[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 76 (Thursday, May 2, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3295-S3305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

SECURING GROWTH AND ROBUST LEADERSHIP IN AMERICAN AVIATION ACT--MOTION 
                          TO PROCEED--Resumed

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 3935, 
which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 211, H.R. 3935, a bill to 
     amend title 49, United States Code, to reauthorize and 
     improve the Federal Aviation Administration and other civil 
     aviation programs, and for other purposes.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.


                                Abortion

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, after spending decades pushing for a 
national abortion ban, packing our courts with rightwing, extreme 
judges, and annihilating Roe v. Wade, hard-right Republicans have 
created a race to the bottom when it comes to reproductive rights.
  This week, Florida outlawed abortion after just 6 weeks, before many 
women even know they are pregnant. The Arizona Supreme Court recently 
upheld a Civil War-era law from 1864 banning abortion almost entirely, 
without exception for rape or incest. And 19 other States across 
America now have near-total bans or severe restrictions on abortions, 
beyond the standards set by Roe.
  Let's not forget how we got here, because the extreme abortion bans 
in Florida and Arizona didn't happen in a vacuum. They are the result 
of MAGA Republicans' decades-long campaign to annihilate Roe and plunge 
our country into chaos. Remember, Donald Trump boasted he was ``proudly 
the person responsible''--those are his words--for the disastrous 
decision to end Roe.
  The extreme abortion bans are also a direct consequence of the Senate 
Republican agenda to install rightwing, anti-abortion judges at every 
level of the Federal court system, including the hard-right Supreme 
Court Justices who voted to end Roe. Remember, most of the same 
Republicans are on record supporting a national abortion ban.
  The bottom line is that the extreme abortion bans are a direct 
consequence of Republicans getting into power. That is precisely what 
Republicans will do, given the chance to govern. They will try to take 
us back to 1864, with draconian abortion bans and attacks on Americans' 
personal freedoms.
  And, make no mistake, Republicans in Arizona will have to answer for 
their anti-abortion record in November. Republicans in Florida will 
have to answer for their anti-abortion record in November. Republicans 
across America will still have to answer for their anti-abortion record 
in November.

[[Page S3296]]

  



             Federal Aviation Administration Authorization

  Mr. President, on the FAA, today, the Senate will continue to move 
forward on FAA reauthorization. We just have 8 days to go before the 
current FAA authorization expires. So it will take bipartisan 
cooperation to get this done before the deadline.
  Both parties have every reason in the world to get FAA done as 
quickly as possible and as smoothly as possible to keep our skies safe, 
our airports safe, and our Federal employees taken care of. I hope the 
Senate can come together to get this important legislation finished.


                           Federal Judiciary

  Mr. President, on judge shopping, the central principle of America's 
justice system can be boiled down to four words we all know so well: 
``equal justice under law.'' When you go to court, a judge's personal 
preferences should make no difference in the outcome.
  But, recently, the hard right has turned ``equal justice under law'' 
on its head with the gross practice of judge shopping. Ideologues from 
across the country bring their cases to courts of their choosing, to 
pick and choose judges they know are friendly to their cause. Judge 
shopping is how the hard right successfully revoked the FDA approval of 
mifepristone nationwide a year ago.
  Yesterday, MAGA Republicans took aim at President Biden's new 
background check rules by flocking yet again to their favorite MAGA 
judge in the country, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in the Northern District 
of Texas. Judge Kacsmaryk has not even been a judge for 5 years--not 
for 5 years--and already he has heard cases with nationwide 
implications on things like reproductive care and Federal LGBTQ 
protections and the ACA. There is a very clear reason why this single 
Texas judge hears so many controversial cases. He is a living, 
breathing rubberstamp for the hard-right agenda, and MAGA extremists 
know he is friendly to their cause.
  As I said before, and I will say it again, judge shopping jaundices 
our legal system like few other abuses do. Picking and choosing a judge 
to get a predetermined outcome is the definition of unfairness, and 
Congress should fix this abuse with appropriate legislation. Even the 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, hardly a liberal, has acknowledged 
that judge shopping is a problem that ought to be addressed.
  A few weeks ago, I led a group of 40 Senators introducing a bill that 
would curtail judge shopping and restore fairness to the judicial 
system. I would hope both sides can work together on this bill to make 
sure nobody gets an unfair advantage in a court of law, simply based on 
a judge's personal preferences.
  Some of my colleagues on the other side have suggested that Congress 
shouldn't do anything to improve how our courts work. That is plainly 
ridiculous. When the Federal judiciary is being exploited by practices 
like judge shopping, it is both proper and appropriate for Congress to 
exercise its oversight authority.
  Congress has clear authority under the Constitution to exercise 
oversight of the courts. So we will continue weighing legislative 
options to ensure that the Federal judiciary is committed to equal 
justice under law.


                               Farm Bill

  Mr. President, on the farm bill, again, I would like to applaud my 
good friend and colleague Chairwoman Stabenow of the Agriculture 
Committee, who yesterday released the substance of her farm bill.
  Chair Stabenow's farm bill supports our farmers, feeds our families, 
and bolsters our rural communities. By focusing on bipartisanship, 
rather than playing partisan games with our farmers and families like 
House Republicans, the bill she put together, the Rural Prosperity and 
Food Security Act, holds the broad coalition needed to pass the farm 
bill. I am proud of the chairwoman's dogged work on this legislation.

  The bill includes more than 100 bipartisan priority pieces of 
legislation, from improving rural healthcare and education to foreign 
ownership of farm land. It ensures that SNAP reflects the reality of 
how Americans buy and prepare food and keeps kids fed by making 
significant investments to end childhood hunger. And it defends the 
historic climate-smart agricultural investments that I fought so hard 
to secure on the Inflation Reduction Act last summer.
  We all know that about 10 percent of the carbon that is emitted into 
the atmosphere comes from agriculture, and the bill does a good job by 
reducing that amount, but still making sure farmers, particularly small 
farmers, don't pay the price.


                         Tribute to Mike Kuiken

  Finally, Mr. President, I want to close my remarks with one of my 
least favorite words, but one which I say with immense gratitude: 
Farewell.
  I am sad, grateful, verklempt, happy, moved--all of the above--to pay 
tribute this morning to one of the best staffers I have ever had, Mike 
Kuiken, my national security adviser for over 5 years.
  He has been an invaluable adviser, an extremely gifted thinker, and a 
straight shooter for all the years he has been part of my team. I want 
to say thank you.
  Members from around the Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike, have 
come to rely on his knowledge and his judgment. And, in many ways, he 
has made the world a better and safer place--made America a better and 
safer place--by his dedication to this field, to intelligence, and to 
the military. He has done a great job.
  I will so badly miss him. But like when many of my staffers leave 
when they are going on to bigger and better things, I rejoice, as well. 
So it is with mixed emotions that I say goodbye to Mike, and an 
enormous thank you from me, the people of New York, and the people of 
America for being so strong and firm in protecting America's interests 
with balance, with care, with intelligence.
  Mike leaves the Senate with a legacy he can truly be proud of. If he 
did nothing else in his life, he can rest assured--he will do plenty 
more, I know--but he can rest assured that he has been a great, great 
contributor to this society. He has been on the forefront of every 
major national security event America has experienced in two decades.
  He joined Carl Levin's staff a few months before 9/11 and played a 
hand in legislation protecting our troops during deployment in the 
Middle East, expanding sanctions against Iran, responding to the Arab 
Spring, strengthening counterterrorism efforts, resisting Russian 
interference in the 2016 elections, outcompeting the Chinese 
Government, and so much more. Whether in a war zone or inside the SCIF, 
where he spends a lot of time learning all about classified 
information, he has been invaluable.
  Without Mike, I can say we would never have gotten the Chips and 
Science Act done. He--with several other of my staffers--was there 
shepherding this bill, all the way back to the days when I first called 
it the Endless Frontier Act.
  Without Mike, we wouldn't have gotten the NDAA done for so many 
years. Without Mike, we would be nowhere in preparing for the future of 
AI in the sphere of national security.
  So, for sure, as I said, he can be really proud of what he has done.
  Anyone who knows him well knows all these incredible things are 
secondary to what matters most to him: his two kids. The number of 
times I called him and he was at a swim meet or track meet or some 
event for one of his kids, just reveling in their successes, I can't 
count. He is always there. His wife Emily and his children, I am sure, 
are excited they will be able to see a little more of him around the 
House, at least for now.
  Mike, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much, and my best 
wishes on the road ahead. You will always have a place here in the 
Senate and in what we call the ``Schumer family.'' You are part of our 
family and always will be.
  He is not here. He is probably in the SCIF or in a swim meet for one 
of his kids.
  I yield the floor.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.


