Business meeting to consider S.2544

It's okay with Senator Durbin if we move on while we get a quorum to vote here. On today's agenda, we have three nominations and seven bills listed. Four of those bills are listed for the first time, so naturally they will be held over for future consideration. Today we'll vote on three U.S. Attorney nominees: Thomas Govan for the Middle District of Alabama, Zachary Keller, Western District Louisiana, and Ryan Raybould for the Northern District Texas. The bills are S.2545, the GUARD Act, S.1809, the Drone Espionage Act, and S.3023, the SAFE Cloud Storage Act. Thomas Govan has served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General, Alabama, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney, Middle District Alabama. He has nearly two decades of high-stake criminal and civil experience at both the state and federal levels, and Mr. Govan's elite practice has included several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Zachary Keller has extensive trial and litigation experience in both private practice and in public service. Mr. Keller worked for the FTC, litigating consumer fraud, and he's held various civil, criminal, and appellate roles with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District Florida and the Western District Louisiana. Ryan Raybould also has impressive qualifications. In addition to his time in private practice, he's served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District Tennessee and Deputy Chief of White Collar and Public Corruption in the Northern District Texas. Mr. Raybould also supported this committee as Senator Cornyn's Chief of Staff for four years. I'm confident that all three nominees will do a great job, and I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting them. On the rest of the agenda, three bills that we're voting on today are part of a bipartisan effort to tackle crime and protect vulnerable populations. The GUARD Act is bipartisan bill led by Senator Britt and Senator Gillibrand. It equips law enforcement with critical tools they need to protect people, including the elderly, and from sophisticated scams and financial funds frauds. The Drone Espionage Act is a bipartisan bill led by Senator Moody and Senator Slotkin and co-sponsored by Senators Lee, Tillis, Cruz, Blackburn, and Britt. It protects critical military installations from unauthorized surveillance. The SAFE Cloud Storage Act is also a bipartisan bill led by Senators Blackburn, Klobuchar, Cornyn, and Blumenthal, with Britt, Coons, and Lee also co-sponsoring. It helps those who work alongside law enforcement in the fight against child sexual exploitation. I really want to thank Senator Durbin, the ranking member, and his staff as well for working with me to put together this agenda. I also like to thank members of this committee for their work on these important bipartisan bills. Senator Durbin.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman, and looking forward to the hearing on the legislative items as well. I just like to say a word. Over a span of more than a year, I have, others have joined me, in asking questions of judicial nominees if they become judges, do they believe that their court orders need to be complied with, followed by the parties to a lawsuit? And there was some equivocation at the beginning. Senator Kennedy arrived and was outspoken in following court orders. I think most of us who have practiced law understand they have to be taken seriously. But then there came a standard answer after that, and some people were incredulous that we would even have to raise the issue. A judge issues an order, the party follows the order. Period. But it turns out that's not the case. I commend to my colleagues an article on the front page of, if there is still a front page, of the New York Times this morning. It's entitled, "Surge in Immigration Cases in Minnesota Pushes Prosecutors and Judges to the Brink." It's a situation where a young lady who volunteered to try to help the immigration case docket, Julie Lee, has testified in court as to what she literally is facing when it comes to court orders that are not complied with. And it reached the point where in her frustration, she said, I guess, too much for the administration, and they fired her this week. I think you ought to read the story and let me tell you what we're dealing with. The remarks she made in court, according to this article, cost her her job, where she'd been working on a temporary basis to help handle habeas petitions or court filings that compel the government to justify holding someone in custody. But her comments also open the window into a broader problem: how the courts in Minnesota are buckling beneath the weight of a deluge of cases arising from statewide campaign the administration called Operation Metro Surge. All Americans know what happened with the two innocent people who were killed in the course of that operation, but this is another aspect. The article goes on to say that turmoil in the courts has demoralized prosecutors, outraged judges, exhausted defense lawyers, and left many immigrants languishing in detention in violation of court orders. And the article goes on to say when agencies like the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ignore judicial orders to release immigrants under their control, the federal judge in Minnesota, Judge Blackwell, said it's an affront not merely to personal liberty but to the entire criminal justice system. The judge is certainly outspoken and clear in his position, and I'd like to read the statement which was part of the official record. I ask consent that it be included.

Without objection, it will be included.

