Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 815 occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader, but no later than Saturday, November 18; further, that if the cloture vote does not occur under this order, the cloture motion be withdrawn.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the following nominations be returned to the Committee on the Judiciary: Calendar Nos. 405 and 406.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. 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. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 461, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 14; that following the prayer and pledge, the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that the Senate recess from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 427.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 30, H.R. 815.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, November 9, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today's elections were another horrible defeat--sorry--Tuesday's elections--maybe today's, too, who knows--but Tuesday's elections were another horrible defeat for MAGA extremism and another affirmation for the democratic agenda of jobs, infrastructure, and lowering costs for the middle class. By now, Republicans need to admit there is a pretty clear pattern at play: Ever since Donald Trump was elected President, the MAGA agenda has led to failure in big elections, in small elections, in red State elections, in blue State elections, and everything in between. And it shouldn't be any big mystery why MAGA candidates and MAGA issues keep turning out to be duds. Americans don't want hard-right extremists and the chaos they bring to govern this country. Americans don't support a MAGA agenda that has, at its bedrock, radical attacks on women's healthcare. Americans want their elected leaders to choose bipartisanship, to focus on people's lives instead of cable news shows. Sadly, Republicans seem mightily impervious to the obvious truth that MAGA equals disaster for America and for their party.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, another election night in America, another win for women's choice, another win for democracy, another win for the Democratic agenda of jobs, infrastructure, and lowering costs for the middle class. Another terrible defeat for the MAGA agenda. Americans don't want hard-right extremists to govern this country. At stake last night was a woman's right to choose in Ohio, the Governorship in Kentucky, cannabis reform in Ohio, control of the legislature in Virginia, State Supreme Court seats, and so much more. In almost every major election, Democratic candidates and Democratic issues prevailed. This continued and strengthened the trend of Democratic victories last year. There is no possible takeaway from last night other than this: Americans fiercely oppose MAGA extremism, fiercely oppose total abortion bans, and want bipartisan leaders who can put America's needs first. After last night's results, I have a message to my Republican colleagues: When the MAGA agenda can't win in deep red Kentucky or in Ohio or help you in Virginia, it is time to recognize MAGA extremism is the wrong answer, not just for the country, but even for the GOP. I hope Republicans in Congress see that after last night, extremism must be rejected and bipartisanship embraced. Time will tell if House Republicans choose the right path. I want to say one more thing about the results in Ohio. With strong support, the people of Ohio have voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Americans think it is long past time to enact cannabis reform. So here in the Senate, I will continue to work with colleagues on both sides and my good friend Senator Brown to keep moving on bipartisan cannabis legislation as soon as we can. Last night shows just how precious and vital and sacrosanct our system of elections is. It shows how much work we have to do to preserve democracy so that it can survive in the 21st century.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is my honor to recognize an outstanding Senate Stationery Room employee, Dale Montgomery, who is retiring today after more than 50 years of service to the U.S. Senate. For Dale, working in the Senate was more than just a calling; it is in his blood. Dale's father worked in the Senate Library for 35 years, and his grandfather worked with the Architect of the Capitol dating back to 1914. So, when the opportunity arose to follow in his family's footsteps, Dale couldn't refuse. Without ever even filling out an application, Dale accepted a job where he would spend the next half- century of his life. Dale's first day in the Stationery Room was in 1973, in a different world and a very different Senate. He rose through the ranks, starting in the warehouse doing deliveries before moving to the Stationery Store as a clerk and then as a sales associate. No matter the title he held, Dale approached each task with a great level of care and attention to detail. His contributions to the day-to-day operations of the Senate are truly immeasurable. Dale quickly became one of the Senate community's most beloved members. His affable nature and affinity for music attracted friends and strangers alike, people from all around the country. Dale was a sought-after DJ and was known to make an appearance at Senator Ford's Kentucky Derby parties. It didn't matter where, when, or how you met Dale, he was sure to leave a lasting impression. The mark of a good employee is a steadfast commitment to the work. The mark of a good friend is a steadfast presence for each other. To everyone he encountered over the last 50 years, Dale was both--and so much more. On behalf of the entire Senate community, we thank Dale for his years of dedicated service, and we wish him and his family the best in retirement.