Business Meeting on Education, Retirement, Health Bills and Nominations

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will please come to order. Um, I'll be supporting all three nominations before the committee today. I've spoken to Doctor Schwartz. I um, since I spoke on Doctor Schwartz last week, I will discuss Mister Kaufman's nomination today. America is facing serious public health challenges. Children are dying and being hospitalized from diseases that could be prevented with a vaccine and that were thought to have essentially been eradicated. We have a terrible Ebola outbreak in Africa and will face many other emerging public health and national security threats. We have to strengthen medical countermeasures and build out a stronger more resilient domestic supply chain. These challenges require a strong functioning ASPR. It is clear from peop- from talking with people that I trust, that we don't have that right now. That must change. Now we know that some individuals within HHS have made and continue to make decisions undermining confidence in vaccines and public health. This includes pushing the dangerous lie that vaccines are related to autism, and that we should not invest in promising platforms like the MRNA vaccines. After multiple conversations with senior HHS officials, several actions have been taken and will be taken to address these concerns, including key personnel changes and better oversight to ensure that science, not ideology, is driving decision making. Mister Kaufman has said some pretty stupid things and irresponsible things regarding immunization. He has owned up to that in his conversations with me. I am assured that if he is confirmed, he will not be involved in vaccine policy, and nor will he be the ultimate decision maker on certain issues like MRNA because of his past statements. I've I've received these reassurances. I will continue to make sure that these commitments are wi- are are held. If they are not held, there'll be future leverage points for this committee over future appointees if these commitments are not kept. Lastly, while there have been changes to the CDC website, any assertion that there is a link between autism and vaccines is wrong. We don't know what causes autism, but study after study shows that it is not vaccines. The administration is committed to continuing to work to remove vaccine misinformation from that website. this is something again that i'll pay close attention to as hhs nominees move through the confirmation process you can't have perfection my wife learned that when we first began to date

i have more to say about that

uh so you sometimes don't get the nominee that you'd like to have but you get a nominee that you have to have if you're going to address serious issues so with the reassurances that we have from h h s um and mister kaufman's stated competence in other areas that are important to asper i will support his nomination in committee with that i recognize senator sanders

uh thank you mister chairman and i think my wife would concur with your wife about me or about you uh But while we're not gonna get perfection, I think the American people are owed better, uh, than what President Trump has nominated. Uh, frankly, I was impressed by Doctor Schwartz's educational background, uh, her service to the country. That impressed me. But the question that we have to deal with here is not complicated. Uh, we have a secretary of health and human s uh services, who fosters and propagates conspiracy theories on vaccines and in other important issues. And the question I think, the big question before this committee, are nominees gonna be prepared to stand up to those conspiracy theories, those dangerous theories, which as you indicated, already in terms of measles are the problems, uh, causing this country distress. And I do not unfortunately think that Doctor Schwartz is prepared to do that. further i'm strongly opposed to sean kaufman's nomination to lead our nation's pandemic preparedness and response this is a nominee who has said that he quote unquote hated c. d. c. he has promoted outrageous conspiracy theories linking the hepatitis b vaccine to autism he supports the funding research into new vaccines he has said he would quote rather perish end quote then give his children the COVID-nineteen vaccine. Those are not the types of statements we should hear from someone charged with preventing the next pandemic. And, Mister Chairman, as I'm sure you're aware, we had a couple of years ago the leading experts in this country coming before us. And what they were saying is the question is not whether there will be another pandemic. The question is when. So we need leadership that is gonna be preparing the American people for that eventuality. Uh further I will be voting no on Mister Sondling's nomination. In my view at a time when so many working people are struggling to put food on the table and pay for healthcare and pay for the basic necessities of life, we need a secretary of labor who's gonna stand up to the greed of corporate America, who's gonna represent the needs of working people. I do not believe that Mister Sondling is the nominee. Thank you, Mister Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Sanders. Seeing that a quorum is present, I now move to favorably report Dr. Schwartz's nomination, the clerk shall call the roll, I shall be call I shall be voting yes.

Senator Paul.

Aye.

Senator Collins.

Aye.

Senator Murkowski.

Aye.

Senator Marshall.

Aye.

Senator Scott.

