Nation and world. We praise you that your plans succeed and your precepts are sure. Lord, you know our thoughts before we think them. Encourage our lawmakers to do your will. Give them the wisdom to totally depend upon your unfailing love, remembering that unless you help them they labor in vain. Lord, when doubts fill their minds, provide them with the renewed hope in the ultimate triumph of your purposes. We pray in your strong name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa is recognized. Mr. Grassley i would like to have one minute for morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley thirty years ago today, the freely elected parliament of lithuania declared the restoration of that countrys independence. Lithuanias brave actions began the breakup of the soviet union, something all freedomloving americans ought to be celebrating. The modern republic of lithuania is 102 years old as of last month, and the United States has maintained continuous diplomatic relations with lithuania since 1922. In other words, through the period of time that the soviet union had jurisdiction over it. But these last 30 years since the return of freedom have seen the partnership between our two countries become stronger than ever. Lithuania is a close u. S. Ally and a beacon of of western values and a beacon of western values and very much on the frontier of freedom. I thank lithuania for its important contributions to our North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance and for its vocal defense of our shared values. I yield the floor. And i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell yesterday, President Trump visited the capitol to discuss the ongoing efforts to fight the new coronavirus and its growing footprint here in the United States. As Vice President pence, dr. Anthony fauci, and the other administration experts related in their briefing yesterday, we should expect a number of cases to continue to climb throughout our country. Fortunately, our nation was rated the best prepared in the world for this kind of outbreak, and were continuing to scale up our response every day. My home state of kentucky currently has eight confirmed cases. I applaud the efforts of state and local leaders who are working together with federal officials to proceed carefully and intelligently. Our Public Health experts are compiling the best guidance for individuals, families, businesses, schools, and Health Care Professionals in one place. Www. Coronavirus. Gov is the place to go. I encourage every american to read through the information, particularly anyone whose personal circumstances make additional precautions a wise idea. President trump and senators also discussed potential policies to soften the Economic Impact of the virus. Over the last three years, we have built an historically Strong Economy for American Workers and middleclass families. We should take sensible steps to help that momentum continue, notwithstanding this new challenge. Im glad the secretary of the treasury and the speaker of the house are engaging in direct bipartisan talks on this subject. Congress has already provided billions in new funding to federal, state, and local health leaders. I hope we can bring the same Bipartisan Energy to any steps that prove necessary to support our strong u. S. Economy. Now, its been sad but not surprising to see some of President Trumps democratic critics here in washington fall back on the same old predictable partisan attacks, even at a time like this, but across the country where leaders are working together on the front lines, we have seen something different. I want to commend the democratic governor of california who stated on monday that he had been in close touch with the president and the Vice President and appreciated their attention and support. Heres what he said. He said everything that i could have hoped for, weve had a long conversation, and every single thing he said they followed through on. Thats the governor of california talking about the republican president of the United States. He praised the administrations work on this and said, quote, it starts at the top. So clearly, madam president , this does not have to be a time for partisan bickering. The American People know that. Leaders around the country know that. I hope our democratic colleagues here in washington understand the American People expect us to be working together on this problem. Now, on another matter, yesterday, both the house and senate were briefed by top Intelligence Community officials on the state of ongoing efforts to protect the security of american elections. I was glad that so many members took advantage of the chance to hear directly from the experts. This issue is very important, and its bad for our democracy that some have sought to politicize it. All of us should acknowledge the threat, and all of us should applaud the unprecedented steps this administration has taken to protect against it. These significant efforts undertaken by the administration and funded by the congress are actually working. Since 2017, the hundreds of millions of dollars we have directed to help state and local Election Officials reinforce their systems have been finding their mark. In all 50 states and across thousands of jurisdictions, new tools, more resources, and greater coordination have our nations defenses in a stronger place. This includes far greater coordination with the social Media Companies to combat foreign disinformation as well as close collaboration between the federal government and state and local jurisdictions on protecting electoral infrastructure. And to date, the Intelligence Community reports they have not seen any foreign interference that aims to change vote tallies or prevent americans from voting. So the American People are absolutely right to have confidence in the integrity of our voting systems, and they actually do. As i mentioned yesterday, one new survey has found that more than 70 , 70 of americans are confident their state and local authorities will oversee a fair and accurate election this november. Thats 70 of the American People have confidence in the fairness of the elections this november. As an aside, madam president , this is worth remembering as our democratic colleagues try to claim that Election Security demands, things like unprecedented washington power grab over the nuanced details of how states and localities conduct elections are addressing things Like Campaign finance. These are longtime leftwing goals that have basically nothing whatsoever to do with the actual threats now before us. But the American Peoples confidence in the key institutions of our democracy does not mean they are complacent. They arent. Thats the same the same survey shows the American People understand full well that foreign adversaries like russia want to divide our country, distort our discourse through disinformation, and the Intelligence Community confirms that as well. Our Intelligence Experts have publicly assessed that russia and other adversaries will continue looking for ways to warp our public debate from overseas. We all need to be aware that our adversaries seek to exploit the openness of our society, to turn americans against ourselves. Adversaries like russia want to exacerbate social and political tensions in our country. They want to undermine our confidence in our own elections and our democratic institutions. This is why i have stressed that politicians need to be careful not to take the bait. Thats why the president signed an executive order to enable sanctions against any person or any country that attempts to meddle in our elections. Its why this administration has created