Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, it may have taken all weekend, but the Senate is now finally on the precipice of passing major bipartisan infrastructure legislation. Last night, an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Senators voted to surmount the final few procedural hurdles and put the bill on a glidepath for passage tomorrow morning. The bill will represent a substantial downpayment toward the level of infrastructure investment our country needs, and for the first time, the Senate has come together around such a package in decades. I will have more to say about it before final passage. Budget Reconcilation Now, Mr. President, all summer, I have spoken about how the Senate would proceed along two tracks when it came to infrastructure: the bipartisan bill we will vote on tomorrow as well as the budget reconciliation bill that will allow Democrats to make historic investments in American jobs, American families, and efforts to reverse climate change. In order to achieve such an ambitious legislative effort, I laid out two clear goals for this summer work period: pass the bipartisan bill and a budget resolution to set up the second track of our process before we leave for August recess. Many folks called that two-track process unrealistic. Many others said it is unachievable on such a short timeline and in such a slow-moving Chamber. But we have managed to steer two trains at the same time. There have been some bumps. There have been some delays. But the Senate is on track to finish both tracks. Earlier this summer, I suggested the two-track strategy to President Biden and Speaker Pelosi. We all agreed it was the best way to move forward, and we are working in concert to make it happen. This morning, Senate Democrats unveiled our budget resolution with reconciliation instructions, which is the first step in unlocking the legislative process for a budget reconciliation bill later this year. Several Members--many Members--had a hand in crafting this package. We worked closely with our committee chairs, but I want to especially thank the chair of the Budget Committee, Senator Sanders. He kept his nose to the grindstone and led our caucus on the budget. He always kept the thoughts and needs of American workers and families at the top of his mind. As a result, the Democratic budget will be the most significant legislation for American families since the era of the New Deal and the Great Society. It is big, bold change--the kind of change America thirsts for. I want to thank other members of the Budget Committee, like Senator Warner, who worked closely with the White House and Chairman Sanders to develop a framework, and Senators Murray and Wyden and Stabenow and Whitehouse and Merkley and Kaine and Van Hollen and Lujan and Padilla, all of whom came together, even though each had different views on different issues, to produce this result, and a great result it is. I want American families to understand what this legislation will mean for them--four simple things to keep in mind. I am borrowing Senator Stabenow's chart for this. It will lower costs for Americans, it will cut taxes for American families, it will create millions of jobs while tackling the climate crisis, and it will be paid for by the wealthy paying their fair share. These are four goals. The American people support every one of them overwhelmingly. In all phases, we will concentrate on communities that have been too often neglected, including communities of color and Native Americans, by making education, childcare, healthcare, and housing more affordable. We can give tens of millions of families a leg up by making sure that we can get our children out of poverty, and I thank the Presiding Officer for his leadership on that issue. We can provide ladders to families who haven't had them before and help them climb into the middle class. Many of the policies we are proposing were in President Biden's American Jobs and Family Plan, but some go beyond, like expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits--something that was left out of Medicare at the beginning. It never should have been, and we can rectify it now. By cutting taxes for tens of millions of American families, we can expand opportunity and make it easier for parents to pass on a better life to their children and their grandchildren. By making further investments in infrastructure, we can create tens of thousands-- hundreds of thousands--of good-paying jobs. By finally tackling climate change, we can spare our country and our planet the most devastating effects of global warming. Just this morning, a major new report from climate scientists at the United Nations concluded that the nations of the world have only a small window to ``prevent the most harrowing future''--``prevent the most harrowing future''--in the words of the New York Times. Without immediate and bold action, we are staring down ever worsening floods and heat waves, droughts and sea level rise. The future of our planet looks bleak until we do something right now. The budget reconciliation bill will do more to combat climate change than any legislation ever--ever--in the history of the Senate. That is a promise. While my Republican colleagues regurgitate the same tired talking points about a Democratic spending spree, let me remind America that we plan to pay for this package by making the wealthy pay their fair share When our Republican friends held the majority in this Chamber, they chose to use the same process Democrats are using now--budget reconciliation--to give corporations and the wealthy a massive tax break. At a time of egregious income inequality, the former Republican majority rammed through a bill where 83 percent of the benefits went to the top 1 percent--83 percent of the benefits. I have nothing against the wealthy. God bless them--they are doing fine already--but it is time to cut taxes for American families, middle-class families, not multinational corporations. To make our Tax Code more progressive and more fair, that is what Democrats are going to do. Under this plan, there will be no tax increases on small business or American families making under $400,000. We are going to help small businesses create many, many, many jobs. We are going to give American families a fair shot. We are going to tell middle-class families we are