The judge said, "If the government undertakes an enforcement operation of this scale, one that results in the detention of large numbers of people, including individuals who are lawfully present in the United States, then the government assumes a corresponding obligation to ensure that each detention complies with the Constitution and with court orders governing release. Volume," the judge said, "that is the volume of cases and matters, is not a justification for diluting constitutional rights and it never can be. It heightens the need for care." I bring this to your attention because I can remember each one of the nominees dutifully saying they would follow court orders. We have a situation now where by design the system is overwhelmed and court orders are being ignored. If we have reached that point in this country, then for God's sake, are we anything less than an authoritarian state? If we cannot follow the Constitution and the rule of law in the courts, Minnesota or Illinois or wherever the case may be, shame on us. If you happen to believe that what is happening in Minnesota is a good thing, perhaps you'll shrug your shoulders. But if you believe that it has been an embarrassment and an insult to the Constitution, this is unacceptable. I yield.

Now we'll consider S.3023.

Mr. Chairman.

Yeah. Please go ahead.

I just wanted to briefly add to what Senator Durbin mentioned. There have been now 14 resignations, half the office has stepped down in the U.S. Attorney's Office. They have included the who had been the guy who had been Joe Thompson, the acting U.S. Attorney that I had recommended to Todd Blanche and others to be the acting U.S. Attorney. He was the lead prosecutor on the worthy and important fraud cases that are being brought, in which taxpayer moneys were fleeced, people have gone to jail. And the problem is now because the Justice Department asked those lawyers to be involved in investigating Renee Good's wife, and they said no, and this is by news reports. They have hollowed out the experienced people, and that includes Harry Jacobs, the chief of the criminal division, have left that office, while this giving support to you, Senator Durbin, as you look at the why this U.S. Attorney, Assistant U.S. Attorney said she was so burnt out. They have also lost Melinda Williams, who led the prosecution of sex offender Anton Lazzaro, won the, by the way, her team won the Attorney General of the United States award of the best prosecution effort in the country just a few years ago. And just recently another eight or so resigned. And so we are losing every single lead of the fraud prosecutions. There are still some prosecutors left who I hope will be able to take up the slack, but they simply don't have the people. And the reason these people resigned was they loved their jobs and they were so key to going after the cases. They were the ones that stood with the priests after the shootings at the Annunciation school in that mass just this summer. They were the ones that took on the manhunt involving the assassination of my friend, Speaker Melissa Hortman. They were just excellent jewel of prosecutors, and they have all stepped down because of what this administration asked them to do that they could not ethically do involving ICE. And that, sadly, has hollowed out the most important thing in my mind they were doing, which was prosecuting these fraud cases. And I know there was a sub, I'm not on the subcommittee that had a hearing yesterday, and I know there's a lot of interest in this, but people should know the very people that were doing the work that I had gotten extra money for them to do during the Biden administration and put in the guy that brought 80 of the cases, Andy Luger, they've now hollowed out that work. And so it has not only horrible because the lawyers can't do their jobs and they have all these immigration cases, many of which should not, people who should not have been abducted, people who have IDs, who have passports, among elders taken out of their house in their underwear and five-year-olds stripped away. That's what the work that these guys are having to do right now, but it's also taking away from the righteous work that needs to be done on taking on these fraud cases.

We'll take up the third bill on the list because we have one of the sponsors has a conflict. The bill is led by Senator Blackburn. I won't name the co-sponsors and other main sponsors. The bill allows for law enforcement approved providers to use secure cloud-based storage of child sexual abuse material. I'll now call up Senator Blackburn's manager amendment number ELL26080. Without objection, we'll adopt the amendment. I now recognize Senator Blackburn.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And indeed, as you said in your earlier remarks, this is bipartisan. It's the SAFE Cloud Storage Act. And this is something that is supported by law enforcement. I had the FOP in my office yesterday. Now, a couple of years ago, Senator Ossoff and I did the REPORT Act, and completely bipartisan. In the REPORT Act, we provided NCMEC contracted vendors with the ability to securely store and transfer reports of child abuse from NCMEC to law enforcement. The bill would provide the same protections to law enforcement approved vendors, giving law enforcement the capability and flexibility to securely store and transfer child sexual abuse material in the cloud as they work to investigate these crimes and to hold these child predators accountable. The law enforcement approved vendors who will be storing the evidence in the cloud will be required to follow strict cybersecurity requirements. These vendors must comply with the cybersecurity framework developed by NIST and would be subject to an independent annual cybersecurity audit. This bill will give law enforcement an additional tool to investigate and prosecute the crimes, and the Cloud Storage Act would modernize how law enforcement conducts the investigations and give them a greater ability to move quickly through these cases. We've assembled a large coalition of supporters for the bill from NCMEC to International Justice Mission to law enforcement groups. And I would request to enter the support statements for this bill into the record.

