Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from further consideration of the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning, of Montana, to be Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

Mr. SCHUMER. As a reminder to all Members, the official photograph of the 117th Congress will be at 2:15 p.m. Senators are asked to be on the floor at that time. Following the photograph, the Senate will reconvene and resume consideration of the motion to discharge the Stone-Manning nomination. Senators should expect the vote on the motion to discharge to occur around 5 p.m. today.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my good friend, the senior Senator from the great State of Vermont. I, too, feel so badly about Senator Enzi's unfortunate passing. We received the very sad news this morning that Mike Enzi had passed away from injuries sustained on a bicycle accident. He was only 7 months into his retirement, after four terms in the Senate and decades--decades--of service to his home State of Wyoming. We will remember him as we remembered him upon his departure from this Chamber, as a kind and gentle man, as a practical legislator, someone who sought common ground and was willing to leave strained disagreements for another day. He was forceful, he was principled, but he was also gentle, a rare and unusual combination and much needed in this body. He lived by a simple creed, given to him by his mother, that adorned his office, and he shared it with his staff: Do what you think is right; do your best; and treat others the way they wish to be treated. Upon his retirement, those were the values he asked the Senate to remember him by. At the news of his unexpected passing, those are the values we will carry on in his memory. I offer my condolences to his wife Diana and to former Senator Enzi's entire family

Mr. SCHUMER

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.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 257.

Mr. SCHUMER

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now for years, Republicans and Democrats have spoken about the need to invest more in our Nation's infrastructure. We are a country the size of a continent. Every State has critical infrastructure demands, bridges that need repair, railways that need maintenance, sewer systems that desperately need expansion and renovation. Over a month ago now, a bipartisan group of Senators announced a deal with the White House on a framework for a bipartisan infrastructure bill--a breakthrough moment. Ever since, I have committed both publicly and privately to put that bill on the Senate floor. Unfortunately, last week, our Republican colleagues prevented the Senate from taking a procedural step to begin the debate. But I want to be very clear. I am fully committed to passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill. As majority leader, I have the ability to move to reconsider the vote to begin debate on that bill this week. Since Senators are still finalizing the text of the agreement, Senators should be on notice that the Senate may stay in session through the weekend in order to finish the bill. Let me say that again. Senators should be on notice that the Senate may stay in session through the weekend in order to finish the bipartisan infrastructure bill. As I have said before, further delays may mean that the Senate will remain in session into the previously scheduled August recess. We have reached a critical moment. The bipartisan group of Senators has had nearly 5 weeks of negotiations since they first announced an agreement with President Biden. It is time for everyone to get to ``yes'' and produce an outcome for the American people. I understand that bipartisan achievements are difficult in our polarized times. Extreme partisans are always rooting for failure. Look no further than the former President. Just this morning, former President Trump released a statement urging Republicans to retreat from all bipartisan negotiations on infrastructure until after the midterm elections in 2022, maybe longer. Again, the former President said this morning that Republicans are ``weak fools and losers''--his words--for even talking to Democrats and suggested that the Republicans should not negotiate at all unless they are in the majority. FOX News personalities, following his lead, are now encouraging primaries for Republican Senators who support a bipartisan infrastructure deal. Look, there are always going to be radical voices on the far right who brook no compromise, but that is only a recipe for obstruction and gridlock. We have the opportunity right now to actually accomplish something good for the American people. Will our Republican colleagues follow the absurd demands of the disgraced former President and his media allies, or will they get a good, bipartisan deal over the finish line? Republican Senators must ignore former President Trump if we are ever going to make progress with the American people. He is rooting for our entire political system to fail. I and the rest of my Democratic colleagues are rooting for a deal.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 258.

