Alex Padilla

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Ocean Protection and DDT Reduction Act. This bill would direct NOAA, in consultation with EPA and DOD, to study and address the impacts of historical toxic waste dumping, especially dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, DDT, and other industrial and military wastes, in the San Pedro Basin off the coast of California. Dumping of industrial, chemical, and military waste off the Southern California coast occurred from the 1930s until it was banned in 1972 by the Ocean Dumping Act. This included the dumping of DDT, radioactive materials, alkaline and oil waste, and unexploded ordinance and munitions across 14 sites along the coastline from San Diego to Santa Monica. In addition to the dumping of chemical waste barrels, millions of pounds of DDT and PCBs were discharged through sewer outfall pipes. Roughly 110 tons of DDT ended up in the sediments of the Palos Verdes Shelf, and in 1996, EPA added this 17 square-mile underwater site as a Superfund site. Recent studies have found tens of thousands of degrading and leaking barrels of DDT and hazardous waste on the ocean floor at a depth of 3,000 ft deep and 8 to 24 miles from the coast of Southern California, posing potential risks to marine life, fisheries, and public health. New images from 2020 that showed corroded metal barrels with mysterious ``halos'' in the deep ocean off Los Angeles prompted a Scripps study supported by NOAA, which found that these barrels were leaking caustic alkaline waste. This bill would support important research and coordination on the scope and impacts of the dumped covered waste in the San Pedro Basin and the potential of bioremediation, as well as require a report to Congress after 3 years. The bill would also establish a grant program for academic and research institutions to study the mapping, movement, breakdown, and bioaccumulation of contaminants. Due to slow degradation, DDT is an ongoing hazard to humans and wildlife, with bioaccumulation found in sea lions, dolphins, bottom- feeding fish, and condors. Supporting further research is crucial to addressing the impacts of the toxic waste dumping.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Barriers to Suicide Act. This legislation would establish competitive grants to help State and local governments fund nets and barriers that have been shown to reduce suicide on bridges and other high-risk infrastructure. This bipartisan bill would establish a grant program for States and localities to apply for Federal funding under the National Highway Performance Program to install nets, barriers, and other evidence-based suicide deterrents on bridges, buildings, parking garages, highway-rail grade crossings, and at rail stations. This bill would also authorize a study to identify the types of structures most commonly used for suicide attempts, types of barriers that are most effective in prevention, and additional strategies to reduce jumping deaths. The CDC estimated that about 12.8 million people seriously thought about suicide, 3.7 million made a plan, and 1.5 million attempted suicide in 2023. There were over 49,000 deaths from suicide in 2023 and between 2010 and 2020, 11,154 Americans lost their lives through suicide-by-jumping. Research shows that physical barriers on bridges and high structures can reduce suicide deaths at those sites by up to 90 percent. States and localities should have access to a grant program that allows them to proactively prevent suicide-by-jumping by building safety nets and barriers on bridges, buildings, parking garages, and at rail stations and highway-rail grade rail crossings, with the goal of preventing suicides. I would like to thank Senator Tillis for introducing this important legislation with me, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Barriers to Suicide Act as soon as possible.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Basic Assistance for Students in College Act or the BASIC Act, which I introduced today. I know how important it is to help students cover the full cost of attending college, including tuition and fees, housing, food, transportation, books, childcare, healthcare, supplies, and more. According to the Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, three in five college students experience food and housing insecurity. We also know that rates of basic needs insecurity are much higher for historically marginalized students, including Black, Latino, and indigenous students; parenting students; LGBTQIA+ students; first-generation students; Pell Grant recipients; former foster youth; and justice- involved students. Our Nation's college students shouldn't have to worry about going hungry or having a roof over their heads. Yet far too many do, and basic needs will be out of reach for millions more students due to the One Big Beautiful Act, which cut food assistance, healthcare coverage, and access to financial aid. The evidence is clear that addressing students' basic needs prevents students from having to sacrifice their health and well-being in order to succeed in higher education. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill to authorize $1 billion for a new grant program to help institutions of higher education meet students' basic needs. This funding represents an essential aspect of building more equitable paths to higher education, and it represents an investment in our students, our institutions, and our future. The legislation also helps coordinate assistance across Federal Agency lines. I want to thank Senator Warren and Representative Torres for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this bill that ensures no student is forced to choose between their education and their basic needs.