Chuck Schumer

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 move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 599.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, tomorrow will be 100 days since Senate Republicans blocked the strongest border security bill we have seen in a generation. For the last 2 weeks, I have come to the floor with my Democratic colleagues calling on both sides to set partisanship aside and work together to fix the problems on our southern border. America is proudly a nation of immigrants. We always have been, and we always will be. Most Americans know our country is made stronger because of immigration, but they also know the current condition of border security is simply not acceptable. It is a problem going back many years, going back many administrations. After decades of neglect, our border security needs an update. Our immigration rules need reform to provide more opportunity and fairness and humane treatment to those who seek opportunity in America. And the only way we fix the border long term is through bipartisan legislation. Let me say it again: The only way we fix the border long term is through bipartisan legislation like the one we had in the Senate 3 months ago. The bipartisan Border Act was precisely the kind of proposal Republicans and Democrats have been trying to produce for years. It contained the strongest border security provisions in a generation. It would have overhauled our asylum laws, hired thousands of new border agents, invested in cutting-edge technology to stop the flow of fentanyl, and given the President new authorities to close the border. Now, of course, our bipartisan border bill wasn't perfect--not every Democrat supported this bill--but unlike other border bills, it was designed to pass both Chambers in divided government. If our border security bill was good enough to win the support of the actual Border Patrol agents, shouldn't it have been enough to win the support of Senate Republicans? And speaking candidly, when our bill was first released, many of our Republican colleagues were surprised at how strong it was, even if only in private. I dare say, a significant percentage of the Republican caucus would have supported it. If both Chambers would have voted on our bill without outside interference, I am confident it would have passed and reached the President's desk. But as we all know, Donald Trump swooped in and told his MAGA supporters to kill the bill. In fact, he was proud to kill it. ``Please, blame it on me,'' he said. Those were Trump's words after our bill went down, and I certainly don't think it is smart of him to brag about killing an issue most people want to see fixed. Donald Trump treats this like a game, but most Americans just want to see the border fixed regardless of who does it. Democrats have not walked away from trying to get something done on the border. We want to work with our Republican colleagues on border security, just as we showed we were serious when we worked with them earlier this year. But our Republican colleagues must show they are ready to match their border rhetoric with real action. If Republicans are going to call the border an emergency, they can't suddenly kick the can down the road and say we can deal with this later. They can't put up a partisan bill that they know has no chance of passing. Americans don't want just talk, talk, talk, on the border. Americans want actions. Americans want bipartisanship. Americans want to pass the border security bill like the one we released 3 months ago. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that all time on the Aframe nomination be considered expired and the confirmation vote be at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, May 20.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 600.

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, May 16, be waived.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, last year, Congress faced a momentous choice: either watch from the sidelines as artificial intelligence reshaped our world or make a novel, bipartisan effort to enhance, but also regulate, this technology before it was too late. So, as majority leader, I convened a bipartisan working group of Senators last year-- Senators Rounds, Heinrich, and Young--to chart the path forward on AI in the Senate. Today, after months of discussion, after hundreds of meetings, and after nine first-of-their-kind AI Insight Forums, our bipartisan Senate working group released the first ever roadmap for AI policy in the Senate. Our policy roadmap for AI is the first, most comprehensive, most bipartisan, and most forward-thinking report on AI regulation produced by Congress. Our roadmap lays out a panoply of policy priorities and guardrails that our group believes merit bipartisan consideration in this Congress and beyond. Three words govern what we do: urgency, humility, and bipartisanship. Urgency because AI is so complex, so rapidly evolving, and so broad in its impact--it covers almost every aspect of society. The longer we wait, the bigger the gap becomes. Just this week, ChatGPT released a new model that can read facial expressions and translate spoken language in realtime. Humility, this is hard to do because AI is nothing like Congress has ever dealt with before. It is rapidly changing. As we mentioned, every week, something new happens. It is all encompassing, and