Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now on nominations, today, we will confirm two more district judges: Tiffany Cartwright to serve in the Western District of Washington and Myong Joun to serve in the District of Massachusetts. We will also move forward on two executive nominations: Kalpana Kotagal to be a member of the EEOC, and David Uhlmann to be an Assistant Administrator of the EPA. Ms. Kotagal is exceptionally qualified to serve on the EEOC, and, if confirmed, she will shift the balance of the Commission. So it is going to be a busy day here on the Senate floor with several votes on nominees, and I thank my colleagues for their cooperation. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on forum shopping in the judiciary, our Federal judiciary is built on the trust and confidence of the American people, but right now, sadly, Americans' faith in the judicial system is at an alltime low thanks to the hijacking of our courts by the MAGA hard right and the unfair practice known as forum shopping. Forum shopping essentially allows litigants in certain cases to handpick judges sympathetic to their cause. At its core, forum shopping undermines the spirit of a fair and balanced judiciary. That is why earlier this week I sent a letter to 18 of my Democratic colleagues and to the chair of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, calling on the Judicial Conference to consider reforms that would put an end to forum shopping. If Americans want to see a clear example of why forum shopping is a serious problem, consider the Northern District of Texas. In that district, civil cases are often assigned to a single judge, if not one of just a few. And it so happens, one of those judges is infamous--infamous--for his well-documented opposition to freedom of choice. Do you know who knew that? The MAGA Republicans. So when MAGA Republicans sought to strip away access to FDA-approved abortion medication, widely available for decades, they intentionally targeted the Northern District of Texas, where only one judge sat. They knew which judge they would get. To those who don't follow judiciary procedure, in most districts there are a bunch of judges. They put the case on wheel, and they spin the wheel around, and whomever the arrow lands on gets the case. You can't pick your judge. But in this case, you can pick your judge, and in this case, it is an extreme MAGA judge, who we know has views that are so, so deeply held that no unbiassed bystander can think a fair trial will be held. And, lo and behold, of course, that judge sided with the anti-choice extremists, marking the first time ever that a judge has ordered a drug to be taken off the market nationwide. It doesn't just affect Amarillo and northern Texas. It affects the whole country. This isn't equal justice. This isn't a fair or impartial application of the rule of law. This is extremists using forum shopping to pull a fast one on the vast majority of Americans who opposed this ruling. And, of course, women's freedom of choice isn't the only issue at stake. When extremists can manipulate our judiciary to get judges of their preference, it endangers everything from healthcare to immigration reform, to commonsense gun safety, to voting rights. Forum shopping is a serious problem that will only worsen Americans' crisis of faith in the judiciary. The letter Democrats sent offers a path for sensible, good-faith reforms that will preserve an independent Federal judiciary, while letting in much needed fresh air into America's halls of justice.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 119, S. 2226.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding rule XXII, all time on the Joun nomination be considered expired; that the confirmation vote on the Joun nomination occur at 4 p.m.; that the cloture motions on the Kotagal, Uhlmann, and Bloomekatz nominations ripen upon disposition of the Joun nomination; and that the order with respect to the postcloture time on the Kotagal nomination be vitiated.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Kotagal nomination.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, if cloture is invoked on the Kotagal nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 13; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Uhlmann nomination, all postcloture time be considered expired and the vote on the confirmation be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; further, that following the cloture vote on the Uhlmann nomination, 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; further, that at 1:45 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Bloomekatz nomination.

Mr. SCHUMER. For the information of the Senate, the 4 p.m. votes will be the last votes of the day.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President and Madam Vice President, I want to note that this is a history-making moment for the United States Senate. Today, Vice President Kamala Harris matches the record for the most tie-breaking votes ever passed in the United States by a Vice President. The Constitution says that ``the Vice President Of The United States shall be the President of the Senate,'' and with that comes the immense burden of casting votes whenever this Chamber is evenly split. When it has mattered most, Vice President Harris has provided the decisive vote on some of the most historic bills of modern times, from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, to so many Federal judges who now preside and provide balance on the Federal bench. She has carried out her duties with supreme excellence, and today, all of us--all of us--thank her for making the work of the Senate possible. We also thank Vice President Harris for doing all this work despite all the other demands she faces as the Nation's Vice President, from leading the charge on protecting freedom of choice to speaking out on criminal justice reform and gun safety, to pushing for climate justice. Our Nation is stronger, fairer, and more prosperous because of the work of the Vice President. So, Madam Vice President, on this historic day, thank you. Thank you for your leadership and your service to this institution and to the United States of America. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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 announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Hickenlooper), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for Congress to work on artificial intelligence is to enter unchartered territory. AI is not like other issues Congress deals with. It is not like appropriations or healthcare or defense, where we have decades of experience to lean on; quite the contrary, from a legislative view, we are starting very close to step 1 when it comes to AI. So today, the Senate is taking the next step in our effort to learn about AI so we can be ready to act. Later this afternoon, we will hold the first-ever classified all-Senate briefing on national security implications of AI. It will be our second all-Senate briefing on this issue. Close to 70 Senators attended the last one, and I hope we will get similar attendance today. We will be briefed by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, and other top experts in AI from our defense and our intelligence Agencies. Today's classified briefing is crucial because, of all the issues AI would impact, national security may well be the most consequential. In the hands of autocrats or foreign adversaries or domestic rogue actors interested in political chaos or financial gain, the dangers of AI could be extreme. But AI could also become one of our greatest tools for keeping Americans safe, for predicting and intercepting attacks on the homeland and for adding unprecedented sophistication to our cyber security and for protecting our elections. So we have a responsibility--a real responsibility--to educate ourselves on these matters. Finally, these briefings are just part of the larger effort to learn more about AI and prepare the Senate to take action. Last month, I laid out my SAFE Innovation Framework for AI, a way for Congress to balance the urgent need to promote American innovation in AI, while making sure it is done in a safe and responsible way. Last month, I also announced that this fall I will invite the top AI experts to come to Congress and convene a series of first-ever AI insight forums for a new and unique approach to developing legislation. There is a lot we still don't know about AI. We need outside help if we want to ensure congressional action is effective, responsible, and promotes innovation in a safe way. So these insight forums will bring the best of the best to Congress. Our jobs as legislators will be to listen and learn as much as we can so we can translate these ideas into action. And we are getting a very positive response from those we are asking to participate in the forums, top people in the field and in areas like intellectual property, like facial recognition that we need to look for guardrails. So the positive response we are getting means that we expect these inside forums to do just what they are intended to do: yield new insights on the issue. And today's briefing likewise represents an important step in our efforts to learn as much about AI as possible. I look forward to today's briefing. I want to thank Senator Rounds, Senator Heinrich, and Senator Young for their help in making them possible.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Maine (Mr. King), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Cartwright nomination be considered expired and the confirmation vote occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader following consultation with the Republican leader.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 284 and the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following resolutions: S. Res. 284, S. Res. 289, and S. Res. 290.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have five requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the 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. 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. Finally, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 12; 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 the Senate be in a period of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that at 11:30 a.m. the Senate proceed to executive session and vote on confirmation of the Cartwright nomination; that the cloture motions filed during yesterday's session ripen during the disposition of the Cartwright nomination; that if cloture is invoked on the Joun nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:30 p.m.; that if cloture is invoked on the Kotagal nomination, all time be considered expired at 5:30 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. SCHUMER. For the information of the Senate, Members should expect two votes at 11:30 a.m., two votes at 2:30 p.m., and two votes at 5:30 p.m.