Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the substitute amendment No. 935 to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I send a cloture motion to S. 2226 to the desk.

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, for the information of Senators, we will begin a series of three rollcall votes at 8 p.m. this evening. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, if the gentleman from Louisiana wants 1 minute, I would be happy to give it to him.

Mr. SCHUMER. A fine act of bipartisanship.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we have two votes left. In order to expedite things and get out of here at a less unreasonable hour, I ask unanimous consent that--first, I ask that all our Members stay close, and I ask unanimous consent that the votes be 10 minutes each.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) and the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to H. Con. Res. 57.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 308, submitted earlier today.

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. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 309, submitted earlier today.

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. SCHUMER. First, I want to thank my colleagues for all of the good work so far on the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. We were very productive last week, and I hope this week can be equally so. Today, we will begin our work by holding two floor votes, one on Senators Cornyn and Casey's outbound investment screen amendment and then a vote on the Round-Tester farmlands amendment. Both of these amendments have been in the works for months, and I intend to vote in their favor. I urge my colleagues to do so as well. I know there are concerns on both sides of the aisle with some of the text in both amendments. Senators Cornyn, Casey, Rounds, Tester, and I are all committed to working through these concerns in the conference process. Tomorrow, we will vote on the Warnock-Budd amendment designed to halt debt collector harassment of our servicemembers. Again, I appreciate the cooperation of Senators on both sides as we worked to lock in these votes. And today and tomorrow, Leader McConnell, Chair Reed, Ranking Member Wicker, and I will also work on assembling a second managers' package of amendments. I hope this effort is successful. It will require everyone to work together, and we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Concurrently, we will also keep working on additional floor votes that we might need to finish the NDAA this week. We have a chance to show the American people that the Senate can work productively on our national defense, in stark contrast to the partisan race to the bottom that we saw over in the House. But the work isn't finished yet. We are going to keep negotiating a path forward, and the Senate will continue working on the NDAA until the job is done. I thank both sides for their efforts. Business Before the Senate Mr. President, now on other Senate business, as we move forward with the NDAA here on the floor, appropriators also continue working in committee. Last week, the Appropriations Committee marked up and approved three more bills, and, this week, they will hold another markup on Thursday. Just like the NDAA, I am proud to say the appropriations process has been largely bipartisan, precisely as it should be. And, finally, with so much going on this week, I want to remind my colleagues that we will be holding our third all-Senators briefing on AI, following up on our classified briefing earlier this month. I thank all of my colleagues for making the time to attend these AI briefings. Today, I also wish to recognize the efforts of the Judiciary Committee, which this afternoon is holding its own hearing on AI regulation. They join the work of many other committees that have moved quickly this year to begin focusing on AI in a very serious way. The Senate will continue ramping up our focus on AI policy when we begin hosting our Insight Forums later this fall. So, once again, thank you to my colleagues for their good work on this pressing matter. Inflation Reduction Act Mr. President, now on the IRA and its 1-year anniversary. We are approaching the 1-year anniversary of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, known as the IRA, was one of the most consequential pieces of legislation passed in decades, and in just one year it is already paying huge dividends for the American people, for our economy, and for our environment. Since we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, costs are down for families. For the first time ever, we made it possible for Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Vaccines are free for Medicare beneficiaries. A cap on out-of-pocket drug spending for seniors is just a few months away. No one will pay more than $2,000 a year for expensive drugs that they need to save their lives. And, of course, after a lot of hard work, we also capped the price of insulin for seniors on Medicare to $35--only $35--a month. Since then, Ely Lilly and Novo Nordisk have also lowered insulin costs for everybody. And we hope to build on all of this work with additional legislation later this year. Every American deserves to have affordable insulin, not just those on Medicare. Let's not forget that the patent for insulin expired a long time ago. It was invented in 1921 or 1922--I believe it was--by a Canadian inventor who sold the patent for only a dollar. So there is no need to have insulin at the exorbitant high price that it is for those not on Medicare. The Inflation Reduction Act has also helped countless Americans manage their energy costs. The tax credits and rebates on energy efficiency are helping Americans keep their homes warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, all at a more affordable price, while at the same