Congress has never really dealt with it before. In areas like health or defense, we have a long track record, lots of expertise, but not so in AI because it is so new. And, finally, bipartisanship, because the changes that AI brings won't discriminate between left, right, and center, and we all know the only way to get things done here is bipartisanship. That means compromise by Democrats and Republicans. But, certainly, getting nothing done is a worse alternative. As I have always said, innovation must be our North Star--innovation. America must take the lead in the world, continue to innovate, use the great nutrient agar of entrepreneurship and doing new things and reaching out in new directions. We have been the most innovative country in the world. We should keep that. But innovation has two senses, two parts. Both are very important to realize. One I call transformational innovation, and one I call sustainable innovation. Transformational innovation is reaching the stars. It is the great stuff that AI could do. What if AI cures cancer? We have got to make sure we don't stand in the way of that happening. What if AI dealt with climate change in a really strong new way or fed the hungry of the world or gave each person on Earth a teacher? Senator Young mentioned this yesterday--a teacher that could just talk to them. These are great opportunities that we can't afford to miss. But we also need sustainable innovation. That means we need innovation to produce guardrails that minimize the damage that AI could bring. How do you deal with workers who might be displaced? We don't want to repeat the mistake of globalization, where globalization did a lot of good things--it took a billion people, probably, out of poverty in the world--but no one paid attention to those who were hurt by globalization. We have to pay attention to bias because many of these big systems have bias built into them, and we can't repeat that error. We have to deal with the creative community and intellectual property. So we need innovation in these areas as well to make sure that the liabilities of AI are dealt with. So we need both--transformational innovation and sustainable innovation--in a sense, to maximize the benefits of AI and minimize the liabilities. It is no easy task. It is no easy task. But our insight forums were designed to be balanced, with the input of leaders from the industry. They operate these AI complexes. We needed to hear from them, but also leaders from civil rights and labor and the creative community, sitting right next to them. And our AI forums were amazing. There were back-and-forths. People really didn't just make speeches but tried to come up with questions we needed to answer and solutions to those questions. It is a difficult job, but I believe we achieved that balance in our AI forums and certainly in the roadmap. Balance is important. Now, to help move forward on both forms of innovation--innovation, of course, being our North Star, transformational and sustainable innovation--we recommend a $32 billion surge in emergency funding to secure America's dominance in AI. And let me underscore: This is a bipartisan recommendation. Senators Heinrich and I, of course, care about it, but so do Senators Young and Rounds, and they were quite eloquent yesterday about how we needed to spend this money or the United States would fall way behind. Now, where do we go from here? Our policy roadmap is intended to be used by our committee chairs and ranking members as a foundation to move on good, bipartisan AI legislation. It is the committees that do the legislating. That is what has always happened around here. We need our committees to continue the bipartisan momentum of the AI gang to achieve the hope of passing legislation by the end of the year. We don't expect every piece of AI to be addressed, every problem that is in our roadmap to be addressed. Some will lend themselves to move more quickly than others, and we are not going to hold back on some that are ready because others are not yet ready. This is a very, as I said, difficult process that we have to approach with humility. Let me just say this: Our AI committee chairs and ranking members are ready and eager to engage in AI. Our roadmap includes many areas of bipartisan agreement that the committees can use, and, already, we are making progress in the Rules Committee, which is marking up legislation today. The Commerce Committee is looking at legislation regarding AI innovation. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is considering how to leverage AI in the Federal workforce. The Armed Services Committee is leading the way on AI in the military. And the list goes on. So our committees are getting actively involved, which is what we want. Our policy roadmap also embraces action to protect our elections from the potential risk of AI. First, the 2024 elections will be the first elections ever held in the age of AI. If we are not careful, AI could jaundice, even totally discredit, our entire system of elections as we know it. So, today, I am joining the Rules Committee, which is marking up three bills--all three with bipartisan support--to address AI's impact on our elections. I strongly support these bills, and I commend Senator Klobuchar and her sponsors for their bipartisan work. And that is just happening today, but we expect there will be other committees putting forth legislation in the