Richard Durbin

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. And the key to that, I think, goes back 60 years ago where we married nutrition programs and agriculture programs so that people living in the city of Chicago, for example, who hear over and over ``Illinois is an agricultural State'' but don't have any evidence of it other than what is on the table for their family to eat will have as much interest in passing the bill as my farmers down State. I am sure the same is true in the State of Michigan.

Mr. DURBIN. So we all know that the cost of food has gone up, making it more difficult for families to keep food on the table, and we also know that low income people face that. What are the nutrition programs that are part of this farm bill that will help them?

Mr. DURBIN. That is not a lot.

Mr. DURBIN. I see my colleague from Minnesota is on the floor, and I just want to say that this exchange is the reason why we are going to miss Senator Stabenow of Michigan when it comes to the Agriculture Committee and many other areas. She does her homework. She understands that in the complexity of a big bill, that there are real-life human issues that face us, and there are real people who are waiting for us to get our job done. Thank you for doing this and doing the committee. I sincerely hope we can get this done before the end of the year and the disastrous consequences that you described. I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I want to thank the Senator from Vermont and remind people that his comments make it clear this is not just a Midwestern issue. It affects the whole Nation, from one side to the other. As I said, Senator Stabenow has been our leader. I hope we can get a breakthrough in the coming days and weeks.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Embry Jerome Kidd to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Born in Birmingham, AL, Judge Kidd earned his B.A. with high honors at Emory University in 2005 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2008. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Roger L. Gregory on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Judge Kidd worked as an associate attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, between 2009 and 2014. Then, from 2014 to 2019, Judge Kidd served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. In this role, he investigated and prosecuted individuals in cases involving public corruption, wire and mail fraud, financial crimes, violent crimes, crimes against children, and narcotics importation and distribution. Since 2019, Judge Kidd has served a U.S. magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Judge Kidd has tried 15 cases to verdict, judgment, or final decision and, since joining the bench, has issued more than 13,700 written decisions. The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Kidd as ``well qualified.'' Judge Kidd's experience in private practice and public service, coupled with his experience as a magistrate judge, has prepared him to serve with distinction on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. I am proud to support his nomination.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), are necessarily absent. Mr. THUNE: The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Braun), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Cassidy), the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Daines), the Senator from Iowa (Ms. Ernst), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Utah (Mr. Romney), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Rubio), and the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Vance).

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, when many people think of Chicago, they think of Irish culture. Chicago's Irish American community is a thriving, invaluable part of the city. And no person represented the rich marriage of cultures more than my friend Billy Lawless. So, it is with great sadness that I share the news of his passing. Though Billy's path would later take him to Illinois, much of his life was spent in Ireland. A native of Galway, Billy grew up in a family that owned pubs and a hotel, instilling in him a passion for the hospitality industry from a young age. He long harbored dreams of opening a restaurant in the United States, but it was not until 1998--on the heels of his daughter earning a rowing scholarship at Boston University--that Billy made this dream a reality. He and his family moved to Chicago, and Billy soon fell deeply in love with the city, a love affair that would last until his final days. In Chicago, Billy combined his love for the restaurant industry with his love for Ireland, opening the bar, the Irish Oak, in the Wrigleyville neighborhood. In the wake of the bar's success, he opened several other bars and restaurants across the city, establishing himself as a mainstay of Chicago culture and eventually creating the Gage Hospitality Group. But what made Billy special was that he channeled his business power into political power, using his growing success to give back to both Chicago and America's Irish communities. Namely, Billy became a fierce advocate for undocumented Irish immigrants and a staunch proponent of immigration reform. In pursuit of these ends, he was a board member and cofounder of the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition, chair of the Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform, and he was a leader of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights. In short, he was a tireless champion of the Irish diaspora in the United States. It was over the matter of immigration reform--a matter to which I have devoted a large portion of my policy efforts over my career in public office--that Billy and I bonded. His work on immigrant and refugee rights in Chicago was invaluable. We all owe him a debt of gratitude. Even from across the Atlantic Ocean, his commitment to the Irish people remained steadfast. And this did not go unnoticed. In 2015, Billy joined the ranks of those such as President John F. Kennedy when he was made a Freeman of Galway, an honorary title given to valued members of the community. In 2016, then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny nominated Billy to the Seanad, the Irish Senate, where he served one term as a member of the Seanad Independent Group. In this role, he served as an overseas Irish Senator for the Irish diaspora, the first person ever to hold that title. In that role, he gave voice to the hundreds of thousands of Irish men and women living in the U.S. and across the world. In a lot of ways, Billy represents the American dream. He came to this country with hope for prosperity. And he quickly found it. But, despite his success, he never forgot where he came from. To the contrary--it was his love for Ireland, his passion for the rights of immigrants and refugees, and his commitment to making sure America lived up to its ideals that motivated him to give back to both of the countries he considered home. He was a businessman of integrity, a political force to be reckoned with, and most importantly, a genuinely good man. In asking how he could use his position to give back, he made our Nation better. My wife Loretta and I send our deepest condolences to Billy's wife Anne; his four children Amy, Clodagh, Billy Jr., and John Paul; and his eight grandchildren on their tremendous loss. Billy was a lot of things. But he took most pride in being a loving husband, father, and grandfather. Though we will no longer get to feel the warmth of his embrace, and though we will certainly feel the pain of his loss, Billy's remarkable legacy will live on across oceans--in pints of beer and the fight for immigration reform alike. We will miss him dearly.

Mr. DURBIN

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