Aye.

Senator Hawley. Senator Tuberville.

Aye.

Senator Banks.

Aye.

Senator Houston.

aye

senator moody senator armstrong senator sanders

no

no

senator murray senator baldwin

no

senator murphy

no

senator kane

aye

senator haslam

no

senator hickenlooper

no

senator markey

no by proxy

senator kim

no by proxy

senator blunt rochester

yeah

senator ulster brooks

no by proxying

chairman cassidy

aye

have twelve eyes ten nays

the ayes have it the nomination is agreed to and will be favorably reported to the senate i'll now move to favorably report mister sonderling's nomination the clerk shall call the roll

sarah paul

aye

sarah collins

aye

sir mckowski center marshall aye center scott aye center holly center holly center tubberville aye center banks aye center houston aye center moody center armstrong aye center sanders no

no

center murray

could you call roll a little bit slower we're weak for holly

ok center baldwin center murphy

no

senator kain

no

senator hassan senate hanky loper

no

senator markey

no by proxy

senator kim

no by proxy

senator blount rochester senator alsterbrooks

no by proxy

chairman cassidy

aye and we're told that hawley is a minute out so hold just a second please

yes yep

we're told he's more than a minute so we'll have a second

more than a minute

a senate minute interesting it's very interesting

mmm

can i take a bite yeah of your face

yeah

i got it oh wow it has like a spray spray on it mmm

yeah

patty there's a gentleman at oregon steak who is now the pro bowler he was at l s q

oh so much food

uh and um

i feel like i'm gonna die

uh

what about this

good guy he's invited me to come to oregon uh invited my wife to come

do they go in there i don't know what kind of a restaurant it's like i'm not sure how big it is but like i think it's like a big yeah restaurant but like i think it's like a big restaurant so i'm not sure what kind of a restaurant it's like i'm not sure what kind of a yeah yeah that's what i was i was just gonna say like what is it called like oh you you you know if you go to a gym and you go to a gym and they have a gym

senator holey

what

aye

senator holey votes aye

senator s- senator kaufman ok

i have twelve ayes eleven nays

ok the ayes have it the nomination is agreed to and will be favorably reported to the senate uh i now move to favorably report mister mr. kaufman's nomination the clerk should call the roll

senator paul

aye

senator collins senator mckoski senator marshall senator scott senator holey

yes

mmm i'm back

senator tuberville

aye

senator banks

aye

senator houston

aye

senator moody

aye

senator armstrong

aye

senator sanders

no

senator murray

no

senator baldwin

no

senator murphy

no

senator kane

no

senator hassen

no

senator hickenlooper

no by proxy

senator markey

no by proxy

senator kim

no by proxy

senator blunt rochester

no

senator also brooks

no by proxy

chairman cassidy

aye

senator hawley now twelve eyes eleven nays

um the eyes have it the nomination is agreed to will be favorably reported to the senate uh senator hawley would you like to be recorded as present on the initial vote uh as regards to doctor schwartz uh and i presume an an aye vote