going to make it easier for you to stay there with your increasing costs of things like childcare and school and college and so much else. We are going to tell poorer families we are going to make it easier for you to climb into the middle class with things like the child tax credit and better healthcare and so much more. We are going to confront the generational challenge of climate change head on. We are not flinching; we are not wincing; we are going right at it. As bad as COVID was this year, and it was horrible, 5 or 10 years from now--every year--climate change will make things worse and worse and worse, even worse than it was this year in COVID, because when climate changes, it is such an overwhelming force that, unless we do something now, we may not be able to stop it down the road. So, taking a step back, at its core, the Democratic budget is about restoring the middle class in the 21st century and giving more Americans the opportunity to get there. Unfortunately, the past 20 years in America have been a story of middle-class decline. We have all watched as globalization and technology transformed the way our economy works. Industrial manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas. A global financial crisis cost Americans their homes and their wealth. Giant conglomerates wiped out Main Street businesses from Arizona to Arkansas, from Michigan to Maine. The cost of raising a family--everything from childcare to college tuition--has become exorbitant, almost unaffordable, even for those solidly in the middle class. Now, after the worst pandemic in a hundred years, American families are just starting to climb out of the rubble and look toward the future. We want them to look toward that future with hope and with optimism, not with the sourness and anger that we have seen throughout the land--exacerbated, played upon by the previous President. What the future looks like, in large part, depends on what we do here now. These next few months are crucial for the future of our country, even for our democracy. What we need to do in Congress is to give our workers, our businesses, our families a chance to prosper in a rapidly changing world, a chance to have hope, a chance to restore that American dream, which simply says, if I work hard, I will be doing better 10 years from now than I am doing today, and my kids will be doing still better than me. When Americans lose that faith, lose that hope, that sunny American optimism that has been part of our character for centuries, bad things happen. Bad things happen to our democracy, to our relationships with one another, to just about everything. The social contract in America relies on the fundamental promise of economic opportunity, the chance, through hard work, to do better for yourself and then give your children and grandchildren a better life than you have. That is what America is all about. That is what we are trying to restore and revivify here. When that promise is broken, when that American dream is no longer shining brightly in the sky, when faith in economic opportunity evaporates, we are not the America we were meant to be. We are not optimistic and entrepreneurial and forward-looking. Instead, we are bitter and angry and backward-looking and, as a result, much more prone to the sway of demagogues like Donald Trump. The divisions in our country and our politics today have their roots in the decline of economic mobility. Now, the American people don't expect one piece of legislation to solve all our Nation's ills--no single law can do that--but we have to start in a bold, strong way rebuilding the basic social contract for middle-class American families and for everyone struggling to get there: a promise of equal opportunity and equality; helping middle- class Americans stay in the middle class; building ladders to help others climb into that middle class. At its core, that is what this budget is all about, and we are going to take the first steps toward passing it very, very soon. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that 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. I know of no further debate on the resolution.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 348, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that 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. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Monday, August 9--that is tomorrow, in case you have forgotten the days--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 resume consideration of H.R. 3684; finally, that all time during recess, adjournment, or period of morning business count postcloture-- the clock is ticking--on H.R. 3684.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has been a long day, but we have plowed through as I have intended, and the cloture motion on the final bill has passed by a very handsome, overwhelming vote. And now we will continue to move forward on the infrastructure bill. The substitute amendment, which is the text of the bipartisan bill, has been agreed to, and cloture has been invoked on the underlying bill. We will move forward. Amendments are no longer in order, and we will move forward to wrap this up as expeditiously as possible and then move on to the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions. The two-track process is moving along. It has been a process that has been a very good process. It has taken a while, but it is going to be worth it, as, hopefully, we will have both bills very, very soon--the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget resolution with reconciliation instructions

