[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 59 (Monday, April 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1921-S1923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the leadership 
time is reserved.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that I be recognized at 5 p.m.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  (Mr. HICKENLOOPER assumed the Chair.)
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The majority leader is recognized.


                  Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this week, the U.S. Senate will commence 
the final stage--the final stage--of confirming Judge Ketanji Brown 
Jackson as the 116th Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
  It is a joyous and history-making moment for the Senate as 115 
individuals have come before this Chamber for consideration to the 
highest Court in the land, but none--none--were like Judge Jackson. 
Like many before her, she is brilliant; she is esteemed and highly 
accomplished, but never--never before--has the Supreme Court had a 
Black woman bear the title of ``Justice,'' and she will pave the way 
for others to follow in her example.
  Not long from now, the Senate Judiciary Committee will conclude their 
markup of Judge Jackson's nomination by voting to report her out of 
committee. Chairman Durbin has adjusted the schedule to make sure all 
members are able to vote, but the process is moving forward. There is 
no question--no question--that Judge Jackson deserves a strong 
bipartisan vote in committee; but, sadly, despite the judge's 
qualifications, the Republicans on the committee have made clear that 
not one of them will vote to report her out of committee.
  If the Judiciary Committee does reach a deadlocked vote later today, 
I will move as soon as I can to have the Senate hold a discharge vote 
so that her nomination can be considered by the full Senate.
  It is obvious, in listening to Republicans, that their objections are 
entirely unserious. Many who label Judge Jackson as ``radical'' and 
``far left'' today conveniently ignore that she received bipartisan 
support not once, not twice, but three times in this Chamber, including 
by voice vote. They also fail to mention that Judge Jackson commands 
strong support from across the political spectrum, from conservative 
judges to the Nation's largest police unions to a long list of former 
colleagues who say she is nothing short of the best of the best.
  Republicans in committee have ignored, in other words, the plain 
facts of Judge Jackson's record, and that is deeply disappointing. 
Judge Jackson is a brilliant and historic nominee, and her elevation as 
the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court should bring the Senate 
together.
  Let's be clear: Despite Republican opposition, Judge Jackson has 
enough votes to get confirmed to the Supreme Court on a bipartisan 
basis. The Senate is going to keep working until she is confirmed.
  Once Judge Jackson is out of committee, I will file cloture on her 
nomination as quickly as possible and, in doing so, set in motion a 
process that will set up a final confirmation vote by the end of this 
week. I hope both sides can work together to advance her all-but-
certain confirmation through the Senate without delay.
  Once again, I want to finish by commending Judge Jackson for 
conducting herself brilliantly and unassailably during the entire 
confirmation process. It is not easy to be thrown suddenly and abruptly 
into the national spotlight and have every detail of your life 
scrutinized. It is even harder to then

[[Page S1922]]

engage in marathon sitdowns with nearly every Senator in this body in 
just a few weeks, and it is nothing short of herculean to endure 3 days 
of lengthy and, at times, deeply unfair and mendacious questioning 
before the Judiciary Committee--with the eyes of the Nation upon you.
  But 6 weeks after her nomination was announced, Judge Jackson has 
proven that she is up to the task before her. She has shown that she 
merits the title of ``Justice,'' and from this moment on, the Senate 
will not stop working until we finish the work of confirming Judge 
Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court.


                       Business Before the Senate

  Now, Mr. President, on other Senate business, this week, the 
confirmation of Judge Jackson to the Supreme Court remains the highest 
Senate priority by far, but Senate Democrats will continue our work to 
lower costs for the American people.
  Last week--little noticed but quite important--the Senate passed 
bipartisan ocean shipping reform, spearheaded by Senators Klobuchar and 
Thune and Cantwell. This is very significant and much-needed 
legislation that will reduce costs for the American people by 
unclogging our ports from Los Angeles to New York to Savannah to 
Seattle. These backlogs have caused not only great harm for American 
exporters trying to send their products out in the world; it has also 
skyrocketed the price of goods coming into the country, and, 
ultimately, American consumers pay that price. I commend my colleagues 
for getting this important bill done.
  This week, the Senate is also close to entering a conference 
committee with the House to finalize our jobs and competitiveness act; 
and tomorrow, Chair Cantwell will turn the focus of the Commerce 
Committee to an urgent matter for the American people: ensuring 
transparency in petroleum markets.
  We all know that big oil companies are dramatically expanding 
corporate stock buybacks and reporting record profits while Americans 
struggle with higher gas prices. Just today--this is so confounding, so 
upsetting--ExxonMobil indicated that its profits this quarter will be 
its highest since 2008. And what are they going to do with this surplus 
cash? They announced, in the coming months, they will spend $10 billion 
on corporate stock buybacks. According to Bloomberg, oil and gas 
companies' stock buybacks were up 2,000 percent in the fourth quarter 
of last year. Using that to enhance worker productivity? Nope. Using 
that to do something some people might object to, increasing 
exploration for oil and gas? Nope. Lining the pockets of their 
shareholders and their corporate executives in stock buybacks, which do 
nothing--absolutely nothing--to advance the American economy or to deal 
with the oil prices.

