Ron Wyden

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, 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. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 601.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions introduced earlier today: S. Res. 617, S. Res. 618, S. Res. 619, and S. Res. 620.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, 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. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 621 submitted earlier today.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this important resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. 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. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I have six request 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: committee on armed services The Committee on Armed Services is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing. committee on banking, housing, and urban affairs The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. committee on energy and natural resources The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing. committee on homeland security and governmental affairs The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 10:15 a.m., to conduct a hearing. committee on the judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 9 a.m., to conduct an executive business meeting. subcommittee on consumer protection, product safety, and data security The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Sydney Beasley, a legislative fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, this Congress and the Clean Energy for America legislation, which passed the Senate Finance Committee, is the best opportunity in the past decade for bold action that deals not just with the threat of climate change but gives us a chance to get those big investments here in the United States with domestic manufacturing and good jobs--an economic win-win. Our country should be doing everything possible to invest in a technology-neutral, private-sector-driven approach to promote a clean energy future, including investing in renewable energy projects, including the manufacturing of solar, wind, and other technologies here at home. Further, I would note that our country has a clear prohibition on products made with forced labor that is restricting and will continue to restrict renewable energy products produced with forced labor in China from entering the United States. My friend, whom I always like working with, introduces a new, vague restriction that would unfortunately tie our hands, limit our businesses' ability to source necessary materials for their products with vague and overly broad restrictions. I urge my colleagues to oppose the motion. Vote on Motion

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I speak today to honor the memory of an esteemed and beloved Oregonian who spent his life bettering our State. On March 13, Oregon lost its most devoted citizen and advocate: Gerry Frank. Gerry's life and service to Oregon has inspired so many to learn, laugh about, and love what makes Oregon so special: our State's jaw- dropping beauty, our unique independence, and our incredible capacity to land on our feet. And Gerry has always done it in his own special way. No one I know has managed to do as much good as Gerry Frank with a simple piece of chocolate cake. Gerry was a true renaissance man. A graduate of both Lincoln High in Portland and Cambridge in the U.K., he made his mark as a successful haberdasher, restauranteur, politician, and World War II veteran. But we all knew his true loves: Oregon and a great piece of cake. Gerry used the best chocolate cake in the world to bring us together at the State fair, a contest he selflessly judged annually for 60 years. He kept a terrific restaurant and retailer called Gerry Frank's Konditorei which paired delicious Oregon food with that cake. And he went to bat for Oregon community organizations of every size and shape, saying, ``How much cake do you need to give a good cause a boost?'' After the family business of Meier & Frank was sold in 1965, Gerry turned to politics, joining Senator Mark Hatfield's office. Gerry's politics were always pretty simple. He would ask, ``Is that idea fair? Does it make sense? And is it a part of Oregon's long tradition of welcoming fresh approaches to tackling big challenges?'' For almost 20 years Gerry worked as Mark Hatfield's chief of staff, gaining the nickname ``Oregon's Third Senator,'' for his dogged work ethic and devotion to Oregonians. Gerry is an incredible testament to what we call back home the Oregon Way: where we put aside partisan leanings to get things done for our State. After leaving politics, Gerry followed his passion for meeting new people and seeing new places. A talented writer, he was the travel columnist at the Oregonian newspaper for many years and published multiple books, including one of my personal favorites: ``Gerry Frank's Oregon.'' Gerry, a man of many talents and passions, never forgot about his home in Salem. Despite travelling to over 150 countries, he always returned home in time for some of Oregon's beloved traditions, including the State fair and the Rose Festival. In 2019 the Gerry Frank Salem Rotary Amphitheater was built in his name, just another testament to the impact Gerry had on his community as a lifelong Rotarian and lover of live music. And soon, Providence Health in Portland will complete the Gerry Frank Center for Children's Care in his memory. The State of Oregon will not forget Gerry Frank, and neither will I. While his passing brings us sadness, it also bring us gratitude for his tireless work to make Oregon a better place to call home. I honor the illustrious life of Gerry Frank and unforgettable legacy he left in our State for generations to come.