alright

ok

so

we'll now we'll now turn to uh i'm sorry so the eyes have it the nomination

now i understand nais on schwartz

uh yes the eyes have it the nomination is agreed to for both schwartz and kaufman they will be favorably reported to the senate we'll now turn to consideration of today's legislative agenda I will make an opening statement and then Senator Sanders will give his. Everybody in this room, certainly the people on this dais, want to give Americans the best chance at success. To me, that looks like protecting their health and making life more affordable and increasing quality educational opportunities. Last week this committee put aside partisan divisions to advance several bipartisan pieces of legislation, which will make healthcare more affordable. I really wanna thank Marshall and Hickenlooper for the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. By increasing price transparency, uh, this promotes competition and gives patients the power. It's a key part of my MVP bill, which is money and value for patients. And again, I thank Marshall and Hickenlooper. Today we have another opportunity to advance bipartisan legislation. my twenty first century dyslexia act with senator hickenlooper is quite personal my daughter has dyslexia my wife runs charter schools for children with dyslexia we had a round table of moms of children with dyslexia it brought you to tears the struggles that they had to go to to have accommodations for their children and the terrible duress that their children had of self uh um uh image uh and being called dumb and stupid by other children because a bright child could not read, motivates this legislation. And this legislation in particular promotes early screening, so children with dyslexia are identified and given the resources they need to succeed. By the way, twenty percent of us have dyslexia. Twenty percent of children have dyslexia. These children are bright, they just learn differently. And it can be so damaging to the child's self-esteem, frustrating to the parent, when a child is evidently bright, cannot learn. But once a diagnosis of dyslexia is made, and support and resources given, the child's life turns around, the child realizes that their potential. Contrast that with a story which is far too often, the story, a child who drops out of high school because his or her dyslexia was not diagnosed, they never learn to read, cannot pass classes, they they quit, um, they cannot pass classes, and so they grow up thinking that they are stupid, and for the rest of their life branded by that self-impression. I will speak of a Mississippi State Legislator who went into the army and they told him that he was so bright they wanted to put him in officer school and he goes, " I'm not bright, I'm stupid." He goes, " No, your score shows that you're bright." He goes, " No, I'm stupid." He had been told he was stupid so many years of his life. that he now could not believe that he was bright. Uh, that's what happens when a child who has dyslexia does not have a, does not, is not screened, identified, and have an intervention. It should tear our hearts apart. My read-act with Senator Hassan strengthens evidence-based literacy instruction requiring early literacy screening, and empowering states, local communities, and parents with the resources and flexibility they need. We've seen instruction methods like the science of reading work in Louisiana and Mississippi. Let's pass this legislation so that every child in America can reach full potential. I thank Senator Hassan for her significant work in writing this legislation, as well as Senators Banks, Hickenlooper, and Tim Scott for their support. We also addressed the rising cost of higher education with Senator Banks' RISE Act, and my College Transparency Act with Senator Warren, and Senator Murkowski's State-based Student Loan Awareness Act. What's in a student's best interest? What's in the family's best interest? Those are the questions we should be asking when considering legislation today. Now moving on to department of activities. I think that moving OZERs to HHS would be a mistake. It shifts special education from an educational and civil rights model to a medical model, treating students with disabilities as patients to diagnose rather than learners to educate. This risks reversing decades of progress made by IDEA. which is fundamentally an education law. It would also weaken the federal support states need to implement IDEA effectively. I'm a conservative. I think smaller government is better government. But I worry that many states will still struggle to meet IDEA's requirements, and need federal technical assistance, coordination, and oversight to build the capacity necessary to serve students with disabilities. And the tremendous bureaucracy of HHS, in which we read every day about some crisis or another, is the Department of Ed staff that will be transferred there empowered and prioritized. I have my doubts. That being said, we shouldn't be doing things simply because that's the way we've always been doing them. Mark Wayne Mullen, when he was on this committee, spoke about how the status quo has not worked, and indeed we have deteriorated under that which has led up to the status quo. As an effort, but as an effort to have a successful bipartisan markup, I've agreed to allow a vote on blocking some of the inter-agency agreements. Although I don't agree that OZER should be carried out by HHS, I'm not in favor of stripping the administration's authority to streamline efforts that help support student success carte blanche. We will also be voting on my Health Information Privacy Reform Act which protects Americans' private health data, my Railroad Retirement Board Stability Act, which enables the R- the RRB to draw limited amounts from its trust fund to provide more timely retirement and unemployment benefit,

thank you very much mr. chairman and um i support eight out of the ten bills we will be considering today eight?

mmm

i will be voting against two of them uh the uh special education administration protection act and the twenty first century dyslexia act these bills are strongly opposed by every major organization in america that represents people with disabilities let me quote from a letter from the international dyslexia association the autism society of america the national association of school psychologists and more than a dozen other organizations in opposition to the twenty first century dyslexia act Quote, "This legislation would undermine existing protections on the IDEA and could result in unintended consequences for students with disabilities, including dyslexic students. The bill's definition of dyslexia is inconsistent with emerging emerging scientific consensus that no longer references intelligence or cognitive discrepancy as defining features of dyslexia, dyslexia." End quote. Let me also quote from a statement against S fifty thirty eight by a coalition of disability education and civil rights organizations quote "The Special Education Administration Protection Act falls short of providing the protections students with disabilities urgently need. The bill would not prevent the administration from relocating the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to another federal agency, leaving the office and the millions of children and families who rely on it, vulnerable to disruption and uncertainty because this bill fails to meet that standard we cannot support it end quote

