[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5509-S5514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

                  AFFORDABLE INSULIN NOW ACT--Resumed

  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 6833, which the clerk will report.
  The bill clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6833) to amend title XXVII of the Public 
     Health Service Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 
     the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to 
     establish requirements with respect to cost-sharing for 
     certain insulin products, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Schumer amendment No. 5745, in the nature of a substitute.
       Schumer amendment No. 6030 (to amendment No. 5745), to add 
     an effective date.
       Schumer motion to commit the bill to the Committee on 
     Appropriations, with instructions, Schumer amendment No. 
     6031, to add an effective date.
       Schumer amendment No. 6032 (to (the instructions) amendment 
     No. 6031), to modify the effective date.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The majority leader is recognized.


                             Hurricane Ian

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, this morning, the thoughts of everyone 
in the Senate are with the people of Florida, who are in the midst of 
one of the worst storms ever to hit the State, as Hurricane Ian made 
landfall yesterday.
  Ian made landfall as a category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds 
reaching 150 miles an hour and storm surges reaching reported heights 
of 18 feet. About 2 million people are now without power, and 
communities that dot the coastline are seeing 3 to 4 feet of flooding.
  Thankfully, Ian was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning, but 
the damage has already been severe, and the road to recovery will be 
long.
  I will continue to monitor the situation in Florida over the coming 
days, and the Senate stands ready to help Floridians with whatever they 
need to stay safe and rebuild their communities.
  I want to thank all the first responders, National Guardsmen, and 
local officials, volunteers, and every single person who placed 
themselves in harm's way to keep their communities safe.


                               H.R. 6833

  Madam President, now on CR funding, with a little more good-faith 
negotiation between Democrats and Republicans, I am hopeful that today 
is the day we will finish passing a continuing resolution to fund the 
government until mid-December. Government funding is set to run out 
Friday at midnight, roughly 40 hours from now, and there is no reason 
at all for us to get anywhere near that deadline.
  Over the past 24 hours, both sides have continued holding fruitful 
negotiations to reach the finish line. We have some more work to do, a 
little more, but we are close--close enough that I hope we can finish 
up today, but both sides need to keep working together for that to 
happen.
  I urge both sides to keep going because this CR is filled with many 
good things that both sides can support, like $12 billion in emergency 
aid for Ukraine, to help Ukrainians with more weapons, intelligence 
gathering, and aid to keep the government afloat at a time of war. 
Seven months since the conflict began, it is crystal clear that 
American assistance has gone a long

[[Page S5510]]

way to helping the Ukrainian people resist Putin's evil, vicious 
aggression. But the fight is far from over, and we must--we must--
continue helping the brave, valiant Ukrainian people.
  The CR also includes items like emergency aid to help communities 
across the country hammered by natural disasters, including flooding in 
States like Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas, as well as 
disasters in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and New Mexico, which suffered--New 
Mexico suffered its worst wildfires in the State's history earlier this 
year.
  Through the CR, we will also reauthorize FDA user fees for another 5 
years, which is vital if we want to avoid any slowdown in the review of 
new lifesaving drugs and medical devices that millions and millions of 
people rely on. Reauthorizing these user fees will also prevent 
thousands of hard-working FDA employees from being furloughed, many of 
whom are crucial for this lifesaving review process. Finally, by 
passing a CR, we will help millions of families afford their heating 
and utility bills over the winter by investing $1 billion in the LIHEAP 
program.

  I want to recognize Senator Jack Reed and Senator Maggie Hassan for 
making sure we included this funding in the CR, because thanks to their 
efforts many families will have a break this winter by lowering their 
utility bills.
  In short, there is every reason in the world for both sides to get to 
yes on finalizing the CR before the end of today. Democrats will 
continue working with our Republican colleagues in good faith to find a 
path to the finish line.
  I want to thank our terrific chair of the Appropriations Committee, 
Senator Leahy, as well as Ranking Member Shelby, for all of their hard 
work on the CR. I hope this is the last CR of Chairman Leahy's 
illustrious career, because we are all hopeful that the omnibus will be 
the last funding bill we will do later this year.
  I also want to thank all my colleagues on the committee who have 
worked day and night to avoid a shutdown, as well as their dedicated 
staffs. And I want to commend Senator Shelby, who has worked with 
Senator Leahy in a very cooperative way.
  The last thing the American people need right now is a pointless 
government shutdown. I am optimistic that we are on track to avoid one, 
well before the funding deadline. I thank all my colleagues for their 
good work and cooperation, and I encourage them to keep going so that 
we can finish the work later today.