Without objection.

And I am especially grateful to Raven for all their work on the bill, and I want to thank our bipartisan group of co-sponsors, Senators Klobuchar, Cornyn, Blumenthal, Britt, Coons, and Lee for their support. Looking forward to getting this passed out of committee into the floor. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, as the lead Democrat, I want to thank Senator Blackburn for her work on this. And I think we have seen more and more kids being targeted online, and law enforcement fighting sexual exploitation must be able to store and transmit evidence of these terrible crimes securely and efficiently. And that's what this bill does. Thank you, Senator Blackburn.

Okay, I think we're ready to vote. All in favor say aye. [Ayes.] All opposed say no. The ayes have it. The majority of the members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill will be reported to the floor. Okay, now we'll go to the GUARD Act. This bill is sponsored by Senators Britt and Gillibrand. It would allow state and local law enforcement to use federal grant funds to combat elder financial fraud. It would also permit federal law enforcement to assist state and local law enforcement in tracing tools for blockchain technology. Before I open the floor, I'd like to request unanimous consent to be added as a co-sponsor. No objection. If anyone would like to speak on the bill, please go ahead. Senator Britt, did you ask for the floor?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, if you don't mind. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to speak in favor of the GUARD Act. Americans are facing crisis levels of financial fraud, with our nation's seniors being particularly vulnerable. In 2024, seniors lost over $4.8 billion to scammers, according to the FBI. The average victim lost over $83,000. These scammers are often sophisticated and will leverage new technologies like the blockchain to bypass traditional safeguards. This kind of fraud can be devastating, particularly to older Americans and their families who are living on fixed incomes. And while our state and local law enforcement are working diligently to combat fraud, unfortunately, they often lack the specialization that they need in the training and the tools that would be helpful to investigate the complex financial crimes. These scammers have also learned how to exploit these gaps to avoid accountability. The GUARD Act would allow state, local, and tribal law enforcement to utilize existing grant programs to hire agents, train staff, and increase resources to utilize the blockchain in investigating financial fraud. The GUARD Act also permits federal law enforcement agencies to use their expertise to assist state and local law enforcement with blockchain investigations. This legislation will unlock new tools for our state and local law enforcement agencies to continue to protect Americans, especially seniors, from financial fraud and being scammers and bring them to justice. I want to thank Senator Gillibrand for her leadership on this and her partnership on this critical piece of legislation, as well as the bipartisan group of co-sponsors that we have on this bill, several of which include committee members, including Senator Moody, Senator Grassley, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Coons. In addition, we have Senator Rick Scott, Senator Lankford, and Senator Warnock. I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.

We will now vote. Those in favor of reporting S.2544...

Mr. Chairman, may I ask...

Go ahead.

I'd like to ask Senator Britt. During the course of considering a crypto bill in the Agriculture Committee, I was alerted to the fact that crypto ATM machines are being used to scam and fleece particularly seniors out of their life savings. I think over 20 states have now warnings on these machines. A lot of commercial establishments have removed them because of the scams that are taking place and the exploitation of seniors. Does your bill protect against that sort of thing?

What our bill does, so Senator Gillibrand and I looking at a comprehensive nature of how to attack this. What we found was state and local law enforcement don't actually have the tools when it comes to kind of this new blockchain technology and how to get to the bottom of this and help seniors be able to both hold those people accountable and receive their money back. So while that will be part of what this bill does, it doesn't specifically target that, but it gives these law enforcement officers the tools they need to be able to drill down when it does occur at these type of ATMs and others.

You don't use the word crypto in your bill, I believe I looked through it very quickly. But would you believe...

I'm so sorry, can you speak up? I'm so sorry, Senator Durbin.

You don't refer to crypto specifically in your bill, I can't find it. It may be a reference.

Yes, sir. Digital assets in general.

But when you say blockchain technology, I take it you refer to crypto operations?

Yes, sir. Blockchain and all of the encompassing digital assets.

So you're including this fraudulent operation in the kind of...

Yes, sir. Any fraudulent operating that occurs as a result of blockchain technology. Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Okay, now we're ready to vote. All those in favor of 2544 say aye. [Ayes.] All those opposed say no. The ayes have it. We have a majority of the members present, so the bill can now be reported to the floor.

Mr. Chairman.

Who's asking?

Mr. Chairman, I'd ask unanimous consent that I be added as a co-sponsor to the bill.

