Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, it has been a long, tough, and winding road, but at last--at last--we have arrived. I know it has been a long day and a long night, but we have gotten it done. Today, after more than a year of hard work, the Senate is making history. I am confident the Inflation Reduction Act will endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st century. Our bill reduces inflation, lowers costs, creates millions of good- paying jobs, and is the boldest climate package in U.S. history. This bill will kick start the era of affordable clean energy in America. It is a game changer. It is a turning point, and it has been a long time in coming. To Americans who have lost faith that Congress can do big things, this bill is for you. To seniors who face the indignity of rationing medications or skipping them altogether, this bill is for you. And to the tens of millions of young Americans who have spent years marching, rallying, demanding that Congress act on climate change, this bill is for you. The time has come to pass this historic bill.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have got to compose myself a little here. Every Senator knows an undeniable truth: We can never do what we do without our amazing, incredible staff. They work behind the scenes; they never fall under the spotlight. But they do incredible work, nonetheless. Now that we finished passing the Inflation Reduction Act, I want to applaud all of the staffers--we already applauded them, but that is good--who made this possible. The hundreds of staffers who served in Senate offices across the various committees. I want to thank every single one of them for their remarkable work in passing the Inflation Reduction Act. I will submit their names into the Record to honor their achievements and preserve forever the role they played in bringing this bill to life. And I ask unanimous consent to have the names of all of the committee staff who contributed printed in the Record.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, to the floor staff, particularly the Parliamentarian, who worked so hard under not easy conditions. And especially because we had to do so much in such a short period of time, we thank you so. The clerks, the doorkeepers, the reporters--thank you. Thank you to the pages who worked over time to help us in this historic endeavor. You will tell your grandchildren you were here. You were here. Thank you to the cafeteria workers, custodial staff, and Capitol Police. The Senate can't function without all of you. And I thank the Office of Legislative Counsel, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Congressional Budget Office. And, of course, I cannot forget my own staff--the best staff ever on Capitol Hill--and my Members know it. The Members know how good my staff is. I am so dedicated to them, the best in the business. Of course, every Senator thinks their staff is the best on Capitol Hill; but in my case, it happens to be true. To Mike Lynch, who has been with me all these years and is so strong and steadfast and steady; to his deputy chief and my deputy chief Erin Sager Vaughn, another person who has been here a very long time and is just amazing. We praise her for her EQ, among other talents. She told me that. To Martin Brennan, another like Mike Lynch--Mike Lynch and Martin Brennan have been with me just about since I started to be a Senator, and they are just such rocks in our office--incredible. Probably the team of husband and wife who have done more to save the Earth this year than just about anybody else is Gerry Petrella and Meghan Taira. They met and got married on my staff. They have a beautiful little boy, George. And when you have two people so important as policy director and legislative director and a little child at home, it is tough. But they managed to be great parents at the same time as being great and amazing staffers. And they are brilliant. They are just brilliant. My executive team is world class: Emily Sweda, Kellie Karney, Abby Kaluza, and Raisa Shah--who just left a few weeks ago; an amazing press team, Justin Goodman, Alex Nguyen--nicknamed ``Win,'' of course--Monica Lee, Alice Nam, Ken Meyer, Cyre Velez, Jasmine Harris, Jonathan Uriarte, Natalia Cardenas, and everyone on the digital team, the Senate Media Center who worked day and night, to record, edit, finalize photos, graphics and videos of every sort. They are a blessing. And I want to recognize my press staff up in New York. They are just incredible. Amazing. I am just so blessed: Angelo Roefaro, Ally Biasotti, Paige Tepke; my speechwriter, Tony Rivera; my rapid response director, Dan Yoken; the amazing team of researchers: Hanna Talley, Thaha Sherwani, Mikael Tessema. And to our talented press assistants, thank you so much: Gabriel Avalos, Gracie Kanigher, Riya Vashi, and Sidney Johnson. Two people who do an amazing job reaching out to the community: Cietta Kiandoli and Julietta Lopez--incredible. They talk to all the groups and make them feel part of what we are doing and they know what we are doing. It is so wonderful, the job they do. And a brilliant legislative team--brilliant. ``Brilliant'' is an overused word, but it is not overused in the case of my staff. The ideas they come up with, the way they manage to get everything done. It is amazing. So there is Adrian Deveny and Tim Ryder, Matt Fuentes, Dili--it is a hard, long last name. I always call him Dili. I'm glad it is just Dili. It is Sundaramoorthy. How did I--Where is he? Oh, he is not here to correct me. Good. Anna Taylor. Anna Taylor is so damn dedicated. She had a baby 2 days ago, and she is still on the phone talking. And I said: Anna, stop. No, no, no. She was so dedicated and put so much time into this that she kept working. And her little beautiful child, Posey. We heard her crying happily in the background as we were moving through all of this. Jon Cardinal--an amazing guy who worked so hard on this and on CHIP fab--Reggie Babin on counsel, Rob Hickman, Annie Daly, Ramon Carranza, Catalina Tam, Sam Rodarte, Jillian McGrath, Justine Revelle, Ryan Eagan, Didier Barjon, Grace Magaletta, Bre Sonnier-Thompson, Vandan Patel, Leela Najafi, Leeann Sinpatanaskul, Jeff Dickson, Mike Kuiken, Lane Bodian, Reza Zomorrodian, Yazeed Abdelhaq, Beth Vrabel, Kai Vogel, Josh Gutmaker, and Gunnar Haberl. And the floor staff--you know, there are certain people you say: We couldn't have done it without you, and a bunch of the names I have mentioned fall in the ``couldn't have done it without you'' category. But we all know that just the wisdom and the knowledge and the history that is in his bones and brain just make him indispensable, and that is Gary Myrick. Is he here? He is very modest. So I am going to make him mad. We should all applaud him. He hates it. (Cheers and applause.) And, of course, Tricia Engle, his great deputy, and the wonderful team on the floor and in the cloakroom: Stephanie Paone, Rachel Jackson, Nate Oursler, Daniel Tinsley, Brad Watt, Jacky Usyk, Maalik Simmons, and Miriam Wheatley. And, of course, my tech and IT team, what a great bunch. And for someone who is not very tech-oriented, his team is indispensable, too: Scott Rodman, Hemen Mehta, Jon Housley, and Amy Mannering. And more staffers who work here every day in Washington--and we didn't name a lot of my staff in New York. I will just throw in the name of Steve Mann, who has been our deputy director since I started in the Senate and does a wonderful job. They all do, but I just wanted to mention him. And we commiserate with Mike Lynch over the Yankees, who are losing a lot of games these days. Today, as I conclude, I ask unanimous consent to have the names of my entire staff printed in the Record.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I want them to know how much I appreciate their work, how great a difference they have made. This bill is going to change America for decades, and you did it. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you should never forget how much you have helped make the world and the globe a better place--never forget it. So, to every single staffer on my team, to staffers in other offices, committees here on the floor: Thank you, thank you, thank you, very, very much. I yield the floor because Mr. Padilla has some important words about a New Yorker.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

