Bless their plans, as they seek to do your will on earth, and empower them to succeed. Use them to bring comfort and healing to a troubled nation and world. Keep them aware of the constancy of your presence, inspiring them to give primacy to prayer and praise as they work for your glory. We pray in your majestic name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in 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 mr. President. The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley permission to speak for one minute in morning business. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley the pandemic has disrupted just about everything americans take for granted in life, including our food supply. Empty Grocery Store shelves have greeted u. S. Consumers, perhaps for the first time in their lifetime. The pandemic shines a National Spotlight on the farmtofork supply chain. Market disruptions are forcing farmers to make tough choices. Milk being dumped. Eggs being destroyed. Marketready hogs may have nowhere to go. Farmers are shouldering a heavy burden with a profound impact to their livelihood and mental health. As a champion for american agriculture, im leading efforts to help our farmers get through these tough times, but there is a lot of help coming from other people as well. As always, iowa pork producers want to do what they do best put food on our tables. They are teaming up with local meat lockers and food banks to pass what is called to do what is called pass the pork, a statewide initiative launched by Iowa Governor reynolds. Pass the pork program aims to stock food pantries with hogs donated by local farmers and from the financial contribution to cover the cost of processing and distribution. Where there is a will, there is a way, we all know. So i want to salute iowans pulling together the iowa way. I yield the floor. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the senate is back for a second week in session, and we have more important work to do for the American People. While our nation fights the coronavirus pandemic, many of our fellow americans have been taking new safety precautions but continuing to show up to perform essential work because of delivery drivers and grocery clerks, families can keep food on their shelves. Because of utility workers, people hunkered down at home have power. Because of pharmacists manning their counters, americans have been able to keep getting the medicines they need so this Health Crisis does not compound itself. And then, of course, there has been the selfless work of so many doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals. Frankly, even the word essential does not do full justice to all the new american heroes we have met these past weeks. In my home state of kentucky, we have met people like leloni kraus. She is a 30year nursing veteran who now oversees a care at a Senior Living facility in louisville. A few weeks ago, she contracted the coronavirus herself. Even as she stayed home to recover, she never stopped working. She still did all she could to coordinate her patients care over video calls, and as soon as she felt better and doctors gave her the all clear, she checked right back in to work right on the front lines. So i want to tank all of my Senate Colleagues as we continue to perform our essential responsibilities to serve citizens like miss kraus and so many other american heroes all across our country. And of course much of the work before us relates to the pandemic itself. Our committees of jurisdiction are attacking covid19 and its effects from every angle. This week, chairman alexander and our colleagues on the help committee will hold a major hearing on smart and safe ways for americans to get back to work and back to school. They will hear expert testimony from the very top leaders, dr. Fauci, dr. Redfield, dr. Hahn and admiral girrar from h. H. S. Chairman crapo and the Banking Committee will hear from representatives of the Federal Reserve and the fdic on financial regulations. Obviously, that is an essential topic as the government continues to push out billions and billions of dollars in emergency liquidity following the cares act. With huge numbers of americans working, teaching, and learning from home, and with telemedicine more important than ever, the Commerce Committee will hear from experts about access to Broadband Internet during the crisis. And the Judiciary Committee will hold an important hearing on issues of legal liability during this unprecedented time. Its crucial that as we continue to fight the pandemic itself, we ensure it is not followed up by a second jobskilling epidemic of frivolous lawsuits. This would be just about the worst time in living memory to let trial lawyers line their pockets at the expense of the rest of our country. The senate is going to play a strong role in ensuring that does not happen. While our committees are working away here on the floor, we will start this week by confirming two more qualified nominees to important posts that should not remain empty at this time. We will begin with Brian Montgomery of texas, named by trump to serve as deputy secretary of housing and urban development. Then we will turn to troy edgar of california, tapped to be chief Financial Officer at the department of homeland security. Now, mr. President , i understand that some of my distinguished democratic colleagues complain that the full senate should not have to spend