Yes. Thank you. Okay, now we go to the Drone Espionage Act. Senator Moody and Slotkin, along with the help of Senator Lee, Cruz, Tillis, Blackburn, and Britt and others as co-sponsors. The legislation updates current law to help protect sensitive national defense sites. If any of the bill co-sponsors or sponsors would like to say a few words about the bill, please do that at this point. Senator Moody.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to everyone that has done what I think the Congress gets a bad rap for not going back and reevaluating very old legislation that might need to be tweaked to fit current circumstances or the evolution of technology. So I thank you and your staff, your colleagues for the opportunity to vote on this good bill and those from the other side of the aisle who see the need for a very, very simple fix to the Espionage Act. This bill updates the Espionage Act of 1917 to include videography of sensitive national defense sites as a crime. So my home state of Florida is home to 21 military installations and three combatant commands. And at the state level, we have led in bold policy to ward off foreign actors and others who threaten our sense of security. By filling this technical gap in federal law, it's imperative that we can protect these sensitive military sites. And I just want to reiterate how this is showing up in real world cases. Last year, we had a foreign national charged with using an unmanned aircraft to photograph critical defense installations and equipment at Cape Canaveral Space Force. In 2024, a Chinese citizen living in Los Angeles was charged and sentenced for flying a drone over the Vandenberg Space Force Base and taking images. In June of 2020, three Chinese nationals were sentenced for illegal imagery at U.S. Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida. Note that two of those examples come straight from my state. And all this does is simply right now the espionage says photographs. You can't fly over and take photographs of sensitive military sites. This just updates it to say videos. There was a case recently where I spoke with the federal prosecutor and they was saying thank goodness we had photographs because if it was only videos, we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. So I again thank my colleagues for including me, especially those on this committee, the people in Florida who have so many military installations. Thank you, and I believe this country will be much safer when we can get this across the finish line. Thank you to my Democratic colleagues.

I think we can now vote. Senator Durbin, you want the floor?

I just like to make a comment. I spoke to Senator Moody this morning and I would support this bill. I hope, I recommend a voice vote. There's a couple questions that have been raised and I hope we can work in finding answers and solutions to those questions before the bill is considered on the floor.

Absolutely.

We'll vote now. All those in favor of reporting S.1809, 1809, say aye. [Ayes.] All opposed say no. [Noes.] Did anybody, you don't want to be, we're ready to go. Let me make it easy here. The ayes have it. We have a majority of the members present. The bill will be reported. We need to wait for Senator Kennedy to arrive. He's on his way. Does anybody want to speak while we wait for Senator Kennedy to get here? Senator Schiff.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to take this opportunity to raise my concern about multiple things that are taking place in connection with the upcoming midterm election. The first is the President's comments about nationalizing our elections, about essentially arrogating to the federal government responsibilities that the Constitution gives to our states, that is the conduct of our elections. But also in concert with that, we see the Director of National Intelligence, who has no election remit, dispatched by the President to oversee the execution of a search warrant in Georgia to obtain ballot boxes. There are other public reports about Director of National Intelligence overseeing an operation to seize voting machines in Puerto Rico as well as voter data. And then you have other close advisors of the President like Steve Bannon threatening to deploy, promising to deploy ICE agents at polling stations in November. All of this signals a mounting effort to discredit the election or take over the election or threaten the election or threaten to remove responsibility for states over the election. This is a deeply dangerous trend. And I really shudder for our democracy if the administration continues down this path. We have to insist, I think, on observing Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution that gives the states responsibility for the conduct of elections. We don't want voter intimidation at polling places. The last thing we want to see is the federal government seizing ballot boxes or voting machines. And all of this has been brought to the fore just within the last couple weeks.

Can I interrupt you? Yes, Mr. Chairman. We're going to lose a quorum here. I'll keep it open for you to finish and Senator Cornyn to speak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much, Senator Schiff. Senator Graham's walking in, he's walking in right now.

We'll now turn to the nomination of Thomas Govan, Jr. to serve as U.S. Attorney for Middle District Alabama. On favor, Senator call the roll. They're saying they can't hear you. They're saying they're having trouble hearing you. Okay. Clerk will call the roll. Look like Adams, Shannon.

Mr. Graham. Standing in the right spot, aye. Mr. Cornyn. Aye. Mr. Lee. Aye by proxy. Mr. Lee. Aye by proxy. Mr. Cruz. Aye. Mr. Hawley. Aye. Mr. Tillis. Aye. Mr. Kennedy. Aye. Mrs. Blackburn. Aye. Mr. Schmitt. Aye. Mrs. Britt. Aye. Mrs. Moody. Aye. Mr. Durbin. No. Mr. Whitehouse. No. Ms. Klobuchar. No. Mr. Coons. No by proxy. Mr. Blumenthal. No. Ms. Hirono. No by proxy. Mr. Booker. No by proxy. Mr. Padilla. No. Mr. Welch. No by proxy. Mr. Schiff. No. Chairman Grassley. Aye. On this vote, the ayes are 12, the nays are 10.

