Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Ernst 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 1872 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, for the information of the Senate, at 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote today on the confirmation of the Cobb, Williams, and Giles nominations, in that order. I yield the floor.

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. 428, submitted earlier today.

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. I yield to the Senator from Arizona for an additional nomination.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar No. 429, Jeffry Lane Flake, of Arizona, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Turkey; Calendar No. 430, Tom Udall, of New Mexico, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to New Zealand, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Independent State of Samoa; and Calendar No. 459, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on Build Back Better, this week, Democrats are continuing to make important progress toward finalizing President Biden's Build Back Better plan, and we remain confident that a final deal is within reach. When Democrats first set out to pass historic legislation to boost our economy and invest in everyday Americans, we knew that the task wouldn't be easy. The challenges that our country faces are manifold and they are severe--from the hardship of raising a family to securing a good-paying job, to affording something as basic as healthcare and the cost of prescription drugs. Tackling these issues head-on was sure to be an immense challenge. Doing big things in Congress is always hard. But we didn't choose elected office just to pursue the easy things. We came here to do the hard things, the important things, the things that will impact Americans--working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, those struggling to get into the middle class and those struggling to stay there--that will impact those people for generations. That is what these negotiations have been about: doing the hard work to deliver something big for the American people. Nobody--nobody--is going to get everything they want, but we all know we need to keep our promise to the American people. We need to tackle the climate crisis head-on, and the programs we are trying to enact will empower us to meet the President's emission goals. We need to help working parents and give every child in America a chance to succeed in school and in life, and programs being discussed will help improve countless of lives. And we need, I believe, to strengthen vital services, like Medicare-- relied on by millions of Americans--and to make healthcare more affordable. I believe this is so important, and we are working to get it done. Democrats will continue fighting until we are able to pass this transformational legislation. The progress of last week illustrated how, if we stick together, work towards finding that legislative sweet spot, then we can succeed. That is worth a few hard days. In fact, it is worth many hard days. We have some more work to do, but we remain committed to forging ahead until we reward the trust the American people have placed in us. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Well, Mr. President, today is going to be a busy day on the floor of the Senate. Last week, I filed cloture on five of President Biden's nominees to serve as U.S. district judges, and today, we are going to begin working on these nominees. Even as Senate Democrats proceed on our agenda to help working and middle-class families and tackle the climate crisis, we will not relent on speedily filling the vacancies in our Federal judiciary with qualified, mainstream, and diverse jurists. Yesterday, we took a big step forward towards achieving that goal by confirming Myrna Perez to serve on the Second Circuit, one of the most important courts in the land, and the judges we will begin considering today continue that effort: more civil rights lawyers, more diverse candidates, more Federal defenders. To date, the Senate has now confirmed 13 nominees to serve on our district courts, with 20 overall lifetime appointments to the Federal bench. Many of these individuals are knocking down longstanding barriers to the halls of justice: the first Native American judge, the first Muslim-American district judge. And among all of the President's nominees to date, over half--over half--are women. We are proud of that. In a broader sense, President Biden's judicial nominees are also expanding and rewriting the rules of who merits consideration for the bench. Our Federal courts have long been presided over by former corporate lawyers and prosecutors and men. To be sure, many of these individuals have served admirably as judges, and I have been proud to support many of them over the years. But our Federal judges, more than ever--more than ever--are an essential component of our democracy, and they should better reflect the richness and diversity of our Nation-- not just demographic and cultural diversity, as important as that is, but professional diversity, too. We need more judges who know what it is like to defend people who normally can't afford attorneys. We need more judges who have fought for those who have faced discrimination in the workplace or because of the color of their skin. We need more judges who understand the economic hardship that so many people have and when they are forced to sign documents and other things that will hurt them economically. And we need judges who have been in the fight against these efforts-- stronger than they have ever been, unfortunately--to undermine our democracy. We need our Federal bench, in other words, to mirror our country as a whole. That is how we restore balance to the bench and strengthen people's trust in the Federal judiciary. So, as a Democratic majority, we are going to keep working this week to make sure these nominees are confirmed by this Chamber. I hope both sides can work in good faith to move the process along quickly and in a bipartisan fashion.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Wednesday, October 27; 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 to resume consideration of the Williams nomination; further, that at 11 a.m., the Senate vote on confirmation of the Nachmanoff and Nagala nominations, in the order listed, prior to the cloture vote on the Williams nomination; further, that at 2:15 p.m. the Senate vote on the motions to invoke cloture on the Olsen and Schroeder nominations, in the order listed; and that at 5:15 p.m. the Senate vote on motions to invoke cloture on the Dellinger and Prelogar nominations, in the order listed; further, notwithstanding rule XXII, that if cloture is invoked on any of the nominations during Wednesday's session, the confirmation votes be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHUMER. For the information of Senators, there will be three rollcall votes starting at 11, two rollcall votes at 2:15, and two rollcall votes at 5:15.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1899 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 347.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

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 executive session to consider Calendar No. 367.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 263.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, October 26; 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 to resume consideration of the Cobb nomination; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Cobb nomination, the Senate immediately vote on cloture on the Williams and Giles nominations, in the order listed; and that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Giles nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that at 2:30 p.m., the Senate vote on the motions to invoke cloture on the Nachmanoff and Nagala nominations, in the order listed; and that if cloture is invoked on any of the nominations during Tuesday's session, all postcloture time be considered expired and the confirmation votes be at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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 executive session to consider Calendar No. 363.

Mr. SCHUMER

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