[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 209 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6048-S6050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, 
  UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER 
  FINANCIAL PROTECTION RELATING TO ``SMALL BUSINESS LENDING UNDER THE 
          EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT (REGULATION B)''--VETO

  Mr. SCHUMER. As in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent the 
veto message on S.J. Res. 32, it be considered as having been read, 
printed in the Record, and spread in full upon the Journal.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The veto message is ordered to be printed in the Record as follows:

To the Senate of the United States: 
  I am returning herewith without my approval S.J. Res. 32, a 
resolution that would disapprove of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau's (CFPB) final rule titled ``Small Business Lending Under the 
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B).''
  The CFPB's final rule would provide small business owners, lenders, 
and the public with critical information about the $1.7 trillion small 
business financing market. It would bring much needed transparency to 
small business lending and improve the ability of lenders and community 
organizations to meet the most critical needs of America's sma11 
businesses. This rule implements a long-overdue piece of the Dodd-Frank 
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It is also central to 
the effective implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act, which 
helps ensure that the needs of all borrowers--including low- and 
moderate-income borrowers--are met. But this Republican-led resolution 
would hinder the Government's ability to conduct oversight of abusive 
and predatory lenders, make it harder for 33 million small businesses 
across the country to assess lending opportunities and access capital, 
and make it more difficult for lenders and community groups to address 
the most acute gaps in capital access for minority- and women-owned 
businesses.
  If enacted, this resolution would harm all those that stand to 
benefit from expanded transparency and accountability. By hampering 
efforts to promote transparency and accountability in small business 
lending, Republicans are siding with big banks and corporations over 
the needs of small business owners. Small businesses are the engines of 
our economy, and my Administration will not support policies that hurt 
their ability to thrive and grow.
  Therefore, I am vetoing this resolution.
                                                 Joseph R. Biden, Jr.  
                                    The White House, December 19, 2023.


         Unanimous Consent Agreement--Veto Message S.J. Res. 32

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that, 
notwithstanding rule XXII, the veto message with respect to S.J. Res. 
32 be considered at a time to be determined by the majority leader in 
concurrence with the Republican leader prior to January 31, 2024; that 
there be up to 2 hours for debate equally divided between the two 
leaders or their designees; that the Senate then vote on passage of the 
joint resolution, the objections of the President to the contrary 
notwithstanding.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for the information of Senators, there 
will be no further votes tonight. It is our expectation that we will 
finish all remaining business tomorrow.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.


                                 Israel

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, let me begin by wishing all Americans and 
my colleagues here in the Congress a very happy and peaceful holiday 
season.
  Unfortunately, for the people in Israel and Palestine, that will not 
be the case. This is not a peaceful season for them. In Gaza, millions 
of people will end the year under constant bombardment, exposed to the 
winter or living in tents, wondering where they will find their next 
meal or clean drinking water or the medical supplies they need. What is 
going on in Gaza right now is an unmitigated humanitarian disaster, and 
we must not look away from it.
  We all know that the current war was begun by Hamas in their brutal 
terrorist attack against Israel, which killed some 1,200 innocent men, 
women, and children and took more than 240 hostages. Hamas is a corrupt 
terrorist organization which, before and after their attack on October 
7, has made it clear that their goal is to destroy the State of Israel.
  There is no question in my mind that Israel has the right to defend 
itself and respond against the perpetrators of the October 7 attack. 
But while it is clear that Israel has the right to respond militarily 
against that terrorist attack, it is also clear that the Netanyahu 
rightwing extremist government is waging that war--that response--in a 
deeply reckless and immoral way.
  A just cause for war does not excuse atrocities in the conduct of 
that war, and that is precisely what we are seeing. Israel has the 
right to go to war against Hamas. It does not have the right to go to 
war against innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.
  Israel's reliance on widespread and indiscriminate bombardment, 
including the use of massive explosive ordnance in densely populated 
areas, is unconscionable. Israel's military campaign will be remembered 
among some of the darkest chapters of our modern history.
  Consider the toll thus far--and I hope that every Member of Congress 
is prepared to consider the toll of what Israel is doing right now. As 
of today, nearly 20,000 people have been killed, 70 percent of whom are 
women and children.
  Let me repeat that. Nearly 20,000 people have been killed, 70 percent 
of whom are women and children. And more than 52,000 have been wounded 
since October 7. More victims are likely trapped under the rubble. 
Further, 135 United Nations workers have been killed as well as dozens 
of other aid workers.
  Unbelievably--and it really is quite unbelievable--nearly 1.9 million 
people--that is more than 85 percent of the population in Gaza--have 
been driven from their homes. Can you imagine