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Ocean Protection and DDT Reduction Act. This bill would direct NOAA, in consultation with EPA and DOD, to study and address the impacts of historical toxic waste dumping, especially dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, DDT, and other industrial and military wastes, in the San Pedro Basin off the coast of California. Dumping of industrial, chemical, and military waste off the Southern California coast occurred from the 1930s until it was banned in 1972 by the Ocean Dumping Act. This included the dumping of DDT, radioactive materials, alkaline and oil waste, and unexploded ordinance and munitions across 14 sites along the coastline from San Diego to Santa Monica. In addition to the dumping of chemical waste barrels, millions of pounds of DDT and PCBs were discharged through sewer outfall pipes. Roughly 110 tons of DDT ended up in the sediments of the Palos Verdes Shelf, and in 1996, EPA added this 17 square-mile underwater site as a Superfund site. Recent studies have found tens of thousands of degrading and leaking barrels of DDT and hazardous waste on the ocean floor at a depth of 3,000 ft deep and 8 to 24 miles from the coast of Southern California, posing potential risks to marine life, fisheries, and public health. New images from 2020 that showed corroded metal barrels with mysterious ``halos'' in the deep ocean off Los Angeles prompted a Scripps study supported by NOAA, which found that these barrels were leaking caustic alkaline waste. This bill would support important research and coordination on the scope and impacts of the dumped covered waste in the San Pedro Basin and the potential of bioremediation, as well as require a report to Congress after 3 years. The bill would also establish a grant program for academic and research institutions to study the mapping, movement, breakdown, and bioaccumulation of contaminants. Due to slow degradation, DDT is an ongoing hazard to humans and wildlife, with bioaccumulation found in sea lions, dolphins, bottom- feeding fish, and condors. Supporting further research is crucial to addressing the impacts of the toxic waste dumping.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Basic Assistance for Students in College Act or the BASIC Act, which I introduced today. I know how important it is to help students cover the full cost of attending college, including tuition and fees, housing, food, transportation, books, childcare, healthcare, supplies, and more. According to the Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, three in five college students experience food and housing insecurity. We also know that rates of basic needs insecurity are much higher for historically marginalized students, including Black, Latino, and indigenous students; parenting students; LGBTQIA+ students; first-generation students; Pell Grant recipients; former foster youth; and justice- involved students. Our Nation's college students shouldn't have to worry about going hungry or having a roof over their heads. Yet far too many do, and basic needs will be out of reach for millions more students due to the One Big Beautiful Act, which cut food assistance, healthcare coverage, and access to financial aid. The evidence is clear that addressing students' basic needs prevents students from having to sacrifice their health and well-being in order to succeed in higher education. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill to authorize $1 billion for a new grant program to help institutions of higher education meet students' basic needs. This funding represents an essential aspect of building more equitable paths to higher education, and it represents an investment in our students, our institutions, and our future. The legislation also helps coordinate assistance across Federal Agency lines. I want to thank Senator Warren and Representative Torres for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us in support of this bill that ensures no student is forced to choose between their education and their basic needs.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Barriers to Suicide Act. This legislation would establish competitive grants to help State and local governments fund nets and barriers that have been shown to reduce suicide on bridges and other high-risk infrastructure. This bipartisan bill would establish a grant program for States and localities to apply for Federal funding under the National Highway Performance Program to install nets, barriers, and other evidence-based suicide deterrents on bridges, buildings, parking garages, highway-rail grade crossings, and at rail stations. This bill would also authorize a study to identify the types of structures most commonly used for suicide attempts, types of barriers that are most effective in prevention, and additional strategies to reduce jumping deaths. The CDC estimated that about 12.8 million people seriously thought about suicide, 3.7 million made a plan, and 1.5 million attempted suicide in 2023. There were over 49,000 deaths from suicide in 2023 and between 2010 and 2020, 11,154 Americans lost their lives through suicide-by-jumping. Research shows that physical barriers on bridges and high structures can reduce suicide deaths at those sites by up to 90 percent. States and localities should have access to a grant program that allows them to proactively prevent suicide-by-jumping by building safety nets and barriers on bridges, buildings, parking garages, and at rail stations and highway-rail grade rail crossings, with the goal of preventing suicides. I would like to thank Senator Tillis for introducing this important legislation with me, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Barriers to Suicide Act as soon as possible.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, let me remind us all, colleagues, that we, as of today, are 41 days from the midterm elections; or, as I like to refer to it, it is simply the last day to vote, because a lot of people in States across the country take advantage of their right and opportunity to vote early, in person, like people in Virginia did beginning this last weekend. Many people in States across the country, including in my home State of California, exercised their right and option to vote by mail. I will get back to that in a minute. The point is, in a growing number of States, the midterm election is already underway. People in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Alabama are already receiving their ballots in the mail. In Virginia, South Dakota, Minnesota, Vermont, and Illinois, voters are already going to the polls to vote in person early. In the next couple of weeks, additional States will begin. Nine more States will have begun their early voting. In my home State of California, ballots will be mailed to every registered voter in the