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am going to be very brief, and I want to echo what the majority leader said, particularly with respect to revoking permanent normal trade relations with Russia. The Senate, and those who are following this, should understand that in just a few minutes, the Senate is going to take another crucial step in bringing every tool of economic pressure to bear on Vladimir Putin and his oligarch allies. Ending normal trade relations hammers home that Putin has made Russia into a full-fledged pariah state. As the leader noted, Americans have been watching these atrocities-- these brutal acts perpetrated by Vladimir Putin--day after day--on TV, phones, and the like--and now the Senate is saying ``there is going to be clear, clear, clear evidence that what he has done has forfeited the right to normal trade relations.'' And I will just wrap up by way of saying that when we get done, on the Senate Finance Committee, we are going to continue to work in a bipartisan way to send Putin additional messages that are going to rein in his economic power. In particular, I think it is high time to take away the subsidies he gets from American taxpayers for his war machine. That happens when you have American companies doing business in Russia. They pay taxes to the Russian Government, and they get foreign tax credits. I don't believe the people of Michigan or Oregon or anywhere else believe that their tax dollars--their hard-earned tax dollars--should be used to subsidize Putin's war machine. So this is a very important step today towards making sure, as I indicated, we are putting in place every single economic tool to hammer Putin and his oligarchs. I urge my colleagues, as Senator Schumer has just done, to vote yes, and I also want to thank the ranking member of the Finance Committee. I talked to him a few minutes ago. He continues to do everything he can, every step of the way, to make this a bipartisan effort. That is the message we ought to send. I urge colleagues to vote yes when we take away normal trade relations from Russia here in a few minutes. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I have already announced that I intend to support Judge Jackson's nomination. Her character and her qualifications are unassailable, but, unfortunately, that hasn't stopped a number of Senate Republicans from treating her disgracefully. Too often, behavior in the hearings was simply shameful. It doesn't have to be this way, and it wasn't always this way. For example, even though I disagreed with him on plenty of issues, I voted for Chief Justice John Roberts, and he was treated very fairly by Democrats. Serious questions were asked and answered, and there wasn't anything resembling the over-the-line, juvenile theatrics like those shown for Judge Jackson. Things changed when President Obama's final nomination was stolen by Republicans. They refused to even hold a hearing or consider the sitting President's nominee on just fabricated grounds. Democrats are trying to maintain a sharp focus on legal questions and personal qualifications. Faced with sideshows and personal attacks, we stuck to issues. What was particularly striking about those attacks was they were attacks against somebody whom Senate Republicans had voted for unanimously when she was nominated to a lower level court. My view is, the radicalization of the Court and the nominations process are just poisonous to our democracy, but that was what was on display when Republicans attacked Judge Jackson. I want to start setting the record straight on several of the key issues. First, Judge Jackson is squarely within the sentencing norm for cases involving child sexual abuse material. She was smeared anyway as going soft on predators. It was a gross and baseless accusation, more of a dog whistle to conspiracists than an attempt at honestly vetting a nominee. Even the National Review--nobody's idea of a liberal publication--published a column that called the comments of our colleague from Missouri, Senator Hawley--it called his attack ``meritless to the point of demagoguery.'' Those were the words of the National Review. The fact is, on this hugely important issue, the whole question of kids' safety, as the Presiding Officer of the Senate knows, there is a big difference between talking about protecting child victims and actually doing the work. Far too many of our Republican colleagues just come down on the wrong side of the divide. It is absolutely right that government at every level has failed to protect kids from exploitation online. That failure has a lot of causes. One is that the Justice Department, for reasons I will never understand, has consistently declined to put enough manpower and funding behind protecting these vulnerable kids. Another reason is that Members of Congress talk a really big game, but when there is serious legislation to protect vulnerable kids, they disappear. Now, I have proposed an alternative. It is the Invest in Child Safety Act. It puts serious funds into tracking down the child predators and prosecuting these god-awful monsters and protecting the kids they target and abuse. It would create a new executive position, to be confirmed by the Senate, to raise this level of protecting kids and strengthen oversight. Now, instead of supporting that legislation, where we put real prosecutors and real investigators to the task of protecting our kids, putting more law enforcement on the beat, a number of Senate Republicans spend their days going after section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. So, yet again, vulnerable kids are being used as pawns by politicians to advance their agenda. I simply believe that child abuse and exploitation is too serious an issue for U.S. Senators to cheapen it with baseless accusations and ill-conceived legislation. This is the last subject--protecting our kids--that elected officials ought to be playing politics with.