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. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, July 26, be waived.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, last night, the Senate took a vote on whether to proceed to a debate on infrastructure. Unfortunately, our Republican colleagues blocked the Senate from taking this first entirely procedural step. I understand that the effort to finish the text of the bipartisan bill has progressed since I announced this vote last week. The negotiators have made significant progress, but there are still some outstanding issues. Therefore, at the end of the vote yesterday, I changed my response to a no so that I may move to reconsider the vote at a future time. My colleagues on both sides of the aisle should be assured, as majority leader, I have every intention of passing both major infrastructure packages, the bipartisan infrastructure framework and a budget resolution with reconciliation instructions, before we leave for the August recess. I laid out that precise schedule at the end of June, and I intend to stick with it. A new report by the chief economist at Moody's, Mark Zandi, hardly a liberal economist, someone who actually served as an economic adviser to Senator McCain, concluded that both major infrastructure proposals are essential to maximize our economic potential--not just one, both. And, together, they would give a massive boost to the economy, ease inflation pressures, create jobs, increase productivity, and reduce income inequality. These are incredibly worthy goals, and the Senate is going to keep working on both tracks of infrastructure in order to achieve them.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on behalf of myself and the distinguished Republican leader, Mr. McConnell, I send to the desk a resolution authorizing representation by the Senate Legal Counsel and ask for its immediate consideration. Mr. President, this resolution concerns third-party subpoenas to a Senate employee from Alfa Bank, the plaintiff in a lawsuit pending in Florida State court. The plaintiff, a large Russian bank, alleges in its lawsuit that unnamed defendants used cyber tools to create internet log data appearing to show communications between computer servers of the plaintiff and the Trump Organization, causing negative publicity. Alfa Bank is conducting third-party discovery to identify the unnamed persons it alleges conspired against it. As part of that attempted discovery, it has issued two subpoenas to a staff member of the Committee on Armed Services seeking testimony and Committee documents regarding his work for the Committee in examining the publicly-reported allegations about possible clandestine internet communications between plaintiff and the Trump Organization. Because the subpoenas seek testimony and documents relating to information gathering activities the staff person undertook as part of his duties for the Committee, they request information that is absolutely privileged under the Speech or Debate Clause. In addition, sovereign immunity precludes enforcement of State court subpoenas against officials and employees of the Federal government. This resolution would authorize the Senate Legal Counsel to represent the Committee on Armed Services and its staff member and move to quash the subpoenas, at the request of the Committee. In addition, to demonstrate to the court the applicability of the Speech or Debate Clause privilege in this matter, the resolution authorizes the Majority Staff Director of the Committee to provide a limited declaration in support of the motion to quash. By submitting this limited declaration solely to establish its privilege, the Committee is not waiving, and, indeed, continues to assert, its absolute Speech or Debate Clause privilege against being compelled to produce any information in this matter.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 122.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, July 22, be waived.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now on another matter, today in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, President Biden's nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management, Tracy Stone-Manning, will receive a vote to advance her nomination to the Senate floor. While it sometimes flies under the radar, the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for overseeing nearly 250 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of mineral rights, a vast track of the United States of America. No Agency is more important to the maintenance of public lands for public use. BLM, the Bureau of Land Management, that is, will play a huge role in the fight against climate change as well. Over the past 4 years under Donald Trump, the Agency abandoned its mission, shrunk public lands, targeted our national monuments, and opened up those beautiful landscapes for corporate industrial development. In short, the next leader of the Bureau of Land Management has a tall order in restoring and protecting America's public lands. Ms. Stone-Manning is exceedingly qualified to take on this important job. After serving on Senator Tester's and Governor Bullock's staff, she went on to lead the environmental agency in Montana, where she was respected not only by conservationists but by ranchers and fossil fuel interests as well. She developed a reputation as an honest broker, someone who is firm in their principles but always willing to try and build consensus. Yet the members of the Republican minority on the committee are trying to turn this consensus-driven, well-respected nominee into another partisan flashpoint, dredging up a letter she forwarded while in graduate school and claiming it was evidence that she is ``an echo- terrorist.'' The claim is just as hysterical as it sounds. Ms. Stone-Manning has the full support of the chair of the committee, the Senator from West Virginia; Mr. Tester, the Senator from Montana; and from me. We need someone like Ms. Stone-Manning to manage our public lands, a staunch advocate for conservation but also an honest broker, someone who will repair the damage of the last 4 years and be a faithful steward of America's national treasures, someone who understands that conservation policy has a critical role to play in the fight against climate change. Ms. Stone-Manning has all of those qualities, and I look forward to moving her nomination to the Senate floor. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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, first, before I get into the substance of my remarks, I just heard Leader McConnell's statements on debt ceiling. The leader's statements on debt ceiling are shameless, cynical, and totally political. This debt is Trump debt. It is COVID debt. Democrats joined three times during the Trump administration to do the responsible thing. The bottom line is that Leader McConnell should not be playing political games with the full faith and credit of the United States. Americans pay their debts.