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, on another related matter, as the Senate approaches final passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, I want to shine a spotlight on a part of the legislative process that doesn't see the light often enough: the Office of the Senate Legislative Counsel. There is an old political yarn that the legislative process is like watching sausage get made; you would rather not know. Well, the Office of Legislative Counsel occupies a particularly difficult part of the sausage-making: turning Senators' broad outlines for legislation into specific and precise legislative language. It is a very hard job. For over a century, this group of hidden experts have had a hand in crafting every major piece of legislation introduced in this Chamber. A century ago, many scoffed at the notion of having a team of professionals help the Senate write legislation. It was actually a New Yorker, I am proud to say, Elihu Root, who originally suggested in 1912 that, maybe, this body could use a little help in constructing well- written laws. It took a few years after he made his plea, but the complexity of tax legislation to raise revenue during World War I led to the creation of the original drafting service. During its first 4 years, the Legislative Drafting Service handled 518 requests. By the 114th Congress, however, they were receiving more than 65,000. It is an amazing workload, unglamorous but vital and essential. Over the past few weeks, as we have worked on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the members of the legislative counsel have sacrificed weekends, family gatherings, and many, many hours of sleep to allow the Senate to do its work. I have seen it. We have called them up at 11 p.m. and said: You are needed to get this ready by the morning. And they don't flinch. They just roll up their sleeves and work in their professional way. So we have always asked a lot of the legislative counsel, but they stepped up and did their job with excellence. There are a lot of members of the team who deserve recognition, beginning with the team's laudable and impressive leader on this bill, Deanna Edwards. I also want to thank Diane Nesmeyer and her team of assistants, who have all contributed very long hours, and let me mention them. They each deserve their own acknowledgement: Heather Burnham, Mark Mazzone, Christina Kennelly, Chris Patterson, Patrick Ryan, Karson Katz, Heather Lowell, Matt McGhie, John Goetcheus, Ruth Ernst, Mark McGunagle, Allison Otto, Vince Gaiani, Phil Lynch, John Henderson, James Ollen- Smith, Kim Albrecht-Taylor, Christine Miranda, Rob Silver, Evan Frank, and Molly Dunlop. To every single person I mentioned, thank you, thank you, thank you for your incredible and indispensable work. Your skill and dedication makes it possible for this Chamber to serve the American public. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, well, this afternoon we pick up where we left off last night. The Senate has voted to advance the bipartisan infrastructure bill and bring debate on the substitute amendment to an end. I would repeat that Democrats are ready and willing to vote on additional amendments to the bill before moving to final passage. Once again, that will require the cooperation of our Republican colleagues. I hope they will cooperate so we can move more quickly. Otherwise, we will proceed by the book and finish the bill. I said yesterday that we could do this the easy way or the hard way. Yesterday, it appeared that some Republicans would like the Senate to do this the hard way. In any case, we will keep proceeding until we get this bill done.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. 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. Well, I thank my good friend from Maryland for offering this UC, and strongly and fervently support it. I have been proud to join Senators Cardin and Sinema in leading the fight to provide direct relief to this industry. We all know restaurants were particularly hard hit during COVID, and the idea that they have all recovered is just so far from the truth. You know, any business where people had to gather were hit hard--hit the hardest; restaurants at the very top of the list, and they are a lifeblood to our cities and our communities. They, of course, are a place where people get food, but they get community. They join together. They feel roots. Whether it is a small town or a large city, restaurants in neighborhood after neighborhood, community after community, are often the glue that make communities tick; and they were hurt. The funds that we provided, provided a lifeline to 100,000 applicants across the country. In my State of New York, $3.6 billion went to 9,775 restaurants. But the job wasn't done. They ran out of money long before restaurants were helped. And anyone who thinks our restaurants are out of trouble, I just ate at one last night--a Polish couple in Greenpoint--lovely little restaurant: Are you hurting? Yes; we might go under. And this story could be repeated in restaurant after restaurant after restaurant. In New York, 27,000 restaurants are waiting in desperation. These are hard-working people--very hard-working people. They struggle. They put their all, their whole heart and soul, into the business and provide, as I said, often the glue for our communities. This legislation is fair. It is smart. It is right. We will get economic payback over and over and over again from keeping these restaurants going because they employ so many people, contract with so many independent suppliers and others. It just makes such sense It is almost cruel to tell these restaurants, ``You are on your own now,'' when, through no fault of their own, they have suffered through with COVID. So I strongly support this proposal by Senator Cardin. We are going to keep at it and keep at it and keep at it because our restaurants so desperately need the help. It was bipartisan in the past. Let's keep it bipartisan, but let's get the job done. Our restaurants need help, and our communities, our cities, our rural towns, our suburbs will be so rewarded when these restaurants are allowed to continue to stay open and to flourish. I thank the Senator for his leadership.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in a minute, I am going to ask to vote on confirmation for Eunice Lee to be a U.S. circuit judge on the Second Circuit. She is an amazing person. I interviewed her and recommended her to the President. She will be the only public defender on the Second Circuit. We have had very, very few public defenders on that circuit and largely on our Federal bench. They tend to be prosecutors, partners in big law firms. We are changing all of that and getting people who have different walks of life--like public defenders, like people from the ACLU, like people from different organizations--so we have a new perspective on the bench. She is a phenomenal person. I am so proud that she will now get on the bench. I ask that the Senate now vote on confirmation of the Lee nomination to be a U.S. circuit judge.

