Mazie Hirono

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I was listening very carefully to my friend, my colleague from Texas, on his comments regarding the process by which we give our advice and consent to all of our judicial nominees, but, of course, particularly our responsibility with regard to Supreme Court nominees. There seems to be some concern that we are rushing the nomination process for Judge Jackson. Nothing could be further from the truth because everybody remembers the speed with which nominee Amy Coney Barrett was put on the Court, from the time of her nomination to the hearings, to her being sworn in. There will be enough time for all of our Members of this body to consider Judge Jackson's nomination, not to mention that we have already confirmed her twice, once to the district court and another time to the circuit court. It is not as though she is unfamiliar to us. Also, any connotation that somehow President Trump's nominees were ill-treated--again, nothing could be further from the truth because the whole process, especially with regard to Justice Kavanaugh, was with the utmost desire on the part, particularly, of the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to get to the bottom of certain allegations against Justice Kavanaugh that were highly serious. To cast any kind of doubt or aspersions on the work of the members of the Committee--especially the Democrats on the Committee--with regard to President Trump's nominees is not well-taken.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, let me move onto why I am here this afternoon. It is not an exaggeration to say that we are at a crisis point. Republican legislatures all across the country are continuing to pass bills that control our bodies and, at the same time, Trump Supreme Court nominees are closer than ever to overturning Roe v. Wade. There are 26 States across the country that are likely, if not certain, to ban abortion if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. There is no question that these restrictions that have been enacted by States all across the country have an incredibly discriminatory impact and will disproportionately harm those who are already facing far more obstacles when it comes to accessing healthcare, including women of color, women with low incomes, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, rural women, and many more. For over 50 years, Roe v. Wade enabled women to make the decision about whether or not they wanted to start a family. But, today, because of new abortion care restrictions, 90 percent of counties in the United States do not have an abortion provider. Women are faced with impossible decisions and, as a result, will be forced to have babies they can't afford, didn't plan for, or are unable to care for, or faced to have babies under life-threatening conditions. And, tragically, women may also die because they lack the access or resources to safely end pregnancy. Abortion bans are a matter of life and death. Women across the country are under attack and so, too, are the healthcare professionals who provide safe and legal abortions. Today is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. This day was established to honor Dr. David Gunn, who was killed on March 10, 1993, outside his abortion clinic in Pensacola, FL, by a White supremacist, anti-abortion extremist. Abortion providers are compassionate, credentialed, and highly trained professionals who allow women to actually make choices about their own bodies, their futures, and whether or not they want to start a family, and they do so without judgment and in the face of violence. Tragically, Dr. Gunn's murder was just the first known instance of a murder of an abortion provider. Across the country, abortion providers experience intimidation, harassment, threats, and violence from anti- abortion extremists. According to NARAL, between 1977 and 2015, there were over 7,200 acts of violence carried out against abortion providers by anti-choice extremists. These included 42 bombings, 185 arson attacks, and thousands of death threats, bioterrorism threats, and assaults. Every single day, even right here in DC, anti-choice extremists station outside of abortion clinics and harass staff and patients. Fourteen States and the District of Columbia have needed to enact laws to protect abortion providers and patients, including laws that prohibit blocking the entrance to a clinic, threatening or intimidating staff, damaging property, and more. Three States have even had to go so far as to establish a ``bubble zone'' to protect people within a certain distance of a clinic. These doctors, nurses, and staff fear for their lives just to provide access to reproductive care. Being an abortion provider is a dangerous profession in this country. What other medical profession deals with this level of harassment and violence just to provide medical services, medical care? For what other medical profession do we have to create a bubble zone of protection? On Tuesday, I joined Senator Peters and my colleagues in the House to introduce a resolution to honor all healthcare providers who keep patients safe and healthy and do their part to help provide access to reproductive care, including abortions. Today, on Abortion Provider Appreciation Day, I stand on the Senate floor to affirm my commitment to ensuring the personal safety of all abortion providers and clinic staff. I thank these fearless individuals for maintaining abortion access to communities across our country. A big aloha and mahalo to these courageous people. I yield the floor.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Women and Climate Change Act of 2022. This bill affirms the U.S. commitment to supporting a group of people who are most often negatively impacted by climate change, yet too often left out of decisionmaking and policy development--women. The bill creates a Federal interagency working group, established by the Department of State, that will collect data and develop policies and strategies to address the effects of climate change on women both at home and abroad. Communities all across the United States and the world are currently feeling the impacts of climate change. The time to empower women to respond to this crisis is now. As we commemorate International Women's Day today, we are reminded of the important roles that women play in communities across the world and seize this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to working towards equity. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCC, highlights that the majority of the world's poor is made up of women who rely on natural resources in their daily lives and are least likely to be able to respond to extreme weather events. These women disproportionately face the brunt of climate change impacts, yet too often have little power or say over how they, their families, and their communities are able to combat climate change. UNFCC notes that when women are allowed a role in developing strategies that address climate change, it often results in great responsiveness to local needs, enabling resilience and capacity building, and delivering peace across communities. The rising costs of climate change to communities at home and abroad, both in terms of fatalities and expenses, are sobering. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, last year the United States alone experienced 20 weather and climate disasters that cost at least $1 billion each, netting a $145 billion price tag and resulting in 688 deaths. Data from NOAA indicates a trend of increasing billion-dollar disasters each decade since the 1980s, with the expectation that the trend will continue. According to Christian Aid, a relief agency in the United Kingdom working to address poverty, the 10 worst global climate disasters in 2021 cost $170 billion. These included Hurricane Ida, which impacted the east coast of the United States and resulted in at least 95 deaths, flooding in Europe that caused 240 fatalities, and July floods in China that killed over 300 individuals. The latest report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, last month highlights the consequences that the world will face if countries do not take immediate and significant action to address climate change. These consequences include extreme heat, floods, wildfire, drought, and famine that could result in malnutrition and displacement of people across the globe. The report also noted that between 2010 and 2020, extreme weather events fueled by climate change killed 15 times the number of people in poor countries as in wealthier nations. The report underscores how women will continue to face mounting challenges as the world experiences more severe and costly climate-fueled disasters. Women play a critical role in combating climate change--both within their communities and on a global scale. By including them at all levels, from planning to implementation, and providing them with the platform and support to carry out these strategies, we have the opportunity to create fair, effective, and sustainable solutions to respond to the climate crisis. This bill is a companion to H.R. 260, which was introduced by my colleague Representative Barbara Lee early last year. I thank her for her leadership on this bill and look forward to continuing our work to see that women all across the world are empowered to help confront this global crisis. Groups in support of this bill include Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the Women's Environment and Development Organization, Madre, Outdoor Afro, California Environmental Voters, Oxfam America, League of Conservation Voters, and Schools for Climate Action.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Women and Climate Change Act of 2022. This bill affirms the U.S. commitment to supporting a group of people who are most often negatively impacted by climate change, yet too often left out of decisionmaking and policy development--women. The bill creates a Federal interagency working group, established by the Department of State, that will collect data and develop policies and strategies to address the effects of climate change on women both at home and abroad. Communities all across the United States and the world are currently feeling the impacts of climate change. The time to empower women to respond to this crisis is now. As we commemorate International Women's Day today, we are reminded of the important roles that women play in communities across the world and seize this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to working towards equity. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCC, highlights that the majority of the world's poor is made up of women who rely on natural resources in their daily lives and are least likely to be able to respond to extreme weather events. These women disproportionately face the brunt of climate change impacts, yet too often have little power or say over how they, their families, and their communities are able to combat climate change. UNFCC notes that when women are allowed a role in developing strategies that address climate change, it often results in great responsiveness to local needs, enabling resilience and capacity building, and delivering peace across communities. The rising costs of climate change to communities at home and abroad, both in terms of fatalities and expenses, are sobering. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, last year the United States alone experienced 20 weather and climate disasters that cost at least $1 billion each, netting a $145 billion price tag and resulting in 688 deaths. Data from NOAA indicates a trend of increasing billion-dollar disasters each decade since the 1980s, with the expectation that the trend will continue. According to Christian Aid, a relief agency in the United Kingdom working to address poverty, the 10 worst global climate disasters in 2021 cost $170 billion. These included Hurricane Ida, which impacted the east coast of the United States and resulted in at least 95 deaths, flooding in Europe that caused 240 fatalities, and July floods in China that killed over 300 individuals. The latest report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, last month highlights the consequences that the world will face if countries do not take immediate and significant action to address climate change. These consequences include extreme heat, floods, wildfire, drought, and famine that could result in malnutrition and displacement of people across the globe. The report also noted that between 2010 and 2020, extreme weather events fueled by climate change killed 15 times the number of people in poor countries as in wealthier nations. The report underscores how women will continue to face mounting challenges as the world experiences more severe and costly climate-fueled disasters. Women play a critical role in combating climate change--both within their communities and on a global scale. By including them at all levels, from planning to implementation, and providing them with the platform and support to carry out these strategies, we have the opportunity to create fair, effective, and sustainable solutions to respond to the climate crisis. This bill is a companion to H.R. 260, which was introduced by my colleague Representative Barbara Lee early last year. I thank her for her leadership on this bill and look forward to continuing our work to see that women all across the world are empowered to help confront this global crisis. Groups in support of this bill include Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, the Women's Environment and Development Organization, Madre, Outdoor Afro, California Environmental Voters, Oxfam America, League of Conservation Voters, and Schools for Climate Action.