Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, almost 20 years to the day since the start of the Iraq war, the U.S. Senate is beginning the bipartisan process of repealing the Iraq AUMF of 2002. Repealing this AUMF is a necessary step toward putting the final remnants of the Iraq war squarely behind us. Every year we leave this AUMF on the books is another year a future administration can abuse it. Congress, the rightful dispenser of war powers, cannot allow this to continue. Repealing the AUMF and the AUMF of 1991, as well, will not hinder our national defense, nor will it hurt the efforts of our troops deployed overseas. Americans are tired of endless wars in the Middle East. I hope this year, on the 20th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, both parties in both Chambers will speak with one voice. And I want to certainly thank Senators Kaine and Young, as well as our chair and ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, who have done such a good job on this issue, bringing it to where we are today. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 110, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that 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. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 111, which is at the desk.

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. I ask unanimous consent that 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 112, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning, I sent a letter to the National Transportation Safety Board Chair, Jennifer Homendy, urging her to expand NTSB's investigation of Norfolk Southern into a comprehensive review of all seven class I freight railroad companies' safety practices. Though the NTSB is currently investigating the toxic derailment in East Palestine and Norfolk Southern's questionable safety culture, I want to make something very clear: Norfolk Southern isn't the only rail company that has spent years lobbying to loosen regulations, neglect safety upgrades, and lay off workers. Norfolk Southern is just one example of a dangerous, industry-wide trend within the rail industry that puts profits over people's safety. In the last 5 years alone, there have been over 26,500 accidents and incidents in the rail industry, but instead of prioritizing safety, the industry cut over 30,000 employees from the workforce--roughly 20 percent. We need the NTSB to expand its investigation because the current data can only tell part of the story. The data tells us how many accidents have occurred, but we want to know if they occurred in populated areas and how many gallons of oil were spilled or which toxic chemicals were released. We also need to know which of these accidents occurred because the tracks were severely degraded or poorly designed. We also want to know which negligent company policies contributed to the 2,700 deaths in recent years and if any of those could have been prevented. These are just some of the questions that my letter asks--ones that can only be answered by a complete, comprehensive, and rigorous investigation of the rail freight industry. I hope NTSB expands its investigation to include the safety practices and culture of all class I freight railroads. It is a necessary step to assure Americans that freight rail safety will improve. In the meantime, I again commend my colleagues Senators Brown and Vance of Ohio and Fetterman and Casey of Pennsylvania for introducing bipartisan legislation to improve rail safety and provide a check on the railroad industry. I will continue working with them to move it forward.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks prior to the scheduled recess.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. My remarks are very simple. The United States-India relationship is extremely important, and it is a very good thing that we now have an Ambassador. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the confirmation vote on the Taylor-Kale nomination be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; further, that the cloture motions filed during yesterday's session ripen at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 16; that following the cloture vote on the Clarke nomination and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate resume legislative session and vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 25, S. 316; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Clarke nomination, at 1:30 p.m., the Senate resume legislative session, all postcloture debate time be considered expired, and the Senate vote on the confirmation of the nomination; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Thursday'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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 110 until 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 16; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, 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 Clarke nomination, as provided under the previous order.

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, following the remarks of Senator Wicker.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, March 14, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER. I have just filed a cloture motion that would finally restore to Congress the power to declare war. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, earlier today, two Russian military aircraft conducted an unsafe intercept with an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea. This intercept was so dangerous and so brazen that the U.S. Air Force was forced to crash their drone into international waters. It is another reckless act by President Putin and his military, and I want to tell Mr. Putin: Stop this behavior before you are the cause of an unintended escalation. We have seen this behavior from the Russian military before, and it will not deter the United States from conducting operations over the Black Sea. These aggressive actions by Russian aircraft are risky and could lead--I repeat--to unintended escalation. The United States has routinely flown over the Black Sea since before Putin's illegal and reckless invasion of Ukraine, and I am confident our military will continue to do so.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 27.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 25, S. 316.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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