The nomination will be favorably reported the floor based upon that vote. Now we go to Zachary Keller on favorably reporting the nomination, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Graham. Aye. Mr. Cornyn. Aye. Mr. Lee. Aye by proxy. Mr. Cruz. Aye. Mr. Hawley. Aye. Mr. Tillis. Aye. Mr. Kennedy. Aye. Mrs. Blackburn. Aye. Mr. Schmitt. Aye. Mrs. Britt. Aye. Mrs. Moody. Aye. Mr. Durbin. Aye. Mr. Whitehouse. No. ...Ms. Klobuchar.

No.

Mr. Coons.

No by proxy.

Mr. Blumenthal.

No.

Ms. Hirono.

No by proxy.

Mr. Booker.

No by proxy.

Mr. Padilla.

No.

Mr. Welch.

No by proxy.

Mr. Schiff.

No.

Chairman Grassley.

Aye.

On this vote, the ayes are 13, the nays are nine.

Okay, the majority vote, the nomination will be favorably reported. Now we go to Ryan Raybould.

Mr. Chairman, may I offer a brief unanimous consent request? I'd ask that my statement supportive of Ryan Raybould's nomination be made part of the record.

Yes. The clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Graham.

Aye.

Mr. Cornyn.

Aye.

Mr. Lee.

Aye by proxy.

Mr. Cruz.

Aye.

Mr. Hawley.

Aye.

Mr. Tillis.

Aye.

Mr. Kennedy.

Aye.

Mrs. Blackburn.

Aye.

Mr. Schmitt.

Aye.

Mrs. Britt.

Aye.

Mrs. Moody.

Aye.

Mr. Durbin.

No.

Mr. Whitehouse.

No.

Ms. Klobuchar.

No by proxy.

Mr. Coons.

Aye by proxy.

Mr. Blumenthal.

No.

Ms. Hirono.

No by proxy.

Mr. Booker.

No by proxy.

Mr. Padilla.

No.

Mr. Welch.

No by proxy.

Mr. Schiff.

No.

Chairman Grassley.

Aye.

On this vote, the ayes are 13, the nays are nine.

Okay, be favorably reported. Now...

Mr. Chairman.

Yes.

I'd like to change my vote on Mr. Raybould from a no to an aye.

Okay, did you get the change for Senator Durbin? To an aye.

So on this vote, the ayes are 14, the nays are eight.

Okay, Mr. Raybould will be reported to the floor. Now I call on Senator Schiff to make his, finish his statement and then Senator Cornyn, did you want to stay and speak?

Mr. Chairman, may I make a statement?

After him. Yeah. Go ahead, Senator Schiff.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'll just briefly conclude. There are a lot of alarm bells ringing about the administration's intentions towards the next election with the involvement of the Director of National Intelligence in a domestic law enforcement operation in Georgia and in Puerto Rico, with the threat of calling out ICE on election day to intimidate voters at the polls, and with the action of seizing ballot boxes, voting machines, and voter data, as well as efforts to pressure states to turn over voter data in order to get ICE out of their state. This involves the jurisdiction of multiple committees, the Rules Committee certainly, the Intelligence Committee, and this committee. And I would ask that we conduct an oversight hearing. I think the probably most focused part of this concern relevant to this committee is the participation of an American intelligence agency in a law enforcement action concerning our domestic elections. So I would make that request and I appreciate the chairman's consideration.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Senator Britt.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to briefly talk about my support for the nomination of Thomas Govan, Jr., to be the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. I have known Thomas for 25 years and he is fair and kind. He is honorable in the way that he conducts himself and he treats everyone he encounters with dignity and respect. As a graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama School of Law, he has dedicated his life to public service, having spent the last 18 years representing both the great state of Alabama and the United States in court. During this time, he worked both as Deputy Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General in the Alabama Attorney General's Office, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama. He also continues to serve his country as a member of the United States Air Force Reserve, where he holds the rank of major. I am certain that he will serve our state, the Middle District, and our great nation well. I have complete confidence in him, his character, and his integrity, and I urge all of my colleagues to support his nomination on the floor and was pleased to see his favorable reporting of his nomination out of this committee today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Britt. Meeting adjourned. Thank you for your cooperation.