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 time during any recess, adjournment, or period of morning business count postclosure.

Mr. SCHUMER. For the information of all Senators, the Senate will convene at noon tomorrow and resume consideration of the infrastructure bill. We have been working hard all day on amendments, and, hopefully, we can come to some agreement tomorrow, but time is burning as we go forward. So for the information of Members, keep working, and we will resume at 12 noon. 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 order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I understand there are two bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this morning, we resume consideration of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. There will be a vote at noon to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment, which will move the process forward by the book. Democrats are very eager to start voting on further amendments, but we need consent from the Chamber to schedule those amendment votes. We worked all day Thursday to come up with an agreement with our Republican colleagues on such a package but unfortunately were not able to. So we can get this done the easy way or the hard way. In either case, the Senate will stay in session until we finish our work. It is up to my Republican colleagues how long it takes. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I am going to do the administrative stuff.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask that the Senate vote on cloture as under the previous order. This vote--I know that Members are probably not all here right now, so we will keep it open for a little while. I urge Members to get here soon.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now we have worked long, hard, and collaboratively to finish this important bipartisan bill. The Senate has considered 22 amendments during this process, and we have been willing to consider many more. In fact, we have been trying to vote on amendments all day but have encountered numerous objections from the other side. However, we very much want to finish this important bill, so we will reconvene Saturday at noon to vote on cloture, and then we will follow the regular order to finish the bill. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. On another matter, climate. President Biden announced this morning that he will sign an Executive order to significantly escalate our country's fight against climate change. Specifically, President Biden's Executive order will set an ambitious goal to make half of all new cars sold in America zero emissions by the end of the decade. He will announce further steps to address several of the worst climate-warming rules that were put in place under the Trump administration. I applaud President Biden for taking necessary steps to put our country on a path to substantially reduce our carbon pollution. Climate change is the defining challenge of our times. We have no choice but to reduce our country's greenhouse gas emissions very quickly to reach the targets that will spare our country and our planet the worst effects of climate change, and we cannot do it without dealing with carbon pollution from cars we drive. Transportation is the biggest source of carbon pollution, accounting for roughly one-third of America's carbon output. President Biden's Executive order is an important step in the right direction, and I am happy and proud to say it dovetails with an effort I have long advocated here in the Congress, even before the Biden Presidency. It is called Clean Cars for America. In fact, President Biden generously adopted our Clean Cars for America plan and placed it in his Build Back Better. My Clean Cars for America proposal--and I have worked closely with Senator Stabenow, Senator Peters, and others on this proposal--would help our country make the transition that President Biden is talking about today by making electric cars more affordable, expanding our charging infrastructure, and creating incentives to manufacture batteries and electric vehicles here in America. It is good for climate. It good for jobs. And it is good for America to become the center of electric car manufacturing in the world, as we have been with the traditional type of automobile. The proposal--I am proud to say we worked hard to make this happen. Clean Cars for America is now, as I said, largely adopted in the Build Back Better plan and is supported not only by the environmental community, but by the major labor unions and several of the major car manufacturers as well. It is the first time on a major piece of climate legislation we have gotten such broad support. The transition to electric vehicles, of course, is already underway, but it is not happening fast enough to reach the targets that President Biden announced today. Clean Cars for America is the way to supercharge the transition to electric vehicles, and large parts of it will be-- some of it was put in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but large parts of it we hope to add in the reconciliation process. Put another way: If President Biden's Executive order represents the destination we need to reach on the horizon, our Clean Cars for America is the road to get there. President Biden's announcement, combined with our Clean Cars proposal, represents the bold level of action we need to tackling carbon pollution from cars. When Democrats assumed the majority, I instructed my committee chairs to find climate-reducing policies to incorporate into the legislation we work on. Earlier this year, the Senate passed the first major climate legislation in years when we reversed the Trump administration's methane emissions rule. And as we continue working on a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget resolution, I have committed that we will make historic investments in reversing climate change. I am proud to say our Clean Cars for America is going to be a very big part of that. Democrats promised action on climate, and we are going to make it a vital part of the legislation we work on in the weeks to come. It is a big challenge, but one we must meet. It is so important for the future of our planet, for our children, and our grandchildren even more than for us