                    Nomination of Arianna J. Freeman

  Madam President, on another matter, the Senate will return to the 
consideration of another brilliant nominee to serve on the Federal 
Bench, Arianna Freeman, nominated to serve as circuit court judge for 
the Third Circuit.
  Ms. Freeman is not only eminently qualified, but she is historic. She 
would be the first-ever Black woman to sit on the Third Circuit, 
joining in the proud company of many Biden nominees who are helping to 
make the bench a more accurate reflection of our country. That is 
something all of us are proud of.
  A graduate of Swarthmore and Yale, Ms. Freeman would join the bench 
after working with the Federal Community Defender Office for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She has dedicated her career to 
making sure all people, regardless of wealth or status, have equal 
representation before the law. I am confident that her perspective will 
be an asset to the Third Circuit, and I look forward to her 
confirmation later this morning.


                         Senate Accomplishments

  Madam President, on our accomplishments in this Congress, finally, as 
Americans are set to go to the polls in little over a month, it is time 
to summarize the things that this Democratic majority has done in the 
past 2 years and make clear the options that face the American people 
in this election.
  When Democrats assumed the majority in 2021, I promised the Senate 
would address the challenges our country faces, head on and without 
delay, not with timid solutions but with boldness and courage. Twenty 
months later, because of Democratic leadership, we have lifted our 
country out of crisis. We have a lot of work left to do, but let's take 
a look at some of the major accomplishments that passed through the 
Senate under this majority.
  In the wake of the tragedies in Uvalde, Buffalo, and so many other 
shootings, we promised the time had come to break the grip of the NRA. 
So we passed the first gun safety bill America has seen in 30 years.
  In the wake of high costs, dwindling tech jobs, and an emboldened 
Chinese Communist Party, we passed the CHIPS and Science Act to boost 
high-end manufacturing here in America, to turbocharge America's 
semiconductor industry, and to secure the largest down payment in 
scientific research in decades.
  After years of veterans waiting around for help to treat their 
cancers, lung diseases, and other ailments caused by toxic exposure, 
often from burn pits, we passed the PACT Act and secured the largest 
expansion of veterans' health benefits in ages.
  And, finally, in the face of high energy costs and soaring healthcare 
costs, as well as the ravages of climate change, Democrats passed a 
groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower people's 
energy bills, make prescription drugs more affordable, cap insulin 
costs for seniors on Medicare, and create millions of clean jobs for 
years to come through the largest green investments in American 
history--the largest green investments in American history. It will 
reduce the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere by 40 percent 
by 2030, a huge accomplishment that will make the lives of every 
American now and in the future better. Passing the Inflation Reduction 
Act, along with ratifying the Kigali Amendment last week, is the 
strongest one-two punch against climate change any Congress has ever 
taken.
  I am very proud of my caucus for sticking together. With 50 votes, it 
ain't easy. And this is only what we have gotten done since June.
  To save our country from the worst of COVID, we passed the American 
Rescue Plan to put shots in people's arms and checks in people's 
pockets. We passed the first infrastructure law in years to fix our 
roads, our bridges, our highways; to expand broadband to poor and rural 
communities; and to protect our kids from the dangers of lead piping.
  We reformed our Postal Service after decades of neglect. We 
reinstated VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act, to protect women from 
abuse, after years of inaction. We took a stand on Asian hate crimes 
and declared lynching a Federal hate crime after a century of delay. We 
also unanimously ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment in the 
workplace. And we confirmed the first Black woman ever to sit on the 
Supreme Court of the United States when we confirmed Ketanji Brown 
Jackson.
  Now, these are just some of the accomplishments of the Democratic 
majority. None have been easy in the longest 50-50 Senate ever, but I 
am confident that America will be a better nation because of all the 
things we have done in the last 2 years.
  And the fight--the fight--will keep going. With every fiber of our 
being, Democrats will never back away from protecting a woman's 
fundamental right to choose. MAGA Republicans, meanwhile, pushing 
national abortion bans, prosecutions of women and doctors, and bans 
with no exceptions for rape or incest, show the contrast between the 
parties--one moving forward and one looking backward and following the 
MAGA dictates to the far, far right.
  Democrats will also lower costs and build ladders to help people get 
into the middle class and give people the means to prosper in the 
middle class once they get there.
  Republicans, meanwhile, have already made it clear whose corner they 
are in--the rich, the executive class, the megacorporations. Without 
missing a beat, Republicans gladly cut taxes for billionaires and for 
big business, while openly calling for Social Security and Medicare to 
go on the chopping block year after year. And for good measure, while 
Democrats want to keep taxes low for working and middle-class 
Americans, some on the other side have openly called for raising 
taxes--raising taxes--on working families.

