Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 9; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Lee nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed on June 20, 2024, ripen at 12 noon and that following the cloture vote on the Lee nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that if cloture is invoked on the Lee nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that if cloture is invoked on the Meriweather nomination, all time be considered expired at 5:45 p.m.; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

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

Mr. SCHUMER. I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 380.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, next Monday, America will mark a dark anniversary: 2 years since the MAGA Supreme Court overturned Roe, unleashing a crisis of reproductive health. The day Roe was overturned will be remembered as one the darkest days for women's rights in modern history. Two years later, America looks almost unrecognizable when it comes to reproductive rights. Millions and millions of women across America have fewer freedoms today than their mothers and grandmothers did. At least 20 States have passed total or near-total bans on reproductive freedom--shameful. This week, I moved to place the Reproductive Freedom for Women Act on the legislative calendar so we can be ready to move this bill soon. I thank Senator Murray for leading this bill and every woman Senator on our side of the aisle for cosponsoring it with me. Protecting freedom of choice is not a show vote. It is a ``show us who you are'' vote. The American people certainly want to know who their elective representatives truly are and are entitled to know where they stand on choice. That is why, all month long, we have prepared votes on choice and contraception and IVF. Americans want to know where their representatives stand on such an important issue. Americans didn't elect us to sweep these issues under the rug, even if some Senators think they are difficult. By voting on these bills on women's healthcare, we are moving the issue forward because it is important for Members to be forced to take a position. That is the only way we will make progress. Of course, some would want to sweep it under the rug. They say it is political. That is because they don't want to vote on it. They don't want to show their constituents that they are blocking something that the majority of their constituents demand. We all know these issues are very, very personal to so many people. We all know that the other side is trying to hide. We are not letting them hide, and we are not letting them hide because that is the only way we will move this issue forward--by being public, by showing where people stand, and then by having, as our system has been designed to work since it was founded, their constituents putting pressure on them to do the right thing. As I have made abundantly clear over the past couple of years, Democrats are always ready to work with the other side on legislation. But when we can't agree, Democrats aren't going to shy away from issues Americans fiercely care about, and protecting reproductive freedoms is among the most important issues in the minds of the American people. So, once again, let me repeat: Voting on reproductive freedom is a ``show us who you are'' vote, and, all month long, Senate Republicans have shown everyone just how out of touch they have become with the mainstream. Hopefully, votes like this force them to change over a period of time. In the last 2 weeks, Senate Republicans have shown that, for all their attempts to sound moderate on reproductive care, when it comes time to vote, they choose MAGA extremism over the wishes and desires of the American people. When Senate Republicans blocked Federal protections for contraceptives, they chose MAGA extremists over the American people. When Senate Republicans blocked Federal protections for IVF, they chose MAGA extremism over the American people. When Donald Trump continues, to this day, to brag about working with Senate Republicans to confirm three hard-right Supreme Court Justices to eliminate Roe, he is choosing MAGA extremism over the American people. Make no mistake, the MAGA hard-right attacks on women are not done. First, it was abortion, then contraption, then IVF. What is next? If they get their chance, they will push for their ultimate goal of a national abortion ban. That is why voting on legislation protecting access to contraption and IVF is so important. That is why affirming a woman's fundamental right to choose is so important. And that is why Senate Democrats will continue to fight back against Republican attacks on reproductive care and never stop until the protections of Roe are the law of the land.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 536.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 512.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, now, I see my friend Senator Blumenthal is on the floor, and I would ask him to engage in a colloquy on a very important issue, a top priority of mine, and a bill that I am a proud cosponsor of--the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER. I thank my colleague. Like him, I have personally met with the families that have been harmed. I have seen their terrible stories, and I am committed, completely, to work with them to get KOSA across the finish line. With the hard work of Senator Blumenthal and Senator Blackburn, KOSA has passed through the Commerce Committee unanimously and has gotten up to 70 cosponsors. Last month, I put together a plan to get KOSA done through unanimous consent for a time agreement on the floor. I personally helped resolve issues and mitigated unintended consequences of the bill. That effort has significantly reduced the opposition, but there are still holdouts.

Mr. SCHUMER. I thank my colleague once again for his good work. After weeks of work, we have made real progress in removing objections to this bill. Sadly, objectors remain. I hope the progress can continue over the coming days. If the objectors refuse to come to a resolution, we must pursue a different legislative path to get this done. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am proud to come to the floor today to stand with my good friend and a great leader on this issue, Senator Martin Heinrich, on a matter of life and death. A few days ago, the MAGA Supreme Court struck once again, reversing a ban on dangerous bump stocks like the one used in the Las Vegas shooting--the deadliest mass shooting ever committed by one person. Today, the Senate must step into the breach and pass a Federal ban on bump stocks, which Senator Heinrich has championed. I urge Republicans not to block this commonsense safety measure. Banning bump stocks should be the work of 5 minutes. It is an idea that even some conservative Senators have claimed to support in the past. One conservative colleague of mine on the Republican side said a while ago that if a bump stock ban ``actually gets on the Senator floor, I'd vote for it.'' The senior Senator from South Carolina also said: I think doing away with bump stocks, that's achievable. . . . I'm willing to get rid of that. Senate Republicans even supported Donald Trump when he, hardly a friend of gun safety, backed bump stocks after the Las Vegas shooting. If banning bump stocks was good enough for Republicans in the past, it should be good enough for them today. But if Republicans block this bill today after claiming to support bump stock bans in years past--a ban even President Trump supported when he was President--shame on them. They would be siding with the gun lobby over families exasperated by gun violence. Mr. President, it is amazing to me that the MAGA Supreme Court even went to the right of Donald Trump on this issue. It is surprising, appalling, and very, very hard to swallow that they would have this kind of reasoning. If Republicans now believe a ban on bump stocks is simply too much, they should explain their change of heart to the families in Nevada who lost loved ones. If Republicans block this bill today after claiming to support bump stock bans in years past, shame on them. Republicans should explain to parents and teachers and students why they would rather make it easier for murderers to access dangerous weapons instead of making it harder. It is not enough for Republicans to roll their eyes and dismiss this bump stock vote as a show vote. Tell that to the families who lost loved ones. I urge Republicans not to object. Americans are sick of gun violence. They are especially sick of lawmakers who obey the gun lobby and kill any effort to make our communities safer. I want to thank my friend and great leader in the Senate Martin Heinrich on this and so many other issues, whether it is conservation or environment or protecting the rights of people or just helping New Mexico in every way, as he is now vowing to help them with the fires that are ravaging in his State. The Senator from New Mexico is one of our great leaders here, and I am so proud to yield to him to make the unanimous consent request.

Mr. SCHUMER. I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fetterman), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), and the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) are necessarily absent.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mr. SCHUMER. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate resume executive session and resume consideration of the Maldonado nomination.

Mr. SCHUMER

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