floor time on these sorts of uncontroversial executive branch nominees. I agree. I agree. But as long as their own democratic leadership continues to hold important posts empty for as long as possible in order to just spite the white house, as long as the minority continues to break from Longstanding Senate precedent to obstruct even the least controversial nominees, then my friends will have to continue to show up and vote on them. The floor votes they say they dislike are a direct result of their own tactics. We are also going to take up important legislation this week. While covid19 rightly dominates headlines around the world, the United States of america also faces many serious threats before us, threats before this virus began to spread, and they are still with us today. So later this week, we will turn back toward reauthorizing important authorities under the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. This is urgent because the house refused to take up the senates shortterm extension of important counterterrorism and counterintelligence authorities before they left town. House democrats let the two of them expire, so we must act quickly to clean up the mess and renew these authorities which our government needs to fight terrorists and check the agents of china and russia. The bipartisan bill we will take up was negotiated exhaustively by House Republicans and the attorney general of the United States. Determined advocates for reform after the shameful abuses in 2016 sat down with determined defenders of the good parts of these tools, and they hammered out a strong compromise. The legislation will introduce more daylight and more accountability into the fisa process, where appropriate, but will ensure the embarrassments of 2016 do not jeopardize their essential National Security tools altogether. I hope the senate will be able to dispatch the amendments that we consider and pass this important legislation on a bipartisan basis to keep the American People safe. The presiding officer under the previous order, the leadership time is preserved. 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, department of housing and urban development, brian d. Montgomery of texas to be deputy secretary. Mr. Mcconnell i notice the absence of a quorum. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call quorum call mr. Schumer mr. President. The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Schumer i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Schumer now, mr. President , the United States has well over a million confirmed cases of covid19. Were quickly, unfortunately, approaching 80,000 fatalities. Alongside this great crisis of Public Health, this shocking and heartbreaking loss of life, theres a looming economic catastrophe. There are now more than 30 million newly unemployed americans. Over a tenth of the population in the United States. The highest number since the great depression. Many believe this number underestimates the real total. Once this crisis is over, theres no guarantee that these millions of newly unemployed americans will be able to resume their old jobs. How many people will find new jobs . At what salary . Even the most optimistic scenarios predict a period of extended high unemployment. Others suggest were looking at the kernels of after second great depression. Here on the senate floor for the second week in a row, we are living in the alternative reality of the republican leader mcconnells making. He has scheduled no legislative business here on the floor related to covid19, none. No measures for the unemployed, no relief for renters or homeowners, no legislation to increase Testing Capacity, no proposals to help state and local governments retain teachers and firefighters, bus drivers, and Police Officers. Looking at the senate calendar, youd never know that were working in the midst of a national crisis. It looks like any other session. A few executive nominations, hearings on rightwing judges, legislation from previous months that the leader should not have delayed. Its just totally, totally divorced from reality. Despite the obvious health risks, senators are ready to do our jobs. Why dont we actually do our jobs and focus on covid19 . For the sake of common sense and the good of the nation, the senate should be focused on covid19. We should be holding multiple serious oversight hearings every week. Several of my colleagues on the other side, including the republican leader, have said they want to see how the legislation weve already passed is working before doing anything else. At the same time the republican majority is slow walking the hearing process. Finally after a lot of democratic pressure from myself and many others, the leader is sort of eking out week by week hearings. We just heard well hear from mnuchin on the 19th. That will be almost two months after a bill that let 4 trillion of Lending Authority be released before theres a hearing. Why didnt we hold the hearing three weeks ago, five weeks ago, last week. Its just outrageous. How can the republican senators say we want to see how this is working and not have a whole bunch of hearings to examine how its working. Instead of squeezing them out under direct pressure from we democrats. Now, tomorrow in the help committee, there will be a hearing conducted remotely with dr. Fauci. This is the kind of hearing we need, not once a week but several a day. The American People need to hear from experts in a fair, open, and truthful setting. Until now weve mostly heard from the members of the Coronavirus Task force through the distorted lens of the White House Press conference where the president often prevents them from answering fully, interrupts their response, or even contradicts their factbase advice. This will be one of the first opportunities for dr. Fauci to tell the American People the unvarnished truth without the president lurking over his shoulder. Dr. Fauci, let it rip. But it shouldnt be this one Committee Hearing tomorrow and it shouldnt be dr. Fauci alone testifying or even with who hes testifying with. This is the routine oversight business of congress and were now in a crisis. It should occur in every committee every week. There should be testimony from Administration Officials ranging from dr. Birx to secretary mnuchin, to secretary devos and others. We should also be debating another major emergency relief bill. As we speak more and more businesses are going under. More and more people are losing their jobs. More and more families dont have enough food to feed their children or are sitting for hours in car lines to get to food banks. Speaker pelosi and i completely agree, the new big should be big and it should be bold. And thats what the house is working on right now while the senate under leader mcconnells leadership dithers. Already weve heard Congressional Republicans are telling everyone they want to slow down. Leader mcconnell says he wants to hit the pause button. President trump and Administration Officials are saying we might not need to do anything more to help the country. This would be a catastrophic mistake. At the outset of the great depression, president hoover was also reluctant to use National Resources to attack the problem. He, too, was ideologically opposed to a vigorous and strong response from the federal government. President hoovers failure was likely responsible for extending the length and deepening the severity of the great depressi depression. If President Trump and our republican colleagues go the way of herbert hoover, if they oppose or slow walk Government Intervention to save the economy thats hurdling downward, i fear the nation could suffer a similar fate, a second depression. We must avoid that at all costs. Now is not the time for dim midty. Now is not the time for small thinking. Now is the time for action, big, bold continued action. There is so many issues that deserve our attention. On a daily basis, President Trump talks about the need to reopen our country. Well, President Trump, the only way we can safely reopen the country is if we have testing. To finally beat this disease, we need testing. To reopen businesses safely, we need testing. To reopen schools and sporting events, we need testing. To contain a resurgence in the fall or early next year, we need testing. Testing is by far the number one priority from a Public Health standpoint and may be from an economic standpoint as well. For many countries mastering the challenging of testing and contact tracing, its population was its first priority. Here in the United States, unfortunately, were still the Trump Administration is still trying to catch up. Three months ago, three months ago President Trump said, quote, anybody that wants a test can get a test. Unquote. Thats still not even close to being true. Americans have gotten sick and because they could not get tested, they never knew if they contacted covid, never knew if they passed it on to loved one, colleagues, workers, or friends. For many that could get tested, they had to wait weeks for an answer long after the disease had run its course and potentially spread to others. We may never know the full extent of the human consequences that resulted from President Trumps administrations failure to rapidly develop a testing plan in the early days of coronavirus. But we do know that countries who did it successfully, such as south korea and germany and australia and new zealand were able to deal with the virus much better than we have. And to think the United States, always been the leader in Public Health, is lagging behind these other countries because of the president s denial and ineptitude should bother every single american no matter what your politics. Congress provided 25 billion in the most recent relief legislation, to increase Testing Capacity and contact tracing. And were going to need to do more. If President Trump is so keen on speeding up the process of reopening the country, he should endorse what democrats have urged him to do. Create a National Testing regime immediately. One final matter education. In the cares act, congress provided little over 30 billion to help states, school district, and Higher Education systems respond to the coronavirus after many schools were forced to close to move to remote learning. We need more money than that, of course 789 i think democrats in both houses agree. It has come to our attention that secretary devos has been using a portion of the existing funding not to help states or localities cope with the crisis but to augment her push for voucherlike programs, a Prior Initiative that had nothing to do with covid19. Weve also learned that secretary devos has added restrictions to the fund that werent included in the law, including guidance that Daca Recipients cannot receive aid. Shameful. Theres no other word for it. Secretary devos is exploiting emergency relief funding