Patty Murray

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today because our Nation is at a crossroads that strikes at the heart of our democracy. The increasingly outrageous actions of this President and his administration have brought us to this moment where we, as a nation, must make a decision about who we are, what we stand for, and what kind of behavior we will allow at the highest levels of our government. As we continue down this road paved by the President's reckless actions and his complete disregard for our Nation's laws and democratic norms, I want to take a moment to step back and talk about how we got here and how much is truly at stake for our country and our democracy if we don't get this right. Let's start by considering what we know for sure. The President has repeatedly sought foreign interference in our elections, which we should all find appalling. We know that President Trump and his associates pressed the Ukrainian Government to meddle in our democratic process, pushing them to launch an investigation without basis into the President's political opponents in an effort to help his election. We know that he has made overtures to China--out in the open--to do the same. This is important. We don't have to take anyone else's word for it. We saw President Trump's call record with the Ukrainian President, and we all heard the President and his associates admit to the surreptitious actions from their own lips on camera. These facts are indisputable and can't be spun. President Trump and his circle of friends have been clear about their actions and their intentions, and it is clear they are unacceptable, but even more seriously, there are still many questions about the extent of President Trump and his associates' actions and their potential impact on our democracy, questions for which the American people undoubtedly deserve answers. That is why the House is right to begin impeachment proceedings to determine if President Trump has committed high crimes and misdemeanors, and why months ago I, too, called on the House to open an inquiry to investigate the President's deeply distressing actions because, for me and for so many other people across the country, this is not about partisan politics or any politics. This is about maintaining our Nation's security and defending the rule of law. It is about nothing less than the future of our democracy. Let me be clear: Because of President Trump, all of this is on the line. That is how serious this is. I have news for my Republican colleagues: As much as you would like to stay silent on this, it is not an option. Our forefathers warned us against the power of foreign interference to undermine the foundations of our democracy, and their cautions echo as clearly and as strongly today as they did more than 200 years ago. As Members of Congress, as representatives of the American people, we took an oath to defend our Nation's security and our democracy. That is why the Constitution gives authority to Congress and the immense responsibility to provide oversight of the President's actions. Based just on what we know, it would be a dereliction of duty for Congress not to investigate the grave threats to our country's safety and to our democratic institutions. If President Trump and his administration have nothing to hide, they should stop obstructing. Let Congress do its job and find the facts. Furthermore, if Congress fails to investigate these issues, it would set its own dangerous new precedent, essentially green-lighting this President's unethical behavior and his attacks against our democratic institutions for future generations of our Nation's leaders. That is a frightening notion. We are now at the crossroads, and we have to make a decision. Over the coming weeks, the actions of the House and possibly each individual in this body will in large part determine which path we take. Will we allow foreign actors to interfere in our elections and undermine our security or not? Will we stand by it and allow this President and perhaps future Presidents to ignore our Constitution and mangle our democratic norms or not? Will we be a nation of laws or not? I believe that this country is a country of laws, that our elections must be completely free from foreign interference, and that every elected official should ensure that these fundamental principles come before party or partisanship as this process moves forward. There are other priorities Congress needs to focus on, important work we have to continue doing to secure our elections, which is all the more paramount given this President's actions. We will, of course, continue, as well, our efforts to lower healthcare costs and address the climate crisis and the epidemic of gun violence and more, but we cannot ignore what President Trump and his associates have done and said and the impact their actions can have on our elections, our democracy, and the future of this country. I sat in this Chamber as a juror in an impeachment trial before. It was a deeply serious undertaking, and one each Member took seriously before rendering a decision. That is the same seriousness that is required in this moment at this crossroad. If and when the House elects to accuse the President of an impeachable offense or offenses, the Senate right here will host the trial, and as Senators, we will all serve as jurors. If and when that time comes, I know I will approach it seriously, and I deeply hope each of my colleagues will, as well. Each of us will have to put aside every other consideration beyond the facts and focus solely on preserving the integrity of our democracy and upholding our solemn obligation to defend the Constitution. History will record where we all stand. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Alabama for his tremendous leadership on this very critical effort because right now we are days away from a very damaging lapse in funding for our HBCUs, our Tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions that creates unnecessary and needless uncertainty for students in schools across this country. Both of my colleagues spoke of music and the need for harmony. Well, it appears to me that the bill the Senator from Alabama is asking us to approve today for the funding for HBCUs is a heck of a lot of harmony. The House has already acted to fix this. They sent this bill to the Senate on a bipartisan basis. All Members of the House support it, and it is paid for in a way even the White House supports. In this day and age, I would take that harmony. So I am very frustrated about today's opposition to this simple step to protect colleges and universities with such important missions. I can't see a good reason why we haven't sent the President this bill. I listened to the Senator from Tennessee, and it sounds to me like he wants to write a whole new song. He is interested in a small package of higher education proposals, and he said he wants to see the FUTURE Act as a part of that. But it is pretty clear to me that when you have a good song and you have everybody together moving that, and maybe there is a discordant note somewhere, you just keep moving forward with that song--if we want to stay with the country music theme here. I believe we should not delay it. Let's move this forward. Let's not threaten the funding for some of our most valued institutions. We should take this up and pass the FUTURE Act right away and then continue our committee discussions about how to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Since the start of those discussions, I have been very clear that we need to do this reauthorization in a comprehensive way that really helps students with the many challenges they face. We have so many students today who are struggling with the burdensome costs of getting a degree, who find themselves cheated by bad actors that, by the way, Secretary DeVos is not holding accountable, and they are stuck with mounting debt. They face bullying, harassment, and assault when they should be focused on learning in their classes, or they are faced without pathways to help them get into higher education in the first place. Today the House is rightly looking at a comprehensive higher education reauthorization to address all these issues of affordability, accountability, campus safety, and acceptability, and that is what the Senate should do as well. Surely the Senate can reach an agreement on those issues but only if we stay at the table and keep working together rather than veering off the course we set. That is what I am very concerned a smaller package would mean. I believe that we have a real opportunity to reach a comprehensive agreement that helps students in need, and we ought to take it. In the meantime, there is no excuse for playing politics, holding up the FUTURE Act, and exposing students and schools nationwide to uncertainty and to dysfunction. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to speak on the nomination, which will occur before the Senate shortly, of Eugene Scalia as Secretary of Labor. I think it is important to say that as President Trump continues relentlessly pursuing his anti-worker agenda, now, more than ever, we need a Secretary of Labor who will stand up to the President and stand with working families, not someone like Scalia, who is an elite corporate lawyer, who has made his career fighting for the biggest corporations and against workers. We need someone who will fight for strong health and safety protections, not someone who has crusaded to strike them down. We need someone who will hold companies accountable, not someone who used his last position in the Department of Labor to undermine whistleblower protections and fought to get his corporate clients off the hook for workplace harassment and discrimination against workers with disabilities. We need someone who will fight for workers' economic security, not someone who helped companies get away with stealing their workers' wages and denying overtime pay. We don't need someone who avoids committing to support our efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and close the pay gap and, certainly, not someone who costs working families billions of dollars by fighting to strike down a crucial rule that made sure they could get retirement advice that was in their best interest. We need a Secretary of Labor, not a secretary of corporate interests. Yet at our confirmation hearing last week, Scalia made very clear that is exactly what he would be by dodging taking a stand for workers and deferring to President Trump's anti-worker agenda. I have been deeply concerned about his awful record since day one. I strongly oppose his nomination. I urge my colleagues to do the same. Everyone needs to take a long, hard look at who Mr. Scalia fights for and who he does not and think carefully about the message their vote will send to working families in our country. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I join my Democratic colleagues on the floor to once again speak out against this President and his administration's outrageous abuses of Executive power. While, unfortunately, there is a myriad of Presidential abuses to which I could be referring, today, this evening, I am here to discuss two of his most recent and most egregious actions that have not only run afoul of Congress's authority and our constitutional system of checks and balances but also compromise our national security. It began with the President making a phony national emergency declaration to bypass Congress and steal money to build his border wall under the auspices of a ``crisis''--one of the President's own making-- in pursuit of advancing the most anti-immigrant agenda this country has seen in generations, all manufactured to secure Federal funds to build his often-touted vanity wall on our southern border. This is a wall the American people were not supposed to pay for and that we, time and again, have indicated we do not want. Now, one would think this extreme overreach of Executive authority alone would get our colleagues on the other side of the aisle riled up enough to defend the Constitution's system of checks and balances, but in declaring his national emergency, President Trump took his overreach one step further, ransacking critical Federal funds--taxpayer dollars-- that were appropriated by Congress to fund important military construction projects and national security priorities across the country. To do what with? To put money toward building his border wall. To be clear, instead of Federal funds going toward military infrastructure priorities such as a new pier and maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap in my home State of Washington that would help guide and protect our Navy's vital nuclear submarines, those funds are now going to pay for Trump's border wall. Instead of our military using Federal funds already authorized by Congress to increase access to childcare for our servicemembers and their families, those funds are now going into paying for Trump's wall. While this behavior from our President is predictable, it is no less wrong, underhanded, and unacceptable, and I know I am not the only one who thinks that way. Since the President's rash move to reprogram billions of dollars from our military construction budget toward his border wall, I have heard repeatedly from constituents who are upset by this President's brazen acts of recklessness and are wondering how the President of the United States can just step over Congress to do whatever he wants with our Federal budget, especially when it is on the backs of our troops and their families. I refuse to stand by and do nothing while this President hurts my State and so many others. Why? Because he cares more about his vanity project than our troops, the military community, or the American people. That is why, in the coming days, I plan to introduce new legislation that will not only recoup the military construction funds that were shamefully raided for Trump's border wall but put in place new safeguards to make sure no President today or in the future can so effortlessly bypass the will of Congress to loot the Federal budget. We need to put a check on this President, plain and simple. Right now, we can do so by standing up for Congress and our constitutional authority to set the Federal budget and pay our Nation's bills. So I urge my colleagues to join Democrats in voting to rescind President Trump's bogus national emergency declaration, taking that first step to roll back the President's plunder and hold him accountable because as a coequal branch of our Federal Government, it is not just our job, it is our sworn duty and one this body and our Republican colleagues cannot ignore. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, what we are seeing here today really disappoints me. We have, today, a straightforward opportunity to prevent a critical part of our higher education system--HBCUs, Tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions--from having to deal with a lapse in funding. We should take it. This is bipartisan legislation. It has passed the House. There is no reason at all to delay it a minute longer here in the Senate. I thank the Senator from Alabama for his leadership on this. I express my personal strong support for the FUTURE Act, which will give us then time to work out a permanent fix for funding HBCUs, Tribal colleges, and minority-serving institutions through a comprehensive HEA reauthorization, which is what I have made clear is necessary. I appreciate what the Senator from Tennessee said about moving forward with higher education reauthorization. I am hopeful we can continue to work on reaching a compromise, as we have done on several other pieces of legislation. As I have said before, I believe any reauthorization of the Higher Education Act needs to have real answers to the challenges students are facing today on affordability and access and accountability and campus safety. I truly believe we have an opportunity to get a comprehensive bill done that helps solve these challenges for our students. I hope the Senator from Tennessee and our colleagues on the HELP Committee continue to focus on our efforts there. Meanwhile, I believe we should listen to the Senator from Alabama. We should pass the bipartisan FUTURE Act instead of playing politics with valuable and underresourced institutions. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, as we grieve with the communities of El Paso, Dayton, and Midland, I can't help but be reminded of the Seattle Jewish Federation, Marysville, Seattle Pacific University, Freeman High School, and so many other communities in my home State of Washington and nationwide that are suffering as a result of tragic and tragically preventable gun violence. After each of these heartbreaking events, families in Washington State ask me, Why does this keep happening, and why can we not stop it? The answer is the same every time: We can't stop it because Republicans, led by Leader McConnell and, now, President Trump, will not let us. Because of this inaction, we have entered a very destructive cycle. People going about their days--to school, a movie theater, place of worship--to places where they should feel safe--lose their lives to gun violence. Communities and Democrats speak out and call for commonsense reforms, such as the universal background checks, which the vast majority of Americans support. Meanwhile, Republicans stand by and refuse to take any meaningful action to stop these violent, senseless, preventable deaths, so nothing happens in Congress. And then, months, weeks, days, or even hours later, the cycle starts all over again. Every time we have seen this cycle--across all of the terrible shootings that have plagued our country in recent years--there are two common threads. The first is that, in response to tragedy, communities have banded together to make their voices heard and press for change. I have been proud of gun advocates in Washington State, like the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and Moms Demand Action chapters in Spokane and across the State, who are leading the way and staying determined. The second common thread is Senate Republicans. Every time we push for lifesaving reforms, it always ends at the same place, with the same thing standing in the way of change. The most frustrating part of this is that there are steps we could take right now--today--that will save lives. The House has passed the universal background check legislation, H.R. 8, with bipartisan support. It is now languishing in the Senate, despite our calls for a vote, all because the majority leader just will not bring it up. President Trump, who is so willing to use his bully pulpit for far less worthy causes, hasn't used it to take action in ways that could save lives right now. In other words, the President and Senate Republicans continue to make clear they are more interested in protecting the NRA than the families in my home State and across the country. That is simply unacceptable. Democrats are not going to stop calling for action. Leader McConnell should break the cycle here and now by putting H.R. 8 up for a vote, which would implement universal background checks and close inexplicable gun show and internet loopholes. Considering that more than 80 percent of Americans support universal background checks, this bill should be a no-brainer. It is the first step we need to take to curb gun violence in our country, but it can't be the only one. If we are serious about truly putting an end to this epidemic, we should look at legislation to expand access to extreme risk protection orders--which has, by the way, been implemented in my home State of Washington--to get guns out of the hands of those who are in crisis. We should limit magazine sizes. We should revive the assault weapons ban and invest in gun violence research prevention. These commonsense reforms can help us begin to break this cycle. We have to take action now to curb gun violence. That means starting with the universal background check legislation that is waiting right here in the Senate to take action. My Democratic colleagues in the Senate and I have repeatedly called for a vote on H.R. 8, and we are going to keep putting pressure on Republicans in the Senate until we get one. We can't do it alone. We need to keep lifting up our voices together to demand change, as we did after Sandy Hook, after Parkland, after Marysville, and now following the terror in Texas and in Ohio. It is not easy. I am not going to give up, and I know the millions of parents and grandparents and students and so many across our Nation are not going to give up either. Together, we can break this senseless cycle. It starts with the majority leader. While we often disagree on the steps we believe need to be taken, I believe that all of us who are elected in the Senate would say that we came here to make a difference and certainly to do whatever we could to ensure the people we represent are safe. Right now, far too often, they are not. So the Senate is not doing its job. I call on the majority leader to let us vote on H.R. 8. Let's send it to the President's desk. Let's do what the vast majority of Americans want us to do and take this first step to stop gun violence so we can finally begin to put a stop to this terrible deadly cycle. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor this afternoon with my Democratic colleagues to voice my strong opposition to this administration's move to take money away from our military to fund President Trump's wasteful border wall. I often say that we make a promise as a nation to take care of our servicemembers and their families sacrificing to defend our freedoms. But the Pentagon's announcement this week that it plans to move billions of dollars away from critical military construction projects across our country is more than a broken promise to our troops; it is an egregious abuse of power that undercuts Congress's constitutional obligation to set our Nation's budget, and it compromises critical national security priorities. Earlier today, Democrats on our Appropriations Committee and I supported an amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that would prevent the President from undermining Congress's authority. I was very disappointed to vote against that bill because our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would not join us to pass that necessary amendment and stand up against this outrageous plunder. This Executive overreach is deeply disturbing. It is particularly relevant to my home State of Washington, one of the States most impacted by the Pentagon's reckless decision this week. We learned that efforts to update the pier and maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap--a project essential to ensuring the safety and readiness of our military's nuclear submarines--are now deferred indefinitely because the nearly $89 million that Congress appropriated specifically for that priority are now being moved to build Trump's wall. As a reminder, this is a wall that the majority of the American people did not ask for and do not want and that President Trump originally claimed Mexico was going to pay for. It is a wall that Congress has time and again decided not to fund on a bipartisan basis, to the point that President Trump decided to make a bogus national emergency declaration and sidestep Congress to raid the Federal coffers for his reckless vanity project. It is not just Naval Base Kitsap. We also learned that President Trump and the Pentagon are more than happy to fund this wall by slashing other military priorities, like strengthening access to military childcare, repairing vital military assets that were damaged by recent natural disasters, and more that enable our troops and their families to serve our country as we ask them to do. Here is the bottom line: I--and Senate Democrats--will not stand by while this President steps over Congress to build his wall on the backs of our troops and their families because they deserve a lot better for this country. I will not let up until this is made right. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, before I begin, I would like to take just a moment to remember the thousands of innocent lives lost 18 years ago today and to thank the first responders who so bravely sacrificed their lives in the service of others. September 11 is a day that will always weigh heavily upon our Nation, but it is also a day that shows the strength and resiliency of the American people. In response to tragedy, we saw beyond our differences and came together as a country. That is the lesson we must never forget. Today, I come to the floor as a voice for families in my home State of Washington who have had enough of just ``thoughts and prayers'' and as a mother and a grandmother who has had enough of them too. My heart breaks with every report of another horrific mass shooting. Like my colleagues here today and the rest of our country, I watched in horror last month as devastating gun violence claimed dozens of innocent lives and threw our communities into a state of panic yet again. This heartbreak has become all too familiar to so many of us-- from El Paso and Odessa, to Dayton, to Maryville in my home State of Washington, and in schools and movie theaters and community spaces across our country. So what we are doing here today is refusing to accept this as normal and demanding the change that so many families are crying out for. Democrats are committed to heeding the voices of countless people back in Washington State and across our country who are desperate for leaders in this Washington--including President Trump and Leader McConnell--to address this crisis. That is why I am joining my colleagues on the Senate floor throughout today to call on Leader McConnell to take up commonsense gun safety legislation, starting with universal background checks. We know universal background checks save lives by closing dangerous loopholes to help keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. That is why more than 80 percent of Americans support universal background checks and are demanding immediate action from Congress to make universal background checks the law of the land. There certainly are other steps we can take as well. We could strengthen the extreme risk protection orders, which have worked in my home State of Washington. We could revive the assault weapons ban, invest in gun violence prevention research, and regulate firearm magazine limits. All of those steps could save lives and prevent more families from enduring the horrific pain and trauma too many already have. But H.R. 8--the universal background check legislation that has already passed the House--is literally sitting here in the Senate, waiting to be called up for a vote. As I close, I want to be clear. Passing universal background checks must be this body's first order of business if we are serious about protecting people and helping to keep guns out of the wrong hands. I and all of my Democratic colleagues and so many others are going to keep up the pressure as long as we have to, to get this done. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to sound once again the alarm against Republicans' efforts to throw the lives of millions of families into chaos and uncertainty and to urge my colleagues to reverse course and join Democrats to protect people's healthcare before it is too late. A few weeks ago, President Trump and Republican attorneys general argued in court to create a healthcare crisis for families in our country. If Republicans win their blatantly partisan lawsuit, the consequences could be sweeping and devastating. Tens of millions of people who have healthcare coverage through Medicaid Expansion or the exchanges could lose it, as could many young adults who are on their parents' insurance. Over 100 million people with preexisting conditions could lose protections that stop insurance companies from charging them more, excluding benefits they need or denying them coverage entirely. Patients could lose protections that require insurers to cover essential health benefits like prescription drug costs, maternity care, emergency care, or mental healthcare and more. Limits on how much patients have to pay out of pocket could go away, while lifetime and annual caps on patients' benefits could come back even to those insured through their employers. Republicans have refused to acknowledge what is actually at stake now for the patients and families whose health they are putting at risk, and they have made it all too clear that despite the horrible consequences they are setting up, despite the lives they are throwing needlessly into jeopardy, Republicans are going to go full steam ahead with this reckless lawsuit to strike down healthcare for millions and without any plan to do anything if they win. Some Republicans have tried to dodge this fact by saying they will figure it out after they win. That is an incredibly telling and incredibly alarming position. It is about as comforting as an arsonist telling you he will rebuild your house after he burns it down. Let's be clear. Republicans have no plans for the patients who lose their coverage, no plans for the families who will see their healthcare costs go up, and no plans for people nationwide who rely on these protections for preexisting conditions that could be taken away. They have no plan for all the people who will be hurt by the damage they are fighting to cause, and families expect better. They deserve better. This is not rocket science. People want us to protect their healthcare, not take it away. They want us to bring healthcare costs down, not send them certainly higher. They want us to fight for them, not against them. Republicans have made the wrong choice time and again. So I call on my Republican colleagues to stop this chaos and work with us. Let's fight for patients before it is too late. The clock is ticking, and patients and families are watching closely. If Republicans in the Trump administration refuse to end this partisan lawsuit, families and patients will be the ones who suffer the consequences, and they will not forget the Republicans who stood by and cheered and let it happen. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak about the two nominations we are about to vote on. The first one is the nomination of John Pallasch to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor overseeing the Employment & Training Administration. This is a critically important role that manages nearly two-thirds of the Department of Labor's budget and our Nation's workforce development programs, which serve over 22 million youth, workers, jobseekers, and seniors who are working to improve their employment opportunities and the lives of their families. This position is particularly important now as we are seeing the Trump administration work to undermine some of the most crucial programs within the Employment & Training Administration. They are attempting to close Job Corps centers that help train at-risk youth, conserve our natural resources, and provide economic opportunities in rural areas and communities in need. They are also proposing a duplicative, lower quality apprenticeship program that would put workers at risk and give taxpayer dollars to for-profit colleges with very little accountability. It is clear that the Employment & Training Administration needs a leader now who is knowledgeable, who is experienced, and who is committed to providing workers with the training, support, and benefits they need to succeed in this changing economy. Unfortunately, Mr. Pallasch is not that person. Throughout this nomination process, Mr. Pallasch has shown that he has very limited experience with or understanding of the programs that he would be overseeing. I am going to vote against this nomination, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. At this time, I also want to once again reiterate my disappointment in the unprecedented obstruction to Democratic nominees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. Last Congress, Republicans refused to confirm two very highly qualified and respected nominees to additional terms on the EEOC and the NLRB. Earlier this year, Republicans broke yet another longstanding tradition by confirming a majority nominee to the EEOC without a Democratic pair. Last week, the White House announced its intention to nominate a bipartisan pair of nominees to the EEOC. After a year of obstruction, I am encouraged by this small step toward bipartisanship and normalcy, but I am here today to urge the White House to formalize these nominations as quickly as possible so that the Senate can confirm them and restore balance to the EEOC. I strongly urge the White House to nominate a full slate of nominees--Republican and Democrat--to both the NLRB and EEOC. For those reasons and because of Mr. Pallasch's lack of experience and knowledge about the programs and the policies he would be responsible for, I will vote against his nomination.