Congressional Record, Senate, May 4, 2022: Page S2311

Summary

Page S2311 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for May 4, 2022, in interleaved columns. Mr. Kaine and Mr. Hawley discuss a unanimous consent request on nominations en bloc and confirm it would be a recorded vote. A speaker criticizing the President says the administration decided to stop building the wall and charges that surveillance of members of the military was used to track their speech and activity online, which is the speaker's claim. The record then shows 2 minutes of debate equally divided before a vote on the Barrasso motion to instruct, and a remark that the American Rescue Plan was thought to be a final COVID bill.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Cite this document

“Congressional Record, Senate, May 4, 2022: Page S2311.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-05-04-crec-2022-05-04-pt1-pgs2311-d83b7cf349/, SHA-256 4de306c7f3f7f1cb062fe9b4365d99bdee77e6aa5cdf65ab1b136586823d9a14.

Full text

May 4, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2311
believe that he would propose to use nominations if you drop your objec- that, the President decided to stop
surveillance on members of the U.S. tion. building the wall.
military to track their speech, to track Mr. HAWLEY. Is this a recorded vote I was never an advocate of needing a
their activity online, to track their on the floor, Senator? wall everywhere along the southern
movements online, all in an effort to Mr. KAINE. It would be a—yes. It border, but we had a wall in lots of
decide if they might, in the future, would be en bloc, but it is a recorded places already. It was doing some good,
commit acts that he disagrees with. vote, is my understanding. but it wasn’t doing as much good as it
I submit to you, Madam President, And, again, Madam President, just to needed to do. And just the idea that
not only is that wrong; it is blatantly clarify, my motion is only that the we—with the material on the ground
unconstitutional—blatantly unconsti- Senate be allowed to vote on these and the old wall torn down—would de-
tutional—and it is frightening. What is nominees: Alex Wagner for Assistant cide to stop building the wall, I think,
further frightening is that he would be Secretary of the Air Force; Ashish started these problems.
nominated for a leadership position in Vazirani for Deputy Under Secretary of And if that wasn’t enough, then-
the Department of Defense. Defense; Christopher Lowman, Assist- President Trump had made arrange-
I call on the President of the United ant Secretary of Defense; Lester Mar- ments, the State Department had made
States to withdraw this nomination tinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of De- arrangements—everybody involved—
today, just as he should withdraw his fense; Agnes Schaefer, Assistant Sec- with Mexico to have people who were
unconstitutional disinformation board retary of the Army; Franklin Parker, applying for asylum wait for their
that he is attempting to force on the Assistant Secretary of the Navy; court date in Mexico. It was my view
American people as we speak. This is Musetta Tia Johnson, Judge of the U.S. at the time that we should do anything
the most radically anti-free-speech ad- Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; we could to help the Mexican Govern-
ministration in American history. and Ravi Chaudhary, Assistant Sec- ment make that work because the al-
Their actions are an affront to the retary of the Air Force. ternative was people would come into
basic constitutional values of this Na- I understand my colleague will vote the United States and not show up for
tion, including and especially the First no, but all I am moving is for the Sen- an asylum date later.
Amendment. ate to be able to have a vote on these In Mexico, they have learned that
I am appalled—appalled—at what nominees. they weren’t going to qualify for asy-
this administration is doing—censoring Mr. HAWLEY. Senator, you want to
lum because fewer than—9 out of 10
American citizens, surveilling them— vote on all eight at one time; you don’t
people, roughly, will not qualify. You
and now advocating it in the U.S. mili- want to vote on each one?
found that out before you got into the
tary, to the men and women who put Mr. KAINE. My motion is to consider
United States and successfully had en-
their lives on the line? them, yes, en bloc; but it would be a re-
tered our country, even though you
So, no, I will not consent to have this corded vote, is my understanding.
weren’t eligible to. If you were waiting
individual, who never should have been Mr. HAWLEY. What I propose to do
in Mexico and you found a lawyer to
nominated for this position, fast- here is—there are multiple Senators on
talk to and maybe even a way to hear
tracked to be confirmed without a this side of the aisle besides myself
your case in some way there, you
vote, without a single, solitary vote on who have objections to different mul-
would find out that you weren’t going
the floor of the U.S. Senate. tiple of these. What I propose to do is
to qualify for asylum 81⁄2 times or 9
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, will object to this now, but I think we can
work something out on this going for- times out of 10, and that is where you
the Senator yield for a question? should have found that out.
Mr. HAWLEY. I think you have the ward.
So I think—do I have the floor now? To come in the country and wait for
floor, Senator; so, yes, I think——
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- months to have a court date that you
Mr. KAINE. Will the Senator yield
ator from Virginia has the floor, and may or may not show up for just sim-
for a question?
It strikes me that the Senator’s ob- there is a pending unanimous consent ply has not worked, and everybody that
jection is you do not want to have this request. understands this system understands it
candidate—the bloc of them advanced Mr. HAWLEY. OK. So I object. doesn’t work. And everybody that un-
without a vote. If I can guarantee that The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- derstands the obligation of a govern-
you get a vote on these nominations, tion is heard. ment understands that a government
will you drop your objection? Mr. KAINE. I appreciate the objec- has some obligation to control its own
Mr. HAWLEY. Can I respond to that? tion being heard, and I would just say borders, and you don’t control your
Mr. KAINE. Yeah. I mean, I know to my colleague, I hope we could work own borders by having people come
you will vote no. You have made it out a deal that would enable us to have into the country that aren’t legally eli-
plain. But if I can guarantee you would a floor vote where my colleague could gible to come into the country and
get a vote, will you drop your objec- vote as he chooses on these nominees. then just stay here. So that policy pro-
tion? This was not an attempt to bypass a duced real chaos.
Mr. HAWLEY. On all eight of them, vote; it was just an effort to have a And then title 42, under the public
Senator? vote where everybody can be recorded health law, was another thing that we
Mr. KAINE. Yeah. on the nominees. I hope we can work put in place, as we put all kinds of
Mr. HAWLEY. To have a vote on the that out. other COVID-related protections in
floor? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- place. And now we want to eliminate
Mr. KAINE. Yes. ator from Missouri. title 42. The only place, apparently—if
Mr. HAWLEY. I would be happy to ISSUES FACING THE NATION you follow the CDC closely right now—
take a vote on the floor on all eight Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, I that we don’t need to up our game on
nominations. want to continue to talk about some of COVID protection is the border of the
Mr. KAINE. And that is what my the challenges the administration is United States.
point is. We are not fast-tracking these facing and the country is facing. Let None of these things makes sense. We
without a vote. This is a motion to me talk for just a little bit about the have too many people who have been
allow a vote en bloc on the floor. So border, about the economy, and about encouraged wrongly and told: You
you will have an opportunity to vote our ongoing concerns on COVID. come to the United States, you ask for
against Mr. Chaudhary or all of these. First of all, the border—we have had asylum, they let you into the United

SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
This is not a motion to immediately a number of people come to the floor States, and then you don’t show up for
approve them without a vote. It is just and talk about the border, the prob- your asylum hearing.
a motion to bring them up so that you lems at the border. Many of these prob- I am for legal immigration. I am for
and others can vote on these nominees. lems were really self-inflicted on day 1. solving the Dreamer problem. I am for
That is all I am seeking. The President, on the first day of his doing a lot of things that we need to do
And so my request, basically, would Presidency—and I chaired the inau- to make our immigration laws work
guarantee you a vote on all of these guration on January 20. Hours after properly.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:21 May 05, 2022 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G04MY6.031 S04MYPT1
S2312 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 4, 2022
We need to understand the workforce bill before we had a chance to vote on minutes of debate equally divided prior
needs of the country. We need to under- it and saw it, it really didn’t have very to a vote on the Paul motion to in-
stand what to do about people who much to do with COVID. Maybe 6 per- struct.
came or stayed illegally. But we also cent of the $1.9 trillion went to COVID. Mr. PAUL. Last year, the Senate
need to understand how to secure the The rest of it went to things that put unanimously adopted my amendment
border. And that is where, for any of money in people’s pockets to help them to prevent taxpayer dollars from being
these other things to work, you have to recover in an economy that was al- used to finance gain-of-function re-
do that. ready recovering. search conducted in China. My motion
The COVID problem, as I said, ap- You can’t spend $1.9 trillion in a to instruct asks that this language be
pears to only be a problem at the short period of time, even in the big- incorporated into the final bill.
CDC—well, actually, it appears to be a gest and most vibrant economy in the Gain-of-function research enhances
problem everywhere but the border. world, and not drive up prices. So the severity or transmissibility of ex-
The CDC, just yesterday, had a new whether it is inflation, whether it is isting viruses that may infect humans.
rule that even for domestic travel, peo- the economic stress—I talked to a The dangers are so acute that from 2014
ple should now—their advice is have a group of Missouri realtors today, and, to 2017, the NIH suspended funding for
test for domestic travel—before you of course, they are beginning to see all gain-of-function research projects.
get on an airplane to go domestically, people wonder if they can afford a
While we may never know whether
to have that test. house at the interest rates that are out
the pandemic arose from a lab in
The efforts that we were working on in front of us. It makes a big difference
Wuhan or occurred naturally, the
and working hard on to replenish the if the interest payment is based on 3.5
emergence of COVID serves as a re-
categories that have been spent for re- percent interest or 5.5 or 6.5 or 7.5 or,
minder that dangerous research con-
search, particularly for the thera- as it was in the mid 1980s, 11 to 15 per-
ducted in a secret and totalitarian
peutics that we need to have a stock of cent interest.
These are issues we need to get under country is simply too risky to fund.
that haven’t been fully certified yet— Congress must ensure that taxpayer
so they have to be the Government is control. Most of these issues have an
explanation that is rooted in confused dollars will not be used to fund gain-of-
the purchaser of those—we were work- function research in China.
ing on a $10 billion bill. And even this policy decisions in the administration.
I look forward to those confused pol- I urge a ‘‘yes’’ vote.
morning again, the Secretary of Com-
merce, at our appropriations hearing, icy decisions heading in a different di- Mr. KAINE. I yield back all time on
said: Well, that would just be a start. rection. Let’s look at the information. the Democrats’ side.
We need 10 or 20 or 30 billion more be- Let’s be realistic. Let’s not continue to VOTE ON MOTION
fore the end of this fiscal year than we see all of these things headed in a di- The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time
currently have, and it is an emer- rection that makes no common sense is yielded back.
gency—10, 20, 30 billion more than we in America today. The question is on agreeing to the
have now. I yield the floor.
motion.
But at the border, no problem at all. f
The motion was agreed to.
At the border, this is no problem. We LEGISLATIVE SESSION Mr. PAUL. I suggest the absence of a
need billions of dollars to deal with it quorum.
---
internally. We need to not only have The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
