For a u. S. District court judge in ohio. It is also the first opportunity for members to speak on the floor sense election day. Watch live Senate Coverage on cspan2 and the house on cspan. Amtrak president and ceo William Flynn was on capitol hill to testify on how the coronavirus affects the Passenger Rail system and what amtrak is doing in response. The Senate Commerce of science and Transportation Committee also heard from representatives of the freight Rail Industry and about the challenges they are facing as a result of the pandemic. This hearing is just over two and half hours. Order. Thank you all for being here, good morning. Today the committee can means to discuss the status of the National Rail network in the country is 140,000 miles of freight rail in class one railroads over 600 freight railroads and thousands of Companies Using braille to ship products and raw materials, we also have an intercity passenger real service amtrak operating on 22000 miles of the same network
Mr. Cassidy madam president . The presiding officer the senator from from louisiana. Mr. Cassidy madam president , i rise to address the issues i rise to address the issues matter president arise to address the issues regarding the covid crisis. It is a Public Health crisis leading to an economicsi crisis and in turn an educational crisis. Today i will speak of an aspect of the crisis specifically state and local government which had to shut down the economy and in turn lose the tax revenues they would receive and because they have lost the tax revenue of jobs and firefighters and Police Officers, teachers , sanitation workers and other essential frontline workers at risk. I will proceed they have unveiled a proposal for a support American Families and Small Businesses as a nation continues to combat the covid19 pandemic it is an unprecedented challenge but we lsshall overcome. The introduction of this proposal signals a republicans commitment to see america through the challenging tim
This is after this is announced and we get more data, were still, there are a lot of rumors out there but what is actually happening. We want to get the facts and data make policy based on good data. Reporter [inaudible]. Reporter mr. President , how is your administration addressing the comorbidity secretary azar isesponsible for a lot of coronavirus deaths, hypertension, diabetes, obviously closely connected to our food supply. We want people in our country to be healthy. Hows it every country address it . We want our people to be healthy, happy, we want them to have all the benefit they can have including health care. The Republican Party is strong on health care as you know, that includes preexisting conditions. We have done a terrific job on health care. Then we got hit by a plague nobody ever seen before outside of maybe 1917. I think weve done a incredible job producing ventilators and testing right now. You saw the numbers. Were over 12 million tests. That is three times more,
Quorum call mr. Shelby mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from alabama. Mr. Shelby thank you. Mr. President , the American People the presiding officer were in a quorum call. Mr. Shelby i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Shelby mr. President , the American People are apprehensive about the spread of the coronavirus in the u. S. And abroad, as we can always remember. Global Financial Markets are on edge. Both are resilient but vigorous action is needed to calm nerves, stabilize the situation and get our arms around this crisis. I believe Congress Must marshal the resources here necessary for an aggressive, comprehensive, and swift response. Im pleased to report to my colleagues this afternoon that we, with the house, leadership, both sides have reached a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on an emergency supplemental appropriations package to do just that. The agreement provides a surge in funding at ev
Quorum call quorum call . Mr. Cardin madam president. The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. I ask unanimous consent that the dwoark be dispensed with. The presiding officer that the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Cardin madam president , in february of this year, the house of representatives passed whats known as the universal background check in regards to gun sales. Since that time, the senate has had no action whatsoever on gun safety issues. Leader mcconnell could bring this bill to the floor, and i am confident that we have the support to pass it. I do hear from many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that were waiting for the president , and unless the president signs off on a bill, they are not interested in bringing it up. Well, the last time i checked the constitution of the United States, the first article of the constitution provides for the legislative branch of gover