  So the contrast here is not hard to grasp. The choices between the 
parties run deep; the consequences to our

[[Page S5511]]

country, enormous. We have many challenges left to overcome as a 
nation, but the choice is now between the party that will build on all 
the progress we have made or one that will undo everything we have 
worked to accomplish, between a party that will protect our freedoms 
and a party that will conspire to take them away, between a party that 
believes America is at its best when we invest in all people or a party 
that will only look after the ultrarich.
  Remember, their major accomplishment when they had the majority was 
tax cuts for the very wealthy. I am confident that Americans will know 
which party is fighting in their corner.
  I want to thank all my colleagues for their excellent work over the 
past 2 years, and I look forward to building on all that work we have 
accomplished to set America on a path to prosperity in the 21st 
century.


                           Order of Business

  Madam President, for the information of the Senate, we expect to vote 
on the confirmation of the Freeman nomination to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, upon reconsideration, at 11:30 
a.m. today. Additional votes are expected this afternoon.
  I yield the floor.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader is recognized.


                             Hurricane Ian

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the whole country continues our vigil 
for the people of Florida, who are hunkered down through Hurricane Ian.
  The storm's landfall yesterday brought surging seas and sustained 
winds over 150 miles an hour, and 2.5 million Florida families and 
businesses are reportedly without power. Evacuation orders have been in 
place for more than 2 million residents of the gulf coast.
  The extent of the damage has barely even begun to come into focus. 
Fortunately, the coordinated State and local response, led by Governor 
DeSantis and supported by Federal Agencies, is ongoing.
  Yesterday, our two colleagues from Florida led the State's entire 
congressional delegation in asking President Biden to issue a major 
disaster declaration and unlock further aid. I understand the President 
agreed this morning.
  The Senate will stand ready to provide further assistance if needed. 
The government funding legislation before us will make sure the 
Disaster Relief Fund is refilled.
  Most immediately, Floridians remain at the forefront of the nation's 
prayers.


