Richard Durbin

Mr. DURBIN

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Thune and I be allowed to complete our remarks before the vote is taken.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, less than 2 miles from this Capitol, there are 666,000 small white flags stretching across the National Mall like a sea of suffering and loss. Each of these flags represents an American life lost to COVID--666,000. Let me tell but one of them. Her name was Candace Ayers. She lived in my hometown of Springfield, IL. Early last March, as soon as they could, Candace and her husband Terry received their second coronavirus vaccinations. That was a day of joy and relief for the family because Candace lived with rheumatoid arthritis, which weakened her immune system. In July, she traveled to Mississippi--a State, sadly, with one of the lowest vaccination rates--to console a friend who had lost her husband. At the time, COVID infections were at a low point, and the Delta variant was just starting, so Candace thought she would be safe, having been vaccinated. Soon after the trip, she tested positive for COVID. She was hospitalized and moved to an ICU, and she spent the last few weeks of her life on a ventilator. She died on September 3 at the age of 66, leaving behind her husband, their son and daughter and 5-year-old triplet grandchildren. In the obituary in my hometown paper, her family wrote: ``She was vaccinated but was infected by others who chose not to be. The cost was her life.'' I read that to my wife the morning it was printed and said I have never seen a sentence or two like that in any obituary. Experts call what took Candace Ayers' life a ``breakthrough'' COVID infection, meaning an infection that occurs after an individual has been vaccinated. Breakthrough infections are typically mild, but can be devastating for immunocompromised people like Candace. With the rise of the Delta variant, it is not just the elderly or immunocompromised who are at risk. Children made up only 3 percent of COVID cases at the start of this pandemic. Today, children account for 27 percent of new COVID infections, and the school year is just starting. We are in the midst of yet another wave of this pandemic. COVID is once again overwhelming America's health system, and the rate of COVID infections and deaths are dramatically higher in the areas of lower vaccination. An article in last Friday's Chicago Tribune tells the story in Illinois. Last Thursday was the fourth day in a row that every ICU bed in Southern Illinois was filled. In a 20-county area--home to 400,000 people--there were no ICU beds available. Doctors, nurses, and first responders are working around the clock to care for sick patients, but after 18 grueling months, they are reaching a breaking point. And with our healthcare system pushed to the brink, everyone is feeling it. If you live in Southern Illinois and you have a heart attack, a stroke, a serious accident, or a life-threatening condition, bad news: There are no ICU beds available for you. Hospital staffs in those areas have to call hospitals sometimes hundreds of miles away in Nashville, TN; St. Louis, MO; Kansas City, MO, to try to find a bed. Compare the situation to Chicago, some 300 miles away but a world of difference. COVID infection rates are starting to decrease. Public health officials are hopeful they are finally turning a corner. Why the great disparity between the Chicago regional area and Southern Illinois? One reason: vaccinations. In Chicago, two in three adults are fully vaccinated against COVID. In Southern Illinois, the figure is only one in three. So much of the suffering and expense could be avoided if we could take the politics out of the COVID debate and stop the spread of misinformation that is literally killing people. As Candace Ayers' family would tell you, the most important thing is that more people get vaccinated. Vaccines are safe, effective, and free--and widely available to anyone over the age of 12. Here is a statistic that should trouble everyone. The New York Times tracks COVID vaccinations around the world using figures supplied by national governments. Where do you suppose the United States of America ranks globally compared to other countries on vaccination rates? Well, you would guess the top three, right? The top 10 for sure. How about top 20? You would be wrong. Last week, the United States ranked 55th globally for the percentage of people vaccinated. We are just behind Cambodia. And in the wealthiest Nation on Earth and in the country that led the research and development in finding these vaccines, that is sad; it is inexcusable; and it is deadly. Now, listen, all Americans respect individual rights, but the only way to end the pandemic is for everyone to accept the personal responsibility for our shared well-being. That is why I support President Biden's recent action to strengthen America's defense against COVID and bring this pandemic finally to an end. Many responsible employers, large and small, have already decided on their own to require that their workers get vaccinated. I encourage more to do it. A strong majority of Americans support this policy. President Biden's decision to extend that policy to much of the Federal workforce and to private employers with 100 or more workers means that two out of three American workers will be required to get vaccinated. We even have a situation in the Federal Bureau of Prisons where the infection rate of Federal prisoners is six times the national average. Yet fewer than half of Federal prison guards have been vaccinated-- fewer than half. That is inexcusable. Other nations have already instituted policies which encourage vaccinations. It is time for us to do the same. If we are ever going to see this pandemic come to an end, kids get back in school, and life return to normal, more Americans have to roll up their sleeves and face the reality that vaccination is the pathway to that result. Now, sadly, while this debate is going on nationally, politicians in two dozen States, with vaccination rates below the national average, are threatening to sue the Biden administration over its new COVID policy. In other words, these Governors are saying to the President: Stop any requirement for masks; stop any requirement for vaccinations. In the war against COVID, these lawmakers in these two dozen States are siding with the virus. Their actions, if they follow through on these threats, will result in more illness, more death, and more harm to the economy. Now, how can I say that? Well, I will tell you how--by taking a look at the numbers. Take a look at the numbers from the 24 States threatening lawsuits. The infection rate is 3,471 for every 100,000 people. How about the other States that are not filing a lawsuit against President Biden? Coincidentally, COVID death rates in those 24 States where these attorneys general are threatening lawsuits against President Biden is 31 per 100,000. The COVID death rates in the rest of the country: 11 per 100,000. Vaccination rate: 49 percent in those States, 57 percent in the States that are not suing the President. That tells a story. They are exalting liberty over life. This notion that we don't have a responsibility to ourselves and our family and innocent people to step forward is exactly the point that was being made by Candace Ayers' family. We do. We bear that responsibility, and we should accept it. Since June, the average rates of COVID infections in the 24 States threatening to sue President Biden have been double the rates of COVID infection in the other 26 States. COVID death rates in those States have been nearly three times worse than the rest of the country. These reckless political actions have deadly, real-world consequences. President Biden's actions are reasonable; they are necessary; and a majority of the American people believe it. Politicians hoping to gin up their base by suing the President should stop and start fighting the virus instead of the President's ambitions to bring this pandemic to an end. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can end this pandemic once and for all. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week, the Senate will vote on Florence Pan's nomination to the District Court for the District of Columbia. She is highly qualified, with more than a decade of experience on the bench. If confirmed, she would be the first Asian-American woman to serve on that court. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and received her law degree with distinction from Stanford. After clerking on the Southern District of New York in the Second Circuit, she decided to pursue a legal career in public service. In 1995, she was selected for the prestigious Bristow fellowship in the Office of the Solicitor General. After completing her fellowship, she served as attorney in the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department and senior advisor to the Department of the Treasury. Beginning in 1999, Judge Pan worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia for 10 years. In this role, she litigated local and Federal courts at the trial and appellate level. In 2009, President Obama nominated her to serve on the DC Superior Court. She was confirmed with unanimous support by the Senate. Years later, President Obama nominated her to serve on the DC district court, and her nomination was reported out of the Republican- controlled Judiciary Committee by a voice vote. Unfortunately, she didn't receive a floor vote in time, though lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognized that she was eminently qualified. Since 2009, Judge Pan has presided over more than 650 trials: criminal cases, family court cases, civil cases. She was unanimously rated ``well qualified'' by the American Bar Association. She has the strong support of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who submitted a statement for the record and described her as an exceptional nominee. Last month, she was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan vote of 18 to 4. What is more, the historic nature of Judge Pan's nomination will help build a Federal bench that reflects full diversity. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 174.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and the Senate be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I understand there are four bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