State. So, again, the bottom line here is the 2026 midterm election has already begun; it is in full swing. So let's not be fooled about this attempt to pass a piece of the SAVE Act. No. 1, the substance. It is not just a voter ID bill. It is a bill-- and the timing is curious--that seeks to create chaos and confusion over vote-by-mail and absentee voting. The other part is, indeed, the timing and its implications, trying to change the rules--because this bill, if signed into law, would go immediately into effect, creating chaos in the middle of an election that is already underway. But don't just take my word for it. Let me quote the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Utah, who says that this is ``violating our constitutional right to a secret ballot.'' Why? Because the requirement to include a copy of your driver's license when you are voting by mail undermines the notion of a secret ballot in America. Let me quote the Republican Governor of Ohio, who says that a very similar bill that reached his desk in the State of Ohio represented ``a significant burden.'' And, again, it is not just a potential or theoretical significant burden for some election sometime in the future. It would go into effect immediately, causing chaos and confusion and a burden for election administrators, who wouldn't even know how to begin to comply with this for an election that is already underway. Let me go even further and reference the Supreme Court's recent actions when they blocked President Trump's Executive order on vote-by- mail and what he was trying to do, giving authority and direction to the U.S. Postal Service to determine which voters get their ballots and which don't. Even Justice Kavanaugh, with whom I disagree on much--but even Justice Kavanaugh--said it was in part because changing the rules so close to an election ``would be arbitrary and capricious.'' That was a couple of weeks ago that this ruling came out. If at that time the Supreme Court deemed it too close to an election, we are even closer now. And so, again, there is not nearly the time to properly, responsibly implement it, even if you agreed with this bad policy. Let me make a case for what is really going on here, all this talk about changing the rules around elections. This administration, including the President himself, has been trying nonstop to interfere and change the rules on the elections for a long time now, and those efforts have been successfully pushed back. I expect him to continue these threats and attempts--not just between now and election day-- probably on election day and postelection day, if history is any indicator. Why? First of all, it is a desperate attempt to hold onto power because the writing is on the wall. In poll after poll, approval ratings, et cetera, show that Donald Trump is going to be in for a rough night this November. But it is also an attempt to distract. You would think that he--or we--could be spending more time on trying to bring down costs for working families. But, no, for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the unauthorized war in Iran, the price on everything is not just not going down; it keeps going up--the price of gas that people put into their passenger cars to get to and from work or wherever they need to go. The cost of diesel is also at record levels and being passed on to consumers in terms of increased costs on everything else-- groceries, clothing, consumer electronics, and more. The threat to the economy is so bad that the Federal Reserve has not only not lowered interest rates as Donald Trump has practically demanded; they have taken a recent step to increase interest rates for the first time in 3 years to try to rein in inflation. So nothing is getting cheaper, nothing is getting easier, and a recent report showed that the administration's tariffs--again, the war in Iran; the trade wars that are unnecessary; and bad economic decisions--are taking a toll on American families: $4,200 per household in increased costs because of higher prices. And now the President has, once again, threatened our Canadian neighbors with endless tariffs. Look at healthcare. The average cost of employer-provided healthcare is expected to increase by at least 11 percent. What happened to the so-called ``Liberation Day'' of last April? President Trump promised that these tariffs would bring back manufacturing, make Americans more wealthy, pay down the Nation's debt, create jobs, and lower prices for consumers. That sure sounded good, but it couldn't be further from the truth. None of that has happened. Actually, the exact opposite has come to bear. But, again, instead of focusing on those issues, we are once again taking precious time on the Senate floor and talking about unnecessary changes to how people should be able to vote or not vote--maybe that is their ultimate objective--for an election that is already underway. Just because your team is losing at halftime doesn't mean you can call a timeout and change the rules or change the referees, trying to change the outcome. So let's dispense with this measure and get back to the real work at hand. Mr. President, I would therefore ask the Senator to modify his request so that instead of S. 5271 and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 5390, the End Trump's Tariff Tax Act and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the bipartisan Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act. This bill would address some of the serious health risks Federal wildland firefighters face when on the job. We have all seen the devastation, destruction, and loss that has occurred in communities across the country as wildfires grow in frequency and intensity. Last year, we saw the Eaton and Palisades fires destroy thousands of structures and take 31 lives, making them 2 of the worst fires in history. As a result of climate change, Californians have become all too familiar with wildfires. Containing them has proven to be a large undertaking that has required close local, State, and Federal coordination. Communities are able to make it through these horrific disasters thanks to the bravery and hard work of fire crews on the ground. During the LA fires, firefighters from across the State, country, and even abroad answered our call for support, and it is thanks to their hard work and bravery that more structures and, most importantly, more lives were not lost. We owe it to these heroes to ensure they have the support they need, given the dangerous nature of their work. In the 1970s, structural firefighters began using respiratory protection, yet we are still sending wildland firefighters into dangerous conditions without adequate protection. This bill would establish an interagency task force and an advisory panel of outside stakeholders to coordinate exposure reduction, pilot respiratory technologies, and develop an updated wildland firefighter health strategy every 3 years. I want to thank my colleague Senator Sheehy for coleading this effort with me in the Senate. Finally, I want to thank our brave Federal firefighters for risking their lives to protect our communities when they need it the most. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance the Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act as quickly as possible.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the bipartisan Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act. This bill would address some of the serious health risks Federal wildland firefighters face when on the job. We have all seen the devastation, destruction, and loss that has occurred in communities across the country as wildfires grow in frequency and intensity. Last year, we saw the Eaton and Palisades fires destroy thousands of structures and take 31 lives, making them 2 of the worst fires in history. As a result of climate change, Californians have become all too familiar with wildfires. Containing them has proven to be a large undertaking that has required close local, State, and Federal coordination. Communities are able to make it through these horrific disasters thanks to the bravery and hard work of fire crews on the ground. During the LA fires, firefighters from across the State, country, and even abroad answered our call for support, and it is thanks to their hard work and bravery that more structures and, most importantly, more lives were not lost. We owe it to these heroes to ensure they have the support they need, given the dangerous nature of their work. In the 1970s, structural firefighters began using respiratory protection, yet we are still sending wildland firefighters into dangerous conditions without adequate protection. This bill would establish an interagency task force and an advisory panel of outside stakeholders to coordinate exposure reduction, pilot respiratory technologies, and develop an updated wildland firefighter health strategy every 3 years. I want to thank my colleague Senator Sheehy for coleading this effort with me in the Senate. Finally, I want to thank our brave Federal firefighters for risking their lives to protect our communities when they need it the most. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance the Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Act as quickly as possible.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, as our colleagues know, I serve as ranking member of the Rules Committee, which oversees Federal elections. I also serve on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration. And I reference this because last week, I received a protected disclosure from an anonymous Federal whistleblower. At a time when many Americans feel discouraged by the Trump administration's unprecedented chaos and corruption, it is heartening to see a Federal Government employee with the integrity and the courage to expose potential illegal activity and abuse of power. Today, Leader Schumer and I made the full disclosure public, and I am going to go over some of these highlights, which are incredibly disturbing. They are disturbing to me, and I think they should be disturbing to every Member of this Chamber. First, leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has ordered hundreds of employees in USCIS's Fraud Detection and National Security Division to stop doing the jobs they were hired and trained to do and instead watch a short training video and immediately turn their time and attention to something called the Unlawful Voter Initiative. They were directed to stop their anti-fraud work. This administration makes a lot of claims about going after fraud. They were directed to stop their national security screenings. They were directed to stop all the things that this administration claims it cares about and instead go on a wild goose chase to find or manufacture evidence for the President's conspiracy theories of widespread voter fraud. This, without question, is a terrible waste and misuse of Agency resources, but colleagues, it is actually so much more worse than that. The whistleblower disclosure also includes compelling claims that USCIS officers are being directed to lie and to misrepresent themselves in order to search voters' sensitive personal information on State election officials' websites. Let me say that again. Federal officers are being told by headquarters to lie or to misrepresent themselves in order to access State voter data. It is a clear violation of State laws, and these violations have likely occurred thousands and thousands of times. On some State websites, officers are being told to attest under penalty of law that they are the voter or the voter's representative. On other websites, like the one of my home State of California, officers are being told to misrepresent themselves and enter voters' sensitive information like Social Security or driver's license numbers. When USCIS officers expressed concerns with these practices, they have been told by Agency leadership to just go ahead, that they won't be ``personally liable.'' Think about that for a second. If what the Department is doing and if what these officers are being told to do was legal, it begs the question of, why would they need to be reassured by Agency lawyers that they won't be held personally liable? The whistleblower disclosure also reveals that DHS is using their own unreliable data to target people for investigation. That is right--data that the Department and Agencies already acknowledge is unreliable. Agency leadership is then forcing USCIS officers to create Federal law enforcement records against people, many of them U.S. citizens, even though they have doubts about the accuracy of the