Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on Jack Lew, it is going to be a busy day here in the Senate. Before the end of the day, the U.S. Senate will confirm Jack Lew as the next Ambassador to Israel. For the information of Senators, we will have a cloture vote on Mr. Lew's nomination this morning, with a final vote on confirmation in the early afternoon. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of sending an American Ambassador to Israel today. With everything happening in Israel right now, confirming Jack Lew at this moment will be one of the most important and consequential nomination votes the Senate has taken in a long time. The need to confirm Mr. Lew is plain and irrefutable. Israel in crisis. America needs to stand with her, and a most urgent and obvious step would be ensuring we have an ambassador in place. As the Senate takes this important vote later today, I want to applaud the remarkable team at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, all of whom have done exceptional work under the most difficult circumstances. When I went to Israel with my Senate colleagues, I got to see the Embassy's incredible work up close, especially the outstanding Charge d'Affaires. So I thank them all for their dedication in these hard times. But it was clear when we went there that Israel needs an ambassador from the United States, especially at this time. So I hope we will get as large a vote for Mr. Lew as possible. I want to thank my colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who approved Mr. Lew on a 12-to-9 basis. Mr. Lew has a strong, long proven record as a public servant and a ferocious ally of Israel, and it will help send a powerful message of support to Israel to have this appointment filled ASAP.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, finally, on the minibus, on the legislative front, the Senate will move forward this week on bipartisan appropriations legislation. I would note that we are the only bipartisan appropriations legislation in town. The House has passed a series of very, very partisan bills filled with poison pills, cutting deeply, way below the agreement that was made in the last resolution when we dealt with avoiding default. Last week, we began holding votes on a large number of amendments here in the Senate, offered on both sides of the aisle. In fact, when all is said and done, we will have considered 40 amendments--40--here on the floor. If both sides cooperate, it is my hope we can pass these three appropriations bills by tomorrow. When that happens, these three bills will be the only appropriations bills that have passed through either Chamber with bipartisan support, which is the only way we are going to get any funding passed in divided government. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on AI, yesterday, President Biden announced the first ever artificial intelligence Executive order that will keep America in the lead on AI. Later this morning, the Senate's bipartisan AI gang--Senators Rounds, Heinrich, Young, and I--will go to the White House to meet with President Biden to discuss how we can work together to pursue bipartisan AI legislation. I applaud President Biden for doing the right thing by issuing yesterday's Executive order. It outlines a number of commonsense guardrails that will increase American leadership on safeguards and better protect Americans against all sorts of risk, from cyber security to bio and nuclear threats. President Biden's AI Executive order was welcome news, but everyone knows we can and must do more here in Congress. The President's action yesterday importunes us to act, to augment and expand his Executive order with bipartisan legislation. Congress must act with a sense of urgency when it comes to AI because AI is already changing our world in dramatic ways, and other countries are trying to gain ground on us. Tomorrow, the Senate will continue our bipartisan work on AI with our third and fourth AI Insight Forums. In the morning, the AI Insight Forum will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow and focus on our workforce, both the risks and opportunities that AI presents to American workers and our economy. We will hear from leaders in labor, tech, civil rights, and business on how Congress can best protect workers from the changes that IA will bring. The afternoon AI Insight Forum will bring another diverse group to debate how Congress can prepare for AI in high-impact areas, including financial decisions, healthcare, law enforcement, among other highly consequential use cases. We will be careful to pay attention to potential bias when AI is used. For the information of Senators, tomorrow's AI Insight Forums will take place in the Kennedy Caucus Room. Each will last approximately 2 hours. I encourage everyone on both sides to attend, and I thank Senators Rounds, Heinrich, and Young for their help making these bipartisan AI Insight Forums possible.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the Senate, I am proud to say, has now taken an extremely important step in our support of Israel. We have approved, with bipartisan support, Jack Lew to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. With Israel defending itself against Hamas, this ambassadorship is as important and timely as any nomination that the Senate has confirmed in a long time. Mr. Lew is the right man for the job of Ambassador to Israel. He is a capable public servant, a fierce ally of Israel's, and commands a broad base of trust and respect, and he is a decent and humane man. When my colleagues and I met with the Israeli Government, we promised to send them an ambassador as soon as possible. Today, the Senate has kept that promise. Having an ambassador in Israel means stronger diplomatic ties between the United States and Israel at a time when these bonds matter most. It means Israel's messages will be conveyed appropriately to our government, but it also means our government's messages will be sent appropriately to the Israeli Government. So it helps the two-way street of communication--so important right now. Having an ambassador ensures America can work with Israel and communicate with Israel in both directions at the highest level as the fight against Hamas continues. I thank my colleagues for confirming Mr. Lew on a bipartisan basis. Thank you to Chairman Cardin and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which championed Mr. Lew's nomination. Finally, I want to applaud the remarkable team at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, all of whom have done exceptional work under the most difficult circumstances. When I went to Israel with my Senate colleagues, I got to see the Embassy's incredible work up close, especially the outstanding Charg d'Affaires, but we also saw the need, the vacancy, the hole that was there during a time of crisis when we didn't have an ambassador, and we saw how much we needed one. We are easing the short-staffed Embassy's burden by sending a fully appointed ambassador so they can continue carrying out their mission with excellence during this pivotal moment.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 334.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 329.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 333.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, October 31, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, a few moments ago, I filed cloture on the President's nominees for Chief of Naval Operations and Air Force Chief of Staff, the remaining vacancies on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I have also filed cloture on the nomination of Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney to serve as Assistant Commandant for the U.S. Marine Corps. Lieutenant General Mahoney's confirmation is urgent in light of the frightening news that Gen. Eric Smith, confirmed last month to lead the U.S. Marine Corps, was hospitalized Sunday after a serious medical emergency. We pray for General Smith's recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family. This scary incident involving General Smith shows why it is supremely risky to play politics with military appointments, as Senator Tuberville is doing. Emergencies happen, and when they do, the chain of command must be able to respond. But thanks to Senator Tuberville, there is no current No. 2 at the Marine Corps to fill in. The situation at the Marine Corps is precisely the kind of avoidable emergency that Senator Tuberville has provoked through his blanket holds. Lieutenant General Mahoney should have been appointed a very long time ago, but he is one of the more than 300 nominees whom Senator Tuberville is brazenly blocking to advance his extreme agenda. Every day that Senator Tuberville continues his blanket holds, our military preparedness is worse off, our military families suffer, and our military appointments risk being further ensnared in partisan politics, which is a point of no return we must never cross in the Senate. Senator Tuberville should drop his blanket holds at once, and in the meantime, the Senate will proceed to confirm these nominations that should have been swiftly approved long ago, as has been the custom in the Senate for decades.

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 Hickenlooper substitute amendment at the desk to the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; the committee-reported substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The committee-reported amendments were agreed to. The bill (S. 1648), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed as follows:

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I just got back from an important event at the White House where President Biden announced a first-ever Executive order regulating AI, artificial intelligence. I applaud the President for breaking new ground with this Executive order, and I told him that the Senate will work very closely with the White House to do more on AI through legislation. Tomorrow, the Senate's bipartisan AI gang--Senators Heinrich, Rounds, Young, and myself--will meet with President Biden at the White House to talk about the next steps we can take to work together. While today's AI Executive order is a massive step forward, everyone agrees there is no substitute for congressional action. Congress must act, must take the next step to build upon, augment, and expand today's Executive order by the President, and we must do it through bipartisan legislation. We must act with urgency but also with humility, balancing both innovation and commonsense safeguards because you can't do one without the other. We must act with urgency because other countries may take a lead on AI--and countries particularly with values we don't share. But we must act with humility because this is one of the hardest tasks Congress can undertake because AI is so complicated, so far-reaching, and changing all the time. On Wednesday morning, the Senate will bring some of the Nation's leading minds in labor, business, and tech to talk about AI's impact on America's workforce, as part of our third AI Insight Forum. And on Wednesday afternoon, we will hold our fourth AI Insight Forum to discuss areas where AI will have an especially high impact, including healthcare, financial services, and our justice system. If the Senate's AI Insight Forums have made anything clear so far, it is that the government must be involved in AI, must be ready to invest significantly toward AI innovation, and that we don't have a lot of time. AI development is moving quickly. Adversaries like the Chinese Government are moving quickly. So Congress has to act quickly too. That is why I am encouraged that the Senate's efforts on AI so far have been both balanced and bipartisan. We need a lot of voices at the table, not just AI developers, although they must be there, but critics worried about AI's potential harms and advocates from labor and civil rights and other areas. Everyone must have a hand in shaping the legislation. But our AI efforts must also remain bipartisan. They have to be because the goal is to pass legislation, and that will only happen if both sides work together. So far, thankfully, bipartisanship is precisely what we have seen at the committee level, and through our bipartisan AI gang--which I am proud to be part of alongside Senators Rounds, Young, and Heinrich--we are making very good progress. So, again, I applaud the President for today's first-ever AI Executive order and note that the Senate will build on today's announcement by working to get closer to passing bipartisan legislation. We cannot afford to wait.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, before I begin, I want to note that I am wearing a dog tag given to me this morning by one of the families of the hostages held in Gaza. So we pray and hope for their release.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, October 26, be waived.

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. Mr. President, I would just note that one of these resolutions condemns anti-Semitism, which we see on too many campuses these days.

Mr. SCHUMER

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