                           National Security

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last Thursday, the Pentagon announced 
for the second time in as many weeks that U.S. military personnel would 
withdraw from years of work on security

[[Page S3297]]

cooperation with major nations in North Africa. America has now 
effectively been pushed out of Chad, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, 
making more room for Russia and China.
  Here at home, appropriators are parsing President Biden's fourth 
straight proposal to cut defense spending in real-dollar terms, and 
they are discovering, among other glaring red flags, that he intends to 
meet China's surging spending on shipbuilding with the smallest request 
for Navy ships in 15 years.
  The Biden administration's national security strategy and national 
defense strategy explicitly--explicitly--prioritize great power 
competition, but does it sound like America is effectively engaged in 
that competition? Does any of this look like the behavior of a 
superpower that intends to maintain its influence and defend its 
interests? It certainly doesn't to me. This administration behaves more 
like an ostrich than a superpower.
  For 2 years, Russia's war in Ukraine has called urgent attention to 
shortcomings in Western stockpiles and production capacity for critical 
munitions.
  For months--months--defending against attacks from Iran and its 
proxies has forced the United States to incur significant unplanned 
costs and expend major stores of cutting-edge missiles and air defense 
interceptors. But despite this surging demand, the President's request 
leaves the budget for munitions stagnant.
  I have said repeatedly that growing our production capacity and 
munitions stockpiles in a sustainable way will require more than urgent 
supplemental investments; it will take building these requirements into 
our base budget.
  We are facing growing interconnected threats from Russia, China, 
North Korea, Iran, and a host of terrorist proxies--an axis bent on 
eroding American influence, dominating our friends, and killing our 
servicemembers. This is not news, and unfortunately neither is this 
sort of willful blindness from Democratic administrations when it comes 
to growing threats. After all, it was President Obama who decided to 
let a budget number dictate national security priorities rather than 
letting strategy inform spending. It was the Obama-Biden administration 
that abandoned the ``two-war'' planning construct that had long guided 
how we structure and resource our Armed Forces.
  The risk that America and our allies will have to fight 
simultaneously in two regions is real, it is growing, and it is time to 
start taking the risk seriously.
  It is absurd to pretend that we can outcompete the pacing threat from 
China--let alone simultaneous conflicts--when the President won't even 
submit defense budgets that keep up with inflation. We are spending 
half as much on defense as a percentage of GDP as we did through 
President Reagan's buildup, but we are facing even more serious threats 
than we did back then.

       Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.

  Those are the words of President Biden.
  I had hoped that the chaos of world events would lead our friends on 
the other side of the aisle to see the value in addressing grave and 
growing threats to our national security, but the President's budget 
request actually suggests otherwise. So does the latest suggestion from 
the chair of the Appropriations Committee that she would pair any 
increase in defense spending with more domestic spending on her party's 
priorities.
  So the game is up. We cannot afford to pretend it is business as 
usual around here. We can't let partisan spending priorities hold the 
common defense hostage. It is time to acknowledge that the growing 
threats to our peace and prosperity deserve our utmost attention.
  But if neither our Commander in Chief nor our Congress takes 
investments in American leadership and American strength seriously, how 
on Earth can we expect our adversaries to?


                                 Energy

  Mr. President, now on another matter, last week, the Biden 
administration's EPA finalized new regulations targeting producers of 
affordable and reliable American energy. The so-called Clean Power Plan 
2.0 is just the latest front in Washington Democrats' long and 
disastrous War on Coal. These regulations would effectively force many 
powerplants to close, endanger more good-paying jobs in my home State 
of Kentucky, and burden working Americans around the country with 
higher electricity bills. They would put already steep emissions 
standards even further out of reach for existing producers. They would 
shrink the supply of baseload power as demand rises and an already 
strained electric grid nears the breaking point.

  As an industry advocate in Kentucky put it recently, ``The Biden 
administration . . . has again shown it's disconnected from reality.''
  Just last week, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator released 
its latest report on electricity costs. The report showed that capacity 
prices in its region had nearly tripled and that the increase was due 
primarily to retiring coal plants.
  This scheme isn't just profoundly bad policy, it is also illegal. The 
Supreme Court overturned President Obama's original Clean Power Plan in 
West Virginia v. EPA, and the Court's decision left no room for doubt 
that the EPA requires clear--clear--authorization from Congress to 
implement such regulations once again. Needless to say, Congress has 
given no such authorization. In fact, the law couldn't have been 
clearer in saying the opposite.
  Back in 2015, I introduced a CRA disapproving of the original Clean 
Power Plan, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
  Last August, I joined Senator Capito and 37 of our colleagues in 
urging the EPA to withdraw the proposed rule.
  Last week, I was very proud to join a resolution Senator Capito will 
introduce disapproving of the EPA's latest power grab. I am grateful 
for our colleague's leadership, and I will continue to stand firmly 
behind the Kentuckians and workers across coal country who need to keep 
the lights on.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The majority whip.


                   Nomination of Adeel Abdullah Mangi

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, as you well know, the Senate has confirmed 
194 of President Biden's judicial nominees to lifetime appointments. 
Each of these nominees has been questioned about their qualifications 
and credentials. And as the Senate provided advice and consent on their 
nominations, they move forward.
  But Adeel Mangi, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third 
Circuit has faced unprecedented and fundamentally unfair personal 
attacks. Senate Republicans and dark money groups have made bigoted and 
false claims about Mr. Mangi, the first Muslim American nominated to 
the Federal Appellate Court.
  Rather than focusing on Mr. Mangi's qualifications or credentials 
during the hearing that he was subjected to in December, Republicans 
subjected him to irrelevant, combative lines of questioning about the 
Israel-Hamas war. They even asked--they even asked--whether he 
celebrated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Can you imagine? 
With no basis in his life experience, the fact that he was Muslim gave 
them license to ask whether or not, in his home, they celebrated 
September 11.
  Throughout his confirmation process, Mr. Mangi has unequivocally 
condemned anti-Semitism and acts of terrorism. Republican Senators have 
tried to scapegoat Mr. Mangi for statements made by other people and 
for events he didn't even attend and wasn't even aware of. That is 
simply guilt by association, and it is wrong.
  Any claim that Mr. Mangi is anti-Semitic is simply false. Yet just 
this week, the Republican leader falsely claimed that Mr. Mangi's 
confirmation would lead to ``radicalism on the Federal bench.'' The 
fact that this man will be the first Muslim American allows these wild 
accusations to take place, and it is unfair.
  To claim that Mr. Mangi is ``radical'' ignores his record. For more 
than two

[[Page S3298]]

decades, he has focused on commercial litigation at a top-tier law 
firm. He has served as counsel of record in more than 30 matters before 
Federal appellate courts, as well as eight amicus briefs submitted to 
the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Mangi has devoted more than 
4,000 hours to his pro bono practice, representing clients in religious 
discrimination and employment discrimination cases.
  Mr. Mangi deserves to be evaluated based on his record, not on bad-
faith falsehoods and innuendo. I urge my colleagues to dismiss the 
smear campaign against him and support his nomination.