data. So let's take a step back. Why are they doing this? Well, the Trump administration has tried and failed to force States to hand over these voter rolls. President Trump tried it in his first term through a sham Commission which failed and then weaponized the Federal Government to try to accomplish it here in his second term. But guess what. They have been taken to court, and they have lost in court over 30 times. States represented by Democrats and Republicans have said no, so the proverbial front door is locked. As much as Trump wants access to voter data, the front door is locked, and now they are trying to break in a back door. They are using something called supplemental magic. That is right--in the materials that have been uncovered, they are using this supplemental magic to create a list of people that they think are not eligible to vote. Remember, the Agency has already said they know the data is unreliable. So, frankly, this disclosure raises a lot of questions. Why is this initiative happening now? Who are the potentially hundreds of thousands of people being investigated? Who are they? And what the heck is supplemental magic? We need answers. This Senate--Congress--deserves answers. The American people deserve answers. Agency training materials for this initiative say that ``raw data includes a lot of U.S. citizens.'' Let me repeat that. The training materials acknowledge that the data includes ``a lot of U.S. citizens.'' So why would you target them when you are looking for noncitizen voters? DHS and USCIS also admit that their data is unreliable, complex, and will have multiple ID numbers for various individuals. Nevertheless, officers are told to generate Federal law enforcement records against them, even if they suspect that they are relying on inaccurate or incomplete information. It is already clear that this Unlawful Voter Initiative is inaccurate, not to mention likely illegal, but to make matters worse, it has also been rushed, and it is reckless because rank-and-file USCIS officers are given reckless quotas to review 40 people per day. Do the math. That is five people per hour or 12 minutes per individual. Colleagues, you know as well as I that 12 minutes to review unreliable data and complex immigration history is not an adequate amount of time to conduct a thorough investigation--because these aren't that; these are sham investigations. We all know that voting by a noncitizen is illegal. That is already the law. You know that. I know that. We also know that based on study after study, report after report, audit after audit, it is extremely, extremely rare. Our current safeguards are working. This Unlawful Voter Initiative does not appear to be a legitimate effort, and we should not take anything that comes out of it at face value. Just 12 minutes for an investigation, a lot of U.S. citizens, the unreliable magic data, and potentially thousands of violations of State and Federal privacy laws--saying that this is dangerous for our democracy is a huge understatement. This is more than a reckless attempt to prove Donald Trump's election-denial talking points, like the ones he used in the White House speech this past July. Diversion of Federal law enforcement to break laws for political purposes is a clear abuse of power, and there is a very real danger that thousands of naturalized U.S. citizens and legal residents will potentially face negative consequences because of this sham investigation. This isn't just about voting; this could lead to unwarranted secondary screening at airports, consequences for immigration benefits, referrals to HSI or the FBI for criminal investigation, and no clear recourse to undo the consequences of an erroneous Federal law enforcement record being created after a quick 12-minute review. There is also the danger that Donald Trump will use false numbers of supposed votes cast by noncitizens to threaten to prosecute State and elections officials that he doesn't like. The President and his allies could even try using the unreliable results of this Unlawful Voter Initiative to undermine and challenge election results themselves. That is right--January 6 was not the end of this. So, today, Senator Schumer and I sent this whistleblower's disclosure regarding the so-called Unlawful Voter Initiative to Secretary Mullin and USCIS Director Edlow. We are demanding an immediate halt to these activities. We are demanding transparency from DHS. We are demanding the removal of unreliable law enforcement records, many of which are against U.S. citizens. We will have more to say about this in the coming days. I would remind the Department and USCIS that whistleblowers to Congress are protected by Federal law. Let me repeat: Whistleblowers to Congress are protected by Federal law. This individual will remain anonymous, and any attempt at retaliation is illegal and wrong. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, colleagues, here we are after months and months and months of continuing to debate this bill, which still hasn't passed. We should be debating how to bring costs down for working families across the country. I would love to hear from my colleagues how we are going to get out of this war in Iran. Instead, here is this measure again, which is not a simple voter ID bill. As written, it is stricter than most voter ID bills in States that already have a voter ID law in place. But this goes even further, requiring voters to include a copy of their ID when they vote by mail, as well as tens of millions of Americans who vote by mail. This bill would do away with secret ballots as we know it. So colleagues, I urge you to vote no on this measure. Vote on Motion

Mr. PADILLA

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

