Richard Durbin

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Meredith Vacca to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. Judge Vacca earned her B.A. from Colgate University and her J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law. After completing law school, she began her legal career in private practice as an associate attorney at Hamberger & Weiss LLP, where she focused primarily on workers' compensation insurance defense cases. In 2007, Judge Vacca joined the Monroe County District Attorney's Office as an assistant district attorney, where she tried approximately 60 cases to verdict in her 13- year tenure. Since 2021, Judge Vacca has served as a judge on the Monroe County Court, where she has presided over 21 felony trials that have gone to verdict. The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Vacca ``qualified'' to serve on the district court, and she has the strong support of Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. Judge Vacca's deep ties to the Rochester, NY, legal community, combined with her courtroom experience both on and off the bench, will ensure that she is ready to meet the demands of the Western District of New York from day one. I urge my colleagues to support her nomination.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Joseph Saporito to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Born in Pittston, PA, Judge Saporito received his B.A. from Villanova University and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law. He then entered private practice in Pittston, where he represented clients in a wide variety of matters, including criminal defense, civil litigation, and commercial transactions. He tried more than 60 cases to verdict in which he was either sole counsel or chief counsel. In addition, he served as a part-time assistant public defender in the Luzerne County Office of the Public Defender and as a part-time law clerk in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. Since 2015, Judge Saporito has served as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Wilkes- Barre. He has served as the chief magistrate judge since February 2024. During his time on the bench, he has handled a wide range of civil and criminal matters at various stages of litigation, and he has presided over 16 civil trials, including 14 jury trials. Judge Saporito has deep ties to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He enjoys the strong support of both of his home State Senators, Mr. Casey and Mr. Fetterman, and the American Bar Association unanimously rated him as ``well qualified'' to serve on the district court. Judge Saporito's extensive litigation background and his courtroom experience as both an advocate and magistrate judge ensure that he will continue to be an asset to the district court. I am proud to support his nomination, and I ask my colleagues to join me.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Manchin), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Ossoff), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today the Senate will vote to confirm Stacey Neumann to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine. Ms. Neumann earned her B.A. from James Madison University (2000) and her J.D. from Cornell Law School (2005). Following law school, she clerked for Judge John A. Dooley on the Vermont Supreme Court and Judge Peter W. Hall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Neumann began her legal career with the Chittenden County Public Defender Office in Vermont. In 2009, she joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine as a special assistant U.S. attorney and became an assistant U.S. attorney in 2010. At the U.S. Attorney's Office, she served as the Project Safe Childhood Coordinator. In this role, she was responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the possession, transportation, and production of child sexual abuse material. Since 2013, Ms. Neumann has been a litigator with Murray Plumb & Murray, where she maintains a diverse practice that consists of criminal, civil, and administrative matters. She has focused her civil practice on representing employees in workplace discrimination cases while also serving as a member of the Criminal Justice Act panel, accepting appointed indigent clients. Over the course of her legal career, Ms. Neumann has handled 15 trials or adjudicated matters that proceeded to verdict or judgment. The American Bar Association unanimously rated Ms. Neumann as ``well qualified,'' and she has the support of her home State Senators, Ms. Collins and Mr. King. Ms. Neumann's diverse experience as a litigator and commitment to service make her well-prepared to serve on the bench with distinction. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her nomination.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I want to make sure that the record is clear and unequivocal. The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, met personally with Prime Minister Netanyahu. At that point, she said, with him and publicly, that our alliance with Israel is ``unwavering.'' That was her exact quote, despite what you might have heard to the contrary. Then she went on to say she believed that Israel had the right to exist and the right to defend itself, but how it does it makes a difference. That is a significant statement because what she is suggesting is our alliance has to reflect our values as well as our commitment to Israel. I don't believe that is a radical statement. I agree with that statement. And I believe that to suggest otherwise is to mischaracterize what the Vice President said. I think she speaks for America. I hope she does. She speaks for me when she says those words. I thought her meeting with Netanyahu was historic, important, timely, and repeated the basic principles that guide our two nations.