                               Dream Act

  Mr. President, on another matter, I would like to discuss an issue 
that has been personal to me and a priority for more than 20 years, the 
young immigrants known as the Dreamers. It was a little over 20 years 
ago that I introduced the first DREAM Act. Before that, people 
discussed the Dreamers in terms of a rock-and-roll group from Great 
Britain. Now the Dreamers are known as young people who were brought to 
the United States as children, with no decision on their own part, grew 
up in this country, pledged allegiance to this American flag in their 
classrooms, and simply want to be part of the future of America. That 
is what this is all about. Many have gone on to serve our Nation as 
first responders, nurses, and members of the Armed Forces. They are 
American in every way, except under our law. And without congressional 
action, they still spend each day in fear of deportation.
  I first introduced the DREAM Act 23 years ago. I have reintroduced it 
for the last several Congresses with my friend, the senior Senator from 
South Carolina Lindsey Graham. The DREAM Act would provide a pathway to 
citizenship for Dreamers. On several occasions, a bipartisan majority 
of Senators have voted for the DREAM Act on the floor of the Senate, 
but it has been blocked by filibuster each time.
  Twelve years ago, in response to a bipartisan request from myself and 
the late Senator Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, President Obama 
established DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. 
Since 2012, DACA has protected from deportation more than 830,000 young 
people, all of whom arrived in our country as children, some as young 
as a few months old.
  Today, I want to share the story of one of those impressive 
individuals who has received DACA protection. This is the 142nd story 
of a Dreamer that I have shared on the Senate floor.
  Brian Garcia Valdez came to the United States from Mexico when he was 
10 years old. He grew up in South Texas. He graduated from high school 
with honors in the top 10 percent of his class.
  Because of Brian's immigration status, he wasn't eligible for 
financial aid to go to college, so he worked jobs, multiple jobs--
waiter, washing cars, construction--all to support his tuition cost at 
Texas A&M. After 4 years of hard work, he graduated with a bachelor's 
degree in biology in 2017. Brian is now a medical student at Loyola 
Stritch School of Medicine in my home State of Illinois.

  I want to give a shout-out to the school. Loyola School of Medicine 
was the first in the Nation to open up the competition for the limited 
number of slots they have to DACA students. They have had over 30 so 
far. There is no quota. There is no allotment of a certain number. 
These students just have to compete with everyone else and show that 
they are ready to excel in medicine.
  In addition to a busy academic schedule, Brian has worked as a clinic 
coordinator in a health clinic assisting medically underserved 
communities. He also received the 2023 Dream M.D. Physicians of 
Tomorrow Scholarship for academic excellence. Brian will graduate next 
week. He plans to attend the University of Rochester Medical Center for 
his medical residency.
  After completing his training, he hopes to return to South Texas to 
serve medically underserved areas.
  DACA allowed Brian to pursue his dream of being a doctor, but his 
life is still in limbo because of the inaction of Congress. Since 
President Obama established the DACA program, Republicans--many 
Republicans--have waged a relentless campaign to overturn DACA and 
deport the Dreamers back to the countries that many of them don't even 
remember being part of.
  Last September, one Federal judge in Texas declared DACA illegal as a 
program. The decision left in place protections for current DACA 
recipients while the appeal is pending, but has left them in constant 
fear that any day another court decision will upend their lives. The 
lower court decision also has prevented any more Dreamers from 
registering for the program. This means that without congressional 
action, thousands of Dreamers who already serve our country as doctors, 
teachers, or first responders may never have that opportunity.
  Next week, I will hold a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on 
the urgent need to protect these aspiring young people. It is time for 
Congress to grant them the stability and certainty in their lives that 
they so richly deserve.
  When you look at this individual, Brian Garcia Valdez, ask yourself 
the question: Now as he is on his path, on his way, becoming a medical 
doctor in the United States and he wants to serve underserved people in 
South Texas who don't have access to a good doctor, is our message from 
Congress to him to go back to where you came from? That basically is 
the issue before us. Is America a better country with Dr. Brian Garcia 
Valdez in its ranks? You bet it is. Let's not lose this opportunity to 
bring these quality individuals into full citizenship.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                                Protests

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, over the past couple of weeks, we witnessed 
a wave of anti-Semitism sweep college campuses across our country. 
Under the guise of protest, an old hatred has made an ugly return and 
not in some far corner of the world, which would be bad enough, but 
here, in the United States, in 2024. Intimidation of Jewish students, 
support for terrorists, calls for violence against fellow Americans--we 
have seen it all, and more, on college campuses over the past few 
weeks.
  And too often this repugnant behavior has been abetted by the 
action--or inaction--of campus faculty and administrators. Jewish 
students simply walking around their campuses have heard things like: 
``Hamas, we love you.'' ``Burn Tel Aviv to the ground.'' ``From the 
river to the sea.'' ``We are Hamas.'' Every one of those slogans has 
been used at protests.
  A CBS article from a few days ago reported:

       Near Columbia University, antisemitic slogans including 
     ``go back to Poland'' were heard among the protesters' 
     chants. In one video, a demonstrator can be seen holding a 
     sign near Jewish students that reads: ``Al-Qassam's next 
     targets.''

  Al-Qassam, of course, is the military wing of Hamas.
  ``Go back to Poland,'' ``Al-Qassam's next targets''? Anyone hearing 
this could be forgiven for thinking that we are in 1930s Germany 
instead of the United States of America, where I had hoped anti-
Semitism was a thing of the past, but apparently it is a thing of the 
present.
  And I have to wonder how we as a society have failed our young people 
when they are incapable of opposing Israel's policies without attacking 
the Jewish people, when they think that any means are justified in 
pursuit of their goal, including the deliberate targeting and 
slaughtering of the innocent. How have we gotten to a point where 
apparently substantial numbers of young people are identifying with 
terrorists, with an organization that mere months ago conducted a 
deadly rampage that left hundreds of Israeli civilians, including 
children, dead and saw more than 200 individuals, including children, 
taken into captivity?
  How have we gotten to a point where we have Jewish students afraid to 
walk across their own campuses and, in some instances, being prevented 
from entering campus buildings? Because that is where we are.

[[Page S3299]]

  Jewish students on too many campuses right now are living in fear as 
intimidation and harassment of Jewish students becomes increasingly 
commonplace.
  One Jewish student at the University of Washington, which has also 
seen a protest encampment, had this to say:

       ``When that [the protests] starts up, I do feel my heart 
     pounding, and I'm very anxious to be here.''

  This is Olivia Feldman, a senior at the University of Washington and 
copresident of Students Supporting Israel. She goes on to say:

       ``No, I do not feel safe on campus. I've been called names, 
     I've been spit at'' . . . Feldman is a great-granddaughter of 
     holocaust survivors.

  She goes on to say:

       ``It is a very visceral feeling in me when someone tells me 
     to go back to the gas chambers,'' [she] said.

  Another student--this one at Columbia University--said in February:

       We have been attacked by sticks outside our library. We 
     have been attacked by angry mobs and we have been threatened 
     to ``Keep F-ing running.''

  This is sickening. And the fact that this kind of behavior has become 
widespread on some of these college campuses should be prompting some 
serious soul-searching as to how we have let things get to this point--
and an immediate reckoning for students engaged in harassment, assault, 
or other unlawful behavior.
  And in addition to action from universities and local law 
enforcement, the Biden Department of Education and Federal law 
enforcement should immediately step in to investigate and prosecute 
Federal offenses.
  Protest is one thing. Colleges should be forums for debate and 
discussion, and every American--every American--has a right to free 
speech. But we are a long way beyond mere lawful protests. We are 
talking about the harassment of and assaults on Jewish students. And it 
is time for immediate action, including law enforcement action, where 
warranted, to protect these students and ensure that they can attend 
school in safety.
  It is hard to believe that here in the United States I am having to 
say something about ensuring Jewish students can attend school in 
safety. And I hope that in addition to swift action from school 
administrations and from law enforcement, we spend some time thinking 
about what has gone wrong--what has gone wrong--with education in this 
country that we are facing a situation where Jewish students are scared 
to go to class because of the actions of their fellow students.