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act. This legislation will help dairy and livestock producers reduce methane emissions, improve air and water quality, and implement more sustainable alternative manure management practices. As the leading dairy State in the country and the second in cheese production, California is the largest producer of milk, butter, and cheeses like mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and queso fresco. Dairy operations contribute billions to California's economy but are also a significant source of California's methane emissions. Recognizing the urgency of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions like methane, California and the dairy industry are working to reduce dairy methane emissions by 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030, largely due to the successes of California's own Alternative Manure Management Program, AMMP. The COWS Act would allow alternative manure management practices to be eligible under USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, EQIP, to help dairy and livestock producers transition towards pasture- based management, alternative treatment and storage practices, solid separation systems, and scrape technologies. These practices, which have proven to be effective through the AMMP, will provide more resources for the dairy and livestock industry to modernize technologies for manure management that help boost profitability, improve water quality, and reduce methane and nitrogen oxide emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural operations is critical for addressing the climate crisis. Because of the high construction and operation costs associated with anaerobic digesters, nondigester manure management practices can provide a more cost- effective alternative for family dairy and livestock operators seeking to improve air and water quality for their communities. I would like to thank Congressman Costa for leading this bill in the House, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the COWS Act.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act. This legislation will help dairy and livestock producers reduce methane emissions, improve air and water quality, and implement more sustainable alternative manure management practices. As the leading dairy State in the country and the second in cheese production, California is the largest producer of milk, butter, and cheeses like mozzarella, Monterey Jack, and queso fresco. Dairy operations contribute billions to California's economy but are also a significant source of California's methane emissions. Recognizing the urgency of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions like methane, California and the dairy industry are working to reduce dairy methane emissions by 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030, largely due to the successes of California's own Alternative Manure Management Program, AMMP. The COWS Act would allow alternative manure management practices to be eligible under USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, EQIP, to help dairy and livestock producers transition towards pasture- based management, alternative treatment and storage practices, solid separation systems, and scrape technologies. These practices, which have proven to be effective through the AMMP, will provide more resources for the dairy and livestock industry to modernize technologies for manure management that help boost profitability, improve water quality, and reduce methane and nitrogen oxide emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural operations is critical for addressing the climate crisis. Because of the high construction and operation costs associated with anaerobic digesters, nondigester manure management practices can provide a more cost- effective alternative for family dairy and livestock operators seeking to improve air and water quality for their communities. I would like to thank Congressman Costa for leading this bill in the House, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass the COWS Act.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Fairness for Farm Workers Act, which I am reintroducing today. Farmworkers feed our Nation. This is especially true in California-- the agricultural heart of the Nation. California is the most successful State in agricultural production and has the largest population of farmworkers. In fact, nearly half of the country's vegetables and over three-quarters of the country's fruits and nuts are grown in California. Farmworkers put food on the tables of millions of Americans despite working through extreme weather conditions, injuries, disasters, pandemics, and more. Yet farmworkers have been unjustly excluded from labor laws. The time to address these inequities is now. While the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established Federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay, the law excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers--workers who were and remain overwhelmingly people of color. In 2016, California recognized the need to provide farmworkers overtime protection. The California overtime law, which ensures farmworkers will have an equal right to overtime pay, serves as the model for this Federal bill. Farmworkers in California and across the Nation deserve an end to discrimination in labor laws. We must undo the discriminatory exclusion of farmworkers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which would improve the lives of farmworkers and their families, create equity in our food system, and benefit farming communities as the increased wages are spent in local businesses. This bill will gradually implement overtime pay over the course of 4 years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry and greater prosperity to historically marginalized workers. I want to thank Congresswoman Grijalva for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us to provide a measure of long-overdue fairness for our Nation's farmworkers.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act, which I introduced today. Farm and food system workers feed our Nation, We know this well in California--the agricultural heart of the Nation--where we have one of the largest populations of farmworkers and food system workers in the United States. Throughout pandemic, these workers put food on our tables and kept our grocery store shelves stocked despite facing deep- rooted inequities in the workforce and often experiencing food insecurity themselves. Right now, just one person in the Federal Government is statutorily dedicated to serving as a liaison between farm workers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture--the Farmworker Coordinator. While the 2008 farm bill created this position, Congress has never provided the proper resources to support or staff this position. The 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture Equity Commission Interim Report included a strong recommendation for the USDA to fund and elevate roles for professional staff solely dedicated to farmworkers' concerns and perspectives. It is time that we give those who provide the food for our Nation a voice in the national conversation. We must give farm and food system workers a dedicated office within the USDA to integrate their invaluable perspectives into the decisions that directly affect their lives and livelihoods. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which would create the USDA Office of the Farm and Food System Workforce to not only serve as a liaison for farm and food system workers but also to provide a platform for their concerns and interests to assist in the creation of recommendations and new initiatives for the Department. The bill would also create a Farm and Food System Worker Advisory Committee, composed of a diverse cross-section of members representing these workers' varied interests and perspectives--such as workers themselves, labor unions, higher education professionals, civil rights advocates, women worker-focused groups, and trusted community-based non-profits. The legislation would also establish a Farm and Food System Workforce Interagency Council, comprised of representatives from various Federal Agencies to improve coordination, planning, program development, and policymaking across Cabinet-level leadership. The Office would also appoint staff to various USDA entities to serve as liaisons on matters related to farm and food system workers within the Department. Finally, the bill would require annual, publicly available reports, in multiple languages, about the Office's work, including recommendations to improve the work and livelihood of farm and food system workers, the climate change impacts on the food system, and the barriers workers face to accessing Federal programs. During this year's farm bill negotiations, I urge my colleagues to remember the workers behind the American food system, the workers who keep our families and communities fed and healthy. These workers deserve a seat at the table.

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Voice for Farm Workers Act, which I introduced today. Our Nation's farmworkers are the backbone of the U.S. food supply chain. In the 2008 farm bill, Congress created the Farmworker Coordinator position: one person statutorily dedicated to serving as a liaison between the more than 2 million farm workers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, Congress has never provided the resources necessary to support a position of this magnitude. The time to fix this injustice is now. The 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture Equity Commission Interim Report included a strong recommendation for the USDA to fund and elevate roles for professional staff solely dedicated to farm workers' concerns and perspectives. That is why I am introducing this bill to expand and strengthen the Coordinator position to carry out the responsibilities necessary to better meet the needs of our farmworkers. This bill would also support increased collaboration within the Department, with farmworkers, and with relevant stakeholders to create recommendations for new initiatives and programs to support farmworkers. As we negotiate a new farm bill, I urge my colleagues to prioritize and support the workers that ensure our families and loved ones remain fed and healthy. Farmworkers' voices must be and deserve to be heard.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Fairness for Farm Workers Act, which I am reintroducing today. Farmworkers feed our Nation. This is especially true in California-- the agricultural heart of the Nation. California is the most successful State in agricultural production and has the largest population of farmworkers. In fact, nearly half of the country's vegetables and over three-quarters of the country's fruits and nuts are grown in California. Farmworkers put food on the tables of millions of Americans despite working through extreme weather conditions, injuries, disasters, pandemics, and more. Yet farmworkers have been unjustly excluded from labor laws. The time to address these inequities is now. While the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established Federal standards for minimum wage and overtime pay, the law excluded millions of domestic and agricultural workers--workers who were and remain overwhelmingly people of color. In 2016, California recognized the need to provide farmworkers overtime protection. The California overtime law, which ensures farmworkers will have an equal right to overtime pay, serves as the model for this Federal bill. Farmworkers in California and across the Nation deserve an end to discrimination in labor laws. We must undo the discriminatory exclusion of farmworkers by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which would improve the lives of farmworkers and their families, create equity in our food system, and benefit farming communities as the increased wages are spent in local businesses. This bill will gradually implement overtime pay over the course of 4 years and bring greater equity to the American agricultural industry and greater prosperity to historically marginalized workers. I want to thank Congresswoman Grijalva for introducing this bill with me, and I hope our colleagues will join us to provide a measure of long-overdue fairness for our Nation's farmworkers.