fewer tests, which everybody agrees, AMERICA CREATING OPPORTUNI-
clerk will call the roll.
fewer standards for domestic travel; we TIES FOR MANUFACTURING,
PRE-EMINENCE IN TECHNOLOGY, The senior assistant legislative clerk
now need a new standard, they say, for
AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH ACT proceeded to call the roll.
domestic travel. Surely they will think
about that. And while we are negoti- OF 2022 Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I
ating, again, spending, this issue comes ask unanimous consent that the order
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under for the quorum call be rescinded.
out simultaneously that the border is a the previous order, the Senate will re-
problem. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
sume legislative session and resume
And then, of course, everybody objection, it is so ordered.
consideration of the House message to
knows the economy is a problem. All accompany H.R. 4521, which the clerk MOTION TO INSTRUCT
you have got to do to find out the econ- will report. Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President,
omy is a problem is go to the gas sta- The senior assistant legislative clerk please call up my motion to instruct
tion or go to the grocery store, and read as follows: conferees, which is at the desk.
most Americans do that and do it a lot. House message to accompany H.R. 4521, a The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
And when gas prices go up, when food bill to provide for a coordinated Federal re- clerk will report the motion.
prices go up, every family knows it. search initiative to ensure continued United The senior assistant legislative clerk
What we are seeing now is inflation States leadership in engineering biology.
read as follows:
that I think it is 8.5 percent. It may be The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
The Senator from Wyoming [Mr. BAR-
settling in at 8.5 percent. But wherever ator from Kentucky. RASSO] moves that the managers on the part
it settles in, it is a whole lot higher MOTION TO INSTRUCT of the Senate at the conference on the dis-
than it was at any time during the Mr. PAUL. Madam President, I call agreeing votes of the two Houses on the Sen-
Obama administration. The highest up my motion to instruct conferees, ate amendment to the bill H.R. 4521 be in-
month in the entire Obama administra- which is at the desk. structed to insist that the final conference
tion of inflation—that is not a year av- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The report include provisions that require imme-
erage—the highest single month was clerk will report the motion. diate development of a 2022–2027 Federal oil
3.4 percent. Under President Trump, The senior assistant legislative clerk and gas leasing program on the outer Conti-
read as follows: nental Shelf, which shall be finalized not
the highest single month was 2.9 per- later than June 30, 2022, and which shall pro-
cent. We are now at 8.5 percent, and The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. PAUL]
vide for a minimum of 10 regionwide oil and
the Producer Price Index has been in moves that the managers on the part of the
gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and
double digits since December. That is Senate at the conference on the disagreeing
Alaska Regions of the outer Continental
votes of the two Houses on the Senate
usually a sign that the other index is Shelf, with a minimum of 2 oil and gas lease
amendment to the bill H.R. 4521 be in-
going to follow that double-digit, scary sales per calendar year, not fewer than 1 of

SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
structed to insist that the final conference
number that is out there. which shall be in the Gulf of Mexico Region
report include the provisions contained in
So energy policies that produced ex- each calendar year.
section 6107 of the Senate amendment (relat-
actly the result you would think they ing to prohibiting funds made available to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
would: higher energy prices; spending any Federal agency from being used for gain- the previous order, there will now be 2
policies: the American Rescue Plan. I of-function research conducted in China). minutes of debate equally divided prior
thought, at the time, it was a final The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under to a vote on the Barrasso motion to in-
COVID bill, but when you looked at the the previous order, there will now be 2 struct.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:21 May 05, 2022 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G04MY6.032 S04MYPT1

File and source

File: CREC_crec-2022-05-04_crec-2022-05-04-pt1-pgs2311.pdf
Size: 223,139 bytes
SHA-256: 4de306c7f3f7f1cb062fe9b4365d99bdee77e6aa5cdf65ab1b136586823d9a14
Our copy: CREC_crec-2022-05-04_crec-2022-05-04-pt1-pgs2311.pdf
Original: www.govinfo.gov