  Something has gone seriously wrong when we have students at some of 
our top schools embracing the actions of--and identifying with--
terrorists. That should be an unthinkable position. And I hope it will 
become one again.
  Finally, where is President Biden? The President has barely managed 
to summon up a word on this most recent wave of anti-Semitism.
  I understand that he was preparing for the White House 
Correspondents' Dinner, but perhaps he could have taken a moment away 
from cracking his jokes to address the fact that there are Jewish 
students right now in the United States of America who are afraid to 
walk across their campuses.
  I am also waiting to hear the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
Education's response to a letter I sent with a number of my Republican 
colleagues regarding the administration's plans for enforcing Federal 
law in relation to the anti-Semitism and protests on our college 
campuses.

       ``No, I do not feel safe on campus. I've been called names, 
     I've been spit at. . . . It is a very visceral feeling in me 
     when someone tells me to go back to the gas chambers.''

  That is something, I repeat, that Olivia Feldman, a student, has 
said.
  It is time to take action to close this disgraceful chapter and to 
ensure that there are no more stories like Olivia Feldman's.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan.


                 Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, yesterday, I announced the Rural 
Prosperity and Food Security Act, put together by distinguished 
colleagues on the Agriculture Committee, including the Presiding 
Officer. We thank you so much for all of your leadership on so many 
provisions here in Georgia and our entire country. So thank you for 
that.
  This is a serious bill that reflects bipartisan priorities to keep 
farmers farming, to keep families fed, and to keep rural communities 
strong. I hope those are values and priorities that we all share 
together.
  The foundation of every successful farm bill is built on a broad, 
bipartisan coalition. That is how we get it done, as, Mr. President, 
you know. We get it done because we bring everybody together. We don't 
put forward things that lose votes; we put forward things that gain 
votes so that we can do what we did in the last 5-year farm bill, 2018, 
where we had 87 Members of the U.S. Senate come together, which was 
extraordinary at that time, because we built the coalition. We 
respected each other, and we did not look for policies that would 
divide.
  So it is important that farmers and ranchers, rural communities, 
foresters, nutrition and hunger advocates, conservationists, bioenergy 
advocates, local governments, and climate advocates come together. That 
is a broad coalition, and there are so many more I could list on and on 
that come together to be able to address a 5-year bill that addresses 
rural America, our economy, feeding Americans, being there when they 
need some help, protecting our land and water and air resources that 
are so important, and investing in a rural quality of life, like where 
I grew up in Northern Michigan, in Clare.
  The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act is a bill that holds the 
coalition together. It is a bill that I put together with my Democratic 
colleagues on the committee, but it includes 100 bipartisan bills--
actually, over 100 bipartisan bills--introduced this Congress through 
the hard work of Republicans and Democrats on the committee as well as 
off the committee and with the input of a broad farm bill coalition.
  (Mr. FETTERMAN assumed the Chair.)
  I would hope, at this point, we would be in a situation where we 
would be bringing forward a bipartisan bill. We are not there yet, but 
it is my responsibility as the leader of the committee to put forward 
what I believe is the vision and the policies that can get us there, 
and that is what this is talking about.
  There are many things in here. I will not go through all of them, as 
there are too many, but I will say this: We are strengthening the 
important farm safety net by making meaningful investments that focus 
our tax dollars, our American resources, on American farmers with dirt 
under their fingernails, not billionaire Wall Street or foreign 
investors, who, by the way, we ban from receiving commodity payments in 
this bill.
  This bill makes support for beginning farmers a priority. We need 
more people who want to go into farming, either starting from scratch 
or going home to their family farms. We need them. We need the people 
being willing to do the critical work. They need to be a priority, and 
they are a priority in this farm bill.
  Our bill will provide farmers and ranchers with more choices that 
provide timely and flexible assistance that meets their needs--lower 
cost crop insurance, more effective commodity title, more opportunities 
for affordable credit to operate their farms as input costs go up, and 
the list goes on and on.
  We, importantly, permanently authorize the agriculture disaster 
assistance program, which, unfortunately, is having to be used more and 
more and more. I want that to be clear, that that is a permanent part 
of agricultural policy. This bill makes it a priority to help our 
farmers and ranchers address the emerging risks that we know they all 
face.
  We also ensure that farmers are planting to meet market demand, not 
to receive a government payment. We made major reforms in the 2014 bill 
to emphasize that and then again in 2018, and it is important to keep 
it going.
  Farming has always been one of the riskiest ways to make a living. I 
have said it is the riskiest business around. Nobody else has to 
monitor the weather all day and night to figure out what is going on as 
to whether or not their businesses are going to be OK, and the climate 
crisis is making it even tougher. Think about the Michigan cherry 
farmer who loses an entire crop due to an early warming and then a cold

[[Page S3300]]

snap--and this has happened in Michigan--or think of the wheat farmers 
whose hard work is leveled as a violent summer storm pummels their 
fields with hail.
  Conservation programs are a vital part of our risk management for 
farmers today. I am proud that they are voluntary, that they are 
popular, that they are used, that farmers think they make a difference. 
It is important that we continue to invest and protect those dollars. 
This bill builds on our historic investment in those popular, voluntary 
conservation programs by making the title--the conservation title--a 
permanent investment, a permanent part of the farm bill, a permanent 
authorization.
  We invest to make sure we are confronting the climate crisis today 
and in the future by taking the dollars that we have allocated for 
climate-smart agriculture and putting it into the farm bill and 
supporting these important, voluntary, climate-smart efforts. This will 
put resources into farmers' pockets to continue the practices that they 
are already doing and that they want to do more of on the farm and at 
ranches around the country.
  While the farm bill is the backbone of the farm safety net, it is 
also the backbone of the family safety net through our nutrition title.
  I want to thank our subcommittee chair who is presiding now, who 
chairs our Subcommittee on Nutrition, for his leadership. I thank him 
very much.
  The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act reflects our shared 
belief, Republicans' and Democrats', that no American parent should 
have to worry about whether or not they will be able to feed their 
children. No American senior should have to choose between buying food 
and paying for their medications. No American servicemembers should 
experience hunger while serving their country.
  This bill will help millions of hard-working Americans make ends meet 
at a time when they really need it--in a time of crisis--by continuing 
the 5-year update to the SNAP and the Thrifty Food Plan included in the 
bipartisan 2018 farm bill to ensure that SNAP reflects the realities of 
how Americans buy food and prepare food. It improves security measures 
and cracks down on bad actors to strengthen the integrity of nutrition 
assistance.
  The bill invests in SNAP employment and training to help people 
improve their job skills, and it excludes subsidized income earned 
through employment and training from counting as income for SNAP so 
that people will participate in these services and can finish their 
training.

  In rural development, this is such an important part of the farm 
bill. This is about jobs; it is about quality of life. We have such an 
exciting bioeconomy today. In the farm bill a number of years ago, I 
put in a whole program called Grow It Here, Make It Here, where we 
focused on biomanufacturing as well as our biofuels and what we could 
do to add opportunities for farmers and income and jobs. We build on 
that in this bill, whether it is biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel, 
biomanufacturing, lifting up biopreferred labels so people know and can 
feel confident in looking for those labels, American labels. We lift 
this up.
  We also strengthen our efforts with farmers and ranchers with clean 
energy--clean energy efforts to lower costs for citizens in rural 
America, to bring down their utility costs, but also to help our 
farmers through the Rural Energy Assistance Program, which we 
strengthen.
  For the first time, we put not just authorizations but actually 
mandatory farm bill resources--money--into the rural development title 
to lift up really important quality-of-life issues that determine 
whether or not people can actually stay and live in rural communities--
for instance, childcare; access to mental health and addiction 
treatment facilities; rural housing, which is such a challenge. There 
are so many things we need to be doing to create opportunities.
  I am proud that we have already made rural communities a priority 
through high-speed internet in rural communities and what we did in the 
infrastructure bill. We also have made wastewater treatment and other 
infrastructure issues in rural communities a part of what we have done 
in other areas. But we need to do more as it relates to the quality of 
life for families in rural communities, and the farm bill puts forward 
a vision to do that.
  The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act is the product of a lot of 
work. You know, Senator Boozman and I--my ranking member--started this 
process 2 years ago at my alma mater, Michigan State University, with 
our first field hearing to hear from all those impacted. We have both, 
as well as other colleagues, traveled the country to hear ideas and to 
hear what is important to do. But we are beyond that now. It is time to 
get it done. It is time to get it done.
  You know, I have been around here long enough to have participated in 
six farm bills. It is the third one I have had the honor to lead. I 
know what it takes. I am so honored and proud to have--I may be biased, 
but I believe I have the smartest farm bill team there is. There are 
talented people who have put this together, but we know how to do it. 
We know how to do it.
  I know that the only path forward is to hold together a broad, 
bipartisan farm bill coalition. When you break the coalition up, it 
never works. It never works. It fails time after time.
  In some ways, the discussions and the attacks right now on nutrition 
make me feel like it is ``Groundhog Day.'' We saw this in 2012 when the 
House could not pass a bill because of the fight on nutrition. We saw 
it again in 2018 when they couldn't pass a bill. It was voted down 
again because of the fight on nutrition.
  Breaking up the coalition and pitting the farmer safety net against 
the family safety net will not get us a farm bill. It just won't.
  I am so grateful that in doing our past farm bills, we have been able 
to come together and understand that it is about recognizing broadly 
the needs of farmers and food and jobs and all the other issues that 
are so important to our rural communities and, frankly, urban 
communities as well. That is why I am committed to doing that, because 
that is the way we get a bill.
  Our farmers, our families, our rural communities deserve the 
certainty of a 5-year farm bill. There is no reason we can't do this. 
There is no reason we can't do this if we take the lessons of the past, 
if we creatively work together to meet the needs that we know need to 
be addressed as more and more volatility affects our farmers and 
ranchers across the country. We can do that. We can do that. I am 
committed to doing everything in my power as chair of the Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry Committee to make that happen.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HAGERTY. 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.
  The Senator from Tennessee.


