Patrick Leahy

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, 16 years ago the United Nations General Assembly designated April 4 as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Today, I am introducing a Senate resolution recognizing that designation and reaffirming United States leadership in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance. As we read the reports of withdrawing Russian troops leaving landmines to terrorize, maim, and kill Ukrainian civilians, we are reminded of the necessity to redouble our efforts to ban these insidious weapons once and for all. The mines in Ukraine will remain a deadly hazard there long after the fighting ends, whenever that time comes. Landmines and other unexploded ordnance cause death and terrible injuries to people in dozens of countries, mostly places where the ability to provide lifesaving medical care and long-term rehabilitation and vocational support is lacking or far from adequate. The United States continues to provide the largest share of demining assistance, and we spend many millions of dollars annually helping the survivors. That is something we can be proud of. But in some countries, like Laos, the millions of cluster munitions that failed to detonate on contact were manufactured in the United States and dropped by American aircraft. Fifty years later they continue to destroy innocent lives. So while the number of landmine and UXO casualties has fallen significantly since I and others first took on this issue in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we are not where we hoped to be back then. First, the Biden Administration needs to restore the policy on landmines that was put in place during the Obama Administration. The White House said they would but it has not happened yet. There is no excuse for delaying. Second, we need to continue to provide the funding for humanitarian demining and survivors assistance. Fortunately, this is not a partisan issue. It is simply a matter of continuing to treat it as a priority. And third, this is my last year in the Senate and while I will do everything I can while I am here, we need others to continue to advocate for the United States to sign the international treaties banning anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions. It should have happened already, and we have to keep working until it does. I have seen first-hand the effects of landmines and other unexploded munitions. It is horrific, especially when it's a young child with a leg or an arm missing. Or a parent blinded and crippled by a landmine, being led around by a child. We should be the country that leads the world in ending not only the carnage of landmines and UXO left behind, but the production, export, use and stockpiling of these indiscriminate weapons that don't belong in the arsenals of civilized nations.

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY

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

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, I am pleased to acknowledge the confirmation of Shalanda Young to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with a bipartisan vote of 61 to 36. Director Young has a depth of experience that cannot be matched to lead the Office of Management and Budget. A staff member on the House Appropriations Committee for 15 years--serving 4 of these years as the committee's staff director--Director Young has years of experience in crafting the budgets of the Federal agencies that the American people rely on. In 2019, Director Young was one of the few staff present in the room while then Chairman Shelby, Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Granger, and I negotiated the end to the longest Federal Government shutdown in U.S. history. Her knowledge of Federal programs, understanding of the political process, and years of critical insight into the operations of the federal government were invaluable in our negotiations to reach a deal. I was glad to strongly support Director Young's nomination to be Deputy Director of OMB. After she was confirmed to that position, she began to serve as its Acting Director. It was in this role that she guided the Biden administration's budget priorities through the COVID pandemic, devastating natural disasters, a long sought after bipartisan infrastructure law, and now the response to President Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. As if she did not have enough on her plate, on October 31, 2021, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Charlie. If juggling all of that did not prove she is more than qualified for the job, I am not sure what would. As the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I look forward to working with her and her team at OMB on the fiscal year 2023 appropriations process. Director Young understands how to work across the aisle to get a deal done. I cannot think of someone I would rather work with in putting the appropriations process to work on behalf of the American people.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I would like to ask the junior Senator from New Hampshire about her experience with this program.

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I would like to ask, given this context, if the Senator from New Hampshire agrees that both the House and the Senate have made clear that funding cliffs for this program will hamper States' ability to effectively address the opioid epidemic?

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I thank the Senator for clearly laying out the Senate's intent for the ongoing administration of this program--I agree. I would like to ask the Senator from Washington if she agrees as well?