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in the next 2 weeks, Congress must work together to avoid another pointless, damaging, unnecessary government shutdown. We also must work together to defend America's national security around the world by standing with Israel, standing with Ukraine, and increasing our defenses in the Indo-Pacific. And we must provide critical humanitarian assistance, including to civilians in Gaza, who have nothing to do with Hamas, who need food and water and shelter. None of this will be easy to do. None of this is guaranteed to happen. The outcome of the next 2 weeks will hang on the same thing I have emphasized all year long--bipartisan cooperation. If Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in good faith on issues where there is real overlap--and there are many--then we can move forward on the things we must accomplish. But if Republicans inject partisanship into otherwise bipartisan priorities, that is only going to make it harder to avoid a shutdown, pass Israel aid, pass Ukraine aid, pass humanitarian aid for Gaza, and all our other priorities. Yesterday, a group of Senate Republicans released a proposal for border security that they want in exchange for Ukraine funding, and they know full well what they came up with is a total nonstarter. Instead of putting together commonsense border policies that can pass in divided government, Senate Republicans basically copied and pasted large chunks of the House's radical H.R. 2 bill, and that is their asking price for helping Ukraine. Making Ukraine funding conditional on the hard-right border policies that can't ever pass Congress is a huge mistake by our Republican colleagues. By tying Ukraine to the border, Republicans are sadly making it harder--much harder--for us to help Ukraine in their fight against Putin. It sends a terrible signal to both our friends and adversaries. It will be a moment that history will remember, if Ukraine aid is tied to this. Large segments of both parties in the Senate support Ukraine. Large segments of both parties in the Senate support Ukraine. So why on Earth do some Republicans want to torpedo it by tying this H.R. 2 anchor to Ukraine funding? This move is only going to endanger Ukraine assistance in the long run. If Senate Republicans' open bid for border is an amalgamation of hard right policies, then, sadly, the two parties are far apart, and we have a lot of work to do to bridge the divide. Now, I want to be clear, I would like to bridge the divide. Our caucus would like to see some kind of commonsense border policies done, and the President would like to get something done, as his supplemental proposal shows. If we can come together in a bipartisan fashion to stop the flow of fentanyl and give our frontline officers the resources and tools they need to do their jobs and stop fentanyl, all while staying true to our values, that is what we should be doing. So, today, we are going to keep working with our Republican colleagues to see if there is a chance for compromise, but Republicans need to actually work with us on realistic border policies, even if it is not everything they want. You can't get just a few Republicans who are pretty much on the hard-right side of their party to say: Here is what we want. Take it or leave it. That won't work. Senate Republicans should not repeat the mistake of the House GOP when they tried to push H.R. 2. Their H.R. 2 bill is going nowhere, and this Senate GOP proposal is very close to H.R. 2. I have always been clear that I am ready to have open, good-faith, bipartisan negotiations. I was one of the authors of the Senate's comprehensive immigration bill from 2013. It was led by John McCain and me. I know what it is like to have a hard conversation about these issues. I know through firsthand experience this topic is not easy, but, nevertheless, I am willing to have conversations about the border again if Republicans are willing to meet us halfway. We have so many shared bipartisan priorities to protect our Nation, our national security. I hope partisanship doesn't tarnish our shared purpose. I hope we can work in the coming days to bridge the gap. Again, when Republicans willingly inject partisanship into issues that could have some bipartisan overlap, they make it extremely hard to get anything done. I urge my Republican colleagues to stop using the same approach again and again of taking bipartisan issues and injecting them with corrosive partisan measures that help sink them.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in a few moments, the Senate will confirm Julia Kobick as district judge for the District of Massachusetts. I have great news: The Senate is about to confirm the 100th woman and the 150th judge overall to the Federal bench since we took the majority. One judge at a time, this Democratic majority is making the Federal bench look more like America, and that is why the confirmation of the 100th woman to the court is so important. It is not only double the amount confirmed by President Trump in all his 4 years, it is also considerably more women than any full first term of any President. In fact, two-thirds--two-thirds--of all the judges we have confirmed under President Biden are women, and we have confirmed more women of color to the bench than any other President's entire time in office. These hundred women are historic taken together, but they also include many who are historic in their own right. They include, of course, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson. They include the first Muslim-American woman on the Federal bench. They include the first Navajo Federal judge, and much more. We are getting the bench to look like America. It has been long overdue, but it is happening and happening in large steps under this Senate Democratic majority. Now, I want to let America know we are proud to have reached this historic milestone, but we are not slowing down. Confirming more women on the bench is long, long overdue. The Senate, which has made strides more than any year to make that a reality, will continue to keep working to confirm more judicial nominations in the weeks and months to come. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 499 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Cornyn amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask that the bill be considered read a third time.

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

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