                       Unanimous Consent Request

  Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, in 2021, President Biden signed Executive 
Order 14019. This Executive order directs Federal Government Agencies 
to engage in voter mobilization using taxpayer resources, and it 
requires that they submit a plan for doing so to the White House. This 
includes helping with completing vote-by-mail materials and finding 
third-party organizations to conduct voting-related activity on Federal 
property.
  This Executive order prompted questions and concerns. First, there is 
no clear authority in Federal law allowing executive branch Agencies to 
work with certain voters to complete mail-in ballot forms and bring in 
outside organizations to help. And there is no authority for spending 
congressionally appropriated funds on this activity, raising the 
question of whether it violates the Antideficiency Act.
  The same act prohibits Federal Agencies from accepting voluntary 
services, which this Executive order blatantly violates by directing 
Agencies to solicit third-party organizations to provide voting-related 
services on Agency premises.
  There is also the question of whether the Biden administration is 
implementing this Executive order in a manner that violates the Hatch 
Act. The Hatch Act limits political activity by

[[Page S3301]]

Federal employees. The Hatch Act is a Federal law that was enacted in 
the 1930s for the very purpose of preventing this sort of government 
activity.
  It was an act enacted after the Roosevelt administration was accused 
of using Federal employees and the WPA to boost Democrat candidates.
  Does this sound familiar?
  Think about VP Harris' recent announcement that Federal funds would 
be used to hire college students as ``nonpartisan'' poll workers this 
summer. As it turns out, her example that she used was a committed 
partisan.
  Back to Executive Order 14019 and the Biden administration's pledge 
to be ``the most transparent presidential administration ever,'' 
surely, the Biden administration is going to go above and beyond to be 
transparent and explain exactly how this order is being implemented, 
right? Wrong.
  In fact, in the 3 years since this order was issued, the Biden 
administration has done the exact opposite. The White House has 
stonewalled congressional requests to see the Agency plans that are 
required under the order, despite the fact that congressionally 
appropriated resources are being spent on these plans. They have gone 
to court to fight open records requests to see the plans.
  Last May, along with several colleagues, I wrote to the White House 
asking for basic information on these plans. I never received a 
response. We wrote again in November, and, again, were ignored by the 
White House.
  Now, I have introduced legislation that would simply require that the 
Agencies disclose their plans and provide an update on their 
implementation. That is it. They just have to explain what they are 
doing. Will they? I will note that I am not alone in seeking 
transparency regarding this Executive order. Several of my Democrat 
colleagues recently wrote The General Services Administration 
requesting its plan under the same Executive order. My legislation 
simply broadens this request by seeking transparency from all Agencies.

  The White House's continued and deliberate secrecy begs the question: 
What are they hiding? What do they fear revealing? I think that we can 
surmise that these plans take our Nation right back to the 1930s, 
weaponizing government yet again, this time to recruit and to harvest 
Democratic voters.
  The facts that have slipped out seem to confirm just as much. The 
Biden White House tasked a far-left organization called Demos, which 
describes its mission as ``pioneer[ing] bold, progressive ideas.'' This 
organization has been used by the White House to help implement this 
Executive order. Demos recommended this voter mobilization strategy to 
the incoming Biden administration in December of 2020.
  Interestingly, Demos's former president was brought in to work in the 
White House, which dutifully issued this order implementing the Demos 
plan during President Biden's first year in office.
  The Department of Health and Human Services has acknowledged that it 
is working with groups like the ACLU and Demos to implement this 
Executive order. A FOIA request also revealed that Demos is working 
with the Department of Agriculture.
  It seems that the idea is to use Federal Agencies to provide point-
of-sale voter mobilization, provide a Federal benefit, and then use 
that exchange of Federal benefits to mobilize the voter.
  There is a reason why the Hatch Act and other laws prevent Federal 
employees from engaging in political activities--because Federal 
employees are paid to serve all American taxpayers, not use government 
benefits to activate voters. This sort of activity is fraught with 
potential partisan impact, even if it is ostensibly framed as 
nonpartisan.
  Setting aside the clear policy and ethical concerns, all my 
legislation requires is transparency. The Biden administration has 
taken extraordinary steps to hide this information from the American 
people. Not only does President Biden owe taxpayers this information 
regarding how their hard-earned dollars are being spent on voter 
mobilization, but it is a basic duty of this body to oversee how 
congressionally appropriated funds are being spent, especially on 
activities for which they were never appropriated.
  In just a few months, tens of millions of Americans will cast their 
vote for President. The American people deserve to know whether the 
incumbent President is attempting to tip the scales in favor of his own 
reelection using taxpayer dollars.
  We all agree that free and fair elections are a foundational pillar 
of the United States. The Founders of the United States rightfully left 
that responsibility of carrying out Federal elections to the States, 
not to the incumbent Federal President. This was to help ensure the 
integrity of and ensure the confidence in our election system.
  This Executive order is an extreme departure from the American model. 
The President using the vast Federal bureaucracy to carry out his 
secret voter mobilization operation months before the election is a 
dangerous precedent, and it should alarm every one of us here in 
Congress, and, frankly, it should alarm every American.
  That is why I am requesting that the Senate pass legislation 
requiring that the Biden administration disclose these plans and 
provide the transparency that is necessary to address rightful concerns 
about using taxpayer dollars in an unlawful and in a deeply disturbing 
manner.
  So, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, notwithstanding rule 
XXII, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 4239, 
which is at the desk. I further ask that the bill be considered read a 
third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from California.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I believe 
that our democracy works best when as many eligible people as possible 
participate in our democracy. That is not a controversial stance or a 
partisan talking point. That is the bedrock of our democracy, and 
something that I assume we all learned in high school civics class. 
That is why, in March of 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 
14019 directing Federal Agencies to take commonsense steps to promote 
nonpartisan voter registration and participation, including by 
partnering with State voter registration offices.
  Voter registration offices, by the way, are recognized and charged by 
Federal law, right? We have the National Motor Voter law just as one 
example from 1994. I am very familiar with this because, prior to 
joining the Senate, I served as California's Secretary of State. So in 
that lens, from that perspective, I enthusiastically support the 
administration's efforts to ensure that all eligible Americans are able 
to participate in our elections.