                              The Economy

  Madam President, now, on a completely different matter, families 
across America have felt the brunt of this all-Democratic government's 
failed energy policies. When gas prices were skyrocketing, the Biden 
administration insisted up and down they had no control over them. When 
the prices started to level off, the same politicians asked for a round 
of applause--funny how that works.
  Here is what working families in Kentucky know: that a gallon of gas 
costs a full dollar more than when President Biden took office. 
American families and small businesses know their electricity bills 
skyrocketed this spring and this summer, and they know that heating 
costs on Democrats' watch this fall and winter may well be 
catastrophic.
  Just like our overall 13.2 percent inflation since January 2021 is 
directly--directly--traceable to Democrats' reckless spending, a lot of 
our energy prices are traceable to Democrats' shortsighted policies. 
Democrats have spent 20 years saying we shouldn't explore for American 
energy, that our abundant fossil fuel resources should actually stay in 
the ground.
  Just in the last 2 years, Democrats overwhelmingly voted two separate 
items to let the Biden EPA ban fracking. One analysis showed that the 
kind of fracking ban Democrats want will quadruple household energy 
bills.
  Democrats supported President Biden's de facto bans on both offshore 
and onshore oil and gas leasing. They backed President Biden's decision 
to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline. I guess it is better to import 
Middle Eastern crude than safely transport oil from Canada.
  They voted for reckless tax hikes, including a natural gas tax that 
will directly drive up families' heating costs.
  And this week marks the 6-month anniversary of when President Biden 
began his reckless draining of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a 
desperate attempt to buy up his poll numbers. President Biden has 
already released more than 200 million barrels from the Reserve into 
the international market, more than all the other Presidents in our 
history combined. A few days ago, he promised to release an additional 
10 million barrels in November.
  Our country established the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a lifeline 
for national security crises. Until now, Presidents had only ever 
tapped it for armed conflicts or natural disasters. Now Democrats are 
emptying out our emergency reserves in a desperate attempt to save 
their political skins. Reckless and cynical does not even begin to 
cover it.
  Now the Reserve sits at its lowest point since 1984. If our country 
were cut off from oil imports tomorrow, we would have less than 2 
months' supply.
  And, remember, 2 years ago, in the early COVID crisis, when markets 
were temporarily crashing and oil was selling for bargain-basement 
prices like we have never seen, Republicans tried to refill the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve to the top when the prices were low. It 
would have been a win for economic stability, a win for national 
security, and a huge win for taxpayers. Oil actually was on a clearance 
sale, and we could have filled the Reserve right up to the top.
  Oh, but Senate Democrats blocked it and bragged about blocking it. 
Leader Schumer boasted in writing that he had blocked a ``bailout for 
Big Oil''--a bailout for Big Oil, typical tired, old liberal rhetoric. 
But what our Democrat colleagues blocked was an unbelievably good deal 
for the American people. Now they are draining the Reserve they 
wouldn't let us refill, and when they do need to refill it, you had 
better believe taxpayers won't be paying March 2020 prices. I can tell 
you that.

  Shortsighted, ineffective, and bad economics--that is Democrats' 
energy policy in microcosm. Working Americans pay the price every 
single day.


                                 Crime

  Now, Madam President, on another matter, runaway inflation isn't the 
only crisis keeping American families up at night. The last 2 years 
have seen law and order deteriorate all across our country. Public 
safety has eroded, violent crimes like murders and carjackings are 
breaking records, and our southern border has turned into a turnstile.
  We have seen the violence and chaos firsthand in Kentucky, especially 
in my hometown of Louisville, but we aren't alone. This is a nationwide 
phenomenon on Democrats' watch.
  Philadelphia just saw their 1,000th carjacking this year. It is not 
even October yet. Carjackings in Philly have quadrupled just since 
2019.
  In Phoenix, AZ, the first half of this year saw homicides jump up 
more than 25 percent compared to 2021. One woman whose brother and 
cousin were both shot and killed a few weeks ago said:

       It's like the community has [actually] become accustomed to 
     it.

  In 2021, Denver recorded more murders than they had seen in a single 
year since 1981, and the pace was 23 percent higher still in the first 
half of 2022.
  Nationwide, robberies and thefts in big cities shot up 20 percent in 
the first half of this year.
  So it turns out that, when an entire political party builds its brand 
around undermining the police, going easy on repeat offenders, and 
putting criminals' interests ahead of innocent families', bad things 
happen.
  Bad things also happen when the same political party decides to stand 
down on border security: over 2 million illegal immigrants apprehended 
by the CBP this fiscal year alone, not even counting all of the people 
who evaded capture; an avalanche--an avalanche--of illegal drugs coming 
into our land.
  These are massive concerns among the American people--concerns that 
our Senate Democratic majority has intentionally spent all year doing 
nothing whatsoever to address.


