[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9711-S9713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     
     
                                EXECUTIVE SESSION
     
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                                EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
     
       The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
     Senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following 
     nomination, which the clerk will report.
       The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Lynne 
     M. Tracy, of Ohio, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class 
     of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 
     of the United States of America to the Russian Federation.
     
     
                        Recognition of the Majority Leader
     
       The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
     
     
                                     Ukraine
     
       Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I see the Presiding Officer is in your 
     Ukrainian yellow and blue, as am I, and that is appropriate because 
     this will be a day to remember in the history of the U.S. Congress when 
     we welcome President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. This is President 
     Zelenskyy's first trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's 
     invasion. The President of this young democracy will address Members 
     from both Chambers in a joint meeting of Congress. It is always a high 
     honor to welcome a foreign head of state to Congress, but it is nearly 
     unheard of to hear from a leader who is fighting for his life, fighting 
     for his country's survival, and fighting to preserve the very idea of 
     democracy. It shows the importance President Zelenskyy places on us 
     continuing to give him robust help.
       Where Winston Churchill stood generations ago, so, too, President 
     Zelenskyy stands, not just as a President but also as an ambassador to 
     freedom itself.
       Let me say that again because it is so important. Where Winston 
     Churchill stood generations ago, so, too, will President Zelenskyy 
     stand here today, not just as a President but as an ambassador to 
     freedom itself.
       President Zelenskyy could not arrive at a more crucial moment for the 
     Senate. We are not only voting to approve more emergency wartime 
     funding, but today, here in the Senate, we will also vote to confirm 
     the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, who will be tasked with 
     standing up to Putin.
       We should complete our work on both the omnibus with Ukrainian aid 
     and the confirmation of our new Ambassador to Russia very quickly.
       I hope all House Republicans will attend the Zelenskyy address this 
     evening, and when they do, they should listen to President Zelenskyy 
     describe the horror his people have endured at the hands of Vladimir 
     Putin.
       I hope that Donald Trump's friendship with Putin is not motivating 
     House Republicans to turn a blind eye to Ukraine's suffering and 
     desperate need for help, because the so-called friendship between Putin 
     and Trump was a sour relationship that was deeply damaging to our 
     country and to the international order.
       This week marks 10 months since Vladimir Putin began his unprovoked,
     
     [[Page S9712]]
     
     immoral, and savage invasion of Ukrainian territory. While the conflict 
     is sadly not near its conclusion, Russia's military is on its heels 
     after a series of humiliating defeats--a testament to the Ukrainian 
     people's bravery, resilience, and commitment to defending their 
     homeland.
       Ukraine's success also shows that American support is working. To 
     date, our funding has put more weapons in Ukrainian hands and more 
     victories under their belt. Now is not the time--not the time--to take 
     our foot off the gas when it comes to helping Ukraine. The single worst 
     thing we can do right now is give Putin any signal that we are wavering 
     in our commitment to defend democracy in Ukraine and around the globe.
       By passing this omnibus and confirming a new ambassador, we can send 
     President Zelenskyy back to Ukraine with the message that the Senate, 
     the Congress, and the American people stand unequivocally behind the 
     people of Ukraine, and we are backing that up with real dollars and 
     real resources.
       I commend President Zelenskyy for his courage. I thank him for his 
     leadership. And I will happily join Congress in welcoming him to the 
     Capitol later this evening.
     
