the news of the end of slavery reached the enslaved peoples in the Southwestern States. On June 19, 1865, MG Gordon Granger and Union soldiers communicated the news of liberation to one of the last remaining confederate outposts in Galveston, TX. Over 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the enslaved individuals there had yet to hear the good news. Over the years, African-American communities nationwide and in Maryland have developed rich traditions around this historically significant date. For all Americans, Juneteenth offers an opportunity to reflect upon and to educate ourselves further about the terrible history of slavery and its enduring legacy. The story of Juneteenth also reminds me of the gap between the values and principles that we espouse and the realities of life for everyday Americans, in particular the most vulnerable. I have long supported legislation to add Juneteenth National Independence Day to the list of legal Federal public holidays. After many years, I am pleased that the Senate has finally passed it and hope that the House will act swiftly to send this bill to President Biden's desk. In commemoration of this year's holiday, I want to take the opportunity to reflect in more depth on a couple of ways that we continue to see the clear impact of slavery today. One of the most apparent legacies is access--or should I say lack of access--to the ballot box. Study after study and the lived experiences of so many individuals tell us that Black Americans still experience greater barriers to voting than White Americans. One of the most important tenets of our comprehensive legislation to protect democracy, the For the People Act, S. 1, is enacting a Federal floor when it comes to voting rights standards. Spreading false or misleading information intended to suppress voting and intimidate the electorate remains one of the most effective methods used to keep individuals, particularly Black Americans and other racial minorities, from voting. Advancements in our means of communication, including the rise of social media platforms, have made it easier for bad actors to use these strategies. During the 2020 election cycle, robocalls targeting communities of color in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and New York contained false information about how the recipients' data would be shared if they voted by mail. I have introduced legislation, along with Senator Klobuchar, to address these problems by prohibiting individuals from knowingly deceiving others about the time, place, eligibility, or procedures of participating in a Federal election. Our bill to ban deceptive practices, S. 1840, would also prohibit individuals from intentionally hindering, interfering with, or preventing another person from voting, registering to vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to vote in a Federal election. In 2020, more than 5 million individuals and as many as one in five African Americans in some States were disenfranchised because of voter suppression laws. Many voter disenfranchisement laws today come from post-Civil War efforts to stifle the 14th and 15th Amendments. Between 1865 and 1880, at least 13 States enacted or expanded their felony disenfranchisement laws. One of the primary goals of these laws was to prevent Black Americans from voting. At least 11 of those States still bar individuals on felony probation or parole from voting. Under our Constitution, there is no legitimate justification for denying people from having a voice in our democracy. Disenfranchising citizens who are living and working in the community serves no compelling State interest and hinders their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. My Democracy Restoration Act, S. 481, would restore Federal voting rights for all individuals immediately upon release from incarceration. I am proud that both my Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Act and my Democracy Restoration Act are included within the For the People Act. Finally, I want to end by commending my home State of Maryland for bipartisan restorative justice work over the past several years. The Maryland General Assembly voted nearly unanimously in 2019 to investigate the more than 40 documented racial terror lynchings that took place in Maryland between 1854 and 1933, to hold public hearings in communities where racial terror lynchings occurred, and to develop recommendations that are rooted in restorative justice for addressing, engaging, and reconciling those communities. The commission the State established has received supplemental funding from the U.S. Department of Justice's Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations Program for its efforts. Because of this work, Governor Hogan issued posthumous pardons last month for 34 victims of racial lynchings in Maryland. This Juneteenth, I encourage all Americans to recognize Juneteenth as an opportunity to reflect upon our Nation's shared history, to recognize the enduring effects of slavery on our society, and to commit to being involved in the redemptive work toward a more just and perfect Union.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote with respect to the nomination of Tommy P. Beaudreau, to be Deputy Secretary of the Interior, occur following the disposition of the Griggsby nomination.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, for the information of all Senators, this means that there will be three rollcall votes beginning at 3:15 p.m. this afternoon.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I have 14 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: Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing nominations. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Environment and Public Works The Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing nomination. Committee on Finance The Committee on Finance is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions The Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 12 p.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Rules and Administration The Committee on Rules and Administration is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 2: 15 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship The Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 3:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on a nomination. Committee on Veterans' Affairs The Committee on Veterans' Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 3 p.m., to conduct a hearing on a nomination. Select Committee on Intelligence The Select Committee on Intelligence is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 2 p.m., to conduct a closed hearing. Subcommittee on Strategic Forces The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 4:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 3 p.m., to conduct a hearing. Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management The Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, at 2:30 p.m. to conduct a hearing.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, the U.S. Innovation & Competition Act the Senate passed yesterday sends a loud, clear signal to the Government of the People's Republic of China and to the Chinese Communist Party: American foreign policy is grounded in our values, and we will work with our allies to defend our interests and to protect our friends. Enactment of this bill will place the United States in a much stronger position to thwart Chinese aggression, uphold human rights, increase U.S. competitiveness, and enhance our national security. I am proud to have worked on a bipartisan basis with Chairman Menendez and Ranking Member Risch and other colleagues in both parties to put forward legislation ensuring that defense of human rights and good governance and upgrading our armory in the battle against corruption remains at the forefront of our national security policy. This measure will complement the action President Biden took just last week to define the fight against corruption as a ``core U.S. national security interest.'' In the National Security Study Memorandum the President released on June 3, he ordered a high-level review of how our government, our partners, and others can work together to combat illicit, corrosive corrupt activity. The interagency review that he directed the National Security Advisor to lead should yield a robust strategy that brings all the tools at the disposal of the United States to bear on one of the most consequential problems we face. I look forward to seeing the results of this high- level report and working with the Biden-Harris administration to target corruption wherever we find it. In the meantime, the legislation the Senate has passed will provide the Executive with more tools. While corruption is a global issue--no country is immune from the disease that is corruption--it is important that we bring this fight directly to the Chinese Government. S. 1260 calls for a report to Congress on the corruption and corrupt activities of the senior officials of the Government of the People's Republic of China so that the United States can expose these individuals and hold them accountable. Congress cannot--and must not--turn a blind eye to the People's Republic of China's shocking, systematic abuse of its Uighur population, as well as of ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgz, and other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region. This ongoing genocide demands a forceful U.S. response. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act protects the innocent victims of these atrocities by authorizing appropriations for protecting human rights to include programs that prioritize the protection and advancement of the freedoms of association, assembly, religion, and expression for women, human rights activists, and ethnic and religious minorities in China. The bill also authorizes and encourages the imposition of sanctions relating to forced labor and with respect to systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, and involuntary contraceptive implantation in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region. Beijing's plan to circumvent Hong Kong's independent legal system with a far-reaching, oppressive national security law is dangerous and in complete disregard of the principles of the ``one country, two systems.'' S. 1260 ensures that we stand with Hong Kong's citizens for their freedoms, democracy, and basic human rights by authorizing funding for the promotion of democracy in China and specifically in Hong Kong. Until the Chinese Communist Party changes its behavior, we and our allies and partners must hold it accountable. This bill reiterates our strong, bipartisan commitment to working together to call out brutal regimes and use tools like the Global Magnitsky Act to hold individuals accountable for their violations of human rights and corrupt practices. The bill permanently reauthorizes the Global Magnitsky Act, allowing the U.S. Government to continue to utilize this valuable tool. While this is a crucial step, I also hope we significantly expand the Global Magnitsky sanctions authority by adopting parameters used to implement Executive Order 13818. The United States can counter Chinese threats to our national security by upholding our values, emphasizing transparency, and exposing corruption, but other nations must see that we live, as well as preach, our values. I am gratified that S. 1260 includes my proposal to expand a ban on postemployment by senior State Department officials on lobbying the U.S. Government on behalf of any foreign governments and state-owned entities. Doing so ensures that the U.S. Government practices what we preach, removing the appearance that our diplomats might be doing less than their best on behalf of the American people in order to position themselves for immediate postemployment jobs advocating for foreign interests. I was pleased to join many of my colleagues in supporting several specific initiatives to hold the Chinese Communist Party and other regimes accountable. The Transnational Repression Accountability & Prevention, TRAP, Act, which I am proud to co-lead with my colleague Senator Wicker, who is also ranking member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, takes aim at the pervasive and pernicious problem of authoritarian abuse of INTERPOL. Dictators regularly submit to INTERPOL abusive red notices and diffusions based on false or trumped-up charges in an effort to coerce law enforcement agencies in democratic countries to harass and even extradite those who have spoken out against oppression and corruption. Bill Browder, who ensured that Sergei Magnitsky's courage and integrity became known to the world and who worked closely with me on the Magnitsky Act, has been subject to no fewer than eight abusive INTERPOL red notices submitted by the Russian Government. While Bill Browder's case is emblematic of the wider problem, he is by no means alone. Countries such as Russia, China, and Turkey regularly file abusive red notices to go after those individuals who have fallen afoul of these regimes, despite this being a clear violation of INTERPOL's constitution. Adding the TRAP Act to S. 1260 would do three things. First, it sets priorities for the United States in responding to INTERPOL abuse and promoting reform within INTERPOL. It is critical that the United States use its voice, vote, and influence within the organization to reestablish its rule of law foundation. Second, it identifies areas for improvement in the U.S. Government's response to INTERPOL abuse and mandates that the Agencies tasked with managing U.S. engagement at INTERPOL examine and determine who the abusers are, their tactics, and how the United States can best respond. Finally, it protects the U.S. judicial system from the influence of abusive INTERPOL notices by clearly mandating that no person may be extradited solely because of a red notice or diffusion. Thanks to the TRAP Act, autocrats will be much less able to abuse INTERPOL's information-sharing protocols, and dissidents can sleep better at night knowing that the long arm of dictatorship will be held at bay. I am also pleased to have worked with Senator Rubio to include in S. 1260 the South China Sea & East China Sea Sanctions Act. This measure authorizes the President to impose blocking sanctions and prohibit visas for Chinese individuals who contribute to construction or development projects and those who threaten the peace, security, or stability of the South China Sea, SCS, or East China Sea, ECS. China's military has been creating artificial islands in the South China Sea and thereby asserting that its sovereignty extends into the long- recognized territorial waters of other nations and they are using these creations as military outposts to threaten their neighbors further. The SCS & ECS Sanctions Act also imposes sanctions on foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate a significant financial transaction for sanctioned persons if China takes several actions in the SCS or ECS. Finally, the measure gives the Executive authorization to curtail foreign assistance to countries that recognize China's sovereignty in the SCS or the ECS, with exceptions for Taiwan, counterterrorism, democracy support, counter-narcotics, global health, and humanitarian assistance. Collectively, all of the provisions I have just discussed reinforce the values that drive our foreign policy. The U.S. Innovation & Competition Act will prove to be an important tool in countering the People's Republic of China and other authoritarian regimes around the world. I want to commend Senator Schumer for his persistence with respect to bringing this bipartisan bill to the floor, and for allowing its consideration under regular order.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I have the opportunity to chair the U.S. Helsinki Commission. I am taking this time--I understand there is a break in the action in regards to the underlying bill. If I am wrong on that, I will yield the floor to someone in regards to moving us forward, but I understand that we are not ready for the next issue yet. So with that in mind, let me just take this time as the Chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission representing the U.S. Senate. In the Helsinki Commission, my Republican counterpart is Senator Wicker. Senator Wicker, by the way, is the vice president of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, and I am the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance. The Helsinki Final Act speaks very clearly against all forms of intolerance and discrimination. And we have seen in recent months current events trigger latent bias in our community. We go back to 9/11, where we saw the uprise of hate against the Muslim community, which was translated into violence against Muslim Americans. We saw during COVID-19 latent bias against the Asian-American community. As a result, we saw a rise of hate, of anti-Asian activity, bias, and violence, and this body took action. And, once again, as a result of recent violence in the Middle East, we see a rise of anti-Semitism here in the United States and around the world. I mention all of that because we need to speak out whenever we see the rise of intolerance in our community. So let me just talk about anti-Semitism and what has happened recently. A 29-year-old Jewish man was punched, kicked, and pepper-sprayed last week in New York in broad daylight, as a group of men yelled anti- Semitic statements. People in cars began throwing bottles and yelling anti-Semitic slurs, including words like ``dirty Jew,'' at a dinner party in Los Angeles. In Skokie, IL, someone shattered a window at a synagogue. In Bal Harbour, FL, men yelled, ``Die Jew,'' at a man in a skull cap, and then threatened to rape his wife and daughter. These instances are compounded by an uptick in anti-Semitic speech online, with the Anti-Defamation League finding 17,000 tweets between May 7 and May 14--1 week--with some variation of the phrase: ``Hitler was right.'' These attacks follow the January 6 Capitol insurrection earlier this year, where White Supremacist and extremist groups displayed anti- Semitic and racist symbols and recited conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the pandemic. These conspiracy theories have proliferated alongside anti-Semitic stereotypes and images being mainstreamed by some political leaders and public figures. While these events are shocking, perhaps we should not be surprised. The ADL Global Index on Anti-Semitism, updated in 2019, found that more than 1 billion people--nearly 1 in 8--around the world harbor anti- Semitic attitudes. Over 30 percent of those surveyed said it was ``probably true'' that Jews have too much control over financial markets; that Jews think they are better than other people; that Jews are disloyal to their country; and that