                               H.R. 6833

  Madam President, on one final matter, when the Senate votes today to

[[Page S5512]]

fund the government, we will also approve further emergency aid for 
Ukraine.
  The Ukrainians have made remarkable progress in pushing back Russia's 
unhinged aggression, but the fight is far from over. They need more of 
the cutting-edge weapons that are helping them turn the tide.
  Assisting Ukraine is not some feel-good, symbolic gesture; it is 
literally an investment in our own national security and that of our 
allies. Blunting Putin's offensive in Ukraine will diminish his 
capacity to threaten other targets throughout the free world. It will 
also help deter other authoritarian regimes like China.
  Nobody is saying America should stand alone. Some of our European 
allies, especially on NATO's eastern flank, have been incredibly 
generous, digging deep into their inventories and welcoming hundreds of 
thousands of refugees, but others can and must do more.
  The Senate's consistent support for Ukraine at reasonable levels 
plays a critical part in nudging our allies to step up. Ukraine needs 
more tanks, more fighting vehicles, longer range rockets, artillery, 
and air defense systems; more HIMARS, more drones, and preparatory 
training in Western fighter aircraft. And they need these things as 
soon as possible.
  Yesterday, the Biden administration announced another tranche of 
assistance, but the HIMARS rocket systems included in that announcement 
won't arrive in Ukraine for years--years.
  If the administration cannot move faster, it will be an indictment of 
their persistent unwillingness to invest in our own military stockpiles 
and our own defense industrial base.
  Now that Congress is providing more funding, the Biden administration 
must move more swiftly--more swiftly--to deliver it to the Ukrainian 
forces on the frontlines soon. Now is not the time for hesitating, 
hand-wringing, or self-deterring from the administration. It is not 
true strength and resolve that provoke the bully; it is delay and 
weakness.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.


                        Remembering Mark Souder

  Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I want to take a moment this morning to 
recognize a friend and fellow Hoosier, Mark Souder, who passed away 
earlier this week after a battle with cancer.
  Mark represented, as so many Hoosiers know, northeastern Indiana in 
the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2010. He served eight 
terms. Before being elected to Congress, he spent years working as a 
staffer for Indiana Senator Dan Coats.
  Anyone--anyone--who met Mark was struck by his intellect, his innate 
grasp of policy details, and perhaps most importantly, his passion for 
service, for serving Hoosiers in particular. You see, Mark loved 
northeast Indiana. He loved his constituents. He loved the land, its 
people, and its unique traditions. He was a strong advocate for Hoosier 
veterans in particular and for our national parks during his service in 
Congress.
  He was also a man of many talents and interests. Baseball was one of 
them. In fact, he wrote about the game's history and connections to our 
own State. Recently, Mark collaborated on a book about the history of 
television in Fort Wayne.
  More personally, I always appreciated Mark's kindness and support as 
I began my congressional career, and I know Mark provided similar 
assistance and encouragement to others.
  I offer my deepest condolences to the Souder family and to all of 
Mark's friends and loved ones as they mourn his loss.


                         CHIPS and Science Act

  Madam President, ``Time and momentum are on our side''--so said Xi 
Jingping to his colleagues in the Chinese Communist Party last year.
  True, there have been some recent setbacks to China's grand plan--
corruption probes, billions of wasted government dollars--but make no 
mistake, these are minor distractions. You see, the CCP is 
as determined as ever to supplant the United States as the world's 
leader, militarily and economically, in order to win the 21st century. 
Xi and his government will subsidize any industry, spend any amount of 
money, take any means--even propping up manufacturing with slave 
labor--to bend the market to its ambitions and force America to its 
knees.

