Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

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

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to S. Res. 175, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, tomorrow, it will be a great honor of the House and Senate to welcome President Yoon of the Republic of Korea to the U.S. Capitol. Ahead of President Yoon's visit, Leader McConnell, Chair Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, and I wish to welcome him through a bipartisan resolution reaffirming the strong support that exists for the U.S.- Korean relationship. Seventy years of this partnership have made both our nations safer, more prosperous, and more intertwined than ever. Today, millions of Americans know and love Korean music, Korean cinema, Korean food, and Korean goods and products. K-pop now goes viral in our country, and for many Americans their favorite movies are not in English but in Korean. The Korean-American community embodies what the American dream has always been about: coming to our country and building something of yourself, building strong families who enrich our communities and make our Nation more prosperous. New York is proud to have one of the largest and most dynamic Korean communities anywhere in the country, and I have been proud to fight for them here in the Senate. They are a wonderful addition to New York, and the more Koreans there are in New York the better we are going to be. And make no mistake, the United States and the Republic of Korea need each other more than ever. As we continue to compete with China, the Republic of Korea is one of our closest partners. And as we confront a belligerent North Korea, we must work with the Republic of Korea for our mutual safety. I also want to applaud President Yoon for beginning the process to revitalize his nation's relationship with Japan. When we work together, we can make real strides to ensure security and prosperity in the Indo- Pacific. Again, I thank my colleagues for working with me on this resolution. We thank President Yoon for coming to the Capitol. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for months, the President has been clear that he will not allow the full faith and credit of the United States to be taken hostage. He has rejected brinksmanship, hostage-taking, and asked for what is the only way to solve this problem given where we are at right now, which is clean, clean, avoiding default--clean to avoid default. To avoid default, Democrats have asked Speaker McCarthy and Republicans to present a credible plan, but last week Republicans instead released an extremist, hard-right agenda, written in a backroom, in secret, to win support from the Freedom Caucus. The GOP's ``Default on America Act,'' as we call it, does not bring us any closer to avoiding a first-ever default. In fact, it only brings us dangerously closer to defaulting. The ``Default on America Act'' would mean fewer jobs, higher costs for the American people, and would leave policemen, first responders, Border Patrol, and our brave veterans all hanging out to dry. For those who worry about gun violence and crime and keeping our communities safe, the ``Default on America Act'' will wipe out nearly 30,000 law enforcement while also gutting critical resources to secure the border. Donald Trump told House Republicans to defund law enforcement, and so the ``Default on America Act,'' on cue, does just that. That is what the ``Default on America Act'' does. And not just that; it would eliminate over 142,000 new jobs, including 18,000 manufacturing jobs that have been created since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed. If you are a parent struggling to pay for childcare, the ``Default on America Act'' will eliminate more than 105,000 childcare slots across the country, making it harder for parents to find work, finish their education, or even provide for their families. If you know someone who struggled with addiction, this bill would also worsen the opioid epidemic by cutting critical HHS programs by over $10 billion in the next decade. That is the definition of cruelty. If you want to go to college, the Republican package will slash Pell grants for all students by $1,000 and even eliminate Pell grants entirely for tens of thousands of Americans. And for those who worry about gun violence and keeping our communities safe, the ``Default on America Act'' will wipe out nearly 30,000 law enforcement positions while gutting critical resources to secure the border. Again, Donald Trump told House Republicans to defund law enforcement, and the ``Default on America Act,'' on cue, does just that. Put plainly, the House Republicans are hell-bent on default one way or another--either a default on the debt or a default on everything else: on our future, our children, our promise to care for our kids and veterans and law enforcement and first responders. No matter what happens, Republicans are promising real pain for American families. And what happened just a few hours ago in the wee hours of the morning? Plainly, Speaker McCarthy capitulated even further to the hard right. Again, if anything, this revised bill is even more extreme, more radical--a more radical version of the ``Default on America Act.'' It brings us no closer to avoiding a default on the national debt. Let me be clear. Democrats cannot and will not allow the Republicans's ``DOA Act'' to ever become law. It is DOA, plain and simple. And if Republicans refuse to level with the public about the terrible things their ``Default on America Act'' will do to them, Democrats will do the work ourselves. We will let America know how bad this is because Republicans are intent on hiding it. They know how unpopular it would be. In the meantime, Speaker McCarthy needs to recognize that all the energy he is putting into passing the ``Default on America Act'' will be wasted effort. The Speaker should drop the brinksmanship, drop the hostage-taking, come to the table with Democrats, and pass a clean bill to avoid default. Given where the Republican proposal is, that is the only way to go. Time is running out.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, to just inform folks, in our arcane processes in the Senate, I have to switch my vote from yes to no--even though I am a strong yes--in order to be able to reconsider this vote. So I enter a motion to reconsider.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is regrettable that this bill, which so much helps our veterans, went down. Our veterans need it. It was supported by all of our veterans groups. It had bipartisan, unanimous support in committee, and I hope that some of our Members on the other side of the aisle who didn't vote for it will reconsider. Order of Procedure

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume legislative session; that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be discharged from further consideration of S.J. Res. 11; that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that at 4:20 p.m., the joint resolution be considered read the third time and the Senate vote on passage without any further intervening action or debate; and that, upon disposition of S.J. Res. 11, the Senate resume the motion to proceed to S.J. Res. 4, the Equal Rights Amendment.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

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. 122.

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. 121.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 123.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam 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 Leo Christopher Kelly and Rachel Powell, respectively, trials are expected to commence in early May, 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' counting of the Electoral College votes. The prosecution in the Kelly case has additionally requested Mr. Schwager's testimony regarding certain property destruction that occurred on January 6, 2021. 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. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 3, S.J. Res. 4.

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

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, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 22.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 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, April 25, be waived.