it's gone

uh mister chairman i ask unanimous consent to include those statements uh into the bill mister chairman unanimous consent

without without objection

thank you um mister chairman uh one of the pieces of legislation that i do support uh in the uh is a provision that i office included in the emergency savings enhancement act and that provision would provide seventy eight million dollars in funding over the next six years to educate retiring business owners and workers about the benefits of employee ownership employee ownership uh mr. chairman when employees own their own companies they're not gonna send those companies off to china or off to another low wage nation They're gonna take pride, uh, in the work that they are doing. Uh, they are going to be involved in the decision-making processes that impact their jobs. They will see their work no longer as being cogs in a machine. Uh, workers who have a direct ownership stake in the companies they work for become more motivated. Absenteeism goes down, worker productivity goes up, and people stay on the jobs for a longer period of time. I think worker ownership uh is a model that we should be striving for in this country. Uh this would be a small step forward in making that happen. Thank you, Mister Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Sanders. Uh, we'll now begin consideration of today's bills, for the awareness of all senators and staff, we intend to vote on amendments as they are raised, but will vote will hold the vote on final passage of both bills to the end of the session, will keep members and staff updated on the timing of the vote on final passage. I ask colleagues to limit remarks to two minutes when discussing either of the bills or offering an amendment as there are a lot of amendments to process. As a reminder, when discussing an amendment, please identify which amendment you are discussing by its name and by its number. Uh, we will now begin with consideration of S five fifty thirty eight, the special Education Administration Protection Act. I'll make some comments, but note we will not vote on final passage of this bill. A primary concern I have with moving OSERS to HHS is that it shifts special education from an educational and civil rights model to a medical model, I'm a doctor, but I don't think this should be a medical model, treating students with disabilities as patients to diagnose rather than learners to educate as some advocates made in a report. This Risk as I have said reversing decades of progress made by IDEA, which is fundamentally an education law. Lastly, moving OZERs to HHS also risk weakening the federal support states need to implement IDEA effectively. Returning greater authority to states may be an important policy objective, but many states still struggle to meet IDEA's requirements and need federal technical assistance coordination and oversight to build capacity necessary to serve students with disabilities. it is unclear whether hhs has the institutional capacity to provide such technical assistance if hhs as the largest non-defensive agency a non-defense agency will prioritize it i am open to moving ozer's to the department of labor but that is not the iaa that has been signed and is currently being piloted do any members wish to speak on the bill um

oh it's all now No, you don't have to worry too much.

That concludes consideration of S fifty thirty eight.

Chair.

Senator Cain.

J- just to conclude, you are not going to be calling that up for vote, correct?

I am not going to call that up, not because I don't care about it, I care deeply about it, but because if you will, that will be subsumed by, I think, the Cain amendment.

Yes, thank you.

I've not been able to use the word subsumed during my entire chairmanship, so thank you for giving me the opportunity to use subsumed. uh now to um continue with substance. Um um we'll now begin with consideration of s fifty forty six uh which is to prohibit the transfer of certain offices and functions of the department of education to other federal agencies and for other purposes. I promised in the june mark up to give senator kane a vote on an iaa an inter-agency agreement related bill. He has worked with other members to scope that which they wanted to vote on um i don't oppose all these iias i do think the administration should be allowed to pilot how to how to address inefficiencies and the potential for efficiencies by operationalizing these iias i will be voting no on this even though as i just mentioned i do oppose the iaa between hhs and osers um do any members wish to speak on this bill

