Chuck Schumer

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 would just like to make my morning remarks a bit later, but I want to acknowledge and thank my good friend the Reverend Adolphus Lacey of the famous Bethany Baptist Church, not too far from where I live in Brooklyn, for leading us in this morning's prayer. It is great to see you here. You are a leader in bringing the message of the Lord down here to all of us, but also doing many good works here on Earth. You do both, as the Prophet Micah would have wanted you to do. And I have a great relationship with Bethany Baptist Church. Bill Jones--when I ran for Congress, they were sort of running a racist campaign against me, and Bill Jones--the Reverend Bill Jones--who was a disciple of Dr. King, rallied the ministers to support me and help me win. So the relationship with Bethany Baptist goes way back, but it has even blossomed further under the great leadership of Pastor Lacey. I am so proud he is here so all of the Nation can see why we in Brooklyn love Pastor Adolphus Lacey. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, earlier this morning, the legislative text for the final six appropriations bills was released, I am happy to say, clearing another hurdle toward our ultimate goal of funding the Federal Government. I thank the appropriators, their staffs, and everyone involved for working themselves to the bone to release these bills. I imagine some folks here in the Capitol are past the point of exhaustion. This funding agreement between the White House and congressional leaders is good news that comes in the nick of time. When passed, it will extinguish any more shutdown threats for the rest of the fiscal year, it will avoid the scythe of budget sequestration, and it will keep the government open without cuts or poison pill riders. It is now the job of the House Republican leadership to move this package ASAP. Just like the funding bills Congress passed 2 weeks ago, this package avoids draconian Republican cuts on major Democratic wins that help American families, American workers, and America's national defense. We have secured an increase in childcare services. We boosted disease research and prevention. We funded school mental health programs and suicide prevention--so needed in this modern world in which we live. We are strengthening the border with new resources for frontline personnel. We are investing in safer, more secure elections. We Democrats are very proud of both. The hard right pushed for cuts that would have impacted K through 12 education and services for low-income families. Democrats stopped it. The hard right wanted to add terrible poison pill riders to attack freedom of choice. Democrats stopped that too. Now Congress must now race to pass this package before government funding runs out this Friday. Once the House acts, the Senate will need bipartisan cooperation to pass it before Friday's deadline and avoid a shutdown. I want to thank President Biden, Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and Leader McConnell for their leadership. I also thank Chairwoman Murray and Vice Chair Collins and their staffs, as well as my own staff, for their tireless leadership of the Appropriations Committee throughout the entire process. I don't think they got any sleep from about Saturday to today. I really thank particularly Meghan Taira and Ray O'Mara from my staff, who did such a strong job on this.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have five 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. Mr. President, I understand 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 proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4050, which is at the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER. 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. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 611, S. Res. 612, S. Res. 613, S. Res. 614, and S. Res. 615.

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for evidence in a criminal action pending in Nevada Federal district court. In this action, the defendant is charged with making threatening telephone calls last year to the offices of Senator Jacky Rosen and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. Trial is scheduled to commence in May. The prosecution is seeking documents and testimony from employees of Senator Rosen's and Senator Cortez Masto's offices. The Senators would like to cooperate with this request by providing relevant employee testimony and documents from their offices. The enclosed resolution would authorize employees in the offices of Senator Rosen and Senator Cortez Masto to testify and produce documents on behalf of their respective offices in this action, with representation by the Senate legal counsel.

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

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 11 a.m. on Friday, March 22; 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Gonzalez nomination; further, that at 12 noon the Senate vote on confirmation of the Gonzalez nomination; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Friday's session, 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, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Lankford.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 253, S. 1332.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, if Republicans and Democrats keep working in good faith to fund the government, then I hope we are just days away from completing the appropriations process. The job is not done, but we are very close. A few days ago, Congressional leaders announced an agreement on the last six funding bills. These bills will make significant investments for our national defense, for the well-being of our servicemembers, for keeping the United States competitive against the Chinese Communist Party, and so much more. Today, appropriators continue working on the legislative text, and, despite the tight deadline, they continue to make very good progress. They are very diligent. They work through the night. And we salute them on both sides of the aisle--my staff, Patty Murray's staff, Susan Collins' staff, and Leader McConnell's staff--for trying to get this done, as well as all of the other members of the appropriations subcommittees. We don't yet know precisely when the House will act, but, as soon as they send us the funding package, I will put it on the Senate floor. And from there, as we all know, it will take cooperation to get on the bill and consent from every Senator to keep this process moving quickly. Even with bipartisanship, it is going to be a tight squeeze to get this funding package passed before the weekend deadline. I ask my colleagues to be flexible, to be prepared to act quickly, and to prioritize working together in good faith so we can finish the appropriations process. If we proceed like we did 2 weeks ago with the first six funding bills, then the odds are good that we can get this done without excessive delay or headaches. Again, I want to thank my Senate colleagues, Chair Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Leader McConnell, the Speaker, and all the appropriators for working in good faith to finish the job.

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. Mr. President, I would like to begin today by addressing the reprehensible and dangerous comments made yesterday by former President Trump. The former President's comments were utterly disgusting and a textbook example of the kind of anti-Semitism facing Jews, pushing the dangerous anti-Semitism trope of dual loyalty. To say you hate Israel or your religion because you have one political view over the other is sick. It is hateful. It is unadulterated anti- Semitism, and it serves to use Israel as a political wedge, further damaging the bonds between the United States and Israel. We have always tried--I have always tried through the years--to keep everything we do on Israel bipartisan. And to use it for partisan purposes hurts Israel, hurts America, and displays how low Donald Trump would go. And nobody who breaks bread with anti-Semites like Nick Fuentes and who called White supremacists in Charlottesville ``very good people'' or who, as was recently reported, said, disgustingly, that Hitler did some good things has any right--any right--to lecture Jewish Americans about their personal political beliefs. I condemn the former President's irresponsible comments and urge others from both sides--both sides--to do the same.

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, finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 20; 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 proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Kiel nomination; further, that the cloture motions with respect to the Kiel and Lee nominations ripen at 12 noon and that following the cloture vote on the Kiel nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Kiel nomination, all time be considered expired at 2:15 p.m. and that if cloture is invoked on the Lee nomination, all time be considered expired at 5:15; finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during Wednesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions: S. Res. 595, S. Res. 596, and S. Res. 597.

Mr. SCHUMER. I know of no further debate on the resolutions en bloc.

Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that 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. I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. SCHUMER

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