  Maybe they should think instead of giving the money to shareholders, 
they should give money to their customers, give it back, by lowering 
the price.
  It is the latest reminder of a disturbing trend with the oil and gas 
companies. As the price of gas goes up and as Americans are struggling 
more and more to keep up, the Nation's largest oil companies are up to 
their eyeballs in massive profits and then use that money for 
unproductive stock buybacks, which, if anything, increase income 
inequality at a time when the country needs to decrease it.
  There is something deeply incongruous and wrong about seeing the 
largest oil companies and gas companies in the world drench top 
executives and wealthy shareholders in cash while Americans are 
struggling at the pump. I thank Chair Cantwell for holding tomorrow's 
hearing so we can provide accountability, transparency, and relief, 
hopefully, for the American people.


                              Coronavirus

  Mr. President, finally, on COVID. Very briefly, over the last few 
days, my Democratic colleagues and I continue talks with Senator Romney 
and Republicans, working all hours of the night and into the weekend. I 
will have more to say on this matter shortly.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.


                             Labor Movement

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by congratulating the 
workers at Amazon in Staten Island, NY, who, for the very first time, 
were able to win a union organizing campaign against that giant 
corporation, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, the second wealthiest person 
in America.
  Amazon spent over $4 million in trying to defeat the union organizing 
drive in Staten Island and in Bessemer. The independent union, the 
Amazon Labor Union, had almost no money at all for their grassroots 
campaign but ended up with 55 percent of the vote.
  Congratulations, Amazon Labor Union, for your extraordinary and 
important victory.
  (Ms. DUCKWORTH assumed the Chair.)
  Madam President, I also want to congratulate the workers at Starbucks 
for their incredible union organizing efforts.
  Starbucks has coffee shops in some 15,000 locations all across 
America, and until a few months ago, none of them were organized. Then, 
in December, workers in two shops in Buffalo, NY, voted to join a 
union, and that union organizing effort at Starbucks is spreading like 
wildfire all across the country. In fact, last Friday, workers in New 
York City successfully voted to form the first Starbucks union roastery 
and 10th union Starbucks coffee shop in the country. And in the coming 
weeks and months, Starbucks workers in some 170 other coffee shops in 
27 States will be holding union elections.
  What makes these union victories so impressive is that from start to 
finish, they were accomplished by a grassroots movement with very 
little financial resources.
  Now, why is it important that we support these union organizing 
efforts at Starbucks and in other companies throughout the country? The 
answer is pretty simple. We live in a time of massive income and wealth 
inequality, where CEOs make 350 times more than the average worker, 
where two people--two people--own more wealth than the bottom 42 
percent of Americans.
  We live in a time where the billionaire class is becoming much, much 
wealthier, while real weekly wages for American workers are $40 lower 
today than they were 49 years ago. In fact, we are seeing more income 
and wealth disparity now than we have seen in 100 years. And what we 
are witnessing is a massive, massive transfer of wealth from working 
families and the middle class to the top 1 percent--people on top doing 
phenomenally well, while millions and millions of working-class 
families are falling behind. And that has been going on for almost 50 
years.
  According to the RAND Institute, since 1975, 50--5-0--trillion 
dollars in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent to 
the top 1 percent. Now, I know we don't talk about it too much in 
corporate media; we don't talk about it too much on the floor of the 
Senate, but that is an astounding reality, and that is a reality that 
we have got to address. It is not acceptable that since 1975, $50 
trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent to 
the top 1 percent.

  Listen to this, which really says it all. During this terrible 
pandemic, where we have lost almost a million American lives, when 
thousands of essential workers died--people going to work and had no 
choice about it--during that entire period, some 700 billionaires in 
America became nearly $2 trillion richer.
  Today, multibillionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard 
Branson are off taking joyrides on rocket ships to outer space, buying 
$500 million superyachts, and living in mansions with 25 bathrooms. 
That is what is going on with the people on top. But for working 
families, there is a continuous struggle to pay the rent, to provide 
healthcare, and to make sure their kids are able to get a decent 
education.
  Let us be very clear. It is not just income and wealth inequality 
that we are talking about; it is economic and political power--power--
power.
  In America today, just three Wall Street firms--Black Rock, State 
Street, and Vanguard--control assets of over $21 trillion, which is 
essentially the GDP of the United States, the largest economy on Earth. 
Can you imagine that?
  Now, I know we don't talk about it, but you have got three Wall 
Street firms that control assets equivalent to the GDP of the United 
States, the largest economy on Earth. That is power.

[[Page S1923]]

And these firms have power over hundreds and hundreds of corporations 
in every sector of our society and many millions of workers.
  So why do we want to see the trade union movement grow? Why do we 
want to see more and more workers entitled to negotiate decent 
contracts? The answer is pretty obvious, and it is because unions 
provide better wages, benefits, and working conditions for their 
members. That is what unions do--not complicated.
  In fact, union workers make, on average, wages that are about 20 
percent higher than their nonunion counterparts. They also have much 
better healthcare benefits and far better pension plans than nonunion 
employees. That is why it makes sense to join a union and why it makes 
sense for us to do everything that we can to grow the trade union 
movement in this country.
  I know there are some folks out there who are not union members, and 
they are saying: Well, it doesn't really impact me.
  You are wrong. It does--because when unions gain better wages and 
better benefits, it means that companies in the nonunion sector have 
got to begin to some degree to match them. So when wages go up for 
union workers, they go up for all workers in this country.
  Further, unions give workers some degree of control over their work 
lives and make them more than just cogs in a machine. Today, millions 
and millions of people go to work, and they have no power whatsoever 
about what happens to them on the job. They can be fired arbitrarily. 
They can learn that they have to come to work the next day, when they 
thought they had that day off, and they have no say in any of that. So 
what unions do is end the ability of companies being able to 
arbitrarily fire workers for any reason and to impose any schedule that 
they want on their employees. In other words, unions give workers some 
degree--some degree--of control over their work lives.
  Similarly, when large corporations have enormous political power 
through the many billions of dollars they spend on lobbying, on 
campaign contributions to both political parties, and on advertising, 
unions have the capability--because there are many millions and 
millions of people involved--to fight back and create a legislative 
agenda here in Washington and in State capitals that work for all 
Americans and not just the few.
  What these recent union victories tell me is that working people all 
over this country are sick and tired of being exploited by corporations 
that, today, are making recordbreaking profits. They are sick and tired 
of billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz--the founder of 
Starbucks--becoming obscenely richer during the pandemic while they, 
the workers, put their lives on the line working for inadequate wages, 
inadequate benefits, and unfair working conditions and schedules.
  Let us be clear. If you think that the union victories--recent 
victories--at Amazon and Starbucks are an aberration, you would be 
sorely mistaken. During the last year, I have been proud to work with 
and stand in solidarity with courageous workers all across this country 
who have been on strike or who are engaged in union organizing efforts. 
I am talking about the United Auto Workers which went on strike at John 
Deere in Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas to protest against massive cutbacks 
to retirement benefits and totally inadequate pay raises. I am talking 
about the United Steelworkers that went on strike at Special Metals in 
West Virginia--a company owned by Warren Buffett, worth $127 billion. 
They were on strike to fight for decent wages and decent benefits.
  I am talking about bakery workers who went on strike at Kellogg's, 
Nabisco, and the Jon Donaire ice cream cake factory in California, 
fighting for justice, dignity, and respect.
  I am talking about the United Mine Workers who are still on strike at 
Warrior Met in Alabama, a company owned by BlackRock, the largest Wall 
Street investment firm in this country, managing $10 trillion in 
assets.
  I am talking about United Food and Commercial Workers who went on 
strike at the King Soopers grocery store chain owned by Kroger's in 
Colorado.
  I am talking about graduate students and adjunct professors at MIT 
who are waging a strong union organizing effort on that campus.
  Today, I want to continue to express my support and admiration for 
these workers who are not only organizing for themselves and for their 
coworkers but, in fact, are organizing for all of us, because when you 
have a strong union movement in this country, you stand the possibility 
of having a strong middle class.
  While we may not hear much talk about the struggles of the working 
class in communities all across this country, what we should be clear 
on is that these struggles are real and are gaining momentum.
  The union struggles that we are witnessing have taken place against 
corporate greed, which determine whether or not workers in our country 
have decent wages, decent benefits, and decent working conditions. It 
really is, I have to say, a bit obscene to take a look at these 
companies, owned by some of the wealthiest people in this country, who 
are becoming much, much richer, and all the while, they are trying to 
lower wages and take back benefits. It really is absolutely 
disgraceful.
  So, Madam President, as a strong defender of the trade union 
movement, what I understand is that when unionized workers do well in 
raising the bar for economic and social justice, we all do well. Their 
success is our shared success. And, as I said a moment ago, make no 
mistake about it, we will never have a strong middle class in this 
country, with decent wages and decent benefits, where workers can 
afford to pay the rent and send their kids to college and take a few 
weeks off with paid vacation--that is not going to happen unless and 
until we have a strong labor movement in this country.
  This is the bottom line: In the year 2022, the United States and, in 
fact, the rest of the world face two very distinct political paths.
  On one hand, there is a growing movement toward oligarchy, in which a 
small number of incredibly wealthy and powerful billionaires own and 
control a very significant part of the economy and exert enormous 
influence over the political life of our country, and that is precisely 
what we are seeing today. The rich get richer, and with their wealth, 
they buy and sell politicians, put huge amounts of money into the 
political process, huge amounts of money into lobbying, huge amounts of 
money into TV ads and other ways to influence people.
  So that is one direction that this country can continue to move in, 
but there is another direction. That other direction is opposition to 
oligarchy and corporate greed, and it is the creation of a movement of 
working people and young people who are today, in ever increasing 
numbers, fighting for justice--economic justice, racial justice, social 
justice, environmental justice--and they are fighting for justice in a 
way that we have not seen in years. It is that growing trade union 
movement that makes me so very hopeful for the future of this country, 
and it is a movement that I hope all of us will strongly support.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________