people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave. A full 41 percent think Jews are more loyal to Israel than the country they live in. Such sentiments too often translate into violence, leaving 40 percent of European Jews to report in 2018 that they live in daily fear of being physically attacked. Here at home, Jews make up fewer than 3 percent of the American population, but the majority of reported religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish people and institutions. I strongly agree with ADL's CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who said last week: [W]e are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti- Jewish hate. . . . To those who choose to indulge in age-old antisemitic tropes, exaggerated claims and inflammatory rhetoric, it has consequences: attacks in real life on real people targeted for no other reason than they are Jewish. This is antisemitism, plain and simple. And it's indisputably inexcusable in any context. In 2004, I had the opportunity to represent America at the Berlin Conference on Anti-Semitism, where we developed an action plan to stand up against anti-Semitism. The very first recommendation coming out of the Berlin conference is that leaders must speak out against anti- Semitism in any form; that leaders need to be heard. They cannot be silent. So I was very pleased when our President, Joe Biden, stated this past week: The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad--it's up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor. Thank you, President Biden. I was proud of our colleague Senator Mazie Hirono, a leader in the Asian-American community, who posted on social media: I've said it before and I'll say it again--an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. We all must condemn the recent surge of antisemitic attacks in our country. Each of us needs to stand up, speak out, and confront this hatred. At my last in-person OSCE meeting before COVID-19, I hosted an event with my European colleagues entitled ``Lessons From the Past, Leadership for the Future,'' where we spoke about the lessons from the Holocaust, including early warning signs from the past--some of which have been rising to the surface again. These early warning signs include the rise of populist leaders, demonizing of minorities, propagandizing of hate, and the neglect of refugee protections, which ultimately became the factors that resulted in genocide. This month, I chaired a Helsinki Commission hearing on preventing mass atrocities with Professor Timothy Snyder and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Center for the Prevention of Genocide director, Naomi Kikoler. This Center's Early Warning Project provides an innovative risk assessment tool using quantitative and qualitative methods to spotlight countries where mass atrocities have not begun, but where the risk of such violence is high. The warning signs are there. My colleagues, we are painfully reminded of our past. The OSCE has repeatedly reaffirmed that hate crimes pose a threat to the security of individuals and society, given their potential to lead to conflict and violence on a wider scale. The spread of hateful ideology and recent acts of hate crimes and extremism across the OSCE region attest to this. In response, I have called for a plan of action to address violence and discrimination across the OSCE region, including here in the United States, so that we may have a more strategic and cross-border approach to addressing hate. I have also supported the OSCE initiatives that address security concerns of Jewish communities, including by improving relationships between law enforcement and justice institutions and vulnerable communities, educating communities on anti-Semitism and how to counter it, and building alliances with other communities to counter hate. Over the past decade, I have also worked to ensure that the State Department's budget annually includes funding to fight anti-Semitism globally by creating civil society partnerships between the United States and Europe to work as allies to fight against anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim bigotry, hostility to the LGBTQ-plus community, and other forms of hate. The United States should be a global leader in fighting such intolerance. It would be hypocritical for us as a nation to preach to the world against hate if we let it fester and grow here at home. Like a virus, as we all know too well, if hate exists in one country, it has the capacity to spread around the world. Therefore, I ask all my Senate colleagues to join me in supporting these efforts at home and abroad to achieve safe and just societies for all. Hate takes many forms, but none of them should be acceptable here in the United States of America or anywhere else in the world. With that, I yield the floor I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today in recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This annual commemoration offers the opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the rich history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Representatives Frank Horton of New York and Norman Mineta of California and later Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga, both of Hawaii, first introduced a resolution in 1977 to establish an annual commemoration of the contributions of this community. That first resolution proclaimed the first 10 days of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week. Congress passed a modified version of that resolution in 1978, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law. In 1990, Congress expanded Asian Pacific American Heritage Week to the entire month. Just 2 years later, Congress passed a final resolution permanently designating the month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This timing is deliberate: It commemorates important milestones--the arrival of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869. The Asian-American population is the fastest growing population in the United States, having risen from 10.5 million in 2000 to more than 23 million in 2020. More than 1.6 million individuals identify as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. With these combined figures, the Asian-American and Pacific Islander, AAPI, community makes up almost 7 percent of the U.S. population and roughly the same percentage of Maryland's population. Nationwide, demographers estimate that this population, which consists of over 40 subgroups, will more than double from 20 million to more than 51 million by 2060. Over the past year, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played a vital role in our Nation's battle with COVID-19. Serving as frontline workers, first responders, and emergency personnel, they have provided lifesaving and critical care to hundreds of thousands of people during unprecedented times. The approximately 555,200 Asian-owned businesses in the United States represent approximately 1 in 10 businesses in the United States. As the chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, I know the importance of each of these enterprises to our national economy and to the local communities they serve. I also know the serious challenges that all small business owners but particularly minority-owned businesses have faced since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some research indicates that these businesses may have suffered the most significant economic effects of all demographic groups. Through the past year, I have sought to ensure that the Small Business Administration's grants and loans flow to smaller and minority-owned businesses. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have also served our Nation in important public service roles. Norm Mineta, after spending 20 years in the House of Representatives, served two Presidents--Bill Clinton and George W. Bush--first as Secretary of Commerce and then as the longest serving Secretary of Transportation. I was proud to serve with him in the House and with Senator Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii from 2006 to 2012 during his tenure as President pro tempore of the Senate, a role that made him the highest ranking Asian-American government official in the history of the United States. Of course, Kamala D. Harris eclipsed that distinction this year when she became Vice President--the first Asian American ever to hold that role. I am also proud every day to serve alongside Senators Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth, two strong leaders who are committed to promoting the well-being and progress of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders along with all Americans. The Asian-Americans and Pacific Islander population has long endured racism and prejudice. This discrimination reached a peak when President Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of over 100,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps as war began with the Empire of Japan in World War II. Over the last year and a half, we have seen an alarming and dangerous rise in prejudicial treatment and racially motivated hate crimes and attacks. According to a recent report, there were nearly 3,800 reported cases of anti-Asian discrimination related to COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. Dangerous rhetoric such as calling COVID-19 the Chinese virus jeopardizes the safety and well- being of millions of Asian Americans. It is time we stand up and protect our fellow neighbors, friends, coworkers, and loved ones. We need an all hands-on-deck approach to combat anti-Asian bias, prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes, and violence. Congress overwhelmingly passed S. 937, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which Senators Hirono and Duckworth introduced. This legislation serves as a pledge to our Asian-American community that we, as the United States of America, stand in solidarity with you and will not tolerate violations of your civil rights. I was proud to cosponsor Senators Hirono and Duckworth's resolution condemning discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders stemming from the COVID- 19 pandemic. Working together with our local, State, national, and international partners--along with our allies in the private sector and faith community--we can stem this dangerous trend and provide a sense of peace and security to our Asian-American brothers and sisters. In doing so, I am committed to listening to and being guided by the voices of those individuals and communities who have suffered harm. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month offers all Americans the opportunity to recognize and to appreciate the important role of this community in our Nation, both throughout history and today. It is more important than ever that we all take advantage of it.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise to ask the Senate to join me in recognizing the Maryland State Bar Association on the 125th anniversary of its founding. Since its founding on August 28, 1896, the Maryland State Bar Association, MSBA, has advanced and protected the interests of Maryland attorneys, their clients, and the general public. Over the past 125 years, the MSBA has grown into a premier professional trade association comprised of over 20,000 members from every segment of the legal profession. This includes large law firms, solo and small-firm practitioners, government lawyers, in-house counsel, nonprofit attorneys, judges, and legal academics. The MSBA has steadfastly supported the Maryland legal community in its important work to serve the public interest, facilitate commerce, and create a more fair and just society. In the decades since its founding, the MSBA has advanced and supported the demographic diversification of the Maryland bar. In partnership with the Judiciary of Maryland and numerous nonprofit partners, the MSBA and in particular its Committee on Diversity & Inclusion have fostered policies and programs to enhance the diversity of the practice of law in the State to the benefit of all Marylanders. The committee is charged with promoting recruitment, hiring, and retention processes to create environments within the legal community in which all individuals are encouraged to join, thrive, and lead the legal profession regardless of race, color, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other characteristic of identity. Over the years, the MSBA has also expanded its vision and mission to include efforts to promote access to civil legal services. The association has advocated for legislation to support the Maryland Legal Services Corporation, a critically important organization that raises and distributes funds to nonprofit organizations that provide civil legal assistance to low-income individuals in Maryland. As chair of the corporation from 1988 to 1995, I know firsthand the extraordinary and needed service that it provides. In addition, MSBA has in recent years integrated the operations of the Maryland Access to Justice Commission, an independent entity that convenes partners from the State attorney general to the private sector, to academia, to advance equal access to the civil justice system. In the community at-large, the MSBA has played a significant role in enhancing civic literacy in Maryland, including by hosting thousands of high school students participating in mock trial and moot court competitions. These programs offer students the opportunity to enhance their skills and expose them to the practical implications and importance of the law. As a Maryland lawyer myself, I ask the Senate to join me in congratulating the Maryland State Bar Association for its exemplary service to the Maryland legal community over the past 125 years.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I first want to thank my colleague and friend Senator Carper for leading this effort with S. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act. It is long overdue that we acknowledge an injustice in our country and give the citizens of the District of Columbia their full representation rights by statehood. I have been working on this issue for a long time. When I was the speaker of the Maryland General Assembly almost 40 years ago, the Maryland General Assembly took action to give full representation to the people of the District in the Congress of the United States. That was 40 years ago, and we are still working on this issue. It is long overdue that we acknowledge a shortcoming in our own system for 700,000 residents of the District of Columbia. I had the honor of chairing the U.S. Helsinki Commission. It is the implementing arm for the Helsinki Final Act of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It has the membership of all of the countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Canada, and the United States. I mention that because in 1975, those countries entered into an agreement on basic, fundamental democratic principles, including the right to have representative government. That document also gives us the opportunity and obligation to question whether member states are in compliance with the Helsinki Final Act. Quite frankly, we have used that opportunity to raise issues in countries. Our Presiding Officer has been very aggressive in his comments about Russia, and we have used that to bring up the fact that Russia violated the commitments of the Helsinki Final Act when it invaded Ukraine and when it took over Crimea, and it is still interfering with the sovereignty of Ukraine. We have offered our objections when Russia's Government has stepped on the human rights of the people of its own country--like those of Aleksei Navalny's, the opposition leader, being imprisoned and tortured. That is in violation of the Helsinki Final Act. We have raised those issues. We have raised those issues about another member state, Turkey, when they have jailed journalists or failed to allow civil society an opportunity to be heard, for they are violations of the Helsinki Final Act. For us to have credibility in raising these issues of other countries that are violating the fundamental principles, we have to self-evaluate where we are. If we are going to be leaders, we have to acknowledge our own shortcomings and take steps to eliminate those shortcomings. Quite frankly, we are an outlier when it comes to the representation for the people of the District of Columbia. We have violated their basic rights. We are the only country in the world wherein the citizens of its capital do not have the opportunity to vote for representatives in the national legislature. That is not a distinction that we want to have The 700,000 people who live in the District are being denied representation in their government. As has been pointed out, it is larger than some of our States. Those States have fewer people but have two U.S. Senators and a Member of the House of Representatives, and the people of the District should be likewise treated. This is not a matter of politics; this is a matter of fundamental rights. America's strength is in our values, in who we are as a people. Our ability to lead globally depends upon our doing the right thing at home. We need to give the District of Columbia that status. The House has already done this. It passed H.R. 51. It has done this and has given the bill to us. All we need to do now is take it up and pass it. So let us act now, at long last, and do what is right for the people of the District and do what is right for the people of our Nation by correcting this violation that we have in our system. Let's pass S. 51, led by Senator Carper, for DC statehood and make sure that America continues to lead in democratic values around the world. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to complete my remarks before the scheduled vote.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I am fortunate enough to live in Baltimore, and I say that because I can commute every night to home, which is a real pleasure, to be able to be with my family in the evening. My wife Myrna and I normally take a morning walk before I start the day, and I can get the morning report from my neighbors as to what is on their minds. So, this morning, you might be surprised to learn that the major topic of discussion was the Brood X, also known as the cicadas. These are the cicadas that appear every 17 years. Now, I must tell you, that became our subject because we were all trying to avoid stepping on them as we were walking. Most of us would describe world events of the past calendar year as unprecedented, and this characterization is not wrong. For public health, for the economy, and for our democracy, the year 2021 has indeed brought us challenges previously unimaginable. However, 2021 also marks a predictably predictable natural phenomenon: the emergence of what is known as the 17-year cicadas. Reliably, every 17 years, these insects emerge in the Mid-Atlantic in droves. People greet their visits with equal amounts of scorn and excitement. Some of that is depending upon age. I hope that we can use this 17-year marker to celebrate the scientific contributions of an unappreciated Marylander and reflect more broadly on the history of the relationship between humans and the natural environment in the Mid-Atlantic, especially the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland sees the highest concentration of cicadas on the east coast. Scientists estimate that in some places, we have more than 25 or 30 cicadas per square foot or more than 1 million per acre. In addition to this astonishing quantity, male cicadas will perform a mating song that, in large groups, can reach the same decibel level as a lawnmower. The cicadas' visits last only a matter of weeks for the purpose of mating, molting, and laying eggs that will eventually burrow into the ground and repeat the process in another 17 years. In the words of prominent Maryland scientist Benjamin Banneker, ``If their lives are short, they are merry,'' noting that ``they still continue on singing till they die.'' Benjamin Banneker's original handwritten document describing the cicadas in 1800 is at the Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore. He accurately predicted the next 17-year cycles. Over the course of his life, he witnessed four 17-year cycles of cicadas. Benjamin Banneker may have been the first scientist to observe and record the 17-year lifecycle of cicadas. Banneker was born in 1731. His father, Robert Bannaky, was a formerly enslaved Black man. His mother Mary was a free woman of mixed racial heritage. Banneker demonstrated a keen interest in the sciences after his maternal grandmother taught him to read and write, and he continued his education at a Quaker schoolhouse in Baltimore County. He quickly excelled in the area of mathematics and astronomy and is now considered one of the first African-American intellects to gain widespread fame. He is probably best known for authorizing a series of commercially successful farmers' almanacs that predicted weather and tidal patterns for farmers and fishermen. Banneker also predicted lunar and solar eclipses, contributed to surveying the land for the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, and reportedly built the first domestically produced wooden clock in the country. In addition to his contributions to science and agriculture, Banneker advocated for abolition in a series of letters he exchanged with President Thomas Jefferson. Mainstream historical narratives have largely excluded Banneker's accomplishments as a prominent Black intellect in the early days of our Nation. As we consider the enormous interest in the arrival of cicadas, it is appropriate that we acknowledge Banneker's early leading role in predicting the 17-year cycle. There are few historical artifacts from Banneker's home in Maryland, which burned down shortly after his death. Fortunately, we have the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Catonsville, MD, which Baltimore County administers. The park tells the story of his remarkable life and the impact the natural environment of the Chesapeake Bay had in sparking his intellectual curiosity. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued a proclamation declaring May and June 2021 as Maryland Magicicada Months to recognize the return of the 17-year periodical cicadas and to generate public awareness about this phenomena. Fortunately, cicadas' buzz is worse than their bite. Cicadas do not chew, bite, or sting, so they are not a threat to humans, pets, animals, or most plants. The unit of time marked by the arrival of the periodic cicadas in the region is a useful interval to observe how the local environment has changed over time. Two years after the last emergence of cicadas in 2006 was the first year the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's report card was released. The habitat health values were generally poor overall in 2006, with a dramatic reduction in bay grasses. In 2019, the overall score for Chesapeake Bay was a C-minus. This means the bay is in moderate health and is slightly improving over time. For its first ever score, the Chesapeake Bay scored B-minus. That means the larger watershed is in good health. The path to success for Chesapeake Bay's restoration remains steep and is only becoming more challenging due to the harmful effects of climate change. Warmer and wetter weather conditions work against progress on removing pollutants and creating habitats conducive to population regrowth. The Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint set forth a timeline for the six watershed jurisdictions that end in 2025. Now more than ever, we need State, local, and Federal partners working in tandem to meet these goals. The Chesapeake Bay Program will play a central role in that effort, bringing various Federal Agencies, State and local governments, and nonprofit organizations together to meet these goals. A 17-year review of progress for the Chesapeake Bay should energize the community to work hard to meet our goals. In order to do so, we need the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to play its role as the referee for the Chesapeake Bay Program. The success of the effort depends on the stringent enforcement of statewide pollution reduction plans by the EPA. As we consider the next arrival of cicadas in the area in 2038, it is impossible not to look ahead to the climate goals the Biden administration has enumerated. By 2030, President Biden has pledged that the United States should have reduced economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution by 50 to 52 percent. This goal is also referred to as the nationally determined contribution, which is formally submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. President Biden made this announcement during the Leaders Summit on Climate, which serves to demonstrate the return of the United States to leadership on climate issues. The natural environment is probably one of the most obvious markers of the passage of time and provides an appropriate moment of reflection. Seasonal changes, growing trees and crops, and even the arrival of the cicadas can push us to acknowledge where we have met our objectives and where we have fallen short on our goals. In terms of our local and global environmental restoration goals, we have a lot of work to do before 2037. Tribute to Louise Foster Madam President, as we reflect on change, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate a member of my personal staff, Louise Foster, on her matriculation at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs this fall. ``Weezie,'' as everyone who knows her calls her, has spent the last 3 years providing outstanding public service in my Washington, DC, office, first as a staff assistant on the frontline of constituent service and now as a legislative aide, applying science to environmental and infrastructure policy. While my staff and I will miss her, we wish her the very best of luck and a little cicada magic in her academic pursuits. With that, I yield the floor. Amendment No. 1517

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, shortly, we are going to be taking up S. 914, the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act, and I would urge my colleagues to approve this legislation promptly. The Environment and Public Works Committee reported this legislation by a unanimous vote. We don't get too many unanimous votes here on substantive, important legislation, and we were able to get that because this bill is truly bipartisan. I want to congratulate the leadership of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Chairman Carper, for the management of the committee to bring us together, and Senator Capito, the ranking Republican member. The two of them set the climate for us to work together to bring out a drinking water and wastewater infrastructure bill. I also want to compliment my counterpart in regards to the Subcommittee on Infrastructure, Senator Cramer, who is the ranking member--I am the chair--and Senator Duckworth, who is the chair of the Water Subcommittee, and Senator Lummis. All six of us worked together so that this Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act really does represent the views of all the Members of the Senate, and it is a bill that is desperately needed by our communities. Water infrastructure is critically important to our Nation. It is important for drinking water. It is important for how we treat our waste, wastewater. The needs are tremendous. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives us a report card grade of D in 2021. The gaps are billions of dollars a year necessary to bring our water infrastructure up to standard. This legislation will move us in the right direction. It authorizes $35 billion of water infrastructure, which is desperately needed in our communities. It will allow us to upgrade aging infrastructure, address the threat of climate change, invest in new technologies, and help marginal communities in dealing with these needs. COVID-19 has made the challenges even more dramatic for our communities. Water utilities have incurred additional costs. I think that is quite obvious. They had to deal with the protective equipment for their workers to deal with COVID-19. They had workers who were out as a result of COVID-19. They had to deal with changing the way they operated their business. There was a demand for greater water during COVID-19, just the washing of our hands frequently. It requires us to have access to more clean water. The ability of our customers to pay their bills was challenged during COVID-19. As we know, American families' incomes were very stressed and are still stressed as a result of COVID-19. The gap between the ability of the public support for water infrastructure and what ratepayers are asked to pay is getting larger and larger. We haven't made the money available from the public side for water infrastructure, and to put more pressure on the rate when customers are already having a difficult time paying their bills is not a viable option. That makes S. 914 even more urgent. I want to talk about a couple provisions that are included in S. 914 that are bipartisan that I worked on that I think are extremely important parts of this legislation. One, working with Senator Wicker, we have in this bill a pilot program that will establish 40 grants around the Nation so that we can establish programs to help low-income households. By way of comparison, this is similar to the LIHEAP program that we use to help our low- income families deal with their utility bills for heating their homes and air-conditioning their homes. This will provide similar help for low-income families in dealing with the price of their water bills. Having been through Maryland and some of our centers, I can tell you that there are many communities where individuals literally cannot afford their water bills. It is an essential utility. We need to do something to fill the gap. So this bill will establish a program so that we can take some of the pressure off of the ratepayers and therefore allow local utilities to be able to use rates to do some of their improvements without adversely affecting low-income families. This pilot program, to me, is long overdue, but I am pleased to see it is included in this legislation. Another provision that is included in this legislation is legislation that I have authored with Senator Capito, the Clean Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program. The two of us recognize that in the State of West Virginia and the State of Maryland, we have extreme weather events that are affecting our ability to handle drinking water and wastewater. That is true in every State in the Nation. I could tell you about Maryland and the community of Ellicott City, where they have had two 100-year floods in a period of less than 2 years. These frequent, extreme weather events are happening in this Nation on a regular basis, and it is putting additional stress on our water infrastructure. The President had a recent summit on climate, and this is one of the issues that were brought up. Wastewater treatment plants and drinking water systems--we need to increase their resiliency and add that ability. That is what this provision will do by providing grants that will assist in planning, designing, construction, implementation, operation, or maintenance of the facilities. Stormwater runoff is one of the largest sources of pollutants in our environment. We have over 600,000 miles of rivers and streams in America, 13 million acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. I can speak personally about the impact that runoff has on the Chesapeake Bay, a national treasure. The fastest growing source of pollutant into the Chesapeake Bay comes from storm runoff. This grant program on resiliency will help all of us plan for how we deal with water infrastructure in a way that can deal with our modern challenges. Another provision in this bill comes from legislation that was authored by Senator Boozman and myself, the Water Resources Research Amendments Act. This provides help for research so that we can find effective and efficient new ways to deal with water treatment facilities. In Maryland, we are proud that we have the Maryland Water Resources Research Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, that does this type of research that will help us to the next generation of how we can use technology to help deal with our water infrastructure in America. The bottom line is that S. 914 is a bill that will help us preserve and provide drinking water to the people of this Nation and deal with wastewater. It is a very important bill for water infrastructure. It is bipartisan. It will be on the floor. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, which is clearly part of building America back better. I hope we can act on this bill this week and send to it the House and get this bill to the President for his signature. I can tell you, our local water systems desperately need the help. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I rise to join my friends in celebrating Earth Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson began the tradition in 1970, making today the 51st celebration of Earth Day. While it is always important to set aside a day to pause and reflect on our relationship with the natural world, I consider this Earth Day one of the most important yet. As we begin to emerge from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic and reset our new ``business as usual,'' we are stepping into a new world, ripe with opportunity for progress on climate change with a more meaningful understanding of what it means to live in a global community. Our Nation and planet are at a crossroads in determining the future of our climate. With a new administration that understands the threat of climate change and the role of the United States as a global leader, we are at the precipice of bold action. The scientific consensus is that climate change will have devastating and far-reaching impacts on the environment, public health, and national security, and we must mitigate and adapt. In 2018, the United Nations U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC found that if a concerted multilateral effort is not made to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, we will cross a tipping point and cause the worst damage by climate change. The scientific community has been sounding the alarm for years, which too many of our colleagues have chosen to ignore. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the challenges and opportunities of our increasingly globalized world. More than ever, we are understanding how decisions governments, corporations, and individuals make have real-world impacts and consequences. Actions that affect our climate are no different. An understanding of our impact in determining our collective future will only help us in our pursuit of a healthier planet. Fortunately, our communities have proven resilient and adaptable. Over the past year. Americans have been burdened with collective grief, fear, and uncertainty. Through it all, our Nation has demonstrated a grit and ingenuity unlike anything we have seen in generations. We saw parents step up as teachers, corporations pivot their business models to keep people safe, and an entire population of office workers transition to working from home. In terms of action on climate change, this flexibility proves that a departure from the status quo is not as unrealistic as we may have thought previously. In fact, a change from ``business as usual'' can have unforeseen benefits for our quality of life and our planet. Equipped with the lessoned learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, I am more confident than ever that our Nation in ready to commit to action on climate change in earnest. Additionally, the Biden administration is already pursuing an aggressive climate agenda by reversing President Trump's shortsighted decisions and doubling down on President Obama's environmental regulations. The Build Back Better agenda recognizes both the need to mitigate emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change that are already harming our communities. A great and overdue need to update our Nation's infrastructure provides an opportunity to address some of our society's most insidious sources of pollution. Emissions from passenger and freight transport makes up the largest proportion of our Nation's total greenhouse gas emissions--nearly 30 percent. The Federal Government can and must work quickly to address climate change through transportation and infrastructure policy. As chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I am committed to ensuring that any legislation the committee considers addresses greenhouse gas emissions reductions in a meaningful way. In 2019, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works unanimously reported an innovative surface transportation reauthorization that indicates a genuine bipartisan interest in action on climate change. I am confident the newest iteration of this bill will be even more ambitious. The imperative to address climate change through transportation and infrastructure is particularly important to Maryland, a highly developed, low-lying coastal State with aging public works systems, which makes it particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. My constituents and future generations have a right to good air quality, water quality, and the resilience of infrastructure assets like roads, bridges, and storm and wastewater systems. In recent years, Marylanders have seen firsthand the effects of climate change in my State. Intense rainstorms have caused unprecedented flood damage to homes