Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 23.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, June 12, be waived.

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. 25.

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 executive session to consider Calendar No. 41.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, June 8, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, as everyone knows, this week, the United States has suffered through some of the worst wildfire air pollution in the entire history of our country. North of the border, over 400 wildfires continue blazing across Quebec and many parts of Eastern Canada, and winds are sending smoke and toxic air across the border and into our cities, into our communities, into our lungs. To walk through New York City yesterday was to walk on another planet. The orange fog of wildfire smoke left our city unrecognizable. Sadly, New York City had the worst air quality of any major city in the world yesterday, even more than such cities as Delhi or Jakarta, which always rate at the top for the worst air quality. And even as New York City had the worst air quality, the pollution was even worse for Upstate New York. From Bayside to Brooklyn, from Buffalo to Binghamton, my home State looked like the scene of a scary movie. Across the Northeast, schools canceled outdoor activities and afterschool programs. The Yankees, the Phillies, and the New York Liberty all postponed their games. People as far west as Indianapolis and as far south as South Carolina have been impacted. I urge all people here in Washington and across the United States to listen to local health officials and take every precaution to stay safe. The climate crisis is real, and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short term and long term. In the short term, this morning, I am calling on Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of Forest Service personnel deployed to fight these fires in Canada. I am calling on the Secretary of Agriculture to double the number of personnel to mitigate the risk in the air for millions of Americans. I am sending a letter to him, asking him to double the Forest Service personnel. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this letter be printed in the Record.

Mr. SCHUMER. These unprecedented wildfires are a crisis for both Canada and the United States, so both nations must respond speedily and forcefully to contain the blazes. The best way to ensure the United States does not suffer another wave of wildfire air pollution is to contain these fires up in Canada as soon as possible. That is getting at the source, and that is what we need to do. It won't be easy, but the Federal Government--our Federal Government--must explore all options on the table to keep Americans safe. We must send personnel. We must send equipment. We must offer any assistance that our friends north of the border need. Over the last 2 years, the Senate passed billions in funding to mitigate and respond to wildfires. We did it when we passed the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act. The American Rescue Plan also provided huge sums to help schools improve their air filtration systems. Today, these investments are paying off. Many schools are safer and cleaner because of the legislation we passed, but there is much more to do. In the long term, there is little doubt that climate change has exacerbated both the depth and breadth of these fires in Canada. We cannot fully account for these fires without recognizing that climate change is making disasters like this far more common and far more destructive. Temperatures in May reached record levels in Canada, and warmer temperatures mean that forest fires often burn faster, burn hotter, burn bigger. We are seeing this play out in realtime. Canadian officials say their country is now on track for their worst season of wildfire destruction on record. What we consider freak accidents today could become the norm tomorrow, and the more we ignore our obligation to lower carbon emissions, the greater the risks of these disasters. That is why Democrats passed the largest package of clean energy investments in American history last year through the Inflation Reduction Act, but both parties have an obligation to do more, both to reduce our carbon emissions and make sure we all have the resources necessary to respond to natural disasters--so many of them caused or exacerbated by climate change. In the coming days, I will continue to reach out to the administration to ensure that we are doing everything we can to help contain the fires up north. That is the best thing we can do to keep American citizens across the country safe and healthy.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 157.

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. 171.

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, today our democracy held firm against voter discrimination. The Supreme Court has ruled that Alabama's Republican-drawn congressional districts discriminate against Black voters, violating the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn. This case is a message to every American who has struggled to cast a ballot or felt like their vote does not matter. Our democracy is worth fighting for. We can make change happen, and that is what the Voting Rights Act represents. But today's case also reminds us that Jim Crow and racial disenfranchisement live on to this day in ways both subtle and explicit. Discrimination at the ballot box is very real in today's day and age. Alabama State lawmakers intentionally tried to dilute the voices of Black voters through discriminatory districts. It is a good thing for democracy that the efforts of the Alabama lawmakers to disenfranchise Black voters have failed in this case. So, once again, the democracy held firm, but the struggle for equal representation, of course, continues. We must fight to make redistricting much fairer throughout the country. We must do more at the State level, and we must do more in Congress to pass legislation that will strengthen the Voting Rights Act and fight back against racial discrimination at the ballot box. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. 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 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 know of no further debate on the resolutions en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the preambles 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, this morning, our Nation's Capital and much of the Northeast, including almost the whole of my State of New York, woke up once again under a veil of smog. As we speak, wildfires of unnatural strength continue blazing in Canada, sending toxic air and smoke over the border and over American cities. Today, I am sad to say, New York City, which usually has good air quality, has some of the lowest air quality in the world thanks to these wildfires, and the problem is even worse in Upstate New York. I urge every single American and Canadian impacted by the smog to take precautions to stay safe and to follow public safety guidelines in their communities. These Canadian wildfires are truly unprecedented, and we cannot ignore that climate change continues to make these disasters worse. Warmer temperatures and severe droughts mean forests burn faster, burn hotter, and burn bigger. And the warming is happening at a faster pace in countries with higher latitudes. None of this--none of this--is a coincidence. This smoke and fog over New York and the rest of the Northeast is a warning from nature that we have a lot of work to do to reverse the destruction of climate change. Every time we see a wildfire in Canada or in the West or a monstrous hurricane in the Southeast or a blizzard in Texas, it is a reminder that time is short to reverse the impacts of a warming planet. Democrats are proud of the progress we have made to accelerate America's transition to clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act, but both parties--both parties--have an obligation to do more. The work to protect our climate is far from over, and we are dangerously behind. Again, I am proud of the historic work Democrats did last year to move us in the right direction, but I implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to look up at the smog today and recognize we must-- we must--do more. At the top of the list is a good transmission bill, which will greatly enhance our Nation's ability to bring clean energy, like wind and solar, to large population centers and reduce the carbon that is thrown into the atmosphere.