[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 126 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5837-S5838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SENATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, on another matter, this week can only be 
described as a tale of two Senates. Things started off strong. We began 
the week by passing bipartisan legislation to help keep our kids safe 
online.
  America's children, as we all know, are spending more and more time 
on social media and internet platforms, and unfortunately, the dark 
side of that experience--there is plenty of upside, but the dark side 
is, there are those who exploit the vulnerability of our children 
online, exploit not only their safety but also their privacy. The bill 
that passed the Senate this week will give parents more control over 
their children's online activities and provide greater privacy 
protections for young people.
  This bipartisan push was years in the making, and I want to thank 
Senators Blackburn and Cassidy and Senator Markey and Senator 
Blumenthal for helping get that legislation over the line.
  As the Presiding Officer knows, there are other bills that have 
passed unanimously or virtually unanimously out of the Judiciary 
Committee, and I hope that the majority leader will bring those bills 
to the floor as soon as they can be scheduled.
  Given the Senate's lack of productivity, the return to legislating 
was a welcomed change of pace this week, but unfortunately, it was 
short-lived. After passing this online safety bill on Tuesday, the 
majority leader reverted to his tried-and-true Senate schedule of late; 
that is, taking up nominations and scheduling partisan show votes. In 
other words, we started off strong and, I am afraid, ended with a 
whimper.
  This has become the standard operating procedure of late. We spend 
weeks voting on some of President Biden's most controversial nominees, 
many of whom are clearly not qualified for the jobs they have been 
nominated to fill. Then we cap off the week with a controversial bill 
that stands zero chance of becoming law, just to give our Democratic 
colleagues a new talking point on the campaign trail. It is a cynical 
and sad practice. We saw that with regard to legislation concerning the 
border, contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, and now today 
with tax policy.
  This afternoon, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to deny cloture on a 
tax bill because it hasn't gone through the committees of jurisdiction 
here in the Senate--the Senate Finance Committee. There was no hearing, 
no markup, no opportunity to offer amendments, no ability to improve 
that legislation here in the Senate, which will impact families and 
communities all across the country.
  Our House colleagues did their job. They went through the committee 
process, got a strong bipartisan vote. It passed the House with a 
strong bipartisan vote. But I have been here long enough to know that 
the Senate does not readily rubberstamp things that the House of 
Representatives does. In fact, that is the reason the Senate exists--to 
be a place where we can have debate and amendments and hopefully pass 
legislation on to the President for his signature that will improve the 
lives of the people we represent.
  This bill actually had some promising aspects, but it still is in 
need of some serious work--a sentiment that Senators on both sides of 
the aisle have expressed.
  I am especially concerned about the watered-down work requirement for 
able-bodied adults in order to qualify for things like the child tax 
credit and the impact it would have both on the workforce and on 
Federal spending and the national debt.
  If we are to remain the prosperous and strong Nation that we were 
bequeathed by our forebears--by our parents--we can't incentivize able-
bodied adults to remain on the sidelines in the job market, and we 
certainly can't subsidize that when they, in fact, are capable of 
finding and holding a job and contributing not only to their families 
but also to our country.
  My colleagues have raised several concerns about other portions of 
the bill, but the majority leader and the chairman of the Finance 
Committee have shown no interest in moving the bill through what we all 
know is the normal process.
  That is evidenced especially by the fact that this bill passed the 
House 6 months ago, and only today has the majority leader scheduled a 
vote on the final day before a 5-week recess. As the Presiding Officer 
just said in wrap-up, we won't be meeting again until September 9, so 
why put a bill like that on the floor today without going through the 
normal process if you are serious about actually legislating? So this 
is no more than gamesmanship, and, frankly, it is a waste of the 
Senate's time and a disservice to our constituents, especially when you 
look at the mountain of work we have left undone.
  When we return on September 9, we will have only 3 weeks to work 
before

[[Page S5838]]

gaveling out for another 6-week recess, leading up to the November 5 
election. It is pretty obvious that the majority leader has given us 
very little time in which to do our jobs, and he has wasted a lot of 
that time on unnecessary, partisan votes. As a result, some of our most 
important work remains undone.
  First is the National Defense Authorization Act. I believe it is 63 
years in a row that the Senate has passed a National Defense 
Authorization Act, but that is in jeopardy this year because of the 
little time left in which to consider it when we come back in 
September. That bill was completed on a bipartisan basis by the Senate 
Armed Services Committee more than 3 weeks ago, plenty of time for the 
majority leader to bring that bill to the floor and for us to work 
through our normal process.
  Thankfully, that product was the work of extensive bipartisan 
participation, including open hearings, markups, and hundreds of 
amendments at the committee level.
  I want to commend both Ranking Member Wicker, from Mississippi, and 
the chairman, Jack Reed, and our colleagues on the committee for the 
work that went into this important bill, which will go a long way to 
support our military families and modernize America's defense.
  It is pretty obvious that the majority leader could have filed 
cloture on this bill 3 weeks ago, allowing plenty of time for us to 
take up and pass the National Defense Authorization Act before the 
August recess.
  Given the great power competition and the fact that conflicts are 
unfolding not only in Europe but in the Middle East and in the Indo-
Pacific, the Defense Authorization Act should be our top priority. This 
is the most dangerous geopolitical environment that we have seen since 
World War II. It is regrettable that the majority leader didn't see 
this as a priority, and so we won't have an opportunity to vote on it 
until September at the earliest, if then.
  As I indicated, during the month of September, we are only scheduled 
to be in session for 12 days, and there are other critical needs for us 
to address, the most basic of which is just simply funding the 
government before the end of the fiscal year, the end of September.
  Despite the Senate's truncated schedule, the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray, and the ranking member, 
Senator Collins, have made serious progress on the appropriations 
bills.
  As of this morning, the Appropriations Committee, on a bipartisan 
basis, has approved 11 of the 12 annual spending bills. They have put 
us in a strong position to start voting on individual appropriations 
bills in September, and I hope the majority leader will allow us to do 
that, but with only 12 days left between now and November 5, even that 
is in some jeopardy.
  Unfortunately, the Senate's to-do list doesn't stop there. In 
addition to the Defense authorization bill and 12 appropriations bills, 
we need to pass a farm bill by September 30. This legislation is 
critical to America's supply of food and fiber as well as to the hard-
working men and women who grow and produce it.
  Ranking Member Boozman from Arkansas has been a tireless champion for 
America's agricultural sector, and he has been traveling across the 
country to hear from America's farmers, ranchers, and producers. He and 
our colleagues on the Agriculture Committee are committed to passing a 
strong farm bill as soon as possible, but the majority leader hasn't 
given us any time to consider that legislation before the general 
election on November 5--certainly, after the current bill expires at 
the end of September.
  So my point is--and I say this with all respect--the leader has not 
given us a lot of time to get our work done. And when he has scheduled 
things, like the vote on the tax bill, he does it the day before we 
break for a 5-week recess, with no real likelihood that we would ever 
be able to move this legislation through the normal process, with 
debate and amendments, in the careful way that our constituents 
deserve.
  The Defense authorization bill, the 12 funding bills, and the farm 
bill should all be signed into law by the end of September, but it is, 
unfortunately, the case that Senator Schumer has only given us 12 days 
additional during which to act.
  Strengthening America's defense in an increasingly dangerous world, 
funding the Federal Government, and safeguarding our food supply--these 
are the basics of governing, and we are not doing it. That is no way to 
treat the government's most basic responsibilities, and I hope that, 
come November, voters will choose a new direction for the Senate.

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