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the State Opioid Response grant program has been critically important to communities that have been affected by the ongoing opioid epidemic. Rates of substance use disorders have grown exponentially, particularly during the pandemic, taking lives across the country, and opioids are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. Congress developed the State Opioid Response grant program to enhance our response to the opioid epidemic. As a result of this funding, States have been able to expand access to lifesaving prevention, treatment, and recovery services to frontline communities I know this funding has been important to Vermont in addressing the opioid crisis, and I ask the senior Senator from Washington if this has been her experience with the program as well.

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I thank the senior Senator from Washington, and I echo the call for HHS and SAMHSA to prevent significant funding cliffs. The State Opioid Response grant program must facilitate the ongoing work States are performing to preserve communities and save lives. Now is not the time to be cutting funding from communities that are just barely beginning to heal from the opioid epidemic. Madam President, I would like to thank the Senators from Washington and New Hampshire for coming to the floor to discuss this important program.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, before I even start, I do want to compliment the staff--later, I will put all of the names in the Record--who worked weekends and late at night. I remember times when I would get off the phone with them at 11 o'clock at night and 12 midnight. I could go to bed, but they were still there working until 3 or 4 in the morning. Yet, after all of those months of negotiations, the Committee on Appropriations introduced the $1.5 trillion fiscal year 2022 Omnibus appropriations bill. As I will explain, this is the consolidation of 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the Federal Government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Last night, the House passed it on a bipartisan basis. It is now before us, and we need to act on it quickly. Our annual appropriations bills are where we reflect on our national priorities. In total, this bill includes $730 billion in nondefense funding. That is a $46 billion increase over fiscal year 2021. This 6.7-percent increase is the largest in 4 years for nondefense programs. It allows for significant investments in the American people that will expand the middle class. The bill also provides urgent funding for the people of Ukraine as they battle Vladimir Putin's immoral, unprovoked, and brutal invasion-- an invasion which, actually, labels Vladimir Putin as a ``war criminal.'' It is unquestionably in the interest of the American people that the Senate act quickly to pass this bill and send it to President Biden. I will tell you why it is so important. In the wake of the pandemic, children and schools across the country have been falling behind in math and reading, and children in low- income and minority communities have been falling even further behind their peers. One study found that third graders who are attending school in low-income communities tested 17 points lower in math than they did just in 2019. We can't allow a global pandemic to set these children further back on the path to a bright future. The bill includes $17.5 billion--the largest increase in more than a decade--for title I-A grants. These grants provide funding for more than half of our Nation's public schools to help students, particularly in low-income communities, meet college and career-ready academic standards. And to help these children succeed before they even step foot in the classroom, the bill includes more than $11 billion for Head Start. The bill also increases the maximum Pell Grant award by $400--also the largest increase in more than a decade--so that as these students succeed they can go on to pursue a college education. Pell Grants help more than 7 million students pursue a postsecondary education every year. Now, of course, we are investing in these children, but we are also investing in their families. Ask any young family and they will tell you that the pandemic exacerbated the childcare crisis. Parents, and particularly women, are being forced out of the labor market because they cannot afford the high cost of childcare. The bill provides more than $6 billion for childcare and development block grants. That is a 4.4-percent increase over last year. These grants will assist low-income families in gaining quality childcare that fits their needs to prepare their children to succeed in school. Across this country--the wealthiest and most powerful Nation on Earth--more than 38 million people, including 12 million children, are what can be called food insecure. Many of us in this room cannot even imagine the heartbreak and pain a parent must feel when they cannot put enough food on the table for their child. So the bill increases support for nutrition programs. These programs are a lifeline to these American families. It also ensures that over 4 million low-income women and children will not see their benefits reduced at the end of April by extending the WIC Cash-Value Voucher Program. It is a special $35 monthly benefit for purchasing fruits and vegetables. It fully funds $6 