Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 60-vote threshold be vitiated with respect to this amendment.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays. Vote on Amendment No. 6617

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we are about to have a vote on final passage. Senator Leahy will speak for no more than 2 minutes; Senator Shelby, for no more than 2; I will speak for less than a minute. Members should be advised, there may, may not, be a vote on three military appointees after final passage. It will need unanimous consent to get it done. Right? Some people are trying to do it. We will see what happens. It is not me doing it. Let's go to the statements now. Senator Leahy. Amendments Withdrawn

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this is one of the most significant appropriations packages we have done in a very long time. The range of people it helps is large and deep. After a lot of hard work and compromise, the Senate is funding the government with an aggressive investment in American families, workers, and national defense. Here is who it helps: working families, parents who can't afford childcare, pregnant workers, students, and so much more. It is one of the most significant packages for women across America, including protections for pregnant workers, part of the Momnibus and new moms who will now get 1 year of postpartum care. And it is fitting we are ending the 117th Congress by protecting our democracy through reforming the Electoral Count Act. I want to thank the great staff of the Appropriations Committee: Chuck Kieffer and Chanda Betourney. I want to thank all of those who worked so hard and the members of the committee. And I think it is only appropriate to conclude with a round of applause for our two great leaders, Senators Leahy and Shelby, who have done a great job through the years on the Appropriations Committee. (Applause, Senators rising.) Vote on Motion to Concur

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays. This will be, by the way--we couldn't work out that military thing-- this will be the last rollcall vote. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to one and all.

Mr. SCHUMER

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Well, Madam President, as you know, there are a lot of good things that occur at the end of the year. We have our holidays-- our Christmas and Hanukkah holidays--with our families. We passed a lot of good legislation, and that is a job well done. A feeling of pride swells in all of our hearts that we were able to help so many American people in so many different ways and make our country and our world a better place. But it is also a moment of sadness in a certain sense for those of us who some of our great staff members are leaving. I have a few, and I would like to talk about two today, two of the top people. I am blessed. I have a great staff. I know how good you all think they are, our Senators, because you are always talking to my staff, and that shows the respect that they have for them and the respect I have for them as well. One of the nice things about my staff is they are with me for many, many years. In fact, Mike Lynch, my chief in New York and Washington, who I think is the best chief for a leader that anyone has ever had, and Martin Brennan, my chief in Washington, have been with me virtually since I began in the Senate 24 years ago. So people stay awhile. And these two have. I am going to miss them dearly. First, let me begin with my Director of Economic Policy, Anna Taylor. How did I meet Anna Taylor? Blanche Lambert Lincoln, a Senator from Arkansas, had just lost her race. She came into my office, and we hugged and cried a little bit because she was such a great person and we knew we would miss her in the Senate. But she said: I want to give you a gift. And she said: Anna Taylor. Anna Taylor--that is how they would say her name. They are from northeast Arkansas. They call it the rice country. That means rice. And she has been the best tax staffer--trade, economic policy--on the Hill. Every Senator on our side of the aisle and many on other sides of the aisle, when they have problems on tax policy, the watchword is: Go to Anna. I don't know. Are they here? Are they--no. Well, I hope they are listening. Anyway: Go to Anna. She knows it better than anyone. And she is brilliant. She is hardworking. She takes the most complex problems and figures out how to solve them in a substantive way but in a way that could be acceptable politically to a broad and diverse Senate. And she just knows it all. When there are these complicated economic issues that need explaining, she explains them in a way that is totally accurate and deep but also makes us able to understand them. And, of course, she knows she is number 38 on my speed dial on my well-known famous--or infamous, whatever way you look at it--flip phone. She takes my calls from about 6 in the morning until about midnight because I so depend on her. She is also such a decent person. She is amazing. She is kind. She is nice. She is caring. And she is so dedicated. Let me tell you, during the IRA, one of the most important pieces of legislation passed in decades--and she, more than anyone else, had written the tax parts of it, trying to take the diverse views of everybody--she was having her baby, her first baby. She got married while she was working on our staff. And she had little Posey. What a nice name. She kept working. I said: Anna, don't come here. Don't get on the phone. You just became a new momma. But, no, there she was being a great momma as well as somebody helping get us past this historic legislation. So now Anna is moving on. It will be a little less frenetic life and a life where she can enjoy Posey and her husband. And all of us--not just Chuck Schumer, not just all of my wonderful staff, but the whole Senate--she leaves a huge hole, a huge cavity of knowledge, of dedication, of reliance. We will miss you, Anna, but you deserve the best. And you will always, always, always be a member of the Schumer family. And she is not the only one who is leaving. Another great one is leaving too--my chief counsel--and that is Reggie Babin. He, too, is from the South. This kid from southern Brooklyn is hiring a lot of southern Americans--not southern Americans--people from the South of the United States. Reggie is from Louisiana. He still loves LSU and many other Louisiana-type things. And he is my departing chief counsel. When I became leader--then minority leader--I needed a really good counsel. The minute I interviewed Reggie, who had worked on the House side for Cedric Richmond and in the Black Caucus, I said: Whoa, this guy has got it all. We have got to hire him. And sure enough, my faith in that initial meeting was totally vindicated. Reggie is deep. He is a thinker. And when you have a problem, he has always turned it over six different ways with many different sides of the prism. He sees them all. And he is careful, and he is thoughtful. I am sort of a ``yes'' person. I like to get everything done. He is a little bit more of a ``no'' person and has stopped me from doing things that I am glad I never did. And he is just amazing. And he has had such dedication in so many pieces of legislation that we have passed. And probably at the top of the list is judges. As Senator Durbin, the chairman of Judiciary knows, we have appointed so many good people on the bench. And Dick and his committee did a great job, but so did Reggie Babin--who worked with the White House, who worked with the Judiciary Committee, who worked with everybody. And we have a record number of judges, and I would say it is the finest cohort of judges that has ever come before the Senate in 2 years. And it is in good part because of Reggie. There are a couple of things that he didn't get done--his goal to help us decriminalize marijuana, one of his passions because he had seen how badly it had hurt communities throughout the country. We came close, but we didn't make it. But, Reggie, a pledge to you. We are going to continue your work and your legacy next year. You have built a great bipartisan coalition, and I believe we can get it done. So, Reggie, just like Anna, we will miss you. You have left your mark on this institution, both Anna and Reggie. They have both left their mark on our country. There are millions of Americans right now whose lives are better because Reggie Babin and Anna Taylor trod the Halls of Congress and did great work for all of us. So I want to thank them for their sacrifice. I want to thank them for their good will. I want to thank them for their friendship. We got to know each other on a personal basis. And I want to say to both: You are always members of the Schumer family. We will always be in touch. We miss you, wish you Godspeed, and know you will continue to have great success with your families and in making the world a better place. We have a little housekeeping business, the last bit of the season, of 2022, a great year for us. Not the last bit. OK. Not the last today, but we don't have to do anything tomorrow. OK. Good.

Mr. SCHUMER. Pro forma. Excellent. All right.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 52, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. I know of no further debate.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 785.

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.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 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 the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 663, S. 4321.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn; that the Sullivan substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 548, S. 3046.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to refer H.R. 2617 to the Committee on Appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask consent that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have an amendment to the instructions at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask consent that further reading of the amendment be dispensed with.