do or much else we're trying to do, we're doing it in a bipartisan way. and senators rounds and myself and heinrich and young have been working very hard all of august to put this form together. and do you think it will do a lot of good? yes. >> the republican calls for impeachment are absurd and we're going to move forward and do our job here in the senate of funding the government and doing the many other things that i listed in my dear colleague. i sent that we need to do. thank you. yeah.

>> good afternoon, everyone. obviously, we have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. we have to figure out how to fund the government past september 30th. we have to have as close as we can to a regular order process or appropriations. senator collins and senator murray have done a spectacular job of at least getting the bills out of committee, which hadn't happened in the senate in five years. so that's a step in the right direction and then there's a supplemental and as all of, you know, i think maintaining our support for ukraine is extremely important.

number one, virtually, all the money that we are allocating for ukraine is actually being spent in the united states to replenish our industrial capacity. secondly, we haven't lost anybody. not a single american has been lost. third. i think it's important to remember that we have a country here fighting for their independence, degrading the military of one of our biggest rivals, rivals. so i know there's a difference of opinion in my party on this and i think the president has, i think been too slow to keep the commitments that he's made publicly but at least he's supporting the effort. i think he could have done it more skillfully, but he is supporting the effort and i intend to continue to support

it. and i hope the majority of my colleagues will feel the same way. >> let me just pick up on the first point the leader made. and that is that if you look at the, before we broke for the august break, the last bill, we processed the national defense authorization act. we had a robust amendment process. we considered 33 amendments on the floor. the, the armed services committee team got lots of other amendments included in the bill that were adopted without having votes. but nevertheless, it was a process that was open and transparent in which individual members who don't serve on the senate armed services committee had an opportunity to have their voices heard and get votes on amendments that were important to them in their states. now, we're looking at the appropriations process as the leader pointed out, we haven't had a normal appropriations process for a long time around here, but we do now have 12 bills. all 12 bills have been reported out of the senate appropriations committee.

the key now is to get those bills moving across the floor and i'm hopeful that that will start happening next week. and when it does that, there will also be an open robust amendment process in which members who don't serve on the senate appropriations committee have an opportunity to make their voices heard and get amendments considered that are important to them. and the people that they represent, i talk a lot around here about regular order. and the reason i do that is because i think bills when they move through regular order is a more transparent process, it is more accountable to the people in this country. and i hope that we can have a regular order process as we begin to deal with appropriation bills. so we don't end up like we did last year at the end of the year with everything piled up in this big train wreck of one big appropriations bill. that's a take it or leave it proposition. the way it's supposed to work is to do these in regular order through a process that allows for open debate on the floor. and that's what our conference is going to insist on in the appropriations process this

year. and joe biden's recent statements on the economy reveal a president completely out of touch with the pain and the suffering that he's causing the american people. if you wanted to describe bidens in one word, it would be failure. the economy is the number one issue facing our country. all of us have been traveling our states. i've been all around wyoming over the break, talking with folks, people are fed up. they're fed up with record high prices, record high interest rates if you want to borrow money and a record high debt and they're tired, they're tired of having to work so very hard just to try to keep up with the prices that continue to go up. they seem to be hit right between the eyes every time they go to the store or fill up with gas, try to buy groceries, all of those things. and they're mad. people are mad because they see the country heading in the wrong

direction and they don't see us getting back on track. people also do not believe that joe biden is up to the task. only one in three americans think that president biden and the democrats are actually doing a good job on the economy. and the case in point is this past labor day weekend, gasoline prices hovering at about $4 a gallon. well, that's up over $2 a gallon from where we were about two years ago and back to school shopping. it has become very, very expensive and very stressful for american families, whether it's putting food in the lunch box supplies in the backpack. we're all seeing increased costs as a result of biden economics. well, republicans have solutions to make things more affordable and it's to cut the wasteful washington spending. it's to release this death grip that the regulators have the bureaucrats here in washington, making everything more expensive back home and it is unleashing american energy.