     
                                     Omnibus
     
       Now on the omni, as we speak, Democrats and Republicans are working 
     on the final significant achievement of a truly significant 2 years in 
     Congress: a yearlong funding bill to avert a shutdown and keep the 
     government working well into the next fall.
       Earlier this week, the appropriators released the text of the 
     omnibus, a bill overflowing with good news--good news for our kids, our 
     parents, our troops, our small businesses, and more.
       The Senate took the first step to passing this bill last night, 
     voting 70 to 25 to begin debate. Note the margin, 70 to 25. That is a 
     strong signal that both sides are keen to finish funding the government 
     very soon.
       We must finish our work before the deadline of Friday midnight, but 
     in reality, I hope we can vote on final passage much sooner than that, 
     even as early as tonight. There is no reason for the Senate to wait and 
     plenty of reasons to move quickly before a potential blizzard makes 
     travel hazardous for Members, their staff, and families right before 
     the Christmas season. In an effort to reach final passage soon, both 
     sides will continue negotiating a number of amendments that I hope we 
     can begin voting on later today, but, again, that is going to require 
     cooperation.
       So I urge my colleagues not to stand in the way of moving this 
     process forward. Nobody wants a shutdown. Nobody benefits from a 
     shutdown. So I hope nobody here will delay this process to fund the 
     government ASAP.
       Now, as I said yesterday, this bipartisan package is chock-full of 
     good news for our kids, our veterans, our small businesses, and even 
     for our democracy.
       For one, we will pass long-sought reforms to the Electoral Count Act 
     after a lot of hard work from Senators Manchin and Klobuchar and 
     Collins and Blunt and many others. The 117th Congress began under the 
     shadow of a violent insurrection, so it is fitting that one of our 
     final actions will be passing a bill safeguarding our elections from 
     future dangers.
       The omnibus also represents a major win for kids and parents across 
     the country. It increases childcare assistance by 30 percent. Our 
     childcare agencies are struggling. This 30 percent increase is a huge 
     shot in the arm to help them. It is a massive boost for the tens of 
     millions of families who can't afford this basic necessity. We have a 
     shortage of workers; one of the reasons--not good childcare. This helps 
     alleviate that situation because moms and dads who want to take care of 
     their kids but have to go to work can't go to work unless there is 
     adequate and good childcare.
       We are also taking a temporary program that helped kids eat during 
     the summer during COVID and making it permanent, so parents won't have 
     to worry about their kids going hungry during a day when school is not 
     in session.
       I am also proud that we got many of the best elements of the Momnibus 
     in this package. We will ensure new mothers on Medicaid and CHIP can 
     have a full year of postpartum coverage. That is a great breakthrough.
       We are increasing funding to train nurses and healthcare workers as 
     well as beef up support for mental health services, which I fought for 
     very hard. Discrimination in maternal care and at birth is a real blot 
     on our country. That people of color have higher rates of mortality, 
     for the moms and the kids, is a disgrace, and this goes a good way 
     toward trying to rectify that blot on our country's pride.
       There is also some other good stuff. At a time in which we are seeing 
     a surge in union activity because workers realize that to get adequate 
     pay, adequate benefits, a union can help them, Democrats heeded the 
     call and broke the nearly decade long funding freeze on the NLRB.
       The NLRB was one of the very few Agencies that got no increase in 
     funding for years and years despite the increase in mission. It is a 
     very important priority to Democrats and for working Americans because 
     the NLRB is one of the most important pro-worker Agencies, and it has 
     been utterly starved for resources for about a decade.
       So let me say it again. Kids, parents, veterans, nurses, workers--
     these are just a few of the beneficiaries of our bipartisan funding 
     package. So there is every reason in the world for the Senate to finish 
     its work as soon as possible. No one got everything they wanted--that 
     is how this works--but we got a lot of good things in there to help 
     America.
       I want to thank all of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for 
     their work. Let's finish the job today, if possible, by working 
     together and cooperatively.
       I yield the floor.
     
     
                        Recognition of the Minority Leader
     
       The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
     recognized.
     
     
                                     Ukraine
     
       Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the bipartisan government funding bill 
     before this body is imperfect but strong. It will make huge new 
     investments in our Armed Forces, while cutting nondefense, nonveterans 
     baseline spending in real dollars.
       So let me say that again. The world's greatest military will get the 
     funding increases that it needs, outpacing inflation. Meanwhile, 
     nondefense, nonveterans spending will come in below the rate of 
     inflation for a real dollar cut.
       This is a debate about American security, American servicemembers, 
     and American interests on the world stage.
       Month after month, year after year, competitors such as China are 
     methodically pouring money and planning into upgrading and modernizing 
     their own militaries. They are constantly probing new ways to expand 
     their military, intelligence, economic, and political reach, indirectly 
     or directly threatening American forces and our allies' and partners' 
     forces.
       So under these perilous circumstances, cutting defense spending in 
     real dollars, as Democrats first wanted to do, is simply not an option.
       And embarking on a potentially endless cycle of continuing 
     resolutions that give our military real dollar funding cuts because of 
     inflation and giving Defense Department leaders no certainty whatsoever 
     to either plan or to invest is simply not an option that we can adopt.
       There is no question the bipartisan funding bill is certainly 
     imperfect. If Senate Republicans controlled this Chamber, we would have 
     handled the appropriations process entirely differently from top to 
     bottom.
       But given the reality of where we stand today, Senators have two 
     options this week--just two: We either give our Armed Forces the 
     resources and the certainty that they need, or we will deny it to them.
       Finally, on a related matter, today, Members of Congress will have 
     the opportunity to assemble in a joint meeting and hear from President 
     Zelenskyy of Ukraine.
       I look forward to welcoming President Zelenskyy to the Capitol and to 
     hearing from the Ukrainian people's elected leader at a critical moment 
     in their struggle for their safety and their sovereignty against 
     Russia's unhinged aggression.
       The people of Ukraine have reminded the entire free world about the 
     meaning of sovereignty and the price of freedom. They have fought back 
     against the invaders with inspiring bravery.
     