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children--WIC--to help support 6.2 million low-income women, infants and children younger than 5 years old every month. It also includes more than $140 billion, which is a 23-percent increase, for SNAP. SNAP provides assistance to more than 40 million people every year in this country. It also keeps families in their homes by providing billions of dollars to build and support public housing. This includes a 75-percent increase for Choice Neighborhoods, which helps to transform communities by revitalizing public and assisted housing. It provides an 11-percent increase to build new affordable housing through the HOME program. And it includes $4.8 billion for community and economic development. We understand that hundreds of thousands of Americans are homeless. The 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report found that on a single night more than 580,000 people experienced homelessness. People who are struggling with homelessness have been robbed of a central pillar of the American Dream--having a place that they can call their own. The bill provides $3 billion--a 6.6-percent increase--for homeless assistance grants. We know it is a bipartisan priority in Congress to keep our communities safe so the bill provides a 15-percent increase for Department of Justice grants to State and local law enforcement and communities to prevent and respond to crime. It provides COPS Hiring grant funding to place more than 1,700 officers on the streets to keep our communities safe. But as a country, we have collectively grieved the loss of life that inspired the Black Lives Matter movement. So this bill provides new resources to fund deescalation training, implicit bias training, training that emphasizes the duty of fellow officers to intervene, and providing crisis intervention teams. It is also a commitment to the future of scientific research, development, and innovation in this country. It provides the largest increase in 12 years for the National Science Foundation. The NSF funds a quarter of all federally supported basic research conducted by colleges and universities in this country. It provides a 6-percent increase for the Department of Energy Office of Science and a 5.3- percent increase for the National Institutes of Health to speed the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and preventative measures. I think it also, importantly, includes $1 billion to launch the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, the ARPA-H, as President Biden's bold and promising proposal to revolutionize how we prevent, treat, and cure devastating diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. Marcelle, my wife, and I had the opportunity to listen to then-Vice President Biden speak about this at the University of Vermont's medical school a few years ago and then again to hear President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Dr. Jill Biden speak about it at the White House. I was committed to making sure that it would be in the Omnibus bill, and I am pleased that it was included and that that request was joined by numerous other Senators. The bill closes the chapter on 4 years of denying the existence of the climate crisis by the previous administration. It provides billions of dollars to support climate research, mitigation, and adaptation. This includes $900 million in NSF funding to support climate and clean energy research, $40 million for NOAA climate-related projects, $425 million for clean air programs, and an historic investment in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, EERE. We also provide hundreds of millions of dollars to support international climate change adaptation and mitigation programs. We included this funding because the scientific communities are in agreement that we are running out of time before the damage to our planet is irreversible. So we are taking a small but long-overdue step to confront that reality. The bill also backs up our commitment to our veterans. It provides $97.5 billion--an 8.7-percent increase--for VA medical care. That provides essential health services for 9.2 million veterans, those men and women who have served our country and whom we always promised to back up, as they did us. Now, we are. This includes funding for rural health programs, veterans' homelessness prevention, and mental health resources. Consistent with long tradition, the bill includes billions of dollars for food and other humanitarian aid for victims of war and natural disasters, $700 million to support global health security programs to prevent and prepare for future pandemics, and it provides the funds to support PEPFAR's global HIV-AIDS program. It provides the funds to support our embassies and other foreign missions around the world. And it supports organizations like the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the International Development Finance Corporation. Anybody who is watching the news knows what is happening with the war crimes that are being imposed on Ukraine by a much larger neighbor, Russia, under the unbelievable, irresponsible leadership of Vladimir Putin. So we have included a $13.6 billion bipartisan agreement to provide emergency assistance to Ukraine and our NATO allies--$13.6 billion. That has the necessary resources to bolster the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian military but also our regional allies and partners. It also supports the implementation of economic sanctions and export restrictions on Russia. Importantly, it addresses the evolving humanitarian crisis--this horrible, tragic humanitarian crisis--that has resulted from President Putin's unprovoked attack on the Ukrainian people, an attack I call a war crime. The escalating crisis President Putin has inflicted on Europe poses the greatest threat to democracy and sovereignty in a generation. The American people overwhelmingly support the people of Ukraine. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue; this is a human rights issue. This is where America stands with the people of Ukraine. I remember a few years ago when I was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I joined with my friend Mike Crapo, another Senator, and we reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act. We dramatically increased it and improved it. We added Native Americans, we added the LGBTQ community, and we added the sexual exploitation of children. Well, the Violence Against Women Act has been stuck. It hasn't been reauthorized. This bill reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act. VAWA continues to be one of the most consequential laws addressing the scourge of violence against women and domestic violence in our country. I remember how bad it was when I was a prosecutor, but it has become far, far worse today. We need the tool of VAWA, and the bill includes the highest funding level ever of grants to support these programs. It provides crucial support for programs and initiatives designed to support survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Of note, this bill also reforms and reauthorizes the EB-5 Visa program, which has been abused by corrupt actors for too long. I have championed these bipartisan reforms for many years, and I am proud that we are finally going to enact them. In total, the bill includes $730 billion in nondefense funding, a 6.7-percent increase. The bill includes, $782 billion in defense funding, a 5.6-percent increase over fiscal year 2021. This is a product of months of negotiations--sometimes weekends, sometimes evenings, sometimes days, over and over again--negotiations between myself and dear friends Vice Chairman Shelby and House Chair DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger. I mentioned earlier our staffs who spent countless late nights working through the details of this bill. Those are not just weekday nights; those are weekends too, giving up plans they might have had, personal plans, family plans, whatever. So I think of specifically Charles Kieffer, Chanda Betourney, Jessica Berry, and Jay Tilton on my staff and Bill Duhnke and David Adkins on Vice Chairman Shelby's staff and so many, many more who worked those nights and days--far too many names to say right now. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have a list of the staff printed in the Record.

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, this is a good bill. It is a bill that reflects American priorities and invests in future prosperity and our health. It reduces everyday costs for millions of Americans, such as childcare, a college education, and heating and cooling costs. It is a bill that invests in us--us--the American people. We know that a government shutdown on Saturday would be senseless. Look at the impression it would give the rest of the world when we are telling everybody to stand up and be strong. We know that a delay would be senseless, so I strongly urge all Members to vote aye when the bill comes to the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I know Senators are waiting on movements on both sides, but I just want to reiterate what I said earlier this afternoon. We have before us a message from the House--the omnibus. I would point out that both Republicans and Democrats have had an enormous amount of input into this for over the past several months. I know that because the Appropriations Committee staff has worked so hard on it--again, both sides of the aisle. Earlier today, I put into the Record the names of members of my staff who have worked on this. I would just mention to other Senators, there are many times I would be on phone calls with them and conference calls at 10 and 11 at night. I can then go to bed. They were still there at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. I know that a number of them have given up time with their families over the weekend. I would be checking in with them or come down and meet with them, but I could go home. They kept on working. I think we have to understand, if it were not for such dedicated staff members, this Senate could not exist. We have a complex package before us, but in a way, what we have here is a simple matter. Everybody has had input into it. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I tried to make it open to everybody. The vice chairman, Senator Shelby, a close friend of mine, has done the same on his side. People have been heard. Now comes the time when we have to vote. The government runs out of money at midnight tomorrow. Look what faces our country. We, as the leading democracy in the world, are trying to stand up for Ukraine. I applaud President Biden. He and I sometimes joke that when I came here, I was accused because I was 34 years old--the Presiding Officer can understand this feeling--I was accused by very senior Senators of being too young to be in the U.S. Senate. Fortunately, I was not the youngest. The youngest was Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware. We formed a bond over that. We worked together on so many things. I watched him in the Foreign Relations Committee; I watched him in the Judiciary; and I watched him as Vice President and now as President. I have seen him tirelessly, quietly, a lot of it not in the full light of the press but just doing what he has to do, calling leaders who respect him around the world, forming a coalition in Ukraine, to say: Here is how we will stand up against Russia. I know so many of the Russian people are good people but being led by a person who has demonstrated activities which make him a war criminal. What has happened when mothers, fathers, and their children are machine-gunned to death on the streets of the city they grew up in by Russian invaders? This is a war crime when Vladimir Putin sends them there. In this omnibus, we have support for the Ukrainian people. Let's stand up. Let's deliver this support. Let's do what we should do. Let the Senate be the conscience of the Nation. Let's not have a dozen or more amendments that are designed more for ``Here is how I can get 30 seconds on the news'' or in a Twitter account or somewhere. Let's do what is best for this country. Let's do what is best for the people in Ukraine. Look at the lies--look at the lies that have come out of Russia. I don't say it lightly after 48 years here to call the leader of a country a war criminal, but Vladimir Putin has been a war criminal. He has been a war criminal in having people go in and do the horrible crimes--blowing up maternity hospitals where women are giving birth, killing children, bombing schools, destroying families, innocent civilians--for what? To return a dream of a Soviet Union that never existed; to return a dream of being a modern-day czar when that is not something you really want to be? No. Let us Senators--Republicans and Democrats--stand up and say: OK. We are going to do our job. We are going to vote for our legislation. We are going to vote for appropriations to help the President of the United States stand up and help the people of Ukraine. We all know what we are going to do. We all know what the stakes are. We all know what is here. Let's stop the press releases. Let's stop the grandstanding. Let's stand up and vote. Vote yes or vote no. Don't stand behind something where you say: Well, I might be judged this way or I might be judged that way on a vote. Just as the Presiding Officer has cast tough votes, we all do. I voted 17,000 times on this floor. I was proud to do it. Was I right on every single vote? I am sure I can go back over those and say: What was I thinking? But I tried to do what is best. We know what is best now: fund our government, pay for our young people, pay for our schools, pay for our nutrition, pay for feeding Americans but also pay for helping Ukrainians who are standing up against a war criminal. We all proudly say we stand for democracy and the ideals of democracy. Let's do it. The people of Ukraine are. When I think of the malignant lie--terrorist things that come from Russia against the proud people of Ukraine--I think of the Putin group calling President Zelenskyy a Nazi. He is Jewish and proud of it. He couldn't be further away from being a Nazi. He is a man who could have fled his country as so many others have. He stayed there to protect his country, to stand with his country. Shouldn't we stand with him too? I think we should. I urge my Senate colleagues, come in here. You go home and talk about how I voted for this; I voted for that. Well, come and vote. Come and vote. Let's get this bill passed. I will probably say more as we go forward in this. I know there are other Senators--like the distinguished senior Senator of Michigan who is about to speak. I will yield the floor on this. I have been here and had to vote over and over. As I said, I voted 17,000 times. I think there is only one person in history who has voted more than that. These haven't all been easy votes. I have had to wrestle with my conscience. I go back to one of the first critical votes I cast as the newest, most junior Member of the Senate--a 34-year-old Member of the Senate-- the junior-most member of the Armed Services Committee. We were asked to vote to continue the war in Vietnam. I campaigned against the war in Vietnam, and, ironically enough, at that time, the majority in Vermont supported the war. I did not. In my own conscience, I did not. So we had five votes in committee to continue. Each time, the vote to continue failed by one vote. I was the newest and youngest member of that committee, and I voted no. I became the only Vermonter ever to vote to end the war in Vietnam, and I was told that would end my Senate career; I was done. I think back 48 years to that time, and I know at the end of this term, I will leave, but I will leave on my own accord, not because of a vote I cast. Every one of us should know, cast what is right in your conscience. Cast what is right in your conscience. That is worth more than an election. Vote for this. Get it done. Show Ukraine that the greatest democracy and the longest lasting democracy currently in the world--the United States--stands with you. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the Senator asked those who love this institution to speak up. I am the Dean of the U.S. Senate. I have served here for 48 years. I love this institution. I know the Constitution vests the power of the purse in the Congress. Certifications of these earmarks have been available to the public on our committee website at my request and Senator Shelby's request for 8 months. Everybody knows what is here. Vote for them or not; but, frankly, if I have to speak of what is needed for my State of Vermont, I want to be the one speaking for it-- not somebody downtown. I would hope every Senator feels the same way. I yield back the rest of my time. I oppose the amendment. (Applause.) Vote on Amendment No. 4990