  In a democracy, nobody should be afraid of encouraging more eligible 
Americans to register to vote and to cast their ballot. Nobody should 
be afraid of increasing turnout--certainly not U.S. Senators.
  But at the same time, I also strongly support Congress's oversight 
role. That is why I have already engaged in conversations with the 
administration on the steps that they are taking to implement the 
Executive order and help more eligible Americans to vote, because that 
is what this straightforward Executive order does. It simply directs 
Federal Agencies to take appropriate steps, mindful of the law, within 
their existing authorities--not asking to do anything they haven't done 
before--to help eligible Americans to vote. Nowhere in the order does 
it say help Democrats or help Republicans--any eligible American.
  So if my colleague is interested in joining me to receive these 
updates from the administration on their implementation, I would be 
more than happy to facilitate such a meeting and conversation.
  But this bill, the bill before us now, is simply the latest 
Republican attempt to undermine the Biden administration's efforts to 
expand voting to all eligible Americans. Earlier this year, I voted 
alongside my Democratic colleagues against efforts that would have 
blocked funding to implement this Executive order, and I will continue 
to work with my colleagues to protect the right to vote and efforts to 
promote voter access.

[[Page S3302]]

  And, again, I am more than happy to work with my colleague, any of my 
colleagues, to have productive conversations with the administration, 
but this bill? This bill will only serve to undermine the work being 
done to promote voter registration and participation; so, therefore, 
Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. HAGERTY. Mr. President, I appreciate my colleague Senator 
Padilla's outreach toward each other, and I look forward to working 
with him on a number of issues in this regard. He has great expertise 
in this arena. But I have a very basic question to ask, and that is: 
What is this administration afraid of? Because all I am asking for is 
transparency. I am just asking to see the plans that are commanded by 
this Executive order, yet the administration stonewalls us on this. We 
talk about having conversations, but why not just show the plans?
  I fear that this is a return back to the 1930s, a return back to the 
weaponization of government, delivering a point-of-sale benefit, and, 
at the same time, bringing along a voter registration package and an 
encouragement of voting for the incumbent administration.
  Let's see the plans. Let's allay the concerns that I raise. This 
administration is not doing that. This administration is stonewalling 
us. In fact, my colleague Senator Padilla has also requested 
transparency of the GSA to find out what they are doing with respect to 
implementing this Executive order. Let's expand this to all Agencies. 
Let's let the American public see what the Biden administration is up 
to with this Executive order.
  But the real motivation of this Executive order was the fact that the 
Biden administration was disappointed that they weren't able to 
federalize our election system. After the failure of H.R. 1 and S. 1 
here in the Senate, this is the result, Executive order 14019. This is 
the command to weaponize the Federal system for election year 
activities. I think Americans deserve to see what these plans are, and 
I would look forward to the transparency that I am asking for.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mr. PADILLA. 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. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Corporate Transparency Act

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, I have come to the Senate floor today 
to talk about the Corporate Transparency Act or, as we call it in DC--
in swamp speak--the CTA act.
  The CTA, to me, is one of the worst examples of Big Government 
overreach that I have seen since I got to Washington over 3\1/2\ years 
ago. That is saying a whole lot, since our country is $34 trillion in 
debt. The CTA was signed into law in 2021 as part of the fiscal year 
2021 NDAA.
  Simply put, the Corporate Transparency Act is an outright attack on 
the 32 million small businesses in this country. This includes farmers, 
restaurants, gyms, lawn service companies. The CTA specifically targets 
working Americans with an LLC, and failure to comply could put you in 
jail for up to 2 years per violation plus slap on $10,000 per 
violation. That is quite a penalty.
  You know, I don't know about you, but I have plenty of friends and 
family members who have an LLC. It is just part of the way the U.S. 
economy works--capitalism. Small business and LLC owners play a huge, 
huge role in supporting this country and our way of life. I can tell 
you most business owners have no idea that this law exists--none, not 
one bit.
  The Corporate Transparency Act requires individuals with substantial 
control over a company or an equity position of 25 percent to disclose 
personal data with the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. 
Now, that is a long name. It is better known as FinCEN in swamp talk--a 
government bureau most Americans have no idea as to what it is, and 
they have never heard of it before. The CTA will impact small 
businesses across the Nation, in addition to millions of citizens who 
use LLCs to invest in real estate or protect their assets, which 
millions of Americans do.
  My State of Alabama is home to over 400,000 small businesses. Now, 
small businesses are the backbone of Alabama's economy, making up more 
than 99 percent of the business community and providing jobs to nearly 
half of Alabama's working population.
  But it isn't just Alabamans who will be impacted. Over 32 million 
businesses across America are estimated to be affected by this 
overreaching, Big Government, swamp law. Hardly anybody knows about it. 
It is a well-kept secret, but it affects farmers, lawyers, accountants, 
and business owners. They are directly and seriously impacted.
  Under this law, millions of small business owners are required--they 
are required--to report personal details to the Federal Government. 
Business owners or anyone who qualifies for this massive government 
overreach must disclose their names, their dates of birth, their 
addresses, and scan their government-issued photo IDs to the Treasury 
Department by the end of this year. Any time this information changes, 
updated information must be submitted to FinCEN's database within 30 
days. So, if you move, you have to let the Federal Government know 
within 30 days that you have changed your address. The failure to file 
with FinCEN can, again, lead up to 2 years of jail time and a $10,000 
fine per violation.
  By the way, I find it ironic that we are currently voting on 
legislation cracking down on social media companies like TikTok and 
Facebook for storing people's personal data. Meanwhile, the Federal 
Government is doing the very exact thing that we have been discussing 
here on this floor for months and months.
  Why does the Federal Government need this information in the first 
place?
  Well, the goal of the CTA was to crack down on shell companies used 
to commit crimes. That is what this was meant for, but the reality is 
that criminals are not going to file with FinCEN. That is not going to 
happen. Criminals don't go by the law. Instead, the law will be used to 
go after hard-working Americans.
  In recent years, we have lost over 150,000 farmers in this country. 
You heard that right. Just in the last few years, 150,000 farmers have 
gone out of business. They can't keep up with Joe Biden's high-priced 
economy. It is not happening. They are not making any money. They are 
selling out. Now the CTA is going to squeeze them for every last cent. 
We need farmers in this country. We need small businesses. Where does 
Joe Biden think our food comes from, by the way?
  It is sad--it really is--but few in Washington and most outside the 
beltway have no idea that this law actually exists. I continue to say 
we have a law that has not been advertised. People haven't pushed it. 
It is out there, and it is just hanging. They have no idea that this 
law exists. Plus, they don't have an idea that the criminal penalty is 
there, and it is a very high price.
  To no one's surprise, large businesses--listen to this point--with 
powerful lobbyists got a carve-out in the law, and they do not have to 
comply with the CTA. That is right. If they had a very good lobbyist 
and they are a big business, they don't have to comply with this law. 
Companies like BlackRock, Facebook, Amazon--they don't have to comply 
with this because the Federal Government is too busy going after your 
local neighborhood restaurant or your daughter's favorite nail salon or 
your family's dentist or your local farmer.
  While the little guy has to struggle with all this redtape, LLCs with 
more than 20 employees and greater than $5 million in revenue do not 
file with FinCEN. That is right. It is only the small guy. It is only 
the small person who is trying to make a living. Yet another win for 
the swampy special interest groups while hard-working Americans who pay 
their taxes--they will suffer.

