Brian Schatz

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 182, H.R. 1192.

Mr. SCHATZ. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHATZ

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

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 3437, introduced earlier today.

Mr. SCHATZ. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time.

Mr. SCHATZ. I know of no further debate on the bill.

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. SCHATZ

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

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 202, H.R. 1664.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, as if in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that all the nominations received by the Senate during the 117th Congress, first session, remain in status quo, notwithstanding the provisions of rule XXXI, paragraph 6, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, with the following exceptions: Calendar Nos. 262, 265, 300, 313, 314, 348, 349, 355, 405, 407, 408, 415, 456, 460, 464, 468, 469, 483, 484, 485, 504, 510, 511, 512, 514, 515, 527, 529, 530, 532, 542, 549, 550, 551, 552, 559, 561, 564, 566, 568, 586, 588, 593, 594, 609, 610, 611, 615, 628, 631, 633, 634, 417, 424, 427, and PN Nos. 433, 489, 747, 767, 1023, 1155, 1435, 1464, 1285, 1286, 1222, 1223, 1295, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 442, 541, 554, 722, 761, 770, 954, 1014, 1048, 1049, 1148, 1156, 1165, 1170, 1206, 1207, 1210, 1211, 1228, 1251, 1254, 1288, 1289, 1323, 1353, 1354, 1355, 1356, 1357, 1358, 1359, 1360, 1361, 1364, 1370, 1372, 1423, 1424, 1439, 1369, 231, 427, 436, 618, 773, 778, 788, 796, 919, 999, 1491, 1149.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn, to then convene for pro forma sessions only, with no business being conducted, on the following dates and times; and that following each pro forma session, the Senate adjourn until the next pro forma session: Monday, December 20, at 5 p.m.; Thursday, December 23, at 11 a.m.; Monday, December 27, at 4:30 p.m.; and Thursday, December 30, at 8:30 a.m. When the Senate adjourns on Thursday, December 30, it will next convene at 12 noon on Monday, January 3, pursuant to the Constitution. I further ask 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 the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each; further, that at 5:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Sanchez nomination, as provided under the previous order; 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.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. 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. SCHATZ

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

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Executive Calendar Nos. 416, 418, 419, 422, 426, 531, 570, 591, and 592; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate resume legislative session.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. 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.

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 447.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. I further ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 24, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. 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. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 483, submitted earlier today.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 142, S. 2551.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar Nos. 489 and 490; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. SCHATZ

Mr. SCHATZ. I ask unanimous consent that, at 6:15 p.m., all postcloture time on the House message to accompany S. 610 be expired; that the motion to concur with amendment be withdrawn; that if cloture is invoked on the Koh nomination, the Senate vote immediately--vote immediately--on the motion to invoke cloture on the Sung nomination; further, that if cloture is invoked on either nomination, all postcloture time be expired and the confirmation vote on the Koh nomination occur at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, December 13, and the confirmation vote on the Sung nomination occur at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader; further, that the cloture motions on the Elliott nomination and on the House message to accompany S. 1605 ripen on Tuesday, December 14.

Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, I want to rise today to support the nominations of Victoria Wassmer to be Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Transportation, and Mohsin Syed to be the Department's Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs. Right now, we are facing supply chain issues. The reason for this includes unprecedented demand for goods, market disruptions caused by the pandemic, and greater demand. But the biggest issue is the lack of investment in our Nation's infrastructure over the past half century. Simply put, we need better infrastructure to move things in, out, and across the country. And that is why it is so important that we pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill provides a historic $567 billion to the Department of Transportation, including $37 billion for freight investments. It creates new programs to reduce bottlenecks and ease supply chain congestion. The $1.5 billion for my home State of Hawaii will give a massive boost to our local economy. But DOT needs staff to make this investment work. Ms. Wassmer is well qualified to serve as CFO, with private- and public-sector experience, including as CFO of the FAA. The same goes for Mr. Syed as Assistant Secretary for Governmental Affairs. He spent 6 years on Capitol Hill, including in my office, and worked in the DOT general counsel's office. That is why he passed out of the Commerce Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support, and that is why it is so maddening that Republicans are now refusing to move these nominations forward. These are not controversial individuals. This is basically a blanket hold to stop the government from functioning, to stop the infrastructure bill from being implemented. And nobody wins here. We don't win passing a huge bill and then kneecapping it. And the American people who sent us here to serve certainly don't win. So let us do our job and move these nominees forward. And so, therefore, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations: Executive calendar Nos. 468 and 469; that the nominations be confirmed; 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 the nominations; that any related statements be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and that the Senate resume legislative session.