Mr. DURBIN. In order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I will object to further proceeding en bloc.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 357.

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

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 a.m., Thursday, September 23; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Pan nomination; further, that all time on the Pan nomination expire at 10 a.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. DURBIN

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

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote on the nomination of Margaret Strickland for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. For nearly 15 years, Ms. Strickland has served the people of New Mexico as a public defender and a civil rights attorney. With her extensive qualifications and distinguished career in public service, Ms. Strickland will make an excellent addition to the New Mexico District Court. She began her legal career in the Law Offices of the Public Defender for the State of New Mexico, a role in which she handled nearly every type of criminal case. Over the years--and this is an amazing number-- she has tried nearly 90 cases. The vast majority of her practice has been in Federal court. Here in the Senate, Ms. Strickland boasts the strong support of her home State Senators, Senators Heinrich and Lujan. Her nomination also received bipartisan support in our Judiciary Committee. She received a ``well qualified'' rating from the American Bar Association. And like so many of the nominees coming from the Biden administration, she really shows professional diversity in her background. As a former public defender and civil rights attorney, she will offer a legal perspective that we often find missing from the bench. She has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to equal justice under the law, and as a judge, she will ensure that every voice is heard in the courtroom. I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.

Mr. DURBIN

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

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California Mrs. (Feinstein) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Would the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. DURBIN. If the Senator would yield for a question?

Mr. DURBIN. As the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, we have joint committee jurisdiction between the Intelligence and the Judiciary Committee in dealing with this nomination. This is an extraordinary individual. And I have to raise the most basic question, and that is: At this moment in history, is this the right moment to leave this spot vacant? To not have someone in leadership, a gentleman whom you have noted has bipartisan support for his intelligence credentials? You mentioned quite a few names of those supporting him. A couple of the names of those supporting him that you did not mention: former NSA Director, GEN Keith Alexander; former Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell; Senator Saxby Chambliss, our friend and former colleague who served on the Intelligence Committee as a vice chair--all in support of Mr. Olsen's nomination. And I would say, at this moment in history, without going into any graphic detail or classified information, but to have this kind of vacancy in this spot, do you believe this has an impact on our security as a nation?

Mr. DURBIN. Thank you, sir.

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) is necessarily absent.