  The few small business owners who are aware of the CTA's existence 
want to make sure they are compliant, but they have few places to turn. 
Accounting and law firms do not want to take

[[Page S3303]]

on the responsibility of filing for these clients, and many industry 
professionals are unaware of the penalties if you fail to file.
  So Joe Biden has weaponized the IRS against Americans. He already 
announced he is using American tax dollars to hire 84,000 new IRS 
agents to go after everyday taxpayers--84,000. Now, if you remember, 
President Biden promised: We are not going to go after anybody who 
makes less than $400,000. Yet another lie from 1600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue.
  Now, some of these agents will target small business owners who fail 
to disclose their personal information to FinCEN, not to mention 
politically motivated prosecutors who will use the CTA to target 
conservative business owners.
  Sadly, the IRS has a history of singling out certain taxpayers based 
on their religious and their political beliefs. Have we forgotten Lois 
Lerner, who is living off her taxpayer-funded pension but should have 
been prosecuted?
  In an America where justice is becoming less equal by the day and 
prosecutions have been used to target political opponents, the CTA is 
just another way that this administration can use the Federal 
Government to go after conservatives and Christians.
  To add insult to injury, FinCEN has done little to nothing to educate 
Americans on the CTA and the harsh consequences if you don't comply. It 
is almost like they want Americans to be ignorant about the new law so 
they can punish them for not complying. This is completely unfair. This 
is not the American way. You would expect this from communist China.
  But this is not going to happen on our watch. Next week, I am 
introducing the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act to overturn the CTA 
in its entirety.
  America used to be the land of freedom and opportunity. Under Joe 
Biden, the American dream has become a nightmare for many small 
business owners and farmers. My bill would provide millions of small 
businesses and entrepreneurial Americans with regulatory and compliance 
relief. They need a break. They don't need more regulations; they need 
less. My bill would also remove a weapon used by rogue prosecutors who 
would love to punish Republicans and Joe Biden's IRS that openly 
targets conservatives every day.
  It is past time we start standing up for our farmers, our store 
owners, LLC holders, and small businesses who are the heartbeat of this 
America.
  I am proud to be joined in this effort by Congressman Warren Davidson 
of Ohio, who is filing a companion bill in the U.S. House of 
Representatives.
  If Congress fails to act on this legislation, millions of American 
small business owners could be in for a rude awakening next year.
  I look forward to Leader Schumer bringing this bill to the floor and 
helping millions of small business owners and helping those who are 
counting on us to take on this huge government overreach.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Peters). The Senator from Arkansas.


                        Remembering David Pryor

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I am here today to honor Senator David 
Pryor, a lifelong advocate for Arkansas, who passed away on April 20 at 
the age of 89.
  Senator Pryor was a tremendous public servant who dedicated his life 
to making Arkansas better. His trademark motto, ``Arkansas comes 
first,'' wasn't only a sign on his desk; it was a mission he pursued 
relentlessly with passion and a formidable intellect.
  Senator Pryor represented Arkansas in this Chamber for three terms, 
but public service at any level was something he learned from the 
example of his family. His father and grandfather were both sheriffs, 
and his mother was the first Arkansas woman to run for elected office. 
That was a good foundation to start from, and the unique skills he 
possessed to persuade and lead were tools he effectively used 
throughout his career.
  Those who worked with him described him as genuine and fair and were 
in awe of his ability to make real, meaningful connections, whether on 
the floor of the Senate with colleagues from across the aisle or the 
folks in small Arkansas towns. Every interaction with David Pryor 
conveyed that he cared and that he wanted to help.
  That posture certainly worked to his advantage over decades in public 
life. Voters elected Pryor to the State legislature in 1960, and in 
subsequent years, they trusted him to be their U.S. Congressman, 
Governor, and U.S. Senator.
  It wasn't holding elected office that made him remarkable; it was his 
honesty and hard work that demonstrated to Arkansans that he was 
trustworthy.
  In the Senate, he was a well-respected legislator who advocated for 
seniors as chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, where he 
focused on prescription drug pricing and the prevention of nursing home 
abuse. He championed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to protect the hard-
earned money of Arkansans and all Americans. He also served as a Senate 
liaison between the Senate and the White House when another former 
Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton, was President.
  When Senator Pryor left elected office in 1997, he didn't slow down. 
His commitment to civic engagement and the well-being of Arkansas never 
faded as he took on a number of roles, including as the Fulbright 
Distinguished Fellow of Law and Public Affairs at the University of 
Arkansas and then also as the University of Arkansas System trustee and 
founding dean of the Clinton School of Public Service.
  David Pryor was an avid storyteller who relished any occasion to 
teach a memorable lesson or simply reminisce. It is fitting that he is 
still helping tell that story, the story of Arkansas and its citizens, 
by establishing the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral 
and Visual History.
  I will always appreciate the example he set. Even from afar, he was a 
great role model for me and so many other Arkansans as we were growing 
up.
  I first met David Pryor after I was elected to serve the people of 
the Third District of Arkansas. He was a true southern gentleman who 
reached across the aisle and offered his assistance to help me navigate 
Washington. He understood the importance of working together and was 
willing to share his wisdom with anybody because it was another 
opportunity to support our State.
  He also passed the drive to public service down to his children. I 
was honored to serve along with his son Mark and know that we are 
immensely proud of the Pryor family.
  Senator Pryor leaves behind a legacy of public service rich with 
accomplishments that made a difference in the lives of Arkansans and 
people all across our country. He modeled statesmanship and stewardship 
so incredibly. We celebrate everything he represented in serving the 
people of Arkansas.
  I yield to my friend from Arkansas and colleague, Senator Cotton.
  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, I thank Senator Boozman.
  I join with Senator Boozman to honor former Senator David Pryor--a 
great Arkansan, statesman, and dedicated public servant.
  David Pryor first entered public office in the Arkansas State House 
of Representatives when he was only 26 years old. Not even 6 years 
later, his fellow Arkansans elected him to Congress, where he served in 
the House for 6 years. In 1972, he narrowly lost a race for Senate 
against a longtime Democratic incumbent, having pushed the race into a 
runoff, but the grace and magnanimity he showed in defeat that year led 
him directly to victory 2 years later when he was elected Governor in 
1974. After two successful terms in the Governor's mansion, he was 
elected to this body in 1978. He served here with distinction for 18 
years.
  Over the course of his storied political career, David Pryor won an 
impressive 12 elections and served the people in public office for more 
than 30 years.
  He was a reformer who opposed segregationist policies of his own 
party, championed the interests of seniors and farmers, and was 
respected by friend and foe alike. He fought for better conditions in 
our nursing homes, lower prescription drug prices for our sick, and the 
Taxpayer Bill of Rights to give relief to the average American.
  He led Arkansas through recession and recovery and left an enduring 
legacy on our State government. Throughout his time in political 
office, he kept a plaque on his desk with three simple words: 
``Arkansas comes

[[Page S3304]]

first''--an example that continues to inspire me and Senator Boozman 
and all of those who serve the Natural State.
  After leaving the Senate, he didn't just retire or fade quietly away 
or tend to his own private affairs; rather, he continued to serve 
others. He supported the University of Arkansas, he established the 
David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, 
and he contributed to a series of academic and humanitarian ventures.
  David Pryor leaves behind a loving family, including his wife, 
Barbara, of 66 years; three sons, including Mark, who also served in 
the Senate for 12 years; and two sisters. My prayers and the prayers of 
so many Arkansans are with the whole Pryor family during this moment of 
their grief.
  But David Pryor also leaves behind a grateful State. When he retired 
from the Senate, he said:

       Arkansas owes me nothing, and I owe Arkansas everything.

  I would submit that is not quite right. Our State does owe David 
Pryor quite a bit. It owes him a debt of gratitude for a life well 
lived and committed to public service and inspiring so many others.
  He fought for what he believed would make Arkansas better, and for 
that, we will remember the life and legacy of David Pryor with 
fondness, respect, and gratitude.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.


