Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the junior Senator from Illinois, the senior Senator from Maryland, and the junior Senator from Virginia be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from July 28, 2023, through September 4, 2023.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that on Tuesday, August 22, from 12 noon until 2 p.m., committees be authorized to report legislative and executive matters.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that S. 2226, as passed by the Senate, be printed.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to; that the preambles, where applicable, be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 93, S. 1528.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendments be considered and agreed to; that the Peters amendment which is at the desk be considered and 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 with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 788 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Boozman substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; 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.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 157, S. 1858.

Mr. SCHUMER. I further ask that the Peters amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and 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.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 1608, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. 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. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S. 992 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Cruz substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to; 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.

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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times, and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Friday, July 28, at 11:45 a.m.; Tuesday, August 1, at 12:15 p.m.; Friday, August 4, at 12 noon; Tuesday, August 8, at 10 a.m.; Friday, August 11, at 9 a.m.; Tuesday, August 15, at 12 noon; Friday, August 18, at 1 p.m.; Tuesday, August 22, at 2 p.m.; Friday, August 25, at 12 noon; Tuesday, August 29, at 11:45 a.m.; and Friday, September 1, at 11:45 a.m.; further, that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, September 1, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 5; that on Tuesday, 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 Jefferson nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.

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, today, the Senate will continue making progress on the NDAA, one of the most important bills of the year and something that for more than six decades has passed with bipartisan support. Yesterday, we adopted two important amendments to the NDAA, adding to the Senate's work on outcompeting the Chinese Government. Both amendments--one by Senators Cornyn and Casey and one by Senators Rounds and Tester--passed overwhelmingly, with 91 ``yes'' votes each. It is not often that 91 Senators can unite on a single measure, let alone two measures. So to see us unite on outcompeting the Chinese Government was an important demonstration that this issue remains broadly bipartisan and something we will continue working on throughout the year. This morning, we will hold another vote on an amendment by Senators Warnock and Budd halting the harassment of our servicemembers by debt collectors. I hope this will also enjoy broad support. Last night, we sent out a hotline with a number of additional amendments. I am hopeful we can lock in an agreement soon to begin voting on some of them. Since last Wednesday, the Senate has voted on eight amendments here on the floor and adopted seven more by voice vote. This is how the process should work. Finally, I will also keep working with the Republican leader, Chair Reed, and Ranking Member Wicker on a second managers' package that will have more accomplishments both sides can embrace, and I appreciate the cooperation and good faith of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I have said repeatedly that the NDAA is an opportunity for the Senate to show we can work on the biggest issues facing our country through bipartisanship, cooperation, and honest debate. That is what we have seen play out so far this year on the floor--bipartisanship. The NDAA process in this Chamber is a welcome departure from the contentious, chaotic, and partisan race to the bottom we saw in the House. As I have also said, if we continue embracing bipartisanship, we will finish our work on the NDAA before the start of the August State work period. We wish to finish the NDAA as soon as we can. There is no reason for delay. We aren't quite there yet--there is still some more work to be done--but we are close. I thank my colleagues for their cooperation, and the Senate will continue working on the NDAA until the job is done. (Mr. BENNET assumed the Chair.)

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the IRA anniversary--when we passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year, I said here on the floor that it would endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st century. Just 1 year later, the IRA is paying huge dividends for the American people, for our economy, and for our environment. The Republicans claimed the IRA would make inflation worse. One of our Republican colleagues claimed the IRA would cut jobs and fuel inflation. But since we passed the IRA, inflation has gone not up but down. We are lowering costs day by day for the American people with the passage of this legislation. Inflation is now half of what it was a few years ago. Across the board, costs are coming down for the American family. For the first time ever, we made it possible for Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs, helping Americans save at the pharmacy. Because of the IRA, vaccines are free for Medicare beneficiaries, and a cap on out-of-pocket drug spending--no senior will have to pay more than $2,000 a year for drugs--is coming very soon. What a relief for people, lowering costs on one of the things that bothered them the most--the high cost of prescription drugs. That is what we Democrats are doing, while over there in the House, the Republicans are just racing to the bottom. We also capped the price of insulin for seniors on Medicare to $35 a month, spurring major companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to follow suit. Millions of people who buy their health insurance on the ACA exchanges are now saving hundreds--hundreds--of dollars each month. Indeed, we are lowering costs. That is what we promised to do. On top of these savings, I also said the Inflation Reduction Act would kick-start the era of affordable clean energy and create countless good-paying, green jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act has done just that too. From the new wind turbine facilities in New York to the solar facilities in Arizona, the IRA is paving the way for America to lead in clean energy manufacturing. Eighty new clean energy manufacturing facilities have been announced across the country, employing thousands and thousands of people--and not just in junky, low-wage jobs but in good, high-pay, high-skill jobs, with training to boot. Again, these new facilities mean even more good-paying jobs for years to come in construction, manufacturing, clean energy, and so much more. As the new jobs are being created, wage growth continues to go up. It is now exceeding inflation. So the amount brought home in your paycheck has gone up more than the cost of goods has gone up. That is a new thing. It only happened in the last few years. The policies that we have passed here in the Senate--that Democrats have passed here in the Senate, frankly--are making a huge difference. Of course, we are only getting started. As we continue implementing the IRA, the American people will see more evidence of the Democratic agenda working for them.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on AI, finally, with so much going on in the Senate, I want to remind my colleagues that today we will hold our third all-Senate briefing on artificial intelligence. Our presenters are Rick Stevens from the Department of Energy's Argonne National Lab, Dr. Sethuraman ``Panch'' Panchanathan from the National Science Foundation, and Dr. Kathleen Fisher from the Information Innovation Office at DARPA. Finally, our moderator will be Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths, member, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, and president of Dakota State University. It is a broad range of presenters. The last few briefings were well-attended. I know people are busy today, but please try to make the time. And the Q-and-A was surprisingly very direct. We got a lot of answers and learned a lot. So I look forward to seeing my colleagues at the briefing for what surely will be an illuminating, important discussion, and I thank everyone for their good work.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in two criminal cases pending in Federal district court in the District of Columbia and arising out of the events of January 6, 2021, the prosecution has requested testimony from a Senate witness. In these cases, brought against Mark Sahady and Leo Brent Bozell IV, trials are expected to commence on August 21, 2023, and September 6, 2023, respectively, and the prosecution has requested testimony from Daniel Schwager, formerly counsel to the Secretary of the Senate, concerning his knowledge and observations of the process and constitutional and legal bases for Congress's counting of the electoral college votes. Senate Secretary Berry would like to cooperate with these requests by providing relevant testimony in these trials from Mr. Schwager. In keeping with the rules and practices of the Senate, these resolutions would authorize the production of relevant testimony from Mr. Schwager, with representation by the Senate Legal Counsel.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order to call up the following amendments to S. 2226: Cruz, 421; Wicker, 1055; Paul, 438; Barrasso, 999; Sanders, 1030; Cardin, 705; Marshall, 874; Gillibrand, 1065; Kennedy, 1034; Hawley, 1058; and Menendez, 638; further, that with respect to the amendments listed above, at a time to be determined by the majority leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate vote on the amendments in the order listed, with no further amendments or motions in order, and with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption, and that there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote.