Commitment to bringing you live gavel to gavel coverage of the u. S. Senate. You can continue watching this hearing online at cspan. Org. And now live to the floor of the u. S. Senate here on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, we continue to depend on you to fulfill your purposes for our lives. You have told us that your purpose for us is that we live for your glory. As our lawmakers strive to do your will, bringing honor to your name, have your way in all they say and do. Send them your help from celestial portals, so that they will please you and be your ambassadors during these challenging times. Rescue them from anything that will keep them from remembering that nothing is impossible for you. Be exalted, o god, above the highest heavens. Let your glory shine in our nation and world. We pray in your loving name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. 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 mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak inning morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley covid19 has put america through the ringer. There will be many Lessons Learned and stories to tell from this chapter of our history. Today i salute the heroes working on the front lines during this pandemic. I cant overstate the debt of gratitude that we owe the Health Care Professionals who selflessly put their own lives on the line to care for covid19 patients. Our doctors, nurses, respiratory terpists, working home nurses and First Responders are among those who have shouldered physical and mental exhaustion to heal the sick. In fact, today is National Nurses day so i give our nurses an extra applause on this, their day. To the legions of Health Care Professionals across america, thank you for the devotion that you have shown to our community and to your great country. I yield the floor. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. Morning business is closed. Under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. The clerk nomination, office of the director of national of intelligence, William Evanina to be director of the National CounterintelligenceSecurity Center. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the core business of our nation does not stop while we fight the coronavirus. This week Senate Committees are committing oversight and holding hearings. Members are tracking the implementation of the cares act. Were discussing how congress could do everything from further strengthening the Health Response to ensuring that a second epidemic of frivolous lawsuits does not redirect the National Recovery into a trial lawyer bonanza. Here on the floor, were filling major vacancies in the federal government. Today well confirm William Evanina to lead the National Counterintelligence and Security Center as our nation grapples with challenges at home, it is important that a complement of skilled professionals keep watch on our foes, adversaries and competitors. He will be the first Senate Confirmed director of the cnsc. He is the senior most expert in counterintelligence. He has served three decades as a special agent with the f. B. I. As chief of the c. I. A. s Counterespionage Group and one of the principal advisors to the director of the National Intelligence. His long professional experience has given him al welltrained eye and hes made clear hes been focused on the most severe espionage threats facing our country today. Chinas insidious efforts to steal our industrial, governmental, technological and political secrets and russias continuing efforts to meddle in our democracy. So we have a qualified professional who is tailored made for an important job. Our colleagues on the Intelligence Committee report him out on a unanimous bipartisan basis, twice. The vice chairman senator warner said that bill evanina should be confirmed without further delay, but even still our democratic colleagues choose to obstruct his nomination on the floor and require a full day of floor time to confirm him. Ironically, at the same time weve also heard some of our democratic colleagues complain that we spend too much time voting too much time voting on nominations. Its bad enough to spend three years three years delaying nominations to an historic degree and deliberately making the process painful, but it reaches a new level of irony for my democratic friends to do all that and then complain complain that their own strategy is inconveniencing their schedules. Essential matters of government do not cease because of the coronavirus. And they do not cease because of partisanship either. As long as Senate Democrats continue to make incredibly qualified nominees travel the hard way, including someone whom their own democratic Ranking Member has openly praised, then i assume i will assure them that well need to show up and cast votes. The countrys business will not go undone. Now, speaking of nominations, this morning our colleagues on the Judiciary Committee are examining the qualifications of judge Justin Walker the judge walker is a fellow kentuckian. Hes a district judge for the Western District of enkentucky and he of kentucky and he is a nominee to serve on the court of appeals for the district of columbia. Im grateful to chairman graham and all the other chairmans finding creative ways to perform government business. The work of the senate must and can continue all albeit in new. To respect this time in social distancing, i will offer this on the floor instead of over in the committee. Since judge walker was tapped to serve the people of kentucky on the Federal District bench, hes wasted no time in expanding his strong reputation for intellectual brilliance, legal acumen and total fairness and impartiality. In just the last few weeks judge walker has won National Attention for an eloquent and persuasive opinion that forced kentuckys amendment freedom of religion and he has earned a wellqualified rating from the leftleaning American Bar Association that the Senate Democrats like the democratic leader has frequently described as the gold standard. So let me say that again. In the span of just a couple of weeks, almost simultaneously, judge walker has won praise from religious redom advocates freedom advocates nationwide and the approval of the a. B. A. Which democrats call the gold standard. That illustrates the kind of impressive individual that the committee is considering this morning. Already judge walkers reputation as a brilliant legal rising star precedes him. When you consider the full scope of his educationern experience, its hardly a surprise. Judge walker graduated from Duke University summa cum lauda and he edited the law review. And then prestigious law clerks for Justice Kavanaugh and for thenjustice anthony kennedy. He learned at the elbows of legal giants. Then he moved on to skilled performance in private practice and then to a distinguished scholarship at Louisville Law School with expertise in National Security, Administrative Law and the separation of powers. Indeed, an impressive record. But as kentuckys secretary of state mike adams put it recently, judge walker is more than just a c. V. Hence the outpowering of praise from his peers, colleagues, and neighbors in kentucky who know him well. 100 kentucky lawyers, many of whom practiced before judge walker in the District Court wrote about his courage to apply precedence faithfully. 16 judges said that he weighs the facts against the law as it is written, not as he wishes it to be. So, mr. President , im confident our colleagues on the committee will find this nominee possesses a generational legal mind, a kind heart and total judicial impartiality. President trump made an outstanding choice when he asked kentuckians to take Public Service to the next level. Im confident judge walker will not disappoint. So i urge the committee to approve his nomination. I look forward to confirm him soon here on the senate floor. Mr. Mcconnell i suggest the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , the senate is here, open for business. The janitors and food service workers, the Police Officers, and all the staff that operate the floor are here. Theyre all here. Capitol police are doing their usual excellent job. The republican leader called us back despite the obvious health risks, but we are ready to do the business our country demands. So theres a question that loom . Why isnt the senate focused on responding to the covid19 pandemic . There hasnt been a single vote here on the senate floor related to coronavirus, not even a nominee related to coronavirus. Rather than focusing on covid19 with laserlike intensity, the senate Judiciary Committee today will waste precious time on the nomination of leader mcconnells protege, Justin Walker, to serve on the d. C. Court of appeals, the second most powerful court in the country. Mr. Walker is a 37yearold Federalist Society disciple who has more experience as a cable news commentator than he does trying cases in court. Mr. Walkers qualifications pale in some pair son to those previous nominees to the d. C. Circuit, democrat and republican. Nominees by democratic president s and republican president s all were deeply steeped in the law, just about every one, and here we have this what leader mcconnell is doing to the courts is nothing short of disgraceful. The judges currently sitting on the Second Highest Court in the land have had decades of experience in Supreme Court advocacy, appellate work, criminal law, private practice, academia, and so on prior to their nominations. Mr. Walker has been a District Court nominee a District Court judge, rather, for less than a year. Less than a year. He had no trial experience retire to that. Inexperience aside, bad enough as that is, walkers views are way out of the mainstream. In 2018, he described chief Justice Roberts opinion upholding our Health Care Law as indefensible and catastrophic. Meanwhile, he praised a dissenting opinion by thenjudge kavanaughs road map for the Supreme Court to validate it. Every republican who votes for this nominee, mr. Walker, will be voting to dismantle the a. C. A. And take millions of Peoples Health care away from them if his statements prove to be how he judges things, which seems very likely, given previous experience of other nominees like this. This week, legal briefs are due in the Supreme Court case that will determine the future of our Health Care Law. In the midst of a global pandemic, at a time when our Health Care System has never been more important, Senate Republicans are preparing to jam through a judge who Police Chiefs it should all be crashing down. Tens of millions of people would lose their Health Insurance and protections for americans with preexisting conditions would be eliminated. Mr. Walkers nomination would be controversial in normal times, to say the least. Less experience in the court than on tv. During this Public Health crisis, his nomination is nothing short of a disgrace. The senate should be focused on helping the country. Hospitals and doctors, nurses and Health Care Workers, essential employees and Small Businesses and families suffering from huge financial hardship. There are millions of newly unemployed americans, but the only jobs issue the republican majority seems to be focused on this week are the jobs of rightwing judges who wish to dismantle health care at a time when health care is needed more than ever. Let me say that again. There are millions of justly unemployed americans, but in the senate, the republican majority is spending time giving jobs to rightwing judges. Now, lets get back to what matters. Democrats are focused on helping workers, Small Businesses, and american families. In times of crisis and economic hardship, these average americans, working people, they take it on the chin. Thats where our focus needs to be. Not on legal immunity for big corporations. Not on big oil or gas companies. Not on juicing the markets. The focus should be on average folks. Thats who all of us in congress should be focused on helping right now. Now, on administration. Congress can only do so much. Ive actually been very proud of how both parties have come together over the past few months to pass historic legislation. 960. 960. With a great deal of input and improvement by the democratic minority. But to make this legislation work, we need a competent, steady, focused administration to not only implement our laws but coordinate our national response. It is no secret that the Trump Administration has been anything but focused, anything but steady, anything but competent. President trump seems to spend more time deflecting blame, attacking others, pushing quack medicines, and hiding from the truth than he does actually leading our nations response to this crisis. Last night, in an interview on abc news, the president said that his failure to prepare our National Stockpiles with medical equipment was because, quote, he had a lot of other things going on. The National Stockpile for the vital p. P. E. That our frontline workers need and other materials, the president failed to prepare our stockpiles with this equipment because he had a lot of other things going on . Thats a president . Vice president pence yesterday confirmed that the white house was winding down its Coronavirus Task force long before the disease has been contained, waving the white flag of surrender to covid19 long before the battle is over. A report in todays New York Times details the failures of the administration, and mr. Kushner in particular to procure critical supplies at a time when we lack masks, gloves, and other equipment protective equipment. Instead of appointing a military person with experience in command and control, as i suggested, mr. Kushner recruited a team of consultants who, quote, had little to no experience with Government Procurement procedures or medical equipment. And now we are reading reports of a whistleblower from the department of health and Human Services who reports that there was, quote, pressure from h. H. J. Leadership to ignore scientific merit and expert recommendations and instead to award lucrative contracts based on political connections and cronyism. This whistleblower is scheduled to appear before a House Committee next week. This whistleblower should come before the senate as well. Senators have many questions to ask him. I believe senators on both sides of the aisle would have those questions. So this was and is a time when the American People need the executive branch to lead a coordinated response to this evil virus. To listen to medical experts, to heed their advice, to respect and listen to science. But President Trump seems unwilling and unable to handle the truth. And it is hurting our country each and every day. I yield the floor. And note the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Thune mr. President . The presiding officer the majority whip. Mr. Thune mr. President , i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Thune mr. President , today is the first day of Nat