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on an important nomination to the Department of Health and Human Services. January Contreras is President Biden's choice to serve as Assistant Secretary for children and families. The Senate Finance Committee is taking a special interest in kids, families, and fresh approaches to strengthen opportunities for them and for America's future. Now, people have been a little bit surprised that the Finance Committee is taking this big interest because, normally, they think that the Finance Committee deals primarily with big money issues. Taxes and trade would be two examples. Those are certainly very, very important, and we spend plenty of time working on those. But the committee also feels very strongly that we can't afford to write off the hopes and dreams of our future, which are our kids and our families. We can't afford, as a country, to lose these young minds and these young families, to take away the kinds of opportunities they could have with just a few well-targeted, sensible investments in their future. And when January Contreras is confirmed, that is exactly the kind of work that she is going to be doing: caring for some of the most vulnerable young people in our Nation, those young people who are in the child welfare system. One of the big challenges in the last few years of the Administration for Children and Families has been the implementation of our bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act. This was an extraordinarily important law, particularly for kids who are in foster care. We had, until this law came along, essentially two choices for these kids. We could send them off to a foster home. Some of them might be good; some of them we know aren't so good. Or we could leave them in a family situation at home that wasn't too desirable. You might have a parent who had been caught up in drugs or alcohol or something else. What the Finance Committee did in enacting the Family First Prevention Services Act is it said: We have got these two choices over here, neither of them are ideal. What we will do is create a third path, which is the Family First Prevention Services Act. So, for example, for a family in Arizona--the Presiding Officer's home State--that family would be in a position to stay together but also to receive some of the services--the anti-drug services, the efforts to get people off alcohol and addiction--and keep the family together. Very often, a grandparent would help out. Family First is, in my view, the future of much of our domestic policy in this country because it means we aren't going to write off our kids and families caught up in the child welfare system. The bill was bipartisan. Chairman Hatch was then the chairman. I was the ranking member. I think this bill is a once-in-a-generation overhaul of how child welfare works in America. As I described to the Presiding Officer, before Family First, families, in effect in Arizona and elsewhere, were broken apart by default. In other words, you had the two choices, neither of them very good. Family First--put together on a bipartisan basis in the Finance Committee--recognized that young people grow up better at home, and families have an incredible capacity to deal with the proper support. So we signed Family First to help families stay together whenever it is safe and possible. As I mentioned, maybe the parent needs a little help with substance abuse or mental health treatment; getting clean will make the home safe and the community often safer. And, as I have mentioned, I was particularly thrilled that we could look to grandparents once again to step in as a caretaker for their grandkids, because when I was a young member of the other body, I wrote the Kinship Care bill, which was something that really came out of America's churches, where grandparents could step in and provide a compassionate role model and caretaker for the grandkids. The new approach builds that smart flexibility into the system so the kids and families could get the support they need. In my view, it is especially important right now to help address mental health. The Finance Committee had a hearing today on that. Senator Crapo and I have vowed to have a bipartisan bill on that. And it is particularly important to have Family First right now because it allows us to address mental health and substance abuse and strengthen families at the same time. This is what families are all about. Now, implementing the law takes a lot of close collaboration between the Federal Government and the States. It has not been easy. The previous administration made it pretty challenging. But because this is a bipartisan priority for the Finance Committee, we just pushed ahead. And I am especially looking forward to working with Ms. Contreras on that task. Ms. Contreras and I have some work experience that might be of interest to the Presiding Officer. Ms. Contreras led the Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services, a legal aid organization