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the distinguished Senator from Alabama, Senator Shelby, and I have been friends for decades. I applaud his work on this. I applaud his staff. I applaud our staff and the Appropriations Committee. I thank those Senators of both parties who came together to come here. We stand up for America. We stand up for the needs of America. But we also stand up for Ukraine, which is being attacked by a war criminal, Putin of Russia. I yield back my time. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am delighted to see the vote, and I thank the Senators who voted with us. I would note that a lot of Senators, along with Senator Shelby and me, on both sides of the aisle worked so hard on this. I especially want to say again that I don't know how many times on weekends and in the evenings I could leave and go home at 10 or 11 o'clock at night, but our staffs were still there at 2, 3, and 4 o'clock in the morning, doing this. They are the ones who deserve so much credit in doing this. This is the reality. This is our government. This is how we protect our country. It is also how we show our responsibility to a country--in this case, Ukraine--that is being attacked by a war criminal, Vladimir Putin. So I thank every Senator who voted this way. I thank the distinguished majority leader, who worked with us every step of the way to make sure we had the schedule so we could do this. I thank the Republicans and Democrats who worked with us. I yield the floor.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I had just spoken about this, but it is imperative that we take up and pass H.R. 6617; that is the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act. Of course, we call it the CR. I say this because the bill will keep the Federal Government funded and fully operating through March 11, while we work out and are working out the details of full-year appropriations bills to meet the needs of the American people. And I want to compliment the Appropriations Committee staff who have been meeting with me and others weekends, evenings, for weeks and months now, actually, to get this done. In a few moments we will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution. As chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I strongly urge all Members, Republicans and Democrats alike, to vote aye. A government shutdown would be useless, senseless. Imagine how that would look to the Russians? I am pleased to report that last week the four corners of the Senate House Appropriations Committee reached a framework agreement that will allow us to negotiate an omnibus appropriations bill. And that framework was the result of weeks of careful negotiations between myself, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger, and I want to thank them. I especially want to thank all their staffs who worked late nights and weekends that it took us to get to this point. I don't know how many nights I probably turned in about 11 o'clock at night and I still was getting emails from them working on this. Now, it is like any compromise. I have been here 48 years. I know you have to work these things out. I don't believe any of us walked away from these negotiations with everything we wanted. There is still much work to do. But on the good part, this framework sets the stage for us to make significant investments to the American people and communities across our country. It provides the biggest increase in nondefense programs in 4 years. Under this framework, we can direct new resources. We can improve healthcare in rural communities. We can expand the middle class. We can protect our national security. And we look forward to presenting our final agreement to Members to review in the coming weeks. But by passing this continuing resolution, we remove the unnecessary threat of yet another government shutdown and allow the Appropriations Committee to continue to work right through the upcoming recess. Because think of the alternative: a full year continuing resolution? That is untenable. It is far too onerous on the American people. Our government is not meant to run on autopilot; and American taxpayer dollars should not be spent on outdated priorities. We have the responsibility to make the hard choices about how to invest in the American people. I will give you an example. A full-year continuing resolution would freeze funding at the National Institutes of Health. Think what that does. Think what that does when it brings groundbreaking medical research to a halt at the time of a pandemic. It would once again pass on new investments that begin to acknowledge the climate crisis after 4 years of setting it on the back burner. The continuing resolution would fail to increase investments in the education of our Nation's children or to build and renovate affordable housing or expand the middle class. It would also--and this, people overlook--it would substantially reduce infrastructure spending that was in that bipartisan infrastructure law. We passed this bipartisan infrastructure law with an overwhelming vote, but we also have to fund it. A full-year, continuing resolution would lead to delays and, frankly, worse, a loss of service to veterans. To draft the full-year appropriations bill allows us to make smart decisions on how to invest in each of these areas on behalf of the American people. In December, the Secretary of Defense warned that a full-year CR would be unprecedented. It would cause irreparable damage to a wide range of bipartisan priorities from defense modernization to public health. Well, Secretary Austin is absolutely right. A full-year continuing resolution would actually cut defense spending below last year's level. Some programs would be underfunded; others would be overfunded. And the Department of Defense would lack the transfer authority to correct the imbalance, yet the worst of all possible worlds. To give an example, a continuing resolution would provide $3.3 billion for training and arming the Afghan security forces. If anybody has been watching the press, the Afghan security forces aren't there anymore, but continuing the resolution would provide them $3.3 billion more. Another example is the Department of Defense might have to lay off some of the men and women in the Armed Forces so they can afford a 2.7 percent pay raise which they rightly deserve that went into effect last month. So they would say: OK. Here is the pay raise, but we have to fire you all to pay for it because we have a continuing resolution. In other words, the continuing resolution would be paying to train a military force that doesn't even exist anymore, while laying off our own troops and civilian workforce in order to pay them. Well, my talking points say this would not make sense. It is actually baloney to try to do this. Funding the priorities of yesterday in the world of today would be irresponsible and is no way to govern. Our four-corners framework provides a path for reaching a bipartisan, bicameral omnibus agreement by March 11. Vice Chairman Shelby, Chairman DeLauro and Ranking Member Granger and I are committed to completing this work. We and our staffs are willing to work straight through until that day. So I urge Members to support the continuing resolution that passed the House with strong bipartisan--Republican and Democrats alike--support so we can finish our negotiation. And I might say, Mr. President, the continuing resolution--and I was here at a time when something like this was typically passed by a voice vote. But it has to pass in its current form. The House is out of session. We don't have time for a long and protracted debate. The government will shut down at midnight tomorrow if we do not sign the continuing resolution in its current form to the President for his signature. So I would urge all Members to oppose any amendments--whether they come from Republicans or Democrats--oppose any amendments to the bill and vote yes on the final passage. Be responsible. If we have to be in tonight and tomorrow to finish it, fine. But let's get it done. Come on. If you took a poll of the American people, 95 percent of them would say: What is taking so long? Let's get it done. Order of Business Mr. President, if there is nobody else seeking recognition, I ask the previously scheduled vote begin now.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I think my friend from Florida knows I will. This entire issue is a misnomer. There have been a few online things to try to make a big deal out of it, and I am sorry that some have fallen for it, but the Biden administration produced a letter this week clarifying this misunderstanding. The administration stated clearly they never authorized use of Federal funding for smoke pipes and will not in the future. In fact, I don't think any administration has. Of course, the bill that the Senator from Florida is proposing goes much further than Republicans say it would. It would severely cripple our ability to respond to addiction, which has taken 100,000 lives a year right now, including lives in his State and mine. We offered an alternative; but that was rejected. We actually have to go to the CR now. The House is gone. We have to pass it--the CR and send it to the President without amendments or our government funding runs out. And I might just say--I mean, everybody has the right to speak about anything they want. Everybody has the right to make any kind of political point for any group they want, but let's talk about being U.S. Senators. A war is about to start in Ukraine, in all likelihood. And what we are saying is we will start putting all of these things in, slow up a continuing resolution so the United States Government will have to shut down tomorrow night. And we can stand there and Putin can say: Why should I listen to them? Three or four people can go on their Senate floor and shut down the government. Why should I listen to them? So I object.