Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 180, 183, 153, 155, and 177.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 1340 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SCHUMER

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. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 248.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to consideration of S. Res. 273, submitted earlier today.

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. 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. I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. SCHUMER

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, Senators are moving forward this week on two major legislative initiatives: infrastructure and voting rights. Bipartisan infrastructure talks continue in our Senate committees and among our Members. Remember, discussions about infrastructure, both physical and human, are proceeding along two tracks. The first track is bipartisan, and I understand there has been some progress. The second track pulls in elements of President Biden's American Jobs and Families Plan and will be considered by the Senate even if it does not have bipartisan support. Today, we are going to start moving the trains down the second track. I will convene a meeting with all the Members of the majority party on the Senate Budget Committee to begin the important work of producing a budget resolution for the Senate to consider. This is something we have planned for quite a while, but we are moving forward today after having individual discussions which I have had with many members of the Budget Committee. It is a diverse committee. Senator Sanders is the Chair. Senators Warner and Kaine are on it as well. There are many items to discuss, but one subject is not up to debate. I will instruct members to ensure that any budget resolution puts the United States on track to reduce carbon pollution at a scale commensurate with the climate crisis. We need significant reductions in emissions through clean energy and electric vehicles, as well as funding to help manufacturers and farmers be a part of the solution in fighting climate change. The American Families Plan, as well, is essential to the forthcoming budget resolution and must be robustly funded. The Senate will also vote on major voting rights legislation before the end of June. Yesterday, the Democratic caucus hosted a group of Democratic lawmakers from Texas who led the dramatic walkout to prevent the Texas Republican legislators from passing one of the most draconian voting laws in our country. It was a powerful meeting. We heard moving testimony from five different lawmakers about the vicious, nasty, even bigoted attacks against voting rights in their State. The actions taken were totally partisan, just like those in all the other legislatures. So the idea that this can have some kind of bipartisan solution befuddles me, because every action taken in the legislature is done just with Republican State Senators, Republican assembly members, with no Democratic participation or input. In fact, the Texas legislators told us they were deliberately excluded from certain meetings and conference committee hearings. Speaking for our caucus, we were all taken by the courage of the Texas legislators, their fortitude, and, most importantly, by their mission to defend the right of every American to be able to access the ballot, not just in Texas but across the country. These lawmakers in one State put everything on the line to protect voting rights in their State. The Senate should put everything on the line to protect voting rights in this country. Now, tomorrow, Senate Democrats will hold another special caucus meeting to continue discussing the best path forward to achieve voting rights legislation.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, June 17; 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; further, that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Beaudreau nomination, postcloture; further, that the cloture time on the Beaudreau nomination expire at 11:30 a.m.; that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Tien nomination until 1:45 p.m.; that if cloture is invoked on the Tien nomination, all postcloture debate time be expired at 1:45 p.m.; finally, that if any of the nominations are confirmed, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 269, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, thank you. That was the Juneteenth resolution, which we will talk about more tomorrow. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 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

