February 24, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S845 People need affordable, reliable en- Chamber wishing to vote or change his ticularly with the censuring that is ergy. Traditional energy projects are or her vote? going on. Consumers must be mindful still the most affordable, still the most The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 67, about their digital footprint. Anything reliable. nays 32, as follows: typed into a search engine is effec- If we really care about the people in [Rollcall Vote No. 65 Ex.] tively a digital diary, saved in the developing countries, then we ought to YEAS—67 cloud for some rainy day. Consumers help them turn on the lights. So I urge Baldwin Hassan Portman must be mindful about what is posted, the Biden administration to reverse Bennet Heinrich Reed what is downloaded, what is shared, course, to rethink this, to look at all Blumenthal Hickenlooper Risch and what is liked on social media plat- the implications of the decisions they Booker Hirono Romney forms. Braun Hoeven are making. Rosen The road to responsible and account- Brown Johnson Rounds We need to stop this senseless attack Burr Kaine Sanders able digital citizenship isn’t solely the on energy jobs. We need to stop this Cantwell Kelly Schatz consumer’s responsibility. Social Cardin King Schumer media companies, as well as content reckless attack on developing nations. Carper Klobuchar Shaheen We need to stop pushing our allies into Casey Leahy and internet providers, are not exempt Collins Luja´ n Sinema from ethical corporate stewardship, es- the waiting arms of the Chinese Com- Smith munist Party. Coons Manchin pecially when the welfare of the next Cornyn Markey Stabenow The American people and our friends Cortez Masto McConnell Sullivan generation is at stake. Keep in mind around the world—we are better than Cramer Menendez Tester that human trafficking is a pervasive what we are getting right now from Crapo Merkley Van Hollen crime that grooms and blackmails Daines Murkowski Warner young people on Main Street but also this administration, and we need to re- Duckworth Murphy Warren verse course. Durbin Murray Whitehouse in online communications. I yield the floor. Feinstein Ossoff Wyden However, having said all those ques- Gillibrand Padilla Young f tion marks about Big Tech, I think we Grassley Peters all realize that Big Tech isn’t all bad. RECESS NAYS—32 Technology companies have revolu- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under Barrasso Hagerty Rubio tionized our way of life and how we the previous order, the Senate stands Blackburn Hawley Sasse connect with friends and family. Dur- Blunt Hyde-Smith Scott (FL) ing the pandemic—and we are still in in recess until 4 p.m. Boozman Inhofe Scott (SC) Thereupon, the Senate, at 3:07 p.m., Capito Kennedy Shelby that pandemic—technology delivered recessed until 4 p.m. and reassembled Cassidy Lankford Thune invaluable connections for e-com- when called to order by the Presiding Cotton Lee Tillis merce, for digital learning, for tele- Cruz Lummis Toomey Officer (Mr. KELLY). Ernst Marshall working, and for telehealth. However, Tuberville Fischer Moran that doesn’t give big tech and big data f Wicker Graham Paul companies license to undermine con- EXECUTIVE SESSION—Continued NOT VOTING—1 stitutional protections or disregard Warnock harmful impacts their products and services have on civic life and public The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this CLOTURE MOTION trust in our American democracy. Ti- vote, the yeas are 67, the nays are 32. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant tans of technology need to take respon- The motion is agreed to. to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the sibility for the products they build, The Senator from Iowa. Senate the pending cloture motion, sell, and profit from fellow Americans. which the clerk will state. BIG TECH Policymakers and regulators have a The senior assistant legislative clerk Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, duty to shape and enforce the rules of read as follows: last week I held 12 meetings in Iowa. the road. Big Tech and all of its stake- Those meetings are for the purpose of CLOTURE MOTION holders, from content makers, social having dialogue with my constituents, media platforms, and internet service We, the undersigned Senators, in accord- mostly answering their questions. As ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the providers, all bear responsibility to un- Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby many of my colleagues know, I hold derstand how their business model puts move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- face-to-face meetings with Iowans in freedom at risk. Red flags are popping nation of Executive Calendar No. 9, Jennifer all 99 counties every year. It has been up all over the digital frontier, from re- Mulhern Granholm, of Michigan, to be Sec- a privilege to get to every county in curring data breaches to online censor- retary of Energy. every corner of the State every single ship, misuse of user profiles, and the Charles E. Schumer, Cory A. Booker, Jon year for the past four decades. recent mess with an online brokerage Ossoff, Richard Blumenthal, Richard J. People have asked me why I do this. app. Durbin, Alex Padilla, Christopher A. The simple answer is, in our system of Coons, Margaret Wood Hassan, Sheldon In the last two Presidential elec- Whitehouse, Robert Menendez, Kirsten self-government, I am one half of a rep- tions, Big Tech has had a big influence E. Gillibrand, Tim Kaine, Tammy Bald- resentative government; my constitu- on information that appeared or didn’t win, Ron Wyden, Mazie K. Hirono, ents are the other half. My county appear in Americans’ social media Tammy Duckworth. meetings are a good way for me to keep feeds. The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- in touch and see for myself the chal- Big Tech can’t hide behind its busi- imous consent, the mandatory quorum lenges and successes going on in com- ness model when its revenue streams call has been waived. munities across my home State. In re- cash in on an infrastructure that sows The question is, Is it the sense of the cent years, it has become an important division and distrust among Ameri- Senate that debate on the nomination way for me to counter disinformation, cans. This ecosystem has been ex- of Jennifer Mulhern Granholm, of correct misinformation, and sidestep ploited to radicalize political extre- Michigan, to be Secretary of Energy, censorship that Americans digest daily mism and mobilize civil unrest. Social shall be brought to a close? in the mainstream and social media. media companies have reaped the bene- The yeas and nays are mandatory Big tech and big data companies, fits of their enterprise, so these compa- under the rule. much like State surveillance and Big nies bear some responsibility to help The clerk will call the roll. Brother, share something in common: repair cracks in the architecture of our The senior assistant legislative clerk If left unchecked, Big Tech can under- civic institutions and also to heal the called the roll. mine the privacy, civil liberties, and wounds festering in American life. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the constitutional freedoms that every Our economic freedom allows social Senator from Georgia (Mr. WARNOCK), American should hold sacred and media companies to create a business is necessarily absent. should never take for granted. model that grows their bottom line. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. HAS- Responsible digital citizenship is Americans need to understand their SAN). Are there any Senators in the more important now than ever, par- personal data is harvested for profit.

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