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a resolution that affirms the importance of our compact of free association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands and apologizes to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on behalf of the U.S. Government for the United States' nuclear testing program. I am thankful to Senator Markey for joining me in this resolution as we seek to strengthen the ties between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. After freeing what are now the Republic of the Marshall Islands from Japanese control during the Second World War, the United States was entrusted with administering the islands as a part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Under the trusteeship, the United States was charged with promoting self-government and the economic and educational advancement of the islands. The trusteeship also obligated the United States to protect the health of the inhabitants of the trust territory. President Harry Truman reaffirmed the United States' ``special responsibility'' for the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands when he reassured the United Nations that the people of the Marshall Islands ``will be accorded all rights which are the normal constitutional rights of the citizens under the Constitution.'' In many ways, the Government of the United States failed to live up to that special responsibility. From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted 67 thermonuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. The tests contaminated at least 11 of the Marshall Island's 29 atolls. These tests destroyed their land and led to their displacement. Nuclear testing also exposed the Marshallese to radioactive fallout, contributing to increased cancer rates, birth defects, and other serious health conditions. The nuclear testing program has caused irreparable harm to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. That harm and our collective failure to live up to our nation's responsibilities have similarly failed members of the Armed Forces and civilian contractors that were tasked by our government with cleaning up nuclear waste in the Marshall Islands. In the 1970s, the United States sought to clean up Enewetak Atoll, where the United States conducted over 40 nuclear tests. In an effort to contain radioactive material on Enewetak, members of the Armed Forces and civilian contractors constructed the Runit Dome, an unlined nuclear waste containment structure that stores approximately 110,000 cubic yards of radioactively contaminated soil and debris. Thousands of servicemembers were exposed to radiation and nuclear waste as they worked to clean up Enewetak Atoll. To this day, those servicemembers remain ineligible for health benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs that other ``radiation-exposed veterans'' receive. I am thankful to Senators Smith and Tillis for their leadership on this issue, as they seek to secure health benefits for these servicemembers through the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is one of the United States' strongest allies and one of its most important partners in the Indo- Pacific region. Since entering into a Compact of Free Association with the United States in the 1980s, thousands of Marshallese have migrated to the United States to live and work. The Marshallese have made invaluable contributions to my home State of Hawaii and have enriched communities throughout the country. The compact also protects U.S. national security interests by providing the U.S. military with exclusive access to the territorial waters of the Marshall Islands and serves as host to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll. While our relationship with the Republic of the Marshall Islands remains strong, they are in jeopardy. U.S. economic assistance under the Compact of Free Association to the Marshall Islands is set to end in 2023 while near-peer competitors threaten to undermine our alliances. Additionally, climate change poses an existential threat to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. But in order to continue on with our relationship with the Marshall Islands, we need to reckon with our past. The United States has never apologized for its nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands. The harm caused by the United States' nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands cannot be taken back or undone. But as the Republic of the Marshall Islands memorializes today, March 1, as Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day, we can show our contrition and endeavor to build a stronger relationship based on correcting the wrongs of the past and strengthening the special ties that bind our two nations.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a resolution that affirms the importance of our compact of free association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands and apologizes to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands on behalf of the U.S. Government for the United States' nuclear testing program. I am thankful to Senator Markey for joining me in this resolution as we seek to strengthen the ties between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. After freeing what are now the Republic of the Marshall Islands from Japanese control during the Second World War, the United States was entrusted with administering the islands as a part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Under the trusteeship, the United States was charged with promoting self-government and the economic and educational advancement of the islands. The trusteeship also obligated the United States to protect the health of the inhabitants of the trust territory. President Harry Truman reaffirmed the United States' ``special responsibility'' for the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands when he reassured the United Nations that the people of the