we have it in abundance. that's the way to get america back on track. >> well, welcome back, everybody. i'd like to say it's great to be in washington dc. but i think i prefer iowa. and for those of you that had the opportunity to come out and spend some time in iowa, go to our great state fair. we appreciate your support. i finished up the 99 county tour while i was at home in iowa and it was great to get out across the state. but i was out and about and talking to families and talking to manufacturers and other industries. it was abundantly clear that iowans are very, very frustrated with the state of the economy and it really didn't matter what industry or what location i was in. they are frustrated, they're frustrated with this administration.

they are frustrated with biden economics. it is increasingly difficult to support their families. and it's really tough because even in my communities in southwest iowa where i was born, where i was raised and where i live today, seeing the men and women that i have grown up with, they are two full time income families now taking on additional jobs just to make ends meet. so when the president is out there talking about how successful bidenomics has been, i'm pulling the bs card on this and i'm throwing it down because things are rough on our families. there's no getting around it. and i know sometimes you're in this bubble here in dc but again, folks, if you can get out to iowa, any of our great states, you're going to see a different story when it comes to our families and our businesses.

so please pay attention. so with that iowans are really frustrated with the taxes that they're paying to this federal government. when, when they hear us talk about washington dc and how a number of our federal agencies headquarter buildings are only 25% occupied. ok. where are all of those workers? i know they're still on the payroll, right. is covid over, are we able to come to work safely? i think we can do that. and yet we still have a huge number of people from this city that are telecommuting. they're teleworking and there is no reason we should be doing that when you have bureaucrats that are doing bubble baths during their conference calls for work when they are golfing during business hours. and yet they're still getting paid the wages. they were pre covid. we've got to figure this out.

so i pushed out a letter to all 24 inspector general offices and i'm demanding answers. so, one, what are these people doing? who has oversight of the work that is being done by these employees that are so called teleworking? ok. two. what are we going to do with all this unused office space? if you're not bringing people back to work, we don't need to lease all of these buildings. we don't need all of these buildings. how much money can we save if we get rid of it? and then finally, folks, and this really gets under my skin. is that how many of these federal employees who get location based pay washington dc wages who are tele working from a lower cost area? how many of them moved away during covid and are still getting paid for living in washington dc? it is fraud, folks. it's fraud.

so you federal employees that are out there were coming after you. we're coming after you. let's do the right thing. >> well, welcome back, everybody. it is nice to be here on 100 degree day almost. and i'm glad that we had a nice break. i'll say two things of what some of my colleagues have said. senator barrasso said his definition of biden economics is failure. mine is paying more and getting less. that's absolutely what you're doing every day, whether it's your mortgage or your rent, your grocery store, your gasoline tank, whatever it is as to what joni was talking about, senator ernst was talking about. our offices are inundated during the summer. more people have traveled this summer probably than have over the last four or five years. the request for passports and assistance on getting passports and passport renewals is much greater than it has been. but because the workforce is not there, we had people that had to

cancel trips, couldn't go and they had planned months in advance to try to secure their passport. so that is one area specifically where the work ethic that we're seeing at the dc level mostly, but also at the federal level is coming up short. so during the break, it's nice to get home and see everybody and hear anecdotal stories. but i did during my break took a once in a lifetime codel with four other bipartisan bicameral, all women delegation to see our usa women soccer team play in auckland, new zealand. we didn't get to see them play, but we did get to see a lot of other women athletes in team sports. i was one of the lead senators on equal pay for equal play for team usa. i believe firmly that any woman athlete who is representing our country should have the same benefit and pay as any man who

is under the flag of the united states in competition. and i can tell you it was glorious to see those fields filled with women's teams all across the globe. really led by the us team. the us team was the leader here. it's just people are catching up to us now and that's inspiring to me because i love sports and i love women's sports and it was really, really fun. the other side of that code was a security portion. we talked to a lot of the indo pacific leaders and defense leaders about the looming challenge of china, how our allies are realigning and how we need to shore up our allies. we were in australia talking about august, the new agreement that we struck on submarines. we were talking about about how the taiwanese and china situation is becoming very precarious and how are we preparing for that? and i thought, you know, what are these two issues that we