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 mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, August 7, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nomination: Carrin F. Patman, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iceland; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; and that the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the upcoming adjournment of the Senate, the President of the Senate, the President pro tempore, and the majority and minority leaders be authorized to make appointments to commissions, committees, boards, conferences, or interparliamentary conferences authorized by law, by concurrent action of the two Houses, or by order of the Senate.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Tuesday, August 9, at 9 a.m.; Friday, August 12, at 9 a.m.; Tuesday, August 16, at 8 a.m.; Friday, August 19, at 2:30 p.m.; Tuesday, August 23, at 10:30 a.m.; Friday, August 26, at 10 a.m.; Tuesday, August 30, at 10 a.m.; Friday, September 2, at 9 a.m. I further ask that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, September 2, it next convene at 3 p.m., Tuesday, September 6; 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 upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the Lee nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the senior Senator from Maryland, Mr. Cardin, be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from August 8, 2022, through September 6, 2022.

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 provisions of S. Res. 748.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today the Senate will continue fulfilling its constitutional duty to confirm the President's highly qualified judicial nominees. This afternoon, we will vote to confirm the 76th Federal judge since the beginning of President Biden's term, Roopali Desai, nominated to serve as a circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit. Not long ago, a nominee like Ms. Desai would have been rarely seen in the Senate. But under President Biden, the Senate is confirming more and more nominees who break away from that norm. Over 75 percent of President Biden's nominees are women and nearly half are women are color. Let's not forget the bench. People say: Why shouldn't it be the same percentage of the population? That is what we are trying to get to, but we are way behind and putting more women and people of color on the bench gets those percentages a little closer to the American norm, but we have a ways to go. Moreover, Ms. Desai will make history as the first South Asian judge to serve on the Ninth Circuit and only the fifth AAPI woman ever to sit on the Federal Circuit Court. Ms. Desai's resume leaves no doubt she merits confirmation: a graduate of Arizona School of Law; a clerk for Judge Mary Schroeder, the first woman to ever serve as a Ninth Circuit chief judge. She has excelled in every step of her legal career. She is one of Arizona's top election lawyers, having played a crucial role in protecting her State's elections in 2020. She has fought for everyone from children in foster care to children in public schools during the pandemic. As my Arizona colleagues Senator Sinema and Senator Kelly will attest to, Ms. Desai is deeply respected by all corners of Arizona's legal community and will make an excellent judge when we confirm her later today. Senate Accomplishments Mr. President, Senate Democrats are getting things done. This has been one of the most productive stretches the Senate has seen in recent times. In the past few months, we have seen an amazing string of achievements passed through this Chamber in extremely fast succession: the first major gun safety bill in 30 years, the largest investment in American manufacturing and science in a generation, the largest expanse of veterans' benefits in decades. And just last night, we strengthened NATO by approving the accession of Sweden and Finland, sending Russia a signal that they cannot intimidate America or Europe. Gun safety, CHIPS, PACT, NATO--getting any one of these accomplishments done is a significant feat for the Senate. The fact is, we have done them all since Memorial Day, and that is quite remarkable. This doesn't even include a once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill, a historic rescue package to vaccinate the Nation and lift America out of the pandemic, and the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. I always said that when the opportunity arises, Democrats would be ready to work with our Republican colleagues on important legislation, and many of the accomplishments I have listed are examples of just that. But when we must, Democrats have also made clear we are ready to go at it alone to deliver big things that the American people sent us here to work on, like fighting inflation and lowering healthcare and prescription drug costs; like holding drug companies accountable and making Big Business play by the rules, the same rules as everyone else; like passing historic investments in clean energy to create millions of good-paying jobs and make energy more affordable for American families. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Mr. President, Democrats are going to deliver on all these things and more when we pass the Inflation Reduction Act in coming days. Let me talk a little bit about the Inflation Reduction Act. Soon the Senate will vote on this groundbreaking legislation. I expect we will have some late nights and extended debates here on the floor. But in the end, we are going to make good on our word to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. For years, many in Washington have promised to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our Nation only to fall short. But with the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Democrats will finally hold drug companies accountable and make prescription drugs cheaper. Senate Democrats will lower energy costs while passing the largest investment in clean energy ever. Our clean energy proposals will reduce air pollution, prevent thousands of needless deaths each year, and reduce asthma attacks by about 100,000 per year. We have all seen kids, often in poor neighborhoods, struggling with asthma because they have so much pollution put in their areas by transportation and factories and whatever. Reducing that by 100,000 a year is amazing. Senate Democrats will also close tax loopholes and reduce the deficits and will ensure that no small business or family under $400,000 a year will see their taxes go up. Leader McConnell, himself, conceded yesterday that our proposal ``includes no new tax rate increases, that's true.'' Those are McConnell's words: ``includes no new tax rate increases, that's true.'' Let me repeat that again. Leader McConnell concedes that now the Inflation Reduction Act includes no new tax rate increases. The American people overwhelmingly support these steps. A recent poll by the well-respected Navigator shows 65 percent of Americans approve of our plan to reduce drug prices, keep premiums low, and invest in clean energy. A Morning Consult poll found that over 70 percent of Americans--over 70 percent--support letting Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices, which our plan will do. Another group, Data for Progress, found the Inflation Reduction Act has a net approval of 51 points--51 points--wow. It is not hard to understand why Americans feel this way. Democrats' agenda prioritizes them. We prioritize the middle class and working families instead of those at the very top. God bless them; they are doing fine. But when Senate Republicans had the majority, they tried to rip healthcare away from millions of Americans and blew a $2 trillion hole in our deficit in order to soak the ultrarich with massive tax cuts. Just this week, one Republican called for ending the days that Medicare and Social Security are guaranteed by turning them into discretionary spending. Do you know what that means when we make things discretionary? Do we want to tell our senior citizens that your Social Security, which you paid into, was discretionary? That is what Senator Johnson from Wisconsin wants to do. That is so wrong. But, unfortunately, it represents a lot of the views of lots of Republicans who don't want to say it publicly because they know it is so unpopular. Back in February--listen to this one--the chair of the Republican Senate Campaign Arm, the junior Senator from Florida, released a platform for raising taxes not on the wealthy but on millions of low- income Americans. You can't make this stuff up. They want to make your Social Security discretionary but then want to raise your taxes. What kind of bull is that? Just listen to this tsunami of disastrous proposals: taking away people's healthcare, tax cuts for the rich, putting Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block, raising taxes on working Americans. These are just some of the things that Senate Republicans have openly called for recently. Democrats' agenda is something entirely different. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower inflation, lower the cost of prescription drugs, close loopholes long exploited by Big Business that pays no or little taxes. That is what the Inflation Reduction Act is at its core. It is what the American people want; it is what the country so desperately needs; and it is what Democrats will deliver on in the coming days. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Committee on Environment and Public Works being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Committee on Environment and Public Works from further consideration of the nomination of David Uhlmann, to be Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Environmental Protection Agency.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on the motion to discharge the Uhlmann nomination occur at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 6.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

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 Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 3606 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

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

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 4458 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

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