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, a few weeks ago, toward the end of the legislative session in Texas, Texas Democrats in the statehouse staged a dramatic walkout, denying a quorum and preventing the Texas Republican majority from passing one of the most restrictive voting laws in this country. Texas Republicans could come back and reconsider the law in a special session, but the extraordinary measures taken by the State Democrats reflect the extraordinary damage of the voting law. Texas Republicans were on the verge of passing several alarming restrictions: reducing polling hours, eliminating drive-through voting and 24-hour voting centers. The proposed law would have made it easier for a judge to overturn an election and push back the start of Sunday voting--a measure that seemed designed to interfere with voting drives held by Black churches. Texas already has some of the strictest voting procedures in the country. The additional effort, in the wake of Donald Trump's Big Lie, directly targets all the ways poorer, younger, non-White, and typically Democratic voters cast their ballots. Of course, Texas is only the most recent flashpoint in the nationwide effort by Republican legislators to contract Americans' right to vote, as you well know, Mr. President. The tide of Republican voter suppression laws is a direct assault on our democracy and could disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans Today, I am proud to say, at the Democratic caucus lunch we will host the group of Texas Democrats who bravely fought the voter suppression law in their State. The topic of our discussion will be about how to come together to protect voting rights not just in Texas but across the country. Next week, the Senate will consider major voting rights legislation. Congress must take action to defend our democracy.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the President's foreign trip, President Biden's first foreign trip has projected a welcome sight to the world: an American President embracing our allies and bringing them together to confront our common adversaries. Already, the President's visit to G7 has yielded results: a commitment to counter China's rapacious economic policies and unwinding a longstanding dispute over tariffs and trade with the European Union. Now after meeting with our allies at both the G7 and at the NATO summit in Brussels, the President will meet tomorrow with Vladimir Putin. From the occupation in Crimea to violating political human rights within its own borders, to interfering in democratic elections across the Western world, to imprisoning those who expose his brutal, undemocratic regime, Vladimir Putin has spent the past decade interfering and destabilizing the world order. For 4 years, former President Trump turned a blind eye and gave Putin a free pass. In the history of our country, Americans had never seen a President of the United States support an adversary the way Trump supported President Putin on that stage in Helsinki nearly 3 years ago. We all remember President Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin and taking the word of a Russian intelligence officer over America's intelligence agencies. Trump not only defended Putin repeatedly from accusations of election interference, he actually announced--if you believe this, stranger than fiction--that the United States and Russia would set up a joint cyber security unit. Even Senator Graham said that it wasn't ``the dumbest idea [he'd] ever heard, but it [was] . . . close.'' Now, President Biden must take the exact opposite approach. The United States must approach Vladimir Putin with a firm hand and demand accountability in a way that President Trump never did. I expect President Biden will do exactly that. One issue I am particularly concerned about is cyber security and the rise of ransomware attacks on the critical infrastructure of the United States. Many of those cyber criminals, unsurprisingly, may be hiding out in Putin's Russia or potentially connected to Putin's intelligence agencies. Here at home, I have called on Congress to significantly boost funding for our cyber fighting Agencies and asked our Senate committees to study if we need new legislation to help counter the threat of cyber attacks. Abroad, President Biden has an opportunity to pressure Putin directly to put an end to Russian-supported cyber crime. I expect he will. The President has smartly made these issues a priority among our NATO allies, announcing a host of joint actions to combat cyber crime, harden our cyber security, and condemn Russian aggression in the cyber space. It is time to take the issue directly to Vladimir Putin himself. For 4 years, former President Trump berated our allies while emboldening and sometimes embracing the world's dictators and autocrats, Vladimir Putin above all. Already, President Biden's first foreign trip is a welcome turn of the page in America's relationship with the world.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, finally, on one final matter, QAnon, last December, I joined with Senator Heinrich and other Democrats to ask the FBI and DHS to provide a written assessment on the dangers posed by the online conspiracy group QAnon. They recently responded to our request with a very sobering assessment. The threat of QAnon is likely to persist, and the current environment will likely continue to spur QAnon adherents to see violence as a legitimate course of action. The assessment also expresses that QAnon adherents and domestic violent extremists will likely shift from acting digitally to engaging in real world violence. That is a shot across our bow. That is a warning signal. QAnon today is perhaps best known for the role it played in inspiring many of the rioters who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on January 6. According to the FBI's assessment, they arrested 20 self-identified adherents who participated in the insurrection. But even before the horrific events on January 6, QAnon supporters spread disinformation that amplified hatred and violence and threatened our democratic institutions. The past 4 years have seen a notable increase in violent domestic terrorism, fed by a host of lies and conspiracies that flourished under the Trump era. This assessment by the FBI is a stark reminder that we have a lot of work to do to tamp down conspiracy theories and disinformation as well as monitoring and thwarting violent domestic extremists. And to my Republican Senate colleagues, I would add that this report further strengthens the argument for an independent January 6 Commission. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 123.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 475 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.