senator can ask your chair um i wanna thank the chair for the commitment so to everyone here when the chair tells you right when you're about to have a vote on something can you put this off till next month you kind of hesitate because schedules get screwed up and even when there's a complete sincerity in the offer sometimes that hearing next month punts but it is a mark of the working relationship i've had with the chair and my respect for him when he said let's do that i said ok and the offer was either to call up the amendment that I offered last month as a stand-alone bill which prohibited the transfer of special ed and rehab services out of DOE or to find another bipartisan proposal so thank you Mister Chair for working with me on that. And then I wanna thank my co-sponsors senators Collins and Murkowski and another committees we ended up working over the course of the last month and and reached an accord not on everything within the DOE universe four key components of DOE's work that they should not be transferred. And those components are the Office of Special Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Post-secondary Education, and the Office of Indian Education. And we've reached a bipartisan proposal before the body today, that those would not be transferred out of the DOE. I I wanna thank my co-sponsors for working with this. proposal to come up with this consensus. There, as I say, there's other aspects of DOE's work that I would love to find an accord on, to not transfer. In particular, I've been a real passionate advocate for career and technical education, but I've worked well with my colleagues in the past and we quick- quickly find areas of agreement and when we're not on the same page on things we kind of set those aside. But I think this particular bill, Senate F uh five O four six, would maintain really core uh proponent uh core components within DOA and I urge my colleagues to embrace it.

Does any other members wish to speak? Senator Collins.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, first let me thank Senator Kaine for his leadership and for working with me, Senator Murkowski, Senator Hadson and Senator Baldwin on this bill. This bill is straightforward, it keeps the administration up. important landmark education programs at the Department of Education where Congress specifically put them and where they belong. So it reverses four inter-agency agreements that have already been outlined by my colleague. It's significant that former uh Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, from the Bush Administration, supports our bill as do nea and aft these transfers are misaligned with their program purposes for example the administration has an agreement with the department of health and human services to administer the education office that manages the individuals with disabilities education act known as IDEA That change fundamentally misunderstands the history and intent of the special education program, which was created in nineteen seventy-five to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education. Today, this office helps me the education needs of more than eight million children with disabilities. It's primarily focused on the students' education needs, not on their healthcare needs. The point is, prior to the to IDEA, far too many children with disabilities did not receive an education. I support the other provisions as well. Thank you, Mister Chairman.

Yeah.

Wait a minute, I beat you this week.

Wow. Yeah, that's right, that's right. Uh drop the drop drop the gavel. Uh Senator Murkowski.

Thank you, I am aware of that heavy gavel there. Um to my colleagues, Senator Kane and Senator Collins, Senator Hassan, thank you for willingness to to get to a point where we we have a universe um where there is some some real concerns about these movements, um between agencies, between departments, and the impact on kids. And we cannot lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day we're talking about children, whether it's children with special needs, whether it's children in our elementary schools, whether it's our our our native students, um, making sure that we don't lose that focus. I had a pretty good conversation with Secretary McMahon. Um, obviously she is advocating from a position to keep everything on track, uh, citing for more time to do quote proof of concept. And I do listen to that, but then I think about these kids in school, and when you're in school, when you're in the program that you rely on from day to day, your families rely on that, you're not really interested in knowing whether or not there's greater collaboration between agency folks because you've moved from one building to another so I I have taken the the the position that making sure that we allow for the programs that have been situated within the agencies that Congress has directed for a good reason, that we allow those to continue. But I think it is important to note that this was not a carte blanche, everything that the department has asked to be transferred, that we are objecting to. We're looking critically at the programs, we're looking specifically to the intent. Um, I have a a large Native population in my state. Alaska natives are quite concerned about this. There was no tribal consultation before, uh, any any transfer, um, was was allowed. So these are issues that have real-time impact on our children right now. And I would support the, uh, the measure that my colleagues have advanced.

Senator Tuberville.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I The definition of losing is doing the same thing over and over without a different result. I did this for thirty years. We're losing. We're losing badly. And we need to help out the Department of Education. I think this bill is misguided. It clearly lacks the vision to address this failing education system that we have in this country, that we can pat ourselves on the back and say we're giving a lot of money, but it ain't working. You know, I'd like to remind my colleagues that education policy's decision making in this country has always rested primarily with the state and local communities, not here in DC. For some reason we're fixated on that. Many of us have long believed that the federal footprint in education is much larger than it needs to be. When we stop the government from stream alignment operations, it doesn't help students. It's simply preserved bureaucracy. The national assessment of education progress scores show thirty-three percent of students can't do basic reading and math. We should be embarrassed. That's on us. Why are we defending this? I don't understand that. Department of Education is engaging with state and local officials every day. The federal agency is actually listening to the people they serve for the first time. I've no doubt the Department of Education can send a formula for money on time. That's what we need. They've already been doing that and they will continue to do so. So the department is listening to the states through this process. And that's what we need to do. President Trump's Department of Education has changed. It's changed for the better. I'm hearing it from my state. We need to listen to them. We need to applaud them what you're doing. Don't keep running up the middle when we need to throw the football. My God, folks, we need to help our kids. I mean, we're thinking about bureaucrats, not students. Think about what we're doing here. Thank you.