[[Page S6049]]

that? Eighty-five percent of the people have been thrown out of their 
homes, and, as we speak, they don't where they are going. They don't 
know what their future is. They don't have enough food, water, medical 
supplies, or fuel.
  Despite sharing their locations with Israeli military forces, more 
than 100 United Nations facilities have been bombed. More than 100 U.N. 
facilities have been bombed, and the U.N. reports--and, again, an 
incredible fact--that over 60 percent of the housing units in Gaza have 
been damaged or destroyed. Can you imagine that?
  My State of Vermont has 600,000 people. That is one-third of the 
people who live in Gaza, and I am just trying to think in my mind what 
it would look like if 60 percent of the housing units in Vermont were 
damaged or destroyed. But that is the case in Gaza right now.
  Let me put this in historical perspective and what that historical 
perspective means: that the destruction in Gaza is now equivalent to 
that of Dresden, Germany, where 2 years of bombing by the U.S. Air 
Force and British Air Force during World War II destroyed half of the 
homes in that city and killed about 25,000 people. Gaza has matched 
that in just 2 months--not 2 years, 2 months.
  This massive bombardment has made it impossible for the United 
Nations and other aid groups to provide basic necessities to the people 
in Gaza. As we speak, some 1.4 million people are sheltering in 155 
overcrowded U.N. facilities.
  Can you imagine that 1.4 million people are sheltering tonight in 155 
grossly overcrowded U.N. facilities? There is little electricity, food, 
water, medicine, or fuel; and hundreds of thousands of children are 
going hungry tonight in Gaza. The shortage of clean water and adequate 
sanitation facilities is leading to disease.
  And we can't even begin to contemplate the lasting psychological 
damage being done to the children of Gaza. Can you imagine a 5-year-
old, a 10-year-old, looking around for whether a bomb is going to be 
hitting him or her, wondering what kind of house, if any, they are ever 
going to return to or where are they going? Massive psychological 
damage is being done to the people of Gaza and especially to the 
children. The United Nations' senior humanitarian official said that he 
fears a ``breakdown in society'' amid this desperation.
  Let's be frank. What we are talking about in Gaza now is not just a 
humanitarian cataclysm but a mass atrocity.
  And what is important for every Member of this body to understand--
for every American to understand--is that all of this is being done 
with bombs and equipment provided by the United States of America and 
heavily subsidized by American taxpayers. We are paying for the carnage 
in Gaza right now--our bombs, our ordnance. There is no denying that we 
are, as a nation, complicit in this carnage.
  The Israeli military has made extensive use of massive explosive 
munitions in its campaign, including 2,000-pound and 1,000-pound bombs, 
and 155-millimeter artillery. These bombs and shells are manufactured 
here in America and supplied to Israel by the United States of America.
  The Wall Street Journal reports that the United States has provided 
at least 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells to Israel since 
October 7, including more than 5,400 of the huge 2,000-pound bombs that 
can flatten entire neighborhoods.
  The Washington Post reports that, in just 6 weeks after October 7, 
Israel dropped more than 22,000 American-supplied bombs on Gaza. And 
CNN reports that U.S. intelligence believes 40 to 45 percent of the 
bombs Israel has used in Gaza have been unguided ``dumb bombs.''
  These munitions were provided with the full knowledge they would 
likely be used in Gaza, a densely populated urban area with a large 
civilian presence. Parts of Gaza are more densely populated than New 
York City.
  The press, human rights monitors, and U.S. officials have confirmed 
that U.S.-provided bombs have been used in attacks that have killed 
thousands of civilians.
  This campaign, I am sorry to say, very likely violates U.S. law and 
U.S. policy. That is why I have introduced a privileged resolution 
under section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act. The resolution 
requests that the State Department provide information on any credible 
allegations of human rights violations in Gaza caused by indiscriminate 
or disproportionate military operations and the blanket denial of 
humanitarian access. It also requests a list of the arms provided to 
Israel since October 7 and a description of the steps taken to limit 
civilian risk caused by Israeli military actions.

