Chuck Schumer

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on voting rights, later today, I will join several of my Democratic colleagues at a press conference to mark the reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. John Lewis once said: Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build what we called the Beloved Community. That is what John Lewis said. With this legislation, we are not only honoring John Lewis and his lifetime fight for voting rights, we are also committed to doing our part to expand access to the ballot box and end voter discrimination, which has plagued this Republic since its founding. I will have more to say later, but recent history makes it absolutely clear that we need these protections on the books. MAGA Republicans across the country are continuing their dangerous crusade--self- serving--to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly when it comes to people of color ahead of the November election. So Democrats will continue to heed the words of our late colleague, John Lewis, and we will work tirelessly to safeguard the right to vote and our democracy, advancing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. We can--and must--build a more responsive democracy, a more perfect Union.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3859, introduced earlier today by Senators Grassley and Ossoff.

Mr. SCHUMER. I further ask that the bill be considered read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have three 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 senior Senator from Hawaii be authorized to sign duly enrolled bills or joint resolutions from February 29, 2024, through March 5, 2024.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 570, which is at the desk.

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. Madam President, I now ask for its 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. Finally, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned to convene for pro forma session only, with no business conducted, at 12 noon on Friday, March 1; and that when the Senate adjourns on Friday, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5; 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 Keohane nomination; further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

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. 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 568, which is at the desk.

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. Madam 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 Raphael Warnock, the Senator from Georgia.

Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, negotiators in both Chambers continue working to ensure the government will not shut down at the end of the week. We continue to make very good progress on an agreement, and we are very close to getting it done. I met yesterday with President Biden, with Speaker Johnson, with Leader McConnell, and Leader Jeffries; and we all agree a shutdown is a loser for the American people. In a shutdown, costs would go up, safety would go down, and the American people would pay the price. I am hopeful that the four leaders can reach this agreement very soon so we can not only avoid a shutdown on Friday but get closer to finishing the appropriations process altogether. If our House Republican colleagues of good will want to avert a shutdown--if they want to govern responsibly, as they say they do--they must resist the centrifugal pull of the extreme hard right who want to burn everything down, who openly use the threat of a shutdown to push their extreme agenda. They are brazen about it. They are brazen. We know what the hard right has been pushing. They want to restrict women's reproductive freedoms--we saw the case in Alabama. They want to rip apart gun safety laws and reward corporate polluters. Or else, they say, they want a shutdown. This is no way to govern. If our House Republican colleagues of good will want to do the right thing, they must accept a fundamental truth about divided government: Republicans cannot pass a bill without Democratic support; it takes both sides working together--and ignoring the extremes of the hard right--to get anything done. I have said this over and over again directly to the Speaker, even in my first conversation with him: The only way we will get things done is by bipartisanship. And I am proud in our Chamber, not just on the supplemental but in bill after bill after bill, we are working in a bipartisan way. I am proud of that record. The Speaker should understand that. So I am hopeful that soon we will have an agreement for keeping the government open beyond Friday's deadline. We will keep working very diligently today. And I ask my colleagues to stay flexible and be ready to act quickly when the time comes.

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, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nomination: Calendar No. 516, Aprille Joy Ericsson, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense; that the Senate vote on the nomination without intervening action or debate; that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam 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. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, with the exception of Col. Ralph J. Rizzo, Jr., and all nominations on the Secretary's desk in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy; that the nominations be confirmed en bloc; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 29; 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 following the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Rollinson nomination postcloture; that all time be considered expired at 11:30 a.m.; and that if the nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action; further, that following disposition of the Rollinson nomination, the Senate resume legislative session and execute the order of January 31, 2024, with respect to the veto message on S.J. Res. 38 and the Senate immediately vote on passage of the joint resolution, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding; further, that following disposition of the veto message, the Senate resume executive session to proceed to the consideration of Executive Calendar No. 518, Ronald Keohane to be Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have 12 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, later this morning, I will join with Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries for a meeting with President Biden at the White House. I expect today's meeting to be an important, timely, and fruitful discussion about how congressional leaders, in conjunction with the White House, can meet the immense responsibilities facing Congress at this moment. This Friday, unless both sides act quickly, the Federal Government will enter a partial government shutdown, with yet another funding deadline looming a week after that. Agriculture, transportation, veterans programs, and more will be thrown into chaos this Friday if we fail to extend funding. As I have said throughout the 118th Congress, there is no justification--none--for provoking a government shutdown. Democrats strongly oppose shutdowns, and I know many of my Republican Senate colleagues, including the Republican leader, want to avoid one as well. And we Democrats want to work with them to ensure that a government shutdown does not happen. And look, we realize the Speaker of the House is in a difficult position. But he must reject the MAGA hard right, which wants a shutdown, wants to hurt America, and which does not represent a majority of Republicans in the House, a majority of Republicans in the Senate, and a majority of Republicans in America--let alone, all Americans. So if both sides work together, if we reject poison pills that can never become law, and if we tune out the extreme radical voices of the hard right, then the task before us becomes much, much easier. Again, these hard-right chaos agents in the House do not represent a majority of Republicans in the country. They do not represent a majority of Republicans in the Senate. They do not even represent a majority of Republicans in the House, and yet they are trying to bully everyone else into submission to get what they want. And what they want--make no mistake about it; they say it openly--is a government shutdown, with the harm it will do to millions of people. The chaos we have seen over and over again in the House just goes to show you that the hard right is not serious about governing. The only tactic in the hard-right playbook is to try to bully the rest of Congress to bend to their views. By now, I expect many House Republicans are beyond exhausted by their colleagues' bullying tactics. It is one of the biggest reasons why the Republican majority in the House can't get anything done. But for all their bullying, all their bluster, all their attempts at intimidation, the hard right's efforts have consistently-- consistently--ended in failure. I hope this time will be no different. I hope that, in the coming days, serious-minded House Republicans can work with Democrats to find a path out of the shutdown threat. There is every reason in the world for both sides to work together this week and in the weeks to come. So I look forward to making that case to congressional leaders at the White House. Speaker Johnson, we are looking forward to working with you to avoid a government shutdown.

Mr. SCHUMER

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I object.

Mr. SCHUMER

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