time reducing our carbon emissions. And a few weeks ago, we saw that inflation slowed down to just 3 percent, the lowest it has been in over 2 years. In fact, since we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, inflation has been cut by more than half on an annual basis, and wage growth is still continuing to grow. It is now significantly above inflation, meaning workers are taking home more while spending less. That is the emblem of an economy that America needs. And, of course, the IRA is also paving the way for millions-- millions--of new good-paying green jobs. The IRA produced a boom in clean energy investment with nearly 80 new clean energy manufacturing facilities announced across the country. So when you put it all together, the Inflation Reduction Act is a shining example of the Democratic agenda in action: lower costs for families, higher wages for workers, and millions--millions--of new good-paying jobs for years to come. Democrats are proud of the progress we have made in implementing our agenda and will keep working until every American feels the benefits. Honoring Officer Jacob J. Chestnut and Detective John M. Gibson Mr. President, finally, on a sad anniversary, yesterday marked 25 years since Detective John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut of the Capitol Police were killed in the line of duty while defending the Capitol Building. It was a dark day in the history of the Capitol, and it would have been even darker if not for the heroics of Detective Gibson and Officer Chestnut. In the face of grave danger, they acted with extreme valor and courage, undoubtedly saving the lives of many others in the building that day. We are grateful for their sacrifice 25 years ago and grateful for the work the Capitol Police do every day to keep the Capitol Complex and those who work here safe. And we pray that their families have some degree of peace, even though they have huge holes in their heart with these terrible losses. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), is necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin) is necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam 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 ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume the consideration of Calendar No. 119, S. 2226; further, that at 12:15 p.m., the Senate vote on the Warnock amendment No. 199, as under the previous order; that the Senate recess following the vote on the Warnock amendment until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; and finally, that the Senate recess from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. to allow for the all-Senators briefing.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 305, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 1096, which was received from the House and is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today, the Senate will continue the bipartisan process of passing our annual Defense authorization bill, the NDAA. We had a productive afternoon yesterday. We held votes on four amendments, from both Democrats and Republicans. We affirmed our unflinching commitment to our NATO allies by defeating an amendment that sought to undermine our support for the transatlantic relationship. Eighty-three Senators united to defeat this amendment, and I thank every single one of them for standing firm. It is a majority of both parties. In another win for NATO, we also adopted Senator Kaine's amendment stating that no President can unilaterally take us out of NATO without Senate approval. Adopting Kaine's amendment was an unmistakable message to both our friends and foes that America's commitment to NATO will not waiver. The political winds may shift, but America's bonds to NATO will remain unbent. That is what passing the annual defense bill should look like: both sides proposing and debating amendments, both sides having input, both sides working in good faith to get this bill passed as soon as we can. We will keep working today. After voting on the Cruz-Manchin- Fetterman amendment this morning, I hope we can agree to additional votes. We will keep negotiating on additional reasonable amendments that we can bring to the floor, so we can keep this process going. Nobody thinks this kind of bipartisanship is easy, and both sides have honest disagreements, as we do on so many issues. But that should not prevent us from fulfilling our obligation to take care of our servicemembers, take care of our DOD workforce, and provide for our common defense, so necessary these days. There is every reason in the world to get this bill done as soon as we can. As I have said all week, the NDAA is full of provisions that both sides can celebrate--provisions that seem incremental on their own but together provide a strong foundation for the security of this Nation. We will make important progress to outcompete the Chinese Government. We will pass the first pieces of legislation this year related to AI oversight. We will strengthen our ties to Taiwan, increase our influence in the Indo-Pacific, make progress on the vital AUKUS partnership, and increase the administration's power to sanction and punish international fentanyl traffickers. I mentioned this before, but I cannot emphasize it enough. This fentanyl bill is a major, major help in stopping the scourge of fentanyl from coming into this country. Members on both sides of the aisle should celebrate that in a bipartisan way. Under the leadership of Senator Brown and Senator Tim Scott, we were able to get this done. All of these agreements are the result of both sides working together, each one a good reason to keep going until the job was done. Both sides will continue working today and into next week until we pass the NDAA. We are making good progress, but, of course, we still have more to do.

Mr. SCHUMER

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