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, today President Trump and Republican attorneys general are explaining in court why they think people who got their healthcare through the exchanges or Medicaid expansion should have it ripped away. They are explaining why limits on patients' out- of-pocket costs should go away while limits on their annual and lifetime benefits should come back and why protections for people with preexisting conditions should be struck down. In other words, Republicans are, once again, fighting to take us back to the bad old days to give big insurance companies all the power, to leave millions of people without any hope of getting the quality affordable care they need and to leave patients and families with fewer protections and higher bills--patients like Lily from Gig Harbor, WA, in my home State. Lily is a rising high school sophomore. She is a rising soccer star, and she is a patient living with cystic fibrosis. To stay healthy and stay on the field, Lily needs to take several prescriptions a day. She needs to keep expensive medical devices on hand and visit specialists every other month, not to mention the hospital a couple of times a year. Even on a good month, her healthcare can cost thousands of dollars. For families like hers, the stakes could not be higher. If Republicans win their blatantly partisan lawsuit, insurance companies could kick patients like Lily off their parents' insurance before they turn 26, meaning that instead of worrying whether Lily will continue her soccer career at Gonzaga or UW or somewhere else, her family could spend her senior year worrying how to make sure she can get the healthcare she needs. If Republicans win, insurance companies could also avoid covering essential health benefits patients need--things like prescription drugs or emergency care. They could remove limits on how much patients have to pay out of pocket and put limits on patients' annual and lifetime benefits, which is particularly challenging for patients, like Lily, who need expensive drugs to treat chronic preexisting conditions. If Republicans win, insurance companies could discriminate against patients who have preexisting conditions, like cystic fibrosis, by charging them more, excluding benefits, or even denying them coverage completely. Let's be clear. Lily is just 1 of 30,000 patients in our country with cystic fibrosis and 1 of over 100 million patients in our country living with a preexisting condition. Like the woman who wrote to me about her severe arthritis, which could be debilitating without treatment, or her husband whose high blood pressure could be deadly without medication, or the mom who wrote to me about her son's rare form of epilepsy and how, without insurance, the medical costs would crush her family. For these families and so many other patients living with a preexisting condition, the lawsuit Republicans are bringing today is a matter of life and death. People are watching closely, and they are not going to forget who kept their word to fight for their healthcare, to fight for protections for people with preexisting conditions, and who on the other side blatantly broke that promise by championing a partisan lawsuit that would throw the healthcare of millions of people out the window. Democrats are not going to stop fighting for families like Lily's; we are not going to stop holding President Trump accountable for his ongoing healthcare sabotage; and we are not going to stop pushing for commonsense steps that help women and families get quality, affordable healthcare or pushing Republicans to work with us to get the train back on the track and stop pulling up the rails. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business.

Mrs. MURRAY. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, half a century ago, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who were tired of being accosted and abused and assaulted just because of who they were or whom they loved, took a stand to say ``enough is enough'' and pushed back against the forces of history that said they were anything less than. Thanks to the sacrifice of freedom fighters like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and so many others both named and unnamed who dared that day to live their entire truth, countless others today have been set free. Now, 50 years later, through dogged persistence and sacrifice, we have been able to pass laws and create policies that respect and protect members of the LGBTQIA+ community--from challenging hateful bans against lesbian and gay relationships, to securing landmark civil rights protections against hate crimes, to, finally, making marriage equality the law of our land. This year, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall protests that sparked the modern movement for LGBTQ equality, I am very proud to stand here on the floor of the Senate as an unapologetic ally for this vibrant community. As we close out this month's annual celebration of Pride, I come to the floor today to reintroduce legislation to further protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and gender nonconforming individuals from the dogma of our Nation's homophobic and transphobic past because, even as we reflect on the progress we have made, we have a lot more to do to achieve equality. In the Senate, I have been very proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the community in Washington State and around the country in order to continue our progress and work to expand protections to help members of the community thrive, from our efforts to reduce bullying and harassment at colleges and universities through legislation named after Tyler Clementi--a student who tragically died by suicide in college--to reducing the epidemic of harassment and discrimination in workplaces through the Be HEARD Act, which is a bill I recently introduced that would hold businesses accountable for harassment and discrimination, give workers the resources and support they need to seek justice, and clarify that discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are unlawful under the Civil Rights Act. I am very grateful to my colleague Senator Booker and our friend Representative Lieu for joining me today in reintroducing the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act--the first Federal ban on so-called conversion therapy--because, in 2019, we know that being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community isn't an affliction, a disease, or some chronic condition that requires medical treatment; rather, the politicians who say it is are on the wrong side of history. In fact, we know that conversion therapy is a painful and discriminatory practice. The American Psychological Association has said it ``is unlikely to be successful in changing someone's sexual orientation'' and would ``involve some risk of harm'' contrary to the claims of practitioners and advocates. It is also a practice that is especially harmful to LGBTQIA+ children, who we already know are vulnerable to increased harassment and discrimination because of who they are. I am proud that my home State of Washington has already banned conversion therapy, but that is not enough so long as any child or any person in our country can be harmed by this sham practice. That is why I am very proud to be here to reintroduce the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act and to remind all of our friends that we stand with them throughout history and throughout the future to make sure they are protected with their rights. The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act is legislation that would classify conversion therapy as the fraudulent practice our communities and science know it is. It would clarify in our Nation's laws that providing or facilitating commercial conversion therapy or facilitating or advertising such services is an unfair and deceptive practice, and it would ensure that Federal regulators and State attorneys general have the ability and authority to enforce this ban. We have come far in our long battle for LGBTQIA+ equality, and I am ready to get to work to get this important legislation over the finish line because, after 50 years of struggle, as a nation, we have come to know that love is love and that love wins. However, after 50 years, we also know it gets better but only if we work to make it so. From the horrors of the Pulse massacre, to the ever-climbing number of murdered African-American and Latinx transgender women, to President Trump's transgender military ban and his administration's continuous assault on LGBTQIA+ rights, so many of the challenges that face the community today mirror the critical struggles they faced all those years ago at the Stonewall Inn. Like then, too many in the community are still threatened by even greater danger because they are also women, transgender, people of color, poor, and the list goes on. That is why this legislation and recognitions like Pride Month are so important. All month, I have been thrilled to see the photos from Pride celebrations back in Washington State--from Spokane, to Yakima, to Olympia--filled with so much cheer, resilience, and strength, only to come back here to Washington and argue in this Chamber about why we shouldn't confirm people to judicial or executive posts who don't believe in the full humanity and equality of so many of our family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. It is obvious that this work is still very important, and we have it cut out for us, but I remain hopeful because I have seen how far we have come in just 50 years. By continuing to honor the righteous tradition of Marsha, Sylvia, and so many others by raising our voices against injustice and taking key steps like this legislation to make life easier for the next generation of LGBTQIA+ Americans, I know we will see even more progress in the next 50 years.