new procedures from promptly notifying campaigns that are targeted by attorney entities, unlike, unlike how the Obama Administration hid the ball back in 2016, and its why the new tough foreign policies of the last three years will continue to be essential. Narrow, tailored solutions are important, but the best way for the United States to defend ourselves and our interests against any maligned behavior is to possess unquestionable strength and make it perfectly clear were not interested in being pushed around. I have been a russia hawk for more than 30 years. Im on the record from the late years of the Clinton Administration warning democrats not to be naive about a new president elect by the name of vladimir putin. So i applaud this administrations tough stance with russia and im pleased that democrats have stopped, stopped mocking republicans for being too tough on russia and have come around to our point of view. We have come a long way since the passivity and the failures of the Obama Administration back in 2016, but the work is not finished, and senators are fooling themselves if they think this is just about russia. We must stay vigilant, all of us, federal leaders, state and local Election Officials and every american citizen. Every one of us has a part to play in protecting our democracy. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of s. J. Res. 56, which the clerk will report. The clerk calendar number 439, s. J. Res. 56, providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5 United States code that the rules submitted by the department of education relating to borrower defense institutional accountability. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call a senator madam president. The presiding officer the majority whip is recognized. Mr. Thune madam president , is the senate in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are. Mr. Thune i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune madam president , yesterday afternoon the south dakota governor notified me that multiple residents of south dakota tested positive for the coronavirus. Obviously something we wanted to avoid, but we knew it was a possibility and we spent weeks preparing for an outbreak. Over the next few days Public Health officials will be checking where these individuals have been so anyone who came in contact can be notified. My staff and i are working closely with the governor and her team and i will continue to carefully monitor this situation. At the federal level, im focused on making sure that state and local governments have the resources they need to deal with the virus. Last week i was proud of to support Bipartisan Legislation committing significant federal resources to the coronavirus fight. Madam president , im praying for all of the south dakotans who are affected by the virus, and i want to thank the Health Care Workers who are on the front lines of this fight. We are lucky to have you. Madam president , im disappointed that the senate failed to move forward on the American Energy innovation act this week. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that should have been able to advance in the senate. It contains measures from more than 60 senators, and 90 senators voted last week to begin debate on the bill. Im disappointed that we couldnt maintain that bipartisan momentum and get this bill over the finish line. Madam president , the United States is in a pretty good position when it comes to energy right now. Our Energy Supplies are abundant and Energy Prices are generally affordable. But were in this position for a reason, because we took steps to increase our Domestic Energy supply and lessen our depends on foreign oil, and we cant afford to become complacent. If we want to keep American Energy affordable and abundant, we want to make sure we stay on the cutting edge and continue to invest in our domestic supply from oil and natural gas to renewing sources like hydropower and wind. We also need to make sure we stay on top of our energy grid and energy security. The American Energy innovation act is invests in a wide range of Clean Energy Technologies from wind and solar to hydro power and geothermal. It focuses on improving research into Carbon Capture and it go directs the establishment of a research and Development Program to identify ways to use capture carbon. The bill also invests in advanced Nuclear Energy research so we can regain our edge in the use of this Clean Energy Technology and it focuses on improving energy storage. Many modern Clean Energy Technologies are intermittent or lack the reliability of traditional electric sources. The amount of Energy Produced from wind, for example, is dependent on the amount of wind on any given day, so it must be backed up by a traditional plant often powered by natural gas. Creating new ways to store clean energy will allow us to increase our reliance on Renewable Energy sources. Another area that needs to be addressed when it comes to Renewable Energy is recycling. Solar panels, wind, turbine plaidz are key components of Energy Production but all of the components reach the end of their life. Solar panels and wind turbine panels need to be replaced. And then the question becomes what to do with these components. Wind turbine blades can be well over 150 feet long and weigh somewhere around 15 tons. That takes a lot of room in a landfill. In the case of electric vehicle batteries, were not just talking about filling up landfills. Were talking about potentially Hazardous Waste if lithium or other materials leak from the battery. While recycling and reuse methods exist for clean energy components, much more work needs to be done to ensure that clean energy doesnt eventually result in massive buildups in landfills. Since roughly a quarter of the net electricity generated in my home stailt state of south dakota comes from wind, im interested in what it would take to recycle or or reuse blades on a large scale. Im pleased my amendment was included in the chairmans substitute amendment to the American Energy innovation act. My amendment would establish a competition to identify innovative uses for wind blades that have reached the end of their life with a focus on uses that present the greatest potential for largescale commercial deployment. With an estimated 32,000 wind blades likely to be removed from u. S. Wind turbines in the next four years, its past time to get american innovators focused on this problem. I appreciate chairman murkowskis interest in addressing this side of green energy and hope that we can continue this work. Madam president , in addition to clean energy and innovation, the American Energy and innovation act focuses on boosting the grid. It focuses on improving our domestic supply of some of the key elements and minerals we rely on from manufacturing everything from computer chips to batteries to defense applications. Right now we have to import too much of these Critical Minerals from countries like china. For the sake of our national security, its important that we find ways to identify supplies of these minerals here at home. Finally, madam president , the American Energy innovation act invests in workforce development. All the Technology Wont help us if we dont have the workers to maintain these technologies. We need to ensure that while were investing in innovation, were also investing in the Energy Workforce of the future. As i said, it is disappointing that the senate wasnt able to move forward on this Bipartisan Legislation. I hope well be able to continue discussing this bill and that the senate will take it up again in the near future. The American Innovation energy act will help maintain a stron