In Context: Small Things

On Tuesday, 5/3, there was a curious entry in the daily Senate floor log of Senator floor speeches:

3:52 p.m. Senator Durbin spoke on abortion and microchips.

In his speech, he noted things on the two separate topics such as:

• Last December, a report from Harvard warned that China is now a "Full-spectrum peer competitor" when it comes to advanced technology like AI and quantum computing.
• We have become dangerously dependent on China and other competitors when it comes to securing our supply chain with microchips.
• The Supreme Court found the right to privacy by combining the rights of several other different amendments.

There's much that can be said on both topics, and much has. Abortion has become an unusually frequent topic in the Congressional Record for the last two weeks.

Both unborn children and microchips are small and of large value. One is a precious tiny human being made by God. The other is a tiny calculator made by man.

Weekly Congress Update

Daily Digests – House • Senate — Prayers — Committee Reports

Senate — Daily Leader Remarks • Actions begun, passed, declined

McConnell criticizes protests outside justices' homes (Full Speech) • Senate passes security bill for Supreme Court family members, as protesters harass their homes

Bipartisan Majority Rejects Radical Abortion Bill Pushed By Senate Democrats (S. 4132) • Democrats fail to codify Roe • radical abortion bill would go far beyond Roe, risks health of baby and mother • Senate GOP, Manchin block abortion rights legislation • 49 Senate Democrats Vote for Extreme Abortion Bill • Democrats' bad math • What comes next • The weird media-Democratic disinformation campaign on the Senate abortion vote •

Rand Paul objection delays $40 billion Ukraine aid package (H.R. 7691—Debate) • Rand Paul was right to insist on fiscal accountability for Ukrainian aid bill

Confirmations: Powell to second term as Fed chairman • Fed nominee Lisa Cook • FTC nominee boosting Biden anti-Big Tech agenda

House — Weekly Leader Colloquy • Bills • Actions passed

House passes bill awarding Congressional Gold Medal to chief US prosecutor at Nuremberg Trials — H.R. 6015

$40B emergency funding bill for Ukraine passes House (H.R. 7691—368-57) • 57 Republicans vote ‘no’ • What's included in the Ukraine aid bill? • billions for Pentagon, arms makers • Zelensky thanks Pelosi, House for passing Ukraine aid measure

House passes four bills rebuking Russia and Belarus, supporting Ukraine despite some GOP opposition (H.R. 6891, H.R. 7081, H.R. 7066, H.R. 6899) • two Republicans voted against

House passes bill to protect seniors from scams — H.R. 5914

House passes bill to improve working conditions for TSA employees — H.R. 903

House votes to allow staffers to unionize, approves resolution — H.Res. 1097