Mister Chair.

Uh, Senator Hassan.

Uh, Mister Chair, I wasn't planning to speak on this, but I I do want to uh respond a little bit to my colleague from Alabama here. Uh, before the IDEA was passed into law, uh people like my son would have been forced into an institution where they were often isolated and abused. Ben is nonverbal, but his teachers in a public school system in Exeter, New Hampshire learned how to work with him and learned that he could raise a hand to say yes or no and discovered he was really smart. He got to go to school with his peers, he got to make friends, and he got to learn, and he's a high school graduate, and a member of his community. And his friends still come to see him regardless of where they are in the country, write him letters, write him emails. That's the difference that special education made. Now you talk about collaboration at the state and local level. I went to special education meeting after special education meeting in my school, talking with my son's teachers, and educators on a monthly if not more regular basis because that's what this law, and that's what the special education unit at the department of education does, it empowers parents and students at the local level. And it teaches all of our students that regardless of your physical ability, regardless of whether you can speak or not, regardless of whether you sit in a wheelchair, regardless if occasionally you drool in class, you're a human being with capacity. And it has expanded opportunities, not just for my son, but for all sorts of young people who were written off when they should not have been. So I appreciate that there are reforms necessary at the Department of Education. There are reforms necessary in the special education system, to be sure. But I don't want us to lose sight of the purpose of this particular unit within the Department of Education and the difference it has made to millions of lives, to families, to workforces, who now hire people with disabilities. That's the difference this makes and that's why I am so supportive of this bill. Thank you, Mister Chair.

Uh, Miss Chairman, I offer amendment number one. to the bill. Uh, Mister Chairman, Congress created the Department of Education by law, and only Congress can eliminate it. This administration is frankly spitting in the face of Congress and the law, with illegal inter-agency agreements that are no more than an out-and-out attempt to actually abolish the Department of Education. Title ru- one, run out of the Labor Department. Civil rights shipped off to DOJ. It doesn't make any sense. And we never voted to do that. Career and technical education funding got moved to labor. Thanks to Trump, our states now have to waste limited time figuring out a new bureaucracy. Nothing has been made more efficient for our students or their schools. And by the way, doing this costs taxpayers more money. Americans do not support abolishing the Department of Education. If Secretary McMahon wants to eliminate the department, she can ask Congress. Until then, an inter-agency agreement is not a magic wand, she cannot sign away her legal duty to America's students. So my amendment is simple, no office, no program, no function at the Department of Education can be torn away. It says no to abolishing the Department of E- Education, and I urge my colleagues to vote aye.

Does anyone wish to speak on the amendment? Senator Baldwin?

Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman. As we have heard, uh, countless times in this very hearing room from members of this committee, from witnesses, and from the Secretary of Education herself, the President does not have the authority to abolish the Department of Education. Only an act of Congress can do that. But despite this, President Trump and Secretary McMahon have tried to subvert Congress, and the will of the people by entering into these illegal inter-agency agreements. And this is saddling schools with more bureaucracy in outsourcing critical programs like special education and the enforcement of civil rights laws to other ill-equipped departments and agencies. Students deserve better, and so do their parents, who do their best to advocate for them. I cosponsor this bipartisan agreement to finally rebuke the President's illegal actions. This is something that we should have done months ago. Senator Murray and I tried to advance this in the fiscal year twenty-six appropriations process, and I'm hopeful that the agreement we have reached can keep the strong bipartisan momentum behind it to advance beyond this committee. The parents that I've heard from in Wisconsin are demanding that we see this through. While I am supportive of this deal, I also believe the overall bill falls short. Each of the offices being transferred from the Department of Education carries out important responsibilities for our nation's students and I urge my colleagues to support, Senator Murray's amendment number one.