Marshall Islands ``will be accorded all rights which are the normal constitutional rights of the citizens under the Constitution.'' In many ways, the Government of the United States failed to live up to that special responsibility. From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted 67 thermonuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. The tests contaminated at least 11 of the Marshall Island's 29 atolls. These tests destroyed their land and led to their displacement. Nuclear testing also exposed the Marshallese to radioactive fallout, contributing to increased cancer rates, birth defects, and other serious health conditions. The nuclear testing program has caused irreparable harm to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. That harm and our collective failure to live up to our nation's responsibilities have similarly failed members of the Armed Forces and civilian contractors that were tasked by our government with cleaning up nuclear waste in the Marshall Islands. In the 1970s, the United States sought to clean up Enewetak Atoll, where the United States conducted over 40 nuclear tests. In an effort to contain radioactive material on Enewetak, members of the Armed Forces and civilian contractors constructed the Runit Dome, an unlined nuclear waste containment structure that stores approximately 110,000 cubic yards of radioactively contaminated soil and debris. Thousands of servicemembers were exposed to radiation and nuclear waste as they worked to clean up Enewetak Atoll. To this day, those servicemembers remain ineligible for health benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs that other ``radiation-exposed veterans'' receive. I am thankful to Senators Smith and Tillis for their leadership on this issue, as they seek to secure health benefits for these servicemembers through the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is one of the United States' strongest allies and one of its most important partners in the Indo- Pacific region. Since entering into a Compact of Free Association with the United States in the 1980s, thousands of Marshallese have migrated to the United States to live and work. The Marshallese have made invaluable contributions to my home State of Hawaii and have enriched communities throughout the country. The compact also protects U.S. national security interests by providing the U.S. military with exclusive access to the territorial waters of the Marshall Islands and serves as host to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll. While our relationship with the Republic of the Marshall Islands remains strong, they are in jeopardy. U.S. economic assistance under the Compact of Free Association to the Marshall Islands is set to end in 2023 while near-peer competitors threaten to undermine our alliances. Additionally, climate change poses an existential threat to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. But in order to continue on with our relationship with the Marshall Islands, we need to reckon with our past. The United States has never apologized for its nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands. The harm caused by the United States' nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands cannot be taken back or undone. But as the Republic of the Marshall Islands memorializes today, March 1, as Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day, we can show our contrition and endeavor to build a stronger relationship based on correcting the wrongs of the past and strengthening the special ties that bind our two nations.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Climate Adaptation Science Center Act, or CASC Act. This bill authorizes the national and nine regional CASCs that came about after Congress appropriated funding for a National Climate Science Center in 2008 and subsequently, in 2009, Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar recognized the Department as the lead Agency for protecting the country's cultural and natural resources via secretarial order. The national and regional CASCs are housed within the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS. The national CASC is located in Reston, VA, and the nine regional CASCs are dispersed throughout the country from Hawaii, to Alaska to Massachusetts. These regional CASCs service stakeholders in the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands, USAPI, and the U.S. Caribbean. The purpose of these CASCs is to help protect cultural and natural resources by developing the science and tools that on-the-ground managers need to respond to the effects of climate change. One regional CASC, the Pacific Island CASC, or PI-CASC, is a partnership between the USGS and a university consortium hosted by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the University of Guam. PI-CASC was established in October 2011 and over the course of more than a decade has conducted important climate research informed by impacted stakeholders, developed products and tools for resource managers to address climate change, and provided programs to increase capacity and stakeholder networking. Over 100 research projects have been completed to address stakeholder needs across the Hawaiian Islands and USAPI, such as prioritization planning for coastal wetland restoration on Molokai, developing a climate and GIS data portal for American Samoa, and predicting and mitigating avian disease at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on Hawaii Island. Over a dozen different products and tools have been developed by PI-CASC, including sea level forecasting tools for communities throughout the Pacific, a database on weed fire risk throughout Hawaii, and an agroforestry tool for Marshallese agricultural producers. Programs that have been made possible by the PI-CASC include a Manager Climate Corps on Hawaii Island, a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and a Pacific Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Program. These are just examples of research, products, and programs made possible by one regional CASC. The nine regional CASCs are providing similar services all across the country. Currently, stakeholder demand for CASC system services outpaces available resources. Additionally, in the coming years and decades, the challenges that on-the-ground resource managers face with climate change are only going to become more numerous and complex. As such, this bill is necessary to formally establish the CASCs in law so that the important work that the national and nine regional CASCs conduct can continue assisting stakeholders all across the country for decades to come.