for children and young adults who have experienced abuse, neglect, family separation, homelessness, and human trafficking. Before my time in the Congress, I ran the Oregon legal services for the elderly program, a legal aid program specially for seniors. And then the rest of the time I was codirector of the Oregon Gray Panthers helping, again, families and seniors and others. Back then, seniors were constantly getting clobbered by insurance scams and bill collectors, and somebody needed to be there for them. So Ms. Contreras is very, very qualified for this job--qualified to steer Family First into a period of exceptional progress because States are really hungry for this option, the option that makes a big difference because it ensures that we are not writing off our families; we are not giving up on them. That is something that I think is particularly important to hear from our Finance Committee members because everybody thinks that the committee just focuses on all these things with Big Money, but we are especially interested in seeing nominees like Ms. Contreras come forward. I think she will do a terrific job as the head of the Administration for Children and Families. She is going to do a terrific job of moving Family First ahead. She had bipartisan support in the Senate Finance Committee. I urge all Members of the Senate to vote for January Contreras when she comes up later this evening. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am going to keep my remarks short and simple. America and the world need immediately the toughest possible sanctions against the Russian oligarchs, who are working constantly to devise Byzantine schemes to get around the kind of sanctions that are in this trade bill. We all understand what is at issue here, and that is that we need to move quickly. We need to move while the President is mobilizing the collective strength of our allies. And I am interested in working with all of my colleagues. With the majority leader's leadership, we have been working for days on this. But what is important--and our friend from Maryland has touched on it-- is that we not just relitigate what came up in one committee or another, if it is going to hold up the essential task ahead, and that is that these oligarchs who are Putin's best allies and are working with him constantly to figure out ways to get money to fuel the Putin war machine--what they really don't want is what the sanctions will do: rein them in and limit them as they continually try to devise these schemes. So I would just urge my colleagues--and we are here to continue to work on this--to get this done and get it done now because to do otherwise allows the oligarchs and all their lawyers and financial managers to look at what is happening in the U.S. Senate. And those oligarchs say, ``Doesn't look like there is going to be anything right now--don't have to worry immediately.'' The Senate is better than this. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, which would impose the harshest economic consequences of a generation on the Russians, and particularly the oligarchs, who have done so much to prop Putin up against the odds. Pass this bill. Pass it now. I yield the floor.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, let me pick up on what both of my colleagues have just said. Senator Schumer and Senator Crapo have both said how committed we are to getting this worked out today. And as Senator Schumer said, under his leadership, the Finance Committee--the chair and the ranking member--that is what we are going to be working on so that this actually happens. And I want to make sure everybody understands what that means. It means that while the President is in these crucial discussions right now in Europe, the Senate--in the most expedited way, which is to pass the House legislation today--would revoke permanent normal trade relations with Russia. And here is why that is so important. Vladimir Putin's inhumane conduct means that Russia has forfeited the right to the benefits of the international trade order that was established after World War II. And what the Senate can do by passing the House bill today would amount to the harshest economic consequences in a generation. Let me be specific about that. When we pass that legislation that came over from the House here in the Senate, it would immediately trigger a significant increase in tariffs on Russian-made products. Adding to that, the proposal also includes authority for the President to raise tariffs even higher in the future. These tariffs would directly level a significant set of restrictions on Putin's circle of oligarchs, who export everything from chemicals to plywood. This is an absolutely essential step in ensuring that Russia is a pariah state. So to wrap up, apropos of the comments from the distinguished Senate majority leader and our ranking member--and the President of the Senate has worked with him as well--we had a good discussion over the last half-hour that is going to focus on getting passage of the House bill done today. And as Senator Schumer, Senator Crapo, and I have all noted, those discussions have been ongoing, but we are going to step it up so we can get this done today and send the House bill to the President's desk by close of business today. With that, Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. I ask unanimous consent that the following Senators be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled votes: myself for up to 15 minutes, Senator Paul for up to 15 minutes, Senator Menendez for up to 7 minutes, and Senator Risch for up to 5.