  We will be voting on this resolution in January, and the best basic 
question that we will be answering in that resolution is, Do we support 
asking the State Department whether human rights violations may have 
been committed in the Israeli campaign in Gaza?
  That is not a tough question, and I hope that what we will see is a 
``yes'' vote from most of my colleagues.
  This should not be controversial. If you believe, as I do, that this 
campaign has been indiscriminate, then, it is our responsibility to get 
that question answered. If you believe Israel has done nothing wrong in 
Gaza, then you should want that information to support your belief.
  When we receive this information, we will then have a privileged 
vehicle to debate any necessary changes in U.S. security assistance to 
Israel.
  While I look forward to this debate, let me also mention that there 
are other things that we should be doing as well. The United States--
President Biden--has urged Israel to change its tactics with regard to 
their indiscriminate bombing. The President and people in the State 
Department have asked Netanyahu over and over and over again. 
Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government has not listened and has not 
been terribly interested in our perspective, despite the fact that we 
are supplying the bombs that they are using, despite the fact that we 
have provided them with $3.5 billion every year for a long time in 
military aid. Instead, the Netanyahu government is continuing its 
military approach, which is both immoral and in violation of 
international law.
  In my view, the United States must end our complicity in those 
actions, and, to do so, we must make two critical changes in our 
policy. First, while it is appropriate to support defensive systems 
like Iron Dome to protect Israeli civilians against incoming rockets, 
it would be irresponsible to provide an additional $10.1 billion in 
military aid beyond those defensive systems, as contained in the 
proposed supplemental foreign aid package.
  The bottom line is that we should not be giving more money to a 
rightwing extremist government in Israel to conduct a horrific and 
immoral military campaign that includes indiscriminate bombardment.
  Second, in my view, the United States should support efforts at the 
United Nations Security Council to end the bloodshed, such as the 
resolution expected tomorrow that would demand an ``urgent suspension 
of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and 
for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities,'' as 
well as the unconditional release of all hostages. This should be 
something we strongly support.
  As you may recall, last week, the United States vetoed a resolution, 
and I think that was disappointing not just to me but to many 
Americans.
  As we soon head home to our families, let us not forget the millions 
of people in desperate need both here in the United States and around 
the world. In Gaza, there is a horrific situation we can and must do 
more to address. We cannot forget about it. We cannot shove it under 
the rug. The time is now for the United States to stand up and do 
everything that we can to end this humanitarian disaster.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.


                          Military Promotions

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, as this day comes to an end, a very sad 
chapter in the history of this body comes to an end, mercifully.
  I stand here before you and my colleagues as the last Vietnam veteran 
serving in the U.S. Senate, a retired Navy captain, a grandson of a 
Gold Star Mother, and from a family who believes in the Navy blue.
  I want to say to the hundreds of military families who have endured 
the uncertainty of whether or not their loved ones--their husbands, 
their fathers,

[[Page S6050]]

their brothers, their sisters--were going to be able to assume the 
promotions that they have earned for their years of service in 
protecting our country and in helping to defend our Constitution that 
this sad chapter has come to an end.
  I want to apologize to those families. I spoke last week and urged 
that we turn this page and move on, and I am grateful that that has 
happened.
  I want to especially commend the work behind the scenes of our 
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, an Army 
veteran, for the work that he has done in enabling us to end this sad 
chapter.
  I remember serving in a number of tours in Southeast Asia in the 
Vietnam war. In some of those years, we were not home for Christmas, 
for the holidays. We were on the other side of the world, and our 
families were back here in the States. Those were not happy days for 
us, and I know the last months have not been happy days for a lot of 
people in the armed services who deserve better.
  My hope is and my prayer is that at this Christmas season--at this 
holiday season, as we move toward Christmas--and as we move toward the 
end of the year and into a new year that the memories of what they have 
had to endure will fade and that what they will remember is that there 
are a number of our colleagues who stood up and said that this has got 
to end, and let's treat our military folks--all of them--with the 
respect that they deserve.
  We have a big Air Force base in Delaware, Dover Air Force Base. We 
have C-5s and C-17s. Through their large cargo aircraft, they provide 
an air bridge to Ukraine by literally carrying in those large aircraft 
the munitions, the supplies, and the materiels that are needed to help 
Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion.
  I have kept very close tabs with the Air Force base, gosh, for 30-
some years. One of the challenges we have at the Dover Air Force Base, 
with the Delaware National Guard, and at military installations across 
the country is the workforce. We find, for civilians, there are all 
kinds of businesses and all kinds of employers. When I go visit them in 
Delaware and across the country and I ask them how are they doing, how 
are we doing, what can we do to help--we in the Federal Government and 
the State government--they say: We just need people to come to work, 
people who are employable and trainable who will come to work.
  We have similar challenges in our armed services these days. We need 
people who are willing to step up, be trained, and serve in the Army, 
the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard. We want 
to make sure, when they do that, that we will respect them and their 
families as we traditionally have done since the beginning of this 
country.
  So, as we wrap this up and prepare to go home for the day--at least 
in Delaware--I will be back tomorrow to, hopefully, do more of our 
Nation's business. I am hopeful we will, and I am encouraged by what 
has happened today.
  Again, to those who serve us throughout the world in the Army, Navy, 
Air Force, and Marines, the Navy salutes you, and God bless. To each 
and every one of you out there who is serving us, whether you happen to 
be in the States or someplace around the world, God bless you. Be safe, 
and thank you so much.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MERKLEY. 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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