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Climate Adaptation Science Center Act, or CASC Act. This bill authorizes the national and nine regional CASCs that came about after Congress appropriated funding for a National Climate Science Center in 2008 and subsequently, in 2009, Department of the Interior Secretary Salazar recognized the Department as the lead Agency for protecting the country's cultural and natural resources via secretarial order. The national and regional CASCs are housed within the U.S. Geological Survey, USGS. The national CASC is located in Reston, VA, and the nine regional CASCs are dispersed throughout the country from Hawaii, to Alaska to Massachusetts. These regional CASCs service stakeholders in the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands, USAPI, and the U.S. Caribbean. The purpose of these CASCs is to help protect cultural and natural resources by developing the science and tools that on-the-ground managers need to respond to the effects of climate change. One regional CASC, the Pacific Island CASC, or PI-CASC, is a partnership between the USGS and a university consortium hosted by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with the University of Hawaii at Hilo and the University of Guam. PI-CASC was established in October 2011 and over the course of more than a decade has conducted important climate research informed by impacted stakeholders, developed products and tools for resource managers to address climate change, and provided programs to increase capacity and stakeholder networking. Over 100 research projects have been completed to address stakeholder needs across the Hawaiian Islands and USAPI, such as prioritization planning for coastal wetland restoration on Molokai, developing a climate and GIS data portal for American Samoa, and predicting and mitigating avian disease at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge on Hawaii Island. Over a dozen different products and tools have been developed by PI-CASC, including sea level forecasting tools for communities throughout the Pacific, a database on weed fire risk throughout Hawaii, and an agroforestry tool for Marshallese agricultural producers. Programs that have been made possible by the PI-CASC include a Manager Climate Corps on Hawaii Island, a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and a Pacific Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Program. These are just examples of research, products, and programs made possible by one regional CASC. The nine regional CASCs are providing similar services all across the country. Currently, stakeholder demand for CASC system services outpaces available resources. Additionally, in the coming years and decades, the challenges that on-the-ground resource managers face with climate change are only going to become more numerous and complex. As such, this bill is necessary to formally establish the CASCs in law so that the important work that the national and nine regional CASCs conduct can continue assisting stakeholders all across the country for decades to come.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, yesterday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and honored civil rights leaders who fought against inequality and sacrificed so much to move our country closer towards justice for all. But this year, on a day when we should be coming together to commemorate these civil rights achievements and recommit to the road ahead, we are instead fighting a battle we thought was won decades ago. In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his ``Give Us the Ballot'' address, where he said: The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition. But here we are in 2022 fighting back against hundreds of bills introduced in States across the Nation clearly intended to make it so much harder for certain people to vote. Twenty-two States have already enacted 47 new laws that make it more difficult to vote by mail, that make it harder to stay on voting lists, that limit the availability of drop boxes for ballots, that limit the number of polling locations, that impose stricter or newer voter ID requirements, and the list goes on. But one of the most insidious is Georgia's law which allows any person to challenge the rights of an unlimited number of voters to cast their ballots. If someone decides for whatever reason to challenge another person's right to vote, the voter then has to show up to their election office to defend themselves. Imagine being a single mom working two jobs and unable to afford childcare, and now she has to defend her constitutional right just because someone thought she shouldn't be voting at all. Volunteers are already being recruited to pose these challenges. This isn't voter protection; this is vigilantism. These laws are clearly intended to target communities of color and make it harder for them to vote, period. Our country's legacy of racial discrimination in voting is undeniable, and it is undeniable that we are witnessing history repeat itself. In 1890, the House passed historic legislation that would have increased voting protections, particularly for Black voters, but the Senate failed to take up this legislation, failed to act at a critical time when it had the chance, and the results were devastating for decades to come. The Senate's failure to take up this legislation allowed Jim Crow and the plummeting of voter turnout among Black voters to continue for more than half a century, until the Senate passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 over 70 years later. A recent Washington Post analysis said that this current wave of voter suppression bills potentially amounts to ``the most sweeping contraction of ballot access in the United States since the end of Reconstruction.'' Today, these attacks on our freedom to vote are taking us back to the time of Reconstruction. We cannot wait another 70 years for this so-called deliberative body to act, which is why we need to pass comprehensive voter protection legislation. But not a single Republican supports the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act. Many of my Republican colleagues have joined Congressman John Lewis to commemorate the March from Selma to Montgomery, but today they won't even allow the Senate to consider legislation named in his honor and have called this bill radical. There is nothing radical about protecting a person's freedom to vote. What is radical is sending us back to the days of Reconstruction. This legislation would restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, which Congress reauthorized with broad bipartisan support five times-- 1970, 1975, 1982, 1992--and it passed 98 to 0 in 2006, which included 10 currently sitting Senate Republicans. This bill would also expand opportunities to vote, prevent voter suppression, and improve election security. We are talking about provisions that would require States to offer early voting and no- excuse vote-by-mail, make election day a public holiday, crack down on voter intimidation, and require postelection audits. Again, I ask, how is any of this radical? What is radical is justifying overt attacks on our democracy by perpetuating the Big Lie of mass voter fraud. For Republicans, this fight isn't about election security; it is about securing their power, because Republicans have decided that spreading misinformation and rigging elections by preventing people from voting is the only way they will retain their power. Republicans should come to the Senate floor and tell the American people why they won't protect our freedom to vote. Instead, the Republican leader came to the floor to attack Democrats for fighting to change Senate rules to pass this critical legislation, calling it a power grab. The Republican leader said that Democrats want to ``permanently damage this institution.'' He went on to say the filibuster is ``about compromise and moderation''--this from the Republican leader who refers to himself as the grim reaper as he prevents dozens of House-passed bills from being considered on the Senate floor; the same person who singlehandedly prevented President Obama from filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court for over a year, denying the will of nearly 66 million Americans who voted to give President Obama a second term in office; the same person who pushed through President Trump's Supreme Court nominee as over 159 million Americans were in the process of voting. So much for compromise and moderation. Let's not pretend this is about the sanctity of this institution. We cannot sit back and let one political party continue to unravel the threads of our democracy one voter suppression bill at a time. While Republicans do nothing to protect our freedom to vote in the face of mass voter suppression bills enacted across the country, we Democrats cannot sit back and let 2020 be the last free and fair election in our country. If we don't protect the right to vote, we won't have a democracy. It is that simple. That is the reality. Since the Republicans will not lift a finger to protect voting rights, we have no option but to change the Senate rules in order to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. This is something that every single Democratic Senator needs to get on board with. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

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

Ms. HIRONO

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

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, the foundation of American democracy is built upon the sacred right to vote, and there is no doubt that right is under attack today. This year alone, 550 voter suppression bills have been introduced in State legislatures across the country. In Texas, it is now illegal to compensate workers who help voters who don't speak English and for election officials to encourage eligible voters to apply to vote by mail. In Fulton County, GA, a county that historically votes Democratic, the number of ballot boxes has been reduced from 38 to 8. That is one ballot box for every 100,000 voters. And in Florida, ballot dropoff boxes can only be utilized during early voting hours, and boxes must be located at either a county's elections office or early voting sites. Before President Trump, Republicans at least tried to pretend their laws weren't blatantly discriminatory, but now they aren't even attempting to hide the fact that they are purposefully trying to make it darn near impossible for Black people and other people of color, elderly individuals, students, working families, and people with disabilities to vote. The fact that Republicans continue to claim that these voter suppression tactics are necessary to protect election integrity would be laughable if it weren't so deeply dangerous to our democracy. We all know that countless investigations have uncovered absolutely no evidence of systemic or widespread voter fraud. We all know that the 2020 election was the most secure election in our country's history. And we certainly all know this is not about voter fraud. It is about advancing a political agenda by denying large swaths of Americans their fundamental right to vote. If this isn't un-American, I don't know what is, which is why voter suppression is the most urgent crisis facing our country today and which is why it is the single most pressing issue the Senate must address. Yes, we need to pass Build Back Better, and we need to fight against attacks on a woman's right to make decisions about her own body, attacks on the LGBTQ community, attacks on unions, and much more because battles for rights that we thought we had won don't stay won. But we won't succeed in preserving these hard-won rights if we don't protect the right to vote. To quote my friend and colleague Senator Warnock, ``Voting rights are preservative of all other rights.'' We are nearing the 1-year anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This violent insurrection and mob violence was the direct result of blatant lies told by the former President and his supporters about systemic fraud and a stolen election. We are still learning the consequences of what happened that day, but we know for certain this act of domestic terrorism was an attack on free and fair elections in this country. Yet Republicans continue to spread the same lies about election fraud and continue to push through legislation at the State level to silence Americans across the country. Congress must take action to restore the integrity of our voting system and make sure every American's voice is heard and counted. And we have tried. We have tried four times to stop these unconstitutional, State-level laws from undermining our elections. We have tried to pass commonsense reforms that would, for example, allow all eligible voters to vote by mail; make election day a Federal holiday so all working families can vote; and establish Federal criminal penalties for deceiving voters with false and misleading information about voting. And most importantly, we have tried to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would