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Supporting Our Farm and Food System Workforce Act, which I introduced today. Farm and food system workers feed our Nation, We know this well in California--the agricultural heart of the Nation--where we have one of the largest populations of farmworkers and food system workers in the United States. Throughout pandemic, these workers put food on our tables and kept our grocery store shelves stocked despite facing deep- rooted inequities in the workforce and often experiencing food insecurity themselves. Right now, just one person in the Federal Government is statutorily dedicated to serving as a liaison between farm workers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture--the Farmworker Coordinator. While the 2008 farm bill created this position, Congress has never provided the proper resources to support or staff this position. The 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture Equity Commission Interim Report included a strong recommendation for the USDA to fund and elevate roles for professional staff solely dedicated to farmworkers' concerns and perspectives. It is time that we give those who provide the food for our Nation a voice in the national conversation. We must give farm and food system workers a dedicated office within the USDA to integrate their invaluable perspectives into the decisions that directly affect their lives and livelihoods. That is why I am proud to introduce this bill, which would create the USDA Office of the Farm and Food System Workforce to not only serve as a liaison for farm and food system workers but also to provide a platform for their concerns and interests to assist in the creation of recommendations and new initiatives for the Department. The bill would also create a Farm and Food System Worker Advisory Committee, composed of a diverse cross-section of members representing these workers' varied interests and perspectives--such as workers themselves, labor unions, higher education professionals, civil rights advocates, women worker-focused groups, and trusted community-based non-profits. The legislation would also establish a Farm and Food System Workforce Interagency Council, comprised of representatives from various Federal Agencies to improve coordination, planning, program development, and policymaking across Cabinet-level leadership. The Office would also appoint staff to various USDA entities to serve as liaisons on matters related to farm and food system workers within the Department. Finally, the bill would require annual, publicly available reports, in multiple languages, about the Office's work, including recommendations to improve the work and livelihood of farm and food system workers, the climate change impacts on the food system, and the barriers workers face to accessing Federal programs. During this year's farm bill negotiations, I urge my colleagues to remember the workers behind the American food system, the workers who keep our families and communities fed and healthy. These workers deserve a seat at the table.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the Voice for Farm Workers Act, which I introduced today. Our Nation's farmworkers are the backbone of the U.S. food supply chain. In the 2008 farm bill, Congress created the Farmworker Coordinator position: one person statutorily dedicated to serving as a liaison between the more than 2 million farm workers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, Congress has never provided the resources necessary to support a position of this magnitude. The time to fix this injustice is now. The 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture Equity Commission Interim Report included a strong recommendation for the USDA to fund and elevate roles for professional staff solely dedicated to farm workers' concerns and perspectives. That is why I am introducing this bill to expand and strengthen the Coordinator position to carry out the responsibilities necessary to better meet the needs of our farmworkers. This bill would also support increased collaboration within the Department, with farmworkers, and with relevant stakeholders to create recommendations for new initiatives and programs to support farmworkers. As we negotiate a new farm bill, I urge my colleagues to prioritize and support the workers that ensure our families and loved ones remain fed and healthy. Farmworkers' voices must be and deserve to be heard.

Mr. PADILLA

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, colleagues, this disaster bill, this disaster tax bill includes important bipartisan legislation that I introduced with Senators Lummis, Wyden, and Sheehy to extend a critical tax provision for disaster survivors that we enacted into law last Congress. Two years ago, my Protect Innocent Victims of Taxation After Fire Act made an important update to our Tax Code. It made sure that individuals, families, and entire communities who suffered from wildfires received the full compensation that they were awarded in courts to rebuild their lives. But, unfortunately, every year more devastating disasters take place, and so Congress must extend the same important financial protection to survivors of more recent wildfires. That is what the House-passed version of the bill would do. But to be clear, disaster settlement funds are not income. They are not a financial windfall. They are certainly not winning the lottery. What they are is compensation, partial compensation in most cases, for what has been lost. They are meant to give survivors an opportunity to begin to rebuild not just their homes but their lives. This bill is not just for my constituents in California that have been impacted by the Eaton and Palisades fires 1\1/2\ years ago; it is also for those victims in Oregon and Hawaii and other communities across the country that have experienced similar disasters. Our bill would ensure that all recent wildfire victims throughout the country have access to the full value of their settlement without any unfair tax burden. It is common sense, and it is a bipartisan solution to protect Americans at the most difficult time of their lives. We should pass this legislation now. Let's not keep survivors waiting, worrying, and wondering about their financial future any longer. I want to thank Senators Lummis, Wyden, and Sheehy for their partnership, as well as my colleague Representative Mike Thompson in the House for his steadfast leadership on this issue. I also want to recognize that the late Representative Doug LaMalfa was such a critical part of this effort. The House fittingly named this bill in his honor because it reflects the tireless leadership he brought to these issues impacting disaster-stricken communities throughout his career. He and I first served together in the California State Senate and then again here--he in the House; I in the Senate. I would urge all of our colleagues to support the House-passed version of the measure and allow survivors to begin to rebuild their lives without unnecessary fear or delay. Thank you.

Mr. PADILLA. Reserving the right to object.