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, the Senate will soon vote on the nomination of Maria Pagan to serve as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and our envoy to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. This vote has been a long time coming; and in a moment, I am going to talk about Ms. Pagan's extensive qualifications and her long experience. But, first, Madam President and colleagues, there is a new urgency today for the Senate to confirm Ms. Pagan with strong bipartisan support. The Russians' inhuman behavior means that they have forfeited the right to enjoy the fruits of the post-World War II international order. The World Trade Organization is one of the key venues where the United States and our economic allies must hold Russia accountable for its illegal and unjustifiable war in Ukraine. It means the United States and our economic allies basically have to go to the World Trade Organization and tell Russia: Go fly a kite. Now, here in the Congress, as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I am working with the ranking member, Senator Mike Crapo; House Ways and Means Chairman Richie Neal; and Ranking Member Kevin Brady on legislation that would revoke Russia's permanent normal trade status with the United States. This is part of suspending Russia's benefits at the World Trade Organization and would mean Russia's exports to the United States would immediately be hit with significant tariffs. Our country has led the effort to ratchet up sanctions against Russia to levels nobody has seen. Russia's economy is in free fall, and there is no question that hitting Putin's tight circle of oligarchs who dominate Russia's largest industries will pay off. Taking away Russia's trade benefits is an essential next step that will help to freeze Russia out of key markets around the world. As our Envoy to the World Trade Organization, Ms. Pagan would be our point person coordinating this effort. She will be the one coordinating with like-minded countries and intervening in support of Ukraine. That is why it is so important that she be confirmed today and why it is so important that she have strong backing from both sides of the aisle. Now, her nomination won bipartisan support in the Senate Finance Committee. The Finance Committee approved her nomination by a vote of 27 to 1, so we are talking about near-unanimous support--certainly something of a rare sight in the Congress these days. She got that support because she is a highly experienced public servant who knows how to get the best possible deal for our workers and our farmers and our businesses. Over three decades in government, she has served at both the Department of Commerce and at the Office of the USTR. She is an expert in a variety of fields. From trade in services to government procurement, she has litigated several disputes before the World Trade Organization. She now serves as deputy general counsel at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the person called in when issues are particularly challenging. She was recently at the center of the U.S.- Mexico-Canada negotiations, and she was key to helping Democrats guarantee that the final deal would be enforceable. That was a must- have for all Americans; otherwise, the agreement wasn't going to pass. Working through the WTO to isolate Russia is just going to be one part of her job. There are critical negotiations at WTO that absolutely have to move forward. These include COVID vaccines and the unfair fisheries subsidies that do so much damage to our environment and our fishing industry. The WTO itself has big issues that have to be addressed. Its rules are out of date, and its procedures move too slowly to keep up with a modern economy. The Chinese Government, for example, takes advantage of the World Trade Organization's current shortcomings to game the trade system, and they do it at the expense of American jobs, growth, and innovation. A system that is intended to produce ironclad, predictable rules is now opening up loopholes that trade rip-off artists are exploiting. Ms. Pagan understands these challenges that I described. She is equipped to confront these issues. She is a proven negotiator and a strong advocate for American workers and farmers and businesses. She has secured significant support from Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee. There is urgent work that awaits her in Geneva. I urge my colleagues to support this nomination. It is priority business for today, given our trade challenges with Russia. I yield the floor.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I will be very brief. There are two reasons why Senators should vote against the Lee anti-vaccination amendment that affects our dedicated healthcare workers and our superlative military. First, vaccines for healthcare workers protects the most vulnerable, particularly seniors and those with chronic illness. Three in four COVID deaths in America were seniors. Two hundred thousand were people living in long-term care. Vulnerable people are safer when their homes, hospitals, and doctors' offices are safe. Furthermore, flu shot requirements for healthcare workers were already common. Health workers know vaccinations are part of the job. Turning to the Armed Forces, I am simply going to quote the letter General Milley wrote with respect to the vaccination requirement. Here is General Milley: We need each and every Soldier, Sailor, Airmen, Marine and Guardian healthy and capable of performing our duties. COVID- 19 is a threat to force protection and readiness. General Milley went on to say: With this in mind, the Secretary of Defense intends to mandate vaccinations for all Servicemembers. And then he makes it clear: The Joint Force medical professionals recommended this as a necessary step to sustain our readiness and protect our force, our coworkers, our families, and our communities. For these reasons, when we get a chance to vote on the Lee anti- vaccination amendment affecting healthcare workers in the military, I urge my colleagues to oppose the Lee amendment. I yield the floor.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to speak for up to 15 minutes, followed by Senator Marshall for up to 1 minute, prior to the scheduled rollcall vote.