near future. Our policy roadmap also advocates for a host of regulatory recommendations that help maximize AI's potential and minimize its risks--risks like bias and job displacement and privacy invasion. These are all difficult issues to deal with, but move forward we must. So our policy roadmap is an important step in AI regulation, and getting the committees here in the Congress to start figuring out the bipartisan legislation that they can move forward on is a good step. But I also plan to meet with Speaker Johnson in the near future to see how we can make Congress's effort on AI not just bipartisan but also bicameral. So today is immensely satisfying for our bipartisan AI gang. It has been a long, long time and a culmination of months of listening and thinking and working on this issue. So with great sincerity and humility, I want to thank my colleagues in the bipartisan working group--Rounds, Heinrich, and Young. I thank my Senate colleagues who attended our insight forums. Over 70 Senators attended at least 1 forum, and many attended multiple forums. And they are beginning their work on AI through the committee process. And I thank all the staff who have put a lot of effort and a lot of hours into this policy roadmap. I have a great staff, and they have been so instrumental in getting us to the point we are at now. Congress can't and won't solve every challenge AI presents today, but with this policy roadmap, we now have a foundation necessary to propel America into the age of AI.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have eight requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Mr. SCHUMER

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

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I thank my colleagues. I will be brief. I want to thank my friend Senator Murphy for bringing us to the floor this evening to talk about the need to fix our southern border with bipartisan--bipartisan--action. Senator Murphy did outstanding work earlier this year, along with Senators Sinema and Lankford and others, by doing what many thought impossible: producing a real, necessary, and bipartisan border bill. When our bill was first released, a lot of our Republican colleagues were surprised with how strong it was. But then, as we all know, Donald Trump came barging in and told his MAGA supporters to kill the bill. Democrats have not walked away from this issue. We believe, if you are going to call something an emergency, then we cannot wait to act. We hope, despite Republicans' opposition a few months ago, that our colleagues are willing to join us to secure the border, as they said they wanted to do. After all, how many times have we heard from our Republican colleagues through speeches, press conferences, letters that fixing the border cannot wait? They said it cannot wait. Well, we don't want to wait any longer. Just listen to the words from the other side going back years about the need to act. This crisis requires swift, serious, and substantive action. That was what my colleague from Wyoming said recently. How about this: [T]he time to act on it is yesterday. That is what Speaker Mike Johnson said, standing at the border at the beginning of this year. How about the words of Donald Trump: Tonight, I am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country. That is what Donald Trump said in his 2019 State of the Union Address. And, you know what, Democrats agree Congress should act. We believe the status quo cannot continue. But here is the thing: The only real, long-term solution to the southern border is bipartisan legislation. That is the only way you get things done around here--bipartisan-- bipartisan legislation like the bill we had here in the Senate 3 months ago, bipartisan legislation like the one we wrote to hire thousands more border agents and thousands more asylum officers and invest billions to stop the flow of fentanyl and other drugs. The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board--hardly a friend of this side of the aisle--here is what they said: A Border . . . Bill Worth Passing. The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called it ``a commonsense measure.'' Maybe most importantly, the president of the National Border Patrol Council--a union, extremely conservative, very close with President Trump--called it ``far better than the status quo.'' I ask my Republican colleagues: If a border security bill was good enough to win the support of actual border agents, shouldn't it have been good enough to win the support of the Republican Senate? If we want to fix asylum and stop fentanyl and hire more agents, shouldn't we pass a bill that actually fixes asylum, stops fentanyl, and hires more agents? That is precisely what our border bill would have done. That is precisely why we made such a strong push to pass it in the Senate 3 months ago. And that is precisely the bill that Donald Trump killed in a vain attempt to gain an edge on the campaign trail. He was clear about what he did. He said, ``Please, blame it on me,'' as if it were all a game to Donald Trump. I am used to Donald Trump saying it. Speaker Pelosi and I were at the White House when he was thinking about shutting down the government, and he said: Blame it on me. It didn't work out so well for him. It is not going to work out so well for him this time either. The American people do not have the luxury of playing partisan blame games. They want bipartisan action to secure our border. Democrats stand ready to work with Republicans to pass bipartisan border security. We hope our Republican colleagues stand ready to take action too. Madam President, I want to thank my colleagues for being here. Democrats are going to continue to pursue this issue. We believe the public agrees with us. Passing a bipartisan bill is a lot better than making a lot of speeches, doing a lot of finger-pointing, and getting nothing done on the border. I again thank my colleagues. I thank Senator Murphy for his great leadership. We have a number of our colleagues here tonight. I thank them for coming. It shows the importance we give to this issue.