and businesses in Prince George's County, Southwest Baltimore, Ellicott City, and Hagerstown. The cost of rebuilding our infrastructure after these storms is significant. Unless we change the way we think about infrastructure in the future, taxpayer investments will be washed away with the next big storm. I requested a Government Accountability Office GAO report on the Federal Government's fiscal exposure to the effects of climate change. GAO found that in 2018, 14 separate natural and weather disasters occurred, costing the Federal Government a total of $91 billion. Unsurprisingly, GAO determined that this amount will rise as climate change causes more frequent and more severe weather events. Inaction on this issue amounts to a gross negligence by Congress in our management of taxpayers' funds. I consider it my duty to ensure that the Federal Government takes full advantage of the opportunity before us to make long-sighted upgrades to our systems. In addition to building back physical infrastructure better, the Nation is in the process of rebuilding its reputation on the international stage as a leader on climate change. By rejoining the Paris Agreement, the United States is signaling its commitment to the global community. As I speak, the President is hosting the Leaders Summit on Climate, where world leaders will outline how their countries will commit to their own ambitious goals. The United States is committing to a bold 2030 emissions target as its new nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement. This summit represents the formal return of the United States to its leadership position and an opportunity to regain the trust from our international partners that President Trump decimated. When President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, I helped to maintain relationships with our partner-members by introducing a bipartisan resolution that expressed support for the Paris Agreement and assuring the international community that, despite President Trump's abdication of his duties, leaders on climate change in the U.S. Senate remained. I previously led the U.S. congressional delegation to the conference where the Paris Agreement was adopted and will continue to position our Nation as a strong partner in the international fight against warming global temperatures. Domestically. this Earth Day, I will recommit to my long-term endeavor to preserve and restore the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay is the lifeblood of the State of Maryland, and the communities that depend on it are seeing their livelihood threatened as the climate changes. Saltwater intrusion on agricultural lands and fragile fisheries make it harder for Maryland farmers and fishers to earn a living. In some cases, Marylanders are seeing their communities disappear before their eyes from the dual threat of sea level rise and subsidence. A healthy Chesapeake Bay watershed is essential to a thriving economy. Additionally, the Chesapeake Bay's wetlands are Maryland's best defense against climate change-induced flooding, as they act as natural buffers to storm surge during severe weather. The good news is that action on climate change, through international commitments, domestic infrastructure improvements, and restoring regional natural resources like the Chesapeake Bay, will stimulate our economy. Stewardship of our environmental can and should go hand in hand with economic development. Our Nation will be grappling with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic for years to come, and bold Federal action is a time-tested practice for economic recovery. A truly bold investment in action on climate change will pay dividends for generations to come, but it must meet the size and urgency of the challenge before us. I am certain that our Nation can honor our planet and our future generations with urgent, thoughtful decision-making. Earth Day is one of the most celebrated secular holidays in the world and for good reason. We are all stewards of our planet and now more than ever understand that we are on a journey together. I will embrace this Earth Day and the opportunities for progress that lie ahead. I hope my Senate colleagues and all Americans will join me honoring our planet through diligent work, today and every day.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, Americans were horrified to witness a recent series of mass shootings involving the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. On March 16, 2021, mass shootings occurred at three spas and massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian-American women, and one other person was wounded. The suspect was taken into custody that day and has been charged with multiple counts of murder. The investigation is continuing as to whether the suspect should be additionally charged with hate crimes, if he deliberately targeted Asian Americans with this senseless violence. Unfortunately, this mass shooting is not an isolated incident in the United States in terms of hate speech, hate crimes, and violence against Asian Americans in our communities. Sadly, some political figures have used the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to fan the flames of hate by promoting stereotypes, fear, and xenophobia. Irrationally blaming Asian and Asian-American neighbors for the pandemic is simply wrong and reprehensible and can have deadly consequences. Let us remember that our Asian-American brothers and sisters are an integral part of the United Nations on so many levels. Our immigrant story and our diversity are some of our unique strengths, not weaknesses, of the United States of America. There are about 23 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, constituting 7 percent of the population of our country. There are approximately 2 million Asian-American owned businesses that generate over $700 billion in annual revenue and employ millions of workers. Two million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as first responders and in healthcare, law enforcement, transportation, supermarkets, and other service industries. Our Asian-American brothers and sisters are putting their lives on the line every day to help protect our communities during the pandemic. That is why it is so despicable to see the rise of anti-Asian rhetoric and hate speech by political leaders and others, which inevitably gives oxygen to extremist groups and individuals and gives license to individuals to commit hate crimes and acts of violence. The use of anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID-19, such as the ``Chinese virus,'' the ``Wuhan virus,'' the ``Kung flu''-- phrases often used by former President Trump and some of his followers--has perpetrated an anti-Asian stigma. The use of anti-Asian rhetoric has resulted in Asian Americans being harassed, assaulted, and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic. Since January 2020, there has been a dramatic increase in reports of hate crimes and incidents against those of Asian descent throughout the Nation. According to a recent report, there were nearly 3,800 reported cases of anti-Asian discrimination related to COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. On April 3, 2021, the New York Times ran an analysis article on the rising tide of Asian-American violence entitled ``Swelling Anti-Asian Violence: Who is Being Attacked Where.'' The article stated: Over the last year, in an unrelenting series of episodes . . . people of Asian descent have been pushed, beaten, kicked, spit on and called slurs. Homes and businesses have been vandalized. The violence has known no boundaries, spanning generations, income brackets and regions. . . . Those cases include the fatal attack of a Thai man in January, as well as the assaults of a 91-year-old man in Oakland's Chinatown and an 89-year-old woman in Brooklyn. Those episodes, and other[s] . . . have terrified the Asian community. The article continues: But there is no ambiguity about the cases The Times collected: These are assaults in which the assailants expressed explicit racial hostility with their language, and in which nearly half included a reference to the coronavirus. This article pointed out some sobering statistics when it comes to hate crimes. Over the last year, hate crimes as classified and reported by the police rose at a faster pace against people of Asian descent than hate crimes overall. In New York City and Boston, hate crimes overall fell while anti-Asian hate crimes spiked. In New York City alone, the number of hate crimes with Asian-American victims reported to the New York Police Department jumped to 28 last year, up from 3 in 2019, and so far this year, the Department is actively investigating or has solved 35 anti-Asian bias crimes. Congresswoman Grace Meng, of New York, said: We've gone from being invisible to being seen as subhuman. We just want to be seen as American, like everyone else. On April 9, 2021, the Washington Post ran an article examining the effect of mass shootings on marginalized groups and how trauma ripples through those communities. The article stated: March 16 marked a turning point for many Asian Americans: It was the day their community was stricken by a mass shooting, becoming the latest minority group to suffer an attack that killed several of its own . . . There's a specific kind of grief that arises from being targeted, one that more and more marginalized people in the United States know too well. The