  The CCP is confident that America is too dysfunctional and that the 
American people are too divided to arrest its momentum. Well, today, I 
am pleased to report that the CCP has made a serious miscalculation. 
Allow me to explain.
  You see, earlier this month, I was in West Lafayette, on the campus 
of Purdue University. Indiana's Governor, Eric Holcomb, and Purdue's 
president, Mitch Daniels, were, of course, there. We were joined by 
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and U.S. Secretary of State 
Antony Blinken. Our group saw up close the amazing work that Purdue is 
doing across its technology ecosystem. We met and spoke with many 
talented students and professors. We had a productive discussion about 
ways to bolster our national security and economic competitiveness. Not 
coincidentally, we did this in a hall named for Neil Armstrong and, not 
coincidentally, because our conversation focused on the CHIPS and 
Science Act.
  This is legislation I and others in the Senate worked on for years 
and of which I am proud was finally signed into law in August. The 
CHIPS and Science Act will unleash the same enterprising American 
spirit that sent Neil Armstrong to the Moon aboard Apollo 11--the same 
spirit Beijing believes is a relic of the 20th century. This type of 
bipartisan economic and national security win only comes along once in 
a generation.
  Enacting the CHIPS and Science Act sent a strong message to the world 
that when it comes to meeting China's challenge, here in the United 
States, there is cross-party consensus and a seriousness of purpose.
  A thriving domestic chip industry is going to prevent future supply 
chain stoppages and protect our military readiness. You see, right now, 
Taiwan produces 90 percent of all advanced semiconductor chips, and the 
threat of a communist China takeover of Taiwan is real.
  Meanwhile, the Chinese Government is heavily subsidizing its national 
security innovation base and the development of mission-critical 
technologies. In fact, the CCP has invested $14 trillion--$14 
trillion--in the technologies that will shape our modern economy and 
decide the winners of future wars, technologies like quantum computing, 
robotics, and artificial intelligence, and technologies like 
hypersonics.
  They have also set a strategy of dominating the global production of 
semiconductors. If China produces more and more of the world's supply 
of semiconductors, America's economy and our national security could be 
at the mercy of the CCP, especially in the event of another pandemic or 
war.
  This is all part of Beijing's bet to beat America, but the CHIPS and 
Science Act helps America counter that bet. You see, there is a happy 
coincidence here. What benefits our national security also benefits our 
economic security, especially across the industrial Midwest, where we 
pride ourselves on making things--things like microchips.
  Just weeks after the CHIPS and Science Act became law, its benefits 
began to reverberate across the heartland economy. We have already seen 
numerous, major economic announcements that are directly tied to this 
bill becoming law. In fact, a corridor of the semiconductor industry 
will run through the State of Indiana.
  Thanks to the CHIPS and Science Act, SkyWater Technology is moving 
forward with its plans to partner with Purdue to build a $1.8 billion 
facility in West Lafayette, which will manufacture semiconductor chips 
and create an estimated 750 direct jobs, and there is more to come.
  Further, the CHIPS and Science Act provides $2 billion for the 
Department of Defense to make semiconductors. The Naval Surface Warfare 
Center, Crane Division, in southern Indiana, with its expertise in 
chips manufacturing, is expected to play a significant role in this 
effort, in turn creating economic opportunities across the southern 
part of our State.
  The regional tech hubs authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act will 
launch innovative companies, help revive American manufacturing, and 
lay the foundation for new, good-paying jobs to jump-start our local 
communities.

[[Page S5513]]

  For too long, our coastal States have been the near-exclusive hotbeds 
of venture capital investments and launching pads for tech startups. 
Only a handful of American cities account for nearly 90 percent of job 
growth when it comes to advanced sectors like tech, computer 
manufacturing, biotech, and telecom. But the CHIPS and Science Act 
plants the seed corns to ensure that opportunity for investors, 
entrepreneurs, and researchers spreads across the industrial Midwest 
and other areas around the country.
  It will broaden and deepen our startup and tech economy. As a result, 
everyone will win, and our national defense will be safeguarded.
  Our position as a leader in the development of feature technologies 
will be secure. Our ability to win the contests ahead, economically 
and, God forbid, militarily, will also be secured. And there will be 
numerous residual benefits to this law in the years to come, such as 
American labor providing the manpower needed to construct new fabs and 
facilities here in the United States.
  In closing, let me reiterate that the CHIPS and Science Act will be a 
boost to our domestic economy, but it is not just about our economy. It 
will strengthen our national defense by allowing us to have the most 
sophisticated weapons systems and by ensuring their critical components 
are made in the U.S.A.
  But it is not just about national defense either. You see, this is 
about deciding which values are going to animate these technologies in 
the future: The values on display from a Communist Party when it cracks 
down on protesters in the streets of Hong Kong? The values that enslave 
millions of Uighurs and Xinjiang, or threaten Taiwan?
  The world's autocrats are attempting to exert their influence across 
the globe. They argue that the American system, with our pesky system 
of checks and balances, our very ideal of government of the people, by 
the people, for the people--they argue that can't work in the 21st 
century. But the signing of the CHIPS and Science Act proved them 
wrong.
  When it comes to out-innovating China in authoring a second American 
century, I am confident that, in the days ahead, both time and momentum 
will be on America's side.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                 Unanimous Consent Agreement--H.R. 8982

  Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that should the 
Senate receive from the House of Representatives a bill, the text of 
which is identical to H.R. 8982, as introduced in the House and which 
is at the desk, the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, the 
bill be considered read a third time, and the Senate vote on passage 
without further intervening action or debate, and the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. YOUNG. Madam President, H.R. 8982 is another important fix to the 
ongoing infant formula shortage. When the Formula Act passed in July, 
it left out ``infant formula base powder.'' This bill will ensure trade 
barriers are lifted as we continue to address this crisis.
  I thank my colleagues Senator Lee and Senator Braun for their efforts 
on this.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.


                            Democratic Party

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, yesterday I came down to the floor to 
talk about where we are after nearly 2 years of Democrat control of 
Congress and the White House.
  We are, as I noted, in the midst of an inflation crisis with no end 
in sight. Our economy is weakening. Our energy security is diminished. 
Violent crime has increased, and we are dealing with record waves of 
illegal immigration and a serious security situation at our southern 
border. That is where we are.
  The question is, How did we get here? The answer lies with Democrats' 
priorities.
  The Democratic Party has moved sharply leftward over the past few 
years. Democrats, of course, have always been on the left side of the 
political spectrum. But over the past few years, what was once far-left 
ideology has become the Democrat mainstream. And Democrats swept into 
office determined to enact a far-left, Big Government agenda. It didn't 
matter to them that their majorities in the House and Senate were 
extremely narrow or that President Biden had been elected largely 
because he was considered to be a moderate.
  Democrats had a grip on power, however tenuous, and they were 
determined to use it to enact their most cherished, far-left fantasies.
  They started off with their $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, 
filled with unnecessary spending and payoffs to Democrat interest 
groups. They were warned their legislation ran the risk of overheating 
the economy and setting off inflation. But they ignored the warnings 
and dumped a lot of unnecessary government money into the economy, and 
the economy overheated as a result. Inflation quickly began climbing 
and then climbing some more.
  Now, at this point, it might have seemed prudent to pull back on all 
those spending plans. After all, if one massive spending bill had 
kicked off inflation, how much worse would another, even more massive 
spending bill make the situation?
  But Democrats were just getting started. The ink was barely dry on 
the so-called American Rescue Plan before Democrats were outlining 
plans for a new spending spree, one that would dwarf their initial 
spending spree and install some of the Democrats' most cherished Big 
Government priorities.
  And even as inflation climbed and climbed again, Democrats kept 
pushing ahead. Even as Democrat economists warned that the American 
Rescue Plan had kick-started inflation, they kept pushing forward with 
plans for a $5 trillion spending spree, their so-called Build Back 
Better plan--$5 trillion.
  To put that number in perspective, the entire Federal budget in 2019 
was $4.4 trillion, the entire Federal budget. Yet Democrats were 
pushing forward with a $5 trillion spending plan on top of a $1.9 
trillion spending bill earlier in the year.
  Fortunately, for the American people, the Democrats' $5 trillion 
spending plan was foiled last December, but that didn't stop them for 
long.
  Even as inflation reached 40-year highs, Democrats kept pushing for 
more spending, and they managed to jam through another partisan tax-
and-spending spree in August.
  We have now had 6 straight months--6 straight months--with inflation 
above 8 percent. The last time inflation was this bad, I wasn't even 
married yet. Now I have grandkids. But Democrats just don't seem to 
care. They are committed to their tax-and-spending agenda, regardless 
of the consequences for the American economy.
  Their August tax-and-spending spree will hurt both wages and economic 
growth at a time when economic growth is weakening and Americans are 
experiencing a de facto pay cut due to inflation.
  And just days after signing this tax-and-spending legislation into 
law, President Biden announced--if you can believe this--a massive 
student loan giveaway, which would cost more than $1 trillion and will, 
to quote the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, ``meaningfully 
boost inflation''--meaningfully boost inflation.
  Yet again, Democrats' Big Government, big-spending agenda trumps the 
economic reality facing the American people.
  No matter how bad the economy gets, Democrats are determined to enact 
their Big Government vision. And I suspect the reason the Democrats and 
the President have spent nearly 2 years ignoring the raging crisis at 
our southern border is similar. After all, if Democrats and the 
President acknowledge that there is a crisis, people might think that 
they should actually start solving the crisis.
  They might, in fact, think that a raging security crisis deserves to 
be a priority--more of a priority than, say, Democrats' plans for 
electric postal vehicles or monitoring gaps in tree canopy coverage. In 
addition, of course,