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the suggestion is many people aren't here to vote. Well, let's bring up the continuing resolution. Let's vote it up or down. Let's say to the rest of the world, including Russia, the most powerful nation on Earth can stay open or a few Senators can say: No, golly, we got to get something on television. We ought to close down the government. The Senator from Florida is welcome to bring up his bill sometime in regular order. Let's not slow up things now. So let's vote on the continuing resolution. Let's show the United States of America and the rest of the world that we can stay open and that we are not afraid to stay open. We will stay open, and we all--I think we could probably say unanimously, I would hope--oppose what Russia apparently is planning to do in Ukraine. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 267, H.R. 6617; that the only amendments in order be the Lee amendment No. 4929, Braun amendment No. 4930, Cruz amendment No. 4927; that at 5:15 p.m., the Senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed; that upon disposition of the Cruz amendment, the bill be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, if amended, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the Braun amendment and on passage of the bill; and that there be 2 minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form prior to each vote, all without further intervening action or debate.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the amendment offered by the Senator from Indiana would mandate extreme, across the board cuts to Federal programs that the American people rely on. Under this amendment, Congress would need to callously slash $1.4 trillion in a vain effort to close the budget deficit through spending cuts in the 10th year of a budget resolution. Spread evenly across all Federal programs, this would result in a $350 billion cut to Medicare, a $180 billion cut to Medicaid, and an $82 billion cut to veterans' programs, in just 1 year. Nutrition programs that help families make ends meet by putting food on the table would be slashed by a quarter. Affordable housing, healthcare, education, name the Federal program that people in your communities rely on, and it will be cut by a quarter. The Senator's amendment would require a two-thirds vote to pass any budget resolution that does not balance the budget in the 10th year. The last two budget resolutions written by Senate Republicans would have violated this rule. Being responsible stewards of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars is a bipartisan priority, but this is not responsible stewardship. I urge a no vote.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. LEAHY

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it is appropriate to take a moment here in the Senate to recognize David Ferriero, the 10th Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero has held the top position at the National Archives since 2009, overseeing the maintenance and preservation of critical documents like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, along with 10 million maps, 13 million pages of text, and tens of millions of photographs. On January 13, 2022, Mr. Ferriero announced his intention to retire in April. Prior to his nomination and confirmation to be Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero spent decades as a librarian and library administrator for some of the largest research institutions and public library networks. After service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam war, Mr. Ferriero worked as a librarian at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for over three decades. In 1996, he moved to North Carolina, where he served as the vice provost for library affairs at Duke University, where he helped to develop the Triangle Research Library Network to facilitate greater access to research materials and collaboration across universities. Later, Mr. Ferriero was appointed the Andrew W. Mellon director and chief executive of the research libraries of the New York Public Library system. David Ferriero was nominated by President Obama and confirmed to be Archivist of the United States by the Senate in November 2009. Throughout his tenure as the leader of the National Archives, Mr. Ferriero made it his goal to bring the Archives and its vast range of historical records into the 21st century. He focused on digitizing the Archives' materials and improving availability of these materials online so that more Americans could access and benefit from these primary source records. Under his leadership, the National Archives also embraced social media and worked hard to bring more Americans into the creation, organization, and maintenance of our Nation's history and records. The documents and records maintained by the National Archives reflect the foundation and continuing story of our democracy and our Nation. They outline and define the evolution of the United States, documented throughout the pages of history, and preserved at the Archives as original source material. At this critical juncture in our endless march toward a more perfect union, our history becomes even more instructive. Mr. Ferriero's commitment to making our Nation's archives more open and more available to all of us is to be commended and will be a hallmark of his tenure as the Archivist of the United States. I wish Mr. Ferriero and his wife, Gail, all the best in the next chapter of their lives. I ask unanimous consent that a profile of Mr. Ferriero, appearing in The Washington Post on January 13, 2022, be printed in the Record.