     [[Page S9713]]
     
       And let's be clear: The reason that a big bipartisan majority of the 
     American people and big bipartisan majorities in Congress support 
     continuing to assist Ukraine is not primarily about inspiring speeches 
     or a desire to engage in philanthropy.
       The Ukrainian people are courageous and innocent, and they deserve 
     our help. President Zelenskyy is an inspiring leader. But the most 
     basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the 
     Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical American interests.
       Helping equip our friends in Eastern Europe to win this war is also a 
     direct investment in reducing Putin's future capabilities to menace 
     America, threaten our allies, and contest our core interests.
       Defeating the Russians will help prevent further security crises in 
     Europe. It will prevent even further economic chaos that would roil key 
     American trading partners and hurt American workers and families 
     directly.
       It will massively wear down the arsenal that is available to Putin 
     for future efforts to use bullying and bloodshed to redraw still other 
     borders down the road.
       And it will send a stark warning to other would-be aggressors like 
     the People's Republic of China.
       By assisting Ukraine today, America is directly demonstrating our 
     commitment to the basic principles of territorial integrity and 
     national sovereignty--changing the calculus for others considering 
     military aggression and lowering the odds of far costlier and far more 
     deadly conflicts in the process.
       So I will say it one more time. Continuing our support for Ukraine is 
     morally right, but it is not only that. It is also a direct investment 
     in cold, hard American interests.
       That is why Republicans rejected the Biden administration's original 
     request for Ukraine assistance--because it was insufficient. The 
     administration's initial plan assumed there would be a lull in fighting 
     over the winter and so the disbursement rates of weapons would actually 
     decrease.
       But hoping for the best cannot mean that we fail to prepare for the 
     worst. Rather than slowing assistance, we should be speeding up 
     international deliveries to Ukraine to help them take back more 
     territory and better prepare for whatever they need wherever they next 
     go on their offensive.
     
       So Republicans pushed hard here in the Senate to increase the amount 
     of security assistance in this bill. I am glad our Democratic 
     colleagues came around.
       The agreement on the table increases weapons purchases to support 
     Ukraine beyond the President's request. This assistance is in our 
     national security interest, but it is also in America's economic 
     interest. These investments will help expand our defense manufacturing 
     capacity and contribute to an industry that supports high-paying 
     American jobs.
       The money is tied to strong oversight requirements to ensure that 
     America's investments reach only the intended targets.
       There has been meaningful oversight over our Ukraine assistance all 
     along the way, including by three separate inspectors general and the 
     Government Accountability Office.
       And on top of that, last week's NDAA will put in place even further 
     expansions in oversight, more end-use monitoring, and stricter 
     reporting requirements.
       And the oversight won't stop there. Just as Senate ranking members 
     have worked hard to maximize the impact of our assistance, the incoming 
     House Republican majority will be able to use their gavels to keep an 
     even closer eye on Ukraine aid and make sure the Biden administration 
     is doing everything possible to rebuild our defense industrial base.
       While America is uniquely capable of leading this effort, we should 
     not and are not doing so all by ourselves.
       Vital Eastern Front allies and partners in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, 
     Estonia, and Finland have risen to the challenge of backing Ukraine in 
     the fight against tyranny.
       So too have some Western European powers.
       And some allies across Europe deserve credit for changing course, 
     making substantial investments in their own militaries, and starting to 
     unwind years of neglect of national defense.
       But some other European allies have lagged behind. They can and must 
     do more, both to stand with Ukraine today and to rebuild their own 
     strength going forward.
       Finally, we all know that Ukraine's fight to retake its territory is 
     neither the beginning nor the end of the West's broader strategic 
     competition with Putin's Russia.
       Increasing the pressure on Putin's regime can and should be a 
     bipartisan priority. That will take concrete steps, like sanctions with 
     teeth, not empty symbolism.
       If our Democratic colleagues are serious about joining this effort, 
     Republicans stand ready to expose Russia's long trail of wartime 
     atrocities and meaningfully ratchet up the economic and political costs 
     that Russia pays for its misdeeds, from Ukraine to Georgia to Moldova 
     to the Middle East and beyond.
       These threats and atrocities require more than symbols and 
     resolutions. They require concrete actions and consequences.
       The plight of the innocent people of Ukraine is offering the world 
     the starkest, most painful, and most personal reminder imaginable that 
     global security and national self-determination do not uphold 
     themselves; that peace is far from inevitable and freedom is far from 
     self-fulfilling; that countries who benefit from global stability need 
     to help deter countries who want chaos.
       But even against the barbaric horrors of a war they never asked for--
     even in the face of torture, executions, and inhuman attacks on 
     infrastructure, and systemic terror campaigns against civilian cities--
     against all these things--all these things--against the cold fate that 
     Putin has tried to deal Ukraine, we have seen the warmth of the 
     Ukrainian people's spirits win out. Their love for their homeland, for 
     their families, for their freedom--the United States Congress will be 
     honored to hear the message that their courageous President brings to 
     us on behalf of the brave citizens he represents.
     
       The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Democratic whip.
     
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