as this day comes to an end, a very sad chapter in the history of this body comes to an end, mercifully. I stand here before you and my colleagues as the last Vietnam veteran serving in the U.S. Senate, a retired Navy captain, a grandson…

one of the joys for me of serving here is serving as the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, right next to Ben Cardin and about two seats away from Sheldon Whitehouse. And we appreciate your participation and leadership…

I would like to be recognized for maybe 5 minutes to speak on behalf of the nomination of former Governor Martin O'Malley. Senator Cardin and others have known Martin for a long time; I have as well. I think I met him when he was 18. He…

as some of our colleagues know, I am a retired Navy captain and the last Vietnam veteran serving in the U.S. Senate. Today, I want to take a couple of minutes, if I could, to share what military service has meant to my family and to me and…

I ask unanimous consent that the recorded vote begin immediately. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

As a lifelong public servant, you know better than most that our workforce is one of the most important assets, I think maybe the most important asset, that we have in the Federal Government.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

good afternoon. I rise to join my two colleagues who just spoke in opposition to S.J. Res. 38, a Congressional Review Act resolution to disapprove of the Biden administration's temporary waiver of the ``Buy American'' requirements for the…

I think there is a Chinese word for danger that is also a word for opportunity.

We believe that bipartisan solutions are lasting solutions, and when the elections are over, the elections are over, and let's figure out how to work together and get things done.

We cannot build the vertical infrastructure if the horizontal infrastructure is not there to support that.

I am also proud of the committee's work to improve wastewater infrastructure for communities large and small, especially underserved communities.

So I believe there is some room there that we can relax some of those financial requirements with the application.

I am going to ask you to hold it right there. I have just been contacted by the Senate Finance Committee.

We have votes that have just been announced on the floor. Another committee I serve on, the Finance Committee, is voting on legislation involving PBMs.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that I mentioned, which was signed into law by the President almost exactly 2 years ago provides over $55 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

The committee will come to order.

Many disadvantaged communities face significant environmental challenges and have extensive infrastructure needs.

That is a pretty good example.

I rise today to express my strong support for the nomination of ADM Lisa Franchetti to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations. As some of my colleagues know, I was 17 years old when I raised my right hand to take the oath to defend our…

An agency with a budget the size of this one, it is an almost $100 billion budget, and that is unacceptable.

I was literally present at the creation for the Department of Homeland Security, and we have seen the transformation of 22 agencies into a single department to serve our country.

We need to strengthen the financial management functions of the Department, and that remains on GAO's High Risk List.

I think it may have been a decade since we had a Senate-confirmed Chief Financial Officer in the Department of Homeland Security. I think that is awful.

Jeff is exceptionally well qualified to serve as the Department's next CFO, and I know his long-held institutional knowledge and his extensive experience in budget management will serve our country well.