[[Page S5514]]

acknowledging that there is a border crisis might offend some Democrat 
interest groups, and that might imperil Democrats' fierce determination 
to stay in power and enact their Big Government agenda.
  Madam President, I mentioned Democrats' fierce determination to stay 
in power, and it is fierce, so fierce that the Democrats manufactured a 
voting crisis and almost succeeded in gutting the Senate's rules in an 
attempt to force through Federal legislation that would give their 
party an advantage in future elections. And it clearly doesn't matter 
to them that their claims of voter suppression were pretty clearly 
refuted by excellent election turnout mere months later. Democrats are 
still talking about forcing through a Federal takeover of elections to 
address a nonexistent crisis and give their party a leg up in future 
elections.
  Madam President, I guess it is not necessarily surprising that 
Democrats' growing commitment to the biggest kind of Big Government has 
been matched by a growing determination to secure their party's grip on 
power with government action, if necessary. As government power grows, 
I suppose the governing party starts to think its power should grow 
with it. It would explain Democrats' commitment to abolishing 
protections for the rights of the minority party in the Senate and the 
Americans that it represents and the commitment expressed by a number 
of Democrats to packing the Supreme Court, expanding it--expanding the 
Supreme Court with Democrat Justices until they can be sure they will 
get the outcomes that they want.
  Leading Democrats have been openly crowing about their plans to 
abolish the filibuster if they manage to gain a sufficient majority in 
the Senate and then force through a variety of far-left, Big Government 
legislation--from a government takeover of childcare to that voting 
bill that they think will give them a leg up in elections to some of 
the most extreme abortion legislation, literally, in the world.
  Clearly, a raging border crisis, an inflation crisis, a weakening 
economy, and growing energy insecurity mean little to Democrats. Their 
focus, if they keep their majority, is not on solving these very real 
problems facing Americans; it is on growing and expanding government 
and implementing their far-left, Big Government, big-spending visions.
  (Mr. SCHATZ assumed the Chair.)
  Mr. President, Democrats' Big Government vision is clearly not a 
vision I share, and despite Democrats' clear belief that their narrow 
majority gave them a mandate for a far-left remake of our government, I 
suspect the American people are not looking for that. Democrats may 
think months and months and months of high inflation are a small price 
to pay for implementing their Big Government visions, but I suspect the 
American people disagree.
  I also think the American people would like to see the party in power 
focused on solving problems like violent crime and the crisis at our 
southern border, not spending their time considering how to consolidate 
their hold on power or force through extreme or partisan policies. And 
despite Democrats' clear belief that Washington should be making 
decisions about most aspects of Americans' lives, I suspect most 
Americans are not interested in having Washington dictate their 
choices, whether that is the choices they make about their childcare or 
about their children's education.
  Democrats' devotion to their Big Government, big-spending agenda has 
left the American people worse off economically, and it has left our 
country in a more dangerous position, from violent crime in our 
communities to the security crisis that we see on a daily basis 
unfolding at our southern border.
  I think the American people know with painful certainty that we can't 
afford another 2 years like the last 2, and for the sake of our 
country, I hope we won't have to see what 2 more years of Democrat 
power would bring.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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