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Coons), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Warner), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) and the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, whether you are a parent or a grandparent or just have children around you whom you dearly love, there is one thing that is going on in every household that should give you concern--genuine concern--about the safety of your kids. It is this. Have you ever seen your kids staring into the screen and wondering what they are doing? Are they speaking to a friend? Are they playing a game? Are they looking up some information? You hope it is something that is innocent, but you are never sure. What we found in the Senate Judiciary Committee is that many kids are lured into the programs and messages of these pieces of technology, and their lives are changed for the worse. This afternoon, we are going to vote on moving two measures which move to protect kids from the abuses which happen on the internet. It is long overdue. The Senate Judiciary Committee has five bills that we reported out with unanimous votes--that doesn't happen in the Senate Judiciary Committee; unanimous votes, all the Democrats and all the Republicans-- to protect children from the abuses which occur. I have a measure called Children's Sexual Abuse Material--CSAM--that says basically that if your child was exploited by the internet and you tell the social media platform that is broadcasting it to stop and desist and they refuse to do it, they are liable in civil court; they can be held liable by a lawsuit. That is a good way to enforce a provision to protect the children. In the meantime, we are moving with other measures, and I would like to speak about one that just passed this week. We made a significant step earlier this week to address the problem of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes spreading online. Women and girls from all walks of life--from Taylor Swift, to Megan Thee Stallion, to high school girls in my home State of Illinois--have been victims of this form of image-based sexual abuse. Sadly, none of them have legal recourse against the perpetrators because the law is not keeping up with the technology. Now this is starting to change. This week, the Senate passed my DEFIANCE Act, bipartisan legislation that will finally provide remedy for victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. You have read about it in the newspapers when it comes to the celebrities, which I mentioned earlier. It happens every day across America. This landmark legislation cannot become law soon enough. This form of image-based sexual abuse has skyrocketed in recent years. One researcher found that the number of nonconsensual, pornographic, deepfake videos available online has increased 900 percent since 2019. Another found that over 24 million people visited a group of just 34 websites dedicated to nonconsensual, deepfake pornography in September 2023 alone. In total, nonconsensual, deepfake, pornographic videos have been viewed almost 4 billion times--4 billion. This explosive growth has been driven by advances in technology; namely, generative artificial intelligence. What used to take technological expertise and a lot of time can now be done with the push of a button. Countless apps can swap someone's face onto another person's body or can digitally remove someone's clothing so they appear to be nude. Deepfake apps are often advertised as harmless entertainment, but when explicit images are produced and shared without the consent of the person depicted, the harm is very real. Imagine losing control over your own likeness and identity--how powerless victims feel when they can't remove the illicit content, can't prevent it from being reproduced repeatedly, and can't prevent new images from being created. My partner on this legislation is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, who introduced a companion bill in the House. Like far too many women, she has been the victim of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. She has described how this image-based sexual abuse has resurfaced trauma and haunts her thoughts even to this day. Once these deepfakes are seen, they cannot be unseen. As she put it, ``Deepfakes are a way of digitizing violent humiliation against other people.'' The design and function of the internet amplify the scale and spread of this type of exploitation. Survivors of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes are often forced to relive their trauma and face ongoing harm that increases exponentially over time due to the viral flow of information on the internet and the difficulty of removing harmful content. Tragically, our laws have not kept pace with technology, leaving victims with virtually no legal remedy. Time and again, victims are told that nothing can be done to help them because existing laws simply do not apply to deepfakes. Thankfully, now the Senate has taken a step toward fixing this blatant disregard for the trauma suffered by individuals who are victimized by this crime. By passing this DEFIANCE Act, we have brought victims one step closer to taking back some power over their identity and giving them a day in court. Our work is far from being done. I call on the House of Representatives to move on this issue immediately, to follow the Senate's lead and quickly take up and pass the DEFIANCE Act. In doing so, Congress will reflect the will of the vast majority of Americans who are demanding that Congress pass new laws to address nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. According to a recent survey conducted by the University of Maryland, an overwhelming 85 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats support prohibiting these nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes. Our constituents are concerned about what is happening