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, half a century ago, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, who were tired of being accosted and abused and assaulted just because of who they were or whom they loved, took a stand to say ``enough is enough'' and pushed back against the forces of history that said they were anything less than. Thanks to the sacrifice of freedom fighters like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and so many others both named and unnamed who dared that day to live their entire truth, countless others today have been set free. Now, 50 years later, through dogged persistence and sacrifice, we have been able to pass laws and create policies that respect and protect members of the LGBTQIA+ community--from challenging hateful bans against lesbian and gay relationships, to securing landmark civil rights protections against hate crimes, to, finally, making marriage equality the law of our land. This year, as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall protests that sparked the modern movement for LGBTQ equality, I am very proud to stand here on the floor of the Senate as an unapologetic ally for this vibrant community. As we close out this month's annual celebration of Pride, I come to the floor today to reintroduce legislation to further protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and gender nonconforming individuals from the dogma of our Nation's homophobic and transphobic past because, even as we reflect on the progress we have made, we have a lot more to do to achieve equality. In the Senate, I have been very proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the community in Washington State and around the country in order to continue our progress and work to expand protections to help members of the community thrive, from our efforts to reduce bullying and harassment at colleges and universities through legislation named after Tyler Clementi--a student who tragically died by suicide in college--to reducing the epidemic of harassment and discrimination in workplaces through the Be HEARD Act, which is a bill I recently introduced that would hold businesses accountable for harassment and discrimination, give workers the resources and support they need to seek justice, and clarify that discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are unlawful under the Civil Rights Act. I am very grateful to my colleague Senator Booker and our friend Representative Lieu for joining me today in reintroducing the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act--the first Federal ban on so-called conversion therapy--because, in 2019, we know that being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community isn't an affliction, a disease, or some chronic condition that requires medical treatment; rather, the politicians who say it is are on the wrong side of history. In fact, we know that conversion therapy is a painful and discriminatory practice. The American Psychological Association has said it ``is unlikely to be successful in changing someone's sexual orientation'' and would ``involve some risk of harm'' contrary to the claims of practitioners and advocates. It is also a practice that is especially harmful to LGBTQIA+ children, who we already know are vulnerable to increased harassment and discrimination because of who they are. I am proud that my home State of Washington has already banned conversion therapy, but that is not enough so long as any child or any person in our country can be harmed by this sham practice. That is why I am very proud to be here to reintroduce the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act and to remind all of our friends that we stand with them throughout history and throughout the future to make sure they are protected with their rights. The Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act is legislation that would classify conversion therapy as the fraudulent practice our communities and science know it is. It would clarify in our Nation's laws that providing or facilitating commercial conversion therapy or facilitating or advertising such services is an unfair and deceptive practice, and it would ensure that Federal regulators and State attorneys general have the ability and authority to enforce this ban. We have come far in our long battle for LGBTQIA+ equality, and I am ready to get to work to get this important legislation over the finish line because, after 50 years of struggle, as a nation, we have come to know that love is love and that love wins. However, after 50 years, we also know it gets better but only if we work to make it so. From the horrors of the Pulse massacre, to the ever-climbing number of murdered African-American and Latinx transgender women, to President Trump's transgender military ban and his administration's continuous assault on LGBTQIA+ rights, so many of the challenges that face the community today mirror the critical struggles they faced all those years ago at the Stonewall Inn. Like then, too many in the community are still threatened by even greater danger because they are also women, transgender, people of color, poor, and the list goes on. That is why this legislation and recognitions like Pride Month are so important. All month, I have been thrilled to see the photos from Pride celebrations back in Washington State--from Spokane, to Yakima, to Olympia--filled with so much cheer, resilience, and strength, only to come back here to Washington and argue in this Chamber about why we shouldn't confirm people to judicial or executive posts who don't believe in the full humanity and equality of so many of our family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. It is obvious that this work is still very important, and we have it cut out for us, but I remain hopeful because I have seen how far we have come in just 50 years. By continuing to honor the righteous tradition of Marsha, Sylvia, and so many others by raising our voices against injustice and taking key steps like this legislation to make life easier for the next generation of LGBTQIA+ Americans, I know we will see even more progress in the next 50 years.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I rise to pay tribute to Peg Seminario, a fierce advocate for working people with more than 40 years leading the AFL-CIO and the labor movement in fighting for stronger protections and safer worker conditions for workers. Peg has led the AFL-CIO's safety and health program since 1990 and throughout her career has played a leading role in the fight to promulgate strong health and safety standards pertaining to major hazards facing workers, including asbestos, lead, silica, noise, and ergonomics. In fact, she has had a hand in every major health and safety rule adopted since 1977--almost all of which were adopted since the inception of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, OSHA. She has pushed Congress to protect and enhance the provisions of the OSH Act; to increase Federal funding for critical worker protection Agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and worked tirelessly to see that first responders who responded after the 9/11 attack and suffered illnesses as a result received the necessary medical care they need and deserve. I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing Mrs. Seminario's distinguished career and thanking her for her efforts to protect the health and safety of workers in America.