shooting survivors and victims' family members span geographies, races and religions, but they are bonded by the shared trauma they have experienced. The article continues: These tragedies often leave many in those communities who weren't directly affected feeling unsafe and traumatized. After a shooting, many members of these communities say they felt hyper-aware of their race and an escalated sense of fear that the same could happen to them or those they love. A mass shooting seems less senseless or inexplicable when it's directed at one of your own. I recall with sorrow that in 2018 a gunman killed 11 Jewish worshipers at the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh. The article continues: Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers said his synagogue practices the ``ministry of presence''. . . . After mass shootings, synagogue members reach out to the affected communities and let them know that they're present, they're listening. The Georgia massacre ``increases the fear level now of all Asian Americans who prayed, ``Am I next?'' I know how that feels to have your community wonder, ``Am I next?'' said Myers, a survivor of the deadliest attack against Jews on American soil. In recent weeks, flyers have recirculated at Asian-American restaurants--posted in the synagogue's Squirrel Hill neighborhood after the 2018 Pittsburgh shooting--to show their support for the Jewish community. One read: Many of our business members have thrived in this city, particularly in Squirrel Hill, and if we shared in this good fortune, then we bear the burdens. It was a reminder that Asian Americans and Jews share similar status as minority communities in the United States and now as communities affected by mass shootings. I was pleased that, shortly after taking office, President Biden issued a Presidential memorandum, ``Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.'' We need to stop the hate. Referring to this global pandemic by anything other than its appropriate, medical names has inflamed the worst stereotypes, fear, and xenophobia in the face of a health crisis. Irrationally blaming Asian or Asian-American neighbors and random strangers is simply un-American. The Senate and every person in this country needs to call out the hate, bullying, and scapegoating whenever we see it and work together as one community to overcome COVID-19. In my home State of Maryland, I was pleased to see that, last week, Governor Larry Hogan announced the formation of a statewide workgroup charged with developing strategies, recommendations, and actions to address the rise in violence and discrimination targeting the Asian- American community Governor Hogan named the former U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, Robert K. Hur, to chair the workgroup and spearhead the effort. Mr. Hur was the first Asian American to serve as our U.S. attorney in Maryland's history, and I had the pleasure of working with him extensively on a number of criminal matters and civil rights issues during his tenure. I also want to commend the work of our current acting U.S. attorney in Maryland and our FBI Special Agent in Charge, Jennifer C. Boone. They put out a recent statement which condemned bigotry and hatred against the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community and encouraged members of the public to report to law enforcement incidents of violence, threats, and harassment. Shortly before the shootings in Atlanta, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Maryland, on March 10, 2021, launched its Civil Rights Unit to ensure that the full spectrum of criminal and civil statutes are employed in addressing hate crimes and discrimination; to conduct outreach to government, not-for-profit, and private entities in Maryland; and to help provide training and resources to local and State law enforcement in Maryland. Today, I rise in support of S. 937, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, introduced by Senator Hirono of Hawaii. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this important legislation. I urge the Senate to pass this legislation without further delay. This legislation would direct the U.S. Department of Justice to designate a DOJ employee to assist with the expedited review of COVID- 19 hate crimes reported to Federal, State, and/or local law enforcement. The legislation would provide guidance for State and local law enforcement agencies to establish the online reporting of hate crimes or incidents and to have online reporting available in multiple languages; expand culturally competent and appropriate public education and the collection of data and public reporting of hate crimes; and issue guidance detailing best practices to mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, and community-based organizations. In the 117th Congress, I was privileged to be named as the chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission. I additionally serve as the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Over the past year, the world has suffered the crippling impact of COVID-19, which has disproportionately affected our most vulnerable citizens. Racist violence has, once again, reared its ugly head in many OSCE participating States, including our own. I pledge to continue working with the Helsinki Commission and the OSCE to shine a spotlight on discrimination, racism, and anti-Asian violence both at home and abroad as we work together with our partners in the United States and around the world to share best practices and combat this scourge against our democracy and freedoms we hold so dear. In 2019, at the annual meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Luxembourg, I chaired a section dealing with anti-Semitism. One of the key findings that came out of that section was that every community needs to work together. We are all in this together. An attack on one community is an attack on all of us and the freedom of all of us, and we must join in unity to speak with a clear, strong voice against any of these hate activities. We now need an all-hands-on-deck approach to combat anti-Asian bias, prejudice, discrimination, hate crimes, and violence. In working together--all communities--with our local, State, national, and international partners, along with our allies in the private sector and faith community, we can stem this dangerous trend and give a sense of peace and security back to our Asian-American brothers and sisters. It starts with our taking up the legislation before us and passing it promptly I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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, reserving the right to object.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, first, let me thank the Senator from Oklahoma for bringing this to the floor. Here is our challenge. If it gets onto the bill that we have before us, it will delay the continuation of the Paycheck Protection Program because it terminates on March 31. We are not going to have any program to modify. And the House is not in session until the second week in April so it is not possible to get this done before the program expires. So, for that reason, we have to oppose any amendment on the underlying bill, which is a clean extension of the PPP. But I want to thank my friend from Oklahoma for bringing this forward because I agree with you. As chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, I support making the changes that the administration made in regard to the determination for self-employed retroactive. I think that is a fair thing to do. I also support making sure that the business structure that is chosen by a small business also qualifies, whether it be a partnership or a traditional business arrangement. I think we need to make those changes, and I know our staffs are working on the exact language. There is some challenge on how we draft the language. And you have my commitment that we will work during this recess, and I assure you that I want to see this done. I hope we can do it by UC when we return, when the House is in session, and get this done as quickly as possible. The point the Senator from Oklahoma raises is very valid, but let me go back to the original bill for the self-employed that used, as you said, a formula that didn't work. In some cases, it was $50 or $80 that they got on the PPP, which was ridiculous because a self-employed person doesn't have the same payroll expenses that a traditional small business has. We based the PPP calculations on the payroll amount. That didn't apply to the self-employed. So that is why the gross receipts are the right way to make those calculations, and that is what we want to do. That is what this administration did in its recalculation, but it made it prospective only. It needs to be retroactive. So I agree with the gentleman, but I cannot consent to agree to it today. And it is not going to delay the Senate consideration of it because the House is not in session for the next 2 weeks. So the first time we can really get this done is the second week in April, and you have my commitment that we will work together to get the provision made retroactive and to cover the legal structures that are used by some of our small businesses that are not currently covered under the current interpretation--I think legal, this is a legal issue that we have to resolve. For all those reasons, I do object.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President.