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, as my colleague from Utah just noted a minute ago, he has been asking for votes on this matter repeatedly. And today, he and others seek to invalidate a regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that require most healthcare providers to be vaccinated. And suffice it to say, this is something that the Supreme Court has ruled on. The Supreme Court has actually taken this up and agrees with our position that, in effect, this is an area where there is a strong public interest. And I believe what my colleague is proposing is just far outside the mainstream of opinion regarding vaccinations in America. There simply is a point where an anti-mandate agenda becomes a dangerous anti-vaccine agenda, and my colleagues on the other side, in my view, have crossed that line quite some time ago. So I am just going to take a few minutes to describe why I think this is such an extreme position outside what the vast majority of Americans agree and in contrast to what the Supreme Court has said. Americans support a vaccine provision or requirement for healthcare workers by a 20- or 30-point margin--no surprise about that. Everybody is concerned about sitting in a room with a doctor or nurse who may be contagious and who has been unvaccinated. I want to particularly emphasize the people affected here who are the most vulnerable based on what we have seen during the pandemic. We are talking about those with chronic illness and seniors. Three-quarters of the Americans who died of COVID-19 were seniors, and 200,000 of those COVID deaths were Americans living or working in long-term care facilities like nursing homes. Many others were in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices routinely. Making sure that healthcare workers are vaccinated, colleagues, I don't think is about any partisan position. It is about a commonsense policy designed to keep seniors--people I have worked with for 7 years; before I came to the Congress, I was director of the Gray Panthers--I think we all believe we want vulnerable people to be safe. So I am going to start by quoting a ruling by the Roberts Court--hardly, at this point, colleagues, some kind of radical left judiciary. Recently, they allowed the vaccine requirement for healthcare workers to go forward, and I am just going to quote: Ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: First, do no harm. It would be the very opposite of efficient and effective administration for a facility that is supposed to make people well to make them sick with COVID-19. This vaccine provision or requirement is about keeping our healthcare workforce safe. Doctors and nurses in our country are overwhelmed. That is what they just told me as I went about my State, going to hospitals and vaccination sites and other healthcare programs. These providers have been working nonstop for years under extraordinary stress, and what they are all about is honoring that Hippocratic Oath and trying to save lives. At times in this pandemic, our hospitals have been jampacked with COVID patients. If lots of doctors and nurses are out sick during a big COVID wave, that has got an impact on the standard of care for everybody. It drops for COVID patients, for stroke patients, for people hurt in car accidents. Our country desperately needs to protect our healthcare workforce. Now, right at the heart of my colleagues' case--and as my friend from Utah said, we have had a number of debates about this subject--my colleagues say every person is unique, and there needs to be flexibility when it comes to vaccines. Colleagues, I am just fine with that. The fact is, the administration is allowing for medical and religious exemptions. Flexibility is written into the rule because that is just plain old common sense. Vaccine requirements aren't anything new for healthcare workers. Flu shot requirements have been common for a long time. When you go into healthcare, it is understood that a vaccine requirement can be part of the job. Furthermore, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has already pushed back the deadline for healthcare workers in several States to have their first vaccine dose. Originally, the deadline was in December. Now, it is February. The idea that this is somehow an inflexible and unreasonable mandate coming from nowhere is just plain wrong. I would just close by way of saying it is time for us to move past these battles that I think regrettably continue to make this pandemic-- which strikes me as having nothing to do with politics--such political hutzpah. It is good news that the Omicron wave is receding. With any luck, that will be the last major COVID wave that threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system. We all want our lives to get back to normal, and the way to do that is with smart public health policies--and smart public health policies, we know, consistently get broad support from the American people. That is what the vaccine provision requirement for healthcare workers is all about. That is why the Supreme Court upheld it. I would urge that we oppose this joint resolution and do everything we can to make sure that healthcare workers are going to be vaccinated. And as I said to my constituents when I was home this weekend, what I wanted to make sure was that everybody who could, get vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the following members of my office be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the Congress: Maia Hamin, Bonnie Million, Panya Gupta, Katie Rader, Felicia Chou, Raghav Aggarwal, Sarguni Singh, James Maloy, and Nadia Laniyan.