went on this codel? what do they really have to do? and the unifying thing here is american values. we believe in freedom, we believe in making and giving all of our men, women and our military, the ability to do the best they can do in any situation for a great country. and so i was very inspired when i came home to talk about this value based american values that lead in the world. and we've got to keep that in the forefront, not just for us, for our friends, our neighbors and also those who are unable to see that freedom for themselves that we can be that guiding light that we've always been. >> so president biden spent the month of august telling a very different story to the american people than what we are seeing back home with the people that

elect us to come back here to washington. but don't take my word for it. don't take my word for it as joe biden is trying to spin this bidenomics story, look at the headlines that have come out in publications from your colleagues in the press, the housing market is stuck. americans can't afford homes. investors aren't buying property. economists see little relief ahead. new york post credit card and car loan defaults hit a 10 year high as inflation squeezes families. this came out in forbes just yesterday. the fact that i was flying in from montana strapped for cash, more americans are making early withdrawals from their retirement savings. and you've seen the headlines in the last month about credit card debt at over a trillion dollars an all time record high.

and now we've got new information that says our deficits are going to exceed $2 trillion to put that in perspective. our deficit over the next year will be larger than the gdp of every country but 10 in the world, this is a direct result of what's happened we've seen with president biden in their spending spree. it's unacceptable. but the reality in joe biden's america versus what americans are actually seeing are completely disconnected. it's time for the administration to reverse course on it out of control spending. >> good afternoon. welcome back, respectfully. can you tell us what is afflicting you and describe characterize what is the level of transparency that the people of kentucky deserve to hear about your condition? >> well, i think dr moynihan covered.

i know you are hearing from me. i think dr monahan covered the subject fully. you had a chance to read it. i don't have anything to add to it and i think it should answer any reasonable question but he, he ruled things out. >> he didn't tell us what it might have been. do you know what it is? you've had all these evaluations? what a doctor said is the precise medical reason for those freezes. >> what dr monahan's report addressed was concerns people might have some things that happened to me did happen. they didn't and they really, i have nothing to add to that. i think you pretty well covered the subject. >>what do you say to those? who are you to step down? do you have any plans to retire any time soon?

>> i have no announcements to make on that subject. i'm going to finish my term as leader and i'm going to finish my senate term. >> thank you, senator rand paul. >> immigration officials testified on procedures for migrants at the u.s. southern border. it comes four months after the expiration of title 42 emergency order allowing border patrol officers to turn away asylum-seekers. watch tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span two, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> c-span's washington journal,

the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington and across the country. coming up, freedom works senior economist and trump economic advisor stephen discusses president biden's economic record and the role the economy is playing in campaign 2024. then the president of the american federation of teachers talks about the a biden administration and issues affecting book school read c-span's washington journal, join the conversation at 7:00 eastern thursday morning on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> this fall, watch c-span's new series, books that shaped america. join us as we embark on a captivating journey in partnership with the library of congress which created a books that shaped america list to

explore key works of literature from american history. the books featured have provoked thought, won awards, led to societal changes, and are still talked about today. hear from renowned experts who will shed light on the impact of these works and virtual journeys to significant locations across the country tied to these authors and their unforgettable books. among our featured books, common sense by thomas and free to choose by milton friedman. watch our 10 part series, books that shaped america, starting september 18 at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> and join us thursday for a preview of books that shaped america, with the librarian of

congress and a historian and best-selling author live from the library of congress. the 14th librarian of congress has been in office since 2015. douglas frankie -- douglas brinkley has authored several books on u.s. presidents and many other topics. watching books that shaped america on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including buckeye broadband. ♪

buckeye broadband support span a public service -- c-span as a public service alongith these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. next, from the white house, president biden talking about strengthening america's ports and supply chains. he also celebrates a new contract between the shipping industry and a labor union representing dockworkers. this is just over 10 minutes.