online. Democrats and Republicans alike agree that Congress must establish guardrails to protect society from these changes in technology. I want to thank Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez for her leadership on this issue and her courage in speaking up. She has been an indispensable partner in crafting and advancing this bill. I would like to thank the Senate cosponsors of this legislation, including some of my Republican colleagues like Senator Graham, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Democratic Majority Leader Schumer, Senators Hawley, Klobuchar, King, and Lee. This bill would not have come to fruition without the input of survivor advocates, including the Sexual Violence Prevention Association, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, the National Women's Law Center, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and many others. Their lived experience and leadership have shaped this bill and brought to it this stage of passage. I also want to thank some of the other organizations that endorsed the bill: the Center for Democracy and Technology, the National Organization for Women, #MyImageMyChoice, RAINN, PACT, and Rights4Girls. When the DEFIANCE Act is signed into law--if it is brought up and passed in the House--victims will finally--finally--have the ability to hold liable those who produce, disclose, solicit, or possess sexually explicit deepfakes while knowingly or recklessly disregarding that the person depicted did not consent to the conduct. Congress has waited long enough. It is past time to give victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfakes the tools they need to fight back. I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the Senator from California (Mr. Padilla), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business.

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

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, some events in our lives make such an impression that we can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing when we reflect on learning about them. On November 22, 1963, I was a sophomore at Georgetown University here in Washington, DC, when the news broke that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, TX. I was in the library, and the news spread through that quiet room like wildfire. We all stopped what we were doing and went outside and stood in the street and listened to the car radio's report of the news that was just tragic news, of course, that President Kennedy had given his life. It has been more than 60 years since the assassination of President Kennedy and 43 years since President Reagan was shot. A week and a half ago, Americans were shocked to witness on live television an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump as well as the murder of Corey Comperatore at a Pennsylvania political rally. We should all take a moment to reflect on Mr. Comperatore's family loss. His wife reported that when shots were ringing out, he shielded his wife and children with his body. It is an amazing scene to think that at that moment--that emergency moment--he thought of others to protect them. They have been in my thoughts since the tragic events of that Saturday afternoon. We have a responsibility in Congress to learn how the Secret Service failed to protect former President Trump on July 13. We need to do this on a bipartisan basis; keep politics out of it. The Judiciary Committee, which I chair, has jurisdiction over the Secret Service. Tomorrow morning, the Judiciary Committee, along with the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committees, will receive a classified briefing on the shooting. I hope that we learn more since the hearings that occurred in the House of Representatives. Next Tuesday morning, the Judiciary Committee and the Homeland Security Committee will hold a joint, bipartisan hearing on the assassination attempt, where we hope to learn more from the FBI and the Secret Service. We need to ask probing and important questions and do it in a responsible way that avoids the kind of incendiary language that has become all too common in our country. It is irresponsible for a Member of Congress to accuse the opposing political party of being ``flat out evil and . . . [trying] to murder President Trump,'' but a Member of Congress actually said that. Another Member said, ``Joe Biden sent the orders.'' Can you imagine? Those kinds of statements are so irresponsible, mean-spirited. They don't belong as part of the national debate. As a country, we have become desensitized to toxic and violent rhetoric that some politicians have embraced as standard fare. We should all be disturbed by the April poll from Marist which found that ``one in 5 U.S. adults believe Americans have to resort to violence to get their country back on track.'' I have said this repeatedly, and it bears repeating: Political violence is never acceptable. It is never the answer. Political parties should not elevate leaders who say these things that are so irresponsible. Candidates should encourage Americans to exercise their constitutional right to speak and vote, not open a rally with an official declaring: If we lose this election, it is going to take a civil war to save this country. As the most powerful democracy in the world, the eyes of our allies and rivals are always on us. Our political discourse should reflect our solemn responsibility to encourage free and fair elections not just abroad but at home because, in the land of the free, everyone should feel safe expressing their political views and participating in this country's most sacred and fought-for legacy, a free and fair democracy.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Kaine), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren), are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) is necessarily absent.