give the Department of Justice the tools to keep these blatant voter suppression laws from being enacted in the first place. Only one Republican joined us in voting for this bill--the same bill that was being touted as bipartisan. It is crystal clear by now that Republicans have absolutely no interest in protecting the right to vote. For Republicans, voter suppression and gerrymandering is their path to victory Democrats cannot sit back and allow a political party to maintain power by denying Americans their right to vote. I want to quote Senator Warnock again. He said: [A]s we cast that vote to begin addressing the debt ceiling, this same Chamber is allowing the ceiling of our democracy to crash in around us. We figured out a way to save our economy; we can surely figure out a way to save our democracy. Filibuster reform is the path Democrats need to take to fight back against the Republicans' all-out voter suppression assault on our democracy. I call on my Democratic colleagues to act. I yield the floor.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to reiterate my strong support for Dilawar Syed to serve as Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Syed, he is a highly qualified and widely-supported nominee for Deputy Administrator, who has the backing of numerous business groups and organizations. In many ways, he is the very picture of the American Dream, a businessowner, entrepreneur, and job creator who was born in Pakistan and educated in the United States. Mr. Syed also has firsthand experience dealing with challenges small businesses have faced during this pandemic. As Deputy Administrator, he would largely be responsible for running the day-to-day operations at SBA. He has repeatedly made himself available to discuss any concerns Republicans may still have related to his background and qualifications, things that actually matter in his ability to do his job. However, for reasons completely unrelated to his background and qualifications, Republicans on the Small Business Committee have continued to block his nomination, for months. Earlier this summer, they disputed the results of a committee meeting we held to advance the nominee based on a technicality, even though Mr. Syed was approved during that meeting by voice vote. Since then, they have taken a different approach, deciding to boycott committee meetings on five separate occasions, denying a quorum to consider the nominee. We are now at the point where Senate Republicans, even on this normally very bipartisan committee, will not even show up to provide fair consideration for this nominee. Not one Republican will show up. Over the course of the process, Republicans have changed their reasons for blocking the nominee. First, they were concerned about SBA loans his company received during the pandemic, even though these loans were lawfully obtained and fully repaid before he was even nominated to be Deputy Administrator. Then, they insinuated he was somehow anti-Jewish and anti-Israel, despite broad support he has received from within these communities. Now, they are concerned about lawful SBA loans to Planned Parenthood health centers. Just to be crystal clear, these health centers lawfully received loans through bipartisan COVID legislation that was signed by President Trump. It is unacceptable to unfairly and unlawfully target organizations for political reasons. And it is even worse to then stall a qualified nominee because of this. When it comes down to it, Mr. Syed would be an asset to SBA and the businesses they serve. He deserves fair consideration in the U.S. Senate. If Republicans actually cared about helping the small businesses struggling during the pandemic, they would stop blocking nominees to fill positions that are critical to helping them. Republicans should do their job and let us consider his nomination. Every day they continue this obstruction, they are doing a disservice to businesses in our country, which cannot afford uncertainty at this time. Enough is enough.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, before turning to the bipartisan bill that brings a number of us to the floor this afternoon, we have been listening to a number of my Republican colleagues throw stones at Build Back Better, and I would like to simply state for the record that Democrats are committed to lowering costs for families, such as making childcare more affordable, and home care for seniors. Democrats are committed to lowering taxes for people, such as the child tax credit that, by the way, provides much needed financial support for families, including for the families of over 200,000 children in Hawaii alone-- all by making the richest people in our country, who got the benefit of $1.5 trillion in totally unnecessary tax cuts that the Republicans pushed through--by making the richest people in our country pay for these much needed programs and actually support American families. Meanwhile, what are the Republicans doing? Nothing. Zero. Nothing for American families. So I would like to set the record straight as to who actually is working hard to help American families, and, believe me, it is not the Republicans. American Innovation and Choice Online Act Mr. President, turning to the bill that we are talking about today, today's big tech behemoths like to tout their claimed consumer-focused approaches--Amazon, with its ability to deliver seemingly any product to your doorstep within 2 days; Google, with its goal of organizing the world's information and making it accessible to all; Apple, with its mission of bringing the best personal computing products and support to the end user; and Facebook, looking to give users the power to build communities and bring the world closer together. Each claims that their success has been the direct result of their consumer focus, that consumers choose their products and services because they are the best in class. That may have been true at some point, but it is certainly not true today. Today, consumers have no real choice. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook have become gatekeepers that too often limit, if not outright squash, competition online. The result is unprecedented market domination that allows these small handful of giant companies to influence the choices and actions of literally billions of people every day. Think about how many times each of us goes on Google. Multiply that by the billions every day. That is the kind of influence these large companies have. Take Amazon. Just yesterday, the Judiciary Committee heard from a small business owner who sells his Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty on Amazon's dominant online marketplace. He watched as Amazon leveraged its dominance by using the data it collects from these sales to introduce a knockoff of his product. This is consistent with reporting from Reuters and others that Amazon recruits small businesses to its marketplace and then systematically uses the seller data it collects to develop competing products and preferences those products by placing them at the top of its search results. Google uses similar tactics to preference its own products and services. The company controls over 90 percent of the search market--90 percent. That might not be such a big deal if Google simply fulfilled the promise of its cofounder, Larry Page, to ``get you out of Google and to the right place as fast as possible,'' but that simply isn't the case anymore. About two-thirds of searches on Google result in zero clicks; in other words, they start on Google, and they end on Google. That means, for example, that more and more diners looking for the best restaurants don't get directed to Yelp, the site Google's own search criteria identifies as best; rather, they get Google's inferior reviews. It means that travelers looking for travel deals on the top tourist attractions don't get sent to Expedia or Tripadvisor; they are stuck with Google. This is becoming the case for more and more searches. Apple, likewise, uses its complete control over the iPhone and IOS operating system to give its product a leg up. The company has introduced a number of products, including Apple Music, AirTags, and others, to compete with third-party products--except it is really no competition at all because Apple pushes those third parties into its payment system and then charges a tax of up to 30 percent. Sure, consumers can still use Spotify or Tile, but they all have to pay more to do so. In either case, Apple wins. These companies have made clear time and again that they are not interested in competing on a level playing field; instead, they are determined to totally control the playing field. Unless the Federal Government steps in, they will continue to do whatever it takes to hold on to their market dominance, competition be damned. This isn't good for consumers. That is why I cosponsored the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. The bill will put an end to these abusive and anti-competitive practices. Among other things, it will outlaw self-preferencing by the dominant online platforms, prevent these platforms from using a competitor's data to compete against them, and ban the biasing of search results to benefit the company's own products. Unlike the words of the big tech behemoths, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act isn't an empty promise; it will actually put consumers first by restoring competition in the online marketplace. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield to my colleague Senator Blumenthal.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of Filipino American History Month. Throughout the month of October, people across the United States come together to pay tribute to the rich culture, history, and heritage of Filipino Americans. Since the first permanent Filipino settlement in the United States was established more than 250 years ago, Filipino Americans have played a notable role in the development of our country. As the third largest Asian American and Pacific Islander group in the United States, Filipino Americans add to the fabric of our society through contributions in healthcare, the arts, business, journalism, and in government and military service. Filipinos and Filipino Americans have a longstanding history of serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. In 1915, Fireman Second Class Telesforo Trinidad was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism in rescuing two shipmates after a boiler explosion on board the USS San Diego. He survived and continued serving during WWI and WWII until his retirement in 1945. Today, Telesforo Trinidad holds the distinction of being the first Filipino American and the first and only Asian American in the U.S. Navy to receive a Medal of Honor. Filipino Americans have also contributed as leaders in important workers' rights and civil rights movements. In 1965, Larry Itliong, Peter Velasco, and Philip Vera Cruz led Filipino American farm workers to strike, demanding better pay, benefits, and working conditions. The Delano Grape Strike was one of the most pivotal civil rights and labor movements in American history. Earlier this month, Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and author, became the first person born in the Philippines to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Maria, a ``fearless defender of freedom of expression,'' was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for working to expose the abuses of power and growing authoritarianism in her native country. She also founded Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism that has documented how social media is spreading fake news and manipulating public views. While Filipino American History Month is a time of celebration and commemoration, we must also recognize the disparate impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on communities of color, including the Filipino-American community. Approximately one in four Filipino- American adults serve as frontline healthcare workers. High representation in essential work and other socioeconomic factors like living in multigenerational homes, poverty, limited English proficiency, preexisting health conditions, and a lack of health insurance, put these communities at higher risk for COVID-19 transmission. As a result, Filipino-Americans comprise an estimated 32 percent of COVID-19 deaths among nurses despite representing only 4 percent of registered nurses nationwide. In spite of the emotional and physical toll of the pandemic on these frontline workers and their families, the Filipino-American community has continued to show its strength and resilience. During Filipino American History Month, we reflect on the great sacrifices and contributions of generations of Filipino Americans who have helped to shape our Nation. This resolution reminds us that as the United States forges ahead, it is crucial to ensure that future generations can learn from and appreciate the legacies of Filipino Americans, as well as other immigrants and people of color.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. HIRONO

Ms. HIRONO. I suggest the absence of a quorum.