Mrs. MURRAY

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

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to oppose Matthew Kacsmaryk's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Mr. Kacsmaryk is another example of an extreme choice by President Trump to jam courts with individuals who have put their political views above the law and use their positions of power to chip away at people's rights. Not only are Mr. Kacsmaryk's views hateful and out of the mainstream, but his history of attacking vulnerable communities shows me he will not be a fair and impartial judge. He has fought tooth and nail against any protections for LGBTQIA individuals and has devoted his career to stripping this community of these fundamental rights. Mr. Kacsmaryk does not believe title XII of the Civil Rights Act includes sexual orientation and gender identity. He opposed the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell, which affirmed that same-sex couples have the right to marry under our Constitution, and he opposes the Equality Act. He believes this bill will ``weaponize Obergefell.'' The Equality Act builds on existing civil rights laws to expand anti-discrimination protections, to ensure members of the LGBTQ community cannot be fired or evicted from their homes, providing them with the same protections afforded to those who are discriminated against based on their race, religion, age, disability, and more. He believes healthcare providers should be able to discriminate-- discriminate--against patients based on gender identity or sex stereotyping, and he even supports discrimination against our children. Mr. Kacsmaryk not only opposes protections for transgender students, he has even argued that being transgender is ``delusional.'' He has questioned whether States can ban conversion therapy practices, which are dangerous. They are discredited by the medical community, and they have led to depression and suicidal behavior in young people subjected to these practices. Mr. Kacsmaryk claims that his hateful views have to do with religious liberty, but his own words show his true colors. When Republicans and Democrats in Utah agreed on employment and housing nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation, Mr. Kacsmaryk opposed them, even as countless religious organizations supported that bill. Was religious liberty his main point of opposition? No. Instead, he argued businesses should be able to discriminate based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity because, in his view, this community does not deserve the same protections as other communities who are often discriminated against. Mr. Kacsmaryk has said there is a ``clash of absolutes'' between LGBTQIA rights and those who want to discriminate in the name of religious liberty. This is not a view of someone who can be impartial and fair. Not only are his views on nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity concerning, I am also very alarmed by his record as a fervent crusader against women's reproductive rights and for the far-right position that someone else's ideology is more important than a woman's ability to make her own personal medical decisions. If his arguments had won the day in court, a woman trying to get contraceptive care could face barriers thrown up at her by her employer or even by her pharmacy, all because someone else thinks that their beliefs matter more than a woman's own personal decisions about her own healthcare. Mr. Kacsmaryk's extreme hostility to women's reproductive rights is also on display in his own writings outside of the court. He wrote that the court cases affirming those rights--the historic rulings that have defended women's access to birth control and their right to safe, legal abortion--were responsible for removing a ``pillar of marriage law.'' Under any other administration, this truly disturbing ideological track record would be alarming. Unfortunately for President Trump and Vice President Pence, it appears to be a prerequisite. The Trump-Pence administration has taken every opportunity to undermine women's health and reproductive rights. And we have seen far-right Republicans across the country joining them, from State legislators working to pass extreme, harmful abortion restrictions to Republicans here in DC working to jam through extreme, harmful judicial nominees, like Mr. Kacsmaryk, who they hope will uphold blatantly unconstitutional restrictions on women's rights to safe, legal abortion and ultimately take away that right by overturning Roe v. Wade. I have also been inspired by the people around the country who are speaking up and taking a stand against those extreme views. If we keep making our voices heard against this nominee and Republican efforts to undermine women's reproductive rights more broadly, we can stop these attacks and ensure that every woman has the ability to make her own decisions about her body. I am here today to urge my colleagues to join us in rejecting this nominee. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague for starting this really important discussion that all of us should be very well aware of, and I appreciate his leadership. People across this country have been absolutely clear. They want us to fight for families who are struggling with high healthcare costs and help to make sure that everyone in our country can get quality affordable care. But while Democrats have been coming forward with solutions and calling on Republicans to come to the table to address the healthcare sabotage they have helped President Trump accomplish, instead, they have been repeatedly on the other side, refusing to fight the fire and having only just shown real interest in fanning the flames. There are so many glaring examples about how President Trump has worked to sabotage families' healthcare. We are here today to focus on just one--the tireless efforts to undermine Medicaid. It is a program that helps people across the country get affordable, quality healthcare. State after State has now worked to expand Medicaid in recent years, and time after time, we have all seen the benefits of those efforts. Data shows us that Medicaid has helped reduce racial disparities in healthcare. It has helped us increase access to treatment for opioid use disorder. It is a critical need as our country confronts a nationwide epidemic. It has helped to improve maternal and infant health, another area where we desperately need to make progress. Medicaid expansion has helped tens of millions of people get quality, affordable healthcare. That is exactly why States that expanded Medicaid have seen their uninsured rates drop more than those that did not. Yet some Republicans have tried every trick in the book to try to undermine that progress. Back when Republicans were first calling for their harmful TrumpCare plan, they made clear that they wanted to put Medicaid on the chopping block in a very big way--not only rolling back Medicaid expansion but proposing deep cuts for moms and kids and people with disabilities and seniors who need those long-term services and support. Even after people across the country spoke up and pushed back and defeated that backward proposal, Republicans have still tried to take away care from millions of families across the country who rely on Medicaid. President Trump has called for enormous cuts to Medicaid in his budget proposals. He has pushed for burdensome paperwork requirements that serve no real purpose except to put up barriers that make it harder for people to get the care they need and easier for him to take their care away. Here in Congress, Republican leadership made clear that their preferred way to pay for the expensive tax breaks they gave to corporations and the wealthy was to cut programs like Medicaid that gave healthcare to those