Alex Padilla

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PADILLA. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1432, which was received from the House.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 5863 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. PADILLA. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I thank you for that. For the folks watching at home, we just passed a significant disaster tax bill, which is critical to helping disaster survivors across the country, and it includes bipartisan legislation that I introduced, along with Senator Wyden and Senator Cassidy. Our Protect Innocent Victims Of Taxation After Fire Act would make sure that individuals, families, and entire communities who have suffered from utility-caused wildfires can receive the full compensation to rebuild their lives without fear that their settlement payments will be subject to taxes. In my home State of California, over 70,000 people have been impacted by the destruction of the Butte fire, the North Bay fire, and the Camp fire in recent years. Now, if you can imagine when you are wading through the ashes of your former home and thinking about how you can possibly begin to rebuild, the last thing you should have to worry about is that the government is going to tax the payment from your legal settlement that already fails to cover the full cost of your losses in the first place. Disaster settlement funds aren't income. It is not an asset. It is compensation for what a family has lost. It is meant to be an opportunity to begin to rebuild your life--an opportunity that should not be diminished because our Tax Code is outdated. And it is not just for my constituents--my constituents looking to rebuild--utility-caused fires are becoming increasingly common across the Western United States. This bill we just passed would make sure that all recent and future wildfire victims throughout the country have access to their full settlements. That includes those in Oregon and Hawaii who have either reached settlements or are still working through the process with the utilities that caused devastating wildfires. This measure is a commonsense, bipartisan solution to protect Americans at the most difficult time in their lives. I want to take a moment to thank Senator Cassidy and Senator Wyden for their partnership, as well as my California colleagues in the House, Representatives Mike Thompson and Doug LaMalfa, for their leadership on the issue in that Chamber. I look forward to seeing the President sign this bill into law as soon as possible. I yield the floor.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PADILLA. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 3821.

Mr. PADILLA. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time. The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 5; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Johnson nomination; further, that at 11:30 a.m. the Senate vote on confirmation of the Davenport nomination, as under the order of December 4, and that upon disposition of the Davenport nomination, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Johnson nomination; that following the cloture vote, the Senate resume consideration of the Neary nomination; further, that at 1:45 p.m. the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Neary nomination; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 366, S. 3738.

Mr. PADILLA. I ask unanimous consent that the Stabenow substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

Mr. PADILLA. I ask that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 4477 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. PADILLA. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act. This bill would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a new program to improve prediction of these important storm systems. This bill would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a new program within the National Weather Service to improve atmospheric river forecasts. This includes better data acquisition, like new radar systems that can track the heart of atmospheric rivers hours before storms hit. It also includes developing a quantitative scale for events on a scale of 1 to 5 to better inform emergency managers and the public about the severity of incoming AR events. The bill also directs NOAA to develop this program in collaboration with public and private partners across the weather enterprise. As Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Marty Ralph said, ``Atmospheric rivers are the hurricanes of the west coast.'' Why, then, are we not treating them with the same attention in forecasting? This bill will take a pivotal first step in bringing atmospheric rivers to the same forecasting sophistication as hurricanes by establishing a new program at NOAA to coordinate these efforts and create accurate, effective, and actionable predictions to minimize loss of life and property. These steps are especially necessary under a changing climate. As temperatures increase, water bands in atmospheric rivers widen and storms increase in duration. By 2090, NOAA predicts that atmospheric river caused flood damages may increase to between $2.3 and $3.2 billion in annual impact. I want to thank my colleague Senator Murkowski for introducing this important legislation with me in the Senate and Representative Mike Garcia for leading the House companion that recently passed the House as part of the Weather Act. I hope all of our colleagues will join us in supporting this bipartisan bill to improve our Nation's resilience to atmospheric river events.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act. This bill would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a new program to improve prediction of these important storm systems. This bill would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a new program within the National Weather Service to improve atmospheric river forecasts. This includes better data acquisition, like new radar systems that can track the heart of atmospheric rivers hours before storms hit. It also includes developing a quantitative scale for events on a scale of 1 to 5 to better inform emergency managers and the public about the severity of incoming AR events. The bill also directs NOAA to develop this program in collaboration with public and private partners across the weather enterprise. As Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Marty Ralph said, ``Atmospheric rivers are the hurricanes of the west coast.'' Why, then, are we not treating them with the same attention in forecasting? This bill will take a pivotal first step in bringing atmospheric rivers to the same forecasting sophistication as hurricanes by establishing a new program at NOAA to coordinate these efforts and create accurate, effective, and actionable predictions to minimize loss of life and property. These steps are especially necessary under a changing climate. As temperatures increase, water bands in atmospheric rivers widen and storms increase in duration. By 2090, NOAA predicts that atmospheric river caused flood damages may increase to between $2.3 and $3.2 billion in annual impact. I want to thank my colleague Senator Murkowski for introducing this important legislation with me in the Senate and Representative Mike Garcia for leading the House companion that recently passed the House as part of the Weather Act. I hope all of our colleagues will join us in supporting this bipartisan bill to improve our Nation's resilience to atmospheric river events.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise today in opposition to a bill introduced by my colleague from North Carolina. Let me start by saying this: The Senator from North Carolina says the Federal Government should not use official taxpayer resources--no taxpayer dollars--to advance partisan politics. You will be happy to know that I agree 100 percent. And I would venture to say that all of my Democratic colleagues agree 100 percent. But let's also be clear the Executive order referenced isn't that. And my colleague's attempt to attribute some scheme behind informing eligible citizens of their right to vote and facilitating their voter registration and participation is simply without merit. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, when debating the SAVE Act, we are now less than 6 weeks until the November election. And while there may be disagreement on policy with my colleagues, we should certainly agree that it is crucial to make sure every eligible American can participate in the political process--again, without any unnecessary barriers or obstacles and certainly without intimidation. As I referenced a few minutes ago, I once served as California's secretary of state and as the chief elections officer, and I am proud of the reforms that we implemented in making it easier for eligible citizens to register to vote, to stay registered to vote--because that is not easy in some States--and to cast their ballots in the elections. I want to emphasize that these reforms were put in place for all citizens regardless of political party, regardless of political leanings. We wanted to make sure that every eligible Californian could exercise their right to vote, and that is what should be our business here today--to make sure that every eligible American can exercise their right to vote. That is exactly why President Biden first issued this Executive order, which builds on decades of what, once upon a time, was bipartisan efforts to expand voter registration. What could be more patriotic than performing your civic duty? The bipartisan history of Congress in promoting voter participation includes the bipartisan passage of the National Voter Registration Act once upon a time. President Biden issued the Executive order to bring the weight of the Federal Government to help Americans register to vote. It strikes me as perfectly reasonable that when Americans are already interacting with the government, that we should take that opportunity to securely get more eligible Americans registered to vote and ready to participate in the elections. The Executive order that we are debating here is simply fulfilling the mandates that Congress created with the bipartisan passage of the National Voter Registration Act. I couldn't help but notice in the debate--in the presentation, in the arguments--that there has been a failure to point to any partisan language either in statute or in the Executive order. So I am disappointed that these efforts continue. What we should be doing is working together to facilitate civic participation and combating misinformation and disinformation surrounding the 2024 election that only risks confusing or discouraging people to participate. For those and other reasons, I object.