Does anyone else wish to speak on the amendment? um i shall oppose this amendment uh we will now vote to adopt uh whether or not to adopt the amendment uh the clerk should call the roll

senator paul

uh he has a no by proxy

senator collins

no

senator borkowski senator marshall

no

senator scott

no by proxy

no here yes yes

senator holly senator tuberville center banks

no

center houston

no

center moody

no

center armstrong

no

center sanders

yes

center murray

aye

center baldwin

aye

center murphy

aye

center kain

aye

center hassan

aye

center hickenlooper

aye by proxy

center markey

aye by proxy

center kim

aye by proxy

senator blount rochester senator also brooks

i bart proxey

chairman cassidy

i am a no

have eleven ayes twelve nays

the amendment um fails uh this concludes consideration of the last fifty points

no

does anyone else have another amendment

this chairman

senator baldwin

oh

i'm actually senator murray but that's ok

i'm sorry senator murray

um Miss Chairman, I offer amendment number two on behalf of myself and Senator Blunt Rochester. Um, Miss Chairman, last month this administration announced it was shipping the Office for Civil Rights off to the Justice Department. But before that, they actually fired half of its staff and shuttered seven of its twelve regional office. They paid civil rights investigators as much as thirty-eight million to sit at home. While the backlog backlog exploded past twenty four thousand cases and OCR dismissed ninety percent of the cases, it purportedly investigated. Every single number is a kid, a student, with a disability, who is not getting the education they are owed by law, or a student facing discrimination in their classroom. Last year OCR reached nearly eighty percent fewer disability discrimination resolution agreements compared to twenty twenty four that is not by accident, It is by design, thanks to Trump's staffing cuts and dismantling the Department of Education. And to send this off to the Department of Justice, that is already overwhelmed, is not how we make sure our students have access to their civil rights. Moving OCR will not clear the backlog, it will bury it. Justice delayed is in education denied. So my movement, uh, my amendment simply keeps OCR at the Department of Education, and I urge a yes vote.

Does anybody wish to comment on the Amendments. Uh, Senator Blunt-Rocester.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, and I thank Senator Murray for her leadership on this issue. Uh, I also wanna thank Senator Hassan for making it clear that this is about students, families, and businesses. Um, I co-lead this amendment because we know that discrimination, uh, is not new and it still persists. Uh, I know it, uh, as the former secretary of labor of Delaware. I know it as the former CEO of the Urban League, where we fought for civil rights and justice. And also, uh, as a person who worked for the Institute for Community Inclusion focused on people with disabilities. Created from the momentum of the civil rights movement, the Office for Civil Rights is tasked with the responsibility of protecting students on the basis of race, religion, disability, gender, age, and national origin from discrimination, and making sure all children can go to school and learn. The work of OCR is as important today as it has ever been. The office is receiving increasing complaints of discrimination while this administration is gutting protections, taking us backwards instead of forward. Instead of a system where the Department of Education investigates every claim, This inter-agency agreement could leave investigations up to the discretion of the DOJ and an administration that has demonstrated it cannot be trusted. We have almost no details about how this would actually work, or how cases would be prioritized or addressed. Because of this, I urge my colleagues to join us in a vote of yes on this amendment and do it for every student, every family. in every business in this country. I yield back.

Mr. Chairman.

Senator Collins.

Mr. Chairman, the utter failure of the Biden administration to address anti-semitism on college campuses illustrates why we need to move the Office of Civil Rights out of the Department of Jo- of Education to a more appropriate department, the Department of Justice. The ADL Center for Antisemitism Research has reported that seventy-three percent of Jewish college students, including a member of my own staff, experienced or witnessed antisemitism on college campuses. In twenty twenty four, I questioned the former secretary of education, Cardona, at a senate appropriations hearing on his enforcement of title six of the Civil Rights Act. At the time, the secretary had no one, no one on the ground at colleges or universities where investigations into anti-semitism were occurring. He also could not provide a timeline on resolving these investigations or propose penalties for schools that were in violation. That is why I support moving OCR to the Department of Justice and oppose this amendment.