who struggle and are in need. Even as President Trump and Republicans fight against the wishes of people across the country for these backward proposals, they are fighting to dismantle Medicaid in court as well. If President Trump gets his way in his blatantly partisan lawsuits, not only will protections for people with preexisting conditions be struck down, not only will young adults be dropped from parents' plans, not only will essential health benefits that ensure coverage and that include prescription drug coverage and maternity care and more go away, not only will lifetime annual caps on coverage return--even for people who are insured through their employer, by the way--but if President Trump has his way in court, Medicaid expansion also will be struck down and tens of millions of families in this country will have the care that they rely on today taken away. That is wrong, and Democrats are not going to stand for it. We are going to be here to defend patients' care and look to expand coverage and improve quality for families. I am really proud that my home State of Washington is leading the way. In my home State, instead of taking Medicaid away from people, we are taking on even more challenges through the program. Our State is showing how Medicaid can help to provide people with long-term care benefits in their home, and how it can help address employment challenges and housing needs and other social determinants of health that improve the health of our entire communities. In short, we are showing how Medicaid can do more, while many Republicans here in the Nation's Capital are trying to get it so it does less. Enough is enough. It is time for Republicans to stop sabotaging our families' care, stop trying to take coverage away from families and make it more expensive and out of reach, stop trying to undermine Medicaid and the lives of the millions of people who rely on it and start working with Democrats to fight for patients and for families. If Republicans want to keep sitting by and cheering on the harmful healthcare sabotage proposals, they are going to keep seeing families and patients and Democrats standing up to hold them accountable. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, 150 years ago, in Washington State, a suffragette named Mary Olney Brown went to vote, and like so many others at the time, her vote was rejected. Why? Because she was a woman. She said: ``The idea of a woman voting was regarded as an absurdity.'' Fifty years later, thanks to the tireless efforts of women like Mary Olney Brown, that longstanding injustice finally began to change when this Chamber passed the 19th Amendment to guarantee women's right to vote. Today, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of that important milestone in the march for equality, it is inspiring to see how far women have come over the last century. When we passed the 19th Amendment, there was only one woman in Congress--Jeannette Rankin. Before I ran for the Senate in 1992, there were two women Senators. I was very proud to join the Senate in 1993 and to join with Senator Barbara Mikulski, who is here today, and we became six women in the Senate. Today, there are 25 women serving in the Senate and 102 in the House of Representatives. Today, women are Governors, Fortune 500 CEOs, Nobel Prize-winning researchers, and candidates for President. It is clear we have come a long way, but we still have more work to do. Women may have more representation, but we still make up less than a quarter of Congress. Women of color are still particularly underrepresented. And we still have some ceilings left to crack. Women are still paid less than men for the same work, and the same gap is even wider for women of color. Women still bear most of the burden of being a working parent, especially when so many lack access to affordable childcare and paid family leave. Nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade was decided, women are still fighting to defend their right to make their own decisions about their own bodies. These injustices even extend to voting rights. Even after the 19th Amendment was ratified, many women of color were still denied the right to vote by discriminatory barriers designed to keep them from the ballot box. Today, there are still far too many States that have put into effect voter-suppression efforts that disproportionately hurt communities of color, like harsh voter ID laws, limits on early voting, polling machines, voting locations, and ``exact match'' requirements that make it easy to purge someone from the voter rolls due to a typo. After all the years women spent fighting for their right to vote, it is unacceptable that these kinds of efforts would strip that right away from anyone, which is why we need to pass legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act to its full power to protect the rights of voters across our country. While there is still a lot of work ahead to make good on the promise of the 19th Amendment and make sure that everyone in our country who is entitled to vote is actually able to vote and that every woman is able to exercise all of her rights under our Constitution, I am confident we can get there, and I want to say why. After 2016, I watched as women across the country stood up, spoke out, and fought back. I saw as much energy as I have seen in my lifetime as women joined together against countless different efforts to roll back the clock on their rights. I saw millions of women turn out to march for their rights, and then I saw millions of women turn out to exercise those rights last November. And what happened? They broke records and barriers across the country, and afterwards, several States started breaking down some of the barriers that were put up to block people from voting. I believe that momentum is going to continue to build, especially as women continue to reach out to other women to build a bigger and more inclusive coalition. So today, as we celebrate the Senate vote to pass the 19th Amendment, I want to not only remember how hard women fought to get that right to vote but to promise that we are going to keep fighting just as hard to protect it for everyone in this country, and then we are going to keep using it to fight hard for the change we want to see in our communities. Thank you. I yield the floor.

Mrs. MURRAY

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, as ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I wish to honor a public servant who established a remarkable legacy as a passionate champion for gender equality, Lenora Lapidus. Lenora fought for the rights of all Americans. Over the course of her career, Lenora distinguished herself as a civil rights leader. She began working at the ACLU in 1988 as a summer intern and rose to serve as legal director of the ACLU of New Jersey and led the Women's Rights Project since 2001. At the ACLU, Lenora fought tirelessly in the courts on behalf of women and girls, winning cases that pushed us to respond to gender-based violence and ensured that combat positions in the military were open to all Americans, among many other cases. Lenora was also a tireless champion for improving lives through policy. She played an important role in the Be HEARD Act, legislation I introduced this Congress along with many others, which is the first comprehensive plan to fight harassment in the workplace. Lenora made sure the fight for gender equality included all women, including low- wage workers whose stories are too often ignored or forgotten. Her legacy is a testament to the work and passion she brought to every fight against injustice. Lenora is irreplaceable, and her loss will be felt by all of us who worked with her. I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing the life and important work of Lenora.