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, in a bit, I hope to be able to put forward and pass a unanimous consent request, asking the Senate to take up and approve the nomination of Ms. Michele Taylor to serve as the U.S. Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, with the rank of Ambassador. Before I put that request forward, I want to take just a few minutes to talk about why Ms. Taylor is, in my view, the right choice for this important role and why the Senate must act on her nomination quickly. In blunt terms, Michele Taylor is simply a champion for fundamental human and political rights. She now serves on the board of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. She has been a leader with other humanitarian groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council. She has battled for the rights of women and other vulnerable Americans. On a personal level, I come from a family who lost some relatives in the Holocaust. Ms. Taylor is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. It is absolutely essential that fighting against the rise of anti-Semitism is a key part of America's diplomacy. Ms. Taylor certainly understands that. I am confident she will work to lead our partners and allies toward a more peaceful, prosperous future, grounded in respect for human dignity. In the Senate, there is bipartisan interest in ensuring that the United States stands up and battles for human rights around the world. For example, on the Finance Committee, Senator Brown, Senator Crapo, and I have put in a lot of hours in recent years to address the scourge of forced labor in China and elsewhere in the world. I know, also, that this is a subject that the President of the Senate cares deeply about. This is just one of the human rights atrocities that our country must stand up to forcefully. The Senate must show that our concern for these issues is more than just idle talk. That is why the Senate must not delay the nominations of highly qualified individuals, like Ms. Michele Taylor, who are up for consideration in key roles in advancing human rights. There is a matter of the sensitivity of the time as well. The regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council begins on February 28, which is, obviously, just days away. It is essential, in my view, that we confirm our representative now. Delaying Ms. Taylor's confirmation simply hinders the United States' ability to advocate for American values and help vulnerable people who are suffering under abuse and oppression around the world. Moving this nomination forward is an opportunity for the Senate to show this Chamber's commitment to advancing human rights is, in fact, more than just talk. There is a deadline--a specific, concrete deadline, February 28--that is bearing down on the Chamber. There simply is no more time to delay on this important nomination. We await a colleague who would like to have a chance to be heard on this, to consider it. I do hope that we can work this out here in the afternoon. Hopefully, the Senate will wrap up business this afternoon because this really is time-sensitive. Members talk about matters that actually may be coming up; this one is upon us. I do hope that we will be able to clear Ms. Michele Taylor to serve as U.S. Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council with the rank of Ambassador before the close of business today. Thank you. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. WYDEN

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, earlier this afternoon, I made it clear I was going to put forward a unanimous consent request asking the Senate to take up and approve the nomination of Michele Taylor, to serve as the U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Council with the rank of Ambassador, and in just a minute and a half or so, I will make that unanimous consent request. Ms. Taylor has an exceptional record with respect to humanitarian issues. She has served on the Anti-Defamation League, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. She has been a strong advocate for the rights of women. I come from a family who lost relatives in the Holocaust. Ms. Taylor is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. And it is absolutely essential that we up the ante in the fight against anti-Semitism, and that is a key part of this country's diplomacy. The reason that I am making this unanimous consent tonight is that Michele Taylor is unquestionably qualified for this important post, but there is a real time sensitivity to her nomination being cleared tonight. The regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council begins on February 28, obviously just a few days away. It is absolutely essential that we confirm our representative now. Delaying Ms. Taylor's confirmation would obviously hinder the U.S. ability to advocate for American values and help vulnerable people who suffer under abuse and oppression around the world. And she will be able to build on some particularly important work that is going on in the Senate Committee on Finance, led by Senator Brown and Senator Crapo, working, for example, on forced labor and other issues that involve critically important human rights questions.