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding 5 USC 802, that upon the conclusion of morning business on Thursday, May 16, the Senate proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 109, which was received from the House and is at the desk; further, at 11:30 a.m., the joint resolution be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the joint resolution, with all other provisions under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, remaining in effect except the 60-session-day clock; further, that following the disposition of the joint resolution, the Senate proceed to executive session and execute the order of May 7, 2024, with respect to the Theeler nomination; finally, that upon disposition of the Theeler nomination, the Senate resume consideration of the Aframe nomination.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, for the information of the Senate, as a result of this agreement, Senators should expect two rollcall votes tomorrow beginning at 11:30 a.m. and one rollcall vote at 1:45 p.m.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate Resolutions: S. Res. 689, S. Res. 690, S. Res. 691, S. Res. 692, and S. Res. 693.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, all en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate complete its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 16; 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.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII and 5 USC 802 and at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader, no later than May 24, 2024, if S.J. Res. 58 is discharged from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, it be in order for Senator Cruz or his designee to move to proceed to the consideration of S.J. Res. 58; further, that if the motion is agreed to, there be 10 hours of debate, equally divided, between proponents and opponents of the joint resolution; further, upon the use or yielding back of that time, the joint resolution be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the joint resolution; and, finally, that all other provisions under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, remain in effect except the 60-session-day clock.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today, President Biden announced he is taking new steps to protect U.S. workers and put the Chinese Communist Party on notice with a new round of tariffs on goods vital for America's economic future. I commend President Biden for standing up for American workers and making it clear to the CCP that they will face the consequences for their trade abuses. Fighting the CCP's unfair trade practices is something I have cared about for a very long time. It was one of the very first issues I focused on when I first visited Upstate New York as a Senator and saw for myself jobs leaving the shores. The CCP has shown that they will stop at nothing to steal our intellectual property and undermine our economy. When I met with President Xi during my codel last fall, I pointedly confronted him about the Chinese Government's history of trade abuses and said we need to create a more even-leveled playing field. Today's tariffs are thus a good step towards reversing America's trade imbalance and protect U.S. production of everything from batteries to solar cells to semiconductors to steel and aluminum. I am particularly pleased that President Biden's tariffs will boost American EVs and clean energy manufacturing. With all the investments we Democrats made in the Inflation Reduction Act to boost EV manufacturing--something I care a lot about and worked hard for--it would be terrible for America's roads to become saturated with EVs made in China, and these tariffs will help prevent that. We have taken major steps to reverse the ossification of U.S. manufacturing with the infrastructure law, the IRA, and Chips and Science, but the President's tariffs are also a critical part of the solution.