                               H.R. 3935

  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. President, this week, the Senate began 
consideration of the FAA reauthorization bill. It is an incredibly 
important piece of legislation that this body takes up every few years 
to be able to evaluate where we are on safety of our national airspace. 
There are a lot of aspects that are in it.
  What some people may not know in this body is how incredibly 
important this is, not only to our national air space and our safety, 
but it is also something that is talked about often in my State of 
Oklahoma.
  Oklahomans are passionate about our national airspace for many 
reasons. One is, we obviously love to fly and have a long heritage of 
flying in our State, but it is also the unique relationship that FAA 
has with the State of Oklahoma. There are only two FAA centers outside 
of Washington, DC. One of those is actually in Oklahoma City, the Mike 
Monroney Aeronautical Center.
  I would safely say to everybody that if you have been on a flight 
lately and it took off and landed safely, you can thank the folks in 
Oklahoma City for that, because Oklahoma City, that operation of Mike 
Monroney Aeronautical Center, that Center has functioned 70 years and 
has provided a lot of services for the FAA for all seven of those 
decades.
  They were established in 1958, home to thousands of great Federal 
employees there that serve our Nation every single day to keep our 
airspace safe. But they do it in ways that sometimes people don't see.
  Let me give you an example of that. The Center houses a lot of 
different components and a lot of back-office things for a lot of 
different Agencies. They are on 1,100 acres of land in Oklahoma City 
with 133 buildings. And as you go through the complex, you think there 
is a lot going on here. Let me give you just a few examples of those 
things.
  Civil Aerospace Medical Institute is housed in Oklahoma City. The 
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute takes care of the medical 
certification, the research, education, the occupational health wing 
for the FAA. They conduct all their research and studies on the human 
element of flight there. That is safety for pilots, flight attendants, 
passengers, how to be able to handle pressurization, all those things. 
They do that in Oklahoma City every single day.
  The Mike Monroney Center is also home to the only FAA Academy. They 
handle the first 60 days or so of developmental air traffic control 
training before a student is actually placed in the field. Basically, 
when you take off and land, any of their communication with air traffic 
control anywhere in the country, it is very likely those folks were 
initially trained in Oklahoma City.
  The Oklahoma City air traffic control training has geared up to be 
able to take on as many people as the Nation needs for air traffic 
control. In fact, this particular bill encourages maximizing as many 
people as possible actually getting through air traffic control 
training. And the academy in Oklahoma City is well-prepared to be able 
to step up to the challenge of that. They have space. They have great 
trainers that come in from all over the country to be able to do the 
training there. They are fully capable and have a great curriculum that 
they have been able to train folks that now serve our Nation every 
single day. The FAA reauthorization bill expands that capacity in 
Oklahoma City, rightfully so, and they are fully ready and able to do 
it.
  They also set a new minimum hiring target for air traffic controllers 
so the maximum number of individuals can actually go through the 
academy. It is very important we train as many people as possible to be 
able to make them ready.
  Advanced air mobility is another element that is actually there at 
the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. The focus there is the next 
generation of what is going to happen in unmanned flights. While a lot 
of folks talk about that in the future, that research is actually 
happening on the ground in Oklahoma City every single day.
  There are a lot of aspects of this bill that prepare us for the 
future of aviation and continues to be able to make our airspace the 
safest airspace in the world. Let's keep it that way. Let's continue to 
be able to learn what we can and to be able to continue to advance the 
future of aviation in the United States.
  I look forward to the debate that will begin, officially, later on 
today and will continue all the way through next week or, quite 
frankly, until whenever the Senate is finished in the debate on this 
bill because it is important we actually get the FAA bill done in the 
days ahead.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I would ask consent to speak as if in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Antisemitism Awareness Act

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to speak against anti-Semitism 
and to speak about efforts we are undertaking here in the Senate to 
combat anti-Semitism.
  We see it throughout our society, including on college campuses, and 
my friend from South Carolina, Senator Scott, and I have worked on 
legislation not just this year but for many years on this issue.
  We introduced together the Antisemitism Awareness Act and have been 
trying to get that passed into law.
  The significant rise in anti-Semitism across the country on college 
campuses has made me--and I know so many other Members of the House and 
the Senate in both parties--increasingly concerned regarding the safety 
of Jewish students on campus.
  Students, of course, have the right to peacefully protest, but when 
it crosses a line, either into violence or discrimination, then we have 
an obligation to step in and stop that conduct.
  I stood on this floor in late 2022 to speak about this subject, anti-
Semitism in America, and the exponential rise we were seeing in the 
years leading up to that point in time to 2022. I spoke, in particular, 
about the hateful anti-Semitism that led to the murder of 11 
Pittsburghers at the Tree of Life synagogue.
  At that time, we were calculating the numbers as being much higher 
for 2020, 2021, and going into 2022.
  But after October 7, when a band of terrorists, Hamas, went into 
Israel and killed 1,200 innocent civilians, since that date, the rise 
in anti-Semitism across the country and across the world has increased 
even beyond what we thought were exponentially high numbers in 2022.

[[Page S3305]]

  The Anti-Defamation League has tracked the highest number of anti-
Semitic incidents ever in the United States in 2023. These numbers have 
undoubtedly continued to rise with the ongoing campus protest.
  There were over 8,800 instances, including 2,177 cases of vandalism 
and 161 assaults. We cannot tolerate any form of anti-Semitism, abroad 
or here at home in America, on college campuses, in the workplace, at 
our schools. Wherever we find it, we have to take action against it.
  To address the 140-percent increase--just imagine that, a 140-percent 
increase in anti-Semitic incidents, compared to last year--I have 
introduced several bills aiming to strengthen civil rights enforcement 
against anti-Semitism. The Antisemitism Awareness Act that I made 
reference to earlier working with Senator Scott and a group of 
bipartisan Senators would mandate that the Department of Education 
considers a widely accepted definition of ``anti-Semitism'' in carrying 
out its enforcement actions.
  The Department of Education has an Office of Civil Rights. That 
office is empowered to conduct these investigations, and we have to 
provide more funding, by the way, for that office to do these 
investigations.
  They are badly, badly underfunded right now. But Senator Scott and I 
have worked together on this anti-Semitism legislation for almost a 
decade now, since 2016.
  I want to thank our colleagues in the House who passed the Anti-
Semitism Awareness Act of 2023 yesterday with a vote of 320-91. 
However, one finding in the House bill is different from my and Senator 
Scott's bill and the Biden administration's Countering Antisemitism 
Strategy; that the use of other anti-Semitism definitions impairs 
enforcement. Taking this finding out is important because other 
definitions of anti-Semitism also help to address this terrible 
problem. But what is even more important is passing this bill today 
with the unique opportunity that we have. In the Senate, we must take 
up and pass this bill and pass it today.

  The hotline to all Senate offices went out last night, but objections 
on both sides of the aisle prevented us from bringing our bill to the 
floor. We must bring it to the floor and pass it today.
  But that is not all that is needed to counter discrimination and 
harassment on college campuses. As I mentioned earlier, the office 
responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the Department of 
Education's Office for Civil Rights, is--and I will say it again--
badly, severely underfunded. That is why I am leading the Showing Up 
For Students Act, which would double the funding for the Office for 
Civil Rights to investigate incidents of harassment and discrimination, 
including anti-Semitism, on college campuses nationwide.
  In the months following the terrorist group Hamas's attack on Israel, 
the Office for Civil Rights has seen a more than 1,300-percent increase 
in complaints related to discrimination and harassment based upon 
shared ancestry, including acts of anti-Semitism at schools across the 
United States. This is a staggering increase in incidents and shows no 
sign of abating.
  We must meet the moment and ensure that students can learn free from 
anti-Semitism, free from discrimination, and all--all--forms of hate.
  We must pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act today to ensure that 
Jewish students on campuses or anywhere else in our society are 
protected against discrimination.
  I yield the floor.


                             Vote on Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion to 
proceed.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), 
the Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kelly), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. 
Menendez), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Johnson), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), the Senator from 
Alaska (Mr. Sullivan), and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).
  The result was announced--yeas 81, nays 10, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 158 Leg.]

                                YEAS--81

     Baldwin
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blackburn
     Blumenthal
     Boozman
     Braun
     Britt
     Brown
     Budd
     Butler
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cortez Masto
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Ernst
     Fetterman
     Fischer
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lankford
     Lujan
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Markey
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Merkley
     Moran
     Mullin
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Paul
     Peters
     Reed
     Ricketts
     Risch
     Romney
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Schatz
     Schmitt
     Schumer
     Scott (FL)
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Tuberville
     Warnock
     Welch
     Whitehouse
     Wyden
     Young

                                NAYS--10

     Cardin
     Cassidy
     Hawley
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     Lee
     Van Hollen
     Vance
     Warner
     Warren

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Booker
     Cramer
     Johnson
     Kelly
     Menendez
     Sanders
     Scott (SC)
     Sullivan
     Wicker
  The motion was agreed to.

                          ____________________