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission might not sound like the flashiest Agency in the world, but, yesterday, they had a lot of flash. They made a game- changing announcement that can only be described as dramatic change and help for the American people and for a clean environment. Yesterday, after years of planning--and after I called FERC to take a strong action last summer and was pushing FERC repeatedly to do this-- the Commission announced a pair of rules that will revamp America's power grid. FERC's new rules will require both long-term transmission planning and establishing a way for States to split the bill for big transmission projects. These sound esoteric, but they are huge. The result, in the long run, will help clean energy compete on equal footing with fossil fuels and result in lower energy costs and increased reliability. Nearly 2 years ago, Congressional Democrats, led by the Democrats in the Senate, made history by passing the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest downpayment for clean energy production the United States has ever seen. Our bill, which I was proud to lead in the Senate, provided hundreds of billions to boost U.S. production in solar and wind and other forms of clean energy, and it is hugely successful. All the programs are being oversubscribed. Many more people are in line-- companies, et cetera--to build solar and wind production and other forms of clean energy. But it was only half the battle. It matters little if we build lots of solar panels and windmills if we don't have a way of transmitting all that clean energy to communities that need it most. And, frankly, transmission was tied in knots. What good is it having a lot of wind offshore or solar energy throughout our more sunny areas if you can't get that energy to the people who need it and want it, to the people whose costs it will lower? And so it was really important to me that we do something about transmission. Unfortunately, we were not able to get that done when we tried to do it here in the Senate. Our Republican colleagues were not amenable. So we had to find another way. According to one study, without more transmissions, the United States could squander up to half the climate benefits of the IRA--what a colossal tragedy. We all see what global warming is doing. You look at the weather reports every day. All of these tornadoes and everything else, where the heck are they coming from if the weather is not changing? So that is why Senate Democrats tried to include transmission reforms in the IRA. And after that, when that didn't work--the Parliamentarian knocked them out--we tried to work them with Republicans, but they blocked our efforts. So I had to find another way, and I was very eager and almost desperate to find another way because we so needed to bring this clean energy to people's homes and reduce their costs. So, last summer, I wrote a letter to FERC to help provide a remedy, because I knew that FERC could strengthen the rules--and they did. They could strengthen rules so we could more quickly build transmission lines and ensure clean energy could compete with fossil fuels on an even footing. I spent months working with my team and with one expert after another to quietly but forcefully fine-tune what FERC needed and change our letter on how the Agency could make the most of this opportunity. Well, hallelujah, this is a major change that people are not paying attention to, but it will have dramatic effect. FERC's rule contained almost all of my requests. The result of yesterday's announcement: more clean energy going to people who need it, lower costs, increased reliability. We are unlocking the clean energy revolution along the day. So let me say this--this was a major announcement--yesterday's announcement from FERC was a turning point in the effort to transition the United States to a clean energy economy. I am very pleased with FERC. I salute their leadership for doing what they did, and I thank my staff, who worked so long and hard to make this happen. It is great news for the environment, great news for the electricity consumer, great news for America and our globe.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, 2 years ago today, barbarity descended upon the ``City of Good Neighbors.'' My heart, my soul, and my spirit are with the people of Buffalo, NY, today, as they observe the second tragic anniversary of the shooting at the Tops supermarket. In the span of just a few minutes, 10 precious lives were extinguished in a senseless act of hatred from a White supremacist. Racism is America's original sin. Our work will never be done until we do everything to rid our society of this vicious evil. May God watch over the souls of those who died 2 years ago today. May those of us who remember them find strength and courage and the will to prevent tragedies like this in the future. America has tragically endured many more senseless shootings since the massacre in Buffalo. Gun violence is one of America's gravest societal ills, and it seems to be increasing. But 2 years ago, we also learned that the situation is not entirely hopeless, because after the advent of what happened in Buffalo, in Uvalde, and in some other places, Democrats and Republicans actually joined together to pass the first gun safety bill in 30 years--the first since the Brady bill, which I offered way back, a long time ago, when I was in the House. This is the first one since then. Later this month, the administration will bring into effect one of the key elements of our bill by expanding background checks and closing loopholes for online sales and gun shows. Our rule expanding background checks shows change is possible when both sides work together, even if progress is hard and halting. A few years ago, the announcement would have been unimaginable. We are never going to be able to fully heal the harms unleashed by gun violence, but we can honor those we lost by continuing the work to make mass shootings a thing of the past. We have a long way to go, but, today, as we remember those who tragically died in Buffalo, let us recommit to keep going, no matter what it takes.